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"Teacher or Facilitator: Is it just semantics? What is the first thing that comes to mind when someone uses the word, "facilitator"? Perhaps you think of words like planner, coordinator, promoter, developer, or designer. All of these definitions lead us to think of a facilitator as someone who sets up, designs, and oversees an environment that is conducive to the goal at hand but they are not at the center of the scene."

"Please, No More Professional Development! By Peter DeWitt on April 17, 2015 8:10 AM Today's guest blog is written by Kristine Fox (Ed.D), Senior Field Specialist/Research Associate at Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (QISA). She is a former teacher and administrator who has passion for teacher learning and student voice. Kris works directly with teachers and leaders across the country to help all learners reach their fullest potential. Peter DeWitt recently outlined why "faculty meetings are a waste of time." Furthering on his idea, most professional development opportunities don't offer optimal learning experiences and the rare teacher is sitting in her classroom thinking "I can't wait until my district's next PD day." When I inform a fellow educator that I am a PD provider, I can read her thoughts - boring, painful, waste of time, useless, irrelevant - one would think my job is equal to going to the dentist (sorry to my dentist friends). According to the Quaglia Institute and Teacher Voice and Aspirations International Center's National Teacher Voice Report only 54% percent of teachers agree "Meaningful staff development exists in my school." I can't imagine any other profession being satisfied with that number when it comes to employee learning and growth. What sense does it make for the science teacher to spend a day learning about upcoming English assessments? Or, for the veteran teacher to learn for the hundredth time how to use conceptual conflict as a hook. Why does education insist everyone attend the same type of training regardless of specialization, experience, or need? As a nod to the upcoming political campaigns and the inevitable introduction of plans with lots of points, here is my 5 Point Plan for revamping professional development. 5 Point Plan Point I - Change the Term: Semantics Matter We cannot reclaim the term Professional Development for teachers. It has a long, baggage-laden history of conformity that does not

"Do we facilitate 21st Century means of Acquiring Knowledge?"

"In Manitoba there are traditionally five provincially mandated PD days per year. This year the topics for the first four of my school's PD days were 'Cultural Proficiency' (a division sponsored event), an 'EdCamp' (facilitated by division coordinators), a day where teachers work with other teachers from around the province in their teaching area, and a school-based session on 'Deeper Learning and Critical Thinking' with support from a division coordinator. Our final day will be on the topic of 'Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports'. We will join one of our feeder elementary schools, and the day will be facilitated by divisional educational support services staff. Although these sessions have all been of great value, and have resulted in many thoughtful conversations, the days are somewhat disjointed. The topics for each day are chosen by divisional administration or school-based administrators, without the input of the teachers that will 'benefit' from the PD sessions. To make these PD days more valuable, teachers need to keep the conversations going on these important topics for deep learning to occur, or this 'one size fits all' model needs to be abandoned for a more teacher directed PD model. If teachers are in charge of the topic of their personal PD, they will be more likely to own this time and use the division sponsored PD days as a catalyst to deeper learning and connections to other professionals within their own building and beyond. Teachers need going beyond the four or five division sponsored PD days to ensure personal and professional growth."

"If you build it, will they come? Just because you create a makerspace (PDF) in your school doesn't guarantee that your community will embrace it. Students who have had all personal choice removed by traditional educational models can be passive and feel overwhelmed when faced with real-world problems or design challenges. Academic passivity is common in schools where students swallow content and regurgitate it on multiple-choice tests. Students simply want to know how to get the "A." This type of learning does not stick. Teachers may find the role of facilitator (or "guide on the side") uncomfortable if they are used to being the "sage on the stage." New technology in these spaces may be intimidating. Teachers need encouragement and professional development to change their mindsets and become facilitators of learning. How do you change your culture and ensure that your shiny new makerspace will empower students to acquire 21st-century skills? How do you change the culture of student apathy to encourage a mindset of doing? Follow these steps and design tips to build a culture of making and active learning."

"As an element of my technology sessions at Lakeland Elementary School's teacher inservice yesterday, I took a different approach. I did this partially to better model what I have preaching (teacher as facilitator rather than all-knowing bestower of knowledge) and also to give my teacher first hand experience in how a student feels in that environment. Additionally, it made the session more interactive (less boring) and by finding answers on their own, the teachers should better remember what they learned to do. In hindsight, I also believe a major benefit is the realization of many of my teachers that they know more, and can do more, than they thought they could. Being under the pressure of a time clock and motivated to beat the other teams, they had very little wiggle room to have their creative problem solving skills hijacked by self-doubt. Instinct kicked in. From the standpoint of the facilitator, it was fascinating (and addictive) to watch that happening. Very, very cool."

"f you build it, will they come? Just because you create a makerspace (PDF) in your school doesn't guarantee that your community will embrace it. Students who have had all personal choice removed by traditional educational models can be passive and feel overwhelmed when faced with real-world problems or design challenges. Academic passivity is common in schools where students swallow content and regurgitate it on multiple-choice tests. Students simply want to know how to get the "A." This type of learning does not stick. Teachers may find the role of facilitator (or "guide on the side") uncomfortable if they are used to being the "sage on the stage." New technology in these spaces may be intimidating. Teachers need encouragement and professional development to change their mindsets and become facilitators of learning. How do you change your culture and ensure that your shiny new makerspace will empower students to acquire 21st-century skills? How do you change the culture of student apathy to encourage a mindset of doing? Follow these steps and design tips to build a culture of making and active learning."

"Tinkering activities provide a powerful way to inspire students' interest, engagement, and understanding in science. The Tinkering Fundamentals course will help educators and enthusiasts develop a practice of tinkering and making. This course will focus on key design elements of high-quality, science-rich tinkering activities, effective facilitation strategies and environmental organization. Watch Intro Video About the Course The Tinkering Fundamentals course will offer educators and enthusiasts an opportunity to develop a practice of tinkering and making.  We see tinkering as a serious endeavor -- one that is generalizable across content and especially good at interweaving disciplines in a way that leads to complex projects and individualized learning opportunities.   Tinkering has recently been introduced into the educational field as a potential driver of creativity, excitement, and innovation in science learning. It is seen by many as an effective means to engage in exploring STEM concepts, practices and phenomena. Tinkering typically blends the high and low tech tools of science along with a strong aesthetic dimension that supports children's (and adults) self expression.  For over a decade, the Exploratorium has been developing science-rich tinkering activities. Working with learning scientists, we have identified a set of design principles and indicators of learning that can help you to integrate tinkering activities into your elementary and middle school science programs. This course will focus on key design elements of high quality science-rich tinkering activities, facilitation strategies, and environmental organization. Selected  tinkering activities will be centered around circuits for this course.  We will review the ways in which tinkering supports science learning through providing opportunities to deepen engagement, intentionality, innovation, collaboration, and understanding. This course will excite you, inspire you, and get you tinkering in

"In my last post I shared how presentation platforms/communities contribute to my professional learning, sharing, and growth. Search the Scoop.it community Also in my arsenal are tools that, in the old days, we would have called current awareness services. These curation tools allow you to follow others who share your interests and to push newsfeeds to your inbox after setting up a variety of search/interest parameters. Some push automatically; some allow you to hand-pick and annotate specific items from those feeds. Most also allow you to curate discoveries made on the fly through the use of a handy browser bookmarklet to facilitate clipping, scooping, pinning, bookmarking, etc. when you are not actually on the platform. These curated newspaper/magazine communities allow members to follow other members to facilitate discovery.  Again, it's all about the network.  Your discoveries will be as powerful and the people and organizations you chose to search and follow."

Welcome to the 21st Century! Can You Digg It? While the goals have more or less stayed the same, the methods and technologies used for the Three R's, Reading, Writing & Research, have started to shift. The workshop/s associated with this website continue to give the website developers, the workshop facilitators, and the workshop participants the opportunities to explore how to best facilitate teaching research and writing in the 21st century. Assumptions and Philosophies Rhetorically Situated Research Projects Scaffolded Research Projects Creative Research Presentations Technologies

"A few weeks back, I asked the Shake Up Learning Community to share their favorite collaborative tools and this post is a summarization are their top choices. (Click here to join the Shake Up Learning Community.) Collaboration is a critical twenty-first-century skill for our students. Finding ways to facilitate and support collaboration in the classroom is not always easy. Keep in mind that digital tools are not inherently collaborative, it is how you use them to facilitate collaboration in your classroom. All of the tools below have the capability but may support collaboration in different ways."

" recently heard that a conference speaker told his audience, "We need fewer teachers and more facilitators." My first reaction was, "1986 called and would like its keynote back." My second thought was that the speaker is dead wrong!"

"Manipulatives are objects that allow learners to interact with mathematical concepts. The learner changes the manipulative in some way, and the manipulative provides informative feedback. Research suggests that using maniuplatives (physical or virtual) has a positive effect on student achievement.  Check out how ST Math educators incorporate physical manipulatives with education technology to provide different ways to explore math concepts and facilitate deeper learning:"

"I was asked recently why I have a strong interest and innate understanding of the growth mindset. I believe it comes from a background of being an adventure educator, and even though it was not labeled as such, the adventure educator embraces a growth mindset when working with participants. The underlying tenet of adventure education is "You are capable of so much more than you can even imagine. I believe in you and your capabilities; and I will set up the conditions for you to develop and amplify that same belief in yourself.""

Specifically, what we're looking for are ways to use technology to facilitate active learning opportunities during the summer.

"Reflection" is a vital component of service-learning. This manual was designed for educators and leaders of service groups who have an interest and a commitment to provide reflection opportunities for students and community partners alike. College professors, K-12 teachers, community organization leaders, and leaders of service organizations have all found, "Facilitating Reflection: A Manual for Leaders and Educators," a useful supplement to their work.

"Technology in and of itself cannot make school practice innovative, and will not produce educational change, but technology, in the hands of pedagogically skilled educators it can enable innovative practice and facilitate educational change."