This week our principal sent out an email with some directions for PLT for the rest of the term and the beginning of term 2. As stated previously, we want teachers to give an interim report of their research early in term 3.
The idea of this is to continue the momentum which starts to wane towards the end of term 3.
Besides the moaning from some people, most took it on the chin. I think this is an important way to keep staff accountable.
He also announced that they will need to present this information at their annual review by the principal.
Some people are already coming to me to show what they have done. Sometimes it's hard to be interested but a lot of this stuff is blowing me away. We are so lucky to have such an incredibly creative group of teachers at our school.
Meeting five is coming up this Tuesday but not before TK and I participate in some CELT training. I have lots of ideas here but I want to particularly focus on how to enter a set of lessons that flow and how to add a variety of student work so that other teachers can help with the moderation process.
To the batcave...
Saturday 28 May 2011
Thursday 5 May 2011
The machinary behind the PLT
There were a few instances recently where the support behind making the PLTs work at our school had problems.
Two teachers applied to get money to go on very specialised and once only professional development courses. Both had done the right thing and got their forms in to me on time and I had passed it onto our School's admin for processing.
As this was a new process, one person that was part of the approval chain was not aware of the importance of processing the information quickly. The person involved was new and that combined with the newness of the whole thing meant that they just were not aware of what needed to be done.
As a result, those two people got their forms back too late and appeared to miss out on going to their course. In both instances, the course was not going to be repeated and so there was no chance to go later.
Fortunately, one of the people rang the organisers and pleaded her case - and got in! The other did not.
It was worth reflecting on this because it was reminder that even though all the teachers and leadership are au fait with the process, those in support staff are not and have to be taken through what might be a fairly confusing process.
It is absolutely essential to work your way through the whole concept and to see who needs to know and who needs to be involved in decision making. Support staff are a key decision making group - something that is often forgotten in the hurley-burley of school life.
Two teachers applied to get money to go on very specialised and once only professional development courses. Both had done the right thing and got their forms in to me on time and I had passed it onto our School's admin for processing.
As this was a new process, one person that was part of the approval chain was not aware of the importance of processing the information quickly. The person involved was new and that combined with the newness of the whole thing meant that they just were not aware of what needed to be done.
As a result, those two people got their forms back too late and appeared to miss out on going to their course. In both instances, the course was not going to be repeated and so there was no chance to go later.
Fortunately, one of the people rang the organisers and pleaded her case - and got in! The other did not.
It was worth reflecting on this because it was reminder that even though all the teachers and leadership are au fait with the process, those in support staff are not and have to be taken through what might be a fairly confusing process.
It is absolutely essential to work your way through the whole concept and to see who needs to know and who needs to be involved in decision making. Support staff are a key decision making group - something that is often forgotten in the hurley-burley of school life.
Tuesday 3 May 2011
And Term 2 begins...
Things are happening at our school.
Our school is being geared up to handle the CELT for implementation in 2012.
Presented to the staff on what we should be doing in Term 2.
It went like this:
"Professional Learning plans are in.
Don't forget to apply for $600 funding and up to three release days - but your plans must be finalised.
Focus for Term 2
Short presentation of your research to your team in week 2, Term 3.
Term 3
The great things is that lots of people are excited by what they are studying. Lots of people are not and consider it to be a burden. What we need is a tipping point of people to drag the others into the enthusiastic corner. I would have hoped we have done that already but I am not convinced.
Two ideas were flagged in the last week:
1) What if we want to buy an iPad with our $600. We won't encourage it this year, but will look at it next year with the school subsidising the cost and you get to keep it after 3 years.
2) Unconference. The idea that the final showcase might be an unconference. All people who are willing present their ideas for discussion that they will lead. This is pinned up and then the rest of the staff map out their day based on whatever discussion they want to join.
We have gone so far in a few years.
Our school is being geared up to handle the CELT for implementation in 2012.
Presented to the staff on what we should be doing in Term 2.
It went like this:
"Professional Learning plans are in.
Don't forget to apply for $600 funding and up to three release days - but your plans must be finalised.
Focus for Term 2
- Professional Reading
- Interview/survey/assess students
- Discuss with colleagues
- Visit other teachers/schools/experts
- Join online communities e.g. Diigo, Twitter
- Undergo training e.g. CELT, IWBs
Short presentation of your research to your team in week 2, Term 3.
Term 3
- Analysis of results
- Put into action
- The effects of that action e.g. how has student learning improved (depends on your plan)
- Presentation of methodology and findings to your team
- Final showcase to staff (format to be announced).
The great things is that lots of people are excited by what they are studying. Lots of people are not and consider it to be a burden. What we need is a tipping point of people to drag the others into the enthusiastic corner. I would have hoped we have done that already but I am not convinced.
Two ideas were flagged in the last week:
1) What if we want to buy an iPad with our $600. We won't encourage it this year, but will look at it next year with the school subsidising the cost and you get to keep it after 3 years.
2) Unconference. The idea that the final showcase might be an unconference. All people who are willing present their ideas for discussion that they will lead. This is pinned up and then the rest of the staff map out their day based on whatever discussion they want to join.
We have gone so far in a few years.
Saturday 9 April 2011
The importance of evidence
Not just data.
Its been strange in many ways, but the more involved we have got with our Professional Learning Plans, the stronger I feel about the importance of gathering evidence when researching the plan's focus.
I had a conversation with one of our language teachers and she could see that it wasn't just her own development that was important but the development of her students. She highlighted the issues she was having with teaching Year 9s. How disengaged they were and how many she had sent to our focus room during the lessons.
My conversation steered her towards this: why not make resources that help these students become more engaged with the subject. Get them up using the IWB, get them involved. BUT FIRST she had to find out how much they were learning NOW. How engaged were they now. I asked her to conduct an 'exit pass' where they students had to indicate three things they had learned during the lesson before they could go to a break.
One she had done that a few times, she could then focus on the lessons that were not working, and find an alternative (i.e. IWB) approach to the lesson. So, what could happen is that she learns how to use the IWB and her students are more engaged. Nice theory!
Another teacher was quite stung by the question I wrote on his plan. Again,what evidence do you have that this is an issue. So he decided to do an analysis of the students 'visiting' our withdrawal room (the Focus Room). It was pretty comprehensive, and very convincing that there was an issue of disengagement with our boys.
Now, he and his partner need to talk to those boys and find out WHY they are not engage and WHAT they would prefer to do. Then they can decide what action to take.
In both cases, when I talked to the teachers, my 'beliefs' in importance of using evidence to make decisions was strengthened.
I am now challenged to fully role model this belief for my own plan - what is moderation, how does it work now, will an online course management system allow it work even easier, and, very importantly, will students benefit.
Its been strange in many ways, but the more involved we have got with our Professional Learning Plans, the stronger I feel about the importance of gathering evidence when researching the plan's focus.
I had a conversation with one of our language teachers and she could see that it wasn't just her own development that was important but the development of her students. She highlighted the issues she was having with teaching Year 9s. How disengaged they were and how many she had sent to our focus room during the lessons.
My conversation steered her towards this: why not make resources that help these students become more engaged with the subject. Get them up using the IWB, get them involved. BUT FIRST she had to find out how much they were learning NOW. How engaged were they now. I asked her to conduct an 'exit pass' where they students had to indicate three things they had learned during the lesson before they could go to a break.
One she had done that a few times, she could then focus on the lessons that were not working, and find an alternative (i.e. IWB) approach to the lesson. So, what could happen is that she learns how to use the IWB and her students are more engaged. Nice theory!
Another teacher was quite stung by the question I wrote on his plan. Again,what evidence do you have that this is an issue. So he decided to do an analysis of the students 'visiting' our withdrawal room (the Focus Room). It was pretty comprehensive, and very convincing that there was an issue of disengagement with our boys.
Now, he and his partner need to talk to those boys and find out WHY they are not engage and WHAT they would prefer to do. Then they can decide what action to take.
In both cases, when I talked to the teachers, my 'beliefs' in importance of using evidence to make decisions was strengthened.
I am now challenged to fully role model this belief for my own plan - what is moderation, how does it work now, will an online course management system allow it work even easier, and, very importantly, will students benefit.
Monday 4 April 2011
An email sent today
"Hi all
Just a reminder that these meetings are on this Wednesday after the staff meeting.
Could I ask that you spend some of the meeting time reworking your plans (if necessary). I would like them back before the end of the term for final approval.
Thanks to those who have already resubmitted.
I would suggest that you revisit the Method in your plan for this week's meeting. Hopefully your ideas have begun to crystalise and you are clearer about what procedures you will use to implement your plan.
I would further suggest that Term 2 should be a time for research, reading, planning, writing surveys, journal writing, and conducting the interviews that were mentioned in a lot of the plans.
I would like all teachers to present a provisional summary of the above research that you have completed by the end of Term 2. The first meeting in Term 3 then should be a short presentation of that provisional research to your team.
Finally, I just want to remind you that it is not up to the leaders of your team to decide on what you will do in the team meeting. They are facilitators and are not there to run professional learning sessions.
Having said that, they are all quite generous with their time and will help people where they can. However, the idea of doing the Professional Learning Plan is so that each teacher can identify what learning / action research they are going to do and how they are going to do it. You should then spend the 12 hours (now 10) of the PL Team meetings and the 15 hours expected of you in the current EA carrying out your PLP as proposed."
No reaction yet...
No reaction yet...
Monday 28 March 2011
Very interesting conversation with one of our leaders
Talked to one of our professional learning team leaders today.
She said that at the last meeting, people still expect to be 'taught' by others (ie the leaders) during the Professional Learning Team meetings!
It still hasn't got through to some people! She said she caught some flack about it i.e. 'why do we have to do this extra stuff', 'where are we going to find the time to do this?'.
They just don't realise that they have been given time at the meetings and are expected to find another 15 hours (as part of the EA) to do this professional learning. It is their responsibility to work out what to do not the leaders! Fuck me. Some people are thick.
So I told her that if it happens again, to pass it on to the leadership and we will deal with it.
It's just like teaching students!
She said that at the last meeting, people still expect to be 'taught' by others (ie the leaders) during the Professional Learning Team meetings!
It still hasn't got through to some people! She said she caught some flack about it i.e. 'why do we have to do this extra stuff', 'where are we going to find the time to do this?'.
They just don't realise that they have been given time at the meetings and are expected to find another 15 hours (as part of the EA) to do this professional learning. It is their responsibility to work out what to do not the leaders! Fuck me. Some people are thick.
So I told her that if it happens again, to pass it on to the leadership and we will deal with it.
It's just like teaching students!
Friday 25 March 2011
All plans were returned to teachers
Sorry, bit of a busy week last week.
We decided to return all plans last week.
A significant minority were approved without comment.
Most were asked to reconsider their plan and make minor changes.
Some were asked to refocus the point of their plans.
Most people seemed to take any criticisms well - only one person questioned the criteria I had used. However, she is changing her plan anyway.
Next meeting is in two weeks time.
Need to look at what the leaders can do for this: maybe revisit the planning section of the PLPs and crystalise what they want to do in Second Term.
Must watch the decline in interest that occurs late in Term 2 and early Term 3.
Maybe have guest presenters at the staff meeting?
We decided to return all plans last week.
A significant minority were approved without comment.
Most were asked to reconsider their plan and make minor changes.
Some were asked to refocus the point of their plans.
Most people seemed to take any criticisms well - only one person questioned the criteria I had used. However, she is changing her plan anyway.
Next meeting is in two weeks time.
Need to look at what the leaders can do for this: maybe revisit the planning section of the PLPs and crystalise what they want to do in Second Term.
Must watch the decline in interest that occurs late in Term 2 and early Term 3.
Maybe have guest presenters at the staff meeting?
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Sent out the approvals for the plans
Interesting that most plans just needed slight tweak - either they are trying to do too much or some minor aspect wasn't clear.
Some staff have no idea about professional learning - they don't see the link between what they can change as a teacher and how this can help them in the classroom. It's like they are doing a course. No wonder some seemed quite bemused when they were asked to fill in the plan!
In their minds, they are probably saying, "Just tell me what to do!".
Still following up some tardies. Speaking of professional...
Some staff have no idea about professional learning - they don't see the link between what they can change as a teacher and how this can help them in the classroom. It's like they are doing a course. No wonder some seemed quite bemused when they were asked to fill in the plan!
In their minds, they are probably saying, "Just tell me what to do!".
Still following up some tardies. Speaking of professional...
Saturday 12 March 2011
Finished the review of the Plans
Ok, most of the plans. Still the same old excuses with some people.
A couple more observations:
Some teachers don't distinguish between personal development and professional development. For example one teacher wants to improve her understanding of a language; another wants to do a Bible College course, a third wants to learn how to use the Interactive Whiteboard - all worthy end points but something that could be done even if you were not a teacher.
The key is to work out how students will benefit from these end points. It is then a matter of rethinking your focus.
Let me take the IWB example. Such a teacher needs to look at their classes and ask: "What do I do well" and "what is not going so well". (Even better - ask students or get a colleague in). Then, "How could an IWB help strengthen the good aspects and deal with the issues". Student responses (at least) could be measured before and after and then the teacher could reflect on the success of their IWB activity. Here the focus moves from the teacher to the student - where it should be.
The teacher still learns how to use the IWB but it is a means to an end - improved student outcomes. The other two examples are going to be harder but it still could be done.
This is where we are headed but it is taking some teachers a little time to understand this.
Now I have to go and talk to them about it...
A couple more observations:
Some teachers don't distinguish between personal development and professional development. For example one teacher wants to improve her understanding of a language; another wants to do a Bible College course, a third wants to learn how to use the Interactive Whiteboard - all worthy end points but something that could be done even if you were not a teacher.
The key is to work out how students will benefit from these end points. It is then a matter of rethinking your focus.
Let me take the IWB example. Such a teacher needs to look at their classes and ask: "What do I do well" and "what is not going so well". (Even better - ask students or get a colleague in). Then, "How could an IWB help strengthen the good aspects and deal with the issues". Student responses (at least) could be measured before and after and then the teacher could reflect on the success of their IWB activity. Here the focus moves from the teacher to the student - where it should be.
The teacher still learns how to use the IWB but it is a means to an end - improved student outcomes. The other two examples are going to be harder but it still could be done.
This is where we are headed but it is taking some teachers a little time to understand this.
Now I have to go and talk to them about it...
Friday 11 March 2011
Final plans are in
I think I bit off more that I could chew by volunteering to read all of the plans.
I will recommend that the leaders read them first, ok them and then pass them on to the Professional Learning Team for any difficult ones.
Also received the first applications for funding and time off.
Again, need a system to deal with this.
I will put an envelop into my pigeon hole for this, read through, ok it from my point of view and then pass on to the Administrative Coordinator who will pass it on to others.
Then the applicants get a photocopy and I get it back again.
Again, I am astonished about the brilliance of some of the teachers that I work with.
If our school does not change significantly over the next few years, I will be staggered!
I will recommend that the leaders read them first, ok them and then pass them on to the Professional Learning Team for any difficult ones.
Also received the first applications for funding and time off.
Again, need a system to deal with this.
I will put an envelop into my pigeon hole for this, read through, ok it from my point of view and then pass on to the Administrative Coordinator who will pass it on to others.
Then the applicants get a photocopy and I get it back again.
Again, I am astonished about the brilliance of some of the teachers that I work with.
If our school does not change significantly over the next few years, I will be staggered!
Saturday 5 March 2011
Second team meeting
Got to meet the people from the CELT team who showed it to us.
Looks pretty useful - but I want to get into it and try it.
People in the team are looking to use the CELT to add units of work and to come from that process from different angles. e.g. student use, non-confident teacher use, use for moderation purpose, use with a variety of students.
The other thing happening this week is that teachers submitted their plans.
Man, what a creative group of teachers we have. Here are some of the focuses:
Homework, guided enquiry, revamping the library, immersion in Italian, students and fitness, boys and education, engaging teaching methodologies.
Three things were highlighted:
Looks pretty useful - but I want to get into it and try it.
People in the team are looking to use the CELT to add units of work and to come from that process from different angles. e.g. student use, non-confident teacher use, use for moderation purpose, use with a variety of students.
The other thing happening this week is that teachers submitted their plans.
Man, what a creative group of teachers we have. Here are some of the focuses:
Homework, guided enquiry, revamping the library, immersion in Italian, students and fitness, boys and education, engaging teaching methodologies.
Three things were highlighted:
- Lots of teachers want to use the internet as a source of information. I want to steer them onto online teaching groups and forums which have probably already done the work for them.
- Lots want to go to conferences but don't know where to find them. In Australia, we have edna.com.au which collects these things (amongst other things) and so I could easily send them out to the staff.
- Lots of teachers want to do surveys. We have to be careful not to over-survey so I need to come up with a method of randomly assigning students so that they participate in no more than one survey.
- Staff want to do professional reading. My idea is to work with the Library staff to have journals available to staff in the staff room but with a page of 'highlights' or 'must reads' on the front. If the library staff are aware of the foci of the different professional learning plans, they can also target staff.
Monday 28 February 2011
Things are moving
Met with the Professional Learning Committee today (myself, Principal, Deputy Principal, Acting Deputy Principal) to discuss how we intend to run the process for the rest of the year.
We didn't get far.
At the moment, our focus has to be on approving the plans and we need some time for this.
My job is to 'ok' most of them but to get the committee to approve the more contentious ones.
We are also applying for central funding to train leaders and link this to the new Australian curriculum and the new Teaching standards.
So many things to consider.
Tomorrow - second meeting of the teams. Final days to work on the PLPs and our team will have the central CELT team out for a chat and a visit.
We didn't get far.
At the moment, our focus has to be on approving the plans and we need some time for this.
My job is to 'ok' most of them but to get the committee to approve the more contentious ones.
We are also applying for central funding to train leaders and link this to the new Australian curriculum and the new Teaching standards.
So many things to consider.
Tomorrow - second meeting of the teams. Final days to work on the PLPs and our team will have the central CELT team out for a chat and a visit.
Monday 21 February 2011
Aftermath
Well, we asked for support and we got it.
It includes:
The first support meeting happens on Tuesday for our CELT team and we will get to look at the new system and how it might be used.
More news then...
It includes:
- two members of our team being part of a central CELT series of workshops.
- support for our Team (ie visits and resources) and support for other leaders trying to implement the new Australian Curriculum
- TRT release money
- Leadership support program for our middle managers and senior leaders.
The first support meeting happens on Tuesday for our CELT team and we will get to look at the new system and how it might be used.
More news then...
Still visiting...a stilted history
After our regular review (we as a Professional Learning Committee meet once a fortnight) we decided that it still wasn't achieving what we wanted. So last last year (2010) we decided to open it right up.
Teachers could choose something to do further study on. They would fill in a Professional Learning Plan and submit it to this team. Such a plan included how they would spend their allocated $600, their three professional learning days and the 15 hours of Professional Learning time allocated in a recent Education Agreement. This would be in addition to the 12 hours of meeting time expected during the year.
As I have said previously, this has led to an explosion of very good ideas and plans.
So we wait, with bated breath for the meeting to occur....
Teachers could choose something to do further study on. They would fill in a Professional Learning Plan and submit it to this team. Such a plan included how they would spend their allocated $600, their three professional learning days and the 15 hours of Professional Learning time allocated in a recent Education Agreement. This would be in addition to the 12 hours of meeting time expected during the year.
As I have said previously, this has led to an explosion of very good ideas and plans.
So we wait, with bated breath for the meeting to occur....
Friday 18 February 2011
A visit
Will be meeting up with a Central Office expert on Professional Learning on Monday. Hopefully we will be able to get some support for what we are trying to do at our school.
This made me think about what I would like to say to such a person.
I guess I would start with a history of how we have developed Professional Learning.
It started in 2006 after a colleague and I went to a system-wide Professional Learning series of workshop and we came up with the idea of having mini Action plans for all staff.
This was taken up by the Principal and support. Each teacher would try one new thing in the year and report on it during their end-of-year evaluation with the Principal.
The Principal decided that what he was hearing was so good that other teachers should be hearing it as well and so the first Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) were born. It was decided that all teachers would be in a team of 6-8, and that they would be run by the Principal, the Deputy or myself. I had the privilege of leading four teams and they consisted of Middle school teachers -either Language/Arts or Science/Maths.
We met and shared different aspects of our teacher: including how we assess students, moderation of student work and teaching.
It was stilted though - we had decided on the teams, not the teachers.
More tomorrow....
This made me think about what I would like to say to such a person.
I guess I would start with a history of how we have developed Professional Learning.
It started in 2006 after a colleague and I went to a system-wide Professional Learning series of workshop and we came up with the idea of having mini Action plans for all staff.
This was taken up by the Principal and support. Each teacher would try one new thing in the year and report on it during their end-of-year evaluation with the Principal.
The Principal decided that what he was hearing was so good that other teachers should be hearing it as well and so the first Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) were born. It was decided that all teachers would be in a team of 6-8, and that they would be run by the Principal, the Deputy or myself. I had the privilege of leading four teams and they consisted of Middle school teachers -either Language/Arts or Science/Maths.
We met and shared different aspects of our teacher: including how we assess students, moderation of student work and teaching.
It was stilted though - we had decided on the teams, not the teachers.
More tomorrow....
Thursday 17 February 2011
An aside - Involvement with the ATP
Part of my job now is to be the Advanced Technologies Project Coordinator at my school.
It means identifying, mapping and developing pathways in Science, Maths and Technology so that a student take a pathway that might lead to a career in Engineering, Technology and Applied Mathematics. This could be done through University studies, TAFE or in the workforce.
It sits nicely with my other Coordination role with the Professional Learning Teams.
This will give me a chance to try and get an overview of the sorts of things that students can do at school to immerse themselves in applied maths and science.
Already three of our teachers will be involved in developing a middle school unit with this emphasis. They will develop an enquiry approach and a cross-curriculum outlook.
It is a matter now of confirming that a pathway exists and then look at ways of developing it further.
The other connection with the PLP is that it is an opportunity to encourage Maths, Science and Technology teachers to look at ways that they can expose their students to Advanced Technologies - get experience themselves, try new ideas, refine them and then retry.
I clearly need to get into the ear of the KLA coordinators in the school and try to get some time to speak about these opportunities. I believe that this sort of sustained effort by teachers will more likely lead to real change in the way that Science, Maths and Technology is taught at our school.
It means identifying, mapping and developing pathways in Science, Maths and Technology so that a student take a pathway that might lead to a career in Engineering, Technology and Applied Mathematics. This could be done through University studies, TAFE or in the workforce.
It sits nicely with my other Coordination role with the Professional Learning Teams.
This will give me a chance to try and get an overview of the sorts of things that students can do at school to immerse themselves in applied maths and science.
Already three of our teachers will be involved in developing a middle school unit with this emphasis. They will develop an enquiry approach and a cross-curriculum outlook.
It is a matter now of confirming that a pathway exists and then look at ways of developing it further.
The other connection with the PLP is that it is an opportunity to encourage Maths, Science and Technology teachers to look at ways that they can expose their students to Advanced Technologies - get experience themselves, try new ideas, refine them and then retry.
I clearly need to get into the ear of the KLA coordinators in the school and try to get some time to speak about these opportunities. I believe that this sort of sustained effort by teachers will more likely lead to real change in the way that Science, Maths and Technology is taught at our school.
Friday 11 February 2011
What needs to be done
More feedback. Have spoken to just about all the leaders and the feedback has been good.
So what is next?
The general outline of the new few meetings will go something like this:
Week 5 - finalise and submit the Professional Learning Plans
Week 10 - Plans should have been approved and teachers now discuss how they will implement plans
Term 2 - usually literature review and the start of action research.
Term 3 - refinement of the plan and further action research.
Term4 - reflection on the year and writing up the results; presentation to their peers.
So far, so good. However that is another 11 hours of time that needs to be used productively.
So...what scaffolding needs to be developed?
We need to come up with:
Note for next year: the Australian Government is implementing a set of teacher standards at four levels: graduate, proficient, highly accomplished, lead. It would be good to provide a framework for linking the activities that teachers are doing to those standards. Maybe we could use the standards to assess the Professional Learning plans??? ie what areas should teachers address in those plans. Hmmmm....
So what is next?
The general outline of the new few meetings will go something like this:
Week 5 - finalise and submit the Professional Learning Plans
Week 10 - Plans should have been approved and teachers now discuss how they will implement plans
Term 2 - usually literature review and the start of action research.
Term 3 - refinement of the plan and further action research.
Term4 - reflection on the year and writing up the results; presentation to their peers.
So far, so good. However that is another 11 hours of time that needs to be used productively.
So...what scaffolding needs to be developed?
We need to come up with:
- Sources of professional reading - the librarians are working on this. I would like to teachers to join a Diigo group for the school which could be another source of reading. Need to be creative here.
- A professional reading template so that people can have some structure for their literature reviews.
- Ideas for using the $600 available for every teacher. What is included and what isn't. e.g. what about buying an iPad?
- Keeping in touch with professional development (hate those words!) opportunities that are relevant to the plans.
- A summary of the main areas that people are going to research so that we can see commonalities and make links between people and their plans.
- Action research. What is it? What is a worthwhile process? I have some AGQTP resources on this.
- Getting baseline data that is worthwhile. What are the sources for this?
- Methods of reflecting on the year's work.
- Ways to report - not just written.
- The final showcase. I am currently thinking about have all the presentations available online or in poster form in the Study Hall. Then have two by four sessions where teachers who have been chosen by their team will present their work. Other teachers will opt to go to one of the four sessions. We then have a break. During the break we have morning tea in the Study Hall and people can chat but also view the presentations of others as posters or online.
It is important that the presentations be active - not just a 45 minute lecture.
Note for next year: the Australian Government is implementing a set of teacher standards at four levels: graduate, proficient, highly accomplished, lead. It would be good to provide a framework for linking the activities that teachers are doing to those standards. Maybe we could use the standards to assess the Professional Learning plans??? ie what areas should teachers address in those plans. Hmmmm....
Thursday 10 February 2011
Some feedback
Had a discussion with three or four leaders of the other teams and generally people were positive.
T - focusing on boys in education but each person taking slightly different view of where it might go. Lots of good, strong discussion. One person started the meeting fairly negatively but ended with a very good proposal.
J - great dynamic in the team. They want to stay together. Proposals are varied but J said that each person was able to give ideas to the others even when they were from different faculties. Hurrah!
S - again, worked really well and they have also requested not be broken up. Some people have already finished their plan! Awesome.
Great to talk to individuals who are very enthused about what they might want to study. Some have suggested Mentoring boys. Others are looking at using wikis to support student understanding.
Looks like we have unleashed a tiger! Plans are good, but action is better so we shall see how it unfolds.
T - focusing on boys in education but each person taking slightly different view of where it might go. Lots of good, strong discussion. One person started the meeting fairly negatively but ended with a very good proposal.
J - great dynamic in the team. They want to stay together. Proposals are varied but J said that each person was able to give ideas to the others even when they were from different faculties. Hurrah!
S - again, worked really well and they have also requested not be broken up. Some people have already finished their plan! Awesome.
Great to talk to individuals who are very enthused about what they might want to study. Some have suggested Mentoring boys. Others are looking at using wikis to support student understanding.
Looks like we have unleashed a tiger! Plans are good, but action is better so we shall see how it unfolds.
Wednesday 9 February 2011
First meetings for real...
One of the interesting things about working in the teaching profession is that, by and large, most people are pretty accommodating. My own Professional Learning team were brilliant - open, honest and willing to give it a go. This despite the fact that the main focus of our team (CELT) lacked focus - at this stage. (CELT is a Learning Management Tool much like Moodle).
This first meeting was designed to give teachers time to meet and think. I my experience it doesn't happen much. We meet a lot but generally we react - we don't think deeply. Certainly we don't reflect much on our work. There is always too much to do!
So it was good to say, "We have set aside time for you to think about an area of interest and plan some action research on the area". In some ways it was a pity we had to say - "We have allocated 2 hours to do this and you need to stay for the whole 2 hours".
Anyway, our team came up with some really good areas:
H - how the CELT might be used to aid the learning of a range of students - from Middle schoolers to seniors and from students who struggle at school to students who have university ambitions.
N - as a first year teacher, he saw the CELT as an opportunity to sit down and thoroughly plan a unit of work, plan and create assessment tasks, mark the work online and resubmit back to students.
K - is trying to build up resources so that students have help about learning independently. He is already thinking of developing videos to demonstrate what to do and how to do it when you find yourself at home having to prepare for an assignment.
T - wants to develop an understanding of how to help teachers develop online units of work. He will work with a teacher who does not use it a lot and then take them through the process with CELT and try to spot the difficulties.
G (me) - I came up with three questions: Can I develop a more coherent unit of work for students if I use this process? Can I give students more feedback to help them raise their standards? Can I use CELT to work with other teachers in moderating student work.
All very interesting and exciting really. My job is to help people through this initial process and make sure they remember that our goal is improved student learning. I think once we get these plans done, it should be fairly easy.
Anyway, onward...
This first meeting was designed to give teachers time to meet and think. I my experience it doesn't happen much. We meet a lot but generally we react - we don't think deeply. Certainly we don't reflect much on our work. There is always too much to do!
So it was good to say, "We have set aside time for you to think about an area of interest and plan some action research on the area". In some ways it was a pity we had to say - "We have allocated 2 hours to do this and you need to stay for the whole 2 hours".
Anyway, our team came up with some really good areas:
H - how the CELT might be used to aid the learning of a range of students - from Middle schoolers to seniors and from students who struggle at school to students who have university ambitions.
N - as a first year teacher, he saw the CELT as an opportunity to sit down and thoroughly plan a unit of work, plan and create assessment tasks, mark the work online and resubmit back to students.
K - is trying to build up resources so that students have help about learning independently. He is already thinking of developing videos to demonstrate what to do and how to do it when you find yourself at home having to prepare for an assignment.
T - wants to develop an understanding of how to help teachers develop online units of work. He will work with a teacher who does not use it a lot and then take them through the process with CELT and try to spot the difficulties.
G (me) - I came up with three questions: Can I develop a more coherent unit of work for students if I use this process? Can I give students more feedback to help them raise their standards? Can I use CELT to work with other teachers in moderating student work.
All very interesting and exciting really. My job is to help people through this initial process and make sure they remember that our goal is improved student learning. I think once we get these plans done, it should be fairly easy.
Anyway, onward...
Monday 7 February 2011
First team meetings
Tomorrow begins year five of my leadership of Professional Learning at my workplace.
We started by forcing people to come together during worktime - we learnt some things but staff wanted more choice.
We then set up teams which focussed on particular areas e.g. use of video, interactivity, feedback. This worked well but people still felt restricted.
This year we have opened it up. Staff choose what area they will focus on developing professionally this year and we will support them through the process.
How?
I don't know how it will go and I am shitting myself.
As the year goes on I will reveal the theory behind this potential mess and why I am so passionate about it. I want also to keep a record of the process and document it for posterity or 'posterior'.
Keep in touch, now.
We started by forcing people to come together during worktime - we learnt some things but staff wanted more choice.
We then set up teams which focussed on particular areas e.g. use of video, interactivity, feedback. This worked well but people still felt restricted.
This year we have opened it up. Staff choose what area they will focus on developing professionally this year and we will support them through the process.
How?
- Meet at set times in a year
- Financially support their interest to the tune of $600 a year.
- Release them for three days in a year
- Give broad guidelines but allow staff to choose their area of interest to the fullest extent.
- Recognise and publish the results of their research and learning.
I don't know how it will go and I am shitting myself.
As the year goes on I will reveal the theory behind this potential mess and why I am so passionate about it. I want also to keep a record of the process and document it for posterity or 'posterior'.
Keep in touch, now.
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