OHM2 Task Two: Developing a Professional Growth Plan
Introduction
I am a first-grade teacher in a small Title 1 school within a small district. The
... [Show More] class
consists of 20 students, 8 boys and 12 girls—16 of them being English Language Learners. ELLs
get pulled out throughout the day for LEP resources. Native languages spoken in the classroom
are English, Spanish, and Russian. Ages range from 6-8. Many students read and write below
grade level. Engage New York is the curriculum used for mathematics and ELA.
Challenge
Given that regular classroom instruction has been minimized over the past year, and
current instruction being a hybrid model of in-person and distance learning, the challenge for my
class is that reading skills are at an all-time low. Students are not being taught to read at their
level anymore. We are cramming first-grade level reading curriculum with very little testing and
progress monitoring that tells us any information. I have many students learning Phonological
Awareness as a step before reading. We have an assessment called the Phonological Awareness
Screening Test that covers eight areas in kindergarten and eight different areas in first grade.
Many students aren’t able to pass kindergarten sections. Along with this, there is a struggle with
students’ ability to read fluently. Most students can decode but when it comes to putting it into a
sentence or paragraph, they struggle with reading it in context.
Long-Term Goal
To increase student accuracy of substituting last phonemes to 70% or higher on the PAST
1 Assessment by researching and implementing three new strategies for teaching phonological
awareness by the end of the 4
th quarter.
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OHM2 Task Two: Developing a Professional Growth Plan
Goal #1 Explanation
Typically, students in first grade are taught to read at their level, being progressmonitored and assessed consistently to reevaluate reading levels. At this point in the year,
students should at least be reading at a first-grade level, and many students do not. By focusing
on Phonological Awareness and assessing the students individually to see what areas of
phonemes they need to work on, we should be able to progress through Phonological Awareness
and move on to leveled reading, fluency and comprehension. This will be evidenced by daily
instruction and bi-weekly monitoring. By researching new strategies for teaching phonological
awareness, I can work on building engagement and better sequencing for lessons during whole
group or small group reading intervention.
Short-Term Goals for Long-Term Goal #1
• Observe 5 ELA lessons taught by other teachers and implement two of their strategies in
a 4-week period.
• Work with each reading intervention group twice a week for 6 weeks to practice
implementing new strategies.
• Research different instructional strategies through online seminars, articles and blogs and
implement three new strategies for teaching phonological awareness.
Actionable Steps for Goal #1 Short-Term Goals.
• Schedule 5 lessons during lunch and/or prep periods to observe, taking notes on each
lesson in teaching log. Debrief with teachers if needed.
• Implement at least two strategies observed from lessons into ELA whole group lessons or
reading intervention mini lessons. Reflect on lesson outcomes and effectiveness in
teaching log [Show Less]