Looking Forward:

Reflection On and Rationale

for My Professional
Development Plan
TED 690
Johnny Segovia

This is an essay that identifies five or more professional development activities, and places them on a
five-year timeline in an organization working for my projected future needs and available time.

An integral part of the development of myself as a professional educator entails having a

set of both short and long-term goals. Best practices for "a professional development plan
delineates a teacher's goals for short- and long-term professional growth" (Constantino, 2009, p.
18). With this in mind I have set 5 professional development activities that I would like to
achieve in the coming years. The type of activities that I have chosen to partake in will not only
benefit my abilities as a teacher but also enhance my knowledge of the subject matter that I am
teaching.
One of the first activities that I would like to partake in would be to become a
contributing member of the h-net community. The H-net scholarly community provides many
resources for historians. The area I would like to contribute in would be to provide reviews on
scholarly published journals and books. This is not directly relate to my single subject credential
aspirations, but I also possess a master's degree in history and am looking to also pursue a career
as a college professor. This would also enhance my subject matter knowledge and allow me to
make the subject matter comprehensible to students in a variety of ways
Another professional development goal I would like to set for myself over the coming
years would be to join a school Improvement team. The school-based professional development
workshops will provide me with the opportunity to collaborate with peers and develop
curriculum that can better meet the needs of our students. I have already had some exposure to
this during my student teaching time and found a very beneficial to how I presented the
curriculum during that time.

A third professional development activity I would like to partake in would be to attend a

teacher's convention. Whether it is local, provincial, or a National Conference, these can provide
a forum in which ideas can be debated, analyzed, and sometimes validated. These events can
Inspire, motivate, and create feelings of renewal. I feel that my exposure and experiences that
could be had at such events would be very beneficial to myself as an educator and further my
professional development.
Another professional activity I would like to be a part of would be a mentoring and
mentorship program. I feel that early on in my teaching career I could benefit a lot from having a
mentor and then possibly grow into providing a mentorship for other teachers. This part of my
develop plan would Encompass the whole entirety of the plan. It would begin in my first year
and evolve into assuming the mentorship role near the end.
The last development activity I would like to plan for myself would be to take part in and
integrated curriculum planning program. I feel that anytime curriculum can be interdisciplinary
in its presentation it can only enhance the students retention of knowledge and both disciplines. I
feel that partnering with peers can provide myself with great relationships that can facilitate
future growth in my development. Integrated curriculum planning includes many features. Some
of them are creating an emphasis on projects, relationships among Concepts, and presenting units
the maniacally as organizing principles.
The time frame for these goals may vary. Some are very short-term, some are long-term,
and some wedding Compass the whole Five-Year Plan that I am setting. I feel that each of these
development activities can and should evolve into something greater in my development. These
are also elements that would need constant reflection and updating as much as possible.

Reference:
Costantino, P., and DeLorenzo, M. (2009). Developing a Professional Teaching Portfolio: A
Guide for Success. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.