My Deep Learning Journey - Deep Learning Artifact

DIGGING DEEP ON COLLABORATION

As I embarked on the Learning Partnership aspect of the Deep Learning Certification, two themes began to emerge in my professional learning journey:

1) How can I build capacity as a peer in my school?

I completed the NPDL self assessment tool, hoping to see which of the four elements of deep learning design I might need to work on the most. Most areas I felt confident or had emerging confidence in. However, the fourth column of the tool, “able to develop in others”, I felt needed development. My role in the school as Teacher Librarian and Student Success Teacher is somewhat unique in that I don’t have my own programs or classes, but rather both roles depend entirely on the collaboration of my colleagues. While colleagues were generally very willing to hand over the reins to me, I felt I needed growth in bringing colleagues into the co-construction process so it’s not a “if you build it, they will come” approach, but rather a process in which colleagues grow in their understanding of deep learning and feel ready to tackle more of it in their individual classes.

2) How can I use the Learning Design Process with greater intentionality?

As I explored the Deep Learning Design Framework, I learned much about the learning design process and how we can plan deeper learning with greater intentionality. I’ve been exploring how we as educators design lessons with the learner at the forefront - getting to know who they are, what they know, how they think and how to reach them most effectively. This model of learning design requires rigorous planning up front but also by using the learning design process, we can take an iterative approach to ensuring success for ALL students through the Universal Design for Learning. I wanted to explore how we can make our students' learning visible so they see learning not as something that happens to them, but rather as something that’s purposeful, authentic, and relevant for every student.

With these two questions in mind, Julie Vaillancourt became my learning partner to explore these areas!

FIRST MEETING

Our first meeting was just before I facilitated a staff PL on the Universal Design for Learning. The conversation was wide and varied, filled with so many great ideas! It really helped me in shifting my mindset from changing teacher practices to optimizing student success when I talked to teachers about how Deep Learning and the Universal Design for Learning could be incorporated into our classrooms!

We also spent time specifically discussing the Principle of Engagement and the guidelines on sustaining effort and persistence and providing options for self-regulation. Our Student Success Center was being used as a toom for "breaks" or when students needed to leave the classroom. Julie suggested a way of tracking that data. Based on our conversation, I developed this Google Form for students to complete when they visited our Student Success Center. I could then find patterns in which classes particular students were leaving and what part of the class they were often leaving for (i.e. whole group instruction, worksheets or booklets, etc). This enabled me to have more conversations focused on finding a success plan for a particular student and less about changing a teacher's practice.

ARTIFACTS OF LEARNING

Student Success Center Check-In Form:

UDL Professional Learning Session:

SECOND MEETING

Our next meeting focused on the collaboration spectrum - how could I amplify the time I spent collaborating with colleagues in order to move beyond communication and cooperation to true collaboration? This meeting really led me to consider the role of "Teacher Librarian" in the school. Is it seen as a "Knowledgeable Other" as defined in Sharratt and Fullan's work? This involved reflecting on the role of the Teacher Librarian. I reached out to a colleague, Melissa Lee (Itinerant for Maker-Centered Learning), who has worked extensively with Teacher Librarians and she shared with me these Standards of Practice. Keeping these Standards of Practice at the forefront, I created a collaboration menu to share with staff in order to be more explicit in how we could collaborate.

ARTIFACTS OF LEARNING

Teacher Librarian Collaboration Menu

THIRD MEETING

Our next meeting focused on how to bring staff into the collaboration process by getting feedback and my making the learning process more visible. Learning is messy and often staff was only seeing the final finished product but not necessarily the flops and the process. We chatted about how to make space and time for staff to reflect when we collaborate. This meeting occurred just after Julie had joined us for our Passion Projects and the Showcase. Many of our staff had been part of this collaboration process and enjoyed being part of it, but we hasn't taken the time to consolidate our learning as a staff and what we could take away from this experience for classroom practice.

At our next staff meeting, we had time to reflect on our takeaways. In order to anchor that discussion, I provided staff with the Student Voice sheets below. In a talking circle, we then discussed the following questions: 1) What is one thing that sticks out to you from the student feedback? 2) What is one thing you find tricky about student-led learning? 3) What is one goal you might make towards more learner-centred practices? This led to many rich discussions - I found it impactful to really take the time to reflect and not just move on to the next project.

ARTIFACTS OF LEARNING

Student Voice - Passion Projects

FOURTH MEETING

Our final meeting centered around the importance of collaborative norms. Although we as a staff had been using norms that were commonly also shared in PL sessions at the district, I found myself wondering about their purpose - were we just saying the norms or were we truly LIVING the norms? For example, I coudl think of sometimes I felt the norms were broken - there wasn't really a process to address that. They were "co-constructed" but I'm not sure there was total buy-in; rather they were just a list of rules that very few people actually had contributed to.

As I learn more about collaboration, I feel strongly that our staffs need to be engaging more in collaborative inquiry together. If we truly want to work towards collective efficacy, we need to go through the process of collaborative inquiry in teams. Part of working towards that will be to truly develop a process for co-creating norms and what to do when norms aren't followed. We know that when a PL session is delivered as a "one and done" event, it will only have impact on 5-10% of those who participated. But if teachers engage in collaborative inquiry and own their learning process, it will have a far greater reach and create a culture of learning in the building. This collaborative inquiry though is dependent on the establishment of norms and living the norms. As I collaborative in the future, I plan to co-construct norms with the groups I work with in order to create a space where trust and vulnerability can exist.

ARTIFACTS OF LEARNING

As I reflected on my learning, I created the infographic below to help capture the process we could use as a staff or a collaborative inquiry group to establish our norms. I am so grateful for the experience to work with Julie throughout the year and really dig into what collaboration is and how it can lead to such enriching learning experiences for all.