Professional Development Reflection

The school I intern at held an on-site professional development with the purpose of

informing teachers of the rules that they must abide, and issues that the school is facing. At this

point in the year, many students had brought weapons to the school, there were massive fights

every day, and some students were discouraged form coming to the school building because they

were afraid that they were going to get hurt. Because of these issues, this professional

development was necessary to bring the school back to the place it used to be and allow children

to feel safe during the school day. During the professional development, the principal had a

speech where she detailed the issues teachers were having and began by blaming the majority of

the issues on the teaching staff. The teachers began to fight back, explaining that without proper

guidance from the administration and help when they need it, there is not much they are able to

do, and it was not entirely clear what certain expectations were in certain situations. Through the

experience of this professional development, I saw how an unorganized building can slowly tear

communication and the safety of children apart at the seams, and how certain problems can be

solved. Through this professional development, the staff at the school have been better about

certain rules and ensuring the safety of the students, and after a long spring break the culture of

the school slowly returned to normal with the help of procedures being correctly followed

throughout the entire building.