Designing Effective Professional Learning Experiences

1. Designing Effective Professional Learning Experiences Christina Steinbacher-Reed

2. Good Morning! Please take the Instructional Coaches’ Needs Survey. Include your name so I can provide you with differentiated support. New additions to the group Cool-Stuff-Share – Matt DeWire Wiki - ????

3. A Quick Review • PIIC 4 Elements • Penn Literacy Network (PLN) • http://www.pacoaching.org/ • Resource Guide - http://www.instituteforinstructionalcoaching.org/ • Roles of the Coach • Understanding the Change Process - CBAM

4. Today’s Essential Questions What are the needs of adult learners? What are the characteristics of effective professional development? What are Learning Forward’s standards for professional learning? How do you design an effective presentation?

5. Familiar feeling? Planning PD On the Fly

6. Name that Tune! Four Corners Identify the song that describes your comfort level with facilitating whole group professional development

7. Which song best describes your comfort level? Help! I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For I Can See Clearly Now Change the World

8. Talk Amongst Yourselves In your group, introduce yourself and your role as it relates to providing professional development to teachers Explain to your group why you chose this corner

9. What are your needs as an adult learner? Ink-Pair-Share

10. What are the needs of adult learners? Knowles’ Five assumptions: 1. Dependent to independent to self-directed 2. Variety of experiences serve as resources in acquiring new knowledge 3. Readiness to learn becomes increasingly related to the developmental tasks of social roles

11. What are the needs of adult learners? 4. Perspectives change from delayed to immediate application and from content-centered to practice-centered 5. Increased by internal factors rather than external factors

12. How does adult learning theory relate to CBAM? IMPACT 6 Refocusing 5 Collaboration 4 Consequence TASK 3 Management SELF 2Personal 1 Informational 0 Awareness

13. Generational Value Differences Silence Generation (Age 66-83) Boomer Generation (Age 47-65) Gen X (Age 31-46) Millennial (Age 18-30)

14. Principles of Designing Professional Learning Experiences The Decision Making Cycle Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development Cambourne’s Conditions of Learning Gradual Release of Responsibility

15. The Decision Making Cycle

16. Vygotsky’s ZPD Teacher’s thrive when instruction is aimed within their ZPD (instructional level) What can teachers already do? What can your teachers almost do? Based on what your teachers have been working on, what makes sense to do next?

17. If the coach chooses to work on something too far outside the ZPD, teachers are likely to become frustrated. If the coach chooses to work on something that is easy for the teacher, teachers are likely to become bored.

18. The delicate dance of choosing the right focus for a whole group of teachers during professional development is the same dance teachers perform as they design lessons

19. Your principal has asked you to do a presentation with the entire school during the next in-service day. She has asked you to focus the presentation on implementing content-based literacy strategies. You feel as though some teachers already have a handle on this while others are ‘using but confusing’. There are a few teachers in which this concept will be totally new to them. Keeping in mind ZPD, how will you approach this presentation?

20. Gradual Release of Responsibility I do, you watch I do, you help You do, I help You do independently

21. You have been assigned to work with three new teachers to teach them summarizing strategies. Given the constraints of your current coaching role, how can you best teach them this strategy keeping in mind the GRRM? I do – We do – You do -

22. What are the characteristics of effective professional development? Revisit your Type 1 writing on the most powerful professional development experience that you have engaged in during your career. Compare this experience to the needs of adult learners, ZPD, and GRRM. How does it compare?

23. Characteristics of effective professional development – T/F ____ Focuses on specific subject related content ____ Focuses on pedagogy (teaching practices) ____ Is collaborative ____ Sustained and on-going over time ____ Connected to other aspects of school change ____ Includes job-embedded support ____ Includes opportunities for reflection and inquiry

24. Return to your description of a powerful professional learning experience. Which characteristics of effective professional learning applied to this experience?

25. Which of these characteristics is the most important? ____ Focuses on specific subject related content ____ Focuses on pedagogy (teaching practices) ____ Is collaborative ____ Sustained and on-going over time ____ Connected to other aspects of school change ____ Includes job-embedded support ____ Includes opportunities for reflection and inquiry

26. What are Learning Forward’s standards for professional learning? Learning Communities Leadership Resources Data Learning Designs Implementation Outcomes

27. What about resistant learners? Most rejection of new learning occurs when: It is imposed (McLaughlin, 1990) Is in the context of multiple, contradictory, and overwhelming innovations (Werner, 1988) Feel excluded from the design (Fullan, 1991) Is not related to the context of the teachers’ work (Little, 1993) It experienced alone and participants fear criticism from colleagues as elevating themselves on a pedestal (Fullan and Hargreaves, 1991)

28. Think about a resistive learner with whom you work. What do you think is the root cause of their resistance? With this root cause in mind, how might you plan for or approach this learner in a whole-group presentation?

29. How do you design an effective presentation? Qualities of a good teacher transfer to qualities of a good presenter Designing a good presentation is much like designing a good lesson plan Remember ZPD and GRRM

30. Before Needs Survey Logistics Audience Know your objectives (start with the end in mind) Know how this fits into the overall school improvement plan Know your audience (to the best of your ability)

31. During Establish protocols as a appropriate Be flexible…to a point Be clear on the objectives Provide some level of voice and choice Provide opportunities for collaboration, movement, and formative assessment GRRM

32. After Meaningful expectations for follow-up Meaningful reflection Meaningful evaluation

33. Give One, Get One Return to your three column note-taking sheet Add any final thoughts Share your thoughts with a partner

34. Conference Call Based on today’s learning, complete the “Conference Call” Please include your name so I can follow-up with you if needed.

35. On-Line Tools for Planning Professional Learning Experiences

36. Team Time Meet with your district team to apply today’s learning to your current situation.