Unter of Lethbridge Professional Semester Ill Final Report Faculty of Education Field Experiences Fall Semester, 2015 Professional Semester Ill is a five-course equivalent integrated semester 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 Ill professional study is designed to complement and enhance the internship. The professional study components may occur on or off-campus and are coordinated by the Faculty Mentors in collaboration with Intern Teachers and school personnel. Place a checkmark (B) in front of the course in which you are registered ____. Education 4571- Elementary Education V Education 4572- Secondary Internship Education 4573- Special Focus internship Education 4574— Fine Arts Internship - Art or Drama ____ Education 4575- Fine Arts Internship - Music Intern Teacher Stephen Bore Grade Level(s) Math 6 (3 months Math 7, (entire practicum} Math 8 (2.5 months Science 8 (5 weeks School GS Lakie Middle School Administrator Andy Tyslau Teacher Mentor Jeni Halows Faculty Mentor Terry Kerkhoff Page tof 5PSI Final Report for Stephen Bore Intern Teacher’s Descriptive Report: When I received my notice that | would have my internship at GS Lakie Middle School, | was quite excited, as it the school that two of my children attended. Another reason was that this would be an age group of students that | had not yet had the opportunity to teach. There was also a prior connection with my teacher mentor Jeni Halowski, whom | had known previously when living in Okotoks. | was looking forward to my assignment teaching a mix of science and math, and felt confident in my abilities to be successful in my internship. Change seems to part of the teaching profession, and the first change was finding out that the school needed me to teach more math than science. The next change came right before the start of the school year, when it was necessary to have me teach a grade 6 math class rather than grade 6 science class. | did feel somewhat nervous about this, as | had been really looking forward to teaching science, | was able to be involved in a variety of areas, including supervision at dances, volleyball games, working the gate at a volleyball tournament, being a part of the Halloween Haunted House and helping out with what is called G club basketball. Something new for me in PSIIl was how closely | worked with parents, both through direct contact and through parent teacher interviews. | had numerous parents express gratitude for the work | have been doing with their children in helping them understand math, which can often be an intimidating subject. This also makes teaching an easier profession because through parental involvement the students are helped at home as well as at school with their personal areas of difficulty. (One area where | was able to see improvement in my teaching throughout my internship, was in the pacing or speed of my teaching. | have certainly become more aware of the pace at which | move through lesson material, and have been able to learn and identify cues from the students, beyond a hand being raised to ask a question; it included watching for signs such as a confused look on a student's face, or seeing if students seem disengaged, as they are not understanding a concept. | have learned and implemented some techniques such having a group of students who need some clarification to come up to the front of the class, or gather at a student's desk, where I can review and show additional example as necessary. My classroom pacing is an area where | will be focusing on for improvement. Another area that | will be focusing on for improvement will be in my overall planning and long range planning. | have had the opportunity to see some different methods that teachers have used to help them in their planning and organization. Some of these include different types of planning organizers such as month at a glance planners, and unit workbooks of activities, | will be implementing many of the strategies that | have seen. The university consultant | had during my PSI student teaching practicum, regularly talked about developing a sixth sense in the classroom; the idea being to have “eyes in the back of your head”, Page 205PS Il Final Report for Stephen Bore especially when working with individuals or in small groups of students. This is an area that Ihave focused on during my internship, as the class sizes at GS Lakie are much bigger than any that | had previously been in. can recall a moment in early November, a little over two months into my internship, having the realization that | was having fun in my teaching. It seemed to take me to this point where I really seemed comfortable enough to relax in front of the classroom. One area where I have really done well is in creating connections with the students in my classes. | like to wear colourful socks, and just about every day, students will ask if they can see what socks | am wearing, if | haven't yet showed them to the class. | have had students from other classes that have heard about my socks, and ask if they can see them. We have taken time in class to talk about different events happening in the students’ lives, things they are grateful for, and opportunities for the students to get to know me as a person, and in return this has provided me with opportunities to better know my students. ‘As students have come to realize in the past few weeks that my time with them is coming to a close, several have expressed gratitude to me for teaching them, and for helping them to understand. Others have said they don’t want me to go, which is very gratifying, as | know that | have been able to have some small influence, which is what largely prompted me to pursue an education career in the first place. bee. 7.2015 Intefn Téacher Signature Date Page 3015PS I Final Report for Stephen Bore This page is to be attached to the Intern Teacher's Report. School Administrator Comments: I have had the chance to work with Stephen Bore during his PSIII Internship at G.S. Lakie Middle School. Stephen has primarily taught math, and has had the opportunity to teach math at all levels of middle school, grade six, seven and eight. He has also taught grade eight science, Stephen has been very willing to dive deep into a curriculum that has been somewhat new to him, He has developed sound long-range plans that outline the course objectives, and from there developed medium and short range plans that are effective and appropriate for pace and timing. Stephen is well organized and has been available at any time to collaborate and meet with staff during his time here as an intern. Stephen worked collaboratively with his grade six and seven math team partners, and provided some great insights into the planning and preparation of the content. Stephen’s willingness to participate was noticed and appreciated by his colleagues. He continually demonstrated professionalism and cooperative teamwork when working with the staff to ensure the best possible programming for students. Stephen was also able to create a classroom climate that was safe, caring and respectful for everyone. He set up clear expectations and routines for all his classes. Mr. Bore has also become involved in the school outside of the classroom. Stephen worked with fellow teachers to plan, organize, build and implement a spectacular Halloween haunted house, which received tremendous feedback and accolades from the students as one of the best haunted houses ever. Stephen has also made himself very available to students outside of class time for extra help and support in his classes. He has scheduled lunchtime and after school “tutoring sessions” for any student and has made these sessions inviting and helpful. Stephen has also made himself available to help with our athletics department, volunteering for tournament weekends and helping with scorekeeping and supervision for games. Stephen has shown that he is very willing to help in all areas of the school community. One of the biggest areas of growth and improvement for Stephen has been in his teaching approach and classroom instruction. He is a student of the teaching craft, and is continually learning and growing personally and professionally. Stephen has shown growth in his classroom differentiation and instructional strategies, and has implemented new ideas and suggestions from his team. Stephen is a life-long learner and will continue to be a great example of life-long learning for his students. Andy Tyslau A, nd Dee, Qa S School Administrator Signature Date Page 4of5PSII Final Report for Stephen Bore This page is to be attached to the Intern Teacher's Report. Teacher Mentor Comments: Stephen showed improvement and professional growth during his PS Ill internship at GS Lakie Middle School. Stephen worked hard to understand his role as a teacher and the responsibilities he had in delivering curriculum in a meaningful way to all students he taught. Throughout his internship Stephen showed growth in his understanding of the math curriculum and development of teaching skills to meaningfully deliver the curriculum so students were engaged. This has allowed Stephen to better meet the learning needs of all students in his classes. Stephen had the opportunity to teach students with diverse learning needs during his internship. This required him to become comfortable with differentiated instruction and implementing accommodations. This opportunity helped Stephen to further develop his instructional skills, a challenge he readily accepted and an area he will continue to grow in as he takes the next steps in his career. Through informal and formal observations, Stephen demonstrated his ability to teach the prescribed curriculum. Stephen struggled, in the beginning, with the time of his lessons and providing the students an adequate amount of “think time” before he moved on. Through Stephen’s willingness to accept suggestions and a commitment and desire to become a better teacher, he learned how to slow down his lessons and provide students time to process and ‘engage with the curriculum by incorporate a variety of instructional strategies. ‘Stephen readily stepped up to volunteer to support the many co-curricular activities at GS Lakie. He helped with supervision at school dances, volleyball and basketball games as well as volunteered at our Gator Classic volleyball tournament. For Hallowe'en Stephen helped in the development and implementation of a Haunted House, which the entire school went through and thoroughly enjoyed. His commitment to our co-curricular programs was greatly appreciated Throughout ‘ernship, Stephen has shown he has qualities that will help him find success as. a teacher. As he continues to push himself to work hard and continually improve he will be able to reach his potential as an educator. Jeni Halowski lode Mehtor Teacher Signature Date Page 5 ofSSl Final Report for Stephen Bore This page is to be attached to the Intern Teacher's Report. Faculty Mentor Comments: Stephen eventually enjoyed a successful practicum while at G.S. Lakie Middle School in Lethbridge. He had a bit of a challenging placement as all three of his classes (math) were not in his subject major (science). G.S. Lakie administration was able to switch his Grade 8 math class to Grade 8 science to give Stephen experience in his teaching major for the last four weeks of his. practicum. Stephen accepted the challenge, persevered, and in the end, experienced success. He used the opportunity for growth and success to adjust and adapt to be successful Stephen attained the appropriate KSA's as mandated in the PS Ill Handbook. He was an active participant in the PS III student seminars and enjoyed sharing his experiences and benefited from listening to those of his intern colleagues. Stephen will certainly be a hardworking and contributing addition to a school staff. Terry Kerkhoff Ihave read the complete Final Report and certify that the assigned grade is PASS. TX Dee lis Faculty Mentor Signature Date September 2000 FE_Forms_PSIII Page 605