![]() ![]() We streamlined our offerings to focus on a robust approach to utilizing instructional technology, we created virtual offerings that were both synchronous and asychronous in nature, and we chunked the work so that participants could learn, practice on their own, and return for follow-up learning.” The Future “The shifts in instructional models and student needs in the early stages of the pandemic required us to rethink our approach to professional learning. Sometimes these sessions would contain follow-up trainings, and sometimes they would stand alone,” notes the district’s 2022-2023 Local Accountability Plan. Teachers would sign up for topics of interest, request a substitute teacher for the day, and attend seminars at the district office. “Pre-pandemic, professional learning was offered across many topics and had a mostly singular format. KickUp has allowed the district to streamline its professional learning and make it easier for teachers to attend. They also pull data from the platform each year as they review their Local Control Accountability Plan and share information about what professional learning was offered and how it went. Gelzleichter and her team log into KickUp regularly to review data on professional learning events, including attendance and feedback. “We used to just show up and sign into sessions, but KickUp makes it so easy to find and register for sessions.” “Teachers – especially those of us who use it frequently – have no problem using KickUp,” says Kim Seheult, a former teacher and principal who is now coordinator of educational services. “From an organizational standpoint, it’s critical that we can run these sessions easily,” says Gelzleichter.ĬNUSD teachers agree that the KickUp platform is easy to use. Similarly, the district recently paid teachers to attend a free webinar on dyslexia and inclusion, so it held a quick after-hours Zoom in order to take attendance within KickUp and compensate teachers for their time. “What I’ve noticed from my teachers who are trainers is that they love KickUp because it’s easy for them to get in and see what they need to do,” she says.įor example, during a recent in-service day for the district’s 650 elementary teachers, the facilitator simply needed to share an attendance code with participants in the Zoom chat, and the KickUp system quickly recorded their participation once they logged in and entered that code. Today, Gelzleichter’s team is well-versed in using KickUp to set up and track professional learning, including over 30 Teachers on Special Assignment who act as trainers or facilitators. Usage continued to build up over spring 2020 and during the 2020-21 school year, 2,772 participants engaged in 1,070 professional learning sessions all managed through KickUp. “The old system didn’t allow us to cap the number of hours, but KickUp keeps teachers and our team informed of that progress and compensation, and saves us a lot of time along the way.” “KickUp allows us to track and maintain our professional learning hours,” explains Gelzleichter. “I was able to work with my team to devise professional learning opportunities, get everything uploaded, clone events to quickly create new ones, and have everyone confirm their own attendance.” “With everything we had to do remotely, KickUp was a huge resource for me,” says Gelzleichter. However, the real test of the new system came in spring 2020: as it did nearly everywhere else across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close and teachers to head home for the remainder of the school year. ![]() The team chose KickUp as its new professional learning platform, and tested it with classified staff in winter 2019. Each professional learning session focuses on supporting both social emotional learning and academic rigor and relevance. In addition to ongoing professional learning in curriculum and instruction, the district’s 2021-2026 strategic plan emphasizes additional development devoted to educational technology, student mental health, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. More than half of students are Hispanic or Latinx and close to 20% of students are English language learners, while about 30% are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Outside of Los Angeles, the Corona-Norco Unified School District (CNUSD) is the largest in its county and the ninth largest in the state, with 53,000 students across 53 school sites. By adopting KickUp just before the COVID-19 pandemic, the district was able to keep professional learning on track while students and teachers were at home – and has continued to build upon that foundation since returning to campus. A large Southern California school district needed a professional learning platform that could help its teachers seamlessly attend and receive credit as well as compensation for ongoing development. ![]()
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