As you know by now, I am looking for ways to make the professional development I provide more valuable to teachers. Last week I tried something new in a workshop I was conducting for a group of teachers. Rather than create a tightly structured agenda where I filled every moment with activities and talk, I did what I often encourage teachers to do — I created spaces in the agenda for the learners to become co-creators of their own learning experience.

I started each day with a section called “Feedback on Feedback” where I took time to address any feedback I’d received about the workshop and make adjustments to the agenda based on the needs of the participants.  If something wasn’t working, we nixed it right there and tried something else instead. If participants didn’t feel that an activity would help them reach the objectives for the day, we came up with an alternative.

I also included time for teachers to share their own strategies. Sometimes I invited certain teachers to share, other times I announced that we would have time to share and let teachers volunteer. Each teacher had five minutes to share a strategy or resource that was relevant to the instructional principles we were discussing and take questions from the other participants. They could share a strategy they were already using successfully with their own students or one they had developed as a result of the workshop.  I learned as much as the other workshop participants during these sessions.  In fact, these sessions were amazing for how they fostered a learning community where we were all co-creators of the learning experience.

I also included time for teachers to work together in subject-alike groups to apply what they were learning and create resources they could use immediately with their students. This was a chance for participants to find practical applications for the theorhetical principles they were learning.

Finally, for each learning activity, I included a “rouge” option. Partipants had the choice of completing the activity I planned, or they could negotiate an alternative activity they would complete instead. As long as they could demonstrate how their choice would help them achieve the objectives of the workshop, they were free to pursue it. Some of the best insights of the day came from people who chose to “go rouge.”

It was a huge risk but it paid off. The participants told me that it was a much more rewarding workshop for them and I can see from the activity on our follow-up electronic community that the participants are using what they learned in their classrooms and sharing it with their colleagues. They have an enthusiasm for the project that wasn’t present before and I believe that these teachers now own what they have learned and are adapting — not adopting– these strategies into their own instructional practice.

Here’s what I learned. While I am a firm advocate of creating spaces in lesson for students to take ownership over their own learning, I have always been afraid to do the same for adults. I thought that if I did, I would seem unprepared. I felt like I needed to have highly structured activities or people would feel that my workshops were a waste of time. What I am learning is that when I let go of the false notions that I have to be the expert and allow room for co-creating, the learning experiences in my workshops can model the types of learning experiences I believe should be happening in the classroom.  I cannot forget that the same principles that work for helping children learn also work for helping adults learn. I plan to spend more time practicing what I preach.

And the quest continues…

~Robyn R. Jackson

For those of you who haven’t heard, I am on a quest to improve the way that we deliver professional learning experiences for teachers. My goal is to build a new model that has a greater impact in the classroom. I started this journey with the pledge that if I cannot deliver PD that is more useful to teachers than if they had spent the same amount of time grading papers, I will not deliver it.

This week was the first time I had to put that pledge to the test. I worked hard to provide an interactive, hands-on, practical workshop but I also wanted to avoid a laundry list of strategies. I wanted teachers to understand the principles behind the strategies so that they could adapt them to meet the needs of their students in the context of their classrooms.

Because PD can often feel like jail, I decided to give each teacher a “Get out of jail free” card. They could use that card at any time to anonymously raise a question, voice a concern, or let me know that the workshop was not meeting their needs. I thought it would be a great way to let the teachers exercise some control over the agenda and hold me accountable for keeping my pledge.

The entire day, only one person used his card. Now that could mean that I was delivering utterly compelling and useful PD, but I think that the more likely reason is that using the cards is an imperfect solution to a much greater problem. For one, only people who care about their learning will even use such a card. Those who are just there putting in time won’t bother.  Two, although I immediately addressed the card, the writer’s concern — he wanted more help with motivating reluctant learners — I could not address his concern to the level and degree he needed within the confines of the time we had. The best I could do is promise to deal with his concern in more detail the next time I came and to bring additional resources with me. The others in the room liked that idea and we changed the agenda for next time, but I worry that the teacher who raised that concern didn’t get his needs met immediately.

So, do “Get out of jail free” cards work?  Not sure. I’ll need to try them a few more times to see if they really make a difference.  But I do know this. These cards are minor tweaks.  They are never going to accomplish the goals I have set for how we deliver professional learning. 

So, the quest continues…

We have officially entered the absurdly long, bleak stretch between winter break and spring break. Many of us arrive at school while it’s still dark outside and find the sun dipping below the horizon by the time we leave. Despite the dreary weather and kids who are cooped up inside all day, this can actually be one of the most productive times of the school year. Your routines are well established, you know your students and their needs, and there are probably fewer interruptions to the school day than in the fall or spring.

Most teachers are starting a new marking period sometime in January, so spend a few minutes taking a big picture look at what the quarter holds for you. Try using a calendar to map out the coming marking period. Do a web search for “calendar template” and you’ll find plenty of options out there that you can save on your computer and type into.

As you do your long-term planning, remember to mark these important features on your calendar. Look for anything that impacts students’ time in class or your own workflow.

• Holidays when there is no school (Come on… Presidents’ Day!)
• Teacher work days/ Professional days
• Partial school days or other days with limited instruction
• Assemblies, festivals, pep rallies, field trips and other days with interrupted instruction
• Days devoted to state/district testing or test preparation
• Days devoted to school-wide testing, such as elementary reading assessment
• Due dates for interim grades, report cards, or parent/teacher conferences
• Due dates for making recommendations for next year’s courses
• Your personal commitments (Family visiting for the weekend? Don’t collect an essay on Friday!)
• Time you can keep clear on your calendar spend getting ahead (If needed, can you come in early every Tuesday? Stay late on Thursdays? Block out one Saturday a month to spend grading papers at a coffee shop?)

Now that you can see the big picture of the next few months, it’s easier to schedule in due dates for tests, projects, portfolios, etc. at times when students will be in class and you will have time to grade and provide quick feedback.

If you save a version of the calendar before inputting your personal and classroom information and email it to your colleagues for them to use as well, I guarantee you’ll be the most popular person in the teachers’ lounge today!

–Claire Lambert

Here is Robyn’s Latest Newsletter Article:

I was talking to a friend and colleague over the holiday break about my frustration with most professional development models. You know the kinds of experiences I’m talking about – the sit and get, spray and pray deals most of us have had to endure perched atop those really uncomfortable cafeteria stools or crammed into the media center aimlessly flipping through a stack of handouts or secretly completing a crossword puzzle while desperately wishing I was in my classroom grading papers and praying for 3:30 when they would unlock the doors and set us free. I’ve always hated those days and work very hard not to deliver the same kind of professional development when I conduct workshops and yet, there were several times in 2009 when I came very close to providing or participating in someone else’s providing the very same kind of experience.

There has got to be a better way.

And in 2010, I am looking to find it. So I am throwing down the Professional Development Gauntlet: If I cannot deliver a professional development experience that is worth more to teachers than spending the same amount of time grading papers, I won’t offer it.

You see, I started Mindsteps not because I wanted to get in on the professional development gravy train. I started Mindsteps because I believed that there was a better way to help teachers. I have never understood why we use such bad teaching practices to show teachers how to be better teachers. I want every teacher to become a master teacher, to reach every child in his or her classroom and to have a ball doing it. I love teaching so much that I want everyone in this profession to love it. And I am convinced that can’t happen if we continue to teach teachers in the same ways we always have. So, I am going to stop trying to improve the old model.

I am going to build a new one.

The old model doesn’t work and I am no longer satisfied with trying to tweak it. I think if we are going to do what’s right for kids and provide every one of them with a quality education we have to start and end with a master teacher in every classroom. That’s a scary idea to a lot of people. Whenever I declare that any teacher can become a master teacher with the right kind of support and practice, I always face skepticism. People think it isn’t possible and they are right as long as we continue to provide the kinds of training we are currently providing. If we are really going to make a difference for teachers, for the quality of their teaching and the quality of their lives in the classroom, we have got to start by dramatically overhauling the kind of support and practice we provide them.

I want professional development that:

• invites teachers to co-create the learning and influence the direction of how we spend our time together
• is customizable so that teachers have several access points and can move through the experience at their own level
• is practical so that teachers have ideas and tools they can use immediately but can also customize so that they are more relevant to each teacher’s context and students
• models the same teaching principles we expect teachers to use with their students
• is meaningful and lasts longer than the experience
  actually improves the way that we teach and think about teaching

It’s an ambitious list that I am sure will grow and change over the next few months as I begin this journey. And if I am really honest, this is a scary thing to do. It means that I am now accountable to you and it also means that in my attempts to create a new way of providing professional development, I will make some mistakes. Publicly. But I am tired of the same ole, same ole.

I think you deserve better.

I also want to make it clear: I am not beating up my colleagues who provide professional development. I understand how easy it is to get sucked into the old model of providing PD. Many of the conditions are frankly outside of our control. We come in for a day or two and then leave hoping that somehow that brief amount of time has made a difference. I have been sucked into that model as well. But I want something better for the teachers I serve and I am inviting my colleagues to join me in reaching for it. In fact, I will be engaging my colleagues in conversations about how we can create a new model of professional development that honors teachers and our profession. I cannot solve this problem alone. I need their help.

I also need your help. What kind of professional development would be most useful to you? What kinds of experiences would dramatically improve your practice? Go ahead and dream big here. I can’t do this without you. I invite you to leave your comments and ideas here. I will check in with you each month and let you know how we are doing.

Please take time to comment and let’s build something better together.