Jennifer DiGrazia, English professor at Westfield State University and co-site director of WMWP: In the Western Mass Writing Project (WMWP) Summer Leadership Institute (SLI), we think that good teaching begins with good questions, the sorts of complex “how” and “why” questions we want our students to ask when they write. Good writing instructors learn from the students in our classes, even while we consult other expert opinions and check in with research that helps inform our thinking and practice. This column revisits the one I wrote for the Daily Hampshire Gazette in September discussing the SLI hosted by the WMWP at Westfield State University last summer. Here, the three participants — Simone LaPlant, Spencer Van Tassel and Joe Courchesne — share perspectives on how each of their summer inquiry projects progressed throughout the school year by reflecting on the progress they made with their Teacher Action Research projects. To conclude, Christopher Rea reflects on the value of this work as both a participant and co-facilitator of the program.

Teacher Action Research projects are individual for each teacher, focused on literacy instruction in K-16 classrooms, and they are designed during the SLI to fit the needs a teacher identifies. These projects involve continuous reflection, adaptation, and implementation of new strategies to improve student learning outcomes. While drafting this Chalk Talk, we began to reflect that too often, professional development that teachers engage with within their district fails to start with what we as teachers need based on our observations and interactions with students in our classes. “Top-down” professional development offered by consultants outside of our districts isn’t always bad (and some is really good), but much of it misses our immediate needs.

Simone LaPlant, third grade teacher at Jackson School in Northampton: Teacher Action Research — the work done to address the questions designed in the SLI according to the plan we proposed is important. Here’s why: An elementary school teacher walks into a dilapidated classroom with four high school teachers, one professor and a wide variety of snacks. It sounds like the opening to a bad professional development day joke, an escape room backstory, or a bad parody of “The Breakfast Club.” But it wasn’t any of those things; it was the beginning of a Teacher Action Research project that would ignite the elementary school teacher’s love of teaching.

When I started the SLI program and began my Teacher Action Research project this summer, I had just completed my second year of teaching third grade, and I was already feeling burnt out. I loved teaching, I loved my students, but what I really loved was classroom management. Classroom management at the elementary level is an art form. There are many styles, and teachers will ultimately find what works best for them.

A whole group Tier 1 intervention I employ in my classroom is Social Emotional Learning and Mindfulness. I believe it is difficult for students to follow classroom expectations if they do not understand their feelings, how those feelings feel in their bodies, and how to regulate. Mindfulness and Mindfulness Based Interventions, like breathing exercises, are tools to regulate those emotions. However, at the end of year two, I found myself throwing on a video movement break, maybe a Go Noodle Flow (relaxing video), and expecting that to help regulate my students. Through my Teacher Action Research project, I was able to develop an accessible yet effective mindfulness program that incorporates literacy skills. Students now have mindfulness journals and work weekly to earn breathing badges.

My students recently took MCAS (their first big standardized test). I saw many students using their toolkit of breathing techniques to calm themselves and focus on the task at hand. I am grateful I had the experience of the Summer Leadership Institute to fine tune this program and employ it with fidelity for this school year. I also had the privilege of continuing my research through the academic year with a supportive classroom, parents, teachers, and academic community. Every day, we practice mindfulness for 15 minutes, and every Monday, I lead the whole school in Morning Meditation over the intercom. I am thankful for not only the opportunity to participate in WMWP’sSLI and complete this Teacher Action Research project but also to work in a district that gives me the flexibility to implement mindfulness in my classroom. Thank you to everyone who has helped me in this journey.

Spencer Van Tassel, ELA teacher at Holyoke High School: Teachers having the opportunity to pose their own questions about their own classrooms and experiences is critical to creating effective professional development. Too often, professional development offered to teachers becomes a repetitive cycle of reinventing the wheel in tune to the vibrations of boxes being checked, something to say we did rather than something to do. When schools are overwhelmed with new ideas, plans, and strategies, especially under the pressure of receivership, teachers experience burnout. There is such a thing as too much information at once, especially when doing work as complex as teaching. Sometimes, we just need to refine something we already do rather than start from scratch. It’s like I’m throwing paint at a wall (which undoubtedly creates a mess) and then I’m given a different color of paint to throw instead, rather than a brush to polish it with.

As a first-year high school English teacher, I have a lot to learn about how to do this work well, and my eyes and ears are certainly open. However, when first-year teachers and teachers of several decades are placed in the same room and given the same material, it feels disjointed. I know that there are things I need to learn that more experienced teachers don’t. Professional development for teachers should be focused: content-specific, grade-level, experience-based. It is in the best interest of our students to make this shift. Ideally each of us would be provided the support we need, so we can apply it to our real classrooms and real students. I see the passion and enthusiasm for this work in my colleagues and in my administrators. If we can refine our practice just a bit to meet everyone where they are, I am confident we can make positive strides for our students.

Joe Courchesne, ELA teacher at Granby High School: Classroom practice — the methods, content, and philosophy behind how teachers deliver instruction — is a booming industry. There is no shortage of methods, scripted lessons, strategies, and assessments available to teachers and administrators as long as they can pay for them. A lot of this money is exchanged in the name of improving the quality of instruction, strength of curriculum, or validity of assessments. The problem is, if you want to improve teaching and learning there is only one strategy that works and it doesn’t come out of the briefcase of an educational consultant from halfway across the country. It needs to come from within the ranks of the professionals in the classroom. This summer, my work on using discussion as a classroom practice was incredibly valuable when the school year started. Using my Teacher Action Research project, I was able to reflect and refine my approach in ways I normally wouldn’t, all because I had in a sense crafted my own professional development over the summer.

Christopher Rea, ELA teacher at Ludlow High School and co-facilitator of Summer Leadership Institute: Since my initial participation in SLI in 2014, I have had the privilege of co-facilitating seven institutes. I’m in love with this model of professional development. It brings together educators from kindergarten through college to collaborate, solve problems, and support one another — creating a rich and rare experience. The demands of the school year make it challenging to step back and see the full educational picture, to dream up new approaches and tackle persistent issues. SLI provides a crucial respite from these rigors, offering the time and space needed to reflect, get curious, and engage deeply. This institute repeatedly demonstrates to me how interrogating our practices alongside a diverse group of educators is not only refreshing but essential for meaningful professional growth. Teacher Action Research projects empower us to become investigators of our own practice, to ask critical questions about our approaches, and welcome the opportunity to begin again. Each year participants leave SLI with a renewed sense of purpose, appreciative of the chance to engage actively in their professional development, to pursue inquiry questions of their own design.

We all need more professional development experiences like this — ones that recognize the value of self-direction, collaboration, and reflective practice.

If you’d like to join us to begin this journey yet again and in ways that are specific to your teaching contexts, we encourage you to check out this summer’s SLI course, which will run from July 8-26 at WSU.