PSIII Professional Growth Plan

Aquinna Brokenshire
Fall 2021 Semester

Goal 1
Goal 1: To develop further insight into the teaching profession by reading professional literature.
Rationale: Just because I am no longer in education courses with assigned reading doesn’t mean
that my learning has ended. As a teacher I believe in life-long learning. I plan to always be
reading and researching and finding new ways of improving my teaching practice. By reading
professional literature written by teachers with decades of experience in the field I am ensuring
that I continue my journey of being a life-long learner.
Strategy 1: Read “What Great Teachers Do Differently” by Todd Whitaker. Take notes and
apply what I have learned to my teaching practices. Keep a reflection log of each key strategy
given in the book – in a graph I can reflect on what I already incorporate into my teaching and
what changes I could make to my teaching to better incorporate the strategies presented in this
book.
Indicators of Achievement: If I can demonstrate the use of effective strategies learned through
my reading in my unit and lesson plans.
Timeline: Finish reading by the end of September.
Strategy 2: Read “Teachers These Days: Stories and Strategies for Reconnection”. My TM is the
Learning Support Teacher at the school, having conversations with her that relate to the book and
on the individual work done with students will be an insightful way of engaging with the
materials – the conversations could focus on certain strategies, what types of students would
these work with? What types of students might these not work with? Discussions could be
logged, and notes will be taken on using the strategies in the book in real life scenarios.
Discussions will be had every 2 weeks while I am reading the book.
Indicators of Achievement: Building rapport and strong connections with my students. Using the
strategies learned in my readings to build genuine teacher-student connections.
Timeline: Finish reading by November 15th.
End Reflection: Reading both books were a great way to work individually on my professional
development. Each book had a different insight into teaching and a different way of approaching
the profession – but both carried the same important message – kids come first! Through these
books I was able to learn new strategies and apply them into the classroom, I was able to look at
classroom management in a new way – building connections is the first step! I plan to continue
to read literature written by teachers throughout my career to continue to gain further insights.

Goal 2
Goal 2: To encourage student-on-student learning in a collaborative classroom.
Rationale: I want to limit the amount of time that I spend in front of the class lecture-style. This
is not an engaging way for students to be learning and they often check-out after only a few
minutes. I would much rather students have the opportunity to learn through group work and
partner interactions.
Strategy 1: Coach students through working together rather than spending the entire class
instructing. Establish expectations and norms for group work. Ensure participation by all
students. And teach active listening skills.
Indicators of Achievement: Students are engaged in the learning activity. Students are all equally
participating in the group activity.
Timeline: Have students participating in group work by the end of September.
Strategy 2: Model teamwork, model what it means to be a leader. Have students establish roles
when working in groups. Provide opportunities throughout activities for students to develop
leadership.
Indicators of Achievement: If I have groups working together where they all have their agreed
upon role, and all students are participating in the group activity. There should also be equal
participation in the groups.
Timeline: By mid-November the students will be assigning group roles within their groups and
will take leadership over some group activities.
End reflection: Building collaboration in the grade 1 classroom has been fun to watch. I started
while teaching literacy and had them review each other’s stories and give ideas for things that
could be added – they did well with this. In numeracy I now have them working as groups in
centres which has been going well – they help each other with counting out base ten blocks, or
ten frames. The grade 4/5s have been more of a challenge with group work, I find that they get
off task a lot and start doing things unrelated to the activity. I try to avoid this by strategically
placing individuals together instead of randomly choosing or having them choose their own
partners. They are improving in this regard, and I will continue to push for engagement in group
activities throughout the remainder of the semester. In PE, the 2/3s have been great at working
together in groups, and they are doing great at assigning roles to the individuals in this group.