Summative Evaluation of Practicum

Master of Teaching

Teacher Candidate: Kingeon Tsang

Year: 1 Practicum Session: 2
Dates: February 11, 2019 to March 8, 2019

Associate Teacher: Henry Tam

Grade level and/or subjects: Mathematics
School: Dr. Norman Bethune C. I.
Board: TDSB

PROFESSIONALISM
Kingeon conducted himself in a professional manner with both students and faculty throughout his time at our
school. He showed great flexibility and adaptability, quickly adjusting to changing schedules and circumstances,
often with little notice.
He was always willing to lend his expertise in math to both students and teachers in a variety of settings. The
work that he produced was both thorough and of the highest quality. He had a positive attitude and faced
challenges with assurance and calm.
During his time at our school he had ample opportunity to critically reflect on the practice of teaching – both
receiving feedback and offering suggestions for improvement.

DIVERSITY AND EQUITY

Kingeon was always alert and sensitive to the needs of the students in the classroom. He was able to create an
atmosphere of mutual respect by getting to know their names right from the start and striving to know them
individually. He paid attention to the learning needs of the students- particularly to the second language learners
that were struggling in the classroom.
In his lesson design, he made accommodations for both the varying abilities of the students as well those with
special needs and language barriers. In class, he provided different ways for students to engage with the subject
– individually, in pairs and in small groups.
He also provided extra help for students who were struggling, usually outside of class time.

INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOL / COMMUNITY LIFE

Kingeon developed positive relationships with staff and students in a wide variety of settings within the school.
He helped coach/supervise three teams of math students from our school that participated in a half-day
interschool Math Competition hosted by Pickering High School (one of teams placed first!). He also helped with
administration of the Waterloo Math Contests with over 100 participants.
His own personal interest in board games led him to spend some time with our school’s Board Game Club.
During his time at our school he was also able to sit in on our Parent Teacher Interviews and was able to gain
valuable insight about some of the students in the class he was teaching.
Professionally, he joined many other teachers at the Eureka Science/Math/Computers Conference put on by the
TDSB for the board-wide PD day. Here he was able to network with other teachers and gain new ideas and tools
for the classroom.

UNDERSTANDING CURRICULUM AND THE LEARNER

Kingeon has an amazing grasp of the subject and a keen problem solving mindset. His biggest challenge was
learning how to juggle his knowledge of the mathematical concepts with both curriculum expectations and what
is available in terms of teaching resources.
One of his goals was to make the curriculum more relevant by trying to contextualize learning through practical
real world applications. In one of the classes he was able to examine both the issue of video game levelling and
caffeine absorption through the lens of exponential functions.
Through dialogue with students and formative assessments he was able to develop a better understanding of the
learners in the classroom which he used to shape both his practice and his lessons.
He also consulted with the ESL teachers to gain a better understanding about useful strategies to effectively
reach the second language learners in the class.

ASSESSMENT, PLANNING AND INSTRUCTION

Kingeon’s is a very active learner and is developing his proficiency in this area.
A digital native, he quickly adapted to the using the Smartboard for lesson delivery as well as a tool for lesson
planning and sequencing. He was also able to effectively use both graphing software and test preparation
software to create quality assessments and evaluations.
His lesson planning was both thoughtful and logical and he always left room for revision and improvement based
on feedback and discussion. He delivered all lessons with confidence and humour. Lesson pacing is an area that
he is steadily improving on as he continues his practice of translating plan to action.
During his time he began to shift from a more socratic approach to a more discovery approach. This was seen in
the shift in the flow of his lesson plans throughout his practicum. He began to use both group work and work
stations within the class. He introduced a game element to some lessons to create more opportunities for
engagement and challenge.
He began to create and use formative assessments to guide and shape further instruction. He used this
effectively with a variety of different classes for the purposes of review and to customize the learning during the
class.
He was actively engaged in marking and used this as opportunity to identify common mistakes for the purposes
of instruction and remediation. In the design of his evaluations he strove to balance content weighting, categories
and difficulty.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Kingeon established a good rapport and connection with the students by memorizing their names on the very
first day. Being able to address students by name allowed him to quickly deal with minor disruptions during
lessons.
His competence with the material and the structuring of his lessons established a level of trust that reinforced a
productive learning environment. His calm demeanor and humour also helped to establish a safe and accepting
space.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
It has been great having someone like Kingeon with us at the school. His passion for math and his willingness to
tackle any problem without hesitation was a breath of fresh air for both other math teachers and students. The
work that he has done in response to our inquiries are masterpieces of insight and understanding.
He has a sharp and analytical mind which has helped him in both the classroom and in his critical reflection of his
own practice.
As he hones his practice and develops his teaching style, I would encourage Kingeon to continue to take risks,
be creative and grow as a learner. Even though his brief time with us is over, I know we will continue our
collaboration into the future, especially if there are good problems to be solved!

Overall appraisal: Pass Fail