Lindsey Curries Individual Professional Growth Plan

Professional Goals, Rationales, Strategies, Indicators of Progress &

Timeline for Completion

Goal # 1: Establish meaningful relationships with students early in the school year
and maintain them.
Rationale: Building relationships is the key first step in education. Students will
learn more and feel comfortable within the classroom when teachers take the time
to get to know them. Building and maintaining these personal connections will be
my ultimate goal during this final practicum.
Strategies:
-

Icebreakers (first day of school). Students will become familiar with one
another and learn the names of their peers.
Name Games (first day of school)
Student Interest Survey (first day of school). This survey asks a variety of
different questions that will help me learn more about each of my students.
One-on-one interviews
Conversations with students in class, in the hall, during class, after class, and
after school.
Circulate during partner work/group work and have conversations with small
groups of students.

Indicators of Progress:
-

Know the name of every student by the end of the second week.
Know one unique thing about each student by the end of the first month.
Have one small positive interaction with each student, each day.
Casual conversations to maintain positive relationships.
Students listen, follow instructions, respect me, and feel safe and comfortable
within the classroom.

Timeline for Completion: I will continue to work on this goal throughout the
semester, but it is crucial that I develop relationships early in the school year. I plan
on dedicating the entire first day of classes to icebreakers, name games, and a
student interest survey. I believe the first day is all about bonding, getting to know
the students, and making students feel safe and comfortable within the classroom. I
will continue to develop these connections throughout the first week and the rest of
the semester.

Goal # 2: Incorporate more formative assessment strategies to check for student

understanding.
Rationale: In my last two teaching practicums, I incorporated a lot of discussion,
questioning, and exit/entrance slips in my lessons. I never experimented much with

other strategies such as hand signals, colored cards, dice, anecdotal notes, and
self/peer assessments. Some of these strategies can be effective when you need to
quickly see how much the students are retaining. Other strategies such as
anecdotal notes and self/peer assessments take longer to complete, but still give
very valuable information. During this final practicum, I would like to try using some
of these formative assessments.
Strategies:
-

Exit/Entrance Slips
Review games
Questioning (pull popsicle sticks)
Hand signals
Colored cards
Dice
Discussions
Observations
Anecdotal notes
Four corners
Self/peer assessments
Quizzes

Indicators of Progress:

Use 1-2 strategies each lesson to know where the class and individual
students are at.
Use 3-4 different formative assessment strategies throughout the week.
Written anecdotal notes on individual student successes/difficulties.
I will know this goal is being met if I am able to assess where my
class/students are at.

Timeline for Completion:

I plan on working on this goal throughout the entire semester. You can never
stop doing formative assessment or you wont know where your students are
at, or where you need to improve as a teacher.
Each week, I plan on using a variety of formative assessment strategies (3-4).
I would also like to use 1-2 strategies in each lesson that I teach. This way I
can ensure that my students understand the material before we move on to
another concept.