Welcome, I am Kathy Dlugonski.

Currently, I am an educator at a school in the northern area of

Pittsburgh. I have been teaching in the Pittsburgh area for the past 18 years. The past three years
have been in a kindergarten classroom. My previous 15 years of teaching was located on the
Northside of Pittsburgh. These two areas of have two distinctly different demographic
characteristics. During these eighteen years, I obtained two Masters degrees in education from
Slippery Rock University. The impetus for returning to school was to secure my teaching
certificate, and also to learn more about teaching reading. As I pursued a reading specialist
certificate, I encountered many students with special needs within the city school that I taught.
This inspired me to learn more about special education and how to enhance the education of my
students. My journey continues, and once again I am enrolled in classes. I am now a student of
Carlow Universitys High Performance Learning Program. It is my aspirational goal to become
a High Performance Learner Instructional Specialist. This position would be one that supports
colleagues that are implementing High Performance Learning within their classrooms. The
responsibilities would include:

collaboratively develop goals for the HPL initiative with students, teachers, staff, and
parents
plan workshops on the four Cognitive Arcs of High Performance Learning
collaboratively design classroom instruction that utilizes digital technology and
curriculum that is aligned with a learner-centered theory
demonstrate lessons that are learner-centered
identify and disseminate instructional resources on HPL for stakeholders
observe, review, and respond to teachers initiating the HPL theory
assess, evaluate, record, and report findings on the current progress of the HPL
environment/ culture
plan professional development for staff that stimulates a High Performance Learning
culture

My intended audience for this High Performance Learning Symposium project is my colleagues
with whom I am currently work. The current culture of the school is performance driven. It is
not a true learner-centered environment. There is pressure for students to perform at the highest
levels. Getting the highest grades are very important to parents. Teachers are pressured to get the
students to receive these high marks. Within this environment, there are classes that utilize
collaborative learning, inquiry based instruction, various motivational techniques, and digital
technology. There are some teachers that strictly use the basal for instruction. Some teachers are
not utilizing any technology within their classrooms. The majority of the teachers are unfamiliar
with this new paradigm, High Performance Learning. It is my goal to inform these teachers via
my Weebly website. Through the use of the Cognitive Arcs in High Performance Learning, I am
hopeful that it will inspire them to reflect on their teaching style and their philosophy of
teaching. It is also my goal for my colleagues to be inspired by the various media, and to be
curious about High Performance Learning enough to learn and do more to change the cultures of
their classrooms, and the school.

It is my philosophy that education should be learner-centered. We are all unique. Within each
child is a curiosity to learn and explore this world. It is our jobs as educators to ignite that
curiosity. We need to be mindful of the diversity of these students. Each child has a unique of set
qualities and set of interests. What are their cognitive realities? We need to explore and build
rapport to understand each of these students. The curriculum should be a collaborative effort on
the part of the instructor and the students. By understanding the unique qualities of each student,
we can together build lessons, strategies, and engaging curriculum to meet the learners goals.
We need to celebrate the various talents of our students. Judy Willis, neurologist turned teacher,
explains in her video, Want Children to Pay Attention? Make their Brains Curious! that getting
our students interest is key to putting information to memory. As educators, we need to be
familiar with current research, including brain research in order to better understand and meet
the needs of the students we teach. Angela Lee Duckworth and Carole Dweck have researched
Growth Mindset. Students need to know that they have the capacity to grow their brains.
Effort and difficulty gives a person neural connections, new connections. Paul Tough, author
of How Children Succeed, shares insights on the importance of non-cognitive skills that are
needed for achievement. These are skills such as resourcefulness, tenacity, and impulse control.
We need to arm our students with the knowledge and skillsets that will enable them to achieve in
the 21st century. Learning-environments are changing, especially with online capabilities. We
need to evolve as educators, or we, like the dinosaurs will become extinct. It is in the best
interest of our students and our futures, to promote and engage in High Performance Learning.