Professional Semester III Final Report

Faculty of Education
Field Experiences
Fall Spring Semester, 2016 (Please check appropriate semester)

Professional Semester III is a five-course equivalent integrated semester including half-time teaching and professional study in
curriculum design, leadership, advanced methods, and reflective practice. Intern Teachers are assigned full time to schools for the
semester during which they assume responsibility for approximately one-half of the teaching day. PS III professional study is
designed to complement and enhance the internship. The professional study components may occur on or off-campus and are
coordinated by the Faculty Mentors in collaboration with Intern Teachers and school personnel.

Place a checkmark () in front of the course in which you are registered

Education 4571 Elementary Education
Education 4572 Secondary Internship
Education 4573 Special Focus Internship
Education 4574 Fine Arts Internship Art
or Drama
Education 4575 Fine Arts Internship - Music

Intern Teacher Rachael Gough Grade Level(s) 10 and 12

Kathryn Olsen
School Bishop O'Byrne Administrator
Garry Shilliday
Faculty Mentor
Teacher Mentor Dave Nielsen

Intern Teachers Descriptive Report:

Please see following page(s)
 PS III Final Report for Rachael Gough

My PSlll experience was challenging, but so rewarding. I enjoyed inserting myself into the
Bishop O'Byrne culture and trying to build it further. It was wonderful to spend an extended
period of time with students to really get to know them and build good relationships stronger
than others in the limited time I had in previous practicums. I got into teaching to provide a
safe space and a safe person to talk to for students and I feel I really got the chance to
experience that and grow during my time at Bishop OByrne. This practicum gave me such a
wide range of experiences that have helped to fuel my passion for teaching and learning. My
teacher mentor, Dave Nielsen, and supervising principal, Kathryn Olson, helped me grow
more in these four months than I thought possible. I was also given the opportunity to meet
and interact with many teachers, administrators, councilors, support staff, and others at the
school that really gave me an insight as to how a school truly operates and the communication
and teamwork that is needed to set students up for success.

I was given two three credit Art 10 classes to start off the semester with. These classes had
33 and 38 students, ranging from 14 to 17 years old. Having two classes of the same class was
wonderful because it allowed me to reflect upon how I thought the lesson went, get feedback
from my teacher mentor, and/or supervising principal, and keep or alter what I did for each
class as I encountered issues, and had an opportunity to make the lessons/units stronger. In this
class I was able to watch students learn and grow in ways I didnt expect! Students came in
with a range of abilities, but all were challenged to rise above and grow. With the guidance of
my teacher mentor I was able to teach units on abstraction, painting, drawing, sculpting (clay
and cardboard), and colour theory, which provided an excellent range of media for students to
explore. In addition to the two classes of grade 10 art I was able to teach a class of grade 12
students. The class was a group of 36 students, 18 in Art 30, 18 in Art 30 IB. My teacher
mentor and I decided to split the class, and I was able to teach the Art 30 class exclusively.
Having only 18 students in the class which really allowed me to get more one on one time with
students. This resulted in a totally different dynamic between classes which provided me with
an excellent range of experience. This class was full of wonderful students who showed me
how diverse a class can be, and how each student can take a basic/general idea, run with it, and
show their personality in how they choose to interpret it. Many students chose to do
assignments in ways I hadnt thought of, and it really showed how creative and curious
students can be. With the grade 12s I was able to teach units in surrealism, clay, reduction
printing, soapstone, and drawing. I was also able to infuse quite a bit of art history into my
lessons which I believe gave each class important context for the assignments as well as a solid
foundation and interest in the arts. I was grateful that I was provided with the opportunity to do
a large range of different art forms that will give me a wealth of experience moving forward in
my career. I believe these experiences will fit nicely to my repertoire of art forms that I can
share with future classes.

I loved experiencing both a large class, the grade 10s, as well as a smaller, more personal
class that I had with the grade 12s. A challenge I faced in these classes was the reassessment
policy that was in place. I love the idea but putting it into practice was certainly a challenge,
but a challenge I was up for. Students were encouraged to hand in their assignments when they
were happy with them, as opposed to the deadline. Additionally, once the assignments were
marked, students were encouraged to improve their grade by taking back the assignment and
improve it or start anew. This really worked in favour for many students, and more took
advantage of this system than I thought, however it was still a challenge to keep students
motivated to finish while the rest of the class had moved on. I combatted students forgetting
about assignments by checking in frequently and discussing their work, as well as having a
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 PS III Final Report for Rachael Gough

short conference with each student approximately a month before the holiday break during
class time. I was glad that I was able to overcome this challenge and develop strategies while
in practicum so that I am better prepared for this situation in my future career.

In addition to my teaching I was able to take part in several extra-curricular

activities/events. I helped with the set of the school musical and put on a small art show for the
musicals opening gala. Additionally, I was able to help organize another art show showcasing
all the student work from the fall semester, attended the coding club, created a promotional
brochure to give to feeder schools, as well as establish various social media accounts for the
art department. Setting up these social media accounts allowed me to participate in
professional development with each of the teachers within the fine arts department. In addition
to these activities, I supervised students in the art room every lunch break, as well as every
Thursday after school until 5:00 pm. This was a great opportunity to gain experience
supervising as well as observing the dynamic of students outside of class time. There is a
different feeling when students are not in class and choosing to spend their spare time doing
art.

This practicum really helped me cross the bridge from student to teacher. My
supervising teacher, Dave Nielsen, really pushed me to improve my units and project that I
was giving to students. I learned more about looking at teaching from a holistic perspective
and approach as opposed to the more rigid communication of outcomes I had been faced with
before beginning this internship. Additionally, my supervising administrator, Kathryn Olson,
provided excellent feedback while also helping me feel confident in my abilities to lead and
conduct a class. During my short time teaching philosophy has grown so much and I look
forward to beginning my journey as a certified educator!

Intern Teacher Signature Date

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 PS III Final Report for Rachael Gough

This page is to be attached to the Intern Teachers Report.

School Administrator Comments:

Catholicity:
Evidence: Rachael displays her Catholicity in the way she interacts with people. She treats
everyone in a kind manner and with respect. The students trust her to interact with them in a way
constant with our faith.

Competency development recommendation: Incorporating our faith and Artist representations of the
Catholic faith, in Art, would be a way to integrate Catholicity into the class.

Professionalism:
Evidence: Rachael came into the school in a very professional manner. She called to introduce
herself and came into the building early to ensure she has a good understanding of expectations.
Rachael treated the staff in an appropriate way and kept defined boundaries with the students.

Competency development recommendation: Rachael is working on the skill of how many personal
stories to share with a class to build relationships and how many is too many. This will develop
with time and Rachael has always ensured that her stories were appropriate to share.

Teaching and Learning:

Evidence: Rachael has learned and grown in her teaching throughout the practicum. She has taken
mentoring well and reflected on her practice in order to make her teaching better. She has applied
the suggestions and has become much more confident in her classroom management and
presentation of material.
Competency development recommendation: Rachael should continue to look back on lessons taught to
see ways that she could further engage students throughout the whole class time.

Communication/Contributions to the School Community:

Evidence: Rachael took part in extra Art time supervision after school and at lunch to provide
students an opportunity to work on their projects. She took an active role in displaying student art
work on tables, walls and other presentations at our schools main stage theater production.

Competency development recommendation: Rachael can continue to work with Social Media to share
the students art experiences.

Comments (Principal):
Overall, I have seen tremendous growth in Rachaels teaching. She always had a good grasp of the
Art curriculum but became much more confident in its application. Rachael has been more than
willing to take suggestions and apply them in her next set of lessons. She began to pace her
instruction and use visuals, on a regular basis, to reinforce was she was teaching. Time and effort
was put into making PowerPoints that held value information for the students. She laid out her
expectations clearly and ensured that students were engaged by having them work individually, in
partners and in groups. Rachael took initiative to display student work and handled the
organization of this from setting up to taking down. She has also, done a lot of reflective practice

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 PS III Final Report for Rachael Gough

on her assessment practice resulting in a strong understanding of how she was assessing and
reassessing student work. It was a pleasure having Rachael teaching Art in our school and I have
no doubt that she will do well teaching her own class moving forward.

Administrator Signature Date

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PS III Final Report for Rachael Gough

This page is to be attached to the Intern Teachers Report.

Teacher Mentor Letter (Mentor 1):

Rachael Gough was my PSIII student teacher at Bishop OByrne High School from
September December 2016.
Over those four months I had chance to observe Rachael in all manner of teaching
situations. I also had chance to discuss Rachaels progress regularly with my Vice-
Principal Kathryn Olsen.
Bishop OByrnes program is generally driven by the concept that Art is experience. Art
can be a humbling, but successful art is usually a combination of unbelievable
craftsmanship, incredible creativity, and a little bit of luck.
In the Art Studio of Bishop OByrne High School, students are encouraged to always
develop their skills. Developing a talent in drawing, sculpting, and painting is a
cornerstone of the program. Students are asked to flex their creative muscles in
everything they undertake. Assignments are given more as challenges, where students
must use their higher level thinking skills to solve problems. We try and create a safe
atmosphere that encourages students to take risks. There is an expectation in the art
room that greatness is achievable, but its a process.
I believe Rachaels time with us was an eye-opener. I also believe that when she arrived
at Bishop OByrne she had a vision of what an Art Class was supposed to look like, and
what types of lessons she should do. She herself was the kind of student who admitted
she did not fit the mold in High School Art. Oddly enough, she arrived with developed
lessons that were very much in the vein of what she had initially rebelled against. We
spent the first weeks together discussing what Art can be, and she began challenging
herself to create a program that took herself and her students out of their comfort zones.
Rachael realized that to encourage students to be risk-takers; we must as educators
become risk-takersand risks she took! The quality of her teaching improved. She
worked on new units that asked, What if instead of Heres what youre going to do.
Rachael had to give herself permission to set kids free to build upon her units.
We spent many hours discussing a discipline based art (DBA) program, unit and lesson
development. Critiques were always an opportunity for growth, and not criticism.
Subsequently, her confidence grew. We talked at length about Art History, and its
importance in any Art Program. Both Ms. Olsen and myself believe that Rachael grew
exponentially since she arrived in September.
Rachael is ready to start her own Art Program. Management and unit development will
certainly continue to improve. Shes got a lot to prove, and shell be successful. Any
school that is smart enough to hire her will discover they hired a hard-working,
imaginative, introspective, and evolving teacher. I believe Rachael will one day become a
master teacher.

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PS III Final Report for Rachael Gough

This page is to be attached to the Intern Teachers Report.

Faculty Mentor Comments:

This is to signify that Ms. Rachael Gough has successfully completed her Professional
Semester Three Internship at Bishop OByrne High School in Calgary, AB. She has
proven that she is a well-prepared and competent teacher. She has developed a fine
working rapport with her students that is evident in the high quality and originality of
their art work. Rachaels creative planning and use of a variety of teaching resources
make her classes interesting, motivational, and challenging to the extent that her
students are quickly on task and absorbed in their assignments. Rachael has met all of
the requirements of the essential K.S.A.s and is aware of their significance to
excellence in teaching. She also conducts herself in a professional and ethical manner in
her relationships with her students and colleagues and gives willingly of her time to the
school community. It is without reservation that I recommend Ms. Rachael Gough for
teacher certification in Alberta.

Faculty Mentor Signature Date

September 2000 FE_Forms_PSIII

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