Write a reflection on your interview with your master teacher on Standard 6 - Professional Development as an educator.
- What are some resources available to teachers to help them develop professionally?
- Share your own professional goals and tell how you might pursue your goals to grow professionally.
My mentor teacher explained to me how opportunities for professional development in the form of staff development days and workshops aren't as plentiful as in years past due to the budget cuts.
ReplyDeleteIn previous years her district offered teachers 3 "buy-back" days before school started for which they would be compensated. The district also used to put on workshops whenever new textbooks were purchased, but the only new textbooks the district has bought in 8 years have been ones for math.
What the district does now in order to save money is send one teacher to a workshop. When that teacher returns, he/she will put on a workshop about what they learned for the other teachers in the district.
Of course, teachers are encouraged to continue their education. The different steps on the pay scale provide incentives for us to do so.
To summarize, teachers in the IUSD are no longer being offered "buy-back" days or being compensated for attending extra staff development days and teachers are attending fewer conferences. Instead, they attend workshops given locally.
My professional goal is to receive a master's degree in education. I will achieve this goal by continuing my education at APU. As our understanding of education evolves, it is important to me that my understanding of it does too.
Unfortunately, budget cuts have hit hard in the area of Professional Development. This is too bad.
ReplyDeleteWhat are some resources available to teachers to help them develop professionally?
ReplyDeleteIn my discussion with my head teacher she brought to my attention the various committees available on campus. There are committees for student advancement, physical education, test preparation, and professional learning communities. Teachers can elect to represent their grade level in the various committees in which they attend trainings, plan curriculum, and then train other teachers on campus. Each teacher is part of a professional learning community in which they meet regularly with other teachers to discuss teaching strategies and other issues that are relevant to their respective grades. My particular master teacher is a on-site GATE specialist so she must attend so many trainings per semester in order to maintain her specialization. The principal also offers training meetings on issues as needed. These meetings can include issues like test preparation, reading groups, and buddy programs.
Share your own professional goals and tell how you might pursue your goals and grow professionally.
I intend to continually develop as a professional. The benefit of going into the field of education is the plethora of educational opportunities that exist for professionals. Becoming involved with on campus committees is one such way I hope to develop myself as a professional. Attending conferences focused on elementary education is another. I hope to receive certification to teach both GATE students and students with special needs. Both types of learners will be present in my classroom and I consider it my professional responsibility to find ways in which I can meet their needs. I hope to take courses on occasion in order to stay up to date on the pedagogical shifts in education. Communicating and working with my colleagues is just one way out of many to continue to develop my skills and lessons as a teacher.
What are some resources available to teachers to help them develop professionally?
ReplyDeleteMy mentor teacher said any type of training can assist teachers and help them continue their education. For example, we attended a two-day, all day training on Systematic ELD. Additionally, Hage has monthly mandatory staff development meetings where usually the principal or vice principal presents material.
Hage Elementary participates in the Discover Program, which offers great professional development opportunities. For example, CPR-Basic Life Support and First Aid, Re-directing for a Cooperative Classroom, Introduction to Music Using Recorders, Functional Spanish for K-12 Teachers, Administrators, & Staff - A Guide for Communicating with Students & Their Families, Strengthening Your Curriculum. Discover classes are offered free of charge unless teachers use them toward for their continuing education/college credits. If you want to learn more visit their website (http://www.sandi.net/21822095174216540/site/default.asp).
Share your own professional goals and tell how you might pursue your goals and grow professionally:
♥ I want to continue my schooling and eventually have a special education credential as well.
♥ I will strive to find the best in every single one of my students
♥ Students need to be moving around, working in groups, and discovering information for themselves.
♥ I need to self-assess my teaching, reflecting on my lessons often
♥ I will read professional books/journals
♥ Volunteer in the community, visit my students’ sporting events
♥ Respect students’ cultures/understand family backgrounds
♥ I want to network with other teachers and find a retired teacher who can mentor me
♥ I want to work with families to improve my professional practice:
o Connect instruction to life at home
o Class newsletter/class website to keep families informed of student progress
o Student portfolios
o Parents aids in the classroom/parents as our guest speaker
What are some resources available to teachers to help them develop professionally?
ReplyDeleteI am aware of trainings on technology, ELD, SDAIE, etc. that take place throughout the year. These are trainings that are regularly offered to the teachers at my site. My district also promotes a program which allows teachers throughout the SDCOE an opportunity to visit other sites in an effort to network and see what others have going on at their sites. My Principal is a big advocate of on-site professional development through collaboration. He keeps site meetings short in order to allow us time to collaborate and share ideas on effective strategies in the classroom.
Share your own professional goals and tell how you might pursue your goals and grow professionally.
My professional goals are to:
* Keep developing as a professional educator
* Strive to develop ways to engage all students and keep lessons relevant and interesting
* Volunteer more in the community
Horizon Prep is very committed to ensuring that their staff is well-trained, and in tune with the latest teaching strategies. They strongly support continuing education of all kinds. At our school, the administration pays for the teachers to go to local conferences. We also have educational speakers make presentations at our staff meetings and in-services to share the latest innovative strategies in teaching. Keeping current is very important to our administration – they also give us the opportunity to go and visit other schools and teachers for a day, and they will have a substitute teacher come in to cover for that day.
ReplyDeleteMy personal development path starts with the most important step of completing my teaching credential by June; this is what defines me as a professional teacher. I will be finishing my Masters by the end of the next school year. Beyond that, I have some tentative plans, but nothing set in stone, yet. I have been working this year with pullout students, and I find the work enjoyable, personal, and gratifying. I am interested in pursuing a second credential in Special Education: Mild to Moderate. It is possible that I will immediately continue in my schooling to work towards that, but more likely that it will wait. In a more immediate timeframe, I will be incorporating my knowledge of American Sign Language into my classroom, and working on a special education certificate specifically for working with and teaching deaf and hard of hearing students.
The teachers at my school have many resources to he help them develop professionally. They have several types of meetings that take place weekly or bi-weekly such as the PLC, or Professional Learning Committee. This is where teachers of the same grade level meet to set goals for themselves and then they meet afterwards to assess whether or not they were successful at meeting those goals. The teachers used to attend several trainings that were provided by the district, but as we all know, times are tough right now and there has been no money to provide teachers with this type of professional development.
ReplyDeleteMy professional goals are to collaborate as much as possible with teachers who were able to attend the many professional development trainings and conferences that were once provided by school districts. I have already copied documents that my current master teacher received from some awesome math trainings she once attended. I figure that if I can’t actually attend the trainings, then I will find people who have and learn whatever I can from them.
Other professional goals include finding as many resources as I can in order to attend to the diverse needs of my students. I also want to stay current and up to date with what is new in education, but also, to be able to determine what strategies and ideas need to remain in place because they have worked throughout time.
My school works to continually keep the teachers informed and learning. During my time spent in this classroom, my teacher has already taken off 3 times in order to participate in activities that aid her professional growth. As prompted by the principal, these activities have included her observations of other teachers in the district who have a great understanding of the newly implemented curriculum as well as other curriculum training seminars. The school provides for the teachers to go to these various in-service and curriculum trainings and it appears to not only be helpful but very much appreciated. Additionally, each teacher participates in weekly PLC (Professional Learning Committees) to collaboratively learn from their peer teachers about students and curriculum. Publications such as "NEA Today" "California Educator" as also provided to each teacher to aid them in growing professionally.
ReplyDeleteMy personal goal is to constantly be learning and growing professionally. I want to continually be developing as teacher from what I learn about my students and my own personal style, constantly reevaluating and redefining the expectations and content of my classroom. I would like to continue in my education by working towards other certifications such as GATE as well as working towards another degree altogether. I have nothing fully set in stone yet, but I don't plan at stopping at this current Master's endeavor.