-12 years teaching

-2020 teacher of the year

Definition of assessment:

-assessment gives an accurate picture of where students are academically and emotionally

Takeaways:

-she thinks about her day and a linear way and creates systems to work smarter, not harder

-she follows people on social media to find great literature

-she teaches because of the joy and fulfillment and the impact you make

-10 years teaching

-he’s a math coordinator

Definition of assessment:

-assessment is a procedure for making inferences

Takeaways:

-he educates educators

-he pauses and has conversations in order to assess educators, and he scaffolds them

-he designs assessments strategically to work smarter, not harder

-he says you won’t know why you’re teaching until you know your kids

-she’s been teaching since 1992

-she is an instructional coaching coordinator

Definition of assessment:

-assessment is when you have a goal and you see if you’ve met it

Takeaways:

-she likes to use rubrics and believes you should always create your own

-she likes to use rubrics and also not require tons of homework to work smarter not harder

-she teaches for kids and making a connection with kids

-23rd year teaching

-he is a science teacher and coach

-he was an assistant principal at my middle school, Prairie Trail!

Definition of assessment:

-assessment is figuring out how students can apply knowledge

Takeaways:

-he uses open, ended assessments to provide opportunities for diverse learners to flourish

-he believes that assessments aren’t final, they are a process

-he teaches to provide students with stability and people who love and care about them

-he’s been an educator for 15 years

-he is a special services coordinator

-he used to be a school psychologist

Definition of assessment:

-assessment is an estimation of something about a student

Takeaways:

-he believes assessment is just a piece of the pie, not a full picture of a student

-he likes using interventions as his assessments rather than big standardized tests

-he says you should teach because kids need you and you will change children’s lives

I noticed that a lot of the advice the guest mentors gave was to get to know your students in order to find the best assessment for them.

3. What lessons will you add to your toolbox from listening to these mentors? 

Some lessons I will add to my toolbox are making detailed rubrics to give students and understanding of the expectations, and I will use interventions like MTSS in order to assess my students skills rather than only focusing on tests.

4. Which Mentor did you connect with? Explain why!

One of the guest mentors I connected the most with was TJ Ulmer. After finding out that he was an assistant principal at my middle school, I felt myself starting to listen to his advice very intently. There was something about the idea that he was there while my little brother was getting education that made me feel inspired to know his story.

5. What surprised you about any of the Mentors?

One thing that surprised me about a mentor, was Andy Heinicke’s perspective on assessment. He seemed to have a soured opinion on some parts of assessment, and this was really informative for me to understand why he believes certain assessments provide more value than others.

7. What are one or two questions you would like to pose to a Mentor Educator?

Two questions I have for mentor educators are “How long did it take you to feel like a good teacher?” and “Do you believe there are any types of teachers that are ineffective?”