MY NAME IS ADASSA PACHECO,
and I am in my second year of teaching math in Mesa, Arizona for some funny middle schoolers.
My parents are from Mexico meaning I am a first generation graduate in my family and the first teacher in the states! Many colleagues of mine explain to me their reason of becoming a teacher was because a
TEACHING PEDAGOGY
I believe that every child brings a new and unique perspective to the classroom that should be cherished and recognized. An educator’s role is to facilitate learning while expanding young student’s interest and curiosity. There is an expectation in the classroom that student ownership can be learned and incorporated into students’ lives to become an individual who respects all others.
DIFFERENTIATION AND DIVERSITY
Every child that enters my classroom is a unique learner with different strengths, interests, and abilities. I differentiate instruction by incorporating student choice, honoring different learning styles, and setting individualized goals. I provide targeted instruction in small group settings along with one-on-one support, and use ongoing formative assessments to gather data on my students progress and needs.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Building trust and relationships with the students must be established in the beginning of the school year. They must know and feel that you care for them and you want them to feel safe and successful in the classroom. I also plan to effectively communicate my classroom expectations: Be safe, Be kind, and Be prepared. These expectations will be consistently followed and implemented to help lessen behavioral issues with my students.
CLASSROOM MOTIVATION
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT! I always loved the effect rewards had on students. I plan on motivating students with awards and bonuses when they perform especially well academically and behaviorally. This can be a compliment, star, sticker, or time with their classmates. It's those little moments of recognition that will keep them happy and excited to learn.
HOME COMMUNICATION
It is extremely important to me to create home connections once the school year begins. I want to make it clear to the guardian of the student for us to work together to make sure that their child is successful.
When reaching out to home for behavioral/academic concerns, I will focus on their successes and the unique abilities. It will be emphasized that my goal is to work with the parents to solve the situation together.
I will organize these communications with an online platform for care takers to have record of the positive and negative behaviors since some guardians may be limited in the amount of time they can provide during after school hours.
WHAT STRATEGIES DO YOU USE TO ENSURE STUDENTS ARE LEARNING?
A very important aspect in each lesson is the emphasis on the learning objective. After explaining the objective, go over the success criteria for students to be able to understand what is required in fully be a "pro" at the objective. After each lesson, giving students the chance to reflect on their own learning. I love doing statements of understanding in their notebook where they took notes. This allows me to see how they feel as well as if they are following instructions on taking notes.
HOW DO YOU USE DATA TO DRIVE INSTRUCTION?
I plan on using the data to build my lesson plans focusing on those misunderstandings or reteaching necessary to improve any skill deficiencies. This data from the students will show their individual growth and gaps for me to create those accommodations to their learning or improvements to my lessons. The types of data that are important to make a decision about would be the formal assessments I would give in class, standardized tests given by the district, and lastly, behavior and attendance data.