Using The Knowledge Loom Guidebook

Overview

This Guidebook is a companion to The Knowledge Loom: What Works in 
Teaching & Learning Web site (http://knowledgeloom.org). It is a tool to help 
education leaders facilitate professional development through collaborative 
activities that use Knowledge Loom content to guide improved teaching and 
learning. Although individuals can use the activities for learning and 
reflection, the greatest power lies in completing them in collegial study groups 
in order to influence whole-school change. Using The Knowledge Loom: Ideas 
and Tools for Collaborative Professional Development can help you get 
started using best practices presented on The Knowledge Loom for local staff 
development and school improvement efforts. Consider these approaches:

Workshops

Use the activity organizers and processes outlined in the Guidebook to 
organize a series of workshops on best practices focused on a theme of your 
choice. By choosing to complete all five steps over time, a cohesive year-
long professional development initiative can be planned. By using The 
Knowledge Loom in this way, the school can select benchmarks (or best 
practices) that can become targeted parts of its improvement plan; and by 
developing corresponding performance indicators (i.e., evidence), the 
effectiveness of that plan can systematically be measured.

Team Efforts

Planning teams can use the Guidebook to design meetings and other 
ongoing small-group work. Turn school improvement planning into a 
professional development experience by having participants use the activity 
organizers that accompany each activity to document needs, progress, and 
shared decision-making. These organizers can even be used as a 
demonstration of contact hours and submitted for professional development 
points.

Independent Study

Although we advocate using the Guidebook for ongoing collaborative 
inquiry among colleagues, educators can still benefit from using the activities, 
organizers, and, in particular, the resources and interactive tools on The 
Knowledge Loom on their own as thinking and reflection tools. Completed 
activity organizers can be submitted as a demonstration of participation for 
professional development points.

Continuing the Process

It is important to point out that Using The Knowledge Loom: Ideas and Tools for 
Collaborative Professional Development is only a beginning. And it is not the 
only tool you will need in order to institute positive changes in teaching and 
learning. School improvement is an ongoing process and obviously does not 
end after an action plan for one or two goals has been set. It requires acting 
on your plan, systematically revisiting and monitoring results, and returning to 
The Knowledge Loom and other similar quality resources for information and 
inspiration as new needs arise. These are important next steps in advancing 
school improvement.


How the Guidebook is Organized

After the Overview, Quick Start, and three brief introductory sections, the 
activities are divided into modular steps (five in all). Although the steps can be 
completed in any order, completing Step 1 first is essential. After completing 
Step 1, you might choose to carry out steps in consecutive order for a 
systematic, multi-encounter approach to professional development, or you 
might choose only to complete selected steps. Each step has three 
components:

Introductory Material

Take time to read through the introductory material before going on to the 
activities. This material gives an overview of all the activities included in that 
step, outlines the concepts that underlie the activities, and points to where 
you will find information on The Knowledge Loom to help complete the 
activity organizers.

Step-by-Step Descriptions of Activities and Related Activity Organizers
Step-by-step directions make it easy for any facilitator to lead a team through 
each suggested activity. Activity organizers related to each activity provide a 
template for organizing, analyzing, and sharing information, and encourage 
reflection on the professional development process with suggestions for how 
to document it. The Guidebook also includes examples of completed activity 
organizers to clarify the directions.

Follow-up and Extension Activities

Follow-up and extension activities are included in each step. Many of these 
encourage participation in The Knowledge Loom community through posting 
thoughts, experiences, and ideas online for others to see. The ability to 
connect with colleagues outside of the school or district is an important 
benefit of using The Knowledge Loom for professional growth, and these 
follow-up activities should not be overlooked. Try to complete as many as 
possible. Online contributions add threads of experience and wisdom that are 
helpful to others in the broader education community.

Notes for Facilitators

As a professional development facilitator, you are under pressure to present 
ideas and content that educators can use immediately in their jobs. The 
Knowledge Loom and Using The Knowledge Loom: Ideas and Tools for 
Collaborative Professional Development can help! Throughout the 
Guidebook, look for Notes for Facilitators. This section appears just before the 
activity organizers in each step. The notes present tips and ideas for 
effectively using the activities and resources explained in each step. Some 
general ideas for using the Guidebook follow.

Ideas for Workshops

As you plan workshops and other professional get-togethers around issues 
related to school improvement, use the Guidebook for creating meaningful 
collaborative activities. Each of the activity organizers that accompany the 
activities in the Guidebook builds on the previous ones, but most of the 
activities also can be completed independently of the others and integrated 
into your own, already-existing workshop and activity designs. Consider 
designing a semester- or year-long series of mini-workshops (two to three hours 
each), designed around the concepts presented in each step in the 
Guidebook.

Ideas for Teams

School improvement teams or groups of educators can use the Guidebook 
together as a basis for ongoing work. The activity organizers can serve as a 
foundation for an ongoing conversation about school improvement goals. 
The Knowledge Loom contains numerous resources (e.g., lists of best 
practices, supporting research, success stories, and Web links), and a team 
approach can help provide a manageable way to review, assess, and use 
those resources. Consider splitting up resources among a number of different 
teams and having these teams report to one another regularly.

Ideas for Individuals

If you are in contact with individual educators who are looking to pursue 
professional development on their own time, direct them to use the 
Guidebook for structured independent study about improving classroom 
practice. Completed activity organizers and postings on The Knowledge 
Loom Web site document independent study. Time spent on completing 
these tasks can be used to determine contact hours to be granted for 
independent work.

Adding Your Ideas

As you work with groups, you might develop your own activities inspired by 
the Guidebook. You could not only add these to your binder, but we 
encourage you to send them to The Knowledge Loom team. In addition, 
please share your ideas by using the evaluation from Appendix C. The 
Knowledge Loom team is interested in regularly evaluating and expanding 
this resource. Your input is extremely helpful.


Notes for Professional Development Participants

As a busy educator, you are most interested in the take-away value that any 
professional development opportunity presents-"How can I use this 
information in my school tomorrow or next week?" Consider the Guidebook 
as the take-away value you get from participation in The Knowledge Loom 
community. Whether you are using it with a planning team, as part of a 
workshop, or on your own to discover best practices and how others are 
putting them into action, it can help you to turn the ideas and information 
presented on The Knowledge Loom into action in your own classroom, school, 
or district.

Each step of the Guidebook-five in all-includes activity organizers that 
help to structure the activities and document your decisions. The organizers 
progressively take you through the process of identifying an improvement 
goal and working toward that goal. As you use the activity organizers, you will 
spend time reading and evaluating resources found on The Knowledge Loom 
and then begin tying them to your own school improvement activities.

Ideas for Individuals

If you are in a situation where collaborative professional development 
activities are not offered, consider organizing a team of colleagues and using 
the Guidebook to direct your cohort. Although we advocate using the 
Guidebook for ongoing collaborative inquiry among colleagues, educators 
can also benefit from using the activities, organizers, and, in particular, the 
resources and interactive tools on The Knowledge Loom on their own for 
thinking and reflection. 

Getting Credit

If it is necessary for you to use The Knowledge Loom Web site and Guidebook 
independently of a formal professional development offering in your school or 
district, investigate the possibility of getting professional development credit 
for your Knowledge Loom work. For anyone who wants to pursue this further, 
gathering support from the school or district is an important first step in being 
able to turn this into a recognized professional development opportunity. You 
can use the completed activity organizers and online entries that you make 
on The Knowledge Loom Web site as demonstration of contact hours.

			

This resource is developed and maintained by The Education Alliance at Brown University. Seed funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Send comments to: loom@alliance.brown.edu