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PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER THREE

FINAL REPORT
Spring 2024
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.

Intern Teacher: Cayley Allan

Course Title: 4578: Early Childhood Education Option

School: Dr. Robert Plaxton School

Grade Level(s): Grade One

Teacher Mentor: Kristy Walker

Administrator: Andy Tyslau

University Consultant: Ken McMurray

Dates of Internship: January 8, 2024 - April 19, 2024

Checklist
April 15, 2024
Final Conference Date: X Date:
Review the Portfolio: X

Review the Professional Inquiry Project X

U of L: PS II/III Final Report: (Revised: November 2022)

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University Consultant Comments:

It has been a pleasure to watch the growth of Cayley as a teacher over this PS III practicum. Cayley has a
grade one class with some very challenging students. Cayley has been up to the task and this has not
deterred Cayley from experimenting with different strategies. She has attended professional learning
opportunities, included her TM, colleagues and admin in her classroom management plan and has made
classroom management one of her professional growth plan goals.

Cayley’s strength is her planning both long range and unit planning. This organizational skill has driven
Cayley’s daily lesson plans which are very detailed and tailored to the needs of her students. Cayley is
comfortable with technology and has incorporated this medium into her subject lesson plans where
appropriate. Cayley has found that the more organized and well planned she is the less management issues
she faces as students are too busy to get off task. This ties into her overall classroom management plan and
goals.

Cayley is a very confident teacher. She incorporates strategies to motivate her students using relevant and
interesting subject matter. Recently in an Art lesson, Cayley used technology and the whiteboard to show an
example of a cup of hot chocolate and how to draw, color and smudge using small steps for these young
learners to follow. Cayley is cognisant of her audience and her clear directions and instructions reflect her
understanding of their capabilities. Cayley understands how important smooth transitions are from activity to
activity and she directs these efficiently. I often saw Cayley, review instructions prior to movement to prevent
chaos. Cayley has demonstrated the ability to direct the learning of individuals, small groups and whole
classes. Cayley also using authentic praise to build self-esteem and motivate her students. Cayley uses
resources that reflect the diversity and strength of First Nations, Metis and Inuit. She has done this through
literature and through First Nations games in Physical Education. Recently using the Blackfoot ani moves
resource, Cayley practiced locomotor movements in PE. These movements were connected to an animal in
Blackfoot. The students were excited to try to pronounce these names using the Blackfoot language.

Cayley has a solid understanding of assessment. She frequently checks for understanding. She uses a few
assessment strategies that work well for this age group including observations, conversations, questioning
and checking on daily work assignments. One of her common strategies was the use of weekly reflective
student journals where students expressed their understanding of their learning. Individual conferences were
also valuable tools to gage where students were academically. Attending Parent Teacher Conference recently
was also a great opportunity for Cayley to defend her gradebook and reflect on her assessment plan.

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

4/15/2024
University Consultant Signature Date

U of L: PS II/II Final Report: (Revised: November 2022)

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University Consultant comments (Page 2 continued):

Cayley is very reflective in assessing the effectiveness of her lessons. She is open to feedback and makes
appropriate improvements. She has had the great opportunity to work with a solid TM. Working this close
with a seasoned teacher together to meet the needs of a challenging group will set her up well for an
understanding of the value of collaboration throughout her teaching career.

Cayley has demonstrated professionalism through her dependability, punctuality, appearance her maturity
and for her overall love and empathy for her students. In her journal reflections and through my several
observations, I am convinced Cayley will become a great teacher.

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

4/15/2024
University Consultant Signature Date

U of L: PS II/III Final Report: (Revised: November 2022)

DocuSign Envelope ID: 42B2EAFC-5770-4836-ABE0-C2279662E30D

Intern Teacher’s Descriptive Report:

My time at Dr. Robert Plaxton Elementary School has been extremely transformative and rewarding. I will
carry the skills and knowledge that I acquired throughout the duration of this internship for the rest of my career.
The invaluable support and guidance that I have received from my teacher mentor, grade one team,
administrators, and university consultant has helped to facilitate exponential growth in my attributes and
proficiency as a pre-service teacher. From the first day that I arrived at Dr. Robert Plaxton Elementary School
the staff were incredibly supportive and welcoming; before long, I felt as though I was a regular member of the
school community.

An appreciable challenge that I faced during the internship was developing a solid and effective classroom
management strategy that reached all students. With this being stated, developing and implementing effective
classroom management and consistency within the classroom was the first of two goals in my professional
growth plan. Through the many strategies that I outlined within the professional growth plan, I have attended
some of the Heart-Centered Classroom model professional development opportunities that I believe have
helped greatly. Additionally, I had reached out to my teacher mentor and administrator for support and found
that this was helpful to developing my management skills and practices. TQS 1, Fostering Effective
Relationships and TQS 4, Establishing Inclusive Learning Environments have leant themselves to be incredibly
important and helpful when developing a management style that has been able to reach all individuals in the
classroom. These two TQS standards also speak to my professional learning goal in that building strong and
respectful relationships with students is imperative to establishing inclusive learning environments where all feel
cared for. As such, with these practices in place, classroom management can become easier.

The second of two goals in my professional growth plan was to create authentic and meaningful assessment
strategies that are student centered. In conjunction with this goal, I had created monthly journals for each
student to have. Aside from writing in the journals every Friday, students were also tasked with reflecting on
some of their learning in their journals. In addition to the journals, I enjoyed having individual conferences with
students after they completed a task that demonstrated their learning and understanding. Through these
conferences I was able to ask targeted questions in order to fully understand what each student had learnt.
With being in grade one, formative assessment is what I used most as it provided me the opportunity to gauge
levels of understanding efficiently and effectively. This type of assessment also provided me the opportunity to
create meaningful ways to give students equal opportunities in regard to their learning as I could shift my
teaching to meet their needs.

An incredibly important teaching quality standard that I have integrated throughout many subjects is TQS 5,
Applying Foundational Knowledge about First Nations, Metis, and Inuit. I have found that one of the easiest
ways for me to access FNMI integration is through the use of literature. It can often be easier to access a topic
through reading about it first and most times, students are better able to understand the topic and/or concept
after they have listened to a child-friendly text first. Talking about the issues facing Indigenous peoples needs to

3/27/2024

Intern Teacher Signature Date

U of L: PS II/III Final Report: (Revised: November 2022)

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Intern Teacher’s Descriptive Report (Page 2 continued):

be done with extreme care when working with younger students. I have found that in my own practice, I have
introduced students to the issues facing Indigenous peoples by first showing them the beauty and validity of
Indigenous cultures without scaring younger students with the realities that Indigenous peoples still face
today. In the gym, I have found that it is incredibly easy to incorporate an Indigenous games unit as well as
do daily Blackfoot animoves. There are many resources out there that are freely available to help form an
Indigenous games unit and I have found some that have been very helpful when developing my own. The
Blackfoot animoves resource has been excellent for adding in locomotor and non-locomotor movement
practice at the beginning of a gym class. Likewise, each Blackfoot animove is associated with an animal with
the Blackfoot name for the animal listed as well. We have talked about different languages and how each
language has different names for different animals. We practice saying the name of each animal in Blackfoot
by breaking it down phonetically and then putting it all together. The students loved this and so did I!

In collaboration with another intern teacher at Dr. Robert Plaxton Elementary School, our inquiry project
was developed based off of the philosophy for teaching at Plaxton. This philosophy focuses on six diverse
research practices. The third; Science and Social Studies inquiry/ Research- based framework, is where our
PIP aligns. Our research aimed to highlight the critical connections students form as they engage in both
guided and individual inquiry. As the division one teachers in our school have noted, the new curriculum is
challenging for both the seasoned and new teacher. In science, teachers are investigating concepts
alongside their students for the first time. As teachers find ways to stimulate conversation and understanding,
they have to create and invent. Picture books are a staple in many of the classrooms in our division one
hallway. Student engagement is evident and notably increased when students find a spot on the carpet to
read. Due to the captivating visual experience that picture books bring to the table, we know that the
language used within the texts allow for young minds to comprehend content in a more palatable way. This
not only encourages and builds up confidence, but further allows children to ask questions and understand
concepts in a new light. When children are able to critically think and inquire about what they are reading,
they are more likely to further question or wonder about what the underlying meaning of a story may be.
Many picture books silently prompt children to think critically about moral dilemmas or broader implications in
a child friendly way. Our PIP aimed to highlight the excitement that books already have in the classroom, as
they bridge the gap to inquiry, critical thinking and comprehension.

I am extremely grateful for the time I have had at Dr. Robert Plaxton Elementary School and leaving is very
bittersweet. I can say with confidence, and a big smile on my face, that my internship has effectively
prepared me for teaching.

3/27/2024
Intern Teacher Signature Date

U of L: PS II/III Final Report: (Revised: November 2022)

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Teacher Mentor Comments:

It was an absolute pleasure having Cayley as a part of our classroom and school during her internship.
Despite coming to us with many strengths one of her biggest assets was her eagerness to continuously learn
and grow as a teacher.

Cayley was responsible for teaching social studies, science, art, and wellness. She also taught measurement
in numeracy. She took them to learning commons and helped to facilitate STEAM centers. Cayley was
always well-planned with lesson plans, weekly plans, and unit plans thoroughly completed. She was
extremely organized and well-prepared for all lessons. Although I shared all my resources with Cayley, she
independently planned and prepared all lessons without needing any guidance from me. Cayley used the
program of study to inform and direct her planning instruction. She successfully translated curriculum and
outcomes into meaningful learning activities for the children. Cayley continuously used varied instructional
strategies in her lessons to maintain the children’s attention and to keep them engaged in her lessons.
Cayley was enthusiastic about sharing her lessons with me and the engaging activities she had planned. She
was genuinely excited and this was one example of the passion she has towards teaching. The students
were motivated to learn and participate in Cayley’s lessons.

Cayley competently demonstrated knowledge of the content in the subject areas she taught. She effectively
differentiated her lessons and activities appropriately to meet the individual needs of each student. Because
she developed such strong relationships with the children and got to know each of them, differentiation was a
natural process for her. She genuinely wanted each child to experience success and challenged students to
work to their full potential. She knew which students could work independently, which needed small group
support and which students needed one-to-one direct assistance. She had an excellent sense of with-it-ness
as to where to go and who to help for each subject she taught. Her lessons were fun, engaging and creative.
She was always positive and encouraging to each child during her lessons.

Cayley was intentional in developing and maintaining strong relationships with the children. Her warm, caring
and friendly disposition towards them helped her to establish these relationships very early on. Throughout
Cayley’s internship, classroom management was an area of growth. She would often seek feedback in
response to student behaviour and was always willing to try new strategies to support these children. She
continually added new strategies to her repertoire and supported all students in a loving manner. Cayley was
consistent, fair and encouraging in her implementation of our classroom management systems. Classroom
management will continue to be an area of growth for Cayley. As she gains more experience she will add
more and more strategies and be able to set clear expectations from day one.

4/7/2024

Teacher Mentor Signature Date

U of L: PS II/III Final Report: (Revised: November 2022)

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Teacher Mentor Comments (Page 2 continued):

Cayley used a variety of tools to assess the students, including observation, anecdotal notes, checklists,
checking daily activities and tests. She continues to learn which methods of assessment are most meaningful
and that provide the most authentic achievement of learning outcomes. She also completed her portion of
student report cards, which included grade level achievement in the subjects she taught as well as thorough
anecdotal comments for each student.

Cayley is a confident, poised and mature individual. She always carried herself in a professional manner with
students, staff and parents. Throughout her practicum she sought out feedback, took it maturely and
appreciated every oppourtunity to learn.

Cayley has an incredibly hard work-ethic, she is organized and always well-prepared. She is passionate
about teaching and continuously demonstrates her dedication to the profession. She is the ultimate team
player who would be an asset to any staff. Her positive attitude and warm, friendly disposition are exceptional.
Her outlook on each experience is that of a learning opportunity and she gladly accepts to assist with
anything in our school community. She is absolutely wonderful, will make an outstanding teacher and will be
tremendously missed! I wish her the best of luck in her future career. She will be one of those teachers the
children won’t ever forget.

4/7/2024
Teacher Mentor Signature Date

U of L: PS II/III Final Report: (Revised: November 2022)

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Administrator Comments:

Cayley was one of five student interns that joined our school team this year and had the awesome
privilege of calling herself one of our schools first intern teachers - not many people could say they were
the first ever in a school! From the beginning, Cayley showed an eagerness and willingness to learn from
others and to make the final practicum a successful experience for not only herself but for the students
she taught as well.

Cayley demonstrated thoughtful planning and preparation for the grade one students. She was
organized and well-prepared for her lessons and was able to present the new outcomes from the
curriculum in meaningful and age-appropriate ways to her students. Cayley continually showed
enthusiasm, energy and excitement for teaching. She was always seen smiling and welcoming students
with a warm approach.

Through her time at Dr. Plaxton, Cayley worked hard on her classroom management and relationship
development with her students. Coming into a well-established classroom with clear expectations for
learning, the challenge she had was maintaining the same levels of learning while also incorporating her
own teaching style into the classroom. Cayley was keen to continue to ask for support and guidance
from her teacher mentor and from school leadership when she felt she was struggling with classroom
management. She worked at creating professional and meaningful relationships with students. Where
she found some difficulty was demonstrating clear expectations for learning and for the classroom, and at
times struggled with effective communication with some of the trickier students in the classroom when it
came to outlining her expectations. Cayley would often connect with her mentor teacher, school
leadership and at times communicate with parents to try to resolve any issues or concerns. Cayley has a
naturally bubbly and positive tone when communicating with her class, but when the “winds change” and
she needed to gather students’ attention or redirect she sometimes found it difficult. Through
conversations with Cayley, she has demonstrated an awareness to continue to grow and develop in
classroom management. I have no doubt that she is keen to continue to develop her craft in setting high
standards for learning and clearly communicating her expectations to students.

One area that I would have liked to see more involvement in was in the school community in general.
Part of being on a staff is participating in and committing to other activities, clubs, or opportunities outside
of the classroom not only to support students but to also be a part of the larger school community and
build a relationship with the whole staff. Many administrators will look for how teacher applicants can
contribute to the school outside of the classroom, and this would be an area I would suggest that Cayley
thinks about as she moves forwards.

(cont)

4/12/2024
Administrator Signature Date

U of L: PS II/III Final Report: (Revised: November 2022)

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Administrator Comments (Page 2 continued):

Overall, I am pleased with the performance and development of Cayley during her time at Dr. Plaxton
Elementary. She has demonstrated a willingness to continue to improve and grow as an educator, and
with time will grow her confidence and craft. I wish her all the best in her adventures ahead!

4/12/2024
Administrator Signature Date

U of L: PS II/III Final Report: (Revised: November 2022)