Backstory Part 3 - Stumbles to Making it Happen
June 2018
Simultaneously with the launch of our new Innovation Challenges in the fall of 2015, our administration launched a new motto for our school - Better Every Day.
As we shifted designs and ideas to align with this, we also realized difficulty in shifting the way EVERYONE thought about this new idea for PL.
There were many bumps along the way...like teachers showing up for workshops expecting a presentation, only to be presented with a question - what would you like us to assist you with for Challenge #1? Blank stares sometimes resulted in teachers meandering back out of the room as they were unsure what they wanted to work on, and they thought they were just going to sit and listen. This change in thinking and how to take action was hard for some.
We worked our way around to PLC team meetings, we made contact with individual teachers, we worked with admin, we developed an FAQ to address the questions. And then we finally felt like we were gaining traction...until Challenge #2.
And then we had this UH-OH moment of - We’re not all speaking the same eduspeak! Our staff has no foundation or common knowledge to build on! Even us as coaches had differing foundational ideas than our administrators. This was a HUGE problem! But also an epiphany for us. Bronze Level of the challenges needed to focus on building common knowledge and vocabulary in order to build a solid foundation for everyone. Establishing this aspect of the challenges helped to really focus ideas for us as we built challenges and for teachers as they worked on other levels. This really forced us to take a step back and determine the overarching goal of each level within the Challenge.
- Bronze - Building a Common Knowledge/Foundation
- Silver - Teacher-Driven Classroom Application
- Gold - Teacher-Initiated/Student-Focused
- Platinum - Teacher-Facilitated/Student-Driven Creation & Analysis
We also focused on instruction first. We added only those tech tools and ideas that supported the learning outcome of the challenges. We wanted teachers to see instruction and technology as truly integrated. Melded. Not separate.
A couple of funny things happened with this. We made ourselves inseparable. We went EVERYWHERE together, so that teachers had both of us helping them at the same time. This was extremely intentional. We were working to build teacher confidence in both of us and our abilities. We were “partners in crime” only our “crime” was a super intense focus on student and teacher learning. I guess what we really became were Partners in Learning. We even changed our role title at the building level. Rather than an “Instructional Coach” and a “Technology Coach” (separate roles) we referred to ourselves as “TIICs” - Technology and Instruction Integration Coaches.
It worked. As we moved forward, it did not take long for teachers to see us - technology and instruction - as integrated and melded. Not separate and disconnected.
This journey of PL is ongoing. We constantly re-evaluate if we are meeting the PL needs of teachers and evolving how we tackle these needs. Despite the stumbles, we know we’re on the right track. Remember that data from our pre-Challenge professional development? 20% participation, 5-10% implementation? The first year we implemented Innovation Challenges, voluntary participation in PL increased to 54% - all application. By the end of the third year, PL participation increased to 69%...at the high school level.
And...mic drop.
- Ginny