As an educator I have always strived to take opportunity of professional development opportunities. I started attending local and national conferences starting in college and have continued to attend conferences and training sessions to continue improving my pedagogical practices. Attending additional professional development opportunities and conferences in the future is also one of my future learning goals as an educator.
2019-2020 School Year
Best Practices in Co-teaching
January 7, 2020 (Romulus, MI) My personal goal for this school year was to improve my co-teaching practices so my co-teacher and I agreed to attend this conference together. This session focused on the various co-teaching models, best practices, and ways to work as a team. It also provided various resources to use with students such as brain breaks and activities to improve their working memory. The aspects of the conference that were most helpful to me were reviewing the various co-teaching models and learning that the "One Teach, One Support" model should be used sparingly rather than a majority of the time, which is common. This inspired my co-teacher and I to try out the other models and renewed our commitment to spend more time planning together in order to meet the needs of our students. Resource website: thinkingincommon.com |
ALICE Training
10/2/19 & 10/23/19 (Royal Oak Middle School) This session was presented by our school liaison officer and provided details and revisions to our school lockdown and safety procedures. The presentation covered the history of school lockdown procedures following Columbine and how they have recently changed due to research and data. This training was important for me as an educator because it contradicted the training I had received prior regarding best practices in the case of a school lockdown. I learned specifics regarding being in range to gunfire and that staying in the classroom is not necessarily the best choice in those situations. Resource website: www.alicetraining.com |
2018-2019 School Year
Teacher Labs
2018-2019 school year (Royal Oak Middle School)
During my end of year evaluation conference with my assistant principal I discussed my future participation in the Teacher Labs program at my school for the following year. The main concept with this program is acknowledging that all educators have room for improvement and can learn from other professionals in our field and more specifically, our building. Entrance into the program required a one day in service so that participants were familiar with the purpose behind the program and the format of observations and reflection. The second half of the day was spent observing several classes throughout the building with teachers who had given permission. Participants made observations and documented them on a specific form, then spent 5-10 minutes after discussing and reflecting with the rest of their observation group. Once observations were complete, we returned and completed some reflection prompts as a whole group. After participants had completed the in service day they could sign up for future dates based on topics of interest where they would be able to complete observations and discuss how it could apply to improve their practice. This experience was very beneficial to me as an educator because I had not been able to observe many other teacher's classrooms since college and it sparked so many ideas for me to see their classroom environment and how they approached the curriculum.
2018-2019 school year (Royal Oak Middle School)
During my end of year evaluation conference with my assistant principal I discussed my future participation in the Teacher Labs program at my school for the following year. The main concept with this program is acknowledging that all educators have room for improvement and can learn from other professionals in our field and more specifically, our building. Entrance into the program required a one day in service so that participants were familiar with the purpose behind the program and the format of observations and reflection. The second half of the day was spent observing several classes throughout the building with teachers who had given permission. Participants made observations and documented them on a specific form, then spent 5-10 minutes after discussing and reflecting with the rest of their observation group. Once observations were complete, we returned and completed some reflection prompts as a whole group. After participants had completed the in service day they could sign up for future dates based on topics of interest where they would be able to complete observations and discuss how it could apply to improve their practice. This experience was very beneficial to me as an educator because I had not been able to observe many other teacher's classrooms since college and it sparked so many ideas for me to see their classroom environment and how they approached the curriculum.
The science department at my school made the decision to switch to a new curriculum out of Michigan Technological University called MISTAR. I attended several training sessions in order to prepare to teach the new curriculum. The training guided participants through the first unit that would be taught at the beginning of sixth grade as an exemplar and taught us about each of the aspects of the program which aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Each unit is centered around a real-world issue called the "Unit Challenge Scenario" and allow students to see the relevance of their learning. We learned about each aspect of the lessons that include: Anchoring Experience, Uncover Your Ideas, Share Your Ideas, Connect Your Ideas, and Check Your Progress. This professional development was important because it prepared me to teach the new curriculum and understand the various aspects of the program and their importance. By first experiencing the curriculum from a student perspective it gave me a better idea of which parts students may struggle with and also how my students may approach the curriculum.
Resource link: mi-star.mtu.edu
Resource link: mi-star.mtu.edu
My school provided the opportunity for new hires to attend this conference to learn more about the International Baccalaureate (IB) program since we are an IB school. The conference covered aspects of the program including key concepts, related concepts, global concepts, statements of inquiry, inquiry questions, and approaches to learning. We also learned about criterion rubrics which are used to assess students and practiced grading student work. Attendees applied their learning by creating a unit planner to practice each aspect and then received feedback from the rest of the group.
Resource link: www.ibo.org
Resource link: www.ibo.org
2017-2018 School Year
Culturally Responsible Teaching with Dr. Jay B. Marks
9/27/17, 11/1/17, 12/13/17, 2/14/18, & 5/9/18 (Royal Oak Middle School)
Following incidents of inappropriate comments by students following the presidential election during the previous school year, our administration decided that professional development on culturally responsive teaching was necessary. Dr. Jay Marks worked with our staff several times throughout the year. A staff committee was assembled as well and titled "Character Education" in order to address these issues and adjust curriculum to include lessons for students on culture and social emotional learning. Staff read several articles, discussed how the ideas applied to our teaching, took surveys, and had conversations regarding questions and how to approach these topics with middle school students. I was lucky enough to have covered several topics in college so these trainings served more as a review for me regarding culture and teaching.
Resource link: www.nuatc.org/about-us/mentors/jay-b-marks-ph-d
9/27/17, 11/1/17, 12/13/17, 2/14/18, & 5/9/18 (Royal Oak Middle School)
Following incidents of inappropriate comments by students following the presidential election during the previous school year, our administration decided that professional development on culturally responsive teaching was necessary. Dr. Jay Marks worked with our staff several times throughout the year. A staff committee was assembled as well and titled "Character Education" in order to address these issues and adjust curriculum to include lessons for students on culture and social emotional learning. Staff read several articles, discussed how the ideas applied to our teaching, took surveys, and had conversations regarding questions and how to approach these topics with middle school students. I was lucky enough to have covered several topics in college so these trainings served more as a review for me regarding culture and teaching.
Resource link: www.nuatc.org/about-us/mentors/jay-b-marks-ph-d
2016-2017 School Year
South Carolina EdTech Conference
November 2-4, 2016 (Myrtle Beach, SC) The year my school transitioned to a 1:1 model, I was asked to attend a technology conference with my principal and our school's technology coach to bring back ideas to the staff. I attended several sessions including the rollout process that another district used to transition to 1:1, app smashing, technology programs and resources for schools, and podcasts in the classroom. I was able to bring back several ideas and resources to share with the staff which I presented during a professional development session. The main idea that stuck with me that I implemented following the conference was an app smash assignment that utilized several technology resources in one assignment. Students wrote a script with a partner then used "Recap" (this program no longer exists, but is similar to Flipgrid) to record a video of themselves explaining the process of completing a punnett square to the viewer while using a web whiteboard on another Chromebook to show the steps. This allowed me to assess student learning and a high level of understanding since they were able to essentially teach the skill to the viewer. Resource links: edtech.scaet.org awwapp.com info.flipgrid.com (similar program to Recap) |
2014-2015 School Year
South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Conference
March 6-7, 2015 (Myrtle Beach, SC) Following the first re-designation as a National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform "School to Watch" I attended the SCAMLE conference with my principal and several coworkers to accept the award. I also presented a session with my Professional Learning Community (PLC) partner discussing how we assess students and use assessment data to ensure a higher level of mastery of content. During the conference I attended sessions on various topics and gathered many ideas that I took back to my classroom and used with my students. Resource link: www.scamle.org/conferences |