5.2 Professional Learning
Candidates develop and implement technology-based professional learning that aligns to state and national professional learning standards, integrates technology to support face-to-face and online components, models principles of adult learning, and promotes best practices in teaching, learning, and assessment.
Artifact: Professional Learning Assessment
Reflection:
The Professional Learning Assessment and GAPS Review was completed for ITEC 7460. The purpose of this assignment was to see how the professional development at our school was being planned based on an interview with administration and an extensive rubric. This artifact demonstrates mastery of Standard 5.2 because I developed and implemented technology-based professional learning that aligns to state and national professional learning standards, integrates technology to support face-to-face and online components, models principles of adult learning, and promotes best practices in teaching, learning, and assessment.
This was a huge project that was very important to me on a personal level. I had decided at the beginning of the school year to be a part of the Professional Learning Key Committee, before I even knew about the specifics of this class, based on the desire to have more input on the professional development sessions we are required to attend during the school year. I interviewed our principal and found her to be very pro-technology. She wants her staff integrating technology and engaging the students in all their lessons. She understood that there would be some technology challenges based on the fact that the technology specialist, technology lab, and technology specials class had been disbanded due to the necessity for another classroom. She gave information about where professional development funding comes from and how the courses are usually determined. Next, I met with my committee where we talked in great length about the professional learning standards and how we were doing in each. We definitely had some areas of weakness, like: the use of teacher leaders to direct learning, the use of data after the professional development course to see if classroom improvement has been made, a plan to determine teacher reactions to the professional development, using mostly whole group settings for learning experiences, and giving opportunities for multiple training on the same topic during the year. Our committee determined that we thought it would be a great idea to differentiate the learning of our professional development courses. This would provide teachers with the opportunity to go to a meeting that would meet the teacher where they were and expand upon that knowledge. We decided to offer two technology courses and two Writer’s Workshop courses (see more detail in Standard 5.1). My next step was to develop a survey and a professional learning plan and try to meet the needs of the teachers at my school and the requirements of the ITEC 7460 class.
When looking back, the thing that I would change would be what we did during those committee meetings. Our committee continued to meet, but we did not have a lot of purpose after those first couple of sessions. The assistant principal was responsible for most of the professional development sessions for the remainder of the school year and we were not really needed. I would have liked to have re-visited the professional learning standards to see if we thought we were making improvements, and developed some ideas about what we could do for the areas where we were not operational. This would have been a little bit challenging for me to spearhead because the teachers were often so ready to go home that I’m not sure how involved they really would have been in this activity. I may have needed a little extra assistance from the assistant principal to make that a meaningful task. I feel that it would have been helpful though.
Overall, the teachers were very responsive to the professional development courses being differentiated. Several areas on the professional learning rubric improved based on the courses we designed, as well as those designed by the assistant principal to further our training in Writer’s Workshop during the year. The administration listened to teacher feedback and asked opinions about the professional development, as well. We did not get to have the second session of differentiated courses, as we had planned and hoped, which I wish could have happened. There were not enough professional learning days for that and too many other things we needed to learn. My hopes are to serve on the Professional Learning Key Committee again during the upcoming school year and re-visit the professional learning standards with my committee to see if changes were made during the year prior. I would like for us to also try to implement the differentiated learning courses again for the staff. The most obvious impact made when using differentiated and/or meaningful professional development courses is that teachers are excited about the learning, they are anxious to use the new strategies learned in their class, and the students become excited and perform better. This was evident in the Writer’s Workshop professional development courses that took place during the school year. I want to make sure that teachers are having the same types of opportunities to sustain and improve on their technology training so they will have similar effects. That is one of the things I hear most from teachers that I talk to about technology – they need ongoing training so they can retain the information they know and gain new information and skills to try.
The Professional Learning Assessment and GAPS Review was completed for ITEC 7460. The purpose of this assignment was to see how the professional development at our school was being planned based on an interview with administration and an extensive rubric. This artifact demonstrates mastery of Standard 5.2 because I developed and implemented technology-based professional learning that aligns to state and national professional learning standards, integrates technology to support face-to-face and online components, models principles of adult learning, and promotes best practices in teaching, learning, and assessment.
This was a huge project that was very important to me on a personal level. I had decided at the beginning of the school year to be a part of the Professional Learning Key Committee, before I even knew about the specifics of this class, based on the desire to have more input on the professional development sessions we are required to attend during the school year. I interviewed our principal and found her to be very pro-technology. She wants her staff integrating technology and engaging the students in all their lessons. She understood that there would be some technology challenges based on the fact that the technology specialist, technology lab, and technology specials class had been disbanded due to the necessity for another classroom. She gave information about where professional development funding comes from and how the courses are usually determined. Next, I met with my committee where we talked in great length about the professional learning standards and how we were doing in each. We definitely had some areas of weakness, like: the use of teacher leaders to direct learning, the use of data after the professional development course to see if classroom improvement has been made, a plan to determine teacher reactions to the professional development, using mostly whole group settings for learning experiences, and giving opportunities for multiple training on the same topic during the year. Our committee determined that we thought it would be a great idea to differentiate the learning of our professional development courses. This would provide teachers with the opportunity to go to a meeting that would meet the teacher where they were and expand upon that knowledge. We decided to offer two technology courses and two Writer’s Workshop courses (see more detail in Standard 5.1). My next step was to develop a survey and a professional learning plan and try to meet the needs of the teachers at my school and the requirements of the ITEC 7460 class.
When looking back, the thing that I would change would be what we did during those committee meetings. Our committee continued to meet, but we did not have a lot of purpose after those first couple of sessions. The assistant principal was responsible for most of the professional development sessions for the remainder of the school year and we were not really needed. I would have liked to have re-visited the professional learning standards to see if we thought we were making improvements, and developed some ideas about what we could do for the areas where we were not operational. This would have been a little bit challenging for me to spearhead because the teachers were often so ready to go home that I’m not sure how involved they really would have been in this activity. I may have needed a little extra assistance from the assistant principal to make that a meaningful task. I feel that it would have been helpful though.
Overall, the teachers were very responsive to the professional development courses being differentiated. Several areas on the professional learning rubric improved based on the courses we designed, as well as those designed by the assistant principal to further our training in Writer’s Workshop during the year. The administration listened to teacher feedback and asked opinions about the professional development, as well. We did not get to have the second session of differentiated courses, as we had planned and hoped, which I wish could have happened. There were not enough professional learning days for that and too many other things we needed to learn. My hopes are to serve on the Professional Learning Key Committee again during the upcoming school year and re-visit the professional learning standards with my committee to see if changes were made during the year prior. I would like for us to also try to implement the differentiated learning courses again for the staff. The most obvious impact made when using differentiated and/or meaningful professional development courses is that teachers are excited about the learning, they are anxious to use the new strategies learned in their class, and the students become excited and perform better. This was evident in the Writer’s Workshop professional development courses that took place during the school year. I want to make sure that teachers are having the same types of opportunities to sustain and improve on their technology training so they will have similar effects. That is one of the things I hear most from teachers that I talk to about technology – they need ongoing training so they can retain the information they know and gain new information and skills to try.