Personalized Toolbox for Learning from PD to the Classroom

**Blog Buddy Post**

Thoughts by LaLonnie King (Texas) @Lalonniek

 Valerie Zemaitis (Indiana) @vrzemaitis

 

Katie Martin states in #IMMOOC Season 2, Live Session 4 that in order to be innovative the first step is to decide what you want your students to know, understand and be able to do. Once there is a shared vision of the needs and wants, you find the tools to achieve those goals. Then we need to look for evidence of those tools making an impact. She said this evidence can be found if we use George Couros’s 8 Characteristics of an Innovative Classroom. We, as teachers and administrators, need to have these characteristics modeled for us, if innovation is expected of us.

 

The challenge of this blog is to focus on how these characteristics are being used in our professional development.

 

We can agree that we have had a lot of professional learning as educators. What turns out is we have been given a lot of tools to use. George confirms this belief when he stated in IMMOOC Live Session 4 Season 2 that it is called the “Teacher Platter”, rather than the “Teacher Plate”. Every teacher has that kitchen drawer or tool kit with so many tools we forget what it buried in there. Do you remember the excitement when you first gained that new tool and how to utilize it with the students?  We use it for awhile and put it down when the next “tool” is shared with us. We now have so many tools that our tool boxes are unorganized and overflowing. Teachers are forgetting some of the best tools that were just shared with them because of another new tool. Educators have so many tools and resources,  but they  always want the one “tool” that will have the greatest impact; an impact on our students, in our kitchen, or when we make a repair. It is time to go on an “innovation diet” and clean out our drawers so we can be effective at using the few that have the biggest impact.

 

Wouldn’t it be ideal if professional learning and development involved one or more of these characteristics from the 8 Characteristics of an Innovative Classroom? Training sessions that are innovative by nature will have the greatest impact on us, and in the end positive outcomes for our students! How would professional learning look if these characteristics are used? What we need is a shared document that we can continually add to and take ideas from as we choose tools for our district, campus, or classroom.

 

The chart below has a few ideas that are being used in our schools in Texas and Indiana, or include ideas that we would like to see being used in school. Each item is a starting point that can be developed and created to fit your specific needs.

 

VOICE

CHOICE TIME FOR REFLECTION

OPPORTUNITIES FOR INNOVATION

 
  • Technology Department does a 30 day Twitter challenge at the beginning of each semester.
  • Weekly Techy Talk in which webinars are shared explaining how to use different technology or programs and how to use it immediately in the classroom. Example the Google Suite.
  • Ipad Academy – a monthly  sessions on how to use ipads beyond just the basic programs. How to use it for exploration and discovery based on interests and passions.
  • Survey teachers to discover their strengths and needs. Have those with strengths in an area lead PD.
  • No chairs allowed where movement and conversation happen.
  • Teachers set rules for meetings at the beginning.
  • Share video reflections and respond to others.
  • Teachers have a variety of options, maybe too many, based on what is provided by curriculum department(s).
  • Option of attending and participating in additional trainings or conferences.
  • Atomic Learning Website- where teachers can choose additional trainings ranging from literacy and math to classroom management  and technology tools.
  • Ed Cafe where teachers have a menu of options of how they choose their professional learning of the day.
  • Unconferences/EdCamps
  • Self-directed learning sessions. Learn topic via article, video, book excerpt, website. Regroup and discuss.
  • Book/Strategy Tasting. Begin with a small sample. Dive in deeper with choice of interest.
  • Superintendent meets with group of individuals from each campus monthly to discuss how things are going, comments and concerns, as well as upcoming events or topics of conversation.
  • Blogging
  • Professional reads
  • Weekly journaling
  • Professional Learning Communities at each campus and within the district.
  • Time to Revisit, Reflect and Refine direction/journey
  • Education Grant Foundation for teachers and administration to create innovative ways for PD and teaching students.
  • Teacher University where the teachers in the district share their favorite tools and lessons with others in the district.
  • Mystery Dinner. Everyone acts out different roles.

CRITICAL THINKERS

PROBLEM SOLVERS/FINDERS SELF ASSESSMENT

CONNECTED LEARNING

  • Lead4ward strategies playlist, planning tools
  • TCM strategies for R, M, S, and SS
  • Pre-planning
  • Kagan Strategies
  • Scavenger Hunt to find needed information. Gamify.
  • Teachers bring resources/ideas for topic/need and share.
  • Pre-planning
  • Use data analysis for district to create targeted lessons
  • PLCs
  • PLNs
  • Dream Team. What is your dream job/school? Make it happen.
  • Genius Hour or 20% time for teachers.
  • Professional reads- reflect on how we can apply these ideas and improve teaching of model lessons to classes and teachers during PD.
  • Annual Teacher Evaluations
  • Participate in Twitter chats
  • Developing PLN
  • Blogging
  • #ObserveMe
  • Pineapple Chart
  • Skype with an expert person, group, or school on a topic of interest.
  • Vlog effective strategies at your school to share with others where everyone has a role.
  • Bring in students, alumni, community, parents to lead a presentation.
  • Accountability Partner to keep each other in check

 


The key to learning, whether adults or children, is that the tools we use need to be chosen carefully so the impact matches the expectation set for those specific tools. We do not necessarily have to use the same tool to get the job done. Learners of all ages should be motivated through investigation and have the chance to create questions while being challenged. The environment should be a place where the learners can take risks and try new things. Teachers and students who are able to embrace this culture will be more positive and more empowered to make the learning their own which is the true intent of every teacher when they bring a tool to the classroom.

Everyone is a Learner

As a coach, I interact with teachers who are just beginning and teachers who have been in education for two or three decades. I have come to realize that teachers are just older students. The problem is that many teachers see themselves as only a teacher. They do not feel they need to learn anything; new strategies, read about or share ideas with others, or allow students to lead in their learning.  Teachers who think they are done learning, or do not have time to learn new things, are a stumbling block to the teachers on their team, the students in their classrooms, and the those they interact with.

If all teachers were challenged to be learners, they would be a part of a school culture evolving by the passions and interests of the community.  The best teachers seek learning new ways to share the learning with students. The teachers are great not only because they can teach well, but because they are continuously reflecting on the lessons. These teachers find the best ways to reach the students. Teachers who see themselves as learners, value the students input in learning. The best teachers empower the students to go beyond engagement by modeling and sharing their own learning with others.

Learning is Limitless

As I read and ponder the ideas listed on the School vs. Learning Image, I see the school as building that holds the students back and sets limitations on the progress. Limitations that keep the students on the all the same path decided ultimately with by the teachers, not the students.

The limits start when teachers eliminate the possibility of discovery and exploration. The teachers expect students to find answers to questions created for the whole class.  The students are all searching for the same answers to the same questions. The teachers are expecting everyone to learn through a prescribed method where each student listens, follows directions, and complies. A one size fits all, even with differentiation.

True learning empowers the learners to search for wonders and find the answers through exploration and discovery about their passions and interests.  The students are the owners of the learning and should be able express their voice as they learn.  Students who are empowered learners become the teachers to others in the community, including the teacher. As the learners develop skills creativity and communication about what they are learning, the teacher becomes the facilitator.  Learning should be limitless and the personal, not standardized.

An Empathetic Teacher Becomes the Learner

Empathy is the first characteristic of an innovator’s mindset mentioned in Chapter 3 of The Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros. Empathy is putting yourself in the shoes of others. Educators empathize with students when they come to school and are hungry, have few clothes, or had another argument with a sibling before school. Students come to school with challenges everyday. Teachers build relationships with the students in order to connect and assist the student to focus on learning and growing.

Over 21 years of teaching, I have seen a wide variety of students reflected in various backgrounds, each bringing challenges of home to school. I always made it a point to find a way to inspire and connect with the students. The relationships sparked a reason to learn. A reason to come to school and enjoy learning. The empathy did not stop by getting them to participate in class with the day by day lessons. The empathy continued as I created a learning environment best for the students.

Each year as I teach I find ways to make learning more interesting for the student. I wanted the students to love learning. I sought out ways to use new technology and wrote grants to get materials and supplies to fund these endeavors.  My classes became the setting for me trying new strategies and engaging students. The students became the leaders of a class store and held jobs after an interview. The books I collected were shared with other grade levels and became the motivation for learning new concepts. Board games became a tool to encourage parent involvement at lunch while the students practiced math skills.

As an educator, we need to take risks and try new ideas in the classroom so that we meet the learning needs of the students. I did this be building relationships with the students, knowing their educational needs, and creating new learning experiences based on their interests. Today, I am a curriculum coach and love to see teachers using passions to build lessons and learning experiences for the students. I encourage teachers to begin with their passions, brainstorm ideas, and assist them in finding materials and supplies to make it happen. I share the learning experiences with others through social media and PLC conversations to spark the interest of other educators. Each spark leads to new experience for the students at our campus. A reason for the students to come to school, not because they have to, but because they enjoy the learning created in their classrooms.