Seismic Changes
Have you ever started the school year and learned you will be using a new formative assessment system or instructional program? Perhaps your school or school district has adopted a new professional learning program that will continue through out the school year, or you have been asked to teach a new grade or class. These all constitute seismic shifts because their impact is felt across a school or district. Accordingly, seismic shifts require careful planning to ensure their implementation is successful.
Subtle changes
Subtle changes are small tweaks you can make in our classroom to accelerate learning. Perhaps there is a new way you want to pair up students, an exit activity you want to try out, or a new way to organize your instructional block. Though these tweaks are small, they can have large impacts on student engagement, skill and content development, and even critical thinking. Much like the short video below reminds us, small changes really can yield big results.
Tip #1: Take the Time to Plan
Some shifts you are planning may be small while others require an immense amount of planning and coordination. Regardless of the size of shifts, a long-term plan helps to prioritize which shifts can happen this year versus next year and beyond.
Below is an overview of one school’s plan for shifts across three years. The school had recently been identified by their state as a school in need of transformation, which meant their was a lot of pressure to change everything the school was doing. Luckily, the school’s staff and administration wanted to be thoughtful in their shifts to success instead of reactionary. By considering a multi-year plan of action, the school was able to honor their commitment to the needs within their school, while also addressing the impending changes called for by the district and state.
Tip #2: Take the Time to Reflect
Intentionally including reflection as an essential element of any plan that requires seismic or subtle changes, acknowledges that effective change rarely grows out of simply making shifts. Rather, it is the powerful combination of shifting and reflection on what’s working and what’s not, that lead to long-term solutions and success.
Accelerated Learning Shifts To Explore
Within each area of shifts you will find our growing collection of Accelerated Learning Grab-and-Go’s that offer quick tips on changes you can make at micro and macro levels as you begin implementing an accelerated learning approach in your school.
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