Carrie Kibblewhites - PSIII Professional Growth Plan

September December 2014

Goal 1:
- Implement a variety of effective classroom management techniques to create a positive
class atmosphere.
KSA Reference
6. Teachers create and maintain environments that are conducive to student learning
- Teachers work, independently and cooperatively, to make their classrooms and
schools stimulating learning environments in which students feel physically,
psychologically, socially and culturally secure
- They are respectful of students human dignity, and seek to establish a positive
relationship with students characterized by mutual respect, trust and harmony
Rationale:
- Classroom management is a key aspect of teaching. Since I begin PSIII in September I
start the school year with the students. This will be a first, and I will be responsible for
setting up my classroom routines and expectations in order to build a positive learning
environment.
Action Plan:
- Observe teacher mentors (and other classes) to witness other classroom management
strategies
- Compile a list of classroom management techniques that fit my style of teaching
- Incorporate strategies into my lessons
Recourses:
- Teacher Mentors
- The first days of school by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong
- New teacher SAPDC Conferences covering Classroom Management, Teachers and
Parents and Engaging Students
Measurement:
- Reflect on use of classroom management strategies to determine which worked and why
they worked.
- Discussion with teacher mentor
Time line:
- September December 2014
Reflection:
- This is an area that I am going to continue to work on and sharpen throughout my
teaching career, I want my classroom to always be a positive learning environment for my
students. Though I worked with some strategies to help with classroom management
there are many more that I would like to incorporate into my future classroom. Some
strategies I incorporated where having board work at the beginning of class. As Harry
Wong states in The First Days of School, The effective teacher starts the class
immediately with an assignment, not roll taking. This helps gets the students settled and
in the mood to work, prime time in school is the first few moments of class, blow those
and you jeopardize the success of the entire class. Same goes with the first class of the

Carrie Kibblewhites - PSIII Professional Growth Plan

September December 2014

semester, as I learned. Through the semester I worked on making my expectations clear

and consistent, something I will focus more on the first day of school in my own
classroom. I will also incorporate ideas put forth in Teaching with Love and Logic by Jim
Fay. Ideas such as, giving the students choices while making sure either choice is
something that I would appreciate. Ideas put forth in this book help deal with power
struggles, making sure you empathize with your students and how and when
consequences should arise. I also attended a PD session for first year teachers focussing
on classroom management, as well as how to keep students engaged and motivated in
classes.
Goal 2:
- To develop and utilize a variety of assessments tools within my lessons in order to
provide multiple means for students to demonstrate their learning.
KSA Reference:
9. Teachers gather and use information about students learning needs and progress
- Teachers monitor students actions on an ongoing basis to determine and
respond to their learning needs and select and develop a variety of classroom
assessment strategies and instruments to assess the full range of learning
Rationale:
- The inclusion of this goal is based off of my previous practicum experiences. I had
similar goals with in my PSII and found that while I focused on it I had difficulty using a
variety of assessments within the six week period. I believe that with the longer time
frame of this practicum I will be able to develop and utilize a wider variety of assessment
tools.
Action Plan:
- Incorporate a variety of assessment tools into my unit plans
- Include a variety of formative assessment strategies in my lesson plans
Recourses:
- Teacher resource manual
- Evaluation of learning textbooks from PS I/II
- Teacher Mentor
Measurement:
- Review assessments included within my unit plans to determine if I used a variety of
assessment tools
- Review the formative assessments utilized with my lessons to determine if I varied the
types of formative assessments
- Discuss my use of assessment strategies with my Teacher Mentors.
Time line:
- September December 2014

Carrie Kibblewhites - PSIII Professional Growth Plan

September December 2014

Reflection:
- PS III allowed me more time in order to incorporate more assessments in my classes in
order for students to show that they understood the material being presented to them. I
was able to incorporate a number of project based assessments into my classroom where
students, who may not excel in writing tests, could still show that they understood the
curriculum. Some of these presentations were my travel presentation where students had
to use currency exchange and discount practices learned in class to plan a 10 day trip.
Also, a Recipe Conversion project where students chose a recipe and had to convert the
serving to a measure where they could serve the members of their family. Besides these
projects I also incorporated group work and centers where students could help each other
further their knowledge. As well I had exit slips, which included questions pertaining to
what was learned in class that day. These were mostly formative, where I would write
comments on their work so that they wouldnt make the same mistakes on any summative
assessments. What I am going to work on in the future is recording formative and
summative assessment into my grade book, and deciding from there what an accurate
representation of what the student knows. Some would be for the grading system and
other just for my eyes.