Call to Action
As a bilingual preschool teacher in the Cleveland Independent School District, I see a significant gap in the Cleveland, Texas, community regarding phonemic awareness in young children. Your expertise and experience, combined with the use of rotating learning centers, can be effective in helping students become more proficient.
Professional development and blended learning are crucial to preschool education. Ongoing teacher development must accompany the implementation of learning centers to ensure teachers are equipped to integrate technology effectively. This approach fosters individual student learning and promotes more engaging and relevant teaching.
Killion (2008) explained that evidence-based, ongoing professional development is essential for developing new teaching strategies in a blended learning environment. Through professional development and training, teachers can learn about digital platforms and interactive applications that enhance phonetic language development in children.
Focusing on teachers' professional growth ensures they can provide their students with more prosperous and meaningful learning experiences. This, in turn, positively impacts children's phonetic and academic development. Therefore, teacher professional development is crucial to successfully implementing my proposed innovation.
Why ?
I saw a need in my community of Cleveland, Texas, where I grew up and still live. I observed that preschool students struggle with phonetic language development. I want to address these crucial skills to close learning gaps in education and ensure future students' academic success, especially those from low-income households.
What?
My proposal focuses on an innovative teaching plan that combines the station rotation model with interactive digital tools. This approach aims to engage preschool students in various activities designed to improve their phonics skills uniquely and adaptively.
Each classroom station has mobile apps and educational platforms that offer interactive activities. These multimedia activities engage the students and provide instant and personalized feedback, crucial for phonics success in the early years.
How?
My Innovation Plan Proposal focuses on an innovative teaching plan that combines the station rotation model with interactive digital tools. This approach allows preschool students to participate in various activities designed to enhance their phonics skills uniquely and adaptively. Each classroom station has mobile apps and educational platforms that offer interactive activities. Aside from being engaging, multimedia activities provide instant and personalized feedback, which is crucial for phonics success in the early years.
The success of any educational innovation depends not only on its creation but also on its effective implementation by teachers and education administrators and its integration into students' lives. In this regard, your role is not just essential but integral.
As teachers, you will be responsible for implementing the new teaching plan and providing feedback on its effectiveness. As educational administrators, you will support the teachers' implementation efforts and ensure the necessary resources are available. I propose enhancing vocabulary development through phonetic language and providing preschool teachers with a framework for growth.
This involves a comprehensive plan that includes ongoing online training, reinforcement during implementation, and active teacher input. Your role is crucial, and your contribution is invaluable.
Professional learning has five principles: duration, support, active and engaging, modeling, and specific content (Gulamhussein, 2018).
.jpg)
1.- Significant and ongoing duration of teacher professional development
Implementing this proposal would benefit students and provide valuable professional development opportunities for teachers. Therefore, the development has to be ongoing and meaningful. A series of learning sessions throughout the school year would teach new strategies and allow teachers to implement and adjust them in their classes. A long-term approach is needed to ensure teachers master the rotation model with the technological tools. This provides an effective and lasting transition to this new teaching methodology.
2.- Ongoing support while implementation takes place
Ongoing support is crucial to successfully implementing a new teaching practice. As part of this, teachers will participate in coaching sessions and regular team debriefing meetings. These meetings will provide a platform for teachers to share their experiences, solve problems, and receive feedback. It's important to note that specialized support is essential to help teachers address any specific challenges they may face when adopting new practices. Additionally, teachers can engage with their colleagues through meetings to discuss problems and ask questions. This continuously supports teacher collaboration and learning, ultimately strengthening Pineburr Elementary School's community and ensuring no teacher feels left behind in this transition.
3.-Active participation and practical learning
The second pillar of the proposal emphasizes the importance of active participation and practical learning for teachers. Teachers need more than teachers to receive information; they must actively engage in the learning process to fully understand and implement new teaching methodologies.
Through the station rotation model, teachers will participate in practical workshops where they can design and test digital activities, technologies, and phonetic applications. This active participation will help them better comprehend the new methodologies and build confidence. The proposed innovation plan suggests that active participation should be the main principle of teacher training, as it is crucial for successful long-term implementation. This approach ensures that every teacher is involved in their professional development, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment.
4.- Effective modeling of new practices
Effective modeling of new practices introduces new ways of working through modeling. Modeling is a prominent technique in teacher training. For my proposal, I provide clear examples and practical demonstrations of classroom organization and control procedures using digital model station rotation. The models include videos, instructed lessons, and classroom visits where station rotation is used.
This way, teachers will see how to adapt such practices in their classrooms, making the method more accessible. Desimore (2009) mentioned that modeling is one of the most effective techniques for teachers to understand and apply the appropriate technique.
5.- Pedagogical Relevance and Content Specificity
The training and resources provided should be tailored to the needs of preschool teachers. My plan aligns with young children's cognitive and linguistic development and is based on Dweck's growth mindset approach, as referenced in Dweck (2006). The interactive applications and online platforms selected are directly related to phonetic language development at the preschool level. The online approach allows for self-regulation based on individual student strengths and weaknesses. As Desimore (2009) highlights, this content specificity is essential to ensuring that professional development strategies are effective and have a tangible impact on teaching practice. The proposal aims to enhance phonetic language development in our Cleveland ISD preschool cohort and improve the teaching skills of our educators. We plan to introduce a rotational station model and interactive digital tools to create a flexible learning environment that meets the diverse needs of our students.
Additionally, we will provide continuous, time-bound, and well-supported professional development for our teachers, focusing on active engagement, effective modeling, and content tailored to preschool education. This approach will ensure that our teachers can effectively implement these teaching roles over the long term. We enjoy education, where students and teachers can further their college education.
Referencias:
Desimone, L. M. (2009). Improving impact studies of teachers'
professional development: Toward better conceptualizations and
measures. Educational researcher, 38(3), 181-199.
Dweck, C.S. (2006). The power of believing that you can improve (Video).
Gulam Hussain, A (2018). Effective professional development in an area
of high-stakes accountability. Center for Public Education.
Haugland, S.W. (2012). Educational applications for iPad, iPhone, and
iPod touch. Journal of Special Education Technology, 27 (2), 59-63.
Killion, J. (2008). Assessing impact: Evaluating staff development.
Corwin Press.