Individual Teacher Professional Development Plan for TECHNOLOGY (PDP-T) Template

Teacher Name

Assignment/Department/Grade Level

Date

Ricardo Salgado

6th Grade Geography

11/28/16

I. Areas Identified for Development of Professional Practice with Technology (Areas in

which you need/want professional development)
N
o.
1

Areas Identified for Development

Rationale/Sources of Evidence (why?)

Find a way to make mapping more

interactive instead of having everything
on paper.

With the inclusion of programs such as Google Earth, Marble, and NASAs World
Win, there has never been a more abundant source of interactive maps that
cover the entire world. By using one of these sources, students will be able to
use specific areas, landmarks, features, and regions to learn or get a better
understanding of what we are discussing in class. Google has a website
dedicated to the possibilities of having Google Earth specifically in a teachers
set of classroom tools.
https://www.google.com/help/maps/education/

Figure out a way to implement more

forms of popular technology (social
media) into lessons and assignments.

Social media is the quintessential means of communication using the web, by

having students use social media for educational means, it simplifies the way
students could get in touch with each other for group projects and for general
questions that they could ask each other regarding any work. The BBC highlights
the impact of social media in education in the following article:
http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/Howsocialmediaischangi
ngeducation.aspx

Learn how to make assignments using a

technological means and go completely
paperless.

different types of assignments available for the teacher to choose from can
range from a word document that can be typed up and submitted electronically
or a virtual alternative for online assignments such as scavenger hunts, quizzes,
or group work. This website offers up a few alternative teachers can use to teach
other than paper methods.
http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/Howsocialmediaischangi
ngeducation.aspx

Adapted from: New Jersey Department of Education PDP Plan

University IT 7360

Georgia State

II. Professional Learning Network Resources and Strategies (list online sources (e.g. specific
listservs)) and how you will monitor them)
No.
1

Network Resource
https://geography.columbian.gwu.edu/newsletter

2
3
4

https://twitter.com/kclgeography?lang=en
http://www.usnews.com/news/education-news
https://www.insidehighered.com/

http://www.cnn.com/world

Adapted from: New Jersey Department of Education PDP Plan

University IT 7360

Strategy
Receive notifications via students
choice of Facebook, Twitter, or email.
Receive notifications via Twitter.
Receive notifications via email.
Available via multiple platforms
including Twitter, Facebook,
Linkedin, and email.
Receive notifications via Twitter,
Facebook, and email.

Georgia State

II. Professional Learning Goals and Activities - Make a plan based on the two tables above
Are
a
No.

Professional Learning Goals

Initial Activities

Follow-up Activities
(as appropriate)

Use a virtual/interactive mapping

resource to familiarize
themselves with the location of
countries and important
landmarks.

The students will be assigned a

list of locations and destinations
(possibly using coordinates for
ease in finding them) and use
these locations as a means to
work with the virtual map to
familiarize themselves with how
it works.

Use a virtual/interactive mapping

resource to find countries with
similar characteristics or traits.

The students will view a tutorial

video and complete assisted
assignments to familiarize
themselves with the features
Google Earth has in finding info
for a specific country or region.

After getting an idea of how

to work the virtual map, the
students will then do a
similar assignment without
the help of coordinates. By
this point, the students
should have a sense of
familiarity with the program
and have enough
knowledge on where to find
the locations in question to
finish the assignment
without any assistance.
Once they have an idea of
how Google Earth works,
the students will use the
program to find similarities
between countries using the
available information
presented on Google Earth
(e.g. Portuguese is spoken
in Brazil and Zimbabwe).

Use a virtual mapping resource to

create a local map.

The students will perform a

variety of assignments to
familiarize themselves with all
the features that Google Earth
has to offer. The previous
mentioned assignments will
allow the students to get a good
idea of how to use the program

Adapted from: New Jersey Department of Education PDP Plan

University IT 7360

The students will create a

virtual map that is local to
them. This map can range
from a hiking trip, shopping
route, campus hangout, etc.
This map must include a
route, key points, and
distinguishing features to

Resource
s
(includin
g Online)
Google
Earth (or
another
virtual
mapping
resource)
and a
word
document
with
questions.
Google
Earth and
a word
document
or
powerpoin
t to
present
informatio
n.
Google
Earth

Complet
ion Date
Septemb
erOctober

October

Novembe
r

Georgia State

to its full potential.

help guide the students to

where they need to be.

Use a different way to teach the

students how to identify other
countries using national flags.

The students will have an

opportunity to learn the
different national flags to help
identify the country. Most
national flags have identifying
symbols that helps distinguish
their country of origin.

Google
images
and other
sites to
learn
about
flags and
symbols.

February

Use landmarks to help identify a

country.

In geography, identifying
countries is very important and
most of those countries have a
distinguishing landmark that
helps identify that specific
country from the others such as
the Eiffel Tower in France or the
Statue of Liberty in the USA, the
students will use online
resources to collect data on
landmarks and which countries
they identify.
Geography can use different
cultures in identifying certain
regions or countries. Whether it
be traditions or language.
Students can use their online
resources to find out important
cultural differences between
countries that helps them
differentiate that specific
country from others.

A flag quiz will be

administered to test the
students knowledge of
flags and which country
they belong to. The quiz will
help the students identify
some of those symbols that
were mentioned before to
identify the country they
represent.
The students will be
assigned a country at
random and will have to
research information
regarding that country. The
students must then collect a
series of landmarks that are
distinguishing and can help
someone identify that
country to distinguish it
from another.

Online
informatio
n sites to
gather info
on an
assigned
country.

February

The students will choose a

country from a specific
region being discussed and
find different cultural
characteristics to fit the
description of the people
from their assigned
countries. Those
descriptions and individual,
unique characteristics will
help the students
distinguish the country from
the others.

Online
informatio
n sites to
gather info
on an
assigned
country.

February

Identify the importance of

cultures when determining
important country features.

Adapted from: New Jersey Department of Education PDP Plan

University IT 7360

Georgia State

Use the whiteboard to help the

students learn the way longitude
and latitude works

Use the whiteboard the help the

students to connect countries to
major features about those
countries such as language or
capitals.

Use the whiteboard to teach a

lesson on the different types of
landforms such as peninsulas and
capes.

The students will use their

whiteboards to create longitude
and latitude lines that they can
see from the web. They will
practice their lines from
assigned cities that I will ask
them to look for.
The students will use the
whiteboards to answer
questions that I ask regarding
questions. For example, I will
name the capital of a country
and they are responsible for
writing that country on their
whiteboard.

The students will be tested

on longitude and latitude
lines without the help of
online resources.

Google
maps and
online
testing
programs

Decembe
r

The students will be tested

on the capitals of countries
without any assistance
based on their prior
knowledge.

March

The students will use the

whiteboards to answer
questions about different
landforms. I will describe
features of a certain landform
and they will answer what it is
on their whiteboard.

The students will receive a

quiz on what the different
types of landforms are.
They will not have any
outside assistance by any
technology.

Whiteboar
ds, testing
programs,
and prior
informatio
n learned
from
Google
Earth
Whiteboar
ds and
testing
programs.

Adapted from: New Jersey Department of Education PDP Plan

University IT 7360

April.

Georgia State