Professional Development Reflection

  

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Professional Development Reflection

1. Name of the event: Webinar: 3 Simple Steps for Teachers to Meet Every Learner’s Needs
2. The date and time of the event: Tue, February 4, 2025 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EST
3. Description:

This webinar was targeted to educators at all levels (though presenters were primary and high-school educators) and educational leaders, and introduced hand-on techniques used to support and challenge learners at different levels.  The session was presented by three teachers, with experience in modern-classroom techniques, who were currently working in the United States, and have experience working in private and public schools locally and abroad.  The session discussed how educators continue to encounter a mix of learners at different levels (especially after the Covid pandemic) and how it has become a challenge to support all students, in particular those who are very advanced in their academic progress and need to be challenged and those who are well below the recommended level and need additional support to catch up with their peers.  To help overcome this challenge, the session introduced some modern-classroom techniques based on the mastery-based learning model and customized learning plans that have been proved to be highly effective (huge impact on attendance, student experience and academic performance) and are replicable. The webinar described in broad terms the methodology and resources needed to apply these techniques and the benefits and challenges for all stakeholders.

 

4. Personal reaction:

This webinar has been highly valuable to me as a post-secondary educator. The content in this course and the other course I am currently taking (Creating Connections in Culturally Diverse Schools), as well as resources like this webinar, are transforming the way I see my role as an educator. The webinar emphasizes the importance of reminding ourselves that as educators we are mostly facilitators, which implies that the power in the classroom setting is shifting to students and that to be effective teachers we need to understand every learner’s need and adapt the classroom experience to meet those needs.

Based on my experience in higher-education settings, educators, including myself, do not pay enough attention to individual learning and mastery-based approaches, perhaps under the assumption that students at higher-education levels have already overcome their learning challenges and should advocate for themselves if they require any additional accommodations.  However, after attending this webinar I am more motivated to implement the innovative techniques discussed in the session for three main reasons: these techniques have proven to have a positive impact, enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes at all levels; these techniques can be directly applied in my current practice for all topics, requiring minimum additional technology and can be introduced gradually; and finally,  these techniques could lead to a deeper understanding of diverse learner’s needs and enhance other learning skills such as creativity, critical thinking, team-work and leadership. 

 

 

5. Observations that tie into my professional practice:

While listening to the presenters, I realized that in many ways, university classrooms face similar challenges as early education settings:  students enter with varying levels of preparedness, they struggle with motivation, and often disengage during long lectures. The techniques discussed in this session can be applied in my practice to create a more personalized and effective learning experience. These techniques are based on the notions that teachers should consider themselves facilitators, that students should move independently and at their own pace (mastery-based learning model), and that every single student needs a customized learning plan to maximize their learning.  

From my own experience, I believe that many educators in post-secondary education (including myself) who have only been trained in their own field of expertise, but lack formal education training, tend to follow more traditional academic approaches based on own experience as students and current educational models followed by peers or the school.  In this sense, while we can recognize different learners’ levels, we lack the training and motivation on how to support all students. In addition, it is difficult to commit to innovative educational approaches at this level, as lectures are only a part of educators’ role and they need to dedicate their time to other academic, administrative or professional activities. However, what I liked about this webinar, is that presenters effectively introduced the benefits of these techniques for both educators and learners and how educators can gradually introduce them.

In broad terms, the first technique involves digitalizing direct instruction by creating concise videos of 5 -10 minutes which explain the main academic concepts in the lecture. Students can watch the videos in-class individually using an iPad or a computer. Students can stop the video whenever they have a question and watch the content several times until they fully understand the concepts.  Then students proceed to complete exercises/activities online or in paper individually and also in small-groups. This model allows educators to dedicate the time that they would normally use to lecture, to work one-on-one with each student, or a small group of similar students, and provide more customized support to each learner. Students can also dedicate more time to discuss the topic with the class. In addition, students only advance to more complex concepts when they have master basic ones.

Another technique involves offering different exercises/activities according to each learner level, using online technology. Students who are more advanced are directed to more challenging exercises and activities while those who need more support can spend more time revising basic concepts and practicing. Exercises/activities are classified into must-do, recommended and inspire-to do activities. All students need to complete the minimum course requirements but can they have some freedom deciding the timing for completing each module and the mastery level they want to complete for each subject. This technique has proven to motivate students though it requires hand-holding at the beginning. Students, especially those in high-school value the freedom to use their creativity to decide the kind of activities they would like to engage and explore topics that they are passionate about.

The third technique involves educators creating a well-organized management system that tracks every student goals and deadlines. This system can be a simple Excel sheet or a more advance planning software which allows educators to measure and record each student performance daily or weekly. Educators can then review and communicate academic progress to each student, set goals, deadlines and discuss best approaches to achieve goals. In this way, every student feels valued and motivated to work to achieve own goals.

Overall, these three techniques are recommended to motivate students without using fear and authority but as inspirational facilitators, offering more interactive, engaging and entertaining classes. While some of the learning happens online, these techniques allow for deeper conversations with peers and teachers and the development of other skills such as independent work, teamwork, leadership and creativity. Students feel more inspired to attend classes and engage in the classroom.

These techniques however, do require more preparation and background planning, especially the first time they are implemented. It is recommended that the techniques are planned before the course starts and if possible that educators empower other colleagues to work collaborative towards a redesigned course.

6. Artifacts applied to my professional practice:

Digitizing direct instruction

My goal is to redesign my Winter 2026 course by replacing instruction time with 5-10-minute videos for 30-50% of my lectures.  I am planning to record three videos: one summarizing the most important concepts; the second video will introduce curated material that supports the lesson theory; and a third video, inspired by the videos posted in this class, summarizing activities for the week and feedback from last week. By doing this, I could dedicate more time of the lessons for in-practice exercises and class-discussion. Currently, our lectures dedicate most of the time to instruction, thus students struggle to pay full-attention (especially, nowadays where no-screen rules are no longer implemented) and apply theory learnt in class in class assignments.  Likewise, since the Co-vid pandemic, attendance has dropped. I am hoping that digitizing direct instruction will allow students who can’t be in class to catch up with the content and those who attend class to feel more motivated and engaged as they will be practicing theory and enjoy in-class discussions.

Offering must-do, recommended and inspire-to-do activities

My goal is to redesign my Winter 2026 course offering must-do, recommended and inspire-to-do exercises/activities.  Must-do activities will allow students at all levels to prepare for exams/assignments while recommended and inspire-to-do activities will be optional activities designed to support and challenge the learning of those students who are more advance. I will have to discuss with my peers how we can make best use of supporting activities, we could perhaps substitute one assignment with a inspire-to-do activity or assign participation points to a recommended activity that is shared in class. My hope is that students can explore those topics they are passionate about and complete exercises that challenge their learning.

Measuring performance

My goal is to redesign my Winter 2026 course is to create an Excel document that allows me to track every student performance for the week. I see this a valuable tool to provide and communicate academic progress to each student at least twice per term, with the hope that I can better identify learning challenges and make learning goals more achievable.

Developing these three techniques and discussing them with my peers will allow me to refine our strategy and think of others we can use to make teaching easier, more sustainable and enjoyable, focusing on student learning. I do believe that all three techniques can have a positive effect on student performance, both in assignment proficiency and development of additional skills (creativity, learning, critical thinking, etc.). And hopefully, these strategies will help students feel more motivated to attend class, prepare and engaged as they enjoy the content and format of the sessions.

7.      Who can benefit from this webinar?

All educators and educational leaders can truly see value in the information presented in this webinar. The webinar communicates the value and impact of modern-class strategies and provides replicable, practical recommendations on how to apply these techniques.  While it may be difficult to use all techniques in higher-education settings and provide the same level of customized support, adaptations can help to shift teacher-student power balance, allow students to master concepts before they advance to more complex theory, challenge those who are more advance and have a better understanding of each learner’s need.