Exploring innovative, personalized, student-centered school change
Author: Emily Hoyler
Emily Hoyler is a Professional Development Coordinator with the Tarrant Insitute for Innovative Education. Part of Emily's role within TIIE is a collaboration with Shelburne Farms, where she is co-developing academic programming and professional learning centered on Education for Sustainability. She has nearly two decades of experience working as an educator, including five years as a sixth-grade teacher, and several years as the Curriculum Specialist at Shelburne Farms. Emily’s current interests include decolonization of education, contemplative practices in the classroom, systems-thinking/sensing, and creating rejuvenating professional development experiences for fellow educators. Emily is a nationally certified facilitator for The Origins Program’s Developmental Designs workshops and served as a Visiting Lecturer in Education Studies at Middlebury College where she taught community-connected courses on elementary methods and Education for Sustainability. Emily lives at the top of a mountain in Ripton, Vermont, with her husband and many Wild Things, including three children, 19 chickens, a dog, and various other untamed critters.
At the Tarrant Institute, we write a lot about Project Based Learning (PBL). We consider it one of the engaging and meaningful instructional pedagogies that we endorse. As an approach, PBL offers many of the traits that address the important needs of young adolescents. It engages students in thinking about real-world problems, gives time for inquiry and research, and suggests that students create their own solutions to questions. Which is why we’re so excited to share our new Project Based Learning toolkit with you. Find it in its permanent location here.
Before anyone sets out to implement PBL, we encourage you to build the culture for this learning. This blogpost about creating a PBL culture in your classroom shares strategies and activities. Our Community & Culture toolkit can also provide you with some resources and strategies to prepare your learners to engage successfully with Project Based Learning.
But even when you build the culture, we know that teaching and learning with PBL can be messy. Students are collaborating in groups. They have varied paths they want to follow. There is trial and error. It isn’t easy! We have worked with countless teachers and schools to help them tell their PBL stories. And we have learned from their work to help guide us forward.
In this toolkit, you will find topics that might resonate with your own inquiry about PBL. Attached are some of our most valuable and relevant resources to help you on your journey towards understanding and implementing PBL with students.
PBL How-To
These posts offer suggestions, steps, and planning tools for how to build and implement PBL in your classroom.
When the pandemic forced students to be at home, we got creative about how to keep PBL alive and well. While students are in person now, we can still learn from this time.
Like a lot of teaching strategies, we have learned from our mistakes implementing PBL. Here are some resources that address some of the potential pitfalls.
It’s that time again! One of our favorite times of the year around here: our annual Winter Reading post. This year, for your listening pleasure, a few of us have also included podcast recommendations! Oh, and as an extra special surprise, we have guest contributions from a few former colleagues!
So without further ado, may we present our lists…
Rachel Mark
I love to read, and that’s no secret. But what I have recently realized is that I love the actual hunt for discovering the right book. As we head into this winter, I think I have really nailed it in finding some “right books” for me.
At the top of my stack is Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. This novel sounds like an endearing story about a female chemist in the 1960’s whose trajectory takes an unexpected turn. Its description as “funny” and “feminist” has made me eye it for months. In fact, I received two copies of it from separate gift givers for my recent birthday. That hasn’t happened since I unwrapped six copies of Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume for my 12th birthday, so it must be a solid choice.
Another fictional pick is on my list is Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: A novel by Gabrielle Zevin. I must admit it was the beautiful and creative cover art that drew me to this book. But the story involves an intersection of love, success and video game design that sounds fascinating. Indie Bound gives it “rave” reviews. I can’t wait to crack its cover.
To satisfy my professional side, I plan to read Leaders of Their Learning: Transforming Schools Through Student-Engaged Assessment by Ron Berger, Leah Rugen, and Libby Woodfin. In part, I’m reading this book to become more attuned and aligned with a specific school district’s work and goals. But it’s compelling to me for other reasons. This book will contribute to my long-term passion project around empowering and engaging students. Its particular attention to student-led conferences, passage presentations with portfolios, and standards-based grading will be relevant and will deep my own learning.
The latest book by Maira Kalman, Women Holding Things, is also on my to-read list this winter. This is not your average book. It contains extraordinary and whimsical illustrations, paired with witty and wise words. I think this book speaks intimately to me. Kalman writes, “What do women hold? The home and the family. And the children and the food. The friendships. The work. The work of the world. And the work of being human. The memories. And the troubles. And the sorrows and the triumphs. And the love.” If you’ve never read Maira Kalman or looked at her artwork, I highly recommend that you do. Her book And the Pursuit of Happiness is one of my favorites. Happy Reading!
Life LeGeros
I write this in the throes of World Cup fever. My love of the beautiful game (soccer) is only matched by my appreciation of a good book. Throw in middle school and equity and I’m hopelessly hooked. I was long ago devoted to Front Desk series, and yet the fourth installment, Key Player, had me particularly excited. Hearing author Kelly Yang recount the famous match at the Rose Bowl between the United States Women’s National Team and the Chinese team was so fun. And then learning that this book was just as autobiographical as the others was simply amazing.
I’m currently reading Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life by sister scholars Karen E. Fields (historian) and Barbara J. Fields (sociologist). The book is a collection of essays that are chock full of brilliant scholarship and exquisite writing. They challenge some of my ideas about how identity operates, about how and why anti-Black racism arose in America, and about whether ideology is about belief or, as they argue, is grounded in day to day practices. It’s good to be challenged and I look forward to reading their recommendations for action.
As I get ready to grow my To Be Read pile here at the end of the calendar year, I need to circle back to some of the books that have been in that stack throughout 2022. One of my kids pulled Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor off the bookshelf the other day to use to prop up the book she was reading. An acclaimed book by one of my favorite authors, that I had forgotten that I own? Perfect! Thank you, universe.
I’ve been working with schools in the Northeast Kingdom this year, which has made for some lengthy and very pretty drives. Here are my favorite podcasts depending on mood:
For deep learning about race and whiteness, the Seeing White season of Scene on Radio was a life changer for me, while Teaching While White has taught me a ton and continues to put out new compelling episodes.
For inspiration and insights about life, apparently podcasts featuring sisters are my thing. I enjoy How to Survive the End of the World with adrienne maree brown and Autumn Brown; and We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle who along with amazing guests often invites sis Amanda Doyle and wife Abby Wambach.
For amazing journalism about crucial topics, my go tos are Reveal for investigative reporting and Throughline for historical context on contemporary issues.
For story telling you can’t beat Snap Judgment and it’s scary story spinoff, Spooked.
For Vermont-centric stories that are as good as anything out there, Rumble Strip is illuminating and mesmerizing while Brave Little State is a treasure. The special series Homegoings, focused on Black musicians in Vermont, is especially powerful.
I’m not always in the mood for a podcast, though. There’s live radio, music, or just sitting in silence with my thoughts. However you like to exist, I hope you get plenty of it this winter.
Emily Hoyler
I confess: I’ve been quite swept away with reality TV these days. I seem to go through phases, and currently I’m not in a book phase. Actually, that’s not quite true. As a doctoral student, I’m doing a lot of reading. But it’s not the wind-down-take-it-easy kind of reading. It’s you-better-have-a-dictionary-and-deep-focus kind. Hence the current Survivor obsession. But given that stacks of books are the key element in my home design aesthetic, there are plenty around, and a few titles that have drawn me in lately.
When it does come time to snuggle up with a book, I am prepared. Not only do I have books, but I have a puppy to snuggle with. As such, Herbs for Pets is on my reading list, as well as Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo, recommended and loaned to me by my friend Samantha. I also optimistically checked out a stack of books from the library as well. I’m really excited to dive into this stack, which includes The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley, and All Adults Here by Emma Straub.
As for listening, the pandemic really crushed the commuting time during which I listened to podcasts. But I still manage to stay caught up with a few. Current favorites include Mary Annaïse Heglar and Amy Westervelt’s Hot Take, which keeps me current on the unfolding climate crisis with some amazing dad jokes thrown in – keeping it light, folks. When I’m up for more unsettling, I listen to Ayana Johnson’s For the Wild: An Anthology of the Anthropocene, which blends sweet music with interviews of visionary activists and changemakers. Lately though, I’ve been feeling saturated, and choose music instead. (Hello, Taylor Swift.)
Bonus Features!
Katy Farber
I was gobsmacked by the brilliance of this book: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It was a bit slow moving at first, but the writing is so gorgeous, lyrical, and descriptive, I’m glad I stuck with it. By the end, I was exclaiming to the woods, my cat, how these stories and worlds came together, through decades, gloriously human and beloved characters, connected to this earth, a story, and each other. I just can’t believe it. If you would have asked me if I was interested in Ancient Greek texts I’d say nope. But this? A book that is dedicated to librarians, present and future? It pulled me along and then sailed me through the last 200 pages like a fast boat ride. Books connecting people, saving people, transforming people. So much love and humanity in this. If you have read it, my goodness! Would love to hear what you thought.
Shout out to Aggie in the background. Best reading partner!
Jeanie Phillips
I’ve got a cozy stack of books awaiting the first snowy days, and one I’ve already begun that I’m loving. Let’s start with that one.
Ruha Benjamin was such an amazing speaker that the Rowland Foundation invited her to be the keynote at their annual conference not once, but TWICE! Her latest book, Viral Justice, is just like her keynotes: warm, personal, and beautiful but also insightful, inspiring, and revolutionary. She weaves together research, policy, science, and her own story — encouraging us to make small changes that will coalesce to make the world more just and humane for everyone. I’ve been listening to this one on audio (read by the author!) but had to have a print copy to annotate and underline. Plus – the cover!!!
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu was recommended (and loaned) to me by my friend Rhiannon. Pausing here to say I just love reading books recommended by dear friends — I love the shared experience of a book and the many conversations that follow — it’s a kind of kinship that brings me so much joy! Interior Chinatown is a satirical look at race and assimilation. It’s the perfect follow-up to the book I’m currently reading: Celeste Ng’s Our Missing Hearts, where assimilation is policed by a patriotic America that has no tolerance for difference.
I’ve got a memoir in the stack, too: Deborah Copaken’s Ladyparts. This one comes to me via my friend Emily who assures me that it is both hilariously funny and powerfully feminist (just like Emily!).
And then there is Inciting Joy! Ross Gay is a poet, but his book of essays, The Book of Delights, is one of my most favorite books ever. In it, he conjures delight from the most mundane things: the roots of trees, pick-up basketball games, two people carrying a shopping bag together — 1 handle each. His essays, like his poems, stir deep gratitude in me and remind me to savor small things.
Here is wishing you joy this winter — in your reading, your gathering, and your resting.
It’s no secret we’re big fans of advisory around here.
And we don’t just mean the time on the schedule that’s called “advisory,” but the practice of circling up with students to build relationships and connections, share ourselves, and laugh, play, and maybe occasionally even cry together. Which is why we’re so excited to announce our new Advisory toolkit. Find it in its permanent location here.
Young adolescents are deep in the throes of exploring who they are, both individually and collectively, and we have the wonderful privilege of stewarding this process. It can be a tricky time for students to navigate increasingly complex social relationships, not to mention juggling multiple teachers (and homework assignments).
Advisory is one of the key ways we support our students.
Advisory, done well, is a core middle grades practice
Despite its name, the morning meeting can happen any time of day. And it can “fit” into whatever time is available, although 20-30 minutes a day is ideal. It’s a time to build relationships and community through greeting each other and being greeted, sharing about our lives, and having fun together. Nothing builds engagement like an enlivening round of Is This Seat Taken? or Silent Ball.
But it’s not all just fun and games in advisory
Advisory is often the structure schools use to create a “home base” for students, most of whom have many more teachers in their schedule than they’ve had in the past. The role of the advisor is to deeply know, advocate for, and celebrate their advisees. Advisors often serve as the key home-school contact, and co-facilitate student-led conferences. In this way, we can make sure that every student is connected with a caring adult at school.
And advisory isn’t just about a circle of chairs. It’s about building relationships and community all day long. That’s why our Identity toolkit, Community & Culture toolkit and our Adult Culture toolkit also have wisdom to offer on this topic.
How do you use the advisory structure to build community and relationship?
Advisory How-To:
These posts offer suggestions, insights, and research on how to build and facilitate advisory.
The pandemic reinforced what we already know: social connections are essential. And some of you got really good at virtual advisory. Here are a few posts sharing those strategies.
Still not convinced? Or need to convince your colleague to invest in this highly effective best practice? Read this series from middle level expert Nancy Doda.
You know the vibe when you walk into a classroom where everyone is engaged and buzzing with learning, and the room is humming with good energy? It’s not accidental. Culture takes deliberate work to build and grow. Learning is happening. Collaboration is smooth. Laughter is present.
How do we get more of that?
Building community, all day, every day
We know that a thriving learning community is essential to student success and wellbeing. And a connected class brings more joy to each school day. But how do we build and maintain an engaged, respectful, and curiosity-centered classroom culture?
Slowly. Daily. With patience, clarity, and laughter.
Community & Culture is such an important topic that we’ve written about it a lot and often. So we are especially excited to present our new Community & Culture Toolkit. Find it in it’s permanent location here.
Building the Culture & the Beginning of the Year
We all want to get off to a strong, solid start. These posts share ideas on how to build the foundation of a strong learning community from the beginning.
See also our tool kit on advisory for more ideas on how to build culture through advisory.
A positive and thriving learning culture must be tended throughout the academic year. These posts address keeping things fresh and real in pursuit of a learning community.
The pandemic may not be over, but we have certainly progressed from the early moments of 2020 when we pivoted to remote schooling. We’ve moved past the mask mandate and daily case reports, into now, the as-yet undefined third year of pandemic schooling. While many things have returned to ‘normal’, we are changed. This collection of posts by middle level expert Nancy Doda offers rumination on what we’ve learned, what’s important, and what we should still be asking ourselves.
A positive and collaborative adult culture is essential to a positive and collaborative student culture. As educators, we must attend to both. We believe that a thriving adult community in schools is essential, so we built a special toolkit just for that topic.Find it here!
A positive and collaborative adult culture is essential to a positive and collaborative student culture.
As educators, we must attend to both.
We can’t expect our student culture to thrive if that quality is not present in our adult community. As adults, we set the tone. Schools should be places where everyone is a learner, where everyone collaborates, where all voices are heard, and where we share responsibility and power.
But how? Below we share our favorite resources on a few essential elements of a thriving adult culture: effective teaming, better meetings, culture-building and self-care.
Effective teaming
If you’ve been fortunate to work as part of an effective teaching team, we don’t need to convince you of the power and benefit of such deep collaboration (not to mention the moral support!). According to The Successful Middle School,
A signature component of middle schooling is the interdisciplinary team of two or more teachers working with a common group of students for a shared block of time, ideally in proximate space. Effective teams serve as the foundation for a strong learning community…They can provide young adolescents for the sense of belonging, social bonding, and connectedness. They can also lead to improved student achievement, improve family engagement, and other positive outcomes. (p. 51)
But the benefits of effective teaming require a strong foundation.
To achieve these benefits of teaching teams require daily common planning time. Educators need regular opportunities to discuss how – and how well – they are meeting learners’ needs. During common planning time, teachers plan how they will integrate curriculum and personalize learning. They analyze and reflect on assessment data and student work, discuss current research, and reflect on their team’s effectiveness. (p. 51)
Whether you’re just getting started or have been teaming for years, these resources can help you as you collaborate with your colleagues:
If you are an administrator looking to support your teaching teams, we are also fans of Elena Aguilar’s work, especially The Art of Coaching Teams.
Better meetings
Once you have your teaming structure established, and have carved out regular time for collaboration, it’s time to think about making the most of this time together.
Time is a precious resource, and we often feel like we don’t have enough if it. Collaboration works best face to face, yet if we spend out meetings reviewing logistics or getting sucked into fruitless discussions we might not be making the best use of the time we do get. This series of posts can help you and your team build a better container for collaboration so you can bring your vision to life.
We love the School Reform Initiative’s protocols so much, we even use them in our internal meetings. Don’t forget the debrief, it’s essential! Reflecting on how our meeting and discussion worked – or didn’t – gives us valuable insight we can apply to future meetings.
Culture-building
How we show up matters. A lot.
Are you showing up as a captive or a curious learner?
The energy we bring impacts the collective energy of the group. Think of someone whose presence always lifts your spirits. We need to decide, each day, each moment, how we are showing up, and to be aware of how our energy is impacting the collective.
It’s also important to play and laugh together. This is what humans – young and grown – often seek in their free time. Why not begin faculty meetings by teaching each other favorite advisory games? This serves double purpose: not only do we laugh together, but we’ll have new ideas to bring to our students.
It’s hard to give what we don’t have. You’ve heard it before, the thing about putting your own oxygen mask on first. Sleep. Movement. Nourishment. A good therapist. Care work is hard work. Take care of yourselves out there.
Our work as educators is undeniably challenging under the best circumstances, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. Especially when we feel connected to and supported by our colleagues.
Why, when our minds can be so clear on the direction we want to go and the actions we want to take. We can be clear that we want change, and what that change is, yet somehow we fall back into old patterns. Habits.
I’m not talking about changing others, or changing the world. Though often I sure wish I had that power. No, I’m talking about changing myself. Changing the way I do things. The changes I want to make in how I show up so that things feel better. Flow more smoothly. Yield more satisfying results.
If you are someone who thinks about self-improvement too, then this post is for you
In my work as a professional learning facilitator, I work with a lot of educators who want to make changes in their teaching practice and school. Some want to give students more voice and choice. Others want to create learning that is more engaging for students. And most want to identify and disrupt inequitable systems and practices – in their own classroom and in their school.
And we all know that making these changes is hard.
In many cases, there are a lot of forces keeping the status quo in place. Things like school schedules, grading and reporting practices, and even public sentiment. Or a global pandemic. Often, these “systemic forces” work against the changes that we are trying to make. These constraints take significant focus and sustained effort to shift and this discussion of habit hacking is less relevant here. And even so, many of these educators persist to make headway and improve the quality of learning in their classroom and school.
Yet in other cases, even with some of these constraints removed, we have a hard time making a change. We see and understand the change we want to make, we are clear on why it’s worth it, and there don’t seem to be any significant barriers. We have control! Yet we make only small, inconsistent, unsustainable progress toward these goals. And it’s not for a lack of effort.
How habits might be key to change
I think I might have stumbled onto some information that might help us stick with the change process. One key might be to make small, intentional shifts in our daily habits.
And our systems are made up of our habits. The small, daily, subconscious acts that make up most of our behavior. Our operating system.
So it’s not that our goals aren’t important — they are. It’s that they are insufficient. It’s that we’re on autopilot most of the time — which is a very good thing from an evolutionary standpoint. It helps us conserve energy. It’s our amazing brain doing the amazing things it does to help us be the amazing human being that we are.
Except when autopilot gets in the way of us making the changes we’re seeking. Because we fall back on our subconscious habits. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
Getting curious about our patterns
You are probably pretty clear on your goals. But how much do you know about your systems? Those constellations of habits that make up the way things shake out?
The first step in adjusting our habits is becoming aware of them. What are the ways we are habitually showing up in our lives? Where are the patterns in our behavior? We can’t adjust something unless we’re aware of it.
When I was teaching sixth grade, one of my goals was to share power with my students. But in order to achieve that goal, I needed self-awareness. I needed to understand how power was showing up in my classroom and in my practice. And I needed to be able to see the habits that made up the system of power in my classroom. What were the small ways that I was — or wasn’t —sharing power?
With your goal in mind, consider your practice. How do you interact with students in your classroom? What are the patterns of behavior you notice? How do you “usually” do things?
Are there actions that you take each day, phrases that you use? Where are you on autopilot?
Once we have revealed some of this unconscious behavior to ourselves, it’s easier to begin to think about how to shift it.
Sometimes engaging others — colleagues or even our students — can help us see our blind spots. What if you and your students investigated the habits of your classroom together? What might you discover? It may be helpful to focus on routines and rhythms of daily life. What happens at the beginning of class? At the end? What are your goals for these times?
Now that we can see our patterns, it’s time to think about which habits we have control over and are also getting in the way of our goals.
Part of sharing power with my students means giving them more autonomy and responsibility in the day to day operations of our classroom. So I know that I want my students to have more voice and choice, but notice that I am in the habit of planning and facilitating each morning meeting, it seems quicker and easier. Now I’ve discovered one of the habits that could be getting in the way.
We will probably notice all sorts of habitual patterns in our behavior and in the systems we’re part of. Some of these patterns will be super helpful. Others will be getting in the way of the changes we want to make. Some will be both — it’s quicker and easier if I plan morning meeting, but it also doesn’t give my students a chance to lead. So we need to sift through these insights to figure out what might make the most impact.
Then choose. The key here is that we want to go small. Big change is hard. Small change is less hard. We want to identify one habitual pattern that we want to shift to bring our teaching practice closer to our goals.
Building systems for success
Once we’ve zeroed in on the shift we want to make, it’s time to create a new pattern. This is hard. This takes effort. This chafes against what we’re used to. Our brain will tell us it’s easier and faster if we just do it the old way. (It’s not wrong, that smart brain!) That’s ok. Keep going. Remember that these small habits make up our system, and “we don’t rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems.” (Thanks again, James.) So let’s tune those systems!
So if I want my students to gradually take over planning and running morning meetings to give them more voice and choice, I need to scaffold the process. I’ll need to teach them how I plan the meeting, selecting a greeting, share topic, and activity. We’ll need to compile a list of all the greetings, shares, and games we know. I may need to create a planning form and calendar, and coach and remind them to use these tools. It will take time. It might take a couple of weeks to build the systems, and a few more weeks of practicing before it’s happening smoothly and relatively effortlessly. But this gradual release of responsibility will help them gain power, and it will help me share power.
Over time, together, we will develop a new habitual pattern: students in this classroom plan and lead our morning meeting. We share power in this space. And once we’ve figured out this new habit, we can look for another small habit to tweak to continue to pursue sharing power.
A practice, not a perfect
Teaching is a practice – not a perfect. So is changing our habits. Once we’ve become aware of a habit pattern, and become intentional about why and how we want to shift it, change becomes more possible. Not easy, but doable.
In habit changes, consistency trumps intensity, so making small, wobbly, persistent progress toward a new habit is much more effective than making grand and short-lived efforts toward change. Sometimes keeping track of our progress helps us persist (and even celebrate) in change.
Change is hard. And we can change.
What habit shifts might help you reach your goals for improving your teaching practice?
Many of the routines of the school day have been frayed by the pandemic. From kids unable to engage in work to walking out of class altogether, we are seeing norms and relationships stretched and tested like never before. This might even be described as “normal” right now — as in that it’s the norm, it’s typical and (sort of) expected (note: not “normal” in the more colloquial sense of ‘the way it’s supposed to be’). It makes me wonder if intentionally centering relationships and routines could help ease things?
That’s what teaching is, isn’t it? It’s about being in community with young people. At least that’s what has been true for me. Sure, it’s also about “teaching” them things – but a wise person once said we don’t teach subjects…we teach children. And they sure teach us a lot, too.
Wobbles
It took me a while to learn how to be with my students. My first year teaching, I danced between tight control and laissez-faire. My students waffled from rebellion to no boundaries. (Spoiler: neither really worked out like I’d hoped.) It was kind of a mess. But it was a caring and connected mess. We had fun at least. But I still hadn’t figured out how to be. What was my role as the “adult” in the room? As the teacher?
Sometimes we call this part of teaching “classroom management”, but the more I think about that term and what it implies the less I like it. I don’t want to “manage” students; I want to nurture their learning. I don’t want to have “control” of my class, I want to engage them. I don’t want to instill a culture of “compliance,” I want to co-create a community of caring and curiosity.
Routines that become…routine
In the summer following my first year teaching, my team attended a Developmental Designs professional development workshop. And it was a game changer. (Full disclosure: I am such a believer in the Developmental Designs ways that I have become a trainer.) I learned a different way to be in relationship with my students. I learned how to share power and scaffold responsibility so that my students could partner with me and one another in co-creating our learning space. And I learned very concrete ways to accomplish these aspirations.
It was in this workshop that I first learned about Boynton & Boynton’s research on classroom management and the importance of proactive management. Essentially, the Boyntons found that if we spend 40% of our time building relationships with and among our students, and 50% of our time establishing and practicing routines, we’ll only need to dedicate 10% of our management time to reactive strategies — dealing with things that aren’t going as intended.
Too good to be true?
It kind of sounds too simple, doesn’t it? But after aiming for that formula for several years (and practicing routines ad nauseum), I found it to be mostly true. And while these numbers may not hold up in the collective trauma that is school-during-covid, I still believe that we find our power to fly in relationships and routines.
But how?
According to Boynton & Boynton’s research, approximately 50% of our “management” efforts should be directed to developing and practicing routines. In my experience, no routine is too small: how to sharpen a pencil, how to move a chair, what to do when the bell rings. All of the seemingly small, inconsequential things that somehow halt the flow.
Are you noticing any patterns of where things are going not-so-well? Is it when students enter the room? Is it transitions? Is it independent work time? Make a list of important routines (bonus if you can do this with your colleagues and students). Then, hone in on a couple of these routines and think about how they should go. What are the steps to success? Break it down into super small parts. First do this yourself. Then together with students — leave room for their ideas and suggestions. How could we make this better/more effective/quicker/less disruptive? What are the benefits to us as a group if this goes well? Why would it be important to make sure this happens smoothly?
Practice, Practice, Practice
Then, practice. And practice some more. Like, literally get up and do the steps you just articulated. Have the students practice. It will feel silly! That’s ok. It’s also ok if it takes half (or all) of your class to get this important routine down. Because this is an investment in the future. As they say in Developmental Designs, “go slow to go fast!”
Then tomorrow, perhaps a quick reminder of how the routine goes. And don’t forget to notice success! If it took 17 fewer seconds for students to transition today, that’s something! If you accumulate enough of that “saved time” you could even celebrate with a game of silent ball!
Finally, when routines begin to slip again (and they will, especially after a long weekend or vacation, but really any time), practice again. Invite students to review the routine, why it matters and take a minute to practice. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
Building relationships & community, all day, every day
The other 40% of proactive classroom management, according to the Boyntons, is building relationships. Getting to know these young humans with whom we spend our days. Sharing our stories, laughing together. And thriving learning communities are built of strong relationships.
You probably already have structures for building relationships in place. Advisory, anyone? But the magic of advisory can be woven throughout the day when we take the time to get to know one another. Consider how PLPs or identity units might help you get to know students, or how student clubs might pique interest and engagement.
Some teachers do a check in at the beginning of class – a quick whip around where everyone is invited to say whatever’s on their mind. They make time for games and to have fun together. They ask students about their lives, their passions, their worries, their hopes. All of this. Because how we show up matters, so let’s cultivate a culture of caring with and among our students.
According to the Boyntons’ formula, if we dedicate 90% of our energies to relationships and routines, then we’ll only need to spend 10% of our time responding and redirecting behavior. While that number may seem comically low this year, there’s something to be said for investing our energy in building things in the direction we want them to flow rather than playing Whack-a-Mole when things go awry.
So I’m curious what happens right now, in this unprecedented moment, if we recommit to routines and relationships? While it surely won’t be a panacea, it can’t hurt, right? And it will probably bring some comfort, too. How might you strengthen routines and relationships this week?
It’s that time of the year again – the beginning of a new school year. The launch of a new school year has always felt like another occasion to wish everyone Happy New Year! (Confession: I have definitely been known to exuberantly exclaim ‘Happy New Year’ to colleagues and students in the hallways this time of year.) It feels like a great time to get geared up and aligned for a fresh start. The weather is (hopefully) cooling off, and there’s a crisp alertness in the air.
This year, of course, is different. Again. After enduring arguably the toughest year ever to be a teacher, we’re heading out again into further uncharted territory. Maybe we’re excited. Perhaps we’re anxious. We can’t wait to see our students. And likely, we’re feeling trepidation about how all of this will unfold. As my eight-year-old quipped on her way to summer camp: we’re nervicited.
So, dear educator, this blog post is our love letter to you. Your New School Year care package, if you will. Filled with our wishes, hopes, and dreams to support you in the year ahead. There will be highs and lows, and we’ll be right by your side.
Ready
And knowing many of you, you’ve been at it all summer. Reflecting, planning, preparing. And hopefully taking some down time, too. Time to recharge, refresh, and renew your spirit and body. We’re all familiar with the metaphor of putting our own oxygen mask on before helping others. These days, more than ever, that remains important.
With our feet solidly under us, we can do anything. To get yourself ready and grounded, here is some food for thought:
In To the emotional resilience of educators Katy Farber reminds us of the toll that care work takes on us, and what to do about it (hint: boundaries, resilience, and pausing are key strategies)
The tips shared in Pandemic teaching: self-care edition are (unfortunately) still relevant. Someday we’ll look back on these years as a specific era that came to an end, but for now, we’re still in that tunnel. Taking care of our big rocks (sleep, nutrition) and ‘settling the ball’ can help us navigate another unusual year.
Image by Pexels from Pixabay
Steady
The world is an exciting and dramatic place these days. To the point of exhaustion, really. If the education-centered hubbub on your social media feed raises your anxiety level, you’re not alone. Equity work in schools is essential and important. And change is hard. As poet Maya Angelou said, ‘when you know better, you do better.’ And that’s what educators are all about. So as you anticipate challenging conversations about your commitment to students and to equity, here are some supporting words:
Finally, are you experiencing pushback in your equity work? It’s an expected part of doing this work, and it means we’re doing it right. This is one of my favorite posts on how to handle these situation: Student intervention for anti-racist education
Go
After readying and steadying ourselves, we’re eagerly anticipating the good part: being with our students! As we launch into this next school year, our students remind us of the reasons we’re here. How can we engage them in meaningful and relevant learning that will also boost their mental health and resilience? Here are a few ideas:
Why and how to teach education for sustainability explores an approach to learning that engages youth in improving the quality of life in their community here and now. In an era when many things feel out of our control, feeling empowered to make a difference…makes a big difference.
Want to hear more about service-learning? Then you should definitely give the #vted Reads episode All about service-learning a listen. There, host Jeanie Phillips chats with our colleague Katy Farber about the what, how and why of service learning. (Bonus points if you pair your listening with a walk in the woods. Forest bathing, anyone?)
So, dear educator, happy new year! While we don’t yet know what this year will hold, we can be assured it will be dynamic, evolving, and full of growth. For all of us. We’re sending you off into this fresh, new year to keep doing amazing things for and with your students. We see you, we support you, and we celebrate you! Welcome back. Happy new (school) year! You got this.
Middle school students are ever-changing, curious, socially and globally aware, and incredibly capable. Their energy and urge to explore can be channeled into rich and fertile learning territory. It’s such a privilege to walk alongside them as they grow during these often tumultuous years.
Folks often say it takes a special kind of person to teach at the middle level (count me in). It also takes a particular approach to teaching to best meet the academic, social, emotional, and cognitive and individual needs of this age group.
I recently sat down for some quality time with the revised 5th edition of this book. It left me feeling so inspired and excited about the alignment between this book and another one of my passions: Education for Sustainability.
While The Successful Middle School dives clearly into the what and the why of promising practices in middle-level education, Education for Sustainability (EFS) can be a powerful ally when it comes to the how.
“Early adolescence is a time of considerable moral development, and issues of equity, injustice, and sustainability are important fodder for middle school curriculum. Students benefit from seeing that their work can make a difference in the world around them.” The Successful Middle School p.38
Ok, so then, what is Education for Sustainability?
Before we get to defining Education for Sustainability, let’s get clear on what we mean by ‘sustainability.’
Often the word brings to mind things like recycling or solar panels. Those things are part of the story… but only part.
When we’re talking about sustainability, we’re talking about three core concepts, often called the 3 E’s of sustainability:
environment
equity
economy.
More specifically, we’re looking for the intersection of economic vitality, ecological integrity and social equity. Find the balance where each of these criteria are met, and that’s the center of sustainability.
So when we talk about Education for Sustainability (EFS), we’re talking about an approach to education that engages students in authentic and meaningful learning that strives to create conditions for sustainability.
EFS links inquiry and action through:
Rooting learning in the natural and human communities that students are part of,
Helping students develop their understanding of systems and interconnectedness, and
Engaging students in making a difference in their own communities, here and now.
Through these place-based service-learning opportunities, students begin to develop a deep connection to place and community and sense of agency.
Through Education for Sustainability, we can nurture the development of community members engaged in creating sustainable and democratic communities.
The successful, sustainable middle school
Central to both effective middle level education and Education for Sustainability is the importance of a whole-child approach. Both prioritize nurturing students’ sense of wellbeing, as well as their academic growth. Both approaches also signal the importance of providing opportunities for students to participate as active citizens in their local and global communities.
“[Students] engage in active citizenship by participating in endeavors that serve and benefit [their] communities, such as exploring more socially just and ecologically sustainable ways of living.” The Successful Middle School, p.5
Arguably, the most important ingredient in thriving schools is strong and caring relationships. It’s the secret sauce that holds it all together. Relationships are crucial. Students should be rooted in caring relationships within and beyond schools. Students are seen. Their multiple identities are honored and valued. And students are recognized as the capable and creative young people they are through engaging them as partners in the learning. We take them seriously and make room for them to shine.
We also value the power of collaboration. Middle grades students are social creatures by nature. Making space and supporting collaborative learning is both highly engaging and effective. And the collaboration doesn’t end with peers.
…and community partnerships
Not only do these strong relationships create a culture of safety and affirmation at school, but they extend out into the community. Community partnerships are key for creating authentic and meaningful learning.
“Genuine, innovative, and sustainable community partnerships are a fundamental component of successful schools for young adolescents.” The Successful Middle School p.21
“…these relationships are vital to connecting the curriculum to relevant, real-world issues.” Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
Community partnerships offer opportunities for students to engage in learning that makes a difference. This could look like collaborations on community gardens, community mural projects, or even addressing food insecurity or racial justice issues in the local community. By connecting with young adolescents questions about themselves, their community, and the world, learning becomes highly engaging and empowering.
And speaking of meaningful, relevant learning:
Successful, sustainable middle schools find leverage when they engage pedagogies that put students at the center.
“Negotiated curriculum, youth-adult partnerships, personalized learning, and YPAR offer well-established frameworks for engaging students meaningfully in their learning and in the world around them.” The Successful Middle School p.39
These approaches give students a sense of purpose. They also provide an authentic context through which to develop essential skills such as problem-solving, effective communication, collaboration, and self-direction. Exactly the kind of humans the world needs!
That sounds great. How do we pull it off?
EFS engages several student-centered pedagogies, including project-based learning, place-based learning, negotiated curriculum, and service-learning. It sounds like a lot.
But actually, these approaches blend together quite easily with impressive results.
When you engage students in generating questions about themselves, their community, and the world (negotiated curriculum + place-based education) and then use those questions to drive inquiry and action to make a difference here and now (project-based learning + service-learning), you get some personally meaningful, highly engaging, and civically-oriented learning.
This week, something new for us: a letter from our mailbag. While we aim to help everyone on a regular basis, it’s always exciting to hear directly from our readers. In this case, we try to provide a little context-setting for a reader who goes by the handle, “Sustainably Yours”.
“Dear InnovativeEd,
I’ve been teaching about climate change and the natural world for quite some time, but I’m not sure I’m really hitting the mark in terms of truly empowering my learners. We grow a school garden, and we go outside and we think about climate change together, but how can I take it further? (Does this connect with PLPs??) What am I missing? How can I tie it to equity efforts in my school? And how do I ensure I’m doing right by my learners?
Signed,
Sustainably Yours”
Dear Sustainably Yours,
How fantastic that you’re already engaging your learners in such relevant and meaningful learning! You are asking some great questions here, and to answer them I have a few questions for you!
When I hear you talk about climate change, school gardens, and learning outside, what this means to me is that you’re interested in sustainability. My first question is the big one: What’s your why? Why do you, as an educator, want to engage your learners in these types of experiences? What types of skills, attitudes, knowledge, and understanding are you hoping to cultivate through this work? What are your hopes for this learning?
For me, the why is about nurturing the development of citizens who are engaged in creating democratic and sustainable communities. And I believe that through
rooting students to the natural and human communities that they are part of,
developing their capacities as systems thinkers, and
helping them develop agency through engaging in meaningful learning that makes a difference in our community, here and now (not in some distant, “grown up” future)
through experiences like these. We are well on our way!
This approach is known as Education for Sustainability (EFS) (or Education for Sustainable Development internationally) which is “learning that links knowledge, inquiry, and action to help students build a healthy future for their communities and the planet.”
And EFS addresses your question about dismantling inequity as well. Because ‘sustainability’ lies at the intersection of social, environmental, and economic justice, a sustainable approach, by definition, must disrupt inequity. In other words, a ‘sustainability’ perspective must consider social equity, economic vitality, and ecological integrity.
So what do school gardens and climate change have to do with equity?
Now, I noticed you asked specifically about addressing equity in schooling, and how you might truly empower your learners. So I’m wondering what kind of role your students have in designing the learning? How do you — or might you — involve students in co-planning meaningful learning experiences rooted in place?
As John Dewey says, “We don’t learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” And whatever you call them (portfolios, anyone?), documenting learning goals and processes, and reflecting on learning become even more powerful when paired with such impactful and empowering experiences.
In my first few years in the classroom I was trying to engage students in these types of learning experiences. But I kept feeling like I was missing my mark. Now I realize it’s because I wasn’t yet clear exactly on why or how. I also discovered a whole community of educators who shared this endeavor. And now you can too: Shelburne Farms and the University of Vermont are excited to be partnering on summer professional learning courses for educators. Check out our offerings here (Full disclosure: I’m one of the instructors!) I really hope you join us!
Signs of spring surround us: snow is melting, the days are lengthening, and the mud has returned. So it must be time to think about school gardens! School gardens have become increasingly popular over the past few years, and for good reasons. They’re highly engaging, and ripe with educational opportunities, ha ha. But did you know you can also plant a personalized learning garden?
Why school gardens?
School gardens present fantastic learning opportunities. They’re part of a larger Farm to School movement that’s seeking to improve the health of students, food systems, communities, and local economies in one comprehensive strategy. And we know it’s working!
We know hands-on experiential learning is great for students. School gardens offer opportunities for students to dig into science, math, social studies, and language arts, but they also provide a ton of great opportunities to develop a wide array of other skills we’re seeking to cultivate: problem-solving, perseverance, goal setting, planning, reflection…you get the idea.
Why now?
And right now, they are especially well suited to our current situation.
With food insecurity increasing across the country, growing food with students will not only provide food for your community but will also provide students with an invaluable life skill. One they can depend on in the future. And while we might be nearing the end of the pandemic, we’re not quite there yet. As we discovered in the fall, moving learning outside is a brilliant idea— and something we hope you keep doing even when we’re all more comfortable in close quarters.
Students across the InnovativeEduverse are digging in. They’re connecting learning to the food system.
With the help of their community, middle schoolers at Essex Middle School built their own sugaring operation on school grounds. They negotiated the planning permits, the construction, and keep it running to this day.
Wherever you are in your school garden journey, a quick internet search leads you to troves of amazing ideas. But how can a garden fit in with effective personalized learning?
Story time: School gardens as personalized learning
As the warm spring sunshine permeates the classroom, Ms. E and her 6th grade students gaze out the window, longing for outside. They return their attention to morning meeting for the prompt:
What are you looking forward to this spring?
One student, shares about her family’s sugaring season, and how they’ve also just planted tomato and pepper seeds. Next, in the Q&A, other students share memories of gardening with parents and grandparents and savoring the taste of cherry tomatoes plucked fresh from the vine.
Another student reminisces about the garden his class took care of at his old school. A few other students recall their elementary school gardens.
Ms. E gets an idea.
“What if we had a garden here?” she wonders aloud.
Affirmative murmurs ensue. Ms. E is thinking about how she might tie the school garden to her Humanities curriculum. An information writing unit is coming up, and students have already identified goals in their PLPs they can tie in.
The following day, the class uses more of the morning meeting to think together about why, how, and what a school garden a Mountain Maple Middle School might look like.
By early the next week, two students write out a proposal to bring to the principal. Another pair research climate and USDA zones, while still others plot out a location for the garden in the sunny area behind the softball field.
Ms. E has connected with her teaching team. Mr. D, the science teacher, and Mx. W math teacher are totally on board. They’re considering how they might tie in some STEM standards to this student-led project. They all consider how to flex the schedule to build more time for this collaborative project.
The students are thrilled when the principal gives the go ahead.
Now things swing into action. With a little coaching from their teachers, the students begin to self-organize. They form a Landscaping Team, a Research Team, an Outreach Team, and a Documentation Team to start. Malcolm is psyched because he loves making videos for YouTube, and now he can meet his PLP goal of becoming a YouTuber. Lola and Ulti are writing progress entries on the class blog, and Ruben and Sonni are working with Mx. W on a grant proposal.
By the time the mud outside begins to dry, this class has turned the soil outside. They’re almost ready to plant.
It’s amazing how much 15 adolescents and a broadfork can get done in 20-minute installments…
(Cue the credits)
Oh, I could go on and on. And we’re just getting started. But you get the idea.
Where did personalized learning show up in that little vignette?
student voice
co-designed curriculum
project-based learning
service learning
team teaching.
It’s everywhere.
A garden can be so much more than a garden. It can be a way to get outdoors, partner with students on an engaging project, and even contribute in a meaningful way to the community. It can be a personalized learning garden.
Starting small
While that story might be inspiring, it might be a long-term vision if you’re just getting started.
Beginning with a small and manageable-yet-engaging project is an easy start. Grow and plant flowers in the existing beds in front of your school. Do some future planning for a garden site, or explore soil science and play in the dirt. Build off students’ home gardening experiences, and bring their (and their families) expertise in to help you get started.
Another great project? Grow A Row, where you plant an extra row of veggies to be donated to your local food shelf.
Start with you
Of course the best way to get this project off the ground is to turn it over to your students. Let them tell you about themselves as gardeners, record-keepers, horticulturists and chicken-coop-constructors. But if you’re looking for a way to dig deeper into the connections between personalized learning and gardening and sustainability, we highly recommend taking the summer to grow your own knowledge with these courses from Shelburne Farms:
Start seeds in the classroom and send them home when they’re ready to be transplanted — after you’ve researched, measured, and documented all the amazing transformations they’ve undergone since you planted them.
Anything goes, really. But mud and grass and sunshine should be involved whenever possible.
Right now the problems of the world can feel so very big. And we can feel small. We can feel powerless. We can wonder: what’s the point? To which we say this: one person is the key to systemic, lasting change. One person is enough. Because the power of one multiplied by many? Changes everything.
The pandemic and the political upheaval across the United States, the fight for climate change and a deeper conversation on equity, have made a lot of us take a closer look at the here and the now. And what we can do about it.
And an integral part of that entails us believing that one person has the power to change the entire world, whether that world is our climate, our town, or our systems of schooling.
We know, it’s a lot.
Just as it can be overwhelming to consider our own place in the scale of the universe, it can be equally demanding to consider how to respond to the call to be the change we wish to see in the world.
We feel so small. And these problems are so very big.
But we’ve realized one crucial thing:
The only way we can begin to tackle these problems is if we show up and try.
Think of a fern: the frond of the fern contains a pattern of leaves, and each leaf replicates that pattern at a smaller scale.
And each petal of each leaf holds that pattern again in miniature.
“How we are at the small scale is how we are at the large scale. The patterns of the universe repeat at scale. There is a structural echo that suggests two things: one, that there are shapes and patterns fundamental to our universe, and two, that what we practice at a small scale can reverberate to the largest scale.”
From this, brown suggests that by living and being in our own lives the way we want the world at large to be, we can create a pattern at the smallest scale which can replicate across the system.
brown quotes her mentor, Grace Lee Boggs, as saying: “Change yourself to change the world.”
And that?
That we can do.
And you can too.
When we get overwhelmed at the scale of the problems, we make it smaller. We reflect on how our actions are aligned – or not – with the change we want to see. From there, we can adjust and create the reality we want to manifest. It turns out there’s often plenty of work we can do on ourselves and our immediate surroundings.
Mary DeMocker, in her book The Parents’ Guide to Climate Revolution, tells us that if we have a choice, “We should always choose systems change over lightbulb change.”
Now, what we might not realize is that in a lot of cases, doing one pulls us closer to the other. Small individual actions are the flywheel that powers systems change.
This is already a game of hope and faith.
When we think about the change we hope to see in schools, we are thinking about systems change. How can schools better serve all students? How can schools move to proficiency-based learning, and towards creating communities in which all students feel welcome, appreciated, and supported as learners?
When we choose to try out a student-created unit in class, or connect a learner with a community organization — or even just figure out how to give credit for a student making that connection, we are making systems change.
Deciding to simply eliminate out-dated terms from our everyday speech, we are making systems change in miniature.
But those choices add up, and they move mountains.
Everything is terrible, and all we have is us
Finally, environmental studies professor Sarah Jaquette Ray, in her book A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety has more sage advice that resonates with our work as an educators: we need to redefine action, the way we measure our efficacy at making a difference.
As educators, we know that the impacts of our work — the seeds we’ve helped cultivate — may not be visible or obvious for years to come. Just like we don’t give up on our students even when we can’t see the evidence of our efforts, so too must we persist in our fight against systemic oppression and racism in the systems we’re part of.
And like that student who shows up in your doorway years, or even decades, later and tells you that you made a difference, our work now to disrupt inequity and create might not reap fruit for a long time.
But this is a marathon. And we know how to play this game of hope and faith.
Editorial Note: This post was scheduled for publication prior to the events in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021. As ever-increasing cracks in the foundation of our democracy reveal weakness and corruption, so too do these revelations allow the light of justice and truth to penetrate. As educators, our work to help young people learn to communicate across differences, think critically, and work for justice is as important as ever. This remains an apt time to reconnect and reflect. For support on challenging conversations with your students, please see How to Have Difficult Conversations about the Election for resources and ideas.
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” –Leonard Cohen
This year may be Very Different, but the mile markers are the same. And right now, we’re at the beginning. A fresh new calendar collection of 12 months yet unwritten.
Returning to our familiar traditions and rituals can keep us feeling balanced and rooted in the familiar. As we consider our own intentions for the year ahead (or maybe just for this month, week, or even just today), we can also invite our students into this space of reflection, hope, and growth.
These crystalline days of early January offer us a chance to reconnect with one another, and reset our learning environment. To regroup, reflect and reach.
Reconnect:
Whether you’re in-person, hybrid, or remote, caring relationships are the bedrock of a thriving classroom community. And Morning Meeting is one of the best times and places to intentionally build these relationships.
Young adolescents need connection and fun to thrive. With everything else we’re juggling, it can be easy to let making time for games and activities fall to the wayside. Students are brilliant at coming up with fun activities, but if you need a few more ideas to get started, check out:
14 socially distanced advisory activities to liven up your connection time. Kindness Bingo, Heads or Tails, and Two Truths & a Lie are just a few of the gems highlighted here. Consider establishing a class DJ to open your morning meeting, or open the floor up for knock-knock jokes and riddles! (Laughter = good.)
But solid relationships are built on more than just games:
5 resources for building community features ideas on how to engage your community in meaningful dialogue, whether the topic is self-reflection, planning for success, or current events, these ideas will help you scaffold conversations. And if current events turns to politics, check out:
7 mindfulness activities for advisory shares movement and breathing exercises to help students cultivate grounded awareness. Mindfulness also happens to be a great strategy for mitigating stress. These practices could also be the opener to a classroom discussion about healthy ways to handle stress.
Reset…
We often speak of the first six weeks of school as the key time to establish routines and expectations so that learning in community can run smoothly. It’s also important to *return to* these explicit guidelines after breaks. If we’re proactive about setting clear success criteria, there’s less chance things will go awry. And when we co-develop these evolving expectations with students, they are much more interested in carrying them out.
Hey, yeah, you’re older and more capable than you were in September, students! How should we change it up? What’s working? What could be better? What can we let go of?
New year? Time for a reset reviews both the why and how of re-establishing routines for student-directed learning. Whether in the classroom or learning from home, clarity is kindness.
8 Tips for creating classroom routines and norms gets into the nitty-gritty details of how to build these strategies into your day. Even if you created norms at the beginning of the year, it’s a great time to check-in and reflect on how well they are (or aren’t) helping everyone reach their goals.
Establishing behavior expectations in a 1:1 is a bit of a throwback to the Before Times, when each student having 1:1 access to a computer was a new thing. BUT! There is still plenty of relevant advice in here about helping kids learn to manage their technology, which is more important than ever these days (as we all know).
Reflect & Reach
This turning of the year is a great time to look backward and forward, to reflect on how we’ve grown and changed, and to set new goals for the year (month/week/day) ahead. If your students already have personalized learning plans (PLPs) or portfolios set up it will be even easier to document and reflect. (If you’re just getting started with PLPs, check out The Definition of a PLP for some ideas.) Ready to reflect and reach for new growth?
8 year-end reflection tools and activities offers some creative ways to reflect, celebrate, and plan. No need to wait until the end of the year, there’s no time like the present, right? Don’t miss the Adobe spark- it’s beautiful and simple to create.
What makes for good goal-setting in a PLP? Turns out it’s simple, if not easy: provide structure, make it personally meaningful, provide some individual support, and…make time to return to the process for reflection and further goal setting.
Setting and tracking reading goals – and no, it doesn’t include reading logs! Hurray! Seriously though, this one has some great ideas and it even touches on how math and self-direction can play into our reading plans.
Despite a year like no other, these seasonal rituals can bring meaning, inspiration and grounding. And they will ensure that this new year gets off to a strong, connected, and aspirational start.
Maker doyenne Lucie delaBruere is choosing “Regroup” as her word for 2021.
Whatever you decide to focus on, the key point is that we need to have explicit conversations with students about how we want things to roll, and refine together how we will manage ourselves, our spaces, and our resources. Plan for success. It’s our best shot.
How are you moving into this new year with your students?
Featured image: “The Return of the Light”, by Emily Hoyler 2020. Used with permission. All photo rights reserved.
228 days home with my 3 children. 88 days of remote learning, spanning 2 school years and 5 different grade levels. 10 different teachers. 34 Zoom meetings per week (not counting mine). Engagement level: 27%. This is parenting pandemic math.
But who’s counting, right?
At home, my kids are missing school. Or, more specifically, they miss their friends, they miss their teachers, they miss recess, they even miss riding the bus.
They love seeing your face, and their classmates in their Zoom meetings. They love sharing their art, or talking about which Garfield character is funnier.
But once the Zoom meetings are over, the twinkle leaves their eyes, as they reluctantly turn to the pile of spelling worksheets… if we’re lucky. And if we’re not, they refuse and instead start to play with the cat, or look for pencils under the couch. Anything to avoid the stack of work piling up.
But in their free time…
Then they are deep in the Lego bin, working together to build an amusement park. Or baking lemon squares. Or building forts in the woods. Designing logos and emblems in SketchUp. Or creating board games. Or training chickens. Designing jet-propelled race cars. Or learning embroidery. Or reading. Or playing Monopoly.
Wait. What?
Did I just say engineering design, fractions, chemistry, physics, writing, fine and gross motor development, literature study and economics?
Despite all the challenges of the moment, kids are doing some cool stuff at home. They are learning things. Maybe just not (only) the things we’ve planned.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could leverage what kids are already doing at home as learning?
There are possibilities. And PLPs.
One way we could do this is with PLPs- personalized learning plans. PLPs. Their blend of learning tool-meets-portfolio might be just the thing to help us navigate this moment.
What if we shifted from a focus on content to a focus on skills? Transferable skills, specifically. Things like problem-solving, reasoning, critical thinking, clear & effective communication, or citizenship. The magic of these skills is that they’re, well, transferable….across contexts and settings.
The communication skills a kid hones while working on their Minecraft tutorial video for YouTube are pretty similar to the skills they’d need to write an expository essay on caring for pets: What information do I need to communicate? How can I most effectively explain what readers/viewers need to know?
And if you know the student well, you can probably figure out which context they’d prefer to develop those skills within.
Less is more.
The last thing any of us needs is more work. We’re all — teachers, students, parents — stretched to our max right now.
So instead, could we shift our synchronous time with students to focus on building relationships, getting to know them and their interests, and then coaching them on how the pursuit of these interests islearning?
Could we teach them to reflect on and document their learning, so that they, too, could appreciate all the learning they already do, every day?
Yeah, we’ll probably still need to teach them to write an effective RACE response, but perhaps it’s focus could be ‘who is the best Jedi?’ or ‘which Lego pieces are the most important.’
Personal Inquiry Projects
Finally, one last thought: last spring, my family sprinted out of the gate with some fantastic school-at-home projects. Any of these projects could easily become the focus of student reflection and documentation in a PLP.
So could Lego villages, chocolate chip cookies, or organizing a bookshelf.
Want to go deeper? What about using personal inquiry projects, such as Genius Hour, Passion Projects, or Curiosity projects to help connect students’ interests to the curriculum. They’re practically pandemic-ready.
And it turns out they’ll continue to be amazing even after all this is a distant memory.
The leaves have already peaked up here on the mountain where I live. And the thermometer reads a brisk 28°F this morning. I love the change of seasons, which is a good thing when you live in the place now known as Vermont. Sometimes seems that it changes season from day to day.
This time of year has me recalling a powerful learning experience I had in early high school.
I was taking an American Studies humanities class, and one October morning the teacher came to class wearing a t-shirt that depicted a scene featuring Native Americans that said ‘On this day in 1492, Columbus invaded America.’
(Aside: that’s what I would have called them then, but now I question what term to use and if these were accurate images or stereotypes?) I don’t recall my teacher saying much about it, but its message carried a powerful contrast to our textbook’s depiction of events. That shirt really got me thinking. A lot. (And isn’t that what we hope for as teachers?!) I was awestruck, and I recall my sudden mind shift, thinking “Whooooa! Yeah, I guess it was that way for the people who were already here.” It was the first time I remember being asked to hold multiple perspectives. (And my teacher didn’t even have to say a word!)
So this year, as Vermont celebrates its second official Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Monday, October 12, I’m thinking back with such gratitude to that teacher. They and their t-shirt helped me understand that our history is complex. This teacher took risks because of her strong belief in social justice. I see you out there, doing the same for your students and for justice. Thank you.
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be co-hosting an upcoming webinar on Decolonizing Your Thanksgiving Curriculum featuring Judy Dow!
For reasons I can’t totally explain (but might be in part thanks to my teacher’s influence), I loved teaching Thanksgiving, and I tried hard to get it “right”. Or maybe I mean “just”.
As it turns out, I have more to learn.
I’m grateful to Judy, who will lead us in using primary sources to debunk some popular Thanksgiving myths. And the Tarrant Institute is thrilled to be partnering with Shelburne Farms and Vermont Learning for the Future (VTLFF) to bring this (free!) event your way. Join us!
Ok, now back to my regularly scheduled hot apple cider…
For all of us teaching through a pandemic, even the self-care can feel wildly, insurmountably difficult.
Let’s do something about that.
This year, the beginning of the school year — a time that is typically filled with joy and excitement — is fraught. It’s complicated. Some of us are doing alright, others are working hard just to keep it together. Sometimes we’re doing alright one minute, and not okay the next. Then the positions reverse.
But… we’re in uncharted waters here. We’re all doing hard things. I mean, it’s hard to know the right thing to say to you right now.
Juggling a very literally brave new world
This week I’ve been trapped in the cycle too. Feeling like ‘I’ve got this!’ one moment, then later collapsing in a puddle from the overwhelm and the exhaustion.
It’s a lot.
Luckily I have friends and strategies. And while neither “fix” my feelings or solve the world’s problems (though I do have some amazing friends), both help me navigate and find my balance again.
So in case you are in need of navigation help or rebalancing, here are a few things that have brought me some solace. Maybe they’ll work for you too.
“Settle the ball.”
Sometimes there are so many things on my mental to-do list that I’m exhausted just thinking about it. And I spend an incredible amount of energy keeping track of all of those things in my brain.
And she suggests that right now, responding to life this way: by wildly swatting at everything that comes at us.
But what if instead, we gained control of this pandemic ball by settling it? By grounding it. And then by *choosing* how to respond rather than just reacting. Having watched my share of kids soccer games, this resonates.
For me, settling the ball looks like me sitting down with my notebook making a list of all the to-do’s and loose ends filling my brain. The things I’m carrying. Once I’ve put them down (on the paper at least), I can step back, prioritize, plan. I’m slowly making this a daily habit. It’s helping bring some order to the chaos of our current reality.
What might it look like for you to settle your metaphorical ball?
Big rocks of self-care
A few years back there was an urban myth about a professor demonstrating priorities by putting rocks, pebbles, and sand in a jar. The big idea was that if you fill the jar with sand first (the little things) then you wouldn’t have room for the big rocks (the important things).
While oversimplified, the message holds: we need to prioritize the big rocks.
When it comes to self-care, my big rocks are sleep, movement, and food.
Self-care isn’t always yoga and journaling (although it totally can be!). Sometimes self-care comes in a more boring form. But it’s so important. So if I’m feeling wobbly, that means I may need a snack, a walk, and/or an early bedtime (or even a nap).
You already know the one about putting your own oxygen mask on first. Figuring out your big rocks helps you do this.
Stop. Sit. Look out the windows and feel your breath in your lungs. Feel the way your body knows how to push it out again. Now, what are your big rocks?
We need to embrace the “less is more” philosophy and just do less. Do less, but do it better. And do better by doing less.
For the same reasons that many of us err on the “inch wide, mile deep” approach to curriculum, honing our focus and priorities can serve us well in this very moment.
We can’t do it all. We never could, even though we’ve never stopped trying. But let’s just stop. Stop trying to do it all. Even if the ‘all’ is already pared-down. Pare it down again. Make it smaller. Sift it out to a handful of big rocks.
Let the rest go.
A powerful side effect of this form of pandemic self-care is that our students may benefit from this smaller, focused agenda. An engaging project that we all care about, a good book to share, and some rich math and problem-solving discussions. Oh yeah, and some connection time. It can be enough for this moment.
Connect
This brings us to the last, and perhaps the most important part: we need to keep making time for connection. All of us humans, teachers and students, are floating around in this sea of uncertainty and weirdness, together. Distanced. We need each other. And we need time to ourselves.
Occasionally even if I’ve had enough sleep, snacks, and settled my metaphorical ball, I’m still not okay. This may mean I need to connect. Reach out and phone a friend.
Sometimes we just need someone to listen to us. To let us unload, complain even. Sometimes that’s all we need. Being witnessed.
And sometimes we’re looking for that nugget of wisdom, some advice to help us take our next step.
This week I’ve been lucky to be both the initiator and receiver of these calls. I helped a friend settle her ball, and another friend put her foot firmly on my ball and pointed to the goal. It was just what I needed. Who is on your phone (text/email/Zoom) a friend list?
Pandemic teaching self-care
So pandemic teaching self-care might look like making time to pause and get it together, or it might be sweet or salty snack. It might be a supportive conversation with a friend or and connecting with students about life, about how it’s going. Creating space to be human together.
At school, advisory might be a big rock. What else? What are the other big rocks for you and your students?
However we go, we’re going to get there. We’re going to get through this weird time and hopefully come out on the other side with a little more clarity about what is important and how to take better care – of ourselves and each other.
Just like our colleagues across the state (and world, really), educators in the Greater Rutland County Supervisory Union (GRCSU) have risen to the challenge of completely transforming the way education is delivered — practically overnight. GRCSU is responding to remote learning.
I’m fortunate and grateful to have been working with GRCSU for the past three and half years. In the GRCSU I consider myself part of the proficiency-based coaching team. And lately, much like everyone else, we’ve been honing our remote learning skills.
Have we figured it out? No way! We don’t even know exactly what will be required of schools yet. But we’ve started with what matters most:
Prioritizing communication and connection
We were supposed to have a two-day in-service this week. And yet we started to get an inkling that perhaps plans might… need to shift. Luckily, we’d already designed a teacher-directed PD model in GRCSU.
Well, as it turns out, schools closed before in-service could happen. And teachers have needed every minute to get ready for the sudden shift in direction. So we switched direction again. Here’s what we’ve been doing to support our teachers and students through this transition:
First, we surveyed staff & families
From staff, we wanted to find out what they needed, if they had internet access at home, what questions they had, and offered space for anything else they wanted to tell us. Not surprisingly, many told us they had the situation under control! We handled individual queries one on one, and complied a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list and began seeking answers.
Surveys went out from central office to families as well to assess technology, transportation, and meal needs.
We gathered some resources
Actually, first we collaborated to build a few guides and resources, and then decided to pull them together in one place for teachers. The website includes JumpStart Guides, sample schedules, content collections, and a calendar of live streaming education events. It’s a work in progress!
Then, we built spaces to connect
We believe that the most important things right now are promoting community and providing continuity. As GRCSU tackles remote learning, teachers are working hard to do this for students and we want to do it for them as well.
To provide some continuity of connection and nurture wellbeing, we have started a “GRCSU Staff Lounge” group on Facebook, and will be offering daily challenges to staff via SeeSaw (post a picture of your pet! what is the view from your home “office”). This will serve not only to connect us, but also to introduce a new (to some) digital tool.
We’ve also opened a ‘Virtual Helpline’.
It’s a Google Meet “room” (accessed by a static shared link). At least one of us staffs it all day. That way teachers can pop in if they have a question. The first day we only had one visitor, but already we’re seeing an increase: today, before 10am, we’ve already fielded two inquiries and provided support for some Google Classroom troubleshooting and log-in issues.
We meet together as a team for an hour each day to check in, problem solve, brainstorm, and respond to emerging needs. We’re planning to launch virtual hangouts next week, depending on what the needs are.
Finally, our IT department has opened up the tech ticketing process to families and students so that they can access tech support if needed.
We’re sure that this is only the beginning.
Despite the gravity of the situation, we are grateful to be of service to our community at this time.
Finally, I want to take a moment to offer a shout out to ALL OF YOU! We see you all out there doing amazing, caring, and responsive things.
We’re here. We’re figuring it out. It’s messy and uncertain. It’s changing from moment to moment. We are building the plane while it’s taking off.
As we consider widespread school closures and how we might adapt, it’s important that our aim isn’t to recreate a typical school day, but instead, leverage strong teacher and student relationships and available technology to prioritize connection and support each other, and to create and document learning experiences and activities.
We are in uncharted waters. It’s okay to not have all of the answers. We’re all in this together.
And speaking of being in this together, I want to share some thinking I did with my partners at the Greater Rutland County Supervisory Union (GRCSU). The following thoughts were developed with the GRCSU coaching team. We hope this helps. Together, we got this!
Before a closure:
Instead of launching into remote learning mid-stride, consider taking a step back. What if we imagine instead that we are beginning a new, online school year? How would you be preparing for remote learning then?
Think back to those first days and weeks of school. How did you scaffold and set students up for success and new routines? How can you apply that here?
What norms and expectations can you develop so that students’ online experiences feel as safe and engaging as face-to-face time?
If your school is still open, consider what skills and materials students might need to access learning online and plan for those before a closure. Consider how you might scaffold online learning.
Also consider: Can students bring their devices home? What is the plan for students who don’t have device access (or adults available to help?)
Keep it simple:
What are your norms for online engagement?
How will you communicate with students? How are you going to disseminate information and resources?
Which apps or tools are students familiar with? Let’s freshen up those skills.
Are there any essential new tools students need to learn how to use?
Can you (or your students) create screencasts on how to use or access tools for reference later?
Shifting from content to transferable Skills
It will be incredibly challenging to offer equitable opportunities to all students remotely. Therefore, it seems that we may want to consider what is most important, what is realistic, and how we can use our resources so that students who need extra support can get it. Many families will be experiencing incredible challenges during this time — from childcare coverage, from economic hardship, and from actual illness.
It’s unreasonable to think that we’d be able to continue to meet all of our content area proficiencies under these circumstances. But this is a great opportunity to shift focus to transferable skills, and engage students through reflection.
Why? Because the transferable skills are likely the skills students are using, or could use, to navigate daily life: clear & effective communication, problem-solving, citizenship. As educators, we can help students connect their lived experiences to these skills, and hold space for reflection. This is learning.
Changing the structure
We can’t recreate the school day online. And we shouldn’t try. So how might we simplify things, while remaining connected with students?
Tending to social-emotional needs may be a priority during this time. Can you hold a virtual “morning meeting” for students who are able to attend? Can you offer 1:1 check-ins with students to keep them moving in their learning?
For students of any age, consider:
Holding a (morning/afternoon) meeting to check-in with everyone. Use this time provide emotional & social connection (and to deliver any whole-group instruction if necessary);
Using a (familiar to students) Learning Management System (LMS) to communicate work and assignments;
Holding office hours or scheduling virtual (or phone) meetings with individual students;
Using a reflection tool like Flipgrid, so that students can reflect or respond to prompts, assignments, or conversations.
Middle/High Schools:
Students in these grades often have multiple teachers. For some students, this is challenging enough in person. How can your faculty streamline this for students?
In addition to the suggestions above, consider:
Having advisors or another faculty member be the ‘point person’ for each student, instead of expecting students to connect with all of their teachers.
Work together as a faculty to develop expectations and assignments, have the advisor/point person communicate that to their advisees using the LMS.
At one school, teachers have been using Google Classroom as a faculty to share curriculum and student assignments related to Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs). This way advisors all have access to the PLP materials and can deliver them to their individual advisees, this model could work in this situation as well!
This is probably not the best time to introduce a lot of new technology or tools. What do students already know how to do and use that you could build upon? Are they already familiar with Google Docs, or Google Classroom?
Synchronous vs asynchronous delivery
Delivering synchronous instruction may prove challenging. If you aim for this method, try to keep it to a minimum.
Asynchronous formats might be simpler, especially if/when bandwidth is a consideration. This means offering an assignment or learning opportunity for students to engage with at their own pace. Consider tools such as VoiceThread or Marcopolo. Online forum software. Chat.
Determining what’s essential
Helping students find a way to practice and retain their skills is a great place to start.
How can you pare down and focus on the essentials? Which texts are you using? Which skills are you focusing on? How might they translate to activities outside the classroom?
Stay connected
Perhaps the most important priority at this time is staying connected, providing some sense of continuity, and emotional support. Learning targets, skills and practices may need to be disrupted as other priorities take center stage in students’ lives, due to this unprecedented move. And that’s okay. Reach out, and encourage connection. Provide humanity. Encourage students to communicate complications. If nothing else, provide simple understanding: “I hear you. That’s challenging. How are you doing? Are you okay? I want to keep hearing from you, all right?”
And this applies to you as well, educator friend. Let’s take this opportunity to slow down, step back, and breathe. We’re in this together.
You know that spirited colleague of yours who dominates, practically filibusters, staff meetings with her lamenting and haranguing?
Or your colleague who is so thoughtful, but rarely speaks at staff meetings? Or it is you? Does your zest and passion bubble forth into conversations leaving little room for all voices? (Confession: that’s me!) Or do you retreat into silence as you watch the volley of conversation flutter around the room waiting for the pause that never comes?
Whoever you are in a group, it appears that we need a little help bringing all voices into the conversation.
I first made this discovery in (shocker!) my elementary classroom.
We’ve all seen it. Whenever I circled up with my students to discuss the learning at hand, it was no surprise that the same five kids would simultaneously burst into conversation, while several others never seemed to get a word in edgewise.
So we started paying attention to how we had discussions. We talked about reflecting on if we were ‘first talkers’ or ‘not talkers’ or somewhere in between. Then we mapped our conversations, collecting data on who talked, for how long, how often. Finally, we learned about extroverts and introverts, internal and external processors: you know, the difference between those who think to talk and those who talk to think?
Then we talked about what we could do about it. Everyone agreed that it was important that everyone’s voice was heard. So we brainstormed strategies, like the use of a ‘talking piece’ (in our case it was often a ‘talking stapler’) that had to be in your possession before you spoke, or how the extroverts could use our voices to invite others into the conversation.
Collaboration is the key ingredient in most organizations.
It’s the synergy of ideas that brings the magic. Those other voices help us see the same thing in a new way. They bring a suggestion that solves the puzzle.
But in order to effectively collaborate, we need everyone’s ideas on the table. We need to hear all voices. And we seem to be operating under the assumption that as adults we do this well.
Except we don’t.
And I don’t think adults are too keen on using a ‘talking stapler’ to manage their conversations.
Enter: The Discussion Protocol.
What is a discussion protocol, you ask? It’s a conversation guided by a process to a specific outcome. There are directions and steps. There’s a facilitator who moves the conversation along. And there are specific types of feedback called for at different times.
There are several organizations out there who create and train folks around how to use protocols. I’ve always used theSchool Reform Initiative‘s work.
Check out a few examples of protocols:
Chalk Talk – a ‘silent discussion’ which can be used to brainstorm, reflect, or solve problems;
Charette – which can be used to improve a piece of work;
But folks, let me tell you, at first, I was seriously annoyed. It felt touchy-feely and stifling at the same time. I mean, we were a bunch of high functioning adults, for goodness sake!
Can we just talk about the thing without having to take timed turns?!
But it was the way we did things. So I persisted and tried to play by the rules. And you know what, it’s taken a while (several years, in fact) but over time, I’ve come around.
I’ve become a convert. Let me tell you why.
It’s simple, really. Conversations have become more effective. More fruitful. More spacious. Just better.
Instead of a constant barrage of input, there is a slowing down. Things are more thoughtful. Mindful even. No longer a firehose of words, but a gentle shower. We understand a problem before trying to solve it.
And everyone’s voices are heard. That’s part of the deal. Sure, you can take a pass if you have nothing to contribute — but everyone gets a turn! Without a stapler! #winning
But it’s not just me.
Last summer a group of teacher leaders and district coaches in Vermont’s Greater Rutland County Supervisory Union (GRCSU) embarked on a five-day training around collaboration and the use of protocols.
It was so powerful to have a room full of teacher-leaders getting jazzed about leading professional development with their colleagues. As we all know, there is a huge lack of training on how to do this crucial work effectively.
Many of these teacher-leaders have taken on new roles as PLC leaders this year. This course provided us with tools and practice on how to plan meaningful professional learning, create a sense of belonging, and use protocols to dig into our work in meaningful and fruitful ways. One participant noted:
“I was very resistant to protocols prior to our training. I found them unnecessary and oppressive, but my thinking has changed: protocols can provide focus, structure, and create an environment in which participants can feel safe to take risks. I’m confident that protocols, when thoughtfully prepared and well-facilitated can create a productive environment.”
We solved each other’s problems
At one point each of us brainstormed a dilemma we struggle with in our work. We ruminated on the type of feedback we wanted: did we want to grapple with the getting at the core of the issue, or were we looking for crowdsource solutions?
Our facilitators introduced us to different protocols that would yield different outcomes and we selected one to meet our needs. Then, in small groups, many of us presented our dilemmas, with another participant playing the role of facilitator.
It was powerful
Folks felt that not only did they understand better how dilemma protocols work, but they actually received incredible feedback to move their work forward. It was clear how useful this could be back in our school settings. One teacher noted:
“I really enjoyed learning [to facilitate] these protocols. It dawned on me that they are meant to mimic a conversation between well-adjusted people. That is giving people time and space to talk and think.”
They were transformative; they helped us see our own thinking in new and productive ways.
GRCSU Coach Al Gregoritsch and teacher leaders practice using protocols before bringing them to staff meetings.
But you don’t have to take (just) my word for it
GRCSU Innovation Coach Al Gregoritsch participated in that course, and he has been using protocols with his school’s PLC all year.
We had a teacher who wanted to try something different with a unit that they were designing. They were looking for something more dynamic than presentations from students for their summative assessment.
We picked a Charrette protocol and modified it a little to provide a little more back and forth discussion during the process… Everyone was comfortable with the group and the level of trust between the group members was high.
The presenter talked about where they had been in the past and what they were looking for in this unit, we had a deep discussion in which a number of ideas were presented. The teacher was able to take the feedback from the group and develop a lesson that worked for the class.
The process gave me a chance to work with this teacher as a coach through the unit. Not everything came out perfectly, but we will be having further discussions now on how to tune the unit and what changes can be made for future units.
Without the protocol, the discussion could easily have gone off track and we would have ended up having a discussion on the more general topic of Proficiency-Based Learning or Standards Based Grading, and not ended up with a good list of ideas that could be used to build a specific unit.
Gregoritsch has found that the more a group gets used to the process and reaps the benefits of the outcome, the easier it gets. He also notes that the seemingly rigid structure of the protocol can offer a safe space in which to build trust, and “in which people could share their thoughts without fear of having their ideas devalued. I remember thinking that that was pretty powerful. It provided equity for peoples voices.”
It’s important to be prepared!
Gregoritsch notes that taking time to prepare for the discussion, including pre-conferencing with anyone presenting work or dilemmas, and picking the right protocol are crucial for success. He cautions us
… to not over-do the use of protocols. Some room for organic discussion needs to be left and sometimes a protocol might be too much for the task, especially if the group is small.
His advice to those considering bringing protocols to their collaborative work?
The best advice that I can give anyone interested in using protocols in their work would be to practice with an experienced presenter or facilitator at first. Find a friendly group to work with where you will not have to worry about the negative opinion leader trying to derail the process. Once you have gained experience sorting through how the protocol process works and have had some practice picking the right protocol for the situation, then it is time to broaden your circle of influence and bring the protocols to a wider audience. For me this place to practice was at the Collaborative Practices Workshop that was offered over the summer. It’s ok to take time to figure it out and make mistakes. That is how we grow.
A word about trust
Protocols can be excellent if you use them bring equity of voices to a conversation, to bring forth new thinking in a generative way. They work best in learning communities where there is a high level of trust, and people are willing to be vulnerable. (And that’s a chicken or the egg situation: you need vulnerability to build trust, but you need trust to be vulnerable.)
However, protocols can also be used to control or manage people. They can be used to silence people. And that’s not okay, obviously. Used that way, protocols leave people feeling resentful and disconnected. And hating protocols.
A GRCSU training course participant confirms this type of experience.
“Oftentimes protocols are just shoved in front of us, yet the work was never put into making us feel that they were worth it or that it was something we were part of and had stakes in.”
That is a powerful word of caution. Nefarious protocol use can actually (further) damage a community, rather than bringing much-needed equity. Don’t do that. Word to the wise.
Instead, use protocols with integrity and clarity of purpose: both the purpose of the feedback and the purpose of getting all voices and all expertise included in the discussion.
So get training if you can
Training is so valuable to learn how to effectively use protocols and make sure you’re setting your community up for success. And, bonus, it will build your confidence and provide experience with facilitating protocols.
To find out about setting up training in Vermont, contact the Tarrant Institute’s Jeanie Phillips (who co-facilitated the amazing Collaborative Practices training for GRCSU). If you’re outside of Vermont, visit the School Reform Initiative’s event page to learn more about training options.
What protocols are you using to collaborate in your school?
We’ve all been there: staff meetings that could have been an email or team meetings spent admiring problems and getting nowhere. And I’m not claiming innocence here: I’m definitely guilty of creating bullet list agendas or meeting with no agenda (or outcome) at all.
But over the past couple of years, I’ve upped my meeting game. I’ve gathered some awesome tips and tricks, and I’m here to share.
The only 7 reasons for meetings
Last fall, I was an eager student at one of Elena Aguilar’s Art of Coaching Teams workshops. This training was chock full of brilliance, and I’ve put so much of it into action already. For example, did you know that there are (only) seven reasons to meet? For real. Check it out. Here they are, in no particular order:
Share information
Learn something
Solve a problem
Make decisions
Plan
Build community
Set goals, calibrate, & reflect
Of course, there are caveats for each of these. Take reason 1, for example, sharing information: if it can be done via email you don’t need to meet! Brilliant! And collaboration should be central to the meeting: otherwise, why are we meeting? The big takeaway here is that you should know the purpose of your meeting at the start. Or better yet, when you draft the agenda.
I knew it would be a great workshop when Rumi was quoted on the table tents.
A good agenda is crucial to an effective meeting
A well-crafted agenda is a beautiful thing. It gently guides the group to a preset outcome or goal. It can create the space to connect and laugh and learn together, it can clarify how (and if) a decision will be made, and it can nudge us back on track if (when) we digress.
But it takes some time and thought to prepare an effective agenda. I’ve heard some recommendations that suggest that building the agenda should take almost as long as the meeting itself! Of course, we don’t always have time for that. But I have a few tips that can help streamline the process.
State your purpose
A solid agenda begins with a clear outcome (or two or three). What is the purpose of the meeting? What will be accomplished by the end of the meeting? You should be able to articulate the outcome in one to three bullets. For example:
Reflect on our team goals for the year and add evidence to our school plan
Calibrate our assessment tool for the energy projects.
Plan the student exhibition night
It’s kind of like backward design for agenda building, y’all! We need to know where we’re going. Once we know that, we can then plan our route.
(Aaaand a few more words on purpose)
Teachers attend a lot of meetings. Faculty meetings, team meetings, PLC meetings, IEP or 504 meetings, SST or EST meetings… the list goes on. Most of the time these meetings stay relatively focused on their primary topics, but other times agenda creep happens. For example, when you find your team discussing the spring dance in the middle of planning your upcoming project-based learning units. If this is happening at your meetings, consider articulating the purpose and purview of each meeting.
The table above is one example of how you might define and shape your myriad meetings.
Figure out the what, why, and how
Once you know your purpose and outcome, it’s time to figure out how to get there by planning down to the minute, thinking through the what, how, and why of each item. As a facilitator, it is so helpful to be clear about what we’re going to do, why we’re doing it, and how it will happen. (Because really, if we’re not clear, how can we expect anyone else to be!?)
Often agendas articulate the what, but skip the why and how. Adults, like students, want to know why we’re doing something. So tell them. Provide the rationale for each agenda item: is it to discuss, to learn, to assess? Then figure out exactly how you’ll accomplish that item. Break it down. What resources are needed? How will discussion flow? What will participants do?
Check out the agenda below for an example of how the facilitator (me!) laid out the what, why, and how for each agenda item.
This meeting was really productive. Why? Awesome teachers and a solid agenda!
Sean Hirten, 7th & 8th grade team leader at Rutland Town School, creates a lot of agendas. He has found
“that the more time you spend on an agenda, the better the meeting will be. You will be more prepared to facilitate and others will respond to that. People know why they are there and what we will discuss. [It also] helps with buy-in.”
Hirten also suggests adding times and prioritizing what needs to be done; “This gives me an excuse to be a bit pushy [during the meeting] because I set times.”
Which brings us to another important point: time.
Be honest about time
This needs little explanation. But please, please, I beg of you, be realistic about how long it will take to do each item on your agenda well. Sure, you can rush through the conversation to stay on time, but if you don’t reach a resolution or natural conclusion, you may have to revisit the topic again. And that’s not very effective or efficient.
I am a master of making things work on paper, shaving a minute or two from here and there. But guess what? Just because it works on paper doesn’t mean it’s sufficient for real, live humans. Trust me.
Consider:
the task or topic: sharing a classroom highlight will typically be quicker than discussing the new progress report template. Sometimes, hour-long meetings only offer enough time to address one topic sufficiently. While unanticipated challenges can always occur, do your best to evaluate how much time it will take to reach the desired outcome. Less is more (and who doesn’t like leaving early if you happen to under plan!).
the number of people in the group: the amount of time it will take 3 people to share their observations is vastly different than the time needed for 20 people to share. Since it’s important that all voices are heard, consider using pair-shares or small group discussions to move things along more quickly in larger groups.
the process: this is where figuring out the ‘how’ can really come in handy. What will this time look like? How will folks engage with the topic? Does a decision have to be made? How will it be made?
Inevitably unexpected things come up and it’s not uncommon to get off schedule, but over time and with diligence in planning you can dial it in and vastly improve your estimates and planning.
Open and close the meeting with intention
The beginning and end of the meeting are important times. Upon arrival, we have all come from another busy facet of our day, and often need a moment to relax, decompress, or settle in the new space.
Hirten likes to start meetings off with a game. “Even for the cynics this can work to lighten the mood, provided it is a fun game, and not too long.” Laughing together is a great way to build a team, and can also double as an opportunity for teachers a chance try a new game to bring back to their students.
The Art of Coaching Teams workshop included team challenges, like this tower building challenge. Not that we’re competitive, but we totally won.
Sharing highlights and notable moments is another great way to open. This not only connects us, but also gives us a window into each other’s classrooms.
Similarly, a well-executed closing can bring a feeling of…er, closure to the meeting. If you’ve built in sufficient time, play the metaphor game: have participants select an office supply item from a basket as a metaphor to represent how they feel at the close of the meeting (‘I picked the rubber band because I feel stretched’). Short on time? Close with a one-word reflection, or ask participants what went well about the meeting. Whatever you do, make sure to end on time. That matters.
Finally, build a template
Efficiency is where it’s at. Reusing a solid meeting template can cut down on agenda-building time. Your agenda template will reflect your personality and meeting style, but here are a few templates that I’ve found helpful. Next time we meet I’ll just recycle this format and build the next meeting. Thank you, copy & paste.
Looking to improve your meetings?
Try this activity with your team! In it, you’ll examine a few sample agendas to assess what works and what doesn’t. Then you can create or revise your own team meeting template and rock your meetings!
We just held the Best. In-service. Ever. And all it took was a little love & empathy.
Some in-service professional development days are better than others. Sometimes, we get to be active learners and receive just-in-time instruction (and maybe even the gift of time to apply that learning for the benefit of our students).
Other times, we find ourselves really far down that Facebook feed as a well-intentioned presenter discusses best practices with us while simultaneously killing us by PowerPoint. (That can’t be best practice, right?)
And sometimes, it’s the Best. In-service. Ever.
The best in-service doesn’t happen by accident. It happens with careful consideration of the needs of the humans whose professional skills we are developing.
So we did that.
I am fortunate to be part of a stellar team of Innovation Coaches in the Greater Rutland County Supervisory Union (GRCSU). The coaching team has taken on the role of planning in-service for the 8 schools in the supervisory union.
How we did it
This fall, we planned what turned out to be a sublime day of learning & growth for our teachers.
And they loved it. I mean really loved it.
Do you want to know why? Because we asked them what they wanted and then we gave it to them. It wasn’t rocket science! (But there was a 3D printer.)
We’ve all sat through that PD session that was completely irrelevant to our practice. Perhaps it covered things we’re already doing, or maybe it was completely impractical to implement. To avoid this #PDfail, we began the planning process by surveying staff to ask what their needs were. Questions like:
What outside expertise would be most helpful?
Who do you most want to collaborate with?
What topics or themes would you like to see addressed?
Is there a workshop you would like to offer?
What do you hope to get out of the day?
They also asked staff to rank the importance of the following in-service activities:
sharing & celebration
collaborative work time
expert input/workshops
individual work time
cross-school sharing
tech help
Kind of Captain Obvious, right? Who better to identify the learning needs than the learners!
Then, we used that data to design a self-directed day of professional learning. We created workshops and fireside chats (or invited in-house or outside experts to come to facilitate). We also arranged a pop-up for Makerspace, and set up an “Innovation Hub” where teachers could come for tech help or to find a thinking partner. And there were cookies, but I’ll get to that later.
It was all about community & collaboration
One of the best parts about in-service is usually the coffee hour and socializing. Why? Because we rarely get to spend time with the other adults we do this work with. Many a brilliant collaboration has emerged from that chance encounter by the muffin platter.
Got so much work done at the #GRCSU inservice today. What a great opportunity to collaborate with @happiest2ndgra1 on our "Research Buddy" project! Just wish the people next door were a little less raucous @ProctorSchool… #VTed
So we designed the day to offer plenty of opportunities for folks to connect and collaborate.
Teachers began the day with breakfast. Fortified by caffeine, sugar, and carbs, they then headed off to homerooms which were facilitated by a teacher-leader from their school. Homerooms provided an orientation to the day, an opportunity to set learning goals, and time to plan a choose-your-own-adventure agenda with teammates.
Some teachers spent the day in their homeroom working with colleagues, others ventured out to workshops and fireside chats, still others found cross-school partners to collaborate with. After a day of learning, teams met back in homeroom to close the day with reflection and offer feedback on the day.
And perhaps most importantly, we let teachers be the professionals they are…and showed them some love
Ultimately what made this day most successful was the gift of autonomy. In most cases, teachers know what they need to do. They just need the time to do it.
This day allowed teachers to build their own agenda, anticipated their needs, and provided the resources to meet those needs. Teachers had the choice of whether to attend workshops or spend their time learning and collaborating in other ways. There were also cookies.
And the cookies were important. You really must read those lovely signs that accompanied the apples and cookies. You won’t be sorry.
And check out the mood lighting in the fireside chats! This created a lovely ambiance for rich and invigorating conversations. And there was sa nack & coffee bar that was open all day- because humans who work all day need sustenance. And chocolate. Lots of chocolate.
The coaches took care of the teachers so that the teachers could do their work. And it was a rousing success.
But you don’t have to take my word for it.
Here are a few highlights from the exit ticket:
“Really liked the format of in-service. I felt that it was the perfect blend of structure versus self-direction. I went to the WeVideo and LGBTQ fireside chats. Both were exceptional! My only wish was more time to attend different fireside chats.”
“I loved that people could actually work with the people they need to collaborate with to get work done that they needed to get done.”
“I really loved the self-directed setup. I was able to go to things that I specifically needed, rather than being fed a bunch of information that does not pertain to me.”
“Time to just work and collaborate was AMAZING! I feel like I was able to get so much accomplished, and was able to collaborate with folks I usually don’t get to work with. Please, please, please let’s do this again!!!!!!!!”
“I really enjoyed having the flexibility to work on my needs, and having multiple schools in the building to work with various people across the district.”
“Loved that it was self-directed! I also loved the TLC in the library (cookies, snacks, drinks, etc. very thoughtful!).”
“I really enjoyed how flexible today was. I feel like today was the most beneficial in-service we’ve had in a long time. I was able to be very productive. I spoke with a lot of people that I normally would not be able to collaborate with.”
What was the best in-service you’ve ever attended? What made it so special?
What do I stand for? What is the good life and how can I live it?
These are questions that most middle schoolers (and adults)-hopefully- grapple with at some point. And this philosophizing usually begins in middle school. Which means that middle school is prime time for guiding students through an exploration of their identity, values and character strengths. And spoiler alert: they think it’s pretty cool, too!
My students made visual representations of some of the character traits as we explored their meanings. Doesn’t he look curious?
My school year typically started off with a lot of community building and exploration of self. We used things like learning style quizzes and interest inventories to gather data about ourselves. We shared our data with each other and used it to understand who we were as a community and how we could support ourselves and each other in learning.
This exploration laid the foundation for our personalized learning environment: we all knew that Simon was more focused when he stood and that Ana needed to hear and read something to really get it.
As I’ve gathered resources and tools for this work, I’ve come across a few that are too good not to share!
Flexibility means moving in unexpected directions with grace. (And it can make your face red, but just go with it!)
This little film is a GIFT! In 8 minutes it inspires, explains, and instigates discussion and curiosity about character.
Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself.
I used this film to launch our work on character traits. Cloud Films also provides some great supporting resources for digging deeper including discussion guides. I’m especially fond of the Periodic Table of Character Strengths. We used this table to explore some new vocabulary and make connections to our literature studies.
Think all of this sounds good? Let It Ripple also provides resources for National Character Day, which happens annually in September. The timing is really perfect!
2. Character Growth Card
This lovely little PDF was a game changer in my classroom.
This little form narrows down and explains 8 main character traits (grit, optimism, self-control, gratitude, social intelligence, curiosity, and zest). Once my students had a clear idea of what each trait was, they assessed themselves on each trait on a scale of 1-7. Then they gathered feedback from others- the form suggested that students ask 5 teachers to assess them for each trait, but for a couple of reasons we found it better to seek input from both other teachers and peers.
Once they had their feedback from 5 other people, they averaged those 5 scores and then compared the average to their self-assessment.
Check out how zesty she is!
Then, using that data, they identified one character trait to grow and develop. And it wasn’t necessarily their lowest score- it really came down to which trait they wanted to work on.
This provided a great opportunity to connect to their PLP– my students did a little research on their trait, developed a SMART goal, and documented both the goal and their progress in their PLP. One student, for example, wanted to work on gratitude. See her plan, below.
This little gem was created by Angela Duckworth’s Character Lab (see #3, below), but it doesn’t seem to be available there anymore. Never fear though, it’s still available in a few other places online, like here and here. If you like it, you should definitely save it somewhere in case it ever disappears completely!
Angela Duckworth’s Character Lab website provides a wealth of fabulous -FREE- resources. Based on the aforementioned 8 main character traits (grit, optimism, self-control, gratitude, social intelligence, curiosity, and zest) this site offers a variety of tools for both teachers and students. These tools are new, so I didn’t get a chance to use them with my students, but they look great. Dig deeper into each trait and learn about the ways they show up in our lives. And be sure to check out the Playbooks, which help you and your students explore and grow these traits.
That’s the question my team posed to our 4th- through 6th-grade students last spring at The Cornwall School, in Cornwall VT. It was the start of a deep dive into education for sustainability.
Integrating food studies into schools leads to thinking about interconnectedness in other ares of study. But don’t take my word for it: meet some amazing students from The Cornwall School, in Cornwall VT, who definitely won’t be surviving on Pop Tarts, ramen or mac and cheese when they grow up.
“My favorite root vegetable is probably the beet because you can do so many fun things with it. In a beet salad, you usually have thinly sliced beets with some Feta cheese on it, and sometimes, you’ll add some brussels sprouts or something, like maybe a hard-boiled egg or two on top. Another great thing to do with beets is to put it on a pizza, so pizza crust with a little Maple syrup on top with beets, Feta cheese on it.”
What happens when you ask your students what they want to learn about and how they like to learn, then you turn them loose on a three-day self-directed series of projects generated from their ideas? Teachers at West Rutland School recently found out.
(Spoiler alert: it’s harder, fun, and more engaging than regular school days!)
Looking for opportunities to make real-world connections or bring an authentic audience to your students? Typically, a public presentation at the end of a project or unit provides this space for students to share with a wider audience.
But authentic audiences can be found at any stage of the work.
Sometimes what seems like a little change can make a big difference. That’s what two Proctor Elementary School teachers recently confirmed when they decided to incorporate flexible seating into their classrooms.
It’s been such a success that now every classroom in their school features some sort of flexible seating options for students.
Ever notice how for some kids Mondays are a lot tougher than Wednesdays? Any time there’s a break in the school routine, some kids are likely to fall out of sync. Similarly, after the long December break, crisp classroom routines can seem like a foggy memory.
After any break, students and teachers are often eager to dive back into learning. But in the heady rush of a new calendar year, it can be easy to breeze over re-establishing clear and explicit classroom routines and expectations.
Cornwall students think global, build local, share both
Last year the most amazing thing happened: my students at the Cornwall School designed and built a playground. They dreamed, planned, proposed, revised, fundraised — deep breath — organized, built and managed.
But then they taught themselves how to share their story: with social media, and with a whole world of educators, so that other students might have the same experience.
The United Nations has kicked off a movement for the future. They’ve identified 17 goals for sustainability world-wide, and they’ve given those goals to students around the world.
Here in Vermont, a cadre of passionate educators are scaffolding project-based learning around those goals. And #vted students are hard at work, changing the world, one community at a time.
Feedback often feels like criticism. But what if we used it as an opportunity to grow?
In third grade, I had my own time-out chair in the principal’s office. My exuberant chattiness, combined with an 8-year-old’s lack of social filter frequently earned me a trip to that chair that sat in the corner facing the clock.
My face would burn with shame as I trudged down the long hall. As I sat and waited for the loud ticking of the clock to signal my release, I would try to figure out what I’d done wrong. Sometimes it was obvious: Nathan’s story hadn’t “gone to the dogs” as I’d loudly proclaimed. (But it had just seemed like the perfect punchline to the joke when my teacher had asked…‘Where has your story gone?…’)
Other times, many times, I was completely bewildered. I’d do my time, and then return to the flow of the classroom, as if I’d never left, edgy and bracing for my next invisible (to me) infraction.
Based upon the frequency of these visits, I doubt they were learning experiences. Instead, they were punitive, spirit-crushing time-outs; lost opportunities for growth.
Is curiosity important? What does it mean to be a curious learner? What am I curious about?
These are some of the questions Cornwall, VT students considered this winter as they embarked on inquiry-based, personalized, research projects. For six weeks, we turned learning over to our students for the (first annual!) Curiosity Projects.
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We’ve all been there: 
“How can we improve the systems we’re a part of?”
Looking for opportunities to make real-world connections or bring an authentic audience to your students? Typically, a public presentation at the end of a project or unit provides this space for students to share with a wider audience. 
As we cultivate more self-direction in students, their lives get more complicated. They have a greater responsibility to themselves and their success.
Is curiosity important? What does it mean to be a curious learner? What am I curious about?