Evaluating and Improving
My entire life has been one of continuous self-evaluation and improvement. Indeed, a friend of mine, in a letter about me my senior year of college, wrote:
To know what will be a challenge requires self-awareness, and Allison has nothing if not that. Alli is one of the most reflective and circumspect people I know, which serves her well in many situations but makes her, at times, her own toughest critic. Allison questions her surroundings and the values and norms of her peers, and constantly evaluates how she fits into that landscape. The reflection and circumspection did not stop in college (nor, unfortunately, did the tendency to be my own toughest critic). Throughout my two years in MTC, I have constantly reflected on my role as an educator not only in my classroom, but in my building, my school, my district, my class in MTC, even the state as a whole. I wonder, often obsessively, if I am doing a good enough job, serving my students well, providing them with the best version of me to give them the best education possible. Some of the toughest feedback was in the form of test data, and as an Algebra I teacher last year, I had more than my fair share of it. I was continually checking in on my students' performance on individual objectives, larger tests, and district Common Assessments to compare the data to their predicted scale score and growth from the MCT2 they took in the eighth grade--it was exhausting. Feedback from other teachers and especially MTC-affiliated folks throughout my two years has provided further opportunity for reflection and growth. From having Dr. Tom Brady visit my worst class last year to offer advice to having Whitney Jackson come by twice to see my progress over the course of the year, I relished the chance to receive constructive criticism, something that is not offered frequently (if at all) at Meridian High School. Most of my professional reflection comes from my own self-critical eye and ear, rather than that of a supervisor or mentor. The only real reflection that is encouraged is through the Department of Justice-mandated Consent Decree-ordained Quarterly Self-Check that all teachers must complete regarding Positive Behavior Intervention Systems. These are turned in to the PBIS coordinator but otherwise never revisited.
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As part of my student survey each semester, I have students tell me about former teachers and what made their classes good and bad to help gauge what my students find important. In January of both years I have had most of my students returning to my class for Algebra I and Economics after having me for Transition to Algebra and Government. Thus, the questions were tailored to ask specifically about those experiences. For those who did not have me, I got a chance to learn what helped and did not in their old classroom, and for those who did have me, it provided a valuable reflection tool for me to self-evaluate and continue growing.
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Mississippi Teachers Corps has also provided a valuable way for me to continue my reflection and growth in the form of blog posts through my time in the program. To the right is a collection of these posts, arranged chronically from oldest to newest--the transformation contained within them is astonishing.
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