Eryn Calfee

Fall 2021

Professional Growth Plan

The Learner and Learning

Throughout my student teaching experience, I was engaged in teaching ensembles with
students of varying ability, age, and time commitment to choir. As I got to know these groups of
students, I quickly learned the importance of adjusting my approach to instruction to fit their
needs and provide an appropriate learning experience that engages students through
improving skills and gaining knowledge in music.
1. Learner Development
Teaching students at the very beginning of a school year was a unique aspect of my student
teaching in a Fall semester where I practiced establishing expectations in a classroom and
building the foundation for rehearsal techniques. Teaching students how to appropriately
respond to my prompts was the first step to making great strides in learning in my classroom.
Because of this detailed approach to instruction, daily rehearsals and lessons had great pacing
and students knew what to expect.
2. Learner Differences
As I had opportunities to teach in a wide variety of ensembles in terms of personnel, I learned
how to adjust my teaching demeanor, style, and pacing to best fit with the students I worked
with. Through reflection I have gained insight on how the variety of student abilities and
development in any classroom can become an asset to the classroom experience as students
can learn from one another. I will continue to build upon this by using the UDL in my lesson
plans moving forward.
3. Learning Environments (Classroom Management)
Through stating my expectations clearly, keeping these expectations consistent throughout the
class session, and working in engagement to provide an experience that is of high interest for
my students, I was able to teach classes where behavioral management was not a hinderance
to the success of learning objectives. As I move forward in my career, reflecting on learner
differences and adjusting my approach to classroom management will help me to continue to
be successful.

Content Knowledge
Throughout my undergraduate education I learned the importance of improving my
own musical skills to match the pacing of instruction in my own classroom and being able to
support the learning of my students.
4. Content Knowledge (vocal, piano, aural, conducting)
The biggest area of growth and benefit for my students has been applying skills of audiation
and vocal modeling during repertoire rehearsals. By preparing my own singing of each voice
part I can successfully conduct lessons with little piano assistance which improved pacing and
engagement. As I continue to improve my piano skills, I can support a wide variety of vocal and
choral technique exercises, lead rehearsals with strong pacing, and even play accompaniment
to improve independent part singing.
5. Application of Content
Once my musical skills are prepared to support students in the selection of repertoire for the
unit, I can segment the content in layers appropriate for the learning process. When students
are first learning repertoire, they should be supported by the piano isolating their own part, as
well as my own vocal model to show appropriate vowels and tone quality in the context of the
music. Once this is accurate, harmonies can be combined with piano support. Finally,
accompaniment can be added as the vocal parts are confidently sung independent from the
piano. I learned this process thoroughly in my student teaching process as I got to apply
repertoire instruction in many different ensembles. Moving forward in my career I hope to
continue improving my piano skills so that I can apply various phases earlier in the process as
students may quickly progress and demand a bigger challenge.

Instructional Practice
 The semester of student teaching is by far the biggest opportunity for improvement in this
area as I taught classes regularly and improved my instructional strategies through reflecting,
receiving feedback, and applying changes to my teaching.
6. Assessment
I improved assessment through creating prompts for formative assessment in my lesson plans
that are easy to follow and apply with each activity, strongly utilizing the direct instruction
cycle. Additionally, I applied questioning throughout each activity to engage students and
increase their ownership over the experience. The next step for improvement in this is creating
a strong overall curriculum in my future career that can be followed through to encourage
learning through a student’s entire period in choir (over multiple years).
7. Planning for Instruction
I learned the importance of planning in advance and having goals set for multiple classes.
Additionally, developing a planning method for myself that is efficient is especially important to
avoiding burnout in my future career. As I move forward I will continue to improve this method
and stay organized so that as I revisit semesters with a previous plan in place, I can follow a
similar successful template.
8. Instructional Strategies
I improved in creative approaches to instructional strategies throughout my field experience
but can apply more of this earlier on in the next semester to get a head start on giving new
opportunities to my students. I will achieve this through reflecting on my successes as
preparation for my future career.

Professional Responsibility
I learned in my student teaching semester how many strong connections benefit a growing
choral department as I made my own connections in the professional world.
9. Professional Learning and Ethical Practice
I learned how to balance a PD schedule with the school I taught at as the administration has
regular PD events in place for the faculty to attend. I saw how this improved the professional
culture at my school and will look for a similar practice in a future career. Attending
professional development workshops to improve teaching and maintain an overall mission for
the faculty to aim for in their teaching creates a positive work environment.
10. Leadership and Collaboration
I achieved strong collaboration with my mentor teacher as he regularly provided feedback for
me that I received and applied with a positive attitude and a desire for constant improvement.
Seeking out mentorship and continued feedback on my teaching will help me to improve
throughout my career and maintain strong self-efficacy.