Teacher's Professional Growth Plan - Gwen Ambrose
September, 2010 – December 2010
Professional Goal 1: Generosity in the Classroom
Objectives:
Working with the concept of ‘generosity’ as developed by the founders of the “Circle of Courage”, I developed and implemented two very different projects. Before beginning at Winston Churchill High School, I was concerned that young people do not have enough awareness of how to be generous, nor how to use their time and skills to better another persons, situations, or places. My hope was that by having students working directly with an activity that fostered generosity, they would gain some ideas regarding how they could benefit another, and in so doing, benefit themselves. I must admit, I was very impressed by the extensive involvement that Winston Churchill High School enjoys with causes both within the city and abroad.
The first project developed was geared toward my grade eleven class and involved an in-depth research project focussed on a promotional cause of their choice. In class we examined several causes worthy of awareness and support. These causes included: Ryan’s Well Foundation, The Lethbridge Humane Society, The Lethbridge Food Bank, Amnesty International, World Wildlife Fund, Pennies for Peace, and Harambee Grandmother’s Foundation. Students were also free to choose a cause of their own, provided that it was legitimate.
Students worked with a partner to, not only research the cause, but to develop an intensive promotional campaign as well. While we began this project outside of a unit structure, my intention was to have it coincide with the Media Unit. My hope was that students would be able to incorporate the various skills learned and understood in the Media Unit into their campaigns. Once the Media Unit began, we included a song of their choosing that complimented the cause they were working with and was approved of by myself. We next looked at how speeches could be used effectively to rally support for a cause. Students were required to write a speech for their campaign that included various aspects of effective speaking. Finally, students worked with the visual aspects of media and created a Power Point presentation, a poster, or a video for their campaign. Once this was completed, the students presented what they had worked on to the class.
The grade tens' objectives in including generosity into their curriculum changed considerably. I noted that many of these students seemed to lack motivation and/or self-confidence to succeed at school. Therefore, I approached both the E.S.L. and the Special Education teachers to inquire if my students could be of assistance in working with the students of these classes. We were warmly accepted in by the teaching staff (Janice Brown and Jeff Davies).
We arranged that every Wednesday, the grade ten students would be split into two groups. The first half would go to the E.S.L. classroom and the second half would go to the Special Education classroom. There, the students were asked to work with the other students and assist them in a variety of projects. This could be anything from helping translate a word into English, to helping students bake cookies and pizza.
Relationship of Goal to Teaching:
The objectives developed in the grade eleven version of the generosity project was much easier to quantify than those done by the grade tens. Students in grade eleven gained a wider comprehension of the media they are faced with every day, as well as some ability to manipulate and/or contribute to media. In addition, every objective that they accomplished was validated by the grade eleven Program of Study. However, it was hoped that on a deeper, and more personal level, students were able to identify, understand and appreciate some of the larger issues in the world. In engaging in the research, they were able to build a personal awareness of some of the concerns the world faces. In presenting that information to their classmates, they were able to extend that awareness to their peers.
Martin Brokenleg (one of the founding partner in developing the Circle of Courage) has said that in order for students to feel a deeper connection to the world, and their placement in it, they need to take a greater amount of responsibility in creating that world. Therefore, the final hope I had for the grade eleven students in completing this project was to instil a sense of personal empowerment and to make positive changes for their world. In completing the campaign, students were no longer simply a pawn for the media, and big-business, but contributing members who were able to take the tools of media and create something more than superficially satisfying.
The relationship between the goal for generosity and professional development is not as easily measured for my grade ten class. Students were working to develop several skills in this weekly activity. Because students worked with other students, teamwork and peer-working skills were developed. And the grade ten students were (fairly) proficient English speakers, were in the position to develop leadership skills as well. In the Special Education classroom, my students were working with three girls with Down Syndrome. Therefore, they again had the opportunity to develop some leadership skills.
I willingly admit that I learned a significant amount from the girls with Down Syndrome. They were full of fun, and very accepting. I had never really worked with anyone with Down Syndrome previous to this experience and found these girls to be full of personality and eager to participate! Their enthusiasm for the activities we engaged in helped my students to understand and appreciate their own lives a little better. Many of the grade ten students were able to gain a new perspective of themselves and value the strengths they have and how they can use those strengths effectively in their community.
Indicators and Measures of Achievement:
The aim of this goal was to:
1) Motivate students to be more aware of ways in which they could be more generous in their personal lives, community and/or world.
2) Instill a sense of personal responsibility within my students as they witnessed for themselves the direct relationship and impact that they have on making a positive contribution.
The mark of success in this goal has come back to me through comments to me from my students in grade ten. When we were done, several of these students (but unfortunately, not all) remarked that they were sad the time spent with the E.S.L. students and the Down Syndrome girls was over. They definitely made some bonds with the students they were working with and will miss it.
The grade eleven students worked very hard and accomplished a lot of learning objectives, but the work they did was at “arms length”. Thus, they did not have the same benefit of working directly with a group of people and seeing the changes/contributions they could make. While they were able to learn and identify with some of the larger issues the world faces, for many, the campaign they put together was seen as just more school work.
I believe that the intention of this project is worth doing and pursuing. However, I will work to make it more immediate to the students in the future. Perhaps I will include a field trip to the Humane Society or the Food Bank next time.
Reflections
Grade Ten: I believe that the grade ten students benefitted far greater than the grade eleven students, perhaps because the work they did with the other classes was hands-on. My students could directly see the effects they were having on the people they were working with. In addition, many of the students had never spent time getting to know children with severe learning disabilities. Therefore, this experience provided them with the opportunity to better understand Down Syndrome and how it effects individuals. It also gave my students the opportunity to put their own learning difficulties into a new perspective.
The comments that I received every week from my students was usually very positive. One comment that stands out for me was written after one of my students played a game of “Memory” with one of the girls from the Special Education class. One of the questions was, “What did you and the student you assisted do?” He wrote, “Played memory game. She won.” The next question was, “What was good about today’s activities?” He responded, “She won.” What was significant about this statement was that he was not only able to relate to the student he was working with, but also that he took pride in her accomplishments too. When the project was coming to a close, several students expressed regret. They had developed meaningful bonds with the students they were helping and did not want to conclude the experience. In winding up the project, my class made the people they worked with several giant posters that they collectively worked on to express their gratitude in being able to spend time with them.
While the experience was a positive one for most of the grade ten students, there were three drawbacks. The first was that unfortunately, there were a few students who did not enjoy the experience at all. In order to avoid working with the students from the other classes, these students acted out and I had to find an alternative activity to occupy them while everyone else was working with their E.S.L. or Special Education partners. They were assigned the task of researching a cause and doing a Power Point presentation on it. When they completed one, they had to do another until the end of the project. The second drawback was that because I did not have any special training or understanding of the students with Down Syndrome, I was sometimes not as prepared as I would have liked to have been. I was very fortunate to have my teacher mentor available those first few days because she had specialization in Special Education and happened to have several activities that they could enjoy together. The third problem I ran into was that there was only one of me, but my students were divided into three groups (one group in the E.S.L. classroom, one group in the Special Education classroom and one group working on research and creating Power Points.) Again, I was very fortunate because the other teachers I was working with were wonderful. They accepted my students into their classroom and ensured that everyone was on task and working effectively. I usually went with the students who were paired up in the Special Education room.
In the future, there are several things that I would do differently. To begin with, I would work more directly with the teachers of the E.S.L. and Special Education classes to develop an actual program that would include more direct learning objectives from the Program of Study. While it was obvious that the project was worth doing, it needed to be done with a greater level of organization. Second, I would plan ahead of time to ensure that any student who was opposed to the project have a place to go and alternative projects. I had not made any preparations for such an event (it did not even occur to me that some students would be very against the idea). While I would greatly encourage my student to participate, I would make certain that they were not stretched beyond their comfort levels too much. Unfortunately, because of the nature of how this project was set up, it necessitates that other teachers are involved and willing to work with my students. Therefore, I will continue to build positive relationships with the teachers I am working with and ensure that the quality of education is a priority.
Grade Eleven: One of the best parts of this project for my students was that it involved so many aspects of the media in which they are immersed. Rather than seeing themselves as a passive observer of the media, they were given the opportunity to work with various forms of media in a positive manner in order to make a constructive contribution to the world. The project also enabled these students to see how people working with the various foundations and funds (such as World Wildlife Fund) do in fact impact their world to help make change for the better. Students saw first-hand how people could band together to end poverty, educate the poor, and to help rescue endangered species.
While there were many good things to consider, my grade eleven students did not benefit from their project in the same way the grade tens did. The correlations to the learning objectives were much clearer, but the end result was not the same in how the students felt about the work that they were doing. For many of the students, the project was just another assignment that they had to do. This is unfortunate because I hoped that they would experience a greater connection with their world and the issues that faces it. In order address this point in the future, I would engage in more preliminary research to find those foundations that already had a program for schools to access and contribute (such as Ryan’s Well Foundation). If there was a group that I felt was especially worthy, but did not have a school program in place (such as the Lethbridge Humane Society), I would work more directly with them to determine how the accomplishments of my students could be best utilized by the cause. It would also have been beneficial if my students could go on a field trip to a place such as The Lethbridge Food Bank to see directly the results of their efforts. In this way, the students would be able to make a clearer connection in how their work was being used by the foundations and societies to make a positive change in the world.
Timelines:
August 30, 2010 – October 18, 2010
Professional Goal 2: Differentiated Instruction (K.S.A. #1, #5)
Objectives:
My second goal was to develop a variety of strategies for differentiating instruction. This goal was based on a focus that I began to understand and deeply appreciated last year. In ensuring that I was effectively incorporating differentiation, I included various methods that students could both learn the material from, as well as demonstrate what they knew.
Relationship of Goal to Teaching:
No two students are the same and neither are the ways in which they can best learn and develop English skills and understanding. In teaching students from a variety of backgrounds as well as learning styles, it is crucial to be able to present the lessons in a way that each student will best learn from. In the same way, it is equally important to develop ways in which they can demonstrate their growth that best suits their needs as learners. As a teacher who is interested in seeing my students reach toward their best, I hope to be able to provide the kind of lessons and assessment strategies that will ensure that every opportunity for success is presented.
Strategies for Goal Achievement:
One of the ways I worked toward this goal was by including some choices in with the assignments I gave my students. For example, during our Short Story Unit, students were given a selection of four activities (from various levels of Bloom's Taxonomy). They then had to choose two of these activities. In addition, I ensured that the assignments the students were to complete were varied. Students in my grade eleven class were asked to:
· Write personal response essays
· Keep a written journal that I checked weekly
· Complete a table/graph on character development
· Create a presentation
· Create a story-board
· Write an essay
· Write a script
· Write a newspaper article
· Write a test
· Analyse a song
· Analyse a speech
· Engage in a debate
· Read aloud and independently
· Independent and group research
· Group and individual seat work
· Web-Quests
Another way I worked to accomplish this goal was by using a variety of ways to teach the students. These teaching methods included:
· Smartboard presentations
· Power Point presentations
· Lecture combined with note-taking
· Hand-outs with “fill-in-the-blank” sections
· Student-lead presentations of learning
· Independent research and seat-work
It is my intention to continue to teach in this style while expanding my teaching strategies. For example, I would like to learn more about “Moodle” or other types of Blogging that my students can engage in for the sake of learning and gaining access to their assignments.
In addition to the above noted ways in which to continue my growth in differentiation, I worked with other teachers who were experienced with differentiation and who were willing to share that knowledge with me. In order to achieve this goal, I had several in-depth discussions about differentiation as well as to directly observe many of my colleagues while they taught using differentiation strategies, lessons and assignments. By directly watching teachers in action, I benefited from seeing the direct effect that these strategies had on the students.
Indicators and Measurements of Achievement:
The use of differentiation requires that I am continually asking myself, "For this student, what is necessary in order that he or she succeed?" Therefore, I was aware that I was coming closer to accomplishing this goal when I found myself asking that question. However, in the future, the answer that I come to for each student will change with the situation each one brings to the classroom. Therefore, I must always be both willing to examine the individual needs of my students and their unique situations, and I must always be willing to explore new ways in which to connect the lesson objectives to their world and lives. Ultimately, differentiation requires continued flexibility as well as the base knowledge of readiness, interest and learning style into the end results of content, process and products.
Reflections:
I believe that there were assignments that I was very successful in creating a differentiated lesson as well as assignment package for my students. However, I found two main difficulties while implementing differentiation. The first was that my assignments were sometimes confusing to the students – especially my 10-2 class. The reason for their confusion was that I did not always present the information in a clear and structured way. While I had a clear idea in my mind of how the assignment would look, and what expectations were in place, I did not always present this information in a clear and effective way for all students. This lack of communication lead to some behaviour issues in class as students who had a difficult time staying on task began to be confused and then to lose focus of the lesson in favour of chatting with their friends/peers. In order to overcome this issue, I began to develop my rubrics and checklists with much more detail than I had previously, that included quantifiable data rather than general terminology of success. Once I began to do this, I found that my students were able to be much more successful and were more willing to complete the tasks I set for them.
The second issue I had in producing and working with differentiation was initially, more time was consuming to develop the assignments and assessment rubrics/checklists. However, I found that after getting more comfortable with the concepts and strategies involved in differentiation, the work-load and considerations involved was reduced.
Timelines:
August 30, 2010 – December 17, 2010. The completion of this goal is a work-in-progress. I will continue to make time to discuss various strategies with my colleagues, administration and other supports within the learning community, as well as engage in learning opportunities to maximize my own growth and understanding. I will continue to examine and try various teaching strategies and techniques that I believe will engage my students as well as educate them.
Professional Goal 3: Classroom Management
Objectives:
My third goal has been to continue to work toward better classroom management. Balancing the variety of personalities along with mine can be challenging at times. While I have grown considerably in this area, there are still some areas that need work. Learning to find that right and perfect balance of what was needed in each case with each student was sometimes difficult and my first challenge was in learning to effectively discern when a student really could benefit from being given the benefit of the doubt compared to situations where I am being taken advantage of. I made good progress in this area by doing one thing: remaining consistent. There are legitimate times when students may need to be given extra time, for example. However, when these situations occur, it still must be the student's responsibility to ensure that they are caught up. A student who recurrently has excuses may be asked about the various causes and how they can make better choices so as to avoid problems and issues in the classroom. They may also be asked to assist in putting together a plan that will enable them to be more successful by developing better time-management skills or organizational habits for themselves.
Strategies for Achieving This Goal:
I believe that it is a step in the right direction to be able to identify the areas which need greater consideration. Being able to react effectively and efficiently to various issues that arise in the classroom is a definite asset in commanding (rather than demanding ) respect. More than simple recognition must be in place if I am to overcome these issues.
To help myself become better at managing my classroom, I engaged in the following activities:
1) Working with other experienced teachers to discuss some of the issues that arose and how they deal with similar problems. This strategy was very beneficial because they often had ideas for a situation that was based on experience and a deep understanding of students and their behaviour.
2) I attended a workshop spanning three Saturdays through-out my PSIII round that was designed to help beginner teachers better their classroom management skills, as well as giving advice in the areas of parent-teacher conferences and student motivation.
3) I set up times to watch other teachers teach in order to note how they manage similar issues.
Indicators and Measurements of Achievement:
I determined that I would know that I was gaining some success in my goal for better classroom management when I noted the following criteria:
1) I was consistent in how I handled a behaviour, each and every time it occurred.
2) Students were aware of my expectations for behaviour and are refrained from acting poorly
3) Students were able to accomplish more productive work with their time in the class instead of being pulled off-task by disruptive behaviour by either themselves or their classmates
Results:
The first strategy I implemented was a huge key in ensuring that I was successful in maintaining good classroom management skills. I simply remained consistent. Once I set a rule and/or procedure, I ensured I remained true to it. There are two reasons why I believe that consistency was a key determinant in my class. To begin with, by remaining consistent, I sent the very clear message to the students that I take my own rules seriously, and so should they. The second message I sent to my students was to know that the rules can be depended on. There are no uncertainties. Rules are not Roulette where sometimes they are penalized for a bad behaviour and other times they strike it "lucky" by getting off. Therefore, they should not be treated as such.
The second strategy I implemented in my classroom was to react more quickly to poor behaviour. Instead of waiting to see if the student was going to choose to behave appropriately, I began using proximity and penalizing students by detaining them after school more quickly. I even removed some of my students from the classroom faster than I had been willing to previously. These actions gave my students the very clear message that I am watchful and that there are immediate consequences to their behaviour.
Reflections:
As stated, I do believe that I have obtained some positive growth in this area by becoming more consistent, but I also find that there are times when I still slip. This fact is especially true when I am under stress. In these situations, I find that my ability to reason things out effectively is not as solid as it otherwise could be. In order to overcome this issue, it is imperative that I remain consistent right from day one of instruction. The other area in which I have become more effective is ensuring that the students were taking more responsibility for their actions and behaviour. Insisting that students are accountable for themselves helps them to know that there are real consequences for what they do. It also empowers my students by enabling them to learn and grow from their mistakes and misbehaviour. By giving a clear and fair consequence, students also have the opportunity to reflect on their choices and do things differently.
Timelines:
August 30, 2010 – December 17, 2010. Like differentiation, classroom management is an on-going learning process. I will continue to observe other teachers as well as attend their classes where it is feasible. I will also continue to work along-side my administration to find helpful solutions that are effective. Finally, I will continue to explore other resources that are effective in dealing with behaviour issues in my classroom.
Goal 4: Lesson Structure
Objectives:
The fourth goal I worked toward was in developing better structure for my classrooms. I am a “big picture” type of a person, but providing structure means that I must examine and organize the details. There are three areas where I determined more structure was necessary:
1) In teaching the learning objectives, it is necessary to have a solid structure in place for students to learn from. This means knowing what students are already familiar with, as well as what they will need further instruction on.
2) Structure in assessment becomes necessary so that students have a firm idea of what is expected of them and the criteria they will need to fulfill in order to be successful
3) Procedures that students are expected to follow must also be structured so that transitions and change can occur with little impact on the flow of the lesson.
Strategies for Achieving the Goal:
There were several ways in which I worked to include more structure.
1) In planning lessons, I began by asking the students more questions about what they already knew and were familiar with. In that way, I was able to get a clearer picture of what lessons needed to be planned and which ones merely needed a quick refresher. I also asked myself questions about the lessons I was planning such as, “How will I know that they know how to do_______? What in this lesson would I find confusing if I were a student in this class?” In asking these questions, I was able to avoid some potential problems students might have with the lessons. As a result, my students felt more confidence, overall, and were more willing to work and accomplish their assignments.
2) I developed structure in my assessment strategies by creating rubrics that are based on quantifiable and observable measures as well as checklists that were clearly laid out and understood. In putting these assessment tools together, I asked myself what objectives the students were expected to demonstrate and how they could best show they had gained the required knowledge. Working with others to proof-read my rubrics and checklists also proved to be an asset.
3) Classroom procedures were better structured by asking myself, “If I was my student, what would I find confusing about the procedures? Where do I have too much freedom to do as I please?” In answering this question, I was able to avoid behaviour issues and keep my students focussed and on task longer.
Indicators and Measurements of Achievement:
I was able to successfully accomplishing this objective so that the amount of time I had to spend giving individual students instructions on something they did not understand was reduced. My students became more productive and were not off task for long periods of time during transitions and changes in the routine.
Reflections:
Like classroom management, there are times when I saw clear growth that created wonderful results in my students’ abilities to comprehend the assignment and keep on task of what was expected. However, there are some areas where further growth and development is necessary. In particular, I found that when teaching new material to the grade ten-two class, there were some holes in my lessons that I had not considered when putting the lesson plan together. These holes became apparent as soon as I set my students to work on their assignments. In these cases, a myriad of questions would be asked by my students, or they would simply turn off of the lesson and start chatting with each other. In creating rubrics and checklists, I was quite successful. I have now begun to develop effective, clear and consistent criteria for success for my students so that they fully understand what is expected of them.
Timeline:
October 20, 2010 – December 17, 2010