Firstly, I wished my students were more engaged in distinct activities and would be able to work independently, as well as in a team. In my classroom K5 students are daily engaged in doing learning centers after lunch and work independently on their own work in the morning. I wish they could work individually with given instructions and didn’t need any additional support. Thus, as an educator I can support my group of intervention or the students with special needs.

Secondly, I wish I had more understanding parents who truly want to figure out how to support their child. Trying to protect their child, parents should not be in a position of denial, when the district gives a diagnosis to a student and provides a special educational program.

Finally, I wish I knew all the updated and appropriate strategies to be able to successfully implement them and effectively address student behavior.

Besides, to achieve the following goals, I decided to track my results by checking my students’ everyday routine, their ability to follow the directions and do the daily activities. I wanted to be sure they are on the right way if they manage the time and complete the assignments, also if they listen to the teachers’ instructions and react to the strategies and interventions appropriately.

By being in touch with parents, maintaining a constant contact with family, I could better understand parents and their wishes. I created a special group – messenger in ClassDojo, where I text parents about the upcoming events, different projects, announcements and, of course, photos of the students and their individual worksheets. Consequently, I found a better way to express my concerns and be ready to listen to the parents’ questions, thus react immediately when it is needed.

Likewise, my continuous collaboration with my school mentor and the preparations for the observations helped me to deepen my knowledge in strategies. Specifically, I learnt multiple strategies for the students with severe autism and need a very delicate approach and not all the strategies work for these students in a positive manner. Thus, my learning at Alverno and receiving results for my PPG and SLO in MPS and an individual work with a mentor from MPS gave me positive feedback for my professional growth and made me feel more confident about my knowledge and significantly improved my ability to implement distinct strategies in my class. At this point I am feeling very grateful and delighted after completing so many courses and assignments which definitely enriched me not only as an educator, but also as a personality.

My Problem-Solving ability popped up in my life when I started working as a K5 teacher. Previously, I even couldn’t think of such a super-power I have already have, but nowadays I have so many challenges, little issues and daily duties, that it’s even hard to imagine me as a teacher in my classroom sitting calmly for about 10 minutes. Every single minute I am having dozens of small tasks and doing one task I am already thinking of another one. I always have a plan, react super quickly, just only I don’t have so much time to reflect or hesitate. Despite the fact I am  a problem solver, but only in the context of my little Universe – my class.