Aubree Clark's Portfilio

When reading about theories of adult learning and how professional learning should happen in schools, most of what I was reading seemed like a no-brainer to me.   I realized, however, that not all teachers have as transparent and data-driven professional development as I am used to after discussing with other members in our class.   Zepeda’s comments on professional learning happening through student work samples is extremely important to me when considering whether one’s professional development is student-centered.   Student work sample should be relevant to whether students are or are not learning, identify gaps in our teaching rather than in student understanding, and should include a reflection piece (Zepeda, 2008).   While there is a time and place for relevant professional learning that indirectly relates to students rather than focuses on their academic instruction, such as social emotional learning or work around equity and diversity like my district does,...

While each model of distributed leadership had clear differences, they all seemed to base their ideas on the premise that leadership can take place within a variety of contexts and are not limited to just one specific person or role.   This is also true of my experiences in a school setting.   I related most to Ogawa, Pounder, and colleagues' model of leadership as an organization-wide resource of power and influence.   There are various types of leadership within our building and my district, each which comes with its own set of power and influence.   While certainly administration holds a significant amount of power and often times influence as well, certain teachers in our building share and equal amount of influence, especially with other colleagues and with parents.   I also related to this model's criteria for effective organizations, particularly being able to control relationships within an environment and building a sense of commitment amongst sta...

Over the course of this quarter, my confidence in using and naming instructional strategies has drastically increased.   While I already had knowledge of many of these strategies under my belt prior to taking this course and used them frequently, I was not in a position to effectively teach them to others or even collect data on them within my own teaching.   One of the most powerful pieces to my learning in this course was being able to put a name to the strategies that I’ve previously found successful within my own teaching.   With now having the increased knowledge of names of instructional strategies, areas in lessons and units that they are most effective, and an ability to take data of them, I am able to have meaningful conversations with other educators.   I also have more tools for my teacher leader “toolkit” as far as guiding teachers to effective, research based strategies that help further student learning.   In addition to the deep dive in...

This course has been powerful in learning how culture can impact our daily lives, specifically in education.   While I have been on a personal journey in digging deeper into cultural competency and understanding hidden biases and privileges I may have, it has been eye opening to see the implications it can have for my students and my profession as an educator.   As I ponder over the major takeaways of this course, the things that stick with me are aspects of multicultural education that I want to pass along as an educator.   Prior to doing any of those things, I know that slowing down and truly understanding what culture is and digging deep into others cultures is what is most important.   Especially as an educator, it is imperative to focus on continuous learning of cultures in order to do what is best for students.   Beyond this, I look forward to using what I’ve learned to positively impact my student’s relationship with our education system and expand th...

Introduction My overall focus for this action research project was to increase independence and engagement during math conversations through accountable talk.   Prior to beginning this action research project, I found that many of my students needed constant prompting to explain their thinking and communicate to others.   I also found that since these skills were lacking, we were missing out on a powerful opportunity to explain math concepts and strategies to parents.   Strengthening students’ communication skills in math can help with developing problem solving skills, communicating with families, and strengthening conceptual understanding of math topics.   My performance target looked at ways to increase student communication to others.   While one trait focused on increasing independence in student conversations during whole group lessons, my other trait looked at students’ individual abilities to explain a concept in video form through digital portfoli...

I enjoyed reading the first chapter of The Multiplier Effect and am excited to continue reading!  Many of us as educators have always known that micromanaging is not the most effective way lead people, but it was encouraging to see that there is evidence that the opposite tactics can produce even more productivity.  When reviewing the five disciplines of the multiplier, I was able to make connections to people that are around me in education.  It was interesting to identify certain people in my professional circle was "multipliers" or "accidental diminishers".  While reading the accidental diminishers section in this chapter, I found myself thinking "Why would any leader with good intentions do these things?!".  As I took the accidental diminisher quiz, however, I quickly realized that it is not so black and white.  Many aspects that some would view as great foundations of leadership can often come off as diminishing, even though not intended so.  I...

Participating in an Online Community Using various social media platforms in order to learn more about various aspects of teaching and education is my favorite form of professional development.  I believe that learning from other teachers is one of the best things that we can do to strengthen our pedagogy and to open our mind to new ideas.  The phrases "iron sharpens iron" certainly also applies to the world of teaching.  Also, when you get to choose your own "PD", it makes your learning much more meaningful and applicable to your own teaching.   It is hard to choose just one online community experience, because using social media for teaching has become part of my daily life.  I initially just began being interested in other teacher's ideas on things such as Pinterest, blog posts, and instagram.  This inspired me to create my own teacher instagram account and also start blogging about teacher-related topics as well.  It is still very hard ...