Teacher Professional Growth Plan PSIII (2017)

Name: Alaysha Traboulay School: St. Helena Junior High School, Calgary
Teacher Mentor: Tara English School Administrator: Michael Gallant, June Graham
Faculty Mentor: Debra Ireland Practicum Dates: September 5th - December 21st, 2017

A. Professional Goals
Goal #1: To implement differentiated instruction/assessment in ELA.
Rationale: Students in the classes I teach have a very wide range of abilities. I
want to teach to the ends; aim not to teach just to the middle.
Goal #2: To become involved in at least one co-curricular or extracurricular activity.
Rationale: I want to be involved in all aspects of the profession of education.
Goal #3: To implement varying classroom management techniques in all classes.
Rationale: I want to become aware of what types of classroom management
works best for me, and my comfort level, and also, what works across a variety of
classes and grades.

B. Strategies (How I will go about achieving my goals?)

Strategies for addressing goal #1: To implement differentiated instruction I will meet with
my teacher mentor to discuss ways that she has differentiated. I will meet with individual
students who have support plans and discuss ways in which they feel they learn better
and their expectations. I will make different versions of assignments and quizzes, etc. so
that each student has a fair chance to demonstrate their learning. I will give students
multiple opportunities to demonstrate their learning, and students will be able to
demonstrate learning in multiple modalities. I will be working with students one on one,
pulling them from other classes to pre-teach material for later classes.
Strategies for addressing goal #2: I will become actively involved in the school sports and
ask coaches if they need any help. I plan to start a lunchtime club of some kind, (either
movie club or homework club, maybe both). I have hopes to start a club at lunchtime for
students who dont have a place to go.
Strategies for addressing goal #3: I will begin my year having students sit where they
want in the classroom, later I will establish a seating plan. I will adjust the seating plan as
I see fit. I will also change the seating plan to allow students to work with other peers. I
will implement a Three Strikes rule to handle undesired behaviour and later implement
the Treasure Chest to acknowledge desired behaviour.

C. Indicators of Progress Towards Goals (How will I know when and if I have achieved my goals?)
Indicators of Progress for goal #1: I will know that I have accomplished this goal when I
see an improvement in my students understanding and ability to demonstrate knowledge.
I will know that my differentiation works when students are struggling less and are
comfortable in the classroom.
Indicators of Progress for goal #2: I will know that I have achieved this goal when I have
solidified a spot to help the other coaches and I have put my time in after school, before
school and during Prep periods, to work on extracurricular related items. I will have
achieved my goal of starting a lunchtime club once I speak with the administrators and
 my teacher mentor and get the okay that I can start this. I will run the lunchtime club for
six weeks, and will know I have achieved my goal when the six weeks is complete.
Indicators of Progress for goal #3: I will know that I have reached this goal when I find
what types of classroom management work across a variety of classes and which types
only work in some classes. Once I learn what works well for each class, according to the
varying students and level of needs, I will know that this goal has been accomplished.

D. Timeline for Completion

Goal #1: Ongoing, September to December
Goal #2: Ongoing, September to December
Goal #3: Ongoing, September to December (strategies will be implemented and stopped at varying
times throughout the time spent here)

E. Summary of Growth and Goals Achieved (final plan only)

Goal #1: To implement differentiated instruction/assessment in ELA.
Wonder: While reading the novel Wonder, I obtained the audiobook and the
childrens picture book of the novel for all students to use. The audiobook was
good to keep all students at the same pace, and was slow enough that my ELL
students could read along. I was able to borrow a class set of books for this novel
study so each student had their own copy to follow along in. Further, as we did
responses to the parts in the novel, I modified work for my ELL students and
others who need work broken down into smaller chunks. In this novel study, I
also arranged students into groups for a group project which lended itself to the
ELL students whom I grouped together so they could speak their native language
with each other to deepen understanding of their tasks.
Essays: While working towards our first essay in grade nine, I created three
different version of the essay to accommodate for all my students. Each students
IPP was looked at, as well as, their work so far this year, to determine what
version of the essay they would be asked to complete.
Poetry: Throughout the poetry unit I created different assignments for my
students that needed modifications. I provided students with assignments that
had accommodated expectations. For example, instead of writing 20 lines, the
expectations were 15. Further, some students would just have to demonstrate 1
poetic device instead of multiple. I broke down assignments to demonstrate a
couple objectives instead of multi-objectives and worked to getting students to
show their learning of more by the end of the unit.
Weekly Write: I varied the type of prompt from story starters to images. This
reached a broader range of students. Students were asked to use images as
inspiration and written prompts. Students were also asked to create stories on
anything that they wanted. Continuously changing the starting point for the
writing periods reached students on different levels.
Goal #2: To become involved in at least one co-curricular or extracurricular activity.
Volleyball tournament: Although I was unable to volunteer at the time of the
tournament due to a previous agreement, I was able to find a friend to volunteer
to referee. I still put in work to reach this goal by finding somebody to step in on
my behalf.
Drama Makeup: As I tried to get into other classrooms, I was able to help the
Drama teacher with special effects makeup. I learned the techniques and the
 setup of makeup so that I could help students in the room as they did the
makeup on each other. I was an extra set of hands reminding students of
techniques and instructions as well as a model for the special effects makeup.
Drama Lessons: As I was welcomed into the Drama room, I was able to bring a
Language Arts projects into the drama option. I taught several lessons and
assigned corresponding projects to students.
Movie Club: I started a movie club on November 8th. Students were invited to
join me over the lunch break to watch a movie together. I established Movie
Club rules: max 30 students, no talking and no mess left behind. If students didnt
follow the rules they were not asked to come back to watch the movie. Students
also aren't allowed to come and go, they have to stay the entire viewing period. I
picked the first movie, will have students make suggestions for next movie.
Continued Movie Club every Day 1, 2, 3 until I finished the practicum here. In
addition to the Movie Club, I was always available before school, where I arrived
an hour before school began, at lunches and after school for students to meet
with me and work on homework. Students who waited for rides after school
everyday were welcomed into the classroom to get a start on their work so that
they were using their time wisely and had a teacher there to provide help and
feedback if they needed it.
Basketball: I participated in basketball at St. Helena, helping to coach the Senior
Girls and Boys teams. This began in December and I have plans to continue my
commitment in the new year.
Goal #3: To implement varying classroom management techniques in all classes.
Three Strikes: I implemented the Three Strike rule from the very first day of
classes. Essentially, the class gets three strikes for unwanted(disruptive?)
behaviour, and then after that it is a detention to single students who are
disrespectful in their behaviour. Some classes reacted very well to this, others it
did not work.
Seating plans: At the start of the year, students were in single rows and I created
a seating plan to that. Then I changed the seats to be in groups of four. After
groups of four, students were put into pairs. Continuously changing who the
students sat with gave me the opportunity to learn whats best for each class and
how each type of seating plan changes the dynamics in the classroom. (Also
allowed for you to observe students interacting and being productive in a variety
of relationships?)
Noise maker: I used a bell that signifies to the students that I need their attention.
The noise maker worked well because it is a clear sound that the students know
and have made a connection between that sound and what it signifies. The
sound maker prevents me from raising my voice over the students, which allows
me to be soft spoken, further asking students to be quiet and give me their
attention, to hear what I am saying. Lowering my voice was another technique
that lent itself to asking the students to give me their attention. Instead of trying to
be louder than the students, I was quieter which asked them to be quiet so that
they could hear the instructions.
Changing my location in the room: I have changed up the positions I take in the
classroom. I have started with me at the front of the room, the back , the door,
etc. Changing my position in the room asked the students to be more aware of
where their instruction was coming from. Greeting students at the door gave the
 opportunity to set a quick expectation of their first task in the room. I could ask
them to take out an assignment and begin working right away or just simply say
Please sit in your seat so we can get started. This small reminder was a simple
way to get students instantly thinking about the expectations in the classroom.
Popsicle Stick Names: Creating the random selection of popsicle stick names
created an environment in the classroom where everyone would be involved.
This helped me to not always call on the same students.

F. Reflections on Professional Growth (final plan only)

Throughout this practicum experience I was exposed to new challenges and surprises. When I
originally made my goals, I was trying to push myself to achieve as much as I could. Setting three
goals for a 16 week experience pushed me to really try to achieve the goals. My classroom
management goal is a continued goal as I am still trying to find out what works best for me in comfort
along with each varying class. I learned a lot about classroom management because of the
opportunity to start the school year with the students. I had a more laid back and non-extensive list
of rules for the classroom, and I realized quite quickly how I would change that moving forward. I
learned that I should have a set of expectations that are listed in the room as a constant reminder,
that would be created by the students and I in collaboration so that the rules are fitting to the class
as a whole, and not just the teacher. I would also create a clear agreement with students regarding
consequences, when expectations are not followed. Going forward, I know I would handle this
differently so that I dont find myself making up for not doing it sooner.
Something that I was not experienced with, was making multiple accommodations or
modifications for students. In my experiences I did not have as many or as severe accomodations to
make for students. Due to my lack of experience I definitely had to learn how to create
accommodations and modifications that suited my students. Finding the balance for my students of
what's too easy or too hard, is still going to be something that I will work on so that each of my
students is challenged enough to grow. I believe that over the last 16 weeks I was able to develop a
stronger sense of the types of modifications that I can create for my students. I also know that I
learned a great deal more about ELL benchmarks which helped me realize where my students are
and then how to make adjustments based on those benchmarks. I was able to grow in
accommodations and modifications further by meeting with parents at interviews. This helped me
learn about how important the relationship between school and home is for the students to have
everything they need in two big aspects of their lives.
I was able to grow as a staff member when helping out with the basketball teams. This gave me
the opportunity to see other parts of the teachers lives and another side of my students. Overall, I
think my biggest growth was in accommodations and modifications and classroom management.
Before the practicum I had very little exposure and experience of creating accommodations and
modifications and now I know what I can be doing for my students and that it is a process to
establish the right level of accommodations and modifications for my students. I also learned that
having to accommodate and modify is time consuming, therefore I now will create my lessons and
assignments from the beginning, thinking of how I can now better modify or accommodate for my
learners because of this experience. In terms of classroom management, I may not have found a lot
of techniques that I do want to use in my classroom, but I did learn what I would like to change about
what I did and I learned things I would not want to do again. For example, having more clear
expectations on day one, also, adding my name into the popsicle stick jar to model that I too am a
learner in the classroom and should be given the opportunity to share my ideas.
 This experience has inspired me to continue to work on my practice, and in moving forward, what
I can take with me in my future career. The experiences here with these students opened my eyes to
more aspects of teaching that I need to take into consideration, and has pushed me to think outside
the box in how to create a safe, learning environment where all my students can grow.