Professional Semester III Final Report

Faculty of Education
Field Experiences
Fall Semester, 2015
Professional Semester III is a five-course equivalent integrated semester including half-time teaching
and professional study in curriculum design, leadership, advanced methods, and reflective practice.
Intern Teachers are assigned full time to schools for the semester during which they assume
responsibility for approximately one-half of the teaching day. PS III professional study is designed to
complement and enhance the internship. The professional study components may occur on or offcampus and are coordinated by the Faculty Mentors in collaboration with Intern Teachers and school
personnel.

Education 4572 Secondary Internship

Intern Teacher
School
Teacher Mentor

Taylor Gouw

Grade Level(s)

8, 9, 10 _

St. Marys School Taber _

Administrator

Randy Spenrath _

Mark Boschee

Faculty Mentor

Darron Kelly _

Intern Teachers Descriptive Report:

For my PSIII internship, I had the wonderful experience of being welcomed

into the St. Marys School staff. From before the first day of school, I was well
supported and encouraged, which allowed me to effortlessly join the school
community. The relationships and connections I made with fellow teachers
and colleagues are ones I will take with me into my future endeavors. I truly
believe the staff of St Marys assisted me in developing into the teacher I
feel I have become. I immediately felt I was given the opportunities and
responsibilities of a half-time teacher, and never felt treated as simply an
intern.
I received a variety of grades to teach, which allowed me to develop a range
of strategies and practices for different ages and prior learning experiences.
As a Social Studies major, I had the very good fortune of teaching and
expanding my practice of Social Studies. During my practicum, I taught a
Social Studies 8 unit on the Renaissance, Social Studies 9 unit on
government and rights, as well as the Related Issues 1, 2, and 3 of the Social
Studies 10 curriculum. While each grade was in the same subject area, the
scope of experiences I had with each class was phenomenal; each class
came with its own unique challenges and opportunities that I was able to
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learn from under the excellent guidance of my mentor teacher Mark

Boschee.
My first class was Social Studies 10, which was a fantastic group of twentyone students ranging from fifteen to eighteen years old. While the grade was
split in half, the class was not divided between -1 and -2 students.This gave
me an opportunity to explore the strategies and practices required for a
range of student needs and abilities in a high school setting. While some
students were able to quickly explore and develop understanding of
concepts, others needed more scaffolding and support to fully expand on the
more challenging material. I found this to be most evident when challenging
students with the application of concepts and ideas, rather than with the
more straightforward memorization of basic facts . In working to develop
increasingly higher level thinking skills that become increasingly vital as
students continue through high school Social Studies I was able to assist
particular students to develop pathways between knowing information and
applying it in a broader sense while considering various perspectives in the
process. The relatively small class size greatly aided in facilitating the
positive teacher-student relationships that were needed to develop this
process. I believe I was able to get to know each one of my students very
well, even in the short time I was with them. Applying this to my teaching by
identifying varying needs and strengths contributed to a stronger class
overall with greater successes in student learning. I was able to provide
necessary modifications to assignments when required for assessments, as
well as develop scaffolding strategies between content delivery and
application by students as were necessary.
My Social Studies 9 class was a larger set of extremely diverse learners. This
included differences in learning styles, preferences, abilities, and interests
which exposed me to a great span of challenges and opportunities. This class
of thirty-two students made for a very active and dynamic classroom at all
times. Throughout my time with the class, I worked to develop activities and
lessons that would keep students engaged and involved for the entire length
of a class. This was very important as this group in particular could easily
get distracted and then struggle to regain focus. Because of my
understanding of the classroom dynamics, I always planned something for
the students to be directly involved in (worksheets, projects, or exploratory
assignments) so they could immediately work with the information and

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engage in the topic. This need for attentiveness, however, was not the only
challenge I faced. The range of student skills and abilities within the class
was wide. I was fortunate to participate in making several ISPs for students
in this class, as well as others. The insights and strategies that were
discussed during the making of ISPs were very helpful in showing me
exemplary practices to use with diverse learning needs in specific
circumstances. Presenting an upbeat, enthusiastic persona helped to
engage this group very well. I found they were most engaged when they
were excited about the material , so making sure to really sell the material
was a strategy I found very useful with my class. I very much enjoyed
working with this group of students, their varying personalities made for a
new and refreshing experience everyday. It allowed me to practice
adaptability every time I walked into the room and I was able to try new
things to see what would work for the different needs of different students.
I adored working with my Social Studies 8 class, as they were eager and
engaged students. The Renaissance unit is very exciting and very different
from anything they have learned in previous Social Studies courses. Their
enthusiasm was very beneficial to everyday lessons, and it allowed me to
explore and implement a wide variety of activities. The interesting subject
matter made every class exciting to teach and it was easy to keep students
involved. We were able to engage in research projects, presentations,
brochures, and comparison activities and students were successful in
integrating the knowledge they had acquired into these activities. I was able
to experiment with various strategies and activities, and I always looked
forward to my last class of the day.
While I am ever grateful for the guidance I received with my teaching, what I
was able to gain through my internship far surpassed the teaching
experience. Along with joining in the creation of ISPs, I was also involved in
many great PD sessions. Such chances to work with, and gain guidance and
experience from, other teachers was an exceptional benefit of my
placement. I was also greatly pleased that at one particular session I was
able to return the favor and impart some of my own knowledge and
experience to the benefit of others. My skills learned through regular use of
Google Drive allowed me to help other teachers at the school get set up with
their own drives. This Google session was a planned PD opportunity within

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the school, and I was happy that I was able to share my own information and
assist others in their utilization of this new technology.
For my Professional Inquiry Project, I invited all of the Social Studies classes
to join my Grade 9 class in participating in Student Vote 2015. I found this to
be immensely rewarding as a majority of the school turned out to cast their
votes in our version of the federal election. I was thrilled with the results and
I felt this was one of my most positive contributions to the school community
during my internship.
In addition to Student Vote and my PD Session, I also had the opportunity to
be involved in various co-curricular activities. With a fellow intern taking the
lead, I was able to partake in my first coaching experience in the role of
assistant coach of the Jr. High Boys Volleyball team. It was a great learning
experience as I helped with practices, games, and weekend tournaments,
and coached one of our games all by myself! I dedicated a lot of time and
energy to the team, and am proud of the results, including participating in
zones where the team placed fifth. This was such a valuable experience as
the relationships and connections I was able to make with these studentathletes are priceless. During the two home tournaments that St. Marys
hosted, I learned so much about what goes into orchestrating such an event.
I helped with score-keeping, supervising, and, of course, coaching duties.
My learning was incredible as I previously had very little experience with
school sport activities. I loved the new challenge this offered me and I would
love to be able to participate in more athletics in the future.
I am so fortunate to have received such an openhearted placement at St.
Marys School for my PSIII practicum. I was warmly encouraged to learn and
grow as a teacher during my time there. I believe my practicum experiences
have helped me so much in becoming the teacher I believe I am now, and
will be in my professional career. I feel they have fully prepared me for
teaching and, while I will miss the school community I have become a part
of, I am so excited to find my own classroom and start my life as a teacher.

Intern Teacher Signature

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Date

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This page is to be attached to the Intern Teachers Report.

School Administrator Comments:

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School Administrator Signature

Date

This page is to be attached to the Intern Teachers Report.

Teacher Mentor Comments:

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Mentor Teacher Signature

Date

This page is to be attached to the Intern Teachers Report.

Faculty Mentor Comments:

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I have read the complete Final Report and certify that the assigned grade is PASS.

Faculty Mentor Signature

Date

September 2000
FE_Forms_PSIII

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