Below are the three goals that I set at the beginning of my PSI teaching practicum and a reflection for each of them at its conclusion.
Goal #1: BECOME FASTER AND MORE EFFECTIVE AT LESSON PLANNING.
Although I have done some lesson planning before, the whole process is still quite new to me. I think that with each new lesson plan that I make, I become better and better at planning, but I know that there are still lots of improvements that can and need to be made. I find that the most time consuming aspects of making lesson plans are creating the learning objectives and the key questions. I plan to put lots of focus on these two aspects when making future lesson plans. I also plan to put my best effort into every lesson plan that I create for the rest of the semester and in my practicum, while still being open to any and all constructive criticism that I receive from fellow classmates, instructors, and my teacher associate. By the end of PS1, my first goal is to be able to create lesson plans much faster and more effectively than I am able to at this point.
Reflection of Goal #1:
Almost as soon as I started my practicum I became better at and more comfortable with lesson planning. When I originally wrote my goals, I was concerned about writing the learning objectives and key questions for my lesson plans. I believe that I have gotten much better at these aspects of lesson planning by simply not worrying as much about them. I have found that by not thinking about them as much, they seem to come easier to me while planning. I have also become much quicker at lesson planning simply because there is less time and more lesson plans that need to be completed than I am was previously used to. My lesson plan have also become shorter as I find that they do not need to be as detailed as they used to be previously for me to understand and follow them. I think that this means my lesson planning has become much effective as I can summarize my thoughts and plans better, making the lesson plan much easier to follow and find my place throughout the lesson. I believe that overall my first goal has been met throughout this practicum.
Goal #2: BECOME MORE FAMILIAR WITH THE KSAs.
I was introduced to the KSAs a couple of years ago, but now that we have to start incorporating them into our lesson plans, I feel that I need to gain a better overall understanding of them. To do this, I plan on reviewing them as much as I can, especially when creating lesson plans of any kind. I also plan to discuss with my teacher associate the importance of the KSAs and how as a practicing teacher, they incorporate them into their teaching and learning. By the end of PS1, my second goal is to be much more familiar with the KSAs and be able to effectively integrate them into my lesson plans as well as refer to them in my lesson plan reflections when necessary.
Reflection of Goal #2:
The KSAs have been much more difficult to become familiar with than I had expected. I have found that the KSAs are often not discussed too often in schools, therefore it is quite difficult to become familiar with them when I am not exposed to them. I still feel like I don't have a sound understanding of them. I think that once I develop my reflections more on my portfolio and relate them to the KSAs, I will become much more familiar with them. I plan to do more research on the KSAs before I complete PSII in the Spring of 2016. I believe that this goal was not completely met, but I plan to work on it in the future and then make it one of my goals for PSII as well.
Goal #3: BECOME MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THE ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES, FOR ALL SUBJECTS.
I think that it is extremely important to have a basic understanding of the curriculum, even as a student teacher. Although I have a brief understanding of what each subject looks like, I definitely need to have a deeper understanding before I begin my practicum. The curriculum overview lessons that we participated in and observed earlier in the semester were very helpful in giving an outline of what certain subjects looks like without having to read through the entire program of studies, but I still feel that I need to gain a more in depth understanding. Once we find out what subjects we will be teaching for our practicum, I plan on going through the corresponding programs of studies as much as I can to prepare myself for the five weeks. I will also definitely consult my teacher associate and university consultant as much as I can, as I know that they will both have lots of knowledge and advice to give me regarding the program of studies for various subjects. By the end of PS1, my third goal is to have a fairly in depth understanding of the programs of studies for all subjects, especially the ones that I will be planning for and teaching in my practicum.
Reflection of Goal #3:
I was given the opportunity to teach a variety of subjects during my PSI practicum, which allowed me to become more comfortable and familiar with lots of the different Programs of Studies. I taught Science the most and have become quite familiar with this Program of Study and how to navigate it. This practicum introduced me to the Mathematics Program of Study. I had not really had an opportunity to work with this Program of Study before and it gave me an opportunity to become aware of the general outline and how to navigate it as well. I was already familiar with the Language Arts Curriculum so I did not put much of a focus on learning this one better. For Social, I only taught a couple of lessons, so I feel that my level of comfort with this Program of Study still needs quite a bit of work. I also still need to become more comfortable with the Physical Education, Music, Art, and Drama Programs of Studies. I find all of these programs very difficult to navigate at this point, simply because I have very little experience with them thus far. I believe that I have become much more comfortable with many of the Programs of Studies, but there is still lots of work and learning to be done to become even more comfortable with all of them. I think that this is an ongoing and lifelong goal for all teachers and that only with time and experience will this goal be met.
Goal #1: BECOME FASTER AND MORE EFFECTIVE AT LESSON PLANNING.
Although I have done some lesson planning before, the whole process is still quite new to me. I think that with each new lesson plan that I make, I become better and better at planning, but I know that there are still lots of improvements that can and need to be made. I find that the most time consuming aspects of making lesson plans are creating the learning objectives and the key questions. I plan to put lots of focus on these two aspects when making future lesson plans. I also plan to put my best effort into every lesson plan that I create for the rest of the semester and in my practicum, while still being open to any and all constructive criticism that I receive from fellow classmates, instructors, and my teacher associate. By the end of PS1, my first goal is to be able to create lesson plans much faster and more effectively than I am able to at this point.
Reflection of Goal #1:
Almost as soon as I started my practicum I became better at and more comfortable with lesson planning. When I originally wrote my goals, I was concerned about writing the learning objectives and key questions for my lesson plans. I believe that I have gotten much better at these aspects of lesson planning by simply not worrying as much about them. I have found that by not thinking about them as much, they seem to come easier to me while planning. I have also become much quicker at lesson planning simply because there is less time and more lesson plans that need to be completed than I am was previously used to. My lesson plan have also become shorter as I find that they do not need to be as detailed as they used to be previously for me to understand and follow them. I think that this means my lesson planning has become much effective as I can summarize my thoughts and plans better, making the lesson plan much easier to follow and find my place throughout the lesson. I believe that overall my first goal has been met throughout this practicum.
Goal #2: BECOME MORE FAMILIAR WITH THE KSAs.
I was introduced to the KSAs a couple of years ago, but now that we have to start incorporating them into our lesson plans, I feel that I need to gain a better overall understanding of them. To do this, I plan on reviewing them as much as I can, especially when creating lesson plans of any kind. I also plan to discuss with my teacher associate the importance of the KSAs and how as a practicing teacher, they incorporate them into their teaching and learning. By the end of PS1, my second goal is to be much more familiar with the KSAs and be able to effectively integrate them into my lesson plans as well as refer to them in my lesson plan reflections when necessary.
Reflection of Goal #2:
The KSAs have been much more difficult to become familiar with than I had expected. I have found that the KSAs are often not discussed too often in schools, therefore it is quite difficult to become familiar with them when I am not exposed to them. I still feel like I don't have a sound understanding of them. I think that once I develop my reflections more on my portfolio and relate them to the KSAs, I will become much more familiar with them. I plan to do more research on the KSAs before I complete PSII in the Spring of 2016. I believe that this goal was not completely met, but I plan to work on it in the future and then make it one of my goals for PSII as well.
Goal #3: BECOME MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THE ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES, FOR ALL SUBJECTS.
I think that it is extremely important to have a basic understanding of the curriculum, even as a student teacher. Although I have a brief understanding of what each subject looks like, I definitely need to have a deeper understanding before I begin my practicum. The curriculum overview lessons that we participated in and observed earlier in the semester were very helpful in giving an outline of what certain subjects looks like without having to read through the entire program of studies, but I still feel that I need to gain a more in depth understanding. Once we find out what subjects we will be teaching for our practicum, I plan on going through the corresponding programs of studies as much as I can to prepare myself for the five weeks. I will also definitely consult my teacher associate and university consultant as much as I can, as I know that they will both have lots of knowledge and advice to give me regarding the program of studies for various subjects. By the end of PS1, my third goal is to have a fairly in depth understanding of the programs of studies for all subjects, especially the ones that I will be planning for and teaching in my practicum.
Reflection of Goal #3:
I was given the opportunity to teach a variety of subjects during my PSI practicum, which allowed me to become more comfortable and familiar with lots of the different Programs of Studies. I taught Science the most and have become quite familiar with this Program of Study and how to navigate it. This practicum introduced me to the Mathematics Program of Study. I had not really had an opportunity to work with this Program of Study before and it gave me an opportunity to become aware of the general outline and how to navigate it as well. I was already familiar with the Language Arts Curriculum so I did not put much of a focus on learning this one better. For Social, I only taught a couple of lessons, so I feel that my level of comfort with this Program of Study still needs quite a bit of work. I also still need to become more comfortable with the Physical Education, Music, Art, and Drama Programs of Studies. I find all of these programs very difficult to navigate at this point, simply because I have very little experience with them thus far. I believe that I have become much more comfortable with many of the Programs of Studies, but there is still lots of work and learning to be done to become even more comfortable with all of them. I think that this is an ongoing and lifelong goal for all teachers and that only with time and experience will this goal be met.