Developing Professional Learning

 Teachers enter the education field with different backgrounds just as students enter the classroom with different learning styles. It is time we differentiate and partner professional learning practices as it is expected inside classrooms.  While we propose to teachers to incorporate turn and talks during a lesson, we should be compelled to incorporate the same long term exercises in professional learning.

Professional learning is essential in education. As we replace teaching practices of copy and repeat to navigate and explore, we battle technology gurus versus pen and paper advocates.  We should create an equivocal learning environment for all educators. We want to help educators stay updated with the latest teaching methodologies, technologies, and research findings, while unifying previous successful practices.  Giving time to deliberate with like minded peers and innovative risk-takers, the partnership allows for strategic growth for veterans and new teachers. Evolving educational needs and standards of students should be the modeled culture of the rapidly changing professional learning world.

Our campus theme for every PD is “Screen to Scratch.” We are questioned with "How are the students able to show understanding of what has been taught from the screen(on a test) and placed on their scratch paper to show understanding?"  Consistently,  I remind our principals, teachers are in the same position as students.  How can they show what they have learned in PL in the classroom?  As an example I give, in math I have students that have computational needs and some students that have conceptual needs, in order to achieve the greatest amount of growth, it's best for me to partner them together.  Our school has a lot of division between newer teachers and veterans.  Both have experiences the other needs.  With the assistance of admin's guidance, I believe we can make greater strides with strategic collaborations. We can build capacity in teachers like with build capacity with students and could see a veteran teacher with great classroom management assisting another teacher with procedures or a teacher that prefers to write and make copies of each assignment for each students partnering with a teacher that uses Kami or Google Classroom. 

To create my presentation, I began with google slides. I found pictures and several teacher quotes through google search engine to add to the visuals to my presentation. I also embedded a video from youtube. I then recorded my voice over the slide presentation using screen castify and saved it to my google drive. 

How it will happen

References

Empowering the teacher technophobe: Kristin Daniels at tedxburnsvilleed. (2013). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/puiNcIFJTCU 

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf 

Start with why -- how great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek | tedxpugetsound. (2009). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA&t=164s

Toikkanen, T. (2016, June 30). Learning Despite School. Retrieved August 1, 2016, from https://medium.com/lifelearn/learning-despite-school-d0879be9464f#.f6roydrfs

Pope, C., Beal, C., Long, S., & McCammon, L. (2011). They teach us how to teach them: Teacher preparation for the 21st century. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 11(4), 324-349. Retrieved from http://www.citejournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/v11i4languagearts1.pdf

Wei, R. C., Darling-Hammond, L., Andree, A., Richardson, N., & Orphanos, S. (2009). Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: A Status Report on Teacher Development in the U.S. and Abroad. Technical Report. National Staff Development Council. Retrieved from https://learningforward.org/report/status-professional-learning-2/phase-professional-learning-learning-profession/

Contribution to Your Learning and the Learning Community

In the group collaboration, I actively engaged by sharing insights, offering constructive feedback, and collaborating with team members. Ultimately, the success of our collaboration was due to the commitment to teamwork, openness, and shared accountability of each individual. Although I was not a leader, I appreciated the leadership of members Tiffany Wood and Caryn Tate. Their courage to post helped push me to post and feel comfortable to provide feedback to others.

Through the Groupme created by Vanessa Lim, I provided support and recognition to fellow group members as we presented each of our assignments. I shared my website as resources and to contribute to the leverage of each of our strengths. I provided feedback to group members like Laura Hallonquist, who did an amazing job of incorporating activities that would allow uncomfortable teachers to become more comfortable and Kimberly Bridgewater whose website was well organized and with an user friendly layout to review all of her work.

I completed and utilized the readings and videos, but did not complete all the assignments on time.  I did ensure to complete all assignments including the discussion post.  I would like to see myself grow by adding specifics of my references within the discussions. Most of my discussion posts were generalized interpretations of all of the readings. I did appreciate at one point, during my reply to a post, seeing the following reading be confirmation of understanding of how teachers should be inclusive in learning with their students. 

My revisions began with including references for my call to actions using APA style and made corrections to the narrative text on my portfolio page.  I clearly defined where the 5 Principles took place during my action plan. I added an end of year survey. 

Overall, I feel like this first introduction course was a little difficult for me to understand what was required.  Now that I am comfortable and understanding what is required, and how revisions and collaborations are to be incorporated in the process of these learning and activities. I am confident that the next class I will do much better. In the next course I would like to take on a little bit more leadership and utilize collaboration and blended learning within my portfolio.

My group collaborators

Caryn Tate, Kimbery Bridgewater, Vanessa Lim, Tiffany Wood, Kenyana Blount

I would give myself a 75.