Athens Academy Teacher

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Athens Academy Teacher
Project Description
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Objectives

• Continue to support teachers in their fulfillment
  of the mission of Athens Academy.
• Provide relevant professional development
  opportunities on an ongoing basis.
• Avoid isolation of teachers and encourage
  professional collaboration.
• Encourage experienced teachers to reaffirm their
  commitment to the mission of the school.
• Convey the traditions, values, and beliefs of
  Athens Academy to new teachers.

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Objectives (continued)

• Allow teachers the autonomy to set and pursue
  their own professional goals.
• Maintain the current project model so that the
  product of long-term work can be presented and
  discussed.
• Communicate to the faculty that their concerns
  about the quality of professional development, as
  indicated on the faculty survey, are taken into
  careful consideration.

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The Four Critical Questions (from SAIS-SACS)

• Who are we?
• Where do we want to go?
• What is the plan to get there?
• How will we know when we have accomplished our
  plan?

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Step One PROFILE (Who am I?)

• What do you doboth in and outside the
  classroomto support Athens Academys mission of
  seeking excellence with honor in the educational
  and personal experience of each student?
• Each teacher will be asked to write a personal
  statement about the ways in which he or she has
  helped or continues to help carry out the mission
  of Athens Academy.
• Each member of the group will then share and
  discuss his or her statement with the rest of the
  AA Teacher group in the opening sessions of the
  year.

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Step Two VISION (What is my goal for this year?)

• Although the mission of the school emphasizes
  both educational and personal development, the
  focus of AA Teacher must be on the continual
  improvement of instruction and student learning.
  The goal which each faculty member selects,
  therefore, must be directly related to his or her
  work in the classroom.

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Step Two (continued)

• Each member will then discuss his or her goal(s)
  with the AA Teacher group. This presentation of
  individual goals provides an opportunity for the
  person developing the goal to capitalize on the
  experience and expertise of his or her
  colleagues.

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Sample Goals

• Creating a more student-involved classroom.
• Incorporating service learning and/or
  experiential learning into the curriculum.
• Utilizing community resources to a greater
  extent.
• Meaningful integration of technology.

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Step Three PLAN (How will I accomplish this
goal?)

• After receiving input from the AA Teacher group,
  each faculty member will then develop a specific
  plan of action. While there will be specific
  requirements related to the peer observation
  procedures and frequency, individuals will have
  the flexibility to include whomever they deem
  necessary to participate in their project.
• Each faculty member will be required to
  participate in a total of four observations two
  as the one being observed, and two as an
  observer.
• Each teacher will then submit a list of the other
  teachers involved in his or her project and a
  schedule of observations to the AA Teacher
  coordinator.

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Step Four RESULTS (How will I know when I have
reached my goal?)

• For the final step of the process, each faculty
  member will devise a means of measuring the
  degree to which his or her goal has been met.
• Each participant will also make a brief
  presentation to his or her AA Teacher group (as
  well as any other appropriate attendees, such as
  project participants, administrators, or students
  ) which outlines his or her goal, what was
  learned through the series of observations and
  conferences, and how he or she accomplished that
  goal.