Professional Development Workshop Reflection

Professional Development Workshop Reflection

Liberty University

Reflection

This project required me to research, plan, reflect, and implement Professional Development at my school. Throughout many conversations and a self-created survey, I determined that our math department would benefit from a Professional Development on strategies to implement in the math classroom for “at-risk” students (NCTM Standard 6c). Using research, I presented several strategies that included Cooperative Grouping, Collaborative Learning, meaningful tasks, and using manipulatives (NCTM Standard 4a, NCTM Standard 6b). Planning for a Professional Development session required many hours of selecting the suitable research components to present to the teacher that would provide a practical application in their classrooms. Next, I selected creative resources to inspire and provide teachers with innovative activities to engage and increase motivation for their students. It was a challenge to determine which activities were used for each grade level. I decided to use one activity per grade level so that all teachers would feel included, making the PD beneficial. Each activity involved that particular grade’s focus for the semester, for example, Grade 6 – rational numbers, Grade 7 – ratios, and Grade 8 – exponents (NCTM Standard 1a, NCTM Standard 3b).

Reflecting on the actual presentation, I felt fortunate in that all of the teachers that attended the PD were attentive and participated in a positive manner. Unfortunately, all math teachers were unable to participate in the meeting. It was very challenging to work around everyone’s schedule. Working throughout the year to build professional relationships, all teachers seemed comfortable with all material presented and asked questions as needed throughout the PD. Although the presentation was under an hour, I was able to provide a brief overview of the research I collected as well as provide additional activities for teachers (NCTM Standard 3b).

After the Professional Development, I had one teacher stay to talk about specific students and her situation. She is a novice teacher with a few years of experience. I counseled her as best that I could on the spot but mostly listened as she spoke. This teacher also benefited from a short coaching cycle after the PD to incorporate several strategies in her classroom. One suggestion mentioned in researching was the use of cooperative groupings. Through this thought process, we planned rotating station activities in which the students were grouped according to the readiness of the material according to their assessment score on Scientific Notation. The Station Activities were as follows: Station 1 – intensive teacher re-instruction, Station 2 – basic-level practice using technology, Station 3 – error analysis activity, and Station 4 – spiral review. Overall, the lesson was successful, and student learning was positively impacted (NCTM Standard 3c, NCTM Standard 4b, NCTM Standard 5b, and NCTM Standard 6d).

Overall, I feel as though this Professional Development was successful and provided me the opportunity to work alongside another math teacher to develop a lesson that increased academic performance and motivation in her classroom. After thoughtful reflection, there is nothing that I would change about this experience. If given another opportunity to present again, I would still incorporate a similar format that this workshop experience provided through researching, planning, presenting, coaching, and reflecting. Throughout this project, I was uplifted by Galatians 6:9 that says “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” I feel as though, there were times that were more challenging than others, but at the end, I feel as though Mrs. Rutledge and I were able to experience success through all of our efforts.