Redwood City School District’s Post

Investing in Our Teachers: Reflecting on a Year of Growth at Lord Wilson School At King's Academy Lord Wilson, we firmly believe that a school's success is directly linked to the success of its teachers. This year, we focused heavily on professional development (CPD) opportunities, offering four distinct training blocks designed to empower and equip our educators to deliver exceptional learning experiences for all students. Building a Strong Foundation: Assessment and SEN Awareness The first block, "Principles of Assessment," provided a robust foundation in effective assessment practices. This ensures that student progress is accurately measured, allowing teachers to tailor instruction and personalise learning journeys. Recognising the diverse needs within our SEMH community, we also dedicated a block to "Being SEND Aware." This comprehensive training covered the entire spectrum of Special Educational Needs found in our school. Sessions on specific needs, alongside resources like "Widget" for communication support, equipped teachers to confidently meet the individual requirements of each student. Elevating Instruction and Responding to Staff Needs We further honed teaching practices through "Foundations of Effective Instruction of Grammar," ensuring clear and impactful delivery of this crucial subject area. Responding to feedback from learning walks, the fourth block addressed specific staff requests for in-depth training. This flexibility demonstrates our commitment to tailoring CPD to the evolving needs of our educators. Positive Impact and Looking Forward The feedback on this year's CPD program has been overwhelmingly positive. Staff highlighted the expertise of facilitators, clear delivery, and the practical applications gained from sessions. We are excited to embark on further growth opportunities through involvement in KGA CPD, while also continuing with our comprehensive, site-specific professional development programs. By investing in our teachers, we invest in the future success of our students. #LordWilsonSchool #CPD #TeacherDevelopment #EffectiveAssessment #SENDAwareness #KGA #InvestingInOurFuture Laura Holliss, Assistant Headteacher

✨ Suggested topics for international education professional development 2024-25 ✨ Professional development (PD) allows international teachers to stay abreast of emerging trends, pedagogical advancements, and global best practices. As we approach 2024-25 academic year, the focus on equipping international educators with relevant skills and knowledge becomes paramount. In our latest blog, we explore suggested topics for PD, aimed at empowering teachers to foster innovation, inclusivity, and excellence in their educational communities. https://hubs.ly/Q02FvV1Y0

A Pre-Service Teacher's Reflection Diary During Week 0, I focused on preparing for my upcoming teaching practicum. This involved contacting the school and my mentors (formally through email) to arrange a campus visit before the school closed for vacation. During this visit, I requested important documents and information to help me prepare effectively: 1. School policy document(s): This document contained all the rules and regulations of the school, including evacuation procedures during emergencies and the school's dress code. 2. Term timetable: I obtained a copy of the term timetable to familiarise myself with class timings. 3. Term plan and curriculum sections: I requested the current term plan and the sections of the curriculum that the teachers were teaching. This helped me get a rough idea of what I would be teaching and allowed me to come prepared. 4. Staff room and staff toilets: I located the staff room and staff toilets for my convenience. 5. Staff computer usage and passwords: I learned about the usage of staff computers and obtained any necessary passwords. I also familiarised myself with the printers in the staff study room. 6. Meet the Education Assistants (EAs): I met with the Education Assistants to familiarise myself with them and their roles in the school. 7. I also made sure that I visited the class I was supposed to teach. (The school was relatively small but it would help if you had to navigate around in a big campus) Continue reading as I reflect further on the weeks that follow (till week 10) including my personal reflections, pedagogical discoveries and lessons learned. Yeshey - Kids now call me "SHAY" and I love it I would love to hear about how you handled your first Teaching Practicum, especially in a new culture and new education system

Should teaching assistants and support staff be participating in CPD? Teaching assistants and support staff are a very significant and essential resource in primary classrooms, so much so that it is hard to imagine how schools could manage without them. Continuing Professional Development, or CPD is the improvement of professional and educational practice throughout a teacher or teaching assistant’s career. Professional development and CPD programmes aim to provide a practical framework for support staff to update their professional skills and knowledge on a regular ongoing basis that can help them to remain competent and enhance everyday teaching abilities. Effective CPD for teaching assistant and support staff with the knowledge and skills that will enable them to contribute to the school’s overall aim of raising educational standards, uphold school policies and provide appropriate and reliable support for the school. Teacher CPD training can lead to a more stimulating and effective teaching environment. It can enable teachers and teaching assistants to obtain new techniques, share best practice, and apply fresh approaches to teaching that allows them to improve their ability for students. Participating in #CPD can also help teaching assistants expand their own personal opportunities within the teaching industry. Maximising the quality of #teaching through effective #professional development and #training should therefore be at the top of any school’s priorities.

Educator Friends - If you're interested in learning more about proficiency or competency based learning, specifically how you might begin implementation or deepen your already existing practices - Check out Chicago Public Schools' new Competency Based Education Framework & Framework Continuum (https://lnkd.in/gBq6wNeu). Our Framework is broken down into four big domains that capture the big ideas of CBE. Each domain is then broken into components & indicators that outline what you might see an educator or learner doing if that practice was begin implemented. Each component is then organized in four stages that provides look fors of what each CBE Practice might look like from beginning to advanced implementation to guide educators no matter where they may be in their practice. If you're interested in learning more about how to use the framework with fellow educators or about how CBE looks in CPS - reach out about one of our professional learning opportunities or to attend CBE in CPS Day of Learning on October 27th!

Five years ago this month, teacher educators from six educator-preparation programs gathered in a hotel conference room in Austin, TX and puzzled together over the extent to which a lesson plan about lima beans was grounded in a scientific understanding of how students learn. That session anchored the inaugural convening of DFI’s Learning by Scientific Design Network (LbSD). Over the next five years, we’ve supported 14 #edprep programs across 3 cohorts to comprehensively redesign their programs – from coursework to clinical experiences – to be anchored in principles of learning science. What have teacher educators learned from these efforts to transform teacher preparation? How have they brought in their #K12 partners? What’s next as they work to sustain and scale this work to ensure all aspiring teachers center evidence-based instructional practices in their teaching? Former DFI staff member Sarah McKibben Montana helps us look back at the first two cohorts of LbSD and highlights key lessons and takeaways from participants Louisiana Resource Center for Educators, National Louis University, American University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and University of Missouri-Saint Louis for this critical networked improvement effort. https://lnkd.in/dUNnX5hc

There are a few important questions to consider when choosing your professional learning... - how does this activity contribute to my professional knowledge? - how will I apply that knowledge to my practice to support the learning of those I teach? - how does this professional learning relate to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST)? - have I addressed at least one standard in each domain of the APST? Fully registered teachers and early childhood teachers must engage in at least 20 hours of professional learning activities each registration year (1 October to 30 September) to renew their registration. Understand what effective professional learning for annual registration looks like: https://lnkd.in/gFNJuj_R #VicTeachers #VicTeaching #TeacherLearning #TeacherProfessionalLearning #APST

Starting the new academic year...without a job. For the first time in 4 years I'm not starting the academic year preparing my classroom, printing out class lists, completing safeguarding training, lesson planning for as far into the future as I can (normally not more than a week though) and figuring out key priorities for the year. Instead, I'm *somewhat 'funemployed', where I'm taking some time off to think intentionally and meaningfully about what my next steps might look like, outside of the teaching sphere. Having started by doing the Teach First training programme, teaching history whilst studying at IOE - UCL's Faculty of Education and Society, I've done a lot in the 4 years which I've loved! Whether it was working as part of the Anti-racism committee @ Villiers High School or helping run Duke of Edinburgh or running cricket club after school, or seeing pupils faces on results day, there's so much that's made me fulfilled along the way. I took a step back from my role as Curriculum Leader for Humanities@ NISHKAM SCHOOL TRUST. The school's vision of an education that is faith-inspired, virtues-led, with an aspiration for excellence, led to a culture of well- rounded, conscientious, reflective and ambitious pupils and a determined staff body who relentlessly aim to create excellent members of society for now and the future. The Headteacher, Gerard and his leadership team, did this through clear, consistent messaging, and supporting teachers to enable pupils to succeed. This was reflected in the Ofsted Outstanding report from earlier in the year, and the great outcomes that pupils achieved on results day. Importantly though, you will see this in the everyday life at Nishkam; it's not just when Ofsted visit, or for a 'special visitor'. I implore anyone interested in teaching, or how to create well-rounded individuals and obtain great outcomes to spend a few hours on a tour around the school, and in some of the classrooms to see what it's like. Now, next steps. Well that'll be revealed tomorrow, but it involves start-ups like Jumpstart, Vestd and The Bae HQ, patience, and intentionality. If anyone is looking to go into teaching, thinking about taking the next step in their teaching journey or just found this interesting, feel free to connect, comment or follow, or drop me a dm. All advice and feedback is appreciated!

Newly qualified teachers, we are three weeks in. I am sure you have heard, “Don't smile with the learners until Easter.”   More experienced teachers like to make this statement to the new teachers, and it is more often than not communicated in a very humorous manner but with a serious undertone.   But what does it actually mean? In my experience, this is the time when you need to be intentional about establishing a disciplined and serious learning environment.   During this time, teachers should avoid: 1. overly casual behaviour and conversation,  2. excessive friendliness that might undermine your authority, and 3. any actions that could distract from your educational goals.   One of the mistakes I made in my first year was to think that the learners were my friends, and therefore I lost my authority, and lessons hardly ever led to us reaching our educational goals.   Importantly, this DOES NOT mean that you should be cold and unapproachable.   During this time, you should be consistent about: 1. Enforcing classroom rules and expectations 2. Establishing clear boundaries between teacher and learner is necessary to maintain a professional relationship. 3. Prioritizing educational objectives and minimizing activities or behaviors that could distract from learning. 4. Demonstrating leadership that creates a structured and controlled classroom atmosphere.   When you are able to achieve this, it will set the foundation for the rest of the year and beyond. You will see how learners will achieve academically, but your relationship with them will be impactful and long-lasting.