PSIII Professional Goals

Goal #1

Increase my knowledge and experience in lower elementary literacy techniques, specifically working with words activities.
Rationale: I have not been involved in lower elementary literacy prior to this practicum. Since this is such as integral part of division one learning, I think it is very important for me to familiarize myself with some of the techniques used. I am teaching forty minutes of working with words each day in my internship so I think this is a great place to gain experience in literacy. I will be focusing my inquiry project around this goal. Strategies for addressing Goal #1: Create and share resources through my PD project, research effective word work strategies both online and in books, ask my mentor and others in the school what has been effective for them, use strategies in class to test them in a real world setting. Indicators of Progress for Goal #1: Create resources for at least f ifteen working with words activities, test all resources in the classroom. Timeline January 6- January 24 January 24- March 21 Brainstorm/research activities to be used Create resources for activities Test and document activities in the classroom Reflect on activities after use

Goal #2

Develop a set of strategies for effectively managing students in an elementary classroom.

Rationale: I believe that no learning can occur in a classroom where students do not feel safe and calm. Students will not feel this way in a chaotic or uncomfortable room. I would like to make my classroom as comfortable for students as possible so that they will work to their potential. I will do this by managing students in a way to avoid conflict and chaos. This is especially important in my current classroom which consists of mostly boys. This means that the classroom can quickly get loud and out of control with all their energy. Strategies for addressing Goal #2: Ask my mentor and others about what has been effective for them, research strategies both online and in books, ask my mentor, administrator and consultant to look for management issues during observations and give feedback, use strategies in class to test them in a real world setting. Indicators of Progress for Goal #2: My mentor/administrator/consultant observes no more than five behaviours that require intervention in a forty minute period, I do not have to remind/prompt students to do their work more than three times. Timeline: January 6- January 24 Continuous End of February Brainstorm/research strategies to be used Implement strategies in the classroom Do not need to prompt students more than three times for a single activity End of March Observers see no more than five behaviors in one forty minute period

Goal #3

Use a variety of formative and summative assessment strategies.

Rationale: I tend to drift towards one type of assessment that works well wi th the specific class and use it frequently because it is easy. It is important for me to create variation in my assessment to keep the students engaged, as well as to give myself different types of information about the students learning. I especially would like to increase the variety in my summative assessment since I feel like I currently rely mostly on tests and writing. Strategies for addressing Goal #3: Ask my mentor and others about what has been effective for them, research strategies both online and in books, create lists of assessments that can be referenced when planning, use strategies in class to test them in a real world setting. Indicators of Progress for Goal #3: My mentor observes at least five different assessment strategies per week, I do not use the same assessment strategy for two classes in the same day. Goal #3: Continuous Do not include the same assessment strategy in my plans more than once in a day Mid-February My mentor observes at least five different assessment strategies per week