KSA a) Contextual variable affect teaching and learning.

They know how to analyse

many variable at one time, and how to respond by making reasoned decisions about their
teaching practice and students learning
Every single day of teaching brings multiple variables into play, such as the
students, how they are feeling, other teachers, events happening within a school,
events happening within the community, etc. It is important to realize all of these
different variables are going to have an affect on students and teachers, and to
react accordingly. For example, on Halloween, I knew students would be
distracted after lunch because that was when the Halloween costume contest was.
So, instead of getting them to work individually or listen to a lesson right away, I
had a question on the board ready for them to try and solve with their partners.
This way they could have some time to bring their focus back to learning and not
have to bring their energy levels down drastically right away. Scaffolding the
lesson in this way showed that I was aware of some of the variables affecting my
teaching and learning of my students that day, so I made some decisions about the
order and attention requirement for my students that would allow them to be most
successful that day.

KSA b) The structure of the Alberta education system. They know the different roles in
the system, and how responsibilities and accountabilities are determined, communicated
and enforced, including the expectations held of them under the Certification of Teachers
Regulation, A.R.3/1999 as amended and their school authoritys teachers evaluation
policy
I know that I must meet all the KSAs and the Teaching Quality standard and that
in my teaching career I will be evaluated on my teaching to ensure I am held
accountable to these standards.

KSA c) The purposes of the Guide to Education and programs of study germane to the
specialization or subject disciplines they are prepared to teach. They know how to use
these documents to inform and direct their planning, instruction and assessment of
student progress
Each of my lessons always has the GLO, skill, or attitude from the Program of
Studies that informed that lesson at the top. I do this because it helps keep my
lessons focused and ensures I remember to use the Program of Studies to inform
my teaching. As well, when creating performance assessments, exit/entrance slips,
quizzes, and other summative and formative assessments I always make sure that
they reflect the outcomes that were intended on being met.

KSA d) The subject disciplines they teach. They have completed a structured program of
studies through which they acquired the knowledge, concepts, methodologies and
assumptions in one or more areas of specialization or subject disciplines taught in Alberta
schools
 I have completed a Bachelors of Science degree in general science with my
streams being Chemistry, Physics, and Neuroscience. Each of these subject
streams help inform my teaching and give me the background knowledge within
science to teach it effectively. As well, I took a Curriculum and Instruction class,
EDUC 3601, specialized in teaching science. I am very familiar with science and
the skills required to be successful in this discipline.

KSA e) All student can learn, albeit at different rates and in different ways. They know
how (including when and how to engage others) to identify students different learning
styles and ways students learn. They understand the need to respond to differences by
creating multiple paths to learning for individuals and groups of students, including
students with special learning needs
Before the school year started, my teacher mentor went through all students we
were going to be teaching and wrote down any IPPs they may have. This helped
us at the beginning of the school year to know which students may require extra
help or different activities to help their learning. As the semester progressed, we
used formative and summative assessments to record how students were doing
and were able to see which students were struggling. We have started to reach out
to the learning support staff, guidance counsellors, those students, and their
parents in helping them to develop the skills necessary to succeed. Some have
required different types of attention, activities, or spaces when completing
assessments, and we have made sure these accommodations are made. We also
started to plan our lessons in ways that would have different components, so that
students with different learning needs all had a chance to succeed. For example,
when one of our more social and hands on classes were struggling with ionic
nomenclature, I reached out to a colleague and found an activity they could do
that got them up, moving, and collaborating with their peers. This path to learning
allowed that class to have a different learning experience and helped many
students understand better than they had when learning through visual and audio
paths.

KSA f) The purposes of short, medium, and long term range planning. They know how to
translate curriculum and desired outcomes into reasoned, meaningful and incrementally
progressive learning opportunities for students. They also understand the need to vary
their plans to accommodate individuals and groups of students
In my PSIII internship, I long range, unit, and lesson planned for Science 10.
These plans were assessed by my teacher mentor and University consultant and
were found to be comprehensive and effective. On each of my lesson plans I have
a section outlining any modifications or accommodations I may make for
students. When unit planning I often consider multiple paths to learning and try to
design lessons with multiple modalities so that students can access content in
different ways.
KSA g) Students needs for physical, social, cultural and psychological security. They
know how to engage students in creating effective classroom routines. They know how
and when to apply a variety of management strategies that are in keeping with the
situation, and that provide for minimal disruptions to students learning
During the first two days of school I knew all 117 of my students names. I know
that a persons name is very important, so putting this effort in was a great first
step in creating a positive space for students where they know they are important.
As well, on the first day of school, expectations of respect were brought up and
since students are familiar with respect and have been developing respectful skills
for a long time, it seemed to be an effective expectation within our classroom.
During the semester, I noticed some students are more easily distracted than
others and if we are watching a video I often use proximity to these students to
encourage them to stay engaged. Sometimes cell phones become a distraction and
after having a discussion with the entire class about the expectations of cell phone
use within the class, I had less issues with these distractions. Using a students
name is an extremely effective way to encourage them to stop being disruptive
during a lesson and generally this is all that is required. Students in high school
often know when there is the expectation for them to be respectful listeners, so if
they are not engaged and listening I just wait and they usually encourage each
other to focus and be respectful. I have found this to be effective in a high school
classroom, however, I realize that in younger classes students may have to be
reminded of these expectations more frequently because they are still developing
these skills.

KSA h) The importance of respecting students human dignity. They know how to
establish, with different students, professional relationships that are characterized by
mutual respect, trust and harmony
I think teacher-student relationships are extremely important. Therefore, on the
first day of school I asked students to write down something they were interested
in so that we could talk about it. I used this list and developed great relationships
with students because they saw that I was interested in their lives outside of
school. Attending sports games, band concerts, plays and leadership events also
helped my students realize how much I care about them and their lives outside of
the classroom. I also made it a goal of mine to be approachable by saying hi to
students as often as possible in the hallways and trying to use their names so they
know I care enough to put that effort in.

KSA i) there are many approaches to teaching and learning. They know a broad range of
instructional strategies appropriate to their area of specialization and the subject
discipline they teach, and know which strategies are appropriate to help different students
achieve different outcomes
Researching disciplinary literacy and considering the skills that are important
within science has helped me create more activities and use different strategies for
students to access content and learn about science. Often times, skills to be
 learned can be hands on in labs or through inquiry activities. Other times,
calculations and balancing skills are best learned through seeing, trying, and
practicing the process. I am aware that there are many ways that science concepts
can be learned, and I do my best to create a variety of lessons and learning
activities for students to use so that they can be successful science students.

KSA j) The functions of traditional and electronic teaching/learning technologies. They

know how to use and how to engage students in using these technologies to present and
deliver content, communicate effectively with others, find and secure information,
research, word process, manage information, and keep records
In my practicums I have used different sources of technology in my classes and I
have learned when they may be effective teaching tools, and when using other
activities may be more suitable. In my PSIII internship I was exposed to inspire
and a Promethean board and used them effectively to compliment my lessons. I
used powerschool in my second practicum and have seen it used in my third to
keep student records. I word process all of my lesson plans, unit plans, and long
range plans. I use email effectively to correspond with administration, staff, and
parents.

KSA k) The purposes of student assessment. They know how to assess the range of
learning objectives by selecting and developing a variety of classroom and large-scale
assessment techniques and instruments. They know how to analyse the results of
classroom and large scale assessment instruments including provincial assessment
instruments, and how to use the results for the ultimate benefit of students
In my PSII I created quizzes, tests, and less formal formative assessments to
consistently assess student understanding of the outcomes they were learning. In
my PSIII internship I saw my teacher mentor implement performance assessments
quite often as summative and formative assessments and learning checks for
students. The consistency of these skill assessments were great because students
started to see them as a way to check their understanding rather than be anxious of
their results. This was an amazingly effective assessment tool and I plan to bring
them into my classes. As well, I recorded results of labs, projects, and other
formative assessments to reflect on student understanding of outcomes and
development of skills to inform my teaching practice. When I see that students do
not perform well on these assessments or have a difficult time with certain skills I
always make sure to follow up with them and give them extra support. If many
students struggle with one concept or skill, I will often address the whole class
and we discuss or practice this skill again so that they can be successful.

KSA l) The importance of engaging parents, purposefully and meaningfully, in all aspects
of teaching and learning. They know how to develop and implement strategies that create
and enhance partnerships among teachers, parents and students
 In my PSIII internship I had the opportunity to participate in parent-teacher
conferences. This was a very valuable experience because I saw just how
passionate parents are about the success of their children. I also saw the
importance of including parents in conversations about student achievement and
success. Parent emails and phone calls are extremely important when attendance,
testing difficulty, and overall difficulty in achievement are occurring. Parents
should always be informed when students are struggling and should be involved
in the process of intervening and the efforts put in place to help them succeed.

KSA m) Student learning is enhanced through the use of home and community resources.
They know how to identify resources relevant to teaching and learning objectives, and
how to incorporate these resources into their teaching and students learning
Luckily, at Cochrane High, community involvement is extremely important and I
was able to see how amazing learning opportunities can be created through
fostering community connections. For example, Lynn Moore organized a field trip
to the longest running ranch in Cochrane to discuss sustainability with students.
The morning was filled with insightful information for students from these
sustainability experts and they covered many of the GLOs required of the Biology
20 curriculum in a tangible way because students to literally see the reality of
what they were learning and how it effects this ranch.

KSA n) The importance of contributing, independently and collegially, to the quality of

their school. They know the strategies whereby they can, independently and collegially,
enhance and maintain the quality of their schools to the benefit of students, parents,
community and colleagues
I think being involved within the school community is extremely important and a
responsibility of teachers. Each teacher has the chance to impact their school
community in a positive way, whether that is coaching, sponsoring, participating,
or supporting students in their endeavours. Contributing to school community can
be as simple as watching a volleyball game or going to see the student band
perform, as long as a teacher is being involved, they are enhancing the quality of
their school and helping parents and students feel important. I always make an
effort to be involved in some kind of extra-curricular, usually leadership, but I
also try to support as many of the other activities as I can. This is a passion of
mine, and I believe every staff member can have a positive impact on their school
community if they put the effort in to be supportive.

KSA o) The importance of career-long learning. They know how to assess their own
teaching and how to work with others responsible for supervising and evaluating
teachers. They know how to use the findings of assessments, supervision and evaluations
to select, develop and implement their own professional development activities
Being a beginning teacher, I know the importance of input from more experienced
teachers and always do my best to learn from those teachers that are more
 knowledgeable than myself. I work hard to listen to suggestions and implement
them as quickly as possible into my teaching practice. When my teacher mentors
give me something to work on I take it very seriously and immediately consider
how I can improve my teaching. I also realize that teachers are never perfect, and
thus we can always be improving or developing our teaching skills. I realize that
even my professional inquiry project is just a start to career-long development
because there is no way that I have implemented disciplinary literacy to the full
extent in my classroom. What I have tried, I have reflected on and may change,
but I also realize there are many more ways for me to continue to developing
ways to use disciplinary literacy to enhance learning experiences for my students.
Teachers have an amazing job where they can continue to professionally develop
throughout their careers and discover new goals as they progress.

KSA p) The importance of guiding their actions with a personal, overall vision of the
purpose of teaching. They are able to communicate their vision, including how it has
changed as a result of new knowledge, understanding and experience
My vision of teaching has changed a lot since my first year of education. I have
realized that there are many more variables to consider, and the importance of
being an expert in whichever discipline a teacher specializes in. However,
connections have always been considered invaluable to me as a teacher, and I still
think that teachers have the responsibility to connect with students and be a
champion for them. Teachers have the potential to change student lives, and I
believe they should always be aware of this power and responsibility. Of course,
curriculum is important and all the learning experiences that teachers must create,
however, I do not think students can learn unless they feel safe, valuable, and
respected.