Professional Development

where teachers come to learn

Current Initiatives

• Portrait of a Graduate: The purpose of The Portrait of a Graduate initiative in schools is to redefine educational goals, focusing on developing a comprehensive set of skills and attributes essential for success in the 21st century. It shifts from traditional academic metrics to emphasize skills: Responsible, Purposeful, Prioritizer, Encourager, Communicator, Collaborator, Balanced, Global Contributor.
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: All Gilbert teachers, counselors, and administrators have completed a leadership course in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People through Franklin Covey. The course was offered to all staff members as well. The purpose of Franklin Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is to provide a holistic framework for personal and professional effectiveness. These habits aim to empower individuals to cultivate habits that lead to greater productivity, effectiveness, and fulfillment in both their personal and professional lives.
• Science of Reading: Teachers from preschool through 8th grade at GCSD are focused on the Science of Reading. The purpose of the Science of Reading initiative is to improve literacy instruction with evidence-based research on how the brain learns to read. Focusing on foundational skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension to teach reading effectively.
• Standards-Based Grading: In grades K-8, students and parents receive feedback through standards-based grading, which emphasizes mastery of specific learning objectives or standards. At the Elementary, Intermediate, and Middle School levels, students are assessed on each essential academic standard, receiving scores of 3 (proficient), 2 (developing), or 1 (not yet meeting). While Gilbert High School has aligned its teaching, learning, and assessments with standards, grades are reported using a traditional grading scale and letter grades.
• Professional Learning Communities or PLCs:  All department and grade-level teachers participate in a PLC focused on the following questions: 1. What do we expect students to learn? (Iowa Academic Standards), 2. How will we know when they have learned it? (Assessment), 3. How will we respond when some students do not learn? (Interventions), 4. How will we respond when some students already know it? (Extensions).

Teacher Quality and Individual Career Development Plans

At Gilbert, teachers will have the opportunity to design their own personalized professional learning plans. They may choose to use this non-contract time to complete individual plans and work on them over the school year.

• Teachers have the opportunity to complete one TQ plan per school year.
• Full-time certified staff will be paid at their individual per diem rate on their June paycheck. To receive payment, all final paperwork must be submitted.
• For the first plan, part-time certified staff will be paid an individual per diem rate, looking at their salary from a 1.0 FTE.
• New learning will be shared with staff in the format and time of each teacher’s choosing.
• District share-out will be in May.
• Outside hours should be representative of at least 7 hours.
• Application forms will be accepted through March 31. Approval/denial will be given within two weeks.
• End of plan report will be due no later than the last teacher workday of the school year.

This can support your Individual Career Development Plan or it may be a separate learning target. Ideas include, but are not limited to:

• Book Study – incorporated into your timeline
• New learning from a class/workshop
• Unit creation/refinement with connections to the Iowa Core State Standards
  • Essential Questions/Essential Learnings/Big Ideas (unit vision)
  • Assessments: summative, diagnostic, and formative
• Integrating technology and resources into the curriculum
• Original ideas discussed with the Director of Teaching and Learning