How do you plan K-12 literacy professional development?

I am on the Teacher Leadership Team at school, and we utilize the Inquiry Cycle to lead our group. First, we pick an area of focus and collect data, develop interventions to meet the goal, test the interventions, and, if they work, create a new goal. If it didn't, we can fine-tune our interventions. We can use data collection, writing samples, projects, rubrics, etc. to collect our data. This is a helpful way to conduct our meetings and provides structure and a common language throughout our corporation. We are continually embarking on learning cycles throughout the year. I also note where we are in the cycle to show administration our progress.

Planning K-12 literacy professional development is like curating a literary adventure! As an educator who’s head over heels for all things culturally relevant teaching and DEIJ, I’m thrilled to share my approach. First and foremost, it’s all about understanding our students’ diverse backgrounds and interests. What stories resonate with them? What voices do they want to hear? By starting with their world, we make literacy personal and meaningful.

One thing I have found helpful is ensuring team work is achieved so we relate well and that has helped in improving literacy levels. We also involve new ideas with the changing time and also accept to be corrected. Students also participate in group activities to share their ideas. In some cases we go for fieldwork to get the view of the community. As a result of this we have been able to move to greater heights to achieve our goals.

Various surveys should be considered while assessing needs such as, learning style, motivation, emotional intelligence, environmental factors, and many more to craft the SMART outcomes at next stage.

Speaking from a decade of experience as a K-12 School Principal, I'd say, the most important thing to improve on the existing landscape of K-12 education, is Feedback. Over the years, I have received different kinds of feedback from students, parents, teachers and even other external parties - such as academic publishers, etc. Feedback is what leads to prioritization of goals and identifying what's the need of the hour and what's not. Furthermore, it helps streamline the new strategies we come up with because it's coming from real humans and there's no room for vague goals. One can collect feedback through Google Forms, Annual Satisfaction Surveys for Students/ Parents /Staff, Parent-Teacher Meetings, and more!

Here is how I implement SMART goals to assess the needs of my students: 1. I get specific by clearly defining the area of literacy I want to assess. For example, if I'm assessing reading skills, I will specify whether it's comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, or something else. 2. The next step will be to determine how I will measure the current literacy level, such as reading levels or performance on writing assignments. 3. I need to ensure that the assessment goals are realistic, co-constructed with my students, and aligned with my overall objectives for literacy improvement. By following the SMART goals, I create a plan for assessing literacy needs that will help guide my professional development efforts effectively.

I love this. Fast goals allow for in-time, on-time instructional or other strategies to be learned, implemented, and evaluated as to their efficacy. In this way, if something is not benefitting students, there is no commitment to keep on that track with no adjustments or results. I have seen schools flog a dead horse strategy for too long a period. The adage, “Get off the horse.” applies here. Don’t be afraid to dismount.

I totally agree. Your goals have to specific which means they have to be extremely clear and why they are being targeted and what the outcome is . They have to be measured via tasks or quizzes or simple projects that can be done by learners. They have to attainable meaning can it be done ? Is it realistic? Is the methodology and resources there ? It’s not fiction it’s a fact. It has to be relevant to the educator the learners and what the goal is. Finally , was it time based. What is being presented and taught according to precise time-line. Spending a huge time on learning a small concept is not acceptable and vice versa.

Once a goal has been determined, how will the school/district support this? It’s important to provide scaffolded professional development- meeting teachers where they are. It’s also important to have the time to plan, do the work, and reflect. What does this look like in your classroom, building, district?

The approaches to deliver the content should be engaging and immersive without losing the actual context of information. The immersive approach helps to retain the information for longer time.

Some of my favorite strategies include: 1?? Job-Embedded Training: Connect PD to teachers' daily work. This includes classroom observation-coaching models, co-teaching, or peer observations. The key is learning by doing and reflecting! ?? 2?? Differentiated PD: Not all educators have the same PD needs. Tailor your PD to address varying experience levels, areas of expertise, and learner profiles. ??? 3?? Research into Practice: Encourage educators to stay informed about the latest reading research and apply evidence-based strategies in classrooms. Emphasize that research is not a checkbox, but a compass. ??????

The strategies should be learner-centered. I believe there is a need to balance between what strategies learners prefer and what strategies work best. This can be done by collecting data and feedback from learners frequently. And what works from one year/cohort/class may deviate from one another.

At Novel, we make sure our professional development is as experiential and hands-on as possible. We leverage a See, Name, Do format to make sure PD gives teachers and leaders ample at-bats with new skills in order to make them transferrable into practice.

Individualizing instruction is key. Basing student assignments and assessments on specific areas of need as well as learning styles allows learners to improve upon areas of concern while being engaged. Student choice allows for student control in their learning which breeds autonomy and invested interest in learning.

I’m a firm believer in infusing joy into every lesson. Let’s make reading and writing a celebration, not a chore. Picture this: literary picnics, character dress-up days, and poetry slams that bring out the inner wordsmith in our students. Collaboration is my secret sauce! We’re in this together. Teachers, parents, and the community - everyone plays a role in nurturing young readers. Let’s build a village of literacy champions.

When teaching literacy skills in any subject area, I find that you must incorporate an aspect that is fun or enjoyable to do. If students see the task as a chore rather than an opportunity to better their skills, they will avoid doing it at all costs. Since Covid, I have found more and more students just choosing not to complete assignments that they see as boring or cumbersome. This is when the teacher (in entertainer mode) adds the enjoyable and imaginative aspects to their assignments. Teaching grade 10 history, I have students write the front page of a newspaper paper from a certain time period. In my experience I have found most students really enjoy this type of literacy. They use facts and their imagination to create excellence.

Get to know your target. Who are, especial or emotional- ages needs. Human intruction is always more effective when is an effective connection throught empathy as well as planning, implementing or reevaluating the instructional contents.

Working side by side with your colleagues/students. If you are reading/writing at the same time as your participants the focus and buy in is so much more meaningful. As an educator I can still recall the best year my students were invested and excited about the books we were reading. The next year a teacher shared a student responded how my classroom was a close family.

Sometimes it’s not the methods, strategies or main plan, but it’s the lack of execution and experience, I mean yes we can plan every step to a better situation and yet we don’t have the time and the resources it needs to be done, educating leaders and teachers is an important key.