It is high time I get back to my blog . . . so much has been happening that I just haven't taken the time to get back to this. Now I will pick up where I left off last~the interview process.

We were able to interview five quality candidates for the position of Field Placement Coordinator. Each person could easily have filled the position with their varied strengths. Three rose to the top and then began the process of calling references. Here is where the difference was made. One person overwhelmingly surfaced to the top. We were able to hire this person and she began August 15. The characteristics that I sought in this new employee:

• comfort with ambiguity
• ability to be flexible
• demonstrated skills with working with a variety of people and infrastructures
• collaborative demeanor
• experience with supervising, mentoring, or coaching

have all been displayed in her first few weeks. Welcome Leasha Henriksen to the UNI TQP Team!

Applicant Pool

The Teacher Quality Partnership Team is seeking to hire a Field Placement Coordinator. I have often wondered what it would be like to have the opportunity to screen, interview and hire someone . . . and now I am living that moment.

For the past two days I have been reviewing materials from twenty-seven applicants. Reading letters and resumes has given me a new perspective on communicating and promoting one's self. When you rely only on the written word to allow others to get to know you, every word counts. Each word and how it connects to others is critical. Whether the word is spelled accurately or used in the proper context also leaves an impression. This reinforces the value and importance of proof reading your materials before submission.

Today I was able to make some phone calls to check some details for clarification. This made the people almost materialize off the paper. It made me excited to be able to make decisions about which ones to interview and be able to meet in person.

This is an exciting time . . . one that has caused me to pause and reflect. The reflection is on things that have gone well and the challenges of working for a grant project as well as what type of person will work well with the current team. What skills are the ones that we most need? Currently I see those as

• comfort with ambiguity
• ability to be flexible
• demonstrated skills with working with a variety of people and infrastructures
• collaborative demeanor
• experience with supervising, mentoring, or coaching

Three Key Women and Their Affect on Teacher Effectiveness

Yesterday was the first day of the Mentoring and Induction Institute at the Park Place Conference Center in Cedar Falls. It was an amazing day and one highlighted for me by three women and their perspective on teacher effectiveness.

Linda Darling Hammond began the conference through a live web-based presentation. She was able to make this environment work and to personalize her message to our event within a national lens. She offered these ten points as to what effective teachers do:
1) offer authentic learning experiences
2) provide intellectually ambitious tasks
3) use of a variety of strategies
4) assess learning to adapt and change and inform instruction
5) create scaffolding supports and sequences
6) provide standards and models on high quality work and offer feedback and opportunities for self analysis
7) develop collaborative classrooms
8) build links to families and communities
9) know students well
10) use each other as collaborative partners (teaching is a team sport!)

Then I was able to interact briefly at two times with Mildred Middleton, a generous educator of nearly 98 years (her birthday is 7/4)! She became UNI emeritus status through teaching as an adjunct and still passionately engages in education today.

Her message is given through a golden key (a treasure to keep forever) . . . it is a teacher's job to know when to "lock" and "unlock" the mind. Wow! Her thoughts brought tears to my eyes as the emotions of seeing both my grandmothers in her . . .  Later in the day she sat at the grand piano and played as many of us gathered to sing along.

Sarah Brown Wessling closed the night with her thoughts and perspectives of Teaching Spaces. She is the 2010 National Teacher of the Year and she has had a variety of opportunities to travel and reflect about teaching around the country and the world. Some points from her amazing sharing:

• We must meet learners where they are
• Our learners are worth being listened to
• We need to be the lead learner in our classroom
• In Iowa we GROW teachers (like corn)
• Intellectual Risk Taking as a teacher disposition
• We must nurture what we love
• Give permission to fail 
• We are architects, and architects are philosophers first
• Her secret is about deliberateness
• An extra set of eyes can open our world
• Make the implicit explicit through parallel experiences
• Stacking means filling compartments, layering creates beauty
• Humility is at the center of great teaching
• Voice is earned. Be present!
• We all have a lens . . . use it to help learners grow~

Thank you, ladies, my soul resonates with your thoughts and actions. You are true role models and leaders in our profession.

Universal Design for Learning

Today's session for the faculty redesign summit was Universal Design for Learning. Phyllis Anderson, a member of the CAST Faculty for UDL, served as our consultant.

Some new learning for me:

• this is a new way of thinking
• a conceptual framework to understand an approach to educating for all
• this approach originated in architecture 
• the principles offer the perspective that the curriculum is disabled, not people
• UDL offers the ultimate learning context for all to learn

There certainly is a plethora of resources available to use.

We spent several hours perusing what would the resources would offer.

Faculty Redesign Summit

Wow!

Day two of the summit is now completed. It has been good~very good!

Agenda June 1
     Introduction, Welcome
     Change and Design
     Teaching 2030
     Teacher Effectiveness
     Iowa Core: Content, Constructs, Characteristics

Agenda June 2
     Teacher Performance Assessment (TWS & TPA)
     Rural Education Realities with representatives from our partner districts
     Distribution of iPads

We have a wonderful group of twelve faculty that have been very open to the new ideas and actively participating in our discussions.

Some highlights include:

• Welcome and Introduction included four quotes and about change and growth. Each was to individually pick the one that resonated with them the most and physically go to that location. In small groups share the meaning behind it and then share out to the large group. Analogous to ooblek and stretch. Point brought back to design and Pink's book "A Whole New Mind". Designers are change agents. Change is both utilitarian and significant . . . with the ultimate goal of changing the world.
• Sharing of the pride for and passion about the partner districts. Each of our five partner districts (West Fork, Midland, Springville, CAL, HLV) gave a presentation about what they would like us to know about them. Phenomenal! From foundations being started to assist the school so that the tax base would not increase, to the donors that make certain that students are able to travel to Hancher Auditorium for cultural events and Washington DC, to the power of 1:1 initiatives for motivation for learning, to the stories of first generation high school graduates, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to partner with these people.
• The modeling of blended learning through the use of Blackboard Learn to house some of our course. Dan and I learned about it the week before and it is gratifying to be able to put it to such relevant use.
• The arrival of the iPads! These will be tools for the work in the districts. I received one too!

Tomorrow the highlight is UDL, Monday will be blended learning and using technology tools, and Tuesday will be Response to Intervention.

After all the dreaming and hoping and planning, it is good to see some of the pieces falling into place.

TQP Updates

As I said in my earlier post today, I have not been as faithful to this blog as I had hoped to be. Today I would like to share some updates on our work . . .

• Research Team: The research team has "completed" their phase of the journey. It is now up to the Collaborative Team to take the information gleaned from the research and determine a definition of teacher effectiveness that can be measured and used to gauge the success of the pilot.
• Faculty Recruitment: We have a strong team of 12 UNI methods instructors that are ready to embrace the process of change in redesigning their course to reflect the challenge of creating the environment to prepare candidates for effective teaching in rural districts.
• The TQP Team has been busy preparing for the instruction and workshop leadership for what we are calling the Faculty Redesign Summit. This summit will occur June 1-7 on the UNI Campus
• The UNI TQP Assessment Team has met several times to address the determination of baseline data needed to assess the progress toward the goals of the grant and the pilot
• Dan and I have begun training through both Quality Matters and Education Technology Online Learning to prepare and facilitate online courses. Dan has been instrumental in getting our first course (a blended learning format) up for next week's summit. I have been pleased that the learning I received on Monday has now been put to use as I was able to upload files to the learning modules for our use. (My own celebration!)

Panther Transition

Hello, Blog!

Hopefully I can make a return . . . my absence was consumed with the normal everyday things of life and also preparing for and participating in the graduation from high school of my eldest daughter. What a wonderful experience!

She had quite an experience as Tripoli Panther. I am proud of her decisions to be well-rounded. Here are some highlights of her participation:

9th: volleyball, Mock Trial (to state competition), musical, track letter, SADD, academic letter, softball manager letter
10th: cross country, Mock Trial, musical, track, SADD, academic letter, National Honor Society
11th: cross country, Mock Trial, musical, State Physics Olympics, SADD, academic letter
12th: Mock Trial, musical, Envirothon, State National History Day, FFA, SADD, academic letter, track manager letter, NHS President

At commencement she was honored with the Phil M. Snyder Memorial Scholarship and the American Bar Association Citizenship Award. Yes, I am proud!

Next year she will transition to a UNI Panther.
Best wishes to you, Erica!
I love you,
Mom

Michelle Obama at UNI Commencement

From the moment I heard that Michelle Obama would be UNI's commencement speaker I knew that I wanted to be part of that moment in history. Initially I was concerned that I did not know anyone graduating so I thought I might not be able to attend. But soon it was announced that faculty and staff would be allowed to get tickets. So the day came that staff could receive their two tickets and I strolled across campus to secure my pair.

My first choice to attend with me was my eighteen year old daughter. She considered it, until she received more homework for the weekend prior to graduation than she had received all year. So my friend Kristie attended together. So glad I did!

Her address was moving. From the moment she began with her assertion that embracing family may be the highest value we can seek to attain to her ending of thanking Iowans for our generosity, willingness to serve and ability to accept diversity.

It was a delightful message that unfortunately was overshadowed by my desire to question my ability to accept diversity. This has come naturally to me. But the situation that transpired behind me in the UNI Dome was appalling.

We arrived and were seated by 10:30 am for the 11:00 am start with no issues getting through security. The processional lasted approximately 16 minutes and then it was time for the National Anthem, sung superbly by a UNI tenor. My anticipation to hear Michelle's words were overcome by what happened during the Star Spangled Banner. There were three adults and a toddler that had seated themselves behind us shorty before 11. They spoke fairly loudly in a language that I could not understand. Not all that unusual for UNI and I figured they would settle in and enjoy the ceremony once it begun. There I was wrong.

Through the corner of my eye I noticed the man directly behind me did not rise when the National Anthem began. While I found this rude (the others in his party did), what happened next enraged me. His cell phone rang during the song and he not only answered it but continued to talk in his very loud voice for nearly half the song! Sigh. We accept people into our country, they attend our universities and they choose to disrespect our us in this way?! Parts of me wanted to go find the nearest security guard and ask him to check into this. My head turned and caught the eye of the man with the rude, disrespecting one. This had no effect, or perhaps the opposite, but I have no way of knowing as I could not understand their conversation. More than once I thought about asking them to please be quiet but wondered if they even understood English. Then I thought about going to ask a security guard to deal with this fellow, but I never moved. He took another phone call and continued to speak throughout the entire time I was there.

But getting back to the heart of the matter . . . Michelle said she felt like Iowa was family, like another home to her. She appreciated all she and her husband had received during the campaign trail. Her story was genuine, her passion shown. She is a class act and one that I am glad I was able to hear and see.

Reading the newspaper accounts it seems that many took away the message about the ultimate service of those Nave SEALS that were delivered to the Osama bin Laden compound. Although I do not disagree, it   was discouraging to me to read that this was the highlight of her speech. For me and my friend, Kristie, the message was loud and clear: Family is the ultimate.

Happy Mother's Day . . . Happy Family Time~

Iowa 1:! (#i11i)

Yesterday part of the TQP Team (Dan, Mary and I) traveled to Des Moines for the second annual 1:1 Conference. By my understanding last year there were approximately 600 in attendance. This year, over 1300! What volumes this speaks for the spread of momentum of using personal/mobile computing devices in education. This is also one of the reasons for the TQP Team to be on the scene.One of our Partnership Districts, CAL, is already a 1:1 school. The district brought each and every faculty member to the conference yesterday! Two districts: West Fork and Midland are both getting geared up to begin in the 2012-13 school year.

Another reason to attend is how will Higher Ed address the challenge of preparing teachers to enter into the teaching profession with the skills to teach in a 1:1 or Next Generation classroom? Several UNI faculty and staff were on hand to listen to feedback in one of the sessions.

What did I glean from the sessions I attended:?

1) There is a lot of excitement about 1:1
2) Not everybody is on the same page for what using mobile technology can mean in the classroom
3) Not everybody models the possibilities in their sessions to be able to gain new skills/awareness

Specific ideas that I can apply in the work of the TQP grant:

• Engage in a Community of Practice/PLC around using mobile devices in education settings
• Model the use of technology in ways that leads to effective instruction and increases learner achievement
• Take advantage of the Online Repository
• Embrace that the new ecology of learning is no longer about consumption but rather production

I enjoyed my first event and hope to venture there again. It was fun to network with some new folks and to also run into some I haven't seen in years (Steve Bruder, Deb Nagle and Joan Redalen). My interactions with those at the booths were entertaining and engaging (and I hope I win something in addition to the fun yo-yo). It was also a new experience to attend a conference where each person was to create their own name tag. Thankfully for me I have a great computer technology specialist that prepared one for me complete with QR codes! How cool is that?

TQP Progress

On April 11 the TQP Collaborative Team convened for the first time. This group is charged with taking the information gathered by the Research Team and determining a "definition" of effective teaching that can be used by the Assessment Team to determine measurable methods of expressing effectiveness.

The Collaborative Team was facilitated by Elaine Bright-Smith of Drake University. She opened the meeting asking us to interact with people around the room in talking about a variety of questions . . . such as which teacher first challenged you?(Mrs. Schlicting with 4th grade spelling) Which teacher do you consider a mentor? (John Poock) What is the premier quality of an effective teacher (passion for kids and teaching/learning)

We were also treated with watching an interview of the National Teacher of the Year, Sarah Brown-Wessling, answering questions around teacher effectiveness. She is truly an eloquent speaker! Three of the things that she considers characteristics of effective teaching are passion, intentionality and deconstruction.

The day ended with a brief overview of the research document that is still under revision. Each member is asked to read and reflect on the 100 page document and be ready for the next meeting on May 4.


On April 18 the TQP Advisory Board met for the second time. The anniversary date for the TQP funding was April 5th. This group is to meet twice a year so we are on track.

Kevin Feldman presided at the meeting.
Mary Beth Schroeder Fracek offered an overview of the grant.
I offered a summary piece of reflective feedback from participant comments from the December meeting.
Jay Pennington offered an update on the RFP for the technology platform.
Mary Herring and Nadene Davidson offered a summary of the Research Team work and the Evolution of the Model of Qualities of Effective Teaching Continuum
Several DE employees talked about grant supported summer projects
The Teacher Effectiveness Interview of Sarah Brown-Wessling was shown.

The day ended with an opportunity to offer ideas or questions about the day and the upcoming process as we begin year two of the five year process.

Getting ready for Graduation

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