Eric C. Sheninger's Blog, page 13

Humble Leadership

Suppose you were to research or Google the qualities of effective leaders. In that case, all you would come up with are the typical characteristics such as good communication, ability to make difficult decisions, having a vision, models, and listening intently, to name a few. What doesn’t show up in routine searches is humility. There is a strong link between this trait and effective leadership. Jeff Hyman shared the following in a Forbes article:

A number of research studies have concluded that humble leaders listen more effectively, inspire great teamwork and focus everyone (including themselves) on organizational goals better than leaders who don’t score high on humility. Case in point: A survey of 105 computer software and hardware firms published in the Journal of Management revealed that humility in CEOs led to higher-performing leadership teams, increased collaboration and cooperation and flexibility in developing strategies.

Humble leaders are able to get the most out of people through intrinsic means, which often leads to lasting change and a positive culture. Here is another bit from the Forbes piece referenced above:

Humble leaders understand that they are not the smartest person in every room. Nor do they need to be. They encourage people to speak up, respect differences of opinion and champion the best ideas, regardless of whether they originate from a top executive or a production-line employee. When a leader works to harness input from everyone, it carries through the organization. As other executives and line managers emulate the leader’s approach, a culture of getting the best from every team and every individual takes root.

So how does one become a humble leader? The first step is understanding who you are and how your actions might be perceived or impact others, something I dive into deeply in Digital Leadership. Humility is characterized by a low focus on the self and an honest assessment of one’s worth and accomplishments. It also requires an acknowledgment of one’s imperfections, limitations, mistakes, shortcomings, and other areas of growth. You basically need to understand who you are.

Humble leaders are highly effective because they:

Earn trustUse an equitable lensTreat everyone with respectEncourage teamworkAdmit mistakesFoster a culture of learning

Although this is a common misconception, being humble does not mean you are weak. While some might see humility as a weakness, it is possibly the most significant asset a leader can yield. You don’t need to have all the answers. Instead, you must know where to find them, or better yet, leverage your people as a means to build capacity. Humility means you trust the people who you work with, delegate when necessary, and provide feedback to spur growth. Sometimes you might need to evolve into a humble leader and daily reflection is critical using a window and mirror approach. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”

Taking Learners Deeper with Reflection

 “We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.” – John Dewey

The quote above from Dewey has always resonated with me, especially when I am outside doing yardwork in Texas. In the past, I used to often get stung by bees and wasps. There is a difference between the two species and how they sting. Some of them actually bite. While each encounter resulted in a painful experience, they also provided a valuable opportunity for me to reflect on why I was susceptible to stings and how to avoid them. I always learned to wear long-sleeved shirts and observe my surroundings to spot their nests. I also habitually tracked them when they were seen flying around the same areas, which allowed me to find their nests and take them out. The bottom line is that I have not been stung in a long time.

It goes without saying that experience plays a pivotal role in learning for students and adults. In Disruptive Thinking in Our Classrooms, I shared the need to provide more opportunities for this in lessons as well as specific strategies that can be used. When reflection is added, it helps to improve the connection between what has been experienced and the outcomes that were derived. The case can be made that it allows learners to go deeper into concepts while becoming more competent.

Reflection is not a simple process of introspection. Instead, it is an evidence-based, integrative, analytical, capacity-building approach that serves to generate, deepen, critique, and document learning. Developing reflective skills is central to students’ academic and professional development within a discipline. The ability to reflect on one’s practice when confronted by a novel, unusual, or complex situation distinguishes expert practitioners from novices (Schön, 1983).

Routine reflection can:

Foster cognitive flexibilityAid in the construction and understanding of new knowledgeEstablish links between academic, emotional, and social experiencesDevelop essential competencies for success in a disruptive world

The outcomes listed above are supported by research:

Research has found that learning from direct experience can be more effective if coupled with reflection—that is, the intentional attempt to synthesize, abstract, and articulate the key lessons taught by experience. Additionally, the effect of reflection on learning is mediated by a greater perceived ability to achieve a goal resulting in self-efficacy.

Intentionality is key. The good news is that educators do not have to reinvent the wheel. When it comes to reflection in the classroom, the key is to make the time for it through alignment with routine pedagogy. Naturally, there is a tendency to include this at the end in the form of closure using the following prompts that can be answered using text, video, or audio:

What did you learn of value today?How might you apply what you learned outside of the classroom?Why was this learning important to you and your peers?

However, educators can integrate opportunities to reflect throughout a lesson. I shared the following KWHLAQ chart in Disruptive Thinking, which educators can adapt as needed.

Reflection as a part of learning is something that must be cultivated in the classroom and beyond. We can’t assume that students are familiar with this process. Thus, they can benefit from guidance to help them derive meaning from experience. Without this support, reflections may be limited to descriptive accounts of an experience or “venting of feelings” (Ash & Clayton, 2009). Experience, when reflected upon, is the best teacher.

Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. H. (2009). Generating, deepening, and documenting learning: The power of critical reflection in applied learning. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, 1(1), 25-48.

Schön, D. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. London: Temple Smith.

3 Ways to Create a Culture of Belonging

Everyone wants to feel that they belong where they work. A culture of acceptance and respect can reap the rewards for all stakeholders. Hence, we have seen an increased emphasis on workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Now, more than ever, getting people to feel valued is of utmost importance in the face of a myriad of challenges impacting morale. Susie Lee shared the following:

Studies have shown that a high sense of belonging at an organization was positively correlated with a 56% improvement in job performance and 75% fewer sick days. Employees have also told me that their sense of belonging is a key reason they want to work for the company. 

Move beyond “one-size-fits-all.”

Just like the students you serve, your staff has unique gifts and needs. It is essential to look at how you cultivate and nurture these, respectively. Consider providing opportunities for staff to spread their wings by heading up committees, planning professional learning, and working side-by-side with you to develop new courses, electives, and schedules. Move away from drive-by professional development and blanket approaches to personalized, job-embedded models. Also, consider multi-faceted means of evaluation and feedback that genuinely support growth.

Strive for embracement 

I have never been a fan of the term “buy-in” as it relies more on extrinsic as opposed to intrinsic means of motivation. As I shared in Digital Leadership, if you have to “sell” people on doing things differently or accepting a mandate, chances are your staff will never see the benefit of the change. The key is helping them see the inherent value of anything that is asked of them, especially large-scale change initiatives. There are many ways to empower your staff to embrace change, such as actively modeling what is expected, learning side-by-side with them, and using both data and research as a means for validation.

Model empathy

As a leader, people want you to understand what it is like to be in their shoes. Empathetic leaders work to provide time and support for staff so that they can do their job to the best of their ability. They are compassionate, flexible, show grace, and build people up by celebrating success. 

As leaders, it is vital for us to imagine ourselves in the position of others as this gives us a better perspective on the challenges and feelings of those we are tasked to serve. Better, more informed decisions can result from “walking in the shoes” of those who will be most impacted by our decisions. The result is a better sense of belonging.

The benefits are clear because even leaders want to belong. Sally Boardman shared the following:

A sense of belonging is crucial to our life satisfaction, happiness, mental and physical health and even longevity. It gives us a sense of purpose and meaning.

As you look to implement, refine, or improve DEI initiatives, consider how they help to create a culture of belonging. With this in place, people will bend over backwards for students, each other, and you as a leader. Make the work a place where people want to be and perform their best.

Rethinking Normal

It always amazes me that we possess such vivid memories of some experiences yet tend to forget others. As the years' pass, I am always trying to retain as many as possible from my childhood. One that sticks out goes way back to my pre-school years. Now I can’t remember if my twin brother and I were actually in a year-long program or just a set number of days where high school students worked with us. What I do recollect was the teacher, Mrs. McDonald. Years later, she would be my senior class advisor and someone I admired and respected.  

She was always a creative spirit in how she taught and motivated learners in culinary arts and early childhood development. Now I remember only two things from my pre-school years. The first was a big wooden train that all of us would fight over to play with, as it was the most popular toy at the time. Pretty normal, I would say, in the later 1970s. The other memory was of purple cow milk. Until now, “normal” milk was plain or flavored with chocolate or strawberry. Mrs. McDonald pushed us to move beyond our tastebud comfort zones and our perception that you could only put certain additives to flavor milk. We discovered that grape juice in milk looked cool and was quite tasty. She empowered us to rethink normal.

There is no better time than now to rethink education and the practices that are both favored and employed. Now I am not saying to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Instead, my call to action is to fight the urge to teach the way you were taught and lead the way you were led. Change can be a good thing as there is no such thing as perfection in education. This truth presents a constant opportunity to innovate and grow. However, there will always be challenges lurking in various forms. I shared the following in Disruptive Thinking in Our Classrooms:

The human brain is wired to keep us safe, and as a result, we often become averse to change. The status quo and our personal comfort zones create a perceived safety net that is difficult to relinquish. Our past experiences often dictate or influence our current professional practice. When this mindset is combined with silos erected to protect ourselves and organizations from external information and new ideas, it becomes clearer why transformational change is often just an idea that never gets put into motion. 

In a previous post, I shared the image below, which is a great starting point when it comes to re-thinking normal.  

It is ok to challenge conventional wisdom. The world is not sitting back and waiting for us to get on board with disruptive change. While “normal” might seem like the best or safest option, the question is, are we preparing kids for the present and future or the world where we grew up? There is no better time than now to change our practice for the betterment of those who we serve, whether that is students, colleagues, or other stakeholders. It begins with rethinking normal.  

The Siri and Alexa Test

I absolutely love being at home. Having an intense travel schedule makes you cherish the little things that help alleviate stress and relax. One of my favorite pastimes is taking advantage of being outside any chance I get. Moving to Texas seven years ago meant the weather would stay warmer longer, making this more realistic. There is almost always music, whether in the pool, doing yard work, or hanging out with family and friends. My wife even got me a JBL boombox for my birthday last year, which is so much better than hardwired speakers, thanks to Bluetooth and super loud sound. We can’t even keep it on tables as the bass is so strong that the vibrations make it roll off.

Advances in technology make listening to music an incredible experience these days. Thanks to artificial intelligence in the form of Alexa, everyone is now their own DJ. With my outdoor setup, I connect the boombox to the Amazon Firestick and then use the remote to have Alexa play my favorite songs using voice recognition. Most of the time I choose the greatest hits from the 1980s, but my diversified tastes take me through numerous genres. No matter my listening mood Alexa never lets me down, although there are times that I need to repeat my request.

I share the personal story above as access to artificial intelligence in the form of Siri and Alexa has impacts on the education space. Whereas in the past, knowledge could be readily accessed from encyclopedias and books, this took time. The Internet drastically changed this process by ushering us all into the Information Age. Artificial intelligence is now a disruptive force that allows anyone to instantaneously access basic knowledge and facts.   I see this as an opportunity in the classroom and beyond, but we must be honest about where some practices currently lie.

Educators love using game-based tools such as Kahoot, Quizizz, Blooket, and Gimkit as a means to review prior learning, check for understanding, and close lessons. I often see these in action a great deal when coaching in schools. The rub, however, comes in the form of the types of questions asked as the majority are simple recall or knowledge-based with stems such as who, what, where, and when. While this might be essential in the lower grades, it wanes in value as kids age. No longer do any of us have to “Google” an answer when we can just ask Siri or Alexa. I typically prove this point during workshops where I ask a low-level question using a “what” question stem and Siri responds with the correct answer every time.

With the tools above the key is to use question stems that get students to demonstrate understanding through comprehension. However, we shouldn’t stop there. In chapter 3 of Disruptive Thinking, I detailed how the Rigor Relevance Framework can be used to challenge all learners now and well into the future. Below are some simple strategies any educator can use to bump up the level of thinking in the classroom:

Scaffold questions and tasks (specific strategies HERE)DifferentiateUse writing and work as a measure of thinkingCreate challenging problems to solve

If we are to prepare learners for success in a disruptive world, we must make efforts to ensure they are competent. This is how we can pass the Siri and Alexa test.

Leading Through Windows and Mirrors

There is no shortage of ways to reflect on how we lead in an effort to initiate and sustain change. Culture is everything. Establishing and maintaining relationships is paramount, which Is why I detailed research-based ways to improve morale in a previous post and in Digital Leadership. Another way to help ensure success in this area is to hold ourselves accountable through a self-efficacy lens. Windows and mirrors can be incredible metaphors when it comes to effective leadership.   The essence of leaders who embrace this concept is crediting others for success and taking responsibility when things don’t go right. If mistakes occur, and they will, they are of the belief that it is their fault. Such leaders believe it is their fault if mishaps happen on their watch. We can refer to this as leading with a mirror in hand and looking out the window to see what matters most. 

In Good to Great, Jim Collins shares the following:

Great leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck). At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly.

 Windows and mirrors can be powerful leadership tools.

 As you reflect on your practice, consider the following:

Do my actions inspire change?Do I lift others up?Am I open to feedback?Do I seek opportunities to grow?Do I seek the input of others when making certain decisions?

Peer through a window and see who is most responsible for implementing and leading change that results in improved outcomes. The collective is bigger and more influential than one person. Be proactive when it comes to eliciting praise so that proper credit is given to those who are playing their part to ensure success for the system. It is essential to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and give credit accordingly where success is achieved (Brock et al., 2017). In the end, this will pay dividends not only for overall morale but also for your reputation as a leader. 

When something doesn’t go right or as planned, take a look in the mirror to own the outcome. Trust erodes when others are blamed publicly. Research has found that people are reluctant to admit they have failed because of a general desire to avoid negative social evaluation and disapproval from others (Leary, 2007). The buck stops with the leader, plain and simple. Without trust, there is no relationship. Without relationships, no real, meaningful change will occur. If the leadership team or staff falters, look in the mirror and reflect on what you, as the leader, could have done differently. Then pick your people up and begin anew. If an individual(s) is the cause of a problem, speak with them directly behind closed doors to rectify the issue. 

Leading through windows and mirrors can develop more humility and empathy, which will serve you well as you strive to support your staff. Both of these attributes are integral in developing relationships that underpin culture and are also necessary for leading change.  

Brock, S.E., McAliney, P.J., Ma, C.H. and Sen, A. (2017), "Toward more practical measurement of teamwork skills", Journal of Workplace Learning, 29 (2): 124-133.

Leary, M.R. (2007).  Motivational and emotional aspects of the self. Annual Review of Psychology. 58(1):317–344.

Addressing SEL and Behavior Challenges with Relationships

One question that is posed to me often by districts and schools is how their staff can be proactive when it comes to student behavior and addressing their social-emotional needs. It comes as no surprise to anyone that the pandemic, in the eyes of many, has led to an uptick in issues that not only disrupts precious learning time but also results in more discipline referrals, tardies, and absences. There is no silver bullet as many behavioral challenges manifest themselves outside the school day. However, practical mitigation steps can be taken by doing what we all know is of utmost importance to learning and that is developing relationships, something a dive into great detail in Disruptive Thinking in Our Classrooms. 

So, where do we begin? It is essential to realize how vital social-emotional learning (SEL) is when it comes to student behavior and academic success. A meta-analysis of 213 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students showed promising results. Compared to controls, SEL participants demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance that reflected an 11-percentile-point gain in achievement (Durlak et al., 2011). 

At the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE), we developed a relationships model in partnership with Dr. Stephanie Jones at the Harvard EASEL Lab that we utilize with administrators and teachers to create vibrant learning cultures. As this model shows, the impact of rigorous and relevant teaching and learning relies on strong student-educator relationships. The way to shape these relationships is through purposeful behaviors tied to three key indicators: Connection, Compassion, and Vulnerability. When you reflect on this above, consider what current practices support the main elements listed. In a past post, I outlined some specific SEL strategies that can be used at any time to aid in the process of addressing SEL needs and behavior, including daily meeting, digital surveys, and family engagement.

While there is a wealth of resources out there, I would be remiss if I didn’t outline some practices that can be employed regularly. For each, I attempt to highlight the clear benefits. 

Classroom Management: Co-create rules and consequences with students. Acknowledge positive behaviors regularly. Admin should look to work daily meetings into the schedule as a way to help teachers with management issues. Relevance: There is a great deal of research out there on the importance of relevance in the classroom and school, which you can read HERE. Students want purpose in their learning. Integrate interdisciplinary connections, authentic contexts, and real-world applications regularly to help convey meaning.Personalized Pedagogy: Moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach to equitable strategies can seamlessly align with RTI/MTSS, which are designed to address behavior proactively. Consider station rotation, choice activities, playlists, and flipped lessons to free up time to work with students who really need in-class support. Empathy: Using an empathetic lens by placing yourself in your students' shoes can help reduce kneejerk reactions. It is always important to remember that forces beyond our control impact kids.

Additionally, two of my ICLE colleagues had some incredible content for districts, schools, and educators to leverage immediately. Adam Drummond shared a comprehensive article on developing relationships by leading through compassion, embracing vulnerability, and making connections. You will not only find applicable relationship-building strategies here but also an array of visuals to focus on areas of growth. Venola Mason explains that supporting students’ social and emotional wellness is a catalyst for building strong teacher-student relationships that can ensure they are better adjusted, have more confidence, and perform better academically. In a recent article, she details five tips to assist with this process:

Be personable with studentsGet to know studentsSet stretch goalsMake learning funReach out to students in need

Without trust, there is no relationship. Without relationships, no real learning occurs. 

Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D. and Schellinger, K.B. (2011), The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions. Child Development, 82: 405-432.

Boost Morale with These Simple Strategies

Morale can best be defined as the confidence, enthusiasm, and discipline of a person or group at a particular time. Thriving cultures that produce results make every effort to keep this on the positive side. However, this is easier said than done. While the pandemic has undoubtedly played a monumental role in decreasing morale, other factors continuously play a role, such as leadership, mandates, lack of time, systems that are in place, a toxic culture, inadequate pay, or trying to maintain a work-life balance. No matter the cause, it’s up to the leader and their team to constantly be proactive to combat low morale.

Below are some simple strategies that you can use immediately and long-term, many of which are research-based.

Pile on the positive feedback

Sometimes there is never enough of a good thing when it comes to building up culture. Research has shown that feedback is vital in establishing good relations as it can enhance relationships, strengthen loyalty and commitment, and increase morale (Smith, 2009). When it comes to feedback, make sure it is timely, specific, practical, facilitated in a positive manner, and is a dialogue as opposed to a monologue. Actively look for opportunities to provide feedback through diverse means such as phone calls, paper notes, technology, and face-to-face conversations.

Actively inquire about how people are feeling

While this might seem like a no-brainer, it is not easy at times to know how people really feel unless diligent efforts are made to find out. Listening is one of the best tools that can be leveraged to gather crucial information on the pulse of a culture. Creating a roundtable for staff to share what is on their mind is another solid option, but digital forms that allow anonymous responses could very well be the best route.

Provide autonomy

Micro-managing never ends well. Using self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2008), a study involving 735 workers was conducted to examine autonomy's impact on overall morale. Results revealed that work motivation was significantly related to both intraindividual (global motivation) and contextual factors (organizational support and supervisor autonomy support). It can be concluded that perceived organizational support and work autonomous motivation was positively related to work satisfaction (Gillet et al., 2013). As a principal, I created the Professional Growth Period (PGP) to grant unconditional autonomy to my staff.

Gift appropriate rewards 

The key word above is appropriate. While I am a massive proponent of intrinsic means to improve motivation, that does not mean we cannot leverage extrinsic rewards as a means to boost morale. Examples include release time, professional learning opportunities off-site, a premium parking spot, tickets to school events, books, and school supplies. If you really want to boost morale, try eliminating as many after-school meetings as possible. The bottom line is that people want to be recognized, but morale will be most positively impacted by using authentic rewards that your staff value and do not see as disingenuous (White, 2014).

Celebrate publicly

It is hard to argue the fact that people want to have some semblance of fun and feel appreciated. A study using a large email survey of managers found overwhelming support for having fun in the workplace. Respondents reported that having a fun work environment will increase the levels of enthusiasm, satisfaction, creativity, communications among staff and enhanced feelings of group cohesiveness (Ford et al., 2004). Some schools have large-scale team-building events both on and off-site. If you go this route, elicit feedback from staff on what options they think will be best. You can also share stories across social media as a way to share successes more broadly, something I dive into deeply in Digital Leadership. 

Sustaining and improving outcomes relies on good morale. It also plays a pivotal role in retaining our most precious people…those who commit themselves to serve kids.

Deci, E. & Ryan, R. (1994) Promoting Self‐determined Education, Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 38:1, 3-14.

Ford, R.C., Newstrom, J.W. and McLaughlin, F.S. (2004), "Making workplace fun more functional", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 117-120.

Gillet, N., Gagné, M., Sauvagère, S. & Fouquereau, E. (2013) The role of supervisor autonomy support, organizational support, and autonomous and controlled motivation in predicting employees' satisfaction and turnover intentions, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 22:4, 450-460.

Smith, D. C. (2008). Teaching Managers To Relate: Using Feedback To Bolster Commitment And Morale. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 3(3), 7–12.

White, P. (2014), "Improving staff morale through authentic appreciation", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 17-20.

Identifying the Best Supports for Personalization

We know for a fact that everyone learns differently. While a one-size-fits-all approach served its purpose for some of us, it doesn’t meet the diverse needs of kids today. It also doesn’t provide teachers and administrators with valuable insight on how to best support learners no matter where they are in relation to standards and critical competencies. Thus, educators need not only a vision for how to personalize learning effectively but also essential supports that will help to ensure success.  

The most crucial aspect when it comes to personalizing learning is the teacher in the classroom. While mindset and relationship building work to form the foundation for a more personal approach, leveraging sound pedagogical practice to assist all students in getting what they need when and where they need it ensures equity in the classroom. In chapter 5 of Disruptive Thinking in Our Classrooms, I dive deeply into these practices while providing numerous examples. You can read a summary of the most used strategies with a high degree of fidelity HERE. 

Personalized pedagogy sets the stage for the purposeful use of technology to better assist in meeting students' learning needs while providing educators with timely data. While there are many K-8 tools on the market, many have shortcomings such as no research base, difficulty in pulling useable data, no clear alignment to standardized tests, and students finding the tasks to be boring. Naturally, this can be quite frustrating when large sums of money are spent on purchasing these programs. Don’t fret, though, as a fantastic support option is available to districts and schools in the form of Waggle. 

Waggle is a tool that K-8 educators can use to support the successful implementation of a more personalized approach. While you can learn more here, below are some specific highlights and features that set it apart from tools such as i-Ready and IXL. 

Differentiated Learning

A hallmark of personalization, Waggle provides:

Auto-assigned appropriate practice and instruction, or teachers can play an active role and assign additional content that supports their core instruction.Teacher access to K-8 content. Adaptive functionality that analyzes beyond proficiency. Based on 13 data points, it continuously adjusts to offer true personalization, including behavior and prerequisite knowledge.Instruction and practice on prerequisite skills within the grade level and from earlier grade levels.

Student Motivation through a Gaming Environment

Students can:

Learn in an immersive, game-based environment. Access a dashboard that allows them to track their own progress toward mastery of skills and learning.Choose age-appropriate worlds to visit.Personalize their avatar.

Research-Based

Waggle leverages research-based techniques to enhance students’ knowledge and accelerate learning. Waggle provides Retrieval, Interleaving and Spaced-Out Practice and Feedback, which yield long-term retention and optimal performance.

Retrieval is the act of recalling what has been learned and is essential for creating long-lasting memories. Retrieval best enhances retention when practiced early and often in a low-pressure context. Interleaving involves switching up the types of problems students solve when practicing. Changing the order or type of activity increases the effort and may create more cues for memory. Waggle Practice is comprised of multiple related skills. A student must have mastery of all these skills and be able to apply them simultaneously to be successful. Spaced Out Retrieval across multiple shorter sessions, days, or weeks is more effective than one long session for long-term retention because it requires more effortful processing. 

Hints & Feedback 

Feedback is information provided to learners about their current level of knowledge and what they can do to progress to the next level. It is an essential step in making formative assessment as meaningful as it does in Waggle. Feedback only works if it is received and acted on by the learner, so both the content and the delivery of feedback matter. Waggle has robust hints embedded in every practice assignment and immediate feedback for every learning activity. Waggle provides a safe, supportive environment through scaffolded hints, support for English learners, explanatory feedback, and optional instructional lessons. Mistakes are embraced as learning opportunities.

The premise of personalization is all learners getting what they need when and where they need it to learn. When utilizing a pedagogy first, technology second lens, Waggle can become your tool of choice to improve student outcomes aligned with job-embedded and ongoing professional learning facilitated by the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE). 

Learner Paths are Rarely the Same

At times I find myself claiming that I am a visual learner. Hence, I try to have an original image to go along with most blog posts I write. While text adds needed details and depth, the accompanying visuals provide more context. They also do a great job capturing the attention of prospective readers. I am not alone in my affinity for pictures. Researchers at MIT found that the brain can process images as quickly as 13 milliseconds. Now that is fast! 

While my preference as a learner might be through visuals, I know there are other pathways as well. Herein lies the foundational tenant of personalized learning, something I shared in Disruptive Thinking in Our Classrooms: 

Personalization is ALL kids getting what they need when and where they need it to learn.

I have written extensively on the many ways to personalize learning, but like most things, there are always different lenses and strategies that can be used. During my coaching work with educators, I always try to make the concept as simple as possible by showing the unique pathways to help kids learn. Enter the Rigor Relevance Framework. The premise is as simple as it is powerful. Learning occurs when students are challenged to think and apply their thinking in relevant ways.  

This framework is a tool to examine curriculum, instruction, and assessment along the two dimensions of increasing cognition and student outcomes. It can be used in the development of personalized pedagogical techniques in alignment with virtually any strategy. In addition, teachers can use it to monitor their own progress in adding rigor and relevance while selecting appropriate strategies for differentiation and facilitation of learning goals. In a previous post, I discussed getting kids into the learning pit, which moves them naturally through the various quad but in no specific order. The movement is dictated by where they currently are and how they eventually get to where they need to be, a hallmark of personalization. 

The journey to quad D is never linear. It will also look different for every learner, so don’t get fixated on where I put the dots on the image above. Another critical aspect is that you don’t need technology to personalize. Authenticity, deeper meaning, academy programs, and different ways to show learning are just as powerful in providing kids with what they need to succeed. As students work to answer scaffolded questions while grappling with solving real-world problems, their process will look different. Hence, there will be many learning paths towards and eventually into Quad D. 

Learning is a personal process, not an event.