Lesson 7: Mid-Semester Check In
Attention
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able
- Assess goals to determine if they are still a good fit.
- Reflect upon the practicum experience thus far and plan for the upcoming assignments.
- Complete a self-evaluation and compare with the cooperating teacher evaluation.
- Develop a timeline for upcoming assignments.
- Discuss individual perspectives of practice in early childhood education classrooms.
Teaching
Part One – A summary of Participation
During the beginning weeks of practicum you have:
- Been using reflective journaling as a tool to learn new skills
- Created goals and reviewed weekly progress
- Planned and implemented lesson planning
- Reflected on ethics in early childhood
By this point in the semester you should have completed AT LEAST 10 journal entries. These journal entries are individually graded and after this lesson, you will receive a zero for any journals not submitted.
Your goals have been updated in your weekly emails to the cooperating teacher and instructor. It should be safe to say that you have a good handle on where your goal stands but consider the following when reviewing them to determine if changes are made. It is quite possible that your goals have been achieved already or maybe they no longer apply. We are going to take this time to assess our path and get us back on course if needed.
This is a time to be reflective. Think about how they are going and be HONEST with yourself. It is OKAY if your goals are not going as planned. This is the whole point. If they are not going as planned then now is when you can change them to assure you are going to succeed for the remainder of the course!
What do you still want to get out of this class? Do you still think of the same goals and objectives? Is what you wrote still S.M.A.R.T?
- Specific – are you finding that your goals are still specific enough or maybe it was specific enough and already achieved?
- Measurable – Have you been able to measure your success in this goal? If not, then why?
- Attainable (agreed, achievable) – Do you still feel like this is something that you know you can accomplish? Is the goal still important to you?
- Realistic – Is this goal still something you are willing and able to do? Do you think it is still realistic to continue with this goal?
- Timely – can you still reach your goal in the amount of time you have set for yourself?
Part Two – Be prepared to collaborate!
As outlined in your very first lesson you are expected to attend:
- A planning or curriculum meeting.
- A parent teacher conference or home visit.
- An IEP/IFSP meeting – if this is not possible then attend a meeting for a child with needing a behavior plan or another kind of special service requiring an individualized meeting.
Also, one of your special assignments (critical thinking) requires you to interview a teacher, a support staff and a family member.
To assure you are able to complete these requirements, it is time to set these things up now! Home visits and meetings are always scheduled in advance and scheduling times to interview people will take some juggling of schedules. Intentionality and planning will be critical to assure completion of the assignments.
Assessment
Lesson 7 Assignment A
Look through your weekly emails and provide:
- Dates of initial emails sent (there should be one for EVERY week you were at your practicum site
- Provide a 5 or 6 sentence summary about how the weekly email communication benefited you in your practicum site.
INITIATED A WEEKLY EMAIL |
0 Points Has initiated Zero emails |
20 Points Has initiated emails half of the weeks and/or emails were not addressed to both the instructor and supervising teacher and/or emails were written past the Sunday of that week |
40 Points Initiated weekly email to the instructor AND supervising teacher NO LATER than the Sunday of that week |
| HOURS | 0 Points Emails did not mention hours |
5 Points Emails sometimes did not contain accurate and/or hourly count |
10 Points Provided accurate hours completed THAT week AND ALSO total to date |
| PARTICIPATION | 0 Points Emails did not mention participation |
5 Points Provided a brief summary and/or only some emails provided a summary of participation |
10 Points Provided detailed summary with examples of participation in the practicum site (summary is at least 5 sentences) |
| GOALS |
|
5 Points Provided a brief update and/or only some emails provided a goal update |
10 Points Provided an update on ALL goal progress with specific details and examples |
QUESTIONS/ CONCERNS/ COMMENTS |
0 Points Emails did not contain questions, concerns and/or comments |
15 Points Questions, concerns and comments were not related and/or not addressed in some emails. |
30 Points Addresses any questions or concerns pertaining to that specific week in a clear manner. This could be for the instructor AND/OR supervising teacher. |
Lesson 7 Assignment B
In addition to the evaluation completed by your supervising teacher, you will:
Complete a self-evaluation
Write a summary comparing the self-evaluation and the supervising teacher evaluation. Did anything surprise you? Are you satisfied with the evaluations? What are your next steps?
Do any of the areas that are not marked "Most of the time" line up with your goals? How are your goals progressing? Are they still appropriate or do you need to adjust them to something more appropriate?
- Scan and submit the midterm self-evaluation AND the midterm cooperating teacher evaluation along with your summary.
Summary |
0 Points Did not provide sumamry |
5 Points Summary was brief and unclear. Next steps were unrelated |
10 Points Summary was meaningful and reflective. Discussed rationale for similarities and difference. Included next steps. |
Midterm self-evaluation |
0 Points Did not provide a self-evaluation |
5 Points Midterm self-evaluation was somewhat filled out and missing components |
10 Points Completed a reflective and appropriate mid-term self-evaluation complete with rating and comments |
Midterm cooperating teacher evaluation |
0 Points Has not provided instructor with the teacher evaluation |
40 Points Score varies according to the cooperating teacher evaluation. Can contribute up to 40 points of your mid-term check in grade. |
80 Points Score varies according to the cooperating teacher evaluation. Can contribute up to 80 points of your mid-term check in grade. |
Lesson 7 Assignment C
Keep in mind the upcoming lessons that require you to attend meetings or meet with other professionals. You have time later to complete the assignments, but the time is now to set up dates. Get out your planner and talk with your cooperating teacher for upcoming commitments and possibilities for your attendance. Also discuss the potential adults you could interview and connect with those individuals to set up times. Just let them know that you will need 15-20 minutes of their time to ask them a few questions for a critical thinking assignment. You can worry about the details later.
Submit an outline for the following tasks and include who, what, where and when. The dates do not have to be specific
- When are you going to attend a planning or curriculum meeting and who will be in attendance? Where will this be?
- When are you going to attend a parent teacher conference or home visit? Who will be in attendance and where will this be?
- When are you going to attend an IEP/IFSP/504 or related meeting? Who will be in attendance and where will this be?
For your critical thinking assignment:
- Who will you interview for a teacher and when?
- Who will you interview for a support staff and when?
- Who will you interview for a parent and when?
Lesson 7 Discussion
Read chapter 19 in Swinging Pendulums. How do you feel about individual teacher discretion in early childhood education settings? How do you let the letter of the law vs. the spirit of the law impact your work with children and colleagues