BTSA- Year 1

By: Sabrina Schouten

My School/ My Grade
Estudillo

Elementary School in the San

Jacinto Unified School District
Transitional Kindergarten- AM

Class Dynamics
Started off the year with 27 students, 16
boys and 11 girls.
Throughout the school year students
dropped and added.
Now I have 29 students with 18 boys and
11 girls.
I have 11 English Language Learners
Different academic levels(above, average,
below grade level)

Transitional Kindergarten at
the Beginning of the Year
Students
were
rolling
around on
the carpet!

Students
were running
around
everywhere!

Transitional Kindergarten at
the Beginning of the Year

At the beginning of the year, I faced the challenges of

managing the behaviors in the classroom.
Lots of rolling on the carpet, screaming, running around
classroom, students didnt know how to act in a school
environment.
This was the first time many students attended school, so I
had a lot of students crying wanting to go home.
I also had a lot of students not know how to hold a pencil or
even color.
Very shocked at the different levels my students were at.
Some students had very limited vocabulary, had a hard time
communicating. (a lot did not know any of the letters of the
alphabet or any numbers)

TK Writing Beginning of the

Year
This

writing sample was from the same

student for beginning of the year and
the end of the year.

Struggles I Faced Throughout

the Year
Classroom

management- managing very disruptive behaviors

(yelling out, running around classroom, hitting other students)
Developing curriculum as the year went (Had the main curriculum
but always have to find supplemental materials to use with all of
the themes)
Not having any parent volunteers in the room.
Promoting positive behavior (rewarding the students who follow
the rules all the time and always do what they are supposed to)
Always worried about the students with the disruptive behavior
that it would keep me from recognizing the students who listen and
follow directions.
Having to go back to college for 24 units of professional
development, while also having the stress of being a new teacher
and wedding planning.

Transitional Kindergarten Now

Student
s now
listen!
Students
can follow
directions!
Students sit
when they
are
supposed
to!

Transitional Kindergarten Now

Students

listen and follow directions!

Students are independent workers! (They make transitions
by themselves, and can complete activities on their own).
They love to share information on topics we discuss.
Students can write excellent sentences and draw very
detailed pictures!
Students can color within the lines and construct their own
crafts.
Students can walk in a straight line!
Behaviors are so much better! They have grown up so
much over the year and really learned how to act in a
classroom environment.

TK Writing Middle of the Year

(Student Achievement)
This

writing sample was from the same

student for beginning of the year and
the middle of the year.

What I did for the Struggles

that I had/ New Things I tried
Talk

to colleagues! My colleagues helped me so much in finding

strategies to help me with the disruptive behaviors (PBIS World)
(Something new I tried)
Colleagues also helped with finding supplemental materials for our
themes! (Utilized our resources)
Attended many nights of TK networking where I learned
developmentally appropriate activities and strategies for my students.
(Something new I tried)
Researched many ideas for dealing with the classroom behaviors I
faced and found strategies that worked with them.(Something new I
tried)
Differentiated instruction to fit the needs of all of my students so that
every student could meet the standards at their own pace.
Just learned to relax, take one day at a time and get support when I
needed it.

Where I Have Grown The Most

The areas that I have grown the most
would be my confidence and flexibility.
Being a first year teacher in a program
that was new to the school, made me
develop confidence in myself, as well as
teach me how to be flexible.
I had to believe in myself and
push myself to do things that were
new to me.

Statement From Reflective

Coach/ Administrator
Statement

from reflective coach This

year has really made you gain
confidence in yourself. You are very
confident in what you do.
Statement from Administrator- You are
very hardworking and passionate in
your teaching and your students benefit
from all of the hard work that you put
in.

Goals For Next Year

I

want to continue to be a lifelong learner and

continue gaining the knowledge of strategies to
use in my classroom (build my toolbox)
I want to continue to work on classroom
management and make my classroom a learning
environment that all students can succeed in.
I want to continue to work on differentiating
instruction to meet the needs of all of my
students in the classroom. As of all their success
is the most important!

Summary of Induction
Experience
Overall,

this Induction Experience was great! It helped me through

my first year of teaching and gave me the support I needed.
Of all the Cycles I completed, the Inquiry Cycle that I think helped
me the most was Cycle 5.
Cycle 5 allowed me to pick something that I personally wanted to
work on and that was promoting positive behavior and minimizing
the disruptive behaviors.
This cycle helped me navigate PBIS World to find solutions to my
disruptive behaviors that I was having.
This cycle also allowed me to focus on the students with the
positive behavior and try to expand the positive behavior
throughout the entire class.
This cycle really taught me different strategies that I will be able to
use as a future educator.

My Year in Review
Overall,

Transitional Kindergarten was a great

experience!
It was definitely a rollercoaster, but I wouldnt
trade it for anything!
I learned so much about the TK program, while
also learning about myself as an educator.
I learned so much in my first year of teaching
that I cannot wait to expand my learning!
I am excited to see what next school year
brings, bring on 2016- 2017 school year!

The End