Empowering Change: Professional Development
As an educator, I always seek ways to create meaningful learning experiences for my students. To do so, providing teachers with the necessary tools and strategies to deepen student learning is essential. That's why I decided to focus my professional learning efforts on e-portfolios Innovation Plan in the classroom, as these tools are particularly relevant to my campus's science and technology emphasis. By equipping teachers with these resources, I am confident we can create a more engaging and effective learning environment for all students.
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July 19,2020
Planning PL
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After working with a new teacher this year, I focused on giving new teachers the tools to be more effective in the classroom. My guidance concentrates on assisting the teacher in classroom management and instruction; however, after working with the teacher, I noticed the need for teaching strategies. Therefore, instead of offering PD on small group instruction or data analysis, working with teachers to develop the best practices in delivering education would be more valuable.
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Therefore, the goal of my PL is to follow the five steps in implementing effective PL that also assist teachers in implementing the new strategies over time. One way to achieve this is by providing teachers with over 80 hours of professional learning focused on highly effective instruction. This can help build their confidence and improve their teaching abilities over time.
I plan on implementing the PL (Professional Learning) strategy in our classroom.
Firstly, I plan on utilizing the modules in Canvas to introduce the strategy to our teachers. I will help establish a foundation for our learners and give them a sense of familiarity with the concepts.
Secondly, I will use our weekly department meetings to offer more direct guidance and share any challenges we may face with the implementation process. This will keep us all on the same page and ensure we work towards a common goal.
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Lastly, I plan on spending time in the classroom modeling the strategy and giving feedback to our teachers. This will not only help our students see the PL strategy in action, but it will also allow our teachers to improve their implementation skills.
These three steps will help us implement the PL strategy in our classroom and ensure our teachers receive the best possible education.
Alternative Professional Learning-Call to Action
Professional Learning Outline
What Is The Timeline For Your PL? When developing the outline for the Professional Learning (PL) program on my campus, my main priority was to ensure that a significant amount of time would be dedicated to supporting the creation of e-portfolios and their implementation in the teachers' classrooms. To achieve this, teachers will receive 720 minutes of direct instruction and support, specifically focusing on creating and implementing e-portfolios, amounting to 480 minutes.
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How will I foster Collaboration?-To foster collaboration among the teachers on campus, I will establish discussion groups where they can upload videos and photos of their lessons. This platform will enable teachers to collectively share their experiences and receive feedback on implementing what they have learned.
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How Will You Foster Self-Directed Learning?-As an educator, I understand the importance of self-directed learning. That's why I'm thrilled to offer short, engaging videos that teachers can access whenever they need them. These videos cover a wide range of topics and are designed to be both informative and entertaining. Additionally, I'm happy to allow teachers to personalize their e-portfolios to reflect their interests or the content they're teaching. This way, they can create a truly unique and meaningful learning experience for themselves and their students.
Who Will Lead What Componets? Mr. Hill and Mrs. O'Daniel will play a key role in facilitating this learning process by utilizing e-portfolios in their classrooms.
To structure the PL program for e-portfolios.
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Who is Your Audience and What Are Their Needs?-The audience will primarily be middle school and high school social studies teachers. The teacher's needs will vary based on their level of technology skills.
What Is The Instructional Design of Your PL? I will employ the 3 Column Table method, which will aid in designing and organizing the program content.
The resources needed for the professional learning class include:
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Google Slides and Peardeck for creating interactive presentations.
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Canvas as a learning management system.
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A laptop with a camera for video conferencing.
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Articles on social studies teaching strategies.
These resources will enhance the learning experience by providing interactive content, a centralized platform for course materials, video communication capabilities, and subject-specific teaching strategies.
Gulamhussein, A. (2013)
5 Key Principles to Effective PD
The duration of professional learning must be significant and ongoing to allow teachers to learn a new strategy and grapple with the implementation problem with ongoing support. The PL that I will be conducting lasts for the Fall semester, starting in August and ending in December 2023. The sessions will occur monthly during one of our weekly department meetings, with longer sessions during some professional development days. Teachers will receive support during our department meeting and some of our fall PD days, with additional support in the form of informal discussion groups in Canvas with their peers.
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There must be support for a teacher during the implementation stage that addresses the specific challenges of changing classroom practice. The plan is to provide in-person support and use Canvas (LMS) virtually.
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Teachers' initial exposure to a concept should not be passive but rather engage teachers through varied approaches so they can participate actively in making sense of a new practice. The initial exposure will consist of teachers working in pairs and looking at examples of eps and students while working through a scaffolding activity on eps.
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Modeling has been found to be highly effective in helping teachers understand a new practice. Will model the strategies to the teachers in person and provide examples of the strategies in use by their peers.
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The content presented to teachers shouldn't be generic but instead specific to the discipline (for middle school and high school teachers) or grade level (for elementary school teachers). The content will be specific to social studies middle school, with examples of interacting with primary sources specific to the content
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Professional Learning Outline
References
Fink, L. D. (n.d.). A self-directed guide to designing courses for significant learning. Retrieved from https://luonline.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-3042999-dt-content-rid-30108308_1/courses/13583.201810/Self-Directed%20Guide%20to%20Course%20Design%20-%20Fink%20Summary.pdf
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Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers effective professional development in an era of high stakes accountability. Center for Public Education. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NBgyzzfGs6VrNjeJRDZLnipZPGeGMDF9?usp=sharin