Professional Learning for Sustainable Teaching

Many educators have shared that this summer, they just need a break. And "unplugging" is absolutely one important part of self-care. 

But for others, summer is a time more akin to an athlete's off-season, a time of rest and rejuvenation, but also a time to think and plan ahead.

And if we want our regular school year to be sustainable, having the mental and physical space to make plans for our teaching can be vital.

One inspiring read, for those who want to let their minds wander, is Catlin Tucker's recent blog post "Could Doing Less in Education Give Everyone More?" The takeaway: think about what is on your plate that you can remove. As you think about what you typically do during the year, ask the question: "Do I have to?" and focus only on what is most essential.

A helpful resource for this is the Modern Classrooms Project. This model is all about MASTERY-based, self-paced, blended learning, but we love the approach of thinking of assignments as "Must Do, Should Do, and Aspire to Do." If we focus carefully on those things that we must do, then we can feel good about that baseline, and even better when we exceed it. MCP has a free online course that is FULL of resources, and several GPS teachers are taking advantage of summer scholarships to take the advanced mentorship.

This approach also helps teachers think about how to empower learners more and increase engagement. Teaching students to be more independent and given them the space to do the work allows them to lead their own learning. For more on this, Paul Emerich France has a 5 minute read that will spark your thinking.

Finally, if you are looking to dive into some other, more specific professional learning, whether small or big, check out the GPS Summer PD choice board, modified from one created by Ditch that Textbook.

Whatever learning or reflection you participate in, celebrate the fact that you supported students through this challenging school year. Enjoy your summer!

Put a Hex on Them!

A recent GMS lesson reminded us of how powerful, flexible, and relatively low-prep hexagonal thinking is as a tool/strategy for teaching and learning.

What is Hexagonal Thinking?

Maybe you caught the Cult of Pedagogy post on Hexagonal Thinking last year and thought, that looks cool, but I'm not in a place to cut out a bunch of paper hexagons right now. Or maybe you haven't had time to read through the variations and ideas, and now that you have seen people using this tool, you are wondering how to make it work for you. (If you want to see how hexagonal thinking works in detail, this post is so good!)

Why would I use Hexagonal Thinking?

If you haven't tried it, there are so many research-based reasons to think about using hexagonal thinking as an activity for review, formative assessment, or even summative assessment in your classroom.

1. It uses manipulatives (physical or digital)
2. It encourages academic conversation and collaboration
3. It elicits higher order thinking
4. It calls for identifying similarities and differences
5. It is highly visual and encourages students to "build" a graphic organizer
6. It supports long-term learning

Examples and Templates

The Cult of Pedagogy post links to many resources for physical and digital templates and examples. There are tutorials for creating digital versions of hexagonal thinking, but if you really want to save time, try starting with this Google Slides template/history example. If you are looking for more in your content area or grade level, you might check out some more examples:

• Social studies examples
• Science example (in Edutopia article explaining the technique)
• Health example
• World Language example
• ELA example (this is a template that uses IMAGES in the hexagons, which might be extra great for elementary students or struggling readers)

There are so many ways to use and adapt this activity. Let us know how hexagonal thinking goes with your students!

I'm not that person

James Clear's book Atomic Habits has been popping up all over the place lately. (It has been the subject of a series of Teaching to the Top Podcasts, which are great if you are looking to build some new habits.) The basic thesis is that small changes or actions that we take can have a massive impact on our progress.

"Every action that you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become." (Check out the video below for a talk from the author.)

This made us think about the power of self-talk and of habits in how we approach our classrooms. If one says I'm "not a touch-feely kind of teacher," then that person is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. With that said, just reframing my self-talk isn't enough. If we really want to connect more with kids, then we need to think about the habits we can create to make this happen. 

The way to "become" someone is to do it. Habits change beliefs. Habits matter.

This was echoed in a recent blog post from Dave Stuart Jr, which was about creating the habit of connecting with students each day. (If you haven't read his strategy for Moments of Genuine Connection, it's worth the look.) He suggests using a roster, a clipboard, and a pen to literally "check" when connecting to students. And this connects to one of our district goals for SEL, as one of the best "habits" we can create is to give behavior-specific praise to our students.

So, if you want to become a person who praises, set a realistic goal, perhaps to praise each student in your class at least once a day or to catch a certain number of students showing a desired behavior (click for a ready-to-use tool!). 

And perhaps find a teaching partner to hold you accountable, not with carrots or sticks, but with celebration and encouragement. If you miss your goal one day, your partner can encourage you to make up for it with more praise the next day, or remind you to give yourself a day of grace.

And once you meet that goal, say for a full week of school, then maybe you set your sights at two weeks, and onward and upward from there.

"Make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying." 

You can be that person.

Goals for the New Year

 Research shows that adults and children are more likely to achieve their goals when they take steps like:

1. Put goals in writing
2. Commit (i.e., they must be motivated to complete that goal in a meaningful way)
3. Be specific (SMART goal setting is but one way to do this!)
4. Plan for/Have available systems for feedback and support

This can be powerful practice to support student executive functioning, which is not just important for life, but valuable to the success of practices involving blended learning. 

As you think ahead and plan for lessons--and life--in the new year, how can you involve students in setting and meeting goals? How might you use these steps to meet your own goals?

Data Teams and Positive Mindset

Now that we've wrapped up NWEA MAP testing and given initial benchmark assessments to our students, I've been thinking about how we treat "data" and make it work for us in immediate and meaningful ways.

Dr. Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers podcast recently featured the topic "10 tips for making sure data meetings are actually useful," which made me laugh. Not because data meetings aren't useful, but because I think many teachers have the perception that there are more precious things they could be doing with their time or that they are powerless to influence team dynamics that aren't working for them.

And I get it. Without a clear protocol (like data driven dialogue or ATLAS protocols), sometimes it isn't clear what the goal of the meeting is or how to make it run better. The author of the post/podcast, Melissa Forbes, pinpointed several reasons that data meetings don't work, but also how they can be useful even IF they aren't working as advertised. One thing she mentioned that stuck with me was attitude:

It’s about how you can shift your thinking from “what a pointless waste of time” to “that wasn’t so bad” to even “I really feel good about today’s meeting.” Perhaps your teammates will also evolve as a result of your influence, and that would be great.

The power of looking for the positive can't be underestimated, but I also appreciated her practical tips like, "Bring a question" and "Resist discussing specific students," as these help ensure YOU get something useful from the team time to bring back to your classroom without wasting time venting. (And studies show venting rarely makes you feel better; planning to make a difference does!)

Even if you don't check out the post/podcast, I hope these tips help. And the TLI department looks forward to talking to you about how you can make data teams a positive experience.

-Jessica Gillespie