School of Education

University of Wisconsin-Stout
P.O. Box 790
Menomonie, WI 54751-0790
267 Home Economics

UW Stout E-Learning Practicum

Intern Performance Assessment / Professional Development Plan

This document is to be completed by the intern at the very beginning of their internship
placement. It will be reviewed at midterm, and due in a final form at the end of the
Practicum. Directions for the Intern:

Mentor Instructor's name: Jamison Patrick

Enter your name: Jessica Daugherty
Enter the official Course Title and Catalog numbers of the course:
Poverty in the Schools (EDUC 640-960C)
Enter the class dates start to finish: June 17, 2019-July 26, 2019
Work with your mentor instructor to negotiate these duties. That means you’re free to custom
tailor the agreement, and to revise it as you go along. This is a set of guidelines created by the E-
Learning Team and it is always growing and evolving. ~ Dennis

Online “Voice”
 Intern provided a welcoming, friendly personal introduction during course icebreaker.
 Intern provides appropriate, helpful feedback to students.
 Intern’s communication with mentor instructor and students is polite, supportive and
timely. This may include email, phone calls, etc.
 Email communication with mentor instructor and students includes subject and
salutation.
 Intern’s discussion additions expand the learning and stimulate additional research,
questions and/or discussion.
 Words are sincere and open, coming from a place of mutual learning versus a place of
authority. Intern creates and fosters relationships with students to make them feel valued.
 Treats students as ‘valued customers.’

Intern’s self-assessment comments (upon completion): It is so eye opening to look back at what I
thought was important 7 weeks ago and how my experience has played out. My mentor helped
me create a video of myself with captions to introduce myself to our students. That inspired me
to create a general “hello” video for myself as an instructor, which I added to my portfolio
website. I was able to provide lots of feedback to students, both during the week of discussion
and while grading their work. I provided feedback both verbally and written on Canvas. The
feedback I have gotten assures me that my words were sincere and open, and I did deal with a few
students who needed extensions during the course for their work. I was understanding and my
mentor always said, “Give them the benefit of the doubt,” which I truly took to heart.

Intern Performance Assessment / Professional Development Plan Page 1

Mentor Instructor comments (upon completion):

With little need for mentoring, the mentee came to the internship with an online “voice” already
established. The mentee/intern, I believe, just happens to be a welcoming and friendly, capable,
and willing, to provide quality student feedback in multiple modes. Further, the mentee/intern
managed both mentor-mentee and intern-student communications beautifully, in the digital
learning environment and via email.

In addition, the mentee/intern appropriately followed the 70%-30% Rule, in weekly discussions
and through Recap. The mentor/intern acted with integrity, acknowledging that Adult Learners
sometimes need flexibility in order to fully participate in an online course. The mentor/mentee
also practiced intern-student engagement, which helped to encourage and foster “community”
within the cohort, and with the facilitators.

Last, the mentee/intern knew the students were our customers, and it was our responsibility to
deliver a positive learning experience.

Discussion Interaction
 Intern promotes student understanding of the connection between course work and
professional work outside of the online classroom.
 Intern encouraged reciprocity, teamwork and collaboration.
 Intern observes student posts and adds personal additions during the most appropriate
time period.
 Intern’s discussion additions are posted at least 3 times per week. They expand the
learning and stimulate additional research, questions, and/or discussion.
 Intern’s discussion additions expand the learning and stimulate additional research,
questions and/or discussion.
 Models professional presence by logging in 5 of 7 days/week.

Intern’s self-assessment comments (upon completion): I found promoting student understanding

of course work connections with professional work came very easily to me. In all of the online
courses I’ve taken, I have always been able to connect the content to my teaching job – that is
what makes the course valuable! I always logged on 6 of 7 days each week. Often I took Saturday
as my “off” day, which my mentor did as well. When we had our phone conferences he assured
me this was OK, as long as we were there to support students during Sunday if they needed it
before the module ended. I believe I did post multiple times per week, in many different forms.
Each week I posted a recap of the previous module, I responded to emails from students, I left
feedback for both discussions and assignments, and early on I contributed to the discussion with
articles and further questions. As the course went on, I learned to take more of a “back seat” and
allow the students in the course to become closer through their discussions and shared
experiences.

Mentor Instructor comments (upon completion):

The mentee/intern was prepared to work to co-manage the course’s weekly discussions. The
mentee/intern exceeded the minimum standards set. This was consistent 6 days a week.

Intern Performance Assessment / Professional Development Plan Page 2

Professional Communication

 Intern’s communication with mentor instructor is polite, supportive and timely.

 Email communication with mentor instructor is brief and to the point.
 Intern is dependable and present.
 Should special circumstances arise the intern keeps the mentor instructor informed as
soon as possible.
 Intern respects a chain of command by always consulting the mentor instructor first
about any elements of student performance.
 Intern understands the need for strict confidentiality when working online. This means
that specific student information and performance data is only to be discussed with the
mentor instructor (first) and practicum supervisor.
 Participates in a weekly phone conference with mentor instructor. Mentor instructor and
intern can mutually decide to conference via email if needed and agreed upon.
 Intern is proactive, providing the required communications and reports without being
repeatedly prompted by the mentor instructor.

Intern’s self-assessment comments (upon completion): I felt that my conservation with my

mentor instructor was always polite, supportive, honest, and timely. I felt comfortable enough to
ask questions when I needed to, and I listened when my mentor gave me feedback and shared his
own experiences. We had weekly phone conferences to discuss grading and the upcoming
module. We also emailed and used the Canvas discussion area to communicate almost daily. I
reached out to my mentor and asked him to approve the grades I gave the students before posting
them. In the future, he gave me the “ok” to go ahead and grade discussions on my own. My
mentor also informed me that he read the feedback I gave to my students, and assured me he
didn’t see anything that needed to be addressed as an issue. This, coupled with reading the
feedback my mentor has also given students, has helped me leave clear and constructor feedback
and praise for the students, treating them as valued customers who are here for a higher learning
experience.

Mentor Instructor comments (upon completion):

The intern/mentee was an absolute gem in terms of mentor-intern/mentee communications. Self-

directed, prompt, polite, and professional.

Administrative/Teaching tasks (Pre-course and ongoing)

1. Reviews all links and course readings and links to be sure all are updated and available.
2. Should a broken link or editing problem arise, the intern will communicate with mentor
to determine who will facilitate a correction. This will include when, how, and where the
problem lies. Intern or mentor will communicate with students of the fix.
3. Reviews all course materials closely for needed text edits.
4. Provides feedback on course design, technical tools, and dynamics.
5. Should a broken link or editing problem arise, the intern facilitates content revision with
specific and detailed feedback on where and what the problem is.

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Intern’s self-assessment comments (upon completion): This course ran very smoothly. That made
me very lucky, and very thankful. The course material was clear, opened on time weekly, and
examples were shared. I was able to view all assignments and discussion topics ahead of time so I
could review instructors, rubrics, and website links. I asked questions about the course design
(assignments vs. discussions, where to grade easiest, etc.) and my mentor answered them
completely. When there was a problem with a link to an example that my student told me about, I
immediately contact the professor and he was able to insert the correct link he had.

Mentor Instructor comments (upon completion):

The intern/mentee took on the Administrative/Teaching tasks without prompting by the mentor,
and managed them effortlessly and wonderfully.

Weekly Tasks

1. An active discussion participant, posting at least 3 times per week.

2. Provides weekly summary of discussion to the mentor instructor that includes
consolidated discussion highlights.
3. Where appropriate, answers student questions with patience, confidence and
resourcefulness.
4. Agrees upon week’s tasks with Mentor Instructor and provides the service within the
agreed upon time frame.
5. Looks for ‘stranded posts’ (Primary posts that have not gotten a response within a
reasonable period of time) and responds as needed.

Intern’s self-assessment comments (upon completion): My mentor and I talked often to make sure
all students were keeping up on the course and that all were getting equal feedback from their
peers. This group of 8 students blew me away with their amazing discussion and attention to
detail! I was always patient and understanding when students needed a short extension due to
illness for an assignment. I also posted a weekly recap of the previous module with praise and
thanks for their work, continued thoughts to provoke future learning, and a positive message to
move forward as the next week began.

Mentor Instructor comments (upon completion):

The mentor and mentee/intern established weekly tasks from the very beginning of the course.
This included, but was not limited to: Discussions participant; Writer of the weekly recap;
Student questions; and, Posting follow up. The mentee/intern had their own schedule that
paralleled the mentors.

Intern discussion facilitation – Guided Practice

 During the second half of the course intern will facilitate one required discussion
forum.

Intern Performance Assessment / Professional Development Plan Page 4

  At the end of the discussion the intern will review student participation and do a
practice evaluation of student performance using the course grade scale.
 Student evaluation/grades recommended by the intern are reviewed by the Mentor
Instructor who offers feedback as needed.
 The Mentor Instructor is free to use practice grades and evaluations as they see fit.

Intern’s self-assessment comments (upon completion): I feel that I jumped in and helped facilitate
discussions one and two really well. During both discussions I asked and answered questions
from students to try and tease out more information. In module one, I posted a source outside of
our required readings that connected strongly to a topic in that week’s discussion. I included
references, my thoughts, the article link, and further questions for students to consider. As the
weeks went on, my mentor talked to me about best practice, and we guided the students to use
each other as resources in the discussion. This was an extremely self-sufficient group of learners,
and I enjoyed reading (and learned from!) their thoughts, reactions, and personal experiences in
regards to the course (Poverty in the Schools).

Mentor Instructor comments (upon completion):

Since EDUC-640 is a 5-week course, (multiple) discussions are the main vehicle for
instructor/intern-peer and peer-peer dialogue. The mentee/intern participated in discussion
management from Day 1. Further, the mentee/intern participated in providing feedback to
students and assigning grades. The feedback was of high quality; the suggested grades were
accurate.

Intern tracking and feedback responsibilities

The intern will offer a weekly report to the mentor instructor on student activities within the
course. This report can be done via email, word document, or phone call as agreed upon by the
mentor and intern. This may include:
 A summary of student participation derived from the class list tracking tools
 A review of previous modules looking for make-up work
 A report on students ‘missing in action’
 Other types of feedback that help the mentor instructor and intern better understand
student work in the course.

Intern’s self-assessment comments (upon completion): I think that this tracking and feedback
was one of my strong suits. I frequently monitored and reported on any students “missing in
action,” and check in with them via email. I gave whole class reminders in my weekly recaps in a
positive and encouraging manner about due dates, but always kept myself open to discuss
flexibility. My mentor gave me many opportunities that I took to grade student work, show him
my feedback first, then leave feedback for my students in written and audio format. I think that
audio feedback is especially important in an online course because it helps develop the
relationship between people who might not otherwise ever meet in person.

Mentor Instructor comments (upon completion):

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The mentor and mentee/intern discussed the management needs of the course prior to its start
date. This included, but was not limited to, monitoring and encouraging student participation;
writing module recaps on a weekly basis; and, following up with students who may have
“dropped off” for whatever reason. A deep-dive into Canvas student analytics was not covered,
but general analytics were used.

Intern technology tool initiation and support

The intern will setup and facilitate one ‘optional’ synchronous conference for students. The
intern will summarize the highlights of this conference and provide these highlights to all
students. (This is often waived by the Mentor Instructor. Up for negotiation to say the least!)

Intern’s self-assessment comments (upon completion): Due to issues with leaving video feedback
and the nature of this course, we did not run any synchronous conferences for students. The
mentor did offer video conferencing to any student who requested it, but said it would be on a
needed basis. I was not informed of any students that took advantage of the video conference
option.

Mentor Instructor comments (upon completion):

The mentor did not offer the mentee/intern an “optional” synchronous experience for two reasons.
First, there is not a need for such a meeting in EDUC-640. And, second, the web conferencing
tool in Canvas is currently in a “Product” state, meaning it is in-between “Beta” and
“Production.” In other words, it is not a reliable tool on which to train.

*This list may be revised by the Mentor Instructor to better fit the circumstances of the
class.
*Not all criteria need be applied. Mentor Instructor and Intern will share this document.

Mentor Instructor assessment of intern skills and characteristics

Intern skills and characteristics Exemplary Proficient Developing

X
Cooperation
X
Timeliness
X
Effectiveness
X
Attention to detail
X
Professionalism
X
Dependability
X

Intern Performance Assessment / Professional Development Plan Page 6

Enthusiasm
X
Attentiveness

Additional comments by Mentor Instructor:

The mentee/intern was a great addition to the course and a pleasure with which to work. They are
absolutely ready for online teaching!

Intern self-assessment

Intern skills and characteristics Exemplary Proficient Developing

X
Cooperation
X
Timeliness
X
Effectiveness
X
Attention to detail
X
Professionalism
X
Dependability
X
Enthusiasm
X
Attentiveness

Additional comments by intern: There was one week where I didn’t post the module review until
Wednesday afternoon, where as typically it was posted by Tuesday night for students to read. The
course was only five modules long, and I did three recaps. My mentor did the first recap, and the
final module required no recap, as the class was finished. That is why I gave myself “proficient”
on timeliness. I’ve also read through my comments on student work over the past few weeks, and
I am always looking to improve the effectiveness of how I communicate. For the final module
assignments, I am looking to my mentor for advice to make sure I give valuable feedback that
helps our students grow as educators and learners. During the final module I shared my thoughts
and feedback for the final project with my mentor before posting it for students. I do feel that I
was always enthusiastic during the course, but it was easy to be because I enjoyed it so much! I
displayed attention to detail my making sure all students were engaged and participating during
the week, and communicating with students via email in a timely manner (I logged online almost
daily, and sometimes twice each day). I am thrilled with the level of commitment my mentor
showed to my growth as a TA in this course, and it gave me a very honest experience of
facilitating an online course, instead of just being a student in one. This is certainly a learning
experience that will stick with me as I delve into my seventh year as a high school teacher this
September.

Intern Performance Assessment / Professional Development Plan Page 7

Signed by Mentor Instructor Date

Jamison Patrick 8/4/19

Signed by Intern Date

Jessica Daugherty 7/30/2019

Intern Performance Assessment / Professional Development Plan Page 8