Brandon Behlke

910 Elk Street

Galena,Illinois 61036
Phone: 5635905144
Email: bbehlke@jodaviess.org
Educator profile:
PDP term: 5 years
Month/Year PDP Submitted for Goal Approval (Initial Educators Only):
Month/Year Plan Submitted for PDP Verification:
Years of educational experience: 1
License File Number: 000000
License Expiration Date: 6/30/2015
School district: Not Currently with a School District
Current educational assignment: Galena Middle School
Years in current assignment: 1
Present Licensure Stage: Initial
Licensure stage sought: Professional
Professional Licensure Categories: Teacher
Professional Development Plan
Step I: Self-reflection
Document uploaded: Philosophy of Education final.pdf
Step II A. Description of School and Teaching, Administrative, or Pupil Services Situation
Description of Position
I am currently teaching seventh grade at Galena Middle School.
Number of Years in Position
1 year
School Location/Setting
Galena School District is a stable rural district located in Northwestern Illinois outside of
Dubuque, Iowa. There is one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school.
Demographics
There are currently 239 students enrolled at Galena Middle School. 85% are white, 2% African
American, and 13% Hispanic. 13% of students enrolled have an IEP. 36% are low income. 1.3%
are English Language Learners.
District Mission Statement
Within a safe and supportive environment, the mission of the Galena Unit School District #120 is
to empower every student with the knowledge and skills to become a life-long learner and a
responsible, contributing member of society.

Step II B. Description of Goal to be Addressed

Goal:
I will learn new methods and pedagogical skills to improve my teaching skill so that students
will increase their knowledge of Social Studies and improve their reading skills in the content.
Step II C. Rationale for the Goal: Links to Professional Situation and Wisconsin Educator
Standards
Goal:
I will learn new methods and pedagogical skills to improve my teaching skill so that students
will increase their knowledge of Social Studeies and improve their reading skills in the content.
Rationale for your Goal:
Galena School District has embraced the idea of creating lifelong learners in the students and to
help them enjoy learning. Finding ways to do this by looking at other schools and educators and
borrowing their methods to my classroom will be beneficial to my classroom and help the
students learn in new and exciting ways.
I feel learning new and up-to-date methods and other pedagogical skills will be beneficial to my
teaching skills and it will keep my classroom on the cutting edge. I also hope to learn ways in
which I can incorporate technology into the classroom that will also help students learn the
material in a multiple ways. Being able to use different methods and having skills to help switch
between different teaching methods will allow the students to always look forward to class as
each class could add something different based on what I have learned and incorporated into my
classroom.
Licensure standard(s) addressed in your plan:
Teacher:(1) The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures
of the disciplines he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these
aspects of subject matter meaningful for pupils.
Teacher:(2) The teacher understands how children with broad ranges of ability learn and
provides instruction that supports their intellectual, social and personal development.
Teacher:(4) The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies,
including the use of technology to encourage children's development of critical thinking,
problem solving, and performance skills.
Step II D. Plan for Assessing and Documenting the Goal
Goal:
I will learn new methods and pedagogical skills to improve my teaching skill so that students
will increase their knowledge of Social Studeies and improve their reading skills in the content.
I will assess my professional growth through:
Keep separate journals summarizing my learning experiences in both pedagogical
knowledge that I gained and technological knowledge that I learned at the variety of
conferences and meetings that I will attend.
Create lessons based off of what I learned and self-reflect on how my teaching has
changed.
I will compile all litereature that I collected at the conferences in binders so it is readily
available for me to use in my classroom.
Notes from observing and meeting with colleagues.

I will assess my students' progress through:

Student and Parent Survey results
Student assessment that will show if my new methods are effective.
Daily observations
Student Tests and Quizzes of content
Achievement on assignments that involve technology
Step II E. Plan to Meet the Goal: Objectives, Activities, Timeline, and Plan for Collaboration
Goal:
I will learn new methods and pedagogical skills to improve my teaching skill so that students
will increase their knowledge of Social Studeies and improve their reading skills in the content.
Objective:
I will learn more about my content areas and learn ways to teach them more effectively to my
students.
Activities

Timelines

Collaboration

Attend National Council for the Social Studies November

Annual Conference
2014

Facilitators

I wil participate in five webinars from

National Council for the Social Studies that
discuss implementing content and new ways
to do so.

Facilitators/Fellow
Educators

2014-2018

I will regularly attend a state-wide or local

social studies conference to network and learn 2014-2018
from fellow colleagues.

Complete
d

Colleagues

Objective:
I will learn new methods and teaching strategies that will improve how I deliver the content from
each of my content areas.
Activities
I will regularly attend a state-wide education
conference to learn about new teaching
teachniques and strategies.

Timeline
s
20142018

Collaboration

Fellow Educators

I will regularly attend School Improvement

meetings in order to collaborate with my
2014colleagues and learn successful methods that they 2018
are implementing in their classrooms.

Colleagues

I will research methods in webinars and other

Facilitators and

2014-

Complete
d

resources to learn new methods and strategies.

2018

Education Experts

Objective:
I will learn new ways in which I can utilize technology in my classroom and regularly
incorporate it into my classroom.
Activities

Timeline
s

Collaboration

I will regularly attend the Illinois Education

and Technology Conference to learn new
ways to utilize technology in my classroom.

20142018

Fellow Educators/
Facilitators

I will attend School Improvement meetings

that discuss technology in the district and
utilize these skills in my classroom.

20142018

Colleagues

I will attend a CUE conference at least once

over the five year plan to network with
educators across the country who use
technology in their classroom.

20142018

Fellow
Educators/Education
Experts

Complete
d