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.
5 Comments
Christina Schreiber
9/23/2017 09:10:43 am
I think sometimes we get stuck thinking that 21st century learning MUST contain a computer or device. I think many of the skills that are included in 21st century learning can be practiced without a computer. Students can collaborate and think critically without using technology.
Reply
Joseph Williams
9/23/2017 09:24:11 am
Teresa, you touch on something that has been going around education for decades (and probably much longer than that), that in order to evolve, we must change our practice/adopt something new. Much like Christina said, 21st Century learning can look different in different contexts and settings. For you, it might be affording students the opportunity to communicate about what they read or perhaps finding a reading or video online that interests them. We all have various comfort levels with technology and it is easy to get caught up with a new wave of pedagogy, but it should not be at the cost of our own personal strengths.
Reply
Alicia Martin
9/23/2017 05:05:49 pm
I can see how your position would make it harder to incorporate technology in the classroom. But because of your small group setting you could definitely implement parts of 21st century learning. I think you are in a perfect position to have students collaborating together with your small groups. I agree that learning all about the 21st century models are really helping me think about my teaching and how I can change and do things within my classroom. Thank you for sharing I really enjoyed reading your blog.
Reply
Madeleine O'Rear
9/26/2017 04:29:43 pm
Hi Teresa! I was thinking about what you said about struggling to implement 21st century strategies into your classroom because it is so structured. This lead me to think about whether 21st century teaching techniques purely revolves around group work and technology. I have been thinking about 21st century learning in a broader sense, as in we are teaching students who will need to be able to teach themselves. If you think about it in this way, I think just implementing more higher order thinking questions and providing more opportunities for student will problem solve qualifies as 21st century learning. I could be wrong, but hopefully this is helpful! I know feeling limited in the classroom is a really frustrating feeling.
Reply
Lisa Gottfried
10/1/2017 11:47:59 am
It's good to see where your boundaries are and start to consider how to push on them, when and where to do so and to consider your goals. Much creativity can be found by imposed parameters and the sneaky, fun and wacky ways you can work around them. I've always been one to push on the walls around me. I taught an entire computer science class with no computers last year. It was a blast.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Teresa BarronI love teaching because it makes me a life long learner. Archives
November 2017
Categories |