This standard reflects standard 6 in that it helps teachers continue to develop their skills and engage students better. The idea is that teachers are continually trying to reach their students in new ways with different materials and techniques in the classroom. This will help students as teachers learn how to plan lessons that better suit each student instead of forcing students to conform to a certain teaching style. There is also time here for teachers to grow and keep up to date with advancements in their subject area so that students are not being taught irrelevant information. When done correctly teachers following this standard are continually improving and learning. These teachers have new materials and up to date references for students to understand concepts. Another way to look at professional development is to continually take in new ideas. This can be done through collaboration, professional development seminars and even through taking on student teachers. My coaching teacher told me that one of the main reasons they took on a teacher candidate such as my self was to see if I had new ideas that they could bring into their classroom. They used the opportunity to develop their skills. This is something that I hope to do in my teaching so that I can continue to develop my teaching and my methods in the classroom. One thing that might be challenging but will have to be an area of focus is assessment. I want to be up to date in how I help students develop their skill and give feedback. One resource I can also look to use to develop professionally is my students. I can ask my students via surveys how they feel about my feedback and what things they enjoy about my teaching. Their feedback is often very insightful and can be used to help refine courses or direct how much time we spend as a class on specific topics. I want to use my peers as well in order to bring in new ideas, luckily as a student teacher I am surrounded by classmates that allow me to collaborate often but I hope to maintain these collaborative partnerships as I advance and continue on my teaching journey.
A gift from my coaching teacher.