Reflection on motivation

Pick one item, either positive or negative, that really resonated with you from the readings this week.
Was the idea off base?  Did it upset you? Or did it seem a great idea, so why aren't we doing it?  
Discuss what the idea, why it struck a chord with you, and your thoughts on the topic. 



      The article on motivation was interesting.  As I read the article I reflected on my time as a teacher in a middle school; within the 8 years, sadly we had 5 different leaders.  Each of them had their own set of ideas on how to "motivate" the teaching staff but only one truly succeeded.  I reflected on why that was and it had absolutely nothing to do with money but the fact that the three elements of the motivation formula: autonomy,  mastery, and purpose, as Pink (2011), cited by Choi (2013) were at the cornerstone of her leadership.  She viewed us as experts in our field and trusted that our sole goal was to provide the best learning experience we could for our students.  
Autonomy: We were encouraged to seek out our individual PD opportunities and the school paid for us (this included travel, hotel, registration, and food, if it was out of town).  It was the technology-focused PD that lead me to seek my masters in technology integration.
Mastery:  Choi (2013) points out that Pink surmised that employees should work on Goldilocks tasks.  Choi (2013) explains that these tasks are just right; not too difficult, nor too easy.  The leader was able to provide us with these Goldilocks tasks because she made it a point to focus on getting to know her staff; she knew our strengths and weakness. 
Purpose: Choi (2013) explains that "purpose is what gets you our of bed in the morning and into work without groaning and grumbling".  I think the majority of educators understand their purpose but the getting out of bed without groaning and grumbling has a lot to do with them being valued on the job.  That value, I believe, is inherent to trusting them enough to give the autonomy on the job.  The school district I just recently left does not truly allow for autonomy within the classroom and as a result, schools are plagued with dedicated but discouraged educators.  I also believe that their is very little support to grow teachers and no opportunity for them to chose their PD options come PD day. 

When I read about the edcamps, I immediately though, what an awesome idea, why aren't they doing this on district wide PD days.  I can only assume that there is a level of distrust.  The principal at my particular school didn't trust that teachers would go to the PD days and therefore required teachers to have facilitators sign off on a certificate of participation.  This very action sends a signal that she distrust her staff.  I also think it indirectly acknowledged that she was aware that PD sessions were not high quality or of interest to teachers in the district.  The edcamps would give educators the autonomy to create, chose, present on topics that are interest to them. (Swanson, 2014, p. 37) 

How can you apply this information to your classroom?
At the start of every year, I have my students take a Multiple Intelligences Inventory Assessment.  This helps me get to know how they like to learn.  Using this information, when I create station activities, I make sure that I am creating a stations with their learning styles in mind.  In order to apply this information, I will now give students choice with certain stations but there will always be at least one that is required.  For example if I created 6 stations, students will have to complete three of their choosing and the one required; making it a total of 4 stations.  I also give students choice when it comes to the type of homework assigned from time to time.  Once I have established that they have some say in what we do, they will often ask for a particular type of assignment do complete.

How can you apply this information to your professionals development, specifically, the DTTP professional development you’ll be developing in this course.  
Using surveys, I will be able to provide participants with some level of autonomy.  Participants will be asked to identify, how they would like to be able to use/integrate the focus technology in their classrooms.  The training sessions will have a "make and take" segment to allow teachers to apply what they have learned.  They will have the autonomy to chose what curricular theme they would like to address with their activity.  The purpose for the sessions would be made very clear.  Layton states that we should "find the technology that balances easy-to-use interfaces with the effective curriculum and automated assessment.  As a bonus, make sure it’s cloud-based so teachers and students can use it inside and outside the classroom."  One of the technology resources chosen has an auto grade feature, depending on the type of question format chosen and it can be used outside of the classroom.  The technology will also provide instant data; allowing teachers to use this information to inform future lessons.  The goal of the technology integration would be specifically to assist teachers in meeting the demands of their teacher-assessed student achievement goals along with meeting the requirements of parts of their teacher evaluation rubric.

Choi, J. (2013, July 10). The motivation trifecta: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Retrieved from    
     http://deliveringhappiness.com/blog/the-motivation-trifecta-autonomy-mastery-and-purpose/

Layton, S. (2014, February 20). Motivate teachers to use technology. Retrieved from http://blog.aeseducation.com/2014/02/motivate-teachers-try-new-technology/ 

Swanson, K. (2014). Edcamp: teachers take back professional development. Educational Leadership. 71(8). 

Organization Change Model- Week 3

Based on Rogers’ definitions, Is this innovation an optional innovation-decision, collective innovation-decision, or authority innovation-decision?

      I firmly believe that if a new technology tool is expected to be used throughout a school system with a certain amount of success, the decision should be a collective innovation-decision. In reality, it is rarely the case in a school system (maybe more likely in charter and private schools) to use this method of decision making. It is usually an authority innovation-decision or an optional innovation-decision. In the case of my DTTP, I believe that it would fall in the category of an optional innovation-decision. My role as an Instructional Technology Specialist, would be seen as "an individual who is in some way distinguished from others". (Wikipedia, 2016) As the individual who will be tasked with making the decision, I will be expected to apply my knowledge and opinion with regards to the adoption of the new technology. (Chatterjee, 2012) My opinion will be formed based upon data gathered from various stakeholders. By using this data to make an informed decision, the decision would not be made in a vacuum. It is critically important that those who are expected to use the new technology be aware that their opinions were taken into consideration even if the decision does not align with their individual opinion.


As you think about your DTTP, and assume the role of an Instructional Technology Specialist, what is your role in regards to opinion leadership (you may want to research this term from Rogers more on your own, too)? Why?

     According to Katz (1957), an opinion leader are those who "pass on what they read and hear to those of their every-day associates for whom they are influential." (p. 61)  By crafting the DTTP, I am serving in the role of opinion leader.  Ultimately the decision to adapt the plan rests with school district's superintendent or governing board.  If I am to garner the influence of being an opinion leader, it becomes my responsibility to be constantly researching the latest innovations and any data available to determine their potential success in my school district.  Along with keeping abreast of new innovations, I must have a pulse on my school district's demographics, available spending potential as it relates to new technologies, as well as teacher and student performance data.  This will allow the recommendations I make to be well-informed.


List one strategy based on Rogers’ model that you will use to support the change process you’re beginning in your DTTP (or discuss why the model will not be a resource to you). You can discuss any element of Rogers’ theory, for example, attributes of the innovation, adopter categories, the adoption-diffusion process.

      Diffusion of Innovations (Wikipedia, n.d.) discusses "injecting an innovation into a group of individuals who would readily use said technology" as a strategy to move the adoption of the new technology along.   This group, comprised of innovators and early adopters, would be tasked with providing their honest assessment of the technology. Using this method, one could employ strategy 4 as pointed out by Gann and Smith (2010).  This strategy states the following: "use assessment tools and results to communicate honest results, both positive and negative.  Listen and adjust the vision or implementation, sometimes to build trust or go back through a phase that was missed".   I think that this strategy can by powerful because these individuals could pilot the new innovation, if possible, and help to provide the necessary data to help to adjust the plan of implementation where necessary.

List a specific method or strategies you will use when working with later adopters and laggards (Rogers) to change and your PD program.


     Late adopters and laggards tend to view change as negative and wish to continue with business as usual.  In my opinion, the best strategy to persuade them, is to capitalize on the views of the innovators' and early adopters' energy and allow it to diffuse throughout.  I would also ask the innovators and early adopters to assist with conducting some of the training sessions.  I think that teachers tend to relate more with a fellow teacher than someone who may not be teaching in the classroom any longer.  These teacher leaders would be an integral part of the implementation integration success.




Chatterjee, R. Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations. In Correia, A.-P. (2012) (Ed.). Breaking the mold: An educational perspective on diffusion of innovation. Wikibook/textbook,. Retreived from: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Breaking_the_Mold:_An_Educational_Perspective_on_Diffusion_of_Innovation/Rogers%E2%80%99_Diffusion_of_Innovations 

Diffusion of innovations. (n.d). In Wikipedia. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations
 
Gann, K. & Smith A. (2015). 4 strategies for guiding people through change. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=425&category=Lead-the-way&article=

Katz, E. (1957). The Two-Step Flow of Communication: An Up-To-Date Report on an Hypothesis. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 21(1). 61-78.

Not a blogger

I'm going to try and get out of my comfort zone a little and do a little something called blogging.  I don't necessarily have a specific audience I am trying to reach but initially I intend on using this blog a means for posting my responses to my grad class EDTC 640.  Our professor has encouraged us to respond in the non-traditional methods.