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Learning for Rejuvenation
by Elizabeth Helfant

Spring break brings a much needed “break” in the regular routine of school but it really isn’t a break from work for me since I’m a 12 month employee and choose not to take vacation time during this period. This spring break provided a shift in schedule that gave me sustained blocks of time to read, to design or revise curriculum units with those teachers who use part of break to prepare for the final stretch, to work on articulating ways in which technology can support differentiation and to begin the final process of goal setting for ongoing learning. The last task has become increasingly important as our 1-to-1 program has demanded that we change the way we do things and provided us with a tool kit that generated opportunities for teaching and learning that were previously unavailable.

The ubiquity of technology in our environment has resulted in a complete overhaul of curriculum, schedule, assessment strategies, and pedagogical application. Technology has given us a tool to make the learning process transparent and more assessable. It has allowed us to increase the amount of feedback and to move into the use of portfolio assessment and student reflection of learning. The tool kit that each student has in his or her tablet has moved us to more student centric teaching. While we have always talked about UbD and Differentiation, we are now examining those processes against what we know about Mind, Brain, and Education research and through an understanding of the opportunities that technology can provide. It’s a time of great learning for faculty and they need opportunities to move forward individually and collectively. My job has shifted from helping faculty integrate technology to helping faculty design curriculum and to promoting faculty growth. The beauty in this shift is that technology is still very much my job but it goes without saying- it is becoming just part of the equation, an essential ingredient and not an add-on. Obviously faculty still run the gamut with how well they navigate this new ubiquitous terrain so it is important to for them to set learning goals and for me to provide significant opportunities for them to continue to learn and grow as teachers in a 1-to-1 environment. Much like we differentiate learning for students, we have to differentiate learning for ourselves with respect to interest, ability, and learning profile. Professional development isn’t and shouldn’t be a one size fits all solution. To that end, we offer faculty a variety of learning opportunities and many are open to the external community as well. After all, it seems we should practice what we preach and networking virtually and face to face is a key ingredient of contemporary learning.

When we return from spring break, teachers will be asked to set some personal learning goals and to reflect on the progress they are making towards those goals. We’ll naturally employ some of the technology tools that we ask students to use.

I’ve selected several electronic articles for teachers to read. I’ve created a PD group in Diigo and put in some thought questions to start some discussion. Each week we will look at a different article and try to have a virtual discussion.

Three ning book clubs will be started. The English department is going to read some material that their representative to the ASCD conference brought back and will discuss and share within a ning space as well as in their department meetings. The goal here is two-fold, experience with Ning and blogging and exposure to emerging educational theory/application. The second ning book club will involve readings from Washburn’s The Architecture of Learning and Tokuhama-Espinosa’s Art and Science of Teaching:Mind, Brain and Education Research. The focus of that group will be to examine how well our teaching practice aligns with what we know about how the brain works and how learning occurs. The third group will be centered around understanding inquiry and project based learning. This book club will offer some readings as well as a virtual class on inquiry learning using a Wimba classroom.

We have three topics for which we are trying to develop greater understanding- assessment strategies, differentiation, and curriculum design. There is certainly overlap in each of the topics. For April and May, faculty groups will explore those topics in small groups in greater depth. Time will be allocated in department meetings for participants in each focus group to share the content with their colleagues. Each topic group will look at the most current work on each area and will explore how to implement what we learn in the 1-to-1 classrooms. That is a shift, we are designing curriculum, differentiation, and assessing students in a 1-to-1 environment. The way we do things has to change to reflect that fundamental truth.

Once again we will offer a robust summer learning program. It’s open to the public so please explore the options and join us if you can. The summer program offers discipline specific opportunities as well as topics that support our institutional priorities. I’m especially looking forward to our assessment week offering the week of Jun21 and the English offerings the week of June 8^th. Some really talented folks are preparing some excellent opportunities to challenge faculty and to help them move forward in their teaching practice.

Professional growth is an increasingly important component of a quality faculty. The way we’ve always done things isn’t good enough and that necessitates faculty professional development. Faculty also need to practice what they preach and that means continuing to model learning and to use the most contemporary tools available. While our approach is far from perfect, it is aggressive and differentiated and should promote growth and strengthen us as a community of learners. Spring break (and summer break) is a time for getting away and for rejuvenation. For me nothing is as rejuvenating as learning, and even if I didn’t feel that way, I think I’d have to at least acknowledge that in today’s world, ongoing learning is a professional obligation if one intends to remain proficient in any profession. Ours is a profession that should celebrate and engage in learning above all others- so join me for some break time this summer. I promise it will be rejuvenating!

About Elizabeth

Elizabeth Helfant is the Upper School Coordinator of Instructional Technology at Mary Institute Country Day School, a JK-12 institution embarking on a 1:1 adventure. using Tablet PCs and DyKnow.