Week 7: Co-Teaching Summary

For this week's summary, I began aggregating all of the posts for the 4 main questions into a document to view all the responses to each question separately.

Once I did this, I decided to take each question and create a visual representation for the responses. Lately, I've been playing around with a product called Tagxedo, that allows you to change the shape of the tag cloud, and even allows you to upload pictures to put the cloud into that shape. Unfortunately, the embedded files from Tagxedo did not load properly when I tried to embed them, so I have included the static .jpg image instead. With the embedded version, when you click on words, they are supposed to animate and turn sideways for easier viewing. For comparison's sake, I also created the cloud in Wordle.

Here's what it looks like:

Question 1: What does co-teaching mean for the written, taught, and tested curriculum?
Taxedo Image: Hands and Puzzle The majority of the responses discussed the three stages of beginning, compromising and collaboration as outlined in Gately and Gately. Several mentioned student or learner centered instruction and the ability to differentiate curriculum based on formative assessment. In the written curriculum, several mentioned the importance of including the special education teacher in the process. In the taught curriculum there is a great advantage when students hear how to complete a task or learn from a different point of view. Collaboration between the content and special education teacher is key, and it is important for the special education teacher to know the material and the content teacher to understand the pedagogy of differentiating instruction.
Question 2: What structures need to be in place for co-teaching to be successful?
Taxedo Image Schoolhouse The structures reflected in the summary revolved around: Mutual Respect and Trust Common Planning Time Content Background Good Communication Well Defined Classroom Management Team approach Clear Goals Check Your Ego at the Door Some shared the KU Content Enhancement Routines and SIM Strategies as effective components, and there was also good discussion on the cost of co-teaching to districts facing budget difficulties.
Question 3: What impact does the upgrade of curriculum for the 21st century have on co-teaching?
The Tagxedo image above is from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Framework image. Many respondents to the question made the connection between the 21st Century skills of collaboration, communication, and problem solving as being directly related to co-teaching and that there was a natural enhancement when these skills are emphasized. The ability to differentiate content, process and product through the integration of technology is a powerful complement to the co-teaching process. Skype and Google Docs were often mentioned as tools to assist in this process, and it was even mentioned that technology offers the ability to co-teach at a distance, or in a blended format.
Question 4:What are some challenges in supervising and evaluating a co-teaching team, and how might supervisors address these challenges?
Tagxedo Image of Supervison The importance of administrative support, professional development and coordination of teams was emphasized as critical. Finding teams that will complement each other is a important first step, as well as monitoring them to be sure the relationship is a positive one. There was a great deal of discussion about taking more time in the evaluation process, observing and talking with staff separately and together. Many mentioned Gately and Gately's Co-teaching Rating scale as a checklist that they would use in their role as supervisor and "The Power of Two Observation and Debrief: Eight Components of the Co-Teaching Relationship was also mentioned as a useful tool. The issue of whether to observe the teacher or the students was brought up in discussion and it was suggested that we develop an observation tool that emphasizes student behavior. All in all, 81 posts on this topic were generated, with the initial ones totaling over 14 pages. In the follow-up the topics of discussion included: Mike Glennon's clever parenthetical usage! Communication, communication, and more communication The cost of co-teaching in an age of budget cuts Questioning the depth of knowledge and dedication to all students learning Methods of evaluation and supervision Consistent classroom management practices Effective Professional Development practices (Including Shared Inquiry.) Planning with Web 2.0 tools Evaluating not just the teaching but the collaboration Modeling the co-teaching process and gaining job embedded PD through co-teaching Suggestion that Special Education teachers be generalists The value of collaboration Should co-teaching be voluntary? High Tech Tools Offering Promise The use of UDL in co-teaching Questioning whether the special education teacher was truly a specialist in pedagogy The benefits of 4 eyes and hands in the classroom The benefit of students seeing more than one way to solve problems and learn Co-teaching becoming a "quick fix" to meet NCLB requirements

Curriculum Course Reflection: The Purpose of School

In this post I will be sharing my thoughts regarding the following prompt:

What are your philosophical beliefs about the purpose of school, about what subjects should be taught, and about how students learn? How does your work demonstrate your belief?

At then end of a course I just taught with a group of educators in my district called, "Creating Community for All Learners," I asked them to provide three words to describe their experience in the course. I then used Wordle to provide a visual for that experience that you see to the right. As I think about my philosophy about the purpose of school, I think those words are a pretty good representation of what I think school should be: Fun, creative, challenging, collaborative, exciting, interesting, enlightening.

I believe that the focus of school should be about learning how to learn, so that by the time a student graduates, they have the skills and passion to be a life-long learner. Students should be exposed to ideas that challenge and make them question. At times, they should be frustrated, as learning can be messy sometimes, but working through these problems and frustration will provide them skills to tackle the more difficult challenges of life.

Students should learn how to communicate effectively, collaborate and problem solve in Language Arts and Mathematics. They should learn Science so that they understand the difference between theory and fact, Social Studies so that they understand the importance of being an engaged member of society, a second language to understand cultural differences and improve their understanding of grammar in their native tongue, and music and art to enhance their humanity and make further connections with their learning. They should have the opportunity to infuse their passions into the study of these subjects, to "follow the rabbit hole" in each subject to see where it takes them, rather than study something "a mile wide and an inch deep."

They should be provided the opportunity to create new meaning in the subjects they study through inquiry and authentic projects that allow them to showcase their talents.

I believe my role as a technology integration specialist and educator, is that of a sherpa or guide to assist teachers and students as they connect their learning. I carry the tools that can help students problem solve, collaborate and communicate effectively beyond the walls of their classroom or school.

Action Team Meeting Notes: September 28

Today I met with several fellow staff members who work in teacher leadership positions for a training session with our district superintendent, Ric Dressen.

It was an opportunity to learn more about how we can be effective in our role, and where we fit in the district leadership model. We began by sharing introductions and expectations for what we hope to learn today. Our district has been using the "TEAMWORKS International" Framework for leadership for the last 3 years. Many here were interested in learning where we fit in to the Framework and contribute to the leadership of the district. What follows are my notes from the session.

Dressen immediately had us turn to the mission and vision of the district and reminded us that in all of our roles, this is the key!

We have moved from an institutional model of education that moved as many people as we could in the shortest amount of time. Now we are moving to a "service partnership," a flatter system where we all work together for the common good.

In leadership, there is constant pressure from outside the organization and within the organization. The work happens inside. We need to find support systems to assist us, and to develop policies and protocols to create a sense of coherence. Find how you connect to these different forces to be successful. We looked more closely at a quote we saw in August from Robert Quinn from Deep Change:

A team is..."an enthusiastic set of competent people who have clearly defined roles, associated in common activity, working cohesively in trusting relationships, and exercising personal discipline and making sacrifices for the good of the team."

Our focusing question should be: "What has the biggest impact for kids?"

One of the changes in leadership is never having a feeling of competency. Greatest learning in the first 3 years, and then there's some leveling, but you always have new challenges.

Stay focussed on the mission!

Go ahead and fail. Go ahead and make a mistake. We are about innovation and innovation isn't always successful.

There is no upstairs. The strategic plan flattened our organization.

Leadership's Collective Creativity

District leadership shall seek to...

• Live by Core Values and Norms
• value Team Members
• Utilize Problem Solving tools
• embrace Courageous Conversations
• implement Policies
• advance Leadership Training
• find Joy in our work.

How can the staff handbook help clarify my role? (Suggested activity.)

FrameWorks

The research is showing that a new bubble is emerging between teachers and administrators.

Covey talks about change, choice and principles as driving our work in the 21st Century.

It's important to keep district governance as the role of the school board and public, and the management the role of the administrative team. Policy is designed to define these roles.

A site based approach for support, resources and accountability. By doing this, the DO is there to serve the buildings, we are there to serve the staff at the site level.

Leadership that commits to:

• 21st Century research and training
• A focus on Leadership vs. Management
• The exit of non-aligned functions and activities
• The benefits of technology
• The appropriate use of:
• Partnerships
• Consultants
• Outsourcing
• Celebration

Dressen: Moving the natural leadership qualities we have into purposefulness. This is the maturation of leadership.

Then we looked at the Power and Authority aspect of the Framwork.

Cultural Authority-Relational and Institutional

Organizational Authority-Titles and Positions, Roles and Responsibilities (easy to get, hard to lose) Know who this person is to check in with.

Competency Authority-Work within the system/connection/relationships to demonstrate (hard to get, hard to lose)

Look at where you are at within an effort to determine which authority is needed and can move something forward.

Aligning choice with authority.

Team Structure-Not Hierarchical!

Lead Team

Carry out the strategic plan-Few decisions

Admin Team

Building leadership

Action Team

Teacher Leaders (Where I fit in.)

Tools to assist us in decision making and in our role:

• Find the positional authorities to contact so you don't get to far ahead of something. Find the competent people who are the "goto" people. Keep building the cultural piece. We are directing things that the majority of the people may not be interested in moving towards.
• What is the REALITY? Create shared understandings over RESPONSE with feedback loops prior to CREATing the plan. Then create shared ownership and COMMIT to the plan.

What leaves the system when change occurs? As new initiatives move in, what exits, and when?

There is an urge at the implementation phase to allow things to exit. Sometimes exits can be "short term wins" to get buy in.

The goal today was to move from our gut to being more reflective in our work.

Separate yourself as an educator from your position. The push-back is at the position, not at you.

All of us felt that this time had been a worthwhile experience. It was great to have the opportunity to share concerns in a safe, non-threatening environment, and to have our superintendent mentor us in this way. I look forward to future learning opportunities with this group!

Project BluePrint: Curtis W. Johnson

Edina is hosting Project BluePrint Schools this week. Comprised of districts that are suburban and of similar stature in their respective states, Project BluePrint consists of the school districts of Guilford, Connecticut; Wayland, Massachusetts; Cape Elizabeth, Maine; Palisades,Pennsylvania; Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin; Clayton, Missouri and Edina.

Curtis Johnson, co-author of the book Disrupting Class, How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, was invited to speak to the superintendents, curriculum directors, technology directors and teachers representing the different districts. My notes on the session follow.

Johnson began by asking those in the audience "Why would a 14 year old want to go to High School?

His answer: Social Peer group interaction and to feel competent. Are our schools meeting those needs?

He told the story of a suburban Boston convenience store that had lines of people buying milkshakes between 6:30-7 a.m. Johnson said that people "hired" the milkshake to have something to hold on to on the commute, because it was viscous so it would last a long time, and filling enough to get them through lunch.

Not long ago, dropping out could still be a ticket to success later in life. Today, not so much.

The economic downturn has lead to a new normal: We are not on top, we can't just roll out of bed and be successful. Commodities were cheap. Every trend that made us stay on top are in reverse.

China is back and here to stay.

Are we going back to that profile? Here are some statistics prior to the downturn:

• 41% of workforce in financial services.
• 35% of U.S. capitalization was in Real Estate
• 58% of graduates of top universities went into Law or Finance. Not making things, or running things.
• 1/2 of Wall Street trading on average is flash trading w/ naked access. All algorithms based transactions, not creating any value for anyone.

So where are we headed?

We're probably only going to do well if you are prepared to do something with your head. We still lose 20% of the kids. School is rigid, predictable and boring for those at the top, and we lose them too!

Disruption is a good thing!

Christiansen observed the companies like Data General and Wang that died very quickly despite being well managed. The common thread was "good management!" They didn't look out their windows to see what was going on in the rest of the world. Why would they build a $2,000 computer with 4% margin when they could build a $500,000 with 40% margin.

What happened to the phone company?

Look at Toyota. The 1st Corolla's were poorly made, but "non-consumers" could afford them.

What drives organizations? People, Process and Priorities. Enterprises repeat the things that work. This becomes the organizational culture. Listen to your best customers. Who are the best customers in K-12? Parents of the children who do well! (Usually they did well in that type of environment too!)

"Society has moved the goalpost on K-12 education the last few years." From you are supposed to provide access to "you are supposed to provide achievement." The problem is the operating model of current K-12 is the model is not reflective of 21st century realities. Sequences and Silos. Getting to knowledge is not an issue today, yet the sage on the stage is still the most common pedagogy.

The model is NOT the way kids learn. Integrated knowledge is a part of who they are.

Never has every kid learned the same thing at the same time in the same place on the same day.

Standardization in the name of efficiency is not helping our students.

We have a performance problem, not a design problem. They just need to work harder! We don't back up to see if it's really a design problem.

If this is true, a big change is coming....

The online platform behaves like every other disruptor. Online learning 1.0 only appealed to a small narrow population. (TV delivery) 2.0 Online learning was a bit more creative, as it allowed schools to continue to offer subjects like German, Economics, etc.

Now, online learning is heading to the 3.0 phase. More interactive, individualized, beyond the experience available in the classroom. Video-conferences, guided tours of museums, languages, the best Chemistry course in the United States is online. It is too good to ignore.

How do we participate in this? The only examples of professionals participating in their own disruptions that are successful involve these important components:

Separate Space. Don't try to change everything or everybody-Just allow a few to try it. (Dayton's-Target example of decentralized Target didn't have to report to the Department store)

Radical Autonomy-IBM was the only company that survived the changes in the computing industry from mainframe to mini, mini to PC, and beyond.

It's a hard thing for people to do that, when there is fear of "what if they do well?" What about how unions will react?

Portfolio schools. Allow them to go do it and turn them loose. Judging them only on the results they get. If they can get to the 30-40% who we are not getting, then we might be able to do it.

Think about how different our demographics are from 30 years ago. Different internally from each other. Much more diverse. Students in Minneapolis come from families that speak 37 different languages. Shoving computers into classrooms hasn't done it.

It's changing the pedagogy to teacher as facilitator, coach, etc. that is needed. We've been talking about personalizing learning for decades, but the only place we really do it is Special Education.

Inserting our agenda into their use of technology.

Palisades has an Academy program where kids can learn in a different model.

Johnson on "Chartered Schools"-"There is no such thing as a "Charter school" it is a license to create a school under certain criteria. Is a Chartered School better than regular public school? "It's like asking if it's better to cook at home or eat out!"

Wayburn's superintendent asked the question: "How do you entice "us" to change? We're some of the most effective schools in the country! Why should we embrace this?"

Johnson: In the 90's there was no demand for e-mail. The same thing may happen in response to your question. If people are forced to move in that direction, they won't have the time to do it, unless they test it and develop best practice now.

The fuel injector put the carburetor out of business.

There is a perfect storm of kids who power down when they come to us. Parents think we're good at getting kids ready for beyond school and they need an online, student lead experience.

Efficiency in how we use our time as teachers.

In other industries, are their "creative deviants" that are currently underground and we're just waiting for them to surface. Are they under-represented in K-12?

Maybe many who leave after a few years are the ones who are leaving. "We won't get better teachers unless teaching is a better job!" "This is not a professional opportunity if you can't control your work."

Creating a space or environment where we're not compromising the results, but we're adding critical thinking and creativity.

Accountability for results next to the authority for the work. In teacher lead schools, they have both, and it makes all the difference.

Closing comments: see more at EducationEvolving.org