Education 3505
October 29, 2017
Chantal Richards
Professional Goals for Practicum
(Planning and assessment, literacy learning, child development, technology integration)
Goal #1: Check for Student Understanding
Why this goal is important?
I believe that this is an essential goal for the classroom. It is never safe to assume that students
are fully grasping every aspect of your lesson delivery. In addition, they may not always
understand what the exact requirements are for an activity or assignment. Checking in for student
understanding, is essential in helping students learn well. It reduces the negative dopamine
disappointment response, by helping to make immediate corrective feedback for students. By
taking a ‘temperature’ reading of the classroom, I will be able to understand how much students
are retaining from the lesson. By checking for student understanding while teaching in PS1, I
will know what content may need to be clarified or explained in a different way.
How will I work towards this goal?
There are a few ways that I would like to work towards this goal.
1. When making a lesson plan, I will remember to incorporate into the teacher action
section, a reminder to check for student understanding.
2. When explaining a new concept to students, I will check for understanding throughout by
asking students if they have any questions.
3. I will avoid asking yes or no questions, to look for understanding. Instead, I will look for
creative and non-intimidating ways to check how students are doing with the
content/activity.
4. I will use check in tools such as: fist of five and exit slip to help gage student
understanding.
5. During an assignment/activity, I will make sure to leave extra time in my lesson plan for
student questions.
6. If I have incorporated a classroom activity into my lesson, I will make myself available
and walk around to individuals/groups to check for understanding and clarity.
Resources I will seek out and use to help meet this goal.
- I will refer back to the classroom notes from Education 3504 and from Education
Psychology
- I can use website resources to come up with different creative ways to check for student
understanding.
o http://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-check-student-understanding
o https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/21-ways-to-check-for-
student-understanding/
How I will know that I have met this goal.
I will know that I have met this goal when the results show student understanding. For example,
student assignments/activity criteria, will accurately be fulfilled. In addition, I will know that I
have made sure to check for student understanding when: formative and summative assessment
results, are positive.
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Goal #2: Providing Opportunities that will Prime the Reticular Activating System
Why this goal is important?
It is important while teaching and preparing a lesson, to keep in mind the importance of the RAS
system in students’ brains. As we learned in Education Psychology, the RAS is like the ‘butler’
of the brain. Through the RAS, information is filtered. If it passes through this system, then it
will be added into the long term memory. If students are in a stressful environment or experience
extraneous load (exposed to too much information at once), information will not go into their
long-term memory. Having an understand of how to effectively prime the RAS, will help
students to retain more information.
How will I work towards this goal?
1. Try to provide a learning environment that is not stressful for students.
2. Make sure that in my lesson plan/delivery, that I am not overwhelming students with too
much information.
3. Promote activities and learning that are experiential and hands-on based.
a. For example, I will try not to have too much information on activity sheets,
PowerPoints, or too much writing on the white board.
b. Break down information into smaller units.
c. Repeat important information to students (for example repeat assignment
instructions).
4. I will look for ways to foster curiosity and elements of novelty for students, in regards to
the topic/subject at hand.
Resources I will seek out and use to help meet this goal.
- Review class notes from Education Psychology.
- Review the article: The Current Impact of Neuroscience on Teaching and Learning
- https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4qWRnsiZ1wIVD5l-
Ch34vgV3EAAYASAAEgLmd_D_BwE . I can use this following website to look for
creative ideas that other teachers have used for lessons.
- Pinterest might also be a great resource for getting creative and curiosity promoting ideas
to incorporate in lesson plans.
How I will know that I have met this goal.
I will know that I have met this goal, by how much students are able to retain from the lesson
(how much information has gone into their long term memory). This aspect can relate to the
previous goal in that: student formative and summative assessment results will show the proof as
to whether or not I have been able to ‘prime’ their RAS.
Goal #3: Use Language Arts and Literacy as a Teaching Tool
Why this goal is important?
I believe that incorporating elements of reading and writing, are very important for a successful
lesson plan. I would like to incorporate elements of literacy into most (or all) of my lesson plans
relating to particular subjects. I think that this is an important goal because literacy is an essential
life skill for students. The more exposure and practice they have with it, the more they will
become better readers and writers.
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How will I work towards this goal?
1. I would like to make use of the Curriculum Lab at the University, and look for books that
might relate to my lesson plan. Once I have found a book, I can use this as a hook or
attention grabber into my lesson.
2. Look for little ways in lesson activities where students can have the opportunity to
practice their writing skills (even in a Math activity).
3. Have students read e-books
Resources I will seek out and use to help meet this goal.
- I will refer back to ideas/examples that have been used in the Education 3503 course.
- I may use the lesson plan that I created (in correlation with my book talk on Elise Gravel,
The Toad), if I have the opportunity to teach a grade 4/5 Science lesson.
- The Curriculum lab and website resources.
o https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/10-ways-literacy-can-promote-a-
deeper-understanding-of-math/
o http://www.readingrockets.org/article/literacy-rich-environments
How I will know that I have met this goal.
I will know I have me this goal if:
o My lesson plan activities allow students to practice their reading and writing
abilities
o The book relates to the subject being taught, and students are engaged in the book
I have chosen to relate to the topic.
