What do educators actually WANT out of their professional learning experiences? This is a question my colleague Danielle, who contributed significantly to this study and the writing of these blogs, and I tackle most days. We are Professional Learning Specialists at Michigan Virtual. In a nutshell, we lead professional learning, we collaborate with educators and other educational organizations nationally and across the state, and we build online courses that count towards SCECHs. 

Last summer, I read Street Data. Besides changing my entire perspective on data, it opened my eyes to something even more important—the need for empathy.

What is Street Data? In its simplest definition, it offers “deep insight into the student and educator experience.” You can only gain this insight when you speak directly to students and teachers.

Using insight and inspiration from the book, my colleague Danielle and I decided to truly get to know our audience. We knew this was going to mean more than simply asking the usual questions or making some thoughtful assumptions about what educators want and need from professional learning. We were committing to a process.

So, we started with a survey and asked some big questions about professional learning preferences:

• Who’s presenting the content?
• How are you learning and interacting with others and the material?
• What is your ideal topic?

The survey included both multiple-choice and several open-ended responses, which asked for specific wants, needs, and ideals. The open-response questions were not required; however, over 80% of respondents answered these questions throughout the survey. 

In an effort to gain deeper insight into the data, we also scheduled 1:1 interviews with educators who opted to participate in an hour-long conversation. Our review of the survey results and the stories we heard taught us that educators have much to say about their wants and needs for professional learning.

Here’s what our street data helped us uncover:

Educators definitely have a preference for when and where they learn as well as who is leading the learning. 

Flexibility Through Online Learning

More than half of the participants surveyed prefer some form of online, asynchronous learning as their ideal learning experience vs. a fully in-person session. Based on extended conversations, this is mainly because educators enjoy being able to learn at times that best fit their schedule and to have the ability to start and stop learning as needed.

Online learning also increases accessibility to professional learning that educators are seeking out on their own. Given the demands of any educator’s schedule, the flexibility of online learning directly connects to an increased sense of effectiveness.

Learning from an Expert

Though several participants mentioned the need for having content presented in a manner that is specific and relevant to their context, 77.3% mentioned they prefer a Subject Matter Expert or External Facilitator for their learning. 

When digging deeper into this question, many participants said that learning from someone extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the subject increased the overall effectiveness of the professional learning experience. While educators also explained the value of learning with and from each other or other staff, it was clear that regardless of the presenter’s official role or title, learning from an expert is extremely important. 

Every educator we interviewed shared a strong desire for more choice in professional learning.

Though choice was often referenced in terms of topic selection, it should also be noted that educators showed a desire for more variety and consideration around how they interacted with each other and the content.

Choice in Content Interaction

As expected, when we asked participants to share their ideal topic for professional learning, no two people answered exactly the same way. More surprising, however, was that in comparing conversation notes, even if individuals shared a similar topic of interest, their reason or context for wanting that learning was not the same. 

This connects to the need for offering more choice in how learners interact with content. Educators have varying degrees of knowledge around any given topic as well as certain preferences for what helps them truly learn and apply the knowledge. Some prefer to “listen and learn” or collaborate in a synchronous or face-to-face event; others prefer online and fully asynchronous experiences. Offering choice in how educators can interact with content increases overall agency and autonomy.

Choice in Content Application

We noted that 206 learners strongly preferred listening and learning from a lecture-based PD. Though this surprised us at first, given the desire for choice we heard in responses, we also saw the alignment of this preference with educators’ desire to learn from an expert. Part of learning from someone extremely knowledgeable is to listen to what they have to share—but the preference for learning doesn’t end there. 

After listening to a knowledgeable presenter, educators shared a strong desire to apply the knowledge through collaboration, more hands-on activities, or independent exploration. Including choices around content application aligns with an increased sense of relevance to one’s specific context as well as meeting their varied learning needs.

Something that became crystal clear in the common themes and preferences that emerged was a shared desire for greater relevance, realistic application, and clarity in professional learning.

Relevance

After reviewing and sorting individual responses, four key topics surfaced. It’s clear from our survey and conversations that educators want to learn and use Research-based Strategies. This topic, out of the other three that emerged, seemed to make sense as to why our audience preferred to learn from an expert.

It also makes sense that educators want to grow professionally in the field and in their craft, which aligns with staying current on what other educational experts are sharing in terms of effective practices that can be taken back and immediately used in the classroom.

Realistic Application

We also noticed that the other three emerging topics have elements that seem to intertwine with each other. In conversations, learners expressed the need for support in classroom management; yet, while digging deeper, it also became clear that technology, and its international use, played a factor in some of the classroom management-related issues. 

Similarly, a consistent request to continue prioritizing Social and Emotional Health or Mental Health seemed to connect to the other topics at various points in terms of supporting an effective practice, promoting a healthy school or classroom culture, or appropriately using technology in and out of the classroom.

Clarity

Other common themes regarding what educators do not want from professional learning sometimes gave us conflicting information. For example, the same survey that told us educators want to learn from listening and lecturing also indicated that a lecture-based PD experience could make the overall experience less effective. But, because we leaned into these contradictions, we gleaned a more important takeaway: the need for clarity.

From the survey results to the longer conversations, what made a professional learning experience ineffective was its lack of clarity. This lack of clarity could result from the presenter not making direct connections for their learners, collaboration opportunities without real purpose, or sensing unrealistic expectations or applications of the PD content to the educator’s specific subject-area context.

Throughout this process, we leaned into the numbers and sought deeper understanding to inform our thinking. We are grateful to the many educators who shared their knowledge, stories, and hopes for professional learning so we may continue to provide high-quality learning experiences to those who entrust us with their professional growth.

To learn more about the framework we used to create and conduct our survey and to read about ideas for implementing this framework in your own context, we invite you to read A Framework for Empathy, Part 2 of this blog series. 

Part 1 of this blog series digs into the results of a survey on what educators need and want from their professional learning experiences. Here in Part 2, we show you the framework we used to create and conduct the survey as well as provide you with ideas for implementing this framework in your own context. Special thanks to my colleague, Danielle Peck, who contributed significantly to this study and the writing of these blogs. 

What do educators want? What do they need? What ideas do they want to share with decision-makers?

If you work with or for educators, these questions are probably at the top of your mind. As a Professional Learning Specialist at Michigan Virtual, these questions are always at the top of my mind, too. 

Actually, my colleague Danielle and I have a specific question that drives our work most days: What do educators actually want out of their professional learning experiences? 

In our work, we lead professional learning, collaborate with educators and other educational organizations nationally and across the state, and build online courses that count towards SCECHs. We value the educators we work with, and we want to serve them in the best way possible. We strive to create awesome experiences that incite curiosity and honor educators’ time, knowledge, and expertise. 

As we were planning for the 2022-2023 school year, something occurred to us — we had never directly asked our audience of amazing educators what they wanted and needed.

That’s not to say that we never sought feedback. We always ask for feedback in our courses and at our presentations. We spend time every week reviewing and interpreting this information. Beyond that, we interact with learners every single day — working through problems of practice, answering questions, and reviewing assignments. 

Despite all of that, we felt like we did not have a full understanding of WHO our audience was or what they were looking for in terms of professional learning opportunities. We knew that if we wanted to create experiences that learners could engage with, that understanding was essential.

Using insight and inspiration from the book Street Data, our approach to how we wanted to understand our audience became clear. We needed empathy. 

We decided to reach out directly to our learners in order to find out who they are, what they want, and what they need — all with the intention of designing learning with them and not merely for them. 

Simply put, the framework we followed was a key quote from the book: “Listen deeply. Trust the people. Act on what you learn.” Here’s how we’ve implemented the framework and how you can implement it in with educators in your own work:

Listen Deeply

Here’s how we did it

To truly know our educators and design the professional learning they need, we decided that we need to start with information around WHO our learners are, not merely seek feedback after the fact. 

Together, we drafted a list of questions that we wanted to ask our learners. These questions spanned a variety of topics: we asked about educators’ location and position, preferences in modality and learning style, and choices in professional learning topics. Some of these questions were simple multiple-choice questions; however, we also created questions that allowed for open-ended responses. 

After we finalized our question list, we used Google Forms to create a survey. We invite you to view our survey so you can get a sense of what we asked and even use it as inspiration for your own educator survey. 

After distributing the survey to educators at a teaching conference and through our mailing list, we received 295 responses.  When we saw the initial results of the multiple-choice questions, which you can view here (pages 1 and 2), we weren’t exactly surprised. Many of the answers matched our expectations, which was affirming to see. Although we had never directly asked these questions before, it was helpful to know that our current interactions with learners had helped us understand and anticipate their preferences.

But this affirmation led to something unexpected: we had questions. Lots of them. Seeing learners’ responses, even though they matched our expectations, only increased our desire to know more about their needs and preferences. In order to listen more deeply, we dug deeper into the data.

Here’s how you can listen deeply, too

As you think about the educators you support, make decisions for, or create things for, consider:

What are you assuming about them vs. what have you asked them directly?

Even if you feel pretty confident about what educators are thinking or feeling, it’s worth asking them. Questions that might seem basic can yield answers that may surprise you. And even if you are not surprised at all by learners’ responses, you will get confirmation that you’re moving forward with the educators in your organization instead of making decisions for them. 

Remember: the data that we collected from our audience reflects, well, our audience here at Michigan Virtual. It’s fascinating data that might overlap with the data that your educators can provide you, but the only way you can determine the overlap is by talking to the educators in your context.

What do you want to know/need to know about them?

Take time to figure out exactly what questions you want to ask. We found it helpful to brainstorm questions together and then come back to these questions later to edit. If someone at your organization will be helping you to analyze data, we highly recommend making this person a part of the question drafting process, too. 

Provide opportunities to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. It can be really helpful to provide multiple choice questions because it’s easy to tally answers up and see broad trends. However, adding open-ended questions is crucial, too, because it offers the opportunity for educators to share divergent thinking and provide depth and nuance in their responses.

How can you ensure that as many educators as possible respond? How can you ensure that they feel safe in answering?

If you can either compensate educators for their extra time or give them time within their working or professional development hours, we recommend it. Offering time and/or compensation communicates that you care about their time and their opinion.

Educators shouldn’t have to question what you are going to do with the data you collect, and they should feel safe to share what they really feel. Be as clear as you can about what you plan to do with the results. If you can make your survey anonymous, that can help educators feel safe in providing their thoughts.

Trust the People

Here’s how we did it

At this point, we realized we had to make a very intentional decision to commit to this work . The initial numbers told us some information, but the goal was to lean into the story behind the data. To demonstrate our trust in educators, we had to spend time on deep analysis.

To do this, we teamed up with Nik McGehee of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute to analyze educators’ open ended responses. We learned that before software could help reveal statistical trends, we needed to spend time sorting each educator’s responses by hand. This took a while, but was incredibly interesting and enlightening. Carefully reading through each learner’s ideas and opinions helped give us a much better understanding of the wants and needs of both individuals and the group as a whole. 

Once we sorted the responses, Nik was able to help us identify patterns in the data. We invite you to take a look (page 3) at the major themes that emerged in terms of what educators want and don’t want out of their professional learning experiences. 

In the process of identifying these themes, we were uncovering patterns and interesting contrasts which led us to ask even more questions about what they told us. To increase our empathy and gain greater clarity around the emerging questions we now had, we organized 1-on-1 interviews with learners to listen to their stories and experiences and ask questions about the themes that emerged from our analysis.

Throughout this process, we leaned into the numbers, spent quality time with the data, and listened to truly understand what our audience was telling us they wanted and needed. 

Here’s how you can trust the people, too

As you think about the educators you support, consider:

What actions can you take to demonstrate trust in the data you collect and the educators you support?

There’s a difference between asking for information and listening to folks’ answers and actually trusting those responses. How can you demonstrate or prove that trust? If your respondents were standing right in front of you asking to prove that you trust them, what would you say?

For us, it meant giving due diligence to the open-ended responses. They generously spent time providing those answers, so we spent time individually categorizing every single one of them. We came to know their responses intimately, rather than merely relying on machine learning to summarize their responses.

How can the data you collect expand your thinking and inspire curiosity?

For every bit of data you collect, consider: What further questions does this data raise for you? How can the data open up an opportunity for you to connect with the educators you work with?

The numbers you collect should give you plenty more questions to ask. Find ways to follow up and actually ask those questions. Follow-up surveys can work, but we found that conducting interviews gave us an opportunity to build relationships, demonstrate our trust even further, and hear stories that we never would have heard otherwise.

Act on What You Learn

Here’s how we did it

Our increased empathy from digging deeper into this work has caused us to truly consider what our audience has shared with us AND what this means for our work as we create professional development for educators.

Something that several of our interviewees told us is that they have had other opportunities to share their opinions about professional development but generally felt like their feedback did not lead to noticeable change. 

At Michigan Virtual, we have a core value to put our learners first. We believe in order to truly lean into this value, we must act on the information they’ve given us.

As a result, our team is working to act on what we learned and to dig deeper into what we uncovered.

• We’re committed to helping educators reach their full professional potential, specifically by offering online learning opportunities that provide choice and flexibility in content, application, and schedule.
• We’re excited to offer more blended model professional learning opportunities that include in-person and self-paced learning components to meet the personalized needs of educators and schools.
• We’re striving to improve our clarity in communications, throughout courses, and in conversations with partners.
• We’re planning to continue our conversations. Though the work for this particular project is complete, we plan to keep building empathy and bringing this information into our work.

This part of the process has been extremely important to us. We want to let our educators know that their ideas matter and make a difference. 

Here’s how you can act on what you learn, too

As you reflect on your work or any data you have collected from the educators you support, consider:

How will you commit to putting those ideas into action?

Based on what you learned, what concrete actions are you going to take tomorrow? Next week/month/year? Your action plan should be clear and specific.

Let the educators you work with know what you learned from your research and what you plan to do with what you learned. As we mentioned, educators often feel that their feedback does not actually lead to change. You can make a difference by showing them that their opinions matter. 

What ideas need more attention?

This framework for empathy is a circular rather than a linear process.  When you’ve reached the “end” of a feedback cycle, consider what you’d change about your process. Write these ideas down and incorporate them the next time that you ask educators for their ideas and opinions. To increase transparency, you can let educators know about the changes you plan to make to how you collect feedback and why you’re making those changes.

Keep lines of communication open. When you tell educators about the actions you plan to take, provide a way for them to give feedback, ask questions, and offer ideas and suggestions. 

Final Thoughts

The work of listening deeply, trusting the people, and acting on what you learn takes time, care, and commitment. We believe it is completely worth it. In fact, this is one of the most meaningful projects that we’ve ever engaged in. It has allowed us to deepen our empathy and validate the needs and wants of the amazing educators that learn with us.

We are confident that you can succeed in following this framework for empathy, too. If you have any ideas, questions, or would just like to discuss this project further, we would love to hear from you.

There are many challenges present in using technology to connect with students.

Indeed, one particularly daunting hurdle lies in establishing authentic, engaging digital communications.

Connecting with students can be difficult if all communication occurs solely through email. How do you know if your students are opening your emails, reading them, or even receiving them if they aren’t replying back?

Below I’ll share three hacks we’ve found incredibly effective for getting students to read and reply to emails! 

Hack #1: Use a personalized subject line

The first step is getting your students to open your emails. In the English classroom, teachers often suggest that students start a paper with a hook to grab the reader’s attention. 

Email follows the same principle. Create an interesting subject line to get students to open and read your message. 

One idea to intrigue students to open your email is to use the student’s name in the subject line. This shows students that it is not an automated or generic email. 

Especially if your students are enrolled in online classes, their inboxes quickly fill up with emails such as progress checks, weekly check-ins, or class updates. Most of those are generic messages. 

When the message is personalized for a specific student, they are more likely to open them. 

Another suggestion is to start with something positive. The message’s subject line should entice students to open it. Try using exclamation points or emojis such as “Finish Strong 💪🏻.” 

Hack #2: Offer a simple way for students to respond

Now that students are opening their messages, how can we ensure they are actually reading them? 

The truth is students who are consistently engaged in their courses and doing well may NOT reply to your emails. We all know how busy students can get, so they may not send you a response unless they need something.

An effective strategy for encouraging engagement in emails to students is asking students to copy and paste a reply using pre-made sentences. 

This strategy simplifies the response, making the process quick and easy for students. Having the premade replies ready for students to use also makes it clear to students that you want a reply. 

Hack #3: Add some sparkle to your communication style

While it can be challenging to connect with students through technology, it is far from impossible. The goal is to connect with students, so it’s important to remember that not all communication has to be academic. 

Especially if your students are fully virtual, they may not have as many opportunities to communicate with friends or peers. Change up your communication style and build good rapport with your students to enhance the classroom community and teacher-student relationships. 

To vary up your communication style, try a joke or interesting fact of the week. 

Consider the style of your text as well. Use CAPS, bold, italicized, and underlined words to add emphasis. 

You can also try adding some memes, color, or bitmojis into your messages. 

The Bottom Line

Though email communication with students certainly can be challenging, it’s not impossible. 

Make your subject line pop to grab your student’s attention and don’t forget to let your personality shine through! 

You’ve got this! By following these three hacks, you’re sure to up your email game. 

Try these strategies out for yourself and watch on in wonder as your emails stop resulting in crickets and instead begin fostering genuine rapport between you and your students. 

I’m a “fixer.” When I see something that could be better, I want to help make it better. In some respects, this was a good trait to have as a high school English teacher. When my students’ essays were out of shape, I just saw potential. I was quick with my PaperMate Flair pen (every English teacher has their favorite marking tool) and used it liberally.

Of course, my students didn’t always appreciate all that ink. In fact, sometimes they took it personally. That wasn’t my intention, and yet, it happened. Why?

This past summer, I was reading Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning: Building Expressways to Success by Andratesha Fritzgerald, and I came across a concept called the 5:1 ratio. Basically, the idea boils down to this:

“Whomever intends to build trust (the teacher, coach, principal) needs to have five positive or neutral interactions with another person for every one corrective piece of feedback” (Aguilar, 2017).

There are many possible reasons that students were less than appreciative of my corrections, but the 5:1 ratio provides a compelling lens through which to view this problem. I was providing a lot of corrective feedback in the English classroom, and my ratio of positive interactions was often just off.

In the months since reading about the 5:1 ratio, I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Here are three reasons why I love it:

1. It’s Simple

It’s tempting to think that positive interactions are a given and that any good teacher would be meeting the 5:1 ratio. At least in my case, I know for a fact that I wasn’t. It doesn’t necessarily mean that I was a bad teacher — just one working in a high-stress environment where the priority was achievement. I suspect this might be the case for some other educators, too.

As an example, I might have made five corrective comments and five positive comments on any given student’s essay. It seemed reasonable at the time, but that was a 1:1 ratio. Looking back, knowledge of the 5:1 ratio would have encouraged me to get back to the necessary center of creating an abundance of intentionally positive interactions, in commenting on students’ work and everywhere else in my classroom. 

I love how simple this is.  It’s clear and easy to understand, and to me, it feels intuitive and true. 

Of course, just because it’s simple does not necessarily mean it’s easy (if it were, I wouldn’t be writing this blog post!). Really, though, that’s something I love about the 5:1 ratio, too. To implement it, I will have to reflect on my own practices and make some changes. But I’m certain that it will be worth it because, for me, it’s a fundamental reframing of what’s truly important in education.

2. It Encourages Reflection

This blog post by Elena Aguilar links to the following chart, which I find really helpful when thinking through the 5:1 ratio:

The chart is aimed at instructional coaches, but I find it really helpful from the perspective of a teacher, too. When I look at it, my mind immediately jumps back to the students in my classroom.

I’m certain that I was meeting the 5:1 ratio for some students in my classroom, but not all of them, and not all of the time.

I would say that I approached each day in the classroom with an intention to be positive and kind. I think I met that goal on most days. But I ended up meeting that goal generally — I didn’t think about it from the experience and perspective of every single individual student.

Looking at a visual representation of my students and specific interactions with them would have let me see where I was specifically meeting my intention and where I was falling short.

I love that the sheet also includes students’ race and gender (I would name the column “Gender Identity” instead of “Male/Female”). I’d like to think that my ratio of positive interactions was consistent with regards to students’ identities. Another intention of mine was to teach with equity in mind, after all. Looking at this sheet reveals to me, though, that I was not as mindful or specific about this as I could have been and should have been. Now that I recognize this, the “fixer” in me sees a lot of potential to improve my practice.

3. It Inspires a Plan

Once I know better, I want to do better. The 5:1 ratio inspires me to make a concrete plan to do better the next time I have the privilege of teaching students in the classroom.

If you’re interested in deepening your practice with the 5:1 ratio, my team and I created a free template to help you get started. This template includes a variety of resources — including the ones already mentioned in this article — along with space for reflection. It also includes a few additional strategies that I’d like to try for myself:

• Dialogue journals, which provide a space to converse and connect with every single student on a regular basis. I would love to establish conversations that I come back to every week or every two weeks. This would definitely be a place to create a routine that guarantees positive interactions, and it would also help me to get to know my students even better.
• Delayed grading, which makes it possible to simply provide observations as comments for students (keeping interactions positive or neutral) and let the students correct themselves. Besides helping to maintain the 5:1 ratio, this also makes the grading process more meaningful for students because it encourages them to take ownership.
• Greeting every student personally, every day, which can build trust, increase student engagement, and lower teacher stress. When I was in the classroom, it was a challenge to make this happen every day. In the future, I’d like to slow down and make this a priority, even if that means that part of my preparation for the next class hour happens after the bell rings.

Ultimately, the 5:1 ratio has completely changed my thinking about interactions in the classroom. It all started with a question about grading. After all, part of our jobs as teachers is to provide corrective feedback to help students grow. The 5:1 ratio helps to ensure that students can receive this feedback effectively. More importantly, however, it can help us be intentional about creating a classroom environment that centers our humanity.

Recap: Systemic vs. Individual Problems and Solutions

In the first Time for Teachers blog, the distinction between systemic and individual problems and solutions was made. Systemic problems require organization- or system-wide approaches that impact a broader group and address biases and/or system limitations. The second blog in this series explains how agile meetings and pulse surveys can streamline meetings and keep track of teachers’ concerns, issues, and needs.

This third blog post will discuss the importance of self-assessment in addressing individual problems and solutions teachers face. This is not to say the onus of addressing challenges should fall squarely on the shoulders of individual teachers. Rather, teachers need a community of practice and support to help them identify solutions for problems they might face individually.

Power of Self-Assessment

Just as students have individualized needs, teachers do, too. Although there may be common problems and issues that teachers face in their everyday work, not all teachers feel the same way about them. In the world of mindfulness, there is often an emphasis on individual introspection and reflection.

The same approach could be applied for teachers facing a schedule and to-do list that is daunting and overwhelming. There are many apps or programs out there that teachers can use to track workflows, tasks, and responsibilities, but using pencil and paper may feel more manageable and actually be more efficient.

Using a single sheet of paper, a teacher could do a quick self-assessment of tasks they like, challenging tasks they face, possible tasks to eliminate, and focus areas to reflect on individually and with colleagues. 

To start, one should draw two lines on the piece of paper to create four equally shaped rectangles. Each step of this self-assessment is illustrated below. Please note that the number of bullet points provided is for illustrative purposes only (there can be more or fewer bullets depending on what a teacher self-identifies).

In the upper left rectangle, one should write “Tasks I Like” and provide a bulleted list of the everyday tasks they enjoy and like to do. These tasks are the ideal things that a teacher would get to focus most of their time on. 

In the upper right rectangle, one should write “Challenging Tasks” and provide a bulleted list of the everyday tasks that might take up a lot of time and energy compared to others. One should underline the top one to three tasks that take the most time to complete. Before moving to the bottom of half of the page, one should put a star next to any tasks that overlap in the “Tasks I Like” and the “Challenging Tasks” list. 

In the lower-left rectangle, one should write “Non-Essential Tasks” and provide a bulleted list of the everyday tasks that are not essential or not necessary to meet job requirements. One should compare the items listed under unnecessary tasks and challenging tasks. Any overlapping items should be circled. 

Finally, in the lower right rectangle, one should write “Focus Areas” and provide a bulleted list with three subheadings: (1) Focus and Enjoy (all of the starred items from the top half of the page), (2) Eliminate to Save Time (all of the circled items from the unnecessary task list), and (3) Talk about with Others (the underlined items from the challenging tasks list). 

Teachers are encouraged to save their self-assessments in order to redo and compare them on a regular basis, perhaps once per semester or quarter, to see what changes over time. By taking 15-20 minutes to do an inventory like this, teachers can get an overview of what they like to do and strategic areas to focus on individually.

They can also target areas to talk with colleagues about using the physical document created. Colleagues could even share their self-assessments and seek advice on how to tackle challenging and time-consuming tasks.

Individual Enactment through a Community of Support

By going through a self-assessment inventory, teachers can prioritize their time to focus on what they like to do and what needs to be done. In any self-assessment, it is important for teachers to think about what could be discussed with a colleague. Discussing a list with a colleague, mentor, or administrator, will make identifying solutions more collaborative which can feel less overwhelming and isolating.

More independent teachers can certainly take initiative on their own but teachers are likely to feel more empowered to find innovative solutions when they work with a close colleague within a community of practice. 

If it is challenging for teachers to collaborate with others in their immediate work environment, they could consider joining communities such as The Resilient Educator and Digital Promise’s EdCamp offering in-person and remote opportunities to meet with other teachers across the country to share experiences, effective practices, and possible solutions to particular problems.

Similar to the adage that it takes a village to raise children, it also takes a village for teachers to face and overcome the challenges of having limited time and resources at their disposal.

Final Thoughts

To help teachers feel satisfied with their work, they need to be given opportunities to assess what they like about teaching and how to address the individual problems they might be facing. If teachers find it difficult to carve out time to do a self-assessment, time could be dedicated for them to do so in a meeting or workshop that is already planned.

Having teachers conduct straightforward self-assessments together also builds trust. By giving teachers the chance to identify individual issues and connect them with possible solutions and resources within the systems and networks they work with, they will likely feel more empowered and supported.  

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Christa Green, Kristen DeBruler, and Tracy Gieseking from the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute for their contributions and advice in writing this blog post.

Recap: Systemic vs. Individual Problems and Solutions

In the first Time for Teachers blog, a distinction was made between systemic and individual problems and solutions. Systemic problems require organization- or system-wide approaches that impact a broader group and address biases and/or system limitations.

Systemic solutions often need significant coordination among many people after carefully considering modification(s) to policies and procedures. Individual solutions involve people taking personal responsibility for locating resources to address the problems they face in their immediate environment.

This blog post will discuss two possible systemic solutions that can help all educators save time while addressing needs to serve students and communities: agile meetings and short pulse surveys.

The Power of Short, Focused Agile Meetings

A common joke in the workplace is that a required meeting could have been an email. Although meetings provide an opportunity for staff or teams to check in and touch base, having an excessive number of meetings, holding meetings for meetings’ sake, or holding meetings without focus can be frustrating and feel like an inefficient use of time for everyone involved.

Given that meetings are a significant time commitment for teachers that pull them from their tight schedule, how can meetings be scheduled and organized more effectively? One solution is to implement what is called agile meetings.

Coming from the world of software development, agile is a framework that emphasizes close collaboration, clear communication, transparent expectations, and thoughtful efficiency–all of which will help an organization meet strategic goals and impact stakeholders positively.

Although schools aren’t composed of teams of software developers in Silicon Valley, the principles of agile meetings can be applied in schools to avoid ineffective aspects of meetings that can sap up valuable time and resources for teachers.

In short, agile meetings should have a clear purpose, be as short as possible, and include only the necessary and relevant team members for a given topic or issue. This means that meetings should have a concise and focused agenda, be very limited in time (e.g., 15 or 20 minutes), and have a targeted invitation list. 

Organizing agile meetings may require some advanced work or reading on the part of attendees (e.g., the part of the meeting that could have been an email should be sent in advance). If an all-staff meeting is required, having a focused meeting in terms of scope and time can still be implemented. Drawing from the advice of a communications efficacy firm, Table 1 provides a summary of what to do in order to run agile meetings.

Table 1. Recommendations on how to run agile meetings that are more focused and efficient (adapted from a blog by Status Hero).

In the end, a systemic solution for a school to help everyone maximize the time available to them during the day is to develop a set of agile meeting rules to which everyone agrees to adhere. By instituting an agile meeting framework, a school will naturally develop a culture of mutual respect for each other’s time that focuses on the most essential goal of everyone involved–serving the needs of students, families, and communities.

Insights from Short, Focused Pulse Surveys

A recent survey of teachers about their job satisfaction has revealed that their perspectives and ideas are not always taken into consideration as much as they would like. In order to identify and address any systemic problems or solutions found in classrooms, it is necessary to include teachers.

However, given that teachers’ time is limited, holding long meetings or in-depth focus groups may not be the best route to go. One way to overcome this obstacle is to have teachers complete short surveys capturing their “pulse” about targeted topics about their work. Some common online survey platforms that are easy to access and use include Google Forms and SurveyMonkey.

Just like agile meetings call for short, targeted meetings only involving those who are needed, pulse surveys should also be agile. Surveys should be clear and limited in length. This requires questions to be short and concise (with closed-ended questions being preferred).

For example, if you were trying to capture teachers’ self-assessments of their social and emotional learning, you could provide the following statements that teachers evaluate on a Likert scale (e.g., Strong disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree):

• I can identify my social and emotional needs.
• I pursue self-care.
• I show compassion toward myself.
• I ask for help when I need it.
• I can achieve work-life balance.
• I have ways to minimize my stress and anxiety.
• I feel I can express my emotions with trusted adults/colleagues.

By capturing teachers’ self-assessments based on these statements, administrators, lead teachers, and mentors can take appropriate action to design training or provide resources to help teachers with their social and emotional learning.

Also, surveys should only be sent to relevant parties, otherwise, data may be overwhelming and possibly not completely relevant. If a particular issue impacts only a certain subset of teachers, a short online survey could be developed and sent to them rather than the entire staff. 

Caution should be exercised, though, when designing and sending pulse surveys. If too many surveys are sent, not enough time is given to complete surveys, or careful thought isn’t put into who should complete a survey (i.e., one should make sure people don’t feel left out), pulse surveys can backfire. It is also recommended that a pulse survey takes the place of an existing time commitment to free up and not add to a teacher’s or administrator’s already full plate. 

Table 2 provides an overview of some advice about designing pulse surveys.

Table 2. An overview of some suggestions for designing pulse surveys.

When designed, distributed, and evaluated effectively, pulse surveys can provide targeted snapshots of what problems teachers face as well as ideas they might have on how to solve them. By regularly gauging and sharing teachers’ thoughts and experiences about targeted issues, communities of practice based on mutual understanding and problem-solving can form. Moreover, time-saving solutions can be identified to help find time for teachers.

Final Thoughts

There are only so many hours in a day. Teachers want to do as much as they can to support and inspire students. By implementing an agile culture that streamlines meetings, teachers can find ways to still connect with their colleagues and focus more time on tasks that they find meaningful to run effective classrooms. When everyone is on the same page about being mindful of how meetings are run, an environment of respectful efficiency is created. 

Additionally, when teachers are given opportunities to complete targeted surveys regularly about aspects of their job (but not too many!), problems and solutions can emerge that help keep the system of a school running smoothly. Teachers are also left with a sense of being listened to and cared for in their essential roles of educating our communities’ children.    

The next article in the Time for Teachers blog series will discuss individual problems and solutions and advice on working with teachers to optimize their time.

Stay up to date on future blogs in this series by signing up for email notifications!

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Christa Green, Kristen DeBruler, and Tracy Gieseking from the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute for their contributions and advice in writing this blog post.

Did you know a teacher started Black History Month?

It’s only appropriate, then, that we compile a list of unique Black History Month resources for educators.

But first, let’s go back to the beginning. It all started in 1915 with Carter G. Woodson. 

“Woodson was dedicated to making African American history accessible to the everyday person. He wanted African Americans, and all Americans, really, to know the African American story and to see themselves in it because representation is power.”
— Noelle Trent, National Civil Rights Museum

Born to illiterate parents who were formerly enslaved, Woodson helped out on the family farm. As a teenager, he helped support his family by working in the coal mines of West Virginia. 

Education was everything to Woodson. His formal learning was intermittent, and he entered high school at age 20 and graduated two years later.

Woodson became a teacher and then a school principal. He pursued higher education and became the second African American person to earn a doctorate degree at Harvard University.

An esteemed educator and author, Woodson paid his dues to be a part of the American Historical Association, but he was barred from attending their conferences. History, as he saw it, failed to include the African American experience.

Resolved to include African American history in education, Woodson and a group of African American men founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History). This provided African American scholars with research and publication outlets.

“Seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
— President Gerald Ford

A decade later, Woodson initiated Negro History Week to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In 1969, students and educators at Kent State University proposed a full month. Seven years later, President Gerald Ford publicly recognized this proposal, and finally, in 1986, Congress designated the month of February as National Black History Month.

And, to think, it all started with a teacher.

As you peruse the following list, remember to incorporate these resources throughout the year. Edutopia offers excellent advice on how to make your classroom more culturally responsive, and Michigan Virtual offers a free, SCECH-bearing professional development course called “Anti-Racism and Social Justice in Teaching and Leadership” to incorporate this mindset in your teaching.

Below, you will find unique Black History Month resources for teachers and a few special Michigan-specific resources to use in face-to-face or virtual classrooms.

Thank you to Michigan Virtual Instructor Marie McDonald; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Coach Tanya Cross; Director of Instruction Andrea McKay; and Assistant Director of Continuous Learning Emily Sicilia for contributing to this list. Additionally, a big thanks to DEI Committee member Terence Wilkerson and BRIGHT podcast host Nikki Herta for reviewing this material!

Please note: These resources have not been thoroughly vetted, so please use your best judgment. Are we missing something? Let us know!

Black History Month Resources

1. Black History Month slideshow
   (Michigan Virtual Social Studies Instructor Marie McDonald teaches African American History and has generously provided this slideshow. Teachers can use any of this material in their courses!)
2. Youth Speak virtual stage at The Wright in Detroit (video contest)
3. Separate but equal case in Michigan (audio and text)
4. A Michigan resort town for African Americans (podcast)
5. Historically Black (podcast)
6. Swing dancing and jazz (primary source set)
7. Digital collections at the Library of Congress (primary sources list)
8. Exhibits and collections (primary sources list)
9. The only African American military pilots in WWII (book)
10. African American artists and projects for the classroom (article)
11. 4 Black History Month must-haves (article)
12. The pioneering heart surgeon and Idlewild founder (article)
13. Documentaries to watch (video)
14. 10 Black History Month classroom ideas (video)
15. The first African American women army corps unit deployed overseas in WWII (videos, photos)
16. Portraits of African Americans (photos)
17. Negro Leagues Baseball oral history (audio)
18. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (teacher guide)
19. NEA Black History Month (lesson plans)
20. The historical roots of hip hop (lesson plan – register for free to access)
21. Free classroom posters (printables)
22. Black History Month coloring pages (printables)
23. Trans-Atlantic slave trade (interactive)
24. Segregation and the Life of Henrietta Lacks learning lab (interactive)
25. Rosa Parks virtual student workshop (grades 5-8) (interactive)
26. Cut-and-paste Civil Rights Movement project (activity)
27. One of the first African-American women to receive a patent (activity)
28. Comparing Civil War recruitment posters (activity)
29. Black History Month journal prompts (activity)
30. Black History Month crossword puzzle (activity)
31. Fannie Lou Hamer and voting rights (activity)
32. Jeopardy board: African American firsts in sports (activity)
33. Anti-racism resources for all ages (Padlet)
34. The growing diversity of Black America (report)
35. 10 ideas for teaching Black History Month (PDF)
36. Books to add to your inclusive library (list)
37. Shareable social media resources (list)

The photos above were taken in Idlewild, Michigan in September 1938. Idlewild, known as “the Black Eden,” was a resort community that catered to African Americans, who were excluded from other resorts prior to the passage of the Civil RIghts Act of 1964. Check out resource #4 and #12 to learn more.

In a recent Michigan Virtual Learning and Research Institute study, 80% of teachers cited the lack of time as the top roadblock in meeting their social and emotional needs. A Michigan Virtual blog post on the teacher retention crisis in Michigan notes an equally alarming set of statistics: 68% of Michigan educators cite excessive workloads negatively impacting their job satisfaction; 48% found abundant paperwork to be a major roadblock to enjoying their work.

Given all that teachers have on their plates, what can be done to maximize the time available to teachers? This Time for Teachers blog series explores issues related to the persistent lack of time and excessive workloads reported by teachers. It also explores possible solutions. This first post centers on the importance of understanding the difference between systemic and individual barriers and corresponding solutions.

Systemic vs. Individual Barriers and Solutions

Problems, like lack of time, impact individuals, organizations, and systems differently. Targeted solutions can best be pursued with an understanding of where they originate and how they affect individuals, organizations, and systems differently. Therefore, when formulating possible solutions, one must keep the distinction between systemic and individual in mind. 

Some problems are endemic to a larger system like a school district or a state’s education structure. Certain policies or required procedures, while unintended, may pose significant challenges for all teachers or specific groups of teachers. For example, some teachers may have difficulty reaching test score thresholds because students may have more urgent learning needs that aren’t covered in standardized tests. Systemic problems require organization- or system-wide approaches that impact a broader group and address biases and/or system limitations. Systemic solutions often need significant coordination among many people after carefully considering modifying policies and procedures.

Individual solutions involve people taking personal responsibility for locating resources to address the problems they face in their immediate environment. For example, a high school English teacher might have a lot of papers to review, but she discovers that students enjoy and are good at giving peer feedback if given some guidance and training. Rather than taking all the responsibility to mark up papers, the teacher can incorporate peer reviews as part of the evaluation process. Adjusting the feedback process can allow the teacher to do other things with her time. Individual solutions like this require considerable energy to find resources to solve problems within a particular context.

Knowing the difference between systemic and individual is important because individual teachers cannot solve systemic problems by themselves. For example, a teacher might have to comply with a mandate to complete the state’s or a school district’s paperwork regardless of whether it is time-consuming. However, the state or a school district could find ways to simplify paperwork or reporting processes. If asked, individual teachers may offer ways to streamline the steps involved, but it is unlikely they alone can change a process required across an extensive educational system. A teacher may develop a potential improvement in the system, but such a solution needs a shared commitment at a broader level if it is to become systemically beneficial.

A tremendous burden is placed on individuals when they are stuck spending precious time on system-wide barriers. When individual teachers are constantly seeking solutions for systemic barriers, individuals may feel frustrated, disillusioned, or resigned, which leads to decreased job satisfaction and possibly burnout. Such prolonged dissatisfaction and burnout will only worsen the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.

Finding time for teachers, thus, requires a careful and continuous look at the whole system. It also requires creative thinking about identifying and sharing potential system-wide solutions that empower and enable individual teachers to take actions with others who share a mutual investment in the educational system they are a part of.

Identifying Systemic vs. Individual Problems  

If teachers in a school or district cite a lack of time as a major impediment, a careful assessment of what is causing time-related problems is needed. Teachers can be encouraged to track what they spend time on and share that information with trustworthy administrators. Such an exercise uncovers what tasks consume their time, what creates challenges for managing their time, what resources they need, and where they prefer to focus their time and energy. Some questions to consider are the following:

• Can policies and procedures that take an excessive amount of time be streamlined or eliminated?
• What time-intensive tasks should be brought to the attention of school boards, state representatives, and state-level education officials?
• Do some teachers have higher workloads than others? Are staffing levels adequate and equitable? 
• Are curricular goals too ambitious? Are there better ways to meet them?
• Are there ways to streamline giving feedback to students and families?
• Are new teachers in need of help and advice on how to manage their workloads? 
• Are adequate technologies available to help teachers do their jobs?
• What resources could help teachers balance more effectively all they have to do?

Once various time-related problems are identified, it is essential to pinpoint the organizational level at which those problems would best be addressed (e.g., state, district, school, grade, and department). This way, problem-solving energies can be directed to where solutions are most likely to succeed.

It is also essential to place a high priority on minimizing the time involved in any process. One idea is to incorporate a survey or open discussion into regularly scheduled faculty and staff meetings, perhaps using one or more of the questions noted above. Conducting any survey requires administrators to create an environment where teachers feel comfortable and safe to openly and honestly share their experiences, concerns, and suggestions.

It is also essential to ask teachers how they would ideally like to manage their time. What parts of their job most excite them? Where do they find the most joy? By better understanding what teachers enjoy, solutions can align with what might increase teachers’ satisfaction and well-being. 

Final Thoughts

To restore time for teachers to do what they love, we must first understand what problems teachers face and where they want to spend their time. While it takes effort to survey teachers about their time concerns, the information allows districts, schools, and departments to better analyze the problems identified by teachers, keeping in mind the distinction between the system and the individual, and then adapt their approaches to implementing sustainable solutions.

The next article in the Time for Teachers blog series will provide examples of systemic problems and solutions. Other future articles will include examples of individual problems and solutions and advice on working with teachers to optimize their time.

Stay up to date on future blogs in this series by signing up for email notifications!

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Christa Green, Christopher Harrington, and Kristen DeBruler from the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute for their contributions and advice in writing this blog post.

About the Authors

Tracy Gieseking

Tracy Gieseking’s role as a senior research specialist with the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute provides a unique opportunity to collaborate with Michigan’s education community. As online and blended learning reach an increasing number of K-12 students in Michigan, there is greater opportunity to learn from practitioners, research what’s fueling success and share best practices. Tracy enjoys collaborating with others to provide solutions and build capacity. She holds a bachelor’s in business leadership and much of her professional life has been with education-focused organizations.

Ed Timke

Dr. Ed Timke is a research specialist for Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute. Although he specializes in qualitative research — such as interviews, focus groups, ethnographies, and textual and visual analyses — he was trained in mixed methods research while in his doctoral program in communication and media at the University of Michigan. Ed has taught online and face-to-face courses on writing, research methods, global media and communication, the role of advertising in society, and intercultural communication at American University, Duke University, UC Berkeley, and the University of Michigan.

Written by: Holly Boleski & Christy Trombetta

As you count down from 10 to 1 this new year, help us count from 1 to 10 as we explore 10 new year’s resolutions that teachers can take into their classrooms and personal lives in 2022.

Because the past few years have been especially challenging for teachers, these resolutions focus on increasing teachers’ happiness and decreasing their stress this year.

1. Shut It Down

Shut down your computer at the end of the workday and do not open it again until the next workday. It’s ok to let that email or text message you receive after hours sit until the next day.

Just because you can be easily reached outside of work hours, it doesn’t mean you have to be available 24/7. Setting these boundaries at work will allow you time to focus on the things that are important to you outside of the classroom and feel recharged and more focused when you start your next workday.

2. Focus On What Works

With the introduction of so many new digital tools, it’s easy to get wrapped up in utilizing many in your classrooms. The problem is that we often get lost in everything we’re managing, and maybe even a little bogged down by it all.

Think of a few tools that work for you and your students, even if they’re old-fashioned, and get rid of the rest. You’ll feel lighter and less stressed with less tools to manage.

3. Be OK With Failure

Have you ever seen someone fail at something and bounce right back? Do you wonder how they’re capable of letting go of failure and simply moving forward? These resilient people likely see failure as a growth and learning opportunity and not a dead end.

Mindset strategies like Growth Mindset and Failing Forward help us understand that by accepting our downfalls and failures and learning from them, we’re likely to be happier with the failure we’re experiencing and maybe even grow to appreciate it.

4. Fill Your Bucket

Find time in your life to do something that makes you happy and “fills your bucket.” Read, stroll the aisles of your favorite store, craft, hug someone, look at pictures of puppies online, hug a puppy.

Even if only for a few minutes, the time we spend doing the things we truly enjoy allows us to re-energize and pay that feeling forward when we need the energy later. After all, you can’t take from an empty bucket.

5. Take A Breath

Whether literally or figuratively speaking, the air we breathe or the space we provide ourselves before responding can be life-changing. In moments of stress, take a minute to go outside and breathe in some fresh air. That fresh air can lower blood pressure and heart rate.

Need more? Have your morning coffee outside (with a warm coat or blanket, of course), take a quick walk around your building, or simply open a window. The same holds true for the figurative breaths we take when responding to stressful situations.

Instead of jumping to a response, take a moment to pause so you can be sure your response is not just a reaction. You’ll find your responses to be more considerate and level-headed, which can often defuse a tough situation.

6. Be Kind to Yourself

Do you find yourself complimenting others as you go about your day? We often find it easy to lift others up in this way but can be much harsher when thinking about ourselves. Try not to allow your thoughts about yourself to be overly critical.

Remember to treat yourself with the same respect and compassion that you show others. Give yourself grace to make mistakes, and don’t expect perfectionism. We are all a work in progress. 

7. Ask for Help

As teachers, we are really good at encouraging students to ask for help when they need it but often have trouble heeding our own advice. Many teachers are perfectionists by nature and like to do things their way. While there’s nothing wrong with this, it can become overwhelming if you are taking on too much at one time. Give yourself a break once in a while and reach out for help when you need it. In addition, when help is offered to you, don’t feel bad about accepting it. 

8. Practice Gratitude

One of the simplest things we can do to boost our mental health is to practice gratitude. Take note of the little things you are thankful for throughout your day. When you say “thanks,” consider what you are really grateful for.

Share your appreciation for others with them. Consider jotting down moments of gratitude in a journal that you can look back on when you need a little reminder of the things that make you smile. 

9. Protect Your Peace

With social media and numerous media outlets consuming our life, it’s easy these days to hear all the bad and crazy things that happen in our world. Try to recognize where the negativity is coming from and set boundaries that will limit the negativity you let in your life.

Try turning off the tv while getting ready for work or not checking Twitter before bed. Is it a coworker that you find is bringing you down? Limit the time you spend with them by having lunch together once a week instead of every day. Is a parent constantly calling wanting to talk about their student?

Try proactively scheduling a weekly meeting instead of being available to them on-demand. The more boundaries you set on this negativity, the better your mental health will be.

10. Be More Inclusive

Humans are social beings. We like to be included and have all experienced the not-so-great feeling of being excluded. Even if it doesn’t bother you personally, recognize that others might not feel the same.

Practice being more inclusive by inviting others to events that you normally wouldn’t, asking a new teacher to lunch, or asking that student who is hard to connect with to help you in class. Even the smallest cues of acceptance—smiling in the hallways, nodding when you agree, or greeting a student by name—go a long way in letting them know you accept them.

Plus, practicing these behaviors in front of your students is a great way to model inclusiveness for them too!

As the 2020-21 school year begins, most students and teachers are experiencing a start to the school year that is like no other. Whether you find yourself starting the year with in-person instruction, using a hybrid model, or teaching completely online, communicating effectively with parents and students is an important part of a teacher’s job and something that you may find to be more challenging while teaching remotely. 

So as we transition back into teaching and learning this fall, we thought it might be helpful to revisit a few of the Learning Continuity webinars that we recorded earlier this spring. This webinar, in particular, will give you strategies that you can implement right away! 

In the webinar, “Tips and Tricks for Communicating with Parents and Students,” Stacey Schuh (Michigan Virtual’s director of professional learning), Alex Rogers (kindergarten teacher at Holt Public Schools), Sam Sicilia (English teacher at Waverly High School), and Kristin Koch (senior ASL instructor at Michigan Virtual) discuss several different topics related to communicating with students and parents. 

We hope you enjoy watching the webinar as Stacey, Alex, Sam, and Kristin explain and discuss the various resources and tips that they have in store for you, as well as what practices they find to be both effective and ineffective. 

We have outlined the topics and tips below as well as linked the resources for you to make the content easier to refer back to and use! Enjoy! 

Examples of means of communication

• Remind: allows you to text parents
• Google Voice: a great way to call families from your personal phone
• Zoom: video conferencing
• Old fashioned snail mail
• Email or phone call 
• Google Classroom

Tips for communication

• Consider including parents in email communications with students
• Stick with what means of communication you have already established
• Build upon what has already been used 
• Keep it simple and consistent
• Make sure students have opportunities to see you face-to-face

Lessons learned

• Be flexible and understanding
• Remember to connect with students on a personal level
• Try to simplify and/or minimize communication so as not to overwhelm parents
• Establish tools and strategies that work when learning is in the classroom or from home

Suggestions for educator support

• Keep it light and be consistent
• Make a daily schedule for yourself 
• Maintain connections with students
• Make sure students know you are there for them and available to answer any questions

Resources for communication

1. Voicethread
2. Loom
3. Google Meet
4. Remind
5. Google Classroom
6. Flipgrid