Planning for Hybrid PD (Part 5) - Make the PD Learning Their Own

This week I meet for the fifth face-to-face with my two Sketchpad cohorts. It's only been 3 weeks since our last face-to-face meeting and it is also the beginning of their spring break, so planning for this week has been interesting, since I know their minds will be elsewhere!

As I posted in last weeks online community development posting (part 4), the teachers have really begun to think about student needs as they consider using Sketchpad and the Common Core Standards, so I want to continue to foster that in our face-to-face meeting. As I did last time, I had participants make suggestions of content/topics they wished to focus on in this weeks face-to-face. Our content focus, based on their input, will be on learning some more about the multiple-representational capabilities of Sketchpad as well as some of the animation capabilities.

In addition to teacher input as I planned, I also really wanted to think about addressing student needs, since in their online discussion forums participants are definitely considering their students as they plan and think about appropriate lessons utilizing the technology. What I think is a very important capability of Sketchpad is the ability to modify a sketch to address various student needs, and so that is my focus as well for this face-to-face. The lesson for this part 5 of the face-to-face - help teachers make connections to their students and provide them with suggestions and the ability to modify what they are learning in the PD to fit their students needs. Connect to their students and encourage them to make the PD activities their own.

Brief summary of previous Lessons Learned when planning for PD (complete description of each can be found in the links below to full postings):

Lesson One: Begin professional development experiences assessing background skills of participants.

Lesson Two: Work on building a sense of community and support among participants, where they feel comfortable sharing their struggles, their experiences, their ideas and expertise.

Lesson Three: Make the activities and learning relevant to the teachers every-day teaching practice.

Lesson Four: Provide teachers with a choice in what the professional development focuses on.

And this weeks lesson:

Lesson Five: Provide suggestions and examples of taking the activities/content of the professional development and modifying (adding to, deleting from, etc.) to meet the diverse needs of their students. By helping teachers consider how the activities might need to be altered to differentiate for students, you provide them with power and control over what they are learning, and help them make the PD learning and content their own.

I do think these five lessons are sequential. This is the power of a long-term, hybrid PD experience because it allows for you to work through building confidence, community, relevancy, ownership, and reflective practice that is not usually possible in shorter term PD.

For the complete Hybrid PD series, click on the links below:

Planning for Hybrid PD - Comfort Level and Confidence First
Follow-up On Planning for Hybrid PD - Day 1
Follow-up On Planning for Hybrid PD - Day 2
Hybrid PD - Online Community Development Pt 1
Planning for Hybrid PD (part 2) - Develop Community and Supportive Environment
Follow-up On Planning for Hybrid PD (Part 2) - F2F Feedback
Hybrid PD - Online Community Development Pt. 2
Planning for Hybrid PD (part 3) - Make it Relevant
Follow-up On Planning for Hybrid PD (part 3) - F2F feedback
Hybrid PD - Online Community Development Pt. 3
Planning for Hybrid PD (part 4) - Teacher Input
Follow-up On Planning for Hybrid PD (part 4) - F2F Feedback
Hybrid PD - Online Community Development Pt. 4 - Student Focused!

Implementation Dip - It's Not Just Test Scores, It's Any Change

I read this article yesterday by Andrew Ujifusa entitled New Tests Put States on Hot Seat as Scores Plunge . Basically, states that have implemented new standardized tests to address revised academic standards, such as the Common Core State Standards, have seen a drop in student scores, so panic has ensued. What I want to know is: has no one ever heard about the implementation dip? Whenever you try to implement something new, there is going to be a period of adjustment, scores will go down if we are talking tests, classroom behaviors will change and achievement will go down if new teaching strategies are being implemented - in short, any time you try something new, it is NOT going to go exactly as planned! Mistakes will happen, things will be bad before they get better - it's part of the whole change process. Which is why we need to be implementing changes slowly, early, and over time so that things that go wrong can be adjusted. Image from images.google.com What is th

Social Media's Impact on Personal Life - Personal Reflections

The question - does social media impact personal life? The answer - yes. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? The answer - it depends. I have been on vacation the past week or so and am currently on personal leave to finish writing my dissertation proposal (which, as you can see, I am procrastinating!) During my vacation, I swore I would take a break from blogging, Twitter, email, and all things electronic. I lied. I admit - I did honestly make the attempt and in fact, did not turn on my computer one time. However, the iPad is a constant companion, especially since the books I am reading (currently, the Game of Thrones series) are on there, so I had the iPad with me a lot - even on the beach. It was very easy to check if I had emails, to check out my Facebook or to send a Twitter or two. Long story short, I failed miserably at the disconnecting aspect. View from chair and under canopy! Which brings me back to the question of does social media impact personal life? The o

Lecture, Direct-Instruction or Talk - There's the Confusion!

In yesterday's weekly #edchat Twitter collaboration the discussion focused on the flipped classroom, where, naturally, there was quite a bit of debate around the idea of video lectures. What became apparent was the many different interpretations of the term 'lecture'. This came to the forefront for me when I offered up the idea of TED Talks as one option for learning rather than a teacher's video lecture, and someone said "TED talks are just lectures, so how is that better?" This stumped me as I have never thought of a TED talk as a lecture, which is funny, because now, forced to think about it, I guess they could be construed as lectures, depending on your definition. Which of course has led me to this post! Obviously, my perception of a lecture is not the same as others. What is MY definition of a lecture? Perhaps it's my many years of being both a student and a teacher, but for me a 'lecture' has rather negative connotations, as I envisio

Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

Search This Blog