I’ll be honest here. This domain was the first I wrote and as a result, it might feel tonally different than the rest of the portfolio. Most of this I wrote in the fall, with the major exception of this introduction. That was before I had an idea of what I wanted this portfolio to represent, although I do think it fits into my overall theme of growth. I could go back and rewrite it to better fit in with the rest of the portfolio but I do not have the energy for that. There is some indication here of how I have evolved my thinking on teaching over time and grown more comfortable in my role here at EPS but I feel that discussion become more organic in later sections.
The major reason I do not have the energy to rewrite this section is its focus does not interest me as much as the rest of the portfolio. I’m not trying to say this section isn’t important as it is necessary for a teacher to do their job effectively. However, one refrain we always hear from Sam Uzwack is that teaching is about relationships, the ones we form with students as well as the ones we form amongst ourselves. This section to me is the most divorced from that idea, instead focusing the most on me as an individual. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that the true joy I get from this job, as Sam says, comes from my relationship with students and my colleagues, not from what I do individually, and so you may want to start with the pedagogical practice or relational cultivation sections.
Professionalism | Executive Functioning
(1) approaches recommendations for improvement receptively and responsively
I will start by looking at the responsively piece. I feel like I am generally responsive to criticism, as I am constantly looking to improve my practice. Included below are the observations Bart Gummere had from my first year teaching:
I think this string of emails shows how I am responsive to recommendations and seek to incorporate them into my practice since I started working here. Bart noted a number of issues with my teaching that coming from college I needed to work on. You can see that I immediately started working on circulating the room more and now I feel like I am constantly moving between students in my classes. He also noted the small number of students answering questions. This is another thing I have worked on in my classes and feel has been greatly improved upon.
As for the receptive piece, this is something I feel was an issue for me at the beginning of my career. It’s not that I did not respect or incorporate feedback, but more that as a young teacher, I felt the need to justify why I was doing things the way I was and that came across as defensive and confrontational. As I have settled in here at EPS and become more confident as a teacher, I find it a lot easier to take some time to think about the recommendation without immediately feeling the need to justify myself. This has led, I feel, to more productive observations and follow-up sessions with colleagues and superiors.
(2) displays openness and comfort with visitors observing class
My attitude towards visitors observing my classroom can be summed up by the phrase “my door is always open.” I want others in my class, providing me with feedback and a lens to view my classroom that I do not possess on my own. To that end, it is a sincere goal that everyone who observes my class feels welcomed. John Stegeman noted when talking about this indicator that he has always felt comfortable observing my class and I give some of his observations below to illustrate the point:
Not included in these observations was his visit last year, as I cannot find the notes. I do want to highlight a memory from that day, as I began the class by asking kids who they thought would play them in a movie about their life. I included John in the questioning and he threw out Ben Affleck for playing me, which I was quite happy with.
Beyond just my superiors, I want other teachers in my classroom and do my best to make them feel welcome when they do come. Several members of the math discipline have observed me over the years as well as the members of my committee. Here is some feedback I received from Steve on one of those observations:
I have also played host to a prospective teacher every year I have been here, with some years being host to multiple prospective teachers.
Tied to this idea, I have made a real attempt to get into other teacher’s classrooms to observe. In the past couple of years, I have observed most members of the math discipline and took the time to observe Brandon and Alicia this year. I hope to get into a couple more classrooms next year and want to branch out beyond just the math discipline on this front.
(3) seeks out diverse opinions of others for guidance
For this indicator, I do have much physical evidence. This, more than perhaps any other category, is more about asking a quick question in the office or the ten minute conversation with a colleague over breakfast or lunch than having a written record.
For me, there are two names that stand out for math education at EPS, Adrienne Behrmann and Steve Fassino. These are the two people I relied upon when I started at EPS and remain important sources for me on how to teach math. I found myself constantly asking these two questions when I started, probably to the point of annoyance, and they both have greatly influenced how I approach teaching math. Adrienne’s retirement was a major blow to our discipline but has also firmly entrenched Steve as our leader and I continue to seek out his advice on all things math.
As I have grown here at EPS and gotten more comfortable in my relationships, I find that the pool of people I seek advice from has expanded. These take on many different forms but a few notable ones to me are:
- Discussing classroom practices and lesson planning with co-teachers has helped me refine my own practices.
- Working with the full math discipline on scope and sequence of the curriculum and what effective math teacher looks like.
- Having a quick question answered by the fellow members of my office as well as deeper discussions about the state of EPS and teaching as a whole.
- Being observed in class and then debriefing not just with John and other members of SLT but by colleagues.
- Quick conversations at breakfast and lunch. I try to vary who I sit with and try to make a point of eating with the middle school teachers at least once a week. That being said, I do think I can be better about eating at the main teacher table, but I prefer the smaller group setting.
- Grabbing drinks or socializing with fellow teachers and staff after school.
Looking forward, I think can improve on talking with a greater variety of our faculty and staff. There is definitely a contingent that I feel most comfortable with and form the bulk of those I seek advice from, but it is something I can improve upon.
(4) manages and prioritizes professional tasks and responsibilities
In general, I feel I am pretty solid about getting my work done and in a reasonable amount of time. For a glimpse of what that looks like for me, I am going to run through my calendar for the week of March 18th, the week that just passed as I am writing this
Sprinkled throughout the week were quick drop in meetings with students to go over particular homework questions or material from class.
One thing I would like to get better at is tracking all of this. I plan on getting an academic planner next year to have a written schedule. I have not needed this before but I feel like my memory is getting spottier and it is time to have it written down somewhere.
(5) communicates and responds to students, parents, and colleagues in a timely and constructive manner
Below is a small sample of the hundreds of emails I have received and responded to over the course of my six years at EPS. Hopefully, this will give insight into how I respond to students and parents:
In general, I try to be prompt with my responses, replying within 24 hours (or the next business day if emailed over the weekend or a break). Math is difficult to talk about over email, so I try to be as specific as possible and always leave the option open for students to meet with me to discuss their questions.
Moving forward, I am trying to improve my work-life balance in regards to emails. I used to be far more prompt in responding, trying to respond to emails until 8 or 9 PM during the week and within a day on the weekends or breaks. I have started to put up some more barriers in this regard, not responding to emails after school during the week and saving weekend emails until Monday, unless truly necessary for me to respond immediately.
Assessment Practice
(1) designs major assessments that reflect course outcomes and posts them at the start of each trimester
I will focus mainly on the first part of this prompt, as I have always posted my major assessments at the start of the trimester.
When I first started teaching, my major assignments were all tests. Coming from a college environment, I was used to assessing mathematical knowledge via testing and so went with what I was comfortable with. At the time I started at EPS, the QA designation in Canvas did not exist and it was standard to give a cumulative final at the end of each trimester. For reference, here are my MA’s in Calculus Spring Tri my first year (2018-2019):
As I have gotten more comfortable teaching high school, I have started to experiment with different types of assessments. I now make a point to have at least one non-traditional assessment a year in all my classes and ideally at least once a trimester. I have also moved away from cumulative trimester assessments, only giving a cumulative for the year final at the end of the year. For reference, here are my MA’s in Advanced Topics this year (2023-2024):
The final presentation requires students to identify an extension of the material covered in class, do an independent investigation, and then give a presentation of that material.
Moving forward, I want to further explore the correct balance between traditional and non-traditional assessment. Both in my mind are important and need to be present in a math class but I want to continue playing with the ratio. Specifically, I want that ideal of at least one non-traditional assessment per trimester to become a reality and in such a manner that the “project” is something more that just a big homework set. I also want to examine how I can better incorporate growth into my assessment schedule. Spring finals used to be two hours but we now have a system where each trimester have 90 minutes finals. Might it make more sense to convert classes to trimesters? Would a cumulative final at the end of the trimester with some option of using that grade to boost earlier grades help reward that growth over time? This is something I want to ponder more.
(2) designs assignments to be graded and returned in a feedback cycle of seven calendar days
Returning an assignment within seven calendar days is something I do my best to adhere to. I have designed my homework feedback to be given before the grade. Solutions to homework are distributed to students at the beginning of the class it was due. Time is given at the start of class for students to review those solutions and check their work. I will be circulating during this time to answer any questions the students might have and if I see multiple students having issues with the same problem, we can take the time to review that question as a class.
For major and quick assessments, I try to stick to a two class period turnaround. That is, these assessments are graded and returned to students at the beginning of the second class period following the class period said assessment was due. Students seem to appreciate the quick turnaround but this also comes with some problems, which I will detail shortly. For reference, I asked Jonathan Briggs to send me my entire collection of student experience surveys over the past five years I have been teaching at EPS, so that I can analyze responses to the question my work is returned to me in a timely manner (within a week). There are 174 responses to this question and students have given me an average of 3.446 out of 4, with a median score of 4. I plan on including the entire spreadsheet in the artifact section of this PDP and these computations can be found on lines 1943 and 1944 in said spreadsheet.
Moving forward, one problem I have run into while trying to provide a quick turnaround of grading for major and quick assessments has been student illness and extensions. My grading style is to do one problem at a time for all students. I believe this helps me ensure fairness and equity in grading. However, this style also means I want all tests in before I grade. Therefore, I am waiting for the last student to take a test before grading. This shortens my window for grading and can even make it impossible to return tests in that seven calendar days. In the future, I want to come up with a system that allows me to allow for illness and extensions while also returning all assignments in that seven calendar day window.
(3) ensures the number of assignments in each course is neither excessive nor deficient — providing appropriate time for quality student performance and meaningful teacher feedback
This is something I have given a lot of thought to over my years here at EPS. The standard model I have seen for a math course is homework every day to practice material, a quiz every couple of classes, and then a unit test to wrap up each major topic. The further I have got into my EPS career, the more I have moved away from this model. For one, the expectations around quizzes and tests at EPS made this model untenable. Students expect a review for every test and even if a quiz was only scheduled to take half a class period, it would often mean that the rest of the class was in essence useless for learning new material. I now have adopted the following strategies in my classes.
Advanced Topics in Mathematics is a senior level class that I have taught for five years now. The model I have created for this course has evolved to have four grading categories: Tests and Projects, a Final presentation, HW and exit tickets. Homework is graded on completion and is designed for students to practice in a stress free environment. I have experimented with homework graded for accuracy at EPS and found it failed to accomplish anything. I typically glance at work and only leave feedback on Canvas if there is a major question that needs to be addressed and wasn’t in the class period when the homework is initially due. Solutions to the homework are provided and time is given at the beginning of class for students to ask questions on the homework. It is these two avenues where the majority of feedback on HW is given. Exit tickets have taken the place of quizzes in this class. Instead of something taking half the class every couple of class periods, I give a quick one question problem at the end of most classes. These I do grade for accuracy although I consider participation and engagement also in these grades, so rarely would a student score lower than 90% on any one exit ticket. I explain in Canvas if something is wrong and this also gives me an overarching sense of how well the material from that class is absorbed. Students are encouraged to talk during exit tickets as well as use their notes, as I think the discussion aspect helps reinforce the material covered. Each trimester of the course features two tests, which are designed to be challenging, as they not only measure understanding and mastery of the concepts but also stretch their mathematical thinking into the abstract. Feedback is given directly on the test, with mistakes pointed out and thought processes illustrated. The winter trimester also features a project. The first half is connecting the concepts we learn in class to real life by having them work on retirement savings accounts. The second half is designed to expose them to a new topic, namely chaos theory, building upon the work they had done in the first half. The final presentation of each trimester is an open-ended investigation of the material we are covering. Students have to pick and research an extension of the material covered in class and then present what they have learned. I like this cycle since it gives me multiple opportunities to give feedback (and give them a chance to evaluate themselves) on low stakes assessments leading up to each high stakes assessment.
All my classes have some aspect of the Advanced Topics model in them. In particular, the math discipline all approaches homework the same way. We all grade homework on completion. Solutions to homework problems are provided to students and in all my classes, I either allow questions at the beginning of class on homework or give time for students to review the solutions as the primary way for students to receive feedback. Three or four MA’s a trimester is standard, with assessing understand and mastery of concepts being the primary goal of tests. This trimester in Calculus I am experimenting with a new form of feedback, one pioneered at EPS by Sarah Aguiar. I highlight mistakes on the test and do not put the numerical or letter grade. That is in Canvas, which I only unmute after students have taken the time to review their mistakes and correct. It separates the feedback from the grade and has been a productive change so far. It is something I hope to adopt in my future classes with the possible exception of Advanced Topics. The need to comment on reasoning and thinking in that class might not mesh well with the highlighting feedback style so that is something I need to look at.