Creating based on the BHAG The BHAG or big hairy audacious goal is a term I've become familiar with in the EDLD program at Lamar University, but it was a little daunting trying to come up with one for my students. I began looking back through this year at what we have studied and trying to locate gaps where students really didn't grasp the concepts as I had hoped. I went all the way back to the beginning of the year and the first unit we study which is foundations of geography. This is where things didn't gel the first time. Students struggled with the concept of how geography plays a huge role in where people settle in the world. I gave some great activities and compelling examples of how this worked, but the learning still didn't happen. I began to think about how much work I had done to make this concept come to life and how little my students had done and that is where I found my problem to solve and my BHAG. The students need to discover why geography relates to where people settle on their own. I can give them the tools, they will have to pick them up and use them. I spent time coming up with a plan to create a significant learning environment for my students and activities that will be meaningful as well as ways to assess the learning. The creation of the unit with a BHAG as my guide will be a game changer for my students to learn. I cannot wait to come back to this post after implementing my innovation plan and this unit just to see how well the changes I'm bringing to my classroom have gone over! References:
Harapnuik, D. (2015). Connecting the dots vs collecting the dots. https://youtu.be/85XpexQy68g.
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 How we as humans learn is an ever changing and evolving process. I can say with absolute certainty that I am not the same learner today as I was in college as a psychology major in my twenties. I am not the same learner as I was in high school. I believe that our ability to learn and the style of learning that best suits us grows with us and changes depending on a variety of factors. Our interest in what we are learning, as well as our connections to prior knowledge and how the learning is presented to us all factor in to our learning process. As I studied the three main learning theories of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism, I came to understand that each theory is useful in its own way and that to best teach my students a combination of these educational theories must be employed. The shift in education from teacher centered to student centered is based on the belief that not every student is the same and a one size fits all approach is not effective in reaching all students.
 I have referred to in previous posts about how quickly and dramatically media and technology are changing and the way we teach needs to change along with it. New sources of information emerge more frequently and are being underutilized by education. I recently read the book A New Culture of Learning, by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown, and it provided more clarity on why we need to shift away from the traditional classroom. In the traditional 19th century classroom, “Learning is treated as a series of steps to be mastered, as if students were being taught how to operate a machine or even in some cases as if the students themselves were machines being programmed to accomplish tasks.” (Thomas & Brown, 2011). The new culture of learning shifts the focus to creating significant learning environments (SLEs) that encourage student learning through inquiry and play. As I developed my innovation plan for bringing blended learning stations into my school my focus had been on creating an environment that is student centered and encourages collaboration and growth.  I have read several helpful books while working through the Digital Learning and Leading program, but one recent book, Crucial conversations, Tools for talking when stakes are high, has helped alleviate some of the fears I have about having tough conversations with my work colleagues about my blended learning station innovation plan. I have already spoken to my school administration about my plan and have been given an enthusiastic green light! However, I will also need to present and discuss my plan with my colleagues. I work with teachers who range from first years to seasoned veterans and the stakes are high for the conversations surrounding my plans. If they go well, I can launch my blended learning stations with the support of my colleagues, if not then I may fail before I even get started.
The thought of bringing change to my school is both terrifying and exhilarating! Putting the thoughts and plans I have into action is so important to me and because it is important, I want to do it right. I recently read The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals and it has helped me make a plan of action for executing my innovation plan.
The Whirlwind
One of the most profound pieces of information comes right in the beginning of the book. The day to day buzz in our lives, the activities that we have to get through each day are our whirlwind. This whirlwind goes on and on and it tends to occupy all of our available time. This description fits so perfectly with teaching. Our day to day is non-stop with meetings, planning, paperwork, oh and actual teaching. In the 4DX model, the whirlwind can only be overcome by setting a goal which becomes the focus above and beyond the whirlwind and this goal is the first step in the 4DX plan.
Focusing on the Wildly Important
The first step in the 4DX model is creating a Wildly Important Goal or WIG. One important take away for me in setting my WIG was setting one goal rather than setting many. One important goal is much easier to focus on and complete than many that may end up lost in the whirlwind. A narrow focus on one wildly important goal will help me and my colleagues be successful.
Now that I have a goal for us to focus on, what comes next? We will need to focus on the actions we can take to reach this goal. Acting on Lead Measures
The second step of the 4DX model defines something called Lead and Lag measures and discusses the importance of each. The easiest way for me to explain this is lead measures are what we can change in order to reach our goal, and the lag measures are the results we see from those changes. An example in the book that is highly relatable is wanting to lose weight. We can focus on lag measures such as our measurements or the number on the scale when we weigh ourselves, or we can focus on the lead measures such as changes we make to our daily calorie intake and how much exercise we get. When I looked at it in that way, it made sense that our lead measures, the things we can do to create change, need to be our focus. Now that we know where to focus, how do we know if we are getting there? How do we know if we are creating the change we want to see? We need to keep score to see our progress.
Keeping a Compelling Scoreboard
The third step of the 4DX model asks us to create a scoreboard to keep track of progress. If we create a scoreboard showing our progress in lead and lag measures, we’re more likely to remain engaged and focused on the goal.
Create a Cadence of Accountability
The final step in 4DX is holding one another accountable through short regular meetings. The meetings do not have one person leading so everyone gets to speak, they are laser focused on the progress toward the goal, and the agenda is set for the progress that should be made by the next meeting.
4DX and beyond! The 5 Stages of Change
The implementation of any type of change will not come without resistance or challenges. To help anticipate these challenges and resistance we will need to look also at the 5 stages of change. These work with each of the four disciplines and will help ensure the success of my innovation plan.
References:
McChesney, C., Covey, S., & Huling, J. (2016). The 4 disciplines of execution: achieving your wildly important goals. Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Inc.  In order to get a plan for change off the ground, you must begin with why the plan is needed. The following is a look into my why, what, and how statements that will guide my innovation plan for launching blended learning stations in my school.
 This is a question I hadn't given much thought to in the past, but now as the owner of my very own ePortfolio, it makes more sense. In my opinion, I own it. It is after all my intellectual property right? It was created by me and the details of the design are mine, but the reason my portfolio came to be is the EDLD program at Lamar University. The answer is, it is mine but that is not the case for every ePortfolio out there.
 The article "The Web We Need to Give Students" really got me thinking about how to lessen the restrictions we place on students with technology while still protecting them as students. I teach middle school, specifically sixth grade. These are young kids who don't always make the best decisions when it comes to using technology. The article addresses giving college students and some high school students a domain to be created and used as they see fit. I began to wonder if we are doing too little as educators of younger students to prepare them for a task like this. We teach digital citizenship with emphasis on how students interact with social media like Instagram and Snapchat. What if we added in some of the elements that they will likely see and use later in their school careers? I think that process begins with loosening the reins on what they can and can't have access to. If they are taught early, how to access what they need, what is and isn't appropriate to put out there on a personal site or elsewhere, and how to address certain audiences they would be better prepared to create something like an eportfolio later in their school careers.
 The program I went through to become a teacher was big on metacognition and teaching us to think about our thinking so we could in turn teach our students the same concept. Now that I am in the DLL program, I am once again brought back to this theory. The key difference is there is a tangible way to connect to my thinking now through my eportfolio. Helen Barrett (2005) referred to reflection and pointed to research showing how reflection can help move learning into the long-term memory. The blog in our eportfolio is the perfect place to reflect on learning and serves as a way to look at our growth over time. As I continue to add posts, I am becoming more comfortable with the process. I see this aspect of the eportfolio as a way to look back on what I have done and tweak and make changes moving forward.
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Carrie StanglThis blog includes posts about education and digital learning and I will update frequently so check back often for new posts! Archives
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