POST-PLACEMENT LEARNING PLAN (PPLP) – Year One

Updated June 2019

Name: Ben Hagberg Student #: 0645894

Faculty Advisor: Carol Rasmussen Placement 1 or 2: 1

1. Refer to the Two-Year Program Assessment Criteria (following) to review the Criteria on which you are being assessed. On that Criteria, check off
the appropriate box according to your own self-perceptions.

2. a) Reread your AT’s feedback, including emails, notes, letter of concern reports, and assessments. Using your ATs comments as a guide,
complete the table below in detail, listing strengths/areas for professional growth, regardless of whether you agree or not.

b) Once you have completed the table to reflect your AT’s comments, revisit the table below. Using a different colour, highlight the strengths/areas
for professional growth with which you agree. Reflect upon/add additional Strengths/Areas for Professional Growth according to your own self-
assessment of your teaching abilities. Give thought to the criteria you checked off on the Assessment Criteria

My Strengths Areas for Professional Growth

Please note that the boxes will expand as you type, should you require more room
- Creating a positive and engaging learning environment
- Delivering material at level appropriate for learners
- Adapting, altering plans as necessary to optimize learning timeline
- Providing useful, timely feedback to learners
- Demonstrating confident lesson delivery
- Managing student behaviour to minimize disruptions
- Developing fair and relevant summative assessments
- Relating lesson materials to real-life applications
- Time management within lessons (having time for everything within the period
time)
- Deliver all pertinent instructions before students get started on a task
- Developing more frequent formative assessments to monitor student learning
- Asking more open-ended questions and allowing for adequate wait times to
get more students thinking
- Setting an example early-on to establish clear expectations for behaviour
- Setting stricter times on group activities to minimize off-task behaviour
- Looking for a wider variety of students to answer questions

- Becoming familiar with students, building positive relationships - Being more assertive when dealing with classroom disruptions
- Being enthusiastic and presenting material in an enjoyable way - Managing my own preparation time
- Familiarizing myself with curriculum materials
Prioritize your goals for next placement. Is there an underlying factor (“push factor”) that would enhance
your performance overall (i.e. better organization?)
3. How will you further develop your teaching skills? Focusing on your Areas for Professional Growth, as well as your strengths, design your PPLP. This
PPLP should include specific goals, strategies for achieving your goals, and the supports you need for achieving your goals. What is your ‘push’ factor?
What knowledge/skills do you need to acquire to make you more effective as a classroom teacher? This PPLP is to be submitted to your FA/course
instructor and you are required to meet with your FA/course instructor to discuss your plan.

Goals for Next Placement
Please note that the boxes will expand as you type, should you require more room
Assessment
- Work on employing a variety of
formative assessment strategies
to monitor growth and
understanding
- Create clear and consistent
criteria for summative
assessment and provide
evaluation accordingly
Steps I will take to achieve each goal Specific Resources / Supports Timeline
First, I plan on finding and using educational resources to - Science – Formative Assessment Second Over the next 9
learn about more formative assessment techniques, and Edition by Page Keely weeks
creative ways to incorporate them. I want to be able (preparation)
incorporate techniques into my lessons that I can use to - My C&I instructors
gauge students’ understanding in an understandable - Sharing with peers During practicum
way, as well as techniques that will allow me to provide (application)
fast, meaningful feedback to students on their learning so - Future practicum, AT’s
that they will actually use this feedback to improve. I wish
to acquire different methods and learn them now so that I
can put them into practice on my next practicum to see
how they work in a real classroom.

I also want to practice creating evaluative success

criteria in the form of rubrics and checklists that will
facilitate my summative assessment to students’ work. I
plan on doing this throughout my nine weeks of classes;
some of my instructors have said they we will incorporate
this skill into our assignments and activities in the
upcoming semester. As far as providing evaluation, I will
be able to practice this skill when we do peer
assessments of each other’s work throughout this
semester.

Lesson delivery
- Prioritize open-ended questions
that stimulate critical thinking
- Give students the proper “push”
to apply their knowledge and
think about what is being asked
- Encourage participation from
more students
A goal that I will continually be looking to build upon is - Web and written resources provided by my Over the next 9
my ability to stimulate student thought by asking thought- previous AT weeks
provoking open-ended questions during lessons, and (developing
ensuring I leave an appropriate wait time after asking the - Reviewing feedback from my AT ideas)
question to ensure that students have had time to think - Online educational resources (for participation
about it. To help with this, my AT shared with me a few During practicum
techniques)
resources that are written to act as guides for open- (application/
ended questioning; providing examples of good - Future practicum practice)
questions to ask in different situations, depending on the
level of your students, what the subject matter is, or what
kind of “end” you are aiming for with the question. I
believe this kind of question is the key to giving students
of all levels the proper encouragement to think bigger
and consider the implications of what they are learning.

Classroom management
- Set an example early-on,
establish clear expectations for
student behaviour
- Be able to manage disruptive
behaviours before they escalate
into problems
Materials/curriculum
- Utilize available resources to
create engaging lessons that
still touch on curriculum
expectations
- Ensure that level-appropriate
materials are being taught
- Create engaging lessons for
even more difficult material
By giving a wait time between asking the question and
allowing an answer, this encourages more students to
think about it, and allows the less proficient students time
to think and formulate an answer as well.
To encourage more participation from students, I plan on
researching and applying more diverse strategies for
facilitated learning. Some that I already know are the
think-pair-share format, investigations, and group chart-
paper activities. I plan on learning more of these
techniques over the course of this semester and applying
them on my next practicum. Hopefully our class sessions
provide more time to learn and work on these techniques
as well.
Classroom management mostly went well on my first - Discussions with peers Mostly during my
practicum, in my opinion. However, there are still areas I next practicum
feel I need to work on, and I believe this section will - Various course instructors (especially from
always require more work. Plan & Eval Class Mgmt course)
- Future practicum
One thing I know I must do on my next practicum is learn
the names of the students as early as possible. I found
that managing the room and identifying student
behaviour – both positive and negative – is much easier
when you know the students’ names and can address
them directly. Knowing their names also goes a long way
earning their respect and making them feel welcome
around you.
Much of the practice and leering in terms of classroom
management will need to come right from practicum, as it
can be difficult to practice and familiarize with these
techniques outside of a genuine classroom setting. One
thing I would like to do is talk to my fellow teacher
candidates about their experiences, because they might
have run into similar instances and employed a certain
tactic. Sharing stories with peers may be a good way to
learn from other peoples’ experiences.
There was one instance on my first practicum where I - Ontario curriculum documents Over the next 9
found that the lesson that I was teaching was too weeks (research,
advanced for the grade level, and afterwards I was - Science teacher resources from the library and studying
forced to own-up to this to the students and adjust the online documents,
successive lessons accordingly. To ensure this does not - My C&I instructors brushing-up on
happen in the future, I have to be more careful when knowledge)
looking at the curriculum, and perhaps use more - Future AT’s
resources (textbooks, online guides) to decide more During practicum
precisely what materials I am supposed to be covering. (application onto
As my AT was also unfamiliar with teaching this material, new subjects)
we had to learn together what was important to cover
and what was unnecessary.
 Because this practicum was at the grade 7 level, I was
not challenged with teaching any difficult material. Going
forward, however, this may become a factor when it
comes to teaching higher levels of secondary. To
prepare for this, I plan on further familiarizing myself with
the curriculum documents, identifying any potentially
troubling areas, and brushing up on my knowledge on
these areas. In order to feel confident in my teaching
role, I need to first be confident in the materials I am
teaching. I think this will go a long way to the success of
any secondary-level placements.

 I have read the Practicum Guide and reviewed my Teacher Candidate Agreement and am aware of my responsibilities during placement.
 I am aware of the Essential Skills
 I am aware that an INC or FAIL in 1 FCE in Education course(s) may prevent me from entering into my next placement as scheduled.
 I am aware that I may be required to remain in Thunder Bay/Orillia (host campus) for subsequent and/or Year 2 placement(s), under the direct
supervision of my FA, if I incur difficulties in Year 1.
 If I incur 5 or more ‘Needs Further Development,’ any ‘At Risk,’ or any combination of these descriptors on the Placement 2 summative
assessment, I will be required to complete Placement 3 in close proximity to the host campus to permit easier access to the FA during the
subsequent placement.
 If I incur difficulties/fail my placement, I will be placed “On Review” and must enroll in EDUC 0498: Enhancing the Practicum that takes place in
the Fall or Winter (or following) semester.
 If I incur difficulties/fail my placement, entrance into my next placement will be contingent upon enacting my PPLP and passing EDUC 0498.
 Failure of two placements constitutes program failure. Normally a TC is not allowed to re-apply to the Two-Year Professional Program.
 I must share my PPLP with the AT(s) responsible for my next placement.

Signature: Date:
Teacher Candidate

Signature: Date:
Faculty Advisor
AND/OR

Signature: Date:
 Professional Experiences Coordinator

Personal information on this form is collected under the authority of section 14 of the Lakehead University Act and will be used to support development of teaching practice of the
student named herein. The information will be kept secure and confidential at all times and will be disclosed only to Lakehead University personnel and agents, such as the
associate teacher assigned to the student’s placement, who need the information to support the said development. Any questions on this collection should be directed to: Chair,
Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Education, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1. Telephone: 807-343-8000 Ext 8520