Professional Development Flashcards
THE SPED teacher facilitates
the collaboration process among the student, parents, general education teachers, special education staff, and campus staff.
The SPED teacher is cognizant of the benefit of nurturing
respectful and collaborative relationships among students, parents, and campus and district professionals.
The SPED teacher serves as a collaborative resource for students, parents, general and special education personnel, and administrative personnel to effectively
plan, design, and implement a program to address the needs of students with disabilities.
If general education teachers do not have the knowledge of how to meet the needs of their students receiving special education services, they
must seek out this information. This is most important in the general education classroom to ensure that the student has access to the curriculum and can progress throughout the year.
The implementation of the IEP (Individualized Education Plan) is a
collaborative effort between the general and SPED teachers.
The role of the SPED teacher is to
provide instructional resources and expert knowledge to support instructional delivery. The SPED teacher also provides instructional resources such as assistive technology, modified assignments, instructional manipulatives, or text resources.
If the general education teacher is having trouble implementing the IEP, the SPED teacher
coaches them through the process.
Teachers do not work in isolation. It is important for teachers to understand different
roles on campus and how to collaborate effectively to meet the needs of students.
Principal
leader of the campus
Assistant principal
supports the principal in school management and supervisory responsibilities. Principals and assistant principals typically share the responsibility of conducting teachers’ annual appraisals or evaluations.
Team leader / Department Chair
teacher who oversees the subject at a campus level; helps facilitate curriculum alignment and adherence to state standards.
Typically, you go to your team leader or department chair for situations that
only affect your classroom or grade level. These would be questions about effective ways to approach teaching a certain learning standard.
You would go to your principal for situations that affect the
wider campus. These would be questions about projects or initiatives that involve more than one grade level, such as creating a presentation and having the whole school view it.
Counselor
Serves as an advocate and resource for students’ overall well-being; responsibilities often include delivering counseling to individual students and providing guidance for a variety of topics, such as social/emotional skills and future-readiness
Special Education Professional
coordinates with classroom teachers to help studnets receiving special education services follow their individualized education plans (IEPs), and work toward their goals
Librarian / Media Specialist -
maintains the print and digital resources on campus; helps students and teachers locate and access resources
Superintendent
leader of the district as a whole; manages principals and district-level employees
Board of Trustees (School Board)
comprised of members elected by the community; makes decisions and has responsibility sat the district level, such as hiring and evaluating the superintendent
Curriculum coordinator
oversees a content area, such as language arts or science, at the district level
Technology coordinator
facilitates access, procedures for appropriate use, and incorporation of technology into the curriculum
Instructional coach
works with teachers to help schools meet instructional goals
Collaboration between teachers should be based on
a clear goal. Define what you are trying to accomplish
Since education is the focus, the goal should be
student-centered. Define how the goal will benefit students.
Work with your collaborating partners to track progress.
Define how you will measure success. Keep ongoing collaboration focused on that.
Strive to maintain a positive, professional relationship when c
collaborating with colleagues.
Vertical team
composed of teachers from different grade levels. This collaboration helps teachers understand both how students have already been taught in their previous grade levels, and what they are expected to do in the future. This knowledge can help inform teachers’ current instruction for their current group of students. Teachers also use this opportunity o share ideas and learn form teachers in other grade levels.
Horizontal team
teachers from different content areas who are all part of the same grade level. Helps teachers understand what their students are doing in the other classes. It provides opportunities for planning ways to integrate curriculum, and, of course, share ideas and learn from what is working or not working for other teachers.
Teachers working with teachers ahead of and behind their students are working
vertically
Teachers working with teachers at their students’ level are woking
horizontally
There is value in contributing to decision-making processes by serving on
committees or participating in special events or projects.
It is important to know the appraisal instrument and how
the language of this tool can be infiltrated into your lesson plans to ensure you are meeting those guidelines. This will increase your level of comfort and confidence during the first formal appraisal.
Feedback may be
positive or raise a concern or question about some aspect of the classroom. The feedback should not be taken personally but analyzed objectively for the benefit of the students.
Some districts will have formal procedures and official expectations for documenting reflection and self-assessments. This may involve
setting clear, measurable goals and revisiting those goals later to evaluate progress.
Some example reflective questions that support the overall goal of student engagement and involvement and connected to measurable goals may include:
Have I included student choice in lesson plans and with what frequency?
Have I provided opportunities for student feedback?
Have I used a variety of teaching methods?
Have I facilitated goal setting and reflection methods for students?
Have I connected classroom objectives to the real world?
Engaged learners are
active learners. Active learners retain information better than those who are not.
It is a good idea to have discussions with other teachers and to share instructional strategies of best
teaching practices and incorporate these into your classroom.
By setting clear, measurable, relevant goals, teachers can
reflect and improve their own performance.
Teachers should be lifelong learners. In addition to being a positive model for students, the field of education is continuously evolving, and their is always something new for teachers to learn or improve upon. Professional development refers to
continued training and education for someone’s career.
Different opportunities for both in-person and online professional development such as:
classes, conferences, workshops, in-service training, books, articles, academic journals.
While professional development is packaged in many different ways, it should all have one thing in common. PD should be
research-based to ensure that the methods under study are proven effective.
Questions to ask to determine topics for PD.
What areas of my teaching practice could I improve?
What will have the greatest impact on students?
A mentor teacher is
an experienced educator who is tasked with helping new teacher to improve their practice. They help new teachers become familiar with the school and discuss concerns and celebrations with them.
