First Full Clinical Cycle

At the beginning of this course I was dreading the full clinical cycle because I thought the pre- and post-observation conferences would be uncomfortable. Now that the course is culminating, I have a great appreciation for these conferences and welcome the opportunity to experience them again.  I do believe that the teacher I selected greatly impacted my experience, and I would not have had the same experience if I had chosen another teacher.  After the post-observation conference, the teacher and I walked out of the classroom with excitement and awe as we expressed our appreciation for each other and our accomplishments together.  We really enjoyed the clinical cycle because we got to talk openly about meaningful instruction and assessment.  It doesn’t get better than that!

I am naturally reflective, but I do not like watching myself on video.  I always learn a lot when I watch myself, but I feel very uncomfortable during the process.  Just like I used to do with parent conferences, I chose to sit next to Yvonne instead of across from her.  Tables and space can often serve as barriers, so I eliminated them. While I felt very relaxed during this process, my body language appeared to be anxious as I sat forward in my chair.  At one point during the conference, I sat back in the chair to ponder a thought, and that is when I realized the power of a relaxed body language.  No matter what I am feeling inside, I must be aware of how I am presenting myself to others.  As for my strengths, I make eye contact and nod my head often in conversation to acknowledge that I am following along.

One of the areas in which I need to improve revolves around data gathering.  I struggle with focusing on a particular aspect of the classroom when so much is happening at once.  As a result, I end up overlooking important details.  An easy to use data-collecting instrument might help me improve in this area; however, I have not found this instrument yet.  I tried to create one of my own, but it was extremely hard for me to figure out a way to quantify the information that the teacher wanted to gather.   I am now more aware of the importance of identifying measurable objectives during the pre-observation conference.  I shared my reflection with Yvonne so that she would be more comfortable sharing her lesson reflections as well.  We both felt comfortable thinking critically about the lesson and brainstorming methods of improvement.

I firmly believe that this conference was 100% collaborative.  Both the teacher and I have similar levels of experience and as a result, respect each other’s opinions.  We took turns discussing the successful portions of the lesson as well as the problem areas.  I came prepared with ideas to discuss in case we had a mental block, but in our exchange of possible solutions, we covered all of the ideas that I had brainstormed beforehand.  I look forward to our next meeting when we start to implement some of our new ideas!