Gradient Guides: Your school's compass for navigating the platform

Natalie Rogers’ enthusiasm for learning is evident in the way she speaks about her role as a Gradient Guide.

“I love diving in and finding out about all of the new things in education,” Rogers said. “I don’t mind being the one who gets the firehose of information and then gets to share what I learned with others to help them understand everything better.”

As a math teacher at The Enrichment Cooperative at Bryant in Spokane, Washington, Rogers is used to finding new ways to engage her students. She’s now excited to take a similar approach in her new leadership position as her school’s Gradient Guide.

Essentially, Gradient Guides are passionate educators at partner schools who volunteer to work directly with Gradient Learning. They delve deep into the Gradient Learning platform, honing their skills and understanding of its High-Quality Instructional Materials, data, tools, and AI to become invaluable on-site resources for peers in their community. 

Rogers appreciates the collaboration among the Guides, who share their real-world feedback with Gradient Learning to impact the program's success at the school level and ongoing improvement overall.

“Sometimes they’re struggling with the same thing we are, and maybe we’ve each tried something different that may work for the other person,” Rogers said. “We all support each other.”

‘We’re all learning together’

At Columbia High School in Nampa, Idaho, English Language Arts teacher Preston Ehmke brings his prior expertise with Canvas to his role as a Gradient Guide. 

"Since Gradient is housed in the Canvas platform, it's really easy for me just to say, ‘Oh, yeah, I know how to do that,’” he said. “I’m very comfortable in there.”

But Ehmke recognizes that not all educators share his comfort level and sees his role as a vital bridge. 

"It's the teachers that have a harder time getting used to it that I enjoy helping,” Ehmke said. “That's where I come in. The fact that I've used it for long enough and I'm willing to mess around with it and know how to undo my mistakes. That helps them realize they can do the same. We’re all learning together.” 

The on-site presence of the Gradient Guides fosters a culture of open communication and support, making it easier for teachers to seek assistance and collaborate on best practices.

“A lot of the time, it’s those tasks that we don’t do often that I can be a quick resource for,” Ehmke said. “A teacher will come up and simply ask, ‘Remind me, how do I set up a course?’ Or, ‘How do I move a student from one course to another course?’”

Rogers said the impact of the Gradient Guide extends beyond technical troubleshooting. They want to help ensure that the Gradient platform serves as a daily instructional tool and strong foundation to support their school’s whole student vision for success. 

"I love that the platform is focused fully on the students,” Rogers said. “It's nice having everything in one place. We can tell parents, ‘Get your observer account and you can go in and you can see exactly what your students need to do this week and help them keep on track." 

She also appreciates the platform's flexibility in catering to diverse learning needs. 

“It is adding different modalities for them to give their responses because not everything always has to be about writing a five paragraph essay,” she said. “They could realize, ‘Hey, I could get on camera and tell a story,’ or, ‘I could do audio or create art that explains how I’m thinking.’” 

Teaching life skills

The more Ehmke learns about the platform, the more he sees it as a tool to cultivate essential life skills for his students. 

"Gradient has intentionally given us the tools to help our students be more prepared and resilient,” Ehmke said. “It’s not just something we talk about. It’s built into the program. This really does help. So I want to help our teachers use this system the right way and that will help our students develop their self-direction and agency.”

The Gradient Guides program is designed with a clear commitment to ongoing support and development. In their first year, Guides will focus on mastering the technical aspects of the platform and ensuring its effective integration into instruction. As the program evolves into its second year and beyond, the focus will deepen on engagement and the strategic use of data within the platform to ensure that each school is best developing their whole students.

“I’m excited to be a part of this,” Rogers said. “It’s nice having everything in one place in the platform.”

------

Curious about Gradient Guides at your school? Reach out to your school leader for more information!