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Reflective Practice and Change

Reflective Practice and Change

Looking back over the past 32  weeks is overwhelming. So much has been covered, and achieved. It would not have been so successful and enjoyable for me without the opportunity to collaborate with others. We have experienced a 21st Century learning environment to learn 21st Century skills. This has formed a model of teaching from which I can develop my practice. My  two main resources are the Microsoft 21st Century Learner and the SAMR model.

One significant change in my practice would have to be understanding the power of collaboration. As a teacher I have found this a powerful way of learning, working collaboratively on assignments and valuing the depth of discussion that has followed.  In the classroom, I have facilitated more activities and opportunities for the children to work collaboratively - not co-operatively, noting the difference!

In the Practising  Teacher Criteria and e-learning:  7 it states: Fully certified teachers promote a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive learning environment.

The guiding question for this is;

How do I promote a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive learning environment that embraces e-learning and engages learners?

This year I have used Seesaw for the first time where the children have worked collaboratively and then shared their work. They have recently begun using Google Docs, working either independently or collaboratively to share their work, peer review, either giving or receiving feedback.

I have noticed the level of engagement and excitement in their learning where they can learn off each other. The home school connection has strengthened and the children have had a wider audience to share their work.

PTC  e-learning: 12  it states: Fully certified teachers use critical inquiry and problem-solving effectively in their professional practice.

The  guiding question is;

How do I use e-learning to advance the learning of my ākonga/learners through critical inquiry with my professional learning?

Why is it I don’t take time in my daily practice to engage in academic readings?  I am so often time poor. Mindlab has required so many readings and I have found the time!  The challenge will be to keep going. Teacher Inquiry, and a robust appraisal system are in place in my school. However Mindlab has given so much depth and purpose to what I do.  Reflection is so much part of our practice. The reflection-on-action in the reading by Finlay  was interesting as so much of my reflection is ‘in action.’ The deliberate reflection, especially through Inquiry is what improves my practice. The importance of professional communities has been reinforced, whether formal or informal and the online communication enables so much more dialogue and interaction with a wider group. Google+, hangouts and webinars have been a new experience.

Where to next, and it can be a dream! I would love to do the course again, just to take it in with no pressure of assignments! Just to go back week by week and review all that we covered. I would like to see others in my school do Mindlab in 2018 and be a mentor. That would have helped me through this year. Maybe be a part of a CoP, Mindlab alumni, to keep learning and share ideas.

Just discovering the Ministry of Education (nd). Practising teacher Criteria and e-learning  is exciting. It is enough to keep me going. So much to explore and try.

For now, the introduction of digital technology next year as a strand in the Technology Curriculum will be a new challenge.

To sum it all up. Hattie says, “It is what teachers do that makes the difference. They need to be more informed evaluators/consumers of teaching methods that make a difference to learning outcomes for students.”  In reality, that’s what I need to keep focusing on, methods that inspire the learners.

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Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

2018 will see many teachers in our school working more collaboratively in FLE’s. This will also be an opportunity for teachers to look at their pedagogy and make changes. My potential ‘near future goal’ (short term) is  to work with a teacher to implement a shared programme,  two afternoons per week, for our classes based on a model  of teaching that could be described as ‘integrative.’

At present my programme  following the matrix, (p13) by  Mathison and Freeman, could be described as a mix of ‘partially  interdisciplinary’ as explained by  Jacobs , (p.8) as methodology and language from more than discipline to examine a central theme, issue, problem, topic or experience. This term I am basing the learning on a topic. The content, methods, processes or skills taught remain bound to the primary discipline from which they come - science, reading, writing and some mathematics. However with the expectation of meeting  National Standards, I am conscious of ensuring there are explicit acts of teaching which are at times more inline with traditional curriculum pedagogy.

On Friday we do ‘electives’ where children can choose  from a list  of topics which they would like to do. I would class this  as ‘Integrated’ as the curriculum content is more fluid and the teacher is a visionary guide.

The integrative model that my ‘team teacher’ and I will base the student’s learning will see both ourselves and the students being partners in curriculum design. It will be based on a theme.  It will have much in common with the Interdisciplinary approach as we will connect several learning areas, it will be an inquiry based, authentic, and student centred. As teachers we will be facilitators, provide resources and guide the inquiry to ensure students are developing areas in which they have little knowledge or interest. What will set it apart from the other models will be the extent of the collaboration and decision making  by the students that it will involve.  As teachers we can draw on each others strengths and interests to guide the students.  Ruhl talks about a time when teachers were free of Standards and testing and could teach to inspire This is what we want to do. He lists the 5 c’s, choice, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and adds a 5th, caring.

This will be an exciting venture as we move into a model that will give the students more agency, ownership and allow them to follow their interests and passions. Maybe we are too radical and going too wide and losing the purity of curriculum areas. There won’t be the depth of learning. Setting educational goals will be important and we will need to ensure there is a structure and it doesn’t become as Jacobs refers to as a ‘potpourri problem’, a little bit of this and that. In Jones, it states that with Interdisciplinary Instruction, “ students can become independent, confident individuals who ‘learn how to learn’ and develop lifelong learning skills.”

Whatever model is chosen from the matrix, there is an argument for advantages of Interdisciplinary learning  over traditional approaches

Jones states, “These are: The 'intellectual argument,' which suggests that any field is enriched by ideas or methods from other fields; the 'practical argument,' which suggests that the real-world of knowledge is connected and new ties are formed every day; and the 'pedagogical argument,' which suggests that learning is seriously hindered by the current fragmented system.” The current fragmented system he is referring to is teaching using traditional approaches of focusing on knowledge and separating curriculum areas for instruction.

By beginning in small steps, trying something new, we can take it further as the opportunities to teach collaboratively become more manageable with the upgrade to our classrooms.

Whatever  model, or level of integration we choose to do on the matrix, we want positive outcomes for our students. That’s where caring comes in!

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Using Social Online Networks

Using Social Online Networks

Social media can be defined as websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. This leads onto social networking, the use of dedicated websites and applications to interact with other users, or to find people with similar interests to one's own. This helps me clarify, what social media I  am using in my teaching.  Am I just creating or sharing, or including the next step, where my students are interacting with others?

My students are using Seesaw where they upload work to share and get feedback from family and whānau. This is sharing, but it is usually a one way interaction. It cannot be classed as true networking. The children see other’s work and comment. All postings, including comments are moderated by me. We also use the BLOG component, but it is passworded and again, only accessible to family and not a global audience. The children do not have individual BLOG pages.  It is primarily an e-portfolio, a showcase of the student’s work and  a connection with the family. Seesaw has only been introduced schoolwide this year and we are still developing student and teacher skills to use if effectively.

Seesaw is a safe stepping stone to the wider world of social networking for younger students. The children can learn the skills of Internet safety, appropriate postings and privacy issues before I take them further. The next challenge for me is to connect to other Blogs, of which I have the URL addresses either within the school or Seesaw community. I can also remove the password to make it open access. As explained in Using Social Media In the Classroom, linking to global sites will help develop empathy for others and expose them to different world views. Sharing from Seesaw directly to a class twitter account will also be a new challenge. The rationale is that many of these sites are all connected, including Google Docs, Google+,  and are all ways in which I can begin to develop the social networking gradually.

My students have just got their own gmail passwords and are on Google classrooms. They can now email and share work with their peers.  In  Establishing Safeguards, it stresses the importance of establishing a purpose for using social media. What are the benefits for my students? Part of the rationale has been to prepare the Year 4’s for a BYOD class next year, but there are many other factors. It is developing the 21st century learning skills where the students can work collaboratively, sharing their work and giving feedback. The students can  work at home, anytime, anywhere. With this has come new responsibilities, understanding and following the school code of practice. My next challenge is to set up a Google+ class community where they can interact in a safe environment and I can monitor it.

Much of this is new learning  and challenging for me. As stated in Connected Educators, we tell our students to be lifelong learners, we need to be that ourselves. However with social media, it is often the students teaching the teacher. I like the concept of  Teachback, where  one person (who may be a teacher, an expert, or another student) explains their knowledge of a topic to a learner. Then that learner attempts to explain, or teach back, what they have understood. This offers two benefits. It ensures understanding but also leads to further discussion where both parties become the learners. With technology moving and changing so fast, we can’t know it all!

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Legal And Ethical Contexts In My Digital Practice

Legal And Ethical Contexts In My Digital Practice

In the  Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the New Zealand Teaching Profession, it states that as teachers, we respect our trusted position in society and recognise the influence we have on learners, their understanding of the world and the future wellbeing of our society. But when does this relationship with our learners stop and can we ever treat them as general members of the public once they are young adults?

The use of social media has brought about many changes in society.  A new generation is growing up with social networks as an integral way of life. As cited in the Facilitators Guide, personal information that was once considered private is increasingly  being shared on line and can be transformed into public data. The line between professional and personal life has been blurred.

Before digital technology it was more clear cut. Any contact with a past pupil was generally face to face and a brief encounter and the teacher was still considered to be in a “teacher role’.  With the introduction of facebook, I  at times get ‘friend requests’ from past pupils. These have been deliberate acts on their part to make contact and be part of my facebook life. Once you press ‘accept’, your lives become connected on a new level. Both parties have access to each others pages, communicating via messaging, and  sharing information which can be passed on to third parties. Where once it was a teacher/pupil relationship, it has changed to one based on a common ground. Each stakeholder is on an equal footing and consideration needs to be given to both.

I question myself. What is the purpose for maintaining  contact on facebook , especially as it is generally for a substantial length of time. As a professional and still a part of the professional community, I still need to adhere to the code of ethics that state that teachers will  show a commitment to the teaching profession by demonstrating a high standard of professional behaviour and integrity. This contact is for present students as well as those in the past.

Fortunately I am not a frequent or avid facebook user, but it does make me feel a little sad that there are past pupils who genuinely want to make contact. I decline. In the past, I would not have shared my personal life, so why now. One strategy cited in Henderson et al,. is for teachers to create a social networking profile specifically for their professional work. This would involve a lot of extra work managing and for what purpose.

Perhaps the school policy has made my decision to ‘decline requests’ easier.

“Using social media in your personal life: Teachers' personal use of social media must also be governed by confidentiality and professional standards. Maintain a professional boundary, and consider whether it is appropriate to extend or accept friend or connection requests with parents, students, or others involved with the school.”

I take this as past and present.