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We Must Never Go “Back” To School

Author: Tiffany Wycoff

We Must Never Go “Back” To School

13 April 2021
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blended Learning, Blog, Innovation, Leadership, Resources

In March 2020, a line was drawn in educational history. On one side of it is the before – community, classrooms, reading circles, shared tins of pencils sitting on tightly grouped desks, high fives and hugs, paper, smiles. On the other side is the after, the current state of learning – remote, hybrid, concurrent, asynchronous, Zoom filled days, playlists, masks, sanitizing stations, outdoor tents, alternating days, pods. One thing we all can agree with is that crossing the line from before to after was abrupt and challenging. It has left educators, students, and parents exhausted and most longing for a true back-to-school moment. 

And yet, we must not go “back.” The chaos of the transition and the months following created the space for unshackling learning from convention. We had to give up some of our beloved hallmarks — out with testing as the primary means of assessment, out with lockstep pace and sequence charts, out with conventional classroom management. That Friday the 13th of March ushered in a scary period of letting go of the old and being forced out of our comfort zones in traditional classrooms. I can’t help thinking of Hamlet’s soliloquy, “To be or not to be”. When we explored this moment where Hamlet weighs the assaults of life with the fears of death, my students and I would dig into this imagery, “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause—there’s the respect that makes calamity of so long life.” As educators, we have been so afraid of shuffling off the conventional coil of education, so afraid of what may come from innovation — the loosening of “control” of our classes, the prioritizing of personalization, the deprioritizing of testing — that we have knowingly continued its assaults. 

The unshackling forced upon us during the pandemic transition has coincided with an increased awareness of the assaults of conventional education, especially on black and brown students. If the rapid launch into the unknown has brought any clarity, it has been in the area of racial inequity. This is a silver lining of the line drawn through educational history in March 2020. 

What if we never go “back” to the way things were…and instead, we commit to going towards what could be? We are just getting a glimpse of a mass return to campus on the horizon, a glimmer, maybe even a mirage, but it is something we can orient ourselves to. Teachers are no strangers to envisioning and designing back-to-school moments. As we set our sights on this moment, let us do so with the following commitments to what could be in a new era of education:

Equity First

My colleague Dee Lanier frequently reminds our team that we must begin with equity. If we fail to start with equity, it becomes the compromise, the thing that may have to be cut to meet the other priorities. If each school leader and teacher place their highest priority on a  commitment to racial equity above traditional assessment measures, we can start to transform our classrooms into relevant and engaging spaces for students who we have deprioritized for too long. 

Blended Learning = Learning

In the “before” era of education, there was a term called “ed tech” and another called “blended learning”. In the “after” era, these terms should become synonymous with simply “learning”. The transition to remote and hybrid structures provided a rapid study in asynchronous and synchronous learning and the blended learning models through which each can be balanced to achieve more personalized learning. This should be the learning norm. 

Student Agency

Students typically have their innate agency squashed by the conventions of classroom management and curriculum pacing very early on in their education careers. In the “after” era, we have witnessed both the detrimental effects of this loss as students struggled to revive their agency during the early transition to remote learning and the critical importance of student agency to success in and beyond the classroom. Another gift of the pandemic era was the vibrant illustration of the demand for critical thinking and rapid problem solving as a future-ready skill. We cannot afford to stifle student agency as our world demands more and more of this skill.   

Innovation in Action

In the “before” era, we saw firehose professional development a couple of times a year and initiative overload as competing innovation ideas dried on the vines without water from ongoing, embedded PD. In the after era, we saw teachers innovating every day, by necessity and by a true desire to engage students in a new way of learning. We saw time dedicated to ongoing professional development each week or two, the investment in resources for teacher growth, and a commitment to anytime, anywhere professional learning. As we head back to school, leaders must keep this commitment at the forefront, or else we risk losing the transformational progress made during the pandemic. 

The old way of learning died in March. If we can do this, truly shuffle off our conventional coil of education, we may have a real chance to give birth to a sustainable era of educational equity and innovation. 

“Connection Above Content” in Back to School

17 August 2020
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blog, Leadership, PAACC, Resources, Student Agency

Since March, we have been in a whirlwind of system-wide disruptions. Schools and workspaces shut down suddenly, causing our daily lives to transition in many ways to live “stream” and our imaginations to kick into overdrive to reinvent the way we do our jobs. The COVID-19 pandemic spread not just its deadly virus but also contagious fear throughout our communities and the world at large. Later in the spring, the video of George Floyd’s brutal murder by police went viral causing a unprecedented awakening around racial injustice and subsequent sense of urgency to fight systemic racism. 

We are living through an era of increased human vulnerability which must be met with increased human connection and support. This presents quite a conundrum…how should we go about increasing human connection and support when we also need to maintain social distance, to work and learn remotely, to cover our faces and thus our smiles? 

We thought a lot about this conundrum as we prepared for our annual LINC team summit. Our summit is usually a time we spend together in a uniquely close and collaborative environment, a time we use for team-building and culture-strengthening, a time for laughing, cooking, bowling, or adventuring together. With several new “LINCredibles” joining our team this July, we knew we would have to figure out how to do this in a remote manner, so we set out to try. We also realized that if we could tinker to figure out how to connect amidst disconnection, we could help teachers and school leaders do the same as many take on a remote or hybrid launch to the new school year. We learned some important lessons that can be valuable to teachers in this challenging moment. 

To begin, we surveyed our team to see if a fully remote or hybrid summit was preferable. While many liked the idea of hybrid, it was clear that allowing for fully remote access and a predominantly remote agenda was important. But the logistics were only a small part. More importantly we knew we needed to put connection before content. One thing we did to have some virtual fun was to print our mascot “Lia the LINCspring Llama” cutouts to put around our houses or go with us on adventures for a daily llama party. We also incorporated team-building activities such as virtual scavenger hunts and happy hours. 

However, to move connection out of the supplemental realm to the core curriculum, we took a very different approach than previous years in organizing the week. In the past, we had operational objectives which organized each day, things like new team member onboarding and product feature exploration. This year, we put connection first by making it the central theme and objective of each day. We decided to use our company T.R.A.C.E. values to go deeper into each area. 

LINC Values Tree

This is how it transformed our agenda and put connection forward:

 Previous ObjectivesConnection-Forward Objectives
Day 1New Team Members & OrientationTrust: We focused on building connections and hearing from all team members. We also shared transparently some reflections from our teammates about LINC’s direction, culture, and leadership. We generated ideas on how to cultivate trust and ended the day with a team happy hour.
Day 2Operations ReflectionsCollaboration: We collaborated on topics in both small group and whole group discussion. We focused much of the day on defining well-being and balance within LINC and setting shared goals for wellness. We also collaboratively reflected within our teams and set new goals together. And, we did a team virtual scavenger hunt on Zoom!
Day 3LINCspring Product DesignAgency: Team members worked asynchronously on passion projects. We provided a brainstorming playlist to help team members identify areas of focus. Some worked independently on things like writing books while others collaborated on projects like professional goal-setting or antiracism. 
Day 4New Workshops & ServicesEquity: We engaged in discussions defining what we mean by creating equitable pathways within and beyond LINC. We got real about whether we are talking about equity in the broader sense or taking on racial equity (we decided on the latter to start). We dove into learning from experts on racial equity and made commitments to do personal work and to make LINC a leader in racial equity work.
Day 5Sales & MarketingRisk-Taking: We discussed how we can do to better support risk-taking within LINC. We also provided time for team members to make progress on their passion projects with risk-taking in mind. 

Putting “connection before content” was the first order of business. Next was ensuring that the experience felt balanced, equitable, and accessible. We used a combination of the following structures to accomplish this:

  • Surveys for Team Input 
  • Shared Documents for Agenda Planning
  • Full Team Synchronous Meetings
  • Small Group Break-Out Meetings
  • Flexible “Playlist” Time
  • Breaks for lunch, water, self-care, walking outside, refueling
  • Flexible Groupings for Collaboration
  • Choice and Voice
  • Language Translator for Full Accessibility
  • Rotating Team Leaders for Breakouts

We invite you to put connection as your primary goal as you head back to school.  We need to recognize that now more than ever, teachers need to feel connected with each other, and students need to feel connected with each other and their teachers. We also need to recognize the increased need for taking care of our team and our students. Whether planning a remote PD week or a back-to-school week for students, we invite you to revise your learning objectives to put connection at the heart of learning. By doing so, we are sending a strong and much needed message to our teachers and students…We know this is hard. And we’ve got you.

Preparing for a Reimagined New School Year

1 June 2020
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blog

As educators around the world made an unprecedented shift to remote learning, they did so from very different starting points. Some schools with a strong foundation of blended learning already had essential tools implemented, like a Learning Management System, and faculty with proficiency in blended learning, making the transition more manageable. Other schools found themselves scrambling to implement systems and train teachers overnight to ensure that learning could continue in some format. Regardless of where they started, educators have been united in a moment of collective, albeit disruptive, innovation as unprecedented as the moment itself, rising to the challenge of innovation in action.

Despite the incredible progress made, educators remain similarly united in confusion and concern over a sustainable path forward through extended remote or hybrid learning periods. In thinking about this transition, we must make key mindset shifts from what have historically been reliable conventions to much more iterative, flexible models. These shifts may include the considerations listed in the graphic below. 

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 1

We don’t know what fall 2020 will look like for schools. Some will consider structures that rotate groups of students on campus within an alternating day or week schedule like the one below. 

Others will contend with families whose children will have to continue remote learning even if the greater majority of their peers return to school. As leaders and teachers navigate the uncertain and unpredictable future, they will need to rely on a steady compass and prepare for the few realities we can reasonably predict.

Reality #1: The Future Will be Blended

Schools We Must Never Go “Back” To School 2with strong foundations of blended learning practices made the transition to remote learning with greater ease to both teachers and their communities. When schools reopen, there will be a need to continue some aspects of remote learning in a blended face-to-face environment. In this manner, schools will be able to implement pedagogical structures that allow for a less abrupt, polarized experience as students move onto and off of campus in cohorts or waves. Teachers and leaders can leverage blended models, such as the Playlist model, to create a better balance of synchronous group learning and asynchronous personalized learning than we have seen many achieve during this initial remote learning transition.

Reality #2: Schools Will Schedule the Year in Phases

The practice of setting a master schedule at the start of the year will likely fall by the wayside. Instead, schools will consider phases of operation. Leaders opening schools in the fall in a hybrid combination of remote and on-campus learning must anticipate an iterative path based on implementation feedback. Even when schools can reopen entirely, leaders will be preparing for waves of remote learning. It is quite possible that some will consider year-round scheduling with shorter breaks to rotate cohorts of students onto and off campus over a more elongated period. 

Reality #3: Teachers Will Upskill Continuously to Engage Students

As our LINC team has supported thousands of teachers through the transition to remote learning, we have heard countless say, “I feel like I’m learning how to do my job as I’m doing my job.” Never before has a profession requiring higher education and years of experience to master undergone such a rapid, pivotal shift in practice. This is a singular moment in which educators are being required to step completely outside longstanding “best practices” of the teaching profession while maintaining the same standard of performance. This is the time for teachers to become pedagogical problem solvers that can facilitate student-centered learning experiences through multiple delivery channels. In order to support this significant undertaking, now more than ever, leaders will need to ensure ongoing, professional development that encourages and rewards innovation in action.

Reality #4: Mastery of Technology is Not Equal to Great Pedagogy 

There’s no doubt that educators need to maximize the use of multiple digital tools and blended models to be able to facilitate remote, hybrid, and blended learning. However, as one visionary teacher told us, “We cannot solve an outside-the-box challenge like COVID-19 with inside-the-box solutions.” Transferring traditional, whole classroom teaching to the virtual world should not be our goal. We need to facilitate student-centered, authentic learning experiences.

There hasn’t been a time in history when personalized learning was more important. This is because every learner’s intellectual and emotional individuality is compounded by his or her living and homeschooling circumstances. Some students have more resources for learning such as better wifi and access to devices, and others have more support from their parents.  Therefore, we need to apply pedagogical problem solving to our use of technology to ensure equitable opportunities for learning. 

A Path Forward in Uncertain Times

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 3All of this begs the question – How can leaders confidently reimagine and operationalize learning in light of these and other unforeseen realities? When we work with teachers to reimagine lessons to put innovation at the center, we emphasize the critical importance of standards-alignment. On a macro level, school leaders can do the same. By identifying foundational principles of learning, mission-specific community standards, and critical learning outcomes at each grade level, leaders can form a compass for navigating rapid change. After they ensure that the learning foundations are strong, we help them facilitate pedagogical experiences using the framework we developed in the book Blended Learning in Action. The PAACC Hallmarks of Effective Practice go beyond integrating digital tools and help teachers assess whether their remote or blended practices are hitting the mark for student-centered, personalized learning. 

Alongside our partners and schools, LINC is committed to reimagining education with a focus on continuous improvement, equity, and student centered learning. I’d love to learn about how you are preparing for a reimagined school year. Please share your ideas with me on Twitter @TeachOnTheEdge.

Remote Learning Implementation Assessment

17 April 2020
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Resources, Resources for Administrators

checklistA large number of students and teachers have moved to remote learning while schools are closed due to the pandemic.  How is your implementation of remote learning going?

Tiffany Wycoff, the co-author of Blended Learning in Action, along with the team at LINC, have developed a great new self-assessment for teachers and school leaders which helps determine the implementation of remote learning. The 12-item assessment takes less than 5 minutes and shares guidance relevant to your level of preparedness.

District leaders can ask all principals to assess the implementation at the school level.  Principals can ask teachers to assess their own implementations.  Have everyone complete the assessment and we’ll pull the data for you.  Send your request to info@linclearning.com.

Take the Remote Learning Implementation Assessment

Small Group Instruction & Differentiation in Remote Learning

7 April 2020
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blog, Instructional Strategies

Small Group instruction in remote learningLast week, I published an article that talked about how to move from basic functionality in remote learning to truly capturing the unique (if not frustrating) opportunity for innovation and connectivity in learning. We call this moving from Survive to Thrive, and the difference for teachers is captured here. 

One thing we do regularly in the classroom is to personalize instruction and meet with small groups for differentiated support. It’s not as easy to do this in basic “survival mode” in a remote learning environment. While it isn’t easy, it is critical as we risk losing the most vulnerable of our students if we fail to keep engagement and differentiation high. Here I’ll share a simple flow for differentiating instruction and providing small group support in remote learning. 

Step 1: Create Differentiated Paths with a Playlist

A “playlist” is a blended learning model which provides students with a list of learning resources and activities (see example here). In some ways, playlists are naturally differentiated as students can work through them at their own pace and sequence. However, there are two ways you can further differentiate using a playlist. 

One option is to create different playlists for different small groups of learners based on the unique needs of the groups. To keep this simple, you can use the same template, but slightly modify the focus or depth of each activity. For example, I could have all my students work on grammar skills using IXL for one activity, but I may specify different exercises within IXL for each group to match their writing skill needs. See an example of this strategy for a writing “playlist” below by group:

Redwood GroupCypress GroupOak Group
Build Your Skills:
Sentence Order

Access ixl.com 
Complete this exercise to put the sentences in order: https://www.ixl.com/ela/grade-4/put-the-sentences-in-order		Build Your Skills:
Choosing a Topic Sentence

Access ixl.com 
Complete this exercise to choose the best topic sentence: https://www.ixl.com/ela/grade-4/choose-the-best-topic-sentence		Build Your Skills:
Facts vs. Opinions

Access ixl.com 
Complete this exercise to distinguish facts from opinions: https://www.ixl.com/ela/grade-4/distinguish-facts-from-opinions
Apply Your Knowledge:
Continue typing your essay in Google Docs. Leave me a comment in paragraph 2 explaining why you put the sentences of this paragraph in the order you chose. 		Apply Your Knowledge:
Continue typing your essay in Google Docs. Highlight your topic sentence for each paragraph in YELLOW. Leave me a comment explaining why you chose each topic sentence.		Apply Your Knowledge:
Continue typing your essay in Google Docs. Highlight the facts in your essay in YELLOW. Leave me a comment and let me know how many hard facts you have so far and whether you think you need more. 
Peer Review: 
Share your essay document with one peer for peer review. Use the writing rubric to do the review for your peer. Fill out the rubric. Leave 1 “Glow” comment and 1 “Grow” comment.		Peer Review: 
Share your essay document with one peer for peer review. Use the writing rubric to do the review for your peer. Fill out the rubric. Leave 1 “Glow” comment and 1 “Grow” comment.		Peer Review: 
Share your essay document with one peer for peer review. Use the writing rubric to do the review for your peer. Fill out the rubric. Leave 1 “Glow” comment and 1 “Grow” comment.

Another option to create differentiated pathways is to allow for choice in the playlist. You can use the same document for all students, listing some “must-dos” and some choices. See this example below of a choice-based playlist using Google Sheets in math. 

Agency through choice playlist template

It is helpful to use comments in either form of document for students to ask questions or for you to leave feedback. If you are working with younger students, creating a more visual playlist in a tool such as Google Slides may be more accessible. You can find other useful strategies in this blog by Kim Weber on Meeting the Needs of All Students Through Playlists.  

Step 2: Create Opportunities for Small Group Meetings

differentiation in remote learningThe playlist you create will be the “asynchronous” part of the learning process, or the part that students do at different times. For learning to feel supported, it is important to also create some opportunities for shared learning moments and, in this case, differentiated support for small groups. 

One way to do this is to create small group invitations in your calendar and invite students to join at a specific time. If your goal is to meet with very specific students in groups, then sending the invitations is the best path. 

However, if your goal is to simply open up windows of small group instruction regardless of specific grouping, then giving families or students the opportunity to choose the best time for them is a way to differentiate by access and family needs. You can do this using a tool like Calendly.  (Click on any of these Calendly images to enlarge.)

Calendly captureUsing Calendly, you can set up an “event” for small group instruction, designate the virtual “location” (ex: Google Meet), and set a limit to the number of participants for each session.

You can also quickly set up the window of time you are available and designate the length of each slot. If you are a Google user, you can sign in with Google so that the events are created on your calendar at the same time.

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 4

One other tip is to add expectations for students in either the description or in the sign-up form by adding questions to it. For example, you may ask parents or students to submit questions they have during the sign-up process as a type of formative assessment. You may also explain expectations for digital responsibility and participation, prompting students and/or parents to acknowledge these. 

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 5

Using this differentiation flow of playlist → small group meetings will not only engage students on a level that matches their learning needs but will also provide them an opportunity to connect and collaborate with peers during this time of physical distance. Small group virtual meetings are more conducive to meeting their social-emotional learning needs than whole-group video calls. 

In this time of great uncertainty and fear, it is even more critical that we go beyond unsupported learning assignments and video lectures towards socially connected and differentiated experiences for students. This is how we can help our students thrive amidst the hardship of the moment. 

Taking an Antiracist Stand as a Team

11 February 2020
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blog, Equity

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 6Like so many others, I was appalled by the story of DeAndre Arnold, the Texas student who was suspended from school and told he could not participate in his graduation or other end of year celebrations unless he cut his hair. If DeAndre were a white student with long hair, the district, Barbers School ISD in Texas, would be stripping rights based on gender discrimination as the handbook prevents male students from having hair below the collar. But DeAndre is also a black male student whose hair is culturally relevant and important, so the district is enforcing a rule that strips black male students of rights based on racial and cultural discrimination. The policy is racist.

As I followed the story, I felt compelled to call, tweet, blog…add my voice to the chorus of those crying foul. But then I caught myself pausing in a wave of insecurity. I already knew and had accepted that saying something meant opening myself to personal criticism, something I consider a responsibility that comes with my white privilege. But what if saying something had negative repercussions for the company I co-founded whose clients are schools and school districts? What if it caused our team to lose business and impacted my partners and our employees? We are a small start-up, and any impact could really hurt.

I decided to bring this up at our next team meeting. It was good timing as we were reflecting on our core company values — Trust, Risk-Taking, Agency, Collaboration, and Equity — in order to set mission-aligned goals for 2020. 

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 7

When we discussed risk-taking and equity, I shared my moment of doubt regarding DeAndre’s case and asked: How willing are we to put LINC out there as a voice for equity when the risk is the potential loss of business? Are we bold enough to take what author Ibram Kendi describes as an “antiracist” stance and fight policies that proliferate racial discrimination and oppression? 

I was not surprised to hear a resounding and unanimous “yes!” One of our team members, Cassondra Thaddies, had been working on a post about the need for us as educators to move beyond our “tranquilized obviousness” to reach equity goals. Some people may feel offended by the notion that we have dominant cultural narratives that cause us to unconsciously sustain inequitable policies and blame achievement gaps on student deficiencies. This team decision meant we’d take on that risk of turning some people off if it meant our work could be relevant and effective. 

Another team member, Kim Weber, shared the sentiment that it was not enough to be individual antiracist “co-conspirators” as Dr. Bettina Love called upon white people to be at the recent RILE conference we contributed to. Kim felt that being a co-conspirator for justice and equity as a team was crucial to authentically uphold our values. So we move forward in a shared commitment to bringing injustice above board when we see it and call stakeholders to take actions that can effect change. 

However, I want to make one distinction. While we stand for equity, we stand for educators. We firmly believe that while we were born into a time and system long poisoned by inequity, educators are the best-positioned agents to lead the change desperately needed not only to increase equity in our schools but also in our world through the generation of students they teach. This work is hard. Racism is a disease affecting people of all races in all systems, so it requires both individual and organizational healing. We’re committed to being part of this healing, which means doing the work ourselves and partnering with others committed to it. 

As business owners and executives, we are key power-wielding stakeholders. Can we be willing to help our teams learn from leaders such as Kendi and Love, to engage in organizational change with groups such as Courageous Conversation? We have to be willing to put our bottom line on the line to ensure that ALL our students walk an equitable path which leads ALL of them to cross the graduation stage into equitably accessible higher education and careers that equitably reward them. 

Catlin Tucker on Balance with Blended Learning

30 December 2019
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Webinars

Blended Coaching Strategies

12 December 2019
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Webinars

Recorded Cloud Coaching Session

virtual coaching iconWe Must Never Go “Back” To School 9We Must Never Go “Back” To School 10This Cloud Coaching session provides educators and leaders with an understanding of how to transition to and implement innovative coaching models. Participants will learn about the why and the how of changing professional learning for teachers. By taking coaching into the digital realm, we can solve many key challenges in implementing a sustainable coaching model. Using a digital PD platform with embedded coaching provides access to tools and support at just the right time for teachers as they attempt to solve unique pedagogical problems. Participants will have the opportunity to experience using this type of PD platform and understand how it offers a richer and meaningful professional learning experience.
Presenters: Tiffany Wycoff and Kim Weber
Audience: Educators and Leaders

Complete the Form Below to Access the Recording

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The Balance with Catlin Tucker: Featuring Tiffany Wycoff

7 November 2019
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Resources, Resources for Administrators, Resources for Coaches

In this episode of The Balance, Catlin Tucker talks with Tiffany Wycoff, a mother, an educator, and an entrepreneur. They explore issues related to the balance or, more accurately, the imbalance of power and responsibility in classrooms. They question the current role many students occupy as passive consumers. They discuss the need to model a growth mindset for our students and what is needed to cultivate classrooms where we celebrate experimentation, risk-taking, and failing forward. They talk about the potential of technology to connect learners as opposed to isolating them. As advocates of blended learning, Tiffany and Catlin explore both the pitfalls and potential of integrating technology into classrooms.  Listen to the recording.

Generativity in Action – 3 Steps to Building a Culture of Student Generativity

27 October 2019
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blog, Generativity, Student Agency

As a principal, I hosted many students who were asked by their teachers to “take a break” from their classrooms due to misbehavior. When this happened, I started with student reflection, having them write what happened from their perspective. This exercise raised metacognitive awareness of the situation from different perspectives, and by providing an opportunity for students to tell me their accounts allowed them to feel heard, often lowering their frustration or anger, enabling a more constructive reflection conversation. Subsequently,  I would have students do the same exercise but from the first-person perspective of the teacher. Among the most fascinating and productive of these experiences went something like this:

Tom (from his student perspective): I was talking with Luca about our business. We have a retail business buying and reselling hoodies and we’re trying to plan inventory. We’ve been arguing about it and Mr. Smith (math teacher) got mad at us because we were talking in class. I tried to tell him it was about math but he got mad at me and told me I was being disrespectful and to leave the class to come here. 

Tom (from Mr. Smith’s perspective): I was teaching a lesson and Tom was talking with Luca. I told them to stop talking and he was rude, saying “What? It’s about math!” So I told him to go see you.  

As we explored this situation more deeply, the process led to an opening in a strained relationship between Tom and Mr. Smith. They jointly created an opportunity for more personalized and relevant learning for Tom. In a short time, the whole class was engaged in building unique business plans to apply mathematical concepts through project based learning and they won the Stock Market Game by the end of the year. 

Culture of Student Generativity

Mr. Smith had not done anything “wrong” as a teacher in upholding a behavioral expectation he set. However, the one-size-fits-all learning approach was causing a breakdown in his class. A student clearly invested in mathematical thinking and in need of skills was checking out of math. This is an all too common occurrence in classrooms today. Students are immensely curious, but they are taking their curiosity elsewhere. To keep engagement and relevance high, we must strive to increase generativity in the classroom and position it as a core learning outcome. 

In Part 1 of our Generativity series, LINC Co-Founder Jason Green shared the foundational components of Dr. Arnetha Ball’s Model of Generative Change and how its “reflect, tinker, grow” cycle fosters innovative learning transformation. In Part 2 of the series, I shared three strategies for transforming a traditional faculty mindset to one of generativity and present several  “in-action” examples to support the work. To build upon this generativity foundation and close out the series, I am sharing three strategies for transforming traditional classrooms into generativity hubs. 

Step #1: Focus on the PAACC

In Blended Learning in Action, we share how digital tools can create opportunities for learning innovation. However, tools alone do not make learning innovative. Just as the SAMR framework points out, when we use technology only to substitute for non-digital tools, we simply do the same things in new ways. Even when we redefine learning through technology, and learning looks very different than it traditionally has, we may still not reach transformation that will build generativity in our students. Rather than focusing on a specific tool, technology level, or blended learning model, we encourage teachers to focus on the PAACC framework. By using the PAACC as a compass, teachers can better ensure that they are increasing personalization, agency, authenticity, connectivity, and creativity.

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 11

In Action: I am a teacher who has increased engagement through the use of technology. However, I want to take my practice to a new level so that I can personalize learning in my class and help my students build skills for their future. I share the PAACC framework with my students and lead a discussion about the value of shifting to increase PAACC practices in our class. I then share a unit of study I did last year with my current class and invite them to discuss how we can increase each component of the PAACC within the unit. I create a Padlet board and have students add ideas that work to increase each area of the PAACC in the unit. 

 

Step #2: Model Generativity & Solicit Feedback

When teachers begin trying new tools or models in class, they often initially don’t work. Too often, teachers revert to old practices rather than persist out of fear of being criticized by their peers and their students for unpolished practices. This happens when we stick to the old paradigm of teachers as sage on the stage. If we don’t take the time to engage students as part of our professional learning journey, they will continue to operate from that paradigm with the expectation that we have all the answers.  If we make students part of the planning process by co-designing lessons and providing feedback, it not only lowers the risk to open the door for tinkering together, but also models generativity in action, sending the message that learning in the classroom is everybody’s job. 

In Action: I am a member of the transformation team who wants to share my emerging Station Rotation practice with digital tools I’m trying out in my class. My principal has used a “Pineapple Chart” to have our team share what we are trying in our classes, so I’ve added my Station Rotation to the chart with the days my colleagues observe. I put an “Innovator in Action” sign up on my door during these times as a reminder that we are innovating, not showcasing. I engage my students in the experience of tinkering and let them know I would like their feedback, even during the lesson. After a week of the new practice, I survey students and share their feedback at the next PLC meeting where my group is exploring blended learning models.

 

Step #3: Assessment as Learning

The traditional sequence of learning starts with knowledge transfer and concludes with an assessment. In this sequence, assessment is not really part of the learning but rather a separate process to measure its effectiveness. In a generative classroom, assessment becomes part of the learning process throughout the sequence. Instead of measuring learning, assessment drives learning. This type of formative assessment can take many forms such as surveys, live quizzes, polls, comments and suggestions in documents, discussion contributions, self-reflection using rubrics, and conferences. Student reflection should be a core assessment practice in a generative classroom. To build generativity, students have to continuously engage in the cycle of reflection about the problem they are trying to solve, what they already know, what they still need to know, and what resources they can access to bridge this gap. 

In Action: I am a student preparing for a student-teacher writing conference in my history class. I have drafted the first two paragraphs of a news article for my writing assignment. Using the single-point rubric our class collaborated on, I identify how my article meets each indicator. I put an example to discuss in each area of the rubric. Since my teacher and I have identified textual support as an area of growth for me in my writing, I go through my article and highlight the research evidence I have included. During the conference with my teacher, he makes comments on the shared document to provide feedback. We discuss my rubric assessment and I use both the comments and the conference feedback to continue working on my article. 

 

It can be daunting to shift towards a student-centered learning environment where students are stakeholders who have agency and voice in their learning. It requires teachers to let go of “having control” of the learning in their classes and to trust students more than we typically do in a traditional model. However, as students are empowered as agents, they gain a more authentic connection to their learning and subsequently become more engaged. Most importantly though, they build their capacity as problem-solvers who can tackle new challenges as they emerge, a critical skill to navigate rapid change in their uncertain futures. 

Developing an Innovative Student Mindset and Classroom Culture

18 September 2019
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Student Agency, Webinars

Recorded Cloud Coaching Session

virtual coaching iconIn this interactive mindset coaching session, participants will explore ways of  increasing student’s growth mindset through innovative instructional practices. Developing an Innovative Student Mindset and Classroom CultureEducators will learn how to engage students in shared visioning to build agency, define learning objectives collaboratively, and help students understand their role as agents of their own learning. Additionally, participants will discuss key practices for effective classroom management in blended environments, including the use of a digital class contract. Educators will leave the coaching session with a fresh design, using templates, for a classroom  activity they can implement focused on shared visioning or collaborative class contracts.  
Presenters: Tiffany Wycoff
Audience: Educators and Leaders

Complete the Form Below to Access the Recording

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Generativity in Action: 3 Steps to Building a Culture of Teacher Generativity

29 August 2019
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blog, Generativity, Leadership

When I first stepped into a leadership role within a school where I had been a teacher, I made several mistakes. Innovation was at the center of my vision for the school’s path forward and I saw a clear course for how we should implement transformational practices. I was inspired! I was passionate! I was eager to see it happen! And this is how I came to be on the receiving end of the statement – uttered in a moment of deep frustration by a teacher – “You’re just a little bit bossy!”

Ouch! Now, it was true I was technically her “boss” but the real truth was no amount of authority was going to help me get buy-in from this teacher in my innovation journey because the problem was it was “my journey” and not “our journey.” Despite the awkwardness of the situation, I was grateful to this teacher as she opened a critical fail-forward reflection for me. As I continued in my leadership career, I often thought back to this first ah-ha moment for its rich learnings:

  1. I hadn’t built my innovation vision alongside my team. It wasn’t a shared vision. 
  2. I was leading with the “how” instead of the “why.” 
  3. My team members had unique needs that couldn’t be addressed in one-size-fits-all support.
  4. I was being “bossy” – mandating actions in isolation, failing to build capacity, and passing on the opportunity to get teacher feedback.

My most essential learning from this experience was the critical importance of creating a culture of generativity to empower innovation. In Part 1 of our Generativity series, LINC Co-Founder Jason Green shared the foundational components of Dr. Arnetha Ball’s Model of Generative Change and how its “reflect, tinker, grow” cycle fosters innovative learning transformation. In Part 2, I share three strategies for transforming a traditional faculty mindset to one of generativity and present “in-action” examples to support the work.

How to spot a culture of teacher generativity

Step #1: Build Transformation Teams

In our consulting practice at LINC, we help leaders identify a group of stakeholders who work together to form a shared vision and pathway for leading learning innovation. We call these groups “Transformation Teams” as we understand that collaboration is vital to shifting mindsets and to understanding the support needed to transform long-standing instructional practices. This team is responsible for gathering key perspectives from teachers, students, parents, and other stakeholders to drive change from an empathetic understanding of those who will be affected by it.

In Action: I’m a school leader who wants to increase collaboration and build digital competencies using shared documents. A colleague in my network recommended implementing a program that may help. I invite a few teachers and students to a team who can answer the questions – How does this already look in our school? Is anyone using this platform or another comparable platform? What can we build on and learn from? What is the potential impact if we implement this platform? Is it worth exploring further, and how can we try it out?

 

Step #2: Empower Teacher Agency

As we transform teaching and learning, a core goal is to increase student agency. We define student agency as “giving learners the opportunity to participate in key decisions in their learning experience (LINC PAACC Hallmarks of Effective Practice).” In order to build teachers’ capacity to foster agency in students, teachers may need to first experience it themselves. Leaders can do this by empowering teachers as agents of school transformation by offering personalized professional development and choice-based PLCs. Through personalized, blended professional development, teachers not only experience greater agency, but they also are able to meet the varying pedagogical challenges within their class. 

In Action: I am a teacher leader responsible for teacher professional development. I want to shift from sit-and-get, infrequent workshops to ongoing PD with coaching support. I survey teachers to solicit high priority focus areas to form PLC groups. I decide to use an online PD platform to build a community sharing space, organize the PLC work, and provide resources that can help teachers access what they need when they need it in planning.

 

Step #3: Encourage Innovation in Action

To build a culture of innovation and risk-taking, it is helpful to encourage teachers to try new things and to reward them when they do so. By shifting the framework of teacher evaluation from summative to formative, leaders create the foundation for this type of culture and encourage the sharing of innovation. This means creating new tools for classroom observation and self-reflection that seek evidence of innovation in learning rather than traditional indicators. It means acknowledging teachers’ efforts to innovate and share as critical to school transformation, even when things don’t work and lead to a “fail forward” moment. 

This is distinct from modeling exemplary practice which focuses on showcasing perfected practices. This can work against innovation as teachers feel the risks are too high to tinker with new strategies. 

In Action: I am an instructional coach working with teachers to implement more personalized learning. Teachers have shared some reluctance to implementing blended learning as a way to personalize, mainly out of fear of failure. Together we came up with an idea to reward risk-taking. I’ve given teachers signs with the label “Innovator in Action.” When these are up on their doors, it means they are trying something new and are somewhat uncomfortable. We will look for these signs as a way to share practices and when the sign is up, the observation rubric will be different. We’ve decided to use the LINC Roadmap to Learning Innovation as a tool for this purpose and for self-reflection as a team.

 

A culture of generativity is not easy to build, but the steps to begin shifting towards one are simple. If school leaders and teachers can identify one practice to help take the first step, they will begin to see big returns almost immediately. Regardless of how much time it may take to build a generative faculty culture, it is a critical commitment to uphold if we aspire to foster generativity as a student skill set. While the two can be built simultaneously, one cannot work without the other. Look for our next post for tips on building and spotting a culture of student generativity.

5 Reasons Spring is a Great Innovation Season

2 May 2019
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blended Learning, Blog, Growth Mindset

by Tiffany Wycoff

teacher with students using a tabletIn many of my LINC Cloud CoachingTM sessions last week, one or more teachers made the statement, “I haven’t tried this yet because I’m going to wait until I can start it fresh next year.” We were discussing strategies for blended learning innovation with the goal of creating more pathways for student agency and personalization. In all cases, teachers were on board with trying something new like station rotation or a playlist, but they were reluctant to start now.

Having spent several spring seasons in the classroom, I can understand why. In some places, spring brings showers and flowers, in other places warmer waters to surf, but universally spring ushers in the period of breaking up with the school year and a longing for summer break. It’s an extremely stressful time to teach as testing is upon us, students allow their brains to run ahead of them to vacation, and it takes all our teacher superpowers to keep the focus on learning in the midst of numerous end of year events.

So I get it. In the sunset of the year, it’s a hard sell to try something new. And yet, I would argue it is the best time to do so. If you are engaged in professional learning but reluctant to give it a go for this year, here are five reasons to toss the “next year, new start” story for innovation now.

#1: Engagement

We try so many things to keep kids engaged for the close of the year. From field trips to project-based learning, whatever it takes. But over and over I’ve seen the best way to drive up engagement, even in the lowest engagement months, is student agency. One of the primary goals of innovation in the classroom is increased agency through choice, voice, and individualized pathways. When we try a strategy like a blended playlist, we put students in the driver’s seat of their learning. We also build stamina and capacity for them to manage their workflow independently and keep the focus on learning when they have choice in their learning pathways. When we enlist students in co-creating these playlists, we take this agency and resulting engagement to a whole new level. What if we solicit playlist activities at the end of each week via Google form for the following week’s playlist? What if we put a “sponsored by _____ student” as a tag next to the activity with the most votes that made the playlist for the week?

#2: Trust

When we innovate at the end of the year, we are not only bringing a fresh strategy to engage learners, but we also have the opportunity to engage them as stakeholders in a different way. Instead of trying to build trust alongside trying something new, we can build off a foundation of existing trust. We can say to our class, “I have this new strategy I’d like to try, and instead of trying it for the first time with new students, I would really like to try it with you since we already have shared expectations of how we work together. Can you collaborate with me on designing this?” Now is the time for taking trust to a new level, putting into the hands of the students who have been on the year’s journey with us an opportunity to help us learn and grow as teachers.

#3: Low Stakes Feedback

The relationship we have with students now can make trying new strategies lower stakes. If there are bumps along the way (which there likely will be) we can solicit feedback from our students to iterate. This is much easier to do when we are not trying to set expectations and class norms alongside trying something completely new. While both are possible, spring innovation allows us to separate those a bit, to rely on existing norms to drive the innovative practices. The cycle of engaging students in co-planning the new strategy, trying it together, and sending a survey or other means of obtaining feedback is a powerful one to help us start the new year with a more polished model.

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 13

#4: Modeling Always Learning, Always Growing

It is hard to demand continued peak learning in our students when we are not modeling it ourselves. When we innovate at the end of the year, we are sending a message to our students that now is always the best time for learning. We counter their drop in learning energy with an increase in our own energy and commitment to learning. When we share this with students authentically, it is even more powerful. What would happen tomorrow if you walked into class and said, “I know now is a hard time of year and that summer is starting to pull your focus. So I thought it might be a good time to refresh by trying something less conventional together. Are you in?”

#5: Triple Urgency of Innovation Now

When we work with teachers to support 21st century classroom transformation, we start with the critical “why” factors.

  • The Real Future: We are no longer preparing students for a fairly predictable future but rather for one in which 85% of jobs in 2030 haven’t even been created yet and almost half of existing jobs may be gone by the time they enter the workforce. We must put 21C skills at the forefront of every teaching opportunity or we are failing to teach.

  • Connection: Every day a student is disengaged in school is one in which the majority of their day is spent in disconnection. We are in the midst of a social-emotional crisis with 25% of children between 13 and 18 years old experiencing anxiety disorders and a rise in serious depression and suicide amongst teens. When we implement models like station rotation or whole-group rotation with pull-out, we gain time for small group connection and 1-1 conferencing. We also increase engagement and connection on the whole for students when we increase agency and connectivity.

  • Teacher Agency: If we as educators do not take the reigns as the agents of 21C learning transformation, we will be the objects of it. We are standing at the crossroads of our profession; it will change — digital adoption will continue, new models of learning mandated, new grading policies made the norm. We have the unique opportunity to be the leaders of this change. If we pass on that opportunity, we must pause in serious consideration of who will lead it.

Depending on the calendar, there are at least 24 days, 156 hours, and 9360 minutes to recognize this urgency and make a connection that matters with a student this year. Sounds more like 9360 reasons to innovate this spring season!

Need support getting started? Learn more about how LINC, the Learning Innovation Catalyst, helps empower educators as agents of 21st century learning transformation. www.lincspring.com

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Three Steps to Address Your Student Cell Phone Problem

15 March 2019
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blended Learning, Blog, Student Devices

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 14

One of the persistent issues that we hear from educators is…we can’t keep these students off of their cell phones. Some schools have (largely unsuccessfully) attempted “no cell phone” policies which usually results in backlash from students and parents and a lot of sneaking around. Some schools have tried to allow cell phones broadly which results in significant distractions. Other schools have tried the teacher-by-teacher policy which results in student confusionon usage policies and teachers frustrated by the strictness or laxness of their colleagues.

I was with a school a few weeks back that fell in this last category. They gave teachers the agency to decide how they wanted students to use cell phones. With the intention of creating student and teacher agency, what they were really creating was confusion, frustration and a lot of classroom distraction. They asked me for a “quick-fix” or at least simple solution to their problem.

I gave them the bad news first…there is no quick fix to your student cell phone problem. The cell phone has become another appendage for today’s student, even for today’s adult. I have to remind my mom to put down the phone and stop flipping through Facebook. There are studies which indicate millennials check their cell phones 150 times per day and the average American adult is in front of a screen as much as 11 hours per day.

This is not an issue that is fixed with policy and it begs much more thoughtful and deliberate action. We must first acknowledge that the new role of the teacher whether we like to accept it or not is to help students learn and understand responsible and empowered use of technology. I recommended to the school three steps that they may want to try in a handful of classrooms:

  1. Have a student visioning conversation – Create a structured conversation with students about their role as 21C learners and how their changing world is requiring them to take greater ownership in the learning process. This is a conversation of student mindset and agency in and out the classroom.

  2. Create a Collaborative Classroom Contract – Follow this conversation up with the development of a collaborative classroom contract. Work with students to create norms and guidelines for their classroom. You will be surprised of how reasonable students can be when they are involved in the conversation of setting parameters. There may even be some ideas in the contract that every 30 or 45 minutes there is a structured 2 min break for “open tech time.”

  3. Build student stamina – At the heart of the cell phone challenge is a deeper issue of student stamina for independent learning. They have not yet learned what it means to drive their learning. In most school systems we are now combatting years of passive learning culture. As forward-thinking educators, we have to also accept that part of our role is to help students build this new muscle of agency and self-directed learning. This means gradually releasing students in the learning environment over weeks or even months by structuring increasing amounts of time and rigor of activities that are led by them. Below is a sample structure that can support this process demonstrating a deliberate and planned increase of student independent time over a series of weeks.

Stamina Building Tool - LINC

The cell phone challenge is part of a larger challenge which is helping to empower students to take greater ownership and responsibility of their learning. Policies and rules may seem like good solutions but ultimately we will have to help them build this new muscle to confront the new reality of their ever-changing world.

Learn more about how Learning Innovation Catalyst is empowering educators through the methodology of Generative Change. www.linc.education

#agency #technology

Why Students Should Co-Create the Classroom from Day One

16 September 2018
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blended Learning, Blog, Student Agency

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 15Instead of walking into a carefully designed class that’s adorned with decorations and already set class rules, students are experiencing something new on the first day of school.

They are now setting up their own classrooms alongside teachers. It’s one important way innovative teachers are instilling agency in their students from the start.

In the book I co-authored—Blended Learning in Action—we outlined agency as one of the hallmarks of effective practice and defined it as “the act of giving learners opportunities to participate in key decisions in their learning experience.” We can set this expectation on day one by letting students actually act and exert their voice on their own environment.

I’ve seen this in both my own classroom experience and my work with other schools through LINC, the consultancy I co-founded. Setting up the room together noticeably builds a positive class culture that touches on the five hallmarks of effective blended learning practice: Personalization, Agency, Audience, Creativity, and Connectivity (PAACC).

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 16

One teacher in Texas who regularly contributes ideas to the #BLinAction network is putting the PAACC into action as she asks new students to co-create their classroom.

Flexible seating, relaxing screensavers, music choice, power strips, and longer station rotations were all on the list of student requests in Ms. Puckett’s class at Bridgeland High School.

Less than an hour from downtown Houston, this public school is opening its doors this fall for only its second year. Megan Puckett explains that this was one reason why she was given the leeway to do things differently. “It gave me an opportunity to not follow what everyone else was doing,” she shares. “My class is very much a conversation. At the end of every lesson we do reflection and I ask, ‘What did you like? What did you not like?”

That’s why the students felt they could ask her for nontraditional seating when they saw another class had it. Puckett showed them images of soft, foam rearrangeable Nugget cushions and they said Yes. Well, actually, they said, “That would be so cool.” Now they self-select seats each day, knowing they have a teacher-selected partner to sit with. This small move can go a long way toward instilling agency. In some cases, it can even be taken a step further by asking students to BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair) based on guidelines.

With this lens, the possibilities for co-creating the classroom with students become limitless. A few ideas for cultivating this sense of collaborative, PAACC-oriented class culture include:

Atmosphere & Decorations

  • Voice: Instead of a room filled with positive messages, students find headings that set the tone for the environment but leave space for their contributions. Ex: We believe… (students fill in the wall of beliefs about the way friends should learn and interact together)
  • Inspiration: On tables, they find magazines where they cut out pictures that inspire them to learn. They add these to inspiration corners or stations for choice-based discovery. Teachers use these to build an inspiration wall or sort them to create learning centers aligned with those inspirations. (Ex: adventurous pictures for Explore areas of the room; cozy pictures for Reading nooks).

Seating/Learning Spaces

  • Centers: Teachers lead a discussion on which centers will be part of the basic setup and ask for suggestions on other centers. Students receive a blank paper on which to suggest seating clusters and room arrangement.
  • Choice: One corner of the room could be assigned to students to design on a rotation. They choose the learning activity there, bring in the decorations and teach the class about the purpose of the station for the weeks it is there.

Routines/Expectations:

  • Models: Teachers can explain the blended models which will be used in student language. Starting with just one (ex: Station Rotation) may help build understanding in a scaffolded manner. Teachers can engage students in the setting of rules/expectations for each station, from how it should look/feel/sound to how to get help if not at the teacher station.
  • Peer Support: Teachers can engage students in thinking about what types of class jobs would help make sure learning is consistently the focus in class. These can range from a Tech Desk help to Chief Cheerleader. Students can apply for jobs listing their qualifications and contribute to thinking on length of term and how the jobs should rotate.
  • Digital Contract: Guiding students through the creation of a digital contract is an essential component of Blended Learning success. Rather than have an honorable use policy already in place, teachers can facilitate the collaborative creation of one.
  • Transitions/Choice: In blended learning, there are a lot of transitions to plan for: coming into the class, rotating on/off devices, moving between stations. Sometimes these are dictated by routines and timers, which other times the movements is more flexible by choice. Teachers can engage students in creating the expectations for transitions and a way to show accountability for choice where agency is high. For example, you may design a system where all stations are listed on a wall and students put a clothes pin with their name where they are moving.

Transitions between stations is another thing students wanted to influence in Mrs. Puckett’s class. They were getting 12-17 minutes, which wasn’t enough time according to them.

“The students would see changes in the station transitions the next day. By giving kids a voice, they felt like all voices matter,” says Puckett, who had a close connection with her class after making the transition from Salyards Middle School to Bridgeland High School with them last year. Her focus on meaningful learning is what propelled her to be named both 2011 Substitute Teacher of the Year (District Middle School Level) and 2013 Spotlight Teacher (Salyards Middle School). She reminds teachers heading into a new school year of the piece of advice that has stuck with her most: “If you can’t remember the last time you failed in your classroom, you’re not taking enough risks.”

The best way to start co-creating the classroom is to simply try one of these strategies.

By setting the standard for agency at the start of the year, we create a culture of personal accountability for self and class community. Waiting for the students to arrive also frees up some valuable time before the doors open. It’s an opportunity to shift from planning room design to planning ways to make learning more rigorous, magical and engaging.

Tiffany Wycoff is Co-Author of Blended Learning in Action, and is Co-Founder of LINC (Learning Innovation Catalyst). Connect with Tiffany on Twitter @teachontheedge. This article originally appeared on Getting Smart.

What Early Blended Learning Pioneers Got Right That Today’s Schools Have Forgotten

6 April 2018
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blended Learning, Blog

This article was recently published in EdSurge. It captures our emphasis on targeting 21st-century outcomes or a “PAACC” mindset over models in blended learning implementation.

When I first began blending digital and face-to-face learning, it was easy enough to create a flow between online learning spaces and offline learning. However, I noticed that sometimes my students were not getting as much out of the digital learning platform as I had anticipated. This was especially true when students could rush through their tasks, consuming content without real understanding or application of learning. Instead of trying to learn, they were racing to be done.

As I work with teachers in my current role with LINC, which provides training and support to schools making changes, I see many of them struggling with the same issue. They have set up beautifully organized station rotations, but often students are all doing the same activities, and the challenge of rigorous and standards-aligned learning remains much the same as my own experience.

This situation reflects the limitation of a models-approach to blended learning implementation. While models have been pivotal in helping teachers implement blended practice, a hyper focus on their individual components, or one model over another, can obscure the big picture. In the case of blended learning, it is easy to get the model right and entirely miss the targeted outcome.

While models precisely outline classroom design they do not inform alignment with learning outcomes or the means of personalized assessment beyond adaptive tools. Thus, the same model can produce a student-centered classroom focused on personalized pathways, agency and strong teacher-student mentorship…or a teacher-centered classroom with marginal differentiation and learning that amounts to little more than digital fluff.

Shifting Focus at the Start

To get classroom transformation right, we need a different framework for assessing the effectiveness of blended learning. Understanding and implementing a model is a step toward transformation but one that must be followed by many others in an ongoing, iterative practice. In short, we need to go back to the basics.

In the dawning days of blended learning, early trailblazers had no models no work from. Teachers were using technology as a means to increase engagement by giving students more control over the direction of their learning. They used the online environment to help them differentiate learning and gain more one-on-one time with students. To accomplish this, they had to change they way they facilitated learning, holding themselves less accountable for controlling a lesson start to finish and more accountable to these big-picture goals.

As school leaders, we can start by creating a culture of trust, collaboration and growth mindset, or what we call a culture of generativity. Teachers are then empowered as learners who regularly engage in self and shared reflection. From there, we can explore the models as a stepping stone to personalized learning and make space for iterative practice by encouraging teachers to tinker with tools within a model that feels comfortable as a starting point. This will be unique to each teacher.

A New Framework

To enable a mindset over models mentality, we need to ensure teachers can build capacity in the hallmarks of effective blended practice, outlined in “Blended Learning in Action,” a book I co-wrote. These hallmarks comprise the acronym PAACC for a quick big-picture awareness guide superseding any one particular model of blended learning.

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 17
Adapted from “Blended Learning in Action” (Tucker, Wycoff, and Green, 2016)

PAACC focuses on personalization, agency, audience, connectivity and creativity. By aligning lessons and project units to the this framework teachers can implement a model or combination of models with the confidence that they are hitting the personalization target. In this alignment process, teachers routinely ask themselves the following questions:

Personalization

What is the ratio of whole group learning (same objective) to individualized? Do my students have personalized paths for where they are? How am I regularly assessing where students are through a combination of data and conferencing?

Here’s a snapshot of Personalization in action from the Blended Learning in Action book chat #BLinAction in which teachers help other teachers implement PAACC aligned practices.

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 18

Agency

To what extent am I offering choice and voice to foster agency? What other agency-building strategies am I using (i.e. student-led conferences, student leaders and micro-credentialing)?

Screen Shot 2017-10-05 at 1.27.36 PM.png

Authentic Audience

Are my students regularly sharing with each other? To others beyond my classroom?

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 19

Connectivity

What does collaboration look like within my class, online and beyond the classroom? Am I leveraging technology to help connect my students with global peers and experts?

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 20

Creativity

What are the higher order skills I am fostering through learning? Where are students pushing beyond substitution of skill and drill to real creative problem solving?

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 21

In workshops or coaching sessions with teachers and school leaders striving to transform learning, we spend a significant amount of time helping them understand blended learning models and how to implement them. They are a key roadmap in our journey, but they will only get us so far—and could even take us in the wrong direction—if we fail to complement them with the right compass.

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Social-Emotional Support: The Real Urgency of Blended Learning

5 March 2018
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blended Learning, Blog

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 22When our team at Learning Innovation Catalyst (LINC) speaks about the urgency of 21st-century learning, we cite futurists’ predictions about the uncertainty of tomorrow’s world – that by 2035, when today’s youngest students emerge from college into the work force, at least 38% of today’s jobs will no longer exist (lost to automation); that those students will have to reinvent themselves five or more times in the workforce to stay relevant; and that the only way to prepare students for their future is to address the issue of skills ambiguity by teaching 21st-century skills over traditional content. But what we don’t often address is something that we recognize we need to start talking about much more — the urgency of 21st-century learning for the social-emotional wellbeing of students.

Today’s students are experiencing a social-emotional crisis. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America estimates that 25% of children between 13 and 18 years old experience anxiety disorders. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention notes that diagnosable mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders impact children as young as three, and that recent research indicates a rise in serious depression and suicide amongst teens. It seems we are finally moving past the denial of the trend by attempting to identify the cause and solution. Educators are playing their role too by increasing professional learning in social-emotional support and empathy based learning.

One frequently cited villain in the youth mental health crisis is technology. Even our youngest children face a barrage of stimuli from an increasingly noisy and confusing digital world. Our current system does a poor job of helping children safely navigate, understand, and self-regulate their use of the excessive information. Instead, we rely on enforcing (mostly) ineffective disciplinary measures to keep “distracting” personal technology out of classrooms rather than building a culture of agency and responsible use. Without modeling, students are left to teach themselves by trial, and too much error. From this failure to teach children the benefits and detriments of technology, and the ability to self-regulate, we see a correlating rise of detachment, depression, and anxiety alongside the rise of mobile technology.

Opponents of blended and 21st-century learning point accusing fingers at this trend as justification for not using technology in the classroom without recognizing that all screen time is not equal. 21st-century learning that models the healthy balance of face-to-face and digital interaction, and teaches the purposeful, responsible use of technology, is as essential as gradual release of responsibility in students navigating a busy city on their own or teaching them how to ski alongside them on the greens before they hit the black diamonds. Technology access without education is playing out in a highly detrimental manner, and balanced integration of technology in learning is the solution.

As harmful as it is, unmoderated consumption of technology is only one culprit in today’s social-emotional crisis. While the world has evolved, much of education has remained stagnant, yielding an ever-widening gap between what is taught and what is relevant. Students cannot feel connected to what is irrelevant to them. The abstract relevance of grades only further exacerbates the social-emotional issue by proliferating the competitive, comparing mindset born early on in traditional education.

For students to feel truly connected, they must experience real curiosity, self-discovery, and purpose. As students spend the majority of their lives at school, school must be a place where purpose and relevance are nurtured. By guiding students in the discovery and actualization of unique purpose, we are preparing them to be generative learners able to reflect on their own curiosities and passions in the context of real-world problems and responsibilities.

To recognize this purpose, students need to be taught connectivity to self in relation to others, and have agency in their learning. Agency is at the heart of 21st-century learning. The personalized learning movement is often maligned by those who misconstrue the end goal to be the replacement of human connectivity with technology. On the contrary, personalized learning provides teachers with not only the models and tools to help create individual academic paths, but also the time and tools to connect with students on a deeper level.

Here’s a snapshot of how the best practices of 21st-century learning can address the increasing need for social-emotional support for today’s students.

Teachers as Mentors & First Responders

  • Teachers meet with students individually or in small groups on a regular basis in a Station Rotation or Individual Playlist model.
  • As guide on the side, teachers are in the position to listen more. They ask questions and are in the best position to understand what social-emotional climate a student is experiencing while learning and be first responders in a social-emotional crisis.
  • Through leveraging the power of technology to plan many academic pathways, teachers are able to focus more time and energy on mentoring students and providing social-emotional support in learning.
  • Teachers become creators or facilitators of relevant projects that can help students bring their own curiosity to light and connect with peers within and beyond the classroom walls.
  • Through the power of technology, students can connect with even more teachers and world-class experts, something that is not possible in a traditional classroom. Classroom teachers play a pivotal role in making these connections and curating the resources.

Technology as Pathways

  • Adaptive tools provide numerous pathways to right-fit learning, making different the norm rather than the exception. When everyone’s path becomes unique, students move beyond the crippling comparing mindset embedded in competitive, achievement rooted education to a growth mindset.
  • Technology opens pathways for more student-teacher communication and peer-to-peer help. When teacher utilize tools such as surveys or chat, students have many more private channels to share what is bothering them or what they have observed in a peer that needs help.

Students as Agents

  • When coupled with purpose, technology empowers student agency through self-exploration. Students can control the pace and path of their learning and gain access to relevant resources for their passion projects.
  • In a 21st Century classroom, students have authentic audience and connectivity. They are heard and respected as co-creators of their learning paths and environments.

We are faced with two alarming trends in helping today’s students — one is a crisis of today and one is a crisis of tomorrow. We are used to defending the age-inappropriate sacrifices we demand of today’s children — exchanging play time for rigor in the early years, family time and sleep for long hours of homework as children get older — by citing tomorrow’s benefits. I have long argued that this sacrifice is an erroneous and even dangerous path. But it is now so clear that both tomorrow’s world and today’s children require a new approach that we must acknowledge the urgency of 21st-century learning and move forward in shifting mindset and building teacher capacity to enable this transformation.

 

This article first appeared on Getting Smart.

Personalized “Lesson” Planning

26 February 2018
Tiffany Wycoff
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Categories: Blended Learning, Blog

At a recent conference, Sir Ken Robinson stated, “If you design a system to do something, don’t be surprised if it does it.” Just as schools were designed as factory models to produce one-size-fits-all knowledge, lesson plans were designed to deliver the same objective to a whole group of students in the same manner. Differentiation is at best a footnote.

For teachers to truly push beyond the 1-size model of learning, they need a new way of approaching lesson planning. If we design a 21st-century planning template correctly, the concept of “lesson” planning transforms to “learning experience” planning, and personalization comes to the forefront. Here is the anatomy of a 21st-century “learning experience” planning template using a Station Rotation model.

Take the PAACC challenge! Access the full template here, and share your lesson with us #LINCpd #BLinAction!

We Must Never Go “Back” To School 23

If we fail to redesign our key tools, and simply implement new instructional models around the whole-group planning models, we run the risk of creating fluffy learning that misses both the rigor of standards alignment and the target of personalization. Try it tomorrow and join the PAACC Challenge! Access the LINC template by sharing out your redesigned lesson plan using #blinaction #lincpd.