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  1. Jun 2023
    1. Additionally, the governor is proposing legislation that would cap enrollment of low-performing cyber charters until performance improves, impose a moratorium on new cyber charter schools, subject charter management companies to the state’s Right to Know Law, and establish a new funding formula for charters.

      We keep making rules and systems for charters that are not on the same level as traditional public schools. No takeovers, not government intervention. Why are we still re-inventing the wheel?

      Not that the state interventions are ideal, but charters continue to operate, even with dismal scores, with little repercussions.

    2. “Pennsylvania’s charter school law is the worst in the nation and is failing students, teachers, school districts and taxpayers,” Wolf said in a news release. “There are high-quality charter schools, but some of them, especially some cyber charter schools, are underperforming.

      Which is it? Can they be high quality and underperforming?

    1. This means that for over a decade and a half, the most vulnerable and struggling districts lost proportionally the most students along with their per-pupil funding.

      Not only do districts lose funding, those students lost a powerful connective force in their hometown - teachers.

    2. companies providing the service

      If this is a corporate project, what are the qualifications of the instructors and who is checking those requirements? Are there requirements?

    1. Over the three growth periods in this study, the typical charter school student in Pennsylvania hadsimilar academic growth in reading and weaker math growth compared to their TPS counterparts. Inmath, the learning difference is about the equivalent to losing 30 days of learning compared to theirTPS peers. In the first two growth periods of the study, students in Pennsylvania charter schoolsexperience growth similar to their TPS peers in reading, while experiencing weaker growth in math. Bythe third growth period, students in Pennsylvania charter schools exhibit similar growth to their TPScounterparts in both reading and math.

      Is the slower growth due to the time it takes to assimilate into an online platform?

    2. The third set of analysis illustrates the impact of online charter schools in Pennsylvania, also referredto as cyber charter schools.

      These are full-time online schools.

    3. The 2011 findings also showed wide variation in student andschool performance, with a quarter of charter schools outperforming their local school options inreading and over half outpacing their local TPS in math.

      It's interesting that across all schools, growth for students is down, but some show significantly higher growth. Why?

    1. "I'd tell my teacher, 'I don't get this,' and she'd say, 'You have to figure it out for yourself,' and I'd say, 'But I don't get it,'"

      A hyper-focus on "learner centered" does not mean that teachers are excused from helping students learn the material.

    2. "I was told that in the student-centered model, my role as a teacher was primarily to supervise students to make sure they were using Buzz."

      Deprofessionalization of teaching in action.

    3. The companies needed the EAA's students to do well in order to prove the effectiveness of their products when making sales pitches to other schools and districts;

      This is a clear conflict of interest.

    4. met students where they were academically rather than forcing them to march lock-step through the traditional, age-based grade system.

      How were these schools held accountable different than similar schools not in the program?

    5. "Usually these teams are built around the more experienced teachers. It is problematic when novice or non-teachers are in charge of creating school-based curriculum and course content."

      Experienced teachers bring a wealth of resources and background which can be used to design coherent, veritcally aligned, and accessible programs of study.

    6. "We're building this plane as we fly it," is a phrase numerous sources we've interviewed have attributed to Mary Esselman, who was in the thick of the technological planning.

      Move fast and break things doesn't work so well in education.

    7. "We do have too many failing schools in our state," he said. "If you look at us statewide, only 16 percent of our kids are college-ready. That's absolutely unacceptable.

      A hyper-focus on college as the ultimate goal of education holds us back. College, also, needs to revamp its expectations for what strong education looks like.

    1. So, once again, we have proof that, instead of investing the resources necessary to accomplish the goal of turning around our worst-performing schools as quickly as possible, the EAA operated on the cheap, using an untested, unproven, beta stage software platform with the teachers and students the beta testing guinea pigs.

      Improvement often takes years with teams of people tackling components of the problems.

    2. Instead of being a model for implementing a computer-based teaching model, BUZZ crashed regularly, had major content deficiencies, and was so hard to use that its benefits were all but overwhelmed by its flaws.

      Even if it was working, would teachers and students see benefits? What of this model is supported by evidence?

    1. help you identify your high opportunity students

      How do you define a high opportunity student? What does that look like?

    2. If you are a Canvas-user, enable the Notes column in your gradebook and record brief notes about what each student has shared with you.

      I like keeping notes in the roster as well - it's a quick-glance way to see keywords for each student.

  2. May 2023
    1. building community is at the heart of learning, whether on-ground, online, or hybrid.

      See James Paul Gee's essays on affinity spaces.

    2. The pedagogies of most online classes, then, are fixed in advance.

      Adaptability of the platform to serve multiple needs is more important than the "safety" or friendliness toward new users.

      We should teach with strong pedagogy and mold our systems to match that goal. not dilute our practices to work within what we're given.

    1. Sometimes, clear objectives or outcomes are important at the outset of an assignment or course, but we need to leave room for those outcomes to be more roughly handled.

      I feel like this is the nuance I want to see more of in this book. There are times where standards or outcomes are important. Teaching is to help students learn content - our pedagogy is how we do that. Having outcomes helps in situations where multiple people are teaching the same course. Outcomes or learning targets allow us to make sure students have an equitable experience.

      Process outcomes - how they show what they know - is where we need flexibility. Beyond the core, guaranteed curriculum, students should have freedom to learn what they want, but not at the expense of the core material.

      I also realize is this a very K-12 focused comment, but the same should be applied to the university.

    2. I so often hear variations of “my students won’t do this assignment if it’s not worth points.” We need to give students reasons less banal than points to do the work of learning.

      Points as the driver are one of the greatest missteps of education - in general.

    3. Those of us responsible for education (both its formation and care) are hugging too tightly to what we’ve helped build, its pillars, policies, economies, and institutions. None of these, though, map promisingly into digital space.

      Institutions - physical locations - offer security and isolation by default. That's harder to do on the internet.

    1. and lackluster (or lack of) pedagogy

      Once we castrate active learning because it's what the platform makes easy to do, we've lost our pedagogy.

    2. We should not try to fix what’s wrong with online learning now; instead, we should pretend it never happened, start from scratch, and begin playfully outside the borders of how we’ve always taught and how we relate to the machines that can help us teach

      Sometimes, not having the context from previous tries is better than knowing what went wrong. We're more free to dream and problem solve when we don't have constraints on what it was like "before."

    3. adoptable

      Is this goal in conflict with open pedagogy? Or, can a closed mindset about online teaching structures and methods be molded by a course which functions with the opposite view as default?

    4. “How can we eliminate a text book?” “How can we make assignments that are meaningful, student-centered, and relevant?” “How can we make this course equally accessible to native English speakers and second language learners?”

      Asking questions about methods and tools is more important than the why. These are the questions that cause us to think about why we do what we do in any context.

    1. we should never let its design decisions — its architecture — dictate our pedagogies.

      This is true for anything (as he goes on to say about the classroom structure). The tools can be bent to do what we want the to, but having strong pedagogy enables us to do that. We don't need to be better Canvas users - we need to be better teachers.

    2. Online and hybrid course design should be motivated not by cost savings but by the pedagogical benefits of learning that happens and persists beyond the classroom.

      Taking advantage of the platform and using its assets should be standard practice for any technology. Online learning is one of the tools that is equally usable across all fields.

    1. The chunks, though, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, semesters, quarters, are arbitrary. The course is not always the best container for learning.

      We've had success in embracing this model of staff development. Instead of a series of meetings over a period of n weeks, we have an open, self-paced course where each participant is paired with an instructional coach who shepherds them through the process. This includes one-on-one support sessions, discussions, and reflections through the course platform.

    2. At many institutions there’s a problematic divide between instructional designers and teachers — between those building online courses and those teaching them. Expert teachers need to build their own online courses or we need to create closer collaborative relationships between teachers and instructional designers.

      This doesn't really exist in K-12. Instead, the online course, or the online component, is often sorely lacking. Seeing the course, whether it is fully online or part of a hybrid model, as a core part of the pedagogy is critical.

    3. Rigor has to be fostered through genuine engagement.

      This lack of genuine engagement is why most school tasks, even the project- or problem-based learning structures, still have the aftertaste of school because they lack the exposure to the culture of learning.

      Students know when a learning task is artificial and that leads to artificial or compulsory engagement. Online learning can connect students to communities of practice which immediately adds authenticity and rigor.

    4. What we need is to ignore the hype and misrepresentations (on both sides of the debate) and gather together more people willing to carefully reflect on how, where, and why we learn online.

      It's tempting to look at the utility of online learning as a means to an end rather than an extension of strong classroom teaching.

    1. Grading is based on student mastery of a set of standards and assessments that are created at the networklevel.

      Using digital tools consistently across a corporation make this vision a reality. The volume of information to collect and sort into actionable items is far too high to do without dedicated or integrated systems.

    2. The tools and resources are then linked to their curriculum map so teachers can understand howto meaningfully integrate digital content or tools into their lessons.

      We need to do this in ECS. Maybe a goal for 2023?

    3. Ifwe can’t do it in all schools, we don’t do it in any schools.

      This is a big mindset shift to instructional technology.

    4. students go through an intake with the teachersto understand why they failed the chapter test and what skills they are deficient in.

      How are they tracking these skills? The usage of data through online platforms is often lacking and seems like a close second in terms of value (behind ability to connect and communicate with students).

      Maybe the missing piece of all of these options is using computers to glean information about how to best help the student. We can assign drills or have them watch videos, but if we aren't learning about what skills they have developed and which need intervention, we can't really make sure all students are learning.

    5. Much depends,however, on whetherone considers a teacher-created Google document,slides, or spreadsheetto be online content

      This also seems like a strange distinction to make - why is a teacher created thing different than something bought from a vendor?

    6. Online curriculum, instructional materials, andonline drills that do not include the full scopeand sequence of a for-credit course.

      Materials that supplement the face to face interactions during the school day.

    7. The education programwas created to fill gaps in student learning, to challenge students who have exceptionally high ability levels,to provide high school credit opportunities for students who are eligible to do so but struggle with certaincurricula, and to create opportunities for students who need to have an alternate route to graduation.

      This seems like the better use of this model, much like SWW in Elkhart.

    8. it’s really a time for them to interact with me

      Belief that online cannot be interactive.

    9. “no significant differencesbetween online and face-to-face students in pass ratesin subsequent math classesor their likelihood of beingon track for graduationat the end of the secondyear of high school.”

      Is online positioned to do as well or better than face to face? It is interesting, though, that online is being used to catch students up though its effectiveness is not apparent.

    10. Urban schools were more likely to offercredit recovery than suburban schools,high-poverty more likely than low-poverty, and large schools more likelythan small schools

      If credit recovery is at such a high rate, what can schools do in order to re-invent their structure to allow students to be successful the first time?

    11. Some, like the Missouri Virtual Instructional Program andWest Virginia Virtual, mostly or entirely rely on courses and teachers from private vendors, which they thenprovide to schools across their state.

      Why is there a reliance on private groups to teach?

    12. RVA’s online course catalog offers studentsaccess to a variety of courses, many more than what most of the small districts in the consortium wouldotherwise be able to provide.

      The consortium model seems to benefit more students because it's public money working for public good, not a select few who can make the jump to online because of opportunity.

    13. Most online school studentshave needs that are not wellmet by traditional schools,desire a high level of timeflexibility, and have parents/families who are able tosupport their learningat home.

      Does this exacerbate the opportunity gap between these students and those whose parents cannot support an online environment?

    14. The categories overlap; for example, online schools use data and assessment extensively. Traditionalschools, however, often use data and assessment in the absence of online courses, which is why weput data and assessment in its own category

      I don't understand this distinction of online schools using data and assessment "extensively" while traditional schools "often use data and assessment." This seems like a weird distinction to make.

  3. Apr 2023
    1. The activity theory for organisations relates to how two different organisational contexts that interact with each other develop and eventually share a common language, culture and environment, in order to reach common goals.

      This could be a good framework for how schools engage with the community to provide opportunities they are not able to otherwise provide for students. The community is a part of the learning process and exposes students to authentic learning opportunities.

    2. students observe scientific processes they normally do not experience at school, and then report on what they have observed; in doing so, they develop skills such as asking questions, scientific reading, organising information and planning a presentation

      Why are these experiences unique to school? Were they industry or research based? Were they looking at specialized equipment?

      For schools, does "out of school learning" mean that students are reaching for things schools cannot provide? Or things they do not provide (choice)?

    3. Studies have also shown that learning is a unified concept; any distinction between formal and informal science learning is artificial

      We are not helping students by dismissing background knowledge they possess as a result of learning on their own.

    4. However, students who are not interested in school science often choose to participate in science activities outside school.

      Calvin and Hobbes - "we don't talk about dinosaurs in school."

    5. In addition, many practitioners in the field of informal science learning recognise the need to create productive collaborations between informal science education organisations and schools

      See Esach (2007) for more context of the "edutainment" aspect of informal learning. Is entertaining content/context more important that the educational context? What should schools accept - or reject - from that position?

    1. leaving students with little room to develop their own approaches to answering the question

      See previous note.

      The danger is that students might often need coaching on specific skills, which can be very difficult for a teacher to managce in one setting. As a result, many opt for the more recipe-based result.

    2. They require a question or problem that serves to organize and drive activities; and these activities result in a series of artifacts, or products, that culminate in a final product that addresses the driving question.

      Everything is working toward answering the driving question. The problem is that schools often dilute those questions or potential solutions to align with "the content" rather than allowing students to explore authentically.

    3. Drawing analogies from everyday learning, researchers argue that knowledge is contextualized; that is, learners construct knowledge by solving complex problems in situations in which they use cognitive tools, multiple sources of information, and other individuals as resources

      When we're solving problems out of school, we have several contexts which play into our understanding. Using this idea, we can structure learning experiences in school the same way - to engage students in multiple contexts for learning complex ideas.

    1. Schooled people do better, although they rarely use the supposedly general algorithms taught in school. Instead, they invent new methods specific to the situation at hand.

      Even though application is often missing, having formal training in some form of the skill can help general ideas be transferred to new situations.

    2. Yet to be tru-ly skillful outside school, people must develop situation-specific forms of competence.

      Having an idea of application helps with transfer. School generally misses the application component (see the previous note).

    3. utside school, actions are intimately connected with objects and events; people often use the objects and events directly in their reasoning, without necessarily using symbols to represent them. School learning, by contrast, is mostly symbol-based; indeed, con-nections to the events and objects symbolized are often lost.

      The story is that, "we need theory before we can apply," but much learning can happen through experience, trial & error, and feedback on production.

    4. school is an institution that values thought that proceeds independently, without aid of physi­cal and cognitive tools.

      This is a huge gap between school and authentic activity, where if we were actually modelling the behavior of that skill, the tools would be included.

    5. No individual in the system can pilot the ship alone. The knowledge necessary for successful piloting is distributed throughout the whole system.

      In this case, is there individual training? Or does the team train together to form the unit of knowledge necessary?

  4. Mar 2023
    1. his result pattern suggests that while negative emotionsmight lead to burnout, positive experiences on the job may have a protective effect.

      Our support of teachers from professional, community, and personal levels can have tangible results.

    1. These findings pinpoint the importance of imparting teachers with personal skills and with social skills in order to promote well-being and job satisfaction and cope better with burnout and depression. Hence, boosting teachers’ confidence in their capability essential for increasing the overall well-being and probably to improve the performance of the school

      PD to focus on effective strategies, coping, and ways to manage stress helpful?

    2. emotional exhaustion, a feeling of cynicism, and a sense of personal and professional inefficiency

      How is this different than demoralization?

    3. burnout is a “prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job”

      Add to other definitions of burnout

    1. Practice testing and distributed practice received high utility assessments because they benefit learners of different ages and abilities and have been shown to boost students’ performance across many criterion tasks and even in educational contexts

      Active practice with the material helps recall.

  5. Feb 2023
    1. who believed that parents, caregivers, peers, and the culture at large are responsible for developing higher-order functions.

      We can watch adults model things, but we need people to teach us the nuance and context of those behaviors.

    1. this is different than simply copying someone else's behavior.

      The inflection point of when something is learned comes in demonstration? Or in spontaneous performance of the behavior?

    1. it is time to actually perform the behavior you observed.

      Is this in conflict with the statement earlier of learning with no demonstration of new behaviors?

    2. Retention can be affected by a number of factors, but the ability to pull up information later and act on it

      Retrieval practice is a method which can be used to reinforce retention.

    1. The goal of assimilation is to maintain the status quo. By assimilating information, you are keeping your existing knowledge and schemas intact and simply finding a place to store this new information.

      This is really good to be aware of because sometimes we stretch really far to keep from having to reevaluate our thinking.

    1. Assimilation and accommodation both work in tandem as part of the learning process.2 Some information is incorporated into our existing schemas through the process of assimilation, while other information leads to the development of new schemas or total transformations of existing ideas through the process of accommodation.

      New ideas can be both assimilated and accommodated. It isn't all or nothing.

    2. The process is somewhat subjective, because we tend to modify experience or information to fit in with our pre-existing beliefs

      There is no method of objectively looking at something new. We have to practice disassociating the pre-existing understanding we may have from our schemas as we learn new things.

    1. Raising children free from these stereotypes and limitations, she believed, would lead to greater freedom and fewer restrictions of free will

      This discredits the dignity and value that comes from being male and female!

    2. When subjected to societal disapproval, people will often feel pressured to alter their behavior or face rejection by those who disapprove of them.

      This is one of the problems with postmodern society. Everyone has a different version of truth. Even though postmodern thinking says that "your truth is true," there is ridicule or societal issues when it doesn't align with theirs.

    3. All of these influences add up to how gender schema is formed.

      How many of these patterns are subliminal? Or, are they only impactful if they aren't recognized, even if they're prevalent in culture?

      Is not worrying about these kinds of text patterns a sign that my schema is already fixed? Or is it insensitive to say that it's not an issue for me and my understanding of gender value?

    4. Gender schema theory was introduced by psychologist Sandra Bem in 1981 and asserted that children learn about male and female roles from the culture in which they live.

      All learning is local and defined by our environment, which includes culture.

    1. People are more likely to pay attention to things that fit in with their current schemas.

      Is this because it's easier to assimilate than it is to accommodate?

    2. Event schemas are focused on patterns of behavior that should be followed for certain events.

      How many event schemas do we possess for learning vs schooling? Would students describe the two similarly or differently? Would they even see a connection?

  6. Jan 2023
    1. Punishment does not teach a person how to behave appropriately.

      It teaches what not to do (avoidance) but not how to act desirably.

    2. Skinner’s learning theories have been discredited by more current ones that consider higher order and more complex forms of learning.

      Conditioning has no bearing on showing understanding of the lessons learned. Can a rat explain why it is shocked vs getting a food pellet? Can it transfer that knowledge to a new situation? Or is conditioning simply forming habits?

    1. Skinner found that when and how often behaviors were reinforced played a role in the speed and strength of acquisition.

      Immediately praising or responding can increase the association of the behavior with the response.

    2. negatively reinforcing your behavior (not your child's).

      We learn that removing children screaming makes our situation more pleasant. The method of removing that child is the learned behavior.

    3. Respondent behaviors

      This seems to counter learned behaviors. There is no reinforcement after this kind of response. How does it fit?

      Maybe it fits because operant conditioning is concerned with learning, not necessarily responses?

    4. Skinner was more interested in how the consequences of people's actions influenced their behavior.

      Applying motivations after the fact. All behaviors are determined by the response and are learned.

    1. the transmission of information from teacher to learner is essentially the transmission of the response appropriate to a certain stimulus.

      We create stimuli specifically to generate a particular response. Knowing something is the demonstration of the response, nothing to do with metacognitive processes.

    2. Radical behaviorists such as Skinner also made the ontological claim that facts about mental states are reducible to facts about behavioral dispositions.

      The mind is nothing more than a decision machine and we can understand it if we understand cause/effect relationships.

    3. they focused on objectively observable, quantifiable events and behavior. They argued that since it is not possible to observe objectively or to quantify what occurs in the mind, scientific theories should take into account only observable indicators such as stimulus-response sequences.

      Adding empirical evidence to conclusions drawn about human psychology. Cause/effect relationships.

    4. Their methodology was primarily introspective, relying heavily on first-person reports of sensations and the constituents of immediate experiences.

      Self-reporting leads to bias in results?

    1. This means that it does not allow for any degree of free will in the individual.

      Conditioning is appropriate in some cases - military training, athletics. Does it have a place in schools? If a behavior is conditioned, it is learned, but is that learned response able to push the learner to use it in next contexts?

      Are some instances of conditioning more okay because they can be transferred? Or is all conditioning as learning mechanism dubious?

    2. It is more likely that behavior is due to an interaction between nature (biology) and nurture (environment).

      Environment and experiences!

    3. The stimuli that have become associated with nicotine were neutral stimuli (NS) before “learning” took place but they became conditioned stimuli (CS), with repeated pairings. They can produce the conditioned response (CR).

      We have no bearing toward or away from nicotine on it's own. It's the pairing of nicotine (via the cigarette) and the release of dopamine that our body learns to crave.

    4. and these cues can trigger a feeling of craving

      Step 1 of the habit cycle.

    5. the conditioned stimulus acts as a type of signal or cue for the unconditioned stimulus

      A stimulus that does not cause a response is paired with a stimulus that does cause a response, linking those to stimuli.

    6. therefore is a natural response which has not been taught

      Reflexes, natural responses to stimuli. Blinking in sunlight, yawning when tired, etc.

    1. learning method in which a specific behavior is associated with either a positive or negative consequence.

      Skinner.

    2. Instead of feeling anxious and tense in these situations, the child will learn to stay relaxed and calm.

      Conditioning is often presented as a way to achieve behaviors automatically. If those behaviors are things like self-regulation and awareness, is that a bad thing?

      If we condition students to calm themselves at a sound (like the meditation bowl thing) have they learned self-regulation? Or are they simply responding to a stimulus out of habit?

      Am I interested in forming habits which take over in specific situations or forming students who are aware of themselves and then choose the habits they want to develop?

    3. However, if the smell of food were no longer paired with the whistle, eventually the conditioned response (hunger) would disappear.

      Is this another method of learning? Or is it the same method - the same mechanism - just in the other direction?

      If we remove conditioned stimuli from our schools, would students unlearn those conditioned responses?

    4. the whistle sound would eventually trigger the conditioned response.

      This makes it sound like it is an inevitable process. If we are aware of the conditioning, are we able to work against it somehow?

    5. The conditioned stimulus is a previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response.

      Is this a cue that can be interrupted with a new routine?

    6. Behaviorism assumes that all learning occurs through interactions with the environment and that environment shapes behavior.

      There is no self with behaviorism - all learning is due to the environment and the physical responses.

      Holland JG. Behaviorism: Part of the problem or part of the solution. J Appl Behav Anal. 1978;11(1):163-74. doi:10.1901/jaba.1978.11-163

    7. This learning process creates a conditioned response through associations between an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus.

      The key is learned association. Conditioning is obviously important, but what role does it have in the context for formal schooling?

      Wolpe J, Plaud JJ. Pavlov's contributions to behavior therapy. The obvious and not so obvious. Am Psychol. 1997;52(9):966-72.

    1. Looking at the size of coaching programs, we find that the average effectiveness of the coaching program declines as the number of teachers involved increases, suggesting the difficulty of successfully taking such programs to scale.

      Targeting specific individuals for specific gains may be a way to mitigate saturation.

    2. For both outcomes, the magnitude of the effect of coaching is comparable to or exceeds the largest published estimates of the difference in performance between a novice teacher and an experienced veteran.

      Controlled research shows that coaching is effective.

    3. The role of the coach may be performed by a range of personnel, including administrators, master teachers, curriculum designers, external experts, and other classroom teachers.

      Justification for a multi-pronged approach to coaching, especially in a large district?

  7. Jan 2022
    1. You can start by having each student create a weekly goal and an action plan to accomplish the goal. Once the goal is set, remind students to look over their action plan throughout the week to see if they are on target to accomplish their goal.

      Lots of ways to do this - weekly planner templates, bullet journals, etc. Our job is to foster and grow the habit, not dictate.

    2. You can do this by incorporating group projects and activities into your curriculum that require collaboration and an understanding of the perspectives of others.

      It's more than the shared space collaboration. It requires listening to, and understanding, what the other person is saying. Active listening activities do this well.

    3. We can start by simply listening to what they are saying. Naturally, most people listen to respond instead of listening to learn, but as teachers, it is vital that we actively listen to what our students are saying to us and each other.

      This follows engagement. If we're not listening, we're missing out on half of the interaction.

    4. There is no magic pill that we can give our students, but there are intentional actions we can take to incorporate SEL skills into classrooms to help develop the whole child.

      SEL doesn't just happen. We need to make sure we're taking time to develop these habits.

  8. Aug 2020
    1. When in need of help, students reread directions, checkwith Home-Group members (3-4 students who are inschool or at home on the same days), check the digitalPeer Expert Board, and then put their name on the digitalHelp Board

      This is a fantastic idea for building community.

      Facilitate in Google? Allow edits on a Canvas page? What about multiple editors?

      • Google Slides parking lot embedded on the homepage
        • Each student has a slide they edit
        • General questions slide for help requests
    2. review teacher notes and the schedule theydesigned for themselves for the week,

      Students are dictating the pace and the content they're working on. The teacher is helping to curate and interpret those materials as students work through the idea.

    3. Curate an instructional plan forstudents, whether at home orschool, that will addresscognitive, learning style, andcultural differences.

      I don't remember where it was, but someone suggested a 5:1 prep:teach time ratio. Spend far more time prepping (researching, finding resources, etc) than you do actually teaching students verbally so you have several items to incorporate or fall back on.

    4. BenchmarkDiscussion

      What is a Benchmark Discussion? Why is it capitalized?

    5. Students continue working ondifferentiated learning activities.(Remote only? Hold discussionswith half of the class at a time.)

      Sounds like great use of a fishbowl model.

    6. socially-distanced in-school students andat-home students can join

      Use the tools that are available to make the in-person material as accessible as possible to the at home students.

      • iPad as a document camera
      • AirServer to the board, share screen to Meet

      Repeat the sessions on A/B days? One day per week for these sessions?

    7. students may connect and workwith others at home or in schoolvia videoconferencing.

      Could students use breakout Google Meet rooms during their off day to work together? Teachers could facilitate which ones are open at which times for students or rotate into those as the groups (or individuals) in person are working.

    8. Students access an Activity List

      Weekly planning is critical. This helps the teacher provide consistent, supportive instruction and it helps the student regulate their work.

      Having minimesters this term will help students focus.

    9. indicate they arepresent

      What are some simple ways to indicate they're present?

      • Google Form with email automatically collected?
      • Canvas survey with a simple get to know you question?

      Something independent that can build self-regulation skills and habits.

    10. I recommend a cloud-baseddocument where students can post their thoughts or comments (in-school and at-home students) so thatthe teacher can follow the discussion

      Backchanneling - or doing something like a remote fishbowl discussion - can help facilitate the physical gap for students at home vs in class.

      • How can we explore bringing in home/school students at the same time? Try with the ambassadors?
    11. Time with the teacher “live” shifts to these Small-Group, Mini-Lessons and live discussions whereteachers can engage students in collectively grappling with content.

      Time is spent talking with one another, not a teacher talking at a group of students.

      Separate yourself out of time constraints by providing familiar instruction materials (ie, video) ahead of the small group meeting so the group time is as effective and focused as possible.

    12. Whole-class lessons across video, sometimes called “live streaming,” are not effective -- I won’teven sugar-coat that

      There are too many unknown factors involved in expecting every student, in vastly different home situations, to engage equally in a given situation.

    13. Teachers need to avoid reserving in-school days for lessons andteacher talk, thus, robbing students of the socialization skills they are craving

      When you're together, it's time to listen to what students are saying rather than talking at them even more.

      see Dan Meyer: https://blog.mrmeyer.com/2020/but-artichokes-arent-pinecones-what-do-you-do-with-wrong-answers/

    14. We cannot afford to depend on in-school time for lessons and at-home time only forpractice.

      This is a remnant of the old model of schooling which needs to be foregone in favor of better models, more suited to flexible learning environments.

    15. The key to a successful hybrid learning environment is implementing structures and strategiesthat work as well at home as they do in school, such that learning continues whether at home orat school -- no need for a change in methods with a change in setting

      These should be based on skills students already have or which can be developed independently (or with limited, in person support).

      • How does this align with ECS PRIDE?
  9. Feb 2020
    1. …address content, skills, and/or habits …follow a multi-step process …require application and transfer of knowledge and skill …require higher-order thinking …are personalized …are creative and open-ended …are assigned to corresponding common rubrics …result in original products or performances for the student

      This can match our capstone process well. Again, the challenge is defining the assessment rubric. Is it common across the district? Is it specific to the course or department?

    2. Measuring these school-wide standards—such as effective communication, problem solving, or habits of work—must include establishing clear criteria (rubrics), designing authentic assessments (performance tasks), and a calibrated system of tracking student performance.

      If curriculum is skills, knowledge, and dispositions, designing performance tasks that evaluate each of these means we need to define skills and dispositions we want students to have.

  10. Jan 2020
    1. That would enable all students to grapple with the same information. But he suggests then assigning them different tasks depending on their abilities.

      Using both approaches is vald. Varying reading levels based on English proficiency or even just plain reading ability is okay as long as it is paired with specific, actionable instruction from the teacher to the student.

      Modifying the task allows for high cognitive engagement from all at the appropriate level.

    2. “What are teachers trying to do, and how do we help them do those things?”

      We need to be asking questions for context and then working toward solving those specific instructional goals.

    3. The content is random—clouds one day, zebras the next—and in any event, it’s considered relatively unimportant.

      The Smekens training runs opposite this trend. She makes specific points about how and why to connect texts, even if they seem unrelated.

    4. Technology is primarily used as a delivery system. Maybe it can deliver instruction better than a human being in some circumstances. But if the material it’s delivering is flawed or inadequate, or presented in an illogical order, it won’t provide much benefit.

      Retrieving information is one thing. Making sense of information is completely different, but impossible to uncouple from retrieval.

      As teachers, how do we drive students to open information while still providing structure and context for interpretation?

      Conversely, are we stifling chances for students to do independent research?

    5. One personalized-learning skeptic has observed, “If allowed to choose my own content in elementary school, I would have become an expert in princesses and dogs.”

      Part of the responsibility of the teacher is to expose students to subjects and topics they might not otherwise choose for themselves. The device can help provide those resources, but again - school and course design is highly influential.

    6. like those in the Rocketship network, where one or two minimally trained supervisors oversee as many as 90 students during “Learning Lab” time.

      This is just plain poor design.

    7. there’s a greater chance he would have been interested in trying to do it.

      How are we preparing and coaching colleagues to use the iPad with students? Is it simply an attention tool? Or are teachers actively engaging students?

      What kinds of assignments make that active engagement more likely?

    8. “Virtual” charter schools—which offer online classes and generally produce dismal results—often enroll struggling students.

      Indiana charters have never posted passing school evaluation scores, yet they continue to operate. Why?

    9. instructional software and online tutorials and games can help narrow the massive test-score gap

      Have we clearly defined goals for iPads in the classroom? Have your kids' schools?

    10. According to other studies, college students in the US who used laptops or digital devices in their classes did worse on exams. Eighth graders who took Algebra I online did much worse than those who took the course in person. And fourth graders who used tablets in all or almost all their classes had, on average, reading scores 14 points lower than those who never used them—a differential equivalent to an entire grade level.

      What were the tests measuring? How were they administered? What other preparation did students have?

      This seems like causation attributed to correlation without supporting evidence.

  11. Aug 2019
    1. Doing this too often, however, steals valuable time away from the teacher that may reduce the quality of instruction for all the other students.

      The teacher's mental and physical health is important, yes. But arguing that allowing retakes is a detriment to your own health, even though it is a benefit to the student, is a hard sell.

      Case in point: my wife's family weathered two deaths in the same week. I left school on bereavement for one and had to extend my absence in the wake of the second death. We were in the middle of budgeting and my requests were not finalized.

      My principal could certainly have disallowed an extension because I wasn't "proactive" and didn't have it done before the due date. Instead, I was given grace and I was able to submit a better report and request because of it.

      Grace goes a long way.

    2. However, every minute writing and grading retakes or grading long-overdue work is a minute that I’m not planning effective and creative instruction, grading current work so students receive timely feedback, or communicating with parents.

      This may mean you're grading too much.

      Assessment should be focused and pointed. Narrative feedback is helpful. Allowing retakes gives you an opportunity to focus only on what needs improvement. It is not a wholesale redo of the assignment. A retake should have the student focus on the specific gap in understanding which prevents them from achieving proficiency.

    3. Under retake policies, parents at my school have expressed concerns about how overwhelmed their children become due to being caught in a vicious cycle of retakes.

      This is not caused by a retake policy itself. It is caused by either A) not having a robust formative assessment strategy to catch struggling students or, B) not implementing reasonable checkpoints which help students learn to self-regulate.

    4. Retakes and soft deadlines allow students to procrastinate

      It is a major assumption that hard deadlines and tests prevent students from procrastinating. What disallowing retakes ends up doing is locking students into a cycle where they are actively discouraged from learning rather than taking the time to learn something.

    5. They spend hours a day on video games and social media

      Or:

      • working
      • taking care of siblings
      • taking care of other relatives
      • trying to find something to eat
      • ...
    6. In math classes, where concepts constantly build on one another, traditional policies hold students to schedules that keep them learning with the class.

      Assuming all students learn content at the same rate is dangerous. There may be fundamental math skills that take one student longer to learn than another. That may mean multiple attempts at demonstrating those skills.

      If I were to disallow retakes, even the intrinsically motivated student who struggles with fundamentals loses out on mastering the concept. I lose out on knowing that student is struggling. Retakes allow me to more fully assess a student's progress toward mastery, incrementally working on correcting errors and gaps in understanding.

      By promoting pacing over learning, we are doing our students a disservice.

    7. One of his research studies showed that college students who were held to firm deadlines performed better, in general, than students who chose their own deadlines or turned in all work at the end of the semester.

      This argument is errantly conflating two separate ideas: retakes and deadlines.

      The act of allowing a retake does not preclude the use of deadlines. Setting deadlines for initial work is important because that way, I can check student work before the major assessment. There are also deadlines for completing retakes…the end of the semester being the hard stop.

      I'm also building in structure for retakes. The fact that I allow a retake does not mean it happens when and where a student wants. They work within my defined schedule, which includes deadlines.

      Arguing against retakes because deadlines disappear assumes that they are contingent upon one another when in reality, they work together to help students develop agency and time management skills.

      This makes sense at a high level, but in reality, none of us - in school or out of school - lives in a deadline free world. I have deadlines to meet at work and if my product is not quality at the deadline, I have to do it again.

      The difference is that we cannot fire students from school.

    8. In my experience, however, the more lenient we are in these matters, the less students learn. The traditional policies—giving each assessment only once, penalizing late work, and giving zeros in some situations—help most students maximize their learning and improve their time management skills, preparing them for success in college and career.

      This statement comes with zero qualification for "in my experience." Is there research or empirical evidence that supports this statement? Are there other interventions or policies that could be used in place of allowing retakes?

      Setting up the entire post on the premise of "in my experience" makes it a hard sell to start.

  12. Jun 2019
    1. Use a simple rubric and select 2-3 specific skills to grade

      We're using a consistent rubric that clearly communicates student demonstration of skill.

      It is up to teachers to define the learning outcomes to be used.

    2. Feedback on a finished product is not useful to students

      I disagree with this statement. There is always room for feedback. Perhaps she means constructive feedback on process isn't useful after the product is finished.

      Do not give feedback the entire way through a project only to stay silent at the end.

      Also, don't forget the power of peer feedback, even using the same rubric, so students have an example of what it feels like to critically assess their own work.

    3. If we penalize students who make mistakes while practicing a skill, we create an environment where mistakes are scary

      Mistakes are a necessary part of learning to do something correctly. Recording an attempt is also fine, depending on the context.

    4. I had over a hundred assignments in my grade book

      This also dilutes what really matters in the gradebook with other stuff that really should be formative (feedback-centric) rather than summative.

  13. May 2019
    1. In contrast, participants in our experiments expected to be separated from their phones (this was the norm in the lab) and were not confronted with unanswerable notifications or calls while separated. We therefore suggest that defined and protected periods of separation, such as these, may allow consumers to perform better not just by reducing interruptions but also by increasing available cognitive capacity.

      The task at hand, if it grabs enough of the cognitive resources from the individual, may help downplay or minimize the resources allocated for the phone if it isn't present.

    2. These results are consistent with the proposition that the effects of smartphone salience on available cognitive capacity stem from the singularly important role these devices play in many consumers’ lives.

      The draw is based on personal preference and experience, not necessarily because of empirically visible stimuli.

    3. We posit that individual differences in dependence on one’s smartphone will moderate the effects of smartphone salience on available cognitive capacity, such that individuals who most depend on their phones will suffer the most from their presence—and benefit the most from their absence.

      Forcing a reduction in use - not relying on the phone for work-related tasks, for instance - can help reduce the attention drain of the phone when it is not in use.

    4. Consistent with this evidence, we posit that the mere presence of consumers’ own smartphones can reduce the availability of attentional resources (i.e., cognitive capacity) even when consumers are successful at controlling the conscious orientation of attention (i.e., resisting overt distraction).

      It may be possible to not pick up your phone when it buzzes, but it is harder to reduce or eliminate the resources allocated to paying attention to the stimulus.

    5. To our knowledge, only one prior study has investigated the cognitive effects of the mere presence of a mobile device—one that is not ringing, buzzing, or otherwise actively interfering with a focal task. Thornton et al. (2014, 485–86) found that a visually salient cellphone can impair performance on tasks requiring sustained attention by eliciting awareness of the “broad social and informational network … that one is not part of at the moment.”

      FOMO in the research.

    6. Similarly, research in the educational sphere demonstrates that using mobile devices and social media while learning new material reduces comprehension and impairs academic performance (e.g., Froese et al. 2012).

      The purpose of the use is important. But can the purpose of the task outweigh or overrule the automatic attention drive?

    7. Consistent with this position, research indicates that signals from one’s own phone (but not someone else’s) activate the same involuntary attention system that responds to the sound of one’s own name (Roye, Jacobsen, and Schröger 2007).

      Whaaaaat....

    8. Automatic attention generally helps individuals make the most of their limited cognitive capacity by directing attention to frequently goal-relevant stimuli without requiring these goals to be constantly kept in mind.

      This is a really interesting statement. I have conditioned goals that grab my attention.

    9. Preferential attention to temporarily relevant stimuli, such as those associated with a current task or decision, is supported by WM; when a goal is active in WM, stimuli relevant to that goal are more likely to attract attention (e.g., Moskowitz 2002; Soto et al. 2005; Vogt et al. 2010).

      How do we train ourselves (or students or our children) to focus on a task using goals? What kinds of goals are more effective at maintaining or attracting attention?

    10. Individuals are constantly surrounded by potentially meaningful information; however, their ability to use this information is consistently constrained by cognitive systems that are capable of attending to and processing only a small amount of the information available at any given time (e.g., Craik and Lockhart 1972; Newell and Simon 1972)

      Multitasking is not a real thing.

  14. Feb 2019
    1. Schools and teachers aiming to adopt new practices must contend with the "geological dig" of previous policies that send contradictory signals and prevent a complete transformation of practice.(

      Identifying a problem of practice extends to the culture of practice. If there is a problem, are there policies or programs in place that work against the desired outcomes? If so, they also need to be changed as part of the solution.

    2. Organizational structures must be redesigned so that they actively foster learning and collaboration about serious problems of practice.

      This means relinquishing some measure of control from the administrative offices. Allowing teachers to identify problems and explore solutions as they see fit provides agency and autonomy.

      This, as PD, is a radical idea in some places (including Elkhart).

    3. Habits and cultures inside schools must foster critical inquiry into teaching practices and student outcomes.

      If we're not talking about how we teach and how students learn, then we're missing development opportunities.

    4. Policies that support teachers' learning communities allow such structures and extra-school arrangements to come and go and change and evolve as necessary, rather than insist on permanent plans or promises.

      Follow up on the immediate goals and allow teachers to adjust rather than expect the same goals to persist over time.

    5. Structures that break down isolation, that empower teachers with professional tasks, and that provide arenas for thinking through standards of practice are central to this kind of professional growth.

      Group settings and strong partnership in between these collaborative times brings two people into cooperation and builds a viable support system for changing practice.

    6. To serve teachers' needs, professional development must embrace a range of opportunities that allow teachers to share what they know and what they want to learn and to connect their learning to the contexts of their teaching.

      Interactive, problem-based (or goal-based?) PD is a good way to engage teachers in the habit of reflecting on and implementing changes to practice. There are tangible ideas to latch onto, which can raise motivation and increase drive for change.

    7. PDSs create settings in which novices enter professional practice by working with expert practitioners while veteran teachers renew their own professional development as they assume roles as mentors, university adjuncts, and teacher leaders.

      See Burbank & Kauchak, 2003, for some of the dangers in this type of setting.

      Though, if it is the core structure of the school, some of the challenges identified in the study's conclusion may be mitigated because all participants are engaged in the process enough to have enrolled.

    8. Effective professional development involves teachers both as learners and as teachers and allows them to struggle with the uncertainties that accompany each role

      This is a constructivist position on teacher PD.

    9. "teacher training"

      See Kennedy, 2005.

    10. The success of this agenda ultimately turns on teachers' success in accomplishing the serious and difficult tasks of learning the skills and perspectives assumed by new visions of practice and unlearning the practices and beliefs about students and instruction that have dominated their professional lives to date

      Change is more than just "doing it differently." It is a serious revision of general practice. Doing this without support is not likely.

    1. What types of knowledge acquisition does the CPD support, i.e. procedural or propositional? •Is the principal focus on individual or collective development? •To what extent is the CPD used as a form of accountability? •What capacity does the CPD allow for supporting professional autonomy? •Is the fundamental purpose of the CPD to provide a means of transmission or to facilitate transformative practice?

      Questions to guide planning PD and designing experiences for teachers.

    2. it recognises the range of different conditions required for transformative practice.

      A single, magic-bullet style of PD isn't the point. Transformative PD relies on methods and mechanisms from various development opportunities. It is up to the participant to make it transformative.

      PD can support and encourage transformation through style and substance. Coordinators/coaches/trainers need to be aware of the end goal and what to include or exclude depending on that goal.

    3. negotiating a joint enterprise gives rise to relations of mutual accountability among those involved’ (p. 81), therefore arguably promoting greater capacity for transformative practice than a managerial form of accountability would allow.

      Collaborative efforts change the frame of the activity and allow for participants to engage more fully.

    4. When the professional activity is collective, the amount of knowledge available in a clinical unit cannot be measured by the sum total of the knowledge possessed by its individual members. A more appropriate measure would be the knowledge generated by the richness of the connections between individuals.

      Knowledge generated is the defining factor. PD with collaborative groups is aways more rich because of the community building expertise and information. No single idea is better than another and all in participation benefit from the synthesis.

    5. there are no requirements for that person to have particular strengths in terms of interpersonal communication or to be trained in the role of supporter.

      This is similar in the US. The common denominator is often subject area.

    6. The mentoring or coaching relationship can be collegiate, for example, ‘peer coaching’, but is probably more likely to be hierarchical

      Mentor teachers are rarely seen as coaches or peers...at least in ECS, there is an evaluative aspect. Or, it's so hands off that the title is perfunctory more than anything else.

    7. Arguably, standards also provide a common language, making it easier for teachers to engage in dialogue about their professional practice.

      Defining concepts and ideas is a difficult part of any PD. Is this different than NBCT standards?

    8. one of the drawbacks of this model is that what is passed on in the cascading process is generally skills-focused, sometimes knowledge-focused, but rarely focuses on values

      Values are set by the community and need to involve leaders. If teacher trainers aren't on board with the values, this model simply delegates the training work.

    9. The cascade model involves individual teachers attending ‘training events’ and then cascading or disseminating the information to colleagues

      "Train the trainer" in the US. Get a core group up and running, allow them to matriculate out into the community.

    10. performance management requires that somebody takes charge of evaluating and managing change in teacher performance, and this includes, where necessary, attempting to remedy perceived weaknesses in individual teacher performanc

      Focused on lack of skill or in efforts to close perceived gaps. Teacher autonomy and choice is low.

    11. What the training model fails to impact upon in any significant way is the manner in which this new knowledge is used in practice.

      Skills are not necessarily taught in context of teaching or locale.

    12. This model of CPD supports a skills-based, technocratic view of teaching whereby CPD provides teachers with the opportunity to update their skills in order to be able to demonstrate their competence.

      Come, learn a skill, show you can do it move on. CPR, CPI, RTI, etc?

    13. These nine categories are then organised along a spectrum that identifies the relative potential capacity for transformative practice and professional autonomy inherent in each, the premise of this being that such conditions require teachers to be able to articulate their own conceptions of teaching and be able to select and justify appropriate modes of practice.

      A comparative spectrum can help classify different kinds of PD for different situations, depending on the goals.

    1. To avoid overload, future development efforts may want to consider the timing of projects and levels of teacher assistance needed to provide adequate support in the classroom prior to beginning projects.

      This is true for all teachers. The level of change or challenge provided by PD needs to be cognizant of how committed teachers already are and provide support if a high time investment is required.

    2. While action research provided teachers with a tool for examining their own practice, the power of action research teaming stemmed from its ability to foster collaboration and professional development through collaborative research.

      Perhaps the focus can be on "collaborative [X]." While this was AR based, common goals in the school can also unite teachers in changing (or examining) methods and habits with students.

    3. Preservice teachers’ uncertainties may be due to their developing understanding of what teaching and professional development entails.

      Even first year teachers can struggle with this because their body of experience which can be used to contribute to a discussion is much smaller than many other staff members' present.

    4. Another inservice teacher reported that action research teaming provided a mechanism for professional growth through peer collaboration, “Research teaming creates a feeling of community and professionalism because teachers learn from one another and listen to each other as experts”

      Leaving space for teachers to contribute in a led workshop allows for true collaboration while the facilitator falls into a facilitative role rather than an instructional role.

      Allowing people to dialog on instructional ideas allows me to feel out the room rather than diving in with my pre-planned notes. Adjusting on the fly can help ensure everyone's needs are met much more effectively.

    5. Other veteran teachers noted that action research teaming increased their awareness of student learning.

      Discussing results after trying something new can help illicit insight. Talking with one another in PD is important!

    6. However, when asked if they would be willing to participate in action research teaming in the future, preservice teacher candidates were more positive (x̄=6.4)<math><mtext>(</mtext><mtext>x</mtext><mtext>̄</mtext><mtext>=6.4)</mtext></math> than their veteran counterparts (x̄=5.8)<math><mtext>(</mtext><mtext>x</mtext><mtext>̄</mtext><mtext>=5.8)</mtext></math>.

      Maybe it's that the preservice teachers are more overwhelmed with learning to teach and they aren't a full staff member in the cooperating district, so potential impact (perception) is decreased.

    7. inservice teachers strongly believed action research teaming to be an effective vehicle to improve their teaching practice (x̄=6.0<math><mtext>x</mtext><mtext>̄</mtext><mtext>=6.0</mtext></math>, see Table 1); teacher candidates were less positive (x̄=4.7)<math><mtext>(</mtext><mtext>x</mtext><mtext>̄</mtext><mtext>=4.7)</mtext></math> about collaborative action research as a vehicle to change their teaching. Inservice teachers were also more positive (x̄=5.5)<math><mtext>(</mtext><mtext>x</mtext><mtext>̄</mtext><mtext>=5.5)</mtext></math> about the potential for collaborative action research for examining views about research than their preservice counterparts (x̄=4.2)<math><mtext>(</mtext><mtext>x</mtext><mtext>̄</mtext><mtext>=4.2)</mtext></math>. Both groups viewed the collaboration process as an effective vehicle for dialoguing with their team counterparts, but again developmental differences appeared. Experienced teachers thought collaboration provided an effective vehicle to talk with their teacher candidates about both teaching (x̄=6.2)<math><mtext>(</mtext><mtext>x</mtext><mtext>̄</mtext><mtext>=6.2)</mtext></math> and research (x̄=5.3)<math><mtext>(</mtext><mtext>x</mtext><mtext>̄</mtext><mtext>=5.3)</mtext></math>. Teacher candidates, while generally positive about the dialogic possibilities of teaming, were markedly less positive about its potential to provide a forum for discussion about teaching (x̄=4.7)<math><mtext>(</mtext><mtext>x</mtext><mtext>̄</mtext><mtext>=4.7)</mtext></math> and research (x̄=4.0)<math><mtext>(</mtext><mtext>x</mtext><mtext>̄</mtext><mtext>=4.0)</mtext></math>.

      It's interesting that seasoned teachers saw immediate value in this process while preservice teachers didn't. Perhaps it's because of autonomy?

    8. One way to overcome this isolation is to encourage collaboration with informed peers through established frameworks within school communities.

      Perhaps restructuring traditional PD to be more longitudinal can help. But, how do I manage so many different teams?

    9. Traditionally, views of beginning as well as inservice teacher practice are typically organized to disseminate a knowledge base constructed almost exclusively by outside experts.

      Am I considered an outside expert? How does a district-level coach fall into the PD structure?

      Perhaps it is defined by relationships...since I know my teachers and I'm employed by the district, I'm a colleague rather than an outsider. But, I don't have my own classroom to try things in, so my advice and training is taken at face value based on my own experiences.

    10. Specifically, professional development must include opportunities for active interpretive processes that examine the complex contexts of classrooms and schools

      Asking teachers questions about practices, even if you're not kicking off an AR project, can be more effective for growth.

    11. When collaboration does take place, it is too often limited to an exchange of daily anecdotes, or discussions of “tricks of the trade” to improve practice

      Sharing tips without background or information on implementing isn't equipping teachers for success.

    12. but unless deliberate attempts to share findings are established, the products of teacher research often remain within individual classrooms

      Does this mean we should focus more on longitudinal AR for PD?

  15. Jan 2019
    1. As teachers gained familiarity and agency, they moved from perceiving ‘research’ as a domain that existed outside the classroom, to doing research and seeing where it fits with classroom practice.

      Is the term "action research" a barrier for teachers to engage?

    2. In our research program overall, we have observed the success of teacher teams who follow a cyclical structure of co-planning/ co-teaching/ implementation/ debriefing with enactments (practice) in between team meetings, and so we expected to see this pattern repeat itself (and it did).

      This would be a great use of time for the ambassador program next year.

    3. This discussion informed the development of a problem statement (a brief statement encapsulating the problem under focus in the classroom) and corresponding research question.

      Is there a way to do this in smaller chunks of time? The time commitment to group meetings may dissuade potential participants. How can the researcher help identify and define a problem for teachers to look at?

    4. The most important factor was that at least some visual evidence of classroom practice and student work was shared in team meetings, which allowed team members to literally see what was happening in one another’s classrooms.

      "If you can't see it, it isn't happening."

      Finding time to see these practices is hard. The researcher (or facilitator) can play part of that role in documenting sessions for the group as a whole. Asking teachers to identify examples can also promote observational skills when trying to gather data.

    5. they realized that they would be supported rather than judged and that team members would help to find answers

      The Instruction rounds format would be great for building this trust and teach valid observation techniques.

    6. Teachers saw each other as mutually supportive.

      Building this relationship takes time. Departments support one another, but for collaborative, systemic work, we need to break out of department silos and consider common cross-curricular methods.

  16. Nov 2018
    1. Students are entitled to a more educative and user-friendly assessment system. They deserve far more feedback -- and opportunities to use it -- as part of the local assessment process.

      Evaluate and reflect on your assessment systems. Do you have a system in the sense that it is longitudinal and recursive? How do you need to adjust your practices to ensure students get this feedback on their learning?

    2. Our job is to teach to the standards, not the test.

      What would it take to go an entire year thinking this way? What habits in planning do you need to address? How would your assignments change?