Kerri Valesey

This past year, I have been involved with a great number of professional development opportunities. I attended the Seven Valleys Writing Project Summer Institute, in which I worked on professional writing, learned about how to differentiate writing instruction more meaningfully, and wrote and published my own personal writing for a group of professional teachers. I helped to set up and attended Saturday Sessions for the Seven Valleys Writing Project, in which the group of teachers I worked with over the summer as well as former alums collaborated on developing an ongoing professional development in a reflective practice. 

 

This semester, I also attended inservice days at both ESM Central High School and at Pine Grove Middle School. At the high school level, I participated in monthly faculty meetings, as well as monthly departmental meetings, in whcih I was apprised of the goings on at school and learned about a curriculum development that was ongoing in the English department. I assisted in putting together and running Spooktacular, which raised money for a charity program run by the English 10H. I am a member of English Companion Ning, and occasionally participate in Educational Chats. I learned about task rotation and the thoughful classroom, frameworks by Harvey Silver for instruction and for teacher effectiveness ratings. I also learned more about RTI (response to intervention).

 

In February, I will be presenting a conference paper with Dr. Hobson at the Ethnography Forum, in which we discuss and identify the ways in which multilayered designing for instructional plans influenced my own instruction. I also intend to attend and develop a presentation for the Seven Valleys Writing Project conference in Spring '15. Professional development has been important already in my growth as a teacher, as it requires me to continually reflect on my own practice and how better to serve my students. I have considered and reconsidered the different points at which I excel, as well as the pieces of my practice that need work, and professional development will continue to help me grow in reading and writing instruction.