Professional Growth Plan for PS1
Goal 1: KSA #8 – My goal for myself during practicum is to establishes relationships with students that respect human dignity and allow me to give them a better learning experience because I want to learn to adjust/differentiate lessons to fit students individual needs.
Timeline:
o Week 1: Know students name and 1 thing about them
o Week 2: 1 new thing about students and one thing about how they learn
o Week 3: Know at least four things about each student and understand how they learn and how I can differentiate in the classroom to help them learn better
o Week 4: Begin to differentiate students learning during lessons
o Final month: Continue to differentiate and learn about students
§ Find new ways to engage students
Resources/support:
o TA – Shannon Fulton already knows and understands her students.
o My seminar profs are all experienced teachers and experts in their field.
§ University consultant – Andy T.
§ University professors
o I have created an PLN for myself and now I can put it to use
§ Curriculum lab
§ Classmates
§ The internet
§ Twitter
Goal 2: My second goal is to work on my classroom management skills and transitions from activity to activity to lessons because this is something I do not consider when making a lesson plan and think its important to start taking it into consideration.
Time Line:
o Week 1: learn the different classroom management strategies that my TA employs.
o Throughout Practicum: Each week learn at least one new strategy (which included transitioning
between lessons)
o Goal: By the end of practicum I hope to have more then 10 new instructional strategies that I have tried out at some point.
Resources/support:
o TA – Shannon F. already knows and understands her students.
o My seminar profs are all experienced teachers and experts in their field.
§ University consultant – Andy T.
§ University professors
o I have created an PLN for myself and now I can put it to use
§ Curriculum lab
§ Classmates
§ The internet
§ Twitter
- Also related to KAS #5 – all students can learn, albeit at different rates and in different ways. They know how (including when and how to engage others) to identify students’ different learning styles and ways students learn. They understand the need to respond to differences by creating multiple paths to learning for individuals and groups of students, including students with special learning needs;
Timeline:
o Week 1: Know students name and 1 thing about them
o Week 2: 1 new thing about students and one thing about how they learn
o Week 3: Know at least four things about each student and understand how they learn and how I can differentiate in the classroom to help them learn better
o Week 4: Begin to differentiate students learning during lessons
o Final month: Continue to differentiate and learn about students
§ Find new ways to engage students
Resources/support:
o TA – Shannon Fulton already knows and understands her students.
o My seminar profs are all experienced teachers and experts in their field.
§ University consultant – Andy T.
§ University professors
o I have created an PLN for myself and now I can put it to use
§ Curriculum lab
§ Classmates
§ The internet
Goal 2: My second goal is to work on my classroom management skills and transitions from activity to activity to lessons because this is something I do not consider when making a lesson plan and think its important to start taking it into consideration.
- KSA #9 – 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
Time Line:
o Week 1: learn the different classroom management strategies that my TA employs.
o Throughout Practicum: Each week learn at least one new strategy (which included transitioning
between lessons)
o Goal: By the end of practicum I hope to have more then 10 new instructional strategies that I have tried out at some point.
Resources/support:
o TA – Shannon F. already knows and understands her students.
o My seminar profs are all experienced teachers and experts in their field.
§ University consultant – Andy T.
§ University professors
o I have created an PLN for myself and now I can put it to use
§ Curriculum lab
§ Classmates
§ The internet
Reflection on Goals 1 & 2:
My goals are skills that I will continually develop; I have seen growth from the first day of practicum to now. I have gathered and learned a few, new class management techniques and ways of getting students attention.
Here is just a few of them:
Not only have I found new class management techniques, but now I also understand how and when to use them. I learned that if you use the same technique to many times it becomes ineffective; you have to keep changing it up and follow through. For example, when you tell the students to stop make sure everyone has actually stopped
Practicum has allowed me to learn to transition from activity to activity to a different lesson. I now understand the importance of a smooth transition when moving on from one subject to another. Transitions are an opportunity to refocus the student’s energy and get them to switch gears. One thing I have noticed is that although I can plan, in my lesson plans, transitions from one activity the next I cannot do the same between lessons. Between lessons I find that I need to gauge the students energy and focus and from that decide how to proceed. One transition that I am still struggling to master is closers, transitioning from a lesson to lunch/recess. One thing that made this difficult is timing, after 2 weeks for struggling with time management; I bought myself a wristwatch, which worked for me. Although I have improved from the start of practicum I have a ways to go and will continue to work on this skill in PSII.
I have always known the importance of building relationships in the classroom, but now I see how important it is to know the students in order to effectively differentiate their learning. Even knowing the students however and earning their trust does not make differentiation easy. It’s hard to know what you know about the students and then try to get around to all of them. I was constantly aware of which students needed the most help and which students needed help because it was simply who they were and they were not confident. This did not make it any easier when deciding who needed your help more. One skill I would like to work on for PSII is effective circulation in the classroom, when students are working individually.
Here is just a few of them:
- Hand clapping
- “Eyes on me” Students repeat “eyes up there”
- Hands on top” students stop what they are doing say, “that means stop” put hands on head
- “If you can hear me touch your…. [nose, head ears… ect.]”
- Counting down
- Saying “I can wait “ and then WAIT!
- Lights
Not only have I found new class management techniques, but now I also understand how and when to use them. I learned that if you use the same technique to many times it becomes ineffective; you have to keep changing it up and follow through. For example, when you tell the students to stop make sure everyone has actually stopped
Practicum has allowed me to learn to transition from activity to activity to a different lesson. I now understand the importance of a smooth transition when moving on from one subject to another. Transitions are an opportunity to refocus the student’s energy and get them to switch gears. One thing I have noticed is that although I can plan, in my lesson plans, transitions from one activity the next I cannot do the same between lessons. Between lessons I find that I need to gauge the students energy and focus and from that decide how to proceed. One transition that I am still struggling to master is closers, transitioning from a lesson to lunch/recess. One thing that made this difficult is timing, after 2 weeks for struggling with time management; I bought myself a wristwatch, which worked for me. Although I have improved from the start of practicum I have a ways to go and will continue to work on this skill in PSII.
I have always known the importance of building relationships in the classroom, but now I see how important it is to know the students in order to effectively differentiate their learning. Even knowing the students however and earning their trust does not make differentiation easy. It’s hard to know what you know about the students and then try to get around to all of them. I was constantly aware of which students needed the most help and which students needed help because it was simply who they were and they were not confident. This did not make it any easier when deciding who needed your help more. One skill I would like to work on for PSII is effective circulation in the classroom, when students are working individually.