Author: karinst8ler

5313 & 5389: Contributions to the Learning Environment

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5313 & 5389 Score: 97/100

Stephen Lewis
Kimberly Purvis
Photo by Alice Dietrich on Unsplash

Oooo-ver halfway there!

As I entered the third semester of the ADL graduate program, I continued to take the role of learner and leader seriously. Approaching my first classes, I knew how to navigate Blackboard, how I intended to organize my files, and I had a plan to conquer the reading list. I also knew my classmates well and continued to work collaboratively with them throughout our time together. I wasn’t, however, prepared for the heavy workload. We had so many assignments due in 5313. Also, the assignments we did for 5389 were so time intensive and robust. And of course, life doesn’t stop just because I’m attending grad school.

Key Contributions

Glows & Grows

Glows:

My biggest glow was my commitment to myself and my implementation plan. This looked like intentional connections to my implementation plan with my work in 5313 and 5389. It also looked like connecting 5313 and 5389 together. Because I work with adults, my Alternative Professional Learning plan in 5389 is the same plan I outlined in the Three Column Table and Understanding by Design assignments. Finally, I also turned in my assignments on the early side most of the semester so that I could support others. I felt that while the assignments were many and robust, I was able to grasp them enough to support others.

Grows:

The workload this semester helped me to reflect on my main goals as I work through the ADL program:

  • Build confidence: I can implement my plan innovatively! I know that I have the right pieces in place.
  • Increase flexibility: I am going to listen to feedforward regarding my innovation plan for the paperless office. It will keep me from getting stuck. I definitely have room for improvement here.

Both goals were consistent with my work in 5305, 5303, 5302, and 5304. As I grow as a leader, I will continue to build confidence in my abilities. Also, I will continue to hold my ideas loosely that I am open to change. That way, I can refrain from getting stuck.

Another area of growth I noticed this semester was fatigue. As it is our third semester, it is important that I continue to take care of myself. They don’t call it “The Messy Middle” for nothing!

Collaboration 

I continue to be a proud participant of two collaborative groups for 5313 and 5389. The larger group consists of Charlie, Kelvin, Ileana, Erica, Andrea, Kim, Stephen, Danielle, Pedro, Andre, and others. I am a self-identified empath. That is, I enjoy helping others so much that I have to work to identify my own needs. This semester, I kicked up my involvement in the larger group even more than last semester. Not only did I share my class with everyone in our chat, but I also heavily supported my peers with questions. Finally, I shared templates that I created for my assignments with several of my classmates.

I want to give a special shout-out to Kelven Wilson and Andrea Harrell in our larger group. They both heavily stepped up their game by supporting peers and sharing learning resources.

In our smaller group, I continue to grow my professional and personal friendships with Stephen and Kim. The three of us – coined by Stephen “The Three Amigos” – rarely go a day without chatting. I continue to grow with each assignment we share. I found it interesting that all three of us struggled with fatigue during this semester. We all have very different challenges in our lives, yet we all faced the same level of exhaustion. Regardless, without their moral and intellectual support, I am certain I wouldn’t have performed as well. I’m grateful for their friendship on this path.

To continue to hone my collaborative skills, I am going to consider taking notes and sharing them with everyone in the course in Blackboard.

Revisions

I made revisions constantly based on comparison and feedforward from my peers and from class, 1-on-1 meetings, and feedforward from Dr. Sue, Dr. Still, and Creighton. Examples include:

  • As I tighten up my ePortfolio for my final grade, I improved my front page.
  • I made small improvements on each assignment for 5313 and 5389.
  • Finally, my drafts were continually changing with the support and feedforward of my group.

This semester, I read every book, watched every video that I found, and read most of the other required readings listed in the Classroom Modules in Blackboard. My intention in grad school – and in life really – is to keep learning, reading, reflecting, and connecting as long as I can. I see this as a constant need for improvement. I met all of the various course deadlines.

Supporting Contributions

Leadership Responsibility, Participation, and Communication

I’ve mentioned my love of writing in past Contributions to Learning. My blogs continue to be the basis of my learning in ADL – the opportunity to reflect and connect “dots,” or big ideas. By modeling my learning process, I believe I help others grow. Not a week goes by without a comment on one of my discussion board posts about how much someone enjoys my writing or how much they learned. That’s not to brag, more to reflect the importance of the active role I take in my own learning. Really, the active (or inactive) role any of us takes in our learning.

As I said, I love to write. However, I feel like I am unable to put into words how much the ADL program means to me. The connections I make – from people to ideas – continue to push me to be a better leader, communicator, and person.

What is Water? Creating Significant Learning Environments

Posted on by karinst8ler
My Proposal: Paperless Office, Paperless District
Growing a Growth Mindset in GCISD
Graphic created in Canva by Karin Stateler.

A healthy skeptic.

From the get-go, I was skeptical of the Growth Mindset. It all started in Dr. H’s very first 5305 class. During that meeting, he made the comment, “The growth mindset is the perfect example of something that doesn’t work when applied prescriptively.” As I continued to learn more about the growth mindset, it left a bad taste in my mouth. A growth mindset wreaked of toxic positivity, which is defined as “the excessive and ineffective overgeneralization of a happy, optimistic state across all situations. The process of toxic positivity results in the denial, minimization, and invalidation of the authentic human emotional experience” (Quintero & Long, n.d.).

Like with anything, it’s easier to place blame than to make a structural change to a faulty system. “It’s just your mindset! Change your mindset, change your life!” It is a “small wonder that this idea goes down so easily.  All we have to do is get kids to adopt the right attitude, to think optimistically about their ability to handle whatever they’ve been given to do. Even if, quite frankly, it’s not worth doing” (Kohn, 2015)

What is water?

However, Dr. H didn’t say that the growth mindset isn’t real and doesn’t work, he said that it doesn’t work prescriptively. As with anything, it’s all about the context. What do I mean? In his commencement speech This is Water, David Foster Wallace (2013), tells a story of an older fish asking two younger fish “How is the water?” The younger fish ask one another, “What is water?” Wallace (2013) continues by saying, “The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.” When I think about the growth mindset, this is what comes to mind: It’s all about context. Sure we can put up posters and tell our teachers and students to have a growth mindset. But unless we are enacting true change in the learning environment, a growth mindset is just another fad. Another book that an administrator read over the summer and wants to add to teachers’ already full plates.

What, pray tell, should we do then?

In spite of all of this, I am not a fan of complaints without solutions. Again, it’s not my idea I offer up, but Dr. Harapnuik’s (2021): The Learner’s Mindset. What is a learner’s mindset? It is “a state of being where people act on their intrinsic capacity to learn and respond to their inquisitive nature that leads to viewing all interactions with the world as learning opportunities. This state enables one to interact with and influence the learning environment as a perpetual learner who has the capacity to use change and challenges as opportunities for growth” (Harapnuik, 2021). It encompasses both the growth mindset and the innovator’s mindset.

Most importantly, it is all about context. Don’t change the attitude of the student, rather create a significant learning environment through choice, ownership, and voice through authentic projects. Move away from the industrial educational model and toward the ecosystem model of education. Finally, it is a must if humans are to continue to have success in the digital century.

Making an impact.

As I consider my thoughts on the growth mindset, it is important to consider my own plan. What modifications should I make? I propose that I don’t modify my plan at all. Rather, I should provide scaffolds for my plan based on the new evidence on how creating a significant learning environment will support a growth mindset. That is, the environment and growth mindset plan must support one another as we move toward a more digitally adept staff. What does this look like alongside my innovation plan?

  • Comprehensive, personalized learning opportunities for everyone, including administrative assistants, nutrition, transportation, curriculum & instruction, and many other departments.
  • One-on-one, project-based coaching to create more effective workflows and systems.
  • Re-purposing current technology with intention and support to improve systems and workflows.

With a light restructuring and “love and logic” approach, I’m confident that I can create the small shifts necessary to grow the district by a adopting a learner’s mindset.

References

Harapnuik, D. (2021, February 9). Learner’s Mindset Explained. It’s About Learning. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8705

Kohn, A. (2015, August 16). The “Mindset” Mindset. Alfie Kohn. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/mindset/

Quintero, S., & Long, J. (n.d.). Toxic Positivity: The Dark Side of Positive Vibes. The Psychology Group Fort Lauderdale. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from https://thepsychologygroup.com/toxic-positivity/

Wallace, D. F., & Skittle, L. (2013, May 19). This Is Water – Full version-David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech. YouTube. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from https://youtu.be/8CrOL-ydFMI

Strike a Pose: Modeling Effective Practices

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Why Modeling?

It’s hard to disrupt the systems that we have in place. For starters, the system follows the Industrial Era model with the intent to supply a standardized workforce. Also, the systems are entrenched in our lives to the point where schools are necessary to support life as we know it. Finally, as Dr. H says, “we do what was done to us – we teach in the way that we were taught” (Harapnuik et al., 2018, p. 108). Either way, we must admit that education the system barely moved, if at all (Harapnuik et al., 2018).

Photo by SOULSANA on Unsplash

The best way to make any change is to teach by modeling. 

This is because modeling is the main way that humans learn. In the video, Mother Nature’s Pedagogy, Peter Gray (2015) says, “Children are biologically designed to educate themselves through play and exploration. All we need to do is provide the conditions that would allow them to educate themselves.” Moreover, he observes that mixed-age children learn by observing and interacting with one another.

In What Babies Know About Physics and Foreign Languages, Gopnik (2016) notes that babies don’t just copy mindlessly, “they take note of who you are and why you act.” In other words – they make sense of the context of their learning.

Since modeling is such a pervasive learning method, it makes sense that we would model best practices in teaching as well.

How do we model self-directed learning?

Modeling-Based (Flipped) Professional Development at Rutgers University (McCammon, 2015) provided an “efficient and active learning environment.” To begin, the teachers recorded video lectures ahead of time that included all of the sit-and-get content (McCammon, 2015). Because they were not interactive, they were “60-80% shorter than live lectures” (McCammon, 2015). Some of the advantages of this include a self-paced learning environment and the ability of participants to review the information (McCammon, 2015). Another advantage is that because so much less time was devoted to lecturing, there was more time for active learning (McCammon, 2015). Instructors could use class time to ask and answer questions, encourage collaboration, and engage students in activities to demonstrate artifacts of their learning (McCammon, 2015). Finally, through modeling these activities, teachers had the opportunity to experience, observe, and interact with the material. Not only that but they now had a context for an engaging, authentic learning environment.

Modeling, COVA, and my PL

What I enjoy the most about my experience in ADL is that the program is authentic to me. Nothing that we do in ADL is “make work” as Dr. H frequently says. What he means by that is that we are doing work that is meaningful to our current job. Likewise, teachers need to be responsible for their own professional growth. That is, they need to grow in ways that are meaningful for their job.

In my Professional Learning, I intend to guide administrators and admin assistants to create an authentic, cross-department, professional goal. Then, they will use this goal to create an action plan to improve digital systems within and across departments. Finally, my team will coach them throughout the year as they work to meet their goal and make meaningful systemic changes. The ultimate goal is to devise systems that we can use to model a blended learning environment for teachers and students.

Ecosystems over Industrialization

“We must take our metaphor for leadership not from the machine but from the ways living systems organize. In living systems, growth is found in disequilibrium, not in balance. As leaders in educational transformation, our role is not to control but to enable the order to emerge naturally – and we are still learning how to do this well” (“Teachers Leading Their Own Professional Growth: Self-Directed Reflection and Collaboration and Changes in Perception of Self and Work in Secondary School Teachers,” 2006, p. 77).

References

Gopnik, A. (2016, July 30). Opinion | What Babies Know About Physics and Foreign Languages (Published 2016). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/opinion/sunday/what-babies-know-about-physics-and-foreign-languages.html

Gray, P. (2015, January 30). Peter Gray: Mother Nature’s Pedagogy: Insights from Evolutionary Psychology. YouTube. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from https://youtu.be/G2BAJ_svbhA

Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., & Cummings, C. (2018, January 9). Dwayne Harapnuik Tilisa Thibodeaux Cynthia Cummings Lamar University. Learner’s Mindset….. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from http://tilisathibodeaux.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/COVA_eBook_Jan_2018.pdfMcCammon, L. (2015, April 15). Modeling-Based (Flipped) Professional Development at Rutgers University – Dr. Lodge McCammon. YouTube. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from

Square Pegs in Round Holes – From the Industrial Model to a Global Ecosystem

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Liam’s story

One of my friends has an 8th grader. I’ll call him Liam, but that’s not his real name. Liam was always a happy kid who loved school and saw relative success in class. Since the start of the pandemic, Liam’s grades and behavior really started to change. For starters, he already spent a lot of time on technology. Now, he spends almost the entire day using technology for games and at school. Also, his grades plummeted dramatically. When his grades started to tank, his parents removed all unnecessary technology. Unfortunately, he’s still not doing his work. He tells them he’s submitted it, but when they ask to see the assignment it is “magically” blank. Most worrisome are the changes in his personality. Liam doesn’t seem to have many friends. Also, he has become despondent and forgetful. For example, when his dad asked him to go get something from the kitchen, he watched Liam. Liam went into the kitchen, putzed around for fifteen minutes, and came back without the item his dad had asked for.

This is the story of so many students today. 

Children look for meaning and connection and they lash out when they don’t get it. Some students lash out like Liam, exhibiting signs of apathy and depression. Still, other students exhibit straight-up aggressive behaviors, as demonstrated by the TikTok challenges. While some of these behaviors were common before the pandemic, this story has become too common. While there are a number of factors at play, I also think the pandemic woke all of us up a little to what really matters. What matters to our students? I believe that, at least in part, our students are railing against the industrial model of education. They want meaningful, authentic learning environments and experiences.

“Kids these days”

Kids today are different and have different needs than even I did not so long ago. For starters, they have access to and are inundated with information all day, every day. Because of this, they always question information – they are looking for context over answers. To our students, teachers are not experts, rather we are just another context (Thomas & Brown, 2011). Therefore, teachers can no longer look to the 20th-century classroom as a model for education. We must change.

Information in the graphic from 21st Century Education vs. 20th Century Education (Lewin, 2009). Created by Karin Stateler using Canva.

Change is hard.

On his visit to 60 schools, Lichtman (2013) learned that “we know what good learning looks like.” Schools are becoming and can become adaptive, relevant, permeable, dynamic, creative, and self-correcting (Lichtman, 2013). In fact, many schools solved problems on their own, only to be met with different problems (Lichtman, 2013). If schools work as a community, they might realize that someone else has already solved a similar problem that they have.

What’s keeping us from change?

Lichtman (2013) mentioned three factors that are keeping us from making changes in the classroom:

  1. Our biggest anchors are ego and control. We are anchored by time, space, and material.
  2. Our dams are treating content as more important than context. In this day and age, students can access information. How can we create a meaningful context?
  3. Finally, we work in silos. Examples include our classroom, department, or school. These silos keep us inwardly focused. They also keep us from communicating and collaborating with one another.

We do hard things.

Image from What 60 Schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21st Century Skills (Lichtman, 2013).

What we are doing isn’t working. We are trying to put square pegs in round holes. What should we do? We need to create significant learning environments in which students have a choice, ownership, voice, and authentic projects. That is, we need to move from the industrial model to an ecosystem model of education. We can use meaningful projects to teach the difficult, unknown, and messy (Lichtman, 2013). Through this, we can create self-evolving learners (Lichtman, 2013). Finally, we teach “students to meet whatever challenges crop up in the world in the next 30-50 years of their lifetime” (Lichtman, 2013). If we do this, we and they might create “self-evolving organizations that embrace constant change and the methodology of constant change” (Lichtman, 2013).

We need to be “preparing our students for their future, not for our past” (Lichtman, 2013).

Let’s stop talking and start doing.

References

Lewin, W. (2009, April 2). 21st Century Education vs. 20th Century Education. YouTube. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://youtu.be/HiD1UqLPrOg

Lichtman, G. (2013, March 21). What 60 Schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21st Century Skills: Grant Lichtman at TEDxDenverTeachers. YouTube. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://youtu.be/UZEZTyxSl3gThomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Creating a Culture of Comfort with the Uncomfortable

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Why a growth mindset works doesn’t work works

Applied Digital Learning at Lamar is such a dynamic program. For example, it is quite metacognitive because it forces us to walk the talk as it models the skills we implement with our Innovation Project. However, because the ADL program forces us to use higher-order thinking skills, I’m not always sure where it is going. Take my journey with growth mindset thinking as an example. In our first meeting, Dr. H said that the growth mindset by itself doesn’t work. Those words stayed with me throughout the program, even in the class on creating a growth mindset implementation plan. I thought, “Why is he making us create a plan for this if it doesn’t work?” I was very uncomfortable throughout the course of 5302.

Follow my journey with the growth mindset:

Growth Mindset: Useful Tool or Parlor Trick?
Too Close to Home
Growing a Growth Mindset in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD

Comfortable with the uncomfortable

This week we were tasked with reading two articles, one of which detailed the Ottawa Catholic School Board. In Case Study Report – Ottawa Catholic School Board (La Ferrière et al., 2016), the CEA shared “how the OCSB has transformed its classrooms into 21st-century environments that meet the needs of all learners.” Furthermore, the report detailed how “with the conversion of libraries to Learning Commons, increasing broadband, universal Wi-Fi availability and equitable Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policies, the OCSB has created a digital learning ecosystem focusing on collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking among” (La Ferrière et al., 2016). 

Mindset shift

As I read this article and watched the accompanying video, Innovation That Sticks Case Study – OCSB (EdCan Network Le Réseau ÉdCan, 2016), I was struck by the fact that such a structural change was led by a mindset shift. A lot of teachers in the district talked about being comfortable with the uncomfortable (EdCan Network Le Réseau ÉdCan, 2016). For example, they detailed a shift in culture that encourages collaboration, risk-taking, and a growth mindset (EdCan Network Le Réseau ÉdCan, 2016). With this mindset shift, teachers felt more confident to take risks, move forward with their learning, and try innovative things with their students (EdCan Network Le Réseau ÉdCan, 2016). Students could feel this energy as well, as they were not only allowed but encouraged to fail and try again. 

As I consider my plan for PL

“The driving force behind our Board’s success is the insight to lead with pedagogy and to support our pedagogical practices with technology. Our Board is able to leverage digital resources and technology with strong pedagogical alignment” (La Ferrière et al., 2016).

As I consider my professional learning plan, I know that one of my goals in my innovation proposal is to focus on improving digital processes. Therefore, my training focus will be to work with administrative assistants to develop their digital skills in transforming and innovating paperless workflows. This supports the framework described in Case Study Report – Ottawa Catholic School Board (La Ferrière et al., 2016) and is highlighted in the graphic below.

Framework for District-wide Level Change: 4 Pillars graphic

A culture shift, not a prescription

I am really starting to understand how the growth mindset fits into the big picture of ADL, creating structural change, and improving professional learning. The growth mindset is a culture shift, not a prescription. That is to say, you can’t just talk the talk of a growth mindset, you must walk the walk. Once we can get that culture shift all stakeholders might have comfort with failure and cognitive dissonance. With the right support in place, our teachers and staff will be open to the idea that the traditional model of “sage on the stage” is evolving and they will look to students as partners in learning (EdCan Network Le Réseau ÉdCan, 2016).

References

EdCan Network Le Réseau ÉdCan. (2016, May 19). Innovation That Sticks Case Study – OCSB: Risk Taking. YouTube. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAMcjUzdVnE

La Ferrière, L., Puentedura, R., & Fullan, M. (2016, May). Case Study Report – Ottawa Catholic School Board. EdCan Network. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.edcan.ca/wp-content/uploads/cea_ocsb_innovation_report.pdf

The Why, How, and What of CSLE

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It ain’t easy being independent

Destiny’s Child

Independent learner

I’m as independent a learner and thinker as a human can get. Humans can be easy to manipulate and often seek confirmation bias, but that’s another story. However, I’m not sure I’m great at creating independent learners, yet.

We do what is done to us

When I started 5305, I excitedly blogged about my first idea for my Innovation Plan. In short, my plan focused on supporting what I saw as an area of nonconsumption – teaching and supporting administrative assistants with technology use. Then I met with Dr. H and my bubble burst. In my post Winds of Change, I explain how our meeting didn’t go as planned. He suggested a much broader idea for my Innovation Plan that involves going paperless as an office and district to model best practices for blended learning from the top down. After sitting with my cognitive dissonance, I not only accepted but embraced this plan to make meaningful change.

In this meeting, I talked to Dr. H about helping an admin assistant. The admin assistant had asked for support in creating a Google site for her boss. Instead of supporting her, I created and designed the site for her and just showed her how to edit what I had designed. When I proudly detailed that experience to Dr. H, he asked me why I did the learning for her. Deflated, I said, “I’m not sure.” Dr. H kindly replied, “We usually do what was done to us” (Harapnuik, 2021).

Rube Goldberg Machines

My mind immediately went back to middle school. You see, in the eighth grade, we were challenged with designing a Rube Goldberg machine. The moment I got the assignment, I drew a picture of my Self-Diffusing Night Light. When you light the candle it burned a string, and eventually, a cup would fall on the candle to snuff it out. Next, I excitedly showed my wonderful, mechanical father. When I arrived home from school the next day, my dad showed me the machine he built based on my design. He did most of it without me! I was happy to be done but disappointed that I didn’t get to build my design.

During my conversation with Dr. H, I realized that I had done the exact same thing to this admin assistant! I deprived her of the opportunity to learn and I kept her dependent on me for her learning.

The conversation with Dr. H has really affected me and I vowed to become better at creating independent learners, much like I want to be an independent learner.

Start with Why

As I think about moving forward and creating independent learners I consider the purpose of the Big Hairy Audacious Goal. To me, creating and sharing a BHAG is all about the Why and reaching the affective domain.  

Like I said in my post What a Strange Machine Man Is! (2021), “You need to connect to someone’s affective domains first: Their values, motivations, attitudes, stereotypes, and feelings. It’s like the saying “Maslow before Bloom’s” – you need to meet people’s physical and emotional needs before you can reach their cognition.” Also, the BHAG sets the context for the course. By setting an overarching goal, you answer the question, “Are you preparing them for a test or are you preparing them for life?” correctly (Harapnuik, 2021).

Once you have your BHAG, you can align planning, delivery, and assessment. In this case, the intended curriculum goals represent what you plan to teach and the activities show how you plan to teach it, and the assessment shows what students achieved (Harapnuik, 2021). Finally, all of this should be viewed through the lens of specific situational and environmental factors.

Aligning outcomes, activities, and assessments

The beauty of the graphic is that it demonstrates how interdependent the outcomes, activities, and assessments are on one another (Fink, 2003). The model also helps us to see when we have integration and when we don’t (Fink, 2003). If we engage in the practice of creating solid alignment, there is a high likelihood that students will have a significant learning environment (Fink, 2003). As I consider how I’m aligning my outcomes, activities, and assessments, I recognize that I must avoid the four most common pitfalls mentioned in Aligning Outcomes, Activities, and Assessments (Harapnuik, 2021):

  1. Systemic problems: Teachers are responsible for information transfer; our system is based on standardized testing.
  2. Personal: “We do what was done to us.”
  3. Looking for a quick fix to a complex problem.
  4. Partial Perspective: We only assume the cognitive domain and not the affective domain (values/attitudes) or psychomotor domain (physical)

By applying this cohesive planning process, I hope to create a significant learning environment. In doing so, I will cultivate independent learners and thinkers.

References

Fink, L. D. (2003). A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning. Jossey-Bass.

Harapnuik, D. (2021, February 24). Aligning Outcomes, Activities & Assessments: Learners Mindset Fundamentals. You Tube – Learners Mindset. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsmbuD00Vfg

Stateler, K. (2021, December 4). What a Strange Machine Man Is! Cookies N Cache. https://karinstateler.com/?p=272

April Flowers: Thriving in the Right Season

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My favorite season in Texas is springtime. We are moving out of winter and the days are getting longer. Also, the weather isn’t unbearably hot yet. Plus, during springtime, a buzz lingers in the air – the feeling of summer vacation is just around the corner!

Photo by Delaney Van on Unsplash.

However, the biggest reason I enjoy spring is because of the Texas wildflowers. The diversity and beauty of Texas wildflowers are unmatched by anything I’ve ever experienced.  Part of the joy is that they are temporary. In early April, the roadsides are dotted with purple-blue as bluebonnets move in. Next, come the varieties of paintbrushes in an array of colors. They are followed closely by Firewheel, which last throughout spring and summer. By this time, the bluebonnets are in full bloom and Texas families take the opportunity to take pictures with the state flower. During early May, the pink evening primrose delight with their temporary beauty – these flowers last only one day before they wilt and a neighbor blooms. In May, we begin to see members of the ​​Asteraceae family: Brown-eyed Susan, Mexican hat, and coneflowers line the highway. Eventually, some of the earlier flowers start to die down, replaced by summer flowers that aren’t as vibrant but are more hearty and able to survive the summer heat and seasonal drought.

Unlike spring flowers, I was a late bloomer.

Or at least I’ve always thought of myself that way. As a child, my interests shifted rapidly; I struggled to land on a hobby or interest for long. For example, I played floor hockey and softball before I discovered cross country. Also, at different points in my life, I wanted to be a zookeeper, cure Alzheimer’s disease, be a famous singer, author books, study evolutionary biology in plants, and of course, teach science. Even as an adult, I hopped from job to job. I started my career teaching eighth-grade Intro to Physics and Chemistry to affluent children. Then, I took a year off to take a break. During this time, I worked in data entry. Next, I taught fifth-grade science at a Title One school. Honestly – this was probably the most rewarding job I ever had, and the one in which I learned the most. Then, I ended up at a mostly ELL, all-girls public school where I taught a STEM elective class to sixth through eighth grade. Finally, I ended up back in the district I started tackling my current role on the Digital Learning team. 

At 41 years old, I decided to go back to school because I found the ADL program. I feel like I can finally see a path to my future, albeit a bit blurry. I never felt like I knew “what I wanted to be when I grew up.” Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll ever land on one thing. As soon as I begin to wrap my brain around a job or passion, a new door opens and pulls me in another direction. 

Why did I change jobs so much?

When I reflect on Why, it’s hard to pinpoint. Each job change had slightly different reasons. For example, I left my first teaching job after my sixth year of teaching. During my fifth year of teaching, I had a banner year. I connected with my students so well and truly felt I had mastered “teaching.” Then, my sixth year of teaching fell flat. I wondered, “Should I even be a teacher? Maybe I’m not cut out for this.” I was no longer learning and growing in a way I wanted to.

Daniel Pink (Stephenson et al., 2010) shares that three factors lead to peak performance:

  1. Autonomy: Self-direction “You probably want to do something interesting. Let me get out of your way.”
  2. Mastery: The urge to get better at stuff.
  3. Purpose: Making a contribution that is bigger than yourself.


I see this in myself. When I reflect on my itch to switch jobs, I notice a pattern. In all instances, I was lacking autonomy, continued growth, or a connection to a transcendent purpose. Much like plants, all learners – adults included – must have the right environment to be able to grow. How does this connect to learning philosophy?

It’s about learning.

“The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe.”

(Siemens, 2005)

“Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. Connectivism presents a model of learning that acknowledges the tectonic shifts in society where learning is no longer an internal, individualistic activity” (Siemens, 2005).

As I continue to explore learning philosophy, I think I’m landing on Connectivism. However, there’s a strong probability that will change over time, possibly rapidly. Because learning is as much about the environment as it is about a person and the environment evolves, I posit that learning theory must continue to evolve too. Humans learn in a similar way – inquisitively, always exploring their environment – but in a different context. As humans, we change our environment, so what we know about the environment changes. What was true has changed. As we become connected through technology, knowledge no longer exists in a vacuum. What we know exists in ourselves, in others, and in non-human appliances. Learning must be about creating a meaningful environment for knowledge construction that goes beyond what we see as capable now into a realm that explores what might be capable.

As I explore what I believe, I notice the importance of the evolving knowledge of the collective combined with the individual learner. I also notice the importance of creating an environment that encourages individuals to follow their passions, to know where to find the information, and where learners have autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

I have more questions than answers.

Questions I’m still exploring:

  • Where is the line between what benefits big business – humans as machines who become cogs in society – and how people really learn. What is the effect of this on how learning theory developed and continues to develop?
  • Where is the line between humans and technology? How might that evolve?
  • Where is the line between the individual and the collective? How might that evolve?
  • What “skills” or “knowledge” do all students need to have? Beyond number sense and literacy?
    • Do students need to memorize multiplication facts?
    • Do students need to know how to at least read cursive?
  • What is innate and what isn’t?

I think my beliefs about learning will continue to develop as I explore some of these questions in depth. However, I wonder if I’ll ever land on one learning theory forever, as I think that theories evolve as we need them to. Also, if you look at my track record, I don’t tend to hang onto one interest for eternity.

The right environment to flourish:

Regardless of the learning theory that you or I land on, I think we can agree that what we are doing now isn’t working. We must move from an industrial model of education that is about linearity, conformity, and batching (Robinson, 2010). That is, we must move to an agricultural model where human flourishing is an organic process (Robinson, 2010). We must also accept that we cannot predict the outcome (Robinson, 2010). Finally, we must just create the conditions under which learners will begin to flourish, and hope for wild, uncontrollable growth beyond what’s imaginable (Robinson, 2010).

Maybe I’m not a late bloomer. Rather, maybe – like all learners – I just thrive in the right environment. Maybe I just need the right conditions, and maybe those conditions are seasonal. Just like Texas wildflowers in the spring.

References

Robinson, S. K. (2010, May 24). Bring on the learning revolution! | Sir Ken Robinson. YouTube. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I

Siemens, G. (2005, January). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, 2(1). https://jotamac.typepad.com/jotamacs_weblog/files/Connectivism.pdf

Stephenson, A., Park, A., & Pink, D. (2010, April 1). RSA ANIMATE: Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. YouTube. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

Mind the Gap: PD Now and a “New Bliss”

Posted on by karinst8ler

Picture This:

You’re seated at a long table. Your seat is stiff, flat, and backless plastic colored a dingy blue. As you shift in the attempt to find comfort, the student-sized seat creaks in protest. The long table in front of you was cleaned with an unknown chemical that left behind residue and a faint odor that will make you nauseous over the course of the three hours you’ll sit at this cramped cafeteria table. You and your colleagues sit too close for comfort; your colleague’s breath smells faintly of coffee and cigarette smoke that she tries to hide with a heavy, floral perfume. (Notably, this doesn’t work.) Papers rustle and phones ding quietly as the speaker at the front of the room clicks to slide number eight out of infinity while they drone on in monotone.

A small beam of light captures your attention and you watch as tiny bits of dust shift in synchronicity. You remember watching a dust mote in a sunbeam like that in your home as a child while your cat lay in the warm pool of light at the bottom. A soft smile reaches your lips, but your colleague draws you out of this daydream when she taps on your shoulder to ask if you have another pencil. You dig in your bag to retrieve a 0.7 Bic mechanical pencil in lime green. When you hand it to her, you bump your phone and its lock screen awakens. The time is 8:33 am. You have been in this professional learning for three minutes. 

It’s going to be a long day.

We’ve all been there.

As I conclude my 17th year in education, I can’t count how many professional development courses I attended where I learned about how to teach effectively that were presented in an ineffective way.

According to The Mirage (TNTP, 2015, p. 2):

“Districts are making a massive investment in teacher improvement – far larger than most people realize. Despite these efforts, most teachers do not appear to improve substantially from year to year – even though many have not yet mastered critical skills. Even when teachers do improve, we were unable to link their growth to any particular development strategy. School systems are not helping teachers understand how to improve – or even that they have room to improve at all.”

We overload teachers with professional development with the intent to help, but it is far from helpful (TNTP, 2015). And believe me when I say that teachers notice. A majority of teachers find the one-time workshop model of professional development useless (Gulamhussein, 2013).

What could effective PD look like?

According to Teaching the Teachers (Gulamhussein, 2013): 

Professional learning is not a one-and-done deal. It should be significant and ongoing. During implementation, teachers need support to address the specific challenges of changing classroom practice. Teachers should participate actively in making sense of a new practice during the initial exposure. Modeling is effective to help teachers understand a new practice. Teachers should engage in content and/or grade-level specific learning.

Sit-and-get learning may still be incorporated into this new system of professional learning, albeit infrequently. To ensure that it’s meaningful, there are steps we can take to improve our presentation skills.

Improving Presentations with Story and Slidedecks

Simply put, brain science supports the use of stories to convey information. As Nancy Duarte (2013) shared, the structure of stories has been used for 1000’s of years. Even pre-literate cultures used stories to pass down morals, values, and lore. How do we know? Think about the story I told at the beginning of this blog. Could you picture it? Did you hear the seat creak? Could you feel and smell the room? Did you see the beam of light, the droning presenter, or a long-lost pet? Stories pass through our rational frontal lobe and connect with our “heart”, or rather our limbic system. The connection between stories and presenting – while groundbreaking in how it could shape presentations – is not new, but old. That is, we have a literal, uncontrollable physical reaction when we connect with a story.

Incorporating Story

How should we incorporate a story into a presentation? There are a few different models presented. In her TEDTalk Nancy Duarte Uncovers the Common Structure of Greatest Communicators, Nancy Duarte (2010) shares a few models for storytelling. One example she mentions is Aristotle’s Three-Act Play, the Hero’s Journey, and finally Freytag’s Dramatic Story Structure. All of these different varieties include important information to include in a presentation. For example, use a structure that includes a transformation. Also, be certain to include a resolution. Finally, use the hero archetype to connect to the audience. That is use your presentation to make the audience the hero of the story. Then you, as the presenter, guide, mold, and manipulate them like the mentor that you are. 

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Images from ReedsyBlog, Conor Neill, and ClearVoice.

Duarte (2010) ended her talk by comparing the structure that all compelling speakers use. She called this the Sparkline:

Image from duarte.com.

Her greatest instruction is to “plant resistance between what is and what could be” (Duarte, 2010). Duarte (2010) suggested:

  • Modeling for the audience what you want them to feel.
  • Use of repetition.
  • Use metaphors and visual words
  • Incorporate familiar songs and scriptures
  • Draw on relatable experiences
  • Directly compare what currently is to what could be.

For the last turning point, a good speaker should review the call to action and describe the new bliss (Duarte, 2010). In fact, “people will remember the last thing you said more than the beginning or middle” (Duarte, 2010). This reiterates the importance of the call to action in your presentation.

YOU are the Presentation

“Bad slide presentations don’t require a presenter to be interesting, informative, or even present” (Gonzalez, 2013). On the other hand, good slide presentations act as a “visual background” to the presenter (Phillips, 2014). They don’t overshadow the whole purpose of the presentation, which is to hear the speaker.

Yesterday, I was on facetime with our good friends Chance and Brandi. They have a seven-month-old named Kinsely who is the most beautiful, perfect baby I’ve ever seen. (I may be a biased aunt.) When I asked them how they were, Chance said that Kinsley was “doing this weird thing” where she screamed any time they left the room without her. Immediately, I pictured a pinwheel. You see, in the video How Presentation Zen Fixed My Bad PowerPoints (Gonzalez, 2013), the presenter demonstrated as she edited her slides from a list of bullet points to images with meaning.

→→→→→

Images from How Presentation Zen Fixed My Bad PowerPoints (Gonzalez, 2013).

The best part is that I could share what I learned with my friends. I told them that she hasn’t developed object permanence. When they leave the room, her baby brain thinks that they no longer exist. Also, my metacognition allowed me to recognize that I learned this because the slideshow was more meaningful with imagery than the list of bullet points. I am anecdotal evidence that Gonzalez’s (2013) slideshow improvements worked! Finally, I ensured them that this was a phase as babies develop object permanence around eight months.

In his TEDTalk How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint, David Phillips (2014) creatively demonstrated tips for a good slideshow. He said to keep your messages to one message per slide (Phillips, 2014). If there is more than one message, we only pay attention to one of them. Next, he said to include short, sweet bits of text and an image (Phillips, 2014). Regarding size, the most important part of your slide should be the biggest (Phillips, 2014). To demonstrate this, he changed the size of the heading and the body text, and my eyes followed the bigger item! He also said to use contrast to highlight certain parts of a table or slide (Phillips, 2014). Finally, he explained that the magic number of images or items to include on a slide is limited to six (Phillips, 2014). With six items, we just “see” them. After six, we must count the items to know how many there are. It was so fun to “watch” as my brain was tricked by his presentation. If you didn’t watch his video, find it here. It’s a must-see!

A New Bliss

What might it be like if adult learning looked like this? Maybe instead of a room full of colleagues learning the same information, you attend a brief meaningful introduction that lasts fifteen minutes. In that time, you are inspired by a story that pulls on your heartstrings and sets the tone for the day. Then you and a handful of colleagues discuss specific data and lessons in a guided PLC. Next, maybe you watch a mentor teacher teach a lesson that you need some help with. When you ask a question, she tells you to come back next period to teach the same lesson to the next group of kids. Then, she gives you feedback specific to you in a format designed by professionals. Finally, you end your day back in a PLC where you discuss and write to connect and reflect. Over the course of the next few weeks, a coach meets with you to continue to help you grow in specific, measured ways.

Meaningful, individualized professional learning is possible. The gap between what is and what could be is achievable.

References

Duarte, N. (2010). Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences. Wiley.

Duarte, N. (2010, December 10). TEDxEast – Nancy Duarte Uncovers the Common Structure of Greatest Communicators 11/11/2010. YouTube. Retrieved April 2, 2022, from https://youtu.be/1nYFpuc2Umk

Duarte, N. (2013, March 21). Nancy Duarte: How to Tell a Story. YouTube. https://youtu.be/9JrRQ1oQWQk

Gonzalez, J. (2013, September 16). How Presentation Zen Fixed My Bad PowerPoints. YouTube. https://youtu.be/vkrl1j0IW-c

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. https://www.dropbox.com/s/j13c5mk092kmqv9/Teaching_Effective_Professional_Developmt.pdf?dl=0

Phillips, D. J. (2014, April 14). How to Avoid Death By PowerPoint | David JP Phillips | TEDxStockholmSalon. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Iwpi1Lm6dFo

TNTP. (2015). The Mirage. TNTP. https://tntp.org/assets/documents/TNTP-Mirage_2015.pdf

Learning is Living

Posted on by karinst8ler

“What frameworks do we need to make sense of learning in our world of constant change?” (Brown & Thomas, 2011, p. 19).

I started grad school with a huge misconception. Particularly, I thought it would be at least similar in nature to undergrad. However, the Applied Digital Learning program at Lamar is nothing like what I expected. It’s fun to apply the concepts I’m learning about constructivist theory to analyze my misconceptions. For example, the constructivist theory says that I built my understanding of what school is like on what I already know and believe to be true about school (Andrews et al., 2011). Furthermore, what I thought grad school was going to be like early on – sit-and-get, lecture-style coursework – shifted as I experienced the ADL program. This is because “what students know and believe at the beginning of a course is often [scientifically] inaccurate” (Andrews et al., 2011, p. 400). I think we all realize by now that the ADL program is meta.

That is to say, the program is designed to model the very concepts it’s teaching – Choice, ownership, and voice in authentic learning environments.

Gaming as a model for learning

Our grad school cohort reminds me a lot of the example of intergenerational gaming described in A New Culture of Learning (Brown & Thomas, 2011). My team members and I are actively engaged with one another on a quest for learning. The connections we build in the context of grad school work are concrete. This is because, in the ADL program, our professors cultivate meaningful resources and group us into cohorts as our own collective.

  • Cultivation: Take nearly unlimited resources and consolidate them into a bounded, structured environment and adjust as necessary (Brown & Thomas, 2011).
  • Collective: “A community of like-minded people who help [people] learn and meet a particular set of needs” (Brown & Thomas, 2011, p. 21).

In other words, “everything and everyone around us is a resource for learning” (Brown & Thomas, 2011, p. 32-33).

Collaboration for the sake of learning

Coaching and collaboration by themselves do not improve learning (Goodwin, 2015). Studies show that “collaboration without the benefit of outside expertise falls flat” (Goodwin, 2015, p. 2). In other words, the quality of the collaboration is more important than the quantity. In Innovation That Sticks Case Study – OCSB: Collaborative Professional Development (EdCan Network, 2016), teachers shared that the learning they achieve in their model of professional learning applies collaboration effectively.

For example, instead of attending mass training where every teacher hears the same information, teachers as learners take time off to collaborate with one another. During this time, they may “set up lesson plans, decide how they present something, get help with technology, and spend time networking and sharing ideas and knowledge” (EdCan Network, 2016). I believe that our graduate program works similarly. As a learner, I reach out to multiple collaborative groups. In these ever-changing groups, we support one another’s growth as we apply high-level concepts to authentic learning environments. Our collaboration and the collaboration of the teachers in In Innovation That Sticks Case Study – OCSB: Collaborative Professional Development (EdCan Network, 2016) works because it is personalized.

Improving active learning

We do a lot of active learning in our grad school program as well. However, adding an active learning activity or component to a course does not improve learning. “No one can assume that they are teaching effectively just because they are using active learning” (Andrews et al., 2011, p. 403). The implications of this are few but important. Firstly, “we need to build a better understanding of what makes active-learning exercises effective” (Andrews et al., 2011, p. 403). This requires rigorous scientific examination. Next, “we need to develop active-learning exercises useful for a broad population of instructors” (Andrews et al., 2011, p. 403). Finally, “we need to identify what training and oncoming support [faculty need]” (Andrews et al., 2011, p. 403). In other words, active learning cannot be prescriptive bandaid fix. It must be intentional and systemic to be effective.

Constructivist learning

What makes active learning effective? The simple answer is to apply constructivist learning principles. Needs of the learner at the center. What does this look like? The general instructional design involves using backward mapping to create lessons and curricula (Harapnuik, 2018). To begin, identify your desired results. That is, determine the big ideas and skills that you want students to know (Harapnuik, 2018). Then, determine acceptable evidence or the culminating task you will use to assess student learning (Harapnuik, 2018). Only then should you plan your instruction. Harapnuik (2018) calls these learning experiences or learning events. Examples of active learning events include PBL, concept-based learning, case-based studies, cognitive apprenticeships, experiential learning, authentic learning opportunities, and more (Harapnuik, 2018).

Under this model, “the best technology disappears” because it becomes part of the learning environment (Harapnuik, 2018). The teacher moves from the front of the room to the side of the student. S/he is “didactic, reflective, inventive, transformative, presenter, facilitator, coach, and mentor” (Harapnuik, 2018).

These principles are easy to espouse but difficult to apply without continued teacher support and the evolution of systems.

Image from CSLE (Harapnuik, 2018).

It’s about learning

When it comes down to it, our ADL professors model constructivist learning through the COVA model: Choice, ownership, and voice in an authentic learning environment.

Choice: They ignited my passion for the Paperless Office Proposal. Digital solutions are something I care deeply about. 

Ownership: I literally own my website domain! I also own the ideas for my proposal.

Voice: Through blogging, I am finding my voice and making connections.

Authentic Learning Environment: My proposal applies directly to my job, so I have no make work! I also message my peers constantly to work through assignments. Check out Stephen’s and Kim’s work! They have shaped me more than I can express.

Learning is play is culture is living

Learning is so much more than information, data, and content. After all, humans aren’t merely machines. Humans are, “transforming how we think about information, imagination, and play,” (Brown & Thomas, 2011, p. 31). They are rethinking their “motivations for learning across generations, platforms, purposes, and goals,” (Brown & Thomas, 2011, p. 31). Each of us has personal, specific needs but we also have shared interests that can create a collective around those needs. “Learning thus becomes a lifelong interest that is renewed and redefined on a continual basis” (Brown & Thomas, 2011, p. 32).

Learning is living.

References

Andrews, T.M., Leonard, M.J., Colgrove, C.A., & Kalinowski, S.T. (2011). Active Learning Not Associated with Student Learning in a Random Sample of College Biology Courses. CBE Life Sciences Education, 10(4), 394-405. https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.11-07-0061

Brown, J. S., & Thomas, D. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

EdCan Network. (2016, May 19). Innovation That Sticks Case Study – OCSB: Collaborative Professional Development. YouTube. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUusuw-xdr4

Goodwin, B. (2015, December 1). Research Says/Does Teacher Collaboration Promote Teacher Growth? Educational Leadership, 73(4), 82-83. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/does-teacher-collaboration-promote-teacher-growthHarapnuik, D. (2018, July 14). CSLE. It’s About Learning. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=849

Promoting Positive Professional Learning

Posted on by karinst8ler

I spent my first six years teaching affluent middle school children. I grew a lot during that time as most teachers do. According to The Mirage, “Most teachers in the districts we studied did improve substantially during these early years—a well-established pattern that has been documented by many researchers and reflects a natural learning curve” (TNTP, 2015, p. 14). Around year six, I felt an itch to change. Because of this, I decided to try my hand at teaching elementary students. I also ended up in a school where 75% of the students were on free and reduced lunch. Needless to say, I felt like I was back at square one professionally. Once I felt like I plateaued at that teaching experience, I moved to a mostly ELL, all-girls middle school. I realize now that I kept changing because I didn’t feel like I was growing.

How might my career look if I experienced effective and personalized professional learning in year six?

This image demonstrates the professional development plateau that teachers experience after five years.

Image from The Mirage (TNTP, 2015).

The Five Year Rule

Teaching is like an art or a sport. That is to say, it is very skill-based and tacit. According to A New Culture of Learning, tacit learning is “that which grows from experience and lives in your body” (Thomas & Brown, 2011).

While traditional professional development leaves teachers inspired and full of ideas, teachers do not learn how to correctly apply the skills (Daniels, 2013). Teachers don’t need an instructor in a training session talking “at” them, they need support when they go to apply the information to their classroom (Daniels, 2013). Teachers need support alongside them as they plan lessons, implement new strategies, and analyze data. They need someone who will watch them try, fail, and support them as they try again. What do teachers need?

Teachers need a coach and a professional learning community.

Growing Teachers

According to EDLD 5389, there are five principles of effective professional learning:

  1. Extend the duration of PL to weeks or months
  2. Provide ongoing support for teachers during the implementation stage
  3. Use active application of ideas, methodologies, and strategies
  4. Use modeling and/or mentoring
  5. Encourage authentic projects (Harapnuik, 2021).

Teaching the Teachers goes on to differentiate between the two roles of teachers: The Technician vs. The Intellectual (Gulamhussein & National School Board Association, 2013). The Technician refers to the active, tacit, research-based skills that teachers need to learn, apply, and refine with their students (Gulamhussein & National School Board Association, 2013, p. 20). In contrast, the Intellectual refers to teachers as researchers, innovators, and experts in their field (Gulamhussein & National School Board Association, 2013, p 20). With this in mind, coaches, mentors, peers, and administrators can apply the five principles of effective learning through these filters.

This image compares the different roles of teachers as learners.

Image from Teaching the Teachers (Gulamhussein & National School Board Association, 2013). 

Promoting Positive Professional Learning

Needless to say, I am in a new role again – I am part of the Digital Learning team. In this role, I work with district adults on best practices with technology use in their current role. My goal is to take advantage of the coaching and PLC models we use in GCISD. Firstly, I will continue to work with administrative assistants. For example, I will use lunch-and-learns, coaching sessions, PLCs, and newsletters to grow their confidence and skill with technology use. Then, As I grow and improve the implementation of the Five Principles of Professional Learning, I hope to use the skills I develop as a model for the rest of the district.

References

Daniels, K. (2013, November 6). Empowering the teacher technophobe: Kristin Daniels at TEDxBurnsvilleED. YouTube. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puiNcIFJTCU

Gulamhussein, A., & National School Board Association. (2013, September). Teaching the Teachers: Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. The Center for Public Education. https://www.dropbox.com/s/j13c5mk092kmqv9/Teaching_Effective_Professional_Developmt.pdf?dl=0

Harapnuik, D. (2021, April 17). EDLD 5389 Module 1. YouTube. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ib3pdsTFKM

Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

TNTP. (2015). The Mirage: Confronting the Hard Truth About Our Quest for Teacher Development. https://tntp.org/assets/documents/TNTP-Mirage_2015.pdf