Opportunity to Learn

I was giddy with excitement that I had organized the day, so I could attend Common Formative Assessment. The teachers I support spent the previous day learning about it. A friend found me and made sure that I had a table of people to sit with it. I had opened my favorite note-taking tool. Everything was set for a successful day. Then I received some news. Throughout this training, I tried to stay in engaged in the learning.

Then I received some news. To me, in my world, it was huge. My plan for after school care fell through. I needed to problem solve and come through with a plan pretty quickly. Throughout this training, I tried to stay in engaged in the learning, and it was challenging. By the end of the day, I learned so much and extremely exhausted.

I tell you this story because this is the story of some of the students in our classroom. On a regular basis, students come to our classroom distracted and have the desire to learn. The battle I faced all day trying to remain present with my learning was exhausting. Here are some of the things helped me stay engaged.

• Chris Jakicic made sure that she knew her audience and adjusted the learning for the people in the room
• The content was meaningful, and I knew that I would be using it pretty quickly.
• I had a team around me who knew me.

Aren’t these the same thing we would want for our students, learning that is meaningful and meets us where we are in a safe environment?

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Day 2: It’s about the students

I will be spending the next two and half weeks leading(learning) professional learning for various groups of educators. I realize that great PD causes the leader to learn as well as the audience. I am committing myself to pause and reflect on what I learned.

Day 2:

Session: NIET Rubric Modules

My Big Ah-has:

• 99.9 percent of our district initiatives are aligned and pointing the same way. I get goose bumps thinking about how they interconnect.
• Keep the goal of any professional learning: what do we want to see in classrooms. I want to see these things in my children’s classroom:
  • Students owning their learning
  • Students knowing the target and figuring out how to meet it.
  • Teachers and students learning together.
• It’s always about the students.

Tomorrow will be another awesome day. Looking forward to being inspired by the work of so many teachers, principals, and other leaders tomorrow.

Day1: Never Stop Growing

Today the teachers have begun to come back. I may have been singing The Boys are Back in Town this morning. We welcomed back some of our teacher leaders. I will be spending the next two and half weeks leading(learning) professional learning for various groups of educators. I realize that great PD causes the leader to learn as well as the audience. I am committing myself to pause and reflect on what I learned.

Session: George Couros

My favorite moment: When he called me out for using the giant post-it notes. We do all this work, and then we never capture the notes from them. I can do better. I had a PD planned for next week, and I am adjusting to make better and resource for teachers. I saw several great ideas on how to engage a large audience. I will

My Next Steps: I had a half day PD  planned for next week, had being the key word. My goal is to get rid of the giant post-it notes. I plan on being transparent about my new learning and how I adapted it based on my new learning. If I don’t grow and apply my learning, why should I ask others to do it.

Thanks, George Couros for pushing me to grow!