50 Tips for Teacher Development

Teacher Development Book Summary

• "50 Tips for Teacher Development" provides strategies for professional growth, as a solo teacher, or within a group.
• Each tip facilitates an aspect of teacher development, including the activity's goal, rationale, and procedures.

Book Purpose

• The book caters to language teachers at various career stages.
• Continuous learning is crucial due to the dynamic nature of language teaching.
• Professional development helps teachers update knowledge and skills, which is vital for their growth and their institution.
• Teacher development is continuous, versus formal training, and is not a one-off event.
• The active involvement of program coordinators and school is important for success.
• Tips target core aspects like needs assessment, research, and expanding knowledge.
• Aims to support both new and experienced teachers, along with supervisors.
• It promotes a culture of professional development via descriptions of goals, methodologies, and potential challenges.

Reviewing Professional Development

• Achieving teacher development means knowing current state, desired state, and how to get there.

Professional Development - 1 Plan Goals

• Professional development should be intentional rather than left to chance.
• Effective teachers deliberately engineer their development.
• It involves taking control by setting goals and mapping steps.

Teacher Development Life Cycle

• Teachers evolve through stages, so the set goals are suited to current stage.
• Hubermann (1989) identified stages: novice (surviving), mid-career (stabilization), and late-career (serenity).
• Garton & Richards (2008) suggest stages: starting out, becoming experienced, new horizons, and passing on knowledge.
• It involves plotting where currently situated and readiness to move on.

Ideal Teacher Persona

• Goal setting includes having a clear professional "image".
• The motivational self-system theory suggests motivation stems from a clear vision of the "ideal self."
• It includes identifying the steps to bridge the gap between the current and ideal self.
• Think of your "ideal professional self" in five years.

Development Road Map

• What steps do you need to achieve goal?
• What support is likely needed?
• What is a good timeframe to target?
• The plan can be adapted as you progress through the book.

Professional Development - 2 Review Development

• Language teaching has evolved greatly.
• Changes include technology and understanding of language and learning.
• Teachers are expected to specialize in areas like ESP or blended learning.
• A specialization in language teaching requires a specialized foundation of knowledge and skills from study and practice.
• Focus includes assessing current standing in professional development, plus identifying aspects to focus on.

Assessing Qualifications

• Need to understand what qualifications are held
• Certificate level qualifications include TESOL, or a specialized domain (ex. teaching young children)
• Also consider diploma level qualifications in TESOL, and/or undergrad degree in TESOL
• A graduate degree in TESOL is also an important area of study

Further Qualifications

• Talk to someone with that qualification.
• How useful is it?
• How difficult was it to obtain?
• Is it best to study full-time, part-time, face-to-face, or online?
• What advice is best to seek out?

Evaluating Experience

• Identify your most experienced teaching areas to best understand familiar methods and techniques
• Also identify areas of teaching you would like to become more familiar with, helping to improve your teaching methods

Main Responsibilities

• What are your main responsibilities in your school or institution?
• What responsibilities would you like to focus on more in future?

Professional Developments

• What professional development activities are best to improve different teaching practices
• It is helpful to consider Design instructional materials, Attend workshops and conferences, Write for publication etc
• Look at Research my teaching, and see new Take part in online forums or Belong to a teachers' group / professional organization

Further Information

• It would be helpful to Discuss answers to better Understand what you learned from the discussion.
• Prepare a one-page statement about your experience and expertise, and also areas that need improvement

Professional Development - 3 Review Changes

• Change is a constant in teaching, leading to confidence and understanding.
• It might shift your awareness, affirm current practices, or incomplete processes.
• The tip reflects on changes since starting teaching, factors that prompted changes, and future changes, and changes you would like to make.

Teacher Role Evaluation

• An example of change related to the role in the classroom
• An example of change related to teaching style you most often use
• Example of change relation to beliefs about role of grammar learning
• Example of change related to Understanding of how learners make their learning more effective
• Example of change to approaching correcting learners' errors
• Example of change related to the importance of a "native speaker" accent

Further Evaluations

• How did the changes impact your teaching practice?
• You can give an example for each change discussed with a colleague
• The idea is to also compare your overall list with your colleague, and address if there are areas you might be missing

Results of Change

• Change is typically the overall result of initiation to change in your work
• What are the 4 most important changes to initiate in your workplace? Is there anything that could be added to list?
• An example of this would focus on self-discovery, and feedback from students, as well as feedback from supervisor
• Trial and error, plus Peer feedback can be beneficial to positive change in work environment
• Collaboration with other teachers, plus workshop attending is a great way to make decisions

Future Changes

• What New Year resolutions do you want to do after current school year is over?
• What things would you like to happen during the coming months, and how might you discuss your list?
• Try an activity of this kind in thinking about changes you would like to make to your work.

Exploring How You Teach

• "Imagined" views of teaching may differ from how learners/colleagues see you.
• Collecting teaching information, will help identify strengths, and possible areas of improvement.

Teaching - 4 Lesson Report Monitoring

• Monitor effectiveness by documenting teaching practices and recording lesson detail
• Lesson reports record key aspects of how things developed in the lesson, which allows you to trigger reflection and evaluation
• Typically contains list of activities that occur, how long they take, and reflections/changes for next time

Teaching - 5 Watch / Listen to Recordings

• A recording help observe and evaluate how you teach by analyzing audios or videos
• It would include: Planning for Recording Your Lesson, and deciding the logistics
• What kind of audio or video recordings will be used, and the information to provide

Identifying Aspects to Recording

• Recording communication of the goals and activities is extremely important, as well as instruction
• Recording how you ask and answer questions, and how you evaluate text books is also important to note
• Overall consider a well paced lesson

Other Aspects

• How loudly do you speak, and are there any annoying gestures?
• Are your instructions clear, and if not, what adjustments should be made?
• Does your instruction seem appropriate for the context and for your intended goals?

Evaluating Recording Playback

• Look for what can be changed or modified, and the positive aspects you identify
• What do you think are the most Positive futures of the lesson?
• Was there something that surprised or puzzled you and what might you suggest that you could have tried?

Teaching - 6 Observe Each Other Teach

• Observing a teacher is not just a good way to determine different teaching methods
• Observing provides prompts to reflect on your own teaching as well as establish school
• To best achieve, it means you need a good understanding of other the collegial culture

Observation Methods

• Understanding how to clearly communicate with someone while not looking like an evaluator
• Clarify that it will have all components and features that will be clear to the lesson and observer
• Also have an understanding of questions you want to focus

Other aspects for Observers

• What kind of Class details are most important, level etc
• Understanding who the Students are, their level, and if they are able to demonstrate and contribute in classroom
• What teaching materials and other ways to contribute are being used, and how each student is making gains

Observers Role to record features of the lesson

• Checklist is best source of knowing features - for different text types see appendix 3 for more helpful analysis and questions to ask other teachers
• Narrative: simply write our lesson on it unfolds, while also making notes against time line for better understanding
• Have a set procedure to check what questions students ask
• Need to identify what they Teacher would like your notes to represent. What behaviours will you need to record?

During Observation

• The observation period should be non judgemental when it comes to other staff
• There should also be notes by the Teacher about things most like in the discussion

Teaching - 7 Keeping Portfolio

• Portfolio best way to achieve overview of your thinking and what practices you make
• The work reflects your core beliefs, skills, and areas of contribution
• Teachers find it is easier to reflect on improvement, and note work to achieve overall goals

Methods for maintaining a Portfolio

• The file can be paper based or digital. if you choose a Digital Electronic method it has more ways to collect all types of media. such as text and video all together
• Decide the Purposing of holding file: do not share or will it be shared and why make a list?
• Decide on the kinds of text that go into the file, which will help you with writing information

Documents for Portfolios

• Must be a Professional teaching philosophy
• Has documents used to evaluate teaching
• Any courses with descriptions and assignments
• Have sample materials in evaluation as long as well as samples
• Have a video and photographs to help show work. Also make a collection of peer comments
• The plan needs to be updated and maintained frequently

Teaching - 8 Journaling

• Journaling gives better reflection as well as simple way to keep data to see where can learn
• The writing has to evaluate and be understood by teacher, which should enhance a sense of learning
• Is there a need for Number of decisions as you work on it

Journaling Plan

• When starting work on a journaling procedure, it is good to know what kind of journal. Note e journal is also available, but blogs are useful too
• Plan who is the target of it, and if there is even a target to discuss topics with