Personalized PD Day 

A personalized agenda for a PD day requested by a 4th/5th grade first-year teacher for unpacking, collaborative planning and peer observations. 

This artifact showcases a professional development day requested by a first-year 4th/5th-grade teacher. I purposefully created an agenda that would cover the wide range of requests, but that I felt would also have us leave the day with concrete results. The day included unit unpacking and planning, assessment analysis and development, and lots of collaborative learning.

The morning began with unpacking the research and theory behind the mathematics in the unit (III.ii.d), doing the math of the final assessment and then following a unpacking protocol to best plan for the unit (III.ii.a). This included a rewrite of the final unit assessment to better align with student needs and learning goals (II.c.vi).  

Collaboration was central to this day, as participants partnered to collectively plan to improve each student's achievement (III.v.e). We worked with a co-teacher and math accelerationist, and cited our unpacking protocol and data to craft recommendations to address learning gaps (III.ii.d, III.iv.b). We also had the opportunity to visit three math classrooms for peer observations. There, the teacher witnessed many new instructional strategies and best practices, which we were able to debrief and reflect on. The teacher selected 2 new instructional practice goals for a coaching cycle. 

By the end of the day, all the participants left with actionable insights, new content knowledge, and new professional goals for improving student learning. 

Mathematics Specialist Standards 

II.c.vi: Know the different formats, purposes, uses, and limitations of various types of assessment of student learning; be able to choose, design, and/or adapt assessment tasks for monitoring student learning.

III.ii.a: Engage in and facilitate continuous and collaborative learning that draws upon research in mathematics education to inform practice;

III.iv.b: e.g., evaluate the alignment of mathematics curriculum standards, textbooks, and required assessments and make recommendations for addressing learning and achievement gaps;

III.ii.d: enhance learning opportunities for all students’ and teachers’ mathematical knowledge development;

III.v.e: partner with school-based professionals to improve each student’s achievement;