Professional Growth Goal
My professional growth goal was to concentrate on planning instruction and designing learning experiences for all students. In particular, I really want to emphasize establishing and articulating student learning goals.
Development of universal lesson plans is essential to meeting the academic needs of all students. Furthermore, lesson plans that are mindful of multi-modality instructional strategies have the potential to target all student-learning preferences. The development of these types of lessons created a positive learning environment where students were not afraid of making mistakes and felt comfortable to pose questions beyond of the scope of the presented curriculum.
Every student is unique and has built in strengths that I must remain cognizant of. Therefore, continuing to development universally designed lesson is essential to avoid the pitfalls of a one-size fits all mentality.
A professional goal beyond induction:
A professional goal I have for next school year is to take more of initiative to connect with other educators within the professional learning communities of special education. These opportunities for collaboration may afford additional resources for exploring other instructional strategies and developing curriculum.
What actions will I take to achieve this goal?
One action I will take is to join a special education professional organization. The organization I am exploring is the California Association of Resource Specialist (CARS+). This organization conducts meetings and networking opportunities for educators for collaboration of ideas.
How will I assess goal attainment?
Goal attainment and assessment will come as I register and join an organization such as CARS+. Further assessment will be measured via collaboration efforts with the implementation of new ideas within my classroom.
Connected Educator
I can stay a connected educator by remaining open-minded to new ideas that may benefit the academic, social, and behavioral needs of my students.
Energy to be Passionate About Teaching
To sustain the energy to be passionate about teaching I will commit to never stop learning, developing, or innovating my professional practices. It is important to use the expertise and resources at my disposal to avoid the pitfalls of burn-out or frustrations. Finally, there is an old saying that says ‘take time to stop and smell the roses’. For me this comes with the enjoyment of make the effort to spending the quality time with my family. They motivate me to give my best everyday as an educator.
Quotes
“Mr. Gomez presents the information in an energetic and passionate way. He uses real life examples (of the Congressional voting process) to demonstrate the power of Congress. –Mr. Merilus
“Mr. Gomez speaks in an upbeat tone and excited manner about the topic and story.” –Mr. Merilus
Advice for New Teachers
Keep your goals and practices student centered. As educators we are here to serve and meet the educational, emotional, and social needs of our students. Know that you will make mistakes and strategies used in one circumstance may not be successful in another. That said, do not be afraid of failure…embrace it, learn from it! Understand that you have resources that will be there for you every step of the way. And most importantly, tomorrow is a new day.