Summary of the Day 1 Breakouts

2. Method
• Floated between sessions
• Made it to four of the five breakouts
• Listened to six of the research presentations
• Wrote down what I was hearing verbatim
without adding my impressions
• Asked questions to pull out more information

3. Knowing Our Students-
Understanding Their Needs
• Know your students
• Be fluent in their culture and speak their
language.
• Build relationships
• Meet the needs of the students
• Be flexible in meeting the needs of your
students
– How do they prefer to be communicated with?
– Do not offer core subjects first period

4. Knowing Our Students-
Understanding Their Needs
• Meet them where they are and leverage their
strengths
• Journaling is a non threatening way to get
certain children to open up and share
• First Nation children are just like all children,
they love technology.
• Can you answer the question- “What are you
doing for our students?”

5. Knowing Our Students-
Understanding Their Needs
• Observe students, consider how they learn,
bring that information to the teachers and
plan together to change teaching.
• Elevate student voice- in passive and active
ways
• Traditional ways were not working- we need
to know more to serve better
• - Needs of Learners - Needs of Community

6. Knowing Our Students-
Understanding Their Needs
• Do you know how do these kids tick?
• Become a learner of student learning.
• Study children and determine how they
get their needs met. Almost like creating
an independent learning plan for each
kid.
• Make it personal for kids. Consider their
ideas, needs, passion. Inspire students.

7. Knowing Our Students-
Understanding Their Needs
• Make learning authentic.
• Help kids connect with subject matter experts
• Help kids do something -- accomplish
something.
• Give children rich and robust tasks with real
world problems to solve
• Use technology with a purpose and include
learning activities that feature student voice.

8. Knowing Our Students-
Understanding Their Needs
• We need to be up to our elbows in deep
learning with kids.
• You need to be in the middle of the learning
with the kids- not stand and deliver
• Curriculum should be organized so that it is
sustained, embedded and just in time
learning.
• Work should focus on good pedagogy and
21st C learning.

9. Knowing Our Students-
Understanding Their Needs
• How can we engage students?
• As freedom increased (with student choice)
achievement increased.
• Special needs kids felt included and like
everyone else when they had the iPad.
• Rhythm (musical and cadence helps kids learn)
• Even when we are on the technology - need each
other present to learn
• Need IT to be supportive of children’s needs.

13. Knowing Our Faculty-
Understand Their Needs
• Effective professional learning needs to be
relevant to the needs of teachers and their
students while providing opportunities for
application, practice, reflection, and practice.
• Professional learning is most effective when you
immerse teachers in the work.
• Traditional ways were not working- we need to
know more to serve better
• - Needs of Staff
• - Needs of System

14. Knowing Our Faculty-
Understand Their Needs
• Are you differentiating your professional
learning?
– Innovators come and leave.
– Don’t Spend all your effort on the laggards.
– Develop leaders in the group.
– Empower those who get it to share what they know
with others
• Professional learning should not be one size fits
all.
• Help teachers see the path forward.

15. Knowing Our Faculty-
Understand Their Needs
• Teachers need release time to plan -- not just be
given technology and be expected to use it.
• As teachers planned for and used the technology
collaboratively for teaching they gained expertise
and went from learner to mentor to facilitator
and eventually lead learner.
• Tell teachers that TLLP grants are available-
encourage them to apply

16. Knowing Our Faculty-
Understand Their Needs
• Help teacher understand that 21st Century skills
has nothing to do with technology.
• Need technology support there when it is
needed.
• IT staff has to be a collaborator with any
professional learning plan
• Do you have a plan for getting reluctant staff or
faculty on board with the shifts and change?

19. Knowing Ourselves- Learners First
• We need to first develop a vision of
what 21st Century classroom looks
like
• We need to read the literature, think
deeply as we plan and build on the
shoulders of giants
• Establishing vision is easy, it is
keeping up with the change that is
hard.

20. Knowing Ourselves- Learners First
• We do not know it all- we are learning as we
go
• It is ok not to know- it is not ok to not be
actively trying to learn.
• We need to be up to our elbows in deep
learning with kids.
• You need to be in the middle of the learning
• We have the knowledge management tools
to keep up.
•

23. Key Themes
• Visible Learning- Share What You Know culture
• Sheep beget Sheep
• The deep learning for teachers didn’t come
from training and the deep learning for children
doesn’t come from teaching.
• IT staff needs to be involved- make them a key
partner sitting next to your pedagogy
champions
• All children, all parents, all teachers are
important. Do not leave any of them out of your
specific plans customized for their specific