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

Announcement personalized with Smilebox

Emerging Attributes of Effective Teaching

The UNI TQP Research Team has developed these models that we welcome feedback/input. We anticipate this model (to be revised upon informed feedback) to be used in guiding a pilot study and potential implications for future teacher preparation, mentoring and induction.

Again, your thoughtful, informed feedback is welcome.

Past

Present

Future

When Logic Doesn't Seem Necessarily Logical

Ever since I started this position back in October I was told that Logic Models would need to be developed. I did a bit of background research on them, happened to be in a state science leadership team where we were developing one, attended a webinar on designing them, and read some materials forwarded to me about them. So I had some background about what they are, the components and even why they could prove valuable. The thing I lacked was experience developing them.

So by December I sat down and over a period of a couple days cranked out some ideas for Logic Models to guide the work of our grant. There are 3 goals to our grant and a total of 12 objectives under these goals. This seemed a logical enough place to start in my mind. So I did. There are 12 models anyway, not sure of the logic. Particularly when I think about the whole idea behind a Logic Model, to help in planning a project. How was I ever going to plan a five year project of this immensity alone? That is illogical.

Then on Tuesday our UNI TQP team met with the DE TQP team and the University of Iowa Evaluation team and got down to the (logical) business of Logic Models. Don Yarbrough started off the day with background information so that we were all (logically) on the same page, so to speak. His analogies were good for me and helped some. He likened Logic Models to an X-ray in that they show the anatomy and physiology of a project. The Bone Structure are the 5 features: needs & beneficiaries, resources & inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes. When he used the phrase starting with the end in mind, I found a connection. It makes sense to start with a specific outcome and backwards map. Aha, I thought, I may be onto something. And then the non-logical point for me came. That is that Logic Models only make sense if they are in a deep level of detail. Wow, there goes the game for the random, non-sequential thinker that I am . . .

But back to the Logic Models. It does now make sense to not map for each of the objectives and it also makes sense that some of the outcomes will feed each other and some are parallel existers and influencers. As Don said, the process and the models are organic. I can live with that logic.

Now to the business of building models on things like Collaborative Team, Assessment Team, Faculty Recruitment, and Pilot Development. Logic Models, where did they ever get that name? How about Planning Maps? or Outcome Evaluation?

Wish me well as I sit down and try to pick up from where our group left off on Tuesday . . .

Creed for Iowa's Department of Education

This was in the Iowa School Leader Update that I read today. I found it very interesting . . . 

THE DEPARTMENT’S CREED FOR IOWA … from Jason Glass, Director

Leadership 

Leadership is the confrontation of important problems in creative ways. Real leadership is not a title and it is not con-veyed via formal authority. Rather, it comes from those willing to seize the moments to make things better that pass most of us by every day. Our leaders are throughout this organization and push at the edges of their formal authority, stepping out to confront what needs to be done and enlisting others to join in the effort. 

Innovation 

Innovation happens when people take reasonable risks toward a greater goal and are willing to fail. But just trying and failing does not lead to innovation. We must be dedicated enough to learn, adapt, and try again until we succeed. Fear is the innovation killer. Fear paralyzes our creativity and our ability to function at our best. We must have the courage to risk in spite of our fears. In the long run, failing to grow and adapt is the most significant and persistent threat we face. 

Service 

This department’s highest value is service to others. We hold ourselves accountable to treating all those with whom we interact with dignity, respect, and love. Our paradigm is to build capacity and work with people to help them accomplish more than they could alone. Our role is not to oversee, but rather to be in service of. Real service is neither authoritarian nor enabling - it is empowering. 

The point about leadership leads me to something else I read today in Seth Godin's recent blog on Initiative. "Initiative is taken, not given." Love this! Reminds me of the many times that I begged for forgiveness rather than asked in advance for permission.

So, having said that, achieving a balance of allowing initiative without fear of being micro-managed may be the environment that effective teachers flourish in best.

Rural or Urban Perspective

Perspective . . .

It has been a week since my return from New York City.

One theme that keeps entering my mind is that of perspective. As hard as it is for me to fathom what it must be like to teach in an inner-city school, I imagine it must be as difficult for inner-city educators to fathom a rural district. Much of the talk I hear and read about the condition of education in our nation centers around the urban schools.
Pondering this today prompted me to check a few statistics. . . by sheer numbers I can imagine why us rural folks must seem like a blip on the radar. For instance, in New York City alone there is a student population of 1.1 million in public schools. In Iowa, the number is 468,689 public school pupils as reported in October 2010. Wow. Perspective . . .

And then I wonder, does size matter? People are people, right?

But context does matter. Having a sense of place and knowing that place is central to our being. Certainly there are essential features that exist for educators that are the same no matter which setting of teaching and there are essential characteristics of students no matter which location they may be. But the subtle nuances that influence life in a city versus life in a community of eleven hundred people are distinct and matter; particular to those that live in these areas.

Teacher turnover is an issue I hear about in both urban and rural districts but I wonder how similar the reasons for the turnover might be? I heard those at the conference speak that in urban districts much of that turnover is due to burn-out and not being necessarily prepared for the realities faced in the classroom. That this becomes a retention (to the field) issue. In a recent conversation with an Iowa superintendent of a rural district where educators have two years of mentoring and induction before being permanently licensed, the issue is more of turnover due to wanting a life in a bigger community.

No matter the reason, no matter the location, turnover is an issue for the heart of education: our students. When turnover is high we lose consistency. Our children deserve better. So the vantage point of rural or urban perspective may not be heart of the matter at all. Instead, perhaps it is how we as educators embrace our context and offer our perspective to those we teach.

Promises and Pitfalls of Improving the Teaching Profession

This is the conference I attended coordinated by the Education Writer’s Association (and sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation) on February 18, 2011, in New York City.


One of the best resources to use to learn more about it, if you are interested, is the following:


http://bubbler.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/ewa-conference/#comment-17637.




For a "wide open spaces" type of girl, New York City was a stimulating, eye-opening experience.  My flight arrived shortly before 4 pm Eastern time.  When I stepped out of La Guardia to catch a cab the city felt strangely welcoming . . . perhaps it was the 4 pm sun and the promise of a date in Central Park. When I arrived at the Radisson at Lexington and 47th I checked into my 21st floor room and wasted no time in organizing my pack.  Armed with my map, phone, camera, and GPS (which didn't receive signals amongst the skyscrapers), I was off to Central Park.  I was blessed to be in NYC during unseasonably mild temperatures~by 5 pm when I reached the park I viewed a digital thermometer on the top of a skyscraper that read 57 degrees!  The walk was pleasantly easy although I was acutely aware of traffic~largely consisting of cabs~with an incessant and intermittent urgency of motion marked by nearly constant honking. . . almost like its own language.  Lining the perimeter of the park were the horse drawn carriages and then I welcomed the embrace of the green space and rock outcroppings.  I noted no bird life or squirrels in my few hours in the park which I found quite strange.


I walked 5th Avenue back to the hotel and I happened upon FAO Schwartz and I couldn't resist the opportunity to play "Big" on the piano there!  Then I ventured to "Josie's" where I met up with other educators attending the conference: Steve, Ken, David, Mark, Peggy and Ariel.  The conversation was good and the food was excellent!  (I had pumpkin ravioli with asparagus, mushrooms, leeks, tomatoes and shrimp in marsala cream sauce).


The next morning I went to Rockefeller Center and took in the Today Show for 45 minutes before the conference.  What an experience to see Al up close and to have Meredith and Matt wave from the studio as we peered in the window from the street!  Mom thinks she saw me and I am pretty certain I was on at 7:03 and 7:37.  Unfortunately, Erica, my Today show watcher at home, had to be at school for Envirothon practice and missed my debut!


Then the conference.  What an opportunity!  I took in every word and eventually found the opportunity to share my voice . . . that of the rural piece. 


Then after the conference I decided to walk to Times Square.  What a feast for the eyes and senses.  Not sure it was a delightful feast, though.  I was amazed as to the amount of police officers there . . . not sure I have ever felt so safe and vulnerable at the same moment.  Ask me about it sometime . . . 


Then I hailed a cab at 4 am the next morning to return home to the wide open spaces and prairies of Iowa.  There's no place like home . . .