Collab Lab 32: Recap & Notes

Pete Reynolds Blog, Collab Labs February 18, 2020February 18, 2020PD

Last Thursday’s Collab Lab explored what teacher-centric professional development might look like. We had participants introduce themselves by sharing their best and worst PD experiences. As we listened to those conversations, one thing that stood out was the number of times the physical setting of the PD session came into play– an offsite location offered an opportunity to shift thinking, a session which had teachers sitting on cafeteria benches for two hours conveyed that those planning the session had not considered what the experience would be like for participants.

With those experiences as background, the first task for attendees was to inventory what they hope to gain/provide through PD. Those ideas fell into several broad categories:

Enthusiasm & Inspiration:

Excitement to replicate and extend
Inspiration
Enthusiasm
Enhancement of skills
Excitement — I want to leave and keep on working on it
Exciting change focused, purposeful, sound rationale
Transformation
Motivation to do what is best for students
- their learning
- their retention
- their personal growth
Fun, humor, interactive
How PD looks for females

Gain Knowledge

Gain Knowledge about specific tech subjects– AI, VR, etc.
Learn to engage students in new technologies purposefully
See great pedagogy modeled and be able to practice it
Rich content
Increase knowledge…
- student relationships
- engaging students
Knowledge that pertains to me!
Chance to learn from everyone in the room [recognize the experience in the room]
Develop a different perspective regarding those around us
Resources
Realistic or tangible outcomes
Share researched based best practices
Access to new information
Knowledge
Current best practices
New perspectives
Authentic experiences
Actionable skills, knowledge, connections

Collaboration

A space to collaborate & innovate
Ideas surrounding achieving classroom equity at the college and eventually university level
Follow up/accountability
Engagement through action and collaboration
Applicable/relevant
Processing time
Opportunities to reflect
Group of similar professionals for
- encouragement
- support
- common passion
A tribe

Connections

Connections for students
Authentic experiences
Excitement, passion, purpose
Exposure to other experts, mentors, coaches
Real access to tools, tech, mindset of others in an interest area
Contacts/networking
Fellow, passionate learners
Teacher to teacher PD
Respect as a capable adult learner
Opportunities to share my expertise
Form a supportive community
Increase collaboration among staff on working with students
Growing a community of learners.

Stretch & dive deep

Be forced to struggle and stretch
A desire to want more — go deeper
Stretch
Deeper investment in your work
Student PD — if you could learn anything at school what would it be?
Domain specific PD
Become better/more effective at what you want to do
Opportunities for students to grow, motivate their self in learning

Visions of what PD could be

With this broad set of goals in hand, we allowed a bit more time for conversation about how one might realize one more of those. From there we asked attendees to pair up and create a vision of what PD that aims to meet some of those goals might look like. Here’s some of what was shared.

Implementation of a school wide-initiative

Focus

One big goal or vision for whole school

It is not

A lecture
Cookie cutter

Participants

all stakeholders [in strategic teams that make sense]

It happens

Off site, neutral territory
As a 3-5 year plan with set SMART goals and monthly check in intervals

I’m able to leverage it

Because all other PD is filtered through this vision
As a realistic shared vision — teams set goals aligned with vision

Community

Focus

Supporting persistence & community

It does not

Have a top-down structure
Feel contrived

Participants

A group of people with a shared goal

It happens

In varied settings, especially getting people out of their everyday environment
Settings where everyday pressures are less pressing (leave town?)
Includes both structured and unstructured time

I’m able to leverage it

By having the flexibility to allow good things to happen
Let participants lead

A specific helpful computer program (one of many)

Focused on

Benefits & “how tos” of a new program

It is not

Condescending
Just a lecture
A one one and done or passing trend

It includes for participants

Hands on exploration
QA, comments, input from participants
Brainstorming, how could you use this?
Builds enthusiasm
Offers + schedule of follow up support for participants at all levels
Time for follow up
Research based, relevant
Of value — time saving/increased effectiveness

Team Cohesion

Focused on

Creating a more collaborative and safe team environment by establishing norms and committing to action

It does not

Provide space for admiring the problem and creating blame

It includes as participants

The entire team

It happens

At a retreat

I’m able to leverage it

By creating a commitment to change and holding myself accountable for it.

Mindful moments

Focus

Transitions when students enter class. Being present and acknowledging current mental state/capacity for learning.
Self compassion, self awareness, self efficacy

It does not

Have lectures or assignments
Mandate the rules of how to apply or engage

Participants

Teachers/faculty

It happens

45-50 minutes initial time of session demonstrating strategies for teachers to learn and practice
Follow up email with people who are practicing/to share with others

I’m able to leverage it

At the end of the session we build an accountability partnership with other session goers. Email each other to check in once a week for three weeks. After that the partnership will re-assess

Power of Data – GIS

Focus

Scientific inquiry using GIS technology
Create individual lesson plans
Argue from evidence

It is not

A lecture

Participants

Educators– formal & informal

It happens

As active learning over a 35 hour block

I’m able to leverage

Software
Career stories
Data collection
Varied context

Differentiation

Focus

Differentiation
- access
- accountability
learner needs, not roll out of programs

It does not

Disrespect the learner. Rather, it encourages choice, voice of participants

Participants

Leaders
Experts
Learners

It happens

During regular employee hours but can continue after ours or on vacations

I’m able to leverage it

Online, finding continuous connections, learning, teaching others
Us in classroom and in other profession
By sharing with colleagues

Equity Boot Camp

Focus

Equity — education & community
Misconceptions about race & identity
Racial inequality

It does not

Teach historical wrongs ONLY
Focus on people of color ONLY
Take it easy

Participants

Educators
Politicians
Advocates
Naysayers

It happens

At a ranch over a weekend in August

I’m able to leverage this to

Tap into people’s desires
Immerse people in transformation
Take actions (planned during the retreat)
Use monthly check-ins and a return in January to move towards resolution)

Thanks!

Thanks to Dec Code Camp for providing the space and to our featured participants for sharing their expertise and ideas:

Amber DuChateau — Education Design and Technology Consultant, UWM School of Nursing

Joe Du Fore — Director of Business Development, Wisconsin Education Innovations

Shaba Martinez — Digital Learning & Library Media Specialist, Bruce Guadalupe Community School

Angela McCarty — Director of Education Services, Milwaukee Teacher Education Center (MTEC)

Deidre Roemer — Director of Leadership and Learning, West Allis West Milwaukee School District

Resources

Our participants shared a number of resources. Here’s the list:

Code for Milwaukee Internship Program Code for Milwaukee is a civic technology non-profit that builds out projects that serve the greater Milwaukee community and beyond. They are starting an internship program that is open to middle and high school students who will help build out a technology based solution to solve a problem our community faces

MTEC

UWM Power of Data Workshops: 35 hour paid professional development program that enables st secondary teachers to increase students’ content knowledge, 21 Century Skills and awareness of geospatial technology careers through Geospatial Inquiry and data analysis. June 2020

Wisconsin ArcGIS Map Contest The 2020 Wisconsin map contest is part of the Esri national student ArcGIS Online competition. It is open to all Wisconsin middle and high school students.

Collab Lab 59: Recap & Notes
February 9, 2024

After a break in January, our Collab Lab Series resumed last night with a session focused on dealing with setbacks and recognizing wins. Challenges Began the discussion with an inventory of the challenges and setbacks students face when they work together on open ended projects. These challenges primarily revolve around: Expectations Focus on grades Belief that their voice won’t matter Opposing wants — freedom vs control Expectations are unclear An ability to deal with uncertainty Lack of confidence Being open to the idea that there is no one right answer Aversion to risk/failure Communication & collaboration Inability for team members to agree on a common approach Ability to deal with personality conflicts within a team Ability to give and receive constructive criticism Lack of accountability Lack of feedback Project structure Project lacks structure that would allow students to make progress Space/time to iterate Access to resources necessary to effectively take on the challenge Skills Ability to arrive at a good definition/understanding of the problem at hand Time management Need for higher level thinking skills Strategies In our second round, our discussion shifted to look at strategies to help students address each of these challenges. Expectations Set clear expectations with examples Set up an environment with clear expectations for communication, collaboration, willingness to learn from things that did not go as expected. Dealing with uncertainty Students have repeated opportunities to immerse themselves in the challenge and circle back with their teacher for input and guidance Acknowledge big feelings to help understand that “failure” is not personal Communication & collaboration Understand the context of students life beyond school and what they may need to work effectively with peers Small, frequent check-ins Create time/space for purposeful reflection Project Structure Students are given a clear view of the process they will follow to arrive at a solution even if they can’t yet see where it might lead Decompose challenge into smaller pieces Structure challenges students to stretch at each step of the process, but those steps are within reach, and build on each other Connect students with what they need when Repeated opportunities to practice and develop skills within the context of the project Skills Both students and teachers are equipped with the skills they need/supported in their development of those skills Skills required build on those already acquired A Simple Tool With this inventory in hand, we recounted the story of the Number Talks Quick Refence Card that was developed out of a project we did with K-12 teachers and UWM Math faculty. That project supported teams of teachers who wanted to establish Number Talks as a regular practice in their elementary school classrooms. Though teachers could clearly see the value of the practice, it was something new, so they wanted something that could rely on to help keep them on the right path. One of the teachers suggested a small card of reminders that should could hold and glance down at while working with students. The card we developed includes three sections: Talk Moves (strategies), Probes (questions to ask), and Pats on the Back (signs that things are working). As the final exercise of the night, we asked each of our discussion groups to develop their own Quick Reference Cards for open ended projects. Here’s what they came up with: Group 1 Moves Give yourself time Accept “I don’t know” Build personal connections You’ve got this Accept congratulations Probes Tell me more… How might we…? Pats on the Back I was afraid to try this but I did anyway Group 2 Moves Yes, and? Build community Set Goals Normalize failure Probes What did we learn? What is your why? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you bring to the team? How might we…? Pats on the Back Unprompted reflection Group 3 Moves Are students in the right groups? What does this student need? How is my relationship with this student? Probes How will you define success? Pats on the Back Students are engaged Students are gaining essential skills Students give and receive feedback Students get the feedback they need Students move from “I” to “we” Thanks again to our Featured Participants: PJ Dever — Executive Director for Playworks in Wisconsin Lana M. Minshew — Assistant Professor, Director of the Human-Centered Design Lab at the Medical College of Wisconsin Nina Johnston — Program Manager of the Human-Centered Design Lab at the Medical College of Wisconsin A big thanks also goes out to Anthony, Audrey, Connor, Olivia, & Madeline, Architecture students at UWM. They are joining us this semester for Collab Labs and other sessions we run at the STEM Center as part of service learning field experience for Arch 302. In another example of 1 + 1 = 3, The students gain a field experience as they look at the design of learning spaces (in this case the STEM Center), we get help setting things up and cleaning up after each session, and our Collab Lab participants get the perspective of 5 individuals not far removed from K-12 who find themselves navigating open-ended, collaborative, community-engaged projects. Thanks also to MSOE’s STEM Center for hosting the Collab Lab Series, as well as the students from Pathways High School and Bradley Tech who joined in person/on Zoom.

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Collab Lab 57: Recap & Notes
November 16, 2023

Following the Hero’s Journey theme of Collab Labs this season, our November session explored stepping out of the known world and dealing with uncertainty. Our discussion began with an exploration of the uncertainty participating teachers and students already deal with in school. That set some context for the next round of conversations focused on fears/worries about engaging students in open-ended challenges. We wrapped up the discussion with an inventory of strategies and practices teachers, students, and attendees from outside of K-12 have seen or use to manage uncertainty around projects — whether that is where the project will lead or how the team will get there. This week we pulled those factors into a system map, connecting elements based on what we heard in the discussions. What’s striking, though not unexpected, is the importance of trust and open communication in all of this. It is what allows both teachers and students to take some risks, try something new, and be willing to accept and learn from efforts that don’t work out as hoped. You can view the system map here, and we welcome your thoughts and input on what else we might include, or how we might better repent the dynamics at play. Those of you who have explored the map produced from last seasons sessions focused on feelings of safety and affirmation at school, will recognize a number of familiar elements. Going forward, we’ll be looking at how we can merge or otherwise use these maps and what we hear in upcoming Collab Labs to paint a more complete picture of the forces at play when we look to offer students the hands-on community-engaged learning experiences they deserve. … Next up on our Hero’s Journey, we meet the mentors and helpers as we explore what it takes to support authentic work. Join us on December 14th for Collab Lab 58. Thanks again to our Featured Participants: Amber Henzig: Scrum Master & Servant Leader, Johnson Controls Kelsey Otero: Senior Director of Community Engagement, Marquette University Sean Campbell: Teacher at Pathways High School, Milwaukee Thanks also to MSOE’s STEM Center for hosting the Collab Lab Series, as well as the students from Pathways High School and Bradley Tech who joined in person/on Zoom.

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Collab Lab 56: Recap & Notes
October 18, 2023

For our 8th season of Collab Labs, we’re exploring how the lens of the Hero’s Journey can inform how we approach community-engaged project based learning, and what more we can offer students when we do so. Over the course of the 2023-24 season, each of our Collab Labs will focus on a different phase of the Hero’s Journey. We kicked things off last week with Collab Lab 56, a session focused on the call to adventure. How do we motivate our students to take the first couple of steps on their own learning journey? How do we channel the enthusiasm of some students who clearly identify with a topic and want to set off in pursuit of the prize, bypassing what we as educators believe are essential knowledge and skills in the order we believe these ought to be learned? What makes a call compelling for students? We began our discussion with the question, “What makes a call compelling to students?” As attendees explored the conditions for getting students engaged in a big challenge they noted: Authenticity of subject, intrinsic motivation A teacher’s excitement & confidence Proximal development Involvement in ‘the process’ Confidence in the person leading the process >> proper guidance and support, constant work on trust and relationships Align with student’s experience and expertise, attitudes and aptitudes (don’t set the student up for failure) Culturally responsive and relevant The end result will be tangible (Appropriate) level of autonomy & power to choose the path that seems most interesting or rewarding Additionally, much relies on (role modeling) a certain mindset: Overcoming competing forces that may hold someone back Failure is an opportunity to learn. “A bump in the road is not the road itself” What has your experience been with creating compelling ‘call to adventure’ for your students? What do educators and students need to commit to the journey? With that inventory in place, we moved to a discussion of what needs to be in place for students (and their teachers) to commit to the journey.On the student side, that includes: Trusting relationships, respect, sense of belonging Build an iterative experience that gets progressively more challenging Create oral/written feedback opportunities that encourage engagement Defined roles based on prior experience Adjust composition of the learning space to reflect the work Normalizing uncertainty Being able to see your peers as resources Learning how to co-create Know and/or find yourself as a learner (EQ) Develop understanding of what ‘commit’ means Barriers for students fully participating in these challenges include: Housing instability Health issues, Food availability May exist outside the school environment >> teacher less aware Overall stability inside & outside the learning environment For educators, the list includes: Bring (or gain) personal experience with the journey you’re asking students to take on. Professional development on relevant concepts, such as PBL, collaboration, etc., by experts >> those actually doing this work, from a ‘learner first’ perspective >> practical, hands on Best practices that are share across schools and districts A framework for designing and managing, similar to ‘design thinking’ Sustainable partnerships to 1) support student projects and 2) share resources (how do you) develop community support for a different approach to learning (time and energy to) Pursue grants to help support ‘extra’: field experiences, resources, PD, etc. Admin support for taking risks with experiments. If you are a teacher, how are you navigating the hurdles to offering student driven inquiry projects to your students? In the discussion of barriers for students, several participants brought up a recent piece in the New York Times that noted that economic stability and integration of families, as well as higher levels of teacher pay in the US Defense Department’s schools were among key factors that allow those schools to outperform public school systems. You can find the article here. One caveat noted in the discussion– the focus of these schools is on a standardized curriculum with traditional models of instruction. A special thanks for our featured guest, Andi Gomoll from Gomoll Research & Design who brought her extensive experience with understanding what motivates and engages users (customers) to the conversation. And, as always, we’re appreciative of MSOE for letting us make use of the NM Lab in the WE Energies STEM Center every month. Up Next Collab Lab 57: Dealing with Uncertainty Thursday November 9th, 5:30 to 8:30 pm at MSOE’s STEM Center Actively using some form of PBL with your students and looking for ideas or encouragement from others? Consider joining your peers in the inspirED Community.

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Collab Labs Return
September 6, 2023

We’ll be back at MSOE’s STEM Center on Thursday October 12th to kick off our 8th season of Collab Labs. If you’ve been looking for an opportunity build connections with individuals who share your passion to do more for students, exchange ideas with folks inside and outside of K-12, and explore opportunities to collaborate, this is the place to do so. If you are a student that would like to see your school value all that you can bring, take on real challenges, and build connections to the broader community, this is your place to. Building off our experience with students in our April and May Collab Labs, we’re now extending a formal invite to middle and high school students who want to be part of the conversation. Our discussion topic for October is Heeding the Call of the Student — where do we hear that want to go, how can create opportunities for their concerns and passions to drive a richer exploration of what you had hoped to cover anyway? Collab Labs run 5:30 to 8:30 pm on the 2nd Thursday of each month October through May, except for January. There is no cost to attend, and beyond great people and great conversations, we provide food and drinks. We look forward to seeing you there.

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Collab Lab 55: Recap & Notes
May 18, 2023

How does mental health manifest itself in k12education? How is it compromised and what are the levers we may use to positively impact the learning culture for our students (and teachers etc.) May is Mental Health Month. It felt appropriate to continue the work our #CollabLab54 attendees had begun with a follow up conversation. So last Thursday, we hosted Collab Lab 55 to create a safe space for conversations about the factors that influences mental health negatively/positively for students, teachers and others, such as trust, empathy in education, difficult conversations etc.. Building on our first conversation in April, we gave our attendees a first draft of a model map of factors we collected together. Attendees at each table reviewed this map for accuracy and completeness using their particular perspective. They could focus on a specific area, review it as a particular stakeholder, etc. This was truly a ‘kitchen table conversation’ where people from different backgrounds, ages and experiences engaged in open dialog about what they experience every day. Together we identified how many of these factors are connected (but differently for teachers and students) and what we might do to break through the negative cycle many are experiencing. You can find our updated mapping here: Where might this lead?- Over the coming months, we’d like to see additional conversations taking place with people representing all stakeholders at the table- We’re going to make our STEM Studio time available over the summer for teachers (and students) to participate in a student project design lab.- we’d like see a project develop to add stories from students, teachers, parents to the map as illustrations of when culture ‘works’ to affirm students and build a positive culture of respect and collaboration in learning. There are many more opportunities that present themselves from having a comprehensive mapping like this. We’ll be exploring those over the coming months. Curious about the map that’s is under development? Have an idea you’d like to explore to address youth mental health in education? Since this was our final official Collab Lab of the 2022-23 school year, We want to thank Milwaukee School of Engineering for offering the use of the STEM Center this year (and again in the coming school year!), as well as Northwestern Mutual for sponsoring ‘our lab room’ in the STEM Center. The Collab Lab formula keeps getting better every season. We’re grateful for all of our attendees who came out for one of the Thursday evening sessions. We look forward to seeing many of you again next season and can’t wait to hear what cool learning you are offering your students as a result of the conversations you’ve had. Have a great summer!

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Collab Lab 54: Recap & Notes
April 26, 2023

Collab Lab 54 explored issues around youth mental health and violence. One of our largest groups to date, which included middle and high school student leaders, focused on factors that impact the degree to which students and teachers feel safe and affirmed at school. Matt Nink and Vanessa Rodriguez from SKY Schools kicked things off for us with a mindfulness exercise, after which we dove into the discussion. The output of those conservations was a long list of interrelated factors, and some initial thoughts on how those influence each other. We pulled those factors into the first draft of a system map. If you’re not familiar with a system map, each of the factors identified in the Collab Lab is represented as a node. Solid arrows connecting two nodes indicate that an increase in the factor represented by the first node leads to an increase in the factor represented by the second node. A dashed line indicates a negative relationship between nodes. As an example, zooming in on one area of the map, we indicate that Students’ feeling of affirmation are driven by level of student voice and leadership, and in turn an increase in the degree to which students feel affirmed at school leads to higher levels of respect for teachers and greater levels of engagement. Conversely, we suspect that an increase in the frequency of policing interventions will lead to a decrease in students’ feeling of affirmation. We invite you to explore the map in greater detail here. Again, this is a first draft, we haven’t been able to connect all of the factors raised in the session, so we know we are either missing nodes, or don’t understand how those do connect. It’s also likely that the connections we show between nodes might be off, and the phrasing used for some of the factors is unclear. Your feedback and ideas are more than welcome. Let us know what you see, or join us for Collab Lab 55 on May 11th, where we’ll use the discussion to get to an improved version, identify nodes where community partners are already focused, where some of the projects we’re looking at for the 2023-24 intersect and how this mapping might inform how we approach those. A special thanks to Kyle Ashley, Lawrence Battle, Nate Deans, Clintel Hasan, Maria Hamidu, and Sharlen Moore who got us started on this path, helped us plan the session, and recruit participants. A big thanks to the students from Glen Hills Middle School, Pathways and Reagan High Schools, and Youth Forward MKE sharing your voices and experience, and keeping the discussion focused on issues that matter most to youth!

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Collab Lab 32: Recap & Notes

Enthusiasm & Inspiration:

Gain Knowledge

Collaboration

Connections

Stretch & dive deep

Visions of what PD could be

Implementation of a school wide-initiative

Community

A specific helpful computer program (one of many)

Team Cohesion

Mindful moments

Power of Data – GIS

Differentiation

Equity Boot Camp

Thanks!

Resources

2023-24 Collab Labs

CL62: Return & Celebration