We’re almost half-way through the year, and so this is a great time to pause and take stock of how far we’ve come and where to next. We started the year off with 1. The formation of cross-curricular Professional Learning Groups. The cross-curricular make-up of PLG groups is to ensure that everyone has opportunities to benefit from the rich and varied experiences of different teachers, and the different perspectives and approaches that other subject's disciplines can bring to a common challenge. 2. You honed in on a small group of priority learners in your class(es). You focused on 2-3 students in a class or across your classes who you thought should be your priority for whatever reason your professional judgement told you. The academic, engagement and wellbeing data you gathered from and about those students will have helped give you a clearer understanding of specifically what category of challenge it is that these students seem to be facing. 3. You shared and compared your data. In your group collaborative doc / template, or whatever format you’ve chosen to use, you’ve shared the data and information you have regarding:
4. You have found a common focus area. For many PLGs, you share the challenge of weaker levels of student engagement, so for the purpose of this example, I will use engagement as the focus. Because engagement is such a large abstract challenge, many of you have broken this down into types of engagement and shared the indicators or signs you’re seeing of a lack of engagement of these different types:
5. Brainstorming the signs you may be seeing of lack of engagement in your class(es) is a good way to narrow down to a manageable focus for yourself and your group. Remember, you don’t have to be a superhero. Pick the low-hanging fruit! Here is an example of one’s PLG group’s engagement brainstorm. The stars represent the indicators that they felt were the most significant / important ones for them to focus on. Ultimately, this group chose to focus on one sign of disengagement - the willingness to take (perceived) risks in learning. "How might we encourage students to take risks so that they feel comfortable expressing ideas, demonstrating engagement? " Remember that these three areas often blend into each other, so as this group tries different approaches, they may (or may not) find that some work on wellbeing may be a part of this challenge too. 6. Hunch forming. This is often the uncomfortable part of the inquiry process because this inquiry is about what WE can do DIFFERENTLY in order to improve learning experiences and outcomes for students. How might what WE’RE doing in our practice be contributing to this? It's also the fun part, where you get to brainstorm and share ideas with your teammates for how you might go about encouraging students to participate more, for instance, or help them get started with work more quickly. This is where referring to the 7 Principles of Learning resources and research might help you with ideas / strategies to try. (New Learning). [link to 7 P's here] ![]() 7. Take action! You have an idea for something new to try to see if it improves the indicators you’re seeing in class. Try it! Consciously watch and reflect on how it went. Record what happened in your collaborative doc. If it was a success, your team deserves to know! How do you know it was a success? (Checking) If it was a flop, you deserve help from your team to unpack why that might have been and to support you in your next prototype or iteration. You’re doing great! The inquiry structure or framework is not meant to make any extra work from what you would normally be doing as the reflective and conscientious teachers that you are. It is merely a guide for a way to progress through an inquiry process to ensure you can maintain momentum (which is always a challenge in the busy life of a teacher) and have a reference point to different modes of thinking for when you may hit a tricky patch or lose focus. Almost all of your PTCs will be ‘ticked off’ across the year through your inquiry journey and the recording and sharing of it with your colleagues. Discussing how it’s going with your appraiser before and after and observation lessons will also support its value and meaningfulness to you with your registration, your classroom teaching and your understanding of and relationships with your students and colleagues. ~ Rowan Taigel
1 Comment
Kathryn Dick
1/7/2017 09:58:25 am
I really liked that chart. I think I had a visceral reaction to the word 'pathological.' *shudder! Good food for thought though. Maintaining the high engagement/high commitment is the biggest challenge we face as teachers and sometimes we need to forgive ourselves if that ideal lesson doesn't quite pan out the way we envisaged it. ;-)
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorsWe'll have a variety of authors from OGHS over the year sharing their thoughts and experiences about education, teaching and learning Archives
June 2019
Categories
All
|