Professional Learning in a whole new way

The goal of many professional learning sessions is collaboration.  If collaboration is such a great tool and brings out the best practices, why does it fail to take hold and shape professional learning to where there is a meaningful impact on learning in the classroom?  Goodwin discussed studies that focused on the impact of professional development.  He discovered that most professional development/learning was ineffective but only when "peer coaching was added did teacher practices actually change."  This supports the idea that collaboration between teachers is effective, but he goes on to say that often unless the teachers were given guiding questions for collaborative conversations then comments between teachers lacked substance or critique.  Collaboration between teachers needs a road map and protocols for the collaboration to be truly effective.  Teachers need to model this style of "doing" collaboration in professional learning settings if they want to bring these techniques to the classroom.  The professional learning strategies should first start with the sessions themselves.  These sessions should be on-going and provide follow-up that builds and supports teachers throughout the process.  Teachers are more likely to adapt to new strategies than throw away everything they've done to focus on adopting a completely new process of teaching. 

My story for my call to action will be focusing on where we are in education and professional learning today and where we can be in the future.  Nancy Duarte spoke about how the story that can resonate with people needs to focus on how the status quo is far and away of what could be.  She continued to speak of the importance repetition and of making an emotional connection with the audience as a way to present an idea that can change the world. I will move people from the status quo by the idea that education will never be the same after COVID, we can't go back to the way it was before because we are forever changed by the time we live in.  We've all been pushed into a world that is unfamiliar and uncharted.  If we use old maps to guide us in this new world of learning with technology as the guide, we will be lost. 

My Professional Learning Plan outline and call to action can be found: https://kellytaylor182.wixsite.com/website/projects.  The main objective of my plan is to create a Content and Instructional Technology Specialist and Leadership position for every team in the four core content areas.  This person is to support, model, and provide feedback to the members on their team with best practice on how to incorporate flipped classroom ideas, blended learning, digital literacy, and instructional technology tools in the context of their content and student population.

• Duration: August 1st - Spring of the following year.  This PL will train these instructional and content leaders in the fall and then the modeling process with ongoing feedback and implementation in the winter and spring.  

• Support: Teachers will be provided support during the implementation of new teaching strategies that were modeled by the instructional and content leader and also receive feedback after implementation and observations.  Support will focus on growth. 

• Engaging: Modeling and Implementation will be hands on and teachers will actively participate while making sense of new practices and new tools. 

• Modeling: Teachers will see the Content/Instructional Coach in a classroom put these practices into place.  They will see in real time with real students how to implement a new practice. 

• Specific: Each team for the four content areas will receive the instructional technology tools specific to their content and grade level. 

Fostering collaboration:   Digital Leaders will receive feedback from Administration and Department Chairs on the Implementation of the Blended Learning and Digital Literacy implementation in classrooms based on T-TESS data collected by Administration during walkthroughs and observations