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Charles L. Jacobs

Grand Canyon University

Course Number: EAD 523

Gregory Finkbonner

04/20/2022
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Benchmark – Reflection of Professional Development Session

Feedback that I received from my deliverance of my professional development was that I

could improve in the areas of making sure that I keep in mind that some of our school staff may

not have as much experience with technology and more interaction during my presentation to

keep staff attentive throughout the whole presentation. Currently at my school we have teachers

that have been teaching for twenty plus years and when they first started teaching technology

was not as advance as it is today. Because of this a suggestion that was given by my evaluator to

make sure to slow down and breakdown all information in great detail to make sure that all staff

know what is going on and can keep up. In addition to these changes, I also incorporated

strategies in my professional development that did not require a strong dependence on

technology to accommodate for teachers that are not as comfortable with technology. Also, more

interaction where staff can be hands on during the presentation was suggested. I added having

hands on activities during a professional development to keep everyone engaged during the

training and help with comprehension of new ideas/ strategies through the use of games.

Areas of strength for my presentation where graphics, overall look, and getting straight to the

main idea of the presentation. Having my power point being visually pleasing helped to grab the

attention of my staff and keeps them focus on the presentation. Also, slides were straight to the

point giving facts and not overwhelming with information. Overall, from the feedback that I

received I feel I did a good job on the presentation and delivering the professional development.

Evidence-based research used to substantiate presented strategies are based upon Gagne’s

events of instruction are used to help make classroom instruction more effective for our students.

Gagne’s events of instruction include Gaining Attention (Reception), Informing Learners of the

Objective (Expectancy), Stimulating Recall of Prior Learning (Retrieval), Presenting the

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Stimulus (Selective Perception), Providing Learning Guidance (Semantic Encoding), Eliciting

Performance (Responding), Providing Feedback, Assessing Performance, and Enhancing

Retention and Transfer. Each event is important for maximizing student learning. School based

data that guided research was test scores, grades, and behavior data.

This professional development session increases the capacity of staff in a way that aligns

with the school’s mission and vision by helping provide high quality education in a respectful

and inclusive environment that builds a foundation for life-long learning. The professional

development session does this by introducing our staff to new educational software that can help

us reach goals. Also, in our professional development trainings session we center our

developments around our data that has been proven to help students succeed. Our data includes

the importance of having PLC’s allowing for everyone in the school the chance to collaborate

and share ideas with one another. Focusing on our students needs is important to make our

professional development sessions effective and help to promote growth within our school.

As a principal I must ensure the skills in professional development sessions are embedded in

classroom instruction by making sure to hold teachers accountable. Teachers will be held

accountable for implementing strategies from professional into their classroom instructions on a

weekly basis through the leadership team observational classroom walk throughs. Teachers will

be responsible for recording students District test score to show whether the new teaching and

classroom management strategies are helping their students’ academic performance and give

feedback to the leadership team. Feedback it actual implementation of professional development

sessions is important because sometimes implementation with different students can contribute

to different results, and finding what works best for our students is the ultimate goal.
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I plan to anticipate and assess emerging trends and initiatives to adapt school-based

leadership strategies in the future, by improving within which is critical for the overall growth of

the school. Researching new trends and having data to support how these new educational

findings can help our staff grow to give better support to our students. Exposure to technology

that emerging in the educational world is coming fast and it’s important that our school is

exposed to the benefits and see what will work best for our school and students. Keeping up with

the times as a school and staff is important for a school’s overall success.

I prepared for your presentation on this professional development session by researching the

topic to make sure that I was familiar with the content and implementations of strategies within

the professional development. Also, before presenting the project, I practice the deliverance of

the presentation to myself to check for any errors and to make sure I was comfortable with the

presentation. My level of confidence during the presentation was very high because after doing

research and a self-run of the presentation I felt I was prepared and did a good job with the

professional development PowerPoint presentation.

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References

Bates, C. C., Huber, R., & McClure, E. (2016). Stay Connected: Using Technology to Enhance

Professional Learning Communities. Reading Teacher, 70(1), 99–102. https://doi-

org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/trtr.1469

Matherson, L., & Windle, T. M. (2017). What Do Teachers Want from Their Professional

Development? Four Emerging Themes. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 83(3), 28–32.

SPERO, K. (2016). Engaging Principals in Professional Development. Principal

Leadership, 16(7), 42–45.