Model the Learning

This past week, I took part in a discussion on Twitter about how to best curate and provide math resources for teachers. The Mathtastic PD series I wrote about in response garnered a little bit of interest, partially because it was delivered in a blended style - each session was designed around engaging participants both in-person, as well as remotely, at the same time . In the original post, I mentioned how it was important to us to create GOOD, effective, remote PD.  As someone who lives in a somewhat rural part of the province, and a two-hour drive from my board office, I have been on the receiving end of a lot of virtual presentations. And there's nothing worse than a fuzzy, poorly-mic'ed presenter whose slides aren't legible because of the camera angle. Well, maybe that one time I joined in the conversation via my Google Hangout connection and spooked the facilitator, because it was forgotten that I was even "there." So, at the risk of just stating co...

We just finished another three great days meeting as the Mathematics Leadership Network (MLN) - a group of educators from boards of education across Northeastern Ontario, looking to further our development as mathematics learners and leaders. Part of the learning in this latest round was centred on Michael Fullan's book, Indelible Leadership . In it, he discusses six big tensions when it comes to deep leadership. Two of those tensions - Lead & Learn in Equal Measure , and Feed & Be Fed by the System - really resonated with me. Both of these tensions underscore the importance of reflection in one's practice. When learning (a fundamental part of leading), Fullan quotes John Malloy in saying: "...there has to be...vehicles, protocols, processes to actually reflect upon the learning, to make meaning out of what is emerging from the learning and then articulate from that." In order to give new learning meaning, we need to take the time to consolidate what we l...