Dejah Pope

Professor Boozer

TEL 371

14 April 2024

Professional Development Event

● Tuesday, February 20, 2024, 8:15 am to 11:30am.

● I ended up learning about the way that the school I’m interning at, at least for the 6th

grade team, comes together to plan out the lessons and lesson plans for the upcoming

months. After the planning period we actually then went to observe several English

Language Arts lessons and a social studies lesson at a nearby elementary school. We

were observing and taking notes on how they approached the play they were reading and

then the writing assignment that was going to accompany it. After we left we ended up

discussing what we saw both in the physical classrooms but in the execution of the

lessons. One of the teachers in the team really liked the way in which the students had

been grouped, assigned roles, and actually acted out the plays at their tables rather than

reading as a class, independently, or in groups.

● I think the key things that I learned were that you can be a part of the team and keep

things connected but I don't have to be doing things the exact same way or in the exact

same time as my team members. This was also really helping in seeing how teachers

block out lessons and activities. We learned about time management last semester but I

had a lot of difficulty thinking about it in practice so it was nice to be able to see the team

discuss their pacing based on the needs of their students. I know that each school has

their own administration that will impact the lesson plans I make and how I make them. It
 was nice to see an environment where there was a fair amount of autonomy as I know

there are certain schools where the administration will have specific templates and

standards.procedures to follow. With my mentor, I also got the opportunity to see the

notes he made about the individual activities that connect to UDL practices and then the

assessments that would take place to ensure that the students were actually understanding

and retaining the material.

● I’m connecting this to teacher autonomy because although the teachers at my internship

are all a part of the same team and were trying to coordinate with one another, they were

each doing things slightly differently. They were also following the general curriculum

from the district. They were also working with one of the administrators to ensure that

their plans were still coinciding with the standards set by the school's administration.

They each had their own slightly different calendars and lesson plans that overall aligned

to the same goals.

I have added into the document my internship time card which includes the date, time, and

signature from my mentor for February 20th. I have also included the contact information for my

mentor as he signs off on my internship attendance.