BACHELOR OF EDUCATION

SUMMATIVE EVALUATION
PRACTICUM 1

The primary purpose of this document is to evaluate the progress of the Teacher Candidate and inform the Director,
Practicum & Partnerships (University of Manitoba), about the Candidate’s performance with reference to the
practicum expectations for the identified practicum course. This evaluation is written by the Practicum Advisor, with
input from the Mentor Teacher(s) and the Teacher Candidate. It is not intended to be used as a reference letter. The
candidate’s final course grade is determined by the Director, Practicum & Partnerships.
Surname Given Name Student Number
Teacher Candidate Schroeder Nathan 007834821
Term Fall 2021 Stream Senior Years Practicum Course S1

School Bernie Wolfe Comm.School Division River East Transcona School Division
Grades Taught 6, 7, 8 Subjects Taught Band

Practicum Advisor Kostyra, Greg

Grade Recommended PASS Notification of Concern (NOC) Issued No

Total Practicum Days 30 In Person 23 Remote 7 Unexcused Absences 0

Report Acknowledged by Teacher Candidate: Thursday, February 10, 2022

Report Approved by Director Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Signatures (optional)
Teacher Candidate Nathan Schroeder
Practicum Advisor Greg Kostyra

Mentor Teacher(s):
Matthew Careless

Fall 2021 Senior Years S1 Nathan Schroeder Page 1 of 4

 BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
SUMMATIVE EVALUATION
PRACTICUM 1

Part A: School and Community Understanding and Engagements

Comments:
Nathan has become quite familiar with the school and surrounding community. He communicated with his MTs and
other staff members well to learn about specific needs and abilities of his students. Nathan has become involved in
various aspects of the school community including voluntary supervision at lunch time. He has made a deliberate
effort to connect with other Teacher Candidates in the school and to build excellent working relationships with staff.
Nathan made meaningful connections with Admin and with the secretarial staff as well. He made a commitment to
quickly learn the students’ names and to use them whenever he could, both while teaching and informally. Nathan
was certain to make himself familiar with all school and divisional policies and procedures. He was aware of specific
COVID 19 protocols for the school. Nathan made a conscious effort to adhere to those policies and to make certain
that his students did the same.

Part B: Professional Engagements and Teacher Identity

Comments:
Nathan has made ample progress developing the mind set and identity of an educator. He developed meaningful
connections with the students and staff, and continually engaged in constructive reflection. Nathan was very astute in
his observations of how his MT prepared for and ran his lessons. He conferenced continuously with his MT and PA
about all aspects of teaching, learning, and pedagogy. Nathan was always very serious about his learning, frequently
asking excellent pedagogical questions to continue to build his professional knowledge and understanding. Nathan
added what he learned to his store of activities, skills and teaching strategies. He attended all staff and department
meetings. At those meetings Nathan learned about policy, pedagogy and overall planning for in-school and remote
teaching practices. In this way, he became aware of how school policy is formed and implemented. Nathan also
attended the MTS PD day and incorporated what he had learned into his own lessons and teaching. In his Learning Log,
Nathan writes: “I have enjoyed the extra challenge of filling up 50 minutes of continuous teaching and learning.”

Fall 2021 Senior Years S1 Nathan Schroeder Page 2 of 4

 BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
SUMMATIVE EVALUATION
PRACTICUM 1

Part C: Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning

Comments:
MT
Nathan has shown familiarity with the Manitoba K-8 Music curriculum and adequately demonstrates his
understanding through his lesson preparation. His lessons are well prepared, appear to engage students’ interests, and
are considerate of students’ abilities. When issues have arisen, Nathan reflects on his “mistakes” and improves rapidly.
He continues to engage with students to build rapport, and is always furthering his knowledge of effective teaching
practices.
PA
Nathan always pleasantly welcomes the students and gets their full attention before he begins. His first observed
lesson was on proper breathing technique when playing an instrument. Nathan began by demonstrating proper
breathing techniques. This was a good example for students to copy and follow. Before having students practice these
techniques on their instruments, Nathan had them warm up with their instruments, which was an important step.
Nathan then demonstrated proper breathing techniques with a trumpet so he could become more skilled in playing
brass instruments. Excellent! Demonstrating on an instrument, instead of just telling students what to do, is a very
important teaching strategy in Band since it gives clearer instruction by example. In the long tone exercises, Nathan did
very good step-by-step work such as having students blow into the mouthpiece first, then use the instrument. This
creates a purposeful progression. When playing the first five notes of the Concert Bb scale, Nathan established a good
steady tempo that students could control. On the white board, Nathan wrote (prepared ahead of time) what the first
five notes are for each instrument family. Students were able to use this information as a support so they knew what
notes to play and all could participate. Excellent support strategy. This was followed by a call/response exercise with
improv on the first five notes of the Concert Bb scale. Very good ear training activity!
The second observed lesson was on bucket drumming. Nathan mentioned there are four ways to create a sound on
the bucket and he let students experiment to discover the four ways. This was a very purposeful and effective strategy
since it gave the students’ initial desire/need to “play” with the bucket an important focus. Nathan wrote on the white
board what students discovered about hitting the bucket thus validating their effort and input. Again Nathan made
certain to first demonstrate how to hit the bucket and emphasized stopping after 8 hits – very good management.
There were good reminders about not speeding up and alternating the sticks. Nathan called rhythm the “heartbeat” of
the song – excellent! He made certain to slow the tempo down if students struggled to keep up.

Fall 2021 Senior Years S1 Nathan Schroeder Page 3 of 4

 BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
SUMMATIVE EVALUATION
PRACTICUM 1

Part D: Summative Comments and Suggestions for Future Growth

Comments:
Nathan’s main strengths are his positive attitude, his passion to learn constantly, and his abilities in reflective thinking.
He contemplates his work and continually makes efforts to improve his teaching and learning. Nathan has shown a
willingness to interact with students and appears to have success in building relationships with them. Nathan states: “I
have begun to learn how to pace my lessons so that students don’t get bored with the material I am presenting, but
also are not forced to move faster than they can handle.”

Suggestions for Future Growth:

MT
One area of growth Nathan could focus on is his awareness of the whole classroom. As with most beginning educators,
it can sometimes be difficult to think past the structured lesson plan and react to the students and the dynamics of the
classroom. More practice and experience over time will help Nathan to develop his sense of the whole classroom
therefore instilling within him the confidence he needs to effectively maneuver in and out of his lesson plan as needed.

PA
Even though students may sound as if they are all playing the buckets correctly, be aware of those who are hitting the
top of the bucket when you are hitting the side. In other words, scan the whole room. You cannot rely only on what
you hear and on how they sound. This will be especially true regarding melody in a full Band setting. Watch for
students copying others (eg. slide positions on trombone; fingering on reed instruments) indicating they are lost or
cannot perform the given task.

Nathan
I am continuously reminded about the importance of creating some type of lesson plan. Without a good plan, I’m sure
that I would freeze in front of the students. More than once now I have been saved by preparing several activities to
have in reserve in case students progress more quickly than expected.

Fall 2021 Senior Years S1 Nathan Schroeder Page 4 of 4