Professional Growth Plan Essay

Professional Growth Plan and Final Student Teaching Reflection
INTASC 1: When looking at INTASC 1, I feel that I am right where I need to be in terms of
understanding and practice as it should be a continuous learning experience when creating
central concepts as the art of teaching advances and as information becomes relevant to teaching.
I can definitely improve but I feel that that will come with time and experience in the classroom
as I learn the best way to integrate my skills into the lessons and curriculum.
INTASC 2: In my approach to understanding how children learn and develop, I think that I have
really focused on letting my students learn things their own way. If something isn’t working in
class and I’ve tried to teach the same material multiple ways, I make it a point to ask the students
what I can do to make things easier for them. I have made it a point to not push the students
beyond what they are capable of doing on any given day. Some days are better than others and
that is ok. My weakness comes from needing better understanding and practice of how to
approach the way students develop, especially older high school students. When they reach that
age, they all are on different paths, and I think that my understanding of these concepts will
come with practice and time in the classroom. Understanding the science behind education on a
deeper level and reviewing throughout my career will help me as I continue my career as an
educator.
INTASC 3: I think that this standard ties into standard 2 heavily as understanding how students
differ in their learning approaches is linked to the science behind education. I think that I
struggle with this standard right now because I have not fully explored how I can change up
instructional strategies. I think this is partly due to the culture at my school and I have simply
fallen into the habit of what is the norm at my placement. In improving upon this standard, I
think I need to begin utilizing more assessment strategies, such as singing quizzes and basic
knowledge tests, that cover keys, time signatures, themes, composers, etc. Some students are
great at just picking up a piece of music and reading it and retaining it, while others need to have
that written out format that breaks the piece down in order for them to fully understand it.
INTASC 4: This standard in turn ties into standard 3. I think my paragraph above sums up my
thoughts on this standard as well. Due to my placement and group think, I have fallen into the
habit of sticking to the instructional strategies already used at my school. I need to address this
issue by changing how I present information to my class other than through piano or aural
demonstrations. I can use videos, instruments, and music theory to present the information in a
different light.
INTASC 5: This standard is primarily about the learning environment, and I think that I have
been pretty successful with this standard. One of my biggest things that I want to focus on as a
teacher is that, at the end of the day, the student’s welfare and mental health is more important
than anything. The music education they get along with that is the bonus. Speaking from
experience in a program where the primary focus was winning and not particularly caring about
the wellbeing of students One thing I have strived to do is to reach out to my students who are
struggling, and to take things easy sometimes, especially if they’re rehearsing well. Success only
comes if you foster all parts of a student’s wellbeing, not just their musical abilities.
INTASC 6: This standard is about communication within the classroom and I think that overall I
was pretty successful at this task as I was always able to effectively communicate what I wanted
from the students and they were always able to do what I asked. There were a few times that I
had to reiterate what I said if I said it too fast or did not mention the voice part I wanted to sing.
Those were communication errors on my end, but they were easily remedied with a restatement
of the idea or material and we were able to move on with the lesson. Moving forward, I need to
ensure that I am prepared to fully communicate what I intend to accomplish in the lesson, but
also be prepared to improvise should unexpected complications arise.
INTASC 7: I feel that I was pretty strong in this area as I was always prepared to teach my
content to the class, but I lacked in the area involving curriculum. Looking forward to my
teaching, especially when I have my own classroom not directly influenced by other educators, I
need to look to creating a comprehensive curriculum that teaches history and theory along with
the repertoire itself in order to round out the music education of the students. Of course, I plan on
looking to other, more experienced educators for tips and tricks they use to create curriculum,
but I look to make it my own.
INTASC 8: I really struggled overall with this standard as assessment is not my strongest ability.
Informally, I can assess the students continually as I do it while I am teaching and running music
with the students. Formal assessment in the form of knowledge tests based in music theory and
application is where I struggle. My school does not use much formal assessment and I think that
is partially why I feel that I struggle with it. Moving forward, I plan on looking to other
educators to see how they use assessment with their students and to find what works for me as an
educator and how I want to adapt my teaching style and use formal assessment along with it.
INTASC 9: This standard is always in practice as I constantly have to reflect on the choices that I
make, both good and bad. Frankly, I know that I have a lot of room to grow in this area and I am
already thinking of ways in which I can improve my shortcomings as an educator. For example, I
know that I have some struggles with keeping all of my deadlines straight. An easy fix for that is
to get a large paper desktop calendar that I will see every day and to write all of my deadlines on
them. I’ve discovered that paper is a much more effective medium for me as it helps to have a
physical copy of something in my hand over a digital copy from a tablet or computer.
INTASC 10: I think that I have excelled in this standard as I feel that I have good relationships
with all of my colleagues and parents at Noblesville. This is essential to creating a solid
foundation when it comes to the success of students. Without good support from the community
and colleagues, it is going to be difficult to maintain an efficient and effective program. The best
way to move forward with this task is to build relationships early and maintain them so that the
support system is already in place when you need it.

Professional Growth Plan Essay

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Professional Growth Plan Essay

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Professional Growth Plan Essay

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Professional Growth Plan and Final Student Teaching Reflection

You might also like