Joining this Innovative Learning program in August, I had very limited ideas and expectations of what it would be like. I never actually thought I would get my master's degree, but the opportunity presented itself, and here I am right in the middle of the journey! This semester has been a lot of things for me- but most of all it has been inspiring. I have already taken little bits and pieces from this program and implemented them into my teaching practice. Looking back at all of my posted work and blogs from the past few months, it's easy for me to see what stood out to me the most- and to recall what impacted me as a teacher, and spoke to me as a learner myself. I can immediately think of three main concepts that were explored this semester that I have taken to heart.
I am a leader. This program has given me more confidence in myself as a teacher and a professional. I feel good about what I am doing in my classroom. I was asked by my principal to share at a staff meeting for the first time about implementing goal setting and student led conferences with students. I learned how easy it can be to do research in my own classroom, and watching other teachers around the world give TED talks, write articles and blogs, and speak at conferences, etc. has made me realize that my research and ideas have the potential to be powerful, and that I actually have the ability to influence changes in education in both big and small ways. I feel that obtaining this degree will also enhance these opportunities for me. Our student's futures are unpredictable. Throughout the learning in this course, it has been touched on repeatedly- by authors, speakers, writers, professors and teachers- how the rapidly accelerating pace of change in technology and development of information and ideas is putting us in a context of teaching students for a future that we have no understanding of. This has reminded me to focus on those 21st century skills more in my classroom and to be a little less concerned with things like reading logs, homework, math facts, etc. It is the learning strategies that the students are going to need. We as teachers will never know it all in this ever changing environment, and our students will be in the same position regardless of the career field they choose. We need to train them to be the creators of the new content, the authors, artists, leaders and activists that the future needs.
Creativity is a valuable learning activity. I have learned how important it is to be mindful of this on a daily basis- it has helped me to see different kinds of potential in my students. Take the student who is often distracted and never seems to be paying attention, and observe them during art class to find untapped potential, unlimited creativity and uncontrollable focus. We have to remember that these students might learn in a way that doesn't look traditional, but they are just as valuable as the child who has all of their multiplication facts memorized.
In taking creativity into account more in my classroom- I allowed the third graders time to create either a song, skit, or dance while the second graders were at a special music practice- and was amazed with what they came up with in 20 minutes. This was another reminder to me that children are born creative, and like Sir Ken Robinson speaks about, we tend to educate them out of it. I have also allowed the implementation of doodling in my classroom. The rule about doodling is that the students must still be able to do their work, and participate in the classroom conversation and/or partner talks. The majority of my class now elects to bring a blank paper, pencil and clipboard to the carpet during read aloud time- and they are completely able to multi-task drawing and listening to the story. Some of them even illustrate what they hear in the story, and it's adorable. As their guide, I'm trying my best not to control what they draw during doodling time, or to even suggest that they draw something from the story- but I must admit that having been brought up in the traditional 20th century classroom setting, and being a teacher (if you've ever met one of us you might know that we enjoy being in charge- just a little bit) this is my newest challenge.
I'm excited to find out what other challenges I will face in the upcoming two semesters of this program, and what other little pieces I can take from the learning and make my own.
Social Bookmarking
I like to use Pinterest to help me save articles, ideas, projects, links and pictures of things I'd like to reference later or use in my classroom at different times throughout the year. Here is a link to my page!
For my case study I am going to focus on video number 1, the 2nd grade classroom that participated in a Socratic Seminar regarding a text they had read.
Setting This class is discussing a story they had read together. It was not the first day they had read it, so they are digging deeper into the text. Evidence of Learning You can really tell that the students in this classroom are engaged in learning because they are citing evidence from the text in their conversations, they can recite the rules of socratic seminar, they know what sentence frames to use, they are actively listening to the teacher and their peers, thinking critically and responding using appropriate academic sentence frames.
Teacher Actions The teacher is monitoring the student conversation and guiding it. She is not the one in control of the conversation, but she is prompting students to share ideas and stay on track with what their focus for reading that day was.
Application I could definitely use this lesson in my classroom, and I have tried using very similar techniques. I actually adapted her rules for socratic seminar in my classroom as well. This method of conversation is new for me since this summer when I attended the AVID Summer Institute, and I am working to implement this and other AVID strategies into my daily routine to make my classroom more engaging and student led. I appreciate this video the most, because it is a similar grade level to my classroom and I feel it is easily applicable after watching how she implements the strategy so well.