Introductory Field Experience Final Evaluation

Field Experience Information:

Student Teacher:
Last Name: Lapointe First Name: Kylie
ID Number: 1386754 Course Number: EDFX 325
University Facilitator:
Last Name: Froude First Name: Karen
Mentor Teacher:
Last Name: Cross First Name: Nicole
Placement Information:
Start Date (dd/mm/yyyy): 14/03/2016 End Date (dd/mm/yyyy): 22/04/2016
Subject(s) and/or Grade Level(s): Grade 5 language arts, math, social studies

School Information:
School Name: H.E. Bourgoin Middle School School District: Northern Lights School Division
School Address: 4313 - 39 Street Postal Code: T9N 2R1
School Phone #: 780-826-3323 City: Bonnyville

Distribution:
Students should retain a copy of the Final Evaluation form for their own records. Please note that
potential employers may ask for a copy of this Final Evaluation.

A copy of this form will be emailed by the University Facilitator to the office of Undergraduate Student
Services, where it will be retained for a period of three years; no other copies will be retained by
Mentor Teachers, University Facilitators or employees of the University of Alberta without written
permission of the Student Teacher.

It is recommended that the Student Teacher receive a grade of:

Final Grade (Credit or No Credit): Credit Date (dd/mm/yyyy): 22/04/2016

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The purpose of this Field Experience Final Evaluation document is to provide evidence and
communicate information regarding Student Teacher performance based on the Knowledge, Skills and
Attributes (KSAs) for Interim Certification.

For each category, the Mentor Teacher should provide comments that reflect strengths and areas for
growth in each category. Evidence and specific examples should be provided.

You do not need to fill the space provided; recommended length is 200-300 words per category. Write
only enough to provide necessary evaluation and evidence. Please do not exceed the space provided, as
lines of text that extend beyond the text box will not appear on printed copies; there is space for extra
comments at the end.

Use the KSAs and suggested topics as they relate to the category to guide your comments; not all need
to be addressed.

Description of the school and context of teaching

Suggested Topics (Not all need to be addressed): school size, urban/rural, special programs, class size, special needs students in class,
number of teachers, etc.

H.E. Bourgoin Middle School has 379 students in the rural town of Bonnyville. There are 17 teachers
and 4 Educational Assistants. Our school has an enhancement and enrichment block 4 times in a six-day
cycle. This program provides additional literacy and numeracy support time as well as time for our
Ukrainian, French and Spanish culture classes and band classes. We also have exploratory classes,
where students have the opportunity to try classes such as sewing, cooking, and woodworking.

The practicum class has 25 students with 15 girls and 10 boys. There are 5 IPP students in class that
have difficulties with math and language arts.

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Preparation, Planning and Organization
Related Knowledge, Skills and Attributes (Not all need to be addressed):
KSA A: Teachers understand that contextual variables affect teaching and learning.
KSA C: Teachers use the Guide to Education and the programs of study to inform and direct planning, instruction and assessment.
KSA D: Teachers understand the subject discipline they teach.
KSA E: Teachers know how to identify students different learning styles and ways students learn and create multiple paths to learning for
individuals and groups.
KSA F: Teachers know how to translate curriculum and desired outcomes into meaningful and incrementally progressive learning
opportunities through short, medium and long range planning.
KSA M: Teachers identify and incorporate relevant learning resources into their teaching.

Suggested Topics (Not all need to be addressed): curriculum expectations, content knowledge, lesson plans, organization, time
management, diverse learning needs, etc.

Kylie was very diligent in completing detailed lesson plans for each of her lessons. Each lesson included
the curriculum outcomes that would be addressed, a formative or summative assessment and step- by-
step directions for what was to be covered in the lesson.

She had the opportunity to create a mini unit on transformations for math. She began with determining
the pieces of the unit that would need to be covered; a review of geometry vocabulary leading to angles
and then teaching about each transformation separately (reflection, translation and rotation). She
included formative and summative assessments in her unit planning as well.

Kylie would research any vocabulary or particular content of the curriculum that she was unsure of or
felt that she needed more knowledge on. This resulted in her having a better understanding to answer
and questions that arose in class.

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Teaching Skills and Strategies
Related Knowledge, Skills and Attributes (Not all need to be addressed):
KSA A: Teachers understand that contextual variables affect teaching and learning.
KSA D: Teachers understand the subject discipline they teach.
KSA E: Teachers know how to identify students different learning styles and ways students learn and create multiple paths to learning for
individuals and groups.
KSA F: Teachers know how to translate curriculum and desired outcomes into meaningful and incrementally progressive learning
opportunities through short, medium and long range planning.
KSA I: Teachers know and use a broad range of instructional strategies.
KSA J: Teachers use both traditional and electronic technologies to meet students learning needs.
KSA M: Teachers identify and incorporate relevant learning resources into their teaching.

Suggested Topics (Not all need to be addressed): learning strategies, sequencing/timing, flexibility, instructional strategies, use of ICT,
differentiation of instruction, student interest, cultural sensitivity, pacing, lesson/unit plans, etc.

Through Kylies planning of the transformations math unit she was able to develop a sense of how to
structure her lesson to pay attention to time and student engagement. She ensured that each lesson had
an interactive component, whether it was a sheet to fill in, a game, a discussion or an activity to
complete. This allowed her to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses in individual students and
inform her lessons for the next day.

Kylie differentiated her guided reading lessons during language arts to ensure the students grouped by
level were getting extra support in the skills then needed. The higher readers would work on identify
idioms where the lowest reading group would work on understanding vocabulary and basic
comprehension skills.

She experienced the ever-changing school day with the various last minute changes to the schedule that
can happen throughout the day or the week such as assemblies, guest visits, announcements and drama
performances. Kylie learned that flexibility is an essential skill necessary to ensure that her lessons were
not missed and that if a lesson did not work out as planned that she would need to reteach the skill and
not move ahead in the unit.

Any time that Kylies lessons were finished 5 or 10 minutes early, rather than rush into the next lesson,
Kylie would ensure that students who needed additional time to complete tasks would use that time to
complete their task, ask questions, catch students up that had missed previous lessons, or provide
students time to complete other tasks for other classes.

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Management and Classroom Climate
Related Knowledge, Skills and Attributes (Not all need to be addressed):
KSA A: Teachers understand that contextual variables affect teaching and learning.
KSA G: Teachers create and maintain environments that are conducive to student learning and understand student needs for physical,
social, cultural and psychological security.
KSA H: Teachers know the importance of respecting students human dignity by establishing relationships with students that are
characterized by mutual respect, trust and harmony.

Suggested Topics (Not all need to be addressed): class tone, routines, rapport with students, conflict resolution, student engagement,
leadership, transitions, etc.

The practicum class had routines developed prior to Kylies arrival. Kylie stepped into the routines
seamlessly to ensure consistency continued in the classroom.

Students applied for monthly jobs and Kylie used the teacher assistants to hand items out to the class,
have the homework officer check agendas and the messenger to deliver items and messages around the
school. She learned that these jobs offer the students the opportunity to build capacity for leadership
within the classroom, improve their self-esteem and give the students a sense of responsibility and
inclusion in the classroom.

She was conscious of students behaviour and recognized when students were off task or their behaviour
was inappropriate. She would make an extra effort to ensure the student felt safe and additional supports
were implemented when needed.

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Communication
Related Knowledge, Skills and Attributes (Not all need to be addressed):
KSA H: Teachers know the importance of respecting students human dignity by establishing relationships with students that are
characterized by mutual respect, trust and harmony.
KSA J: Teachers know how to use and how to engage students in using traditional and electronic technologies to present and deliver
content, communicate effectively with others.
KSA L: Teachers know how to develop and implement strategies that create and enhance teacher, parent, and student partnerships.

Suggested Topics (Not all need to be addressed): oral and written language, communication with parents/guardians, listening skills,
teaching/learning technologies, voice and language, etc.

Kylie understood quickly that there are diverse learning styles in the classroom. She gave instructions
orally for the auditory students. She also wrote the instructions on the white board or the smart board for
the visual students that need to see the instructions in order to follow them. Writing down the
instructions also meant the students could follow step by step what to do and helped to prevent the
students from getting off task.

Kylie would use the smart board to complete activities as well as pull up videos for teaching
transformations, maps to guide the understanding of the loyalists in social studies, games in both math
and social studies and pictures for language arts to better illustrate the concepts that she was teaching.
Kylie was able to adjust her teaching language and voice to keep each class engaged and manage the
classroom.

Kylie volunteered with our breakfast program 3 days a week where she worked with students and
parents to coordinate the food preparation for the morning. They prepared toast, fruit or bagels for the
entire student body to support our APPLE schools healthy living and eating initiatives.

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Assessment Strategies
Related Knowledge, Skills and Attributes (Not all need to be addressed):
KSA K: Teachers gather information about their students learning needs and progress by using a variety of assessment strategies.
KSA L: Teachers know the importance of engaging parents, purposefully and meaningfully, in all aspects of teaching and learning.

Suggested Topics (Not all need to be addressed): appropriate questioning, adapted assessment, assessment variety, record keeping,
formative/summative, reporting, timely feedback etc.

Kylie ensured that she included formative and summative assessments to help evaluate the
understanding of the students on a particular concept. A great example of this was a lesson on similes
and metaphors that Kylie planned.

She had taught what similes and metaphors were and had the students complete a sheet to identify
whether the sentence was a simile or metaphor. When she marked the activity, she realized that one
student in particular was struggling with the concept. She planned to pull that student aside to provide or
instruction to that student.

Later she had the students find songs with similes and metaphors in them. After the students presented
their songs, Kylie realized that the students were very good at identifying similes and metaphors but
were having difficulty explaining what the simile or metaphor meant. She then found additional items to
reteach how to identify meanings.

Through this example, Kylie learned to successfully adapt her lessons and assessments to ensure that
students understood the content and concepts. This allowed the students to feel comfortable letting Kylie
know that they were unsure or having difficulties with a concept, as they knew she would adjust her
teaching and give multiple opportunities and forms of sharing their knowledge to help them be
successful.

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Understanding Students Needs
Related Knowledge, Skills and Attributes (Not all need to be addressed):
KSA E: Teachers know how to identify students different learning styles and ways students learn and create multiple paths to learning for
individuals and groups.
KSA F: Teachers know how to translate curriculum and desired outcomes into meaningful and incrementally progressive learning
opportunities. Teachers understand the need to vary their plans to accommodate individuals and groups of students.
KSA I: Teachers know and use a broad range of instructional strategies and know which strategies are appropriate to help different
students achieve different outcomes.

Suggested Topics (Not all need to be addressed): Planning that includes all students and learning styles, alignment of strategies to student
needs, use of varied resources to differentiate instruction, assists all learners, understands contextual variables that affect teaching and
learning, etc.

Kylie used a variety of resources to plan her lessons. She used the computer and smartboard in
classroom to enhance her lessons. She also took the students to the computer lab to work on Reflex Math
and/or Prodigy to improve and maintain basic math skills in the students.

Kylie provided the students with independent work and group work, as well as, whole group activities.
This allowed her to gage the understanding of the class as a whole as well as the understanding of each
student.

Kylie used a variety of instructional strategies to deliver the curriculum outcomes. She used think-pair-
share to have the students discuss new information. She used thumbs up and thumbs down to have the
students identify if they felt they understood a concept or instruction. She used a jigsaw activity during
social studies to have the students become experts on information on the united empire loyalists to take
back to their home groups to share what they learned.

She was also very accommodating with students that had difficulty with some of the tasks and was very
kind and helpful in working with the student to find a solution to the tasks. She took time at recess and
during independent work time to work with students who had missed the previous class, had questions
about the task at hand or to work with students she felt needed a little more assistance and instruction in
a certain concept.

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Professional Qualities and Attributes
Related Knowledge, Skills and Attributes (Not all need to be addressed):
KSA B: Teachers understand the legislated, moral and ethical frameworks with in which they work.
KSA H: Teachers know the importance of respecting students human dignity by establishing relationships with students that are
characterized by mutual respect, trust and harmony.
KSA L: Teachers know the importance of engaging parents, purposefully and meaningfully, in all aspects of teaching and learning.
KSA N: Teachers know the importance of contributing, independently and collegially, to the quality of their school.
KSA O: Teachers assess the quality of their own teaching and use this to develop and implement their own professional development.
KSA P: Teachers guide their actions with a personal, overall vision of the purpose of teacher and they are able to communicate their
vision, including how it has changed as a result of new knowledge, understanding and experience.

Suggested Topics (Not all need to be addressed): work ethics, interpersonal skills, collegiality, initiative, energy, team work, attitude,
appearance, commitment, reflection, etc.

Within the classroom and in the larger school community, Kylie was friendly and respectful to the staff,
students and parents in the school. She was always dressed professionally and appropriately for the
days activities. She ensured that her lessons were planned with time to discuss any questions with the
mentor teacher and prepare any resources for the students prior to teaching the lesson.

She took initiative in finding an extra-curricular activity to complete during her time at the school. She
was professional in her appearance as well as her interactions with staff and students alike.

She took time at the end of each day to reflect on the events and interactions of the day. Kylie would
discuss both successes and difficulties with the mentor teacher to gain perspective and knowledge on
how to manage situations, interactions and lessons.

Kylie was open-minded, enthusiastic and flexible when changes to the day were proposed that were last
minute or unexpected. She took these experiences in stride and wanted to experience as many aspects of
teaching during her practicum.

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Reflection and Self-Evaluation
Related Knowledge, Skills and Attributes (Not all need to be addressed):
KSA O: Teachers assess the quality of their own teaching and use this to develop and implement their own professional development.
KSA P: Teachers guide their actions with a personal, overall vision of the purpose of teacher and they are able to communicate their
vision, including how it has changed as a result of new knowledge, understanding and experience

Suggested Topics (Not all need to be addressed): establishes specific strategies to meet professional goals, demonstrates oral/written
reflective practices, engages in goal setting, communicates overall vision of teaching, etc.

Kylie kept a daily journal where she would reflect on the events, her lessons and any items of interest to
her. She reflected on her lessons and planning after every lesson to determine where she could improve.
She had the opportunity to teach grade 5 social studies to two grade 5 classes. This gave Kylie the
opportunity to teach a lesson, reflect on it and improve it for the next class. After she taught the lesson
with the changes to it she was able to reflect again to see if the changes she made were effective.

Kylie discussed concerns and questions that arose throughout the day with the mentor teacher, the other
grade 5 teachers and other staff to get a better understanding of particular practices or issues that arose in
the classroom.

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Additional Mentor Teacher Comments:
Kylie has developed a confidence in teaching in the last five weeks. She has developed a command for
the class and noticed the nuances of a classroom that help it run like a well-oiled machine. Reminding
students of simple tasks such as asking clarifying questions or to place their name on an assessment
alleviate the guess work later on. Kylie has been a pleasure to have in our class and her dedication and
her positive and enthusiastic attitude was truly appreciated by the students and the staff at the school.

Student Teacher Comments:

My IFX has been a wonderful learning experience. Nicole's classroom was a great environment to begin
learning about an educator's role and the dynamics of an elementary classroom.

This opportunity allowed me to work on my skills, learn more about myself as a future teacher, and
reflect on my strengths and weaknesses. Going forward, I am thankful for Nicoles guidance and
expertise, the lessons I have learned and the knowledge I hope to bring into my AFX and future practice.

Winter 2016 Page 11 of 11