Things you can do to grow professionally

On your own:

• Set personal and professional goals
• Connect with other teachers
• Communicate with your principal and mentor
• Keep a journal of your teaching experiences and thoughts
• Write letters and e-mails to relatives and friends about your experiences
• Celebrate goals achieved and other teaching successes
• Take on a new responsibility in your school
• Find websites that will inform your teaching
• Join professional organizations
• Attend conferences
• Examine your teaching and your students’ performance

With others:

• Take a class or attend a workshop
• Ask for ideas from colleagues
• Have your students give you feedback
• Study videotapes of yourself and your students
• Read professional journals (share and discuss articles)
• Join (form) a study group to read and discuss a professional book about a topic of interest
• Connect with community resources to enrich your teaching and your students’ learning
• Contact retired teachers for advice and ideas