Checking in on my Professional Growth Plan

At the beginning of the year, I blogged about my professional growth plan for the year.  We are almost 1/4 of the way through the year, so I thought it was time  to revisit my goals and track my learning to date.

Here are my original goals and my learning to date.

1. Improve my transparency - I am making progress.  I have done subtle things, for instance included my cell #, twitter handle and all contact info in my email signature.  I have also created a school facebook page.  Thanks for the inspiration Chris Wejr.  I understand that part of transparency is trust, and developing trust takes time.  My work on this goal is ongoing.  Involvement in our school’s book study on Dr. Ross Greene’s book Lost in School, will give me an opportunity to listen to others perspective on struggling students and also share some of my values and beliefs.
2. Listen - While I cannot cite any specific examples of things I have done, upon reflection I can think in general I need to listen more.  Being in a new school, asking questions and listening to the answers is the key to understanding context and culture.  I need to ask more questions to develop a better understanding of school culture.
3. Become More Math literate - I can honestly say that I have not made any progress toward this goal.  It is something that I will need to make a priority in the coming months.
4. Go Deeper into Personalized Learning - this is definitley a work in progress.  I continue to explore Project Based Learning in the classes I teach, here is one example.  I think my biggest move has been to personalized assessment, to read more check out my post on Authentic Assessment.
5. Integrate Technology - I have continued to read, blog and learn and I am learning more about technology, but I have not progressed at all in  my application of technology.  That said, our school and some of  colleagues are engaging in meaningful dialogue with our district partners about improving the technology in our schools.   While our district has amazing infrastructure, not much of that has trickled down to the end users in elementary schools.  We are working to change that.
6. Enjoy Every Minute - for those of us working in BC, it has been a difficult fall and to be honest I think things will get worse before they get better.  However, I have been enjoying my year.  I appreciate the things I can control and don’t stress about the things beyond my control.  I am appreciative of our school, our community and the professional learning that our staff continues to model.  Things may get more tense, so continuing to focus on the positive will be very important in the coming months.

That’s it for now.  I will check in and re-evaluate at the in a few months.

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