We don’t often aim for easy.

Easy workouts won’t make you stronger, and easy books won’t make you smarter. Then why aim to make reflection easy?

While it’s true that work must get harder if we’re going to get better, the first step is making sure the work happens on a regular basis. In other words, before you raise the intensity, you need to have consistency.

This is why reflection must be easy – at first. So it can become a routine.

Floss one tooth

Dr. BJ Fogg, Stanford psychology researcher, uses the phrase “floss one tooth” to explain how to make a habit stick. The secret is to make it easy, laughably so.

Don’t try to build the habit of flossing all of your teeth, he says. Instead, commit to the tiny habit of flossing one tooth.

When your goal is so small the brain can’t say no, you build momentum, and eventually a habit that’s part of your routine.

The reflection habit

Over the past few months, we’ve been working on tools that help teachers build the foundational habit for professional growth: a reflection routine.

While we’re still early, we’re iterating fast and noticing a few factors that make reflection easier for teachers, and therefore encourage them to do it.

We’re gradually tuning our approach to make reflection attractive for teachers. We’ve also cut away things that might get in the way of making reflection a habit.

Simple

Through our decade-plus working with schools on video PD projects, we learned that the power of video comes with some complexity, too. There’s hardware to set up, self-consciousness to overcome, and files to manage.

Our belief in video is still strong. But now we’re simplifying the process, so reflection happens much more often.

Consistent

We believe that reflection should follow a consistent format, and within some reasonable variance, a consistent schedule. The fewer decisions that need to be made about the work, the more energy there is to focus on the work.

A consistent reflection practice makes it easier to see progress and identify the need for adjustments.

Connected

A teacher walks into school, enters their classroom, and often works without any other adults. On busy days, a teacher may only exchange passing words with colleagues.

However, teachers crave and need meaningful professional collaboration. Part of the approach to reflection we’re developing is aimed at breaking down silos and helping to facilitate this kind of collaboration.

A hopeful data point we’ve seen is that teachers are eager to respond to reflection prompts we share on social media. When talking with or getting feedback from like-minded educators, teachers are eager to do the intellectual work of reflection in a connected environment.

We’re continuing to build ways to make reflection connected into Sessions, part of Teams by Swivl. (Now known as Reflectivity.)

To start, make it Positive

Most recently, we’ve stumbled on a small intermediate step towards making reflection a habit. That step is make it Positive, i.e. share a win.

Both in Sessions and our public reflection conversations happening through #reflectED, teachers prefer to first engage by sharing a recent positive event. This makes sense because sharing a reflection of this kind is safer.

After a positive experience is shared and respectfully received, both parties gain a bit of trust in each other that can be built upon for deeper reflection and growth.

What if we make professional growth inevitable?

If you never go beyond flossing one tooth, eventually you’ll get cavities. If you never go beyond sharing recent teaching wins, you’ll leave most of your growth on the table.

But in both cases, the same principle holds true. After you build a habit, making progress gets easier.

When reflection becomes a habit, professional growth becomes inevitable.

The post Making reflection easy? appeared first on Swivl.

Educators often hear, “The best PD is just down the hall.” 

While there’s much to learn from collaborating with colleagues, you can take this saying a step further: “The best PD is in your own classroom.”

This saying points to the value of making reflection part of your routine. Reflection is a habit that “allows teachers, student teachers, and teaching assistants to understand themselves, their personal philosophies, and the dynamics of their classroom more deeply.”

It only takes a few minutes per week to reflect, partner with a peer to get feedback, and take action towards incremental changes in your everyday routine. Those small changes become habits, and those habits become automatic. You can then move onto more complex challenges, beginning a virtuous cycle of improvement.

The new Sessions for Reflection helps you turn reflection into a weekly routine without turning on a camera. At its heart, Sessions for Reflection is a writing process that helps educators dig deeper on their own, and make collaboration more productive and insightful.

How Sessions for Reflection works

Step 1: Set a Goal

Goals are the backbone of the reflection process. Even micro goals, set on a weekly basis, can start to make a difference in your thinking and how you approach your classroom environment. We recommend starting each week with a small goal, and as you gain more confidence and time, increase the rigor.

Examples of goals: 

• Increase my wait time between asking questions
• Practice closing the redirection loop to positively encourage behavior change
• Model identifying negative feelings and how to reconcile them in the presence of my peers

Step 2: (Optional) Incorporate Video Evidence

Video evidence is helpful when you want to add more context. Remember this is completely optional! When you are ready to incorporate video evidence, you will always have the opportunity to do so after setting your goal. 

Pro Tip: To simplify review and cut down on annotation time, limit your video evidence to 10 minutes in length. If you would like to incorporate an existing video from your library, our trim and cut tool has got you covered.

Step 3: Reflect 

As you’re wrapping up for the week, it’s time to think, wonder, and articulate how well you’re meeting or exceeding your goal for the week. Use the Reflection page to explain what went well and what you’ll need to work on in the future to realize this goal or embark on a new one.

Step 4: (Optional) Ask for feedback

Reflection alone can only go so far in determining your next steps. Involving a partner will help you accelerate your thinking. Just hearing your ideas reflected back to you helps you step back and process those ideas differently. You might shift the way you think about your most important takeaways and next steps as a result.

Pro Tip: You can share a Session with your peer through Direct Share. Your peer’s steps are simple:

• Review your Goal;
• Annotate your video (only applicable if a video is present)
• And post their own Reflection, perhaps offering you some next steps or advice for the future

If you need any support with Sessions or our other tools for reflection, contact us at support@swivl.com.

The post The new Sessions for Reflection starts with putting the camera away appeared first on Swivl.

When administrators in Dodge City, KS, reviewed their student data in 2019, it was clear that literacy, specifically for their English Language Learners (ELLs), needed to be a top priority.

With 80% of the district’s 7,000 students identifying as Hispanic/Latino, this was already an area of focus. After receiving funding from a state grant, though, the district was ready to take a new approach.

Instead of focusing on top-down PD, Dodge City leaders invested in teacher coaching and self-reflection as a path to student literacy growth. 

To better support ELLs, Dodge City needed to remake their tools and systems for coaching

According to Kelley Clark, Literacy Project Manager and Professional Development Coordinator, this was a research-informed decision.

“We had seen a body of evidence saying that PD sessions alone won’t give us the return we wanted,” Kelley said. “We needed to support what we were doing with instructional coaching.”

In the past, Dodge City had had versions of instructional coaching, and even used classroom video in support of it. But they had identified several challenges to address.

“Coaching looked different across buildings and between individuals. Coaches often did ‘other duties as assigned’ instead of true coaching,” Kelley said.

Their old method of capturing classroom video was also a challenge to address.

“Lots of teachers found coaches visiting classrooms and using iPads to record them intimidating. The teachers had questions: What’s going on with the video? Whose video is it?” Kelley said.

With a clear goal and challenges to address, Dodge City was ready to get to work.

Leaders replaced classroom visits with Swivl Robots to create a more teacher-centered coaching program

Dodge City systematized and focused their coaching efforts by adopting Jim Knight’s Impact Cycle. While coaches used to visit classrooms to record lessons with an iPad, teachers now recorded their own lessons with Swivl Robots. 

Kelley was unsure how teachers would feel about recording themselves with Swivl Robots.

“The teachers actually preferred using the Robots to record themselves over having their coach record them with an iPad,” Kelley said.

At the same time, administrators and coaches audited coaches’ time. This clarified the job’s responsibilities and opened new ways for coaches to offer teacher support.

“Coaches began to leverage video captured by Swivl Robots at multiple points of the coaching cycle,” Kelley said. 

This included:

• Capturing video before coaching to capture the current reality
• Coaches sharing model lessons for teachers to refer to during the coaching cycle
• Recording lessons during the cycle for reflection and richer coaching conversations

Additionally, Dodge City started using Swivl Robots to empower curriculum implementations. When ELA and Math teachers wanted to see a new curriculum taught in a lesson, coaches recorded and shared model lessons. These acted as concrete examples of instructional expectations teachers could revisit and share with others.

“We invested in teachers, focusing on collective efficacy,” Kelley said of the changes Dodge City made to support ELL achievement.

Teachers are empowered to reflect with classroom video, and ELLs show growth in crucial skills

“Change takes time. But we are seeing teacher practice shift,” Kelley said. 

This shift in practice has led to concrete results related to Dodge City’s goal to support ELLs. Recently, the Dodge City ESOL and Diversity Director shared assessment data showing growth in speaking, listening, and reading skills for ELL students.

“It’s steady, incremental growth, which is what we want to see,” Kelley said.

Kelley believes that giving teachers tools to engage in meaningful self-reflection and coaching is a key piece of that growth.

“When the Swivl Robot is in the classroom, it’s an objective observer,” Kelley said. “Teachers look at what they’re doing, and how their kids are responding. That’s more powerful than anyone coming in and saying ‘you should be doing this or that.’”

Kelley looks forward to expanded use of Teams by Swivl (now Reflectivity) for asynchronous discussion through time-stamped commenting, as a way to enrich face to face conversations with teachers.

During a recent coaching session, Kelley observed the power of giving teachers tools to reflect on classroom video.  While watching a video, the teacher saw how often she laughed with students and had fun moments with them during class. 

“She was laughing and having a good time, but she wasn’t conscious of it,” Kelley said. “It’s not always about identifying negative things. There are so many positives to discover.”

The post How Dodge City Schools Transformed Their Coaching Program to Support ELL Achievement appeared first on Swivl.

By June 2021, half of American schools were using a hybrid learning model. 

Since then, schools have invested in hardware and software. Teachers have expanded their tech skills.  It’s been a crash course in using tools and talents to stay connected and solve problems, even when apart.

Now, administrators are applying the same tools and talents to one of the most urgent issues in education: teacher support. 

Let’s look at how two innovative districts re-imagined teacher support using classroom video to build relationships and maximize educator growth.

But first, let’s review current teacher support practices, and why they’re inadequate for helping teachers with the challenges of a return to in-person instruction.

New tools can help improve old teacher support models

Student behavior issues and academic skills gaps make today’s classroom challenges uniquely acute.

Traditional teacher support practices, including new teacher mentoring, observations, one-size-fits-all PD, and walk-throughs, are inadequate to address current instructional challenges because feedback happens too slowly and too infrequently. For most teachers, support drops significantly after year one. 

Some districts have invested in instructional coaching, formal peer collaboration like professional learning communities (PLCs), and personalized professional learning paths. 

While these structures are an improvement, they also bring challenges. Substitute shortages and other stressors on personnel make it impractical to get coverage to observe a colleague’s class. Travel across district makes coaching time- and resource-intensive.

Without a common place for capturing instruction, reflecting, discussing, and planning next steps, support efforts can feel wasted or one-off. 

The perfect storm has emerged, where teachers need more support than ever, and districts need support to be more efficient than ever. The good news? Many districts have already discovered tools and systems that can help make it happen.

Here are two examples. 

How an Arizona district leverages classroom video to support early-career and “singleton” teachers

Littleton Elementary, a district of seven physical and one virtual schools in Avondale, Arizona, was first introduced to Swivl Robots to support remote instruction. 

“Then, we realized the power of video and streaming,” Director of Instructional Technology Jim Verrill said.

Jim and his team saw how Teams by Swivl paired with Robots would address the district’s challenges in supporting high-quality instruction for all students with many early-career teachers on staff.

Littleton has implemented a continuum of teacher support practices all based on classroom video:

• Self-reflection: Principals encourage teachers to identify instructional challenges through self-reflection
  
• Peer collaboration: Singleton teachers collaborate cross-district with colleagues teaching the same subject. Content or grade-level teams record, share and reflect on lessons to maintain curricular alignment.
  
• Coaching: Coaches have increased their frequency and depth of feedback by having teachers share and discuss classroom video through Teams.
  
• Admin support: Leaders assess school progress through remote walkthroughs, where they view and discuss short instructional videos around key themes. 

Through self-reflection, collaboration, coaching and admin support, Littleton has developed an efficient, effective way to build relationships and encourage educator growth.

These Florida coaches use video to expand teacher support and reduce distractions

While traditional coaching can be powerful for teacher support, it comes with the potential for distraction. 

“What we want teachers to do is maintain their power in the room,” St. Lucie Instructional Specialist Dana Miller said. “And we don’t want distraction for students.” St. Lucie Public Schools is a Florida district with 50 schools and over 40,000 students.

St. Lucie had a strong foundation of coaching pre-pandemic, and they used their Robots to help absent students stay up-to-speed with missed work.  They now leverage Swivl Robot + Teams with Jim Knight’s Coaching Framework to make their coaching more efficient and discreet. 

St. Lucie does not require teachers to record themselves, but offers Robots to teachers looking for support. After teachers self-reflect, coaches encourage teachers to identify where they may want to work with a coach. Because teachers have already captured video, teacher and coach can discuss without having to schedule a new observation. 

This year, St. Lucie coaches have pushed their work further using Robots for live-streamed lessons with in-ear coaching. 

“As a coach, we see a problem in the moment, and we can help the teacher make a fix right away,” Dana said. “We use as few words as possible so the feedback is quick, immediate, and not distracting to the teacher.”

In a time of uncertainty, the need for teacher support is clear

While much is uncertain for school and district leaders in the coming months, a few things are certain. 

Teachers will need support to overcome challenges and help students continue to make academic progress. These support interventions will need to be effective, but also time and resource efficient because of the circumstances districts face. 

As both Littleton and St. Lucie demonstrate, it’s time to repurpose the tools and talents adopted for hybrid and remote learning. It’s time to offer teachers a continuum of support options and pathways to get help. And it’s time to make classroom video the centerpiece of teacher growth.

The post From Florida to Arizona, Districts Have Reimagined Teacher Support appeared first on Swivl.

Littleton Elementary is a small but fast-growing rural district in Maricopa County, Arizona. It operates seven physical schools plus one virtual academy. The district is known for its high-quality education, which attracts students of many income levels and backgrounds from around the area.

Facing a teacher shortage, the district has hired many new teachers from out of state. This means there is a high ratio of mentor teachers to early-career and new teachers.

How can a district maintain its high levels of instruction in these circumstances?  Littleton, like other districts nationwide, knows that the best teacher support is often in-house.  

The foundation of their support system is the use of reflection and video capture tools that offer an objective look at the classroom, so teachers can identify challenges away from the emotionally-charged day-to-day teaching.

In 2022, teacher support doesn’t mean sharing another slide deck about self-care.

Leaders can give teachers the support they deserve by helping them build a regular routine of reflection, and use video to go deeper when needed. 

Thousands spent on PD per teacher, but impact on day-to-day is unclear

A study by the New Teacher Project found that teachers spend 10% of their time on professional development activities, and districts spend about $18,000 per year per teacher on PD. Despite these large PD investments, teachers often lack adequate support in fundamentals like classroom management, which are more important than ever.

Consider these responses shared by a few of the 300K+ educators subscribed to our newsletter when we asked about how their training addressed classroom management:

“I don’t encounter classroom management issues that I can’t handle or address, but that’s not because of formal training I’ve had. That kind of training is not offered in teacher prep in college/university or professional learning once employed.”

“Nothing prepares you for classroom management. There was not even a course.”

“I have never received training on how to handle a student who refuses to sit down, take off their backpack, or complete any assignments.”

“I have taught for 23 years. There have only been three instances where I had no training to deal with student disruptions and behavior. Note: these have been in the last year.”

There were many comments echoing similar sentiments. A simple response to these circumstances might be, well, then train them! 

However, typical professional learning, theory-heavy and application-light, is the wrong response. Classroom management issues are highly context-specific to the personality of the teacher and students, the class size, the subject, and even the time of day of the class. 

Faced with urgent, unique challenges, teachers don’t need more nondescript, one size-fits-all style workshops. They don’t need more consultants or more observers in their classroom. 

Teachers need the tools and space to identify their specific issues. With an understanding of their challenges, they can start to address them objectively, and seek help they need from others. 

Helping teachers build a regular routine of reflection is the best way to do this at scale.

Reflection is more effective and convenient with Sessions

With Sessions by Swivl, administrators can give every teacher in a school or district the tools they need to begin a regular reflection routine.

Sessions guides teachers to reflect through several clearly-defined steps

1. Set a Goal. Goals are the backbone of the reflection process. We recommend starting each week with a small goal, and as you gain more confidence and time, increase the rigor.
2. (Optional) Incorporate Video Evidence. Remember this is optional! When you are ready to incorporate video evidence, you will always have the opportunity to do so after setting your goal. 
3. Reflect. Explain what went well and what you’ll need to work on in the future to realize your goal or embark on a new one.
4. (Optional) Ask for feedback. Reflection alone can only go so far in determining your next steps. Involving a partner will help you accelerate your thinking.

Even with teachers’ busy schedules, Sessions helps teachers reflect in a time-efficient way. Sessions helps teachers focus on specific aspects of their instruction as they reflect. 

Teacher preparation programs, the National Board certification process, and many state licensure programs all prioritize reflection as a tool for teacher growth. Why? Because it works.

Now, it’s time for all teachers to get the tools they need (and the time to use them), so they can realize the sustaining benefits of regular reflection.

Administrators: help your teachers build a regular routine of reflection

Remember Littleton School District in Arizona? 

Their Director of Instructional Technology Jim Verrill shared a recent story with us of a principal who was tasked with helping one of their teachers work through an instructional challenge. With all the professional learning options available, this principal encouraged the teacher to begin working through the challenges by recording their teaching and using Sessions to self-reflect. 

Then, through their robust system of teacher support, there are other actions teachers, coaches, or administrators can take to make sure the teachers get the help they need.

As Jim said, “Now, because principals have Swivl tools, they can help a teacher who needs support and have them work on reflection.”

The post Regular reflection is the PD teachers deserve. Here’s why. appeared first on Swivl.

Teams by Swivl is honored to have been recognized as a winner of Tech & Learning magazine’s  Awards of Excellence: Best of 2021 for the Secondary Education category, a first of its kind award for Swivl.

With winners announced in 2022, the awards program celebrates edtech products that exceptionally supported teachers and students in Primary, Secondary, and/or Higher Education in 2021. Teams by Swivl software solved a pressing challenge for educators by providing effective coaching insight and fostering professional development and growth.

Over the past few years, educators have worked to deal with increases in student mental health and behavioral issues caused by the pandemic and the response to it. Schools and districts have turned to Teams by Swivl for easier, faster, and more convenient teacher support through self-reflection, peer collaboration and coaching. It all revolves around discussions of classroom video that happen in Teams. 

With appreciation and gratitude for such an honor, we’d like to share how Teams by Swivl supports teaching and learning:

• Teams by Swivl helps teachers and students grow their skills and demonstrate achievement. Used via mobile or desktop applications, Teams allows educators the opportunity to securely upload and view videos for self-reflection, peer collaboration, coaching, as well as new teacher preparation and training.
  
• The Sessions feature in Teams by Swivl gives teachers, coaches and administrators a clear and actionable way to give feedback over classroom video, maximizing the impact of each video shared and discussed within the platform.
  
• With Swivl Robots providing 360° views of the classroom, and Teams’ screencasting functionality, Teams allows students to feel connected to their lesson in a meaningful and authentic way, whether watching live, in-person, or remotely. Additionally, usage of annotation tools inside Teams highlights key components of lessons for students’ review, making lessons interactive with educators. 
  
• When students feel connected to a thriving learning community, both students and teachers succeed. Teams by Swivl addresses SEL in providing that connection, with coaching and mentoring providing the opportunity for students to share challenges and celebrate triumphs.
  

As we look ahead in 2022, we are reminded that regular self-reflection and video coaching is vital for post-pandemic recovery and beyond. Swivl will be here to support educators every step of the way.

The post Teams by Swivl Wins Tech & Learning’s Award of Excellence: Best of 2021 for Secondary Education appeared first on Swivl.

First came remote learning. 

Teachers adapted to a new mode of instruction in a matter of days.

But remote learning was followed by hybrid, and then a school year of quarantines, disrupted schedules, and stressful changes to normal life. 

Then came the after effects. 

From the pandemic and the public health response to it, students have experienced social isolation, too much screen time, and constant health scares for two years. Now, teachers are faced with the behavioral and mental health crises that come with it all. As they try to help students rebuild deteriorated essential competencies, they’re going to need help. 

As administrators look ahead, teacher support can’t be business as usual. Teacher self-reflection and video coaching, as part of a plan targeted at teachers and students most in need, is the essential act for post-pandemic recovery.

But it all starts with a deep understanding of how we got here.

Screen time and isolation harmed essential student competencies

Adolescents’ screen time doubled during the pandemic, and increases were even larger for students of color. Excessive screen time and the decrease in sleep it brings are linked to an increase in impulsive behavior for children. At-home learning meant many students were socially isolated, contributing to soaring mental health issues. The APA reported that 4 out 5 teens experienced more stress during the pandemic, and the CDC reported a 30% increase in mental health ER visits by children ages 12-17.

Social isolation and technology overstimulation led to a decrease in two essential competencies: persistence and curiosity. These are the SEL competencies that have been directly tied to students’ academic success. Additionally, the increase in behavior issues teachers now deal with make helping students recover these competencies and other academic skills increasingly difficult. 

The challenge teachers face in addressing students’ current needs is not more of what was already happening. It’s a new issue with a new cause, requiring a new response.

A scaffolded plan for robust teacher support

When teachers say “we are not trained for this,” they mean it literally. Current classroom challenges are issues of classroom management. While there is nothing new about classroom management, the causes and manifestations of the issues are new. 

The most powerful tool for making progress on classroom management is reflecting and coaching based on classroom video.

First, teachers need to view their challenges outside of the in-the-moment stress of class. In other words, teachers need to reflect on videos of their own instruction whenever issues arise.

Then, teachers need support from colleagues and a clear elevation path to coaches.  This empowers schools to solve problems and support teachers using the collective intelligence and resources they already have.

Lastly, administrators need to see what teachers are facing, give personalized feedback and (in rare cases) share evidence with experts. This involves some combination of virtual walkthroughs, remote observations, and sharing video clips with experts like school psychologists. 

With schedules full and personnel limited, how can administrators make a plan that seems to be asking everyone to do more? There’s good news: the tools exist for leaders ready to direct time and attention towards schools’ biggest challenges. 

Video coaching powered by Teams is the missing link

For a robust system of teacher support that includes but goes beyond the typical observations tied to evaluation models and job contracts, video coaching is the flexible, scalable solution.

Teams by Swivl is the tool that can make this happen. Teams is a video reflection and collaboration system that allows educators to record, host, and share videos, then dive deep into discussion with video analysis tools like time-stamped bookmarking and commenting with built-in rubric support.

For Instructional Coaches and Administrators, Teams by Swivl helps overcome the barriers of space and time by allowing coaching to happen either asynchronously with recording or live with streaming. For teachers, it’s a place to securely store your content with the tools to bring value to regular self-reflection.

With Teams + Robots, administrators can begin to use video coaching for teacher support with the classroom management challenges, new instructional environments, and other unique challenges they face right now. It starts with giving teachers time and space to think.

Part I: Teachers self-reflect with Teams and a phone

The issues teachers and students face are ones that are time-sensitive. Teachers and administrators need a way to identify those issues fast and create a plan to address them as soon as possible. One of the fastest ways to get objective evidence of what’s happening in the classroom and improve the situation is self-reflection on classroom video. Unlike other forms of professional development, reflection requires no additional personnel and can be done in a variety of locations and at different times.

This is the time to back off on asking teachers to work on new initiatives, and give them time and space to reflect on their current responsibilities.

Video self-reflections can help teachers identify how they’ve dealt with difficult situations, and how they may work through classroom management issues. Additionally, reviewing short moments of instruction in Teams can help teachers identify situations they haven’t been trained for, and can act as a catalyst to seek additional help or start conversations with colleagues or administrators.

Getting started with teacher video reflection can be simple: teachers can begin by propping up a cell phone, tablet or laptop near their desk, and then reviewing the video in Teams at a convenient time.

Right now, many school and district administrators recognize that accelerating academic initiatives is not the top priority. This is the time to back off on asking teachers to work on new initiatives, and give them time and space to reflect on their current responsibilities.

Part II & III: Teachers collaborate with peers and coaches

The best professional learning is often available from the teacher down the hall. During a time when schedules are tight and traveling classroom to classroom may be impractical, Teams can make peer collaboration feasible. 

Teachers can connect with each other and instructional coaches by recording key moments in class, then discussing them through Teams. Research shows that collaboration improves student achievement when the discussion is specifically focused on improving student outcomes.  

During a time when the learning environment is often in flux, it’s essential for teachers to have a way to quickly discover, share and implement best practices. Ongoing discussion with colleagues and coaches centered around high-quality audio and video from the classroom is the most efficient, effective way to do this. 

Part IV: Administrators offer support & feedback

Classroom video and asynchronous discussion can help administrators improve the quality and quantity of feedback to teachers, while also making compliance easier. Of the hundreds of administrators I’ve spoken to throughout my career, one common thread is the desire to give teachers more personalized support outside of mandated observations, but struggling to make time for it.

We work with districts using Teams + Robots for virtual walk-throughs, where teachers in a grade level, department or school all share short video clips with administrators through Teams, and then receive feedback and hold written discussion afterwards. Others support new teachers and maintain the fidelity of their curriculum by collecting and responding to videos from teachers who all teach different sections of the same course.

For those who have the flexibility and desire to do so, Teams + Robots can also empower administrators to conduct remote observations, either recorded or streamed. We’ve found remote observations to be most effective when teachers have buy-in selecting the lesson they stream or recording multiple videos and sharing one of their choice. Teams by Swivl turns a post-observation discussion into a personalized, interactive, multimedia resource for professional learning.

Teams by Swivl turns a post-observation discussion into a personalized, interactive, multimedia resource for professional learning.

In addition to support for teachers in need, video coaching helps directly address the moments that make teachers lament “we are not trained for this.” When students may need support from outside experts, Teams + Robot makes situations portable and consultable. 

In the most extreme cases, where a school psychologist or trauma-informed expert must be brought in, video coaching helps get students and teachers the help they need faster by bringing clarity to the situation.

It’s time for schools take important steps forward

Regular self-reflection and video coaching help schools begin to rebuild by giving teachers and students more support. 

Through self-reflection, peer collaboration and instructional coaching, teachers can improve classroom management and share best practices during a time of increased behavioral issues. Through virtual observations and walk-throughs, administrators can give personalized feedback at scale and better understand teachers’ challenges while saving time and ensuring compliance. For the rare cases, schools can bring in trauma-informed experts to consult and coach on challenging situations documented through objective, high-quality audio and video.

In each of these cases, both the written, time-stamped, professional conversation and the high-quality audio and video recording of the classroom are there for stakeholders to refer to. A one-time conversation becomes a chance for continuous growth.

While technology is often a contributor to modern problems, we must look for where it can provide solutions. Through frequent video coaching not tied to salary or evaluations, school leaders can ensure teachers improve classroom management, students rebuild their most essential competencies, and everyone begins to take important steps forward. 

The post “We are not trained for this”: Why administrators need a bold plan for teacher support in 2022 appeared first on Swivl.

Technology has long been a critical need for supporting our most vulnerable students. It provides accessibility and creates opportunities for students with disabilities to learn and engage in meaningful ways. When considering the right kinds of technology for special education programs, it’s important to find tools that support individualized learning and also support the complex collaboration needs of teachers and providers. However, with so many edTech solutions, it can be difficult to figure out which are the right tools to implement. Not only that, it can be cumbersome and overwhelming to evaluate and learn new tools.  

Over the last 20 years, I’ve come to find the most useful technology solutions share similar attributes: accessibility, inclusivity, and efficiency. As a general rule, if it can do all of these things, it likely is worth the time and effort to evaluate, learn, and implement. Swivl’s Robot+Teams does all of these things. Let’s explore how.

3 Reasons Special Education Programs Need Swivl Robot+Teams

1. Promotes Meaningful Inclusion Practices

Give students the best of both worlds by accessing Livestream instruction from the general education classroom no matter where they are receiving services. They can maintain access to the general education content expert and their peers while receiving individualized support at the same time.

Maximize the use of your special educators by using recorded lessons as an instructional resource for differentiated groups within a co-teaching model. 

2. Facilitates Efficient Data Collection

Multiple evaluators may use the same recorded videos to observe and collect data for assessments required for the evaluation and/or reevaluation process.

Collect and organize classroom video recordings to use data in quarterly progress reports as evidence of growth for individualized goals.

3. Catalyzes Growth for Special Educators and Related Service Providers

Pair new special educators with veteran special educators to improve practice through self-reflection and feedback on lessons. Provide unique opportunities for mentorship among special educators with similar responsibilities.  

Support continued growth and learning for instructional assistants by modeling instructional strategies and use of accommodations through recorded videos.

Invite those who work across several sites to model best practices through recorded related services sessions.

As a former special educator with over 20 years of experience in the field, I believe in the power of technology to create opportunities for connection, inclusion, and growth. Robot+Teams can accomplish all of these things, which is a huge win for students,  families, teachers, and related service providers.

If you have questions about the value Swivl adds to your program, reach out to me at tara@swivl.com. I’d be happy to connect and share more with you on why Swivl is the tech solution for your Special Education program.

The post 3 Reasons Swivl is the Tech Solution for Special Education Programs appeared first on Swivl.

We love seeing how our Swivl Community keeps connections and relationships at the forefront of all they’re doing this school year, while still offering robust teacher support. A great example of these efforts is Littleton Elementary School District #65 (LESD) in Arizona.

Teachers at LESD are incorporating the Swivl Robot+Teams (Teams is now Reflectivity) into their classrooms. By live streaming with Swivl Robot+Teams, teachers are able to broadcast their lessons to remote learners. Using these tools gives remote students a view of everything going on within the classroom, which helps them feel more connected.

In this video, Jim Verrill (Director of Instruction Technology/Integration) and Rio Stinger (Tres Rios Elementary Teacher) talk about their experience using Swivl Robot+Teams in their classrooms.

Littleton Elementary School District at a glance:

• Location: Avondale, Arizona
• # of teachers: 334 teachers
• Grade level: K-8
• Swivl products used: Teams+Robot
• Started using Swivl Teams+Robot in 2021 

For more information about how educators around the world are using Swivl tools to build relationships with students, follow Swivl on social media.

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Relationships among educators and with students are foundational to the positive culture you create in your school community. As we shared in our recent blog, Why Video Coaching is Important This Fall, “teachers who have a strong, trusting relationship with their coach or mentor can use that relationship as a model of what to build with each student they teach.”  When educators participate in video-based coaching it is imperative that the tools they use facilitate respect, trust, and instructive communication to help sustain strong relationships.

We already know video is the ideal medium for observations because the most actionable feedback is gained from gathering and examining evidence of a teacher’s practice in a real classroom setting. Unlike in-person observations, videos portray authentic classroom environments where both teacher and students can act naturally, unencumbered by a visitor. When videos depict authentic classroom experiences, feedback becomes more specific and leads to greater growth outcomes too. Feedback tools like our Time-Stamped Annotation also make it easy for educators to set goals, track their progress, and communicate about what was observed in class. 

This is why Swivl is making feedback a priority with our Teams product release today, with Sessions.

Sessions make for better feedback

Feedback without clarity results in confusion. Classroom observations should have clear intentions. In our newest feature, Sessions, we’ve made it so you set your Intention upfront. As with many meaningful activities associated with delivering feedback, the first step is to define your “look-fors” not only for yourself but for your feedback partners. Important questions to ask yourself when setting an Intention for your video:

• What do you hope to accomplish in this video? 
• Does the evidence you will record allow you an opportunity to achieve your Intention? If not, before you proceed it might be helpful to go back and record another short segment of the instruction that allows you to explore the context of your Intention. 
• Where do you want your viewers to focus so they know how to reflect, question, and comment throughout your video?

Example: “In this math lesson, I would like to analyze which students struggle when I ask them to describe the method they chose to arrive at their answer.”

To continue your Session make sure to provide feedback, in the form of Time-Stamped Annotation on the video. This is the real “meat” so be clear with your response. The more time you take to reflect on what evidence you choose to address, the more evidence there will be for others  to respond to and reflect on. This is also a great time to highlight your “glows” and identify your “grows” with Web Bookmarking. Start comments with Prompts for guidance, and utilize Rubrics that tie into your organization’s coaching or self-reflection frameworks. When combined, these tools pave the way for structured, meaningful feedback on every observable teaching practice exhibited throughout the video.

When you are finished with Time-Stamped Annotations, it is time to consider the entire observation, summarize your experience, and define next steps.

Specifically: 

• Did you meet the Intention you set? 
• If not, what will you do differently next time? 
• What are your next steps from here?
• How will you use what you learned in this video to impact other areas of your instruction going forward? 

Example: “I learned that a majority of students in my green group struggled with describing the methodology they chose to develop the answer to the problems. In my next video, I’ll work on some new strategies to help them break down those building blocks of problem-solving and utilize scaffolded questioning to help them answer my targeted question around methodology.”

We have left ample room for you to develop a meaningful Summary response so take your time when using this space to conclude your actions in this Session.

Watch this 30-second video on Sessions to see just how easy it really is.

We hope that these improvements will bring greater purpose for your experience inside Teams so you can focus on the heart of the observation process: Clear and prescriptive feedback based on video evidence.

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