I started using Seesaw in the classroom last year after having a friend of mine send me an adorable video of her kindergarten son reading his journal in class. I loved how the student shared his work with his family, and she was able to share it with me, even though we live states away and I would likely never have the opportunity to see his kindergarten work! I instantly signed up for Seesaw and haven't looked back.
I had my 1st and 2nd graders last year use Seesaw on the iPads in class. They loved reading and showing their work to their families, and the families loved the glimpse into the classroom. I loved that it was all very secure (parents sign up with a special QR code that links to their students journal, the teacher approves them-along with all student work- and everything is private to only the approved students, parents, and teachers of the class. This year with my 2nd and 3rd graders, we have chromebooks, and although my students are allowed to share their work in whichever way they choose to, most of my students elect to do blog posts by creating notes that their family and other classmates can see and comment on. Most of the time they post their text response related to their language arts work for the unit, or their journal prompt response. It is such an easy and fun way to add audience and give students a voice using the internet in a very safe, secure, and powerful way.
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As I dove into the resources on digital literacy, I felt very confident about my 2nd and 3rd graders' abilities and skill sets when it comes to using digital tools for learning and creating. This year my students have learned a handful of new tools, and I must say that as the teacher of this group of students I simply have to introduce a new tool to them, and show them an example of how it could be used, and they will take off with it, figure out all of the features, and teach each other and myself.
Teaching digital literacy sounds pretty complicated, as it encompasses a lot, and I think a lot of teachers who did not grow up or begin their carreers with technology in the classroom feel overwhelmed by the amount of information and the possibilities out there. As a younger teacher at my school site with mostly veteran teachers, I feel that it has been my responsibility to intrucude my collegaues to a lot of digital tools. All of my colleagues are very open to trying the tools, and they find that once they use a tool in the classroom, it sticks with the students and they are able to manage it quite easily. I think that is the best approach to digital literacy. Explore one thing at a time, with your students. Have no expectation that this will be something you use in the classroom on a regular basis- just test it out and see if it works for you and your class. Students today are so used to being around techology constantly that it comes easily to mose of them, and has really become our responsibility to teach them how to use it for learning, and in an appropriate manner- which is why digital citizenship goes hand in hand with digital literacy. Throughout this program I have noticed that the things we study and discuss during our coursework or class affect me as a teacher in different ways. More often than not I am inspired to try something new in my classroom, make adjustments to the way I am already doing something, see the benefits in things that I have already implemented in my classroom, or remind me of valuable teaching strategies that I have forgotten about over time. It causes me to reflect on things that I do in my classroom, and to improve upon them in some way.
When we learned about creativity last semester, I changed up some schedules and procedures in my classroom to allow my students to make more choices and have more creative freedom in their work. As we studied action research, I started collecting data on my students and analyzing it for trends. When we talk about goal setting and student agency, I am reminded to keep up on the systems in place in my classroom and not let them slide off the agenda, because I realize the importance of them. As I’m learning and trying new things, I am creating my own inquiry cycle that is basically just me asking myself how I can be a better, more effective, and more innovative teacher. Thinking about the 7-10 year olds I have in my 2/3 combo classroom, there are many ways that I do, or can relate digital citizenship content to them directly. One thing I have done is show my students fake content from the internet. My favorite example is when I found a photo shopped picture of a man riding a giant chicken on April Fool's Day last year. I now use that picture to "teach" my class a mini lesson on these giant chickens that live in New Zealand, and talk about how you can actually ride them. After I tell them it's not true- we have a discussion about how anyone can make a website, and write on it whatever they'd like, even if it's entirely made up. This year I incorporated this element into a lesson on using the internet to research topics online. Using humor to connect to my classroom audience helps them connect to the point I am trying to make. Another way I can relate to my students is by learning what they are interested in on the internet. For example, I know that my current group of students mostly uses the internet to play Minecraft, and to browse youtube. Youtube is one of the biggest problem areas I've seen with children using the internet. It's easy for them to keep clicking recommended videos and find themselves watching something entirely inappropriate for their age, even if they started on a kid-friendly channel or video. I think that this would be one very relatable digital citizenship lesson for my students. Finally, I know that my students are interested in communicating with other people online. In my classroom we use Seesaw as a blog, and parent communication platform. I have had issues with students using their class work time instead of posting their own work or writing useful comments to chat with each other via the comments section of the blog. I can see that my students are ready and eager to communicate online in this way, however they need to learn how and when it is appropriate to do so. I am trying to teach them that on our class blog, we post our work and we can write useful comments back to other students about their work. For the time being, I had to take away the comment feature from them until they can begin to practice useful comment writing. This is where my Communication Lesson Plan will come in.
Reading Dervin’s work feels a little bit ironic. As you consider a text on sensemaking, one would hope that it was possible to make good sense of the reading about such a topic. However, when I read the text from Dervin, I found myself thinking more about how I was going to make sense of the content than I expected to. The main comprehension strategies I used to study the passage were note-taking and re-reading. As I tackled this complicated text about an abstract topic, I made sure that I was reading for understanding. When I had finished reading a section or sentence that I didn’t understand, I went back and looked at it again, trying to pull out key words or details that could help me make sense of what the author was trying to describe. From my own reading notes, I was able to conclude that sensemaking is about information and interaction. It’s the order of a system and how the user of said system bends to meet it. Sensemaking is related to personal experiences and the way people use information. Using the graphics and video of how other people interpret the reading about sensemaking helped me to understand it more thoroughly. After interacting with these inputs, I have concluded that sensemaking involves information meeting people’s minds where they are at. It’s a lot like bridging a gap and using differentiation strategies to meet people on the same level of thinking and understanding regarding a specific topic. Each person when they read Dervin’s text- or try to make sense of anything else that they see, read or experience brings with them their own lens, their own unique perspective, biases, misconceptions, life experiences, patterns of thinking and so much more when attempting to make sense of the task at hand. Thinking about my students in my classroom this concept feels overwhelming and frustrating- to try to meet every child where they are when I am presenting information. I must remember that all of my students are coming from different places of learning and understanding than myself and each other. This explains why I can teach a math concept 5 different ways, and the “Oh, I get it.” moment comes at a different time and place for nearly all of my students. They already have their own ideas about math, how numbers work, how their own brains work, whether or not they believe they are good at math, and so much more that affects the way they make sense of new information. If I had to teach sensemaking using Dervin’s writing to a group of high school students, I would probably approach it with a close reading jigsaw. I would split this text up into small sections and have students highlight only very important keywords, phrases and ideas. I would have students represent the information they obtained from the reading visually with words and pictures, connections, questions, and vocabulary; and then share out their work with their peers. Students would be encouraged to take their time and ask a lot of questions about the text. The class would have a discussion after this reading of the text and jigsaw activity. It wouldn’t be a closing discussion, rather a conversation starter about what sensemaking is and how it applies to student’s lives. I selected this graphic to represent sensemaking, because I feel that when I personally try to make sense of something, I need to communicate ideas with another person on the same topic. Whether that is being done in a face to face conversation, over the phone, via email or text, video, blog, article, etc. I find that when I have other people’s ideas to work with and someone to bounce my own ideas off of, making sense of something complex becomes so much simpler.
While reading Katie Varrata’s “Teaching in a Competency-Based Education Environment” and considering how educational technology supports competency-based learning, I reflected on the learning actions that occur in my own second and third grade classroom. Because I teach a combo class, rotations and small group teaching and learning are large parts of my students’ school days. The new district adopted curricula for language arts and mathematics also support small group teaching and learning. I have found small group learning to be the most effective way to teach students, and for them to have valuable learning experiences in the classroom.
Student Agency In my classroom this year I have been particularly focused on student agency, and I am happy to hear that this is an important component of a competency-based education. My students set goals for themselves and work toward achieving them. All students self-select goals and they are vary greatly from student to student. This sets students up for success in a classroom where the education is personalized. Voice and Choice Just this month, I have implemented student choice during language arts rotations. For the first half of the year they students had a schedule that told them exactly what to work on during each of their rotations each day. I have since modified this to allow students to choose when they are going to complete the required work, and I check in with them on Friday to see if they were able to self select and pace their work appropriately. Student choice increases agency and engagement in learning activities. Technology At this point in my classroom, I don't feel that I have successfully been able to connect student agency and technology in my classroom. I tried having students set their goals on google classroom once- but it ended up being a bit confusing for both myself and for them, and it wasn’t convenient given the number of Chromebooks we have access to on a daily basis. During our language arts rotations, students are able to use the Chromebooks to publish some of their work on Seesaw in a blog format, or on Google Docs to share with me. Occasionally we will also use Google Slides to work on a project. Since students in my classroom are working through these rotations independently, I suppose there is a hint of competency-based learning going on here, but I am hoping that through the course of this newly begun semester that I would be able to feel confident about using technology with my students in order to create an environment in which everyone learns at their own level and pace. 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. As an elementary school teacher with 2nd and 3rd grade students filling her classroom, I believe that my feelings and thoughts about flipped learning and challenge based learning will vary greatly from teachers of middle or high school students. With that being said, I will explore the two within the context of my teaching, and that of other grade levels and subjects, here.
Flipped Learning This is a concept I have heard of over the past few years. It involves students doing some learning at home and the majority of the work at school. I appreciate this concept, particularly because I have felt that traditional homework is a waste of time for both the student and the teacher. It adds stress to the student and work for the teacher with little to no feedback and often no learning value. My Classroom Context This year in my 2/3 combo class, with authorization and encouragement from the principal, I have eliminated traditional homework and only send home collaborative family projects related to something we are studying or discussing at school once per month. Students are also expected to read at home 20-30 minutes 4-5 days per week, and to work on an online math program at a self- driven pace to supplement the time they spend on it at school. I have chosen this model to relieve stress from young learners, to allow students to spend more quality time with their families, to relieve frustration of parents who have limited understanding of new math teaching strategies, and to give students more freedom in what they learn and do outside of school- with extracurricular activities in mind. Another driving force behind this model is that there tends to be one or two students in a class who do not complete their homework. At this age, it tends to be more of a family issue than a student issue. If a 7-9 year old student is never reminded or prompted to complete his/her homework by an adult at home, or given time and space to do so, it is rare that it is going to happen. I believe that these students do need to take responsibility for their own learning, but at a developmentally appropriate age. Other Classroom Contexts As students get older, I do see value in being able to manage some homework as a part of their daily lives- and for this age group, I think flipped learning is a great idea as it has the potential to allow students to spend their time at home doing valuable learning as opposed to busy work, to receive more feedback from their teachers, and to explore concepts alone with the chance to process and inquire before coming together for a conversation or activity related to the learning. Cons The biggest challenge I see with flipped learning is that students do not have equitable access to technology at their homes, so students without that access would be either unable to complete the assignment, or would be spending class time watching the content and missing out on the designed accompanying activity, singling them out and defeating the purpose of the flip. Pros Using content as homework though, does eliminate the stress and frustration many students feel when working to complete assignments at home. Students could record questions about the content for the teacher to answer during the following session if they are confused. This seems like an extremely valuable model of teaching and learning, and while I do see it's challenges- I hope we are able to overcome those and give learners in the upcoming years more valuable home learning experiences. Summary I will not be using flipped learning for my current research project, or in my elementary class this year. I would definitely consider flipped learning in the future, and especially for older grade level learners. I can see myself sending home content videos to elementary school students to watch and reflect on, and being able to come together to have a discussion or work on a project would be very nice. At this point in time I still have too many issues with the equity of the flipped model at an elementary school level to implement it, but I can see that this is where we are heading in the future and I am excited to see it happen. Challenge Based Learning Challenge based learning is something that I have seen a desperate need for in education, especially in recent years. After looking at Apple's model for CBL, I can actually see how this type of learning is weaving it's way into modern curriculum and teaching practice. There are elements of CBL in PBL (project based learning) which has become a prominent method of teaching and learning in the past few years. My Classroom Context This year I have a group of very capable students, and I often feel that they become easily bored with the curriculum or content and are in need of a challenge. When I give these students group work, or have them write down questions they have- they light up. They come alive and interact with each other, they engage in problem solving, and they are completely immersed in the work. Our new language arts curriculum begins each unit with an "essential question" that students explore throughout the content of the unit, which is why I feel that this model is already presenting itself to us in small ways. Recently, I created a math challenge binder, out of necessity, for students who find the math work we are exploring too easy. If they can quickly show me they can understand and apply the current concepts, they can go pick a challenge page out of this binder to work on. They are multiple step problems that build on and extend concepts we've covered, and add an element of puzzle or something to be figured out. The students work together on these, and they talk about strategies, draw, write, sketch, inference and eventually agree on an answer. If students could always be this engaged in the learning, school would be a very different place than it is currently in the majority of classroom settings. Other Classroom Contexts This model seems to me to be capable of spanning all grade levels and content areas. Students love to be challenged and tend to rise to the occasion when presented with one. It seems like a great way to get students involved in the world around them through learning and working together. Cons The only negative that I can think of in relation to this model of teaching and learning are those students who are unable, unmotivated or unwilling to participate in group learning. This can be a challenge for them and for others in their group. Maybe it is possible that this student explores the challenge on their own rather than in a group. This model could pose a challenge for educators who are not used to teaching in this type of environment. Overall, I think this is an excellent model and can't think of many reasons not to use it! Pros Challenge based learning allows students to interact with and have an impact on their real world community. You start with a theme and a question and then there is a challenge that students begin to explore possible solutions to. This is unique because there isn't a specific answer that students are trying to find, but probably every group of students who explored the challenge would come to a different conclusion, or have a slightly different outcome based on their approach to the challenge. Students are engaged in high levels of questioning, evaluating and problem solving. Students are often collaborating as well, which provides them with 21st century skills they will need in the workplace. Summary I can already see that I use a bit of challenged based learning in my classroom and I definitely plan to use more. I am going to explore more resources for creating challenged based learning activities within my classroom context. I can see this being helpful for my current group of students, and for all my future students as well! I am looking forward to more curriculum switching to this model and allowing students and educators a little more freedom in the discoveries they make while learning together. I'm collecting data on growth mindset and goal setting from my 2nd and 3rd grade students. I am collecting this data for my research project- which aims to discover if there is a correlation between growth mindset and goal setting in relation to student math achievement.
Quantitative Data
This weekend I watched 5 videos on creativity, the brain, motivation and changing education paradigms. Each video is linked here, with my main take-aways from watching them. The new culture of learning in a world of constant flux | John Seeley Brown
Key Ideas: John Seeley Brown spoke about the rapid pace at which our world is changing, and he alluded to the fact that there is no end in sight, and how everything that’s happening now has to do with creating new things, rather than delivering old, explicit ideas. It is now essential to be curious- students have immediate access to so much information today. Seeley says that the ability to participate in study groups is the most effective indicator of how well a student will do in college- because these groups make knowledge personal, they allow students to teach each other, explain, analyze, create, problem solve, etc. He spoke about how we are now able to create context and not simply content. We can figure out how to make things go viral. We can blog and have a conversation rather than just writing about what we know. We need to create a culture of lifelong learning for our students, because that is the world we are living in- and we don’t know what more the future will hold. My Thoughts: We as teachers should focus on equipping students with skills and allowing them to explore and create, because anything we could explicitly teach them- any facts, information, connection- is readily available to them at all times via a quick search or download on a mobile device. We should be allowing them all the time they want and need to work together with others. I think we as teachers often think the collaboration skill is important to help develop- but tend to forget what a huge impact study groups can have on student engagement and learning. What I’m wondering about here is the students who are unmotivated to participate in a group learning setting- because as he spoke about college students, this was an elective situation. I wonder if we could make it elective in our classrooms as well- what if these groups were so successful that unmotivated students would get tired of working alone on “text book” work and decide on their own accord to join a group? Five minds for the future | Howard Gardner Key Ideas: Gardner spoke about how in the past people would work hard to get an education and then be done learning- they’d use what they knew to get through the rest of their career. Today however, we are in a culture of constant change and lifelong learning. Gardner places value on creativity, and says something that characterizes creative people is their willingness to fail, try again, and continue challenging themselves. He said that creativity is really a judgement other people make about you- and it has happened after artists have died that others decided their work had value. He spoke about how school is all about content like science and math, and the importance of respect and ethics. In America, we have a situation where we want to be the best and people are often willing to sacrifice honesty to get fame or power in their position. He says the five minds are: Identity, privacy, ownership/authorship, credibility, and participation. These are the necessary skills he believes kids need to survive this ever changing environment. My Thoughts: Howard Gardner is very interesting to listen to, because he has developed the multiple intelligences theory- which I think is going to be very important in education in the upcoming years as I believe it should be right now. In this particular talk I felt that he jumped around to his many innovative ideas, but something that stuck out to me was that in today’s world we really need to be an expert at something, and if not- we are going to always work for someone who is. The importance of creativity and the ethics behind it are incredibly important skills to teach our students- not that we can teach a student to be creative, but we can allow them opportunity that at school we often squander, which brings us to our next talk: Do schools kill creativity? | Sir Ken Robinson Key Ideas: Sir Ken Robinson also touched on the popular notion that we have no idea what the future holds in this quickly changing world. He argues that creativity is now as important as literacy. In school kids are scared of being wrong and making a mistake is the worst thing one can do. He has evaluated a common hierarchy of subjects as follows: Math and language Science and social studies Art and music Drama and dance The last two lines are often completely ignored. We have highly gifted people going through the education system thinking they’re not good enough because their skills don’t match up with the standardized hierarchy that has been created. The academic inflation that has occurred has made many college degrees irrelevant. My Thoughts: This talk made me particularly sad for students who are going through non-changing school systems in an ever-changing world. We have largely ignored so many of humanity’s skills and talents for such a long time in the classroom that we’ve made dancers, artists, musicians, actors, chefs, and many many more groups of people feel as though they are not intelligent. Sir Ken Robinson is such an inspirational speaker, and I hope that his ideas about education keep spreading. In my classroom and at my school we have begun celebrating mistakes as we learn about growth mindset. It is a small but important step in the right direction. I try to incorporate creative projects and opportunities into my classroom, but it is definitely challenging when you have the curriculum and pacing guide in front of you, and standardized testing looming over you- to give time to other activities. After this talk I remember how important it is, and I plan to include more time for free thinking and various outlets of energy and intelligence into our school day. I already see my 2nd and 3rd graders falling victim to the notion that the kids who are “good at math” (can complete math problems quickly) are the smart ones. I’m trying to change their mindset, but I fear that every time I score their math assessments and help them correct it I am reinforcing this notion. It’s hard to know the right things to do, but I promise to keep the best interests of the student’s futures in mind. The puzzle of motivation | Dan Pink Key Ideas: Dan Pink spoke about motivation, and how we have offered rewards for achievement for a long time- and how science shows that it is not actually effective to offer a reward when someone is working on a creative problem, or one that involves critical thinking skills. He went over the candle problem and how the motivation changed when the problem went from difficult to easy. My Thoughts: We need to be challenging our students and allowing them to think creatively, as this will actually intrinsically motivate them to push themselves harder and learn more. I can reward my students for giving me memorization or task completion, but if I give them more mentally stimulating material- they will be more motivated to participate, problem solve, and take ownership over their learning encouraging lifelong learning skills. RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms My Thoughts: I have seen this video before and I really appreciate Sir Ken Robinson’s ideas about education reform. I would love to teach in a world where students are grouped by interest rather than age, and are not graded on a standard for their grade level. It made me think of activities like gymnastics, dance, baseball, basketball...what if students had a cohort in which they played and learned together? They would have a different type of relationship and I imagine it would be quite effective for their education. When I was on teams throughout school, I was extremely close with the people on my team- we had a bond and shared a big interest. We traveled together and went through hard times together. When I think about classes I have been in throughout my educational career, the feelings I have about the students in my class are much different that those of teams I have been on. I’m imagining a team of students doing what they love together, and learning. It doesn’t have to be a sports team either- there could be groups for movie lovers, chess players, people who love video games, animal lovers...the possibilities for Sir Robinson’s model are simply endless, and I hope that in my lifetime I get to experience even an inkling of the change he is vying for, because I think it would be so exciting and so good for students, teachers, and the global community as a whole. Article: Can Creativity Be Taught? I agree with the author, August Turak, that most of our thinking is linear, and it can be challenging to think in creative ways. I struggle with this often. I see it everyday in my classroom, especially during math time. It seems like some students just tend to think in creative ways, while it is a challenge for others. I definitely see more creativity in some ways in education today than when I was in school- in my classroom, at least, with students asking more questions and creating inquiries, projects, new math strategies, group work etc. It seems that we have a long way to go still, but maybe we are on the right track. It seems to me, that creativity can’t be taught per se, because that seems to go against the very nature of creativity- but it can be encouraged, fostered, grown, built upon and invested into by educators, and people we spend time with. Creativity is all around us. Look for it. Encourage it. Be it. |
AuthorKayla Bryant is an elementary school teacher in Napa, CA. This year she teaches a 2/3 combo class. She keeps a journal with funny quotes from her students, and enjoys learning and laughing alongside them. Some of her main educational interests are related to goal setting, growth mindset, and creativity. Archives
July 2018
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