Influencer Strategy

Have you ever wanted to see change in your school, but simply did not know how to follow through with it?

Learning how to influence large amounts of people is incredibly necessary for successfully implementing any change, whether it is big or small. Engaging the heart is the place to start for getting people onboard with our change. Previously, in my What’s My Why? post, I shared why, how and what my innovation plan supported. It is important that this is established as it provides others with an understanding that helps them connect to the innovation.

The book, Influencer, does an excellent job teaching leaders to identify a desired change and determine vital behaviors that are necessary for success. The process of making organizational change requires hard work. Changing behavior at the very core of an organization is absolutely not a quick fix.

Results:

In my innovation plan, I propose to have middle school teachers successfully implement a modified “station-rotation model” of blended learning in the classroom by 2023. Please read below to see the vital behaviors I have identified for starting to implement my innovation plan.

Utilizing Vital Behaviors

Vital Behavior	Measurable Results
Teachers successfully set up blended learning in their classrooms using the station rotation model.	All students in middle school classroom participate in blended learning. Pre-tests and post-tests confirm effectiveness of blended learning plans.
Integrate blended learning into the curriculum teachers already have, but also include the Savvas textbook curriculum to allow for more virtual, student-paced learning.	The curriculum prepared for the station rotation blended learning model.
Have teachers observe my classroom and then create blended learning in their classrooms.	Teachers choose to use a blended learning model and implement blended learning in their classroom.

Who am I targeting?

First, I am targeting the organizational influencers, and then finally, the middle school teachers. The organizational influencers and opinion leaders on my campus are our president, principal, the campus curriculum coach, and middle school coordinator. I will also target the other middle school math teacher prior to sharing blended learning with all of the middle school teachers.

Harnessing the Six Sources of Influence

	Motivation	Ability
Personal	* Personally lead by example, giving teachers opportunity to observe. * Have discussion with teachers about usefulness of blended learning station-rotation model versus direct teach. * Teachers will be shown stories, the “why” and data behind station rotation model	* Teachers experience guided practice of implementing station-rotation model of blended learning. * Teachers will learn how to record their teaching or how to find recording and learn how to choose materials for each station in the station-rotation model. * Teachers experience immediate feedback regarding implementation of station-rotation model.
Social	* Campus influencers will be involved from early on prior to introducing blended learning to the entire middle school. * Campus influencers and administration must model and encourage use of blended learning first. * Build positive relationships between influencers and teachers by creating positive presence in building	* Provide “safe” way to learn about blended learning through weekly planning time with other teachers in PLC * Provide “safe” training on technologies useful for implementing blended learning on a weekly basis * Campus technology teachers and influencers ready to help and support teachers at vital times. * Teach teachers to use recordings for station with notes/ direct-teach portions of their lessons
Structural	* Include “effective-technology usage for blended learning” in observation criteria * Twitter competitions and prizes (Starbucks, Jeans day, off-campus lunch) to challenge PLCs to share examples of stations from the station-rotation model	* Provide software and software training to teachers to help implement station-rotation model. * Frequent reminders of great examples of station-rotation model blended learning in PLC * Student and teacher feedback form to be used to help collect data and stories of struggles and successes of station-rotation model. * Regular reflection and discussion over struggles and successes in PLCs

Source 1: Personal Motivation

Leading the charge into blended learning will first be done by personally leading by example, and giving teachers the opportunity to observe. Then the teachers will benefit from taking on the mission of identifying how to best utilize technology for lessons, especially due to the issues with academic integrity we are experiencing.

Teachers will find meaning in rewriting curriculum and implementing blended learning because the innovation is repeatable. Once we establish the units, the teachers will be able to use the developed tools over and over again. They also would likely enjoy not having to repeat lessons over and over again if they could record themselves teaching the notes and/ or the direct teach portion of the lesson that they typically have to perform over and over again. 

The teachers at my school already feel wary of technology-use in the classroom since we have had so much trouble with academic integrity while experiencing distance learning. In order to convince teachers of the usefulness of blended learning, I will certainly need to find a way to remind them of how enjoyable and effective it is to get to experience working with students in a small group setting.

Source 2: Personal ability

Our teachers will experience guided practice of implementing the station-rotation model of blended learning. Teachers will learn how to record their teaching or how to find another teacher whose teaching is recorded in order to find time to provide small groups to students. 

Teachers need to be shown the stories, “Why”, and data behind using the station-rotation model of blended learning.

Source 3: Social Motivation

We will need to involve our campus influencers early on prior to introducing blended learning to all of middle school. Ensuring that we are encouraging the usage of the station-rotation model of blended learning will require having our campus influencers modeling and encouraging the use of blended learning first. If our influencers are encouraging and modeling blended learning, we can be successful. Unfortunately, not every influencer at our school has a good relationship with the teachers. This may need to be a place where the relationships are built up. 

Source 4: Social Ability

A “safe” way to allow teachers help would be by providing frequent planning time with other teachers in their PLC as well as Professional Development on how to choose technologies that allow for student-paced activities and how to create small groups. 

As I have seen from the recent adoption of Google Classroom as our new Learning Management System, we will need all of the campus technology teachers and influencers to be ready to help and support teachers at vital times. The leaders must become the teachers. The toughest obstacles will be teaching teachers to use recordings for notes and direct-teach portions of their lessons. 

Source 5: Structural Motivation

We will need rewards for teachers to want to jump into using the station-rotation model of blended learning. Include “effective technology usage” in observation criteria.  In my personal experience, I have found Twitter competitions/ challenges to really encourage the usage of specific practices, particularly when the competitions are involving teams of teachers and requiring interaction between teachers through Twitter. The prizes may have only been jeans day, starbucks gift cards, or winning food, but it convinced us to want to work together to win.

Twitter also allows for receiving “likes”, comments and other feedback that gives the brain dopamine and a “pleasure-feeling”. If teachers are taking pictures of what they’re doing in their classrooms and sharing with others, other teachers will see how do-able it is to try out blended learning and can use ideas they’ve seen and share ideas they’ve come up with. 

Source 6: Structural Ability

Providing a recording software to teachers will help them implement the station rotation model. We also will need frequent reminders to keep the need for change at the front of everyone’s minds. In addition, it would benefit teachers to create a survey form about blended learning in the classroom for both students and teachers and meet to analyze and determine how teachers are succeeding with blended learning or how teachers are struggling with blended learning. 

The current environment of how the school is set up can be improved because the front office is so far from the teachers’ lounge and the classrooms. Teachers can go for what feels like weeks not seeing someone who works in administration in their hallway. Since teachers don’t feel the safe presence of administration consistently, and only see them if there is a parent complaint or an observation, it scares teachers when administrators show up after never making it “safe” or “normal”  to come to see each other and work together.

References

Grenny, J., Maxfield, D., Shimberg, A. (2013). How to 10X your influence. Vital Smarts

Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillian, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education

VitalSmarts Speakers (2012). Influencer: Cricket Buchler [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/wu7UBY5euBg