Professional Development Plan

Professional development is needed for every teaching.

Developing their teaching they are improving their teaching in the
classroom and interactions with students daily. I am currently student
teaching, however I seen in myself many things that I need to improve
on and implement into my professional development and classroom
between now and then. I have created two professional S.M.A.R.T.
goals to improve my future classroom and myself. These goals include:

By January 1, 2017 implement 3 out of 20 strategies defined by

Marcia L. Tate in Worksheets Dont Grow Dendrites including
movement, music, and storytelling to improve student learning
and memory in the classroom content each day and anticipate
up to a 30% increase in student achievement based on reading

selection tests.
By August 1, 2016 I will study and spend time learning the
content of the classroom studies specifically reading and math. I
will be able to teach with confidence knowing that I know the
content and the information will be taught correctly to the
students. The students summative content assessments and
feedback from observations will indicate if students are learning
and retaining the information needed to build on for the next
lessons.

These goals are written with the intention of using them in my

future classroom, however they are goals that I can work on and
perfect between now and my first year of teaching. The first goal is
something that I can use and perfect while I am substitute teaching
over the course of the next couple months. The second goal I can work
on now and my first teaching position. I struggled with the content of
third grade and knowing what I was teaching to the students. I set this
goal for myself because I know that I need to know the content before I
can teach the content.
During the first days of my student teaching I was invited by the
staff of Montana City to attend a professional development
presentation given by Marcia Tate about her book Worksheets Dont
Grow Dendrites. She described 20 different strategies that she has
seen work that improve students engagement and learning in the
classroom. The 20 strategies include: brainstorming and discussion,
drawing and artwork, field trips, games, graphic organizers, humor,
manipulatives and models, metaphors, analogies, and similes,
mnemonic devices, movement, music, project-based and problembased instruction, reciprocal teaching and cooperative learning, role
playing, storytelling, technology, visualization, visuals, work study,
writing and journals. My goal is to eventually implement all the
strategies into my classroom, but for now I am going to perfect three.
In her book she talks about suggested lesson plans and activities to

incorporate all of her strategies into the classroom lessons. For

example Marcia suggests different music with different beats pee
minute depending on the task the students are completing and the
amount of time allotted for completing the task. Each suggestion
comes with who or grade levels, when during a lesson weather is it
before, during and/or after a lesson and the content area.
Between now and my first year of teaching I plan to read the
entire book and specifically focus on the three strategies that I chose
for my goal. This will allow me time to prefect and really think about
some ways that I can incorporate each strategy in my everyday lesson
plans. Also, reaching to outside sources like instructional coaches in my
school to see their opinion on the strategies and which one they
recommend to implement first.
Once in my classroom I can make sure that I am reaching these
goals by asking teachers and administrators to come and observe me
to see if they are observing those strategies in my lesson plans. Also
asking for ways that I could improve my lessons to make them more
engaging and what they have used that worked in their classrooms. I
could also record myself and decide in my own reflections if it am
meeting me own goals. By reflection of what the purpose of each
strategy and how Marcia suggests to implement each one. Another
way to see if my lessons are improving is by simply looking at the
students work. It is improving? Are they able to memorize more things

and stay engaged longer that before? Are my test scores improving?
Asking those questions and reflecting on my teaching is going to be
the more effective way to monitor that I am reaching my goal of using
Marcia Tates 20 instructional strategies in my classroom.
Once I reach that goal I can move on and incorporate three more.
Keeping the same three I started with and when I feel comfortable and
feel that I have completed the present goal I try to use 6 of the 20
strategies until I am using as many strategies as I can in my classroom.
My second goal focuses more on one of the things that I noticed
while in my students teaching placement. Knowing the content before
you teach it to the students is the most important thing about
teaching. You have to know the content before you can teach the
content. For example, I had to teach third grade math and I had to go
back and relearn basic subtraction that I was going to teach the
students. So, between now and when I get my first teaching position I
plan on spending time and observing while I am substituting in other
classrooms and other grades what the students need to know. Looking
at the Common Core State Standards sometimes are not enough. I
need to know what materials and books the students are using. From
there I can think about how I would teach that lesson and relearning
the material if I need to. For example, looking at all the different types
of reading programs that are used in Montana. This will allow me to

look at each book and learn about what the students in that grade
need to know before they can move to the next grade.
Once I have a teaching position I can look a little closer to what I
will be teaching and how I am going to teach it all. I will have an overall
idea of what each students needs to know based on their grade level.
Then I can go back and look what skills need to be really set and solid
before I build off of it, because they are going to build off it even more
in the next grade. I can look at the materials closer and think about
how I am going to break this down and teach it to my classroom.
Knowing the content well and sometimes going out the book is even
more helpful. Not only getting materials from other sources but also
looking to make sure that the information is correct and sometime
building in other skills that may be a little higher but still needed.
One of the ways to monitor that I am meeting my goal is by
looking at the summative assessments. I can then look to see that the
students are retaining the information and that I am teaching it
correctly if they are meeting the standards with proficiency. Another
way to monitor is having a meeting with an instructional coach to
evaluate my lesson plans and find their opinions of what I am teaching.
I want to get reassurance that what I am teaching is relevant and
applicable for my students. Sitting down with the coach will let me
know that I am on track with my lesson plans and they can suggest
other things that I can do to make sure that I am meeting my goal.

Then having them and other faculty come in and observe me that have
a few more teaching years and give me advice on how my lessons
went well. Am I teaching everything that I should be or is their
something that I might be missing? This will allow me to not only
monitor myself in reaching my goals, but others can help me achieve
my goal of knowing the content.
I think that is goal is something that every teacher should have.
This is a goal that shows that you are always improving your teaching
of each subject and content that needs to be taught in the classroom.
You can always know more content and have other materials to
improve your lesson based on your students and how they learn.
Knowing the content is a goal that I have set for myself and when I feel
like I have learned and feel fully confident in teaching it I think that I
may have reached by goal, but then I need to build off that and think
of new ways to teach the same content that is going to meet the needs
of the students who are presently in my classroom.