Early Career Teachers

As I near the end of my third year of teaching, I feel that I have grown significantly as an educator. In my first two years, I focused on mastering the basics—creating lesson and unit plans, building relationships with students and their families, and managing grading and progress reports. Once I felt confident in these areas, I was ready to take my teaching to the next level.

I mentioned this to a colleague at the end of the last school year, and he recommended that I read Neuroteach, which was written by Glenn Whitman and Ian Kelleher at the The Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning. I didn’t know what to expect, but I read it over the summer and really appreciated how the authors made complex research on the science of learning relatable and accessible. It helped me to identify the areas of growth I wanted to focus on throughout the year, and set specific goals. I wanted to learn to build lesson plans and unit plans that promote a deeper understanding of the content and help my students retain information, introduce good study habits, make sure my quality of instruction best serves my students, and practice using different teaching modalities to make my lessons more interesting and engaging.

After I finished reading Neuroteach, I reached out to The Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning in the fall to ask for recommendations on what I could do to continue learning about the science of learning. They suggested that I enroll in their online micro-courses, specifically the ones that focus on curriculum design. So, I enrolled in Teachers as Brain Changers and the three courses in Track 2 of Neuroteach Global. Those micro-courses focus on lesson planning, unit planning, good use of homework, learner variability, and teaching in multiple modalities. I liked that they are self-paced because I could find the time in my schedule that worked best for me between work and family responsibilities. I dedicated one hour per day on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and that was usually enough time to finish one micro-course.

Since I have now completed all but one of the Neuroteach Global micro-courses I signed up for, I started to think about steps to prepare me for next year. I submitted a professional development request to attend the CTTL’s Science of Teaching and School Leadership Academy this summer. I’m looking forward to meeting other educators who are already doing this work, and the lineup of expert speakers will certainly have new research and strategies to share. I heard that Translation Groups Leaders at the Academy are educators and school leaders, and there will be dedicated time to work on action plans for applying the research and strategies in my classroom. My vice principal has asked me to lead a 30-minute professional development session during opening meetings to share what I’ve learned in the past year, and the impact that my new teaching strategies have had on my students. It’s a great leadership opportunity, and I’m very excited about it.