How does your school define learning?

By Mark Heintz

While a school uses the word learning on a daily basis, does everyone in the community have the same meanings and beliefs about the world?  To get everyone to have that same understanding, I gathered a group of teachers last May to define learning at Elk Grove High School. I wanted to have a common definition of learning across the school. This post is a check-in to see what progress has been made.

Process

Just a reminder to everyone reading that this group of teachers from all over the building with different levels of experience who have all come together with a common purpose (some arm pulling was required).  Along the way, each of us reflected alongside each other and our students.  We don’t claim to have any answers, just the desire to share what we are doing and come together to do it.  That experience is a major success.

Throughout the first semester, I visited each teacher’s classroom in the group two times and discussed the visit afterward. Everyone wrote a reflection of the lesson and personally defined learning. After the first quarter, I added a person to add a larger perspective (art - I’m sorry I didn’t include you in the first place).  As the semester ended and everyone defined learning, I compiled everyone’s definition and gathered the group again.  When we met, we read through everyone’s definitions, found commonalities and trends, and then started to define learning as a group.

Difficulties

I thought coming up with a common definition would be easier.  I think everyone in the group thought it would be easier.  Most of us struggled to define learning when it was just ourselves let alone when all of the definitions were next to each other.  The words mattered more when the same word was used in different contexts.  As the group met in December, we spent an entire hour choosing our words and coming up with the definition.  While tedious, we did come up with a working definition!

Results

We ended up with a three-parts to the definition, because just having the definition wasn’t enough.  The group decided we needed statements to reflect what the learning process is and what the product of learning is.  Without further ado...

Learning is the integration of values, or importance to the individual, and beliefs with new and relevant information, skills, and/or abilities for long-term application in life outside of the immediate task.   

The process of learning is an evolving journey that includes engaging tasks and processes, emphasizes voice and shapes meaning and authenticity. 

The product of all of this is an ever-evolving worldview, the development of skills and awareness to continually evaluate and reflect upon themselves and the world around them.  

Next Steps

Next semester, each person in the group is committed to living the definition.  It’s one thing to come up with a statement, it’s completely another to have the classroom experience live up to the definition.  I will be going back into their classrooms and following up with a conversation.  As I go into their classrooms they are committed to having the lesson reflect their beliefs on learning. Cross your fingers and I will hopefully be sharing further progress of our journey.

Deep Work: How to Find Focused Success

By Rita Thompson

If you feel distracted in your professional life, you are not alone. 

Book Cover

Deep Work by Cal Newport was the subject of a recent book study sponsored by our EG Collab Lab.  When we approached teachers and introduced the topic–how to combat the rising sense of distraction in your professional life–we found plenty of people who wanted to talk.  Using Zoom, we were able to join with staff across our building and from other schools for a discussion over several weeks.

One point of lively discussion was whether we found ourselves “busy” or “productive,” and how email–certainly a necessity in our profession–can overtake more vital functions.  All of us admitted we could probably spend an entire school day on email, yet none of us would feel a sense of satisfaction at the end.  Our abundant new technology may offer opportunities for richer connections in some instances or perhaps push us toward shallow personal connections. Should we re-evaluate the quality of communication and ideas pouring through these new portals? 

Newport passionately argues that the most satisfying work is craft, a point when we use the full force of our intelligence, attention, focus, and creativity to solve problems.  This is where we humans often find deep meaning.  We cannot develop our craft without “deep work,” a term coined by Newport.

Newport also challenges us as professionals with stark advice to become more productive.  Newport argues that the will power to work deeply is not a momentary whim, but a routine investment in ourselves.  Newport gives a plethora of examples of how to eliminate shallow work and re-focus our energy on deep work.  His advice to embrace boredom rather than constantly filling an empty moment with a swipe of the phone resonated with all of us.  He challenges the reader to re-evaluate the use of social media by examining the value of random connections versus the high value connections we have in our personal and professional lives. 

Our discussion ended with an important challenge – how can we teach and encourage deep work in our students?  We certainly need to make changes in our own lives first.  Newport’s argument has clear implications for our classrooms and students.  Although he does not address the educational setting specifically, we certainly felt pulled to apply these ideas to our own students. 

“Deep work,” Newport concludes, “is a life well-lived.” We all agreed that we hungered for more of that in our lives.

Many thanks to Kim Miklusak, Quinn Loch, Mark Heintz, and Linda Ashida in our Collab Lab for facilitating the Zoom technology and helping us make this happen.

Shift This! D214 Connects and Learns with Author Joy Kirr!

By Linda Ashida

This year the Collab Lab enjoyed a new way to facilitate learning connections beyond our school walls using Zoom. Among other ways we used this technology to collaborate virtually with educators across the district and country, we also created a Virtual Learning Cohort to more intentionally foster our community of learning across schools.

The first 3-week Learning Cohort connected over 30 learners from across District 214 and beyond. You can read about it here:

A New Way To Connect and Learn Across Schools: The Collab Lab's Virtual Learning Cohort

We were so inspired by our conversations in the first Virtual Learning Cohort, that we decided to connect again for a second 3-week session. In the first cohort, we were fortunate enough to have one of our favorite Twitter PLN colleagues (and and "neighbor" in District 25) Joy Kirr, join us. Since in we were exploring ways to involve students more in their learning, it seemed only fitting to use Joy's recently published book, Shift This! to guide the conversation for our second Virtual Learning Cohort.  Joy graciously agreed to participate again and help lead the conversation.

Each week Joy kicked off our conversations with insights from her book as well as her current practice. She was candid about what worked and what didn't; we were so inspired by the way that, at heart, she is a learner herself, always reflecting and shifting her practice to do what is best for kids. Her examples and relfections served as a great springboard for us to share ideas for shifts in our own practice.

Across the two 3-week Virtual Learning Cohorts, The Collab Lab team connected with over 30 colleagues representing every District 214 school, neighboring school districts, and even with educators for other states! And students joined us too! Between our weekly meetings we stayed connected on Twitter and we also collaborated using Google Docs to curate and share even more ideas.

Using Zoom gave us a great new way to strengthen our professional learning connections across schools in our new Virtual Learning Cohorts; it was a new great way to connect, learn, and share!

We're looking forward to keeping our conversations going on social media.  And. . .  YOU can join the conversation too! Just follow the the hashtag #ShiftThis on Twitter.  You will no doubt be inspired and you can even jump in on some Twitter chats, like the one that will happen just tonight! 

And, to learn more about Joy's book, including information on how to get your own copy, check out this previous post: "Looking to Make Changes in Your Classes? Book Rec: Shift This!" 

A huge shout out to Joy for being so generous with her time to join us and inspire our learning, and to all of our colleagues and students who participated. We're looking forward to continuing similar collaborative learning experiences across schools in the year to come!

Looking to make changes in your classroom? Book rec: Shift This!

By Kim Miklusak

Are you looking for a way to shake up your classroom space or instructional practices?  Are you a mid-career or veteran teacher who is looking for a new way to accomplish your classroom goals?  Are you a new teacher looking for a way to start off your practice in a new way?  Pick up the book Shift This by Joy Kirr!

I first "met" Joy when I attended the ISTE Conference in Atlanta...except Joy wasn't even there that year!  I went to a session on #GeniusHour, another name for a very similar practice of the 20% Time Project that I was hoping to implement for a unit in our American Literature course.  I connected with Joy via Twitter and found out that quite by chance she teaches in a district right near mine.  She was only too happy to meet, share her resources on her Live Binder site, and connect me with others who were doing similar projects.  This one shift in one of my units has influenced my teaching over the past few years as elements of it have seeped into more of my courses.

Image used with permission of the author

But that wasn't the only lesson I picked up from interacting with Joy on Twitter.  She has systematically moved to make her classroom space more student-centered, getting rid of her desk, having student working stations, and even broadcasting student voice and work on Twitter.  I made little steps: I moved my desk to the side, I opened my closet for students to take their own supplies...and eventually I moved to getting rid of my desk.  These little changes over the years have made such a difference.

Most recently I have picked up from Joy the importance of #First5Days.  What we do in the first week of our classroom sets the stage for our year.  Do we review rules?  Or do we jump right into getting to know students or starting our learning.  Every little shift makes the difference.

Book Review

Image used with permission of the author

The best thing about all of this is that Joy then went and put all of her excellent and practical ideas into her book.  Each chapter centers on a different area: classroom environment, homework, grading, student-directed learning, and more.  She shares her stories in her own voice and describes the processes she went through to change.  She acknowledges it isn't always easy but stresses that we don't all have to shift at once or even shift in every area.

But what she does do is start each chapter with questions that we as teachers may have that we hope to consider and resolve.  She then provides very clear examples of how she has done this in her classroom (including some photos!), external resources for more information, and note taking sections for us to reflect on our own practices.

Next Steps

If you're interested in more information, I would begin by following Joy on Twitter.  And if you'd like to do more of a book study with a virtual learning cohort, please reach out to the CollabLab as we will be doing a book study and chat with Joy and peers over three weeks starting in April.

Making Sure They Are Really Ready: Collaborating with EIU to help our Dual Credit Students Succeed in College

By Emily Mikuzis

Last week we had our first taste of warm weather, stirring up all those spring feelings: the hope that we may have shoveled snow off our car for the last time, the anticipation of shedding our winter coats & commuting during daylight, the excitement & anxieties we share with our students over the springtime rituals of AP testing, and the bittersweet acknowledgement that we will be letting our seniors go to pursue their various academic and career paths. Each year around this time, I look at my senior composition students, reflect on how tremendously they have grown in their writing and how delightful they are as young adults and wonder have I done enough to get them ready for the next step?

In the Dual Credit and English 101 courses, the question at the forefront of our planning is how to blend challenge and support so that our students can have as seamless a transition into their college coursework as possible. The new partnership with Eastern Illinois University has been instrumental in providing us with the insight we need to continue to do this better. On February 23, we were delighted to host Dr. Timothy Taylor, Director of Composition at EIU to speak with College Composition, Speech 101, and English 100 classes.

Dr. Taylor’s Presentation

Dr. Taylor began his presentation by defining growth mindset for our students. By sharing highlights from Carol Dwek’s research and using student responses to model examples of growth mindset, Dr. Taylor presented the following keys to success in reading and writing for college: 

(1) Students must have a growth mindset. They must believe they can and will improve their writing through practice and study.  

(2) Students must work hard -- they must seek to improve their skills. 

(3) Students must practice discipline -- completing writing assignments on time and with quality. 

(4) And finally, students have to care. When students care about improving their work, they will take feedback, apply it and see improvements.

Growth mindset is a concept that is familiar to many of our students. We discuss it in our classes, model it when we show them how to use feedback, and use language that supports growth and improvement. Dr. Taylor engaged students in a real-time critique session of an essay from a student in the on-campus section of College Composition. As students commented on the model, they identified some of the errors they are making in their own papers. Students were able to identify weaknesses in thesis, organization, and analysis in the model essay that correspond to the weaknesses they are seeing in their own essays. As Dr. Taylor then presented elements of the revised paper, students were able to see growth mindset at work - what was once an average essay (students graded the original a C) became an A essay with a complex thesis, well-argued points, and strong analysis of supporting details.

Implications for our Work

Dr. Taylor’s presentation echoed the messaging we pass on to our students as a course team. Writing is a complex set of skills that requires practice, attention, and revision. We strive to give them clear and timely feedback that focuses on the big picture - how well they are articulating and supporting complex ideas in writing, rather than on the specific - particular constructions for paragraphing or rules of grammar. Above all, we strive to make grades a benchmark for improvement, not an assessment of a student’s worth as a writer. Through our portfolios and student reflection processes, the team is working to improve students’ metacognition and integrate growth mindset in their writing.

A New Way To Connect and Learn Across Schools: The Collab Lab's Virtual Learning Cohort

By Linda Ashida

Imagine starting your day collaborating with a group of nearly 30 educators and students, from 10 different schools, from the comfort of your own learning space. Imagine the new connections, learning––and fun!––the conversation could lead to!

That is just what happened in the first meeting of the Collab Lab's Virtual Learning Cohort. Taking advantage of District 214 schools' daily common professional learning time from 7:15-8:10 (before 1st hour classes begin at 8:15), we used Zoom to connect virtually across schools. 

Our group included twenty-two staff and two students from D214, four educators from neighboring districts, and a middle school teacher from Texas! In a mix of whole-group and small-group break-out conversations, we enjoyed exploring and sharing ways to involve students and encourage them to take the lead in their own learning. And, since we were talking about student voice, it only seemed fitting to include students. We were so happy our two Collab Lab Team students, Freshman Natalia Habas and Senior Nathan Beltran, were willing to start their school day an hour early to join us!

A tweet from Kim Miklusak captured what the experience looked liked, showing the synchronous video chat and how we used the "Share Screen" function to share resources and models of work. 

During both the whole-group and break-out video chats, we also interacted via text chat. One of our participants, Bob Schuetz, volunteered to monitor the chat. Much like a Twitter chat host, Bob welcomed participants, shared highlights, and responded to participant comments and questions. Just the small sampling from the chat below reveals the great way it added another layer of conversation and sharing with the group.

The comments in the chat also reveal how impactful it was to have students in the group––how inspired we were by their insights––reminding us how important it is to foster student voice in our classrooms, too.

Before ending our session, we took a few minutes to reflect and consider a "Call to Action" before we meet again next week: Connect with another participant in the group; share a resource in our Curated Resources Doc; try something new, capture and share "Pictures of Practice" from our classrooms . . .  

It was great to make new connections, renew some "old" ones, and learn together without leaving our own "home base." We were inspired by new ideas and resources, and we're looking looking forward to the conversation in the weekly meetings to come! 

Natalia and Nathan were happy to be included and they stopped by the Collab Lab in person to to debrief with Bob and me and let us know that they would be inviting more students to join us next week! They are pretty great!

We are grateful for a District 214 Innovation in Teaching and Learning Grant to support The Collab Lab's vision to expand collaborative learning experiences across our schools with a  Zoom Pro account and our new Collab Lab Zoom Room.  Look for future blog posts to learn how we will use our Zoom Room to invite colleagues from other schools to join us virtually in the Collab Lab for Teaming on Tuesday workshops, cross-district learning exchanges, and more!

If you are wondering about Zoom and how you might use it too, we'd love to talk to you! It is incredibly easy to use. In just a few minutes you can create a free account and, with little or no training use it in much the same way we did to connect across learning spaces, schools, the country––and even the world! There are so many possibilities. And maybe you have ideas for us, too. Stop by the Collab Lab or drop us a line; we'd love to brainstorm with you!

Construction Zone: Drafting Blueprints for Learning: EGHS Teacher Led Institute Day

October 16th was a great day of collaboration and learning for our 6th Annual Teacher-Led Institute Day.  24 different workshops were offered in the morning. The workshops were planned and facilitated by 38 staff, 10 students, and 3 community professionals! The topics for the workshops were determined in response to a survey shared with staff weeks before, and from feedback from shared from previous professional learning experiences. In the afternoon, staff had time to work in their PLCs to share and apply their learning from the morning sessions, and to prepare for a great start the the 2nd Quarter!

The following photos and links will give you an idea of what the day looked like.

The Schedule:

Here is the link to the complete Doc with the schedule for the day.

The Blueprints (Shared notes)

Each session had a "Blueprint" Google Doc for shared notes.  These notes will serve as an important an important resource for staff future reference and learning, and to connect to the content of sessions they might not have been able to attend.

Sharing our Story

In addition to curating resources in the shared "Blueprints" for each session, we shared our learning via Twitter using our professional learning hashtag #214Learns. 

Check out this Storify of tweets from the day to see more! 

The feedback from the day was overwhelmingly positive, and there were great suggestions, too. In addition to conversations with staff, we will be guided by the responses on the Institute Day Survey. Nearly 100 staff completed the survey and the feedback will guide us in planning future professional learning experiences. We have already begun using the feedback to plan our 2nd Quarter Teaming on Tuesday sessions to keep the conversations going. We see the Institute Day as a great springboard for ongoing conversations and learning.

Build Community & Problem Solve at the Same Time

By Linda Ashida

• Are you searching for answers to a question?
• Do you need fresh ideas to respond to a challenge?
• Are you looking for new ways to build community and foster teamwork in your classroom?
• Are you exploring new strategies for a lesson? 
• Do you imagine lessons where students do more of the talking and learn from one another?

Did you answer yes to one of the questions above?

Then the Reciprocity Ring Exercise could be for you!

Background

Joe Bush led us in this team-building and problem-solving activity for our second Team on Tuesdays. You can learn more about this weekly learning exchange series from our previous post: Connect with Students from the Start.

First Joe explained the concept for the activity and how it has been used in business for brainstorming and problem-solving. He then shared how he has used the exercise in his Leadership Through Service class.  The students posed questions and leveraged the ideas of their peers to share answers, solutions and resources. After doing the activity with his students, he realized how valuable it could be for teachers to use in their classes.

The Process 

Simple Steps in a short period of time (15-30 minutes)

1) Write one or two questions on the wall.
2) Rotate to read the questions of your peers.
3) Share ideas or resources.
4) Continue rotating to learn from the ideas and responses of peers, and add any new ideas.
5) Debrief as a group (on both the process and the content shared)

• What are the takeaways? 
• What will be your next steps?

The Result

With simple steps in a short period of time:

• We left with new ideas, solutions and resources to our own questions.

• We were inspired by the questions and responses of our peers.

• We brainstormed ideas for using this same activity in our own classrooms to foster a learner-centered environment; to get our students collaborating with their peers for answers to questions or solutions to problems.

• We established new connections with our colleagues.

• We made plans for follow-up conversations and connections in each others' classrooms.

Gallery

See the video and photos below to get a better idea of what the activity looked like.

Read, Speak, Listen and Write - All in one activity!

By Linda Ashida - Inspired by Kirsten Fletcher

First, A shout out to Kirsten Fletcher for emailing the Collab Lab team with an invitation to visit her French classes to see her students engaged in a Running Dictation Relay Race.

Intrigued, we stopped by to find some students wandering around the room reading the walls, other students sitting at their desks seemingly waiting, and small groups of students crowded around one of their desks.

Kirsten explained the "method to the movement" that got all of her students--collaborating in groups of 2 or 3--engaged in using the language in all modes: reading, speaking, listening, and writing.

Step 1) 
One student in the group goes to read one of numerous sentence strips posted around the room. The student reads the sentence as many times as necessary to memorize it.

Step 2)
The student who reads the sentence reports back to the group and recites the sentence from memory to his partner(s) who must listen and write the sentence accurately, exactly as it was written.  If the student who read the sentence forgets any part he can go back,  re-read, then return to help his partner fill in the gaps.

Step 3) 
The students repeat this process with each of the sentence strips around the room, until they have all of the sentences written correctly.

While this activity is great for World Language classes to get students up and moving and using all modes of communication, it could be adapted easily in any language arts classes.  The content of the sentences could be easily modified to adapt to any level of language learners.

The activity could involve varied extensions as well.  For example, sentences from a story could be posted in random order.  Once completely written, the students would have to put them the correct order, building an additional layer of reading comprehension.

Kirsten is thankful--and would like to give credit to--her #langchat colleague Martina Bex for sharing this activity. 

To learn more, read Martina's blog posts:

Running Dictation Relay Race
Running Dictation Extension