1. Gifted Academy 5: Professional Learning in Gifted Programs
2014
Mary Schmidt
Gifted Education Consultant
Heartland AEA
ext
Sheet of paper
May fold, cut, tear, or tape (no writing, no scissors)
Represents something important about you – personal or professional
Group tries to guess

2. Essential Questions What is Professional Learning?
What Professional Learning do we need?
How do I develop/deliver Professional Learning?
How do I know Professional Learning is making a difference?
The first question lays the foundation for the others and helps us build common understanding and vocabulary. The second question ask you to look at your own setting and consider some of the program evaluation questions that arise. Question three is about the practical aspects of understanding the needs of adult learners and providing them with meaningful, engaging professional learning experiences. Question four is critical in uncovering how well our efforts are working and is a component of program evaluation.

3. Learning Targets I can…
Assess staff needs for professional learning that will enhance comprehensive gifted programming
Identify and choose models and types of professional learning most appropriate in a given situation
Identify effective professional learning practices for adult learners
Align professional learning with other components required by Iowa Code (Ch. 12, IAC) and national standards
Evaluate g/t staff development

4. AGENDA Introductions, review Teacher attitudes and mindset
Characteristics of adult learners
Professional learning standards
Planning for professional learning
Professional learning as complex change
Evaluating staff development

5. COURSE REQUIREMENTS 100 % attendance Active participation in learning
Completion of in-class activities
Completion of self-assessment and action plan
Set a date for on-site instructor visit and goals for that visit
Completion of final project/presentation to be submitted by May 16.

6. NORMS
Support each other in the learning process Monitor progress (individual/group) Ask questions Respect others’ viewpoints Take time to reflect

7. Recall and Review

8. TEACHER ATTITUDES
Guy dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter takes him on a tour. Points to area with nicely manicured lawns, Cadillacs in the driveways, and in-ground pools in the back yards--this is where the doctors live. Points to another area--gated golf course community, hot tubs to go with the pools, cabana boys, BMWs and Mercedes in the driveways--this is where the lawyers live. Another area has modest ranch homes, toys in the front yards, mini-vans in the driveways, blow-up wading pools in the back yards. Nobody is around. Guy asks St. Peter who lives here and where are they. St. Pete responds, “This is where the teachers live. They’re in Hell for an inservice.”
Why do so many teachers resist professional development?

9. What’s Your Mindset?

10. Teacher Growth States Gourmet Omnivore Active Consumer
Passive Consumer
Reticent
Joyce & Showers
Refer to the handout from the Wiki for an explanation of each state. Where are you? What about your staff?

11. JIGSAW
Form three groups Group 1: research characteristics of adult learners Group 2: research what motivates adult learners Group 3: research teaching and learning strategies appropriate for adult learners
Each group member take notes as you discuss the key findings for your focus topic. (20 min.)
Form groups of three and jigsaw the information. (15 mins.)
Look for connections. Develop a visual representation that brings the three areas together to ensure a successful experience for adult learners. Take into account the four growth states. (15 min.)
Present to the whole group. (10 min.)

12. Connections Debrief your own PD efforts What worked and what didn’t?
How well did you address issues pertinent to adult learners?
To what extent do you feel this made a difference?
What improvements might you make?

13. How do I know Professional Learning is effective?
Consider the professional learning need you identified. What is the goal? What result do you desire? How would you know whether you achieved that result? What indicators would you look for? What data might you collect?

14. Link to Program Evaluation
Discuss with a partner how GT program evaluation and professional learning are connected.

15. Talk at your table With regard to GT professional learning…
Who wants/needs to know about the work?
What do they want to know?
Why?
Who are the stakeholders in comprehensive gifted programming?

16. Change in student learning
Professional development core features:
Content focus
Active learning
Coherence
Duration
Collective participation
Increased teacher knowledge and skills; changes in attitude and beliefs
Change in instruction
Change in student learning
Box 1: the outcomes need to be crystal clear. In what ways does your GT PL match the core features?
Box 2: changes in the level of knowledge and skills and in the attitudes and beliefs of teachers is what we’re after. What have you observed in these areas with regard to PL participants?
Box 3: when we change the four areas in box 2, we’ll see different behaviors manifested as a change in instruction. The key question here is what are we doing to ensure implementation. We can have the best PL in the world, but if teachers aren’t implementing, it won’t matter.
Box 4: there should be absolute clarity here about the expectation. Learning must occur at multiple levels and at different levels of formality. This is the ultimate goal.
This slide shows the relationship between teacher professional learning and student achievement/learning. PD will improve student learning IF we have evidence of changes that occur along this path. The KASAB helps us gather that evidence.
We need evidence in all four areas.
A change in teacher behavior leads to changes in student learning
If we don’t see a change in student learning w/in three weeks of PD, we’re doing something wrong.
Desimone, L. (2009). Core Conceptual Framework for Studying the Effects of Professional Development on Teachers and Students
From Assessing Impact webinar.

18. Sample KASAB Sample KASAB Work in small groups.
Review your team’s KASAB or identify changes you want to see as a result of a professional learning experience.
Add ideas.

19. Constructing the Evaluation Framework
Internal or External Evaluator
Decisions about the evaluation
What types of changes do we expect to see? (KASAB)
What do I want to know? (evaluation questions)
Who or what will tell me (data sources)?
How will we collect evidence (data collection methods)?

20. Data Collection Methods
Evaluation Framework
Types of Changes
(KASAB)
Evaluation Questions
Data Sources
Data Collection Methods

21. Your Ideas
Discuss ways you could evaluate your PL implementation and outcomes.
How does this information change or guide your thinking about professional learning?
Go back to your debrief of your PL and make application.

22. How do I develop/deliver Professional Learning?

23. Steps to include Evidence of need Audience Learning targets/Outcomes
Format
Presenter/Facilitator
Content
Activities
Materials
Resources
Expectations
Assessment/Evaluation

24. Components of a Professional
Learning Plan
Needs assessment
Identify target audience
Knowledge of identification procedures
Understanding of program goals & options
Staff selection
Budgetary concerns
Curriculum development
Accountability and evaluation
Dettmer &Landrum, 1998

25. Inservice Design
Make list on handout of activities you might use in each area as part of your district’s inservice design.
Consider connections to standards: g/t teacher to NAGC-CEC stds; gen. ed. tchr to IA Tchg Stds; admin. to Stds for Sch Ldrs

26. A Creative Process

27. This is found on the Wiki. Download and work on the Word document.

28. What’s the Format?
Go to the Wiki and click on PL formats. Complete the chart.

29. Starting Your Plan Choose your PL focus Who’s the audience? Why them?
What’s the rationale for this choice (need)?
Who’s the audience? Why them?
What are the goals?
What assumptions guide you?
What results do you want?
What are your action steps?

30. May you live in a time of change. --ancient Chinese curse

31. Managing Complex Change+
Vision
Skills
Incentives
Resources
Action
Plan =
Change
Confusion = +
Skills
Incentives
Resources
Action
Plan +
Vision
Incentives
Resources
Action
Plan =
Anxiety = +
Vision
Skills
Resources
Action
Plan
Resistance
If you want the professional learning to result in the desired change and to meet the established goals, consider how it will address each of the five areas included in this diagram. = +
Vision
Skills
Incentives
Action
Plan
Frustration = +
Vision
Skills
Incentives
Resources
False Starts
Adapted from Knoster, T., Villa R., & Thousand, J. (2000). A framework for thinking about systems change. In R. villa & J. Thousand (Eds.), Restructuring for caring and effective education: Piecing the puzzle together (pp ). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

32. Comfort Zone: Status Quo
Growth Zone: Slightly Uncomfortable
Crash Zone: Very Uncomfortable
Facil 1
--A metaphor used at ropes courses to help people develop and pursue their goals is that of comfort zones, as illustrated in this slide.
*Comfort Zone: The small middle circle; this is what we all typically pursue in our life; it does not typically require any change to be made; those with small comfort zones typically view any change is significant and uncomfortable, while those with larger comfort zones may have a wider range of things they are comfortable with. The picture of the man taking a nap in a lawn chair represents this mindset. For example, using the same lesson plans year after year without updating them, or re-labeling old practices with new terms.
*Growth Zone: This is the medium-sized circle in the diagram above; as we step outside of our comfort zone, we begin to feel slightly uncomfortable as we try new things. In the picture, you see two men on an element called the wild woozy. It is two steel cables joined together on one tree, that spread out in a “V” shape to connect to two different trees. The goal is for the two men to get as close to the other end as possible before falling. It can be a little scary to know that you are likely going to fall a few times before you reach your goal. That is why the two men must lean on each other to reach their goal, and they have teammates there to spot them to make sure they don’t hit the ground and hurt themselves. Applied to education, when you start learning more about the CEI of the IC, it will likely feel a bit uncomfortable trying to implement them. That is why you need a team to support your learning and to help you if you fall short of your goal. But eventually, you will reach your goal, growth will continue to occur, and then you can set new goals to achieve.
*Crash Zone: This is represented by the outer, larger circle in the diagram. This is when we overextend ourselves in setting and pursuing goals, and do so without the proper support. This is represented in the picture of the BASE jumper. BASE jumping is when someone jumps off a building, antenna, structure, or the earth, typically with only a parachute which is pulled at the very last moment before striking the earth. Starting in 1981 and as of December 22nd, 2009 there have been at least 140 fatalities related to the sport.[13] BASE jumping is one of the world's more dangerous recreational activities, with overall fatalities in 2002 estimated at about one fatality per sixty participants ( Although not technically illegal in the United States, it is often done in secrecy and if caught, can result in charges of trespassing, reckless endangerment, and other related charges. Sometimes folks engage in activities like BASE jumping are called “adrenaline junkies,” never satisfied and always seeking out the next rush. An education example is when an educator learns something new, goes back to his/her classroom, closes the door, and tries out the new learning without any support or feedback. This pattern is repeated over and over again, ultimately to the detriment of the teacher and more importantly the students.
--Some other points to stress after explaining the zones
*Education and educators spend a lot of time in the comfort zone. It is our nature. But if that is were we stay, we won’t improve our practice. Our students are changing; the status quo isn’t going to reach our students the way they need to be reached.
*If we push too far too fast, or pursue growth without the support of teammates, we can find ourselves in the Crash Zone. This is where the Adrenaline Junkies live.
*To improve our practice, we need to pursue goals in the growth zone. Since it can be slightly uncomfortable, this requires the support of teammates. That is why we need collaborative teams.
*One of the cool things about the growth zone is that practices that would have once been in our crash zone can fall into our growth zone with proper persistence and support.
Collaborative Teams Promote Individual and Team Growth

33. Ken Blanchard on Change

34. See p. 45 in Dettmer and Landrum
CBAM

35. Do stakeholders perceive the change as. . . Second-Order Implications
First or second order?
Do stakeholders perceive the change as. . .
an extension of the past?
a break with the past?
consistent with prevailing organizational norms?
inconsistent with prevailing organizational norms?
congruent with personal values?
incongruent with personal values?
Compare this to p. 45 “Stages of Concern” and to the notion of comfort, growth and crash zones. What are the implications for your work in leading professional learning in gifted education? What ideas about or models of managing change do you need to explore further?
easily learned using existing knowledge and skills?
requiring new knowledge and skills?
First-Order Implications
Second-Order Implications
McREL

36. Reflect upon effective professional development:
How might you differentiate a staff development session on the nature and needs of giftedness?
What type of learning experiences might benefit you most professionally?
What professional learning for teachers or administrators would most benefit gifted students in your school or district? Why?
Establish a system for documenting and reflecting upon your continuing education experiences (e.g., conventions, seminars, courses, staff developments, etc.).

37. Presentation Tips & Tools
Heartland AEA Web tools searchable data base
For an alternative to PowerPoint check out
Presentation Zen
Web site
Prezi overview
Video overview
Facilitation strategies
Facilitation Strategies

38. Presentation or Facilitation?
AS you think about these terms, consider the differences.

39. PRESENTATION
What is it?
What does it involve?

40. PRESENTATION What are you comfortable with? What concerns you?
Is presentation alone enough?
Would you be comfortable standing in front of your peers to present information? Is learning from one another embedded in the culture of your district?

41. Conclusion Any professional can become an effective presenter.
Knowledge is not enough.
Being able to communicate is equally important.
Investing time and effort in improving presentation and facilitation skills is always rewarded.
Any professional can become an effective presenter if they follow the approach described above. Having knowledge is not enough, being able to communicate useful information is equally important. Investing time and effort in improving presentation skills is always rewarded.

42. FACILITATION What is it? What does it involve?
In this context, facilitation is the process of giving participants the opportunity to interact with the material and with each other to make sense of new learning.
Some examples of facilitation from our time together so far include TTYN,

43. FACILITATION What are you comfortable with? What concerns you?
In this context, facilitation is the process of giving participants the opportunity to interact with the material and with each other to make sense of new learning.

44. CORE PRACTICES AS A FACILITATOR
Listen actively
Ask questions
Paraphrase to clarify
Synthesize ideas
Stay on track
Label sidetracks
Embed strategies
Test assumptions
Collect ideas
Summarize clearly
Use park it
Give and receive feedback

45. When do I present?
When do I facilitate?

46. Staff Development Outcomes
Greater teacher awareness
Better job of identification
More creative differentiation
Teachers feel trusted
Tighter alignment between gifted & regular education
Increased collegiality
Permission to innovate
Validation

47. MAGNET SUMMARY Fold a piece of paper into four sections.
Write the words professional learning in the center and add four key words or phrases.
Compose a summary statement.

48. MEMORY MINGLE How will you engage in the process following this event?
Share in triads
Identify connections and/or conclusions
Share with large group