PSIII Teacher Professional Growth Plan PSIII Intern: M.

Craig Semester: Fall, 2017

School: St.Pats High School Mentor: T. Taylor-Dusome, K. Brassure

Professional Goal #1:
I will Explore a wider variety of instructional activities in the classroom to make the learning more active and engaging
Rationale:
In my PSII I found myself using the same strategy of direct instruction when teaching math. I would like to make the class more engaging and have students take their learning in
to their own hands. When in PSI my TA mentioned they had a large book of different strategies and I will want to have something similar. Being completely dependent off the
text book can become boring and I hope using different strategies will make the text book more interesting.
Teaching Quality Standard(s)/KSA(s):
Teachers know there are many approaches to teaching and learning. Teachers appreciate individual differences and believe all students can learn, albeit at different rates
and in different ways. They recognize students different learning styles and the different ways they learn, and accommodate these differences in individuals and groups of
students including students with special learning needs. Teachers understand the fluidity of teaching and learning. They constantly monitor the effectiveness and
appropriateness of their practices and students activities, and change them as needed.
Teachers engage in a range of planning activities. Teachers plans are founded in their understanding of contextual variables and are a record of their decisions on what
teaching and learning strategies to apply. Plans outline a reasoned and incremental progression toward the attainment of desired outcomes, for both teachers and
students. Teachers monitor the context, their instruction, and monitor and assess students learning on an ongoing basis, and modify their plans accordingly. eachers strive
to establish candid, open and ongoing lines of communication with students, parents, colleagues and other professionals, and incorporate information gained into their
planning.
there are many approaches to teaching and learning. They know a broad range of instructional strategies appropriate to their area of specialization and the subject
discipline they teach, and know which strategies are appropriate to help different students achieve different outcomes
Strategy(s): Timeline(s) Resource(s) Indicator(s) of Success
1. I will reach out to my PSI TA to inquire about the Aug. 29 Former teacher associate Receive document or link to strategies
strategies book
2. I will ask my mentor for specific feed back and Last week of Mentor Mentor feedback will inform decisions of strategies to re use.
suggestions on which strategy has seemed most Aug
effective
3. I will monitor student engagement levels Oct. to Nov. 1. Observation Ongoing monitoring will indicate levels of student engagement and
throughout each strategy 2. Formative assesment satisfaction with the project
Reflection(s):

One month in and my expectations for my classroom have differed from what I had thought they would be when I was planning. In my PSII
placement I had what seems like an average to high achieving class of grade seven students which skewed my expectations of what I could
get from my classroom here in the north. That is not what I have, my classroom ranges from students much below grade level who need
modification and adaptations to students that are completing the work with ease. This has made the first unit challenging and has slowed my
process of incorporating a variety of strategies in to teaching.
I plan to find activities that suit the capabilities of the class as a whole having some students help others when possible. I have attained the
resource from my PSI TA and have started to look through what I can do.
After completing the first unit of math 9 my TA and I have spoken and suggest breaking the lessons in to chunks and incorporating more
activities. I have not done as much as I can because of the wide range of abilities in the classroom. For this next unit I will be using the
protocols from the resource I have acquired

Sproule, 2016
 Nearing the end of the practicum I have used different strategies including a gallery walk, different group activities, games, and a scavenger
hunt.
With this group of students I asked if they enjoyed the activities and they did not seem invested in them. On numerous occasions I had them
ask if we could work on worksheets.

Professional Goal #2:

I will increase students activity level in hopes of creating a healthier lifestyle
Rationale:
While going through the education program we discussed how phys.ed.is seen as a less important class because it is often just games. I want to show the importance of physical
education to increase life long activity.
Teaching Quality Standard(s):
1. Teachers engage in a range of planning activities. Teachers plans are founded in their understanding of contextual variables and are a record of their decisions on what
teaching and learning strategies to apply. Plans outline a reasoned and incremental progression toward the attainment of desired outcomes, for both teachers and students.
Teachers monitor the context, their instruction, and monitor and assess students learning on an ongoing basis, and modify their plans accordingly. eachers strive to establish
candid, open and ongoing lines of communication with students, parents, colleagues and other professionals, and incorporate information gained into their planning.
2. the subject disciplines they teach. They have completed a structured program of studies through which they acquired the knowledge, concepts, methodologies
and assumptions in one or more areas of specialization or subject disciplines taught in Alberta schools;

Strategy(s): Timeline(s) Resource(s) Indicator(s) of Success

1. Including different types of activities that everyone can do on their own and with groups Sept - Dec Community Student enjoyment
resources such Students trying new activities
as Taekwondo Different types of Photos from
instructors, active weekends
Aboriginal sport
cirlcle day(s), in
town hikes.
Use of city
facilities-
swimming, rink,
ball fields

2. Have students be active on weekends through a do it daily initiative and tweeting their Sept-Dec Twitter Students tweeting on weekends
activity on the weekends
3. Include a fitness portion to as many lessons as possible (3-5 per week) as well as fitness test Sept-Dec Different circuits, and Students increase fitness testing
various online google scores
searches Less complaining through the
workouts

Sproule, 2016
Reflections:
So far through my first month the Twitter initiative has not been working, while they have only had two weekends less then half have
completed the assignment. I am determined to make them tweeting machines and enjoy being active on the weekend. Having the fitness
portion in the first bit of class has been good while there are complaints some students enjoy it and are truly trying. We have don a
pretesting test for fitness and will be periodically doing fitness testing to see if fitness has been improving.
I had taekwondo instructors in and actually had a couple of kids inquire about it more with the instructors so I was glad I could give them the
chance to find something they enjoyed.
Now in Dec. twitter has taken off more but it could be better. I am seeing students be active on weekends through this social media.
I have continued with all sorts of different(alternative to regular sport) activities most recently was table tennis.
We were not able to afford to go to the squash club or gymnastics, however we have snowshoeing planned for the near future and I am
looking in to getting an ice time for skating.
We have continued with fitness almost everyday and I have been having students lead the fitness.

Sproule, 2016