In this season finale of "Restart Recharge," hosts Matthaeus and Katie reflect on the year, focusing on the challenge of finding effective professional development (PD) strategies for instructional coaches. They explore the importance of adaptability and communication in education, inspired by a historical event that Katie brings to life through an insightful activity. This episode serves as a thought-provoking dialogue, not just to review the past year but to ignite ideas and questions for educators to ponder for the remainder of the school year and beyond.
In this season finale of "Restart Recharge," hosts Matthaeus and Katie reflect on the year, focusing on the challenge of finding effective professional development (PD) strategies for instructional coaches. They explore the importance of adaptability and communication in education, inspired by a historical event that Katie brings to life through an insightful activity. This episode serves as a thought-provoking dialogue, not just to review the past year but to ignite ideas and questions for educators to ponder for the remainder of the school year and beyond.
Matthaeus Huelse
Calling all instructional coaches, tech gurus, and classroom innovators. My name is Matthaeus Huelse,
Katie Ritter
And I'm Katie Ritter.
Matthaeus Huelse
Because coaching can sometimes feel like an island, we are hitting the airwaves to build bridges of tips, tricks, and community support to make your coaching islands a little less isolated. So
Katie Ritter
Tune in as we learn, grow, and bring voices from across the ocean to your coaching Island.
Matthaeus Huelse
Welcome to the season finale of Restart Recharge, where we've journeyed together through the evolving world of educational technology and instructional coaching. In this episode, we're going to take a step back, reflect on our travels that we embarked on this season, focusing particularly on professional development for teachers. Katie, Justin, and I, for the latter part, have gathered a wealth of insight, strategies, and innovative approaches, thanks to our amazing guests. We spent our last season learning about growing unique educators, about artificial intelligence, and balancing multiple school districts. At the heart of everything is professional development.
Katie Ritter
Absolutely Matthaeus, in today's episode, we're going to take a slightly different angle on this idea with professional development. And we want to take this opportunity to talk about what does the future of professional development look like for teachers, and really ask questions and ponder what that future might hold as opposed to maybe giving some outright advice.
Matthaeus Huelse
Yeah, normally, we have the guests that have all the answers. We only just ask questions. And today that's the goal too; we're going to keep asking questions, and we hope you take something away from that, that informs the next couple of steps for all of us. So when Katie and I sat down and we started planning this episode, we were kind of thinking about the things that we've learned in this process and all the different conversations we've had. And all of it revolves around being adaptable, and being able to turn something very difficult and make it really easy for ourselves to turn our heads toward and learn from.
Katie Ritter
Yeah, so our team of coaches meets regularly. Recently, about a month ago, we were discussing the biggest challenges we're facing. Almost unanimously, the difficulty in finding time for professional development emerged as a significant concern. There's either not enough time, or the district hasn't involved them in PD around instructional goals, or teachers aren't attending optional PD. This led me to think about an activity we did during COVID, which is related to the story I'm about to share. It made me wonder, are we trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with our current PD approach? Should we reinvent how we do PD?
Matthaeus Huelse
Katie shared an amazing story with me, which I immediately thought would make a great episode topic. Katie, could you share that story with us?
Katie Ritter
Sure. I've prepared some notes to ensure accuracy. Many of our listeners, especially those with firefighters in their families, might be familiar with this story. It took place in 1949 in Mann Gulch, Montana. A forest fire erupted, and 15 Smokejumpers were deployed to combat it. These firefighters are akin to the Army Rangers but for fighting forest fires. They were dropped into the area, heavily equipped for the challenging conditions of a forest fire.
Matthaeus Huelse
These were the most skilled and prepared individuals for such a situation.
Katie Ritter
Exactly. They faced a rapidly spreading fire, driven by strong winds in mountainous terrain. The situation became dire when they realized they couldn't outrun the fire. Wag Dodge, a key figure in this story, suggested dropping their tools. This was a pivotal moment; it was a radical idea but necessary for survival. Dodge then did something unprecedented: he lit an escape fire. This technique, now common in firefighting, saved his life by burning the brush around him, leaving no fuel for the main fire when it reached him. This story resonated with me during COVID, as we faced our own crisis. It led us to think about how we could 'drop our tools' in education, rethink our strategies, and find new ways to be successful.
Matthaeus Huelse
What struck me about this story is the counterintuitive nature of dropping your tools, which might seem essential for survival. In our context, what do you think is our 'fire'? What challenges are we facing that require us to think differently?
Katie Ritter
I think the fire that we're fighting is time and willingness, and willingness may be better served for burnout, no pun intended there. Teachers just, they don't want to show up. They're strapped for time. They don't want to come to optional PD, face-to-face, even if it's a video recording, sign up later. They don't find the time to watch the video PD. So how can we do PD if we don't have people showing up live, and we don't have people watching recordings right now? So, how do we address that? And how do we continue to do our jobs and help our teachers grow in these areas? If we can't do our jobs, right, is kind of the fire that we're facing. And I think one of the biggest lessons from that story, you know, dropping the tools, lighting the escape fire, is this idea of improvising, right? To be a good improviser, you have to be very knowledgeable on the craft. So you can't just come up with something out of the blue, right? Like you understand the context, you're very good at what you do, they do it every day. But then they were able to improvise in a way that ultimately led to either the survival or not the survival. So I kind of see that for us in this coaching role, you know, how can we improvise? Right? So, a question I pose to you, our listeners, is, how might you improvise right now, in the context of whatever topic you're struggling with? You're coaching right now. But we're kind of sticking with professional development because that's been the most common theme that we have heard, not only in our team but at a wide scale of coach listeners. How might you improvise to essentially reinvent PD? And continue learning for your teachers?
Matthaeus Huelse
Yeah, right. We have to drop those tools in the sense and find out another way. I think what was also interesting about this is that, yeah, we need to be adaptable, we need to immediately make choices we reassess, potentially. But what I thought was interesting about the story, too, was that not everybody was willing to follow that person that was thinking of that crazy new idea. And there's a certain sense of I know, this way, I know how this has been done before. I know the rules and other regulations. I know how I need to do these things. So it's hard to break through to that person be like, Look, this is this is a fire, we need to move on, we need to do some different, you got to drop the tools. Have any advice for how to do that?
Katie Ritter
That again, I had mentioned that I had initially planned the original activity for our team from a research article written by Karl Weick. And for leadership, which I would say our coaches are definitely leaders facing a crisis situation, there's four main takeaways. The first is improvising, which we've already kind of talked about. The next is wisdom, right? That where the more you know, the more you realize you don't know, that we all have more to learn. But then to answer the question you just asked would be the second. And that is respectful interaction, we need to listen to and trust each other. I think there's a lot of parallels in that in education, right? Where, you know, hey, Wag Dodge had this great idea. Nobody listened to him. And they went off on their own to their own peril. And we see that a lot in education. Sometimes coaches try to come up with all the answers on their own when just listening to your teachers, asking them what they want, what's working, what's not working, get some of that respectful interaction from them. The empathizing, which coaches do so great at and take that into account and listen to and trust what some of the other people are telling you. And then the final one is communication, be honest, and share information when it's appropriate with other people to help them be successful. So I think in this context of coaching, it's okay. When you're maybe soliciting your teachers of hey, I've been trying this, it's not working, you know, people aren't showing up. I respect everyone's time. Why do you think it is? What would you like to see more of or less of, and that communication is definitely a two-way street. So I think asking, communicating why you're looking for, you know, to drop your tools in the first place could really potentially go a long way to helping you find that new solution that will work in your district.
Katie Ritter
That reminds me of the article by Karl Weick I read for leadership. It highlighted four key takeaways for leaders in a crisis: improvising, wisdom, respectful interaction, and communication. In our context, it means listening to and trusting each other, especially in education. Wag Dodge had a great idea in the Mann Gulch story, but no one listened to him, leading to tragic consequences. We often see this in education where coaches might have great ideas but don't listen to teachers' feedback. It's essential to have that respectful interaction and communication.
Matthaeus Huelse
Absolutely agree. We need to think about which tools to drop and what new strategies to try. It's all about being adaptable and ready to improvise.
Katie Ritter
We had John Smith from Book Creator on this season, and he talked about an 'ed tech eulogy,' focusing on tech tools that no longer work. It's about finding new ways to engage teachers, understanding the different cultures in schools, and adapting our strategies accordingly. Whether it's Lunch and Learns, tech takeouts, or other programs, what works in one school might not work in another. So, it's crucial to listen to teachers and adapt our strategies based on their feedback.
Matthaeus Huelse
You're right. It's about understanding each community's needs and finding out what works there. It's not just about the tools but also about the strategies we use.
Katie Ritter
Yes, and beyond just group professional development, it's about individual coaching strategies too. We've seen coaches who switched from longer coaching cycles to shorter sprints based on teachers' preferences, which led to more engagement. So, it's about finding what works best in your context and being willing to adapt.
Matthaeus Huelse
Absolutely. We're going to take a quick break for our sponsors now and will be right back.
Matthaeus Huelse
Welcome back to Restart Recharge. I'm Matthaeus Huelse, back here with Katie Ritter, and we're discussing a bit about professional development and what the future might look like. We just talked about this really interesting story and what we can take away from it. And speaking of taking away, let's talk about the three key takeaways we got from this.
Katie Ritter
Oh, man, I feel so honored to share my own top three tips. Normally, we ask for them from others. So, for these takeaways, thinking about the future of coaching and professional learning in schools, my first tip would be: don't be afraid to ask yourself if there are tools you should drop. Are there programs you should end? Is there anywhere you're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole? Reflect on what is no longer working for your school and your teachers. Secondly, don't be afraid to listen. This includes communication and respectful interaction. Sometimes, the silence or the emptiness in a room speaks volumes. So, don't be afraid to listen to that as well as to just outright ask your teachers questions and implement that feedback to help you generate that next best idea. And finally, don't be afraid to try. It might seem like a really crazy idea, but don't be afraid to experiment. We don't have to wait until a new school year to put everything in motion. Test the waters now, get some early feedback, and see if your new solution, your 'escape fire', is going to work.
Matthaeus Huelse
Well done, Katie. Those are excellent tips. As we're slowly approaching the end of the school year, we wanted to give you an opportunity to reflect and think about what you might want to start with next year. If you have an idea or something you're considering changing or experimenting with, keep us in mind. We'd love to hear your stories and potentially invite you to share them on our podcast. We're doing this for you, so don't be hesitant to reach out. We'll be active on social media, asking for your stories, so don't be shy—you might end up on the pod with us.
Katie Ritter
And Matthaeus, since this is our final episode of the season, when can listeners expect to hear us again?
Matthaeus Huelse
Season Four will come out in January, around the middle of the month.
Katie Ritter
Are you asking or telling?
Matthaeus Huelse
I'm planning it! We're excited about the great list of potential guests we have lined up, and we're just thrilled to be back in 2024 with new stories, new guests, and new tips and tricks. But first, we're going to take a well-deserved break to get everything ready for a fantastic new season.
Katie Ritter
Awesome, and everyone, please enjoy the holiday season with your family and loved ones, and we hope you enjoy a much-deserved rest.
Matthaeus Huelse
Absolutely. As you navigate away from today's episode, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at our RR Coach Cast. Let us know your ideas for topics, stories, anything—reach out, and we'd love to have you on the podcast.
Katie Ritter
Yes, and be sure to subscribe to Restart Recharge wherever you listen to podcasts, or visit restartrechargepodcast.com. And if you're feeling extra generous this holiday season, we would absolutely appreciate a rating and review. It helps other listeners find the podcast and understand what we are about. So, aim for five stars, but it's totally up to you. Remember, your Coaching Island is now part of a larger map. Recharge and set sails towards fearless coaching, and join us next year on the Restart Recharge podcast.
Matthaeus Huelse
Inspired, as always. Thanks for joining us, everyone.
Katie Ritter
A Tech Coach Collective!