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Professional learning is a collective responsibility shared among all educators, emphasizing the importance of each individual's contribution to the community. To be truly impactful, it must be customized to meet the unique needs of each teacher. This process should be embedded within the regular flow of the school schedule, not treated as a one-time or casual event. Teachers, empowered by ongoing opportunities to refine their practices, draw from various resources and strategies they use in their daily instructional planning. To foster real growth, professional learning must become a regular part of the workday rather than something relegated to “after-hours” or approached informally.

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Despite the rise of virtual learning, the school campus remains the primary environment for professional development. Teachers must continuously use influential learning theories to ensure their teaching strategies align with learning goals. This emphasis on the school campus as a vital space for professional development reassures educators and fosters a sense of connection, whether online or in person. The goal is to create an engaging, supportive learning environment where educators feel as connected and engaged as they do at home.

The planning process is essential to ensure that teachers acquire new skills and have the opportunity to apply them and reflect on their implementation. This section describes how you designed the PL Assignment, considering the unique needs of Cleveland ISD and the technological limitations faced by teachers and students. Here, you reflect on the main goals of the plan, including supporting teachers, collaborating with parents, and creating a more equitable learning environment.

  • Key Plan Goals: Supporting teachers using technological and gamified tools for teaching math and language arts.

  • Identified Challenges: Lack of access to technology and the need for professional development tailored to local needs.

  • Proposed Solution: A plan integrating technological skills development, gamification, and collaboration between teachers and parents.

My innovation Proposal

The Alternative Personal Innovation Plan aims to enhance early language and math learning in preschools at Cleveland ISD, a rural community with limited resources. The plan utilizes gamification and blended learning strategies. It provides teachers with an eight-week professional development course based on five fundamental principles: meaningful length, ongoing support, active engagement, modeling, and targeted content.

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The plan involves training teachers using digital platforms such as ABCya, Boomlearning, and Khan Academy Kids. It encourages collaboration among colleagues and parents to create a more inclusive and effective educational environment. Through gamified activities and a learning-centered approach, teachers are expected to improve their practices, directly benefiting students’ academic progress in essential skills such as vowel recognition and counting.

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Additionally, the plan promotes ongoing reflection and adjustments of pedagogical strategies based on feedback, ensuring that teachers develop the skills necessary to integrate technology and enhance learning, even in an environment with limited access to digital resources.

Implementing The Five Principles of Effective Learning

Embrace an innovative professional learning plan that empowers teachers in their continuous growth. This plan focuses on implementing cutting-edge strategies and fostering collaboration around relevant content. It aims to cater to teachers' unique needs while nurturing an immersive, purposeful, and enduring professional learning atmosphere.

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A Plan for Long-Term Change: The ultimate goal of this plan is to create lasting change in instruction in Cleveland ISD by ensuring that teachers have the skills and confidence to use technology effectively. Despite technological limitations, students can enjoy a quality education that lays the foundation for their future success.

This plan provides a clear path for professional learning and underscores the importance of collaboration, innovation, and community engagement in advancing education.

Call to Action

 WHY 

 Therefore, teachers' professional development is crucial, given their influence on the education system and society. Their current training needs to be improved to meet what teachers require, which is more than having prior knowledge or a quick presentation. They need time, support, and tools with which they can make adjustments that make their teaching methods more efficient and improve the education of their students. The cost of insufficient training falls on teachers and students, depriving them of a good education. Enabling teachers to acquire knowledge is a way of investing in the future of children and young people. Research supports that continuous, targeted, collaborative professional development directly helps improve teaching and student outcomes. 

 HOW 

Rather than fostering a sustainable culture of professional growth, this model reinforces the perception that professional development is a mere formality rather than an effective tool for transforming teaching and learning. It is crucial to rethink the mindset behind professional development, focusing on tools that add value to the teacher, allowing them to actively apply and take ownership of knowledge and ultimately translate into better student outcomes.  

Although teacher districts invest exorbitant amounts of money in professional development, these programs often fail to transform teacher practice. Interventions are usually too intense and overwhelming for teachers, who can only absorb some of the information at once and then transfer it to their classroom practices. In addition, programs often need to be more connected to daily practice, making them irrelevant. Lack of follow-up and continuity dramatically limits the impact of these trainings. To be successful, professional development must focus on collaboration, sustainability, and continuous learning.

To transform teacher training, it is

crucial to focus on these principles:

  • Relevance: Training must directly apply to the curriculum and teachers’ immediate needs and challenges and be customized by teaching area.

  • Collaboration: Teachers learn most effectively when they collaborate, share information and experiences, and create “communities of practice.”

  • Learning: Teachers must be active learners, with applied practice and active feedback to improve effectiveness.

  • Sustainability: Teacher training requires active commitment and a long-term plan rather than one-off events.

  • Ongoing support: Mentoring and coaching are crucial in developing and transforming teacher training programs.

Audience and needs

The primary audience will be preschool teachers in Cleveland ISD, a rural community with limited resources and restricted access to technology. These teachers require training in using digital platforms and pedagogical support to integrate technology effectively into their daily practices. Parents collaborating from home in their children's technological activities will also be involved.

Fostering and Collaboration

  1. Regular Online Meetings: Weekly virtual gatherings for small groups to share experiences, challenges, and solutions, building a supportive community.

  2. Collaborative Projects: Encouraging teamwork in developing shared resources and lesson plans incorporating gamification.

  3. Core Platform (Canvas): Utilizing Canvas as a central hub for teachers to upload activities and provide feedback to one another.

  4. Problem-Solving Sessions: Organizing interactive workshops focused on tackling common challenges collaboratively.

Parent Involvement: To create a robust support system, engaging parents in their children’s learning through activities and resources.

Effective Modeling

  1. Live Demonstration Lessons: Scheduling sessions where experienced educators model effective teaching strategies in real time.

  2. Instructional Videos: Develop a library of videos showcasing best practices in gamification and blended learning.

  3. Peer Observations: Establishing a program for teachers to observe each other’s classrooms, followed by reflective discussions.

  4. Personalized Coaching: Offering tailored one-on-one coaching for teachers who need extra support in implementing new strategies.

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​Through these efforts, I aim to create an empowering environment that enhances teaching practices and improves early language and math learning for our preschool students.

Fostering Self-Directed Learning

  1. Personal Learning Goals: Encourage teachers to set individualized learning objectives based on their specific early language and math instruction needs.

  2.  

  3.  Choice of Activities: Offer a variety of professional development activities, allowing teachers to select those that match their learning styles.

  4.  

  5.  Reflective Journals: Implement journaling to help teachers document their learning journeys and reflect on challenges and successes.

  6.  

  7.  Resource Accessibility: Create a resource library with videos, articles, and tutorials that teachers can access anytime.

  8.  

  9.  Feedback Mechanism: Establish a system for teachers to request feedback on their learning and practices for continuous improvement.

Leadership Responsibilities

  1. Course Facilitation: I will coordinate and facilitate the overall professional development program.

  2. Modeling Effective Practices: Experienced teachers or guest educators will lead sessions on effective teaching practices.

  3. Technical Training: The IT support team will provide training on digital platforms and tools.

  4. Peer Collaboration Sessions: Designated teachers will facilitate small group discussions for resource sharing and support.

  5. Evaluation and Feedback: I will oversee the evaluation process to gather feedback and refine future programs.

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This approach will empower teachers to take ownership of their professional development while ensuring effective implementation of the innovation plan.

Three-Column Chart and BHAG                                                            BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal):

Bold Objective: By the conclusion of the 8-week professional development course, preschool teachers in Cleveland ISD will gain the confidence to effectively incorporate gamification and blended learning technology tools in their classrooms. This will result in notable improvements in their students' early language proficiency and numerical development, particularly in vowel recognition and counting to ten. Such a transformation will directly impact student academic progress and engagement, even with limited technological resources.

Timing/Schedule:

  • The eight-week plan includes phases of introduction, use of digital platforms, gamified activities, and adjustments based on feedback.

Types of resources:

Digital resources: 

Platforms and tools for tutorials, guides, and technical support.

This outline provides a solid foundation for developing my innovation plan, ensuring that components are aligned with learning objectives and that implementation is effective:

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  • Technological resources: Access to Canvas, ABCya, Boomlearning, and Khan Academy Kids.

  • Instructional videos: Tutorials on technological tools and the blended learning rotation model.

  • Supporting materials: Guides, templates for creating gamified activities, and formative assessments.

  • Technical support: The IT team can resolve technical issues during implementation.

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​This framework provides a solid foundation for developing my innovation plan, ensuring that all necessary components are aligned with the learning objectives and that implementation is done effectively and sustainably.

Final Reflection

It's time to reconsider and revamp professional learning for our teachers. As a society, we must prioritize development as an investment, not an expense. A well-trained and supported teacher has the power to change lives, schools, and entire communities. To realize this potential, we need ongoing, relevant professional development that offers the support and resources necessary for teachers to thrive.

 

Teachers, administrators, and education leaders, it's time to unite. Let's create professional learning opportunities using our time and expertise, foster growth collaboratively, and ensure they have a tangible impact on our classrooms.

 

We cannot afford "paper-only" professional development; we must ensure quality education for all our primary drivers. We must redesign professional development to be more effective, ongoing, and relevant to teachers' and students' needs. This will require an approach that emphasizes collaboration, support, and ongoing attention to classroom realities, along with a commitment to how we think about learning in the first place. 

I extend my sincere gratitude to everyone involved in this initiative. Your dedication to improving education makes a difference. I invite you to join this innovative journey and collaborate with us to make a lasting impact on the future of our students. Together, we can drive meaningful change and create brighter opportunities for the children of this community.

Siary Rodriguez, Prek Teacher PBE

Cleveland ISD.

References

 

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in

an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education.

Retrieved from

http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopmnt.pdf & TNTP. (2015). The Mirage: Confronting the Hard Truth About OurQuest for Teacher Development. Retrieved from

http://tntp.org/publications/view/evaluation-and-development/the-mirage-confronti

ng-the-truth-about-our-quest-for-teacher-development

 

Desimone, L. M. (2009). Improving impact studies of teachers’ professional development: Toward better conceptualizations and measures. Educational

Researcher, 38(3), 181-199.

 

Guskey, T. R. (2002). Professional development and teacher change. Teachers and

Teaching, 8(3), 381-391.

Texas Education Agency. (2022). 2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. https://tea.texas.gov/academics/early-childhood-education/2022-texas-pkg-comprehensive-guide.pdf

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