What are my #FacilitatorGoals?

 I recently (re)heard the cliche "write the book you want to read," and that sparked my idea of my goal to "Design the PD that I want to attend." 

Rabbit-hole: I wanted to find who authored the book quote, and it's most often attributed to Toni Morrison, but there are many others who shared similar sentiments.

As I wrapped up my first post-2020 summer of providing face-to-face professional learning, and because I attended several events for my own learning, I wanted to reflect on my learning preferences to rethink and refine my own practices.

Refining PD Design

I have numerous models and frameworks in mind during my PD design process (many based on the book The Art of Gathering) and the purpose of this post is to document my big goals of an ideal PD session.

During the past couple of years, I've really scrutinized elements of workshops, webinars, and events I attended that met (or did not meet) my PD expectations.

I hope that by reflecting on my own preferences and creating this list will help me refine how I design professional learning. 


illustration with hands crafting; text "#FacilitatorGoals - design the PD I would want to attend." upper right, colorful lightbulb idcon


My #FacilitatorGoals

I believe a skillful facilitator: 
  • knows who the participants are;
  • establishes session goals and a purpose and articulates those goals;
  • utilizes activities and protocols that engage the learners and allow meaning-making;
  • includes storytelling elements/structures;
  • builds a safe, inclusive learning community; 
  • recognizes attendees’ preferences may differ from their own;
  • allows time and space for collaboration, reflections, and processing;
  • identifies the best format for the delivery of the material;
  • ensures session resources are accessible and professional;
  • considers the question “What’s the best use of our synchronous time?” 
  • shares relevant, timely (research-based) information;
  • pinpoints ways that learners can immediately apply the new learning;
  • integrates technology in meaningful ways to support the learning;
  • considers the “container” for session resources and curated materials; 
  • provides opportunities to extend the learning experience.

Earlier in the pandemic-times, I wrote about my mistakes about learning preferences. I now think that the bottom-line is all about providing choice

From the previous post, if I'm somehow "required" to provide a tool-based, presentation-style webinar (my least favorite type of session) if I design with this goal list in mind, I can create a meaningful learning experience - even a webinar about a digital tool - that I would like to attend.

What would you add to this list of #FacilitatorGoals? And if you're in one of my professional learning sessions and you do not see me incorporating one of these ideals, please provide that feedback!

Always learning and refining.

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Purposeful PD: Launching the Learning (Take 2!)

Inspiration

As mentioned multiple times in my posts, I'm constantly reflecting on ideas from Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering to upgrade my professional learning sessions, meetings, and personal gatherings.

For today's reflections, I share a more structured approach to the way I begin, or as Priya calls it, the launch. (i.e. How to "Begin with a Bang" - take 2!)

I recently collaborated with a new friend who had not heard about The Art of Gathering, and when I tried to explain this information to her, I realized it was a LOT; thus, this post!

The Launch

Title box: Launching the Learning  People icon and text: People: Introduce self; Connect to participants via check-in; Participants connect Magnifying glass icon and text: Purpose: Share session -INGs; Share session goals/standards addressed  Info icon and text: Logistics: Share session "flow"; Share norms/community agreements; (Possibly) links to resources Lower right: colorful lightbulb icon and @kklaster
Launching the Learning

In The Art of Gathering, Priya inspires us to find ways to honor and awe our guests.

Your opening needs to be a kind of pleasant shock therapy. It should grab people. And in grabbing them, it should both awe the guests and honor them. It must plant in them the paradoxical feeling of being totally welcomed and deeply grateful to be there.
I feel the suggestion of honoring and awing guests is a very tall order during a quick webinar about formative assessments with Google Forms, but I'm working on it! 😜

So here's my session flow to launch a PD session (as of August 2022):

People

I say hello, check on the participants, and often have participants connect to one another.

  • My intro is typically very short. When I need to establish some quick credibility, I share my number of years of teaching (starting year 33! πŸŽ‰) or mention teaching math or working as an instructional coach. 
  • I frequently share or mention my connection to the material, i.e. if it's a session about podcasts, I share my favorite podcasts.
  • Since 2020 (and moving forward), I often begin with a sincere thank you to the participants as a way to honor them and their time.
  • Especially since the pandemic, I check on the participants' state of being. The check-in might be a "share your day" in the form of a GIF, put a word in the chat, or fist-to-five how are you.
  • For a face-to-face session, I provide a couple of minutes for participants to meet their neighbors. I include a prompt (e.g. share something you've recently learned), a timer, and play a bit of background music. (Shout out to my friend Laura for the music addition. In case the participants are new to each other, the music provides a bit of buffer in a quiet room.)
  • When connecting during virtual events, I provide discussion prompts for the breakout room and include a suggestion for who starts the conversation, e.g. the person with the shortest name begins the conversation.

My Personal People Pet-Peeves: 

These opinions are for my own preferences, and I realize others' views may differ!
  • Even if it's a recurring meeting, and I've sent a pre-email, I still introduce myself. I don't want to assume that everyone knows who I am. I recently attended a meeting where there were a lot of new people, and the speakers did not introduce themselves, nor were their names listed on the agenda. I felt newer employees did not feel a sense of belonging or connection in that meeting.
  • In my PD sessions, I do not share my degrees, colleges, family, pets, a collage of photos of summer vacations, ways I drink coffee, favorite restaurants, etc. (unless it is truly connected to the content of the session.)
  •  At a district conference this summer, at the end of the day, a participant said, "Thank you for providing time to meet our neighbors. This session is the first one where I've been asked to do that." 😱 The collaboration aspect is my favorite part of this type of event, and how disappointing that wasn't encouraged throughout the day.
  • I want to collaborate with session attendees, but I want it to be authentic. If there is an ice-breaker, I want to understand the purpose and how that activity will move the learning forward and connect to the rest of the session objectives. During the past few weeks, I saw a lot of buzz on teacher Twitter about the dreaded back-to-school ice breakers. I agree, and my session attendees will not be lining up by making animal noises. 😳

Purpose

Using -INGs to clarify a meeting or session purpose continues to be a solid approach for me. 

Since that original post, I still love using icons from The Noun Project, but now I know that for my work to be more accessible, I add text to describe each of the icons.

decorative slide with title "Today's Focused -INGs." Three icons: book+website, people connected in a triangle, lightbulb; text under each icon is learning, connecting, reflecting
Slide showing session -INGs (for a webinar on Burnout)

Depending on the session, I might also share more details about session objectives or learning outcomes. I always link the PD session to ISTE Standards (and those related to the teacher evaluation system) but I may not spend much time on these during the session. 

Takeaways from AoG book club members:

This summer, I facilitated my fourth iteration of an Art of Gathering book club, and the session participants provided additional insight to ideas from the book.

Chapter 1 of the book is all about the importance of establishing the purpose of your gathering, and I appreciated these reflections:
  • One participant plans to develop "core" -INGs for her PLCs meetings, but then specify for each meeting which of the -INGs were to be used OR create an additional -ING for a particular meeting.
    • I facilitated a group that met quarterly, and our -INGs were problem-solving, networking, and learning. For our May meetup, we added "celebrating" as an additional session purpose.
    • Several participants are adding the meeting/session purpose to the top of an agenda or as Slide #1 in a presentation. I think that's a terrific reminder to keep a focus as the meeting designer and it helps establish and communicate a WHY.

    Logistics

    And now it's time to provide session logistics. Some of the information might be communicated in a pre-email, but the logistics I typically share are the session norms and the agenda "flow." 

    Norms

    I still have mixed feelings about explicity stating norms, and I've been a participant where I've found the session rules very off-putting. (I'm still quite stunned when I hear "put away your devices," but that has happened, even this year. πŸ™„)  I want to respect adult learners and model best practices, but I think there's a fine line with sharing session norms.

    Even though we're used to webinar world, I always include a Slide to share the norm "Cameras are your choice," and I think it's important to explicity share that option.

    I'm still wondering the best verbiage to use for session norms, and I would love suggestions. Community agreements? Commitments? In 2021, I had the privilege of learning from Katrice Quitter who called our norms the day's Ethos, which I loved.

    My friend Julianna and I adapted the AVID A-E-I-O-U norms to create our "Road Rules" for a multi-day workshop. The theme was a PD journey, so we connected all ideas to a road trip.


    Decorative slide with text: Community Road Rules - DRIVE Develop your own methods. Respect diverse views. Integrate new information. Vocalize feedback. Engage fully. ✨ h/t AVID’s AEIOU Guidelines

    Flow

    Another shout-out goes to Laura for her examples of a session timeline or flow, and I've started adapting and sharing that work as part of my logistics. Laura even includes her session -INGs as part of the timeline, and I've worked to #AdmireAndAcquire that idea, too.

    My script sounds something like this: "We have three parts to today's session: first we'll do ABC, then DEF, and then XYZ." I will show a Slide with these points, and I utilize an animation to emphasize each separate step in our journey.

    Closing

    One of the benefits of this 3-step approach of people, purpose, logistics is that it reduces my cognitive load because I'm no longer wondering about the order of my session/meeting opening.

    If I'm facilitating a 50-minute webinar, I can accomplish all of these objectives in 5 minutes. If I'm leading an academy or longer session, I can expand any of the sections based on the needs of the work. For example, if the session is highly collaborative and is over an extended period of time, I definitely want to expand the People section to give participants more of an opportunity to connect. In this instance, I might also start the people (and logistics) in some of the pre-work materials, too. 

    My next wondering: how do I convey this same type of information in an asynchronous, self-directed session? πŸ€” I know educators are now looking for more online learning opportunities, and I think the people, purpose, logistics flow still applies, but I need more practice with designing asynchronous courses.

    Additional Ideas

    Here are a few of my other posts related to The Art of Gathering:

    In what ways do you start your PD sessions? What else is important for the beginning of the session?

    I'm always ready to launch into learning!

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    I'm Taking Better Breaks to Beat Burnout

    Know anyone who might be experiencing some form of burnout? πŸ™‹πŸ»‍♀️

    Burnout Background

    I started curating information about burnout in the fall of 2020 after hearing BrenΓ© Brown's podcast interview with Drs. Emily and Amelia Nagoski about their book Burnout. In the spring of 2022, burnout seemed to be the theme of the season, and since I compiled so much information, I thought I would organize and share some of the resources here. 

    One key idea I've heard in recent months is that precision of language is important when discussing burnout. Burnout is a continuum, rather than on or off. Burnout is commonly associated with overwork, although a lack of fairness, poor relationships, or a failure to meet values may also lead to burnout.

    This article from the Headspace team references research that identifies three subtypes of burnout: frenetic, under-challenged, and worn-out. Each burnout subtype manifests itself in different ways: profound emotional and/or physical exhaustion; feelings of lack of professional efficacy, i.e. feelings that work doesn't matter; and feelings of negativity or cynicism.

    I also now know these burnout "consequences" correspond to categories in Christina Maslach's Burnout Inventory. (Here's a simple assessment.) 

    Breaks to Beat Burnout

    Last year, this video appeared on my Headspace meditation app, and the idea of taking different types of breaks to curtail exhaustion from burnout was a small, concrete, manageable step for me.


    In the video, Dr. Yousef describes each type of break:

    • macro (at least one day off a month);
    • meso (at least a couple of hours of true downtime each week);
    • micro (a few minutes each day to breathe, recharge, or move).

    After watching this video, I decided to get intentional about my breaks. I gathered my resources and now have a three-step plan for my breaks. I also found quotes from additional books that supported these ideas. 

    By the way, my favorite tool from the past year is Readwise, which captures highlights from my Kindle books, so this tool helped me quickly find all of the quotes relevant to burnout!

    Taking better breaks. Do it for yourself, icon of phone with no symbol, icon of clipboard and check list. Text: “take the break.” “Step away from the screens.” “Have a plan.”
    3 Steps for Taking Better Breaks

    Step 1: Take the break!

    I often feel like my to-do list is overwhelming, and there's no time for breaks, but now I know that break-taking is essential.

    Eve Rodsky in Finding Your Unicorn Space implores,

    If we want to avoid burning out, we each have to find time to step back; cultivate our curiosities, interests, and passions; and remember who we are apart from our jobs and our family roles.

    In his book Essentialism, Greg McKeown says,

    If you believe being overly busy and overextended is evidence of productivity, then you probably believe that creating space to explore, think, and reflect should be kept to a minimum. Yet these very activities are the antidote to the nonessential busyness that infects so many of us. 

    Step 2: Step away from screens. 

    It's easy to think that I'm taking a break from a project by checking email or scrolling Twitter, but now I know that's not a true break.

    From Annie Murphy Paul's book The Extended Mind

    We imagine that we’re replenishing the brain’s depleted resources when we spend our breaks doing something that feels different from work—scrolling through Twitter, checking the news, looking at Facebook. The problem is that such activities engage the same brain regions and draw down the same mental capital we use to do our cognition-centric jobs. We resume our duties just as frazzled as before the pause, and maybe more so.

    Step 3: Have a plan for breaks.

    I need to know what to do during my breaks so I don't return to the habit of mindless scrolling (or continuing my work.) 

    I love this entire article from Anne-Laure Le Cunff from Ness Labs, and she offers five different possibilities to help make the most of work breaks. These ideas could work for micro or meso breaks:

    1. breathe
    2. socialize
    3. get into nature
    4. move
    5. create

    This quote comes from The Power of Fun by Catherine Price, and she shares fantastic categories for planning for breaks, whether they're micro, meso, or macro.

    ...think about my leisure time—whether with screens or without—as falling into three categories: connection, creation, and consumption. (I call these the three c’s.) Then I ask myself which of these feel the most enjoyable, nourishing, or satisfying—and in what doses.

    I've been working for several months to be more intentional about my breaks, and it seems to be helping. (At least I'm not glued to my device for so many hours of the day!) My go-to micro-break now is a movement break, which often means a single lap around the building. My meso breaks are often consumption (reading for fun) or connections (coffee with a friend), but I'm also working on more creative outlets, such as learning calligraphy. For macro breaks, I'm fortunate to have vacation days, and I'm using my days.

    So what about you? Do you think taking intentional breaks might help with burnout symptoms of exhaustion?

    Additional resources and ideas from:

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    Purposeful PD: Primed for Learning

    Preparing Your Participants

    As mentioned in several other Purposeful PD posts, my new "textbook" for designing professional learning sessions is The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. Priya's notion that the event begins at the moment of discovery and her quote below inform my thinking about how to prepare participants for the learning experience.

    The opening, whether intentionally designed or not, signals to guests what to expect from the experience.

    In chapter 5 of the book, Priya explains three concepts about preparing for the gathering: priming (planting seeds for the gathering), ushering (providing a transition time as guests walk into the doors), and launching (beginning the session with a bang). In this post, I'm refining my thinking about an idea from this chapter, priming

    Primed Before the Session



    Description and Audience

    When I heard Priya's phrase "moment of discovery," the first change I made was to refine my session descriptions. Many people find my PD sessions via our organization's event catalog, and before Art of Gathering, I never put too much thought into that description. Even though our registration system is a bit clunky, I now take the time to add more details, enhance the formatting, and specify the audience and level of expertise required for the session (which is a nod to her chapter, Close Doors).

    Naming

    Priya suggests naming as priming, and creating session titles is an area of growth for me. But what a difference between sessions called "Workshops" vs "Visioning Labs!" Changing the name of the session or meeting can provide an entirely different feeling for the event. One example and minor tweak I made was when asked to lead our team's yearly book study (over The Art of Gathering!) I changed the title from a book study to a book club, just to provide a little more friendly feel to this work.

    Pre-Emails as Invitations

    In my post about ways to extend the learning, I shared my ideas and possible content in pre-emails. I didn't reference The Art of Gathering in that post, but the pre-emails certainly utilize the concept of priming participants for the learning. And now I'm even more intentional in those pre-emails and think of them as session invitations. In addition, my favorite collaborator friend Laura started the practice of including a session slide in her pre- and post-emails (similar to this Tweet) as yet another way to prime the participants. From these pre-emails, our attendees see a preview of the slides, plus the image makes the email more eye-catching and demonstrates the intentionality of the message. In addition, in the book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman states "...you experience greater cognitive ease in perceiving a word you have seen earlier, and it is this sense of ease that gives you the impression of familiarity." If participants have seen a glimpse of the session content and a preview of your slides, they may have a sense of familiarity when they arrive at the session.

    Primed at the Beginning of the Session

    A similar idea about the importance of priming comes from the learning sciences. In the book, Stop Talking, Start Influencing, the author Jared Cooney Horvath shares priming as a learning strategy, so I'm now combining ideas about what I understand from The Art of Gathering to the cognitive scientist's view of priming. In the book, he shares these different types of priming:

    • concept priming activates facts to guide new incoming information;
    • expectancy priming activates expectations to guide how others understand various conditions;
    • strategy priming activates procedures to guide how people perform future tasks.

    First impressions count. 

    I related to the example in the book when Dr. Horvath explained what happened when he wore a suit and tie to work with little learners. (The littles saw him as an authority figure and hesitated to respond, an example of expectancy priming.) I've sometimes felt a bit over-dressed during presentations, especially when presenting in the summer on an offsite campus. Most participants are in summer gear, and I'm in my work clothes, which may have led to stilted beginnings. I now realize that might be a result of expectancy priming, so I can work to create a more casual vibe, even while staying in the dress code.

    Recently, my friend Laura and I presented in a high school auditorium, and we were set up on stage. Right before we began, Laura suggested we move off-stage, and I thought that tweak made a difference because it lessened the formality of the session by closing the distance between the participants and us.

    In addition, is expectancy priming in effect when I continue to wear a mask and the rest of the audience is unmasked? 

    First strategies count.

    These next ideas about priming relate more to Priya's idea of launching a gathering, but I now understand the importance and power of the first moments of a session. Because of the pandemic, I've realized the value of participant check-ins, and that tracks with priming, too. Dr. Horvath shares that recent associations (i.e. what happens right before the PD session begins) impact how people take in and remember new information. Participants enter the session thinking about stressors at home or work, a long commute, lengthy to-do lists, etc. To help mitigate these "recent associations," I start my PD sessions by recognizing the people in the room. I may start with sincerely thanking the group and acknowledging the difficulties. I typically include some type of SEL check-ins, we may set intentions, perform a "brain-dump," or create permissions slips for the learning experience. I want to set the stage (concept priming) so that attendees can be in their best frame of mind for the learning experience.

    In addition, Dr. Horvath writes, "The first strategy we activate can influence how others interpret and tackle future tasks." For my PD sessions, that means if I want participants to collaborate throughout the session, I ask them to immediately say hello in the Zoom chat or talk their neighbor. When we're using a digital document (HyperDoc, collaborative Slides, thought-catcher, etc.) I get the participants typing in that document ASAP. For a recent webinar, we wanted participants to unmute their mics and talk throughout the session (the usual norm is to mute mics) so at the beginning of the session, we broke the script with strategy priming and asked them to all unmute at once and say hello! 

    Priming before the event (detailed session description, sending a pre-email/invitation) may take a little extra time, but I believe planting those seeds are terrific ways to prepare participants for the learning.

    Priming at the beginning of the session (the initial strategies) only required a few agenda adjustments and a bit more intentionality. I typically included these types of activities in my session, but activating the learning at the beginning guides participants to a richer learning experience.

    Impact on Learners

    A new friend, Jen Wood, provided more insight into the power of priming. Jen suggested that priming may help create a safe learning space and lessen stress levels before the event even begins. If learners are introverts, new to the area or roles, unsure about the content, or in any other way feeling a bit unsure about the learning, with a little priming, I can help ease all participants into the learning experience. A thoughtful session description and an intentionally crafted pre-email may shed light on the presenter's personality, provide information and logistical details, and help the attendee feel more at home before they even walk into the building. 🀯 I thought of priming through a "setting the stage" lens, but this observation and insight are grounded in empathy, and I love this interpretation of priming.

    I continue to reflect on and refine my ideas about priming and the concepts in The Art of Gathering. I strive to intentionally design my sessions and prime my participants in meaningful ways, and I hope these actions "signal to them what to expect from the experience." 

    There are certainly no limits on learning about best practices for providing professional learning, and I welcome your thoughts, strategies, and feedback!

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