Introductory Field Experience (IFX) Growth Plan

Field Experience Information:

Student Teacher:
Last Name: Neufeld First Name: Abbie
ID Number: 1527388 Course Number: EDFX 325

Mentor Teacher:
Last Name: Rawlinson First Name: Kassia

School Name: Ecole Fox Run School

Date: November 27, 2017

Process:
1. Student Teachers will reflect on and identify areas of strength and areas for growth based on
student teaching opportunities so far, as well as their prior knowledge and experiences.
2. Mentor Teachers and Student Teachers will discuss these reflections. Student Teachers may
revise or add to their comments.
3. Mentor Teachers and Student Teachers will collaboratively write the goals for remainder of the
IFX and plan for achieving those goals.
4. Student Teachers will upload their Growth Plan to Seminar eClass by the end of Day 10.
5. This document will become the foundation for the IFX Assessment at the end of the practicum.

Distribution:
Students should retain a copy of the IFX Growth Plan for their own records.

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Considerations for your Growth Plan

Student teachers are on a complex journey of growth towards becoming a professional teacher. In the
Introductory Field Experience, students are ​beginning to address​ the Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes
(KSAs) expected of interim teachers by the Teaching Quality Standard. It is common for Student
Teachers to be at different points on the continuum for different areas of their growth.

Student Teacher Skill Categories ​(based on the KSAs from the Teaching Quality Standard)
Preparation, Planning and Organization Teaching Skills and Strategies

● Curriculum and content knowledge ● Learning strategies

● Diverse learning needs ● Flexibility
● Time management ● Student interest
● Organization ● Cultural sensitivity
● Lesson plans for individual lessons ● Differentiation of instruction
● Relevant learning resources ● Pacing

Communication Assessment Strategies

● Oral and written language ● Questioning and feedback

● Listening skills ● Variety of assessments: formative and
● Voice and language summative assessment
● Teaching/learning technologies ● Adapted assessment

Management and Classroom Climate Understanding Students’ Needs

● Tone and rapport ● Planning for all students and learning

● Engagement styles
● Transitions and routines ● Alignment of strategies to student
● Low key responses needs
● Bumps ● Varied resources to differentiate
● Conflict resolution ● Understand contextual variables
● Leadership

Professional Qualities and Attributes Reflection and Self Evaluation

● Work ethic and initiative
● Attitude, energy and commitment
● Interpersonal skills, collegiality and
teamwork
● Appearance
● Assess own teaching & use this to
improve
● Guide actions with a vision of the
purpose of the teacher, adjust with
new learning
● Accept and implement feedback

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STUDENT TEACHER TO COMPLETE​: ​Be reflective and use concrete examples where applicable.
Comments may be in paragraph format or point form.

Areas of Strength:
Please ​address 2-4​ of the different categories listed on page 2 for your areas of strength.
Management and Classroom Climate

● Tone and rapport

o The evidence I have to support the statement of tone is how I communicate with the
students
▪ My tone is high, low, and in the middle to support the students learning at that
moment
▪ My tone is high when excited for a topic, wanting them to become excited with
me
▪ My tone is low when I want to students to become quiet, and listen to me
▪ My tone is in the middle when I am one-on-one with a student to ensure this
learning is more important
o My evidence of having strong rapport is the comfortability I have with each student
▪ Forming strong relationships in hard to do in five weeks, however, in this short
amount of time I have tried to build relationships where the students at least trust
me to help them with their learning
▪ For example, telling students good morning everyday, how their weekend was,
what are their interests, and hobbies, etc.
▪ These simple, but relevant questions, provided students to trust me
● Engagement
o The evidence to support this statement is how often hands are up when I have questions,
and a lot of hands go up
o Eye contact is key to have with students to make sure that they are listening, and to have
students understand this is the time to be engaged in their learning
● Low key responses
o Evidence of having low key responses is providing warnings in the event that a student
needs to realize they are becoming a minor interruption
▪ Having low-key responses allows the lesson not to be disturbed, instead, if
handled at the right time, can be very effective
o For example, when a student is talking when I am trying to teach, simply using them in
an example of a question, walk by their desk, tap their desk, or stand beside them are just
a few techniques I have tried to implement to allow that student to get back on track, in a
low-response technique

Professional Qualities and Attributes

● Work ethic and initiative

o Evidence of work ethic and initiative is provided for when I work as hard as I can to
ensure that the students are learning to the best of their ability
▪ For example, being professional in the workplace is very important
▪ Professional to me means is how you treat people, every student deserves
to be treated with respect

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 ▪ Evidence of initiative is when I let my students know that they can depend on me
▪ For example, If a student's needs help on something, I will try my best to
help them understand the problem

● Attitude, energy and commitment

o My energy is a strength based on the evidence of of how you present yourself in front on
the class
▪ For example, having a high energy while teaching a new topic makes the students
more excited!
o Evidence of my attitude can been seen when the students may be struggling in their
learning and begin to lose in their engagement by having a positive attitude
▪ being positive to the students can allow them to feel more successful in their
learning
o Evidence of commitment is to not give up, even if you see your teaching is failing!
▪ For example, some lesson’s don’t go as planned, all the energy and attitude can’t
change anything. My commitment to making sure students learn is what will help
them in the long run because if they didn’t learn one way, I’ll find another!
o
● Interpersonal skills, collegiality and teamwork
o Evidence of interpersonal skills can be provided by how I communicate verbally and
non-verbally with the students:
▪ My communication of the students is very relaxed and humorous, allowing them
to feel comfortable in coming to me for questions
▪ An example of non-verbal communication is body language
▪ having body language that is open and not intimidating allows students to
understand that I am not there to intimidate them, I am there to help them
in their learning

Areas for Growth:

Please ​address 2-4​ of the different categories listed on page 2 for your areas of growth.

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Preparation, Planning and Organization

● Curriculum and content knowledge

o The curriculum is an area for growth because I may not one part of the curriculum very
well, but other areas I struggle to understand the content
▪ For example, I have strictly been teaching science, parts of unit A, and I realize
that I know only parts of the section I have taught
▪ I focus on one section for long periods of time, and don’t realize that there may be
other sections that can be incorporated that will provide more information and
impact the learning of the students
● Diverse learning needs
o After teaching for a weeks, I have realized just how diverse a classroom is
▪ For example, students who are a reading level of grade 3 compared to those at
grade 9, follows completely different rules on how you teach that lesson, the
outcome you want from that lesson, and the success of those students
▪ This is an area for growth for me because I am used to learning and teaching in
one way, I have to learn how to diverse my own learning needs to suit their
● Time management
o Time management is an area for growth because you want to spend your time
productively while teaching your students, while still having them engaged
o Having students engaged is key, but managing your time is just as important because if
you don’t manage your time, that affects their learning
o In a short period of time you have to try and include an, anticipatory set, body lesson, and
conclusion, can be difficult, so I need to become more aware of my time and what
learning activity will benefit the students the most
● Organization
o Organization is key in providing comfort in myself and the students
▪ If I am comfortable in my organization, it will show in how I teach and how
confident I teach
o Becoming more organized goes along with my creation of lesson plans, based on the
order and efficiency of how the students will learn

Understanding Students’ Needs

● Alignment of strategies to student needs

o Making strategies for students needs is very important because it allows that student to
learn the best way that I can
o Why this is a weakness for me is because I am still not sure what strategy I need to use on
each unique student
▪ For example, if a student is having behaviour problems do I approach them, leave
them alone, getting them out in the hallway, get them to do something else, or find
other help to differentiate the behaviour
● Varied resources to differentiate
o Having varied resources to differentiate is a struggle for me because I focus on one
resource, and completely forget that there are other resources that will apply to the other
variable of students

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 o Learning to realize the other needs of my students will help me in this area of growth
because it will allow me to become more aware of my needs for my students, and what
resources will be available to help them on their journey of learning

Management and Classroom Climate

● Transitions and routines

o Transitions is something I am struggling with because I am also struggling to manage my
time
o Having the transition from class to class is difficult, especially if the students like one
class more than the other, but once I become more aware of my time, it will allow my
transition and the students transition to run more smoothly from class to class
o Routines is something that is very important to have for students just so that they know
what to expect and that they aren’t surprised
▪ Having me teach them is already out of their routine, I have to learn initially my
practicum classes routine, and then create my own
▪ I am struggling to create my own routines that still incorporate with the routines
already in place
▪ In the future, for my own classroom, it is important to place routines right away,
to provide smooth transitions and manage my classroom

STUDENT AND MENTOR TEACHERS COMPLETE COLLABORATIVELY​:

Goals for Remainder of IFX: Strategies for Achieving Goals:

2-4 goals suggested

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Preparation, Planning and Organization
● Curriculum and content knowledge
Understanding Students’ Needs
● Alignment of strategies to student needs
● Varied resources to differentiate
Management and Classroom Climate
● Transitions and routines
● Leadership
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● Content Knowledge: ​Abbie must find
appropriate resources to ensure that she has
full clarity on the particular content area
she is teaching
○ Example: ​Videos, textbook, online
resources, Mentor teacher(s)
● Diverse Learning Needs: ​Viewing a
student's IPP/LSP during practicums to
ensure that Abbie has a bigger picture of
the challenges that many students may be
experiencing as well as, the strategies that
have worked in the past
○ Conversations/Brainstorming ideas
with Mentor Teacher to ensure
diverse student needs are being met
○ Incorporate a variety of learning
styles into each lesson to ensure you
are meeting the needs of each
student.
● Management/Climate: ​Purposeful and
intentional planning of transitions between
activities, as well as subjects to reduce
transition time
● Continue to establish herself as a leader
within the classroom by following through
with clear expectations and consequences
○ Quiet Signals
○ Tone
○ Being transparent and explicit with
expectations during
lessons/activities