Professional Development Day

For the first hour of the professional development day, a representative from iReady presented us their Magnetic Reading program.  We were given a teacher and student book for our grade level to look through and keep.  After the presentation, the representative stayed for an additional 30 minutes to answer any questions the teachers had.  Next, a representative from Amplify presented us with their reading curriculum.  After both presenters left, we spent about 50 minutes debating the pros and cons of each curriculum.  After this, we took a break for lunch.  When everyone came back from lunch we had a two-hour interactive presentation from Think Tech about how to use their program and how to implement it in the classroom.   

One thing I learned and will use is from one of the reading program presentations.  My CT and I had been trialing one of the reading programs presented to us.  I learned about features the program offers that I did not know about previously.  For example, one of the features is programmed reading buddies.  The program (which the district uses for its diagnostic scores) uses the students’ reading diagnostic scores and pairs students up.  They put a higher student with a student slightly lower than them.  This way the pairs are not on drastically different levels, but can still learn from and help each other.  A second feature we learned about which I have since used is math and reading grouping.  Just as the program makes reading pairs, it groups students into five instructional groups.  This helps me individualize instruction and offer more support for the students who need it.  I used the reading groups when I was planning a class book study.  I ended up selecting two chapter books on the same topic.  I combined the top two groups of eight students and had them do an independent book study.  This challenged them and forced them to be accountable for their own learning and the learning of the group.  My lower three groups were combined and did a whole group book study which I led.  In this smaller group, I was able to provide additional one-on-one support to the students who needed it.  

After reflecting on my experience, I came up with my next two steps to further develop myself as a professional.  First, I would like to learn more ways to add more ways to differentiate instruction into my toolbox.  All students learn differently, so the more ways I know how to differentiate, the more likely my students are to succeed.  Another step in my professional growth is to take CPI training so I can be CPI certified.  During the summer I am a teacher aide for summer school. I see the benefits of being CPI trained for both educators and students, so that has been a recent goal of mine that I would like to accomplish soon.