+
Building a Professional
Community of Resources
AACTE 69th Annual Meeting
March 2, 2017 – 10:00am
Lipscomb University College of Education
Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning & Innovation
Your presenters:
 Deborah Boyd, Ed.D.
 Dean & Director of Graduate Studies
 Professor of Education (Lipscomb University)
 Megan Parker Peters, Ph.D.
 Director of Teacher Education and Assessment
 Assistant Professor of Education (Lipscomb University)
 Forrest Doddington, M.S.
 Content Technology Specialist
 Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning & Innovation
Lipscomb is one of only four teacher-preparation colleges in the U.S. to receive the
highest four-star rating from the National Council of Teacher Quality. We attribute that,
in large part, to our emphasis on community engagement and cultural understanding—
our graduates gain the skills and the sensitivity to improve students’ lives all over the
world.
The Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning & Innovation serves as a bridge between
policy and practice, as well as between educators in K-12 and higher education. Our
mission is to support teachers and leaders in improving student outcomes through
proven professional learning and resources and to incubate innovative instructional
ideas.
Objectives:
 Highlight the need for a professional
community of resources.
 Explore benefits to different types of users
 Demonstrate kinds of resources available
 Consider how to use for collaboration
 Consider how to drive professional growth
The universal need:
 Need for teacher collaboration
 Need for quality knowledge base
David, J. (2008). What research says about collaborative inquiry. Educational Leadership, 66, 87-88.
Hiebert, J., Barkley, R., Gallimore, R., & Stigler, J. (2002). A knowledge base for the teaching profession: What would
it look like and how can we get one? Educational Researcher, 31, 3-15.
Kosanovich, M., & Foorman, B. (2016). Professional learning communities participant’s activities for the What
Works Clearninghouse.
Lenkei, A. (2016). How to find quality K-12 open educational resources. Education Week.
Willis, S. (2002). Creating a knowledge base for teaching: A conversation with James Stigler. Educational
Leadership, 59, 6-11.
Discuss:
 What is the role of higher education in building greater
capacity for knowledge sharing within education (Pre-K
through university studies)?
The need in Tennessee:
 Modernize the “Tennessee
Curriculum Center” website.
 Expand Math & Science
teaching resources
 Migrate TNCore resources to a
new distribution platform
Ayers Institute
Origins
Goals:
Create a free “Online Resource-sharing Portal” that:
 Presents learning plans across many different content
areas.
 Units, lessons, task arks, task/activities
 Presents resources tied to academic standards.
 Common Core and transition to TN State Standards.
 Adaptable to future education standards structures.
 Encourages ongoing contributions from and
collaboration between professional educators.
New, online resource for educators
Units, lessons, task arcs, tasks, assessments,
videos, and professional learning materials
http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
Create an Account / Login
http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
Major Sections
http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
Learning Plans
Learning Elements
What is in each section:
 “Instructional Exchange”
 Unit plans
 Lesson plans
 Task arcs
 Instructional activities/tasks
 “Educator’s Toolkit”
 Instructional strategies
 Assessment tasks &
rubrics/scoring guides
 Downloadable files (e.g.
graphic organizers)
 Website links & reviews
 Multimedia (audio/video)
 Professional learning
resources
What is in each section:
 “Instructional Exchange”
 Unit plans
 Lesson plans
 Task arcs
 Instructional activities/tasks
 “Educator’s Toolkit”
 Instructional strategies
 Assessment tasks &
rubrics/scoring guides
 Downloadable files (e.g.
graphic organizers)
 Website links & reviews
 Multimedia (audio/video)
 Professional learning
resources
Learning Plans Learning Elements
Resource Samples
http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
Activity/Task
“Rock Relay Races”
By: Madeline Chimka
 Science
 Grade 6-8
Lesson Plan
“The Nautilus Spiral”
By: Gerri Dupee
 Geometry
 Grade 9-12
Website Review
“Journey North”
By: Melissa Javors
 Science
 All grade levels
Standards Alignment
http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
Academic Standards
MSP Grant: Teacher Cadre
http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
Teacher Cadre: Process
 Application & selection process
 2 face-to-face professional learning sessions
 Creating high-quality, standards-aligned resources
 Monthly virtual professional learning sessions
 Resource creation, refinement, and reflective review
 Peer review process
 Evaluation rubrics
 Upload to eduTOOLBOX
Teacher Cadre: Schedule
Resource types Create Review
Website Review &
Activity/Task
September October
Activity/Task &
Assessment Item
October November
Lesson Plan &
Assessment Item
November January
Activity/Task &
Assessment Item
January February
Lesson Plan &
Assessment Item
February March
Website Review &
Activity/Task
March April
Evaluation Rubrics
Teacher Cadre: Results
 13 teachers participated
 4 elementary school
 5 middle school
 4 high school
 8,327* students impacted by participating teachers
 132 new academic resources created & shared
* Estimated based on school populations
Teacher Cadre: Reaction
 “I grew a lot as a result of creating materials worthwhile
for other teachers.”
 [I valued most…] “Getting the feedback.”
 “I personally feel pride in the fact I was able to contribute
my material to the public use of teachers. I also enjoyed
the good faith desire of my Cadre to help me make quality
lessons and to give good helpful feedback.”
Teacher Cadre: Reaction
 “I value all of the lessons and activities I now have access
to! Having time to revise and edit assignments was fantastic.
It would be great to implement something like that within
my school. It is awesome to get feedback in a non-
threatening, professional environment.”
 “Writing and reviewing detailed lesson plans increased my
familiarity and ability to identify standards and
applications of the material. Collaborating renewed my
enthusiasm for staying current and looking for new ways
to teach. That invigorates the classroom.”
MSP Grant: Faculty Cadre
http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
Faculty Cadre: Process
 Identify and recruit relevant faculty members
 Undergraduate & Graduate courses
 Clinical Practice I & II (Undergraduate – ED 3636 & ED 3649)
 Planning, Instruction & Assessment (Graduate – EG 5053)
 Instructor: Unit/lesson planning assignment
 Existing requirement of the courses
 Instructor: Review and revision process
 Instructor: Select high-quality units/lessons for submission
 Review to ensure original work (must not include copyrighted
material)
 Transfer files from College of Education to Ayers Institute
 Upload to eduTOOLBOX
Faculty Cadre: Schedule
 Beginning of course
 Include in syllabus
 Explain opportunity to publish student work
 End of course
 Select high-quality works
 Review / revise prior to publication
 Submit to Ayers Institute
Faculty Cadre: Results
 8 faculty members participated
 4 undergraduate instructors
 1 graduate instructor
 3 consulting faculty (review/revise materials)
 27 teacher preparation students participated*
 141 new academic resources created & shared
 29 unit plans with 4 to 5 lessons in each unit
* Restricted to math & science units/lessons by grant parameters
Faculty Cadre: Reaction
 “Participating in this process caused us to reevaluate
how we are structuring our unit planning assignment.
We discovered more reliance on gathering existing
materials (for example: Teacher Pay Teacher) than we
expected. We want to build capacity in our teacher
candidates so they can create new instructional plans
and resources. The review for publication process
contributed to an increase in rigor for this component
of the course.”
Shared knowledge, broad impact
Building a Professional Community of Resources
Usage Statistics
Soft-launch:
March 15, 2016
Official launch (publicity):
July 1, 2016
 All Tennessee + 49 states
 398,000+ pageviews
 29,000+ users
 5,300+ user accounts
Global Reach
Top countries:
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Philippines
4. India
5. United
Kingdom
103 countries outside the USA.
Small group discussion:
 Dream for ME:
 How could you use eduTOOLBOX locally in your work?
 How could your team participate in eduTOOLBOX?
 Dream for US:
 How can we build capacity for teacher collaboration and
shared knowledge within the field of education?
Questions & Answers
+
Building a Professional
Community of Resources
AACTE 69th Annual Meeting
March 2, 2017 – 10:00am
Lipscomb University College of Education
Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning & Innovation

Shared Knowledge: Building a Professional Community of Knowledge

  • 1.
    + Building a Professional Communityof Resources AACTE 69th Annual Meeting March 2, 2017 – 10:00am Lipscomb University College of Education Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning & Innovation
  • 2.
    Your presenters:  DeborahBoyd, Ed.D.  Dean & Director of Graduate Studies  Professor of Education (Lipscomb University)  Megan Parker Peters, Ph.D.  Director of Teacher Education and Assessment  Assistant Professor of Education (Lipscomb University)  Forrest Doddington, M.S.  Content Technology Specialist  Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning & Innovation
  • 3.
    Lipscomb is oneof only four teacher-preparation colleges in the U.S. to receive the highest four-star rating from the National Council of Teacher Quality. We attribute that, in large part, to our emphasis on community engagement and cultural understanding— our graduates gain the skills and the sensitivity to improve students’ lives all over the world. The Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning & Innovation serves as a bridge between policy and practice, as well as between educators in K-12 and higher education. Our mission is to support teachers and leaders in improving student outcomes through proven professional learning and resources and to incubate innovative instructional ideas.
  • 4.
    Objectives:  Highlight theneed for a professional community of resources.  Explore benefits to different types of users  Demonstrate kinds of resources available  Consider how to use for collaboration  Consider how to drive professional growth
  • 5.
    The universal need: Need for teacher collaboration  Need for quality knowledge base David, J. (2008). What research says about collaborative inquiry. Educational Leadership, 66, 87-88. Hiebert, J., Barkley, R., Gallimore, R., & Stigler, J. (2002). A knowledge base for the teaching profession: What would it look like and how can we get one? Educational Researcher, 31, 3-15. Kosanovich, M., & Foorman, B. (2016). Professional learning communities participant’s activities for the What Works Clearninghouse. Lenkei, A. (2016). How to find quality K-12 open educational resources. Education Week. Willis, S. (2002). Creating a knowledge base for teaching: A conversation with James Stigler. Educational Leadership, 59, 6-11.
  • 6.
    Discuss:  What isthe role of higher education in building greater capacity for knowledge sharing within education (Pre-K through university studies)?
  • 7.
    The need inTennessee:  Modernize the “Tennessee Curriculum Center” website.  Expand Math & Science teaching resources  Migrate TNCore resources to a new distribution platform Ayers Institute
  • 8.
  • 9.
    Goals: Create a free“Online Resource-sharing Portal” that:  Presents learning plans across many different content areas.  Units, lessons, task arks, task/activities  Presents resources tied to academic standards.  Common Core and transition to TN State Standards.  Adaptable to future education standards structures.  Encourages ongoing contributions from and collaboration between professional educators.
  • 10.
    New, online resourcefor educators Units, lessons, task arcs, tasks, assessments, videos, and professional learning materials
  • 12.
  • 13.
    Create an Account/ Login http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
  • 14.
  • 21.
  • 23.
  • 24.
  • 25.
    What is ineach section:  “Instructional Exchange”  Unit plans  Lesson plans  Task arcs  Instructional activities/tasks  “Educator’s Toolkit”  Instructional strategies  Assessment tasks & rubrics/scoring guides  Downloadable files (e.g. graphic organizers)  Website links & reviews  Multimedia (audio/video)  Professional learning resources
  • 26.
    What is ineach section:  “Instructional Exchange”  Unit plans  Lesson plans  Task arcs  Instructional activities/tasks  “Educator’s Toolkit”  Instructional strategies  Assessment tasks & rubrics/scoring guides  Downloadable files (e.g. graphic organizers)  Website links & reviews  Multimedia (audio/video)  Professional learning resources Learning Plans Learning Elements
  • 31.
  • 32.
    Activity/Task “Rock Relay Races” By:Madeline Chimka  Science  Grade 6-8
  • 36.
    Lesson Plan “The NautilusSpiral” By: Gerri Dupee  Geometry  Grade 9-12
  • 41.
    Website Review “Journey North” By:Melissa Javors  Science  All grade levels
  • 45.
  • 46.
  • 50.
    MSP Grant: TeacherCadre http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
  • 51.
    Teacher Cadre: Process Application & selection process  2 face-to-face professional learning sessions  Creating high-quality, standards-aligned resources  Monthly virtual professional learning sessions  Resource creation, refinement, and reflective review  Peer review process  Evaluation rubrics  Upload to eduTOOLBOX
  • 52.
    Teacher Cadre: Schedule Resourcetypes Create Review Website Review & Activity/Task September October Activity/Task & Assessment Item October November Lesson Plan & Assessment Item November January Activity/Task & Assessment Item January February Lesson Plan & Assessment Item February March Website Review & Activity/Task March April
  • 53.
  • 54.
    Teacher Cadre: Results 13 teachers participated  4 elementary school  5 middle school  4 high school  8,327* students impacted by participating teachers  132 new academic resources created & shared * Estimated based on school populations
  • 55.
    Teacher Cadre: Reaction “I grew a lot as a result of creating materials worthwhile for other teachers.”  [I valued most…] “Getting the feedback.”  “I personally feel pride in the fact I was able to contribute my material to the public use of teachers. I also enjoyed the good faith desire of my Cadre to help me make quality lessons and to give good helpful feedback.”
  • 56.
    Teacher Cadre: Reaction “I value all of the lessons and activities I now have access to! Having time to revise and edit assignments was fantastic. It would be great to implement something like that within my school. It is awesome to get feedback in a non- threatening, professional environment.”  “Writing and reviewing detailed lesson plans increased my familiarity and ability to identify standards and applications of the material. Collaborating renewed my enthusiasm for staying current and looking for new ways to teach. That invigorates the classroom.”
  • 57.
    MSP Grant: FacultyCadre http://www.eduTOOLBOX.org
  • 58.
    Faculty Cadre: Process Identify and recruit relevant faculty members  Undergraduate & Graduate courses  Clinical Practice I & II (Undergraduate – ED 3636 & ED 3649)  Planning, Instruction & Assessment (Graduate – EG 5053)  Instructor: Unit/lesson planning assignment  Existing requirement of the courses  Instructor: Review and revision process  Instructor: Select high-quality units/lessons for submission  Review to ensure original work (must not include copyrighted material)  Transfer files from College of Education to Ayers Institute  Upload to eduTOOLBOX
  • 59.
    Faculty Cadre: Schedule Beginning of course  Include in syllabus  Explain opportunity to publish student work  End of course  Select high-quality works  Review / revise prior to publication  Submit to Ayers Institute
  • 60.
    Faculty Cadre: Results 8 faculty members participated  4 undergraduate instructors  1 graduate instructor  3 consulting faculty (review/revise materials)  27 teacher preparation students participated*  141 new academic resources created & shared  29 unit plans with 4 to 5 lessons in each unit * Restricted to math & science units/lessons by grant parameters
  • 61.
    Faculty Cadre: Reaction “Participating in this process caused us to reevaluate how we are structuring our unit planning assignment. We discovered more reliance on gathering existing materials (for example: Teacher Pay Teacher) than we expected. We want to build capacity in our teacher candidates so they can create new instructional plans and resources. The review for publication process contributed to an increase in rigor for this component of the course.”
  • 62.
    Shared knowledge, broadimpact Building a Professional Community of Resources
  • 63.
    Usage Statistics Soft-launch: March 15,2016 Official launch (publicity): July 1, 2016  All Tennessee + 49 states  398,000+ pageviews  29,000+ users  5,300+ user accounts
  • 64.
    Global Reach Top countries: 1.USA 2. Canada 3. Philippines 4. India 5. United Kingdom 103 countries outside the USA.
  • 65.
    Small group discussion: Dream for ME:  How could you use eduTOOLBOX locally in your work?  How could your team participate in eduTOOLBOX?  Dream for US:  How can we build capacity for teacher collaboration and shared knowledge within the field of education?
  • 66.
  • 67.
    + Building a Professional Communityof Resources AACTE 69th Annual Meeting March 2, 2017 – 10:00am Lipscomb University College of Education Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning & Innovation

Editor's Notes

  • #2 SPEAKER: Megan Symbol meaning: Bridge – Bridging gaps between policy & practice, K-12 & Higher Ed, and between educators Computer Screen – Digital Resources from the Ayes Institute Projector Screen – Courses & Seminars from the Ayers Institute Three People – Coaching & Custom Programs from the Ayers Institute
  • #4 Megan & Forrest
  • #5 Megan a. It is imperative that educators continue to act as a professional community, building upon shared knowledge. University and K-12 faculty alike find and use profession, research-based, and standards-based tools each day. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to access quality, classroom-tested, educator-reviewed educational resources? EduToolbox began as an idea to meet this need for educators across the globe.
  • #6 Megan a. Need for teacher collaboration: Teacher collaboration is among the most promising methods for improving teaching and learning in the classroom. However, it is also one of the most difficult to implement (David, 2008). Research suggests that when teachers collaborate in professional learning communities, their educational knowledge grows and their classroom practices change (David, 2008). Collaboration among teachers does not happen on its own; it runs against “prevailing norms of teacher isolation and individualistic approaches to teaching” (David, 2008). However, teacher collaboration, sometimes called “professional learning communities,” gets results.   b. Need for quality knowledge base: Educators need to have a common knowledge base. Academic researchers have added to what we know about teaching, but we need to learn practical knowledge from our best classroom educators (Hiebert, Barkely, Gallimore, & Stigler, 2002; Willis, 2002). A sustainable, professional knowledge base for the teaching profession would be an asset for both current educators and those to come (Hiebert, Barkely, Gallimore, & Stigler, 2002). This knowledge could be shared and improved upon as educators practice and refine their pedagogical and content knowledge.
  • #7 Megan
  • #8 Megan It is imperative that educators continue to act as a professional community, building upon shared knowledge. University and K-12 faculty alike find and use profession, research-based, and standards-based tools each day. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to access quality, classroom-tested, educator-reviewed educational resources? EduToolbox began as an idea to meet this need for educators across the globe. EduToolbox began as the result of a grant that funded a Math and Science curriculum partnership between K-12 educators and university faculty. At the same time, our state’s K-12 online curriculum center was “closing,” needing a place to be housed once the website was no longer accessible. As a part of the grant, exemplary teachers were recruited to create and share materials for teacher use. The group of teachers met periodically to peer-review materials, review the mission and vision for the project, and assess high-level curriculum materials. The group used a modified version of the state-adopted lesson planning rubric as a tool for peer review and curriculum assessment. In an effort to grow, strengthen, and diversify, five faculty members from our College of Education partnered with the group of teachers. The faculty members began participating in the group’s meetings and activities in addition to obtaining outstanding candidate work to submit to the group for potential use. As the work of the educator team, grant, and curriculum center merged, EduToolbox.org was born.
  • #9 Forrest
  • #11 SPEAKER: Forrest
  • #13 CHAT: The website address (URL) for eduTOOLBOX is http://www.edutoolbox.org .
  • #18 Explain: 1) password set after e-mail confirmation; 2) state verification via e-mail account or TNCore username & password.
  • #27 In this webinar’s title, we promised you that eduTOOLBOX could be a “secret weapon.” I think that by looking at this list of resource types, you can see how eduTOOLBOX can “give you an advantage” in effective instructional planning and professional development.
  • #29 The drop-down selection lists allow you to choose a content area and grade level that will filter your results to be relevant to your needs. For this example, I have chosen to filter the Unit Plans to focus on “English Language Arts & Literacy” and for Grade 8.
  • #33 SPEAKER: Rachael
  • #37 SPEAKER: Karen
  • #42 SPEAKER: Julia
  • #63 SPEAKER: Forrest
  • #64 We expect that eduTOOLBOX will be an effective tool for educators for many years. But, I have a feeling it won’t remain a secret for long. Word is already starting to get out.
  • #66 Deborah or Megan
  • #68 SPEAKER: Megan Symbol meaning: Bridge – Bridging gaps between policy & practice, K-12 & Higher Ed, and between educators Computer Screen – Digital Resources from the Ayes Institute Projector Screen – Courses & Seminars from the Ayers Institute Three People – Coaching & Custom Programs from the Ayers Institute
  • #69 Deborah or Megan