 |
 |
| |
|
| |
| |
|
| |
 |
April 2008 |
|
 President’s Message:
Reflection of Killion’s Conference and Book
By Sharon Jones
SDCO President
The Learning Educator, does that really identify who we are? Or is it one of those occasions where we espouse one thing and practice another? I worry that too often we take the number of hours required for our next block of credit or for the next licensure and stop there. As educators, shouldn’t that title be indicative not only of what we want from students, and what we demand of other professionals, but what we expect of ourselves? No doubt we wouldn’t want to visit a doctor whose credentials speak only of matriculation, but too often I fear that we allow ourselves to be in that situation. We need both to respect professional learning and make it an action.
Killion’s book reminds us that “We have come to realize both through practice and through research that professional learning is more important than ever in improving teaching, leading and learning.” In a day when we are using data to inform our decisions and using research-based instructional strategies as our daily set of tools, we must set aside time each and every day to attend to our professional learning. That’s a dramatic change, but one we need to embrace. As Gail Sheehy said, “Growth demands a temporary surrender of security,” and perhaps our “secure” notion of sporadic learning needs to be surrendered so we can grow into the professionals we need to be.
| |
|
click for larger versions |
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
Return to newsletter
|
Regional LPDC Support Team News
By Lorie Owens
Assistant Director, Office of Educator Quality
The Center for the Teaching Profession,
Ohio Department of Education
 A subcommittee of the Regional LPDC Support Team has been meeting since January to develop an Individual Professional Development Plan process and rubric for use by LPDCs statewide, a provision of Senate Bill 2. The subcommittee plans to bring their proposed process and rubric for review by the full team at its May meeting.
The Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Educator Quality will be accepting applications from individuals interested in serving on the Regional LPDC Support Team for FY 2009- FY 2010. Interested LPDC members can contact Lorie Owens (lorie.owens@ode.state.oh.us ) for an application. Applications are due by May 23. The SDCO contact for the Regional Support Team is Judith Monseur (judith.monseur@ode.state.oh.us )
Return to newsletter
|
Engaging Reluctant Learners At ALL Levels:
The Tripod Project
By Tyrone L. Olverson, M.Ed. & Randall G. Sampson, Ph.D.
The Tripod Project is an essential framework for professional learning communities seeking to foster a stimulating culture of learning for all students. The Tripod Project is built upon the essential concepts of content, pedagogy and relationships. The Tripod Project framework presents the five tasks of personalized intellectual engagement: Trust and Interest; Control and Autonomy; Ambitiousness and Ambivalence; Industriousness and Disengagement; and Mastery Consolidation. These five tasks are the robust features of content, pedagogy, and relationships (Ferguson, 2006). When schools focus on students’ learning experiences as the core foundation for continuous academic improvement, the Tripod Project framework can serve as a conduit between instructional research and practice.
Too often the personalization of the learning process is generalized as student-teacher therapy sessions totally engaged only in the socio-emotional aspect of personalization. As a high school administrator, our team personalized the academic process of students who were reluctant to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) academic courses. We scaffolded our academic personalization based on the students’ needs as expressed through the Tripod Project’s student survey instrumentation. The culture of teaching and learning changed drastically from a content-supply oriented high school to an instructional best practice-demand oriented institution. Students’ levels of efficacy increased tremendously as this affluent Midwest high school experienced a 600 percent increase in the number of African-American students and a 150 percent increase in the number of white students enrolled in AP courses one school year. The high school’s learning culture became such that students were challenging each other, in a healthy way, to enroll in more advanced courses and to not drop the courses when the work became more rigorous.
Once the learning institution changes its norms and behaviors systemically, teachers may need to learn and understand the various learning styles by which they can propel students to higher levels of mastery orientation. One such process assisting teachers at Waggoner Road Junior High School (in Reynoldsburg, Ohio) in understanding how to increase students’ attention and retention is the Thoughtful Classroom (Silver, 2006). The Thoughtful Classroom: Making Students as Important as Standards process is grounded in 35 years of research and has helped the junior high school focus on five important questions in raising student achievement:
- What skills do students need to develop in order to achieve at high levels?
- What instructional strategies enable the greatest gains in student performance?
- How can we address the diversity of our students in a way that is manageable and provides an equal opportunity for all students to achieve?
- How can we design units of instruction that motivate learners with different learning styles yet still address the skills and core content knowledge students need to succeed?
- How do schools become professional learning communities that support teachers through the improvement process?
In the past year, the junior high school increased the passage rate at which seventh-grade students passed the state’s standardized mathematics test by over 35%, to reach an all-time school high of 78%, and surpassing the state’s minimum. This accomplishment has earned the school the Battelle for Kids SOAR award for High Value-Added Progress. The award acknowledges the top three percent of Ohio schools making exceptional progress in multiple grades over several years. This is a testament that the process has helped reach many students, transforming once reluctant learners into active participants in the learning process.
References
Ferguson, R. (2006). Five Challenges To Effective Teacher Professional Development.
National Staff Development Council, (27) 4, 48-52.
Silver, H. (2006). Teacher Professional Development Training Workshop.
Reynoldsburg City Schools, Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
Return to newsletter
|
Data Driven Decisions for Academic Achievement (D3A2):
A Brief Overview and Offer of Professional Development
By Lynn Ochs
 Project Goals
The primary goals of D3A2 are to: improve educator’s comfort and proficiency in analyzing data to inform instruction and practices; contribute to a sustainable infrastructure to promote and enhance information-based education practice and content alignment across the state; and leverage technology user groups to accelerate the integration of existing educational tools and the development of new data systems.
 Data Tools
D3A2 brings two powerful tools to Ohio’s schools: the Data Tools Application and the Resource Exchange. The Data Tools application allows teachers to view and analyze performance data for students sitting right in their classrooms, while the Resource Exchange points them to thousands of academic resources designed to address academic needs identified by the data that are aligned to the Ohio Academic Content Standards.
Professional Development
Professional development will be offered statewide through facilitator academies, with the goal of teaching educators how to comfortably and effectively use item analysis data to make decisions that improve instruction. Grant funding was secured by ODE to support the creation of these materials. Four professional development modules are scheduled to debut in the spring of 2008. These modules will encompass a range of topics from understanding the state assessment system, to analysis and interpretation of results to inform classroom decision-making. Materials developed will be available free of charge to Ohio educators. If you are interested in attending a facilitator academy and/or receiving professional development materials, contact Lynn Ochs, lynn.ochs@hcesc.org.
Participation in D3A2 is completely voluntary and the Data Tools are available free of charge to interested districts. For more information on D3A2, visit the D3A2 website (www.d3a2.org) or contact Eric Bell, D3A2 Project Manager (bell@nwoca.org).
Return to newsletter
|
Central Ohio Follow-Up:
A New Era in Professional Learning
By Rita Glavin
 Tyrone first introduced Julia Simmerer, Director of Educator Standards at ODE. Julia provided some very interesting information about the newly designed Master Teacher program. In Senate Bill 2, the politicians directed the Educator Standards Board to define a “master teacher” in a manner that can be used uniformly and consistently by all districts in Ohio. The Educator Standards Board has been working diligently to comply with this charge. Beginning next fall, districts will be required to report the number of master teachers they employ in the education management information system. The criteria as well as the processes and procedures for awarding “master teacher” status will be available on the ODE website in early April, 20008.
Following Julia’s presentation, Tyrone shared some of the highlights of his teaching and administrative experiences. Tyrone had the good fortune to have excellent mentors that supported him on his journey and helped him transition from being an Instructional Leader to becoming a Leader of Learning. As Tyrone explained, trust is the key to establishing and sustaining a culture of learning. In addition, Tyrone engaged the participants in some rich and reflective activities to further examine the eight Principles found in The Learning Educator. Thanks to Tyrone for making the evening delightful, inspiring, and informative.
Return to newsletter
|
Try This:
Idea for Your Next Professional Learning Session
By Larry Pfrogner
 Adult Age Styles
22-27
• the age of exploration
• no commitments to anything…looking to see “what fits”
• open to change
• colleagues are competition
• have a “vision” of a better way
• significant “exits” at 27…finished exploring
28-35
• search for permanency…no more rent
• “I’m growing up”…I need a plan
• go to grad school, buy property, get married
• most overwhelmed time…college papers, spouse, day care
• want very much to contribute…feel guilty trying to balance it all
36-39
• think they know something
• false euphoria...very “gung-ho”
• sense of accomplishment because they did what others said they wouldn’t/couldn’t
• these are the “new” administrators
40-46
• “Is this all there is?”
• “When do I do what I want to do?”
• time of greatest transition and reflection
• life is half over…want the second half to be better
• begin to see the need for “body machinery maintenance”
47-49
• the age of acceptance, “This IS all there is, and it’s not that bad.”
• It’s not the __________, it’s me…so I better make the best of it
• “How can I contribute and influence the next generation?”
• positive and supportive
• looks more to the big picture
50-55
• choose their battles
• have seen it all come and go…they really have
• “I’ll look like I’m doing what you want…and when you catch me, YOU’LL change.”
• “You think it’s life and death…it’s not.”
• They have perspective…value it
56+
• “Will others remember all that I’ve done?”
Return to newsletter
|
Professional Learning Goals: Trying to Be a Learning Educator
By Kellie Hayden
 When the committee looked at chapter one: Principles in The Learning Educator: A New Era for Professional Growth, the committee decided that it needed to find a common set of principles that the entire staff valued. Also, the group needed to learn where the staff wanted to grow professionally. Teachers completed a survey during a planned in-service day. The committee wanted the teachers to “examine their current practices of professional learning for their underlying principles” (Killion, 18).
Some of the middle school staff was so frustrated about issues other than professional learning that the survey data was unusable. So, another survey was completed during department meetings. This survey showed that teachers wanted new strategies to teach the content standards to prepare students for the Ohio Achievement Tests. In addition, teachers want to know how to use technology in the classroom better.
“As a teacher, I want to learn new ways of incorporating the content standards during professional learning time. Sometimes teaching to the test directly by using worksheets and workbooks is boring for students and can be frustrating. I need help sometimes with ideas,” said Jasmine Ball, LHMS reading teacher.
The committee came up with some short term and long term goals. Currently, the committee is trying to “tap the experts” (using teachers in the building who are experts in a specific area) for new strategies on teaching content standards. As a long-term goal, the group wants the middle school staff to take ownership of its professional learning. However, changing the name to professional learning from professional development will take some time.
It is a start, and it is where Logan-Hocking Middle School is in the professional learning continuum.
Return to newsletter
|
The Faculty Room:
Exploring the Essential Questions of Education
By Teresa Dempsey
 The Faculty Room: Exploring the Essential Questions of Education, hosts bi-weekly blogs on timely topics relative to education. The site has a diverse range of regularly contributing bloggers (including founder, Grant Wiggins), but also is very welcoming to anyone who would like to post responses on the blog. At times, the site also has special guest bloggers on highly debated topics. A recent blog on homework with the renowned Alfie Kohn had record responses, many of which were quite passionate in feeling based on their field experiences. Other blog topics focus on recent national headlines in education or can voluntarily be submitted to the editor. All past blogs are archived and can be easily accessed…so it’s not too late to take a peek at the controversial Kohn blog on homework!
Many of the blog entries begin with the research base and then ask people to weigh-in on the topic based on their experiences. It’s the compelling stories from the field that people post on the blog, where I personally feel the most learning benefit. These postings and stories are highly engaging as it gives richer meaning to the research and sometimes even contradicts the research! If you’re struggling with your own essential question in the field or just interested in gaining greater perspectives about education issues, consider a professional blog like The Faculty Room!
Return to newsletter
|
Teaching & Learning Center
www.k12tlc.net
Great Quality! Great Value!
Subscriptions Are Only $117/school/year or less!
Creative Resources for Your Schools, Teachers, Students, Families and Communities!
- We organize the Internet for you into guides for over 1,000 instructional topics.
- The perfect place to gather background information for new lesson plans and units.
- In-depth resources for multicultural instruction, cultural diversity and minority studies.
- Comprehensive guides for all countries of the world, all 50 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico
- Extensive resources for scientists, mathematicians, inventors and inventions.
- An exhaustive resource library for authors and illustrators at all levels.
- On-line world almanac for every day of the school year, every state, 10 different subject areas.
- A calendar of world holidays, anniversaries and special events for every school day.
- E-mail lists to keep you current and informed on over 100 different instructional topics.
- Five news articles each day that bring current events into your classroom.
- Daily activities to develop student research skills and enrich their cultural literacy.
- Much, much more!
It Only Takes a Minute to Subscribe Online at
http://www.k12tlc.net/join/oh/sdco.htm
GET A FREE DAY PASS
at our Front Page
Return to newsletter
|
|
|
|
 |
