PSII Professional Growth Plan
Name: Kira Joel School: Magrath Jr./Sr. High Practicum Dates: March 7 to April 25
Teacher Associate: Gregg Hansen University Consultant: Jeff Meadows Date Submitted: Apr 26, 2012
1. I would like to incorporate more technology into my lessons and activities.
I believe that I will engage the 21st century learners more effectively by including more technology.
I am going to have technology in at least one lesson every day. I will use technology such as: videos, polls, PowerPoint, and graphic organizers.
Lesson plans, teacher associate notes and possibly student comments.
2. I would like to ask at least three higher level questions from Blooms taxonomy during my lessons.
I feel that the majority of my questions are lower level so I need to incorporate higher level questions. Students not only need to memorize certain topics but they also need to be able to apply, analyze, evaluate and create new material based on the information they have learned.
I am going to achieve this goal by creating good lessons plans that outlines the questions I would like to ask. When I am making my lesson, I am going to look back at Blooms taxonomy and make sure I have at least three questions from the categories: apply, analyze, evaluate and create.
Lesson plans, teacher associate notes and university consultant notes.
3. In each lesson, I would like to teach the subject in three different ways or three different learning styles to teach the same thing.
Every student learns differently, and it is my job to make sure they all learn the material. I feel if I teach each lesson a few different ways, the students will have a better chance at understanding the material.
In each lesson I will incorporate one method from all three categories: whole class strategies, small group strategies and individual-level strategies.
Lesson plans, teacher associate notes, university consultant notes and possibly student comments.
Reflections on Professional Growth:
1. Incorporating technology into at least one lesson every day was very challenging. I feel that I met this goal; however, I would like to continue with the goal to incorporate many different types of technology. I often used short video clips or animations or engage or reinforce what I was teaching. I also incorporated technology through research projects. For instance, in Biology 20 students did research about food additives, and they also did a case study project in which they had to diagnose a patient. In order to diagnose the patient they had to research the symptoms and then the methods for treatment; afterwards, students made a presentation on the computer to show the class. I also used technology in centers; for example, in science 10 students learned about different types of motion by completing different centers. In one center students had to make a roller coaster online that followed all the rules of motion in physics. Lastly, in science 7, students explored weight and mass by working on a Gizmo from Learn Alberta.
I found that by incorporating technology it got students more engaged and offered them a chance to learn in different ways. Technology is very important in the classroom today, however it still has its challenges. I was not able to access computers for the class all the time; therefore I had to modify or change my plans to exclude technology. In addition, not every student had a cell phone and access to the internet at home. Other challenges were problems that arose with the technology that I was using. Sometimes my videos, PowerPoint’s and games would have glitches and this made the class more challenging. If this happened, I would modify the lesson and continue with my goal of teaching the material.
“One of your personal goals is comfort and integration of technology. You took a bit of a chance with this lesson (technology wise) and it didn’t quite all go as you had planned, but you handled it all very well. Things are going to go wrong with technology and it is how you deal with these glitches that makes all the difference – WELL DONE!” –Jeff Meadows
I also feel that I accomplished this goal personally. I joined the social media site, Twitter and I am working on putting my professional portfolio online. I would like to continue to work on this goal in PSIII. I would like to find other ways to incorporate technology into the classroom without singling out students who don’t have access.
2. This goal was a continuation from PSI. I feel that I greatly improved on this since teaching grade three. During my lessons for Biology 20, Science 10 and Science 7 I always asked many different questions and challenged students to evaluate, analyze and make judgments about the concepts we were learning. I also incorporated higher level thinking into my assignments and exams, based on our discussions from class. Every day I often used many questions at the beginning of class to reinforce the lesson from the day before. I often started out by asking simple questions and progress to higher level questions.
“Good job using questioning to help being students back to what you were working on” – Jeff Meadows
“Good knowledge of content and good choice of appropriate questions” –Gregg Hansen
“Good questioning, you involved most of the students” – Gregg Hansen
I feel that I greatly improved on my questioning during this practicum. For PSIII, I would like to modify this goal to instead focus on asking questions and having all the students participate to get a better understanding of the class’s knowledge on the subject. I found it challenging to get all the students in the class to participate and volunteer in class discussions. To try and reach every student I used techniques such as pulling Popsicle stick names, using multiple choice questions and having every student to raise an “A”, “B”, “C” or “D” or having students write down their answer on individual white boards. I would like to continue focusing on strategies to involve all students in class discussions.
3. In every lesson I tried to incorporate many different styles of teaching to reinforce each topic. In many lessons I would encourage a class discussion and then have individual or group work practicing the information through presentations, research projects, centers, labs or worksheets.
In many lessons one way in which I would try to teach the students was with technology. In addition to explaining the topic I would also have a video or animation of the concept. Or, I would encourage students to do some research on the topic. Another strategy that I used was hands on teaching. In every subject that I taught I also had a hands on lab to relate the concept to real life. If I didn’t have a lab, I would have a demo that I showed the class. For instance, when I was teaching about enzymes in Biology 20, I had the students take notes, I showed a video and I had a demonstration in which I used the enzymes in fresh pineapple to digest jello. In that 80 minute lesson, I incorporated three different learning styles. Not every student is the same therefore teachers cannot teach in the same way; I believe that it is very important to reach every student by incorporating many different opportunities to learn.
I found this goal very difficult because sometimes it was hard to find different learning styles to teach the concept. In addition, time was also a constraint. Especially in the higher level classes when lots of material needs to be covered it is difficult to spend the time and teach it in three different ways. However, I feel that in higher level classes it is the most important to make sure students understand the material by incorporating many learning opportunities.
I was not able to teach the material in three different ways in each lesson; however, I feel that I did accomplish goal this for the majority of the time. I am not going to continue this as a goal for PSIII because I feel that this goal is a requirement for teaching. I am going to continue teaching students in many different styles because I believe it is a necessity for student success.
PSIII Goals: To continue incorporating many forms of technology into my lessons. I would also like to find more techniques to encourage students to participate in class discussions.
Teacher Associate: Gregg Hansen University Consultant: Jeff Meadows Date Submitted: Apr 26, 2012
1. I would like to incorporate more technology into my lessons and activities.
I believe that I will engage the 21st century learners more effectively by including more technology.
I am going to have technology in at least one lesson every day. I will use technology such as: videos, polls, PowerPoint, and graphic organizers.
Lesson plans, teacher associate notes and possibly student comments.
2. I would like to ask at least three higher level questions from Blooms taxonomy during my lessons.
I feel that the majority of my questions are lower level so I need to incorporate higher level questions. Students not only need to memorize certain topics but they also need to be able to apply, analyze, evaluate and create new material based on the information they have learned.
I am going to achieve this goal by creating good lessons plans that outlines the questions I would like to ask. When I am making my lesson, I am going to look back at Blooms taxonomy and make sure I have at least three questions from the categories: apply, analyze, evaluate and create.
Lesson plans, teacher associate notes and university consultant notes.
3. In each lesson, I would like to teach the subject in three different ways or three different learning styles to teach the same thing.
Every student learns differently, and it is my job to make sure they all learn the material. I feel if I teach each lesson a few different ways, the students will have a better chance at understanding the material.
In each lesson I will incorporate one method from all three categories: whole class strategies, small group strategies and individual-level strategies.
Lesson plans, teacher associate notes, university consultant notes and possibly student comments.
Reflections on Professional Growth:
1. Incorporating technology into at least one lesson every day was very challenging. I feel that I met this goal; however, I would like to continue with the goal to incorporate many different types of technology. I often used short video clips or animations or engage or reinforce what I was teaching. I also incorporated technology through research projects. For instance, in Biology 20 students did research about food additives, and they also did a case study project in which they had to diagnose a patient. In order to diagnose the patient they had to research the symptoms and then the methods for treatment; afterwards, students made a presentation on the computer to show the class. I also used technology in centers; for example, in science 10 students learned about different types of motion by completing different centers. In one center students had to make a roller coaster online that followed all the rules of motion in physics. Lastly, in science 7, students explored weight and mass by working on a Gizmo from Learn Alberta.
I found that by incorporating technology it got students more engaged and offered them a chance to learn in different ways. Technology is very important in the classroom today, however it still has its challenges. I was not able to access computers for the class all the time; therefore I had to modify or change my plans to exclude technology. In addition, not every student had a cell phone and access to the internet at home. Other challenges were problems that arose with the technology that I was using. Sometimes my videos, PowerPoint’s and games would have glitches and this made the class more challenging. If this happened, I would modify the lesson and continue with my goal of teaching the material.
“One of your personal goals is comfort and integration of technology. You took a bit of a chance with this lesson (technology wise) and it didn’t quite all go as you had planned, but you handled it all very well. Things are going to go wrong with technology and it is how you deal with these glitches that makes all the difference – WELL DONE!” –Jeff Meadows
I also feel that I accomplished this goal personally. I joined the social media site, Twitter and I am working on putting my professional portfolio online. I would like to continue to work on this goal in PSIII. I would like to find other ways to incorporate technology into the classroom without singling out students who don’t have access.
2. This goal was a continuation from PSI. I feel that I greatly improved on this since teaching grade three. During my lessons for Biology 20, Science 10 and Science 7 I always asked many different questions and challenged students to evaluate, analyze and make judgments about the concepts we were learning. I also incorporated higher level thinking into my assignments and exams, based on our discussions from class. Every day I often used many questions at the beginning of class to reinforce the lesson from the day before. I often started out by asking simple questions and progress to higher level questions.
“Good job using questioning to help being students back to what you were working on” – Jeff Meadows
“Good knowledge of content and good choice of appropriate questions” –Gregg Hansen
“Good questioning, you involved most of the students” – Gregg Hansen
I feel that I greatly improved on my questioning during this practicum. For PSIII, I would like to modify this goal to instead focus on asking questions and having all the students participate to get a better understanding of the class’s knowledge on the subject. I found it challenging to get all the students in the class to participate and volunteer in class discussions. To try and reach every student I used techniques such as pulling Popsicle stick names, using multiple choice questions and having every student to raise an “A”, “B”, “C” or “D” or having students write down their answer on individual white boards. I would like to continue focusing on strategies to involve all students in class discussions.
3. In every lesson I tried to incorporate many different styles of teaching to reinforce each topic. In many lessons I would encourage a class discussion and then have individual or group work practicing the information through presentations, research projects, centers, labs or worksheets.
In many lessons one way in which I would try to teach the students was with technology. In addition to explaining the topic I would also have a video or animation of the concept. Or, I would encourage students to do some research on the topic. Another strategy that I used was hands on teaching. In every subject that I taught I also had a hands on lab to relate the concept to real life. If I didn’t have a lab, I would have a demo that I showed the class. For instance, when I was teaching about enzymes in Biology 20, I had the students take notes, I showed a video and I had a demonstration in which I used the enzymes in fresh pineapple to digest jello. In that 80 minute lesson, I incorporated three different learning styles. Not every student is the same therefore teachers cannot teach in the same way; I believe that it is very important to reach every student by incorporating many different opportunities to learn.
I found this goal very difficult because sometimes it was hard to find different learning styles to teach the concept. In addition, time was also a constraint. Especially in the higher level classes when lots of material needs to be covered it is difficult to spend the time and teach it in three different ways. However, I feel that in higher level classes it is the most important to make sure students understand the material by incorporating many learning opportunities.
I was not able to teach the material in three different ways in each lesson; however, I feel that I did accomplish goal this for the majority of the time. I am not going to continue this as a goal for PSIII because I feel that this goal is a requirement for teaching. I am going to continue teaching students in many different styles because I believe it is a necessity for student success.
PSIII Goals: To continue incorporating many forms of technology into my lessons. I would also like to find more techniques to encourage students to participate in class discussions.