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Professional Learning Strategy
Professional Learning Strategy: Welcome
Introduction
I have been a teacher in Title I schools for 13 years now. I have been using blended learning for most of that time because that was a requirement for my old school. I really believe in the power of it because you can meet with every student and provide the instruction that they need while the others are still learning with online, offline, and activities that allow collaboration (Tucker, 2015). I have learned that if you use data, your stations will be more effective. I have witnessed how students learn and enjoy having different options for learning.
My new school is full of passionate teachers that love what they do. We are a Title I school with 687 students (“Timberline Elementary”, 2017). Last year, the accountability rating for our school was C so we are targeted for support and improvement (TEA, 2019). That is my why. I believe that we need to direct all that passion that our teachers have to do things differently, therefore we can have better results. We are a 1:1 school and that is already providing us with the tools to implement an effective blended learning environment. Even though some teachers are trying to use the rotation model as a new initiative, they have not received PL about it. This is where I think we need to support them better and maybe attempt to include other teachers that want to try it but are still scared of the change.
Call to Action
After reading Duarte (2013), I learned how important it is to make the audience feel like the heroes. Furthermore, she showed the importance of showing the contrast of what it is and what it should be on her presentation at TEDxEast (2010). I tried to include those factors and I tried to focus on a presentation that is based on our actual problem: we are a C school now and we need to make changes. My presentation includes the 5 principles that Harapnuik (2016) and Gulamhussein (2013) mention that are very important for an effective PL. This presentation is the why and the what that we need to do to try to give our students better opportunities for learning and to get better ratings for our school.
Professional Learning Strategy: Text
Professional Learning Blueprint
This part was very interesting to complete! It was awesome to have to imagine and plan how an effective PL would be. One of my classmates suggested in one of the discussions to include growth mindset (Dweck, 2006) and it totally made sense. In our first class we learned about growth mindset and it truly was life changing for me. I wanted to give the learners of this PL the same experience so that receiving feedback becomes a different mindset of growth.
I am glad our professor gave us some ideas of how to put everything together. I liked the one that used a table so that is how I structured my PL. It was nice to go back to remember the BHAG (Collins & Porras, 2004) and I decided to use the 3 column table because I like how it flows. My timeline is a little bit short right now; it is only three months. I don’t think it will have enough duration, so the learners will really have a full understanding of how blended learning works. I probably will have to extend it so they can make changes until they set the blended learning model that really is meeting all the students’ needs.
Professional Learning Strategy: Welcome
Audience
My audience is the teachers. There are some teachers that have never been exposed to blended learning (let’s call them the beginners) and there are some others that have some knowledge about it. According to my experience, beginners need a lot of modeling and support. The other ones with some experience will need a more personalized support according to what they feel are their needs. Teachers need differentiation, too. We can’t provide the same class to everyone because that is when the learning is ineffective. It is important that we provide choice, ownership, voice, and with authentic projects (Harapnuik, 2018) so the learners are more motivated to follow your initiative.
Fostering Collaboration
We have learned how collaboration is very important for learning. If you have a teacher that thinks that she/he works better independently, it is important that you take the time to work with her so she can understand that collaboration is a huge part of learning. We need teachers that can model collaboration to their students. In this PL, teachers will have online/asynchronous, or in person meetings where they can discuss, share ideas, and give feedback on the experiences and projects. The expectations for a respectful and positive behavior will be shared so we have a safe learning environment.
Fostering Self-Directed Learning
Beatty (2000) teaches us how important it is for teachers to have control of their creative flow. It is very important to provide an environment where they are given opportunities for self-directed reflection, collaboration, and where they receive moral and emotional support. In other words, a safe place where an effective professional growth is happening. I am planning to give that space weekly and where all of those important pieces are provided. Because we will be using COVA (Harapnuik, 2018), research shows that the learners will be more engaged and motivated. I will be providing tic-tac-toe boards so teachers have options of different products to create. With that, teachers will make and take on week 3 so they can have something in their classrooms about growth mindset. We will have study groups where we will be having conversations about the videos and readings.
Professional Learning Instructors
After reading Beatty (2000), I now know that it is important to eventually pass the torch to the learners. I will guide most of the beginning sessions but then we will move to sessions where the teachers will guide the conversations and activities. Teachers need to have control of their learning so they feel inspired to try new things. I want to create an environment where they feel motivated, with a high morale, and satisfaction. I am aware that my outline might shift a little bit because I want to encourage teachers to feel motivated to do research and they might want to go in different directions of what I have planned.
5 Key Principles of Effective Professional Learning
Duration: Teachers will receive significant and ongoing professional development. We will meet for at least three months. I know three months is not enough so I will probably extend the time so the teachers can really implement an effective blended learning with powerful activities where students are getting what they need.
Support: Teachers will receive support in the implementation phase. Most people are afraid of trying new things so it is important that they receive feedback and help during the implementation time. I need them to feel safe and that they are not alone. Then, they will receive support when they want to make changes to any aspect of their blended environment.
Active participation: Teachers will be learning through readings, videos, discussions, and visits to classrooms.
Modeling: I will be modeling how blended learning works. Teachers will learn how to use data to provide activities that are at the level the students need, too.
Specific to the discipline: Teachers will choose what model of blended learning they want to implement. They will decide on what subject(s) they will like to try it.
Timeline
My timeline shows how we are going to be moving during this PL. We will start on October and it says that we will finish in January. I am pretty sure I will have to extend the time so teachers can have more opportunities for support and to explore different aspects of blended learning.
For more details go to:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1viMLBLsDx-7nfB6wydLOwuwFg7Nn6UjJesRfJbSr3gA/edit?usp=sharing
Summary
I am very excited about this project! I really would like to have a lot of experience delivering PL in my future. I would say that’s one of my goals for this PL. I want my school to improve, too. We need to do better for our students. They should be learning what they have to and they should be receiving the best instruction according to what they need. Teachers at my school are the best! They are passionate and they love what they do. They deserve to have the best tools to be better prepared for our school’s needs.
In conclusion, this PL involves a lot of people, not only the teachers. If we have teachers that have the knowledge of how to use data to create their blended learning, the students will benefit from it. If we have students that are learning and are engaged, the school will benefit. If the school improves the ranking, the district will benefit. We can’t forget that everything we do is for the students. We want to provide them with the tools in life to be successful. I believe blended learning provides opportunities where students can learn how to work independently, reflect on their learning, collaborate, and grow.
References
Beatty, B. (2000). Teachers leading their own professional growth: Self-directed reflection and collaboration and changes in perception of self and work in secondary school teachers. Journal of In-service Education 26(1):73-97 Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249020573_Teachers_leading_their_own_professional_growth_Self-directed_reflection_and_collaboration_and_changes_in_perception_of_self_and_work_in_secondary_school_teachers
Collins, J. & Porras, J. (2004). Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. [Kindle version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
Duarte, N. (2013). Resonate: Present visual stories that transform audiences. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from http://resonate.duarte.com/#!page0
Dweck, Carol S. Ph.D (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. NY: Ballantine Books
Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers effective professional development in an era of high stakes accountability. Center for public education. Retrieved from http://conference.ohioschoolboards.org/2017/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2016/07/1pm111317A114Job-embedPD.pdf
Harapnuik., D. (2016, August 14). EDLD 5389 Module 1. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zcOS5OsRR0
Harapnuik., D. (2018). It’s about learning | COVA. Retrieved from http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6991
TEA. (2019, August). 2019 Accountability Ratings Overall Summary. Retrieved from https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/cgi/sas/broker?_service=marykay&_debug=0&sublevel=camp&single=N&batch=N&app=PUBLIC&ptype=H&title=2019+Accountability+Reports&_program=perfrept.perfmast.sas&ptype=P&level=campus&search=campname&namenum=timberline&campus=220906104&prgopt=2019%2Facct%2Fsummary.sas&subj=RE
TEDxEast. (2010, December 10). Nancy Duarte uncovers common structure of greatest communicators. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/1nYFpuc2Umk
Timberline Elementary School. (2017). Retrieved from https://tes.gcisd.net/
Tucker, C. (2015, July 20). Create small learning communities with the station rotation model. Retrievd from https://catlintucker.com/2015/07/creating-small-learning-communities-with-the-station-rotation-model/
Professional Learning Strategy: Welcome
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