Professional Development

1. The candidate has deep knowledge of current and emerging state initiatives and
programs including, but not limited to, the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI); the
Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI); Alabama Learning
Exchange (ALEX); Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students
Statewide (ACCESS); and RTI (Response to Instruction) and their relationship to
student achievement. 

I’ve learned that Alabama has launched several initiatives to increase Math scores.
Many of them have not been successful with a variety of schools in my district and
others, according to the professionals on Twitter. One of the first introduced was bring
your own technology. Students were given and allowed to bring their technology
sources to school for educational use. According my interactions with professionals on
Twitter, several school systems found that many of the students were engaged in
unauthorized usage which became more of a distraction. The policy was refined such
that several websites were restricted, which fixed many of the problems. I like that
students could bring their own laptops, tablets, etc. because it addressed the equipment
shortage and allowed us to work on websites such as Kaboot, Moodle, etc. to virtually
demonstrate the lesson’s objectives.

Another initiative that I found beneficial and has received great raves on Twitter was
ACCESS. I’ve had the pleasure of teaching a few ACCESS classes. It is great in that
students are not limited to what is offered at the local schools. They can take, for
example, calculus from a distant learning instructor if it is not offered at the local school.
The disadvantage that I and many teachers found was the local counselor had to make
sure that the student’s logged in. Without that personal touch, many were often not
successful, especially in the math courses.

2. The candidate understands how content and skill development can be supported by
media and technology and knows how to evaluate these resources for quality, accuracy,
and effectiveness.

In our discussions, we all know that this group of students are highly advanced in
technology and that traditional teaching, though sometimes necessary, is not very
successful with this generation. I agree with my colleagues on Twitter that by
incorporating computer games, brochures, flyers, etc. as student work products allows
this generation of students to gain a deeper insight about the objectives. These
technology resources are great assets in understanding the content and developing
student’s skills.

3. The candidate dedicates time to collaborate with both colleagues and students

of improve practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve problems. 
 We all agree that many schools are lacking in the collaboration with students. Often
times we get this great idea of an initiative, work with our colleagues to further develop
and implement the initiative. However, we fail to include the students in the planning
stages. Since enrolling in these courses, I have tried to change that in my school.
system. Professional Development should always include the students’ perspective.

4. The candidate continually improves his or her practice by learning from and with others
and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve
student learning. I teach a math class. Often times mathematic instructors believe that
the traditional way of teaching can’t be improved upon. Through my interactions with
peers and instructions, I have learned that differentiating instructions and including more
technology improve student performance. Since making the change, my students
standardized scores have increased and we traditionally out score the honor students.
This is a tech based generation. In order to reach them, I have learned, we must
change with the times. I now find myself exploring tik tok and other medias, looking for
additional tools to incorporate in my program because of the past successes we have
had. A few years ago I did not even own a computer. I improve so my students can
achieve.

5. The candidate seeks out opportunities for leadership to support student empowerment
and success and to improve teaching and learning.

Because of my successes in the classroom, I am now the lead instructor and

department chair for our math department. I am requesting that all instructors
incorporate more project based and technology based instructions in the class room.
Project based instructions with a technology component showcases the leadership skills
of the students. It creates opportunities for the students and transforms the traditional
classroom from teacher centered to student centered. Such student empowerment has
led to many successes at my school. Our graduation rate has increased to 92%. Our
standardized scores on ACT have increased by 6 points in math. The teachers are
correct. These tools when implemented to fidelity can lead to a myriad of aptitude
successes.