Professional+Development+Plan


 * [[file:07 Professional Development Plans McDaniels.doc]]

Professional Development Plans**

Throughout the program I have learned that professional development is a very important part of education. Without an emphasis on professional development, educators will not be prepared to equip students with the necessary skills to be successful in the 21st century. Many educators are already sufficiently lacking in technology skills, as well as effective content strategies, and this gap will continue to widen as time progresses if it is not addressed. As I have come to understand this, I have decided that it is very important to be involved in professional development activities, not only as a participant, but as a leader. I have learned that it is important to review data to determine exactly what sub populations and what academic content areas should be targeted in designing professional development activities. As a result of this, I plan to continue to review AEIS data, benchmark scores, and classroom assessments in the upcoming year to determine the most important needs on our campus. Once this has been determined, I plan to address this concern by further developing professional development sessions that integrate research-based technology strategies to address the sub populations and academic content areas that need improvement. Furthermore, I plan to design small group professional development sessions with teachers on my campus. These sessions will focus on technology skills and the effective integration of technology. Although some teachers are intimidated by their lack of knowledge and training in this area, some are very excited about the possibility of learning to integrate new tools. I feel that most attendants will be more likely to implement these tools if they are willing participants in the training. Thus, I will schedule weekly meetings in the computer lab, with each meeting focusing on the implementation of a new tool. Some of the tools I plan to address are the collaborative suite of tools available through Google. Once these tools have been introduced, I plan to introduce digital media editing tools, such as iMovie and GarageBand. Once these tools are being implemented on a more widespread basis on our campus, I believe the learning trend will continue, and this will be an important factor in attaining an improved rating for our campus.