Professional Development

Physical Therapy: Long Term Gains

During a routine flip turn, she felt it slip out of place – like there was a void in the middle of her knee. After a few laps, she felt it pop back into place – accompanied by significant pain. This time, rest and relaxation, therapeutic swims, ice, and elevation did not help the pain subside. With fear and anxiety, we headed to the orthopedic surgeon, praying that we did not need his full range of services.

Diagnosis

Patellar Subluxation: The official medical term for dislocation of the kneecap (patella). Kneecap instability.

You see, your kneecap (patella) attaches near the bottom of your femur. As you bend and straighten your need, your kneecap moves up and down in a groove at the bottom of the thigh. Several muscles and ligaments hold the kneecap in place, and if these are injured, the kneecap can move out of its groove. This is exactly what happened to my daughter. The weakness of the muscles that hold her patella in place allowed her kneecap to slip to the outside of the knee, stretching the medial-patella-femoral-ligament.

Good news: No surgery!

Tough news: Rest and ice are not enough for a full recovery.

For a month, she invested in intensive physical therapy – that was specific to her injury, scaffolded to her response to therapy, and graduated to measure growth – all geared to increasing the strength of the muscles that stabilize her patella. Within days, there was measurable growth. That small growth encouraged her to diligently complete her home exercises, which fed the growth of her sessions. Slowly, the pain subsided. The weight bearing exercises increased. Range of mobility expanded.

Today, five weeks later, she was released to return to full participation in the pool: kicks, flip turns, dives. But, the physical therapy continues.

So, what is Physical Therapy?

Physical Therapy: Care that helps you function, move, and live better.

In thinking about my new role as an instructional technology facilitator, I have been wondering why people are resistant to try new initiatives, reflect deeply about current practices, and embrace change. And, more importantly, how do we move past this self-imposed barrier? I believe that the answer might be in Physical Therapy!

We often look at Physical Therapy as a regimen that follows a major surgery. But, our experience has been different. In my daughter’s case, physical therapy was a response to develop stability to prevent future injury. My daughter took two hours out of her week to meet with a professional who guided her through intense exercises and who prescribed her with work to do on her own between visits. Let’s use this strategy with instructional growth…

PT appointments = PLC meetings led by educational leaders/coaches, during which we dive deeply into instructional methods, practice, model, plan, and develop.
PT at home = Independently complete or practice tasks started in PLC. Prepare for next meeting by collecting data, penning questions, and reflecting on what is or is not working with your current regimen.
Repeat

While the PT (PLCs) are more frequent in the beginning, you quickly recognize the value of these appointments – in time, productivity, and results. Over time, you may scale back on the scheduled PLCs with experts, however you find yourself creating more organic opportunities for this instructional conversation with other passionate educators. Before long, you recognize that you no longer *need* the coach as a coach, but you long for the coach as a collaborative partner who brings ideas, passion, and energy to a rich discussion.

You are invigorated with lessons who have received an overdue face-lift, developed a relationship with a collaborative partner, and created a sustainable method to revitalizing your educational environment.

You prevented the educational injury commonly referred to as “burn out”.

With this knowledge, who wouldn’t invest in educational PT?

Summer of Books…All the Books

Happy July! Typically, summer in my coastal world means lots of salt, sand, sun, surf, and tackling the ever-growing “home projects” list. While this summer is no different, I’m finding myself enjoying the beach alone – as my teenage girls have filled their days with athletic practices, summer jobs, and fun with friends. Who better to keep me busy than a massive pile of books – educational, leadership, beachy fiction, and YA? I’ve jumped in with both feet, and I am currently juggling several book studies on Voxer, Instagram, Facebook, and Participate. As expected, the conversation is rich with inspiring and creative ideas that I cannot wait to weave into my learning spaces next year.

Always eager to try something new, I am giving George Couros’s #InnovatorsMindset Instagram Book Study a go! Each time I read this text, different passages emerge as particularly important based on the learners that I serve at that point in time.

Why this book study? I love The Innovator’s Mindset, as this text served as a catalyst in changing my educational trajectory. Not only was it the professional read for #NCDLCN ’17, George Couros served as the keynote for that year’s NCTies Conference – where I was lucky enough to meet him! This text connected me with other educators, opening the door to many other texts… which sparked conversations, collaborative efforts, and exciting projects.

Week 1 did not disappoint. Here’s a recap of my posts:

Innovator’s Mindset Day 01:
Checking in from OBX, NC – a secondary science teacher and lead digital designer. Through this book study, I hope to learn from passionate, innovative educators and expand my PLN. PD on vacay? IG + @gcouros for the WIN! #InnovatorsMindset #InnovatorsMindsetIntro

Innovator’s Mindset Day 02: Innovation does not require technology, supplies, or a novel strategy. Instead, it requires a complete shift in mindset. Swap a paper for a blog post. Create Ted-Talks instead of presentations. Solve a campus problem. Create opportunities for relevant work to present to an authentic audience that utilizes students’ voices. That’s innovation. #InnovatorsMindset #InnovatorsMindsetCh1

Innovator’s Mindset Day 03: Number 1 Question: What is best for this learner? followed by Would I want to be a learner in my own classroom? Have an honest self-reflection: What is working (or isn’t)? Survey your students. What can be tweaked? What needs to be tossed? Where can you turn for help in brainstorming ways to improve the learning experience for everyone in your learning space – including you? #InnovatorsMindset #InnovatorsMindsetCh2

Innovator’s Mindset Day 04: Real life is messy, and real-life problem solving often requires many attempts. Teaching students to self-start through continuous evaluate begins with us. The end result is a generation of learners capable of solving ANY problem. #InnovatorsMindset #InnovatorsMindsetCh3

Innovator’s Mindset Day 05: Asking educators to embrace innovation requires a growth mindset, taking risks, and failing forward. For many, this is a huge challenge. Building deep relationships ensures a safe place to try new practices with minimal fear, judgment, or negative consequences. How do I start? I show my own vulnerability first. If I am the first to ask for help or fail, hopefully, others will follow. Remember, we are all learning together! #InnovatorsMindset #InnovatorsMindsetCh4

Innovator’s Mindset Day 06: The initiative that I would most like to see is Professional Development FOR teachers BY teachers – tech tools, innovative strategies, book studies, everything. I model this through book studies like this that I participate in and share with colleagues + I am leading a district initiative that launches our first 10 courses later this year. #InnovatorsMindset #InnovatorsMindsetCh5

Innovator’s Mindset Day 07: I build leadership capacity in my students by providing them with a nearly unlimited amount of choice in my classroom – seating, pacing, order, grouping, environment, artifact of mastery. I also weave in Teacher Progress Reports that provide feedback for me based on what students think is most important – and, together, we problem solve ways to improve what they decide is not “up to par”. With feedback and reflection a two-way street, we all have ownership of the learning environment. #InnovatorsMindset #InnovatorsMindsetCh6

As I enter Chapter 7, I recognize how so much of this text applies far more than the students I serve. I am adding notes to my margins on how I can amplify voice in the volunteer organization where I serve, in encouraging more teachers to use their voices to share their innovative ideas, and in building the next generation of teacher leaders to continue to prepare our problem-solvers of ~~tomorrow~~ today.

Share your thoughts! I’d love to chat!

~~Holly

Reflections: The Growth is in the Journey

Two short years ago, I sat in my high school Media Coordinator’s interactive space to learn all about the power of Twitter, one of her many “Technology Tuesday” opportunities that she hosted as floating events to weave technology into our staff’s everyday teaching methods. Not only did she share a variety of instructional strategies with me, she shared how the NCDLCN experience had transformed her as an educator and encouraged me to participate the subsequent year.

A short blog post will never provide justice to impact that NCDLCN has had on me. During my year as a participant, I worked with an incredible mentor whose wisdom and experience was invaluable as I stepped out of my classroom into a lead teacher position. My assistant principal, who oversaw my department and served as my liaison for my NCDLCN project, aligned me with opportunities at both the building and district level to lead PLCs, lead professional development in technology, and develop blended professional development in a variety of areas.

In each NCDLCN event, I gained content knowledge, curated resources, and expanded my network of educational professionals who served as critical collaborators, ready to offer their expertise and input on any idea. Through this, my vision for what building level professional development could look like came to life. Armed with a #sketchnote and an example, I pitched my idea to our leadership team. From there, magic happened. In a true collaborative effort, our building leadership revealed a year-long professional development program that targeted academic rigor immersing teachers in a continuous improvement cycle.

Prior to NCDLCN, professional development in my building was delivered in a stagnant, sit-and-get method. NCDLCN encourage us to creatively turn PD upside down. Our goal was simple: Innovative Building Transformation through Shared Leadership. Our three-phase approach highlighted innovative, academically rigorous, heavily differentiated practices by incredible teachers in our building. In each phase (divided by level of academic rigor), our leadership team modeled the use of technology in their instructional methods, allowing teachers to experience the technology through the lens of a student and learn an instructional technique for blended learning.

In addition, teachers participated in Learning Walks, opening the door for the sharing of ideas across grade levels and subject areas. As we advanced our capacities in technology, our Learning Walks evolved so that they, too, were delivered in a digital format.To celebrate the risks that our teachers embraced, they were awarded Badges that were proudly showcased on posters beside their doors, email taglines, and social media. In a true learner-centered model, we asked for teachers to jump in where they felt the most comfortable – aiming for 25% participation in our first year. We understood that each teacher is different – with different time available to learn more about digital technologies, different comfort level with technology, different interest levels, and different needs for support. By allowing teachers to move at their own pace, we established a system that allowed for tailored, individual support for each teacher.

What makes our year-long professional development plan innovated? Our plan is:

Aligned with our school improvement plan and revisited often through teacher professional development growth progress monitoring charts
Intentionally embedded in consistent professional learning that targets rigorous instruction, best practices, and student engagement.
Modeled by our leadership team (pedagogy and use of digital tools)
Accessible and attainable.
Tiered, with expected participation at the Novice Level and encouraged participation at the Apprentice and Practitioner levels.
Celebrated in print, email, and social media.

To date, 272 badges have been awarded that span from engaging in professional chatter on Twitter to creating infographics with their students. 95% of the teachers in our building have earned 7 of the 8 available badges – a statistical success that we did not expect in August. The most impressive result has been how the teachers have embraced technology tools to creatively and innovatively transform an area (or multiple areas) of their practice.

This entire building initiative started at an NCDLCN January brainstorming session with my building leader. Over time, this project evolved into where it is today – with many voices contributing to its path. While I am proud of our current product, I am more proud of the growth that took place along the journey. NCDLCN’s Professional Development days provided me with rich educational content, instructional delivery methodology, and opportunities to collaborate with passionate educators. Each moment provided insight – an idea, a tweak, or a spark – that improved this initiative in some way. While our effort was to instill a continuous improvement cycle with our classroom teachers, this focus on reflection started with NCDLCN.

NCDLCN has empowered me to take risks, use my voice, and dream big. My vision started as a penciled sketchnote and evolved in 272 issued badges in a small school. While the original sketch is long gone, the vision is not. More important than a vision is the journey to bring that vision to fruition. I am excited about the new relationships, opportunities for collaboration, deep reflection, and continued growth that the next leg of my journey affords. Above all, NCDLCN taught me that the growth is in the journey.

Resource: NCDLCN: PD in your PJs