Professional Development Resource Creation Assignment

Professional Development Resource Creation Assignment

Professional Development Resource Creation Assignment The purpose of this assignment is to engage with a particular social issue in depth to address each participant’s particular teaching needs and school context. Candidates will create a useful professional resource to share with colleagues on one social issue as it pertains to their teaching context or specialization. The product will be a brochure, double-sided handout, Prezi, or video; regardless of format, it will be prepared as a useful reference for your fellow educators. Alternative creative formats are encouraged; please discuss alternate ideas with the instructor before you begin. Candidates have a choice of focus for the assignment in order to make this assignment most relevant and useful to each individual educator’s needs: 1) a specific social issue; 2) a content-related instructional issue; or 3) a professional book or set of research articles about a current social issue. Examples of a specific social issue (choice 1) could be what teachers need to know about homelessness in southern Indiana, unaccompanied minors in JCPS, or transgender youth issues, for example. Examples of a content-related instructional issue (choice 2) could be top strategies for teaching secondary mathematics to English language learners, children’s books for students with an incarcerated parent, or teen literature with Muslim-American characters, for example. Examples of a professional book on a social issues topic (choice 3) could be takeaway ideas learned from reading a book such as The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African-American Children by Gloria Ladson-Billings, for example. (For your convenience, a number of other social issues books for educators may be checked out from the instructor.) If a book is chosen as the focus, the assignment will be similar to a book review written for fellow teachers. A digital “sign-up sheet” will be provided to avoid duplication. You may submit a draft of your project write-up for ungraded feedback up to a week prior to the final due date. Criterion Points for each criterion Resource topic clearly focuses on a specific social issue relevant to area students and schools. Clear connections are made to the local student population and/or a rationale is presented describing local student or educator needs. Target: 5 points Emerging: 3-4 points Weak: 1-2 points Unacceptable: 0 points = 20 total possible points Resource presents useful information targeted to what educators need to know. Content is not a rundown of background information or commonly known information; instead, resource presents lesser-known, cutting edge, and classroom-relevant facts, ideas, strategies, or best practices that will be relevant and helpful to other educators. Content is research-based and represents current scholarship and/or best practices related to the topic. Connections to timely research are clear, as applicable. All source(s) are listed. Citations and/or reference list are in APA style. Presentation is useful and professional. Regardless of format, all writing is clear, concise, and free of grammatical errors. Writing is free of biased language and reflects commitment to SOE disposition #9: “Candidate believes all students can learn.”