4e: Growing professionally

Continuing development is the mark of a true professional; it is an ongoing effort that is never completed.  -C. Danielson

What are the current and future needs of our students and how are we adapting to meet those needs?  

The answers to those questions change every day, with every learner and will never be answered completely. This week we are examining component 4e from the Danielson framework, Growing Professionally. The elements of 4e include: enhancement of content knowledge and pedagogical skill, receptivity to feedback from colleagues and service to the profession.

A proficient teacher will seek out opportunities for professional development to meet the needs of his/her learners.  As we continue to move students towards the in-depth application that the core requires, using strategies and tools that were not in the academic standards in the past, we are all feeling the need to seek out TDP and PSI courses.  Some have entered graduate, licensure or certificate programs to grow expertise around proven instructional practices.

A proficient teacher also welcomes feedback from colleagues when made by supervisors or when opportunities arise through professional collaboration. Gone are the days where we wait for an evaluation from an administrator to get feedback to help shape our practice.  Now, we use all collaborative parties to seek out new strategies and explore innovative teaching practices that will move our learners forward.

Finally, a proficient teacher participates actively in assisting other educators. The feedback loop should go both ways.  We all have areas for growth and we all have areas where our expertise can support others.  Growing professionally is a community effort.

A distinguished teacher ensures that these efforts are effective through action research and seeks out feedback from both supervisors and colleagues.

In addition, a distinguished teacher initiates important activities to contribute to the profession.  If you have ever hosted a field placement student or mentored a new teacher, this is where you have helped lift the teaching profession as a whole.

Our practices have changed more in the last 5 years than in any time in the history of teaching a learning.  With the arrival of our Waukesha ONE technology, Project Based Learning frameworks and Proficiency Based Learning Pathways, we have all cycled through being a novice on some piece.  As we move our students into being 21st century learners, we ALL must live in that 21st learner space as teachers!  Our growth is triggered by figuring out what we “don’t know”, and is motivated by the thirst to “know more”. When we implement these new practices with our students, and refine them through vital feedback, we create the innovative space to move all students forward.  

Choose one of three questions to respond to in the comment section below:

-Who do you turn to for feedback?  

-How do you get the information you need to refine the practices you use with students?

-What new practice have you launched as a result of professional development or feedback THIS YEAR to enhance the learning of your students?