Goal 1: To Improve communication with teachers, students, and

parents
Actions to be taken:
Check email daily
Review weekly class lists and evaluate which students need
further contact
Send out parent letter at the beginning of units to inform parents
what students will be learning
I feel that over the course of my teaching at Probe I have improved
a lot at communication. I have done my best at checking my email
daily and responding when I receive them instead of pushing them off
to a later date. This proactivity has helped me to be more prepared for
upcoming events and even resulted in me receiving permission to go
to a special PD session on literacy that was open only to Lethbridge
School District employees.
I have also improved in parent communication through texting,
emailing, and talking to parents when they pick up/drop off their
children at school. I have been able to form relationships of trust not
only with students but with parents, allowing me to have a more
informed approach to differentiation and student learning.
The goal of updating parents on the units students are covering
was quickly kiboshed after having a conversation with the grade 5
team about parents who had expressed concern with the number of
emails received from Probe School. In the future I plan on creating a
website for each class I have so parents who wish to remain updated
on topics covered and assignments given in class can check online and
parents who dont wish to have this information will not have repeated
school emails in their inbox.
Goal 2: Take educated risks with performance tasks
Actions to be taken:
Each unit, research or create one unique performance task
(something I havent done before).
I have had a lot of fun working on my second goal. I have worked on
creating unique performance tasks in all subjects, but particularly in
Social Studies. In social studies I have enjoyed experimenting with a lot
of different instructional and assessment techniques, from traditional
stand and deliver to more creative assessments such as acting out
historical events and student created questions for assessment.
Through this experimentation, I have found that the greatest tool
for knowing which instructional and assessment strategies work best is

to have open and candid conversations about which assessments and

learning strategies worked best for them. When I review the results of
assessments, I have found the obvious to be true; the activities that
are most engaging result in greatest student understanding. Although
not all of the instructional strategies or new assessments worked, I
have found that trying new and different strategies and assessments
has helped me to be more conscious of what assessments and
teaching strategies my students need. I have also found that the
change keeps student engagement high and makes learning fun.
Goal 3: Differentiate lesson plans for students with learning or social
exceptionalities.
Actions to be taken:
Review all IPPs and SLPs for students I teach
Include differentiation for these students on each lesson plan (at
least student A and B on each lesson plan)
Teaching at Probe has given me a unique oppourtunity to teach
students with learning and social difficulties that I had not yet
addressed in other classrooms. Although differentiating lessons and
assessments to meet students needs is not easy, I have seen that
the students who need it greatly benefit from the effort. Reading
IPPs , test results, and comments from teachers and educational
assistants, help give me the background information I needed to
know the types of students I had in my classroom.
However, I have found that even with reading and understanding
student documentation, one of the most important ways to know
how to differentiate for students is by getting to know them and
having a personal relationship with them. Having a solid
understanding of students abilities and then incorporating what I
have learned about students in conversations and observation has
allowed me to create a number of modified assessments and use
inclusive technologies to best help all students learn.
Moving forward I would like to do a better job of coordinating
efforts with educational assistants, other teachers, and
administrators to ensure that the differentiation techniques being
used are consistent , and indeed best for the learner.
Summary
Overall, I still feel like I have a lot of areas to improve to become
the teacher that I want to be. However, this semester of teaching at
Probe elementary has been extremely helpful in giving me practice
in communicating with parents, administrators, and students, being

more open and creative in assessment and instruction, and in

differentiating for students with learning exceptionalities.