The development of this professional learning strategy has been a deep learning experience. Synthesizing everything that I have been learning up to this point led me here. I am especially excited about how this strategy outlines a strong resource for implementing my Innovation Plan. It moves learners through a one year professional learning course that will set them up to successfully implement the Reading Horizons Discovery program with their students.
BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal)
Based on Aligning Outcomes, Activities and Assessments
To develop educators who embrace the role of learner and continually strive to reflect and adjust their foundational literacy teaching practices to ensure optimal student outcomes through implementing the Reading Horizons Discovery program.
Professional learning is a key component to successfully implementing a new program or teaching strategy. The effectiveness of that PL depends on how it is delivered.
The 5 Key Principles for effective PL will be integrated throughout this one year professional learning course. It is a blended learning course that utilizes engaging and active learning experiences through various media forms. The course also follows a gradual release of responsibility model that includes modeling by a content expert, then relevant support through job-embedded coaching as teachers move from learning the content to implementing it in their own classroom.
For more detail on how the 5 Key Principles are integrated into this strategy, the audience for the PL, how collaboration is fostered and who will lead which components of the PL, please click on the Planning PL button below.
The Getting Started with Reading Horizons Discovery – Year 1 PL course was designed using Fink’s taxonomy of significant learning (2003). I chose this model because the 3-Column table is clear and makes it easy to identify how the learning outcomes align with the learning activities and assessments. It also takes a more holistic approach, considering all aspects of the learning environment. View the Getting Started with Reading Horizons Discovery – Year 1 PL course 3-Column table below.
The above timeline is a helpful visual of the ongoing nature of this PL course. For a detailed view of each session, please see the full PL Course Overview.
Resources
- Login and account on www.rhaccelerate.com
- Laptop for online component and for in-person teaching practice
- In-person materials (packet/workbook)
- Curriculum materials (for coaching observations)
- PL Evaluation Survey
The course has been built out using Google Classroom as the LMS. Most resources are linked within the Google Classroom. However, it will be helpful for learners to have access to these resources after they complete the course as well. They can always go back to the PL Resources site if needed.
Measuring Success
It is important to have some way of measuring the efficacy of the PL course. I have included a PL Evaluation Survey as the final step of each session. This will allow me to gather feedback from the PL attendees and make adjustments as needed. This feedback will be used by individual facilitators and coaches to customize learning, but also used by the organization to gauge PL needs and develop additional PL products and services.
***Please note that live links to proprietary information, such as full PL handouts, in-person component slide decks, etc. are not available via any publicly posted site, including the Google Classroom.
References
Fink, L. D. (2003). A self-directed guide to designing courses for significant learning.
Gulamhussein, A. (2013, Sept). Teaching the teachers. Effective professional development in an era of high stakes accountability. Retrieved from Center: http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf
Facilitation Innovation 