Educators engage in professional learning.
Throughout my time in the Bachelor of Education program, I was lucky enough to addend a few Professional Development days within our district, as well as other districts to further my learning and deeper my education. I am passionate about being a life-long learner, and I believe that attending and taking part of Professional Development days are crucial for teachers as the profession is continuously changing to meet the needs of our students. As an early career educator, I believe it is my job to grow and learn for my students, not just inside the classroom, but outside as well.
During my second practicum, my coaching teacher was very passionate about teaching her students to read. I was in a grade 1/2 split and every day during my 4 weeks in the class, the students participated in a program called UFLI from the morning bell until recess. The program was very structured and offered many ways to learn various sounds, how to decode, and how to take the knowledge students have learned in a full class setting, onto paper. My coaching teacher truly believed in this program, and I could see why. The students in Grade 1 were able to read a full page story and were able to write paragraphs. It was so amazing to see how the program was relating to the students learning. This is what lead me to my first Professional Development Day as a student teacher. My coaching teacher was co-leading a UFLI seminar within the district and I learned so much during the Pro D. I believe it is important to learn from various perspectives, find out the “why” and continue to educate ourselves on things we are passionate about as educators. This is where my passion and interest in teaching students to read and write started from. My second Professional Development Day was an online seminar based out of Vancouver, which had discussions from Adrienne Gear and various reading and writing strategies to incorporate in the classroom, as well as a math component to showcase ways we can teacher math to a variety of learners.
I am looking forward to the many Professional Development Days in my future as an educator, and to have the opportunity to further my learning and take the knowledge I receive and apply it in my classrooms.