PCTRS Final Narrative

Brigham Young University- Idaho

Observation and Assessment

Ghanick I Francillon

Kaelin Olsen

April 4, 2023
 Reflective practice is a method used by different professionals, such as teachers,

educators, childcare providers, healthcare workers, etc.. to improve what they do in multiple

settings to make things better. It lays the groundwork for ongoing professional development as

we stay consistent and aware of making things better and more intentional. It is a constant

process of observing and collecting information to use what we gather to find solutions to make

progress (Lorina,2023). During this process, we can look back and gain a different perspective

on certain aspects (Murrillo,2021). In a classroom setting, for example, we can look back and go

through our day and understand why we did something or why an interaction occurred; by doing

this, we can become more aware of emotional triggers, the why behind our actions, and how to

navigate and manage them. This is a constant and daily process to improve continuously so

things are more substantial and intentional in the classroom.

Self-reflection is similar to the reflective process but is more personal. Rather than

assessing things in a professional setting, we assess ourselves and our behaviors. In

self-reflection, we look back and evaluate our behaviors, emotions, thoughts, perspectives, and

desires by going beyond the surface level to gain a more profound understanding of the

reasoning behind what we do to understand better and improve (Rutledge,2021). Self-reflection

is critical in a classroom because although many of us assume we know ourselves, there is a lot

we can still learn when we look back at our behaviors and emotions. Maybe we reacted in a way

that we never knew why, and finding the underlying cause can only come from being

self-reflective. Reflection is one of the first steps towards fixing our actions so that we can later

partake in behaviors beneficial to ourselves, and others around us in the long run.

Self-reflection and reflective practice have been very beneficial during my lab time. After

each lesson plan, my faculty mentor suggested we write deep reflections about what went well

in our day, what failed, and what we would have liked to change if we could teach that lesson
again. These reflections helped me immensely when it came to improving my activities for the

children. Each time I could see what went wrong and what was successful and later choose how

to apply it for my next lesson. It allowed me not just to strengthen my activities and lesson

planning, but as a teacher, it helped me realize the skills I lacked and how they could be helpful

if I worked on them. These reflections were necessary to gain more from the lab and my

lesson-planning skills. Before using self-reflective practices, one skill I lacked was how to write

detailed activities and notes; doing the reflections helped strengthen this for me, and it has

turned into something I can do well and get excited about.

Highest Score

Taking the PCTRS assessment for the second time, I scored 167 out of 325. My score

increased from the first time I completed it. The areas where I scored the highest were related to

children, the program, and the staff. When comparing it to the first time I took the assessment,

these were the same areas in which I scored the highest. I do well in these areas because a lot of

the evaluation items listed are things that come naturally to me. I have strong interpersonal skills

when relating to children and anyone I am closely interacting with I can listen, observe, and

effectively communicate with others. This is useful when relating to children because we must

get to know who the children are as individuals and build trust and relationships with them. I

have often gotten to do this in the toddler lab this semester, especially with the emergent

curriculum. I have combined my observations and interactions with the children with building

trust, getting to know their interests and strengths, and using that to plan activities and bond with

them. I have been able to do this through communication. Working with toddlers communicating

back and forth as I would with someone older is not possible, so using various methods that are

age appropriate is helpful. For example, narrating what children are doing helps them know you

are engaged with them and benefits their language skills; this is one of the ways I have
communicated effectively with children who might be more reserved with speaking out loud. My

calm, patient, mutable, communicative, and honest personality has benefited me in this aspect. I

have learned that toddlers can pick up on energy and emotions quickly, and being someone who

is mutable has helped me relate to many different children in the classroom. I can interact with

children who are more active and expressive, as well as those who are more reserved and slow to

warm up. I often take the time to listen to the children when they talk to me and then speak to

them afterward. Children appreciate what they say is valued, and when they get comfortable, we

build those one-on-one relationships with them. Trust is also a big part of relating to children; we

must be honest and keep our word. It is easy to think that they might not remember everything

we say to them because they are young, but that is quite the opposite. I have had multiple

experiences where I stepped away from a child telling them I was coming back, and once I

returned, their face lit up, and they said, “You are back,” or if I take too long away from them,

they will walk around and find me.

My fellow teachers have also supported my attributes; their welcoming nature has made

it easy to communicate with them, and being open and honest, and understanding one another

has allowed me to work with different teachers as well. I have worked with various teachers

efficiently with the children's focus in mind and developed successful and fun classroom

activities. I have received and given criticism working with them, and through that, I learned

what works best and what does not, and that would only have been possible with honest

communication.

Lowest Score

My lowest socred that I want to touch on relates to parents. This was also one of my

lowest areas the first time I took the assessment. Although I did slightly improve in this area, I
was still disappointed to see that this was once again one of the lower-scored items on my list.

There are a few reasons why this is one of my lowest areas. In our program, it can be difficult to

have lots of parent interaction and promote parent participation because we only do it sometimes.

Home visits, parent orientation, and parent parties are some of the biggest times when we get

prolonged opportunities to interact with them, so opportunities are limited. Another reason this is

a lower socred area is that I am slightly intimidated by speaking to the parents and overthink it.

The fear and anxiety surrounding this interaction have genuinely held me back.

I understand how important the role of parents is, especially from birth to 8 years old.

Putting more effort into speaking and interacting with them would be very beneficial to building

trust and getting to know their children better. The fear of interacting with the parents has held

me back and limited the opportunities I should have taken to speak to them more. This area was

also the one I wanted to improve on the first time I took the PCTRS. I have put in the effort of

taking opportunities during check-in and check-out to speak to some of the parents and share

things about their children with them, which has been beneficial, but it was not something that I

consistently did, and it should have been. Despite my still working on this, I could see some of

my classmates being quite successful with parental interaction, which motivated me to start

doing what they did or observe things that I would like to apply. For example, some would offer

the parents a work of art that the child made that day, and that would be a great conversation

started with the parents about something their child made and what went on in the day. I have

also seen how some of my classmates can remember each parent easily and can converse with

them right as they step out the door during check-in and have brought up something that their

child did, big or small, but it was a great way just to start that conversation. What I could have

asked from my team to help increase my skills in this area was more information on the families
they visited during home visits. Although we have anecdotal notes about the children during

home visits, I knew very little about the parents, and the different home situations, so speaking to

them and asking about that could have been beneficial in being more comfortable and interacting

with the parents. Accessing Procare could have also helped me with this because I could match

the names to faces, and that would have been beneficial if I addressed the parent by name when I

saw them such extra efforts like that could have helped me improve. In the future, because I plan

on working directly with children, building relationships with the parents will be extremely

important. Getting to know them by name, facilitating conversations, and getting as much

information as possible will help me improve.

Conclusion

Overall my experience with the PCTRS was eye-opening. I learned a lot about myself,

such as facilitating relationships with the children I work with and genuinely getting to know the

children as individuals and what they like and using that to build a relationship and apply it in

lesson plans. I also learned about my strengths in working with others, cooperating and working

to meet a common goal, giving suggestions and criticism appropriately that avoids being

condescending, and doing my part in our shared responsibilities. Knowing these strengths can

help me be confident in what I can bring as a teacher and fellow team member.

This assessment has also shown me what I lack and need to work on. Knowing that

parents play a significant role makes it important that when working with children, we

collaborate to involve the parents in what is happening. When we involve parents and talk to

them about their children, it lets them know that we care and are invested in what we do. It is

also a way to bring holistic learning experiences for the children, parent involvement can help

link the home and classroom together, and that connection can be helpful for some students.
Realizing that I lack in this area will help me better implement this in the future and allow me to

bring the best experience possible for the children I will be interacting with.

For my scoring in this, I was candid and completed the assignment more deeply than the

first time. I wanted to reflect on where I lay as a teacher and what I need to do to improve.

Although it can be challenging to see how much I need to work on and the areas I lack, I must

be honest with myself about what improvements I need to make for this assessment to benefit my

growth. There are changes that I made that I feel improved my ability to work with others well;

for example, I tend to be reserved and more observant, but I made it a goal to speak up when I do

have insights to share rather than staying silent because it allows me to have a voice in my and

also benefit my team with a different perspective. Doing this has helped me improve as a teacher

more than anything because those conversations during pre and post-lab become extremely

helpful when you are actively involved.

Having a checklist like the PCTRS is helpful because it allows us to see almost every

teaching component organizationally. For me, checklists are things that I often use because they

help me clear my head and have everything that I need to do or know about how on paper that

way, it is easier to think about. Specifically for teachers, the PCTRS, when done intentionally, is

a great tool for those self-reflective practices because we can constantly improve and be better.

Sometimes even what we are good at can regress, but if we are constantly checking and

reflecting when this does happen, we can catch it and get right back to improving.
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