Professional Development Reflection - September

Professional Development - Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching

September 17, 2013

As a member of the New Teacher Mentor Program with District 205, I am required to attend five professional development meetings. As a part of the program, I am asked to reflect on each of the meetings I attend, and with good reason. Reflection, to me anyway, is one of the most beneficial, meaningful, and healthy exercises that I can do to continuously check in with myself on how I am doing professionally and emotionally. In District 205, every teacher is evaluated at least once a year in accordance with the Charlotte Danielson model. There are four domains in which a teacher is evaluated on: Planning and Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction, and Professional Responsibilities. This first professional development meeting went into further detail explaining each of these four domains more specifically.

The leader of the mentor program asked us to reflect on the following question: What insights have I gained from this meeting, and how will those insights impact my classroom?

I am glad to have learned more about the Danielson model. I learned what exactly is expected of me during my observations. (Since I am a new teacher and non-tenured, I will be observed THREE times with a summative evaluation at the end of the school year.) I want to tailor my teaching to align with the Danielson model not only for the purpose of my evaluation grade, but more importantly so that I know that I am a good and effective teacher.

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Updating this blog on October 30, 2013:

At this point, I have already been observed twice by an administrator, and on both observations, I received a Proficient mark (3 out of 4 points on the Danielson scale). My mentor and I are in the process of creating a goal for this year, and a part of that goal will entail striving to receive an Excellent mark (4 out of 4 points on the Danielson scale) on my third and final observation. Since I attended this first PD meeting, I've really been reading through and reflecting on the Danielson model. In preparation for creating this new goal, I am really thinking about Domain 3 in particular, which deals with Instruction. Administration will be looking to see whether or not I am a good teacher, but more than that, they will be looking to see how students respond to my lessons during classtime. Are students taking ownership for their learning? Are students motivated and involved with the lesson? What are students doing to ensure their successes? Domain 3 has five components:

3a Communicating With Students
3b Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques
3c Engaging Students in Learning
3d Using Assessment in Instruction
3e Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness

As I continue moving through this year, I will be working very hard toward increasing the meaning of my classroom instruction.