Professional Development Plans

Week 2, 6, & 8 

Goal: Communication Skills- I specifically want to look at enunciation, language usage and mannerisms. 

For my first week I was extremely nervous in the classroom. I knew how I was presenting in front of my peers and it is not very calm, it is red faced, sweaty palms, and just shaking nervous. I thought that if I teach like I present in front of my classmates we are in for a long eight weeks. I understood the content that I was going to teach so I had to focus on the way that I was going to deliver the lesson. The reason I chose this PDP was to ensure that I was talking at an appropriate rate for my students to hear me as well as understand what I was teaching. I was mainly focused on my mannerisms and how I carried myself as well as my voice. 

After reflecting with my cooperating teacher, she asked how I thought it went. I was honest and said that I felt like I was talking way to loud, I thought I stuttered on words and did not look professional. She smiled and mentioned that it was the opposite. She said that my enunciation was clear although there were a few times I would not finish words fully such as “ca” instead of “cat”. She mentioned that I looked very calm and made sure that I was making eye contact with all of my students. I was relieved to hear that my volume was good for talking to the class as a whole but also quieter and at an appropriate volume while talking to individual students. In my general feedback she said that I need to be sure that I have all of the student’s attention before continuing on with the lesson so that all of the students are receiving the instruction. Overall, I was extremely happy with the first PDP feedback and took into consideration all of the ways that I can improve. 

I did revisit this goal for week 6. For week six we decided to co-teach a physical education lesson. I have never taught a lesson in the gym before and was unsure that the students would be able to hear me or stay focused. Again, I felt very different than how I looked delivering the lesson. My cooperating teacher said that I had good management, I as at a good volume and kept the children engaged. In the general feedback she mentioned how she apricated the time I took to allow the students to choose their own actions for the game to allow them to be more engaged. 

To me being able to communicate is one of the most important skills to have with the students. I thought for the last week I would make sure that my communication was perfect. In the general feedback my cooperating teacher mentioned that I had a good flow of instructional strategies. She also mentioned that I had an excellent review and delivery of the instructions to make sure that all of my students were understanding. She said this is a goal that we do not need to revisit heavily anymore. 

Week 3

Goal: use inclusive language and give clear instructions

I decided to use this PDP because in my everyday language I tend to say “you guys” and other “slang” often. Once we were going over the PDP my teacher mentioned that I did not use any improper English which was a relief. She mentioned that the instruction that I gave about the steps were good because the majority of the students did not have any questions about the steps and understood what to do. I focused on getting the students to repeat the instructions back to me so that I was sure that they understood and I believe that this helped myself and them understand the instructions better. I tried to do attention getters such as “if you clear me clap once…” and it worked for the majority of the students but there were still a few that were not listening. My cooperating teacher suggested that I need to do it a couple times to ensure that every child is listening. 

At the end of my general feedback my cooperating teacher left a “next steps” section which I really apricated. She said that the next steps to work towards are attention getters and more detailed modeling. I found it beneficial to hear what I should be focusing on next so that I can work on it myself and think of ways to improve. 

Week 4 

Goal: Classroom Management- Awareness & responsiveness. Making sure I have all of the students attention before starting the lesson. 

Due to previous feedback that I have received I thought that this would be an appropriate PDP to try next. My cooperating teacher mentioned the previous week that classroom management is something that I should work towards. She mentioned that I scanned the room an appropriate amount and that my eye contact was good so that the students felt as though they were heard when sharing. I tried to do the clap attention getter again with the students and she mentioned that because I did it once and then again to make sure that the entire class was listening worked better than just doing it once. She mentioned that my classroom management improved over the week and that I had all of the students engaged in the activity. One thing that she mentioned stood out to her was having a non-example. By doing this I allowed the students to pick out the errors in the work before they had the chance to create their own. 

Week 5 

Goal: Giving direction 

For this lesson plan I had many steps for the students to understand so I decided to do a giving directions PDP. For the most part my students were engaged in the instruction. I had two students who I had a hard time getting on track. Although I have been in the classroom for 5 days, I was not too sure how to handle these students and if they needed constant reminders to pay attention. I tried several things to get their attention but it was a place I struggled. My cooperating teacher suggested having more visuals with my instruction so that my students who are EAL would understand even if they did not understand the verbal instruction in its entirety. Overall, my cooperating teacher said that my classroom management has improved immensely over the course of the time being in the classroom. 

Week 7 

Goal: Set, Development, and Closure

After observing and creating lessons for 7 weeks I have realized that often we do a repeat of things such as read a book, then do an activity and to close draw a reflection. I thought that I would try something new. I started off the same way by reading a book and showing the students a video but instead of doing an individual activity I got the students to go around on a scavenger hunt to look for materials around the classroom. My cooperating teacher was happy with the idea and said that the students were all engaged.