Annual Professional Growth Plan Incorporating Reflection

Annual Professional Growth Plan for PS2: March 2013 to April 2013 Name: Lyndsay Bender

Assignment and/or Career Goal: Gilbert Paterson Middle School, Randy Bardock, Grade 6 Goal: To promptly, firmly and consistently respond to inappropriate behaviour in both grade six classes, and for each student. Teaching Quality Standard Reference: KSAs #7, 8 (Classroom Leadership and Management) Strategies 1) Become aware of any potential behavioural issues or special needs of students. Timeline Before & During PSII Resources -IPP records -Observations of students

2) Create a classroom management plan and stick to it. Modify the plan according to students needs.

Before -Classroom Management PSII, Plan from Cynthia possibly Greenfield during PSII Before and During PSII -Chapter 9 from An Introduction to Curriculum and Instruction by Keith Roscoe

3) Utilize as many preventative management techniques as possible, from the very first day (Ie. Build relationships with students, practice procedures, outline expectations 4) Observe management techniques and strategies of TA and other teachers in the school.

During -Randy Bardock PSII, -other teachers at GPMS Orientation Day During PSII -John Poulsens PD Session Teacher as a Performer -Bump strategies -Randy Bardock, other teachers at GPMS, University consultant, students, peers, others

5) Respond to inappropriate behaviour consistently.

6) Accept advice from others, including university consultant, TA, and students. Listen to feedback.

During PSII

Rationale: This goal is ongoing from my PS1 practicum. I feel I have made great improvements in the area of classroom management, but still need to improve on the firm tone in my voice. I sometimes find it difficult to use my teacher voice, which may affect student learning. This goal is relevant to PS2 as well as each new class I encounter, as classroom management strategies for one class may not work for another. By making myself aware of any students coded with behavioural issues, I am preparing for what strategies may be necessary to effectively manage my class. Asking and observing my TA will help me accomplish this. I have started a
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classroom management plan and will need to continue to use it throughout the semester. On my orientation day, I learned students names and also plan to build relationships with each of them while in my practicum. I also plan to outline my rules and expectations for the classroom, showing them what I expect and why. This will prevent several potential issues I may encounter. I must also respond consistently and appropriately to each issue that may arise. This lets students know that I will be following up on my rules and expectations and that I am in control of the class. Finally, I must accept the feedback I am given by others and make sure to ask for this feedback often. Through daily reflections and feedback from both my university consultant and mentor teacher, I will be able to measure the degree of success. It is this feedback that will help me construct lessons that have aspects of management procedures, specific to my class. Although this goal is broad, I feel it will eliminate several specific problems if I can accomplish it. Reflection/Indicator of Success a) How successful have I been in meeting my goal? I feel that I have been successful in meeting my goal to respond promptly, firmly and consistently to any inappropriate behaviour. Through my reflections on each lesson, I have discovered aspects that I may adjust to improve the success of my classroom management procedures. This helped me to minimize any behaviour issues. After mentioning my goal to my mentor teacher, he kept a close watch for anything I may improve upon in this area. This was of great help to me as I was made aware of things I would not have noticed otherwise. I have also received feedback from my university consultant that has helped me realize that it is important to be respected first, then liked. I will absolutely take this advice with me in the future as I continue to improve on this goal.

b) How has my professional practice improved? My professional practice has improved in that I have become very consistent with my response to inappropriate behaviour. Although it is easier to let inappropriate behaviour slide, I have come to realize that by being consistent with my disciplining, I have actually gained the respect of my students, which in the end reduces the amount of disciplining necessary. I have learned that building relationships with students right from the start is crucial to avoid behaviour issues in the future, and I will continue to do this in my professional practice. After noticing potential behaviour problems, I was able to adapt my lesson plans to the students, using several management techniques. This allowed for more learning and enjoyment!

c) How has student learning improved? Student learning has improved greatly as a result of accomplishing this goal. To start, since day one, I made sure to outline my expectations. As a result, students had the understanding that I was to be respected as their teacher, and this would be reciprocated. I also spent a significant amount of time getting to know each student, to ensure I would have their respect and could tailor my lessons to their interests and needs. Because I was able to discover this, lessons were
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more interesting for students and were suited to their learning needs. This meant students were more engaged in lessons, reducing behaviour issues. After daily reflection I also realized that classroom management strategies incorporated into my lessons, helped the overall function of the class. Lessons were much smoother and more time was spent teaching and learning.

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Annual Professional Growth Plan Incorporating Reflection

Annual Professional Growth Plan for PS2: March 2013 to April 2013 Name: Lyndsay Bender

Assignment and/or Career Goal: Gilbert Paterson Middle School, Randy Bardock, Grade 6 Goal: To appropriately assess student learning using a variety of techniques and tools. Teaching Quality Standard Reference: KSA #11 (Assessment) Strategies 1) Incorporate several formative assessment tools into each lesson, such as exit slips, Smartboard tools, whiteboards, etc. Timeline During PSII Resources -Science Teachers Book of Tricks- from Cynthia Greenfields C&I class -Randy Bardock -AAC Website and resources -Performance Task resources from Cynthia Greenfield (on Moodle) -Randy Bardock - Doug Orr/ Cynthia Greenfield -Edmonton Public Schools -Alberta Science Program of Studies- Elementary -Differentiated Instruction PD Session notes -Educational Psychology websites on differentiated instruction -Sue Bengry -Multiple Intelligence websites -Learner profile surveys

2) Incorporate approximately four summative assessments throughout the unit (Ie. Performance tasks, quizzes, etc.)

During PSII

3) Create a well-developed unit assessment plan, outlining appropriate assessments for each task/topic.

Prior to PSII

4) Incorporate differentiated learning strategies to accurately and fairly assess all students according to students unique abilities and learning styles.

During PSII

5) Have students complete a learner profile prior to unit instruction.

Prior to first science lesson

Rationale: This goal pertains to my PS2 practicum as one of my main focuses is on assessment. This was not my primary focus in PS1 and I feel slightly apprehensive about the idea of assessment for an entire unit. Because assessment is such an integral part of student learning, as well as for self-reflection upon my teaching strategies, this goal is crucial to work towards. It will be important for me to use as many formative assessment tools as possible in each lesson,
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including those learned in PS1 and in courses since. I will also need to incorporate at least four summative assessments, as instructed by my TA. Having a well-developed unit assessment plan will guide me to select appropriate assessment tools required to gauge student learning. Finally, incorporating differentiated learning strategies will assist me in accurately assessing each student, as I will have a better understanding of how each student learns. It may be necessary to have students complete a learner profile on the first day of my instruction. This will help me meet students learning needs more effectively and allow me to guide my instruction accordingly. To determine whether or not I have met this goal, I plan to first share it with my TA. This will make him aware of my goal, thus give me appropriate feedback to accomplish it. I will also make daily reflections on my lesson plans, which will help me to see where I need to improve in the area of assessment. This may include things such as choosing the most appropriate assessment method for the learning outcome, as well as adjusting assessments based on the level of student learning. If students do not understand concepts, it will be important to adapt to this, whether it through instruction, or alternative assessments. I feel I have obtained several tools and techniques, whether it from PS1, or PS2 classes, to accomplish this goal.

Reflection/Indicator of Success a) How successful have I been in meeting my goal? I feel I have been successful in meeting this goal. Through analysis of daily reflections I immediately became aware of assessment techniques that were more effective than others. My teacher associate also pointed out that although taking home marking every night is a good measure of student learning, it can be just as effective to have students hold up a white board with an answer on it. After a quick look, I can tell immediately whether or not my students are ready to move on. To me, the immediate feedback assessments were more effective as they guided my lessons, and taught me how to be flexible in the moment. With summative assessments such as tests and quizzes, I graded immediately and used the data to guide my planning. For example, one quiz I gave students told me I needed to review concepts and re-test. This shows professional growth in my ability to adapt and make adjustments based on assessment data.

b) How has my professional practice improved? My professional practice has improved significantly in that I am aware of assessment techniques that are more effective than others and can plan my lessons based on this information. When I receive immediate feedback from students through formative assessment, I am able to gauge my lessons accordingly, regardless of what my lesson plan says. I have also discovered that it is important to use more formative assessment than summative. To me, formative assessment, especially at the grade six level, shows a lot more about student learning than summative assessment. After learning this, I adjusted my lessons to incorporate several types of assessment to reach each student based on their individual needs, as well as the needs of the group as a whole.

c) How has student learning improved?

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Because I was able to quickly discover that immediate feedback through quick formative assessments was more effective than summative assignments, I feel student learning has improved. Time was spent ensuring students understood each concept before moving on to the next. This meant a more thorough understanding of the subject matter was obtained by students. Using the information gathered from the formative assessments used in class, I was also able to tailor summative assessments to better suit my class needs. Although it is one thing to have an assessment plan in place, it is almost impractical until one gets to know their students. This is the only way assessment will be effective and useful to a teacher and her students.

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