LINCOLN SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL GROWTH PLAN

Elementary School
2015-2016
NAME: Sabrina Tsuyuki
Second Grade D

Teaching Assignment:

Instructions:
Please review last years goals as well as our LS Professional Standards to set four Professional
goals for yourself for this year. Three of your goals must link directly to a LS strategic initiative
(IE: Inquiry based teaching/project based learning and the IB learner profile/Balanced Literacy)
and the fourth is a personal goal linked to a component of one of the LS Professional Standards .
All three goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented and timebound). In the spirit of backward design, please reflect on and answer the questions below for
each goal. At the end of this document are some examples. Submit an electronic copy to
your Principal /Assistant Principal by Tuesday, September 29 through Google Drive
(instructions to follow). You will be prompted to reflect on your progress both mid and end of
year. We look forward to supporting your professional growth and reflective practice.

i)

Goal(s):

State your goal(s) (specific outcome/objective):

1) Goal 1: PBL My goal is to come to deeply understand through research the differences
between projects and PBL.
2) Goal 2: IB Learner Profile My goal is to integrate the instruction of the IB traits with training
in the use of Giraffe Language based on Marshall Rosenbergs teachings (in order to help my
students develop in their abilities to express their feelings and needs and expand in their ability
to have empathy for the feelings and needs of others.)
3) Goal 3: Being a Writer Program: Develop my understanding, best practices, and
assessment of the teaching and learning of literacy with a focus on writing through the Being a
Writer Program and using student writing samples.
4) Goal 4: Personal Goal: I will continue to develop and test out my RAINforest Reading
program and pilot it with Ms. Andrea (2nd grade) and Ms. Mariana (Kinder)

ii) Evaluation Criteria:

How will you assess your growth/achievement/success on your goals? What are your criteria?

Goal 1: I will list the articles that I read and share the urls of the videos Ive watched
about PBL. I will reflect on activities that I have done or plan to do and use the 8
components of PBL to help to assess to what degree our projects meet the requirements
for being a PBL project. I will write a written reflection before and after I research about
PBL.
Goal 2: I will research and begin to implement aspects of NVC (Giraffe Talk) and create
an anthology of activities related to the IB learning profile traits. I will compare the
attitudes of my students at the beginning of the year and mid-year based on the
following questions: Are they including each other at recess? Are they using giraffe

language? Are they using the peace bridge to resolve conflicts? Are they using the
language of the IB traits?
Goal 3: I will look at their writing at the beginning of the year and mid year and analyze it
based on the 6+ Traits of Writing.
Goal 4: I will compare childrens reading from the beginning of the year to mid-year using
running records.

iii) Plan:
What specific steps/activities will you undertake to work systematically on your goal? Please
identify the timelines as well as people who may be able to be of support to you in reaching your
goals.
Goal 1: 1. Research what a PBL is through different media
2. Assess different projects done this year or planned to see well they meet the 8 criteria for being a
PBL. Look at the rivers unit on Atlas and assess how PBL it is.
3. Use the PBL criteria to create a Rivers PBL.
4. To implement some aspects of PBL into our rivers unit.
Goal 2: 1. Research NVC and the IB traits (articles and Youtube videos)
2. Reach out to other teachers who are implementing NVC in the classroom.
Goal 3: 1. I will implement the program as closely as I can to the creators mission in creating this
program.
2. I will make the program my own by changing my ways of communicating to children
about their writing. I will read the lessons ahead of time so that my teaching is seamless and
they feel that the instruction is coming from me and not from a book.
Goal 4: 1. I will differentiate reading and spelling instruction using my RAINforest Reading
program.
2. I will support Ms. Mariana and Ms. Andrea with materials and instructional videos for
how to use my program.
3. I will continue to create games that will support my program.

MID-YEAR

REFLECTION

JANUARY

Instructions:
Please take a look at your three professional goals -- what you set out to work on diligently this
school year --and reflect carefully on your action steps and successes to date, and what you still
need to do to reach your goals by June.

i)

Goal(s):

Do either of your goals need to be changed or modified? If so, please restate your goal(s)
(specific outcomes/objectives):
State your goal(s) (specific outcome/objective):
1) Goal 1: PBL My goal is to come to deeply understand through research the differences
between projects and PBL. I will keep this goal the same, and during the vacation I will
research existing PBLs (the steps needed to create a PBL) and develop a PBL/Service
Learning Project about rivers, including many digital components.

2) Goal 2: IB Learner Profile My goal is to integrate the instruction of the IB traits with
training in the use of Giraffe Language based on Marshall Rosenbergs teachings (in
order to help my students develop in their abilities to express their feelings and needs and
expand in their ability to have empathy for the feelings and needs of others.) I will
continue teaching about NVC but also begin working with restorative circles. I will
research restorative circles during the vacation and return ready to implement them.
3) Goal 3: Being a Writer Program: Develop my understanding, best practices, and
assessment of the teaching and learning of literacy with a focus on writing through the
Being a Writer Program and using student writing samples. I would like to keep this goal
the same and focus on maintaining the fidelity of the program by following it as closely as
possible, but also internalizing the components and making it my own so I do just read
from the manual when I am in front of the students. I would like to put up more visuals
related to the program and use more of the digital components as well.
4) Goal 4: Personal Goal: I no longer wish to use the word pilot to talk about how I am
sharing my program with Ms. Andrea and Ms. Mariana. I have provided resources and will
continue to provide support to them but it is not an official pilot. I will continue to research
and develop my RAINforest Reading program in my own class.

ii) Evaluation Criteria:

How have you assessed your growth/achievement/success on your goal? What criteria have you
used? What progress have you made relative to your criteria?
I.

II.

III.

IV.

Goal 1: I wrote a reflection (see below) that shows my current understanding of PBL.
During the break I will research about it and then write a reflection showing what I then
know.
Goal 2: I will research and begin to implement aspects of NVC (Giraffe Talk) and create an
anthology of activities related to the IB learning profile traits. I will compare the attitudes
of my students at the beginning of the year and mid-year based on the following
questions: Are they including each other at recess? Are they using giraffe language? Are
they using the peace bridge to resolve conflicts? Are they using the language of the IB
traits? Students are including each other more now at recess and trying to do acts of
kindness throughout the day. I would like to go further and inspire children to become
leaders in different IB traits. For example, students can be Caring Ambassadors and look
for kids who are alone at recess and help them to find someone to play with. They could
also be Principled by creating a club that helps keep the cafeteria clean or helps the
school recycle better. I want children to look for ways to be positive leaders in their
communities.
Goal 3: I have used checklists and rubrics provided by the Being a Writer Program to
analyze student writing from the beginning of the year to now in December. I analyzed
samples from 3 students and will analyze the rest over the break or when we return in
January.
Goal 4: I assessed the spelling using the WTW assessment and saw a lot of improvements
in childrens spelling since the beginning of the year, which I think is due to my use of the
RAINforest Reading program to provide differentiated instruction in spelling. In January I
will give DRAs to my lowest students and start charting their growth in reading. Rather
than having children be in a level in the RAINforest Reading program, I will provide them
with digital games I created that will help them grow as readers (They will learn all of the
94 reading patterns) and more quickly develop their decoding skills.

iii) Plan:

What specific steps/activities have you undertaken to work systematically on your goal? Hows it
going? What do you still need to do?
Goal 1: 1. Research what a PBL is through different media (I will do this during the break).
2. We have begun to create a Service Learning project about river contamination that would work very
well as a PBL unit.
Goal 2: 1. We updated the Atlas Rubicon unit with activities second grade has developed for the
different IB traits. I have watched many videos and read books and articles about NVC and I am
internalizing some components of it.
2. I have not heard back from my contact related to NVC. I will try again and look for new
contacts.
Goal 3: 1. I have been implementing the program to the best of my ability but I would like to try
to use more of the available resources, especially digital resources such as videos.
2. I have internalized parts of the program, by reading ahead and adopting a new way of
looking at writing. When I teach writing lessons I write the open-ended questions and prompts
on the board for the students to refer to.
Goal 4: 1. I grouped students into 2 manageable groups for reading and spelling instruction.
2. I met with Ms. Andrea and Ms. Mariana to see which parts of my program they want to
use, and then printed out and shared different tools from the program.
3. I created 2 new digital games and plan to create more during this vacation. I also
purchased iOS export and hope to soon push my games out to student iPads to complement their
learning.

END OF YEAR REFLECTION MAY

For the end of the year, teachers are asked to reflect on PGP accomplishments, learning, and
next steps. It is important for the principal/evaluator to have a clear understanding of what you
were unable to complete and why as well as whether you should continue with one or more goals
for the coming year. You may write your paragraph here.

PGP Accomplishments, Learning, and Next Steps

Here are my goals from the beginning of the year:

1) Goal 1: PBL My goal is to come to deeply understand through research the differences
between projects and PBL.
2) Goal 2: IB Learner Profile My goal is to integrate the instruction of the IB traits with training
in the use of Giraffe Language based on Marshall Rosenbergs teachings (in order to help my
students develop in their abilities to express their feelings and needs and expand in their ability
to have empathy for the feelings and needs of others.)
3) Goal 3: Being a Writer Program: Develop my understanding, best practices, and
assessment of the teaching and learning of literacy with a focus on writing through the Being a
Writer Program and using student writing samples.
4) Goal 4: Personal Goal: I will continue to develop and test out my RAINforest Reading
program and pilot it with Ms. Andrea (2nd grade) and Ms. Mariana (Kinder)
1) I have been thinking a lot about Project Based Learning since I started teaching second
grade. I feel that these students are really ready for it. They thrive when they are given
choices and when things are meaningful for them. When given an assignment that
doesnt engage them, they challenge, argue and question it. I they are thirsty for this type
of learning. I have been researching about PBL and the main things I have learned are
that the project should start with a problem or a driving question that is meaningful to the

students. I also learned that the students learn through the project. The project does not
come at the end of the unit. Students can be assessed through their project by using a
rubric. I also learned, that students need to be given choices about how and what they
are learning. This makes learning more engaging and meaningful to each individual
student. In PBL the teacher is more of a facilitator. When I start PBL I want to start small,
with PBL projects that last only 2 or 3 weeks. I also want to limit their choices until they
get used to having more freedom and choice. Elements of PBL that I already use in my
classroom are research and choice. Through the Daily 5 students are learning to pace
themselves and not always choose their favorite Daily 5 options first. Also, on Fridays I
give children the time to strengthen other academic or nonacademic skills. They can
choose to draw, do origami, create 3-d art with recycled materials, code using Scratch Jr.
or code.org, as well as other things. They are learning to make choices that will help them
grow as individuals. I have spent a lot of time teaching them about researching online,
including the topics of Internet safety, plagiarism, and using search terms. On my
website: http://seconddgiraffes.weebly.com/science-and-social-studies.html in the Science
and Social Studies tab, students are given many options for research.

2) I have continued to use giraffe language and Marshall Rosenbergs teachings throughout
the year but I no longer say that I will use no punishments and no rewards. It was just too
hard to keep them motivated. I learned about Ms. Adriana Alfaros behavior chart from
Isaac who is in her class and also saw Anne Currans chart and adapted these to my own
class, with input from my own students. The behavior is more under control now that I
have a system of points that is linked to a class store. When students have problems with
each other I avoid taking sides and encourage them to use the Peace Bridge to solve their
own problems. I also discourage them from telling on each other, which can lead to bad
feelings and bad energy in the class. The students have been getting along better and
including all of the other kids in the class during recess about 90-95 percent of the time.
When they have problems they are able to solve them without my help about 80% of the
time.
3) I feel that I have grown a lot this year as a writing teacher. In the past I didnt feel like I
had much direction in the way I was teaching writing. I developed my own systems, which
worked okay but I think I was too rigid in how I taught writing. Now I see how to make
children love writing. I still need to grow a lot in this area. I will study the manual over
vacation to internalize it more. I also think I need to be more organized and prepared in
order to conference with students more often and more effectively. In order to do this I
need to do very well at the beginning of the year to rehearse all of the Daily 5 components
until the kids are very independent. I also would love it if we didnt need to teach
grammar in such an isolated way and test it as a separate quiz (separate from their
writing). I think we would have more time for writing if we didnt teach and test grammar
separately.

4) I recently had a meeting with Mr. Holman about my reading program as well as other
things and we decided that it would be better for me to continue to develop RAINforest
Reading on my own and not pilot it with Lincoln students yet. Right now there are many
language arts adoptions taking place in the school so the timing is not right. I feel the
need to simplify things in language arts because of these adoptions also, so I have decided
to use just the programs the school is promoting and do RAINforest Reading only as
afterschool enrichment for my own students and/or private tutoring outside of school.

My current understanding of PBL, December 2015:

PBL stands for Project Based Learning. There is a rubric with 8 points that shows what a PBL is. I know that it
needs to be student centered and that a teachers main role is to provide the resources necessary for learning and
to guide children as they learn. There should be a lot of choice provided to students. PBLs are not just isolated
activities. The learning should be assessed through projects, not paper, pencil exams. At the beginning, when
designing a PBL open-ended questions should be used. Also, a PBL should be based on a problem that children
are trying to solve.