The PD process using knowledge building approach was really important.
So we used that idea by having and authentic question that we were all rallying around.
How do we do this differently?
To drive what we were doing we had digital connections,
we had face to face connections, we asked people to research
and there was a community accountability created within our model
to make sure that everybody was coming back to the table to share
what they learned in their classroom after talking about knowledge building.
Karen already alluded to this but participation of administrators and you know,
I did my OPC courses, I heard our superintendents talk about being at the table, being at the table.
And the penny didn't really drop for me as an administrator until I did this.
And I really had to be at the table because I knew so little
about what was going on and I was a learner with the teachers.
I think that changed the outlook on how teachers and administrators work
and we were all learning this together, we were all getting dirty together,
we were all going to be successful or failing together.
I think that attach to the success, the culture of trust
and it links to that overcoming obstacle together.
They knew from the students, teachers and us that we all had each other's backs through the process.
So that was really important from a cultural piece.
Looking at the PD and teacher support model.
Again, Karen talked about permission. These are the permissions that people were looking for.
Permission to play, permission to make mistakes, exploring ideas,...
We gave them lots of time to share.
We brought our team of 20 teachers I think seven times
in the first year for half days to share what they've learned, to share the scrubs (?),
to share the successes. They developed strategies together
and there was a new culture developed in that group of teachers.
It was probably the most authentic and real PLC that I've ever seen.
Our last session together one of the teacher said,
got up in front of everybody and said: "You know guys I don't have anything to share because I'm stuck.
This is the way I've done things, these are the two ways I'm debating to do things
but I really.. I don't know how to connect with my students
and these are the challenges I'm facing."
And then together as a group, they helped create a unit,
delivered it and then she brought it back and said
that it was amazing, you know the learning...
And then it transformed a whole bunch of her practices at school so
it was just seeing that cycle complete was quite exciting for us.
Again, just looking at the teacher and PD support model,
when we talk about knowledge building, one of the key pieces in you engaging the students
we have to engage the teachers.
So how to we do that? And again we're fortunate
we had Glenn Wagner at our fingertips.
He's a captivating speaker. He's an exciting guy to watch.
So we had that engagement so I would encourage you
to reach out and look at some of the resources,
some of the videos that are out there to get people
thinking there are the keys that captivate.
I'll do a little a little plug for Glenn. He's at the
Perimiter Institute for a couple of years
and he does have the license to help support knowledge building
and expand that in the province.
Get in touch with me and I'll and I'll get you in touch with him once he gets his emails.
We've got a community of learners right? So that regular
face to face time is important.
Simon talked about it yesterday. Alec talked about it today.
The importance of human connections
can't be lost in this whole process for your teachers and your students.
And then again the presence and participation of administrators.
This slide, again, it's just going a little bit more
into the whole developing culture of learning.
You know, going away from the sage on the stage
to "we're working together trying to figure this out".
It's the cold learning throughout the process.
Learning about the process, learning about the topics
learning about student understanding of how they learn.
And then re-enforcing the idea that there's lots of ways to complete the process.
It's about togetherness and variety.