Professional Development Plan

Professional Development Plan

First Year Teaching Goals

The Danielson Framework for Teaching has been a thorough guide for designing lessons, building and maintaining a desirable classroom environment, delivering meaningful and differentiated instruction, and upholding high standards of professional responsibility.  My professional growth and development goals based on the DF are as follows:

1.  The Classroom Environment: Managing Classroom Procedures: Transitions

This particular goal derives from the Danielson Framework for professional development.  Well before the end of the first year, I plan to practice smooth transition strategies to help maximize class time and improve communication as part of managing classroom procedures.  Smooth transitions set up students for the next learning activity while saving valuable classroom time.  When students know what to expect and are organized in the process, they are better able to listen and comprehend the next instructional set.

Action Plan: 

The ASCD website makes the following statement regarding classroom transitions: “Establishing rules and procedures for transitions and interruptions is an important aspect of classroom management. Specifically, we suggest the following strategies:

• Establishing rules and procedures for recurring situations
• Practicing transitions and potential interruptions
• Engaging students as leaders during transitions and interruptions”

This statement came from A Handbook for Classroom Management That Works

by Robert J. Marzano, Barbara B. Gaddy, Maria C. Foseid, Mark P. Foseid and Jana S. Marzano.  This resource is sure to offer tips and tricks for guiding students through transitions and reducing the amount of time loss when students move through learning sets.  I have already ordered this book and will begin reading it as soon as I receive it. 

I have the opportunity to substitute in Bozeman school district for the remainder of this school year, so I will be able to implement some of their ideas in the classroom.  I will be substituting for multiple grade levels including elementary.  One way I can monitor progress is by setting timers to get an idea of how long transitions between learning sets take and set a goal of transitions taking no more than 30 seconds.  I can then see how that time changes depending on what strategies I use.  When I see what works and what does not work, I can commit them to habit and vary them according to the needs and temperament of different ages and classes.

2.  Professional Responsibilities: Growing and Developing Professionally, Involvement in a Culture of Professional Inquiry

It is vitally important to stay current on content trends and updated pedagogical approaches because they are ever-changing.  The most recent all-encompassing change is the transition from teaching-centered to student-centered learning.  No longer are the days of the teacher being the “sage on the stage.”  The focus is now on the students in the way teachers give them shared authority over what happens in the classroom.  

Action Plan:

With school approval if necessary, I plan to attend the MEA-MFT 2016 conference in Helena this October.  The conference offers workshops and special topic meetings designed for public educators on professional development, content, skills, and career options.  As a teacher it is vitally important that I maintain a growth mindset and commit to ongoing education.  Ideally there would be several teachers from the same school in attendance such that we would share ideas and bring back information to share with colleagues.  We would meet again after the chance to implement new ideas to discuss what has worked in our classes and what has not.