Week 4: Reflection

1. What resources/ideas did I share this week?
Two great resources I shared were two that I often refer back to when I look to resources/ideas for mentoring.  One was the Edutopia article about mentoring specifically for technology. It reminds me that this ads another layer of complexity - you are not just talking pedagogy, you are also talking about technological knowledge and skills, which is a whole other level for some people.  There are a lot of other "feelings" (for lack of a better way of putting it) that are added to the mix.  The other resource I included was the link to the New Teacher Center and their formative assessment system.  I really like how they have incorporated a sound teaching practice into the idea of mentoring others.  Their FAS stresses that the best mentoring situation is one in which you have a collaborative relationship with your mentee.

2. What did I intend to be the impact of my resources on others' learning?  Mentoring is far more than simply teaching someone else a skill.  It involves building a trusting relationship, finding a balance between what the mentee feels they want/need and directing them toward an alignment with their needs and best practices.  The resources I listed stress the importance of these considerations.

3. What actual impact could I discern? I described my mentoring plan and data collection based on the ideas included in these resources.  The commentors on my post both indicated that they appreciated this focused approach to mentoring.

4. What will I do differently next week?  I'll continue to try to keep an eye out for resources that are not only a source of inspiration and ideas for me, but that will also help others as they move into this mentoring project.

5. What resources did others share that made a difference to my learning? Jonathan shared an Education Week article that I found interesting because it really stressed the role of a quality and qualified mentor. What often happens in schools and districts is that veteran teachers are often assigned to new teachers and told they will mentor them - even though the veteran teachers may not want to do this or understand how mentoring works.  Needless to say, this situation is rarely helpful. Andrea also shared a site I had not heard of before but will definitely be visiting again - The iPad Professional Development Site.  Lots of good ideas there that, mentoring or not, I can use in my daily dealings and in PLC's with my colleagues regarding iPad issues and questions.

Week 4: Mentoring Plan

Introduction: I'll be mentoring a colleague in my building, who I'll call Carol.  She has been a teacher in the building for 8 years, and is interested in integrating technology into her classroom.  Over the past 5 years, she has participated in several workshops I have given about using blogs and wikis.  Although she had not set one up, the trainings gradually gave her an understanding of what she could do with these platforms.  This past summer, I taught a week-long class to teachers in our district as well as those in Delta-Greely about using Web 2.0 applications. Again, I trotted out my old standards, wikis and blogs (with the newer addition of websites).  This time, Carol stayed in an extra work session with me for the afternoon - she wanted to set up a blog, and she was sure that this time, she could do it. By the end of the day, she had set up a blog, and had listed several ideas for content she wanted to add to it immediately (gadgets), and who her audience would be (students and parents).  She visited me for several tutorials over the next 2 weeks, and by the end of the first week of school, she had her blog up and linked on the school site.  Publishing and maintaining this blog so far has given her a tremendous amount of confidence.

Timeline and Plan: I'll be working with Carol's students (elementary aged) once a week this year, and will also be spending time with Carol in some PLC sessions weekly to collaborate with her about ways she can take what I am teaching her kids each week, and integrate that into her content in her classroom so they can apply it there. This should give her added confidence, as she is not solely responsible for teaching the technology specifically.

Data Collection: Each week when I meet with Carol, I'll be using a collaboration form I have used with teachers I have mentored in the past.  It's called a Collaborative Assessment Log.  It is a form that aides our conversation with each other each week.  Usually I base these on the Alaska Teacher Standards, and the teacher selects one or two standards they would like to focus on as a basis for our conversations and ongoing plans.  However, for technology integration, I'll keep the teaching standards on hand, but will be basing our discussion on the ISTE Nets. Carol and I will begin by discussing those a little bit, then she'll decide which one she'd like to focus on in her classroom.  Then we'll go through the discussion log by talking about what she is doing right now that is working (in terms of instructional strategies, classroom management, etc). We will then turn the conversation to her current challenges - this will be focused on technology, and might include things she is worried about, such as classroom management, lack of technical expertise, lack of working equipment, etc. At this point we turn the conversation to what her next steps will be.  I can give her suggestions about how to work some of the tools her kids learn with me into her lesson plans, and she can agree to try one, or she might need to get some working equipment in place, such as a video camera.  To wrap up the conversation, I'll tell her a few things that I'll be able to do to support her - such as finding a piece of equipment, giving her a quick tutorial on something, or finding her a resource that will support her. The following week when we meet, we'll begin the conversation the same way, except when we talk about what's working, I'll have our Collaborative Assessment Log from the prior week. Our weekly conversations then become a cycle focused specifically on trying something new, reflecting on and celebrating success, addressing barriers, making plans, and making sure she has the support she needs. The Collaborative Assessment Logs will be my data.

Resources:
Hertz, M. B. (2011, November 14). Mentoring and Coaching for Effective Tech Integration | Edutopia. Edutopia | K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies that Work. Retrieved February 13, 2012, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/mentoring-coaching-tech-integration-mary-beth-hertz

Kacer, L. (2012, May 10). ASCD Express 7.16 - Retaining Beginning Teachers Is a Matter of Principal. Membership, policy, and professional development for educators - ASCD. Retrieved May 16, 2012, from http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol7/716-kacer.aspx

Highly Effective Teachers . (n.d.). New Teacher Center. Retrieved September 27, 2013, from http://www.newteachercenter.org/services/fas/effective-teachers

Week 3 Reflections

I'll start with what is usually the most difficult reflection to bring voice to (not sure why), but how I hope I contributed to the learning of others.  In my blog this week, and probably more often than I realize in general conversation, I seem to always put out the question/challenge about how we can make teacher preparation programs more relevant.  Mind you, I don't have an answer to this myself (just a few ideas), but it's a discussion that seems very current to me.  I get comments on my blog about this, and also at some points end up in discussion about this on Twitter.  I think just keeping the discussion out there - keeping people thinking about it, is a contribution.  There are some things about teacher preparation programs that I think work really well - I think my own was quite fantastic (thanks UAS!). I've seen some that had really good components, but the whole? No way! So I think all of us who are in the field need to keep talking about this, because education changes constantly.  Even though we are in the classroom, many of us find ourselves struggling to keep up with some of the changes.  Yet many teacher prep programs have hardly changed at all in the past 30 years, and I find this just unbelievable!

I really enjoyed the #ETLEAD twitter chat this week - especially when we started talking about our projects, and just the act of mentoring itself.  I think that particular discussion still has a lot of mileage left in it, and I'm looking forward to continuing with it.

In reading through the blogs of my classmates, it's clear that everyone is very pumped by Dave Burgess' message in his TLP book - it's really a gem - just good to have on your bookshelf! I particularly liked how people are replacing a teaching term that I've never cared for - "winging it" - with "innovating".  I think as teachers we are constantly asked to be flexible. Schedules don't always run as we planned for varieties of reasons we can't remotely predict, and we often have to be creative with ways we fill that time. Sometimes even our pre-planned time runs into a glitch, and the plans we originally had just won't do.  Most of us don't want to waste that time, but we are not always prepared for it (in the formal sense of a pre-thought out lesson plan or a Plan B).  Those are the moments when we operate on the fly, pull out our content, and some good ideas that we've been wanting to try out anyway.  Now a few people truly do waste this time, but I think most teachers don't want to, and make a concerted effort not to.  How successful we are with these flexible time blocks depends a lot on how motivated and inspired we are in our classroom to begin with.  If you really are like that, you don't want to waste a second of time, and will try just about anything to make it worthwhile.

Week 3: How do we maintain excellence as we innovate?

"You can't measure a teacher's impact through standardized test scores or D/F rates. A teacher's impact can only be measured through generations!" (Burgess, 2012). Wow - what a statement!  Something about this rings so true with every teacher.  As someone who has taught at least long enough to see my second generation of students start coming through school, I can tell you that this becomes truth in ways you never could have imagined.  I've had interesting discussions with former students, who are now parents themselves, who will say things like, "I remember that project we did about economic indicators - I'm still not sure what all of those are but that was the first time I really learned to look at a map for more than just finding directions", and this is 15 years after the fact!  I've often heard it said that a student will probably never tell you they remembered how much fun all of those worksheets were, and I can definitely believe that.

When you put your creativity to work in your lessons, and come up with learning experiences that are not only engaging, but complex, there is the possibility for your students to learn so much more than the basic facts - that's the time for really deep learning. It's when they have a challenge that pushes them, and also allows them the freedom to discover things on their own.

I've spent a lot of time mentoring and coaching new teachers, and I find (thankfully) that most are eager to learn, eager to try new things, and eager to improve (this is encouraging!).  I've also run across a few who are not so eager. Those teachers fall into 2 categories. A) They already know everything - they can't fathom that I'd be able to teach them anything.  They've got it all figured out.  And actually, some of them do.  Other than getting over a little bit of ego, these are often talented, competent folks who tend to be quite comfortable and intuitive in the classroom - and they eventually do get over their ego.  The second category, B) are made up of those who are very detailed planners - perfectionists. They were good pre-service students, probably straight A's, and they approach the classroom with the same careful, studied purpose.  They want to have everything in place and exactly right.  There's nothing wrong with being methodical, but what I've seen with folks like this is that it often quickly becomes stifling in the reality of the classroom and a busy, rigorous daily schedule.  Taking risks for them is seen as a time-waster. They'd rather proceed with the scripted approach that they believe will yield results.  These approaches are often district or program recommended methods for teaching a subject.  Not to say these folks are bad teachers, but after spending time in their classrooms, I wouldn't call them great teachers either.  They are just ok.  The lack of creativity, enthusiasm, and willingness to take risks in their classrooms has put them firmly into mediocre territory.  I like Burgess' take on this, "Nobody is going to die if we experiment in the classroom and it doesn't work out." "If a lesson plan fails, you show up the next day and make it right." (Burgess 2012). Convincing some folks of this is tough!  And another thing to remember here is, lessons rarely fail completely.  There is always some learning (and wisdom) gained from a lesson.

These ideas lead me to wonder about teacher preparation programs - what are we doing to ensure we are preparing our new teachers to be innovative in the classroom?  An interesting guest post by Seann Dikkers on Dangerously Irrelevant proposes that "the most innovative teachers are drawing on experiences and skill sets they developed outside of education." These teachers are bringing real-world 21st century skills to their classrooms, while traditional teacher technology training focuses on things like how to use the IWB. Although I've always considered myself as being somewhat innovative in my classroom, I know that when I started integrating technology (not IWB's) into my teaching, a couple of  things happened - 1) I became more energized, excited, and creative with my teaching and 2) my students became more engaged - their lessons were more complex, authentic, interesting, included choice, and were differentiated.  The biggest risks with technology involve the technology not working - and even those times offer opportunities for learning!

So for me, I think the answer to the question posed is, keeping it real - as applicable to the real world as possible.  Utilizing technology in my classroom and using 21st Century skills to teach has allowed me to be an innovative educator who can find creative ways to reach my students. Teaching my students these skills has helped me to feel that I'm not only teaching my students content, I'm teaching them how to apply that to their lives, while giving them skills to be lifelong discoverers, creators, and learners.

Resources:
Burgess, D. (2012). Teach like a pirate: increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life as an educator. San Diego, Calif.: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc..

Dikkers, S. (2012, February 15). Are Teacher Preparation Programs Dangerously Irrelevant? [guest post] | @mcleod. Dangerously Irrelevant | @mcleod. Retrieved September 20, 2013, from http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2012/02/are-teacher-preparation-programs-dangerously-irrelevant-guest-post.html

Reeves, D. (2008). Expecting Excellence:Challenging Inequity, Insisting on Excellence. Educational Leadership. Retrieved September 20, 2013, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/Challenging-Inequity,-Insisting-on-Excellence.aspx

Clifford, M. (2013, January 10). 30 Ways To Promote Creativity in Your Classroom.Innovation Excellence. Retrieved September 20, 2013, from http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2013/01/10/30-ways-to-promote-creativity-in-your-classroom/

Week 2: Reflections

I love it when I read something that takes me back to my "teaching roots" so-to-speak.  Part 2 of TLP did just that - it made me realize that although I have done many of those things, I don't do them often enough, and I had to take a hard look at what was happening when I was so in the zone with my teaching like that.  The short answer - I was mindful. Those things mattered all the time.  I was reading a lot of things that were inspiring me, and I was curious and wanting to learn some things myself about teaching, so I took risks.

I enjoyed reading through the blogs of others, because it seemed like everyone was having their own little epiphanies about the same types of things. What I didn't really see was anyone getting defensive. Burgess was pretty clear about addressing that aspect of his methods. Probably not coincidentally, those are the same kinds of defenses I hear mounted by some teachers about integrating technology into their classrooms.  Anything that takes people out of their comfort zones is bound to bring up those feelings.  It doesn't necessarily mean those people never want to try anything new (a few really don't), but most are just uncomfortable with it.  Whether it's dressing up like a pirate or handing every kid in your room an iPad, for a teacher who has never done those things, it is a risk, and the scary thing about risks is we don't know if they'll work.

Week 2: How can we keep our lessons engaging? Does innovation play a part in this?

I really enjoyed section 2 of TLP. He talks about a lot of things that I think are really important to remember.  When I think about how I've taught over the years, I realize the times I really used a lot of these engagement "hooks" were a. my first few years of teaching, b. the one year I taught elementary, and c. when I started teaching full technology-only classes.  I had a few years in there where I'd bust that stuff out once in awhile, but I'm sorry to say it wasn't something I attended to all the time.  I feel like the first 3 instances I listed were the times when my teaching was the most dynamic, and I remember feeling warmest toward my students during those times.  I'm quite sure there was a connection between the effort I was putting in to engagement, and how they were responding positively to it.

The one year I taught elementary (3rd grade) I actually did keep a checklist that I made sure to look at every time I planned a project.  It read, "Is it fun? Do they get to collaborate? Do they get to create? Is it beautiful?"  That was about 7 years ago, when I was really starting to get into technology integration, and my 3rd graders were my guinea pigs for a lot of new things I wanted to try in the classroom.  I was willing to take a lot of risks that year, as there were a lot of ideas in my head. I really wanted to know about teaching that way. I was inspired constantly by what I was reading, blogs I was following, my twitter feed, you name it. Luckily I was building a PLN with a lot of ed tech "innovators" - people who were already out there taking risks, and that was really making me think a lot.

I wish I could say that I've approached everything since then with the same daily enthusiasm I brought to my 3rd grade classroom that year, but I hate to admit I'm a little sporadic about it.  I've realized that when I go through periods of time where I'm not following my PLN, my creativity tends to dwindle, as I don't have that injection of inspiration coming at me all of the time.

Last year, a real shot in the arm came from a digital storytelling class I was taking.  It really helped to formalize a lot of ideas I'd been playing around with about ways to bring storytelling into the curriculum in a way that let students be creative, and take ownership of their learning.

I think it would be a good idea for me to take out that list again that I used when I taught 3rd grade - it's a good reminder.

Many of the ideas Dave Burgess emphasizes in Part II of TLP remind me of a post I read by blogger Scott McLeod awhile back called, "Things that AREN'T on the bubble tests".  Most of Burgess' ideas fall squarely on this list.

Resources:
Burgess, D. (2012). Teach like a pirate: increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life as an educator. San Diego, Calif.: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc..

Porter, B. (n.d.). Creative Educator - Digital Storytelling Across the Curriculum.Creative Educator - Articles, stories, and lessons for a creative approach to learning.. Retrieved September 15, 2013, from http://creativeeducator.tech4learning.com/v05

McLeod, S. (2011, November 21). Things that AREN’T on the bubble tests | @mcleod. Dangerously Irrelevant | @mcleod. Retrieved September 15, 2013, from http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2011/11/things-that-arent-on-the-bubble-tests.html

Week 1: Reflections

I enjoyed going through the blogs - mainly because it is interesting to hear about the "passion" that has driven different people to teaching, and how they identify that.  There was a common thread that I sensed fairly quickly, and realized that it applies to me as well - that is, most of us have a passion for being agents of change. We all seem drawn to the idea that we can make something happen for the kids we teach, and what drives us every day is the idea that we have the skill to be able to do that. But even deeper, the real passion comes from the constant challenge that we take on each day, week and year: How will we do it?  No one is afraid to take on that challenge, and the real enjoyment comes from the methods, creativity, and expertise we apply to the task.

I believe it was Andrea's blog I read in which she talks about realizing some of the teaching "methods" she uses are effective both in school and at home!  It made me start thinking about what kinds of crossovers I bring between home and work (asking which one came first is like a chicken/egg question though).  I feel like I am a fairly organized person.  Part of my drive to being organized and efficient, both at home and at work, is for several reasons; 1. it allows me to get a lot more done, 2. it makes me feel like things are getting done and I'm not wasting time, 3. it allows me more free time to do other things with my family, or just for myself.  I like being able to relax without feeling like there are a million things that need my attention, and I hate feeling rushed or behind.

So for me, being organized ultimately translates into a better quality of life. A lot of what I try to impart to my technology students in the content I teach and how I teach it, is not just how to use a certain tool or piece of software, but how using them in a certain way, or in conjunction with some other tools, can make them more efficient as well.  For many of my students, technology will naturally be a part of their lives. So I guess an epiphany I've had is there is a translation of my "passion" for technology between home and school - to impress upon my students that when applied in an organized way, these methods and tools have the potential to improve their quality of life.

Week 1: How do we maintain our passion for teaching in the face of so much change?

When I think about my job as a teacher, I'm thinking about it from my insider's point of view - I usually consider it in the here and now.  I think about my challenges today and what they might be tomorrow.  On the (rare) occasions I have the time to reflect on my profession, I find that one of the more enjoyable aspects of my job is the satisfaction I get from creating, planning, and implementing something, and then being able to analyze what factors really made that idea sing from start to finish.  One of the great things about experience is it allows you to look at patterns of things over a period of time.  During my time in the classroom, I've been able to identify some basic common factors that seem to be key in any successful creating/planning/implementation process.  The inclusion of those key factors has become second nature - that's the real beauty of experience, and what I think of as the art of teaching.  So with regard to the question of "passion", I would say a large part of my passion now comes from an understanding and appreciation of that art.

However, when I think about my job as a teacher from the outside looking in, it's incredible to me the changes that have occurred in education during my tenure in the classroom. It kind of reminds me of how we view toddlers - when you have one of your own, and you are invested in them and with them every day as they grow up, they don't seem like a burden to you.  However, when you haven't been around a toddler for quite awhile, and suddenly find yourself responsible one for a short period of time, they utterly exhaust you - you don't know how you ever lived through it! Thinking about the changes in the teaching profession over time is a lot the same.  Since I'm "living" it, I've rolled with it, and the changes, sometimes irksome and sometimes exciting, have seemed like minor adjustments.  However, if I'd left the classroom 15 years ago, and suddenly returned, I wouldn't even know how to function in a classroom today.

Aside from the high stakes testing and scripted curriculums that have obviously put pressure on the more seasoned teachers, and flat out changed the way new teachers come into the profession, the other single biggest change I have seen that has been gaining steady momentum, is the advent of technology in the classroom.  Because at it's heart, it's shifting everything about how we teach and how kids learn. The more we use it, the more we experiment, create, plan and implement, the more we realize that all of our long-held ideas about curriculum and pedagogy are beginning to look a little (and sometimes a lot) outdated.  We've all heard for years the truisms like "good teaching is good teaching", but the fact is our learners have changed.  The kids who enter my classrooms today are quite different from the kids who entered when I first started teaching. They are not better or worse, but they are very different. Change is here.

Aside from ignoring it, the worst thing we can do with new technology at this point is to use it to implement old pedagogy. If you know what your passion is (your "professional passion" as Dave Burgess refers to it), it's important to think about how that passion fits with today's learners, not those of earlier years.  Teaching is still an art, and we must continually be creative and artful in how we practice it. That means using the proper artist's tools and applying them for today's learners.

Resources:

Burgess, D. (2012). Teach like a pirate: increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life as an educator. San Diego, Calif.: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc..

Morehouse, L. (2008, March 25). Teaching with Passion: Advice for Young Educators | Edutopia. Edutopia | K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies that Work. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://www.edutopia.org/jonathan-kozol-advice-teachers

Barseghian, T. (2012, March 30). Amidst a Mobile Revolution in Schools, Will Old Teaching Tactics Work? | MindShift.Mind/Shift. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/03/amidst-a-mobile-revolution-in-schools-will-old-teaching-tactics-prevail/

Barseghian, T. (2012, June 28). Beyond Technology, How to Spark Kids’ Passions | MindShift. Mind/Shift. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/06/beyond-technology-how-to-spark-kids-passions/