This week, I had a set goal in mind for what I wanted to get done at my clinical placement that was outside of the norm for me. Like Clarker, said we do not have much more time to spend in our placements before we are student teaching so I am trying to be very intentional about the time I am spending in my placement each week. I got to shadow a car duty which was good for me because I will be assigned car duty sometimes when I am student teaching. So, it is good for me to shadow some of these duties and see what goes on before I am doing it on my own.

I also got to attend a faculty meeting this week. It was a good experience to hear what's going on throughout the school right now and it helped me to understand some more of the dynamics of the school by seeing how everyone interacted. I am being really intentional at learning as much as I can about the school as a whole. I want to be someone that they feel can be part of the team and that they can hire because I fit. I have done the fundraisers, the open houses, and now I want to be involved in other areas. So, I am being intentional about going to all the meetings and doing the duties and spending the time outside of what is expected of me. I want them to know I am willing to do whatever to contribute to the students and the school as a whole.

In the classroom, I have become much more intentional about watching what my CE does to meet the needs of each individual student. How does she differentiate? How does she know their needs are being met? As I was working on edTPA task 1, I was learning that I am not the strongest when it comes to differentiation. I have to really think about how I am going to differentiate and then I go back and forth with myself about whether or not what I am doing is best for each student. It shouldn't be that way and I do not want it to be that way when I am student teaching. I need to know and be intentional about learning about what each student needs in each area of content. This is important because I want to be the best teacher I can be and give them the best experience individually. So, as I am watching and learning the individual needs of each child. I have been talking about IEP's and 504's and needs outside of those too. I am intentional about asking her what she does to meet those needs and she is so good about telling exactly what they need and exactly what to do to meet those needs. For example, while we were talking about my lesson plans, she told me "You are going to want to see ________ close to you, he needs that or you'll need to modify this for _____, this is what I would to modify it to meet their needs." It has been so helpful for me to learn about this and I will continue to so that I can make each learning experience the best it can be for each student individually.

https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/18-teacher-tested-strategies-differentiated-instruction

These are some great tips of "teacher-tested strategies" for differentiation, if you have time to look at them! Background information is key and getting to know your students better while they are in your room. Also, I like the idea of using multiple approaches to instruction. That way, you can cover a variety of learners! This is a big part of treating students as individuals. I am thankful for my CE who does such as good job at meeting that standard and is helping me work to become more proficient at it!