Lie University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Education

PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER THREE

Faculty of Education
Final Report
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PS 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 off-campus
and are coordinated by the University Consultants in collaboration with Intern Teachers and school personnel.

Select the course in which you are registered:

Education 4571 Elementary Education Internship
• Education 4572 Secondary Education Internship
Education 4576 Native Education Internship
Education 4578 Early Childhood Education Internship
Education 4582 Inclusive Education Internship
Education 4583 Technology in Education Internship

INTERN TEACHER: Brendan Kearl

SCHOOL: St. Mary’s Taber
Grade Level(s): Grades 7, 8 and 10
Teacher Mentor: AJ Bergenhenengouwen and Carolyn Siemens
Administrator: Randy Spenrath
University Consultant: Danny Balderson

Checklist

Final Conference Date: Date: 9( /2 W/’

Review the Portfolio:
Review the Professional Inquiry Project

Intern Teacher Report and Signature

Teacher Mentor Report and Signature I,

Administrator Report and Signature

University Consultant Report and Signature ,

Cornplete Final Report submitted to Field Experience Office by (IC

U of L: PS III Final Report: (Revised:April 2018) Page 1 of 5

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Le PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER THREE: Final Report

University Consultant: Danny Balderson

Brendan Kearl
Intern Teacher:
Faculty of Fducaf ion

University Consultant Comments:

Brendan Kearl has had a very successful internship at Saint Marys School in Taber. He has taught a variety of grades the
subject of physical education. I have watched Brendan teach three times in different physical education classes. We have also
held monthly seminar meetings to explore topics related to the internship.

Brendan began this semester with very good long and short range plans. He communicated these plans to me well advance
of the school year starting. Brendans plans were well thought out, focused on student learning, and were very creative in the
types of teaching strategies and classroom activities that the students were exposed to.

Brendan pays close attention to the needs of all types of learners. He carefully plans activities that will likely engage all of the
students. He is organized and finds a way to involve all of the students. For example- during one lesson that I watched him
teach he said “the first team to have everyone score wins” He is constantly thinking of ways to help all students
.

experience success.

Brendan has shown to be a team player during PS 3. He has gotten along well with his Teacher Mentor, his Administrator,
and others in the school. He also has positively contributed to our PS 3 group in meetings. Brendan has been actively
involved in the life of the school- coaching the cross country team and helping out in many other activities.

During the lessons I have watched, I have seen Brendan do a good job in both formative and summative assessment. Each
lesson has a goal/objective and he holds students accountable as they work towards these standards.

Brendan’ s Professional Inquiry Project looked more closely at assessment in physical education. He explored a popular
mobile application called ‘Plickers’ and examined it effectiveness in a physical education setting. The project was very well
done and he even submitted the project as a presentation to the upcoming Canadian Physical Education and Health
Conference in May 2019, in Montreal. I see Brendan being a leader in the field and sharing the good work he will do with
others.

Brendan as developed excellent relationships with his students. He has done this by getting to know them inside and outside
of class. This has helped establish a great learning environment and establish classroom management. Students enjoyed his
classes and looked forward to each days activities.

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

/ 42 /2( Zc/8
Univ6rsity onsultant Signature Date

U of L: PS III Final Report: (Revised: Apr11 2078) Page 2 of 5

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University of
Lethbridge PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER THREE: Final Report

Brendan Kearl
Intern Teacher:
University Consultant: Danny Balderson
r,
Faculty of Education

Intern Teacher’s Descriptive Report:

At St. Mary’s Taber School, I was assigned to teach Physical Education 7and 8 and two Grade 10 classes. I was teaching
halftime every day from September to December. With the Assigned PE 7 and 8 classes, I was able to gain experience
teaching health and other PE outcomes that required a classroom setting. During my practicum, I refined my classroom
management and consider it to be a great strength while trying to direct classes of 23-32 students in a gym setting. I was able
to establish classroom rules, such as peer, self, and teacher respect. Students understood my three-strike policy as far as
negative student behaviour. A good attendance routine and transition procedure helped maintain class structure and
efficiency. I was able to gain respect and good connection with students through personal conversations with them before and
after class. By showing that I care through these conversations and supporting them by showing up to school events, I was
able to build relationships that eventually helped student learning.

I continuously encouraged students to put in the effort and try new activities or activities they may not be good at.
Assessment was primarily done through a daily participation rubric that focused on effort and improvement of a specific skill. I
established a routine of formative assessment through self-reflection/assessment and peer assessment. Assessment was a
main focus of my practicum, as my professional inquiry project was on how a phone application app named Plickers helped
assessment practices in a PE setting. While incorporating technology and refining my assessment practices, I believe the
largest area of my personal growth was in the topic of assessment. By talking to and observing experienced teachers
everyday I was also able to learn from others what assessment practices work.

For my PE classes, I was able to go through the planning and booking of several off-campus activities that I believe are so
important to expose students to. These off-campus activities include bowling, skating, curling, tennis and an all-day trip to the
University of Lethbridge for wall climbing, canoe water safety and water sports. I look forward to planning more of these types
of off-campus, unique activities as I start my career. While at the school, I made sure I did a variety of physical activities that
were done indoor, outdoor, and I exposed the students to games that are outside of the traditional sports.

FNMI integration was also a big part of my practicum, as I included many traditional FNMI games that I was given
permission to use and teach. My FNMI integration process included going to PD sessions on the topic and understanding the
importance of this content in the classroom. Good and well-thought-out planning of lessons and units was the key to my
success in PS3. I was able to research and develop the best activities for my students and their specific situation and abilities.
I was able to balance between different instructional styles to allow for the best results in my class’ understanding and
participation. I was always conscious of everybody in the classroom and differentiated the activity to fit everybody’ s level
and ability.

During my time at St. Mary’s, I was able to participate in many extracurricular activities making me a valuable member of
the staff and school community. I was the main coach involved with the cross-country team, running practices multiple times a
week and teaching athletes proper training, running techniques and strategies to help improve personal goals and overall
fitness/health. I was able to organizing and supervise early morning open gym for students wanting to get active and practice
basketball. By making myself available to help out at volleyball tournaments and be a basketball referee this shows my
passion for youth sports and also showed my commitment to the school community.

During my third professional semester at St. Mary’s Taber School, I truly believe this experience has helped me become a
better teacher and has prepared meto be a successful teacher for years to come. I realize that teachingis a lifelong journey
and that I have many areas to grow and develop. I have a strong desire to continually add to my teaching skills and
experience. I was able to devlop into a confident, flexible and knowledgeable teacher that is passionate about student
learning and growth.

I have read and received a complete.,copy of my PS III Final Report.

//) P& 1 o/
Intern TeaciierSinature Date
This page is to be returned to the UC to be included in the PS III Final Report.

U of L: PS Ill Final Report: (Revised: January 2018) Page 3 of 5

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Lethbñlge PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER THREE: Final Report

[J Teacher Mentor: AJ Bergen Henengouwen & Carolyn Siemens

t
Faculty of Education
Intern Teacher: Brendan Kearl

Teacher Mentor Comments:

We have had the pleasure of working with Brendan Kearl while he completed his internship at St. Mary’ s School. During his
four month internship he taught PE 7, 8 and 10 with us. Brendan taught the Physical Education courses with a lot of
enthusiasm and the students were always involved in their learning. He consistently integrated technology, individual work,
motivational pieces, creative game and activities as well as group projects into his courses.

Brendan had the knowledge and background in Physical Education to teach all the courses without any difficulty. In both his
classes, he was able to answer questions without hesitation. This enabled Brendan to keep a learning atmosphere in each
lesson. He was always prepared in advance for several lessons allowing flexibility in timing and content when student interest
encouraged changes. All of his lessons followed a logical and sequential order. He encouraged total student participation in
every class. Brendan used varied assessment throughout his time here and even integrated the use of technology as an
assessment tool. Brendan’ s voice projection and classroom movement helped to increase student participation while his
enthusiasm and energy contributed to student achievements as well as participation in activities which resulted in high
accountability given to each student for his or her actions. Brendan also planned and took full leadership in various off campus
activities, including and entire day trip to the University of Lethbridge so students could participate in rock climbing and canoe
and water safety. Brendan did all this with very little intervention from his supporting teachers, he was very self directed.

Brendan was able to become involved with the St. Mary’ s school community by attending staff meetings, professional
development, divisional functions, and extracurricular activities. He participated in a Holy Spirit Divisional PD Day as well as
school based PD days. As our school is a part of the Alberta Education Flexibility Project, Brendan was able to try new ways
to allow students’ flexibility in their learning as well as provided sessions for students on our Focus Fridays which are a
student derived timetable day.

Brendan’ s outstanding personality, easy going nature and work ethic have allowed him build a rapport with the students he
taught as well as the entire school population. Brendan immersed himself into our school by spending lunch hours in the gym
with students, and by helping with various athletic activities. He has been a great asset to our school, staff and students.

His dedication and commitment to our school was outstanding. Brendan has all the qualities to be a great teacher. His
enjoyment teaching students, his constant work to improve and his willingness to put in extra time and effort reveal his
potential talent as a teacher. Both the students and staff will miss him at St. Mary’ sand wish him all the luck in his future
endeavors.

Sincerely,

AJ Bergen Henengouwen & Carolyn Siemens

Teacher Mentiñdf
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Date
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U of L: PS Ill Final Report: (Revised: January 2078) Page 4 of 5

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University of
Lethbridge PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER THREE: Final Report

icji Administrator:

Intern Teacher:
Randy Spenrath

Brendan Kearl
Faculty of Education

Administrator Comments:
Brendan Kearl has positively impacted our school culture with his commitment to learning as well as his commitment to school
activities. He provided instruction in Phys. Ed 7,8 and 10, as well as provided sessions for Flex Friday. He coached in our
cross country running program and participated in student-staff events.

In the classroom Brendan provided strong lessons filled with engaging, active learning opportunities. His planning was well
constructed and organized to optimize learning and meet both objectives and outcomes. Brendan used technology to support
teaching and learning strategies which proved to be effective. From informal and formal observations, Brendan was very
successful in his curricular teaching assignments. I witnessed numerous teaching strategies that actively engaged students in
their learning.

While observing it was evident that Brendan’s enthusiasm, energy, passion and rapport with students was responsible for
further engaging the students in higher level thinking, questioning and understanding. Brendan was well respected by
students at SMS and when issues developed he dealt with them head-on. I always looked forward visiting Brendan’s
classroom because there was always something interesting, new and engaging going on. Brendan introduced students and
our PE teaching staff to Omni-Kin Ball. Bringing forth a brand new game requires a different skill set and Brendan
successfully implemented this game to students and teaching staff who expressed a desire to continue with the game and
associated games into PE courses.

Brendan related well to students both inside and outside the classroom during her internship. All interactions observed were
positive and encouraged student participation. He has very good verbal skills and uses a variety of classroom management
strategies to support the positive learning atmosphere in his classroom. With many teachers, classroom management is
always something we can work to improve. Brendan’s clear and concise planning took care of most management issues.
There were some periods of conflict among students that he dealt with immediately. Attention to supervision for PE teachers
around change room behaviors will still need a little fine tuning. This is an important area of concern for every PE teacher.

Brendan has all the attributes to be a successful and professional teacher. I would not hesitate in recommending Brendan for
a teaching position in any school setting that he may make application to. Congratulations Brendan, you have completed your
internship at SMS! Best of luck in the future as you pursue your aspirations of teaching.

42 fE—Q Administrator Signature

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U of L: PS Ill Final Report: (Revised: Januarj 2078) Page 5of5