Opportunity Ahead: Future Ready Professional Learning

Albert Einstein once said insanity is, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." The past few years have brought many changes. Students today are saturated with digital tools, the Common Core State Standards require all students to communicate, collaborate and do research using technology and all students are required to test online. These changes require a fresh new approach to professional learning. Daniel Pink's book Drive explores what motives us. Pink uses decades of scientific research to explain we are motivated by our natural human desire to be self-directed, make progress and get better at what we do, and be apart of something greater. These principles must be considered in desiging Future Ready Professional Learning. Professional Learning today must leverage technology to create ongoing, high-quality, job-embedded, opportunities that meet the needs of the learner. I believe many teachers have what Carol Deck defines as a Growth Mindset. These teachers have, "a passion for sticking to it, even when it's not going well." Teachers with this mindset believe their "true potential is unknown" and "impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil and training." Jason Atkinson (@jasonjusd), Ina Arbuckle 2nd grade teacher is one teacher with a growth mindset. This week I saw him present his students' work with Sparki the Robot at our Technology Leadership Network. His students have been using Sparki to write code to change geometric shapes, words and messages. Jason's students will participate in the CUE student showcase coming up this spring. Jason wasn't always a "techy" teacher. In a short time Jason has transformed himself into a light tower of energy inspiring every teacher, staff and student he meets.

Teachers need to be empowered to take learning into their own hands, learn at their own pace and focus on areas of their interest. Project RED is a study that survey nearly 1000 schools to determine if properly implemented educational technology can substantially improve student achievement. The study is a call to action to transform schools based on second-order change. Second order change is not easy change. "The change mechanism is broad scale and addresses all student populations," Project RED. I am looking forward to working with the teachers and staff of Jurupa Unified to design Professional Learning that is Future Ready.