VANCOUVER ISLAND UNIVERSITY

TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM

Summary of Field Experience (EDFE 521) -
B. Ed. Final Practicum


Student: Vanessa Furness Practicum Dates: 03/31/14-05/09/14

School: Randerson Ridge District: 68 Nanaimo/Ladysmith Grade: 5

Analysis By: Brent Busch Supervising Teacher: Paul Nixon

Received and Discussed Signatures:

Date: May 9,2014 Student:

Sponsor:

Page 1 of 2 Supervisor:


School and Class Context
Ms. Furness completed her practicum at Randerson Ridge Elementary School in
Nanaimo. Randerson Ridge is part of the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District #68
located in Nanaimo, British Columbia. The total school enrollment is 321 students.
The socio-cultural or ethnic representation in the school is quite broad. There are
approximately 20 Aboriginal students at the school. Other ethnicities that are
represented in the school include Chinese, Korean, and East Indian.

Ms. Furness taught in a grade 5 classroom with 28 students, 14 girls and 14 boys.
Five of the students in the classroom were formally designated; 3 learning disabled,
1 autistic and 1 severe behavior.

Value and Care for students
Over the course of the year Ms. Furness has developed a positive rapport with her
students. She would regularly greet them at the door and she showed a genuine
interest in each of them, often noticing individual attributes or changes. She took
an interest in their social and emotional needs as well as their academic needs,
often inquiring how their day had gone. She modeled polite and respectful
interactions and her students responded in kind. When designing her lessons, she
took their individual needs into account. She was aware of student absences and
followed up with those students upon their return. Ms. Furness models positive,
polite and respectful interactions at all times.

Role model who acts ethically and honestly
Ms. Furness demonstrated a confident professional presence in her classroom and
around the school. She dressed in a professional manner every day and she was
always prepared for her lessons each day. She arrived early and used this time
effectively for class preparation. Over the course of the year, she was privy to a
great deal of information pertinent to her students. She was respectful of
confidential information shared during those discussions. She was respectful of all
stakeholders.

Knowledge of student growth and development
Ms. Furness has demonstrated a solid understanding of the widely held
expectations of a grade five student and was able to identify the potential
challenges and areas which needed alternative strategies or extra time for
students to develop a full understanding of a new concept.

Her framework plan, as well as individual lesson plans, was consistently referenced
to Provincial Learning Outcomes. Her planning was thoughtful and relevant. She
applied relevant learning theories in her classroom and this assisted her in
furthering her understanding of child development.

Value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and
communities in schools
Ms. Furness demonstrated a clear understanding that students parents are busy
and may not always be available. She also saw the importance of keeping lines of
communication open with the parents and utilized the student planners to keep
them informed. She is encouraged to seek other avenues to maintain a positive
contact with the students parents, perhaps utilizing a regular newsletter to inform
them of activities or making telephone contact calls periodically. This type of open
communication would continue to instil confidence in her abilities with the parents.
During her practicum, she was conscious of aspects of the BCTF Code of Ethics and
maintained confidentiality when discussing her students.

Effective practices in classroom management, planning, instruction,
assessment, evaluation and reporting
Ms. Furness developed effective management skills as the year progressed. She
explored different avenues of management to solve individual student management
challenges within the class environment by implementing Solid Ice Thin Ice; verbal
praise and, when necessary had class discussions on expectations and what
appropriate learning atmospheres look like, sound like and feel like. She is
encouraged to keep focusing on consistently using management strategies which are
unobtrusive like thin ice/solid ice as a positive behaviour management tool in place
of oral management. With more experience, she will continue to develop a set of
cues (bell, clap, light flash) for students other than the voice to galvanize students
full attention for those important occasions when you need to impart important
information (closure, transitions, and computers).

Ms. Furness gathered a great deal of pre-instructional information and used it to
inform her planning and teaching. Her plans considered the individual differences
and needs presented by her students. Her framework plan as well as individual
lessons, demonstrated a clear understanding of Provincial Learning Outcomes. Her
lessons demonstrated her understanding of adolescent development at the grade
five level, as all activities were age appropriate and engaging. Ms. Furness
implemented different seating plans to establish a learning atmosphere that was
conducive to her teaching style and the learning needs of the students. She was
aware of students that received support and seated them in such a way that EAs
could access them easily. She planned lessons in a logical sequence, building on prior
learning and experience and student feedback gained from previous lessons. Her
planning and preparation was thorough and thoughtful, bringing a solid background
knowledge to subjects like Science, Socials, Math and Language Arts, with
extensive use of the computer, YouTube videos and soundscapes, Elmo and the
digital projector. She demonstrated effective oral intonation, body language,
phrases and encouragement to cultivate student responses and participation in
discussions. She selected appropriate learning resources and she employed a variety
of learning situations; group work as well as individual/independent work to keep her
students engaged in the learning process. She is encouraged to continue focusing on
lesson transitions, previewing what is coming up next, what students will need, giving
target times and exit keys to minimize lost time and chatter. As with most
beginning teachers, Ms. Furness will continue to work on including effective closure
activities for lessons in order to provide her with opportunities to check for
understanding and offer praise for work when warranted.

Ms. Furness kept a record of student assignments, marks, and anecdotal comments.
She utilized this information to plan for re-teaching as necessary. She has begun
to develop different methods for student assessment, evaluation criteria and
record keeping devices that adequately build a picture of student progress and
learning. She collected samples of authentic assessment data that was passed on to
her sponsor teacher. Ms. Furness utilized this data to form the basis of three
student report cards, which were prepared during her final week. A personal goal is
to create more rubrics and criteria sheets with her students. Her sponsor concurs,
suggesting that Ms. Furness incorporate criteria more visibly in lessons to insure
the students are aware of the requirements for success.

Have a broad knowledge base and understand subject areas being taught
Ms. Furness successfully took on the challenge of becoming familiar with her grade
level curriculum expectations and used appropriate learning outcomes in her lesson
plans. Ms. Furness demonstrated a good understanding of learning theory and she
applied this knowledge in the development of her plans to meet the varied needs of
the learners in her class. Her planning was thoughtful and relevant.

Engage in career-long learning
There is no doubt that Ms. Furness has chosen the right profession to pursue. She
clearly sees that she has entered a profession that entails life-long learning and
she has embraced that notion. Throughout her practicum, she readily accepted
feedback from her sponsor/supervisor and thoughtfully incorporated suggestions
into her daily practice. She was very reflective on her teaching practice and
continually fine-tuned her teaching.

Ms. Furness seized opportunities as they arose to attend Professional Development
sessions to further her growth and understanding of the profession. Her personal
frame of reference articulated a strong belief in the need for life long learning as
she enters the teaching profession.

Contribute to the profession
Ms. Furness enters the teaching profession as a very enthusiastic contributor. She
has demonstrated a strong collegial belief, as she was very supportive of her fellow
student teachers. She made connections with the school staff as well. She has
much to offer any school fortunate enough to have her on staff.



Vanessa Furness has successfully met the outcomes for the Vancouver Island
University Teacher Education program Year 5 EDFE 521 - Final Practicum.