8

Solving Problems

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

Albert Einstein

Quick. Answer the following question. Don’t think about it. Just shout out an answer—unless you’re sitting near people who wouldn’t appreciate such an outburst.

Ready? Here we go: What is the most rewarding professional development experience you’ve ever had?

Chances are a particular session or workshop probably comes to mind. Maybe the session you thought of left you inspired and motivated to return to your classroom. Maybe you learned about a great technology resource that you could add to your repertoire to engage students. Maybe you connected with like-minded educators to work collaboratively on a project for your students.

For me, the best professional learning sessions were sessions that helped me solve a problem. Earlier in the book, I talked about how I was surprised the first time I heard of teachers actually calling in sick on a professional development day. It was that very problem I was struggling to solve when I found myself attending my first Edcamp. I was inspired and motivated and encouraged by the amazing atmosphere, but most importantly, that workshop helped me find a workable solution I could take back home to my district. I knew that once teachers saw the power of the collaborative, conversational style of the unconference model, they would be more willing to participate and less likely to find other (less meaningful) ventures to fill their professional learning time.

Chris Sacca is a venture capitalist and investor who has invested in and been involved in the early stages of companies like Twitter, Uber, Instagram, and Kickstarter. More importantly, he has reached the pinnacle of success by appearing as an investor on one of my children’s favorite television shows, Shark Tank. While listening to Chris being interviewed on a podcast recently, I was intrigued when he talked about how he and his friends would gather at his house late at night, order some food, and host a jam session. The purpose was to talk through ideas and discuss and solve problems they were dealing with at the time. As I listened, I realized that we don’t do nearly enough of this in education. As educators, our plates are full of puzzles, challenges, and obstacles. Wouldn’t it be great to have someone take one of those issues off your plate and match it up with a solution? Of course it would—but I suspect it’s up to you and me and other like-minded colleagues to make it happen.

A huge part of problem solving is taking a leap into the unknown, so I say go for it. Gather a few of your colleagues—rogues or otherwise—and host a jam session, either at school or another comfortable setting where you can talk freely. I suggest following these five steps to get your jam sessions going:

  1. Choose five problems to solve. When I say “problems,” I mean areas where concrete changes or improvements can be made. It might be helpful to solicit a few ideas from colleagues prior to the meeting, or you could make that the first task of the jam session. A few universal problems include improving collaboration in math class, making writing tasks more authentic, making schedules work better for students, and reaching reluctant learners.
  2. Have participants choose which problem they want to solve. The division of labor can be decided prior to the jam session to save time, or you can break into groups at the last minute. Either way, make sure the problems you are tackling are meaningful problems that everyone in the jam session encounters with some regularity.
  3. Allow twenty-five minutes of discussion, debate, and sharing. Convey that no idea is a bad idea, and establish a no-judgment zone. Keep in mind that what might work for one person might not work for another. Some disagreement during the discussion is healthy, so let all the participants speak their minds. Keep a running list of problems and their corresponding solutions.
  4. Set aside fifteen minutes for reflection. At this point, participants should be able to leave the jam session armed with multiple solutions they plan to utilize in the classroom; for example, if your daily mini-lesson, which is supposed to be no longer than five to ten minutes, keeps swallowing up half (or worse, all) of your class period, a simple solution could be using a timer. A simple kitchen timer works well, or you can find a timer online. Set it for five minutes, and when the buzzer goes off, move on with your lesson.
  5. Distribute all of the groups’ solutions to all participants via email. In addition, provide time at a subsequent meeting to evaluate how things went and which solutions were more successful than others, and why.

That’s it—five steps. Can you host a jam session tomorrow with some of your colleagues? Absolutely! You might want to approach an administrator about hosting a session at your next faculty meeting. If you can’t find enough committed educators in your building or district, try reaching out to educators in your Professional Learning Network. Follow Chris Sacca’s lead. Order some food, sit down with the brightest people you know, and figure out a solution to a problem that you deal with every day.

Angry Administrator Update

Even if you come up with the best solution to an ongoing problem that your students are facing, some administrators might not be willing or able to implement your solution right away, if at all. Don’t give up. Talk with the administrator about why the solution makes the most sense. If there are obstacles to implementing the solution, help the administrator figure out how to eliminate the obstacles or work around them. Don’t forget, you are a problem solver.

Summary

Reflection Questions