Introduction to "Apply professional growth and improvement strategies”

Video Transcription

Welcome to an introduction for the unit Apply Professional Growth and Improvement Strategies. I'm Trisha Fyfe. And during this video, I'll take you through a glimpse of the concepts that we will cover throughout this unit. Teachers no doubt have a demanding job. The expectations for measuring our quality and level of effectiveness are many. This leads to a range of quality levels throughout teachers in districts. It's so very important to give teachers the support, tools, and resources they need, in order to develop professionally, and make necessary improvements. We'll explore these ideas in this unit.

One objective of this unit is to evaluate strategies for engaging in feedback conversations. In this unit we'll look at some tools that can be used for providing feedback in the coach-teacher relationship, such as feedback forms, videos, student data and feedback, content standards, and teacher evaluation rubrics or professional teaching standards. Each of these tools have so many benefits.

We will also consider active listening, where the speaker and listener interact, and throughout this interaction the listener responds using verbal and nonverbal communication. And accountable talk, a specific format of conversation where those involved are asked to provide evidence for statements they're making.

The next objective of this unit is to develop a professional improvement plan, including goals and expected outcomes. First, we'll differentiate between a professional development plan and a professional improvement plan. We'll discuss the benefits of using the PDSA cycle to develop a plan. What exactly is PDSA? We'll look at this question. This is a process of four different steps that can be a useful tool when attempting to make improvements.

We will look at the benefits of goal setting, including using SMART goals. And we'll explore how throughout this process, it's important for the instructional coaching teacher to work collaboratively, to reviewed data, develop goals, give feedback, and reflect. I will also walk you through the components of a professional development plan, and the many benefits of developing your professional development plan.

The third objective of this unit is to monitor progress, and implement accountability strategies for professional growth and improvement. We will continue exploring the PDSA cycle of continuous improvement-- plan, do, study, and act. I will give you examples of what it looks like to use each stage of the cycle in instructional coaching to monitor progress. We will discuss accountability. What is it? This is when educators, schools, and districts are all held accountable for student performance. And we will discuss and look at the tools to help monitor progress. Tools like student data and feedback, reporting lessons, plus/minus/deltas, and reflection.

The final objective of this unit is to support reflection strategies through the coaching process. We are able to deeply examine our own thoughts, as well as others' thoughts and feedback. We're able to slow down, and ensure that we're on track as teachers. And we are forced to create meaning out of what we have learned. We will look at the inner landscape of the teaching self or meta cognition, as well as the three stages to critical reflection. According to Brookfield, the three stages are determine the assumptions, consider validity of these assumptions, and transform these assumptions.

Lastly, we'll walk through reflection strategies, such as discussions, interviews, logs, and journals, as well as reflective questions. The objectives of this unit are connected throughout. It is essential to evaluate strategies for engaging in feedback as you begin to become comfortable with communication and collaboration with your coach. You will then be more prepared to develop a professional improvement plan, including goals and expected outcomes. And when this plan is developed, you can begin to monitor progress, and implement accountability strategies for professional growth and improvement.

Finally, when you have a solid understanding of the process in making improvements, as well as developing professionally, you can support reflection strategies through the coaching process. You can use the ideas and strategies that you'll use in this unit in any educational environment, where setting professional goals for ourselves as teachers, and working with an instructional coaches is relevant. At the end of this unit you will be able to answer the following questions, how can we evaluate strategies for engaging in feedback conversations? How can we develop a professional improvement plan, including goals and expected outcomes? How can we monitor progress, and implement accountability strategies for professional growth and improvement? And finally, how can we support reflection strategies through the coaching process?

Again, I want to welcome you to this unit, Apply Professional Growth and Improvement Strategies. I'd like to invite you to follow my video lessons throughout this unit as we learn in depth about resources and concepts that will assist you in bettering yourself as a teacher through professional development and instructional coaching.