March 13, 2017
By Vicki Bechard, Secretary
LFKS
A year and a half ago, as we began the grant process, we
were wondering how (maybe even IF) the dream of creating videos using Kansas
examples to illustrate effective and meaningful professional learning would
come together. Everything was in future
tense… Hopes, dreams, predictions, possibilities… And now we are Living the Dream and have two videos completed and ready for
use.
The second and most recent video, What is Professional Learning,
digs into the components, beliefs, and actions that comprise effective
professional learning. Kansas educators
share their stories to underscore and illustrate the actions that lead to a
quality professional learning experience rich with engagement and meaning. I was inspired by the many educators we
interviewed or observed. I could feel their
passion and commitment to this effort.
They truly believe in quality professional learning, and most
importantly, they are walking their talk, putting those beliefs into
actions. I can’t wait for others to see
it, use it, and transform professional learning for themselves and in their
buildings! You can view both videos and accompanying resources on our website at this link.
So for a few
moments, celebrate with us the progress of our work… and then know that we
will quickly get back to work to make the next part of our dream happen.
Back in November, as we completed the first video on Why
Professional Learning Matters,
I wrote about the process of taking the skills and abilities we had, or of
people we knew, and combining them, along with the many new things we had to
learn, into a team effort to produce the first video. Dream Big…and find a way to
make it happen seemed to become our mantra.
Now as the second video is a wrap, I think about how much we have learned,
and how many educators have become integral parts of our collaborative effort. I can’t say enough about the work of our team
to make this dream a reality and I marvel at how much we have accomplished. Creating these videos has truly been effective professional learning in
action.
In reality, this was a prime example of the ups and downs
of a project based learning experience. It
may parallel some professional learning experiences too. Often we think too much about what we don’t
know or don’t have instead of looking first for what we can do. At no time did we
sit in a workshop or classroom and sit through a power point presentation on
how to do the videos. We did spend lots
of time collaborating, researching, asking questions, brainstorming, clarifying
our vision, collecting data, refocusing, editing, and seeking feedback. We went
back to the drawing board quite often. We did very little of our work in a face
to face setting. We used an online
platform for sharing information, working collaboratively, editing, and storing
our work. Very long phone calls played a
large role in our planning too. The point is, if we would have focused on what
we didn’t know or didn’t have, we wouldn’t have accomplished this much. If we would
have only worked on the days we were able to meet face to face, we wouldn’t
have one video completed at this time, much less two. Dream
Big…and find a way to make it happen.
As I continue to reflect on the last year or so, I also
realize that the dream has become even bigger, which means we have much more we
want to accomplish as we seek to create quality professional learning experiences
that lead to action and transform practices for every educator. The next videos will focus on the “How” of effective professional learning, highlighting different ways to
affect our practice and ultimately student success. One size doesn’t fit all in the classroom or
professional learning, so the “how”
may change but the goals still remain the same. This happened throughout our experience. A single thought seemed to spark other new ideas, and we revised
our plan accordingly with new "hows" that still achieved our goals. New questions also
arose like, “How might we continue this
work after the grant runs out?” Dream Big… and find a way to make it happen.
The challenge for us now is to identify more Kansas exemplars
that we can feature in future videos. To make that happen, we want your help. We are looking for educators or school
leaders who can share their expertise and show that it can be done here – in Kansas
– in tough economic times - in big schools or small.
