Personal Growth Plan
Complete the chart below to plan your professional development over the next 2-3 years. Be sure your goals are specific and
measureable.
Goal #1: Encourage parental
involvement and provide
opportunities for them to engage
with their child’s educational
experience.
Rationale: Why did After experiencing education from
you choose this goal? a teacher’s perspective, I can
How do you expect it clearly see the impact parents play
to improve the in developing their child’s
outcomes of your educational experience and
future students? potential. “Our [parents] attitudes
about education can inspire theirs
[students] and show them how to
take charge of their own
educational journey” (PBS
Parents, 2018). Parents either help
reinforce the idea that education is
important or that it is nothing but a
waste of time. If I am able to
target parents I will then be able to
appeal to the student’s educational
development.
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Goal #2: Give students the ability
to take control of their own
learning by providing more
student-centered learning
opportunities.
Allowing students to take control
of their own learning helps them
to personalize it and create their
own connections to content.
“Student-centered learning moves
students from passive receivers of
information to active participants
in their own discovery process”
which shifts the focus of learning
to accommodate each student’s
individual needs (International
Society for Technology in
Education, 2018). I believe that
when students are given the
chance to create their own
understanding, the motivation no
longer becomes extrinsic, rather an
intrinsic one that sees them
through to their future.
Goal #3: Foster a classroom
environment in which students
feel safe and free to have fun.
Regardless of anyone’s age,
everyone wants to feel safe, loved,
and as though they belong.
Instituting a classroom
environment that caters to all of
these human desires helps students
focus on their education and not
survival. “A healthy, safe, and
supportive learning environment
enables students, adults, and even
the school as a system to learn in
powerful ways” (Parrett and
Budge, 2018).
 End Date: By when By the second quarter of my first
do you expect to year which would be Fall of 2018.
accomplish this goal?
Action Timeline: The first week of school: I will
What steps will you make it a point to reach out to
take to complete this parents and request their best
goal, and by when method of communication. Offer
will you take them? the invitation to join our class
Example: website to stay up-to-date on
1/31/18: Join AACTE information in our classroom and
around the school.
Each week: Send home, call,
email, or other preferred method
of communication positive reports
to parents about a handful of
students to prevent the only
interactions from being negative.
Once a quarter: Send progress
reports to keep them up-to-date on
classroom activities and growth
but also to offer any tutoring
opportunities before and after
school.
Second quarter: At parent teacher
conferences offer up the
opportunity to volunteer in the
classroom and get involved with
other things happening at school.
Resources: What My mentor teacher is involved in
resources are almost everything teachers can be
available to assist you involved in. She is extremely
in accomplishing your skilled in relaying information to
goal? parents in a way that genuinely
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By my second year teaching which The first day of my first year
would be in the Fall of 2019; which would be August of 2018.
First year: I will have a classroom
management strategy already in
place but I will look for other
options for the following school
year.
Each quarter: I would like to
pinpoint one teacher who executes
student-centered learning well to
get some insights as to how they
pull it off. I would also like to
observe other teachers using this
technique to see it in action.
Prior to the start of year two:
Develop a plan after talking to 4+
teachers that works best with my
teaching style. I would like to
incorporate each of their ideas and
have them give feedback before
using it in the classroom.
Colleagues and former mentors
are key here. I want to know what
has worked and what hasn’t
worked so that I can learn from
previous mistakes and successes.
First day: Emphasize the
importance of respecting
themselves, each other, me, and
other members of the school. I do
not expect respect without giving
it and neither should they.
During the year: Never criticize
questions, ideas, or those who
volunteer responses in class.
Instead meet their responses with
grace, excitement, and authentic
curiosity. Praise the little things,
share the “good things”, and never
betray their trust.
Harry Wong is an educator who
has dedicated his life, along with
his wife, to helping teachers
become effective educators. His
videos and published articles are
 reflects her desire for them to be
involved. I can count on her
advice to help me achieve this
goal.
© 2018 Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved
Their strategies will help me
provide the best possible
environment and learning
experience for each of my
students.
extremely beneficial for teachers
as they set guidelines for
establishing classroom
management routines which aid in
the betterment of all classroom
citizens. His book, The First Days
of School: How to be an Effective
Teacher, is one that helps teachers,
both experienced and fresh to the
profession, understand the
difference the first few days can
make each year. I am excited to
start reading this book as I believe
it will put me on the right path to
starting the first year of my future.
 References

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2018). Student-centered learning. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from

https://www.iste.org/standards/essential-conditions/student-centered-learning

Parrett, W. H., & Budge, K. M. (2018). Turning high-poverty schools into high-performing schools. Retrieved April 14, 2018, from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109003/chapters/Fostering-a-Healthy,-Safe,-and-Supportive-Learning-

Environment@-How-HP~HP-Schools-Do-It.aspx

PBS Parents. (2018). Education: The role of parents. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/going-to-

school/supporting-your-learner/role-of-parents/

© 2018 Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved