Doyna Johnston
Connecting and Communicating Your Ideas
In today's evolving society, educators are involved in continual learning alongside their young scholars, cultivating a culture of lifelong learning marked by a growth mindset mentality. This dynamic interaction motivates teachers and students to constantly adjust and revise their classroom activities, allowing educators to improve their students' learning experiences.
Professional learning during the school year is critical for learning facilitators because it promotes ongoing growth and adaptation. Continuous education improves instructional methodologies, keeps instructors up to speed on best practices, and directly impacts student learning. However, it is not just about acquiring new knowledge. Teachers can effectively address challenges by actively collaborating with colleagues and reflecting on their practices, ensuring a responsive learning environment for all students. Please read more about professional learning. Alternative Professional Learning.
FIVE PRINCIPLES FOR EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
The five principles of professional learning, aligned with Allison Gulamhussein’s (2013), are critical because they provide a structure ensuring successful, relevant, and impactful training. Each concept contributes significantly to increasing the overall quality and efficacy of the training process. Please read my slideshow on the Five Principles for Effective Professional Learning.
Call to Action!
Professional learning development refers to the ongoing acquisition of new skills, competencies, and knowledge pertinent to an individual's professional role. This concept encompasses various activities designed to enhance one's abilities and ensure alignment with the latest trends and innovations within one's area of expertise. As a result, Ms. Johnston prepared a slide presentation for a meeting to encourage my colleagues and school administrators to implement an active learning strategy for delivering professional learning development to create significant learning PL sessions in which educators are encouraged to implement new learning strategies in their learning environments. Please learn more about my call-to-action presentation. PL Call to Action!
Foster Collaboration
Promoting teamwork and advocating for self-directed learning and leadership are critical to delivering active learning and professional development.
As we transition to a blended learning model, it is critical to discover individuals who will foster collaboration. Once these people are involved, we can create a nurturing environment conducive to inventive development. Administrative professionals will manage data and objectives to help educators with planning, self-directed learning, self-evaluation, and implementation. Instructional coaches will show project planning approaches and provide support as needed. Insights into digital settings will be critical in helping us achieve our educational objectives. Take time to review the significance of each part. Promoting Collaboration.
Who will lead what components?
Our team will divide tasks organized to implement our professional learning program, which involves developing learning environments through blended learning.
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The administrative staff, which includes principals and assistant principals, is in charge of managing the data and overseeing the performance of the learning objectives.
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Instructional coaches are supposed to coach instructors by showing excellent project planning skills and providing ongoing assistance during implementation.
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Teachers are responsible for planning, assessing, and implementing teaching practices.
For a more detailed description, please refer to Who leads what components.
Be a learning facilitator!
When the COVA approach is paired with CSLE (Creating Significant Learning Environments), you create a significant learning environment that considers all the main factors required for effective active learning. The learner can also select and take responsibility for their own learning experiences. All the factors are set up to assist the learner in making the relevant connections required for learning (Harapnuik, 2018). New Culture of Learning
Audience and their needs
These professional development seminars are intended for various school administrators, teachers, and educational institutions that want to implement new and innovative teaching practices that will engage and motivate their students to innovate. Alternative Professional Learning
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School principals and assistant principals should grasp how a digital environment may improve data collecting and help students achieve their educational goals. It is critical to enlighten students about the nature of digital environments, their operational procedures, and their impact on the larger community.
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Tailored to the grade and assignment level, instructional coaches must be knowledgeable about digital tools, teaching approaches, leadership strategies, and applicable support resources and activities.
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Teachers must participate in ongoing professional development throughout the year, emphasizing specific curriculum areas, tutoring procedures, modeling strategies, and monitoring learners’ progress.
OUTLINE BLUEPRINT
A blueprint acts as a strategic framework that outlines our goals and evaluation standards for a given initiative. It ensures that our work aligns with our students' learning objectives. By aligning our objectives with the desired learning outcomes, we can improve students' overall learning experience. The graphic below outlines the six distinct stages of my Blueprint for the Professional Learning program. Every stage outlines what teachers need to do to develop the abilities to implement blended learning in a significant learning environment successfully.
BHAG and 3 Column Table, plus Schedule/timeline
BHAG GOAL:
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I aim to familiarize our teachers with COVA, a learner-centered active learning method that prioritizes providing students with opportunities for "Choice, Ownership, and Voice through Authentic Learning" (Harapnuik, 2018).
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This goal conveys to educators the benefits that the joint implementation of Blended Learning ( Horn et al., 2017) and the COVA (Harapnuik, 2018) educational framework models may provide, especially concerning improving language proficiency and developing critical thinking abilities in our young language learners.
To raise awareness of the audacious goal we pursue to achieve and the timeline for its completion following my proposal, please click the button provided below. This button will direct you to a page containing extensive details about my initiative to implement Blended-Learning in school classrooms. You will find a thorough outline of my goals, possible anticipated deadlines, and the strategies put into action to reach this audacious active learning goal.
PLD Sessions
Resources
Blended Learning and the Future of Education
Six Models of Blended Learning
References
​Dewey, J., (2001). The School, the Child, and the Curriculum.Dover Publications.
Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013- 176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf
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Harapnuik, (2023). Creating Significant Learning Environments.
https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=849
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Harapnuick, Thibodeaux , & Cummings. (2018, January). COVA. Lamar University. https://tilisathibodeaux.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/COVA_eBook_Jan_2018.pdf
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Horn, M.B, Staker, H., & Christensen, C.M. (2017). Blended: using disruptive innovation to improve schools. Jossey–Bass.
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Texas Education Agency. (2024, June). Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills: Curriculum Standards, Austin, Texas: https://tea.texas.gov/academics
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Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (expanded second ed.). Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2008). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.