TPGP

Teacher Professional Growth Plan

My second year of the education program has really opened my eyes to what aspects of my profession can be improved upon as I begin my teaching career. Many of these topics I have begun to work on, either during student-teaching or in the university classroom.

Assessment

It was a great learning experience to design rubrics during the great task and the student inquiry project in my final semester. I would like to take these skills further in my planning for assessment.

Goal: Continue to focus on planning ahead for assessment

Objectives to track progress:

• start unit planning by defining what I want my students to know at the end
• build assessment rubrics while designing student projects
• ensure that assessment is for learning as well as of learning

Goal: Continue to focus on rubric use for assessment

Objectives to track progress:

• search for good rubrics using tools such as IO
• develop rubrics myself and with my classes
• focus on clear, well articulated criteria for rubrics
• incorporate self and peer assessment of student work using rubrics

Goal: Design an effective record-keeping program to track student progress

Objectives to track progress:

• develop a spreadsheet with spaces for both grades and notes on student progress
• begin making daily notes on student progress
• refer to notes when discussing student progress with students and parents

Collaboration:

The importance of collaborating with classmates has been a recurring theme during my degree. I would like to continue collaborating with colleagues to better my practice.

Goal: Collaborate with other staff members to improve my teaching practice.

Objectives to track progress:

• renew subscription to ATA science council to keep up with current educational ideas in science
• show my unit/lesson plans to colleagues and ask for feedback
• ask to observe colleagues’ classes
• take questions I have about my practice to curriculum leaders and administration

Inquiry:

The potential educational benefits of inquiry-based learning have been emphasized during my program. With newfound confidence in developing inquiry projects based on designing projects in my final semester in Intelligence Online (IO), I hope to take this type of learning into my future classroom.

Goal: Develop inquiry-based science projects

Objectives to track progress:

• plan at least one inquiry-based task for students each course/semester
• continue working in IO to design authentic tasks
• meet with other teachers to discuss the possibility of cross-curricular projects

Classroom Structure/Atmosphere

Even within inquiry-based learning it is important to have structure and routine in the classroom setting to help student focus on their work.

Goal: Develop effective classroom routines that promote a comfortable learning environment

Objectives to track progress:

• develop a daily structure in my classroom so that students know what they are supposed to do when they enter each day
• get to know students as learners and individuals
• promote routines that help students collaborate effectively