Professional development (PD) is acquiring new instructional and leadership techniques through continuing education and career training. Teachers take up professional development to refine their practice and widen their understanding of educational matters as educators.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Investing in yourself is the best way to ensure your student’s career and academic growth\u2013 especially fostering student achievement. Teacher <\/span>professional development <\/span>focuses on improving instructional methods for teachers and improving learner performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Educators may experience bumps, especially in their first year of teaching. Professional development allows teachers to prepare and address the challenges that might arise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Taking up a professional development course expands your skill set and builds your “teacher toolkit,” so you have all you need to start your career strong.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Through <\/span>teacher professional development,<\/span><\/a> you can expect the following outcomes:<\/span><\/p>\n
As an educator, you should bridge the gap between different student learning abilities and paces in the classroom. Professional development helps you acquire individualized learning skills through a teaching strategy that <\/span>improves learner outcomes<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n
Most teachers take part in some form of professional development annually. Teachers can engage in formal or informal professional development. <\/span>Informal professional development <\/b>includes activities such as; peer learning initiatives, reading a book, or conducting independent research.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Formal professional development activities<\/b> may include:<\/span><\/p>\n
Here are the professional development objectives for educators.<\/span><\/p>\n
Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) directs the implementation of evidence-based programs, practices, and strategies for learners’ support. Their goal is to enhance academic performance, minimize problem behaviors, and create a positive school culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Professional development will guide in effectively using proactive and positive interventions to meet learners’ unmet needs or other problems that interfere with their individual and collective learning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Professional development training will also guide you into capitalizing on student strengths and achievements by applying these interventions and supports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Response to intervention involves using targeted teaching to identify and assist children struggling in school.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
In this response to intervention, students continue to get their core instruction in the collective education classroom. Extra time is allocated to help those who need to catch up with the rest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The significance of response to intervention is that it is not a wait-and-see approach, as students acquire extra help before they fall far behind their peers and have to repeat a grade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
An essential segment of response to intervention is progress measurement, which helps determine strategies that are not working and ones that can be relied upon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Professional development will enable you to acquire analytical skills. This is the ability to critically analyze information and decide what is significant to a particular task.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Professional development will also guide you toward acquiring other relevant skills, such as research, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The significance of acquiring analytical skills is that you can analyze challenging classroom situations, such as identifying a problem, figuring out the cause, and finding suitable actions to address the situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
As a teacher, you need to familiarize yourself with the right strategies and techniques that you can use to make the learning process interesting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Professional development teaches you to integrate such learning techniques, effectively marrying them with the individual learner’s needs and abilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Also, through professional development, you acquire skills to appropriately leverage technology to improve access, participation, and learner engagement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Here are some strategies to guide you into effective teaching:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
For professional development to meet its goal of improving teaching, it must provide what the teacher needs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
There is a common misconception that teaching is easy because teachers are in the classroom for less than eight hours a day and that they have the summers off. On the contrary, teachers invest lots of time and energy which needs to be respected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Teachers won\u2019t hesitate to complete relevant coursework if it’s significant to their time in the classroom. But, you would love some choice regarding what and when you study.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
In teaching, you give your best and perform up to standards. However, your success can be reflected in something other than learner test scores. You can then measure your performance using learner perception surveys and teacher feedback forms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Feedback from the students, parents, and your school administration gives you an honest insight into your performance. It will also provide you and the learner with evidence about your <\/span>current knowledge and skill development<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Feedback and recognition of your input will also motivate you as a teacher.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Ultimately, it will help you understand what works and what does not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The most significant impact of your professional development process is that it influences student learning. With the continuous change in educational technology, curriculum standards, and school district requirements, professional development creates an avenue for you to keep up with these trends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Professional development transforms you into a better teacher by guiding you into creating learning materials and curriculum instructions that are carefully adapted for today’s learners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, student achievement can <\/span>grow by as much as 21 percentile points<\/span><\/a> when teachers participate in well-curated professional development programs.<\/span><\/p>\n
Investing in yourself as an educator is also investing in your students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Here are some ways in which teacher professional development benefits students:<\/span><\/p>\n
Your professional development can improve learner enthusiasm for learning. Their enthusiasm for learning enhances their acquisition of new knowledge and skills. Some of the ways you can improve learner engagement are:<\/span><\/p>\n
Individual instruction allows learners to learn at their own pace with your guidance as an educator. The learners still work towards complex learning outcomes. You must provide your learners with ways to show their acquisition of positive learning outcomes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
You can ensure successful individualized instruction through the following:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Mobile gadgets such as computer programs and tablets allow learners to learn at their pace, efficiently adapting to their ability levels and skill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Professional development will guide you in creating opportunities for collaboration with your learners. When your students learn to connect and collaborate with you and other learners, they appreciate the value of the classroom community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Such a community helps learners see that all people are important and have something to offer in ensuring the success of all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
With better connections between you and your students, you can expect the following benefits:<\/span><\/p>\n
Continuous professional development is important because it keeps your skills relevant and your motivation at its peak. It will help you improve your understanding of delivering effective curriculum instruction.<\/span><\/p>\n
It also teaches you how to adapt to the learner’s changing needs. Continuous professional development provides opportunities for upskilling and self-development.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Ongoing professional development will keep you up-to-date on new findings on how children learn, new curriculum resources, and emerging technology strategies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
With the ever-changing educational needs and learning systems, the best professional development is continuous, collaborative, experiential, and connected to the learners and their cultures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Wondering where to start? Simplek12 offers professional development courses<\/a> for individuals and school districts through flexible classes that will help you succeed in today\u2019s classroom. <\/span><\/p>\n