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As I continued with the LRNT 525 readings about leading change, I couldn\u2019t help but think about leading change to students in secondary math and science courses. Throughout the years, I have noticed many students are often reluctant to change: 1. they take time to adjust to new routines and procedures; and 2. they are unwilling to accept new knowledge, especially if it contradicts what they think is correct. Not accepting change is not unique to teenagers\u2014it is a common human phenomenon. Newton\u2019s first law of motion states that an object’s motion (either moving or not) will not change unless a push or pull (force) is applied. In other words, objects remain on their same paths until forces initiate changes in motion. Similarly, students require forces to accept changes. In the classroom, I have realized that the forces for sustaining successful changes are best when slow and gradual, involving careful planning and a chosen diverse team of people to demonstrate the visible benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n The global pandemic was the force needed to change our learning environments from face-to-face to remote. Unfortunately, public school educators, parents, and students did not have the time or resources to deal with the rapid change to remote, online learning. Loerme Akhtar & Kotter (2019) argued accepting change requires “urgency” and an answer to “why now”(p. 2); and, although we experienced that urgency, the switch to remote, online learning was not a sustainable change. The urgency pushed the change, but the sudden force didn\u2019t allow enough time to plan and gradually introduce the change. The change was not sustainable because there was too much variation from the previous school culture. Biech (2007) argued that change cannot be so different from the existing culture and that the keys to successful change are two-fold: 1. It would be best if you had a step-by-step plan for change, and 2. It would be best if you involved everyone who has a stake in the change. In other words, \u201cyou must plan the work and work the plan\u201d (Biech, 2007, p. 2). The pandemic forced a very different cultural experience from what we were all used to, without a step-by-step plan including everyone\u2019s involvement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As I began to lead my students in face-to-face and digital learning environments in September, I quickly recognized the negative feelings towards their previous remote, online learning experiences. Students, teachers, and parents were quite vocal about how much they disliked remote learning last year. I knew I had some convincing to do when introducing the digital learning platform we\u2019d be using this year. Due to students’ negative experiences with remote, online learning, there were no signs of readiness<\/em><\/span>\u00a0(Weiner, 2009) to accept a digital learning environment. Nonetheless, I spent many hours planning and guiding the change. The school year\u2019s future was unknown, and I needed to make sure students were ready to tackle remote learning if it happened again.<\/span><\/p>\n I have been lucky to teach Science 9 throughout this entire pandemic school year, and I am currently working with my fifth and sixth groups of students in a quarter system. From the first group until now, the expectations laid out have been the same. Students have been attending face-to-face classes, accessing digital supports in Office 365 Teams, and communicating their learning by submitting weekly digital showcases of their work. Using digital tools has been a significant change for grade 9\u2019s at our school, and initial buy-in has been slow and low.<\/span><\/p>\n Grade 9\u2019s are very social, and therefore the information has now circulated about how Science 9 is delivered and assessed (I am the only teacher for all of them). The fifth and sixth groups of students have been fortunate because my teaching strategies have evolved. I now take more time to involve students in sharing how they upload their work. I show exemplars of \u201cproficient\u201d work and involve parents by sharing the successes of how students have been working together as a community of learners to discover the benefits of using digital devices. Students who have found the most efficient ways of uploading their work have mentored others in the class. The results have been outstanding. Compared with the first few groups of students, more students have mastered the task of submitting digital showcases of their learning, and it is only the end of Week 2 with the new groups!<\/span><\/p>\n My observations on implementing change within the classroom are consistent with Kotter\u2019s eight-step model for change: 1. establish a sense of urgency for change, 2. assemble a diverse group of people to support change, 3. outline a vision and strategy for change, 4. communicate the vision, creating buy-in, 5. clear the path by removing barriers, 6. show progress by celebrating the short-term wins, 7. continue to build progress, and 8. embed the change into the culture (Loerme Akhtar & Kotter, 2019). My observations on implementing change within the classroom have impacted my future planning for introducing change in digital learning environments. I need to take a leadership role to plan and manage change, and more importantly, I need to recruit a select group of students to accept and help demonstrate the benefits to others.<\/span><\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n Biech, E. (2007). Models of Change. In Thriving Through Change: A Leader\u2019s Practical Guide to Change Mastery. Alexandria, VA: ASTD<\/span><\/p>\n Loerme Akhtar, V., & Kotter, J. (2019). Charting the course: The path to transformation in education. <\/span>Kotter<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>https:\/\/www.kotterinc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Transformation-in-Education-web-version.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n