Innovation through Reflection: A Look Back at my Cohort 21 Action Plans

I feel so grateful to be returning to Cohort 21 as a coach again this year. It’s my third year in this role – @gnichols  once called me a “wily veteran” – and I’m so looking forward to tackling a new area of my practice in this year’s Action Plan.

Sometimes there’s no better way to move forward than to look back, and that got me thinking about the inimitable John Dewey (not to be confused with his contemporary Melvil Dewey, who I also think about A LOT) and this quotation, often featured in our Cohort 21 Face to Face sessions:

 

So, what have I done? Here’s a lightning-round recap of my past Action Plans. A more fulsome account is available, of course, in the previous posts on this blog.

2014-2015: How might we leverage student voices to foster a lifelong love of reading?  Using Aurasma, students in Grade 4 enhanced their ability to engage with literature by creating augmented reality book reviews to share with one another.

2015-2016: How might we ensure our Grade 9 students end the year feeling like more confident and competent researchers? Over the course of the year, I learned about more engaging ways to teach the research and citation skills our Grade 9 students need to be successful in high school and beyond, and how to measure them.

2016-2017: Had a baby, no big deal

2017-2018: How might we leverage experts in our community to improve library collections and services? By inviting experts into the library, I began work towards a revitalized French collection, increased the use of the library’s rare books, and surveyed upper school students about library collections and program.

And where does that leave me today?

Each one of these Action Plans was valuable in itself for the process I undertook to complete it: the time and care it gave me to reflect on my practice, on the problems my users face, and on using design thinking to solve real-world problems. Next, it was valuable in the way it helped execute the strategic vision of The Lassonde Library: creating a culture of reading within the school, making effective use of resources, and striving for excellence in teaching and learning.

Here are a few examples of the lasting impact my past Action Plans have had, among many others:  The augmented reality book review project was a transformational teaching experience that continues to inform everything I do. Although Aurasma is now HP Reveal, it was never about the tool. Through that Action Plan, I learned about the power of students learning directly from  one another. Peer-to-peer book reviews increased students’ engagement with the texts, with novel technology, with each other, and with the process.

My investigation into information literacy instruction in Grade 9 had me experiment with tools for formative feedback, such as Pear Deck, that I continue to use all the time, and gave me the idea to survey students to collect feedback about their perceptions of the library, which I was able to execute in my next Action Plan. Now I’m planning library programming to address the gaps that I’ve observed and measured using the methods and tools Cohort has introduced me to and given me the opportunity to explore.   

My past work continues to build on itself and I’m constantly coming back to it as I move forward. I’m so excited to continue learning alongside a new group of passionate and dedicated educators this year, and to help others along this amazing path of professional growth.

From https://www.lutherwood.ca/employment/blog/2017/steps-to-choosing-your-path-after-high-school

 

4 thoughts on “Innovation through Reflection: A Look Back at my Cohort 21 Action Plans

  1. Hey @lmustard — was SO great catching up with you at the F2F. (I’ve decided that we should be ‘outside of C21 friends’ too. Hope that’s okay. 🙂 )
    Love the summary post – you’ve certainly accomplished a lot in your four years as a part of C21, not the least of which is birthing a beautiful baby boy. But I’m particularly interested in the Aurasma and Pear Deck stuff you mentioned. I just started a trial of Pear Deck and am looking forward to trying it. Do you have a premium account and do you find you use it enough to justify the cost? Or is it something that’s purchased for you school-wide?
    I remember hearing about Aurasma at a CISlib meeting a few years ago, and I’ll have to go back through your archives to read more about it. Thank you for sharing!
    Jen

    1. Of course we should be outside of Cohort friends, too! Can we get the kiddos together sometime??? Let’s chat more soon. The premium features of Pear Deck are pretty nice but there’s still LOTS you can do on the free version. It might depend exactly what you’re hoping to use it for. Thanks for taking the time to read 🙂

  2. @lmustard – Action Plan for 2016-2017: “How might I keep a little human alive”? Nice work! Also, your 2017-2018 action plan is inspiring me to talk to the librarian at my school to see how to improve our French collection! Thanks for all your great suggestions at the F2F.

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