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. 

Classroom Management Plan

Classroom Management Plan

1.    Philosophical Beliefs

Learning involves the co-construction of knowledge, meaning that the teacher is not the source of all information.  I see myself more as a guide who presents ideas for the students to then work with, evaluate, and even synthesize to the highest order of thinking.  While teaching is more student-centered than in years past, management strategies must also be adjusted. Pod models of learning, for example, are utilized more often so that students can collaborate, building on prior instruction and co-creating new understandings, but this presents new challenges in classroom management so that students are actually working and not just socializing.  It also demands that I be willing to give some control over to the students.

Basing my teaching philosophy and approach on the confluence of English and Communication practice and theory, authority no longer has to reside in the teacher alone.  Ultimately, I as the leader and adult in the classroom hold the authoritative veto-power, but if students can be engaged with a task and given a specific role within a group, shared authority can be a successful endeavor.  The benefits of shared authority are two-fold.  First, students feel like they have agency over what happens, and in doing so, they are more likely to dedicate themselves to a positive outcome.  Second, if students are working in a group and they have an assigned role, the group, and not I, holds the student accountable for his production.  Peers/classmates do not like to disappoint one another, especially considering how important peer relationships are to adolescents. 

Many students enjoy working in groups, but the challenge in doing so is that it only works (well) when a classroom community has been built, when students feel comfortable talking to one another, and when students respectfully respond to me should they get off task.  With freedom comes responsibility.  The freedom is being able to work in groups; the responsibility is their dedication to the task. My job, therefore, is to motivate students to uphold high standards of respect and accountability.

Students must trust me, and the way I build trust is by respecting them and establishing good boundaries.  Students need boundaries because when they don’t know the rules their curiosity resides in figuring out the rules rather than exploring content ideas.  It feels just as chaotic to them as it does to me.  I believe in starting the semester being a bit rigid with the rules and expectations and then lightening up as students prove their responsibility.  The rules must be clearly stated, and I must follow through on threats of consequence.  I also think it is ok to explicitly ask students for their respect and to tell them why. 

2.    Classroom Physical Space

My classroom is not for me.  It is for my students and it should reflect that.  While I may reserve one corner for myself and my artifacts, including a Fathead of Auburn Cam Newton, I would like to invite the students to bring in memorabilia of their own to decorate the walls.  At the end of the year they take it with them, and the next class can do the same thing.  There will be ample filing space.  My desk will be toward the back of the room in a corner.  Ideally, I would like to have tables where groups of 4 students can sit, but if that isn’t possible, I would arrange desks into pods of 4 leaving open space for me to walk around the tables.  I also want to have a library corner with books, lamps, and a couch.  I like to walk around when I teach in order to reach every student, so the classroom should be open and conducive to movement.   Safety is key, so keeping the exits clear and posting emergency procedures will be important.  Students will be made aware of safety guidelines.             

3.    Classroom Procedures

Routines are important because they are habitual and center the students on a certain task.  Here are some routines I will use:

·      Collection baskets in a fixed location for collecting work

·      Regular due dates for certain assignments such as vocabulary or journals that are due every Wednesday

·      During grammar units or mini lessons, each student has a folder s/he should get at the start of each class.

·      A question of the day might be posted to bring their attention to the board

·      Exit tickets will be collected to provide formative data to me and to reinforce application of learning for the students

Transitions will go smoothly when I am prepared.  Students should be able to follow 3-step instructions to facilitate transitions, and to the degree I can have materials on their desks during the transition, the more time we will save.  Also, if I let students know what to expect at the beginning of each class, they will not wonder what is happening between learning sets. 

Grouping strategies are completely dependent on the task.  Sometimes it is appropriate to group students based on social connections.  Sometimes it is best to group students who have demonstrated similar achievement results.  (Sometimes the opposite works best.)  Regardless, grouping should be purposeful.

I may have the opportunity to have an aide in the classroom or a teacher’s assistant during prep periods.  Those people are part of the classroom and should have a designated role.  Communication between myself and the aide on lesson design and concerns for students with special needs will be critical to our collaborative success. 

4.    Policies and Rules

Here are my five rules that will be posted to my wall and included in my disclosure:

Have fun – Learning should be fun, and it is fun to play with ideas and to take intellectual risks, but we cannot have fun if we disrespect one another. 

Work hard – My expectations are high.  I am going to help students along the way, but I need them to be ready to work.  Working hard sometimes means working hard to respect one’s neighbor.

Be careful – Safety is our number one concern.  Always.

Don’t be a bully – Bullying people isn’t nice, and it really shows a weakness in in the person doing the bullying.  I want students to walk away from bullying and tell a teacher.

Tell me if you need help – I am happy to help students, but I won’t always know when a student is struggling.  Helping students achieve their goals is my job!  If a student is struggling with something personal, I will guide him/her toward the help s/he needs. 

5.    Positive Reinforcement & Hierarchy of Consequences

Positive reinforcement is a great way to get students to repeat good behavior.  The Montana Behavioral Initiative emphasizes the importance of stressing to kids what TO do and not overloading them with what NOT to do.  It is true that people can be intrinsically motivated to behave, but not all the time.  Similarly, students can be extrinsically motivated, but at some point it has to come from within or the student or teacher burns out on ways of extrinsic reward.

I have used the following for positive reinforcement:

·      Free time in class for completing a task early

·      Playing music during class

·      Taking the last few minutes of class on a Friday to watch videos of their choosing

·      Food rewards

Hierarchy of Consequences:

·      Body positioning

·      A firm look

·      A verbal warning

·      A private meeting

·      Detention

·      Parent call

·      Referral to administration

I have never given a detention, though I have reminded a class that I had the freedom to do so even as a student teacher or substitute. Occasionally I have reprimanded the entire class by having everyone sit quietly, but primarily I try to have a reasonable conversation with the student who misbehaves, and that usually works.  For chronic misbehavior, I try to understand the cause.  Often at the secondary level it involves chronic talking, so the best idea is to move that student to another desk. 

Teaching Philosophy as of Right Now...Subject to Change with Experience

            I believe in the teaching of individuals, not just the teaching of English. Though I will hold the title of teacher one day, classroom learning will happen in spite of me not because of me.  Knowing this to be true, I fully embrace my responsibility to create and maintain a classroom culture that facilitates positive and authentic learning experiences for my students.  This time belongs to them, and they deserve someone who cares.

            My priority is to create a community of learners who respect one another’s values and beliefs and actively engage with one another.  We can achieve this through interpersonal dialogue, class and small group discussion, writing projects, and relevant personal and community involvement.  In Montana, many students go through their entire school lives together having the unique opportunity to know one another very well.  A level of intimacy such as this lends itself well to developing loyalty, accountability, motivation, and healthy competition among classmates.  I see myself as a multilateral facilitator of learning – teacher to students, students to teacher, students to students. 

            I value creativity, fun, and an affective response to knowledge because those are the components of authentic learning.   As I get to know my students, learning plans will be differentiated and customized to their individual and communal interests so that they will walk away from my class having learned something, or better, having considered a new way of thinking and communicating.  I use the word "learning plan" as opposed to lesson plan because my goal is to pose questions and provide tools that challenge students to think critically.  My intent is to amplify their innate abilities to learn in ways that they themselves recognize and value. 

My job is to set the tone for a safe space to think, create, and share, so that we may learn together.  Students have much to teach me about ELA content, and even more importantly, ways to maintain and improve methods of student-centered education.

Position Statement on Literacy Spring 2015

Resolution on Communications as a Facet of Literacy

Communication theory and practices, both small group and interpersonal, should be given a larger portion of the ELA curriculum than it is currently receiving.  The scope of literacy expands beyond reading and writing.  It includes speaking, seeing, listening, and using electronic media, all of which are addressed in the study of communications.  Literacy and the understanding thereof is communication in the broadest sense.  

Before technology made information retrieval easy and accessible, literacy and learning occurred through the transmission of information from the teacher to the students.  A teacher taught her students to read, spell, and write.  The knowledge was the emphasis.  Teachers still teach students to read, spell, and write, but the emphasis now is to go beyond knowledge into the zone of analysis and skill, often in collaborative ways with other students and teachers.  The education system must not neglect basic communication strategies as a type of literacy.  All the world and the people in it are a text to which meaning and interpretation can be assigned.

Communication Skills to Emphasize:

o   Small Group Communications – Take time to discuss rank and leadership within small groups, how to stay on task, and how to constructively criticize when working with literacy.

o   Interpersonal Communications – Real life, practical theory can be paired with relationships and conflicts between characters within texts.  It also helps students empathize with characters to deepen their understanding of what they read.

o   Conflict Management – Incorporate this into discussions of conflict and management strategies in literary contexts.  Address the purpose of a position statement in argumentative writing.

o   Technical Writing – This includes outlines, memos, meeting minutes, instructions, detailed accounts, and resumes that enhance work-place literacy.

o   Public Speaking – Formative and summative assessments often include public speaking projects, and the way something is written for public speech may not be the same way it is written for print.  The rhetorical situation differs.  Instruction on public speaking builds literacy and confidence.

o   Digital Media – Digital media is an ever-expanding realm of literacy that is commonplace in the ELA classroom.  It includes print, image, and audio texts as additional literacy components.