STUDENT SURVEY ANALYSIS I. Demographics There are 609 students who attend Mortimer Y.

Sutherland Middle School in grades six through eight. In terms of gender, females maintain the slight majority at 51.4%, which leaves males at 48.6% of the school population. For race, the student population is identified by three distinct ethnicities: white (74.9%), black (7.6%), and Hispanic (4.8%). Students of limited English proficiency make up 2.6% of the school. There is 13% of the student body that has been categorized as disadvantaged, which is defined by students who receive free or reduced lunch under the federal program. There is 8% of the student body that has been identified as students with disabilities, which are those who have been identified for special education services from speech pathology to severe and profound learning disabilities. From 2010-2013, the aggregate Standard of Learning (SOL) pass rate has slightly declined over the years. From 2010-2013, the reading SOL pass rate was 96%, 96%, and 88%, respectively. The math SOL pass rate was 94%, 88%, and 87%, respectively. The school runs on a modified block schedule system that alternates black and teal days. Each class is approximately 90 minutes with a daily 25 minute lunch break. In eighth grade, students are enrolled in four core classes (science, math, language arts, and civics), physical education, a foreign language course (Spanish, German, and French), and exploratory courses (chorus/band/strings, entrepreneurship/technology, design/writing). Out of 609 students, there are 196 of students in the eighth grade, and I have 97 of these eighth graders. I teach five different classes, four of which are at the honors level and one of which is at the standard level. I have one student with an IEP, but I do not teach any English

Language Learners. My Special Education student has been mainstreamed into one of my honors level classes, and this students primary disability is Autism spectrum disorder, specifically

STUDENT SURVEY ANALYSIS Aspergers Syndrome, intertwined with ADHD. Another student has been diagnosed with

Aspergers Syndrome, ADHD, and intermittent anxiety, but this student does not have an IEP or 504. II. Influencing Factors The influencing factors on the survey responses vary by class, so I will address potential factors by each class (first block black, second block, fourth block black, first block teal, and fourth block teal). However, two broad influencing factors include the fact that this survey was administered at the end of the week. Students tend to lose concentration with the prospect of the weekend, which could account for why some students believed that the survey was to evaluate my clinical instructor, despite my oral and written instructions. The other influencing factor is the fact that I administered the survey as a Do Now activity. My students are responsible for looking at the chalkboard upon arrival for classroom instructions. Do Now activities can take the form of a journal entry, grammar handout, or anticipation guide. While students treat this time with respect, Do Now activities are much more relaxed than a handout distributed during class. My first block black class is the first class of the day, and as such, they are often quiet, though I can usually elicit participation and discussion. I refer to my first block black period as my guinea pig class; every time I teach a lesson to this class, it is my first time teaching it, and this class response determines how I adapt my lessons for my other classes. My students can, perhaps, intuit the insecurity that accompanies a new lesson, so I was not too startled that they were my harshest critics (i.e., I received more 2s than 1s and received a couple of 4s). My second block class is my standard level class that meets every day. Despite the behavioral issues in this class, they were my kindest responders: I received a striking number of

STUDENT SURVEY ANALYSIS 1s. I am wary of their answers, because most students in this class complete their work in a

nonchalant and cursory manner with graded assignments, so I am curious as to how an unrelated activity affected their motivation when completing this survey. Of all my classes, I trust my fourth block black class responses to be the most honest and well intentioned. Collectively speaking, this class is filled with my most intrinsically motivated students. However, like my second block class, I received a prominent number of 1s from them as well. My teal day classes are primarily influenced by the time of day. My first block teal class is, like my first block black class, a morning class. Students are relatively quiet, but it can get extraordinarily lively when they become engaged in a discussion topic. My fourth block teal class is my chattiest class. In addition to this class being at the end of day, these students come from their physical education class, so they are often amped on endorphins and sweat. III. Analysis My student teaching semester has been and continues to be a critical time of conducting lessons, collaboration, and reflection. While I have been diligently reflecting in my journal, this analysis gives me the opportunity to reflect in a more structured format. Through this format, I would like to use the information from my student surveys to address my strengths and weaknesses in each category. A. Knowledge of Subject Matter According to the surveys, an overwhelming majority of my students either strongly agree (1) or agree (2) that I am knowledgeable and understand Language Arts, the subject being taught. Of the 91 completed surveys I received, I had one student disagree and two students who were

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unsure of my knowledge database. In terms of the majority, I believe my strength in this category is my passion for literature, particularly the eighth grade curriculum. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how interested I am in the eighth grade language arts curriculum. The syllabus has been designed to focus on six themes, three of which I have been able to address during my student teaching period: cooperation v. isolation, tolerance of the atypical, and honoring the historical and cultural past with works by John Steinbeck, Daniel Keyes, and Ray Bradbury. The combination of these themes and authors captivate me and fuel my interest, which I am able to project onto my students. My enthusiasm for the curriculum plays a major role in my knowledge of subject matter. Though I can teach on dull topics (or at least, topics that I consider dull), my natural enthusiasm channels my dedication in learning literature to teach it. Though the majority is in my favor, there is a weakness I would like to address: preparation. While I am inclined to learn the works, I often rely on my ability to improvise, which may explain the lower ratings from my first block black class. As previously stated, this is my guinea pig class, so I am frequently experimenting techniques that should have more thought behind it. For example, I taught Edgar Allan Poes, The Raven, and I overestimated my students comprehension abilities. As we were reading through the poem as a class, I realized that the class needed to break down each stanza together. However, I was unprepared to analyze the poem in this manner, which affected my knowledge of the subject matter. While I was able to get by, I use this moment to make an example of myselfas a future teacher, getting by will not be good enough for my students. B. Pedagogical Knowledge

STUDENT SURVEY ANALYSIS In terms of pedagogical knowledge, I was pleased to discover that my students believe that I am a good teacher. According to the surveys, my students indicate that my strength is making concepts easy to understand. In addition to this strength, however, my students marked

on one of my weaknesses, which includes using different materials and activities to help students learn. I was thrilled to learn that my students believe I am making concepts easy to understand. After working with high school seniors enrolled in Advanced Placement classes, I was a little nervous about my transition. As a result of my nerves, I have been cognizant about making content accessible to my eighth grade students, and these nerves have served me well. For example, whenever I create a handout, I run the directions and questions by my clinical instructor to ensure that the language is grade-level appropriate and addresses my objectives. As a seasoned teacher, she recognizes questions that may be too difficult for my students, and I edit the handouts accordingly. For my weakness, I received 2s (agrees) and 3s (unsure) for the statement, My teacher uses different materials & activities to help us learn. This is something I have been concerned about in my personal journal reflections. Like most teachers, I am eager to get students engaged in lessons, and I principally rely on discussions to stimulate student engagement levels. While discussions can elicit fascinating ideas, I have been pondering individual activities that can be just as engaging for students. I asked a couple of my students for suggestions, and they recommended an individual interactive activity. Perhaps I can find a way to engage students by having them watch relevant videos on laptops and answer questions individually. Another possible individual activity is having students build something that they have read in a text with only paper.

STUDENT SURVEY ANALYSIS C. Caring and Effective Teacher Building rapport with people, whether in a professional or casual setting, is one of my strong suits, and this strength was reaffirmed in the student survey responses. A majority of my students strongly agree that I treat everyone fairly, that I allow and respect different opinions, and that I encourage all students to learn. However, there are some students who are unsure about my availability outside of class and my feedback. When I was in third grade, my teacher was blatantly obvious about her favorites, and I hated her for it. I never want my students to feel the way that I did, so equality in the classroom

is particularly important to me. While I inevitably interact with students who participate in class, I make an effort to build relationships with my quieter students outside of the classroom context (i.e., I will ask them questions about their hobbies and interests or what they did over the weekend) in the hopes that they will eventually open up to me and the class, and to my squealing delight, many of my quieter students have become more engaged in class. Allowing and respecting different opinions is closely related to treating everyone fairly. I entertain multiple opinions as one way to exemplify my fair treatment of everyone. As a leader of the classroom, it is my duty to model basic interpersonal etiquette, and it is my hope that I can be an example that I would like students to adopt. For my weaknesses, my students were mostly unsure (3s) about my feedback and my availability to help outside of the classroom. For homework and writing assignments, I usually write a couple of sentences of of specific feedback and what I hope to see improved for next time, but perhaps my feedback is still vague to them. Since it was near the beginning of full time teaching, I had not assigned any major papers or projects that required massive feedback, and this may be why they were unsure. My students were also unsure about my availability outside

STUDENT SURVEY ANALYSIS of the classroom, and this is my fault. I never thought to tell my students about my availability outside of the classroom, because I expected them to know: before or after school. After administering the surveys (and teaching for a couple more weeks), however, I realized that I

could not and cannot expect my students to know anything for sure; expectations, directions, and norms must be explicit. D. Areas for Improvement & Future Steps According to the surveys, some areas for improvement (that I have not previously detailed) include stating the purpose of my lessons and clarifying how homework assignments relate to classwork. Some of my students were unsure of me stating the purpose of my lessons, though my lesson objective is usually written on the board. However, I recognize that I must make those objectives clear to my students. A way to improve this is to verbally direct my students to the board where the daily objective is located and read it aloud. I envision this being a very brief interlude, so I can easily move from that to my next planned activity. In addition, I usually direct student attention to the homework board, so that they are aware of upcoming assignments and projects. Like stating the purpose of my lessons, I envision this to be a quick spiel. When I do this, I can easily insert the purpose of these assignments and/or projects to explain how they relate to my lessons and work done in class. Other ways I plan to improve my performance (that I have not already mentioned) include classroom vigilance. During this semester, I have learned the significance of being alert in my classroom. It sounds simple enough, but I have been shocked at how many things can slip by unnoticed. For example, I have asked my clinical instructor to provide me with daily feedback, and she picks up on conversations and student behavior I was not aware of. Near the beginning of the school year, we were having a classroom discussion, and one of my students

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jokingly insulted his peer, and my teacher stepped in immediately. I had not heard what was said, but my instructor and I discussed it during our mini-conference at the end of the day. She told me that issues like that, even when they are jokes, must be nipped in the bud immediately to quell and prevent any future outbursts. Otherwise, she said, it can become a snowball effect of insults in the classroom.