Using Data Tip #3: Go Visual!

GUEST BLOGGER: Mary Anne Mather, Using Data Facilitator & Social Media Liaison on Twitter & FaceBook

“’Go Visual’ with your data to help construct meaning, make sense,
and prepare to engage in meaningful dialogue.“
The Data Coach’s Guide to Improving Learning for All Students

Teachers have access to rich and varied student data, often provided in a variety of computer-generated documents with lots of numbers. Where does a data team begin their dialogue about what the numbers show? How can the team integrate multiple sources of data to tell a coherent story? How can a data team bring to life pages of numbers, so that the data can paint a picture about student learning? One way to illuminate the stories within the data is for data teams to create their own visual display of the data. We call it “Go Visual.”
“Go Visual” is the second stage in a four-phase process that guides data teams through deep discussion about data and helps them derive meaning from the data.

 

A PLN Delivers Learning to Your Doorstep

GUEST BLOGGER: Mary Anne Mather, Using Data Facilitator & Social Media Liaison on Twitter & FaceBook

Following my PLN (professional learning network) on Twitter is inspiring, and something I consider a precious asset as a lifelong learner. Not a day goes by that I don’t discover an interesting idea, resource, or news bit — all brought right to my doorstep (eDoorstep?). It’s like getting the education version of a good old-fashioned newspaper delivered daily, without the need to recycle.

Each day confirms again that there is a network of amazing educators out there, as well as informed stakeholders who honor and support them. It allays my growing annoyance with the regular assault on U.S. teacher competency that the news-waves currently pass along. As one recent tweet so aptly noted, “Teachers are not simply tools to be used by bureaucrats to implement policy.” I agree.

I especially enjoy when some of the news that crosses my path helps me to “connect the dots” with the work I do as a TERC Using Data Facilitator.