Teacher Professional Growth Plan:
My professional goals are attached to demonstrate my commitment to growing as a teacher through reflection and self-improvement.
PSII Goals: 1. My first goal for PSII is to increase my classroom management ability. During PSI, the students I was tasked with were very well behaved, the class sizes were small, and were much younger. Now that I am moving into high school in a much larger institution, I believe my abilities will be tested. Furthermore, the challenge of engaging students in dramatic work while maintaining control of the class will likely prove difficult. To attain this goal, I am seeking the support of my TA and UC in building these classroom management skills. Through their guidance, and by watching my TA teaching, I hope to glean a great deal. As well, I aim to move from lecture to a more active classroom. While this will present new management challenges, I hope the increased motivation and work will mitigate classroom management difficulties cause by boredom. I will know I have progressed in this goal when the students can work safely, stay on task, and do so without my direct involvement. Moreover, I will be able to bring them back quickly and effectively to whole class attention. 2. For my second goal, I am striving to improve my organizational ability. While this was one of my goals in PSI as well, I believe one can always progress through life, and I recognize I still have a way to go in this regard. In this regard, I plan to be more organized in lesson planning, time management, future planning, and logbook preparation. While I increased my organization dramatically in PSI, I did this at the expense of sleep time. As such, my goal for PSII is to increase organization in more efficient ways to maintain good health such that I am able to work to my fullest potential while teaching. To achieve this goal, I am focusing on having print and digital copies of all resources, being early, going to bed on time, and having all resources ready for the lesson beforehand. I will know I have attained significant improvement in this regard once I am steadily going to bed on time having completed all my schoolwork, am able to greet the students at the door without fear of being unprepared, and can find any document at a moment’s notice. 3. Finally, my last goal is an adaptation of my final goal in PSI, namely balancing professionalism with fostering relationships with students.. While I believe I had a great deal of growth in this arena through PSI, it will be another challenge with high-school aged pupils, particularly due to the closer age gap between myself and the students. I will achieve this goal through consultation with my TA and UC, as well as observing the modeling of my TA. As a first step in this endeavour, I shall be aiming to increase the professionalism of my dress and deportment, particularly during the first weeks of my practicum. Simultaneously, I will execute my UC’s model of questioning, compliments, and sharing with my students to build relationships, both in and out of class. I will know I have advanced in this goal when I am able to hold the respect and command of the students, not out of fear, but out of esteem and mutual courtesy. |
PSI Goals:
1. My first goal was to learn all the names of the students in the school from grade 4 to 8 in the first week. Names have never been easy for me, and thus I looked forward to working on this challenge. I nearly completed my goal, and had all their names by the next week. 2. Next, as my personality is naturally attuned towards an Abstract Random disposition, according to Gregorc’s learning styles theory, and since I have been informed that teaching is a profession of Concrete Sequential personalities, I strove for my second goal to bring out that facet of my personality. I feel I met this goal, and my Teacher Associate conveyed her appreciation for my organized and well planned nature. And while I believe I met this goal, I also think that my unique natural disposition may bring out something else in my students other teachers might not, so I will embrace the best of both. 3. Finally, I have always been a natural friend with children of all ages, in every capacity which I have had the opportunity to be a mentor or leader. However, teachers cannot be friends with their students. So for my final goal, I sought to find positive ways of building relationships with students without undermining my status as a professional teacher, and ways to demonstrate that professionalism throughout my practicum. My TA made special mention of my professionalism in my teaching and relationships with fellow teachers, so I believe I met this goal as well. Moreover, the students expressed how much they valued my presence in their school, so I was glad to find I could build positive relationships with the students without comprising my professionalism. |