Cameron Fehr

Allyson Fleming
EDTE 613
29-MAR-16
Course Learning Intentions

1. I can demonstrate an understanding that teacher professionalism is a

lifelong process that requires collaboration, reflective practice, and a growth
mindset. Aspects of professionalism also include attendance, punctuality,
responsibility for learning, inclusive language, ethics and integrity.
I can demonstrate this understanding with absolute assurance, I understand and
have applied this understanding throughout this program at different levels for
different contexts. I feel as if my professionalism as a teacher was best highlighted
by my practicum experience where every free moment was spent developing the
experience necessary to instruct well and learn from previous failures. I have a fairly
regimented degree of adherence to teacher professionalism considering that the
alternative is too unstable to be effective. This alternative could be described as an
overly emotional attachment to classroom management that involves taking
student behavior as a personal slight or being unable to be continuous in ones
attitude in connection to the class. There has to a be a degree of stability that is
imparted by the teacher to both the classroom and to the students that involves
being punctual, having a set code of ethics surrounding the treatment of others, and
being responsible for learning to the degree that lessons are planned with
forethought and in consideration of the students themselves.

2. I can show how classroom assessment is not an event; it happens in an

ongoing fashion and is seamlessly intertwined with instruction.
I dislike the word seamlessly in connection to such a vague concept such as
assessment. Well, perhaps the concept itself is not overly vague but the task of
assessment is a variable set point that is intrinsically tied to the environment in
which it is enacted within. It is so contextually bound that to imagine it could be
seamlessly integrated with instruction in any setting is, in my mind, overly
optimistic. In saying this, I can describe from my own empirical experiences that
assessment has to be intertwined with instruction since the purpose of one is the
result of the other. Assessment is organic in the sense that it reacts to the students
on an individual level according to their own personal growth either academically or
personally. I can say that it is difficult to find an appropriate balance in connection to
assessment and instruction, but it is possibly especially if you construct the lesson
with assessment being the foundation for what a lesson will entail.

3. I can show how assessment practices can help learners understand

their own learning by involving them in the assessment process through
creating opportunities for them to co-construct criteria and set their own
learning goals.
This kind of collaborative criteria creation was a small part of my action-based
research project in the sense that the question used to construct the assignment
that would be assessed was a creation of either my students or myself in
collaboration with my students. I do hope to have a more collaborative form of
assessment in my upcoming practicum, but my experience so far with this kind of
independent and individual assessment is still fairly minimal at this point. The
knowledge is there, but the applicability of it to a classroom I am instructing within
has not yet been established.
4. I can use assessment strategies to offer clear expectations (including
learning intentions, criteria and exemplars) and formative feedback
to support learning.
I managed to achieve this learning intention by offering clear formats in which to
complete a project within. I either did this through the use of rubrics or examples to
highlight what would equate to a satisfactory effort in consideration of the project
being completed. These formats and rubrics were then supported by my own
formative feedback that was built from my observations. I offered support when it
was clear that the will was present but the direction was lacking, and it took only a
small effort with minor suggestions to again put students on a productive path. I
tried to keep my expectations flexible considering my own beliefs and how they
factor into my methods of instruction. I wanted students to engage with the
material in a manner that did not factor in assessment but instead focused entirely
on the content. This is a highly optimistic desire, and I do not discount the necessity
of assessment, but I wanted to and will continue to try and develop a means in
which to make assessment a student focused and internalized responsibility at least
to some degree.
5. I can show how assessment practices can be sensitive to learners
emotions and motivation, while respecting individual differences and prior
knowledge by offering opportunities for learners to demonstrate their
learning in a variety of ways
Again, I feel as if the concepts are understood but whether they were directly
applied in my practicum would be up for debate. There were what I might term,
minor assignments, that certainly had a large degree of flexibility with how they
might be assessed depending upon the individual, but for the most part I have plans
to incorporate this kind of individualized assessment within my next practicum by
allowing for multiple paths in which to complete a project. These paths might
include a more artistically dominated project or one that includes creative writing or

perhaps dramatic roleplay. There isnt really a limit in how something can be
assessed when the subject is socials studies. There are so many different
perspectives and means in which to describe a single event or a common historical
theme that each project can be individualized according to a students motivation.
6. I can show that I am aware of the importance of frequent and effective
communication about student achievement between myself and students,
parents and administrators.
I was constantly engaging with my students during class time. Whether it was in a
discussion or one on one, there was never a time when I was not open to
communication and whenever there was an opening to connect I took advantage of
this opening; this included both students and administrators but not parents since I
never met any parents during my practicum. This kind of open communication was
to me an achievement all of its own and I appreciated it in this manner. Though I
know the question is more in connection to a students overall achievement, which I
did discuss with students and my sponsor teacher especially in connection to
missing assignments, but I truly did find that any kind of communication was an
opportunity for further development and learning.
7. I can demonstrate that I understand there are multiple external factors that
impinge on classroom assessment practices, including parental beliefs,
ministry and district policies and societal expectations.
I do understand this. It is not something to be misunderstood. To imagine that a
classroom exists in isolation is absurd. Every individual brings something with them
into a dynamic environment that reflects all of these external forces that cannot be
dropped entirely at the door. Considering that there are moments of assessment
such a test or quiz or a due date that requires a student to be at their best for that
moment, it is not surprising that if a student has a less than adequate day, they will
not sync with whatever form of assessment that is occurring that day either.
8. I can create and / or choose meaningful, appropriate assessment tools. I
can demonstrate various uses of learning progressions such as the BC
Performance Standards.
I did use rubrics in class but that was primarily the tool I used for assessment. I
found it slightly lacking, but it was useful within its own limitations. I did use
learning progressions such as the BC Performance Standards as a means to build a
parameter of understanding for how a student should be progressing considering
these standards, but I tried to make them flexible as well since each student
progressed at different levels. Ultimately though, I do need to develop a far more
expansive understanding of these learning standards so that I can use them in
connection to my own ideals in consideration of student learning achievements.

9. I can articulate and demonstrate that my assessment philosophy and

grading policy are focused on supporting students and as such, my
summative assessment practices reflect student learning, not behaviour and
are consistent with Ministry of Education guidelines.
My assessment philosophy and grading policy are certainly focused on supporting
students considering how flexible I wish to make my assessment parameters. I want
students to be the focus of their own assessment since self-awareness is a skill that
is not often engaged in with regard to the classroom. Students need to be able to
self-assess their own levels of learning and this kind of assessment goes beyond
their behavior and interacts solely with their learning and the evidence that this
learning has created. Behavior is less a side-effect of a grade then but more so will
determine how effective learning might be during a lesson. If a students behavior
diminishes their ability to give an assignment the attention it might require, the
culminating project will most likely reflect that, and I believe students will recognize
their own limitations and where they may need to grow.