Dakoda Boser

Education 3505
Kathleen Powers Shigemi
December 6, 2014
Professional Growth Plan
Professional Growth Statement 1:
I will develop and demonstrate new skills to create an effective and engaging SMART
board lesson in order to help me become more proficient in using technology in the classroom.
Action Plan:
One of the ways in which I can achieve this goal is through trial and error. I must sit
down and examine the components of the SMART technology and learn through the process of
doing. Also, I can look on line for ideas and ways to help make the lesson relate to the POS more
efficiently. The web will great for helping to create more engaging lessons for student learning as
well. Finally, if I still need guidance I can as my colleagues for help and ideas
Resources:
The resources that will be useful in this process are firstly my colleagues. I would be able
to go to them and ask them for advice whether it be for topics or just for technical help. In this
instance I would call or text Kristen from class, since she seemed to have a pretty good handle on
the SMART technology. Second, if an issue was more difficult and more expertise was needed I
could email Len Sproule who would do a great job of explaining particular aspects of the lesson
creation. Finally, one could always use the internet. The internet is full of videos and blogs that
give ideas for lessons as well as how one can manipulate the program to get intriguing effects.
Measurement:
In order to measure this goal there are few simple things I must do. First, I would like to
create 3-5 lessons with feedback from my TA to see what they thought of that activity and its use
in the classroom. From this feedback I hope to create more and more SMART lessons that are
more engaging which are finished in a timely manner. I would also keep logs to see how long it
took to create each lesson from start to finish and try and improve on those times.
Timeline:
In order to complete my goal I think it would be reasonable to do this throughout the PS1
semester (November 1st December 10th).
Reflection:

Over the time period that I attended my practicum at Dr. Hamman School I had
successfully completed this portion of my PGP. In the early stages of trying to complete this goal
there was a lot of stress trying to navigate through the SMART technology. This was mainly due
to my own personality. I am not the biggest fan of technology and I do not spend really anytime
dealing with it unless it is for the purposes of typing or checking Facebook. In order to achieve
my goal there were a few things that I had to do which are as follows First, I took the time to
sit down and familiarize myself with the software. I spent hours re-teaching myself how to use
certain applications. Second, I asked for help. Usually, I am one of those people who do not like
to ask for help, I am someone who likes to be independent from others. However, in this case
help was needed. I sought the help of my TA who was more than willing to show me the ins and
outs of how the technology worked. I found the technology to be very beneficial to students,
especially in mathematics. For example, when I was teaching I found visuals are key when
students are trying to understand math concepts. In my class this was in relation to area. Students
could see that in order to calculate area you need to count the units inside of the object. If I had
just said this and not provided examples they would have been lost. Also, not every student
learns purely through hearing. Multiple types of teaching strategies must be employed in order to
give every child their best chance of learning the materials.

Professional Growth Statement 2:

I will create lessons that will span multiple POSs in order to get better acquainted with
the curricula of different subject fields. More specifically, this will entail creating a social studies
lesson that brings in literature as a supplementary resource.
Action Plan:
I will implement this by finding ways in which to fuse multiple GLOs and SLOs into the
same lessons. One way this could be achieved is by creating a Social Studies lesson plan for
grade 6. I could teach the class about democracy and ancient Athenian culture while
incorporating English GLOs and SLOs. ELA GLOs and SLOs could be met when using books
like The Wall (picture book) to show life without democracy. Furthermore, I could do this by
having students read, write and critique other students work. Finally, one could bring in books
on Greek mythology for the students which would help literacy but would also aid in the
understanding of the Greek culture.
Resources:
In order to make this plan into a reality there are a few resources I could utilize. One of
these resources would of course be the Alberta Education website where the POSs of every
subject are located. I could read some of the GLOs and SLOs to see which ones branch into
different subject fields. Another resource that could be utilized is again Len Sproule who was
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also my curriculum and instruction instructor. Len would be able to steer me in the direction if I
was looking for particular information that could not obtain. Finally, if I was to teach a lesson of
my own in my TAs class, I could always ask them for their assistance.
Measurement:
In order to measure this type of goal one would have to create and teach a few lessons in
which some GLOs and SLOs from different subject fields were being met in the same lesson.
One could start by adding only one or two from multiple fields and gradually move toward few.
The TA could review my lessons plans and observe them to make sure that these goals were
being achieved. I would like to be able to display this in 3-5 lessons.
Timeline:
Finally, I think this goal could be achieved within the PS1 practicum semester quite
reasonably (November 1st- December 10th).
Refection:
From being at my practicum at Dr. Hamman School I was also able to achieve this goal
however, there are still some aspects of lesson planning that I still need to work on. First, I would
like to begin by talking about the part of this goal that was achieved. Throughout PS1 I had
completed lesson plans that where were connected to the GLOs and SLOs. I was able to create
student I Will statements without a problem. However, as I developed these lessons there was
one crucial part of the lessons that was being missed and not being created properly. This was in
relation to the assessment portion of my lessons. I had issues working on this portion of my
lessons in order to get them correct. I believe that a large portion of this is due to creating lessons
around an activity before thinking about how or if students will have absorbed the material. I am
still in the process of correcting this mistake. I am focusing all of my efforts to include
assessment in every part of the learning process in order to ensure I am hitting the target. This
means providing variety in assessment techniques, such as think pair share. To give the
greatest chance of this I have met with Leonard Sproule who gave me a crash course of lesson
planning once more. I am trying my best to ensure that my sequencing is working properly and
that all parts of my lesson connect. Making sure to follow the POS for whatever subject is
crucial. Also, I see know that I must give the students only the tools to succeed and not push
them in any direction. They must discover knowledge for themselves for it to truly make a
difference.