June 2020
I am thrilled to present this Professional Development Plan (PDP) in support of transitioning from Senior Teacher to Master Teacher beginning in the 2020-2021 school year. While this is only my second year at Eastside Preparatory School (EPS), I have been working in education in some form or another for the past 25, holding roles such as teacher, department chair, technical assistance specialist, school board member, outdoor educator, teaching assistant and tutor. My prior experience allowed me to dive right into EPS with confidence and competence and accomplish quite a bit in the short time I’ve been here.
Before I start writing about what I’ve learned from this process, I’d like to take a moment to thank Terry Macaluso and Sam Uzwack for providing me the opportunity to tackle this PDP so early on in my EPS career. I’d also like to thank the team that supported me over the last several months: Terry and Sam as well as Anne Duffy and Malcolm Yates. All four team members provided numerous valuable suggestions and made me realize on a deeper level that I have done a whole heck of a lot at EPS and I have done most of it well. Finally, I wish to thank the teachers who previously taught the courses that I’m teaching now, including but not limited to: Katie Dodd, Adam Waltzer, Sarah Hollingshead and Kip Wassink. They developed or refined many of the fantastic assignments I showcase in this PDP; my contribution to those assignments has been to recognize how awesome they are and keep using them.
Throughout this PDP process I gathered copious evidence that demonstrates how well I’m executing in the areas of professional practice, pedagogical practice, curricular design and relational cultivation. I’ve discovered that some of my areas of strength include a high level of executive functioning, eagerness to participate in campus-wide activities, solid ability to cultivate relationships with colleagues, and a willingness to try new ideas (either solicited from others or of my own devising). I’ve also discovered some areas of growth including managing my own energy, taking a more detailed look at various classroom operations (e.g., how thoroughly I am serving the diverse learning needs of students, how well do course assessments relate to course outcomes, how well am I promoting inclusivity, among others), and pursuing professional development beyond this PDP.
In the spirit of the “beg, borrow, and steal” method of surviving the first year of teaching, I encourage anyone working on their PDP in the future to borrow and steal ideas from this PDP at will and feel free to ask me for tips and tricks, too (no begging needed).
