Life-Long Professional Learning
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Lifelong learning is an important part of many careers. Growing up, I witnessed my dad participating in continued professional learning, which is required for him to maintain his licensure as a certified public accountant. Likewise, doctors and lawyers need their own versions of professional learning. As technology, laws, and society change consistently, its is no surprise that all of these professions need to engage in lifelong learning. Teachers are no exception...curriculum and technology are ever-advancing, and in turn, teachers need to be lifelong learners so they can keep up with expectations. In order to fulfill this requirement, many teachers participate in required professional development from their schools/districts or select professional development to achieve a set number of hours per school year.
Professional learning helps me to be informed of and implement best practices, keep up with curriculum changes or get new instructional ideas, and become more confident as an educator.
Choosing reputable resources and communities focused on strategies and technologies for personalized learning
As I have studied personalized learning, many resources I have found helpful were from either Barbara Bray or Kathleen McClaskey. They authored a book together, called How to Personalize Learning: A Practical Guide for Getting Started and Going Deeper. While taking ITEC 7602 and 7603, I have read this book. I believe it has helped me to begin personalizing learning in my classroom and it has also served as a thought-provoking resource while working on the competencies within this ePortfolio.
The course content in the personalized learning endorsement has provided me with many pre-curated reputable resources. As I venture out on my own after completion of the program, I will be responsible for assessing resources to determine their reputability. In order to help select appropriate resources and communities, I will participate in professional learning communities/networks for ongoing growth. The communities outlined in the section below have also served as resources for me as i have delved into personalized learning.
Participating in professional learning communities and networks for ongoing growth in personalized learning
I have been both a participant in and a creator of professional learning. Most of my recent involvement in professional learning has been digital, but I am hoping to start attending conferences, such as the NSTA or GSTA conferences I have attended in the past.
Professional learning networks that I am a part of include the Google Educator Group for Georgia, The National Science Teacher Association and Georgia Science Teacher Association, various Facebook groups including Teach with Tech, and ESL/ESOL Teachers in Secondary. I also have created a professional learning network on Facebook, called Georgia Biology Teachers Collaboration.
One professional learning opportunity that I hope to attend in the future is the Georgia Educational Technology Conference, hosted by the Georgia Educational Technology Consortium (GaETC). This conference helps teachers to develop their knowledge about edTech strategies and tools, so they can better implement technology into their classrooms.
During the personalized learning courses, #KSUple and #PersonaliseKSU on Twitter have been useful to share and view ePortfolios. I also joined the Personalized Learning Educators at KSU group on LinkedIn, which I am excited to use to connect with peers from my cohort and others after completion of the endorsement. The embedded Canva slides below include screenshots of my recent involvement in professional learning communities.
Creating opportunities as a teacher leader, mentor, coach or content expert within the school, district or state to promote personalized learning
This school year, I have had several experiences working as a teacher leader and coach within my school, and I have been able to promote personalized learning through these experiences.
In our collaborative learning team, the biology teachers work together to share instructional ideas and resources in addition to assessment planning, data collection, and data analysis. This school year, we decided as a team to have one project per semester, which counts as a summative grade. In the planning and development phase of these projects, I expressed to the team that we should integrate elements of personalized learning by allowing our students more learner agency - options for voice and choice within the projects. Our cellular energy summative project, shown below, allowed students to choose an artifact. In my classes, learners co-planned with me during the project workdays, and I encouraged my biology team to implement co-planning, even if it was very informal.
This semester, I have been leading a professional development workshop series on Google Workspace for Education tools. Though the primary focus has been technology integration for formative assignments and assessments, I have been able to integrate personalized learning ideas into the content of my sessions. Below is a screencast showing how to create a choice board in Google Slides. I have also aided teachers in the creation of Google resources such as a Google Form for students to request help, learner survey and reflection templates, growth mindset posters, and more.
Lastly, I have shared support resources for personalized learning with other teachers at my school. Some of the resources I have shared are shown below the student progress update handout and the study log - both of which were located on other pages of this ePortfolio. These both could be adapted and used in any classroom. I have encouraged my coworkers to seek more feedback and reflection from their students as part of personalizing their learning and developing relationships.
Rubric + Checklist - CE Summative.pdf
Sources
https://www.ascd.org/blogs/professional-development-for-lifelong-learning
https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/what-is-a-professional-learning-community
https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/student-engagement-key-to-personalized-learning
https://www.edutopia.org/article/creating-effective-professional-learning-communities
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