Learning from my mistakes Day 23 #28daysofwriting

Back at work today after a HUGE week last week, I was acutely aware of the need for focus and organisation as I tried to process the paperwork and get everything done before I head into more schools tomorrow.  

Fully focused I set off to create the forms necessary for the next steps, as we come together as a team, to ensure we best meet everyone's needs.

In my haste, I did not thoroughly read, or process the instructions. I doubled up on the work required and spent a lot of time creating sheets we do not need.

It got me thinking...

How often do I have a picture in my mind of what needs to happen that over-rules the real picture?

How often do I skim read, rather than deep reading?

Later this afternoon I was talking to our team leader and my mistake became evident.  How grateful I am to learn this early on of the potential duplication.  

How frustrated I would have been...

So here I am  tonight, reflecting on the benefits from close contact with our team.  The benefits of regular check ins, and clarification of tasks is essential.  

I really am loving our new way of working, sharing with team members, collaborating, and sharing the journey!

Woohoo... FAIL = first attempt in learning!

I love that I learnt from my mistakes today!

What is a facilitator?

Agh... First time in a long time where I have had white knuckles flying out of Dunedin... That moment when you look across the aisle and both smile awkwardly... Wondering if this is it... Okay, so a few minutes later and we're cruising along and I wonder what I was making all the fuss about but that WAS NOT a nice take-off... And they warn of the same coming into Christchurch... So here are my thoughts for the blog for today!

I am a learning with digital technologies facilitator! My recent cross post from the CORE blog explains the name change from blended e-learning facilitator with the focus firmly in the learning now...

This year our project has changed its name to LwDT (Learning with Digital Technologies)*. This change was to reflect the deepening understanding that learning and learners must be at the centre and that technology is a way to enhance this learning. Building the understandings and capabilities of teachers is at the heart of improving outcomes for our students.

I think it is time for me to discuss and explore further the role facilitator!

FACILITATOR is defined, in a nexus reading I am currently enjoying as:
Someone skilled in group dynamics and learning processes and with access to key sources of expertise and knowledge.  He or she encourages people to participate in network activity and makes it easier for groups of people to work and learn together and for the learning to be shared.

I don't know about you but I love that definition.

I want to break it down and explore it a little further...

Someone skilled in group dynamics and learning processes...
As teachers I think we grow in devil net of group dynamics and learning processes everyday. My recent catch phrase 'situational analyst' applies perfectly to life in the classroom and as a facilitator.  We are constantly analysing the situation and refining, adjusting, extending, re-thinking to best meet this situation.

...with access to key sources of expertise and knowledge.
Implicit in this is that we are NOT experts.  We facilitate! We have access to expertise and knowledge and are charged to support, network and connect.

... He or she encourages people to participate in network activity...
We are modelling being connected and networked through our participation in online learning communities.  We support others to network and connect online.  We cluster and support as needs require. We actively model 'connectedness'.  The power of us working in this way is exponentially greater than the sum of our parts. Our team is a wonderful example of this as we share our strengths, passions, talents, expertise and challenge enabling all to grow on our journey.

... makes it easier for groups of people to work and learn together and for the learning to be shared.
Facilitators have the privilege of modelling and supporting others to learn together.  With a view to increasing capability and capacity, our role is about growing the strengths of others. In this way sustainability is not only possible but probable,

On reflection, what an incredible privilege it is to be a facilitator!

What is the highlight of your facilitator journey? (I am now thinking of all educators as facilitators!)

As a side note: my darling Mum calls me a facilitator of happiness, a precious title she bestows on me! Reflecting on the key components of facilitation I believe that if I can add a layer of happiness (and of course MAGIC) to my facilitation role, then I am well on the way to being the best I can be....

What’s in a name? Supporting Learning with Digital Technologies

Cross posted from http://blog.core-ed.org/blog/2014/02/whats-in-a-name-supporting-learning-with-digital-technologies.html 

What’s in a name? Supporting Learning with Digital Technologies

• Faciltator tips

by Anne Kenneally

For the past year we have had the privilege to work as part of the BeL (Blended e-Learning) team. This allows us to work alongside teachers, leaders, and students as they explore learning, teaching, and technology.

This year our project has changed its name to LwDT (Learning with Digital Technologies)*. This change was to reflect the deepening understanding that learning and learners must be at the centre and that technology is a way to enhance this learning. Building the understandings and capabilities of teachers is at the heart of improving outcomes for our students.

As we discussed this name change as a team we reflected on what we had learned as we worked in schools to support teachers to strengthen their understandings and capabilities.

Here are ten ideas:

1. In the short term schools and teachers might want you to just do the work for them. But, by helping them upskill, in the long term they will thank you that you enabled them to do it themselves.
2. Be responsive to the needs of the school, learners, and community, and remember that a powerful approach can be to help them see that they might need something different.
3. Facilitate in a way that respects the skills and knowledge that each person brings. Listening is the key.
4. Provide opportunities for people to tell you what they hope to get out of the session first and what they will take away from it at the end.
5. You don’t need to know everything. You have the time to find out where to direct and support people to find things for themselves.
6. Always consider Universal Design for Learning principles, catering for all learners — adult learners included. Plan for the margins and extend to everyone.
7. Be prepared: So that you can make the most of the opportunity find out as much as you can about the school, the community, iwi, hapu, and participants before your session(s) — using whatever ways you can.
8. Make resources available afterwards to enable the rewinding of the learning or and for the participants to carry on learning and trialling approaches in own time.
9. Be mindful and considerate of how busy our teachers and principals are — you are one of MANY visitors to their schools.
10. Provide the opportunity to “lurk”.  Sometimes we all need to have time to feel comfortable before we engage.

I and my colleague Greg Carroll collated this list from suggestions put forward by the LwDT South Team.

*  The Learning with Digital Technologies project also includes the Virtual Professional Learning and Development (VPLD) initiative, and the Future Focus Inquiry (FFI) initiative. These aspects of the LwDT mean that, as well as the support offered to whole schools, there are also opportunities for  individual and group professional development.

Southland Roadie....

Four days, 1001 kilometres, 5 schools, fabulous scoping tour in the south!  Mark and I are just back from a wonderful Southland journey!  The accommodation shortage was almost unbelievable with the Waimumu field days claiming every available bed south of and including Dunedin.  The amazing Casey from Orbit managed to sort a bach at Colac Bay for us!

Reflecting on the journey we are really excited about the year ahead. There are a number of reasons this scoping trip was so successful.

We were well prepared....we knew so much about the schools before we visited,

We had made contact with the schools well in advance,

They had all the documentation well in advance and were able to ask us questions and  be aware of the PLD,

We were focused about sharing explicitly the bones of LwDT PLD; priority learners, teaching as inquiry,

We benefited hugely from the scoping experience of our team late last year

We work well together... Mark and I really complemented each other,

At times we were able to split up and work with different staff members,

Pairing meant one was able to mainly facilitate the chat, while the other took in-depth notes,

We followed a check list and were able to gather a HUGE range of info in the first visit,

We shared with each school the actions for them and for us out of our first meeting.

We were very comfortable sharing with schools our own personal journeys,

We have grown exponentially since we started in this role,

We had fun!!!!!!!

Thanks Mark for an awesome Southland Scoping journey.

What a whirl

Here I am, up in the air again…

What a week!  Two days with my team! 

Monday with Derek was inspirational.  I just can’t get enough of this Modern Learning Pedagogy.  As we worked our way through the CBAM model again another layer of clarity came to be.  This can be an incredibly transformative framework.  As we used it to surface our questions, our concerns became apparent.  This is a very powerful model. 

Tuesday night, Christchurch tweet-up! What a wonderful opportunity to keep in touch with my Christchurch friends.  We met at Merry Thai and shared a wonderful meal, great chat, and incredible camaraderie.  From here, we have decided to take it in a couple of directions.  We Plan to meet regularly at a range of venues around Christchurch, especially when I am up at the ‘flat’!  We also plan to grow the group by inviting others to join us whenever they are able.  A third innovation is creating a Google Doc to share as and when we want to!  There really is nothing better than keeping in touch with friends and meeting new friends. 

Today was spent working with Mark as we plan for our Southland adventure next week!  All planned and sorted until, shock, horror, we find out that Invercargill accommodation is booked out!  I am sure we will come up with something but we could have even more travel than we are anticipating.

As we work in a new model this year in the Learning with Digital Technologies PLD, we are increasingly operating in a collaborative, blended way.   What exciting times ahead for us all.

CORE MAGIC

#HPPA  Today was an incredible opportunity for Mark, Tania and I to facilitate sessions at Baverstock School, for the seventeen schools in the #HPPA cluster.  

With over 200 teachers gathered together there was an incredibly empowering buzz of the excitement for the 2014 learning year. 

I had the pleasure and privilege to present one session three times on rotation around the creative power of e-learning. 

Speed geeking round one

Speed geeking outside - round two

Grounding my session in the robust transformative opportunities shared in Derek Wenmoth’s Ubiquity, Agency and Conectedness framework, I felt as if I was chanelling Derek.  Moving on with Derek’s concepts of Learn, Create, Share, I further channeled your wisdom Derek!

I love the opportunity to repeat sessions and found each and every session was unique.   What a pleasure to work with such an amazing cluster of teachers.  I think there is much I can learn from this cluster as I follow their journey.

As I reflect on the sessions on my flight to Christchurch I am profoundly moved by the impact of my sessions with Joan Dalton and David Anderson last week.  Throughout the sessions I found myself chanelling: “You might like to consider…” “I am offering you an opportunity to….” “I am gifting you seeds to plant and nurture”, “One approach might be…”, “How might you use this with your learners?”

Having my presentation online and shared as we journeyed enabled opportunities for ubiquity, agency and connectedness.

I am also aware that today I confidently shared a lot of my classroom practice, maybe even more than I shared throughout 2013.  I wonder why I am so comfortable sharing and reflecting now.  Is it because I am aware of the power of the story of the learner?  Is it because I am so attuned to the fact that I MUST stay current and focused and real about my learners, and our journey together?  Is it because I am finally realizing we have a story to tell?  Is it because I am a part of something much bigger than a lone teacher, in that I am a part of CORE and bring an incredible wealth of current practice to this journey?

Whatever it is, I LOVED sharing today with such an enthusiastic, engaged, friendly group and I wish them an incredible journey as they collaborate, network and grow in their cluster!

I LOVE MY JOB

I really do love my job...

I just have to share a spot of MAGIC from my week! 

I arrived at a school and was working away with a staff member when one of the new entrants spotted me! He called out hey it's Mrs Blog! Well I've been called a lot of things in my time but this is a new one!  He then proceeded to share with me everything he thought was vitally important to add to the blog since he'd last seen me! How cool is that!   Suddenly the learners see their new blog as a vehicle for sharing their learning journeys with others.  They want to tell their story, they want to connect, they want to share, they want their voice to be heard.

As I reflect on this I think about the impact of my experiences with these learners.

At the start of e year when I took this role I knew that I would really miss the kids! I do miss the kids, but now I am getting into classes a lot more and I have a lot of time working alongside learners!  They never cease to amaze and inspire me!  

This week I also had the privilege of working with another group of learners who have a brand new blog.  They have recently had a number of snow days and one of the learners had the privilege to share his snow days via the blog and link back to an Otago Daily Times article about their adventures.  The layers in this kind of sharing are really amazing! What a wonderful vehicle the blog is...

Learning, growing, sharing, connecting and paying it forward...

The beginning….

I really want to share a little of the story of a new beginning…

When I accepted this chance as facilitator I believed it to be a dream come true and I eagerly anticipated a steep learning curb and a challenging adventure.

I hoped for support and guidance along the way but I could never have imagined how amazing it would feel to join this team…

I want to share a little of what I have learnt that I will take with me wherever I go in the hope that sharing it will embed it in my practice and in the hope that someone, somewhere will pick up something useful…

·      I do not feel as if I have been employed or offered a job, I feel as if I have been adopted into a family.  Taking this into a class setting, what can we do to make sure all our learners feel this way?

·      I have been immersed in new learning, discoveries and challenges with the caring, gentle support of team members and leaders.  How can we use the expertise within our school communities to ensure that we support new members?

·      I have been given the chance to tell my story, to share my passions, hopes and dreams, to celebrate who I am and what I have to offer.  How do we make sure every learner tells their story and shares their passions?

·      I have been privileged to hear the stories of others, to share their journey and get to know them as a person as well as an educator.  How do we really reach our learners, before we teach our learners?  How do we encourage them to share and listen and dig deeper to get to know others?

·      I have been supported by buddies who mentor me, model practice for me, walk my journey and support me, but also let me be me.  How do we walk with our learners but really let them be who they are to be the best they can be?

·      I have felt an overwhelming ‘tender loving care’ for me as a person in my new role.  How do we create a ‘tender loving caring’ environment for ALL our learners?

·      I am privileged to be operating in an extremely high trust environment.  How do we ensure our learners are challenged with high expectations and high trust to be the ‘best they can be’?

·      I feel as if I am plugged into a direct source of professional learning and development. I am loving the learning journey.  How do we ensure our learners ‘learn to love to learn’ to quote the famous Kevin Honeycutt?

·      I am hearing, feeling and learning the story of our priority learners.  How do we sensitively reach our priority learners and strive to provide on-ramps to learning success for them?

·      I am aware of the extreme privilege of my journey.  I am in awe of the opportunities around me, and before me.  I am living the dream…  How do we create a classroom environment where all our learners live the dream?

As I journey into this role I am in awe of the opportunity I have to facilitate, learn, share, grow, connect, network, be…

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of you who are supporting, encouraging, challenging, nurturing me in my new role...  I will pay it forward!