Pro D
In my district, each teacher is allocated $175 a year (those with a contract) to use towards Pro D. A TOC costs $400 and so before you have even signed up for a course etc you are already $325 out of pocket. You can ‘borrow’ from staff who are maxed out with $1000 or request to use some money from the ‘general pot’.
Most teachers save up their Pro D funds and use it to cover all costs. Each summer, Pro D days also costs $35 per day so using 3 days at the end of August would leave $70 each year.
If you are part of a working group, such as the Lead Assessment Team that I was, then sometimes there is a separate budget that will cover Pro D. I was able to fly to Vancouver and attend a 2 day Assessment Conference with 7 other members of the team at no cost to me.
Whitworth & Benson’s (2016) state that the “construction of practice is a continuous practice” and what becomes “embedded” becomes a singular perspective. These two ideas really resonated with me and support the benefits of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) as well as collaborative.
Needs Analysis
- I need to increase my skills and knowledge in using Google Apps for Education and Zoom
After reading the recommendations Professional Development from the Alberta Teacher’s Association (n.d), here are some possible activities that I could undertake to meet my objectives:
Objective 1: To increase my competency in using Google Apps for Education to develop and enhance Pedagogy and Assessment
- Google Educator Level 2 Certificate
- Trial extensions and apps as part of some Action Research with one of my classes.
- Collaborative and Integrated Curriculum Development with the team to develop resources
- Focused Conversations with stakeholders (Admin, Teachers and Students) to refine the experience
- Curriculum Mapping to match apps with content
- Internet Research– research best practice from other educators
- School Improvement Teams– Continue developing practice as part of the Lead Learning Team
- School-Based Professional Development Workshops at InnovatEd
Objective 2: To develop my confidence and competency in using Zoom to host lessons.
- Action Research-Request a Demo to explore the features int he final few weeks of term
- Classroom Visitation– visit another teacher currently using Zoom to see it in action
- Mentors– liaise with the team’s ‘expert’ to learn new skills and tips
References
Whitworth, A. & Benson, A.D. (2016). The emergence of practice: Two case studies of Moodle in online education. In G. Veletsianos (Ed.), Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning. Edmonton: AU Press.
http://www.aupress.ca/books/120258/ebook/07_Veletsianos_2016-Emergence_and_Innovation_in_Digital_Learning.pdf
Alberta Teachers’ Association. (n.d.) PD Activities for Professional Growth. Retrieved from: https://www.teachers.ab.ca/For%20Members/ProfessionalGrowth/Section%203/Pages/Professional%20Development%20Activities%20for%20Teachers.aspx
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