Professional Semester Ill Final Report Faculty of Education Field Experiences Fall ¢_Spring__ Semester, 2014 (Pleage check appropriate semester) Prcfossnal Semester IN| la a five-course equivalent integrated semester Incuding hal-ime teaching and professional study in curiculum design, leadership, advanced metheds, and reflective practice. inom Teasers are ‘Sasianed ull time to schools fr the semester during which they assume responsibilty for approximately ove hall of Sreagaching day. PS Il profesional study Is designed to complement and enhance the Ietemehip. ‘The polscoioned tug components may occur on or off-campus and are coordinated by the Facuity Mentors In collaboration srt Jntem Teachers and school personnel. Place @ checkmark (7) in front of the course in which you are registered Education 4571~ Elementary Education 2 Education 4572— Secondary internship Education 4573- Special Focua internship Education 4574~ Fine Arte Internship Art or Drama Education 4575~ Fine Arts internship - Music Intern Teacher Alyssa Brink Grade Level(s) 8&9 ‘School St. Francis Junior High School Administrator ‘Kevin Kinahen ‘Teacher Mentor Peter Gallagher Faculty Mentor Arlene Driscoll Intern Teacher's Descriptive Report: St. Francis Junior High Schoo! is a Catholic Junior High in Lethbridge, Alberta. The School's home to about 500 students trom grade 7-9. This year’s theme for the entire Holy Spirit Schoo! Division is ‘Walking Together’, which is what teachers are to base their teaching around. During my time at St. Francis | have taught five different classes: three grade & classes, and two grade 9 classes. For two of my grade & classes I taught Mathematics 8 students, and {or my other grade 8 class | was teaching Health 8 students, For my two grade 9 classes, | was in charge of an exploratory option. | was able to choose what | would lke to offer to students and create an entire course around that. My first exploratory class was Sports Medicine, and the ‘second exploratory class | taught was DIY Projects. Planning & Preparation KSA #1, #3, #6, #9, and #13 When it came to planning my units, | frst looked to the Program of Studies to see what general learning outcomes (GLOs) and specific leaming outcomes (SLOs) students in that grade level were required to achieve. Once looking through the different GLOs and SLOs | chose the topic | wanted to focus on first with my students. From there | then created a variety of teaching tools: smart board lessons, assignments, handouls, worksheets, review activities, Page 1018,PS INFinal Report or Alyasa Brink quizzes, and tests. When creating the different tools, | went through each SLO to ensure that | ‘was teaching the students the varying aspects of the Alberta Curriculum that they should know by the end of the school year. For my long range planning | created a calendar in which each day | wrote out what | ‘was hoping to achieve with my students and the approximate time it would take. Once | had accomplished this, | was then able to focus in more on each day and assess specifically what it was | wanted to attain with my students and which of the multiple tools | had created I wished to use for that spenific class. Instruction | KSA #4, #5, #9, and #10 To instruct my students | ensured that | had a variety of activities and instructional methods so that | could keep students attention. | created my own Smart Boards that I used to teach students the mathematics content as they followed along and wrote the examples down In their notes. Along with the notes | would have handouts of charts, worksheets and word problems for them to fil out. | felt this to be best as | knew it would be time consuming to have the students write out all of the word problems and to draw out the charts we were discussing. This allowed me to monitor that students were taking the notes and following along. ‘As well, | wanted students to be up and maving, or at least encourage them to switch their focus so that they were not doing the exact same thing for the 80-minute class period. ‘These different activities included mini whiteboard questions, stations, room walk where information was on the walls and they needed to walk around with worksheets and fill them in accordingly, videos, interactive games on the whiteboard as a class. If there were a lot of information to teach them in a class, | would break the lesson up into sections. | would teach them one concept, and then have them work on questions to practice this new concept. After about 15 minutes, | would then continue on with the next concept in the lesson, and then allow them to work on questions or worksheets | had for them. | would continue with this cycle until the end of the period. Before beginning each new math section | tried to have an opening activity into the unit ‘so that students’ minds were beginning to think about the new topic before | began actually teaching them the content. As well, with each tople, | differentiated the homework questions and assignments broken into levels. Level 1 was the lower level questions of blooms taxonomy, Level 2 was the middle level and Level 3 was the higher order thinking questions. Depending on the student’s mathematics ability | decided which level of questions they would be required to do. This allowed the students who excel at mathematics to challenge themselves, while also allowing those who struggle with mathematics to feel like they are able to achieve success. For reviews | had incorporated stations into the lesson so that it would benefit students of all needs. There would be stations involving the use of IPads, math games, memorization drills, matching, and critical thinking. Students would be at stations for a maximum of 10 minutes, otherwise focus would be lost. During the semester on weekends | reviewed what | was going to be teaching the following week. | practiced the questions students would be required to do, did the worksheets etc. This helped me to ensure | understood what ! was asking students to do, as well It allowed me to see if there were any aspects my students would be confused with. Then I was able to ‘tweak the questions so they were more understandable to my students. Page 2018SI Final Report tor alysee Erni, Classroom Leadership and Management KSA #7 & #8 Everyday when | would see students in the hallways or when they first walked into the classroom | always said “Good moming” and asked how they were doing today. Or | would ask them another question based on what | knew they were doing the day/night before. | made sure to take an interest in their lives so that they could see that | cared about them and was truly interested in what they had to share with me. Also, if ‘they asked me a question about my Personal life, | shared freely. For instance, | was asked whether | was married, what my first ame was, what | had done on the weekend and many other questions. By sharing my own life with the students, it made them feel more comfortable to. Open up and share their lite with me. Furthermore, everyday before beginning my class | had a FAQ on the board, which stood for “Fun Attendance Question”. One day the question would be what their favorite TV shows were, so when | called their name instead of saying ‘here’, they would respond with their answer to the question. The kids loved this idea; everyday they would come into the class. asking what's the FAQ for today and were always so excited to answer It. One of the management strategies | had implemented that played a huge factor in the classroom atmosphere was a seating plan. | had organized students based on alphabetical order, however, after a couple days it was evident that was not going to work very well, Therefore, over the next few classes | would move students around until! had the class set up in a way that worked really well. As well, | was able to bulld relationships with students outside the classroom through coaching basketball. it was a great way to get to know the students on a different level, and for them to see me in a different environment as well. Within my classroom | had a few expectations that students needed to follow: be respectful, come prepared, and be Involved in the learning. There were multiple times when the respect level wasn't where it should be; students would be talking while | was trying to speak or goofing around with a friend during class. | had dealt with this by stopping it right as it occurred. If someone started to talk | would call their name ‘say “please listen” and just continue on with ‘what | was saying to the class. | didn’t make it a big deal, which seemed to be very effective and make the students listen. Similarly with the other expectations | required of my students, if not being followed | would call the name of the student and move on. If behavior escalated and calling their name was not as effective, then | would have a one on one talk with the student and if they still were uncooperative then they would be ‘spending their lunch hour with me. At these. lunch hours, | would have a more in-depth one on one talk with the student about their behavior. | would inform them that this behavior is not tolerated in my classroom and depending on the situation, the consequences that would occur if this behavior ‘continued. They would then be Fequired to work on their homework or finish notes that they did not complete during the regular class time. Assessment KSA #11 At the beginning of the year | had students complete questions from the Mathematics textbook. The next class period | would formatively look over their questions to assess how they were doing, After students would practice these varying questions, they would then be given a Page 3.018(PS Il Pinal Repon tor Alyssa Brink ‘summative assignment or activity, followed by a test on the subject matter. However, a month into the term | switched from the use of textbook questions to math ‘booklets for my formative assessment. | was able to monitor learning more efficiently. Instead of homework questions being written on unorganized loose leaf paper, all their work was in one place, so it was easy to locate and easy to follow. | was able to determine when a concept needed to be reviewed, or retaught. Furhermore, | created my own summative assignments and tests. | was able to ensure ‘that the test included all the concepts the students were required to learn according to the Program of Studies; while ensuring the test questions resembled questions they had previously ‘seen and what they would be expected to leam for the final exam. Not only did | use assessment of learning throughout the term, but also assessment for and as leaming. Once worksheets or assignments were marked students were allowed to go ‘through the entire assignment and correct their mistakes to resubmit. This really helped them to -see what they did wrong and learn from thelr mistakes before writing a test or moving on to the next topic. ‘As well, multiple times throughout the term students would complete questions given on @ mini whiteboard, they would then raise thelr board with the solution. From that | was able to see whether or not they were understanding the concept and which students in particular | would need to spend extra one-on-one time with. Professional Attributes and Responsibilities KSA #2, #15, & #16 ‘The goals | had established for my internship definitely benefit student. learning. One goal | focused on was to increase the variety of teaching strategies | employed. This allowed my teaching to reach all of the students through different learning styles: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic, ‘The workshops | attended outside of my schools Professional Days were based on three different topics. First was ‘Five Alive Math’, where it taught us differ nt ways to teach mathematics for elementary level grades using a concept called “mountain math”. As well, | attended a session on project-based learning (PBL) and how to incorporate it into the curriculum. The last session was ‘Be a Healthy YOU’. This focused on being healthy as an ‘educator and being a leader for your students to follow. | found all of the sessions very beneficial and informational. | was able to bring some of the ideas into my health class by creating small projects that were based around the PBL concept. Students were given an idea and they would choose to represent this information in whatever manner they wished. Some examples of the student's presentations were bookmarks, news: reports, a TV show episode or posters. As | reflected on my lessons, | would assess how well my students understood the information. For instance, recently students were given an assignment to complete, upon marking these assignments it was evident the students needed soma more time to prepare before the test. Therefore, | scheduled the test later to enable students more time to practice before writing. | believed the majority of the students would ‘Struggle on the test if they were required to write it as initially planned. ‘As a teacher | strongly believe it is my responsibility to provide my students the proper ‘stepping-stones for them to be successful in school and life. | am here to teach and educate these students, but not only that, to be there for them if they are having problems or need Page 4018FS i Final Report for Alyssa Brink So meegs 10 talk to, Parents have placed their children inthis school, and it is my responsiblity to make sure they feel safe, welcomed, and eager to learn. it am unable to do this. | am filing ‘myself as an educator; as well as failing my students, my student's guardians and my school. wclllppasPuih Dene 2th Intern Ts ‘Signature Date This page Is to be attached to the intern Teacher's Report. Pages otaPS Ii Final Report for Alyssa Brin, ‘School Administrator Comments: Alyssa Brink has been a wonderful addition to the St. Francis School family. St. Francis is a fairly large Junior High School with approximately 50 staff members and 470 students. She has built a close relationship with both the staff and the ‘students that she worked with. Alyssa’s teaching load included two classes of Math 8, a class of Health 8, as well as a couple of grade 9 exploratory option classes, Alyssa's classes were always very well planned out with detailed lesson plans that followed her unit plans and long-range plans. | enjoyed watching her lessons unfold as she integrated many different teaching techniques in her lessons. In discussion with Alyssa, | can see that she varies her techniques as well as differentiates her instruction all for the benefit of the students. ‘The reason she Is doing this is for the students. She integrates technology as well as hands-on lessons to help kids understand the material in a variety of ways, She also uses diferent forms of formative evaluation to see where the students are at. The students really enjoy coming to Alyssa’s math classes and are learning the material as well, Alyssa has a great rapport with her students and knows them all very well. She fits in great to a junior high schoo), and that is meant as a real compliment. One of Alyssa’s grade @ classes was a fairty busy group that liked to talk alot. She had to constantly be bringing the group back to focus and settle them down, yet she never lost her cool and they always got the work done that they needed to do. | appreciate the fact that. ‘Alyssa never sent a student to the office but always dealt with her own classroom issues, | think that Alyssa’s greatest strength is in her willingness to try new things, trom diferent strategies within her class to the different exploratory options that she taught. She has an engaging personality that students are attracted to and when you combine this with her many different teaching strategies, her great rapport with students, and her desire to get to know all of the students individually and to help them, she has all the makings of a great teacher. | recommend that Alyssa Brink receive the grade of PASS. It has been a real pleasure to have had Alyssa at St. Francis Schoo! and I look forward to having her as a colleague. ae Dec 3114 ‘School Administrator Signature Date ‘Thle page is to be attached to the intern Teacher's Report, Page 6ot&PS I Final Report for Alyssa Brink ‘Teacher Mentor Comments: have had the pleasure of working with Miss Alyssa Brink while she completed her internship at ‘St. Francis Junior High School. Miss Brink has been teaching primarily grade 8 classes Including; two classes of Math, Health, Religion and two investigative option classes; Sports Medicine and DIY: Do It Yourself, this fall. Alyssa developed both of these option courses to enhance the offerings in the new Investigative Option program offered at our school this year. She was responsible for all aspects of the curriculums including planning, implementing and evaluating these subject areas. Her assessments were used to compile the report card marks {for these subjects and she was directly involved in Parent/Teacher Interviews. In addition to this teaching load, she Is also coaching grade 7 girls basketball to support the extra-curricular program at St. Francis. Ihave had the opportunity to observe Alyssa’s teaching on several occasions. Her lessons are thoughtful, well developed and organized. Throughout the process of completing her internship, she has developed and refined her personal teaching style and reflective abilities of observation, analysis, Interpretation and decision-making. When planning, she demonstrated strong organizational skills, was well prepared, had good knowledge of the material to be taught and taught lessons that incorporated the relevant outcomes from the Program ot Studies. She developed an understanding of the appropriate pacing required for the given times and presented lessons that motivated students’ learning. She utilized a variety of instructional Strategies, including both traditional and electronic teaching/learning technologies in her lessons. The students knew what was expected of them and how they would be evaluated. Alyssa was continually available, giving assistance, praise and suggestions for possible improvements, Assessment of students’ learning was ongoing and often involved communicating directly with the student and offered support above and beyond to ensure student learning. Alyssa was responsible for regularly inputting attendance and marks into Teacher Logic our reporting Program. She worked successfully towards developing classroom control and to develop rapport with students. Students that did present behavioral challenges were typically dealt with quickly, fairly and consistently. Alyasa was very open to suggestions and actively sought out advice on how to deal with situations in the classroom on a regular basis. This was always done in an effort to be proactive rather than reactive. ‘As part of this practicum, Alyssa developed a Professional Development project. Sha chose to focus on developing a new resource booklet to support an ongoing project by the math department. Miss Brink connects very well with students and has built a great rapport with many of them. She possesses many professional and personal qualities that will make her an asset to any ‘school staff; she will be missed here at St. Francis. Her professionalism combined with a Positive attitude, trustworthiness and reliability will allow her to become a very strong teacher. agg __ Pome escent) all etree cael Mefrfor Teacher Signature Date This page Is to be attached to the Intern Teacher's Report. Page7 of 8Sl Final Report fr Alyssa Brink Faculty Mentor Comments: Alyssa completed her PS Ill Internship at St. Francis Junior High School in Lethbridge, Alberta. ‘She was responsible for the education of Grade 8 Mathematics and Health as well as Grade 9 Option Students. Alyssa met all the requirements of the Internship and has demonstrated the KSAs required for Interim Certification. Planning and preparation for Alyssa started with the Program of Studies. She understood how these documents are the foundation for education in Alberta and she integrated the General and Specific Leaming Outcomes into her long range, uni and daily lesson plans, Alyssa integrated knowledge of her students into her teaching; especially in her daily lesson plans. She employed a variety of teaching strategies including smart board lessons, assignments, handouts, worksheets, review activities, quizzes and tests. She understood and used differentiation techniques. Alyssa used different levels of assignments based on Bloom's ‘Taxonomy; stations involving the use of !-Pads; mathematics games; memorization drills; matching and critical thinking to accommodate the needs of diverse leamers. Alyssa integrated the Smart board technology into her planning process and effectively used it daily Alyssa used a Fun Attendance Question (FAQ) to get to know her students. She utilized constructive seating plans to keep her students engaged in learning. The students in her classes responded to her approach and seemed willing to work collaboratively with her. Alyssa used many forms of student assessment. She continued to learn assessment for learning and assessment of | teaming strategies. She evaluated students in a timely and appropriate manner, this kept students informed of their Progress while also providing her with the same knowledge in accordance with the Program of Studies Alyssa actively integrated herself into the life of the school. She should be commended for the extra time commitment to coach the schools girls’ basketball team. | have read the complete Final Report and certiy that the assigned grade is PASS. AAD tl BO1el 42-OY% Faculty Mentor Signature This page Is to be attached to the Intern Teacher's Report. Page soto