Autonomy – A TALL Order
I’ve read two great books in the last week,Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us and The Modern Meeting Standard: Read This Before Our Next Meeting. These two books caused me to reflect on a process I had the opportunity to develop and champion at Lebanon High School called TALL – Tiger Academy of Lessons Learned. 
Allow me to share the process (it’s not a thing or initiative, it’s a process) in this week’s post.
In the last three years many changes have been made in the way our school-wide professional development activities are planned, organized, and presented. The primary concern was that teachers should have ownership of the professional development process – Autonomy.
The Lebanon High School staff meets two times per month for professional development in Tiger Academy of Lessons Learned (TALL) groups. TALL was started in the spring of 2009. TALL is modeled after the U.S. Army’s Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) (Garvin, 2000). It is a process with no hierarchy, which has teachers working in groups of like interest and knowledge to learn new techniques, study research, try new practices/technology, and discuss professional literature. Any teacher may propose a topic to be addressed and groups form according to the appeal of the topic. As Pink (2009) said, “As organizations flatten, companies need people who are self-motivated. That forces many organizations to become more like, er, Wikipedians. Nobody sits around trying to figure out how to “motivate” them. That’s why Wikipedia works. (Kindle Location 452).
Groups meet formally every other week during time set aside in the morning, and report in diary form to our common computer drive. Groups can form and dissolve as necessary. Members are also able to freely switch groups as the need arises. Many groups meet outside of the normal school day to work. All individuals and groups had total autonomy (Pink, 2009) to pick their topics and groups they work in.
TALL has enabled the development of communities of practice in our school. One advantage of this process is that it provides a forum where teachers learn from each other. Teachers, according to their needs, choose TALL groups. This strategy enables teachers to use the group genius created to improve teaching skills and acquire best practices from each other, thus improving student achievement. Another important facet of TALL is that it includes the entire staff. All principals, support staff, and teachers are involved as equal participants. The groups with principals have learned to discuss sensitive topics and share opinions without fear of repercussion. TALL has helped our school by moving our staff toward an environment of risk taking and trust.
Another important outcome of TALL has been the opportunity for cross-curricular collaboration (Dufour, 2008) or development of learning organizations (Garvin & Edmondson, & Gino, 2008; Garvin, 2000) between all teachers. Garvin (2000) defines the learning organization as, “an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, interpreting, transferring, and retaining knowledge, and at purposefully modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights” (p. 11). Becoming a learning organization is an important component of our school’s culture change toward improved student achievement and performance (Warnick & Thompson, 2007).
References
DuFour, R. D. (2008). Revisiting professional learning communities at work.
Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
Garvin, D.A., Edmondson, A.C., & Gino, F. (2008). Is yours a learning
organization? Harvard Business Review, 86(3), 109-116.
Garvin, D. A. (2000). Learning in action: A guide to putting the learning
organization to work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York,
NY: Riverhead Books.
Warnick, B.K. & Thompson, G.W. (2007). Barriers, support, and collaboration: A
comparison of science and agriculture teachers’ perceptions regarding integration of
science into the agricultural education curriculum. Journal of Agricultural Education,
48(1), 75-85.
Reverse Mentoring
- 2010 Wyoming Teacher of the Year
I realize that the buzz word has changed from mentoring to coaching, but I have been advocating reverse mentoring for quite a while now, so I am not changing terminology. In my field of teaching, it seems that everyone is hung up on the tradition that experience equals qualifications and effectiveness. Even though this might be true in some cases, I propose that mentoring goes both ways. In other words teachers with less experience may be more effective teachers and have knowledge/skills to share with those of us with more years experience.
In fact, I’ll be the first to tell you that I would not be where I am today without the learning that has occurred from those with less years experience, but with skills, knowledge, and abilities far exceeding my own. For example, I would not have near the skills using technology to enhance student learning if it were not for a former student, Matt Ladd, who served as our technology guy at my high school. Now, amazingly, I am looked to as a leader using technology. Make no mistake, there were many others, including my students who played a role in moving me into the 21st Century. Just one example of Reverse Mentoring at its best.
The picture I chose for this post is very special because it is of a teacher with nine years experience that I, with 27 years experience, learn from every time I am with. I was blessed to get to know Christina Mills, 2010 Wyoming Teacher of the Year, two years ago during my year as Teacher of the Year. She is amazingly talented and effective in the classroom, and I value every chance I get to be around her. I was thrilled last week when I was a part of the Smithsonian Institution and Pearson Foundation’s Mission Possible: Reimagining the 21st Century Classroom in Washington D.C. and through the door walked Christina. Neither one of us knew the other was going to be there. This four day conference provided plenty of opportunity for learning; much of which came from collaborating with Christina.
So if you are reading this with many years experience in your field, do not forget that those with less years experience may just have more experience in areas you need mentoring. Or, if you are reading this and have limited years experience do not forget you have valuable knowledge to share with those of us with more years. The goal should be to learn from each other. I guess I should call it Two Way Mentoring – learning from each other.
Teaching vs. Pouring Espresso
I was reading Onward during a time when our State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr Tony Bennett visited my classroom. He is very inspiring and has led so many great changes in Indiana Education. I shared this with him, and now I would like to share it with my blog readers. I believe you will find that this comparison of teaching to a successful business model fits right in with Dr. Bennett’s initiatives of “Putting Students First.”
Here is the excerpt adapted from Onward:
Pouring espresso (Teaching) is an art, one that requires the barista (teacher) to care about the quality of the beverage (education). If the barista (teacher) only goes through the motions, if he or she does not care and produces an inferior espresso (student) that is too weak or too bitter (not ready to compete), then Starbucks (teaching) has lost the essence of what we set out to do 40 years ago (in 1635): inspire the human spirit. I realize this is a lofty mission for a cup of coffee (education), but this is what merchants (teachers) do. We take the ordinary – a shoe (boy), a knife (girl) – and give it (them) new life, believing that what we create has the potential to touch others’ lives because it (their lives) touched ours.
Adapted from Schultz, H. (2011). In Onward: How Starbucks fought for its life without losing its soul (p. 4). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
21st Century Leaning Lab Podcast
During a special episode of the 21st Century Learning Lab podcast, Meri Carnahan spoke to me about my experiences, both locally and nationally, as Indiana Teacher of the Year and how technology has become an important part of my classroom.
Disengaged Students
I was asked today by one of my doctoral professors to define disengaged students, where the problem is, and how do we begin to deal with it. Here is the answer that I posited: A disengaged student is one through some external source does not see the relevance of school. WE have in so many ways let our children in this country down, and that is why they have become disengaged. Rafe Esquith (2007) said it best, “I am sad when I see so many good teachers and parents surrender to forces that sap their potential excellence. The demons are everywhere. Those who care deeply often fall outgunned by apathetic or incompetent administrators and politicians. Expectations for children are often ridiculously low. Racism, poverty, and ignorance often reign supreme on campus. Add to this mix ungrateful students, and even mean-spirited people in the teaching profession itself, and the hardiest of souls can be crushed. Each defeat usually means that a child’s true potential will not be developed” (p. x), There is no simple solution to education’s complex problems, but I am so encouraged when I listen and observe my cohort developing research based solutions, not just simple band-aid fixes.
As to how do we help the unengaged student achieve; again, I believe we must continue to create learning organizations where our teacher leaders are constantly learning and improving. Our traditional professional development practices focus only on acquisition of new information (Weinbum, Allen, Blythe, Simon, Seidel, & Rubin, 2004). We must create an environment where deeper learning is occurring and our teachers have multiple best practices, the appropriate pedagogy, and an understanding of how students learn (Weinbaum, et al., 2004).
We must also remember that a focus on rigor, relevance and relationships works. It costs nothing for us all to be an appropriate role model and form positive relationships with our students – which in turn helps in them become engaged. Relevance is also so very important for student engagement in learning. In regard to my own research proposal our nation must improve the way our students learn science, and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) communities must work together to achieve this goal (STEM Education Coalition, 2010). Complex science systems must be presented to our students in a relevant context in which students can understand their importance (National Research Council of the National Academies, 2009). By providing a context that is relevant to the student (in my case agricultural science)
, there should be improvement in student performance and achievement in science. The model of science and agriculture has the potential to improve the content knowledge skills and professional development of the teacher workforce and improve the resources available in science classrooms and other learning environments.
Byron
References
Esquith, R. (2007). Teach like your hair’s on fire. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
National Research Council of the National Academies (2009). Transforming agricultural education for a changing world. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
STEM Education Coalition (2010). Objectives. Retrieved on October 13, 2010, from: http://nstacommunities.org/stemedcoalition/objectives/.
Weinbaum, A., Allen, D., Blythe, T., Simon, K., Seidel, S., Rubin, C. (2004). Teaching as inquiry: Asking hard questions to improve practice and student achievement. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Mobile Learning Technology
This past week I had the opportunity to be a presenter on the Indiana Department of Education’s Webinar Series by being a part of the Mobile Learning Webinar. I would like to share it with you. The webinar can be found on the 21st Century Learning Lab Blog.
Effective Teaching Enhanced By Technology
I was asked to respond to a question last week that caused me to do a lot of soul searching and research to formulate my response. The question was: Don’t we need smart teachers, not SMART Boards. Here is how I respondend: I would first like to change the term “smart teachers” to that of “effective teachers.” Furthermore, I do not believe that effective teachers and SMART Boards are mutually exclusive. It is my opinion that we need and should have both. It is my mission every day to use rigor, relevance, and relationships to be a steward of high student performance and achievement. My action statement for accomplishing that mission is, “I am designing and developing a learning environment that integrates various technology tools and applications, connects technology usage to content area, and embeds technology into assessment strategies.
SMART Technology is a very engaging and interactive tool that is very intuitive for the students to use. It is however, only one type of technology being used in classrooms. Technology alone does not guarantee a rich educational experience. Educational spaces need to be smart, technology rich, adaptable, and configurable in order to meet the needs of today’s students. If the desire is to put students first, it has to be more than just unloading crates of technology into a room for the teacher and saying, “Have at it!” At the same time educators must provide inspirational learning spaces on a limited budget. Technology is everywhere in today’s educational environment.
This technology is important not only for engaging instruction, but also for creating a collaborative environment with other educators, students, and educational partners both inter-school and intra-school. This well planned environment allows the teacher to individualize both in manner of instruction and type of technology appropriate to the student. Solutions that address these needs are imperative to give educators the tools and facilities they need to assist learning, and students the tools necessary for engaging learning. When all these needs are met classrooms become collaborative student learning places.
In the SWELL (SMART Worldwide Effective Learning Lab) Classroom it is more than just SMART Boards. Experience has also taught me how important the physical lay-out of the room and furniture is to the educational experience. Students love coming to class and immersing themselves in the educational process through collaborative learning and use of technology. Through the environment we are creating we have global connectivity using progressive educational technology. The classroom is no longer just a classroom it is a board room, learning lab, research laboratory, creativity think-tank, and an invention incubator. This learning-focused environment is preparing students for the technology they will be using when they get to the workplace, universities, and other post-secondary endeavors. In fact, I had students using iPods and iPads to collect data while on internships this summer. The very technology we use in my courses. Additionally, the learning lab that most intrigued our team while researching for the SWELL Classroom was to Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management and Economics Library Interactive Learning Lab (Bush, 2009). My SWELL Classroom closely resembles this learning lab environment that Purdue University is duplicating throughout the campus. No doubt, our students will be using the technology they use every day in my classroom no matter what their post-secondary endeavors. Therefore, I do believe our students are better prepared for success in the workplace, and when they enter post-secondary institutions.
The environment, not the technology is what is most important. We have been able to provide our students with MacBooks, iPod Touches, SMART Boards, Huddleboards, document cameras, Flip Videos, and a SMART Response System. When designing learning places we must remember that positive relationships between students and their teachers are crucial to learning. The ultimate goal must be that instruction and student learning drives the design, and that the classroom inspires learning (Demski, 2009). We have had the opportunity to do real research in partnership with local companies having Ph.D. scientists review the students work.
Through the SWELL Classroom, the Lebanon High School Agriculture Department is a leader in providing innovative networking and information technology solutions to student learning. By proceeding in stages, Lebanon will be able to develop staff, so first round teachers will be able provide support and training, and share lessons (Fishtrom, 2009). The SWELL Classroom allows for designing each lesson to meet the individual student’s needs, and then deliver that lesson in such a way that is effective for that particular child.
In relation to the question of student achievement and performance, we believe it is important to be doing action research on this. Because I am in my first year of having a technology rich educational environment, I cannot answer at a granular, refined level the question of student achievement (related to high stakes summative exams) as of this writing because there is no data available. We will, however, be looking at the data that we receive from our students taking the Purdue University Dual Credit End of Course Assessments at the end of this year versus the past three years of data we have. I am approaching this as a learning expedition – learning to identify important questions, selecting and using data from the classroom (student work, assessments, and units for inquiry), developing technical skills, and making time to share with colleagues (Weinbaum, Allen, Blythe, Simon, Seidel, & Rubin, 2004). I can tell you from a student performance perspective that our students are very engaged in their learning and are taking real ownership in their work.
In closing, I would like to pose a question: If your child was going to Lebanon High School, would you not want your child to have effective teachers and the latest technology available to facilitate a collaborative and creative learning environment where problem solving, inquiry based learning, and higher order thinking were the norm? I believe the answer would be yes, so my teacher colleagues and I can provide students with a deeper understanding of such phenomena as globalization, leadership, and innovation, as well as the ability to think critically, decide wisely, communicate clearly, and implement effectively. Think of how great our next generation leaders are going to be!
Bush, J. (2009). Purdue libraries celebrate new interactive classroom, start second of three-phase renovation. University News Service. Retrieved on September 3, 2010 from: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/general/2009/story-print-deploy-layout_1_1573_1573.html
Demski, J. (2009). Space craft: Innovative architecture is bringing form to the function of 21st-century learning. The Journal, 36(7), 34-38.
Fishtrom, R. (2009). Best in tech 2009. Scholastic Administrator, 9(3).
Weinbaum, A., Allen, D., Blythe, T., Simon, K., Seidel, S., Rubin, C. (2004). Teaching as inquiry: Asking hard questions to improve practice and student achievement. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Byron's Babbles 
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