Purpose
Teachers Grow was founded in 2009 to serve as an online portal offering a variety of professional development resources for teachers by teachers. It is for teachers who recognize that student needs and learning styles are ever evolving and they must continue to "grow" and develop skills in order to keep up with them. Teachers Grow provides reflective coaching supports for teachers via observation, feedback, and training. Our members contribute developmentally appropriate lesson activity ideas, strategies, suggestions. Many of the lessons, ideas, and strategies are shared and exchanged here for teachers by teachers. Teachers Grow is for teachers who are receptive to coaching and feedback who wish to continuously refine their practice. It was designed to be an additional resource of support to teachers that extends beyond traditional forms job-embedded workshops and training. Most of all, it was designed to encourage professional accountability via self-assessment, reflective feedback and a commitment to growth for improved teaching practices.
Mission
Our mission is to help good "teachers grow" into great teachers. We wish to help teachers enhance teaching practices to deliver more intentional and meaningful learning experiences that closely align with the needs and abilities of their students. While good teachers are patient, nurturing, engaging, etc., great teachers are confident enough to be great learners too. They are on their own path of professional growth and feel a sense of accountability to continue learning more. Great teachers teach "intentionally" planned lessons based on curriculum objectives aligned with standards, assessment data, and individual student needs, skills and abilities. Teachers Grow aims to reignite teachers' sense of passion toward teaching and support them as they implement lessons that engage student excitement for learning. We want to be a supportive online resource for teachers as they "grow" into great teachers who believe that their continuous growth is just as important as the growth they wish to see in their students. We believe this growth is supported by a peer-to-peer exchange and sharing of both new and "tried and true" ideas, lessons and strategies, which are provided here at Teachers Grow.
Inspiration
Early childhood educators desire more content specific training to support their needs. While they await training, specialized service team supports, Professional Learning Community meetings, and/or administrative evaluations and feedback, etc., Teachers Grow will offer 24-hour access to a range of supportive resources. The inspiration behind Teachers Grow was born out of the need to provide online support for early childhood teachers who may want more timely, convenient access to ideas, strategies, and a teaching coach/mentor who can answer questions and specifically address their grade level support needs. We believe early childhood teachers need and deserve a place to feel supported as they face higher demands for performance and achievement for both themselves and their students. Here at Teachers Grow, teachers receive the support of online coaches, view training videos from renowned experts and are able to share and exchange lesson ideas and strategies with their peers on a global scale.