This document discusses strategies for understanding students' needs, teachers' needs, and developing oneself as a learner. It provides tips for getting to know students personally, building relationships, differentiating instruction, using technology purposefully, and making learning authentic. For teachers, it recommends relevant professional learning, collaboration, developing leadership, and support for new practices. It also emphasizes the importance of establishing a vision for 21st century learning, continually learning, and involving all stakeholders including IT staff. The overarching themes are developing a culture of sharing knowledge and ensuring deep learning for both students and teachers.

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