The attached goals chart is currently being used to help student teachers collect data related to their work in the field. They should be distributed early in the semester so that students may be asked to determine their goals as early as is feasible. Of course, they will need to spend time in the classroom before making these decisions, especially if they are just beginning their student teaching. The following are our recommendations for how these charts should be used:
1. In the box at the top of the chart, students are asked to define their goals in their own words. What do they really want to work on? What have they determined is an area of interest, or an area in which they need support? They are then asked to study the INTASC standards, and determine which of these are addressed by the goal they have chosen.
Some of the goals students have defined have included:
•to work with a group of students on remediation of reading and writing skills
•To help children improve and enjoy writing
•To help David and Andrew learn more letters/sounds
•To increase student participation in discussions
•To learn about setting rules, boundaries and expectations
•To establish trust and gain respect from my students
•To learn concrete strategies that refocus, challenge and excite the students about learning
•To learn how to run a book club
•To learn about 4th grade TERC math
As you can see, these all correspond to at least one of the INTASC goals.
2. In the first column, students are asked to keep track of the work they do over the course or the semester toward meeting their goals. The charts are best kept by writing for a few minutes each day. The notes should be specific, but they may be brief. They are to serve as a record of their progress and efforts, providing anecdotal evidence for their end of term self-assessment. Students should make note of any documentation they have, such as lesson plans, journals or student work samples, that may illustrated the anecdote they have noted.
3. The second column is for the recording of the evidence students see that their efforts are paying off. There will notnecessarily be one-to-one correspondence between their work and their evidence. For example, they might notice after several weeks of working with a math group, that children are working more independently, or that more children are bringing in their homework. Or, after implementing several strategies to increase participation in class discussions, they may find that more students are raising their hands. Here again, they should refer to any documentation that will support their observations.
4. In the third column, students should try to draw on their readings and experiences from their classes. They may, for example, have tried out an instructional strategy they learned in their methods class. They may have been inspired to use an instructional modification as a result of a reading for their SPED class. They might be helped to understand the motivation of their adolescent students because of a reading or discussion in their Human Development class.
5. The final column is for students' reflections and the conclusions they are beginning to draw as a result of their efforts. For example, they may begin to conclude that their lessons are more successful when they include
visuals and hands-on materials for introducing math concepts, or that wait time after questioning helps more students join in on discussions. They may begin to make observations about their own areas of strength or weakness, or about their preferred styles of teaching. Perhaps they will use this column to reflect on their developing philosophy or teaching and learning, or on how they intend to create their own classroom climate in the future. We expect that this column will be the one that develops latest in the semester.
Your input and suggestions would be very much appreciated as we work to improve these data collection documents to make them a tool for students, as well as a tool for the assessment of our own work to support them.
Thanks,
INTASC Standards
Standard 1: I am learning to understand the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) that I teach and to create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students. (Content & Pedagogy)
Standard 2: I am learning how children learn and develop and how to provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social and personal development. (Learners & Learning)
Standard 3: I am learning how students differ in their approaches to learning and how to create instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners. (Learners & Learning)
Standard 4: I am learning to understand and use a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. (Content & Pedagogy)
Standard 5: I am learning how to use an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active learning and self-motivation. (Learners & Learning)
Standard 6: I am learning to use knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom. (Content & Pedagogy)
Standard 7: I am learning to plan instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals (school, city, state, etc.). (Content & Pedagogy)
Standard 8: I am learning to understand and use formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the learner. (Assessment)
Standard 9: I am learning to be a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of my choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally. (Professional Development)
Standard 10: I am learning to foster relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being. (Professional Development)
Name:Term:Page 1 of _
My goal for this semester are:1.______
This goal relates to INTASC standard # ______
2.______
3.______
Goal# (s) / Date / I am working on this goal by.... / Evidence I have of achieving my goal (i.e., child behavior, products, artifacts) includes... / Connections to classes/readings / What I have learned..
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