GAPS ANalysis

I feel I am least competent in the communication standard of the TKES/Intern Keys. I feel this because I did not have many opportunities to truly communicate during my student teaching. My host teacher emailed all the parents, fielded any emails about the classes, and communicated to the administration about the class.  I was able to communicate to students about assignments and expectations both in class and electronically, which I feel I did well with. However, the reason I ranked this as my lowest standard is that I feel I did not have a chance to communicate in some, what I feel, are important forms of communication for a teacher. I will try to close this gap by consulting my mentor teachers, department head, and administration before I officially communicate with parents if I feel unsure about how to approach a situation or to be sure I am interpreting emails correctly.  

 

I ranked differentiated instruction as my next less competent. I ranked this standard here because I feel that I did a good job of finding material suitable for the students who needed differentiated instruction but struggled to find a way to give it to those students without giving it to the rest of the class. I also feel I did not do well with providing enough remediation, enrichment, and acceleration to students. I also feel I did not do enough in using assessment results in my differentiation. I do, however, feel I did well when I grouped students to work on activities. I plan to increase this skill by working collaboratively with other teachers as well as keeping up to date with research and practices of differentiated instruction. I also would like to attend some professional development sessions that deal with differentiation. 

 

I also feel I did not so well with creating a good academically challenging environment. I only taught biology during my student teaching, even some AP Bio. Due to the rigor of biology as a stand-alone subject, I feel I was afraid to push the envelope when it came to this standard. I saw many students struggle with the content and become frustrated. In this standard, I feel I controlled the class, and managed class time well. However, I feel I struggled to push students at times and increase the rigor for some students, which leads back to differentiated instruction. I feel that I sometimes, without meaning to, lowered some expectations of students because I knew how difficult the content was. These three standards are the ones I will be focusing on as I progress through my first year of teaching. I will be seeking help from my mentor teachers and other teachers at the school to help me hone in on these skills so I can implement them better in my classroom.