Niya Browne - Success Story

Pocomoke (MD) Elementary School is “Pineappling.” A few colleagues and I adopted and further developed this concept as a part of our Maryland Peer Coaching Collaborative Model. This is a model that provides “in-house” professional development to teachers when needed, as needed. Teachers sign up to either teach lessons or model strategies. In return, other teachers sign up to observe these teachers in hopes of gaining some insight to better their own practices.

This process began early in my career as a first-year teacher. I was selected to be in the second cohort of FAME (Formative Assessment for Maryland Educators), a Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) initiative. In that cohort, I stepped up to take on leadership roles and utilized multiple methods in my classroom. Having done that, I was asked to participate in the development of our peer coaching initiative. This led me to many meetings and conferences that promoted collaboration with many counties in Maryland. Now in my third year, I have presented this project to administrators and supervisors in our county, and officials in other counties, and I have encouraged our teachers to get excited about the endless possibilities of this project.

MSDE has played an intricate role in the development of this project. As stated earlier, I have presented in multiple meetings at the state office, which were very well received. Other school districts took interest in our project and requested more information on it. MSDE has funded parts of the program, provided substitutes so that I am able to attend meetings and also brought technology for our school to utilize. My school administration has been extremely supportive by supplying the paint and materials to set up the “Pineappling Chart” in the conference room.

After graduation, I plan on beginning my search for a job as an assistant principal. More than likely, I will teach for a few years, being early in my career; however, I want to begin my search to explore the opportunities. My ultimate goal is to someday be a superintendent of schools.