Professional Learning Strategy
EDLD 5389
Professional Learning Strategy
Week 5 Final Assignment
by
Monika Wiggins
Introduction
Boredom. Disengagement. Impersonal content. Lack of continuing support. For
many teachers on my campus, their current professional development experiences
within my school district can be summed up in these words. As a result, the strategies
that are taught during these sessions in effort to improve teaching practices are often
not fully learned and therefore, not utilized later in the classroom. Hundreds, if not thousands, of
students are currently missing out on learning opportunities that could potentially be the spark they
need towards understanding concepts. All of this because the training of teachers on how to implement
and use various teaching strategies is ineffective. The current lecture style, one day, sit-and-
get training my district currently uses clearly must change.
Call to Action
The ineffectiveness of the current professional development model is why I propose
my campus makes a shift towards individualized professional learning. With the
individualized professional learning model I propose, boredom, disengagement,
impersonal content, and lack of continuing support will be eliminated as teachers are
actively engaged in their self-chosen professional learning experiences under the
consistent, 1-on-1 guidance of a leader. To learn more details about the individualized
professional learning model and its benefits for teachers and students,
Professional Learning Blueprint
The individualized professional learning for teachers will immerse them in the flipped
learning experience as they simultaneously learn how to implement the flipped
learning model into their classrooms. For more details of the various online and
classroom-based learning activities in which teachers will participate, please view my
full individualized professional learning outline.
Audience
The target audience for individualized professional learning is classroom teachers on
my campus. Classroom teachers are the target group for individualized professional
learning because they have the most influence over one another on my campus. If I
want blended learning to become a campus-wide implementation, I need to have at
least a few classroom teachers buy-in to its effectiveness. If enough of these teachers
are successful in using blended classroom instruction with their students, the word on
campus will spread and others who are more hesitant may become more open to
signing up for individualized professional learning to find out more about how
to implement blended and flipped learning into their own classrooms.
Each teacher, however, will choose their own major
content area of concern and the technology programs they would like to integrate into
their classrooms to address this concern using the blended classroom model.
Fostering Collaboration
Collaboration will be fostered in several ways during individualized professional
learning. The first way will be between the leader (myself) and everyone. We will collaborate after each
video viewing to determine the best activities to use for the online learning and project-based learning
components of the blended learning classroom implementation. We will also work together during
classroom modeling and observation sessions as well as the follow-up meetings for each when we
discuss strategies to improve classroom implementation in the future.
The second form of collaboration will be between all “techsperts in training” who have
chosen to sign up for individualized professional learning. I acknowledge the
importance of teachers feeling that they are a part of a community of co-learners as
they explore this new instructional format. Therefore, I will create a “Techsperts in
Training” group chat that will provide these teachers with additional support as they
learn from one another by sharing ideas, asking questions, and providing assistance
throughout the professional learning process.
Fostering Self-Directed Learning
During their individualized professional learning experiences, classroom teachers will
engage with self-directed learning in various ways. One way is through analyzing
current student performance in their classrooms. After comparing classwork grades
and test scores, teachers will choose a specific content area topic that needs
improvement and research the technology programs they would like to use to help
students improve in this area. This will be the basis of their individualized professional
learning experience.
Self-directed learning will also be fostered during the various planning stages of the
individualized professional learning experience. As they actively engage in learning
how to implement the flipped learning model with their students, teachers will apply
what they learned during training videos and leader guidance sessions to research
and assess online and project-based learning content for quality and effectiveness in
helping students learn their target concept and choose those that will be most
beneficial.
Another way self-directed learning will be fostered is during the collaborative meetings
teachers have with the leader. During these weekly and bi-weekly 1-on-1 sessions,
teachers will engage in self-reflection of their planning and classroom implementation
performance. They will then use this information to determine how to continue the
effectiveness of areas that performed well and how to improve on areas that did not
perform well.
Finally, the weekly group chats will provide another form of self-directed learning.
Although the “lead techspert of the week” poses a focus question for group members
to discuss, any member of the group can post questions or concerns in the chat in
order to gain more information from other members who may be more well-versed in
their particular area(s) of need.
Professional Learning Instructors
Throughout the professional learning process, most of the sections will be led by me
because I have the most knowledge of the flipped learning practice on my campus.
However, the “techsperts in training” will also have opportunities to lead in the weekly
group chats and discussions. Starting in October, a group leader will either volunteer
or be chosen to lead the group discussion the following week. Based on the topic of
learning for that week, they will pose a question to the group that gets all the
members thinking, reflecting, and sharing their experiences implementing the blended learning and
flipped classroom model with the assistance of individualized professional learning. By
sharing their experiences with each other, all members of the group are made aware
of areas in which others may need more support or assistance and can, therefore,
become an additional leader for group members if they have more knowledge or
experience in their area of need.
Also, once participants have mastered using the blended learning model effectively
with their students, they will lead others on campus as they are promoted from
“techsperts in training” to “campus techsperts”. In this position, they will refer fellow
teachers to sign up for individualized professional learning and provide additional
support to those teachers as they go through their individualized professional learning
programs with the leader and begin implementing the flipped classroom model with
their own students. Allowing the campus techsperts to serve in this role will increase
their leadership skills and experience and their knowledge of how to effectively utilize
different resources for flipped classrooms.
5 Key Principles of Effective Professional Learning
Duration: The duration of professional learning must be significant and ongoing to
allow time for teachers to learn a new strategy and grapple with the implementation
problem.
The individualized professional learning for teachers will be ongoing until teachers
demonstrate mastery and comfort in implementing all areas of the blended learning
model independently.
Support: There must be ongoing support for a teacher during the implementation
stage that addresses the specific challenges of changing classroom practice.
Throughout the individualized professional learning experiences, teachers will be
supported through a regular cycle of video follow up meetings with leader, planning
guidance meetings with leader, classroom modeling, modeling follow-up meetings with
leader, classroom observations, observation follow-up meetings with leader, and
group chat with other “techsperts in training” as they implement the blended learning and the flipped
classroom model into their classroom environments.
Engage: Teachers’ initial exposure to a concept should not be passive, but rather
should engage teachers through varied approaches so they can participate actively in
making sense of a new practice.
With the individualized professional learning model, teachers will be actively engaged
in their own learning process. They will choose their own content learning needs and
the technology tools they would like to implement to improve those learning needs.
Teachers will also decide which activities to implement into their flipped learning
classrooms and practice using them with their students throughout the professional
learning process. Finally, during their collaborative meetings with the leader, they will
assess their own learning and performance and decide how to improve their
implementation of flipped learning in the future.
Model: Modelling has been found to be highly effective in helping teachers
understand a new practice.
The current standard schedule for classroom modeling is bi-weekly. However,
because this is individualized professional learning, the leader will come into the
teacher’s classroom to show effective implementation of a flipped learning concept
with the teacher’s students as often as needed until the teacher is able to demonstrate
successful implementation of that blended learning component.
Specific: The content presented to teachers shouldn’t be generic, but instead specific
to the discipline (for middle school and high school teachers) or grade-level (for
elementary school teachers).
Prior to beginning their individualized professional learning experience, teachers will
choose a content area topic in need of improvement. The state standards for that
topic and grade level will then be used to assist in planning online and
project-based activities for the teacher’s flipped learning implementation.
Timeline
The timeline of my individualized professional learning implementation is as follows:
January 2022
● Individualized professional learning “Call to Action” video & meeting with
administrators
FEBUARY 2022
● Individualized professional learning teaser commercial & sign up
● Create "Techsperts in Training" group chat or Google group
September 2021
● Teachers view flipped learning video #1: Introduction to Flipped Learning
● Video #1 follow-up meeting
● Leader posts group expectations and introductory question into "Techsperts"
group
MARCH 2022
● Teachers view flipped learning video #2: Finding Quality Content for Online
Learning
● Video #2 follow-up meeting
● 1 on 1 planning guidance for teachers: Leader will show teachers how to find
quality online content for their particular classes
● Teachers research and collect resources for online learning and plan for
implementation with their respective classes
● Leader models implementation of each teacher’s online learning follow-up
activities with their respective classes.
● Lesson modeling #1 follow-up meeting
● Leader observation of teachers
● Observation #1 follow-up meeting
● “Techspert Leader of the Week” post questions into "Techsperts" group chat
(Weekly)
APRIL 2022
● Teachers view flipped learning video #3: Finding Quality Project-Based
Learning Activities
● Video #3 follow-up meeting
● 1 on 1 planning guidance for teachers: Leader will show teachers how to find
quality project-based learning activities for their particular classes
● Teachers research and collect project-based learning activities and plan for
implementation with their respective classes
● Leader models implementation of each teacher’s project-based learning
activities with their respective classes
● Lesson modeling #2 follow-up meeting
● Leader observation of teachers
● Observation #2 follow-up meeting
● “Techspert Leader of the Week” post questions into "Techsperts" group chat
(Weekly)
Ongoing after MAY 2022
● Continue cycle of modeling, observation, follow up meetings, and group chats
until the "Techspert in Training" masters implementing the flipped learning
model with their class
● New campus "Techsperts" celebration and addition to campus list as they show
mastery of implementing flipped learning
● Campus “Techsperts” share knowledge, assist other teachers, and refer
teachers to leader for individualized professional learning
Resources and Media
1. Blended Learning Introduction Video:
-This video provides viewers with a stronghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bwhR1ZKGRE
2. Introduction to Project Based Learning (PBL) Process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08D0dBGIzYQt
-This video provides a good introduction to the project-based learning
process and provides examples of how to plan for various stages. This
will help teachers as they start developing content for the project-based
classroom component of the flipped learning model.
3. PBL Works: https://www.pblworks.org/
-This website provides a wealth of information on project-based learning
including example projects, planning resources, and informational blogs
and content. This will be an extremely valuable resource for teachers to
refer to throughout the project-based learning implementation to get
ideas.
*Due to the individualized, action-based nature of my professional learning sessions, I
will not be using any PowerPoint presentations or slide decks. *
Summary
My overall goal (or BHAG) for the individualized professional learning experience is
very simple: I want teachers to implement the flipped learning model into their daily
classroom environments to help improve student learning. For
teachers to implement this new classroom model consistently, they must feel both a
desire to use it and confidence in using it. Desire to use the model is built through
recognizing how using the blended learning classroom can benefit their specific content areas
needs. Confidence in using the model is built through continuous opportunities to
actively practice using flipped learning in their classrooms with support and guidance
from a mentor or coach. Individualized professional learning helps achieve both of
these goals and, thus, gives our teachers the best opportunity to learn effective
teaching strategies that will provide students with the best learning opportunities.
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