parker - reflection logs

Gabe Parker

Week 2: January 12 - 16, 2015

1. How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have?

This was a busy week indeed! Terri and I spent two mornings and an afternoon in meetings and also

administered a test this week. During the meetings, I primarily listened and observed. During PLC

Executive meetings I definitely played the silent role. These meetings were a good opportunity for me to

learn how ADM plans and sets their agenda for PD. On Wednesday we meet for a half day of PD with the

7th and 8th grade math teachers. I was rather involved in this discussion about how to organize testing,

scoring, re-teaching, and re-testing in their standards-based grading system. Terri and I also developed a

method to select students for enrichment with the GATE teacher and began conversation about using

pre-testing to better align instruction to student needs during the next chapter.

2. What were your most satisfying experiences? What were your most challenging experiences?

It was very satisfying this week to be truly needed by Terri. This is only the third testing cycle they have

been through this year and they are still working out many kinks in their implementation of standards-

based grading. Terri was incredibly appreciative of my help organizing and grading tests and also of how

I was able to answer questions during testing. We are concerned about how she will manage all of this

when I am gone, but that is something we are actively working to figure out.

It was especially difficult this week to be the inexperienced student during professional conversations.

Especially while discussing standards-based grading, the value of small groups to instruction, and the use

of the gradual release of responsibility. It was difficult not to disagree with people or to not speak up too

much. The way things are often implemented is not true to the developer’s intent or only implements

bits and pieces. As a student who is currently being indoctrinated in the implementation of research-

based instructional strategies, I expect to see them implemented in their purest form, but often times

that simply is not the case.

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week?

Monday will be a full day of PD. We are meeting with the high school math team for a couple of hours in

the morning and then working with just the middle school math team for the remainder of the day. We

will be planning and organizing for our re-teaching and re-testing days on Tuesday and Wednesday and

also working on writing future assessments. Tuesday and Wednesday will consist of re-teaching and re-

testing. While students are working through these stages, those who have already met the standards

will work with me on enrichment activities. We begin our next chapter on Thursday and will continue it

on Friday. This week I will be teaching roughly half of the periods in preparation for teaching full-time

the following week.

Gabe Parker

Week 5: January 2-6, 2015


This was a very odd week. We had a snow day on Monday and an early out on Wednesday. Even so, the

week was more normal than last, without having Iowa Assessments this week. This was very helpful for

accomplishing more during class. Each period was shortened by 10 minutes last week, which makes a

huge difference during a 42 minute class period. The normal daily schedule also created the opportunity

to continue the co-teaching arrangement during 3rd period.

On Wednesday, the 6th grade went on a sort of field trip. Once a month, students who have turned in all

assignments on time for the previous month, get to take part in a “bonus party”. This month, they went

ice skating. Only 22 students were unable to go and they worked in a study hall monitored by an

associate. I took this as an opportunity to do an external observation. I coordinated with Linda Burk, the

Middle School Computer Technology Teacher, to observe her 8th grade classes during the morning while

the 6th graders were gone. This way, I wouldn’t miss out on any teaching. As it turned out, the snow day

on Monday pushed each day back and instead of having 8th graders on Wednesday, Linda was supposed

to have 6th graders, who were all gone skating. In lieu of the observation, I asked her a number of

questions about their computers program and what her job looks like and we re-scheduled the

observation for Thursday. So, Thursday I observed her computers class and returned to teach 6th grade

in the afternoon.

Friday, we began a group project activity to practice conversions between fractions, decimals, and

percents. This activity will wrap up on Monday. I’m really excited about this project as it using a flexible

grouping scheme and should produce some great data for the effectiveness of that grouping. I will know

more about how this turned out on Monday night when I look through their work.


I had a great time talking with Linda on Wednesday, even though it was not what we had originally

planned. We talked for over two hours and I learned a lot about what she does in her room and also

about the computer technology program at ADM. This connection with Linda was very satisfying and I’m

glad that we were able to talk.

Additionally, I am very happy with the way the group project began on Friday. Up until now I have been

very much “by the book”, with my lessons being closely aligned to the text. This is very much how Terri

works through the material. I have been looking for a way to, not abandon her way of teaching, but to

incorporate some of my own ideas. This is the first thing I have really done differently than her and I was

nervous about how it would go. It appears that the groups I created will work very well and also that the

activity will have a very positive educational effect on the students. Also, they will have a quality product

to show for their work, which seems to be engaging for them.

I worked a lot of hours this week and was very busy. This was my biggest challenge. I am now

responsible for everything, including entering grades and going through all papers and corrections to

papers. The amount of papers Terri goes through every week is unreal and without much experience

with organizating so many papers, I have had to put in a lot of hours. I was at school until 6:00pm or

later every day this past week and was in early every morning as well. In addition, I took work home 2

nights this week. To add to all of this, I am preparing for an interview on Tuesday. Since this is my first

interview, I am still putting a portfolio together and this has proven to be very time consuming. All of

those things considered, I am having a lot of fun. Though I have had little free time this past week, I am

very much enjoying the work I am doing.


This week we will really be getting back into the grind, so to speak. The schedule will be normal and I

don’t anticipate any snow days or deviations from a normal week. In addition, I hope to cover a lot of

material this week, with both sections. We are getting to the point in both chapters were we are

applying the skills that we have been learning. This application is very important, but will also proceed

rather quickly. I hope to begin a testing cycle Friday for one section and next Tuesday for the other

section. In light of the upcoming testing, I have some prep to do for the re-teaching and re-testing which

will follow. Last cycle, I provided enrichment while Terri worked with small groups to re-teach and re-

test. This time, I am going to implement some ideas which will require those students who are not- re-

teaching and re-testing to work very independently and to be rather self-sufficient. The idea is to

establish a system which Terri can continue to implement on her own once I leave in March.

Outside of teaching, I have an interview on Tuesday morning and our first seminar class on Tuesday

night. On Thursday, you are coming for my midterm evaluation. And finally, I have e-portfolio seminar

next Sunday. All things considered this will be a very busy, and exciting, week!

Gabe Parker

Week 8: March 2 - 6, 2015


Last week was my last week full-time teaching. We spent the entire week taking a chapter test, re-

teaching and re-testing on the chapter, and also benchmark testing. In preparation for parent-teacher

conferences, we are having students take a 6th grade standardized test to gauge their progress thus far

in the year. This will serve as excellent data for their parents next week.

During re-teaching and re-testing I guided the class as Terri worked with individual students in re-

teaching. Once the whole group was independent with the day’s activity, I also worked with individuals.

This re-testing cycle has been much easier than last simply because much fewer students needed re-

teaching.

I was excited to see how students scored on this chapter test because it was over the first chapter which

I taught from start to finish. I was very pleased with their scores and was encouraged by what they were

able to show that they knew. It was good for me to also work with individuals who needed re-teaching

because I was able to identify misconceptions that I had not previously noticed and help them to correct

those. Also, it helps me to know what pieces I need to spend more time with or emphasize next time I

teach this chapter.


It was so satisfying to see students be successful in testing over something that I taught. It is a truly

rewarding experience to see them independent in using a concept or skill that is completely their own

and to know that I played a key part in that development. In addition, I absolutely love working with kids

one-on-one. I see so much progress during these situations which is encouraging.

I spend oodles of time entering grades and looking through corrected assignments. I was constantly at a

lack for time this week because I was looking through so many correction papers. At the end of each

chapter students scramble to make corrections to homework, so they all come in at once and parents

want immediate feedback via Infinite Campus. While time was an issue, it was more discouraging to see

how many students are scoring poorly on their homework. There are so many students who get low

scores because they are careless and either make computational errors or they don’t complete the

assignment or they do the wrong assignment. Many students do their assignments just to get them

done but without quality, grading these papers sometimes feels like a waste of time.


This week we will be continuing to chip away at the benchmark test. It is 100 questions long, so we will

spend about 10 minutes each day working on it. In addition, we are beginning a new chapter over ratios

and rates. The third period class is beginning the previous chapter over percents, decimals, and

fractions. In the co-taught class (3rd period) I have eased back into an associate sort of role, where Terri

is leading the lesson and I work around the room with individuals. For the other class periods, Terri is

teaching in the morning and I am still teaching the afternoon classes. As I am moving away from the

teaching, I am trying to be more diligent about taking care of the little things, for example, addressing

organizational issues with students, approaching students who need to stay for study group, getting

missing assignments from students, etc. These are things that I struggled to keep up with because they

are almost like nuances, and can easily be missed or forgotten. I am really working to pay closer

attention to those sorts of things as the teaching responsibilities become less.

Gabe Parker

Week 10: March 9 – 13, 2015


This week Terri did essentially all of the teaching while I entered scores into the grade book, so as to

have the most accurate quarter grades posted for parent-teacher conferences. In addition, I helped

during team meetings as we prepared effort and behavior rubrics for each 6th grader. Finally, I scored all

of the benchmark tests, so that we would also have those scores available for parents to see.

As we were preparing each student’s file for their conferences, we chose not to include the benchmark

test scores. Students did not score well on them and we were afraid that parents would be overly

distracted by these scores and overlook the incredible progress that their students have made.

Conferences were held on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:00-8:30pm. As the math teachers, Terri and I

had, by far, the most conferences. With the exception of a couple of no-shows, we were busy all night

each night. Terri led the first few conferences, but after that she allowed me to lead them. Essentially,

we ended up working back and forth during each conference as we both shared about the student.

There were a couple of very difficult conferences which Terri took charge of and I basically just listened

in on these.

Since Thursday was my last day with this group, I made at word cloud for each class period using their

names. Inside and around each cloud I wrote a short note of thanks, specific to that group of students.

In addition, I wrote a letter for Terri and sent an email of thanks to the entire 6th grade team. They also

had a gift from me. Before I left, I was presented with a milk crate full of supplies for next year, from

disinfectant wipes to dry erase markers, to gum. Also, the students gave me a hand-made book full of

advice as a survival guide for teaching middle school. I read the entire book that night. It was very

humorous and will be useful!


It was very challenging to sit through those difficult conferences. There we conferences where we did

not have a good report for mom and dad, or conferences where mom and dad did not appreciate the

progress that their student has made. These were disheartening and made me sad for the student, but

they were important conversations to have. It was also very difficult to say goodbye. I received many

hugs and handwritten notes from students that I will really miss.

On the same token, it feels good to know that I will be missed and that I did make a difference in those

students’ lives during the 10 weeks that I worked with them. Also it is awesome to know that I will have

future opportunities to work with those kids, since I will be teaching full-time in the middle school next

year. In addition, I took part in some awesome conferences. There were a handful of conferences that

the student attended and we had a great report for their folks. It was awesome to see the proud faces of

their parents and to hear parents encourage their children and tell how proud they are. Those

experiences made me very excited to be a dad in the near future.


This next week is Spring Break, so I will be relaxing as I prepare for my second placement in High School

Business. In addition, I am working hard this week to finish my e-portfolio and to make sure everything

is in order for graduation. On the personal side, we are house shopping and have made a couple of

offers already. Maybe this week we will find a place to land!

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