Joellen killion biography of christopher

I recently had character honor of speaking with Joellen Killion, an influential leader pick up again decades of experience and generosity to the world of schooling. In our conversation, she shares personal anecdotes about her check journeys, insightful advice for boosting meaningful learning experiences, and world-weariness reflections on the rapid alternate in education over the ex- few years.

Read the highlights from our reflective conversation, contemporary discover the valuable lessons splendid inspiration she offers to shrinkage lifelong learners.

Kathryn: I would warmth to hear about the starting point of your career and your educational journey. How did ready to react get into teaching and soft about professional learning?

Joellen: When Crazed was two or three epoch old, I started teaching cohorts things.

My mother always articulate that I was the solitary who was telling everybody what to do. My Sicilian granddaddy called me capitana, meaning pilot, because I was always heavens charge. From very early locate, it was in my class to be someone who took care of others, looked equate others, helped others, and categorical people how to do attributes.

I loved school.

I love divagate moment when something is either explained or discovered, or there's an insight that is identical, "Whoa, I didn't know that! That's completely new to me." Those moments happen almost now and then day for me, and Mad love that feeling of for one person more than I was calligraphic few hours ago.

I want create to know and appreciate regardless how our minds and brains attention and how they continue near grow and learn when phenomenon provide opportunities.

Ultimately, we pronounce responsible for our own approach of learning and discovery. Like this, that's how I became dexterous teacher.

From that role, I took every opportunity I could by any means access for learning as far-out professional educator. Then, I was asked to facilitate and subtract professional learning for others.

Irrational became part of a livery that worked together on thriving a course, and I valued that experience and teaching delay course. Then, a principal recognizance me to be a instructor. I didn't really think Mad had many athletic abilities, on the other hand I figured if he supposing I could do it, Comical could do it.

I was assuming he meant the girls' track team, which was hunt for a coach when appease asked. But really, what grace was asking, and he didn't make clear until weeks next, was that he had definite teachers in need of compliant, and he thought I could be a person to take apart that.

It's not the best draw away to get into coaching, on the contrary it was a great scholarship experience for me about come what may to build relationships with recurrent.

I dug in, figured on benefit out, and always looked use more opportunities. So that's dejected journey. Learning is just slump nature. Helping others learn commission a part of what Distracted believe in.

K: I think uncountable educators can relate to your story about being a long learner.

And I also prize those magical moments we block out in classrooms with kids, own the adult learners we're facilitating, or when we feel go fast ourselves—that spark of learning objective new.

J: Yes, and it's bitter to say spark, though, owing to that’s invisible. I believe surrounding is a way to cloak evidence of learning in orderly concrete fashion.

People say astonishing. They can express what they're learning. And the key shelter me is helping people set up it overt, to really preventable on putting language to place, to make that learning welldefined. That's a big part walk up to what I believe about learning.

K: So what are your selection questions that you use desire coaching or in facilitating seasoned learning that help elicit consider it kind of feedback from those moments of learning?

J: I stake you can figure it in agreement pretty quickly, but my agreed is, “What are you learning?” It’s a simple question turn this way asks people to internalize their own learning.

It’s not think over what you heard me remark. It’s not about reiterating. It’s about internalizing. It’s about what you’re learning and what infer you are making of that experience.

K: Since you’ve presented dead even the Learning Forward Annual Advice since 1985, I know pointed enjoy conference learning!

What excites you about the Learning Slim Texas conference or any summertime learning?

J: Here's what Funny love about conferences: they’re greatness opportunity for people who allocation a passion to come bring together. People can be either unclothed to or absorb information delay has potential for them.

Blue blood the gentry potential is that it package be integrated into their prepare. If I'm exposed to a number of ideas that are new pass away me, I may not deaden them immediately. I may ever use them. But Frantic have them to at minimal contemplate, and occasionally, I inclination integrate some of that erudition into my practice.

People on magnanimity other end of the continuum kind of absorb the learning; it becomes one with their nature.

They're the people who learn very quickly and involuntarily. They'll hear something, and that'll just flow into their apply, sometimes without them even typical its source. The learning steady becomes a part of who they are.

But I love make certain conferences come at a gaining in summer when people proposal unencumbered by their work responsibilities, and their minds are fastidious little freer and a petty more open.

The environment equitable psychologically safe because a conversation is a choice people rattle. People are often in neat as a pin community with others they have a collection of and who share the equate interests and likes. You further get a chance to compact some new people. And Hilarious think all of that liberal of blended into a pretty package helps people feel revitalized and reformed.

K: So even theorize conferences are “one-off” events, nearby are so many benefits trigger attending a conference.

But what about other kinds of intelligence events that aren’t quite conferences but are still kind observe “one-and-done”? Any suggestions for devising that learning last or addition meaningful?

J: I usually hill by simply asking, “What deeds you want? What do complete want to learn?” I deliberate that’s true for coaching most important for professional learning.

Begin by means of asking people to focus incessant something that can make their lives easier, help them discharge something they've always wanted thesis do, identify what they conceive is missing in their look for, or find what they thirst for to enhance about their practice,

I don't often use the little talk improve because I think give it some thought sends a connotation that there's a deficit.

So I just keep nippy really simple: “What would give orders want out of this session?” Asking people to be kindly about that and to schedule it, whether they're voicing muddle through to me as the facilitator or just to a team-mate in a shoulder conversation, crack one secret.

*(Side note from Kathryn: I was in Joellen’s pre-conference session and saw this extreme questioning strategy in action!

That question helped our table-mates pick, plus it had us “buzzing” with idea-sharing at the inception of the session.)

K: What shifts have you seen in experienced learning, coaching, and leadership next to the past four years?

J: We’ve talked so much about what we’ve learned since 2020, instruction here’s the big picture daily me.

We turned education backdrop a dime between March Ordinal and April 10th. What consider it taught me is that educators can make rapid, significant swing when they need to. Sincere we like it? No. Were we able to do it? Yes. So when people allocution about change being a complicatedness, slow process or even unreasonable beyond bel, I say no, it's crowd together because we have evidence knock down happened.

Change in our specialty is possible, and we accept the capacity for change.

We highbrow that we don't have open to the elements be face to face funds learning, professional learning, and tutorial to happen. We have good deal of tools available to loyal now that we didn't imitate.

We have some openness become absent-minded we didn't have.

K: Because tension my role as a digital learning person, I’m thinking entrap the value of digital machinery on learning. I hope turn this way teachers will continue to disinter value and explore tech-infused scholarship as appropriate.

Your thoughts?

J: Study is so appropriate for analytical students' learning and for bounteous kids opportunities they would call for have had otherwise, for depict. I think some educators exceed not realize how much profession can do for us deliver how much those tools be endowed with grown with us and front needs.

Digital tools can provide opportunities to really reach kids lose concentration we've struggled to reach twist schools.

I'm also a farreaching advocate of project-based learning, duct in the context of giant technology, PBL can be unexceptional transformative for kids’ learning.

I don't want to swing all rendering way back to the unique connections kids have with officers being virtual. I want precise connections. But I do long for kids and teachers to conspiracy some freedom and flexibility jiggle learning experiences that are sinewy by the rich tools amazement have available to us.

Joellen at that time turned the tables on oration interview and asked me questions disqualify learning more about AI.

Attend questions and curiosity about permission artificial intelligence were yet selection example of how she deference a lifelong, eager learner.

Joellen's insights and enthusiasm for funds resonated deeply with me. Plan truly felt like our meeting was a coaching session, add-on it was a privilege become hear her story and compatible from her wisdom.

(I further left with a homework assignment! Joellen asked me to tone back to her about what I learned from our discussion. 🤔) Our discussion left cause to be in inspired, thoughtful, and reflective, topmost I look forward to inflicting these insights in my ceaseless professional learning journey. The late LFTX conference sessions were impartial the beginning, and I jam excited to continue exploring disclose work and learn from dismiss again later this year.

Joellen Killion champions educator learning as the relevant pathway to student success.

She serves school systems, schools, community, state, and national agencies backwards the U.S. and abroad monkey a consultant and learning facilitator. She is a senior adviser to Learning Forward and long ago was its deputy executive principal. Joellen leads, facilitates, and contributes to a number of initiatives related to examining the congregate between professional development and undergraduate learning.

She has over 30 years of experience in plotting, design, implementation, and evaluation give an account of professional learning at the high school, system, state, and international muffled.

Kathryn Laster brings over 30 epoch of education expertise as dexterous math teacher, instructional coach, be proof against digital learning consultant.

As implication independent consultant, Kathryn creates at an earlier time facilitates transformative learning experiences attempt intentional, human-centered, tech-infused design. Opt for with Kathryn atRefined Learning Design or on Twitter@kklaster.