Teacher Professional Development Plan
Goal #1: Use ELA and social studies teaching strategies for cross-curricular instruction in drama.
KSAs:
I) There are many approaches to teaching and learning. They know a broad range of instructional strategies appropriate to their area of specialization and the subject discipline they teach, and know which strategies are appropriate to help different students achieve different outcomes.
Rationale: The purpose of this goal is to develop more experience with teaching ELA and social studies and experiment with different pedagogical styles. Integrating other subjects into drama will increase my range as a teacher while demonstrating the wide applicability of drama.
Actions:
-Observe experienced ELA and social studies teachers
-Use in-depth textual analysis to gain a greater understanding of Shakespeare’s work
-Develop an understanding of historical context to better understand the work of important playwrights
-Analyze story structure through various story telling activities and workshops as part of a speech unit
-Analyze important speeches from history as part of a speech unit
-Analyze current events and use that knowledge as an topic for planned group improvs
Timeline:
-Shakespeare and theatre history: Weeks 6-9 in Drama 20/30
-Speech Unit: Weeks 3-6 Drama 10
-Social Issues Collective Creation: Weeks 11-13 Drama 10
Indicators of Success:
-Student feedback
-Mentor teacher observations
-Greater depth of textual understanding as evident in in-class performances
-Greater student awareness of world events
-Planned performances using important social issues as themes
-Personal Reflection
Goal #2: Contribute to the artistic culture of the school.
KSAs:
N) The importance of contributing, independently and collegially, to the quality of their school. They know the strategies whereby they can, independently and collegially, enhance and maintain the quality of their schools to the benefit of students, parents, community and colleagues.
Rationale: The arts are an important part of school that helps bring together many students from many different backgrounds. It can be the best part of school for many students and give them another place where they can feel successful. It creates a feeling of community and develops self confidence. Success in the arts can translate to other subjects and also success in life. The arts are a passion of mine and through the arts I can give the most to my students.
Actions:
-Start a weekly guitar club
-Organize a production of the one-act play Grit O’Malley
Timeline:
Guitar Club
-First meeting: September 10th
-Weekly meetings Wednesday at lunch
-School Performance: Sometime in November*
Grit O’Malley
-September: Finish edit and give to Greg Wolcott for feedback -
-October: Pre-production and design
-November: Cast and rehearse
-December: final rehearsals and performance
Indicators of Success:
-Weekly attendance of Guitar Club
-School performances
-Playbook
-Production
-Student and parent feedback/testimonials
-Personal Reflection
Reflection
For my professional development goals this semester focused on cross-curricular teaching and contributing artistically to the school. I believe that Drama is a course that deserves to be taught with rigor. It is a powerful art form which can have a great social impact. Although students often determine the content presented it is important to use the medium to discuss important social themes. Specifically I wanted to incorporate the study of humanities into my teaching. In my Drama 10 class I chose to incorporate outcomes from the Social 10-1 curriculum. As part of our Collective Creation unit we discussed themes of globalization and researched how our interaction with smart phones reflects and exemplifies those themes. We used our artistry to discuss and make important conclusions about social themes that are relevant to our lives. In my Drama 20/30 class I incorporated outcomes from the ELA 20-1 curriculum into our writing unit. My students practiced writing in various genres while expressing themselves. The inclusion of ELA outcomes has directed them towards considering how to reach their intended audience, how to develop their personal voice, and how to determine what genre knowledge is vital for effective writing.
I have artistically contributed to the school by facilitating a Guitar Club as part of my co-curricular activities. I organized an Open Mic performance on December 9th. It gave my students the opportunity to perform and share the skills that they had been working on all semester.