Introduction

              I started early in my life, when I was in the Student Council in Middle School, I reflected about the role of the education in the community’s development, especially in title I schools. I found that the curriculum was not correlated with the reality of the community’s environment and the needs of the country, it is just an imported package. I also found, that the architecture of the education system is a unidirectional pyramid, where teachers and students only follow rules and complete assignments and duties (the model of yes sir, yes ma’am and do right way, the traditional education).

 

              When I started working in The United States as a teacher, I worked in a school where in every faculty meeting there were two predominant voices, the principal and the assistant principal. The rest of the faculty members were in absolute silence. If a teacher thought or reflected differently he or she was not welcome in the school.  Everybody worked around the TAKS and then the STAAR as the center of the education, not the students. They did not have choices. Each grade level had a huge binder with all the test questions by TEKS as a bible of the education. The PDs were related to how to pass the standardize test, not on how to coach and support the individual needs of each teacher to be more effective in the execution of an authentic lesson.  The data represented something different than the reality of the student’s learning process. This was similar to the education that I saw when I was in middle school. To learn more click on Why is PD Ineffective?

 

              When I asked a department teachers this year (2020) the question: “With your teaching experience. What do you expect from professional development? (Write from your heart)” All of them agreed, they needed help to solve the issues they faced during instruction in the classroom or outside of the class to be more effective. How to coach students to think and to reason, in order to be more analytic and creative.  To master and be more comfortable with a method or software in the classroom, not just “here’s a new software to use to track students”.  They need an effective professional development, not just “sit and get…” exactly the opposite of how teachers are supposed to teach students. Coaching teachers on an ongoing process, until they master a method or a software. To learn more click on PD teacher survey           

 

               The goal of the Effective Professional

Learning is to implement, model, and promote

the use of relevant choices and to create activities

in the lessons. That engage and empower learners

in title I schools, on any model. Through a

collaborative multi-directional environment between

teachers and administrators. To help each other

weekly with dual roles, as a technician coach and

as an intellectual.  Every year students express boredom and disengagement from the school. Where the focus is to train learners to pass the STAAR test. As influencers we need to prepare the students for their future, not just for a test.

 

Call to Action

              The education system needs to be cohesive and consistent through the learning process for teachers. The lack of effective professional learning affects student’s performance and the development of communities.   Adopted effective experiences from informal education or other business such us hospitals or farming activities, help to understand the relevance of engaging and implementing an effective professional development.  To emphasize the need of each teacher and each student, because they both learn the same way. We can model, work as a team, collaborate with colleagues to internalize the importance of putting the students as the center of the learning process.  Empowering teachers to be knowledgeable by following the Five Principals of Effective Professional Learning as an ongoing process with active participation and support.  

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To learn more click on Effective PL (Farming vs Education)

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Professional Learning Blueprint

              My professional Learning blueprint is divided into a pre-phase and two phases with expansive participation and collaboration of Math department members. Every eight weeks, teachers and administrators will evaluate to refine the effectiveness on the teachers’ grow mindset that create a healthy balance between life-job-family.

 

Pre-phase:  School Compass (1 week)

              The administration will create two reachable smart goals for the academic year with all departments. Analyze the district curriculum and data to implement the most relevant and effective strategies as a compass of the institution.  

 

Phase 1: Collaborative PL Strengthening (6 weeks)

              This phase needs a high participation and collaboration of all the members from the math department.  Each member presents strengths to share and helps others. Helping to improve with consistent coaching to increase growth mindset. Specifically in the areas that each member needs to improve and be more effective in the students learning process. The team will read weekly, analyze, and reflect on an article, to increase a pedagogy sensitivity on the learning process. Teachers and management will start to analyze the strategies to create the road map and lessons that engage and empower students with relevant choices and creative activities that benefit the learners. 

   

Phase 2: Expansion of PL Model to other Departments (2 weeks)

              In this phase, departments will model and share the experiences and strategies of collaboration and participation with other department for 30 minutes.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays (ELA, SC, SS, and Math).  This process will be repeated on a rotation every 8 weeks to motivate, enrich, and empower the collaborative environment across the school.

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To learn more click on Effective Professional Learning Outline

 

Audience

              The target audience for the professional learning plan will start with the Math department, since, I am part of the department. It is a team with a tendency of authentic collaboration and team players with the potential to transform the teaching style and routines. However, we are submerged in preparing students for the standardize test and lag measures. Instead of focusing on the lead measures. The Math department is at the beginning of the implementation of the five principals of Effective Professional Development. Teachers continue growing in the path, where the weaknesses is seen as an opportunity to improve their grow mindset and collaboration culture.  However, the objective of the collaborative PL is to extend the model across the school in order to benefit more the students.

  

Fostering Collaboration

              We will continue to encourage and

strengthen participation and collaboration

in all directions as connected gears or flow

free strategies through the activities, planning,

coaching, and lead discussions on PLCs. To be

comfortable with the uncomfortable to share

our weaknesses and faults or to ask for help.

Where everyone in the team understands

deeply the concept of collaboration.

                                                                      The culture of collaboration is not just 

                                                                      working together. It involves trust, respect,

                                                                      and care for each other; this action starts in

                                                                      our self.   We need to study and learn an

                                                                      effective way to collaborate, to avoid falling

                                                                       in the comfort zone, and creating a flat

                                                                      mimicry of team work. Where we challenge

                                                                      or question each other’s classroom practices.

                                                                       We must be transparent and value a

                                                                       collaborative environment.  This way we can

                                                                      empower teachers to take risks in giving

                                                                      choices and designing creative projects that

 engage students in authentic learning experiences.  To learn more click on Come

 into your own!

 

Fostering Self-Directed Learning

              The ability of Self-direct professional learning increases the motivation and effectiveness in the classroom.  Teachers are more in control of their ability to teach and they are deeply satisfied emotionally, intellectually, personally, and professionally. The self-direct learning in authentic collaborative environment catalyzes professional growth and promotes systematic organizational transformation.  Instead of feeling disempowered in their own professional domain, where professional development is imposed on teachers, rather than developed with them.

 

              In this process, every teacher has all the opportunities, choices, and ongoing support for taking ownership of their professional learning. On the weekly authentic collaborative PLCs, team meetings, and their own-pace learning.  They can explore and share relevant pedagogy articles of professional study. About topics that reflect themselves-needs as learner facilitators. Teachers need to analyze and contrast the lag measures, lead measures, and wildly important goals that can help to refine the strategies to prepare and execute the lessons.  This will be reflected in an authentic learning experiences for students.  

             

              Understanding the importance of the choices

and creative activities to engage and empower students

to develop their thinking and reasoning is crucial in any

constructivism learning model. Especially, for title I

schools students.  If teachers implement it consistently

and effectively, then students will develop long term

learning, instead of short term learning for standardized

tests.   This is possible to reach when teachers increase

self-directed professional learning that improves self –

efficacy and the potential of classroom flow.  Will self-direction learning be effective in students from low income families, the same way that it works in adults? To learn more click on In education , not all that shines is gold

             

Professional Learning Instructors

              Every member of the math department will collaborate with the professional learning model in all directions. Our department is formed by a good group of professional teachers that have the gift of learning collaboratively and the strength for mentoring. In this department, we feel safe sharing, reflecting, questioning, and asking for help and we receive immediate support from a member of any grade level.  The implementation and execution of effective lessons with choices and creative activities, requires baby steps, especially in math. Where the instructional time is only 45 minutes; students come very low from elementary schools; and the pressure to reach the STAAR goals is crucial.  The incorporation of choices and creative mini-projects in lessons are more accessible in some TEKS then others and more in some groups then others. To learn more click on Effective Professional Learning Outline

 

5 Key Principles of Effective Professional Learning

1) Duration:  The duration of professional development must be significant and ongoing to allow time for teachers to learn a new strategy and grapple with the implementation problem.

 

This is a daily and significant collaborative process that allows teachers to learn at their own pace with coaching on their explicit needs.  Until the teacher can demonstrate mastery and confidence in the implementation of choices and creative activities in the lessons. These strategies engage and empower students in an authentic learning experience with technology embedded, promoting them to be academically successful.

 

2) Support: There must be support for a teacher during the implementation stage that addresses the specific challenges of changing classroom practice.

 

Every member will receive practical personalizes

workshops and ongoing coaching during the

implementation of choices and creative activities

in the lessons. By a team member of preference

or the transformational learning specialist (TLS)

one to one; step by step by zoom or face to face. 

Where teachers can be observe modeling.

Engaging in conversation and watching videos.

Until a teacher feels confident with the strategies

and be comfortable to implement them.

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3) Engage: Teachers’ initial exposure to a concept should not be passive, but rather should engage teachers through varied approaches so they can participate actively in making sense of a new practice.

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The teacher will have diverse approaches to persuade them of the applicability and the implementation of choices and creative activities in lessons to engage students. Teachers will be motivated in an active learning environment; where they can participate and digest the effects behind the choices and creative activities. Especially, for students that are disengaged easily and misbehave.  In this stage, teachers will create, experiment, and practice the execution of the lesson to be more comfortable with students.

 

4) Modeling: Modeling has been found to be highly effective in helping teachers understand a new practice.

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All of our strategies, software, lessons, and concepts are discussed and modelled by the math department members in PLCs and team meetings.  Each teacher of the department has strengths to share. However, the incorporation of choices and creative activities in the lessons will be modeling with students in action and videos by me. Because it is more powerful to persuade impatient or skeptical teachers. It is more understandable and effective to be adopted by those teachers.  The teachers that start to incorporate the strategies to engage students will be supported and coached in an ongoing process. Until they are confident with the implementation. To learn more click on Take Risks, be the Change with Your Example

 

5) Specific:  The content presented to teachers shouldn’t be generic, but instead specific to the discipline (for middle school and high school teachers) or grade-level (for elementary school teachers).

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The professional learning plan can be adoptable according with the grade level and the discipline. I recommend to incorporate choices and creative activities in lessons, first in math. For two reasons. First, the department members are more open to incorporate changes in the routine. Second, the concepts of math are seen by many students as boring and disengaging compared to science and social studies. Our department needs to reflect of this reality and use the strategies of choices and creative mini-projects to engage the learners. Where the applicability of math concepts in real life situation, allows students to generate opportunities to solve problems in their community.

    

Timeline

The professional learning is ongoing and will be evaluated every 9 weeks to analyze the trend of the implementation of choices and creative activities in lessons. Observing the final product of the learners. 

 

Pre-Phase:  Pave the way and present

A) Pave the way.

(August 6, 2020 to Feb 6 2021)

I will start to create and implement lessons with choices and creative mini-projects to engage and empower students in authentic learning experiences. Teachers need the influence from others in order to be excited to try something different.

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B) Present the PL plan individually to each motivated teacher

(October 15, 2020 to February 6, 2021)

Prepare and present individually the PL and the strategies to the principal, AP level, math coach, and motivated teachers first.  They can benefit or affect the plan. I will persuade the opinion leaders because they are considered highly social connected and over 85% of the teachers will not adopt new practices until the opinion leaders do.  

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Phase 1:  Collaborative PL strengthening of the Math Department.

(October 15, 2021 to April 10, 2021)

In this phase, math department members learn that when we influence the school; we switch from a controlling style to a social motivational setting. Where teachers have all the opportunities to grow and succeed in a collaborative and solidary environment.  I believe that creating exceptional student experiences requires the involvement of the whole staff. Who focuses on quality, accompanied by choices and creative activities in the lessons.  We will identify the persistent problems where changes seem impossible to incorporate lessons.  Especially, in tittle I schools with predominant Hispanic students. In order to refine and implement an explicit path of learning to a targeted community in phase 2.  To learn more click on Effective Professional Learning Outline

 

Resources and Media

           When a tittle I school ranks low.  The school tendency is just to focus on preparing students only for the STAAR test, in order to improve the ranking (centripetal effect). However, this reality reduces drastically the implementation of meaningful choices and creative activities to empower and give voice to the students (centrifugal effect).  Creating a high percentage of learner’s disengagement and apathy across the school. Increasing misbehavior and absences. These articles and videos can corroborate the importance of meaningful choices to engage in deeper and richer learning.

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Articles:

 

1)  Why choices Matters to Students Learning

 https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52424/why-choice-matters-to-student-learning

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2) What Giving Students Choices Looks Like in the Classroom 

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52421/what-giving-students-choice-looks-like-in-the-classroom

 

3) Let it go: Giving Student choices

 https://www.thecreativeeducator.com/2015/connections/give-students-choices

 

4) How to Make Student Choice Work 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-make-student-choice-work

 

 

5) How to Give Students More Control Over Their Learning

 https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2016/03/08/give-students-more-control-over-their-learning.html

 

6) To engage  students, give them meaningful choices in the classroom 

https://kappanonline.org/engage-students-give-meaningful-choices-classroom/

 

7) Student Choices Leads to Student Voice.

 https://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-choice-leads-to-voice-joshua-block

 

8) The Key Benefits of Choices

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/116015/chapters/The-Key-Benefits-of-Choice.aspx

 

Videos:

1) The Shift from Engaging Students to Empowering Learning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYBJQ5rIFjA&list=PLzDOGMsmDvetuGqZoFtyEv9s1_6WxMda9

 

2) 10 Ways to Empower Students With Choices

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L08wNizulOY&list=PLzDOGMsmDvetuGqZoFtyEv9s1_6WxMda9&index=3

 

3) Student Voice and Choice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVRCEq5jZkU

 

4) Student Voice, Choice, and Collaboration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3wBBdBdDRA

 

5) Classifying Rational Numbers 6th Grade PBL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJIQYiiGZ4k

 

Summary

         The overall goal is to learn, implement, demonstrate, and model the benefits of the implementation of choices and creative activities in the lessons. To engage and empower students in authentic learning experiences, in title I school. The objective is for all teachers to implement these strategies. With a deep knowledge of “why” they are important to execute on economical disadvantages students. Where students can develop their passion, their grow mindset, their voice, and the skills to solve community problems and see them, as an opportunity to grow and succeed.  In order to prosper in the implementation of the strategies, we need to encourage an authentic collaboration and social motivation setting where teachers have all the opportunities to grow and master the strategies that transform students in influencers of their own community.

 

References:

Andrews, T.M., Leonard, M.J., Colgrove, C.A., & Kalinowski. S.T., (2017, Oct 13) Active learning Not Associated with Students Learning in a Random Sample of College Biology Courses. CBE Life Sciences Education, 10(4), 294 – 405 Retrieved from

https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.11-07-0061

 

Brenda B., (2000, March) Teachers Leading their own professional growth: Self-directed reflection and collaboration and changes in perception of self and work in secondary school teachers. University of Melbourne, Australia.  Journal of In-service Education 26(1): 73-93.

Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249020573_Teachers_leading_their_own_professional_growth_Self-directed_reflection_and_collaboration_and_changes_in_perception_of_self_and_work_in_secondary_school_teachers

 

Edcan Network Le Réseau (2016, May 19) Innovation that Sticks Case Study – OCSB: Collaborative Professional Development Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUusuw-xdr4&feature=youtu.be

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​Heather, H., (2015) Review of The mirage: Confronting the hard truth about our quest for teacher development. Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Retrieved from https://nepc.colorado.edu/sites/default/files/ttr_hill_tntp_mirage.pdf

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Goodwin, B., (2015, Dec- 2016 Jan) Research says/Does teacher Collaboration Promote Teacher Growth? Education leadership. 73 (4), page 82 - 84. Retrieved from https://www.dropbox.com/s/hml95bj705dvkzw/Does%20Teacher%20Collaboration%20Promote%20Teacher%20Growth.pdf?dl=0

 

Grenny, J., Patterson, K.,Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013) Influencer: The new Science of Leading Change. Second Edition. New York, McGraw-Hill Education.  

 

Gulamhussein, A. (2013) Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from https://www.dropbox.com/s/j13c5mk092kmqv9/Teaching_Effective_Professional_Developmt.pdf?dl=0

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McChesney, C., Covey, S., & Huling, J. (2012) The 4 Discipline of Execution: Achieving your wildly important goals. New York, Simon & Schuster

 

NCES ( 2020, May) Characteristics of Public School Teachers

Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_clr.asp 

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Puketza, A., (2019, Feb 28) Education is a privilege, not a right

Retrieved from https://www.knightcrier.org/opinion/2019/02/28/editorial-education-is-a-privilege-not-a-right/