This semester has been an eye-opener, to say the least, in regards to so many things, including aspects of 21st Century teaching and learning. I have learned about new ways of teaching, as well as, technology. When I started, I was not reluctant to learn new things about technology, even though I knew that I had much to learn. I did use technology in my classroom, as well as, in my personal life, but I was by far an expert. I was comfortable with what I knew and also with what I didn’t know. What I mean is that, when I applied to this program, I knew I would have to be open to learning and using new technology. This semester pushed me beyond my comfort zone and I was able to try new things, that I would have otherwise, never tried. I feel like it was all a positive learning experience for me because I was in a safe zone, where I could play with new things and make mistakes. I have been given the opportunity and have been encouraged to use things without the fear of making a mistake. I have grown so much as a result of all the knowledge I have acquired.
I believe my thinking has also undergone much change. When I completed my teaching credentialing program (Many, many moons ago! J) I was taught to think and teach in a particular way. Many of the years I taught in a regular classroom, supported what I had learned about teaching. After a few years, I feel, like many changes began to unfold at our school and some of us moved slowly along, while others were “stuck in their ways”. It is not until this semester that I truly realize how much change was occurring in the realm of education and at what a slow pace our school site has been moving along. If I decide to move back into a regular classroom, I have “a bag full of tricks” that I would like to try. I am interested in learning more about meaningful ways to incorporate technology into our classrooms. I think our students could benefit to a great extent from the knowledge and grown teachers acquire. I am also glad that a few of my colleagues are undergoing the same process in this program because it gives me hope that with more of us having knowledge of 21st century teaching and learning skills, we can get the wheels rolling at our school site, with much more ease. This class has left me wanting to learn more!
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Flipped teaching and Challenge Based Learning were new concepts for me, up until we began to explore them in our course this semester. As a result of my change from being a full time classroom teacher, to working part-time as an intervention teacher (for the past five years), I have not had to participate in our professional development, nor other training at our school site. I feel like I am definitely out of the loop when it comes to all of the new things going on in education.
Now that I have learned more about Flipped teaching and CBL it has sparked and interest in me because I feel like they both provide more engagement and more motivation for students than the traditional structure of learning. They provide the opportunities needed for students to be active learners and producers of knowledge, rather than merely being consumers of knowledge. As much as I would like to try to implement some of the aspects of Flipped teaching and CBL, I feel it is almost impossible to fully implement them, given the intervention placement that I am currently in. The amount of time I am allocated for each group does not really allow for additional incorporation and I am to deliver a particular curriculum for intervention. However, I feel like I can integrate some of the 21st century skills need for our students. Thinking from the perspective of a regular classroom teacher, Flipped Teaching and CBL seem to be an exciting way of engaging our students. Yet, I can’t help but think of our students that do not have the necessary technology available in order to do flipped teaching. I feel like Flipped teaching (in this program) was a bit of a challenge for me, at first because it was new, yet I do feel the positive impact of being able to learn the material beforehand and having class time for more interaction and questions that arise are more meaningful. I believe that CBL is a great way to produce better prepared 21st century learners and truly teach the whole child, so that we can improve humanity over all. We must not forget, our students are not only leaders of their education, but they are also the leaders of the future! John Seely Brown
This presenter starts out by saying knowledge is personal; it is socially constructed. He also mentions something that was news to my ears. The best predictor of how well a student will do in college is his/her ability to form or join study groups. John also talks about the surfer boys who all became champions. He points out that the boys were able to succeed as a result of not being afraid to try and fail, and then try again. They also used technology which was very important for them to be able to improve their own skills and that of the other group members. Howard Gardner Gardner discusses his five minds; the disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creative mind, the respectful mind and the ethical mind. He also mentions how the creative mind is not afraid of failure. He mentions how the ethical mind is not taken for what it is worth. In this day and age kids have very different ethical perspectives. He also touches on technology. Sir Ken Robinson He makes a few points. He also touches on the idea that children are not afraid of being wrong. He points out that if we are not prepared to be wrong we will never come up with anything original. He firmly believes that we are educating children out of their creativity. Daniel Pink Pink talks about the candle problem and how we need to think outside the box. As well as how incentives and punishments work for 20th century tasks that have a simple set of rules and a clear outcome, but rewards narrow our focus and destroy creativity. He mentions we need a new approach for 21st century learning which includes more intrinsic motivation. It is important to include autonomy, mastery and purpose. When I think about my own students and my previous experience within education, I realize that everything that I have been taught in the past, was definitely geared for 20th century learning. It was based on wanting success for students, with very little mistakes involved. Providing students with knowledge that they must use and show acquisition of their knowledge thought assessments whether it be class assessments, school assessments, or state assessments. Truly squashing children’s creativity and guiding them to doing things the same as all of the other students. It is only more recently that I have heard more of the notion of allowing students to be the drivers of their own knowledge. As all of the, speakers touched on, it is acceptable to make mistakes and fail at something, because only in that manner will original ideas come about! We need to truly educate our students as a whole being, not just parts of them. As an instructor/leader, I think we need to teach students that thinking outside the box is better that restricting yourself to thinking inside the box. If we think inside the box, there can only be one answer and one method for acquiring that answer. Yet, when we think outside the box, there night only be one answer, but varied ways of arriving at the answer. I think we need to teach out students that it is okay to make mistakes, and try again. Only in that way can we truly comprehend what we are learning. In chapter 9, the closing chapter of The Flat World and Education, Linda Darling-Hammond lays out her policy transformation for a “well-functioning teaching and learning system“. She organizes it into five key elements:
Meaningful learning goals- She mentions how it is important to think of both content and skills to succeed in the 21st century. She also mentions studies that have shown that performance assessments have improved teaching quality and student achievement. Standards are important to guide the teacher but effective teaching calls for curriculum guidance that allows teachers to make well-informed decisions. Materials should also allow teachers the flexibility to modify for the different learners in each classroom. Intelligent, reciprocal accountability systems- Darling- Hammond allures to the fact that if students are to be held accountable for higher standards, educators should also be held to higher standards. In turn, federal and state accountability efforts must be designed to provide opportunities for professional development and school learning. We must have systems in place for shared accountability. Equitable and adequate resources- Here she points out the OTL standards and discusses resource equalization strategies. To build an equitable system, the amount of well-prepared teachers must be addressed along-side the availability of these educators to all students in all communities. Strong professional standards and supports- In this section she mentions the importance of attracting and retaining expert teachers. It is crucial to make teacher education performance- based, as well as, combining incentives with teacher learning and school improvement. Schools organized for student and teacher learning- In this section she references the need for productive school design. She also touches on how the federal and state governments can support research and offer incentives for developing effective school designs. In order to change systems, we must promote collaboration instead of competition within districts and allow educators to network and share their knowledge with one another. After completing Darling-Hammond’s book I realize that there was so much information that I knew to be true and now I have a better understanding of so much more in relation to the ever changing world of education. I believe that if we were to implement the changes that Darling-Hammond has delineated, we would be on the road to improving our schools and providing an even platform for all of our students to succeed. I can connect, all of the aspects she discusses, to my own journey in education and the experiences I have encountered. “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must we want for all children in the community. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy”. John Dewey’s quote made one hundred years ago, holds true now more than ever in our nation. In order to grow as a community and as a nation, it is imperative that we provide all students with the best educational opportunities. They are the future of our nation and if we don’t “want” the same possibilities for all children, we will never succeed as a whole. As a parent and educator, I feel it is even more personal. I must “want” to provide the best education for all of my students, as I want the best for my own children. I completely agree with Dewey’s quote; we can only benefit as a whole, if we want and provide the best for the all of our students. As I read the content for the week and I thought long and hard about my journey towards becoming a 21st Century Teacher, I realize that I have a long, long way to go! In the position of Intervention Teacher, that I currently hold, I am given the curriculum that I must use to provide reading intervention to the students in my groups. I do not have the ability to incorporate the 4C's, T-PACK, nor make the learning more problem- based/ project-based. The curriculum I must use does not have a strong technology link. We will we starting to use some technology the following trimester, with our Kindergartners and possibly the First Graders, but it is definitely "technocentric". I can however incorporate strategies that can make the curriculum more accessible for all the students that I service in small groups. As I sit here and think of my current practice, I see that I can also Include the 4 C's, but not to the extent and depth that I would like, because of my restrictions.
If I think back five years, when I was teaching in a regular classroom; I was also far from being a 21st Century Teacher. My school did not have a computer lab and I had only two desktop computers for students and myself to use. (They worked only sometimes.) I was incorporating some of the 4 C's and at best, I was on Stage 2: Adoption, as mentioned in, The Evolution of Thought and Practice. On a positive note, I am learning so much about 21st Century Learning and Teaching that I feel like I would have a strong start if I ever decide to go back to a regular classroom position. I know there is so much that I would change in my lesson planning an delivery in order to better prepare students with 21st Century skills. I am also hopeful that our Intervention Model will shift to be more conducive toward 21st Century learning and teaching. Examples of 21st Century Learning:
youtube.com/watch?v=P5yi8R519e4 This was a video that focused on Digital Storytelling and I enjoyed watching it. It was not necessarily a lesson being delivered, instead it was a teacher guiding you through what the lesson was and the different components of the lesson that her students were given. Students had to write out, on paper, a story they wanted to share with others, then proceed to typing their stories on a computer. After this part was completed, students had the opportunity to record their own voices as they read their writing. Students were asked to read slowly and with expression which was one of the instructional goals. They created storyboards and then used Kid Pics to recreate them digitally. The teacher also used technology; she created a file for each student with all of their pictures and audio. Students used i-movie to create their Digital Storytelling Project, as the teacher instructed them on how to use the new technology. This lesson was extended learning, considering students had written stories before, but now they were adding the digital piece. Students were fully engaged in their projects and you know they were learning because they were able to assist each other when their were questions or a peer needed help. The teacher was providing direct, explicit instruction, step by step, but students were able to take the reins and it because students centered. They began helping peers and working towards producing their own work. Students were proud of their results and eager to share their work. This is a lesson that I would be able to use in my classroom. I only get 30-45 minutes of intervention time with each group, therefore, completing this lesson would more than likely take a longer time span. teachertube.com/video/sight-word-station-see-440105 In this video Ms. Ellis is demonstrating what a lesson on the ipad or the computer would look like for her students. The students are following the lesson independently on the device. She mentions it is something they have been told they would be working on. Yet, she is delivering new material in the lesson because they are working with the new sight word, see. I now the students are learning because they are engaged/focused on using technology, and the lesson is structured with and I-do, you-do model.I was able to observe that the teacher was modeling each step at a time, then asking students to try the same things she was doing. She would demonstrate then question and she was providing an environment that was both positive and safe for students to try the different parks of the lesson. She used words such as, "I know you can do this. Great. Good job. You're awesome. You are going to be such great reader. I am proud of you." I could definitely use this lesson in my own classroom, and I think other colleagues could make good use of it as well, during our Universal access time as a May-do assignment. www.pbs.org/video/school-sleuth-case-wired-classroom-skype-classroom/ As I reflect on this week's content, I can't help but think of the video link: Dalton Sherman asks, "Do you believe?". I can see the little faces of all of my past and current students asking the same question. I truly feel that it is of utmost importance that all teachers believe in their students.
In my classroom, I am the person who my students look to for support when they are looking, not only for answers, but also emotional support. For some of them, we as teachers, are the only constant adult in their lives. They look to us for approval and acceptance; Dalton also eludes to this fact. If they can truly sense that we believe in them, they will begin to believe in themselves. They are capable of so much more than they can imagine and it is up to us to open their eyes to the endless possibilities and opportunities that await them. As we all know teachers play a significant role in the lives of students, not only with regards to academics, but also in their personal day to day experiences. I think, one of the key elements that is need in our classrooms is a strong connection with our students. If you get to know them and they get to know you, they will sense that you truly believe in them. Equally important, is to have a student-centered classroom, in which students feel that they are trusted to explore new things and feel safe when they are not successful at something because they can always try again. If they feel like we as teachers believe that they have much to teach us just as we teach them, it will empower them to continue the student- centered learning cycle. I am passionate about many aspects of education; one of these is providing learning environments that support all learners. I strive to incorporate as many strategies as possible throughout a lesson in order to make the curriculum more accessible to all my students. I am excited that our school site is providing GLAD training to our teachers once again. GLAD will provide teachers with a multitude of strategies and will assist in make learning more student focused, in the sense that students will be allowed to become "experts" in specific areas and will be able to share their knowledge with classmates. They will become teachers, and collaborate with one another. I feel that students feel proud and take ownership of their learning when they are given the freedom to learn and teach others.
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Teresa BarronI love teaching because it makes me a life long learner. Archives
November 2017
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