Everyone needs a coachA good coach knows the unique talents and abilities of all of his players. He identifies his starters, his second string players, and his bench players and intends to train them according to their ability level to help them succeed. A good coach also knows that to win you have to start your best players. Starters lead the team to success by displaying superior performance and modeling the right moves for other players. Who are your starters? As the technology leader at your school, you are the Head Coach looking to lead a team. When you think about your best teachers - the ones with the most passion and enthusiasm for integrating technology to improve learning - who comes to mind? Those are your Schoology Coaches. They are the teachers who you want training, motivating, and supporting the rest of the faculty. All Aboard!Every school has its share of slow technology adopters, just like the Rodger’s Adoption Cycle suggests. Strangely enough, leaders often think that the best way to bring these people on board is to spend countless hours working to convince them to use technology. But the opposite is really true. Instead, focus that precious time and energy on improving the quality of the most innovative teachers. Their success in the classroom will multiply exponentially and the entire faculty will benefit. The Schoology Coaches model is one that empowers your strongest teachers to take ownership of innovative teaching and encourages them to spread their knowledge. By using Schoology Coaches to train faculty, every teacher receives the one-on-one attention he needs to be successful integrating Schoology in the district, building, or school. Here's how it works: Choose your startersIdentify your most innovative and passionate teachers who are excited to share ways they are using Schoology. Keep in mind that this is not always the teacher with the most experience using Schoology - this is the teacher who is willing to be innovative with instructional styles and try new strategies to help keep students engaged and create a student-centered learning environment. Use Schoology To Do It: Analytics As a system admin, you can look at each user’s specific analytics to see how they are using their course. Search for the teachers you expect to see using Schoology heavily and take a look at their analytics to assess their current use of Schoology and look for areas where they are strong and can offer guidance to other teachers. You can also use the analytics tab in their course to see how often they engage students to interact with Schoology. Give Your Coaches a Pep TalkEmpower these teachers by giving them the title “Schoology Coach.” Cast a vision for these Schoology Coaches for how they can impact their school and transform learning by providing support to other faculty members. Bring the coaches together and spend time leading them in conversations about how to improve Schoology implementation and use their input to create a plan for the next phase of implementation. Use Schoology To Do It: Groups Create a group on Schoology for your Schoology Coaches to interact and learn from one another in between in person meetings. Add regular encouragement by posting videos for them on the feed or ask for their input on important topics by starting a discussion thread. Practice to perfectThese teachers are chomping at the bit to get on the field and try new ideas - let them! Challenge your Schoology Coaches to become the model teachers for the blended learning classrooms using Schoology’s features. Play to each Coach’s strength and challenge them to go paperless, flip their classrooms, or gamify learning using Schoology. This provides the Coaches with the incentive to stay innovative and it creates concrete classroom examples for Schoology Coaches to share with faculty. Let Schoology Coaches know they will be highlighted among their peers and use Schoology Coaches’ classrooms as exemplars for other faculty members to visit so they can experience a transformed classroom environment. Use Schoology To Do It: Course Materials & User Tools Train your Schoology Coaches on Schoology features that others may not be using yet like Blogs, Portfolios, Badges, and Media Albums. Give them access to the newest tools so they can try to integrate the tool uniquely in their classrooms. Ask them to test out a new tool for their class so that they can offer solutions for teachers who want to try the new tools next. Schedule a scrimmageLet your Schoology Coaches be the faculty trainers. Provide EdCamp style PD or Lunch & Learn opportunities for faculty where the Coaches can highlight Schoology. Have Schoology Coaches provide specific trainings on topics that will interest the faculty - play to the Coach’s strength and have them present a Schoology tool they use often. Schoology coaches can also prepare blended learning online modules in a Schoology course for teachers to reference after a session. As practitioners, Schoology coaches bring valuable insights because they use Schoology with students every day and have practical solutions to the questions faculty will ask during a training. Use Schoology To Do It: Courses Create a specific Schoology PD course where teachers can access the blended learning materials on specific Schoology topics. Make all your Coaches admins and allow them to build out modules on the topics that they have expertise in. Add all your teachers to the course, then use the calendar feature to share upcoming learning opportunities. Your teachers should always know where to find the next PD offering from Schoology Coaches. Call a timeoutTraining in a large group setting only goes so far. The benefit of having Schoology Coaches is that they are able to follow up with teachers individually after group training to provide additional support. Their impact is powerful because they are easy for teachers to access - a Schoology Coach should be a peer teacher a few classrooms down the hall or a fellow teacher they would see at lunch. When teachers have access to a Schoology Coach to ask quick questions or inquire about a new Schoology feature, those teachers are better supported. One-on-one coaching is the most powerful professional development tool that we have because it provides personalized attention and specific problem solving, which allows teachers to be more willing to try new instructional practices. Use Schoology To Do It: Badges As coaches make progress with teachers, award the teacher’s progress by assigning her a badge in the PD course. For example, if a Schoology Coach works on building a rubric with a teacher and the teacher completes the Rubrics PD module, she earns a Rubric Builder Badge. Teachers who take the time to learn from a Schoology coach and improve their practice should be highlighted and praise so they become new evangelists for Schoology tools. It’s time to turn the tables and place the ownership of the professional learning on your innovative internal lead teachers. Empowering them will create a culture of peer sharing that is more powerful than other formats of professional development. And most importantly, this strategy personalizes every teacher’s professional growth by putting a coach by their side to encourage and support them.
Try This Tomorrow: Use Schoology Coaches to enhance your LMS implementation! ---- @alcp Allison Petersen
0 Comments
THE RE-CENTER BUTTON
You know when you are using Google maps, but you get a little impatient with the female voice guiding your way, so you start looking ahead on the map? Then, you start doubting Google’s ability to get you there the fastest way, so you swipe over on the map away from the route to look for other roads to take? You think you know better than Google when she says “you are on the fastest route and your route is clear” - but eventually you realize that she is right. You tap the the “Re-center” button to get yourself back on track.
This January we need to trust Google and Re-Center on our destination. CHECK THE DESTINATION
Before you click "Start Navigation" in Google maps, you need a destination. But the journey can have so many twists and turns, that you look up and realize that you forgot where you were headed. Thankfully, Google remembers the destination.
In my role as Academic Technology Coordinator, I am involved in multiple initiatives and technology implementations across our campuses from the two preschool divisions up to our Upper School division. While rewarding and thrilling, this can often be problematic because I can lose focus on the larger goal and lose track of how the many small project I'm working on relate back to the bigger picture. Vision is the key to keeping focus and filtering ideas, projects, and tasks to keep us on track. So when I find myself at a confused and unsure place with all my tasks and projects, I try to come back to the vision and ask for important questions:
CHECK THE TRAFFIC
When you start the navigation Google reassures you letting you know "You are on the fastest route and your route is clear. You will arrive at 12:07 p.m." But she is also careful to watch and evaluate the route as you go. If she sees traffic up ahead or something else unexpected she notifies you that "We have found a faster route. Click to accept the new route."
In any change effort you will have speed bumps or conflicts that may slow you down. The biggest one for me is TIME. As I strive to train teachers on new technology, I am constantly faced with the limited opportunities to train teachers. Meeting schedules change, another initiative takes priority, or teachers' focus is elsewhere. What I hoped to achieve with training teachers during first semester was no where near completed. I still feel like I have a lot of work to do - and I need to adjust the plan to make it happen. The reality is that we will sometimes need to accept the new route in our change efforts. But the good news is that the destination hasn't changed and as Google says it is the "faster" route. Even though the goal is not necessarily speed in accomplishing goals, you may be surprised how much faster things go when you've made an adjustment. Don't be afraid to even take a U-Turn. As a teacher, I tried hard to have my students achieve mastery of skills. If we skim over material with teachers, they will not gain mastery. If you want teachers to obtain a deeper level understanding of technology integration, then you may have to double back two or three times to ensure that they arrive at mastery. USE THE TURN BY TURN DIRECTIONS
I recently had to travel to my husband's basketball game in Monroe, Ga. Since I didn't know the area at all, I relied on Google to get me there on the "fastest route" as she promised. Next thing I knew, I was driving along back roads in the country and I felt completely lost. I doubted Google had any idea where she was taking me. I paused to look at the turn by turn directions - even though I didn't know the roads, I saw that she would get me to the destination. So I just took it one turn at a time and arrived safely, just as she said.
I am often paralyzed by what to do next. The change effort I'm leading is so immense that it can seem insurmountable. Even though I feel confident about the end goal, I can't always visualize the steps to get there. What has helped me the most has been to take one step at a time. With each project I begin working on, I have to be sure that it connects to the larger vision and goal, and then I am able to work on each step of the project to get toward the larger goal. For example, when we adopted Schoology as an LMS, it was with the goal of transforming the learning environment in our school. But where do you start with that? I tend to want to jump in the deep end first, but one step at a time is more productive. The first step was to train the teachers in the basic features. Now, the next step is to introduce them to more advanced features. With each step in the project, we will get closer and closer to the end goal. YOU HAVE ARRIVED AT YOUR DESTINATION
The truth is... you may not hear these words for several years. A change effort does not happen overnight, and rarely in a single school year. But that doesn't mean that you won't get there. Be inspired by the destination and the vision of what that place will look like. Spend time visualizing it so you will recognize it when you get there.
Find concrete examples of the vision coming to life along the way. Your vision may be a few years off, but you can peek ahead just like you can in Google maps. There are teachers who are early adopters of your vision around you - highlight them as examples of what the vision looks like and help others to identify the traits and characteristics of this fantastic destination you are headed toward.
More posts about casting vision for change: http://alcp.weebly.com/featured.html
Join Leadership Lift, a community of EdTech Leaders sharing stories of success to empower and encourage each other. Follow @LeadLift on Twitter.
This #5Tips4LMS blog series provides tips and tools for adopting and implementing a Learning Management System at your school. The leadership tips are based on Andy Stanley's books Visoneering and Making Vision Stick as well as John Kotter's book Leading Change.
Find links to these and other books here. Part 1: A Problem and A Solution Part 2: Create Momentum Part 3: Cast a Vision Cast a Vision: A golf ball Picture
You can see something that others can't yet envision. You have a picture of what a school incorporating technology meaningfully and impacting student learning looks like. You are the only one with this vision, so you have to be the one to cast it in all directions.
This video illustrates your vision - it is a TV commercial celebrating Jordan Spieth's FedEx Cup win. Take a minute to watch it before you keep reading. Watch it twice actually. The first time, take it all in. The second time, notice that it starts with only ONE golf ball and count how many seconds it takes for the image to come into focus. This video embodies these Truths about Vision:
The work behind the vision
There is a lot of work behind a vision. Since you are the Vision Holder you have to direct each person in their contribution to the larger vision. Just imagine how this mosaic artist got others to envision the Jordan Spieth image before it was created. Golf balls? In the shape of Jordan Spieth? You're crazy! But he told them what to do and where to put each ball. And the mosaic came to life. Bring your vision to life by crafting a framework for teachers to work in so that they are constantly contributing to the vision.
State it Simply
Andy Stanley names four stages of casting a vision and stage one is to simplify your vision until it is mobile, accessible, and clear enough to use as a filter.
Vision: Use technology to achieve learning goals Questions that drive the vision:
Once you have the technology integration vision simplified you can begin to communicate it to all stake holders. Casting the Vision Up and Down the Ladder
You are the only one who can see this vision that you have crafted. Remember the Jordan Spieth image - the others can only see the first golf ball. You have to find a way to communicate this vision to everyone around you - even those above you in the chain of command.
Communicate to Stakeholders:
One time is not enough
Remember: You are the keeper of the vision. Absolutely no one else can see it or articulate it the way that you can (it's not about being better than anyone; it is truly just about being able to envision something that others cannot yet see). So therefore, you can't just say it once and think you are done. You have to continually cast the vision.
This means that every time you have an opportunity to share your vision with a leader in your school, you do it. Yes, you will sound like a broken record. At least they will know that you are consistent and serious about this effort and change. You will get push back - from pretty much everyone in the stakeholder list. You keep that record spinning and keep sharing the vision. It will take months and even years before people can see even a few more golf balls in the vision. You have to embrace the leadership role of casting the vision constantly. Make your vision come to life
Nothing works better as a way to communicate your vision than concrete examples. You need to look for the bright spots as Chip and Dan Heath talk about in their amazing change management book, Switch.
Find examples of teachers in your school using technology to meet their learning goals. Find them and highlight them in every avenue you can. In a blog post, in a faculty email, in a staff meeting, in an article for the website. Find ways to emphasize what this change looks like when it is done right and how it transforms the classroom when it is used well. You create a win-win situation because you have praised a teacher for his hard work and encouraged him in his efforts toward making change in his classroom. But you've also shown the rest of the staff or community what success looks like. Find ways to celebrate your teachers and raise them up as exemplars and models for others.
This #5Tips4LMS blog series provides tips and tools for adopting and implementing a Learning Management System at your school. The leadership tips are based on Andy Stanley's books Visoneering and Making Vision Stick as well as John Kotter's book Leading Change. Find links to these and other books here.
Part 1: A Problem and A Solution Part 2: Create Momentum Part 3: Cast a Vision Create momentum: Pile on the pressure
Quarterbacks do their best work under pressure. There is nothing else in sports like the two minute drill -- when a team has under two minutes to score to win the game, they have to be focused and intentional and perform under the most intense circumstances. A good quarterback will get a team to a win because of the pressure and momentum around the must-win scenario.
You need to create this type of momentum and pressure around the need for a new Learning Management System (LMS) by establishing a sense of urgency. In the previous blog post, you read about Establishing A Problem and A Solution, but even if you make it abundantly clear that there is a need for a new LMS, there is no guarantee people will see the RUSH behind adding this new element to every other initiative you currently have at your school. John P. Kotter in his book, Leading Change, emphasizes the importance of creating a sense of urgency around the need for change. Without this new energy surrounding the change, complacency settles in and people revert back to the old methods without much concern. A momentum is needed to get people moving and the urgency is needed to keep people on task with the change efforts. 21st century learners
To create urgency and momentum, set the stage for the reality of the 21st Century. It is surprising how many teachers do not take into account the changing world around us. Only five years ago, there was no such thing as an iPad, now many house holds have one and affluent households have one designated for each child.
We have a new kind of student in front of us. The term "digital native" has taken on all kinds of meanings, but the truth is that we have a new kind of learner with new expectations coming to our classrooms, whether we are ready or not. This is hard to express to teachers so use concrete examples. I always use these two videos to illustrate the new kind of student we have coming into our classrooms now. I've also seen people reference social media posts from their friends' kids with iPads in hand. We will do these students a disservice if we continue to teach students in the traditional model and postpone changing the pedagogy around 21st century learning. Standards provide clarity
Nothing creates urgency like standards. I hate to say it, but because of the focus on standards in most schools, you may be able to use this one to your advantage. Have you or any of your leadership used the ISTE Standards as a base for evaluating teachers? Have you even told your teachers about the standards for students? Are these standards the driving force behind your search for a new LMS? Take a peak at the standards for leaders and coaches and ask yourself if you are doing enough in these areas.
Establish a truncated version of these standards to share with teachers. Looking at these documents can be very overwhelming, just like most standards documents. Take time to simplify them down to the three main ideas that are most relevant to your school and present them to leadership and teachers as another reason why your school needs to adopt a new LMS now. ISTE ESSential conditions
ISTE also provides a list of "Essential Conditions," which are the crucial pieces of implementation, engagement, and support needed to implement a technology rich environment like a LMS. ISTE provides this framework and tools for leaders to use when implementing large scale technology change. Use them as guiding forces for your planning.
You are not alone
Although you might feel like creating momentum around this huge change is a canon you will never be able to get across, know that you are not alone and there are resources for you. Other people have done this and done it well, so seek them out and use the tools available to you online.
Common Sense Media has 1:1 implementation tools that could easily transfer to a new LMS or any other technology initiative.
This #5Tips4LMS blog series provides tips and tools for adopting and implementing a Learning Management System at your school. The leadership tips are based on Andy Stanley's books Visoneering and Making Vision Stick as well as John Kotter's book Leading Change. Find links to these and other books here.
Part 1: A Problem and A Solution Part 2: Create Momentum Part 3: Cast a Vision Part 1: Identify the problem and bring a solutionYou Need A new Learning management system
The truth is, you just aren't sure why others don't see it. Your school needs a new Learning Management System - or it just needs one! You are trying to move your teachers into the digital age and 21st century learning, yet they don't have the tools to make that type of learning happen. They use this as an excuse - and they don't move forward and everything stays stagnant. How are you going to help them see the need? How are you going to help them see the way that a Learning Management System will change everything by giving them the tools to create collaboration in an online space?
Establish the problem
The truth is that without the vision in place people don't even know how a Learning Management System can change the classroom environment. You have to start by making sure that you establish the LMS as a necessary and vital element to learning.
Start by asking a lot of questions. To get to the root of the problem, you need to start with the teachers who are in the trenches of teaching. Asking questions like:
Realize that the problem might be the process, not the product. In my situation, I realized quickly that I needed to streamline the process for teachers. The current system we had (a combination of Moodle and our SIS) was not efficient, and therefore caused them not to use it. So I asked them, "Why don't you use Moodle?" It was the teachers who brought me reason after reason why the current system wasn't working for them. Gather Data.These questions led me to start gathering some concrete evidence I could share with the leadership through a needs assessment. I surveyed the teachers and gathered groups of teachers together to discuss the LMS and why it wasn't working. The quotes and data I collected through the online Google Form survey were the basis for establishing the problem and being able to articulate it to the school leadership.
Make a list of the needs. I took their complaints about the current system and asked them what they would prefer to see. Soon I had a list of needs. These were the driving focus areas for my research into looking for a new LMS to adopt.
Focus on workflow and easy of use. The above list of needs had very little to do with Moodle's capability. Honestly, Moodle is one of the more capable learning mangagement systems available. It all had to do with the workflow and ease of use for teachers. By asking questions, I was able to establish the true needs and then address them directly with the new LMS. Provide a solution to the problem
Change initiatives should start with the problem. Take the time to establish the problem from the feedback from teachers because it will help motivate them moving forward. Capitalize on their willingness to try a better way as the start to their intrinsic motivation to change.
Present the new LMS as a solution to a problem. You want the LMS to address and solve the frustrations that teachers face regularly and are ready to change. Answer these questions as your propose your solution.
Avoid the temptation to talk about the "once we have it, we will be able to" features that are not directly related to the problem. This is a tricky one. As the person doing this research, you know all the capabilities of a new program and what it can offer to teachers. But where we think those are amazing doors opening us to collaboration and global communication in the classroom, others may not feel the same way. Focus on selling the features of the new LMS that directly solve people's problems, and you will have more success in winning them over. TRY THIS TOMORROW: Start establishing the problem and making a case for needing a new LMS by conducting informal, causal interviews with teachers to hear their thoughts on the tools you currently have in place. Write down things you hear people saying and start to establish your list of needs. The Next Step? Help the leadership to see why this is needed now and cannot wait. Read the next installment of this adoption and implementation blog post series here: Part 2: Create Momentum Part 3: Cast a Vision I often hear it said that technology hinders relationships. Face-to-face interactions are always best for building relationships, but the truth is that people can't always be together. Technology has the power to enhance and further face-to-face relationships.
Three specific tools come to mind that can link people together when face-to-face meetings aren’t an option: Voxer, Glide, and Google Hangouts. Voxer is a walkie-talkie app that allows for voice only communication between two people or a group of up to fifteen people. Glide is an app with a similar concept, except it sends video messages instead of just voice messages. Google Hangouts allow for video calling in real time; you can have up to 10 people in a Hangout. You can also record a Hangout and publish it to YouTube for future viewing. All three of these tools have amazing potential in education because of their ability to connect people anytime and anywhere. When people are connected, they can use these tools to foster relationships. They can also be vital tools for teaching, student learning, professional learning, and leadership. Here are just a few ideas on how to build relationships using these digital tools: PROFESSIONAL LEARNING I learned how to use these tools to grow relationships first hand. It all started when Jaime Vandergrift introduced me to Glide and wrote this post titled “When you can’t run, Glide” after we talked about the idea of using Glide to help support teachers. Then, she invited me to a Voxer chat with Stacia McFadden, Cat Flippen, Amy Pietrowski, and Rodney Turner. This chat turned out to be one of the most rewarding things I've ever done for professional development. What started out as professional conversations quickly evolved into sharing personal stories, which ultimately established true friendship among our group. Read our Voxer chat story here. We recently discovered we were not alone after reading Joe Mazza’s post on how he uses Voxer, learning about the hashtag #eduvoxers, and this list of other educators who use Voxer. Join the growing group of educators who use this tool. Connect with your PLN: Twitter is already the best place on the planet for learning, but when you throw in Voxer to expand conversations, you don’t just foster learning, you develop deeper relationships with people you may have never even met face-to-face. Book Chats: Get a group together to discuss a professional book. You can use this idea with any of the three tools, but we have established a #voxerbookchat hashtag. So far, I have been a part of two book chats, and the conversation with people who are passionate about the topics and education is refreshing and rejuvenating! Join us for our book chat on Digital Leadership - if you are interested, let me know! LEADER COMMUNICATION Build better relationships with your faculty or team as a leader. Eric Sheninger’s book Digital Leadership explains that one of the secrets to change is to "love your employees" - being intentional about developing relationships is a key factor of change. Sheninger also emphasizes the importance of leaders modeling the use of technology tools for their faculty. Using one of these digital tools to communicate with teachers could help them see the tool's potential. Announcements: Use Google Hangouts to record your faculty announcements or Monday Memo and post to your blog instead of sending another email. Meetings: Use a Voxer chat with your faculty to request agenda items for the next faculty meeting. Keep the conversation going after the meeting by posing additional questions or agenda items you couldn't discuss in person. Observations: Use Voxer to provide a teacher a record of their feedback after a walk-through or informal observation, or better yet, schedule a follow-up discussion using Google Hangouts. Increase Morale: Brighten a teacher’s day by sending encouraging Glide messages on a regular basis. Follow Up: Use Voxer or Glide to follow up with people on tasks instead of checking in via email; they can respond much more quickly and provide more detail on their progress. CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS Adults in every student's life must earn the right to be heard and earn respect. Those two things come with teachers showing their students how much they truly care and about them. Meet your digital learners where they are comfortable and build relationships with them through digital tools. Office Hours: Office hours are always open when you have students Vox you questions. You can answer as time allows. You can also set up a Google Hangout at a specific time for a study session with students. Writing Feedback: In this great Teaching Channel video, Sarah Wessling explains how she uses podcasting to provide feedback to her students. Even easier than a podcast - use Voxer! Book Clubs: As an English teacher, I always want my students reading more. To increase engagement or link students who are reading the same personal reading books, put students in book groups and allow them to connect about the book using Voxer. Or pose discussion questions for a group during your novel study. The possibilities are endless here and all you have to do is include yourself in the Voxer group to listen in to a group's conversation. Foreign Language Lab: My school doesn't have a foreign language lab, and our French teacher is always looking for ways have her students hear themselves speaking French. Voxer, Glide, and Google Hangouts work perfectly here. Try This Tomorrow! Use Voxer, Glide, and/or Google Hangouts to build connections in unexpected ways, and strengthen relationships, and learn from anywhere! I would love to hear from you! Leave me a comment below and share more ways you have used these digital tools for leadership, student learning, or professional learning. --- Allison Petersen @alcp The March #blogamonth topic is to share a video that you use in your instruction. See more and join us in our quest to enhance our professional blogs at the Blog-A-Month Website.
THIS VIDEO (you have to click the link; I was unable to embed it into the post) is of a sermon by Andy Stanley presented to middle school students called "You'll Be Glad You Did: Label Maker." Andy's message to young students is that no one but God has the right to label them because he is their creator and purchaser. All middle school students struggle with this: finding their identity rather than accepting the one that has been placed on them by their peers. Middle school is the time in life when a young person wrestles with identity, and that struggle continues on into high school, college, and often beyond. I teach in a private Christian school, and this idea of identity is a vital one to share with our students because our ultimate hope is that they will find their identity in Christ. My partner teacher, Jen Woods, and I have worked together to create a challenging eighth grade curriculum that encourages students to consider major themes that relate to their lives throughout the semester: outside influence, considering other people's perspectives, appearance vs reality, and, ultimately, identity. We use this video to introduce the big question "How do I shape my identity?" that goes along with our novel study of Ender's Game. Ender is the perfect example of a character who is bombarded with labels, yet doesn't embrace any of them. He struggles to find his own identity in spite of what others want him to become. Students relate deeply to Ender's struggle with identity as they combat the same conflicts in their own lives. The addition of this video to add the unique perspective of "God created you and he is the only person who has the right to label you" is a way to draw the discussion of a character down to a more personal level and ask students to face the question of their own identities. Ultimately, each student has to decide what she will let define her and shape her self and her future. I hope and pray that even a hint of this lesson will sit with each student to help her realize that her identity can only be found in Christ. Try This Tomorrow: You may not be able to include the Gospel in your lesson, but you can ask students to think more deeply about a character and themselves by pushing them to make the content relevant to their daily struggles. Help students to discover their own identities instead of having to live with labels. ___ @alcp Allison Petersen Originally this post wasn't intended to be about the #blogamonth Feburary topic of Creating a Culture, but it turned out to be a post about creating a culture of digital learners. Enjoy! If you would have asked me last week if I was willing to give up control of my classroom to the students, I would have said of course! I am an avocate of allowing students to take the lead. But a few things have pushed my thinking since then... Am I really willing to give up control? Really? The above twitter conversation was sparked by Cat Flippen's (@Catflippen) keynote at the UGA Digital Learning Conference. As I read it, I nodded my head in agreement, asking myself, "Why is it so hard for teachers to let go of control in their classrooms and what does it take for them to change?" But I was quickly faced with the truth that I wasn't as progressive as I thought. The idea that truly challenged me was from Eric Sheninger's (@NMHS_Principal) book Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times. We all know that we are teaching a new generation of digital natives. But the characteristics of these types of students wasn't as clear to me until I read the list of qualities of a digital learner that Sheninger includes early in his book. He explains the ways that digital learners want to obtain information or function vs how the traditional teacher wants to spend the lesson. Sheninger writes: Digital learners prefer parallel processing and multitasking, but many educators prefer linear processing and single tasks or limited multitasking. I am guilty of this! Just last week, we were working on essays on Google drive and when a student asked me if she could share her essay with a friend in the class, I told her "No. Not until you have finished drafting. You still have a few key parts to include." Well, granted, even though this student really did have more work to do on the essay, I am now asking myself, why not? Why couldn't she have shared it and gotten feedback even though she wasn't done writing yet?
Real writers do this! I do this as a writer - I am always seeking feedback at every stage. I consider myself a "digital learner" like them - wouldn't I want the ability to share my work when I wanted instead of having that be controlled by the teacher? So today, I took a different approach. I offered for my class to openly share their essays on Google drive with anyone else in the class for feedback. I allowed students to move around the room, not limiting who they work with specifically, which I was doing before, too. Did they gravitate toward their friends? Well yes...but were they on task? Yes...even some of the more easily distracted students. They were discussing ways to help each other revise and fervently leaving comments. Were they sharing with multiple students? Yes, which provided each student multiple perspectives of feedback. The moment I knew it was working was when I heard a shy voice speak up. There is a sweet girl in my class who is a strong student, but she is very quiet. When I conference with her about her writing, it is very hard to get her to respond even when I am praising her work. But today, her voice lept over the noise as she talked across the room to her friend, giving her friend advice on how to revise the essay. I know I had a shocked look on my face as I glanced up to see who was talking. She was embracing her role as editor and providing feedback, not just through the digitial comments, but out loud. Something had changed. Mission accomplished! In the back of my mind, I was a little irked at the noise in the room. My inner teacher wanted to tell the class to be quiet and focus on what they were doing. My inner teacher wanted to stop conversations from continuing that seemed to be off topic. When I listened closer, students were talking about the events they are writing about in their essays. My inner teacher needed to be shhhhhushed today. She needed to embrace the fact that digital learners need a different environment to thrive in. It’s my job as a teacher to create that environment and ultimately create a culture tailor-made for these digital learners. I still feel like I have a long way to go, but at least I know where I'm headed! Try This Tomorrow! Ask yourself if you are still holding onto control in some areas, and if you can continue to loosen your grip. What simple change can you make to quiet your inner teacher voice and let students function more like digital learners? My question to you is this... where is the balance between good classroom management and allowing students the freedom to learn the way they want to as digital natives? When (if ever) do you let your inner teacher come out to set boundaries and control the classroom noise, activity, etc? Also, how do you ensure that students aren’t just sharing with friends and everyone plays a part in this digital experience? Please share your thoughts below! __ Allison Petersen @alcp We are all created in the image of God. Even the maker of the universe himself seeks praise! And in his image, his people crave it too. Think about it. When someone praises you and tells you how well you’ve done, how do you feel? When there is a person in your life who you just can’t get that praise from, how hard do you work for it? People crave positive feedback and it transforms their attitude and actions. A simple, encouraging word can change a person’s entire outlook and perspective. This applies to any age person - from a three year old, to a middle schooler, to an adult - because it is a basic truth rooted in the way God made us. Angela Maiers makes an amazing case for the power of praise in her Ted Talk called “You Matter” which has sparked a movement and a hashtag #youmatter. If you haven't seen it yet, it is worth 20 minutes of your time! My perspective of positive feedback changed after attending a Writer's Stylus course with Kevin Washburn. (Side note: Here are 5 Reasons Why you should attend Writer's Stylus too). Before, when I worked with writers, I simply pointed out mistakes in their writing, which is what I thought was the purpose of conferencing with students. The page was covered in changes and corrections. No wonder my students felt defeated. Washburn calls his approach to providing feedback “coaching” because it truly allows the focus to be on uplifting the student writer. This style of conferring is student-centered with authentic praise as a key component. He provides a specific cycle of steps for each “coaching session” that helps to maximize the writer's strengths and provide them positive feedback and practical steps to help them improve. It helped me establish a new way of encouraging students in their writing, rather than just reinforcing their mistakes. Negative feedback can be detrimental to a learner. Yet, it is often all that students will receive from their teachers. Or all they receive is a bad grade without any notation as to the reason behind the score. After years of being told they are doing it all wrong, most students accept that they will never be good at anything. Writing is the perfect example. Every year I have students who enter my classroom and tell me “I am not a good writer.” And every year I strive to help them change their pre-established fixed mindsets. Carol Dweck’s book Mindset transformed my own resolve to help students see they had amazing potential because the reality is that they can all be good writers - but that starts with a mindset change. Positive feedback is the key to transforming a mindset because it provides a surge of energy. When a student sees that he is excelling in an area, even if it is just in a small way, he see the fruit of his labors, and - hopefully - will work harder to continue to improve. The teacher (or coach) plays a vital role in revitalizing this learner’s mindset. It takes another person holding up a mirror so that the learner can realize his capabilities and potential. The Gordon Ramsay Effect It makes me think of Gordon Ramsey - you know, the three michelin star chef who is known for yelling and cussing on his TV shows. Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, and Master Chef are three of my favorite shows. Kitchen Nightmares is the best of the three. Ramsey goes into a family-owned restaurant that needs help, usually because the food is horrible, and gives them his honest opinion as to why the restaurant is failing. The man is brutal. He is blunt and often mean when he gives feedback to these families. And they rarely react well to his expert opinion, no matter how much they respect this man for his accomplishments. Throughout the show though, Ramsey builds relationships (sometimes via shouting matches) with the family and gets the root of the problem, which usually has absolutely nothing to do with the food. These relationships allow him to make an impact on these people, and when the end of the show arrives, there is honest praise leaving his mouth for the family. There are tears and hugs and smiles - and transformations. All because this man gave his honest feedback, built relationships, and showed them how to change for the better, and then gave them genuine praise. He changed their mindsets. Providing Positive Feedback While I don't suggest anyone approach feedback with Ramsay's volatile style in mind, there is a cycle and process that he follows that works when providing feedback.
1) Build Relationships Feedback is always better received by a student when they do not feel threatened or judged. The quickest way to win their trust is to humble yourself and show them that you are still learning too and that you don't know everything. Then, show them that you care about their ideas and opinions, even if they are not in line with what you might do yourself. Allow them to explain their thought process and listen to their concerns. 2) Provide Honest Feedback Start with authentic praise of elements the learner has done well. Positive feedback doesn't have to be contrived, fake, or untrue feedback. Instead of pointing out mistakes in a negative light, simply point out what they have done so far and praise them for their work. Then, guide them by explaining what they still have left to do. 3) Model How to Improve Often students respond to feedback with a defeated sense of “but I don’t know how to fix it.” Your job is to model the change and improvement for them. With writing for example, you can’t simply correct comma errors for a student - this helps nothing. But you can take the time to show the student three steps to determine where the comma goes in the sentence and model those steps for them during a conference. Now, when the student goes back to work, she will at least have a task to complete with steps to follow. I love how Gordon Ramsey will often step into the kitchen to cook with the families on Kitchen Nightmares and show them how to improve. He doesn’t just yell and say the food is horrible; he steps in and models for them how to make the food better. 4) Provide Support and Praise This becomes a cycle. Continue to meet with students to provide additional praise, feedback, and modeling. While we all wish that one instance of teaching or modeling is enough, it never really is. Continue to work with each student and encourage her to continue to craft until she can be truly proud of her work because it meets all the expectations. The more positive reinforcement she receives, the more she will take ownership of her work. But what if the student is completely off base? I know this is a valid question because I see it so often with students. There are two helpful tips when encouraging this type of student. 1) Focus on one key element for constructive feedback. Still start with providing genuine praise (find something! Anything!) and then give this student one element to improve upon. With each additional conference, you may be able to tackle something else. Don't overwhelm this type of student; he/she will shut down on you! 2) Ask him questions! Instead of telling him what to do, ask this student questions so he can quickly realize himself what he has done wrong or needs to work on. Allow him to reach these insights on his own, and he will be much quicker to embrace the revisions. A rubric is an ideal tool for this. Put it in front of the two of you and ask him if he has met the requirements on the rubric. (The Writer's Stylus course provides amazing rubrics for these types of conversations!) Try this tomorrow. Change your own mindset in your classroom and opt to offer genuine, positive feedback to students. When you see their faces light up, you will know you are making a difference in their lives! These are the books that have influenced my thinking on this topic. What have you read on this topic? Please share in the comments! Mindset by Carol Dweck Quite Leadership by David Rock Your Brain at Work by David Rock Choice Words by Peter H. Johnson Opening Minds by Peter H. Johnson Role Reversal by Mark Barnes ___ Allison Petersen @alcp
Banned Books week in September brought up lots of discussions, especially ones that focus on how to help students develop a love of reading.
These two posts on the topic grabbed my attention - but not just as a teacher. These posts gipped by heart as a mother. Are my boys going to go to a school where reading is a chore? Are they going to learn to hate reading instead of love it? That idea alone breaks my heart. I hope that my boys' teachers foster a love of reading instead of supress it with testing and reading logs. The Reading Log: The Quickest Most Effective Method of Killing a Love of Reading by @LisaMorguess How a Movie Fixed What Accelerated Reader Broke by @RafranzDavis I hope to foster and inspire a love of reading among my middle schoolers. So during Meet the Teacher Night, I had parents write me a ticket out the door answering the question: "How can I best help your son/daughter this year?" So many of them answered the question with a similar response: "Get him interested in reading" "Make reading interesting and enjoyable" "Help her improve her reading comprehension" "Help him learn how to read more" "Help him build confidence as a reader" Well, luckily, we are all on the same page. One of my four main goals for the school year is to help students develop a passion and a love for reading. And it won't be done simply by teaching three whole class novels and a poetry unit. I've decided to try a year-long reading project So as I share my ideas with you, I should also share the inspiration. Very few of the ideas below are truly my own; most are simply adapted from these authors who have written about inspiring a love of reading in students. Their passion for the subject is contagious! I was powerfully moved and motivated after reading Book Love by Penny Kittle (@pennykittle). Her practical implementation of reading workshop was immediately applicable in my classroom, and her reasoning behind fostering a love of reading was based in the truth that students will be expected to read at high volumes in high school and college, yet we are not truly teaching them how to manage this type of reading. Expanding on this idea I also devoured books on the topic such as: The Book Whisper by Donalyn Miller (@donalynbooks) Reading Ladders by Teri Lesesne (@professornana) Donalyn Miller's idea of the 40 Book Challenge got this assignment rolling. Role Reversal by Mark Barnes also helped me to see how this whole "year-long project" idea could work. I've learned so much from my PLN! Discussions with @MrRicReyes and @JoyKirr about #GeniusHour and several other conversations about blogging in our teacher blogging community #teach2blog or within a chat like #titletalk have kept me thinking about how to shape this project. Below are the components of the project....
The 40 Book Challenge
Spark their interest! Before mentioning anything to my students about books, reading, or challenges, I started with a metaphor. This teaching idea comes from Kevin Washburn's book and courses Architecture of Learning. When students walked into my classroom, they saw two sets of adjustable dumbbells. Entering the room I hear a few comments, "Mrs. Petersen, are you trying to start working out?" "Mrs. Petersen, what are these things?" - I am thinking to myself "gotcha"! "You'll see," I answer slyly. Students tried to lift the dumbbell weights initially with just 5 lbs or 7 lbs. Then they "challenged" themselves to a higher weight and tried 15 or even 20 lbs. They all quickly realized that the jump was hard. We discussed the metaphor, thinking about why you can't just dive in lifting heavy weights without working up to it first. Then, we built the bridge thinking about how this relates to reading and why we need to "practice" reading. Explain the why! Using ideas from Book Love, I explained that in high school and college students are expected to do upwards of 400-600 pages of reading a week and some of that is for a single class. Students faces were stunned. Building up their stamina as readers would be a key element to their success. Present the challenge! So, I presented the 40 Book Challenge as a training program to get in shape for the reading they will have to do in the future. 40 books in a school year is a big challenge, but many of them were on board right away. I also gave them the opportunity to set their challenge number if they thought 40 was unrealistic. A few of my students opted for a 20 book challenge instead, but as I work with them, I want them to push themselves beyond 20 if possible. So many of my students surprised themselves in the first few months of the project by reading faster than they thought they could. I had them compile a three prong folder that would house all their materials for this project in one place. Click here for a peek at my assignment sheet. Have a Kick-Off Day! I loved this post and video by Erica Beaton @b10lovesbooks called Book Speed Dating. I borrowed it and called it a Book Frenzy to make it a little more middle school friendly. It was really a great way to get students excited about reading specific books. Students investigated the books in my classroom library and then we headed to the school library keep searching for books. Students added book titles to a "Can't Wait to Read" list while they browsed. Provide time to read! Our school runs on a seven day rotation schedule. Once every seven days, we have D.E.A.R (Drop Everything And Read) Day. I will sometimes give a book talk at the start of the class, then they have the rest of the 45 or 55 minute class period to read. Students truly love it and look forward to this day. You can make this work for your schedule - it could even be 10 minutes every class period. The truth is, as a teacher this can make you feel like you are losing instructional time. It is hard for me to drop all lessons once every seven days, but I continue to remind myself that students developing a passion and stamina for reading really is THAT important! Incorporate a read aloud! This is my first year attempting a whole novel read aloud. I picked Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt. Thankfully that was a great choice - because even though it has taken us a very long time to read through it, they get very excited to listen. I read aloud every class period right when the bell rights for 5-7 minutes. It is a short snippet, and it always keeps them wanting more. The read aloud can help encourage their love of reading - choose a book you don't think they will pick up on their own and show them how it exceeds their expectations. Help them set goals! Using the idea of calculating your reading rate from Book Love, I have students set a reading goal between reading days. I try to conference with students every reading day to see how they are progressing toward their reading goals and this helps them stay accountable. it also gives us structured talking points in the conference. For instance, if a student hasn't met his reading goal, we can start talking about the why. Is it other homework and sports practice or is it the content of the book that has you disinterested? Penny Kittle provides fantastic conference questions in Book Love Help them see progress! I have my students track their completed books using this "Yay! Another Book Done Survey" as well as in their 40 Book Challenge Folders. I created class competition around the progress of each of my four classes. This kind of challenge evokes their competitive sides! Donalyn Miller suggests that students complete reflection letters to the teacher to update her on the student's reading progress. I liked this idea, but I haven't figured out the perfect way to make it work and actually be able to grade them in a timely manner. I've tried having them complete Reflections using Google Forms, which I like as an option. Give them an audience and community! Blogging is a great way to encourage students to share their reading. I have my students write at least one blog post a month sharing a book they have read. Students can see what others are reading as well as make and receive book recommendations. Connect your students to other classes who blog by joining the discussion in the #teach2blog hashtag on Twitter. Celebrate with them! Honestly, this is my favorite part. When they finish a book, they cannot wait to tell me about it. Their excitement is contagious and it makes me want to talk books all day long with them. Celebration doesn't have to be a "reward" - just show them how much you care by getting excited with them when they finish a book. I hope you take a leap of faith like I did and try this tomorrow with your students. Let the joy and excitement of reading find its placce in your classroom. I'm happy to share any resources that may help you! I would love to hear how you ignight a love for reading in your classroom. Please leave me a comment below or tweet me! ___ Allison Petersen @alcp |
About AllisonAllison is an K-12 Instructional Coach. Her goal is to empower educators to grow continually. Recent Posts#5Tips4LMS Series
Cast a Vision Create Momentum A Problem and a Solution HIGHLIGHTED POSTS Re-Center on Vision Letting Go of Control The Power of Positive Feedback Inspiring a Love of Reading Turning Ideas into Habits The Truth About Writing This I Believe Essay Quiet Leadership Qualities Thinking About New Ideas Goals Provide Focus The Power of Twitter Use Storify to Organize Tweets Build a PLN Categories
All
Archives
July 2016
|