Professional Development Year-Long Plan

This is a yearlong professional development plan. Contained in this plan, as attachments, are the ten-month professional development plan, the needs assessment survey, and a sample of the satisfaction survey that will be dispersed to the staff to assess their satisfaction in each of the professional development sessions. These satisfaction surveys will be used to make adjustments and reteach if necessary.

Rationale

After reviewing the Needs Assessment Survey results, a plan could be put into action. With the exception of the first topic, the results table showing percentages was used to prioritize the professional development topics. The first topic is scheduled for August 6, 2019. It will be a four-hour session on growth mindset followed by a staff luncheon. This topic was chosen to be the first topic because it will be used to launch our theme, “ Got G.R.I.T.”  The 2019 school year ended with a brief introduction on growth mindset. It was intended to spark a fire and build anticipation for the upcoming school year. The remainder of the professional development topics was first grouped by percentages of what the staff saw as the most important, then prioritized within those percentage groupings by the administrator. The administrator reserves the right to alter this plan as needed throughout the year as needs may dictate.

Growth Mindset

The topic growth mindset will be using activities for the staff to dig in and learn exactly what growth mindset is and understand the language using worksheets and other activities that can be altered to use with students as well. The staff will get to put it into practice first and then present and do the activities with the students. The mindset kit website is a complete kit with the activities as well as a facilitators guide. All links lead to a printable guide or worksheet. This is an amazing tool to teach growth mindset..

Critical Thinking

Professional and personal development involves the concept of using critical thinking both professionally and personally. Learning to think is a life skill. Problem solving is a part of every day life. Educators must make sure to understand every aspect of critical thinking in order to implement it in the classroom. This professional development will be presented by a fifteen- minute session explaining what critical thinking is and ways to implement it in the classroom. Then the staff will divide up into two random groups and enter pre-prepared Escape rooms where they will have to utilize critical thinking skills to escape. They will also be given ideas of how to turn their classrooms into an escape room to teach critical thinking.

Time Management

Time and space seem to be among the limited resources of many classrooms. According to McLeod, they are both necessary for a successful learning environment (McLeod, 2003, p.3) In order for a classroom to truly become time efficient; students need to learn good time management skills as well. At this time we will break out into groups. Each group will have a teacher and at least 2 students. The teachers will use the worksheet provided to help the students strategize ways to become better time managers. Then we will reverse roles and repeat. This professional development session will be presented in the for of a PowerPoint presentation and corresponding activities.

Classroom Management

Classroom management is key to running an efficient classroom that is conducive to learning. Each classroom is equipped with The Classroom Management Book by Harry K. and Rosemary T. Wong. They present key concepts of how to run a well-managed classroom. This book is filled with meaningful, easy to follow information. There are sample management plans and ideas embedded throughout the book. During this professional development the staff will explore, refresh and collaborate on management ideas. The book contains over 40 QR codes that will be scanned with classroom Ipads and then collaboratively discussed in detail.

Student Engagement

This unit will help teachers identify their own engaging learning experiences. Staff members will also define and discuss the definition of student engagement. Included in discussion will be the effect of student engagement on learning. Diving into research staff members will be able to determine when a student is engaged. Teachers will also discover what to do when their students are not engaged.

Internal Motivation

In this professional development model, teachers will learn what motivation is and how to motivate their students to learn. They will understand their role in motivating their students. Staff members will look at how to connect motivation and engagement. Teachers will also leave this session with an understanding of how difficult this task is as motivation is intrinsic. This lesson will be delivered through a PowerPoint presentation. Handouts and activities will also be included.

Study Skills

For many students, study skills are a vital part of learning. Study skills will help students move from just knowing information to actually understanding the information. In this session educators will break off into groups and discover and share a list of the top ten student skills that every student should possess. After a brief presentation, staff will complete a brief study skills checklist. They will use the results to evaluate their own study skills habits. These results can also be used to find their weaknesses and improve.

Math Concepts

For this professional development segment, the facilitator will present videos on various math concepts. The group will then be allowed to practice each concept as it is introduced and explained. This module will include topics such as, lighting curiosity, productive struggles, and student ownership. Staff members will research and explore new innovative ways to teach new concepts. Teachers will also look at games and activities that can be used to teach math concepts.

Recognizing and Dealing with Bullying

Bullying has become an ever-increasing problem on school campuses across America. In light of the technology age that we live in, cyber bullying is an even bigger problem. In this professional development session, teachers and facilitators will look at the different types of bullying and also familiarize themselves with the policy of their school and district. Staff members will also have the opportunity to speak to a local law enforcement officer to familiarize themselves with the laws that govern bullying. Most districts have very strict policies on bullying and it is important that teachers and students understand them.

Social and Emotional Learning

Teachers not only deliver academics, educators also teach life skills such as social skills and emotional coping skills. Social and emotional skills help students understand each other, have empathy, set goals, and build strong relationships, to name a few. Social and emotional development is just as important as the daily curriculum. Success in life depends on it. In this segment of professional development the staff will be presented with a PowerPoint slide show that describes what social and emotional learning is and what it is not. The PowerPoint will introduce methods and activities that can be used in the classroom to help promote social and emotional development.

The Writing Process

There are many steps in the writing process. Educators need to understand that writing is a process and not a product. Teachers in this professional development will have the opportunity to practice their writing skills as we teach the prewriting, rough draft, and final draft, which are all steps of the process. They will then read over and critique each other’s writing and work through the process collaboratively. This professional development is geared toward English language teachers; however, every teacher can learn something from this professional development as it relates to their subject specific area or cross-curriculum inclusion.

Differentiated Learning

Differentiated learning is necessary in the inclusive classrooms of today. This type of learning strategy allows all levels of learning abilities and disabilities to grasp information regardless to the learning style of the student. Because differentiated learning includes several different styles of learning it can be used in standards based classrooms to reach students on different levels of learning. It makes the standards attainable regardless of the learning ability of the student. This concept would be best presented through examples with sample mini lessons presented by some of the strongest teachers in that area.

Literacy Techniques

Literacy techniques include all of the processes students need for reading and writing. This is especially important in the primary grades as all learning is based on reading and writing. To be able to proceed in literacy and learning, students need to have a good understanding of sounds and lead up to more complex literacy skills such as spelling and vocabulary. This topic will be presented in the form of a PowerPoint with some sample lessons. Another topic that will be delved into collaboratively is assessing literacy.

Lesson Planning

Lesson planning should be more than just a written out list of tools and to do’s. Lesson planning should include pedagogical processes. Teachers should not only write out a list of what they will do to teach a particular lesson but lesson planning needs to be detailed preparation. It needs to address concepts to be learned and how educators will take students from the known to the unknown. They need to move from just concrete knowledge to an understanding of the information. This professional development session will be an open discussion on research- based content of lesson planning.

Parental Involvement

Research indicates a moderate relation between academic achievement and parental involvement. Parental expectations, not supervision, have the strongest affect on learning. Parental involvement alone does not guarantee academic success. Research shows that when schools met other needs of parents in the community, the involvement in the school was the strongest. This topic would best be covered in a research-based presentation that includes brainstorming ways to reach the parents in the community.

Assessment and Grading

Assessment and grading should not be simply an audit of knowledge. Assessments need to reach in and help determine understanding. In order to do so, assessments need to be reliable, valid, and fair. Assessments should also enhance instruction and motivate students to learn. Higher order thinking should be included in assessments. More problem solving activities should be included in assessments. A short PowerPoint presentation followed by some thoughtful collaborative discussions could result in meaningful assessments with powerful indications of whether or not learning is taking place.

STEAM

STEAM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. Literacy in these areas is best served through project-based learning. This topic of professional development would involve staff members breaking up into groups of three or four. Several STEAM stations would be set up with mini STEAM project that could be completed in a minimal amount of time. Each group would have a limited amount of time to complete a project and then rotate to the next station. After each group has done two stations, a discussion would take place on how to integrate such projects into the classroom instructions to enhance learning.

Thinking Maps  

 Thinking maps are thought to bring more understanding than the older note taking technique. Thinking maps is a graphic that shows the logical thinking processes that led to correct answers or understanding. Research indicates that using concept maps results in an increase in higher order thinking skills and thus greater levels of understanding. This professional development would consist of a short presentation and then teachers would engage in practicing the concept.

Technology in the Classroom

Technology in the classroom has two aspects. For the purpose of this professional development topic, we will focus on the use of technology in the classroom to enhance instruction and student engagement. The use of technology as a tool for instruction in the classroom has increased as the technological era has evolved. Educators must keep up with the speedy changes in the technology world. In order to do so, they must be in a constant state of learning. This professional development should be hands on. Teachers will bring their devices and learn how to implement a lesson plan into the interactive world. As the instructor guides them step by step through the process of integrating technology into a lesson plan, they will be able to practice as they follow along.

Project-based Learning

Project-based learning involves critical thinking skills. It improves learning capacities and understanding. Project-based learning has been said to encourage engagement and motivate students to learn. The best way to present this is to discuss the facts and then do some mini projects. Practice and hands on learning will allow the teachers to experience, first hand, how students feel when they are allowed to guide their own learning through project-based learning.

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