Professional Competency Grids -Liam Bourassa

Part 1 Fundamental Competencies

Act as a cultural
facilitator when Act as a cultured professional who is at once an interpreter,
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carrying out facilitator and critic of culture when carrying out duties.
duties.
Based on what you have experienced during your field placement:

● What steps did you take to integrate rich and meaningful cultural
references into teaching and learning situations? How did you encourage
students to articulate and justify their representations, tastes, references,
and practices with respect to culture?
● How did you demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the content of
the QEP with respect to your teaching practices and goals of facilitating
Guiding Question(s) meaningful in-depth learning by students?
● How did you support students to develop critical thinking, perspectives
and reflexivity with respect to their immediate environment, the media
and digital world, social, scientific, ethical and political issues and
everyday situations?
● How did you cast a critical look at your own origin and cultural practices,
strengths, and limitations, and in what way did you find methods to enrich
and diversify them?

As a prospective teacher, I believe it is important to equip my students with knowledge

and skills to help combat issues that we as a society will be facing in the future. I believe
it is our duty to, in a neutral and unbiased manner, inform them of societal issues that they
are bound to encounter in their adult life. For example, the issue of climate change and
global warming. This is an inevitable reality that is affecting people across the globe, and
it is important for students to be informed on this topic in my opinion. Therefore, during
my past field experience (FE4) I completed an ELA unit centered around the topic of
climate change and global warming. Students completed reading comprehension
Response
activities, watched videos, and engaged in class discussions regarding this topic. This is a
topic that I will continue to include in my future teaching practice, as I believe it is a topic
that is relevant and important for students to learn about.

As a teacher, I believe it is important for students to share aspects of their culture with
their peers. This helps students realize how diverse their classmates are, and helps create a
greater sense of community within the classroom. During my third field experience, I
completed a project titled: “Story of my Name”. For this project, students filled out a

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 questionnaire with the help of their parents or guardians, wrote a short text, and shared
with the class. This was a simple yet meaningful way to introduce my students to various
cultures and how or why certain students got their names. This was an example of how I
incorporated cultural references easily into a teaching and learning situation with grade 6
students. In my future teaching practice, I will continue to provide opportunities for my
students to share aspects of their culture and identity with the class.

Master the Communicate appropriately in the language of instruction,

C2 language of both orally and in writing, in all contexts associated with the
instruction performance of duties.
Based on what you have experienced during your field placement,

● How did you effectively present ideas coherently, intelligibly, critically, and
respectfully in both oral and written communications?
● What different modes of language expression (visual, spatial, aural and
gestural)did you offer to support the development of the students’
Guiding Question(s)
language competencies?
● In what ways were you able to check the quality of students’ language and
offer frequent feedback to help them correct themselves and demonstrate
their ability integrate the rules and usages of language, both spoken &
written?

Regardless of the activity or task my students are completing, I always try my best to
make both the instructions and expectations clear. For example, during my past field
experience (FE4) my students completed a free writing activity. For this activity, I
communicated the expectations both orally and in written form. Students were to create a
text with 4-5 sentences, using a highlighter to outline their use of transition words,
adjectives, and adverbs. These expectations were communicated orally to the students
before they began the activity. I also took this time to answer any questions to ensure
maximum clarity. I then wrote the expectations clearly on the Smartboard to be displayed
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while students worked. Using both oral explanations accompanied by written
expectations, either displayed on the board or via a handout, is a strategy that I will
continue to use throughout my teaching career.

In my past field experience (FE4), I had my students use a “student dictionary”. This was
a booklet with each page representing a letter A to Z. The pages were blank, and students
were tasked with filling in the pages themselves. If students did not know how to spell or
pronounce a word, they would come to the teacher to have it properly spelled and

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 enunciated to them clearly. The idea behind this student dictionary was once students had
a word spelled and enunciated to them once, they would not need to return at a later time
for the same word. This taught them how to be autonomous learners, but also helped them
with their ability to integrate proper spelling and enunciation both in their writing and
orally, helping them ultimately master the language of instruction. This student dictionary
will be something I use throughout my teaching career as one of the many tools for
student writing.

Part 2: Competencies central to working with and for students

Design and plan teaching and learning activities and

Plan teaching and
C3 situations that are appropriate for the students, the learning
learning situations
content and the education objectives.
Based on your field placement,

● What steps did you take to develop teaching and learning situations that
took into account curriculum content and students’ prior knowledge in
order to plan learning?
● How did you take into account student diversity when choosing the
materials and preparing the teaching and learning situations (diversity
Guiding Question(s) related to gender, ethnicity, socio-economics, culture, religion, language
or a disability; students’ conceptions, needs and areas of interest)?
● What did you consider when planning activities for students so they could
prepare, integrate, transfer and reinvest their learning in order to optimize
competency development? What helped you plan ways of presenting
content in a structured manner so that students could grasp the relevant
points und understand their contingent nature?

Now having reached the end of my time at McGill, one of the things I feel the most
prepared for once I begin teaching full time is planning teaching and learning situations. I
have followed the McGill lesson plan template(s) very closely during both my studies and
field experiences over the past four years. During my last field experience (FE4) I created
a math lesson centered around a math situational problem focusing on addition,
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subtraction, and multiplication. When planning for this lesson, I considered students' prior
knowledge regarding specific math concepts (addition, subtraction, multiplication),
allowing the students to build off their prior knowledge in order to solve the situation
problem. I also closely considered the QEP competency requirements for this lesson (to
solve a situational math problem), in order to ensure curriculum expectations were being

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 met. I will continue to use the McGill lesson plan template(s) in my future teaching
practice.

When considering differentiation during the planning process of teaching and learning
situations, I try to allow for student lead learning and choice as much as possible. For
example, when planning a writing activity during my last field experience (FE4), I
provided structure during the planning phase, however I allowed students to write about
something they are interested or passionate about. I created an activity plan in which
students wrote a short text, with the use of adverbs, adjectives, and transition words. This
was outlined during the planning phase. However, students could write about a topic that
is relevant or interesting to them. I also made notes of students who may require the use of
an iPad with Google Read & Write during the planning phase. I will continue to consider
differentiation and student interests when planning activity and lesson plans in my future
teaching practice.

Implement
Implement and supervise teaching and learning situations
C4 teaching and
appropriate to the students and the educational aims.
learning situations
Based on your field placement,

● How were you able to uncover student’s preconceptions and reactivate

students’ prior knowledge needed for learning situations?
● How did you look after students, individually and collectively when
engaged in planned learning from the beginning of the learning to its
natural conclusion?
● What diverse approaches, strategies, and stimulating tasks did you
Guiding Question(s) provide to trigger and maintain active student engagement in the task as
well as foster students’ autonomy?
● How were you able to implement and supervise demanding teaching and
learning situations and mobilize your ability to adapt to the situation?
● Describe how you used feedback to continually check student’s
understandings of concepts, knowledge, strategies, or rules.
● In what ways did you provide opportunities for feedback so as to foster
students’ abilities to synthesize their learning?

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 When implementing teaching and learning situations with my students, I enjoy leading
activities that foster active engagement and learning amongst students, while also
promoting autonomy and collaboration. During my past field experience (FE4), I ran a
math lesson centered around the concepts of data collection and creating bar graphs.
While students were taught the skills necessary to collect data and create their own bar
graphs, the rest of the lesson was completely student led. Students came up with a survey
question, surveyed the class, collected data, and used their collected data to create a bar
graph. All of this was done with partners. This was a great student centered activity that
fostered active engagement amongst my students, while also allowing them to work
autonomously with minimal guidance. I really enjoyed implementing this kind of activity
with my students and will continue to implement student lead learning situations in my
Response future teaching practice.

Another strategy that I have used during past field experiences is conferencing for the
purpose of providing feedback. I believe that feedback is crucial to student learning, and
is important to foster a students ability to synthesize their learning. I try to incorporate
feedback when implementing all of my teaching and learning situations. For example,
during my past field experience (FE4) I would have informal conferences with my
students after each writing activity they completed. Rather than having them write
something and discard it afterwards, we would conference together to determine both
what they did well and next steps to improve their writing. This is a strategy that I will
continue to implement in my future teaching practice, as I believe that feedback is one of
the most important tools to fostering student achievement.

Develop, choose and use different methods for evaluating

C5 Evaluate learning
knowledge acquisition and of competency development.
Based on your field placement,

● How did you use evaluation to respond to the varied needs of the
students?
● Describe how you provided students with frequent and constructive
Guiding Question(s)
feedback that allowed them to track their learning and support their
progress.
● What were your choices of evaluation instruments or methods based on
the programs of study to make it possible to check student learning?

One great formative evaluation tool I used during my past field experience (FE4) was
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Plickers. Plickers is a software that allows the teacher to create multiple choice questions

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 in a slideshow type format, allowing students to answer by holding up a unique QR code
to record their answer. The teacher presents the question on the Smartboard, the students
have time to think and show their QR code, answering either option A, B, C, or D, and the
teacher uses an app on their phone to scan the room and record each student's answer. A
unique feature of this software is that the teacher can see students' answers in real time,
and have the ability to see both individual student scores and class scores, broken down
by quiz or question. Plickers is an amazing formative assessment tool, as it allows the
teacher not only to see if the class has grasped a particular concept, but which individual
students might need more resources or support. This is a great assessment tool to
formatively evaluate student learning. This is a great assessment tool that is fun and stress
free for students, and I will continue to use this tool during my future teaching practice for
that reason.

By using online math e-learning platforms such as Splashlearn or Reflex Math as an

evaluation tool, these tools provide direct and constant feedback to both the student and
teacher. I used both of these platforms during my past field experience (FE4). This is a
great formative assessment tool to determine which students have grasped a particular
concept, for example multiplication of single digit numbers, how to calculate perimeter,
etc. This platform allows the teacher to actively check which concepts a particular student
may have mastered or needs help with. This assessment tool provides direct feedback to
both the teacher and student who may need extra support on a particular concept, or if the
entire class is struggling with a particular concept. I plan to continue to use these
e-learning platforms as an assessment tool in my future teaching practice to help not only
track student learning and achievement, but also to inform my teaching practice as to
which students, or the entire class, might need more support on a particular topic or
concept.

Manage how the Organize and manage a class in such a way as to maximize
C6
class operates student development, learning and socialization.

Based on your field placement,

● How did you structure the environment, implement a certain number of

rules based on explicit values, anticipate, and manage lapses in behaviour,
Guiding Question(s) etc.?
● How did you ensure that the time devoted to teaching and learning is
effectively managed?
● How did you direct, and guide classroom activities and the appropriate
behaviours needed to live in a community?

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 ● In what ways did you build and maintain positive relationships with
students?
● How did you help students recognize and appropriately manage their
behaviours and emotions?
● In what ways did you implement activities that enabled students to
develop their social and relational skills?

One thing that I truly believe should be in every classroom is a daily schedule. This is
something that I have implemented in each of my teaching placements. Particularly
during my last field placement (FE4), I had a daily schedule with the timing of each
learning block, subject area, as well as recess and lunch times. Not only does this provide
a visual representation of what students will be doing that day and at what time, but it also
helps make transition times from activity to activity run more smoothly. This reduces or
eliminates questions from students regarding what they will do next, as the daily schedule
is communicating to them each morning during homeroom. I found that this greatly
helped with my classroom management skills and organization, and was a useful tool for
both myself and my students. This is something that I will continue to implement in my
future teaching practice to help manage how my class operates.

Another tool that I have found useful to creating and maintaining a positive classroom
environment is something I like to call “tell me anything mornings”. I implemented this
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both during my third and fourth field placements. Essentially, as students file in for
homeroom, they are able to share anything about their lives with myself and the class. It
could be something as simple as what they had for dinner last night, to a playdate they
had with a friend, to a significant life event such as winning their hockey tournament on
the weekend or a family member getting married. Regardless of what they are sharing, I
want all my students to feel as though they can share. I also provide appropriate anecdotes
from my personal life as well. I find that doing this for 5-10 minutes each morning as
students arrive helps build and maintain positive relationships with my students. If
students feel like you care about them and have a relationship with them, they will be
more likely to follow classroom rules and be actively engaged and motivated to learn. I
have found this strategy to be successful in fostering and maintaining relationships with
students, which ultimately affects how the class operates and how students learn. It is for
this reason that I will continue to implement my “tell me anything mornings” in my future
teaching practice.

Implement, as part of an inclusive teaching approach,

Take into account
C7 strategies for differentiating teaching practices so as to
student diversity
support the full participation and success of all students.

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 Based on your field experience,

● How did you adapt teaching and learning situations to support students
based on their needs, challenges, and capabilities?
Guiding ● Explain how you consulted or used available resources to meet students’
Question(s) needs top overcome specific obstacles to learning.
● Describe and justify what strategies you used to group students in ways
that took into account the educational aims and students’ differentiated
needs?

Especially during this past field experience (FE4), I had quite a diverse group of students.
I had to constantly keep this in mind when planning and delivering lessons. For example,
certain students were prescribed the use of an iPad with Google Read & Write software
for reading and writing activities. Therefore, when I was giving writing tasks to my
students, I would create a document and title it for them. For example, “student’s name,
Main Idea Writing, date”. By taking into account student diversity, I would plan my
writing activities in ELA for both students who would be writing by hand, and for those
who would be using an iPad. While this example may not be applicable to all situations,
given not all schools have the same access to technology for the purpose of
differentiation, this is always something I will consider in my future teaching practice. I
will always consider the diversity of my students, and provide my students with all the
support and resources at my disposal to help them achieve the same learning
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opportunities as their peers.

During my past field experience (FE4), I had some students on an IEP who really
struggled with grammar and sentence structure. However, we had a woman who was part
of a program to help struggling students read and write. While consulting both her and
my CT, she was able to pull certain students out of the class to help them one on one with
their writing skills. This was extremely useful as I was able to focus my attention on the
entire class, while she was able to help specific students in a one on one setting. Again, it
might not be the case that these types of resources are at my disposal in my future
teaching practice. However, I will continue to seek out all of the available extra support
and resources available to help my students from diverse backgrounds reach their
maximum potential.

Cultivate the students’ natural desire to learn, their sense

Support students’
C8 of discovery and their curiosity by bringing together the
love of learning
conditions required to help them all thrive.

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 During your field placement,

● How did you build and maintain positive relationships with students in
order to spark their motivation to learn?
● How did you help students develop self-confidence and persevere in their
learning?
● In what ways did you ensure that teaching and learning situations
Guiding
included elements of every day life and cultural references with which the
Question(s)
students are familiar?
● How did you foster collaborative work, discussions, participation, and
mutual help among the students?
● In what way do you feel you sparked interest in and curiosity about the
subject, the knowledge and skills, practices, tools and techniques,
methods and procedures involved?

One thing that I always try to do with my students is help build up their confidence.
Through one on one conferencing both during this past field experience (FE4) and others,
I have found this strategy was useful for fostering students' confidence and perseverance
skills. One on one conferencing allows students to both realize what they have done well,
and what areas they need to improve on. However, conferencing allows students to build
self-confidence in areas that they are already excelling in, and building perseverance
skills to improve in areas where they need improvement. By doing this, you are
subconsciously cultivating the students' natural desire to learn and support their love of
learning, by providing them with the encouragement and guidance necessary to achieve
positive learning outcomes. One on one conferencing is a fantastic tool that I will
continue to utilize during my future teaching practice.
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Another aspect of the classroom environment that I consider to be relevant in regards to
this competency is collaboration, participation, and community. In order to foster and
support a student's love of learning, they need to feel that there is a learning community
there to support them. Therefore, I try to utilize student lead collaborative learning
activities to contribute to this. For example, in my past field experience (FE4) I designed
an activity centered around finding the main idea in a text. Rather than having students
complete the activity individually, I had students work in pairs. They read the text,
decoded it to find the main idea, recorded their answer, then shared with the class. This
sense of collaboration with a classmate and friend hopefully helped support their love of
learning. These types of collaborative, student led learning activities will continue to play
a big part in my future teaching practice.

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 Be actively
Situate own activities in a collective framework at the
involved as a
C9 service of the complementarity and continuity of teaching
member of the
activities as educational acts.
school team
Based on your field experience.

● What experiences did you have to collaborate with members of the

school team in defining and adhering to the educational orientations and
standards that make the school a healthy, safe, and equitable
environment?
Guiding
● When required how did you collaborate with other members of the
Question(s)
teaching staff in designing and evaluating teaching and learning situation
in accordance with the evaluation standards and methods in force in the
school?
● How did you participate in developing, implementing, monitoring, and
reviewing individualized education or learning support plans?

In my past field experience (FE4), I had a student who had some behavioral issues. In
order to help with both his behavior at school and at home, his teachers were tasked with
keeping a daily log documenting what he did well that day, and what he could have done
better in terms of his behavior. In order to complete this log, collaboration between all of
his teachers was necessary. At this school, students would spend one day learning in
French, then the next day in English, so collaboration between the French teacher and my
CT and myself was necessary. This collaboration amongst colleagues ultimately helped
provide feedback to the students parents and helped improve his behavior both in class
and at home. This type of collaboration amongst colleagues is something that I will
continue to implement in my future teaching practice.
Response
During my past field experience (FE4), there was a program for gifted and exceptional
learners who were excelling with respect to the curriculum expectations. These selected
students from my class would work with another member of the school team for a couple
hours each week, providing these students with enrichment opportunities. However, these
students were also provided with access to a software with challenging math problems
that they could complete once they finished their regular coursework. By collaborating
with members of the enrichment team, I was able to provide these selected students with
enrichment opportunities during their regular class time, by setting them up with iPads
loaded with the IXL Learning software. This collaboration with other members of the
school team helped provide further learning opportunities for these students. This type of

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 collaboration is something I will absolutely continue with during my future teaching
practice.
Co-operate with Promote and encourage parental involvement in their
the family and children’s learning and school life, and contributes to
C10
education partners sustainable partnerships between the school and its
in the community community.
Based on your field experience:

Guiding ● In what ways were you able to maintain good communications with the
Question(s) family regarding the students’ success and well-being?

The most obvious example I can think of for this competency is the use of Google
classroom. I have used Google classroom in some capacity during all of my field
experiences. This past field experience (FE4) I along with my CT would upload all of the
materials and handouts from that week on Google classroom. This would not only allow
absent students to access the material that they missed while away from school, but also
allow parents to see what their child was doing at school on any given week. This is a
great tool to communicate with parents in terms of the work their child is completing at
school, and can be a great link between the students classroom expectations and the
academic expectations of their parents at home. Therefore, Google classroom is a
fantastic tool that I will continue to use throughout my teaching career.
Response
A second example that I can think of from my third field experience is Class Dojo. On
Class Dojo, teachers can set up a classroom account that parents can join in which they
can post live updates, photos, or videos for parents to see. Teachers can also
communicate directly via instant message to parents. This is great for communicating
with parents about specific concerns or expectations for their child, or to communicate
something as simple as a lost lunchbox. This tool is fantastic for parents or guardians to
not only see what is happening in their child's class, but also to communicate quickly and
easily with their child's teacher if necessary. I along with my CT used this during my
third field experience, and I will most definitely be setting up my own account in my
future teaching practice once I have my own classroom.

Part 3: Cross-Curricular Competencies

Commit to own professional development and Continuously analyze , evaluate,

C11
to the profession and develop all facets of one’s

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 professional practice and promote
the status and recognition of the
teaching profession by fostering
shared professional culture based
on mutual support and
cooperation.
Based on your field experience:

● What appropriate resources did you use and implement, or develop, to

Guiding questions: update your own professional competencies?
● In what ways did you adopt a reflective stance with respect to your own
teaching practice in order to continually improve your practice?

The first thing that I think of in regards to this competency is my professional journal. I
contributed to this journal, either in writing or online, throughout my field experiences.
However, this past field experience (FE4) I believe was the most useful for me. I would
record teaching strategies that worked or didn’t work, teaching resources that I would like
to use in the future, lessons that I would like to use in the future, conversations or
anecdotes from my CT, etc. Keeping a journal or notebook to record little anecdotes to
make myself a better teacher is something I will continue to do in my future teaching
practice, and has helped me immensely as a novice teacher during my field placements at
McGill in terms of developing my professional competencies.

The second thing that comes to mind with regards to this competency is my daily
Response:
reflections and conversations with my CT’s. During my past field experience (FE4)
especially, I found myself having conversations with my CT about classroom
management strategies, evaluation methods, discipline measures or techniques, and
activity or lesson plan ideas to name a few. These conversations occurred daily. Some
lasted just a few minutes, and some lasted half an hour. However, these conversations
were invaluable to the development of my professional competencies. Conversations with
other teachers, regardless of seniority or experience, can help offer you fresh perspectives
and help you analyze your own teaching practices. This is something I will never stop
doing throughout my future teaching practice. I believe it is your professional duty as a
teacher to have these conversations with friends and colleagues, to not only better yourself
as a teacher, but also to better yourself as a person.
Use digital technologies in order
C12 Mobilize digital technologies to benefit students and all
education stakeholders.

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 Based on your field experience:

● How did you take a critical and informed stance with respect to the use of
digital tools in the classroom?
● What methods did you use to produce content via digital technology?
● Explain how you used digital tools to foster inclusion and address diverse
Guiding questions:
needs?
● How did you encourage your students to use technological tools in a
creative and appropriate manner?
● In what way did you mobilize digital technology for personal and
professional empowerment?

This is a competency that I believe I have developed significantly over the course of my
field experiences. This past field experience (FE4) I began using Plickers. To see a
detailed explanation on how Plickers works, please refer to my response for competency
5. I believe that using Plickers makes my lessons more engaging and interesting, and gets
my students excited to learn about the topic at hand. Mobilizing digital technologies is
crucial in today's day and age as our current students are more adept at using digital
technologies than ever. It is for this reason that I will continue to use digital technologies
such as Plickers to enhance my lessons in my future teaching practice.

Response: Another digital technology that I have used during my second and third field experience is
Kahoot. Kahoot is a software that allows students to answer multiple choice questions in
real time, based on questions that appear on the board. Kahoot can be either teacher
paced, where the teacher controls how long students have to answer each question, or it
can be student paced in which students are able to work at their own pace. This learning
tool can be great in different situations. If you want students to work autonomously and at
their own pace you can set the Kahoot to student paced mode. If you would like the
Kahoot to be part of a whole class activity, you can set the Kahoot to teacher paced mode.
This is a versatile digital technology that I will continue to use in my future teaching
practice to enhance my lessons and activities.

Adopt and promote ethical and

responsible behaviours
Act in accordance with principles in order to create respectful and
C 13
of the profession trusting relationships
with students, members of the
school team and

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 the wider education community.

Based on your field experience:

● How did you act and behave in a respectful manner toward the school and
what it represents?
● How did you avoid all forms of discrimination by adopting equitable,
transparent, and inclusive practice sand attitudes with regard to students,
Guiding questions: colleagues and the community?
● What methods did you undertake to act vigilantly and diligently to protect
the confidentiality of information that related to the private lives of
students and other educational stakeholders?
● How did you respect the roles and responsibilities of people involved in the
education community?

One example I can think of from my last field experience (FE4) was an interaction I had
with a young student. One quality of a teacher that is crucial to them acting in accordance
with the ethical principles of the profession is to remain neutral and unbiased. This young
student asked me who my favorite student was, hoping my answer would be him.
Naturally, I complimented the young student on his work ethic and respect in class, but
declined to answer his question. This was to not show favoritism and to remain neutral.
While I’m sure situations similar to this will arise in the future, I will continue to remain
neutral and unbiased, while acting in accordance with the ethical principles of the
profession in my future teaching practice.
Response:
As a student teacher, I always remained respectful, kind, and hard working. For example,
during this past field experience (FE4), I would always demonstrate these qualities when
interacting with my CT and members of the school community. These are values that
correspond with the ethical principles of the teaching profession. However, I believe these
are simply good core values to have regardless of the profession, and are values I try to
maintain in and out of the classroom. It is with this in mind that I will continue to act in
accordance with the ethical principles of the teaching profession throughout my future
teaching practice.

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