Continuous Professional Improvement Plan of Action

Professional Development is more than just an event, or a moment in time. PD is a continuous commitment to improve or enhance our abilities, outcomes, and understanding about concepts related to our profession. Throughout the school year, I attend several required PD meetings. These meetings are usually on student half days, or the day before or after a break. Typically, the objective is to provide the teachers will tools and strategies to take back into the classroom in hopes to increase student achievement or growth. Most of the time, each department is assigned a specific PD to attend. Honestly, they have not been the most enjoyable or beneficial.

At least twice per year, the teachers in our district are afforded opportunities to participate in a district-wide training day. On these days, we choose sessions to attend, based on our interests. Usually, they are interactive and exciting.

In addition to in-district PD, I attend regional and national conference yearly. Most recently, I attended the Visible Learning Conference in Washington, DC this past summer. John Hattie's international research on special topics about K-12 education generated the foundation for his Visible Learning work. My experience was one of the highlights of my professional development in the ten years that I've been an educator. One of the most essential tools that I've taken away is the idea of the impact of student learning and achievement. Educators obviously want to have a positive impact on student learning. One of the books that I received, Visible Learning for Mathematics, outlines a list of strategies and their effect sizes. Last semester, I used self-reported grading with my students. At the beginning of a topic, students wrote their expected performance on a chart I created. We talked about the importance of setting high, but realistic goals for learning. I noticed that student off-task behavior was low on the days students reviewed their goals and analyzed their progress. I will continue to use this strategy to impact student learning, and to hopefully increase achievement scores from the previous school year.

Take a look at more of my professional development experiences and opportunities.