Professional Growth Plan

Over my four years at Ball State University, I have shown a steady growth as a teacher, a

musician, and a person. However, I have shown more growth in the sixteen weeks as a student

teacher than my previous years combined. This is not to say that I do not have more room to

grow, but I am confident that I am ready to teach music. Upon reflecting on my student teaching,

I realized that I have gain experience that relates to all INTASC Standards. I have gained insight

on what are my strong qualities relating to the standards, as well as my weaker areas. That being

said, I have seen growth among all of them.

My Learning Assessment Model Project (LAMP) has proven as an invaluable experience

to me. It gave me many opportunities to plan and assess various types of challenges for my

students. As INTASC Standard 1 States: The teacher understands how learners grow and

develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and

across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and

implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences. My LAMP

project has allowed me to not only allowed me to plan in real time to enhance student growth

based on data, but also to see growth on a wide scale so that I can reflect on larger curriculum

growth. I plan on critically thinking about a multiple year curriculum for my students; what I

want them to know, and how do I get them there before they leave my classroom. This does not

just include music, but also social and emotional skills.

INTASC #2 is one where I have made the most growth and will continue to grow as I

gain more experience as a teacher. INTASC #2 states: The teacher uses understanding of

individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning
environments that allow each learner to reach his/her full potential. When beginning my student

teaching, I struggled with classroom management. I wanted to create a positive environment for

my students that excited my students coming to band. However, this just constant buzz in the

room. While some students may have seriously enjoyed the band, other students were not

enjoying the slight chaos that became normal for the class. I decided that this needed to change

and as my time with them went on, I continued to refine my environment. While I have shown

improvement, I believe that there is still a lot for me to learn and refine so that I can create a

balance between positive and orderly for an efficient learning environment. I know that the more

teachers I observe, the more practice I get in front of students, and clearer I set my expectations,

I can achieve these goals.

INTASC Standard #3, collaboratively working with others, I believe, is one of my

strongest standards. I am very open to dialogue with colleagues and criticism so that I may

become better. I have yet to come across a colleague that I have felt like I could not have

discussions with. I learned a lot about a collaborative work place environment from my two

cooperating teachers at Carroll High School who showed me how two people work very well

together. I saw how they work out disagreements, how they problem solve, and how they overall

work as a team. I really do believe that they set a great example for me and their students.

INTASC #4, Mastery of Content Knowledge, is a standard I believe my time at Ball State

really prepared me for. I am constantly referring back to information I was taught in my classes

so that I can give my students all aspects of music; whether it be theory, history, culture, etc. I

believe in a well-rounded music student, not just a player. I enjoy learning, I know I will

continue to seek out knowledge through professional organizations like NAFME, NBA, and
ASTA so that I am open to opportunities to take clinics, attend lectures, read new and relevant

research articles, and to find supplemental sources for both myself and my students.

INTASC standard #5: The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing

perspectives to engage learners in critical/creative thinking and collaborative problem solving

related to authentic local and global issues. I believe that music is a strong subject for this

standard. Music in itself challenges students both cognitively and creatively as well provided a

doorway for students to explore empathy, social issues, other cultures/religions, and history. I

always attempt to keep the ensemble apart of the planning and creative decision making, and the

problem solving that occurs, asking them to draw upon a variety of information. I will constantly

be looking for ways that I can incorporate information from other content areas; I believe these

connections can be discovered through professional development organizations, colleagues, and

personal study. These connections become pathways in which students can then use to relate

other content to music and vice versa.

INTASC Standard #6, Using Multiple Different Assessments to Monitor Growth, is also

represented by my capstone project, Learner Assessment Model Project, which I completed

during my semester student teaching. I compiled all of the information I learned about

assessment, both formative and summative, at Ball State into this project, measured all of the

data from my students and then adapted my teaching strategies to ensure measurable growth for

my students. Assessment, both planning and analyzing, I feel are my one of my stronger suites as

an educator. I take feedback incredibly seriously whether it is from student assessment data,

colleague/administration feedback, or even student feedback. I believe that any feedback is

important, and I will continue to strive for constructive and meaningful feedback.
 INTASC Standard #7 states: The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in

meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum,

cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community

context. INTASC #7, planning comprehensive lessons, is one of my stronger areas as I am an

avid planner. I believe that my success as an educator stems from the time I put into preparing

for a class. My Ball State career has enabled me to write detailed lesson plans for a variety of

different classes and situations. In fact, my belief that lessons plans should be so detailed a sub

could teach the lesson stems from my experiences at Ball State. I also keep all of my lessons so

that I can revisit them, edit them, and appropriate them for later lessons. By keeping my lesson

plans and readjusting them, I believe I will develop growth in the planning stage. To me,

planning is my key to success and I will always be an avid planner for my classes.

INTASC Standard #8 is something that I have limited experience in developing. I

consistently encourage my students when they take it upon themselves to learn something new.

However, my expeiences at Carroll High School, were derived from a student body that is

already motivated. I have limited experience in building upon that curiosity, but do have

experience in maintaining that curiosity. I believe that most learning comes from outside the

classroom. If that learning is in the form of practicing their instrument, researching music

history, or studying music theory, I think it has a stronger impact than the time I spend with

them. If I want to develop that curiosity in my students, I believe I need to model curiosity for

them and be willing to show my passion for learning with them. I am going to want to show my

excitement when I learn something new, not always music related, my drive to be constantly

developing my knowledge, and my consistent attempt to always stay inform. I think if I strive to

be the best model for my students, they may also get excited for learning.
 INTASC Standard #9 states: The teacher engages in ongoing professional learning and

uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices

and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community) and adapts

practice to meet the needs of each learner. As I have stated in INTASC #3 and in other portions

of my plan, I am open to all constructive feedback whether that is from a mentor, students,

assessment data, administrators and parents. However, I believe I can do better by drawing the

line between constructive feedback and unconstructive feedback. I want to open myself to all

feedback and be willing to listen to everyone who wants to provide feedback. However, I think

that I need to develop an understanding of the difference between an administrator providing

feedback and a students perspective in the way that I accept and incorporate the feedback. I plan

on staying in touch with my college professors, professional organizations, peers and colleagues

so that I can get as much information dealing with my planning, teaching, and assessing as

possible.

INTASC #10, Professional Development. Throughout my Professional Growth Plan, a

common theme to how I plan on growing as an educator is through professional organizations,

colleagues, peers, and administrators. During my time at Ball State, I actively participated and

lead professional organizations on campus. I will be taking that invaluable experience with me

and use it to continue my growth on all INTASC standards.