Continually developing teaching skills is one of the keys to engaging the students in the learning process and ultimately success in the classroom. The successful teacher should always be improving their teaching skills and one of the ways to do that is to have a professional development plan. A yearly plan should be written to ensure key components are addressed. There are two key components to an effective faculty development plan: faculty in-service and professional growth. A common mistake in a professional development plan is that not all components are represented. In-services are sponsored by the institution and focus on topics related to improving classroom instruction. Several topics that fall into this category would include: creating appropriate assessments, strategies for effective questioning, how to write a rubric, or creating an engaging lecture. All of these topics are specific to classroom instruction but do not address the actual content being taught. Professional development activities that focus on the content that is being taught are called professional growth. For example, if I were teaching in the area of communication, I could participate Toastmasters International or I could attend a conference on intercultural communication or I could read an article on listening in an academic journal and summarize the article. Again, the focus is on the content of what is being taught, not how it is being taught. Not only is it important to have both in-service and professional growth on a professional development plan, it is also important to have an equal amount of activities in each area. A well rounded teacher is one that continues to learn about his/her field of study as well as continues to learn how to be more effective in the classroom.