Making Learning Personal
Winter 2021
Welcome to Cohort 5!
Lynne Bard, Heather Ridge School
Cindy Barlow, Monocacy Middle School
Rachel Beach, Oakdale Elementary School
Lindsey Beck, Tuscarora High School
Sarah Biddle, Tuscarora High School
Whitney Blickenstaff, Middletown Middle School
Heather Brown, North Frederick Elementary School
Tasha Brown, Windsor Knolls Middle School
Sara Bugler, Emmitsburg Elementary School
Lisa Caro, Accelerated Achievement and Equity
Valerie Cousins, Frederick High School
Casey Day, Crestwood Middle School
Christyn Day, West Frederick Middle School
Christy Donnelly, Curriculum, Instruction, and Innovation
Emily Fairbrother, Brunswick High School
Traci Farrell, Kemptown Elementary School
Alissa Gordon, Accelerated Achievement and Equity
Christina Gordon, Ballenger Creek Elementary School
Amanda Gough, Green Valley Elementary School
Jackie Grimm, Middletown Primary School
Lisa Halvis, Curriculum, Instruction, and Innovation
Lindsay Henry, New Market Elementary School
Gabriella Horak, Waverley Elementary School
Emma Jozwiak, Lewistown Elementary School
Kechia Kenyatta, Ballenger Creek Elementary School
Kyler Leiter, Carroll Manor Elementary School
Beth Lindstrom, Windsor Knolls Middle School
Amy Llewellyn, Ballenger Creek Elementary School
Amanda Magnanelli, Urbana Elementary School
Jacqueline Mangogna, Urbana High School
Claudine Marcum, Career and Technology Center
Shannon Matthews, Tuscarora Elementary School
Amanda Murphy, Butterfly Ridge Elementary School
Amanda Neil, Catoctin High School
Carol Paulson, West Frederick Middle School
Michael Pritt, Ballenger Creek Elementary School
Megan Ramsburg, Oakdale Elementary School
Katie Rice, Frederick High School
Justin Ridenour, Governor Thomas Johnson Middle School
Kelly Robbins, Curriculum, Instruction, and Innovation
Chris Schlee, Monocacy Middle School
Shannon Schneider, Middletown Elementary School
Britt Sentelle, Frederick High School
Emily Sherman, Monocacy Elementary School
Ali Stupar, Crestwood Middle School
Corinne Thompson, Accelerated Achievement and Equity
Dianne Thompson, Middletown Middle School
Karen Yoder, Thurmont Primary School
Doug Young, Catoctin High School
Katie Zimmerman, Brunswick Middle School
Teaching Past the Screen: How to Foster Thriving Classroom Environments & Student Relationships in a Virtual Teaching World
Alanna Duvall, Middletown Middle School
@AlannaDuvall
Teaching virtually can sometimes feel like talking to a wall. I guarantee you’ve probably said--or at least thought this--in the last few months. When students have their cameras off and you’ve repeated the phrases “Are you there?” and “You’re on mute!” a hundred times a day, sometimes it can feel like the screen we rely on so much to connect us with our students is more of a disconnection. This can feel like a real struggle for developing student-teacher relationships. How do you get to know your students when a screen feels so dividing?
Believe it or not, there are many effective strategies that can help you build positive relationships with your students, even through the barrier of a screen. In this article, I’ll review 10 strategies I’ve used throughout virtual learning to develop rapport with my students that can be used in a virtual classroom (and in the physical one, too)!
Greeting Students at the Virtual Door--Research supports that relational building always starts at the door of your classroom, and it shouldn’t be any different online. When students enter your brick and mortar classroom door, you probably greet them as they enter, ask how their weekend was, and feel out how they’re doing today. In the virtual setting, this practice is perhaps even more vital to building those friendly connections. Greet your students each by name as they enter your Google Meet, just as you would if they were walking through the door of your physical classroom. You can also use these moments to comment on how you like their hat, point out how cute their dog is in the background, or simply ask how they’re doing today. Spend a minute or so at the beginning of class asking students to share out about how their weekend was, ask them a random question, such as what are a few good Netflix show recommendations they have, or play a quick “Would you Rather” poll game for a great low-stakes engagement activity. This practice will build a positive environment for learning, and allow students to feel like they belong before you even start your lesson.
Finding Balance with Digital Stations
Rachael Stecyk, Gov. Thomas Johnson High School
@RachaelStecyk
This semester was tough; there’s no denying it. In the fall, it wasn’t unusual for teachers in my group chats to put in twelve or fourteen-hour days, and even so many teachers felt ineffectual. I struggled to engage students, to informally check for understanding, and to simply connect with students. I was putting in more effort than I ever had as a teacher but experiencing the least reward. Many teachers simply went into survival mode.
Yet I suspected, courtesy of my blended learning teaching experiences, that there was surely a better way. A few weeks into the semester, once I felt that I had found my footing, at least a little, I began to search for ways to incorporate blended learning strategies into virtual learning. Cue Catlin Tucker. She tweeted about an article she had shared in the summer, “Station Rotation in an Era of Social Distancing.” There it was: a framework for adapting my preferred blended learning model to a digital environment. I made a copy of Dr. Tucker’s lesson plan template, and I got to work.
The timing could not have been more perfect; my students were writing essays on Animal Farm, and I needed a more effective way to deliver real-time feedback (another Dr. Tucker strategy). I designed stations focused on a teacher-led real-time feedback station in the Google Meet, with other off-Meet independent stations giving students time to complete further writing as well as opportunities for mindfulness breaks. I organized students into groups based on their progress on their essays, putting those who had completed the least in the last group to give them the most class time possible to write before coming to me for feedback.
Can Virtual Be Blended? Can Blended Be Virtual? Yes & Yes.
Lindsay Anderson, Frederick High School
@ArtfulAnderson
It took the first few weeks of school to wrap my head around what blended learning looked like in a fully virtual setting. I’m not sure why it took so long because I ultimately came to the conclusion that it’s very much the same. The face to face interaction is certainly different but I am still providing a personalized path of learning for my students, building relationships to the best of my ability, supporting the needs of all students, and implementing a blended learning model unique to the art classroom. I am confident this model will transition seamlessly when we are all back in the classroom.
To make sure I was still delivering quality blended instruction, I made a list of common teaching practices I use in my art room and described what they look like in a virtual setting.
Here they are…
Art Instruction/Practice: Creativity Activators
VIRTUAL Art Instruction/Practice: Creativity activators still take place the first 5-10 minutes of class via F2F Google Meet similar to how they would at the beginning of a normal block.
Art Instruction/Practice: Daily Agenda
VIRTUAL Art Instruction/Practice: I post daily slides with an agenda for the day. Projected via “Present Screen” in F2F Google Meet for students to refer back to as needed. I also go over this with students at the beginning of class. and include times to keep everyone on track (myself included).
Art Instruction/Practice: Presentation of Resources & Materials
VIRTUAL Art Instruction/Practice: I am using playlists (as I was before) to deliver content. Here is an example. My playlists are unique to the art studio as they follow the creative process (explore, design, create, skill building, create, reflect, and present). With active links, videos, screencasts, visuals, and more, students work through the playlist to explore a project. I have and will continue to use playlists as a way for students to personalize their learning and move through a project at their own pace, allowing them to take ownership. I also help them with goal setting and time management when we meet face to face. Google Meet is utilized to clarify, provide summaries, do live teacher demonstrations, and review the material in the playlist similar to that of one on one conferences and/or small group conferences with students in a normal blended environment.
Becoming a Leader by Practicing What I Teach
Kelly Forsythe, Kemptown Elementary School
@MrsForsytheFCPS
As I began my Vanguard Leader year, I felt equally overwhelmed and intimidated by the title, “Leader.” Up to that point, I only felt confident in leading my students (and my family). But I did not feel knowledgeable, outgoing, or experienced enough to seamlessly transition from a “Vanguard Teacher” to a “Vanguard Leader.” Those reservations were exacerbated by teaching in a virtual-only format, using a platform I had no familiarity with. How could I possibly be a leader of other teachers when I myself felt inexperienced and tentative?
Like most teachers, I love to learn, try new things, and inspire my students to do the same. When learning something new, I dedicate myself to learning it comprehensively, especially before imparting it to others. I grew up with a father whose favorite piece of advice was “planning is everything” and whatever you do, prepare yourself to do it to the best of your ability. That life lesson coupled with my perfectionist tendencies caused me to doubt whether I could lead others down a path I hadn’t perfected, let alone planned or prepared for.
In that time of uncertainty and self-doubt, my husband sent me a timely article to read titled “This one thing is holding you back from becoming a leader.” While the article was geared toward the business world, it encompassed the whole notion I was struggling with: how embracing the discomfort that accompanies new challenges will advance our leadership skills and professional growth. An excerpt from the article which particularly resonated with me said, “It is there, within the angst, that you will find new means of leadership proficiency. Until your comfort zone is challenged and tested in new ways, you will never fully discover your untapped and unforeseen potential.” The article continued to explain how stepping out of our comfort zones can be contagious and have ripple effects, as others around us feel inspired to and capable of stepping outside their own comfort zones.
Mirrors & Windows
Melissa Myers, Ballenger Creek Elementary School
@mmyers333fcps
One of my goals this year was to be intentional about creating learning experiences that were equitable to ALL of my students. After several PL’s in prior years, I related equity mostly to self reflection. Reflecting on my thought process and the implicit biases that lie within me when relating to or teaching my students. Ultimately, admitting to myself the attitudes or stereotypes that affect my understanding of people and situations, my actions, and decision making. A great start but I wanted more.
In December, I was lucky enough to virtually attend a conference called LINCStream 2020: From Surviving to Thriving in Reimagined Schools. LINC (The Learning Innovation Catalyst) advertised “hands-on, interactive coaching sessions that offered essential skills and strategies for supporting engaging and effective remote and hybrid learning”. And they did just that. I thought I would share a couple of things that “stuck” with me…
Coaches, They Need You!
Jessica Myers, Waverley Elementary School
@FCPSMsmyersEL
For some, your coach year of Vanguard may feel like a breeze if you naturally connect to adults and other educators. For others, it may be your worst nightmare. Maybe developing new relationships with adults is not your thing. Maybe you’re paired with an educator that isn’t in your content or grade level. Maybe you don’t know where to begin. Or maybe, like me, you have to fight off your own insecurities because you feel that your mentee is a smarter, better educator than you!
True story. Eric Haines knew what he was doing when he paired me up with Courtney Souders, a young, intelligent 4th grade teacher at Valley Elementary. Courtney and I have had almost the exact same trajectory through our professional growth and leadership with us both getting our Master’s degree in Instructional Technology, both applying and getting accepted into Vanguard, both taking Eric Haines’ Blended Learning Leadership course during our first year of Vanguard, and both leading book studies at our schools about blended learning. Let me add that all of these amazing things, Courtney was doing BEFORE I began “coaching” her.
Maybe now you can start to see where my insecurities crept out and I was sweating bullets during our first meeting thinking, “how am I going to coach her?! She’s already fantastic!” I worried that her lessons were already better than mine, and she would have already thought of all of the blended learning ideas and I’d have no way to do my job as a coach. I worried I’d look “dumb” and not cut out for the job. I felt like an imposter. How am I to coach this awesome educator who is already doing GREAT things?!
Addressing the Elephant in the Room: Use Comprehensible Input to Increase Secondary EL Engagement
Megan Hailu, EL Teacher Specialist
@MeganHailu
“I have an EL student who shows up to my Google Meet everyday, but doesn’t submit the work. How can I support this student?”
Understandably, some of our EL students are struggling with virtual learning. Grades are dropping and the achievement gap may be getting wider. This learning loss has been coined as the COVID Slide and now we are tasked with the job to slow (better yet, prevent!) it by providing appropriate, scaffolded supports for all students, including our ELs.
Let’s first celebrate the fact that many of our EL students are attending our virtual classes; that’s wonderful news and it shows that teachers are building relationships and making their virtual classroom a desirable place to visit! Cheers to motivating our kiddos to show up -- that’s step one! To ensure that we don’t lose that connection, we have to help our students feel connected to the class and content. According to learning theory research on the Mindset of Belonging, students must feel supported and connected in order for them to feel like they belong in the class and want to persevere with the work. If we fail to provide necessary differentiation for our ELs to understand the work, they may start to perceive that they don’t belong in the learning environment, which can result in disengagement.
An ALPful Process for Student Success at Catoctin
Pam Adams-Campbell and Olivia Aungst, Catoctin High School
@adamscampbell20 and @fcpselaaungst
The Accelerated Learning Process (ALP) has improved teachers’ conversations about standards-based learning and teaching at elementary, middle, and high schools across the county. At Catoctin High School specifically, it has helped teachers to purposefully view data and personalize instruction for a wide range of students in 9th and 10th grade English classes. During this 2020-2021 school year, our team has had the opportunity to meet virtually, collaboratively discuss our students’ needs, and share our data virtually. Collaborative conversations noted the need to improve students’ analytical skills. Based on our conversations, students’ written responses illustrated an area for improvement per grade-level standard requirements. Through the resources provided by FCPS and the Thinking Core grant, our team shifted our mindset and created instructional strategies to meet the unique needs of our students.
Mindset
The ALP process has allowed us to change and grow our mindset towards teaching strategies for our students in multiple grade levels. For example, last year we focused on grade 10 specifically in our ALP meetings, but then adapted our plans to the 9th grade curriculum based on the 9th graders' data. It was an easy transition to plan for 9th grade based on the 10th grade-specific conversations, since the Common Core State Standards are aligned for grades 9 and 10.
#FCPSVanguard
Upcoming Dates and Reminders
April 7 - Elementary Vanguard Forum
April 8 - Secondary Vanguard Forum
April 15, 4:30-5:30 - Vanguard Launch (Cohort 5)
April 19 & 20, 4:00-6:00 - Lead Year with Stephanee Stephens (Cohort 3)
April 27 - Q&A with Stephanee Stephens (Cohort 3)
May 1 - All micro-credentials are due
Vanguard Teacher Program
Email: eric.haines@fcps.org
Website: vanguard.fcps.org
Phone: 301-644-5182
Twitter: @EHaines24