Standard V: Teachers are committed to continuous improvement and professional

development.

As I complete my eighth year of teaching, I have found it helpful and necessary to

continuously improve my craft through professional development. I have been lucky to
have strong professional development at each school at which Ive worked, including
here at Gaithersburg High School. When I reflect upon this past year, it is evident that
Ive continued to improve myself as an educator through professional development at
GHS, as well as outside of the GHS community.

Throughout the 2016-2017 school year, I participated in multiple forms of professional

development at Gaithersburg High School. These have included monthly Trojan Talks,
weekly PLC meetings (in which I have led multiple meetings), and monthly department
meetings. I also had the opportunity to co-lead a Co-Teaching PD for the entire school
during an all-staff meeting in February 2017 (Artifact 5a). This opportunity allowed my
co-teacher and I to reflect upon our best practices and to share co-teaching strategies
with our colleagues. I also had the opportunity to have multiple educators and
administrators observe my classroom this year, including Brittany Love-Campbell, Tony
Harrison, Chris Williams, Jen Bado-Aleman, Susan Frishman, Anne Adams and Tiffany
McEwan. Artifacts 5b and 5c are notes from my observations from Ms. Frishman for my
period 3 On-Level class and from Ms. McEwan for my period 7 Honors class.

During this school year, I also had the opportunity to participate in professional
development outside of Gaithersburg High School. My co-teacher and I were given the
opportunity to be guest lecturers at the University of Maryland for the undergraduate
class entitled Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. This opportunity
allowed us to share our best practices as co-teachers, as well as how we make our
lessons culturally relevant. Artifact 5d is my certificate of recognition for being a guest
lecturer. I also had the opportunity to attend and present at this years Maryland Council
for Exceptional Children Conference on February 25, 2017. This years conference
theme was Unlocking the Dimensions of Special Education, and my co-teacher and I
led a session on Creating a Learning Environment that Engages and Challenges All
Students. Artifact 5e is my certificate of recognition for presenting at this conference,
and Artifact 5f is the presentation that we shared with those who attended our session.
This opportunity allowed my co-teacher and I to share our best practices with incoming
teachers, current educators, and current administrators.

Throughout each experience, I have been able to grow more as an educator. All of my
professional development has been vital to helping me continuously improve my
practice, and therefore better support my students and their individual needs.