Professional Development

You care deeply about your students. You are asked to attend too many meetings. You give up personal or family time to do your job well. It is not unusual for you to spend your own money to buy supplies for some classroom project, or to help a deprived student.

You are a social person. You have keen observational skills and have a good awareness of your surroundings. You are sensitive, kind and fair. You tend to have a conventional disposition but are likely to have an artistic or creative bent. And, of course, you are a very organized person. How am I doing so far?

Moreover, you are probably underwhelmed with the professional learning opportunities and the lunch-and-learns offered by your school district.

 All that points out the importance, as Socrates said over two millennia ago, to “Know thyself."

I’m a strong proponent of teacher-driven professional development.  Yes, I know “professional learning” is in vogue these days but I still prefer to use the term professional development.

Perfect Solution

I further believe that you absolutely must first understand who you are as a person to better understand the occupational temperaments and characteristics of a classroom teacher. Knowing who you are, your core values, strengths, weaknesses and more will allow you to make better and more informed decisions, first about your personal development and then about your professional learning needs.

It is for these reasons and more that I created the Personal Learning Toolbox for Teachers.

The various worksheets and checklists in my toolbox were specifically chosen or created to provide you with the knowledge and information you will need to help you get on a path toward a more satisfying and perhaps even a less stressful teaching career. If you use these tools and put in the time, effort to complete the self-assessments, you can and will learn more about who you are as a person and as a teacher, which I believe is necessary in order for you to be able to make more informed and better decisions about both your personal development and professional learning needs.  And that will make you an even better teacher than you already are!

Contents of Personal Learning Toolbox for Teachers

The current version of my Personal Learning Toolbox for Teachers includes the following items:

1. A “Read-Me-First” Introduction

2. Core values Worksheet

3. Personal SWOT Analysis Worksheet

4. My SWOT Analysis Quadrant

5. Personal Vision Statement Worksheet

6. Make Your Goals SMART Tip Sheet

7. Transferable Liberal Arts Skills Checklist

8. Self-Assessment of Classroom Skills

9. Checklist of My Transferable Skills

10. Next-Step Action Items

I wish you everything you wish for yourself and remember, as a wise person once said, “Teaching is the one profession that makes all other professions possible”. And that is how you should see the importance of what you do in the grand scheme of life!