Intern Professional Growth Plan (IPGP)

Jenna Boyd
Mike Mountain Horse School
Teacher mentor: Lois Van Roon

January 4, 2016 April 26, 2014

School administrator: Erin Hurkett

University Consultant: Donna MacKay
Mountain Horse School is a place where:

children do their best in all areas of learning.

people feel good about themselves.

everyone is encouraged to get along.

parents and community are partners in learning.

Mike Mountain Horse School Goal Statements:

MMH school provides an environment where the academic potential of each child is promoted
and celebrated.

MMH school is a learning community which fosters adaptability and flexibility to cope with
change.

MMH school is a place where all people are respected, recognized, and supported by others.

MMH school provides a safe environment where people are responsible for their own academic
progress, personal, and social behaviour.

MMH school shares the responsibility for education, involving home, school, and community
through open communication and cooperation.

1. Based on the schools goal of: MMH school is a place where all people are respected, recognized,
and supported by others, my goal is to get to know each student so that I can more easily respect,
recognize and support each of them.
Rationale: If I know who they are, how they learn, what difficulties they have, and what their interests
are, I will be able to better tailor my teaching and assignments to their needs and interests. Teaching to
their needs and interests shows students that I respect them, recognize them, and support them, as
students and as people.
Strategies: I will get to know students by listening to them, allowing them to tell stories, and asking them
questions. I will listen to their questions, so I can better understand what they are struggling with at
school and in life.

Indicators of progress: I will know I am reaching my goal if I know all the students by name, know at
least one thing school related and at least one thing non-school related about each student.
Timeline: I should be able to have this goal completed for my grade 2s within 4 weeks, and with my
grade 3s within 6 weeks (because I work with them less) of the beginning of my practicum.
Reflection: I know the grade 2s very well. I know many things about their lives, and I know them as
students at school. How they work, what they are good at, and how they feel about different subjects
and different types of learning styles. I know the grade 3s, but in a bit of a different way, as I do not
teach them any core subjects. I know things about their lives, I know what types of art projects they are
good at, and what types are more difficult for them. I know what physical activities they enjoy, and
which ones they are good at. I know what types of things all of my students are good at, and what types
of things they struggle with, and I try to help them get through the things they struggle with.
2. Based on the schools goal of: MMH school is a learning community which fosters adaptability and
flexibility to cope with change, my goal is to adapt and change my teaching and assignments to best
suit the needs of my students.
Rationale: Some students will be able to do things that others will have difficulty with, so I will need to
differentiate to allow for those differences. Students can show that they know things in different ways;
while one may be able to show what they know best by writing it down, another may best be able to
show their knowledge by drawing a picture, or an oral presentation.
Strategies: I will make different assessments for different students, because I have some students for
whom writing is difficult and exhaustive. I will read during assessments, because I have some students,
who are essentially non-readers; and it may help students who read well, but struggle with a few words
in the assessment. I will find out students interests so I can tailor assignments to their interests, to help
them stay engaged with the material.
Indicators of progress: I will know I am reaching this goal by showing project based learning unit plans,
which better allow for differentiation, and by including my differentiation strategies in my lesson plans.
Timeline: I plan to have all my assessments and projects planned by the weekend after Teachers
Convention in February.
Reflections: I have changed assessments and projects to cater to students needs and abilities. I
enlarged many assessments where writing was involved (where possible) to accommodate for a
student with large, messy printing. This way the student doesnt have to try to squeeze his answer into
a small space, which allows it to be more legible. I have read for students who are at a lower reading
level, when the assessment isnt about reading, so that the assessment accurately assess their
knowledge of a subject, rather than their reading ability. I have also highlighted important ideas or
words, or put the text in bold, to make it easier for lower level readers to be able to pick out the
important information in a question, or in a reading assignment. I have challenged some students by
requesting more detail from them in the answers to questions.
The project based assessments I have created, are a brochure about Saskatoon for the social studies
unit on a prairie community, and an open project on a local small invertebrate for the Small Crawling
and Flying Animals unit in science.

3. Based on the schools goal of: MMH school provides a safe environment where people are
responsible for their own academic progress, personal, and social behaviour, my goal is to be
responsible for my behavior, and help students be responsible for their behavior, by excelling in
classroom management.
Rationale: Classroom management is not currently one of my strengths, but in order for students to feel
like they are in a safe environment, and to help them take responsibility for their behaviour, I need to
manage the classroom to keep it quiet and safe.
Strategies: I will observe my teacher mentors classroom management. I will also observe other
teachers in the school during my prep time, to learn how they manage their classes. I am also going to
attend the PD session on classroom management put on by the SAPCD for new teachers and PSIII
students at the end of January. I will make sure I am laying out my expectations to students every
single time, so they dont get off track because they dont know what is expected of them. I will make
my lessons more engaging, so the students are so busy paying attention that classroom management
essentially happens on its own.
Indicators of progress: I will know I am meeting this goal, when students are working quietly, or listening
intently, and I have fewer or no classroom management issues.
Timeline: I will work toward this goal the whole semester, and hope to have it complete by the end of
PSIII, at the end of April.
Reflections: I have been trying many different strategies for this. I attended a PD session on classroom
management in January for beginner teachers. I introduced quiet critters, who come out and sit on the
desks of students who are working quietly, which is a visual cue to other students that they should be
working quietly. I have been explaining my expectations of behaviour at the beginning of class, and
before transitions to help ensure students know what I am looking for. I have been writing down steps
on the board, so students always know what they are supposed to be doing, and if they forget, they can
just look at the board. This reduces students talking (to ask what they should be doing), getting out of
their seats (because they arent sure what to do), or sitting staring off into space. When students know
exactly what is expected of them, they are likely to follow those expectations.
I will continue to work on classroom management, because I think it is an area where there is always
room for growth.