Reflection of Professional Development Session

Bernard Williams

EDU-523-O500

July 27, 2021

Dr. Theresa Meyer

Many who get into education have a passion for seeing the progress of young people. Teachers and educational leaders themselves need to develop to help young people improve. Through professional growth, teachers and education leaders evolve in one direction. Professional development, Briggs (2018), helps educators meet students' ever-changing and rising needs. Professional growth provides new concepts and opportunities for teachers to serve students. Another way of developing is through the evolution of school activities. Via an assessment, what one does will help build the skills required, so the overall aim of a student's performance is achieved. The following paper discusses the growth of the vocational development strategy to optimize training time.

Summary

The "Classroom Management" was the professional development (PD) that was developed. The PD aimed to help teachers learn how to teach from bell to bell to use every minute of class time to train. PD started with a PowerPoint Presentation to optimize teaching, then moved to a session where teachers worked on a second-level plan. The PD presents a picture of a clock in a trash can on one side of the slide, then shows how much time is lost during the day and year to catch the participants' attention. Then the teachers had to think and analyze where they saw the time was lost in their classrooms. All the teachers found that the opening slide successfully attracted the instructor's attention while evaluating the input from this PD. Having quickly gone over the objectives of the PD, they could not avoid worrying about wasting time in their classroom.

The PD clarified Derrick Meador's (2019) strategies on how to use class time more efficiently and effectively for all teachers. The secret of teaching Bell-to-Bell teachers is to keep it simple and ensure that the process is successful. All this information was provided on a single slide in the original version of the PD. When assessed by the teachers and administrators, they decided that it would be more beneficial to speak on different slides about Meador's points. So it was done when the PD was updated. Approximately half of the PD focused on the debate on improving teaching time in the classroom. One of the proposals to add to the PD was to allow teachers more time to discuss what others are doing to use time in the school. At the same time, the part of phase III professional development will be addressed in the PD when teachers set up observation time with another instructor. It allows them to examine what other teachers are doing and see if they can improve. After a short break, the PD moved to clarify the timetable for the next steps in the process. Teachers will first look at one of their lesson plans and explore ways to optimize their time. Then they will arrange a meeting with another instructor to learn and determine how time is maximized by someone else. The final move is to set the time for a structured assessment with the admin team member. A brief debate then took place on how it would be decided if progress had been made. Then the assessment procedure was clarified. It showed the teachers how they were going to be tested and what the evaluator was looking for. The last section of the PD saw teachers spend time working with teachers at the grade level or subject level to look at lesson plans to increase teaching time.

The duration of the PD was the subject of further significant feedback. There is fear that the PD will be longer than an hour away. It would be easier to decide whether the PD is too long and where it can be simplified or whether a second PD needs to be created once the PD has been applied to a large community. Some other valuable articles have grown to include more of Kagan's engagement techniques. This would encourage educators to be able to find a strategy that would

fit their teaching style. Although it could be integrated, it will work better since it is a PD of its own.

School-Based Data

One of the most potent ways to help learners succeed is to use data to inform teaching practice (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010). Due to its relevance, the objective of each professional development should be supported by school-based data and evidence-based research. The story of the "Classroom Management" PD focused on the information obtained from state assessments and the school's need to improve the score of both Math and English Language Arts (ELA). There is still a difference between where the students are and where we need to be, even though new learning systems have been put in place. That's why we need to look at how teachers are using instructional time. We will increase academic rigor, which will boost grades, by determining where teachers are losing training time and avoiding losses. To enforce the argument that we need to do better, the current scores have been added to the updated PD. The target for this year and 10% for the following year is to increase the Math and ELA scores by 5%. The objectives of achievement are attainable by using what is already in place and focusing on training time.

The development of this PD was based on research by educational experts. The critical researcher for this particular PD was Ullah, Rehman, and Bibi's 9 Instruction Events by Gagné, 2015, and Meador's Teachers' Techniques to Increase Student Learning Time, 2020. Efficient researched PD makes it applicable to the school to ensure that best practices are included. They encourage teachers to take an active part in the skills, tactics, and practice techniques that will be useful and allow them to practice in their classrooms. A comprehensive review of the PD will take place to ensure that the participation of the PD's teachers is essential to the staff and students, ensuring that the PD's are of benefit to the team.

School Mission and Vision

Everything the school does represents its mission directly (Fullan, 2014). This includes any task or execution within a school and is mainly related to capacity building through professional growth. Our school's mission is to inspire all students to excel. We have provided teachers with the tools to encourage their students by building staff capacity to become successful. Teachers will improve their activities, allowing more time for learners to learn more about content. At the same time, make sure the school's mission is accomplished. We are also responsible for using professional development to enhance instructional time, meet the school's mission and implement state and district expectations. When teachers learn how to maximize their teaching time, not only for themselves but for their students, they do their best. They do what is fair, and it only fits to use every minute of class instruction, and it is only suitable to provide the best possible education for their students. It also treats you in the way you want to be treated, and you want your instructor to give you the chance to succeed; thus, learning to maximize instruction time does the same thing. All of this will lead our students to more extraordinary achievements and bring a sense of accomplishment and pride to the staff.

Technology

The use of technology has played a vital role in this professional development and would not have been possible without technology. The good part of this PD is that it is possible to incorporate more technology. For example, using PowerPoint, the PD was developed. PowerPoint helps you to include graphics and videos that you would not otherwise be able to do. One recommendation made during the assessment was to make the presentation more interactive. In PowerPoint, this could be achieved by making interactive videos, adding polling, and getting results in real-time. This professional development had to be undertaken because of world events—how it was meant to lead to an apparent virtual transformation. Also, virtual teachers could still communicate on the lesson; through the virtual meeting and shared presentations and documents, they could work together, enabling them to work on them concurrently. The assessment was also carried out online, allowing for the accessible collection and giving teachers time to reflect on their experience and provide a comprehensive evaluation.

Next Steps

Next is to ensure that the knowledge gained from the PD by the teachers is applied to the classroom. I'm going to have to follow up with the teachers to do that. To see how things are going, I would have informal talks to see what more support they might need. I would also send out weekly tips and encourage employees to share what they found helpful. Part of this professional development is visiting teachers and evaluating peers to see how their classrooms are running. I'd make sure the teachers follow that through. The last step is a systematic review to see how well training time has been optimized. Even after a formal assessment, I will continue to check in with the teachers to ensure that progress is made. We're going to do it if we need to revisit the PD.

Emerging trends and initiatives

Education, whether statutes and regulations, technology, instruction, class action or dedication, etc., is constantly evolving. That is why professional development and education associations are so relevant. They help administrators and teachers to keep up with educational products and improvements. They build the skills of their workers and keep up to date with what's going on in education (Childress, 2014). I will join one organization to keep up-to-date on developments in the National Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (NASSP). When looking for ways to change their leadership strategies, the NASSP has several research-based tools that an educational leader can turn to.

Focusing on the value of technology is part of the objective of optimizing instruction time. Training is always focused on the use of technology. It is crucial to ensure that learners have clear foundations for integrating technology into their day-to-day practices. Schools should have reasonable means of helping students in both the classroom and the school as a whole (Gonzalez, 2016). Technology is now critical to retain students' interest, as many schools are still engaged in virtual education. The more this professional development session is checked, the more technology I need to see and the more technology I can add. The use of technology to sustain student focus would be very virtual for educators.

Preparation and Confidence

I have to confess that I was anxious going into the presentation, even though I was connected to everyone who listened to the presentation. This was mainly because this was my first time doing a presentation on professional development that I built on my own. I wasn't sure if the participants would accept the content. However, due to the work that put it together, I was optimistic about the content, and something I knew would be significant for all teachers. I spent time planning and going through what I was going to say before the presentation, thinking about issues that could arise and reacting to them. Any fear went away once I started presenting the PD, and I feel it went very well. The questions that were asked, I was able to answer. A few valid points have been made that I will respond to as I strive to enhance professional growth.

References

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