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If something's missing from your presentation...

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The Dilts Pyramid as a Coaching Tool | Helping You Harmonise

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My recent post about Technologies of the Self got me thinking about Robert Dilts' hierarchical model of 'neurological levels'.

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Brilliant Minds Blog: Neurological Levels

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Neurological levels is a concept pioneered by Robert Dilts back in the early days of NLP, but somehow it seems to have been overlooked in a lot of modern NLP training. Some schools of NLP still include it, but others have disregarded it.

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Malcolm Knowles

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Author Robby Champion, National Staff Development Council

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How To Make Presentations That Teach and Transform

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How To Make Presentations That Teach and Transform

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Authours: Robert J. Garmston and Bruce Wellman

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Groups at Work
Leading Groups

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Ann Delehant

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Blog-

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Essential Conditions for Implementing Change

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Essential Conditions for Implementing Change

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http://essentialconditions.ca

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ERLC website - numerous resources for leaders
http://www.engagingalllearners.ca

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Instructional Strategies from Dr. Marcia Tate

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Instructional Strategies from Dr. Marcia Tate

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Reflection on what you do, and what you can do in the future

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Mel Silberman

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100 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People

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100 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People

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Authour: Susan M. Weinschen

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Authour: Lois Brown Easton

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http://www.funretrospectives.com/zip-zap-zoom/

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Pictures of books referred to in the session

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Pictures of books referred to in the session

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Pictures of the books used in the session 

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Pictures of the books used in the session 

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Protocols - National School Reform Faculty

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Protocols - National School Reform Faculty

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If you're interested in facilitating your meeting by using protocols- have a look through this list!

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Since 1994, the National School Reform Faculty has created and refined more than 200 protocols and activities to use in Critical Friends Group ® communities, classrooms, meetings, and beyond. Each one is designed to help you arrive at a specific desired outcome, efficiently and effectively. Our oldest, "original" protocols* are available to you as downloadable PDF files through the open-access list provided below. If you know the name of the protocol or activity you wish to use, scroll down the list to find it by its title.

If you have an active regular membership or coaches' membership, you have access to the extended Protocol Libraries which provide updated and refined protocols, activities, and additional resources with focused search options and distinct categories, as well as protocol/activity overviews and definers.

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Article from Ryerson University

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Powerful tool for creating opportunities for teachers to set an intention for their participation in

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Recently, someone asked if I could describe exactly what I do the first time I introduce this routine. How do I frame it? What exactly do I say? Here's what I do.

Getting Started

First, the "Intention Setting" activity comes right after three others: the Welcoming, Agenda Review, and Community Agreements. In the Welcoming section, I garner all the warmth, enthusiasm, and calmness I can muster and express my gratitude for being wherever it is that I am and I add other introductory comments. But I keep them short, just a few minutes.

Next we get into the Agenda Review. Sometimes I offer a little framing commentary, giving them some background about why we're going to learn or do what we will and then I invite them to read over the agenda.

They all have hard copies of the agenda which provides a detailed road map for our learning, with overarching outcomes for the session:

The "What" (the activities and topics)

The "Why" (the reasoning behind each section), and,

the "How" (the structures in which they'll learn, the timing for sections and the materials they'll need)

Group Norms and Agreements

Then I ask them to identify what they're looking forward to doing, what they're excited about learning -- and to share those reflections with a partner. This section is important; I want to start directing their thinking to what they'll feel positive about.

After they've shared with a partner and I've answered any clarifying questions about what we're going to do, then I review the community agreements or norms for the group. When I'm working with a group that doesn't have any established, I offer a few of my own: take care of yourself, take risks, be a vulnerable learner, and be mindful of other learners.

And then I move into intentions, and I say this:

"Given where we're going today in our learning together and given whatever you're coming in the room with -- whatever is on your mind and going on in your life -- I want to invite you to set an intention. An intention is a statement about how you want to be today or what you want to get out of today. It describes an aspiration for how you might think, feel, engage with others or engage in your learning so that you can be your best self today.

"This is for you. An intention can sound like, 'I want to be fully present.' To be honest, that's often mine. It could be 'I want to take risks.' An intention could also be, 'I want to connect with others' or, 'I want to ask hard questions because I usually shy away from doing that.' An intention can be 'I want to be accepting of my colleagues and not get annoyed by things they say.' That's been mine on a few occasions. An intention reflects whatever might be most helpful for you, right now, to get the most from today."

Rationale for Setting Intentions

I also offer some information about why setting intentions is useful. I tell them:

"When you set an intention, you are more likely to make choices that support it -- in what we do or what we think. You might forget all about your intention today, but some little part of your mind remembers it."

Sometimes I share this quote by Daniel Siegel, from The Mindful Brain, "Intentions create an integrated state of priming, a gearing up of our neural system to be in the mode of that specific intention: we can be readying to receive, to sense, to focus, to behave in a certain manner." I like sharing that neuroscience supports this activity and that it primes our mind to notice the actions, opportunities, people, and things that can bring about our intention for us. Some who may be less excited about intentions get engaged when I offer scientific reasoning.

After I say these things (and show a couple slides with a few of these phrases on them) I invite them to write their intention on the top of their agenda so that they can find it later. This accomplishes two things: It becomes somewhat mandatory because the overwhelming majority of people will do this since everyone else will be writing, and it lets them know that we'll come back to it.

I also invite them to turn to their partner and share their intention. I tell them, "Speaking your intention to another person creates a really nice, soft accountability for ourselves. Our partner is not going to keep track of whether we're holding it, but because we've told someone else, we'll be more mindful of it."

Then I share my intention with the whole group. Sometimes I share it earlier; it depends on the mood in the room and my relationship with them, but I always share mine at some point. I do this because I want to be softly accountable to them and I also want to model the ways in which we can set an intention -- the depths to which we can go. I look for ways to model intentions that are authentic, vulnerable and that connect me with participants. It's an opportunity for me to show up as a colleague, a learner, and a human being.

If I'm working with a group for more than a couple times, I sometimes add on a piece: I ask them to set an intention and then identify what it'll look or sound like to someone else if they're holding that intention today. "So if your intention is to be present, perhaps that means you will only check your phone or email during the break, or if your intention is to take risks, then maybe you'll contribute to the whole group discussion at least once." I do this because I want to nudge people towards the actions that will demonstrate the intention and that will help them feel successful.

That's how I roll out intentions.

Closing and Reflection

It's really important to go back to them during the time you have with a group. If it's a short meeting (an hour or two) then I'll just return to it at the end of the time, during the "Closing" section of the agenda. I'll say this:

"Pull out your agenda and recall the intention you set. How did that intention work for you today? Were you aware of it at any point? Did it help you in any way? This isn't an opportunity to beat your self up; if you forgot all about it or didn't hold it, that's ok. This is just a gentle reflection on whether it showed up for you."

Sometimes I invite people to share their reflection with their partner, but not always. If I'm working with a group all day, then mid-day, before lunch I'll ask them to return to their intention and see how it's been showing up for them. And after lunch, often as they're returning to their spaces, I'll say:

"As you're settling back in, recall your intention. Does that still feel like the best one for the afternoon? Or is there another intention that might be more helpful? You can always change intentions. As you settle down, settle yourself back into your intention."

The longer you work with a group and engage in this intention-setting routine, the faster, easier, and deeper it gets. That's simply because the more you do something, the easier it gets. And so the more often we remind ourselves that we are intending to do something, the easier it gets.

I set intentions before I go into a coaching session, lead a workshop, or sit down to write. It's a quick way for me to get focused and clear, it helps me feel like I have control over what how I feel, how enter into a conversation, and how experience it.

Try setting them for yourself and see what happens. And try inviting a group of teachers to set intentions and see what happens.

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Setting Intentions: A Powerful Tool To Help Us Learn | Edutopia

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Recently, someone asked if I could describe exactly what I do the first time I introduce this routine. How do I frame it? What exactly do I say? Here's what I do. First, the "Intention Setting" activity comes right after three others: the Welcoming, Agenda Review, and Community Agreements.

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Ten Tips for Offering Awesome Professional Development

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Ten Tips for Offering Awesome Professional Development

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Developing and Delivering Effective Professional Development for Educators

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Developing and Delivering Effective Professional Development for Educators

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Being an educational technology trainer and an educator for more than a decade, I have had a fair share of training and professional development sessions both on giving and receiving end. Recently, I found myself sitting in a conference room along with 200+ educators for one day workshop.

Almost everyone present there came armed with a crisp diary, a pen, an iPad, a smartphone or a laptop and of course, a few entered with a favorite coffee mug. Some educators had flown in from far and reached a day early to get started on time for the early morning workshop. Some had traveled for a few hours to be there just on time and some were still trickling in the conference room even after the workshop had started.

There were school leaders, experienced teachers, new teachers and even some interns hoping to become educators. We were a diverse group of educators with one goal: learn from the workshop, take the learning back to our respective schools and implement the best teaching and learning practices to enhance student performance.

At the end of the day, as I flipped through my untouched diary and an unused iPad, I could not help but wonder:

1. Did I learn anything in this workshop?

2. Is the time, effort and money spent on the workshop making me a better educator?

The answer to both of these questions was unfortunately negative.

Recent educational research studies indicate "One Shot Professional Development" does not bring change to classroom instruction, implementation, and student performance. The key to effective classrooms seems to be at the grassroots level i.e. effective professional development for teachers. So what do we as educational leaders, need to do to make professional development effective for educators?

Here are a few tried and tested strategies to develop and deliver effective Professional Development (PD) for teachers:

1. Differentiation and Personalization: As educators, we all try our best to cater to different learning styles of our students. However, when it comes to our own learning this basic principle of modern education seems to take a back seat. While planning for PD for educators, give teachers a choice for choosing their own field of interest and level of expertise they are comfortable with such as beginner, intermediate and advanced learners.

For example, on teacher training days "Teacher A" must have a choice to choose an advanced session for English Essay Writing but a beginner session for technology integration.

2. Suitable Timing: In today's highly dynamic educational landscape, a multitude of strategies, tools, technology, and resources are shared by educators and for educators on a daily basis. However, for effective and engaging PD, when teachers make an effort attending a training session; they should be provided with an opportunity to be present both physically and mentally with complete focus. One must respect and understand boundaries of professional and personal time.

For successful outcomes, plan teacher PD sessions avoiding holidays, weekends, extended school days and reporting/ assessment cycles. Having devoted teacher training days/teacher INSET days dotted throughout the school calendar helps teachers to focus without worrying about juggling between day to day classroom management and personal commitments.

3. High Usability: Remember teacher time is precious and seems to be shrinking every single day for various reasons. A highly effective PD should enable teachers to create classroom content and implement practical strategies in the classroom right away.

4. Workshop Series: Moving away from one shot PD, many schools around the world are focusing on staggered PD. This is a series of focused workshops that are held by a guest speaker or a member of staff on a regular interval for deeper learning on the topic. A few weeks break between workshop helps teachers to plan the classroom content, try out strategies learned in the workshop, receive feedback from peers and students and finally fine-tune the content suitable to the needs of their students.

5. Discover in-House Talent: Teachers are the best resources for any school. Many teachers with just a bit of help can deliver incredibly practical training sessions full of experience-based strategies that have been successfully tried and tested in a classroom. Discovering in-house talent benefits staff by getting their skills and expertise recognized and at the same time helps the organization by having someone who understands training needs, knows the staff and customizes the content accordingly.

For Example: In one of my previous schools, I figured out teachers who were good at using technology and were willing to share their experience with using technology in their classroom. They were assigned "Tech Champions" titles and worked as the first point of contact for any tech related query.

6. On-Site PD: Once every two weeks, having a member of staff lead just a short 30-minute session about a popular strategy which has worked in the classroom has been a very popular PD model in many schools. These training sessions have always been received well by the educators as it is short, it is useful, it is onsite and it always has a glamorous name ranging from Maker Monday, Tech Tuesday, Wonderful Wednesday, Thriving Thursday or Fab Friday.

Another popular in-house PD for teachers comes from Teacher Slam, a quick 5-minute success strategy for the classroom. The Teacher Slam takes place at the beginning of any large meeting. It helps teachers to get recognized in front of their colleagues (along with maybe a bar of chocolate) and also sets the tone for productive discussions during the meetings.

7. Focused PD with Mentor/Coach: Many schools offer PD aligning with school's vision and mission. Teacher PD which fits into these long-term vision yields effective results for the whole organization, students, and the staff.

For example, a few years back "Integrating Technology" into the curriculum was the focus for my school. Therefore, class teachers and I co-planned all cross-curricular projects together for the two academic years. Being a tech coach/ mentor, I lead and modeled these linked lessons for the students where teachers observed the techniques and strategies for tech integration.

8. Extended PD Opportunities: Many times educators feel that they are being pushed into training sessions which they hardly find useful. On the other hand, a few feel deprived of the PD opportunities of their interest due to budget and time commitment issues. To tackle such issues, allocating teachers resources a fixed amount of funds and with time allowance in terms of PD days is becoming popular PD model with many schools.

For example, in one of the school's I worked earlier, each teacher received about USD 1500 as professional development fund each year. Keeping in mind best pedagogical practices, with this money the educator was empowered to explore PD opportunities via face to face, online or hybrid training. For some selected sessions, even a provision was made where teachers could take a few days off during the school days.

In this age of digital transformation, educators may choose from the plethora of online MOOCs which are a convenient and no-travel option. Most of these MOOCs are free and are led by top professors from reputed global universities. However, educators may also choose to opt for college credit option or Certificate of Completion with nominal fees. Some of these self-paced paced content providers for educators are: , Future Learn , , , , and Youtube for teachers
9. Reporting Mechanism: Reflection on the learning during and after the professional development sessions is an important reporting mechanism. Sharing strategies about what was learned and how it impacts enhancement of pedagogical practices can be a very rewarding experience. Educators can share their learning via a blog, school-based learning environment or during one of the in-house training sessions such as Tech Tuesday, Tech Slam or teacher training days.
10. Ambience: Last but not least, a comfortable environment can foster effective learnings and its retention for further use for educators. Making 200 people seat in a cramped and an uncomfortable space is rarely productive. Although the main focus of any professional development session is on teaching and learning, workshop ambiance, especially in a face to face environment, is an essential factor for success.

One must have hands-on activities with regular breaks to refresh mind and body by avoiding monotony and information overload. Coffee breaks and lunch breaks also provide opportunities for an educator to develop their professional network and have meaningful interactions in an informal environment.

If space permits, banquet style (a numbered round center table with a chair placed around) seating arrangements with a maximum of 8 to 10 candidates effectively engage all the participants of the group. It is also a good idea to provide water and maybe a bowl of candies/ mints to refresh the brain trying to absorb all the information being presented. Banquet style seating is both comfortable and productive as it allows you to pre-plan sitting arrangements and have grouping list published keeping in mind the topic and learning outcome. For this purpose, one can create a mixed grouping, subject area grouping, specialization grouping and of course free seating.

Hoping these guidelines can support school leaders and educators to provide professional development opportunities which empower educators to create content, model best practices, connect with a wider educational community and continually keep improving on them by received feedback and feedforward to benefit the students in every way possible.
Research Credits: Harris, Graham, and Adkins, 2015 Leading at a Higher Level Center for Public Education
Apple Educational Trainer

Apple Distinguished Educator

Google Certified Innovator

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Developing and Delivering Effective Professional Development for Educators - EdTechTeam

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Being an educational technology trainer and an educator for more than a decade, I have had a fair share of training and professional development sessions both on giving and receiving end. Recently, I found myself sitting in a conference room along with 200+ educators for one day workshop.

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Process for moving through a presentation

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We create practical, timely, affordable professional learning to help educators and instructional leaders provide students with a modern, equitable, and quality education.

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Using multiple intelligences in learning environments

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Using multiple intelligences in learning environments

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Multiple Intelligences of Howard Gardner

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Multiple Intelligences of Howard Gardner

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HBR's 10 Must reads on Change Management

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HBR's 10 Must reads on Change Management

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If you read nothing else on change management, read the definitive articles from the HBR. Included below in the link is chapter one John Kotter's "Leading Change" article.

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Guide For Using 5 of the most common Protocols

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Guide For Using 5 of the most common Protocols

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Harvard Education

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Strategies for working with the Tough Cookies

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Strategies for working with the Tough Cookies

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Evaluating Professional Development: Thomas R. Guskey: 9780761975618: Books - Amazon.ca