AER Reflection

1.      Assessment Page During First Teaching Block

  As I am going into my first teaching block I am looking for resources that can help me along the way.  For assessment I will be using my digital portfolio on assessment to help guide me.  The first thing that I would use to help guide me would be the AER Strategy Form.  This form will be a constant reference for how I will use assessment to tackle a variety of challenges such as ELL learners, special needs learners, or report cards.  I have included two resources for every section from the Ministry document Growing Success to help guide me in future uses of assessment.  

  I would also like to use my assessment page from my digital portfolio to continue to blog about my continuing experiences and challenges with assessment.  I believe I have already started off quite well with my first two posts on my past experiences with assessment and my recent experiences with assessment.  I would like to continue this blog by detailing how I am dealing with assessment during my first teaching block and how I am adjusting to assess my placement class.  I believe that this will help with my self-reflection as a teacher and allow me to refine my assessment strategies.  

3. Professional Learning Goal for Job Interview

  If I were to highlight one of my professional learning goals from my AER Strategy Form I would want to highlight my goal to better facilitate support learning for students who are form an Aboriginal, Metis, or Inuit background.  In my AER Strategy Form I have highlighted the need to research the need to study the social and economic conditions these students come from as well as talking to experts and advisors from these communities.  This will be done to help better understand the context that these students learn in and what challenges they might have to learning.  I have highlighted two Ministry of Education documents to help me develop this learning goal.  These resources can be found here and here.  Both of these documents help inform teachers about the learning styles these students might have based on the communities they are from while also providing practical strategies and tools for the successful instruction of Aboriginal, Metis, and Inuit students.  I believe that teachers in Ontario are under-equipped and to help with the effective education of these students.  I therefore believe that highlighting my knowledge and willingness to learn and develop this knowledge would be a desirable asset during a job interview.