Areas of Professional Development for Teachers
Professional development plays an integral role in most teachers’ careers. Not only can it help you expand your teaching craft and develop more skills, but it can also lead to significant pay raises and a higher income in retirement.
If you’re considering investing in continuing education, the first step is to choose an area of professional development. Below are some of the primary areas.
Classroom Management
One of the most popular areas of professional development for teachers is classroom management. As classrooms become larger and more diverse, effective management of students’ behavior becomes more critical. Learning effective classroom management skills can immediately pay off when you create an environment that’s more conducive for learning.
Teaching Styles
Most teachers have an “innate” style of teaching, something that can’t be taught. But whatever stage you’re at in your teaching career, it can be helpful to gain exposure to other teaching styles. By tapping into other styles, you’ll have more options available to you and be ready for more situations.
Organization in the Classroom
for some teachers, organization in the classroom comes naturally, while others struggle with it. In general, the more organized you are, the easier the lesson, class, and day go. Professional development topics for improving organization in the classroom include: time management, lesson planning, curriculum development, file and folder management, setting up a classroom, and more.
Subject Matter Expertise
Whether the subject matter you teach is ever evolving (such as technology) or seldom changing (such as English), it can be rewarding to take professional development courses that further your subject matter expertise. Or, you can choose to take courses on a complementary subject, or any subject that interests you, for that matter. If you’re a science teacher, you can take courses on math. If you’re an art teacher, you can take courses on computers. The simple act of learning something can lead to inspiration for your teaching.
Age of Students
Professional development classes and courses that are geared toward a specific age range of students can be beneficial. While there are some universal “rules” of teaching that apply to people of all ages (pre-school to senior citizens), the more you can zero in on the age group of students that you teach, the better. Depending on the focus of the professional development course, trying to learn what works for high school students can be difficult if you keep hearing about examples for elementary school students. Choose professional development that focuses on the age of students that you teach, and you’ll take away more practical tips and ideas that you can successfully implement.
Education 4 Equity Online Professional Development Courses
At Education 4 Equity, we offer a wide range of online professional development courses for teachers. We have 1-credit, 2-credit, and 3-credit online courses for teachers that qualify for graduate credit and have been approved for LAUSD salary points through the Los Angeles Unified School District.