Thinking about how I use technology in the classroom today relative to a few months ago, I think that my use has changed not only in how I use the technology, but also how I view the technology. I have always used Google docs, or sites like Kahoot, but never really critically looked at how I was using them. When I think of technology now in the classroom, I am much more focused on what I am using and whether it actually benefits my students in their learning or not.
I have also become more open to trying new sites, even if I'm not 100% comfortable with them. In the past, I wouldn't use different sites until I felt that I knew it well enough to not run into any problems with it in the classroom. There are now probably 3-4 ways that I am using technology in my class on a weekly basis that I didn't use just a few months ago. The more I continue to use different sites and find the benefit that they have for my students, the more willing I have become to continue to try to incorporate new ones into my classroom. As we continue to move forward in our classes, I am excited about the opportunity to continue to grow as a teacher, and I think that expanding the way that I use technology in the classroom will help me do that. I remember when I first started teaching someone told me that once I had all my lesson plans down, then the time commitment I needed to put into it would be much less. I would just repeat those same lessons. I learned early on that in order to try and be a good teacher, I had to constantly be adapting to my students needs. These days that means not only changing things out from year to year, but sometimes week to week. If I want to continue to get better at my job, I have to be willing to continue to try new things. Even if they sometimes are a total mess. This class has really helped my continue to grow in the sense of confirming that trying to be a good teacher means constantly examining your own practice and finding ways to try and do it better.
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When it comes to the flipped classroom, I am really split on what I think about it. For example, I have a student who has been in Europe for the past month. I have been screencasting (probably not a real word) 5 minute instructional videos of some of the more confusing lessons for him to watch. It has really helped him to understand some of the content when in the past he would have struggled to complete the assignments. He is a student that works really hard to keep his grades up and this was a way to help him while he was gone. I see how this model can be effective when applied in the right setting.
There is also the other side of this discussion, and that it where I really struggle. When thinking about the flipped classroom through the context of my own classroom and experiences, I just don't see how it could work. One of the biggest struggles with middle school students is getting them to do any work outside of the classroom. If I had an expectation that they would listen to the lecture and then engage in a blog or discussion, I might only have 25% of my students complete it. This is just my reality. I am always open to trying new strategies to get students involved. The whole point of what we do is to help students learn. But if I am going to be honest about how I feel about this particular model, I think that a one size fit all approach wouldn't work. I see how 12th grade AP Chemistry students would thrive in an environment like this though. In regards to Dan Pink, creativity, and motivation, I am all for trying new ways to get students engaged. I think that we should always be looking for new ways to help students dig deeper into the content. I wish that I could say that I could see myself incorporating this into my own classroom. Maybe there are things that I am missing, and someone will change my mind about this model through our discussions. The idea that the education system has caused our students to become less and less creative is very troublesome. I think we have all seen it in our students. The fear of making mistakes and not wanting to do things the "wrong way." It seems that no matter how many times I have said the words "it can look like the model, or nothing like the model," more often that not it looks just like the model. When I remove the model, most of them seem to just be stuck on what to do next.
All of the videos really addressed the same topic. The world that we know is in a state of ever changing expectations and needed skills. The idea that we can train students to essentially master one skill and repeat it is over for most career choices. Of course these kinds of jobs will still exist, but how many of them will be gone to automation in the next 10-15 years? As students move through school and into their careers in the future, they will need to be able to obtain information from many different places and synthesize it. And as it mentioned in the second video, they will need to then be able to convey that information to not only people in their own business, but possibly to people all over the globe. When I think of my own classroom, and the ability for students to work creatively, I see the gap. In the Ken Robinson video, he addressed the way we stigmatize values that we don't hold in high regard. Students are really only valued if they are able to demonstrate the specific kinds of knowledge that have been very clearly laid out for them. Too much deviation from the course is looked at in a negative way. I really appreciated his line when he said that "if your'e not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything that's creative." I need to find a better way to convey to my students that their product doesn't need to be similar to work done in prior years. Maybe I need to need to make it more of a focus to find new ways that reinforce their belief that being different is not just ok, but that it's mostly preferred. Especially in science, it always about figuring out a way to build a better mouse trap. The only way you can do that is by thinking out of the already existing box. These videos fit with everything that we have been discussing in class (21st century skills, the brain, equity, etc...) I think I already spoke about the first two above. The equity piece is absolutely addressed when we allow students to think creatively. Differentiating instruction has always been about giving all of the students in a classroom access to the curriculum. Each student is so different who comes through our doors everyday, it just seems like common sense that expecting one approach to fit all will never work. Allowing students the creativity to see the content through their own vision allows them to build confidence that not only can they do the work, but that their work is valued. As far as Mobley's insights, I thought that his example about the numbers on the station was a good one. I was looking through the numbers and thought the next one would have been 40 based on the pattern that was established. It never occurred to me that it could have been something else. I definitely get stuck being a linear thinker more often than not. I think just making students aware of their own thinking would help with this process. The more students are aware of how they organize their thinking, the better off I think they will be to think outside the proverbial "box." While I know that we were supposed to respond to the quote from the ICARE, there was another one at the beginning of the chapter that really stuck with me. James Baldwin says "these are all of our children, and we will benefit by or pay for what they become." By accepting the inequities that continue to exist, we are pretending that the outcome that is so clearly evident, will not impact all of us. When we give students the resources they need, access to high quality teachers, and a consistent curriculum that challenges them, we know what the outcome for most children will be. Why we continue to ignore the evidence, make short sighted decisions that mask the current problems, continues to truly baffle me.
Of the 5 main topics that were addressed in the final chapter, there were a couple that seemed especially relevant to me. When the topic of curriculum and assessments came up, it discussed the move that most countries with high student achievement have in common. Most (if not all) of these countries allow their students the chance to really engage with the curriculum and not race through to the next topic. I remember my first 4-5 years, this is exactly the opposite of what we would do. We would spend at most 2 weeks on a chapter and then it was time to move on whether the kids were ready or not. As I get to know the new NGSS standards in science, I feel that the focus is on moving towards this model. It has been repeated many times throughout the book how important access to resources, and specifically curriculum, are to student achievement. Yet our district here, and many others in the state, have agreed to forge ahead with the new standards and no curriculum for a minimum of 3 years in science. To think that this will not have a direct negative correlation, is to completely ignore everything we know about learning. As I read about inequities in our system, and the impact it has on students and their leaning, I don't have to look any farther than my own classroom to see what the impact of that decision will be. If I am going to keep this shorter than a full book, and still have room for a response from the video, I will just add this last part about the book. There is a section that discusses how the students are accountable to the system, but somehow the system isn't being held responsible to the students. The simple fact that these inequities still exist is proof that the system isn't be held as responsible as it should. I used to work at a school where if the school couldn't reach preset goals, some that were unattainable, the consequence would be firing at least 50% of the staff, and the principal. Rather than working to improve teacher effectiveness through PD, or providing resources that actually had a meaningful impact on student learning, someone decided that investing in more testing and firing the staff would somehow achieve the outcome that they were looking for. As far as how my findings from the videos fit in with our other topics in class, the focus on 21st century skills stuck out the most to me. With our focus on technology, and how to use it in a way that truly benefits students, I have really begun to change my own practice. The speaker in my video talks about how we need to be constantly changing our own practice, so that we can help students with challenges that they will see in the future. I have always changed my lessons from year to year. But I am really starting to focus on meaningful changes even if things don't go smoothly. I am learning to be more patient with the process, knowing it will benefit my students in the future. If we truly want to help our students achieve the same levels that other countries currently are, we know the path that we have to take. We know the importance on investing in our teachers. We know the importance of a high quality curriculum that focuses on higher order thinking skills. We know we need to direct resources to students that need it the most. We know that the system needs to be held accountable to the students. If we are serious about making the necessary changes that our students need, then the path is clear. The question is are we willing to do it? I am using Diigo to help keep track of all the articles I am collecting.
In the "evolution of thought and practice summary", it speaks about the different stages that teachers find themselves in regards to integrating technology. This was a really interesting read for me. When I started this program, I was really in the second stage. I had a few pieces of technology that I was comfortable using (Kahoot, Google slides, etc..), and really stuck to those. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have always struggled with technology in the sense that I felt that as helpful as it could be for students, it was also a distraction for students in their learning. I have never been opposed to using technology, but I only wanted to use it if I felt it was beneficial for students.
Through all of our discussions and some of the readings, it has really changed my approach in regards to the 4 C's. I have tried a bunch of new sites in the last few weeks (socrative, peer grade, buncee, etc...) that have helped me change the way I am integrating technology in my room. I am getting better at using them in specific ways that I think help with student achievement. For example, I only use Socrative as a formative assessment tool with my students. Students take the reviews after every section, and we then display our results after our "space race" and discuss the findings as a class. The students are engaged, and I feel it really helps them understand where they are in their learning at that moment, and what they need to focus on moving forward. With Peergrade, I only use it with very specific assignments so that students can give feedback to their classmates. From the few times we have used it, students like it and are really engaged in the process. This allows students to collaborate with other students, see what high quality work looks like, and revise their work. My hope is that as we continue to use it, students will improve their critical thinking skills. The anonymity that the site allows really gives students the ability to put their ideas out there without anyone to judge them. I still have a long way to go to really be considered a teacher that leverages technology really effectively in the classroom, but I feel like I am taking steps that my students will benefit from. When I think about the readings from our book, and the inequities that still exist, I need to be mindful of how I assign work that centers around tech. Our school has done a great job of making sure that every student has a chromebook. If they don't own one, they were allowed to check one out at the beginning of the school year. What I have found through discussions with my students throughout the year is that not all students have access to WiFi at home. I really try to be mindful about the kind of assignments go home with my students. Anything that we are going to do that is tech related, I make sure we do in the classroom. Otherwise I'm not giving each kid in my class the opportunity to complete the same work as the rest of the students. This has always been a difficult part for me to incorporate in my classroom. In the 9 years I have been teaching, I have always done my best to make my classroom as hands on as possible. I try to differentiate my instruction as much as possible for every chapter that we cover. I do use technology in my classroom (interactive sites, Google slides, video clips, Kahoot, etc...) each chapter. But I have always struggled with how to use it effectively. Certain sites like Kahoot are great ways to get students engaged. They love the competition and it really helps give information to students in a less traditional way. The site that I found that I am going to use is similar to Kahoot, but with much more detailed feedback. Games like this, are great ways to get student engaged. This particular site keeps track of what questions students got right or wrong, and sends those reports to your Drive or email. This has always been a pretty easy way to use technology effectively. Where I really struggle with technology in the classroom is when students have their own devices and are working on something individually like Google slides. There will be many times I come by their computers and they are on some gaming site. I do my best to constantly walk the room, give or take participation points based on being on task, etc... but students are still distracted by their devices. I realize the importance that technology currently plays, and will continue to play, in our society. I see the value of students being able to build their skills through the different mediums that technology offers. But I'd be lying if I was to say it wasn't frustrating to think how much time or focus is lost because of the distraction of playing on gaming sites. I also wonder if this concern exists in high school as much as it does in middle school. I will continue to try and find sites that offer a benefit to my students. But I also think that I will continue and try and be as mindful as possible about how I am using technology in my classroom. In one of the videos or in our reading, it mentioned that most of the jobs that our students will fill haven't been created yet. A lot of these jobs will probably be tech related. It really is interesting to think that we are helping our students build different skills and were not even sure of how they will be applied. The more we can help to diversify those skills, the greater the odds are that they will be successful in the future. Student feedback article
Facilitating a class Twitter chat Will virtual reality drive deeper learning? Socrative is a tool for instant feedback. Here is it being used in the classroom. Here is a good instructional video on how to set up a pretty basic quiz in class. Here is another one. My initial reaction after reading the first few chapters of this book was that I felt a little naive when it came to thinking that there had been more progress made to fixing the inequalities that exist in our system. I guess I assumed that while things still weren't great, that at least we were making progress and not stuck in neutral. It was pretty frustrating to read about policies that were still being played out in the court systems that should have been fixed 50 years ago.
When I start thinking about why the problems exist, my thoughts go in a ton of different directions. We know through research what factors drive students success. We know the impact that well qualified teachers can have on a classroom. Yet we continue to put the brand new, or unqualified teachers, in the most difficult of circumstances. When I worked at my previous school I saw this first hand. We had a lot of turnover, and the students suffered because of it. Teaching is a difficult job. Teaching is a skill. Yet we treat it as if it's something you don't really need practice or support and can just pick up on the fly. There was one other piece that really stuck out for me. There are a ton of different ways I can take this, but am really trying not to ramble on for too long. I think it was mentioned in the book that we don't have an achievement gap, we have an access problem. It makes me wonder how efficient are we with the funds that should be earmarked for student learning. We have all seen programs or ideas that cost a significant amount of money that are gone 2 or 3 years later. Any money for districts should be kept as close as possible to the students that are in the classroom. If we are spending money on a program or idea, that is not backed with evidence that impacts student learning, why are we spending money on it? It's pretty sad to see a state that has the 7th largest economy in the world still not be able to educate it's students equally. |
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April 2018
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