l a n o i s s Profe DEVELOPMENT
by Shelley Frey
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” - Gandhi As an educator one of the best ways to develop a love of learning in your students is by showcasing your own continued growth and passion for learning. One of the main reasons I decided to get into the field of education is because I enjoy learning. From the moment I began teaching I immediately saw what an impact using technology in the classroom had on the engagement level and learning that was taking place in my classroom. I believe that as as educators it is our responsibility to remain on the cutting edge of what is most efficient and effective in student learning and preparing them for the future. The only way to do this is through professional development. I believe there are multiple ways in which professional development can take place. As teachers we need to reach out and take advantage of the opportunities that we have available to us. Professional Development Plan In order to make professional Development efficient every teacher should develop their own goals. These goals should include mastering content and delivery, improving assessment procedures, and staying current on technology trends in education. According to Dr. Thomas Loveland,” By writing professional development plans that link performance-based goals to standards and specific training, teachers will help ensure that their students are taught through standards-based methods and content,
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thereby leading to effective student learning and increased technological literacy” (Loveland, 2012). Credit Level Classes Workshops PLC’s PLN’ 25%
You should
25%
participate in various forms of professional development.
25%
25%
Professional Learning Communities One of the best places to start your professional development is through professional learning communities. This can take the place of informal settings within a school or more formal settings within a district. When I first began teaching I was fortunate in that I had two excellent mentors that were more then willing to share materials and ideas with me. They had both been teaching for fifteen plus years and they knew what worked and what didn’t. I found this to be a great starting place and was able to take what they had and adapt it to fit my teaching style. From that experience I adopted the philosophy “why reinvent the wheel” and believe strongly in learning from
I am now teaching technology full-time and asFerhoncus the only technology teacher in my school I de plub have had to branch out beyond my school. I was fortunate in that my district provides Omare foremne several opportunities throughout the year for Lemacord Promwn teachers to meet with teachers from the same content area. From that I helped to establish a cloud based area where we can share lessons and resources with one another. I highly recommend as a starting place to develop a relationship and go to technology leaders within your school and/or district. Not only should they be familiar with the newest technologies, but they should also have information related to tools and district firewall and protocol when implementing these technologies. Professional Learning Networks In addition to learning from people within your district it’s important to reach out beyond your district. There has been a major increase in the number of online communities forming in the area of education. These communities offer busy teachers places to ask advice, offer opinions, engage in deep discussions with colleagues, share lesson plans, teaching strategies, and collaborate. Professional learning networks can be very useful in increasing knowledge and finding new tools. One of my favorite resources is Ning. From there you can find many useful Education Ning Sites. Some example sites that center around technology in education include the following: • Technology Integration in Education • Classroom 2.0 • Edutopia • Teacher Vodcasting and Flipped Classroom Network • Global Education Conference • iPads in Education
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Workshops, Conferences, and Classes In addition to learning from others I also believe it’s important to increase your knowledge on a consistent basis by taking advantage of more formal learning opportunities. Through my district I attend workshops on technologies that I am unfamiliar with. I also volunteer to be apart of projects where I will be trained on using new technologies. Through these experiences often times can obtain valuable information from colleagues that also have a similar interest in using technology. I also think it’s important to attend technology conferences. I was fortunate in that I was able to attend an ITSE conference a few years ago. Through that experience I was able to make some connections with a few workshop instructors and continue to I want to take advantage of professional social networks such as Ning.
Citations Flanigan, R. L. (2011). Networking Professionals. Education Week, 31(9), S10-S12. Loveland, T. (2012). Professional Development Plans for Technology Education: AccountabilityBased Applications at the Secondary and PostSecondary Level. Technology & Engineering Teacher,71(7), 26-31.