Professional Development Days

At MMA, Professional Development of our Educators and Staff are a key component of our Culture, and critical to our ongoing success.

Why is Ongoing Professional Development for LIFE Educators so Critical and Important?

Because our students deserve the BEST!

Great teachers help create great students. In fact, research shows that an inspiring and informed teacher is the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement, so it is critical to pay close attention to how we train and support both our new and experienced educators at MMA.

It is so critical for young and experienced teachers to have ongoing and regular opportunities to learn from each other and build a strong Professional Learning Community. Ongoing professional development keeps teachers up-to-date on new research on how children learn, emerging technology tools for the classroom, reflection, collaboration, new curriculum resources, and more. The best professional development is ongoing, experiential, collaborative, and connected to and derived from working with students and understanding their culture.  Edutopia March 16, 2008

Five Reasons Why LIFE Has Ongoing Professional Development for Our Educators

Professional development for educators is an indispensable process without which schools cannot hope to prepare our young people for a productive future or local and global citizenship.

  1. HELP improve student outcomes: Teachers who constantly seek and attend ongoing professional development with their peers stay on top of the latest changes and findings and tend to be more successful and inspirational not only in the classroom, but to the entire professional learning community as well. Our world is constantly evolving, and our teaching methods should too, to meet the needs and learning styles of our students.
  2. DEMONSTRATE commitment to excellence: Learning new ways to facilitate learning and the most current skills needed for teachers to address the needs of the students to succeed demonstrates dedication and commitment as an educator.  Consistently attending ongoing professional development and collaboration demonstrates a growth mindset!
  3. IMPROVE digital literacy and technology: Understanding and effectively implementing technology in the classroom is a very crucial skill in today’s world. While there are countless digital tools and resources available to teachers for the early learners, our educators must first build a solid understanding of how they function in order to choose the best option and integrate them into our project-based learning curriculum and daily learning activities.
  4. REFRESH and update delivery of instruction: Ongoing professional development offers time for reflection and paves the way for innovative teaching strategies that are tailored or customized to the needs of our individual learners at MMA. Even if our teachers spend time relearning previous teaching strategies, they may likely discover a new perspective, which may only be able to be discovered after having gained certain experience.
  5. GAIN key professional insights: Professional development plans and programs allow teachers to learn about a new topic, perhaps outside the realm of their known subject area.  Expanding their knowledge will allow them to further inquire, research, and connect with more students, fellow educators, and the entire learning community to provide access and develop new insights for a wealth of impactful information to increase student outcomes.

It matters to have teachers with a love of learning.

During the school year at MMA, we set aside special days for our teachers to step outside their classrooms, plan and work together with other educators to focus on their own learning through self-reflection, collaboration, professional development, growth, and the knowledge of how to assess themselves as learners.  Our goal is to create a culture of passionate, lifelong and inspiring educators in our professional learning community.  Research says that if  the teachers are excited about  learning, our students will follow. It’s a win-win for all!

During these Professional Development days, school will be closed.  We provide our teachers and families with the school calendar upon enrollment for students,  so we ask that you carefully check the calendar for the PD schedule and plan early for these closure dates. PD Days will give our teachers and the leadership team the much needed time and opportunity to reflect on our students’ learning needs, our professional practice, and our current and future capacity to create developmentally appropriate project-based learning curriculum.   Our teachers are expected to return to their classrooms rejuvenated, more informed, and excited to implement newly learned skills and deliver instruction in a fun and engaging fashion that our children will daily look forward to and love!