KTECH : Knowing, Trusting, Empowering, Connecting, Honoring in Your Small School

1. KTECH: Knowing, Trusting, Empowering, Connecting, Honoring in Your Small School Elements of Personalization that Make a Difference for Students and Small School Climate The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

2. Independent Learners: Figure out what is confusing Set goals for getting through the reading Use many strategies for getting through the text Know how to make the mostly invisible – visible Dependent Learners: Stop Appeal to the teacher for assistance Read through, just to get done Keep the mostly invisible process of comprehension at the invisible level Independent vs. Dependent Student Behaviors When the going gets tough, students who are… The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

3. Three reasons for dependency in learning • Lack of cognitive confidence • Lack of social and emotional confidence • Lack of stamina to find or complete a task KTECH is one approach to systematically improving the social and emotional confidence within your small school. The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

4. Personalization in Your Small SchoolA Systemic Approach to School Climate Knowing Trusting Empowering Connecting Honoring The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

5. Five Essential Components to Personalization • Knowing • Trusting • Empowering • Connecting • Honoring The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

6. Four Essential Lenses Through Which Personalization Should be Examined • Students • Staff • Community • Self The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

7. Students • Brainstorm on post-it notes the way/ways in which your small school KNOWS each student well • One idea per post-it please • Place a K on the upper right corner Knowing Trusting Empowering Connecting Honoring The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

8. Post-it Group Title Post-it Post-it Students Knowing Trusting Empowering Connecting Honoring • Make an affinity Diagram of the ideas gathered for KNOWING students • One person read one post-it to the group. Anyone with the same or similar idea, hand over the post-it and create a group. • Title the group. • Place the group on your poster paper. • Move to the next person to read one idea. • Continue until all ideas have been categorized. Post-it Group Title Post-it The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

9. Students • Brainstorm on post-it notes the way/ways in which your small school demonstrates TRUST between the students and the school • One idea per post-it please • Place a T on the upper right corner • Create Affinity Diagram of TRUST Knowing Trusting Empowering Connecting Honoring The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

10. Students • Brainstorm on post-it notes the way/ways in which your small school EMPOWERS each student • One idea per post-it please • Place an E on the upper right corner • Create a fishbone of EMPOWERMENT Knowing Trusting Empowering Connecting Honoring The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

11. Idea Idea Idea Idea Fishbone Technique Category Category Idea Idea Idea Goal or Idea Empowerment Idea Idea Idea Category Category The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

12. Students • Brainstorm on post-it notes the way/ways in which your small school HONORS each student • One idea per post-it please • Place an H on the upper right corner • Create affinity diagram for your small school’s HONORING practices Knowing Trusting Empowering Connecting Honoring The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

13. Students • Connecting • Social Connections • Connections with Information/Ideas • Connections to Organizations/Institutions • Family Connections • Spiritual Connections Knowing Trusting Empowering Connecting Honoring • Brainstorm on post-it notes the way/ways in which your small school connects with each student in each of the areas articulated through the Thompson and Hallowell study Finding the Heart of a Child, 1992 • One idea per post-it please • Place a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 on the upper right corner to designate the kind of connection • Create an affinity map for your small school’s CONNECTION practices. The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

14. Affinity Mapping Technique Ideas and Information Family Spirituality Helping Students Connect with… Dances Organizations And Institutions Social and Emotional Experiences The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

15. Staff, Community • The discussion is valuable and necessary for all stakeholders • Using the format, find out what the expectations are for your staff • Convene focus groups of staff members to establish the expectations for themselves and to learn from each other • Convene focus groups of community members (parents, businesses, etc.) to establish their expectations for the school with regard to personalization in the five areas. • Convene focus groups of students to establish the expectations for the staff when it comes to personalizing their experiences The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

16. Last But Not Least…Self • What do you need to be known, to be trusted, to be empowered, to be connected, to be honored? • What do you need from the small school so that your learning is personalized? The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform

17. Changing school climate is dependent upon the degree to which you and your staff concentrate on personalization within your small school. KTECH is one approach to beginning the essential conversations necessary to produce real change. The Ohio Center for Essential School Reform