Colorado Quality Standard 5: Leadership in Professional Development
I am currently working with my English Language Development team, administrators, and trained WIDA and SIOP trainers to secure professional development for next year. I have been working with my principal to schedule an initial training to begin the school year in August, and we hope to offer a continuing class throughout the year to help develop our faculty in the area of differentiation and sheltered instruction. The main priority at this point is to secure professional development for our entire staff in a long-term plan that will endure three years. I will also be attending a WIDA trainign by the Colorado Department of Education this May to further my knowledge base.
The implementation of this specific professional development demonstrates leadership in the school (Element A). This professional development is a long-term plan with a collaborative effort among the entire faculty. I have found that a common goal among staff improves school culture and camaraderie. SIOP and differentiation training will also contribute to the educational practices of the teachers in my school (Element B). I have put this type of professional development on the front burner for the school in advocating for the English Learners I work with (Element C). English Learners are only with me for 1 to 2 periods a day, leaving a large part of their English learning to occur in content classes. It is my hope that this professional development proposal will better equip my colleagues to work with ELs.
Providing professional development for your colleagues and school is an involved process. I have provided PD in the past, but it was optional. When planning this future professional development, we discussed the intricacies of our school district. We concluded that when deciding what type of PD to offer, it was essential that the training be mandatory and necessary for employment with our district. For this purpose, the PD will be continuous in order to include this in the induction process. Additionally, what appears to motivate our staff is graduate credit; knowing this, we will implement a yearlong 2-credit course through Adam’s State that I will facilitate along with Adam’s State faculty. I will have more to reflect upon in two years, but I feel we are off to a great start with our long-term PD plans.
The implementation of this specific professional development demonstrates leadership in the school (Element A). This professional development is a long-term plan with a collaborative effort among the entire faculty. I have found that a common goal among staff improves school culture and camaraderie. SIOP and differentiation training will also contribute to the educational practices of the teachers in my school (Element B). I have put this type of professional development on the front burner for the school in advocating for the English Learners I work with (Element C). English Learners are only with me for 1 to 2 periods a day, leaving a large part of their English learning to occur in content classes. It is my hope that this professional development proposal will better equip my colleagues to work with ELs.
Providing professional development for your colleagues and school is an involved process. I have provided PD in the past, but it was optional. When planning this future professional development, we discussed the intricacies of our school district. We concluded that when deciding what type of PD to offer, it was essential that the training be mandatory and necessary for employment with our district. For this purpose, the PD will be continuous in order to include this in the induction process. Additionally, what appears to motivate our staff is graduate credit; knowing this, we will implement a yearlong 2-credit course through Adam’s State that I will facilitate along with Adam’s State faculty. I will have more to reflect upon in two years, but I feel we are off to a great start with our long-term PD plans.