Module 3: VII.) Helping Teacher Make the Change

We've been talking a ton about all the ways that the role of the teacher is going to change. And now we're interested in how we make that transition happen, how we get teachers to be successful in a blended learning environment.

Now, because blended learning is so new, there's no off the shelf, foolproof way of doing this. But we asked the schools that we've been profiling how they've helped to make this shift.

So when we think about training teachers, first of all, we spend a lot of time and energy on training teachers new to KIPP and particularly new to going to a new school. You actually get five weeks of training at the start of the year. So we do two weeks on board. You probably go to KIPP School Summit, depending on where it is and what it might cost us. We have another week after KIPP School Summit and then we come back for two weeks with kids and then have one more week before we really hit go time. So it's a lot of intensive training. The bulk of our professional development is done at the school site. Because each school is unique and different. We might do some region wide things. There's obviously KIPP School Summit, which is a national program, but the bulk is really at the school site and meeting the needs of that individual school. When we think about how do we do professional development for those who are in this rotational model that includes instructional learning, it's a lot about how do we make sure that you can manage a class where there's three or four different things going on? How do we help you with routines and processes and structures so that the transitions are quick? You know, if a transition takes four or five minutes, we've lost valuable time in the day. And we actually, you know, teachers where they might have a challenge with transition might actually time their transition. We also think about how do we help teachers who maybe have never been in a workshop model transition to that workshop model? Because that's effectively what we're doing and it's different. Someone who's taught kindergarten might know what that is, but someone who's been in high school maybe doesn't know what a workshop model looks like. And so we try to help them with that. And we try to, because we now have nine schools that are doing various different programs being able to have our teachers go and observe other schools. We actually have a full day coming up where teachers from one school will visit. It's across two days. So teachers from one school will go visit another school, close the region for half for one day, and then they'll flip flop so they can see each other's school, learn from each other.

One of the core elements of our teaching model and our teacher professional development is that everything is filtered through our mission and the principles of our school model. And so for me, as a school leader, I become the guardian of these core values and the core elements of our model. But I need to free up teachers to have the time and to have the space to see other professionals who are doing project based learning to examine the data so that they're making decisions completely rooted in the data. And most of all, and most challenging, is avoiding slipping into the old habits. And, and this can be something as easy as coming up with a solution that worked at your last school because you see a student need there. In every case, we have to take it back to the data and back to our core principles of the model and use that to inform the directions that we're going to take with any minor tweak or any iterations to our model. In such a personalized environment, we try to avoid anything that's a one size fits all. Yet we still see this as recent as this week, where in some classes there's some common task for all students that might not all be at their level. So my job now is to use that moment as a case study and to think how about the work or the intent behind that could have been better personalized for our model so that the students are actually focused on their skills.

Research tells us that one of the best ways to learn is to make a mistake. And particularly young people, or all of us, I guess we learn some of our most important lessons in life when we get it wrong or when we fail. So there's really nothing to be afraid of if you're a reluctant teacher. Kids get problems wrong all the time and they know that teachers are human beings also and that it's okay if teachers get things wrong too. I think one of the things you can do as a teacher is let the kids know this might not go perfectly. And if it doesn't go perfectly, we're gonna change it and we'll try another way. This is new for me, this is new for you. But here's what we're striving for. Here are our hopes. If we get this right, it means you're gonna have more choice, you're gonna have a more personalized learning experience. I'll be able to help you more on the things you need help with, and I'll spend less time trying to give you lessons on things you don't need help with.

So here's my advice. There are some great consultants out there who can help you with elements of your planning or your teacher training. But let's also not forget how much we already do know about getting teachers on board with processes and having new models in our schools. What's important we need to have teachers deeply involved in the process so they can own it and bring their wisdom and expertise to the process. We need to think about change management because these ideas do not get dropped on top of schools and they get created by schools and we need to create a culture where innovation is just in the water of the schools. We are open to taking risks and trying new things and what works we double down on and what doesn't work we commit to fixing. That's the spirit of innovation. That will allow teachers to get on board, staff members to get on board and then it hits the students with full force and they embrace this new model.