April 8, 2015
Wonderful session, when we spent time:
1. Reviewing the history of our work in this cohort, reviewing this site and the links it leads to.
2. Reconnecting with and self assessing where s/he is with our Cohort Two Learning Scales.
3. Determining how to make progress between today and our next meeting on May 6.
March 11, 2015
Looking forward to our April 8 session, when each of you will self assess your growth this year using Cohort Two's Learning Scales and collect / create evidence of this learning.
Here's a quick summary of what most of you missed on March 11:
On March 11 we explored in greater depth the idea of performance-based assessments, studying models and unpacking why they increase student engagement and accelerate learning. I've posted the slides we considered at the bottom of this post. The best part of this session was the time that each of your colleagues had to dig into their work. Super productive. Unfortunately, most of you weren't there! Thanks to the few of you who swung by to let me know that you'd be elsewhere, and thanks to those who made the session: Chelsea Turley, Jeff Robins, Jim Ferland, and Adam Sargent. Hope to see all of you on April 8, and if you need a hand making progress before then, be in touch ([email protected]). Thanks, Bill
Here are slides from March 11.
Wonderful session, when we spent time:
1. Reviewing the history of our work in this cohort, reviewing this site and the links it leads to.
2. Reconnecting with and self assessing where s/he is with our Cohort Two Learning Scales.
3. Determining how to make progress between today and our next meeting on May 6.
March 11, 2015
Looking forward to our April 8 session, when each of you will self assess your growth this year using Cohort Two's Learning Scales and collect / create evidence of this learning.
Here's a quick summary of what most of you missed on March 11:
On March 11 we explored in greater depth the idea of performance-based assessments, studying models and unpacking why they increase student engagement and accelerate learning. I've posted the slides we considered at the bottom of this post. The best part of this session was the time that each of your colleagues had to dig into their work. Super productive. Unfortunately, most of you weren't there! Thanks to the few of you who swung by to let me know that you'd be elsewhere, and thanks to those who made the session: Chelsea Turley, Jeff Robins, Jim Ferland, and Adam Sargent. Hope to see all of you on April 8, and if you need a hand making progress before then, be in touch ([email protected]). Thanks, Bill
Here are slides from March 11.
harwood_march_11_2015_copy.pdf | |
File Size: | 1773 kb |
File Type: |
December 10, 2014: Snow Day
Yesterday I had the good fortune to spend the day at Harwood, meeting with those of you who were able to / interested in meeting with me to check in on your progress. Good news: all of you can benefit from what I learned from your colleagues yesterday. Based on my meetings yesterday, here are my tips for helping you check on your progress and determine your next steps, in lieu of today's ERD.
1. When we last met (November 5), each of you who brought examples of your / your students work put it on display to get feedback from your cohort mates. Afterward, you each identified a way that you would stretch / practice in prep for today's ERD, so that you could arrive today ready to share your / your students' work with your colleagues again. Since that didn't happen...
2. Revisit the four Learning Scales that I am / you are using to track your progress in this cohort. Keep in mind that I've asked you to find one part of this to focus on (tough to try to do all of this at once). Check out the four learning scales, and remind yourself of what you set out to do since we last met.
3. Everyone I met with yesterday benefited from revisiting pklresources.weebly.com, the website I've shared with you before. Yesterday I helped each person find parts of that website that could support their next steps, and I'm certain you could find help there, too.
4. Finally, don't forget about this website that you're on right now, which summarizes our work so you can move back in time and remind yourself of where we started and where we've been.
Enjoy the snow,
Bill
Yesterday I had the good fortune to spend the day at Harwood, meeting with those of you who were able to / interested in meeting with me to check in on your progress. Good news: all of you can benefit from what I learned from your colleagues yesterday. Based on my meetings yesterday, here are my tips for helping you check on your progress and determine your next steps, in lieu of today's ERD.
1. When we last met (November 5), each of you who brought examples of your / your students work put it on display to get feedback from your cohort mates. Afterward, you each identified a way that you would stretch / practice in prep for today's ERD, so that you could arrive today ready to share your / your students' work with your colleagues again. Since that didn't happen...
2. Revisit the four Learning Scales that I am / you are using to track your progress in this cohort. Keep in mind that I've asked you to find one part of this to focus on (tough to try to do all of this at once). Check out the four learning scales, and remind yourself of what you set out to do since we last met.
3. Everyone I met with yesterday benefited from revisiting pklresources.weebly.com, the website I've shared with you before. Yesterday I helped each person find parts of that website that could support their next steps, and I'm certain you could find help there, too.
4. Finally, don't forget about this website that you're on right now, which summarizes our work so you can move back in time and remind yourself of where we started and where we've been.
Enjoy the snow,
Bill
September 2, 2014
Hello Cohort Two Colleagues,
Looking forward to our session today. Below is the post I wrote to all of you right after our two days together this summer. I'd recommend reconnecting with this note, and checking out the summaries of our days (see menu above).
Bill
June 24, 2014
Hello Cohort 2 Colleagues,
Over the next year, we'll use this site to tell and document the story of our learning.
For many of you, our learning together started over a year or so ago, when I began making cameo appearances at the occasional faculty meeting. Now, however, you are part of a cohort who will focus together on a more targeted and sustained path of practice, one that develops your capacity to design, create, and sustain learning settings that engage all learners in enduring, meaningful learning.
Striving to engage all learners in enduring, meaningful learning requires a lot of educators. Currently in our schools, time is the often the constant and learning, unfortunately, the variable. When we commit to all learners meeting a limited number of important outcomes, we're required to make time the variable and learning the constant. This shift challenges many of the structural and cultural habits that a system--and the individuals within the system--practice. Changing these habits, not surprisingly, can be complicated, inconvenient, and time consuming (as the changing of long-practiced habits tends to be).
Here's an example. We had a fantastic kick-off to Cohort 2 on Friday, June 20, followed by another great day on Monday, June 23. As the designer and orchestrator of the learning, I'm feeling good about what all my data tell me about the engagement and learning of the folks with whom I worked; however, as is often the case when we teach, not everyone was able to make both of the days, and some people had to miss both days. Kind of puts teacher in a pickle, no?
Why should it, though, when anyone who's taught for long knows that this type of thing happens all the time? Schools, in many ways, are interference-creating machines that make it seemingly impossible to keep track of all our learners comings and goings. Sickness, sports, crises, moves, vacations, and all the other things life does can make many a teacher feel justified in waving the white flag and simply focusing on the ones who can somehow show and keep up.
One of the things I learned when I made the change from teaching high school students to teaching adults is this: adults' lives are as complicated as students' lives. So, if I'm serious about designing, creating, and sustaining learning settings that engage all learners in enduring, meaningful learning, then I've got to make, among other things, some significant adjustments, including these two:
1. Continuously creating clarity for all my learners about what matters most;
2. Continuously providing a range of access to the practice and resources that learners need.
With this in mind, we will use this site to:
So in a moment, scroll back up to the top of this page, and check out each of the other pages, which summarize the work we've done so far and include resources we've considered. For those of you who were able to attend both days, I recommend that at some point you skim through these pages. For those of you who missed one or both days, please make some time to dig into the summaries and resources, which will help set the stage for the steps we take together when we reconvene during one of the year-opening in-service days.
As always, be in touch with any questions / comments about our work ([email protected]), and if you missed one/both of our kickoff days, make good use of your colleagues who did attend. (Most likely they'll need your help at times, too.)
Thanks again to all who were able to attend our first two days, and looking forward to working with you all.
Enjoy,
Bill Rich
Hello Cohort Two Colleagues,
Looking forward to our session today. Below is the post I wrote to all of you right after our two days together this summer. I'd recommend reconnecting with this note, and checking out the summaries of our days (see menu above).
Bill
June 24, 2014
Hello Cohort 2 Colleagues,
Over the next year, we'll use this site to tell and document the story of our learning.
For many of you, our learning together started over a year or so ago, when I began making cameo appearances at the occasional faculty meeting. Now, however, you are part of a cohort who will focus together on a more targeted and sustained path of practice, one that develops your capacity to design, create, and sustain learning settings that engage all learners in enduring, meaningful learning.
Striving to engage all learners in enduring, meaningful learning requires a lot of educators. Currently in our schools, time is the often the constant and learning, unfortunately, the variable. When we commit to all learners meeting a limited number of important outcomes, we're required to make time the variable and learning the constant. This shift challenges many of the structural and cultural habits that a system--and the individuals within the system--practice. Changing these habits, not surprisingly, can be complicated, inconvenient, and time consuming (as the changing of long-practiced habits tends to be).
Here's an example. We had a fantastic kick-off to Cohort 2 on Friday, June 20, followed by another great day on Monday, June 23. As the designer and orchestrator of the learning, I'm feeling good about what all my data tell me about the engagement and learning of the folks with whom I worked; however, as is often the case when we teach, not everyone was able to make both of the days, and some people had to miss both days. Kind of puts teacher in a pickle, no?
Why should it, though, when anyone who's taught for long knows that this type of thing happens all the time? Schools, in many ways, are interference-creating machines that make it seemingly impossible to keep track of all our learners comings and goings. Sickness, sports, crises, moves, vacations, and all the other things life does can make many a teacher feel justified in waving the white flag and simply focusing on the ones who can somehow show and keep up.
One of the things I learned when I made the change from teaching high school students to teaching adults is this: adults' lives are as complicated as students' lives. So, if I'm serious about designing, creating, and sustaining learning settings that engage all learners in enduring, meaningful learning, then I've got to make, among other things, some significant adjustments, including these two:
1. Continuously creating clarity for all my learners about what matters most;
2. Continuously providing a range of access to the practice and resources that learners need.
With this in mind, we will use this site to:
- Summarize the work we do when we meet in person. (This is particularly helpful to those who miss any of our sessions, though it's helpful for those in attendance, too, as a way to revisit / recall our learning.)
- Post resources that support our work.
- Post examples of our work and our findings.
So in a moment, scroll back up to the top of this page, and check out each of the other pages, which summarize the work we've done so far and include resources we've considered. For those of you who were able to attend both days, I recommend that at some point you skim through these pages. For those of you who missed one or both days, please make some time to dig into the summaries and resources, which will help set the stage for the steps we take together when we reconvene during one of the year-opening in-service days.
As always, be in touch with any questions / comments about our work ([email protected]), and if you missed one/both of our kickoff days, make good use of your colleagues who did attend. (Most likely they'll need your help at times, too.)
Thanks again to all who were able to attend our first two days, and looking forward to working with you all.
Enjoy,
Bill Rich