Professional Development

Regardless of where you are in a teaching career, professional development will always be incredibly important in order to move forward, gain new skills, network with other professionals, and learn innovative teaching methods. If teachers do not pay attention to their professional development, they may miss out on opportunities that could improve their teaching and therefore improve their students' learning. During my teacher training, I've engaged in as much professional development as I could, such as attending career workshops, skills workshops, communicating with other professionals in the field, attending teachers conventions, etc. Each of these opportunities has helped me improve my teaching in different way by targeting different areas of the profession.

The Process

I've chosen to represent professional development with the metaphor of a ladder. The ladder is sometimes used to show how people succeed in their jobs, as they climb higher and higher up the ladder. I've recreated this metaphor here in order to help me visualize the process of professional development. However, even after reaching the top, the process can either start over for a new set of skills to learn because teachers never stop learning about how to improve their teaching.

Even if my metaphor to the left has several ordered steps, this is simly a guideline because professional development can occur out of order and at different times, Without even realizing it, teachers may engage in professional development simply by attending a workshop or by speaking to other teachers. It's a continual process that can definitely last a lifetime! Below are some of the Action Plans I have developed on my field experiences that detail my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher, as well as how to improve.

Action Plan 1

Action Plan 2

Action Plan 3

The Strategies

Establish a big idea/goal and stick to it!

Do your research!

Assess strengths and weaknesses

Find professional development sources

Set the rules and strategies

Focus on student learning and how to improve it

Evaluate results and continue the process

Connect and network with other professionals

Strengths

To improve

- Clear communication

- Time management

- Establishing trust with students

- Commitment to the task

- Implementing activities and lessons

- Variation of differentiation techniques

- Implementation of technology

- Connecting with other professionals

After establishing a process with a general idea of the required steps, I thought about the concrete ways in which I've engaged in professional development over the years. Below are some of the specific examples I feel have helped me develop as a teacher. Click here to read one of my blog posts about professional development, in which I talk about how networking can serve as a great strategy for professional development.

Teacher's Convention: QPAT
Schoolboard Workshops
Networking with Others
Career Fairs
McGill (University) Workshops
- First Year Teachers' Panel
- Working Abroad
Technology Workshops
- SmartBoard
Substitution Experiences
McGill Professional Seminars

Teacher's Convention 2015 and 2016

The 2015 Teacher's Convention was a great experience for me, mainly because of the two amazing workshops I attended. One of these workshops was about movement, motivation, and classroom management. During this workshop, we actually had the chance to participate in activities that were realistic and practical for use in the clasroom.

The other workshop I attended was given by the Groove EDGEucation, an organization that uses dance and movement as an incredible learning tool. Their methods correspond to the needs of all learners, especially kinesthetic learners, which is a learning style that often gets forgotten. This workshop truly opened my eyes to the power of movement and how it can make your brain work in different ways. Traditional teaching models often forget about the body/movement, which is why I had never considered it to be that important. Now, I'm excited to use movement more in the classroom in order to stimulate my students in new and different ways.

In 2016, I attended the convention again with the hopes of discovering new initiatives and various teaching ideas. The workshops I attended and people I spoke to allowed me to accomplish this, seeing as how I got tons of new ideas to bring to the classroom. I participated in two very hands on workshops; one on art and the other on mathematics. The math experience was especially helpful, as I was introduced to new ways of using dice in the classroom to make math fun, accessible, and practical. These interactive sessions are the best part of teacher development conventions, as we get to experience learning, just as we would want our students to.

University Workshops

Over my years of teacher training at university, I've participated in many different workshops, many of which have directly contributed to my professional development. When I could, I also volunteered at various events in order to develop closer relationships with the organizers. Here are some of the events/workshops I've attended:

McGill Open House
Education Career Fairs
First Year Teachers Panel
World of International Teaching
Speed Networking Events

First Year Teachers Panel 2015

The First Year Teachers Panels of 2015 and 2016 were especially useful, as they allow student teachers to better understand what the first few years as a teacher will be like. Getting practical advice from new teachers in the field is invaluable and better prepares us for the first few months, or even years, of our careers.

First Year Teachers Panel 2016

Substitution Experiences

For the past two and a half years, I have been gaining invaluable teaching experience as a substitute teacher for La Commission Scolaire de Montreal (CSDM). I believe this work opportunity has had a tremendous impact on my professional development, mainly due to the the amount of exposure I've had to different parts of the educational system. For example, I have made my presence and availability known in a large number of schools, and I have developed good relationships with school secretaries, teachers, and subbing dispatchers. As a strategy, I always leave my contact information for the teacher I replaced, as well as for the rest of the teaching staff to see (in the teacher's room). When I receive requests from teachers to replace them, I know this strategy has worked well. Strategies like this one, which I learned on the job, have helped me gain as much experience as I could.

Professional Seminars

Along with every field experience comes a professional seminar course at McGill, which helps us develop important skills needed in the professional environment, and facilitates the transition from student teacher to novice teacher. These courses are usually rooted in practice rather than theory, which gives us a good idea of the real working environment we will face once we graduate. My last and probably most significant seminar course focused on developing leadership skills, which is a very important skill set to me. I am passionate about leadership as well as leadership positions, which is why I am also pursuing graduate studies in order to eventually hold an administrative position in the field of education.

Therefore, the projects that this seminar required me to complete were significant in the sense that they appealed to the natural leader in me and allowed me to explore that side of my professional development. These projects included planning an educational school outing as a team and proposing a leadership project to develop within a school. Although these initiatives were not applied in reality, the preparation that was required for them was really good practice for the future. In addition, this course focused on the ethical implications of teaching, which was interesting to discuss, since we don't often analyse ethical issues in such detail. The discussions around these topics definitely made me think about the kinds of situations teachers can find themselves in, and prepared me to deal with them in the future, if need be.

Reflections upon the Future

Professional development is often on my mind because I want to take advantage of any opportunity to develop skills, network with other professionals, and learn new teaching techniques. I know that there will always be something new to learn in the field of education, especially because innovative methods are constantly being brought to the field, all with the goal of improving learning and teaching. While my undergraduate university training is nearly completed, I will always keep learning about being a teacher from a variety of sources: colleagues, professional workshops, administrators, and from life experience in general. Here are some of my future plans for engaging in professional development.

Final Field Experience

My fourth and final field experience is my last stepping stone to becoming a fully licensed teacher! Ideally, this experience will help me refine my teaching skills and master some of the more difficult competencies, like classroom management and differentiation. Taking over the classroom and teaching close to 100% of the time will give me a sense of what it's like to teach full time. In addition, connecting with other professionals is very important during this field experience because I will be licensed to teach soon after it ends. Making a positive and lasting impact in the school community could lead to employment opportunities in the school itself or in the school board.

Insertion Professionnelle à la CSDM

As a substitute teacher at La Commission Scolaire de Montréal, I learned about their professional development program for new teachers and am excited to take part in it, once I graduate. Essentially, this is a two year program that involves different training sessions, pedagogical support, and guidance from a mentoring teacher. New teachers are supported in their first years of teaching and are paired with an experienced teacher in the same sector (elementary, secondary, adult) who can offer advice and general help. This seems like a great opportunity to keep growing as a teacher and to gain from other teachers' experiences.

Journey's End, Journey's Start

In April, all graduating student teachers attend a professional development event called Journey's End, Journey's Start as a rite of passage from student to teacher. This event aims to help us establish our professional identities and to help us reflect on all of the responsibilities that come with being an educator. Also, all students are given the chance to reconnect as professionals and to look back on their experiences as student teachers at McGill. I'm looking forward to this event because it will mark the end of my undergraduate degree and will give me a chance to discuss education one last time with my classmates.

Educational Leadership Graduate Program

I recently got accepted into the Educational Leadrship graduate program at McGill, which I will be starting later this year. I have chosen to pursue this program because I am very passionate about leadership and because I want to keep learning in the field of education. This path will keep me connected to educators and will help me become a better teacher myself. I will be completing this degree part-time, which gives me time to gain real teaching experience in the classroom while simultaneously learning in the university classroom. In addition, I hope to one day hold an administrative position in an educational setting, which this program will definitely prepare me for. Overall, this is a perfect way to continue growing as a professional, as I will be learning new skills and developing new competencies.