Sharing Good Practice
How to write an effective
professional development plan
By Betina Fuentes
T
he professional development
Plan (PDP) can be an object
of fear and misunderstanding
to many teachers out there.
Instead of looking at this essential
piece of your portfolio as a chore to
complete, use the following tips to turn
it into a guideline for a successful and
productive year.
set by the school evaluation team,
administration, and special needs
teachers.
Set SMART goals for you rself
First of all, find a colleague who
teaches the same level or subject as
you do. Make a date to brainstorm
ideas about the goals and strategies
you want to focus on. Collaboration
with colleagues is one of the best ways
to showcase your strengths and have
an outside view on your challenges
and how to address them.
SMART in this instance stands for
specific, measurable, achievable,
results-focused and time-bound.
For example, setting a goal worded:
“During the school year 2015-2016, I
will complete 30 hours of professional
development training in 21st century
learning and implement five new
strategies into my classroom.” This
goal meets all the criteria for SMART.
Don’t overshoot and end up missing
your goals by the end of the year.
On the other hand, make your goals
sufficiently challenging, so that they
benefit you and your students.
Take a look at the SIP
Check the evaluation criteria
The SIP or School Improvement Plan
is the blueprint of how your school
runs. Most principals require that at
least one goal on your PDP be tied to
the SIP. Check your email for a copy
of this important document or ask
your Department Head for a copy, so
that you can analyse this document
and find connections to your own
plan. The SIP generally includes goals
Most schools have very specific criteria
for their year-end evaluations. Use
this as a cheat sheet for your PDP.
The different categories, including
curriculum, classroom environment,
and community, can all inspire you to
set innovative goals for yourself that
you may never have thought of. Do you
have enough parental involvement?
Is your classroom as user-friendly as
Team up
it could be? Do you use technology
on a regular, meaningful basis? Tying
in evaluation criteria serves a dual
purpose – evidence can be collected
and used at the year-end evaluation
conference with administration.
Step outside your school
The importance of extracurricular
activities is something we tend to
forget once we leave high school, but
it can make your PDP really shine. If
you are pursuing a graduate degree or
certificate, put that in your professional
development goals. If you are writing
a teaching blog or are involved with
an instructional website, by all means
include those in your goals. Every bit
of education-related activity helps
your classroom and your students, so
brag about them!
Don’t stress about your PDP. Use it as
an opportunity to plan with the end in
mind, just as we do with our curriculum.
Your administrator wants to see what
you can do and bring to the school to
make it the best it can be. As a wise
teacher once posted on Facebook,
“Be the teacher you claimed to be in
your interview!” Good luck out there!
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