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/

Project 3

Project Presentation


Project Write-Up

At the beginning of April, I undertook a digital storytelling project with my students. I decided that my middle school technology class of 30 students would go through the process we originally outlined in our first group projects, and that I would be mindful of important aspects of differentiation into this project.

My class website, as always, was a vital part of this project for the students.  I kept the project calendar, rubrics, process steps, video exemplars, tutorials and anything else related to the project that the students would need on this page.  It was broken down by a table of contents so that students could easily jump to the sections they were looking for.  This allowed both students and parents access to the whole project any time. Students could access the site at home or if they missed class, could download needed documents, watch exemplar and tutorial videos, see due dates, and the rubrics and checklists they would need.

In order to begin this project, I laid out an understanding by design template (see below), so that I could identify what standards I wanted them to meet, and clearly identify their performance task, as well as what they should know and be able to do, as well as what I would have to do to get them there. 

I knew I wanted them to write stories, and be sure they used all of the important story elements like characterizations, setting, plot, mood, conflict, climax, and resolution, yet I was unsure how solid they were on story elements to begin with. So I figured that would be a good place to start.

Before we began the project, I surveyed my students to see what knowledge and comfort levels they had with story elements, and various elements of digital storytelling.  The results told me first and foremost that many of my students are a little over confident!  However, for most of the questions, at least half or more of the class was honest in their self-appraisal in these areas. 

Together we read several stories of different genres (and reading levels), and then watched 4 examples of digital stories created by students (I kept these posted on the class website as exemplars for students to refer to throughout the project).  Throughout this process, we worked on defining and identifying story elements.  Students worked in self-selected partner groups, and could choose any of the digital or written stories we’d gone through in class to identify the story elements (characters, setting, plot, mood/tone, conflict, climax, resolution).

I wanted to be sure there was plenty of choice for students as part of this project, as I knew they would be more engaged if they could have more ownership over the process. I used a fiction-writing lesson that I used to use when I taught junior high English (see below), and we began there, brainstorming ideas, identifying our settings and characters, planning out our conflicts and resolutions.  For this particular assignment, students brainstormed a list of their favorite people, their favorite animals, and the habits or actions of others that annoyed them the most.  The challenge was for them to match something that really annoyed them personally, to a character they really liked, and then brainstorm what kinds of challenges or problems that could present as a basis for their story.  This left them lots of choice in terms of writing about things that were meaningful to them, things they knew a lot about, and things they felt strongly about, as well as plenty of room for imagination.

Then the writing began.  This part of the process took much longer than I anticipated – I blame that on the years that have passed since I actually taught junior high English – I should have known better! 

During this course, students have learned many technology skills in isolation.  They have learned to use Google Docs in Google Drive, how to use the Pages app on their iPad, and how to email from that app.  They have also learned to use the folders in their Google Drive, and how to use their Gmail as a “go between” for transporting their documents between devices.  Throughout the writing, revising and editing process, they were allowed to use any of these ways of sharing that they preferred for peer editing.  The class was fairly evenly split here – some liked the old-fashioned method of printing their stories and taking the editing pen to them.  Some would email their stories to each other, and some shared them on Google Docs with several friends, and left marks and comments within the document for each other.

After much drafting, proofreading, and revising, we were finally ready to begin story tables.  This part of the process was entirely new to the students, and took a solid week of intensive work, which included a lot of modeling on my part.  I put story table templates on our course website in Word and Pages, so that if students were working on different computers or at home, they would be able to access the template.  I also emailed a copy of just the Pages template to all of the students (the majority have iPads), so they would have no problems using it on their iPads. .  I also showed the students some storyboard software called “Storyboard That” that they could use as an alternative.  I had about 3 students begin playing around with it, but ultimately, the story tables were quicker to work with.

The story table process also involved small group meetings, and individual meetings with students.  In the end, most of the students had a lot of help from me, although most of the 8^th grade students were able to get through the process of breaking down their stories with very little help from me. The end of the story proofreading and the beginning of the Story Table work blended together, as students were definitely working at their own pace by this point. The students collected photos for their story tables, and wrote descriptions of their scene into the story tables, and these were exchanged and edited between the students and me over the course of the week.  During this portion, more of the skills they had learned in isolation earlier in the year came into play in a more applied way.  Some students set up folders in Google Drive, and collected their background images there. Some students dragged their images directly into their story table for a more visual effect as they were working on the table.

They began the even more technical stage of the project; using green screen effects, using iMovie, doing voice recordings, and putting in music and sound effects. 

I posted a tutorial video on our class website instructing students how to take pictures with green screen, and I also modeled the process for them several times using my green screen area and my SmartBoard to project the process in iMovie. The 8^th graders were already familiar with green screen, and so were a great help to the other students as tutors throughout this part of the project.  Some students caught on right away, and a handful of others, as well as a few students who were absent watched the tutorial video I had posted – some several times.

For their stories, they were to set their scenes using backgrounds chosen from the internet, with them in each picture.  I insisted they be in each picture, since they were the main characters in their stories. I wanted them to think of showing the action from the point of view of their character.  This part of the process allowed the students to get even more creative with their stories as they each looked for their own background images, and posed and shot their green screen photos.  Several students worked in small groups to help each other with the green screen shots. I left the classroom management aspect of this pretty open, and their behavior was very much task-driven as they wanted to get certain shots they had in mind, and were also eager to share their ideas about what they were doing with classmates.

Selecting music was difficult, and although I initially offered up a list of links for free music, this turned out to be more choice than was necessary - it was too much to handle, became a distraction and caused us to lose focus for a bit.  I decided it would be best to offer very limited choice for this, and most of the students worked with the canned sound effects already in iMovie.  I had a few 8th graders who grasped the soundtrack concept, were able to focus and pull their music fairly quickly.  

Finally – the projects were mostly complete!  Students began posting their videos to YouTube, and embedding them into posts on their own student blogs.

This is definitely one of the more complex projects I have undertaken with a class this size, but in terms of planning and management, I felt it went really well.  Allowing a lot of choice in terms of subject, voice, working at their own pace, choosing work flow tools and methods, getting feedback from others, and the overall creativity they were able to put in to the writing, pictures and sound turned out to be a really positive experience.  Students were engaged in the process throughout, and this alone eliminated a lot of the hassles that a more lock-step plan can create. 

At the end of the project, I gave the same survey to my students as I did at the beginning.  However, this time, an overwhelming majority answered in the positive to their levels of knowledge and comfort with aspects of story elements and digital story telling (the comparisons are shown and explained in my video). Based on much of my discussion and observations of the students throughout the project, I am fairly confident that their second attempt at the survey is a much more honest one than the first.  

I also used the project rubric (the same one that had been posted on the website for the students all along) to assess their videos.  With some of the students (mostly 8^th graders), we watched the video and went through the rubric together, which I think was a more helpful assessment.  However, this class consists of 30 students, so I did not have time to do this with each of them.  In my presentation video, you can see an example of how I applied this rubric to a student project.

In thinking about what I would do differently next time, of course there are always some things I would tweak (note – I am already doing this project again with my Spanish class).  Just like any kind of creative format, the first time is always the most difficult.  Part of this project simply involved giving my students a clear idea of what a digital story actually is.  From now on, we are free to focus more in specific aspects of the process, such as setting up scenes, symbolic imagery, choosing music and sound, voice modulation, and creating stories in different genres and for different purposes and audiences.  Much in the way I have done with writing over the years, I would also modify my rubric to reflect this level of focus within the project. In this project, most of those aspects were there, but on a very introductory level. For timeline and planning purposes, I’ll be sure to allot enough time up front for the students to really flesh out their ideas in written story form first.  This process takes a long time anyway, and if they don’t nail that, the rest of the process suffers.  As I continue to work through digital stories with my students, it will be nice to build up a collection of them to show as exemplars to my classes.

The finishing touches are being put on these videos this week, and as they are finished they will be posted to the student blogs.  To see the stories, click here to go tomy teacher page. Scroll down looking at the right side of the page, and you’ll see grade levels, and first names below each of them.  These are links to individual student blogs.  The digital stories belong to the 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders, so clicking on those names will get you to their latest “Digital Story” post. 

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