Milobo’s Musings

Since Katie Morrow and I spent some time in our last Always On podcast talking about professional development, it got me to thinking about some of the strategies trainers can use to get teachers talking. As part of our regular 1:1 teacher meetings this year and during the district Technology Learning Facilitator meetings in my previous job, I’ve often had to find ways to encourage teachers to open up and talk to one another. Sounds easy enough, but if you’ve ever found yourself in charge of leading discussions with groups of teachers, you’ve probably experienced that empty silence that comes when no one’s quite ready to be the first to share. Here are techniques I’ve used to get conversations flowing:

Four Square

This is a very low-tech way I’ve used to get discussions started within small groups or pairs. Give each participant a piece of paper and have them fold it into quarters.  In each quarter, have participants write one word or a very short phrase to describe their thoughts. Depending on the topic, you might start with questions such as: What words would you use to describe:

• your best technology integration lesson?
• your biggest concern about the 1:1 rollout?
• your reactions to the reading we just finished?

Have participants exchange papers with a partner, who then circles one word on the paper. That becomes the discussion starter when it’s time to share. This has worked well because it piques curiosity in the words chosen and often leads to very interesting discussions. Plus, if you’ve got time to rotate discussion partners, you can keep using the remaining words as discussion starters for new conversations.

Video Vignettes

Video clips make great conversation starters, especially when you’re wanting the conversations to center on bigger ideas. I’ve started a playlist on YouTube where I bookmark videos that have been great motivators for conversations.  Take a peek through the videos linked below and see what you think.

S.O.S.

S.O.S. is a conversation organizer I came up with 4 years ago as an icebreaker for district Technology Learning Group leader meetings.  The purpose of each meeting was to allow Learning Group leaders time to collaborate and share best practices. But, because the meetings were only monthly and the teachers had little interaction with one another outside of this time, the conversations were sometimes slow to start.  At other times, the conversations had the potential to become nothing more than gripe sessions where everyone aired their frustrations, but few solutions or suggestions were offered in return. S.O.S. became a regular framework for our meetings and worked well to give purpose to the conversations. S.O.S. stands for Successes, Obstacles, and Strategies.  Those three words are used to help teachers organize their thought for sharing:

• What successes have you seen in your class (learning group, department, etc) this month?
• What obstacles have you had to overcome or are you struggling with?
• What strategies have you tried or are you planning to try to move forward?

I find that S.O.S. also makes for a good meeting outline, because it gives participants a chance to start on a positive note, air their frustrations, and end with suggestions for improvement or change. I find myself now using it for many types of meetings and even for general post-project conversations with teachers, because it can cover so many situations in a way that doesn’t inhibit the flow of ideas.

What other strategies or suggestions do you have for facilitating conversations and reflective sharing?

Picture courtesy Cliff1066 Flickr Creative Commons

Much to my delight and surprise, I’ve been asked to serve as an “expert voice” for the New Jersey Powerful Learning Practice (NJPLP) virtual community. Powerful Learning Practice is a program designed to impact instructional methodologies and beliefs by using a combination of real and virtual experiences to build knowledge within a community of teachers, principals, university faculty and state level administrators.  Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Will Richardson have done an excellent job of designing a plan that can meet the needs of all these diverse individuals as they work together to create positive change. 

As part of the program, participants have the opportunity to learn from and share learning experiences with experts in tools and pedagogy. Bud Hunt, blogger extraordinaire, is leading the NJ virtual community and sent an email my way about a week ago asking if I’d be interested in being an expert voice for the New Jersey cohort.

Tag, I’m it.

I have to admit I’m a little intimidated by the thought of being looked at as an expert.  Sure, I’ve had lots of experiences during my 20 years in education and experimented with many different technology tools over those years, but what is it that makes someone an expert?

Here’s what I’m hoping Bud and the rest of the PLP team are looking for:

• Someone willing to risk failure in order to find success.   One of the most important things I’ve learned is that no great thing comes without risk.  Learning how to fail is a skill I wish were taught to students, because it’s one they need to master if they want to grow. For many years in my Algebra class, I spent time after every test teaching students how to learn from their mistakes. They learned that by analyzing their errors, they’d figure out where their weaknesses lay and then could work to improve them.  My goal was to have them see risk and failure as an opportunity for learning, which would ultimately lead to success.  I’ve certainly taken my share of risks, including my current job.  Who would’ve imagined a K-8 teacher would be hired to help a high school faculty learn to integrate technology and redesign their learning environment to become more engaging?
• Someone with more questions than answers.  I’m still a learner at heart and part of learning is asking questions.  Lots of them. It’s that curiosity and need to understand that help me when I’m guiding teachers through the process of building units of instruction.  I don’t claim to be an expert in most of the subjects taught by the teachers I work with every day.  What I can do is ask the right questions to help them define their outcomes, decide what practices would help students meet their goals, and then determine what method will be used to measure achievement. Good teaching and learning practices are universal across all disciplines.  It sometimes just takes the right questions to help teachers find them.
• Someone who believes the best learning comes when all believe they have something to learn. I truly believe that there’s something to learn from every person I encounter. I learn from my fellow teachers and from my students. I learn from those with more experience that I’ll ever have and from those who are just starting out. That’s one reason I’m excited about the opportunity to join the NJPLP. Because while I’m sharing what I’ve learned, I hope to learn from those who are participating.