Planning the alternative PL

As educators, we must be dedicated to delivering the highest quality education. It's often assumed that such statements refer to our students, but to provide top-tier education, educators themselves must receive equally high-quality professional learning. This involves keeping abreast of the latest technologies and pedagogical strategies.

My blended learning approach is student-focused, engaging, and adaptable, providing numerous paths for students to achieve their utmost potential. I intend to apply these strategies to faculty and staff during professional learning sessions. The aim is to foster continuous professional growth, supported by pertinent resources and technology, to cultivate significant learning environments that enhance our colleagues' education.

I will employ backward design to focus on the end goals, as outlined by Wiggins and McTighe (2005). It's crucial that our professional learning sessions cover specific content and engage participants actively, ensuring the greatest chance of success. To shift the traditional 'sit-and-get' professional development meetings to a dynamic learning environment, careful planning is essential. My innovation plan's objective is to integrate blended learning into mainstream classrooms, and the same should apply to our professional learning sessions. For the plan to succeed, it's imperative to instruct teachers on how to meaningfully and effectively implement this curriculum in their classrooms. Continuing with a passive model of professional development will prevent teachers from engaging with and embracing this new teaching approach. 

Creating a professional development program that exemplifies the teaching methods for the classroom can demonstrate the excitement and engagement of being a student in a blended learning environment. I will incorporate the five key principles outlined by Gulamhussein (2013) to ensure this. An outline follows, which will steer my district toward a new professional learning curriculum that is in harmony with the blended learning curriculum I aim to establish in the mainstream classroom, transforming us into genuine catalysts for change in the way teachers participate in professional development, or rather, professional learning.

 

Alternative PL outline with the 5 key principles:

Audience & Their Needs:

The entire fourth grade team of teachers. Learning and implementing a blended rotation style environment in their classrooms.

Duration: Professional learning should be ongoing & significant:

The implementation will be carried out over a year with the entire fourth-grade team, comprising five pairs of teachers, making a total of ten educators.

Ongoing Support & modeling during the implementation phase: 

We are integrating blended learning and technology into the fourth-grade curriculum, complemented by professional development meetings to familiarize teachers with new methods and routines. In the initial meeting, we will explore the concept of blended learning and assess the teachers' prior knowledge on the subject. The room will be arranged to reflect a blended learning rotation model, and I will demonstrate how the class should operate, treating the teachers as students. By the conclusion of our first meeting, we will collaborate to create a schedule for the entire school year. I will ensure that each teacher receives in-class support to facilitate their first lesson with the students, and I will observe the teachers conducting a lesson independently the next day. Additionally, there will be virtual biweekly Q&A sessions for ongoing support, as well as monthly face-to-face meetings featuring further demonstrations and discussions on blended learning strategies tailored to the specific content being taught.

Active Participation/Engagement:

Training teachers to use technology is crucial. Without proper training, we risk the success of both teachers and students. This training will be tailored for 4th grade teachers, organized by subject matter with assigned topics. They will experience teaching in a controlled setting, with me providing feedback and answering questions. This approach guarantees active participation and comprehension of new practices. Moreover, it offers the authentic, hands-on learning necessary to understand a blended learning environment fully.

A designated technology liaison will be assigned for the entire implementation to ensure that teachers are adequately trained and experienced with the technology. Without proper introduction and training in this area, they are being set up for failure.

Fostering Collaboration: 

Feedback and feedforward will be provided for all activities during professional learning sessions, as well as in-class modeling and observations. Group modeling exercises will be a feature of these professional learning sessions. A Google Drive folder will be established for blended learning resources, organized by subject. Teachers will have the opportunity to share videos of their lessons, lesson plans, ideas, and experiences of what was successful and what was not. This will facilitate additional collaboration time and provide a platform for teachers to support each other with ideas and suggestions.

Who will lead:  

In the initial phases and the first professional learning meeting, I will lead the integration of blended learning curriculums in the classroom. I will be the primary contact for professional learning meetings throughout the program's future (one year). Once the new professional learning plan is in place, our team members—teachers from the fourth grade—will form the leadership team. My goal is to expand this initiative to other grade levels at my school with the new leadership team taking charge.

Types of Resources Needed: 

• Smartboards

• Laptops

• Tablets

•  WIFI

• Innovation Plan

• Google Classroom

• Influencer Strategy

• Google Drive 

• Outline

• 3 column chart

Instructional Design of your PL: 

In the initial design of my professional learning course, I will employ a 3-column table in conjunction with my Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). My BHAG is: by the end of a year's worth of professional learning sessions grounded in the Five Principles of Effective Professional Development, teachers will have the capability to organize and conduct their own professional learning sessions, which will model blended learning environments for various grade levels. The 3-column chart will be beneficial as it allows me to conceptualize the overarching vision of professional learning within my blended learning innovation plan, and it will be instrumental as we advance our professional learning to encompass additional grade levels.

Schedule/timeline:

This timeline is provisional and will require adjustments depending on the completion of my 4th grade blended learning curriculum and the comfort level with its implementation. My goal is to dedicate a full school year to professional learning and classroom implementation before expanding professional learning to other grade levels at my school.

• December 2024–4th grade blended learning curriculum development completed.

• January 2025–Professional Learning curriculum for piloting and implementation of blended learning program completed.

• July 2025–Begin in-person initial training sessions during summer PD with my districts 4th grade teachers. 

• August 2025-– Start Bi-weekly meetings for question-and-answer sessions, discussing ideas and just to check in to see how it’s going and to show support. Monthly meetings with additional modeling of blended learning classrooms with TEKS that teachers will be expected to cover in upcoming lessons for ideas.

• September 2025- December 2026– Continue biweekly and monthly meetings between team members and other teachers to provide support throughout the year. Review Google Drive folder of videos and ideas from other teachers, and more collaboration and modeling. 

• January 2027– Continue biweekly and monthly meetings between team members and other teachers to provide support for the upcoming year since they will be the new PL members for other grade levels. Monthly touch-base sessions between professional learning team members.