Margaret Nerney
EDU 584 – Dr. Grace Ward
December 9, 2009
This has been a very long process wrought with testing frustrations and budget tensions, yet through it all we have been able to develop, and effectively begin to execute, our integrated Wabanaki perspective unit. Paula Roy, Tom Piekart, and I have met on a regular basis to make this project a reality. We will not truly see its outcome until some time in January, but our hope is that the work and time are worth it.
We were not able to get started with our units when we had first anticipated. This was largely a result of NWEA and NECAP testing that took up most of the months of September and October. In actuality, the students were first truly introduced to the unit during their field trip to the ABBE Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine on October 23, 2009. This was not the way that I had originally planned to start the unit, nor would it be the way that I would want to start it again. The kids were not as knowledgeable of the background information that was necessary to truly appreciate the materials and information that they were being exposed to there. According to the kids, the trip was worthwhile and allowed them to better understand the Wabanaki people and their cultural aspects, but they were less informed of the history. Knowing the history would have added to their understanding and bridged stronger connections for them. Tom Piekart, Paula Roy, and I have even discussed ways that we could recreate the experience of the museum at our own school instead of taking the long trip to the museum. It appears that we have most of the resources necessary to do a shared presentation similar to the trade presentation that we attended.
Aside from the field trip, we have spent a great deal of time reading and discussing the book, “Out of the Depths” by Isabelle Knockwood. This novel has worked well as a hook. The kids were certainly pulled in by the heart wrenching stories of the students who attended the schools, which led to passionate discussions and questions about the reasons the school was there and the long-term effects on the people and our society. Their double entry diaries were absolutely amazing. These kids really thought a lot about the perspective of the students, the abusers, and even themselves. Their average scores on this strategy showed that they not only “got it”, but could effectively express it.
The book became a starting point for work with the wiki and connections to the other classes. Our students are starting to explore the life that the Native students left behind through a “seven-year movie” in social studies and the belief systems of the Native hunters through their hunter safety unit in science. We are then able to discuss the differences at the residential school in English. Currently, the wiki is in its beginning stages. I am taking the lead in this area. I have given presentations on how to create the wiki and even signed them all up with accounts. In fact, the account sign-up did not go as smoothly this year, so it took a couple of class periods to do this. After many failed attempts, I even made the beginning wiki for each group and then gave them permission to make changes to it. This seems to be working, as we are almost done with the first full page of the wiki in each group. I just keep reminding myself that this is a new process and there will be issues as we work out the bugs. My colleagues are comfortable and flexible with this as well. They seem to be comfortable having me show them how to use and create this new product, so I am leading the implementation of the unit across the board.
I feel that the integrated team has worked hard together to set clear and achievable goals. We have secured time during workshop days and meet frequently after school. I even chose these same two colleagues to help me with the resource wiki. We work well together because of our unique dynamic. Whenever I needed to touch base with them about something, I just let them know and we stayed to work on it. These colleagues are more than willing to try new things and support others, including me as I struggle through my academic ventures. I think the integrated unit only helped to affirm their dedication to the process as we debriefed about the templates and checked in with each other frequently. We all walked away with the same goals for the implementation of this unit and our students felt the rewards. They know that their three teachers are all working together to make the connections between the three content areas as transparent as possible. In fact, they are eager to start their wiki pages for their social studies and science sections. The activities and materials have proven successful thus far. The students are engaged and excited about learning.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Stage 2 and 3 Collaboration
Margaret Nerney
Integrated Unit Collaboration
Due: May 13, 2009
In discussing Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the Backward Design process with my colleagues, it became clear how important experience is to the field of teaching. Tom Piekart and Paula Roy are two distinguished educators who not only embraced this unit, but also exemplified goal-oriented unit design.
From the beginning of this unit planning process, we agreed that our goal was not only to educate students about the Wabanaki people, but also to stress to them the interconnectedness of our respective subjects. For example, we want the students to hear about the Wabanaki hunting practices in social studies, learn how those practices were handed down through Wabanaki storytelling in Language Arts, and see the effects of those practices on animal populations in science class. It is through this interconnectedness that deeper learning and true understandings can be attained. Over the past few weeks, we have discussed the need to structure one stage 2 G.R.A.S.P.S. to really suggest this interconnectedness to our classes. By all of us using the wiki as a final assessment of their knowledge, those overlapping understandings can be best represented.
As for meeting the facets, this will be done through uniquely engaging lessons. Tom Piekart will be focusing on the more hands on approaches of his science curriculum, while Paula Roy will arouse investigation through her inquiry-based explorations. They both have years of experience and time-tested activities that guide their teaching. Tom’s hooks truly exemplify real-life connections. In fact, his trimester will end with students earning their adult-level hunting license. Each individual lesson has a similar real-life hook such as exploring a tree stand or using laser firearms to practice proper tree stand and firearm safety. He seamlessly answers the “why” through his hooks. Throughout the trimester, students will be explaining tree stand and firearm safety, interpreting law books to understand the real meanings of laws and compare them to Wabanaki practices, examining perspective by reading “Fair Chase,” empathizing with different perspectives through problem-solving scenarios, and gaining self-knowledge that will allow them to define their own hunting and environmental ethics. Although Tom has a true strength in logical and kinesthetic learning styles, he is going to work on incorporating more drawing and other right-brained activities in his lessons. Overall, he does a wonderful job of including reading, discussions, jigsaws, guest speakers, and hands on opportunities such as tagging grasshoppers for later analysis; but he knows that he has areas for improvement in daily lessons.
As I mentioned earlier, Paula will be more research and inquiry-based in her approach. She structures her lessons according to Hook, Book, Look, and Took. Hook allows her to engage the students with something relevant to them or interesting about what they are studying. Book represents the resources and knowledge that she will need to bring or that they will need to have. Look involves students applying what is learned to their own lives. Took embodies what can be taken away from the lesson by the student and used elsewhere. In lessons organized in this way, Paula will have students explain tribal origins on a wiki page, compare and contrast (interpret) adaptations to the environment by different tribes around the country, apply their understandings of different tribes through case studies, examine perspective through simulating a European explorers first encounters with Micmac people, empathizing with modern Natives and their quest to hold onto their heritage and culture, and evaluate self-knowledge as they explore current events in order to see past connections and change stereotypical perceptions. Paula answers her ‘why’ through her basis in real-life connections and problem-solving skills. She works hard to prepare students to find the answers to their own questions and to help them to work through their own problems. Even with all of these strengths, Paula is still going to work on the challenge to meet every learning style by focusing less on her strengths, verbal and aural, and more on her weakness, kinesthetic. She currently works hard to do this through fishbowl activities and case studies, but understands that there is room to grow.
Even with their strong educational backgrounds, I have still found areas to help them grow. Throughout the remainder of the school year and at times during the summer, I will be working with both Paula and Tom on using wikis. They have both explored and integrated the use of First Class Ed. in their classrooms to facilitate digital conversations, but I have convinced them that a wiki can provide that same level of interaction in a cleaner format. My hope is that we can create a page for each of them on the sample wiki that I presented to the class. This would be a way for them to really practice what it is to make a wiki and it would give our sample a more finished feel for future classes. I have also agreed to organize our stages 1-3 into a folder for each of them so that we can remember our goals next fall and maintain a united curriculum. It is not enough to know what each of us is doing independently in our own classrooms; we must see our connected elements and capitalize on them.
Integrated Unit Collaboration
Due: May 13, 2009
In discussing Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the Backward Design process with my colleagues, it became clear how important experience is to the field of teaching. Tom Piekart and Paula Roy are two distinguished educators who not only embraced this unit, but also exemplified goal-oriented unit design.
From the beginning of this unit planning process, we agreed that our goal was not only to educate students about the Wabanaki people, but also to stress to them the interconnectedness of our respective subjects. For example, we want the students to hear about the Wabanaki hunting practices in social studies, learn how those practices were handed down through Wabanaki storytelling in Language Arts, and see the effects of those practices on animal populations in science class. It is through this interconnectedness that deeper learning and true understandings can be attained. Over the past few weeks, we have discussed the need to structure one stage 2 G.R.A.S.P.S. to really suggest this interconnectedness to our classes. By all of us using the wiki as a final assessment of their knowledge, those overlapping understandings can be best represented.
As for meeting the facets, this will be done through uniquely engaging lessons. Tom Piekart will be focusing on the more hands on approaches of his science curriculum, while Paula Roy will arouse investigation through her inquiry-based explorations. They both have years of experience and time-tested activities that guide their teaching. Tom’s hooks truly exemplify real-life connections. In fact, his trimester will end with students earning their adult-level hunting license. Each individual lesson has a similar real-life hook such as exploring a tree stand or using laser firearms to practice proper tree stand and firearm safety. He seamlessly answers the “why” through his hooks. Throughout the trimester, students will be explaining tree stand and firearm safety, interpreting law books to understand the real meanings of laws and compare them to Wabanaki practices, examining perspective by reading “Fair Chase,” empathizing with different perspectives through problem-solving scenarios, and gaining self-knowledge that will allow them to define their own hunting and environmental ethics. Although Tom has a true strength in logical and kinesthetic learning styles, he is going to work on incorporating more drawing and other right-brained activities in his lessons. Overall, he does a wonderful job of including reading, discussions, jigsaws, guest speakers, and hands on opportunities such as tagging grasshoppers for later analysis; but he knows that he has areas for improvement in daily lessons.
As I mentioned earlier, Paula will be more research and inquiry-based in her approach. She structures her lessons according to Hook, Book, Look, and Took. Hook allows her to engage the students with something relevant to them or interesting about what they are studying. Book represents the resources and knowledge that she will need to bring or that they will need to have. Look involves students applying what is learned to their own lives. Took embodies what can be taken away from the lesson by the student and used elsewhere. In lessons organized in this way, Paula will have students explain tribal origins on a wiki page, compare and contrast (interpret) adaptations to the environment by different tribes around the country, apply their understandings of different tribes through case studies, examine perspective through simulating a European explorers first encounters with Micmac people, empathizing with modern Natives and their quest to hold onto their heritage and culture, and evaluate self-knowledge as they explore current events in order to see past connections and change stereotypical perceptions. Paula answers her ‘why’ through her basis in real-life connections and problem-solving skills. She works hard to prepare students to find the answers to their own questions and to help them to work through their own problems. Even with all of these strengths, Paula is still going to work on the challenge to meet every learning style by focusing less on her strengths, verbal and aural, and more on her weakness, kinesthetic. She currently works hard to do this through fishbowl activities and case studies, but understands that there is room to grow.
Even with their strong educational backgrounds, I have still found areas to help them grow. Throughout the remainder of the school year and at times during the summer, I will be working with both Paula and Tom on using wikis. They have both explored and integrated the use of First Class Ed. in their classrooms to facilitate digital conversations, but I have convinced them that a wiki can provide that same level of interaction in a cleaner format. My hope is that we can create a page for each of them on the sample wiki that I presented to the class. This would be a way for them to really practice what it is to make a wiki and it would give our sample a more finished feel for future classes. I have also agreed to organize our stages 1-3 into a folder for each of them so that we can remember our goals next fall and maintain a united curriculum. It is not enough to know what each of us is doing independently in our own classrooms; we must see our connected elements and capitalize on them.
Monday, April 27, 2009
TPCK Chapter 12 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 12- TPCK in in-service education: Assisting experienced teachers’ “planned improvisations”
Due: April 29, 2009
Improvisation: the most accurate description of the field of education! I see myself as a perpetual contestant on “Whose Line is it Anyway?” Teachers have to think on their feet and adjust their lessons constantly. It does not matter how wonderful the resources you found or how time consuming the planning, the lesson flows in the way of the students’ needs. I do not know how many student questions have sparked passion filled discussions and on the spot researching. From a click of a mouse and a brief discussion of an author, a 6th grade boy discovered his love for the inspiring words of Langston Hughes. With the viewing of the Presidential Inauguration a fifth grade class is made aware of and curious about a previously unfamiliar topic, the civil rights movement. Real teaching and learning takes place in those moments when we allow ourselves to stray from the rigidity of a lesson plan and truly explore the world around us. Teaching is certainly improvisation at its best.
Technology cannot stand alone, it must be integrated into that daily educational improvisation. Judith B. Harris highlighted the ways in which we fail to do so as well as highlighting some of the shared activities that lend themselves to the proper integration. Proper integration starts with letting go of integrating all of the time and embracing the tool only when necessary and appropriate. I hear so many teachers shifting their lessons to include technology as a presentation of research without ever taking a step back and looking at the damage that can cause over the long run. As part of the Research Methods course with Dr. Griswold, my partner Meg and I are researching the ways to bridge the gap in post-secondary writing needs and secondary writing expectations. Through our research we have determined that there is a deficit in writing skills that is not only impacting college freshman, but also those in the workforce and military services. Yet I listen time and again as people brag about making the traditional research paper more enjoyable by removing the tedious writing component. Where is a student to learn how to write effectively if not in school? Why is it better to have them create a Ning, documentary film, or wikispace? What are we giving up for the sake of engagement and entertainment? I too have fallen into that trap, and yet I am one of the first to complain about dwindling writing proficiency. I think one of the most important points that Harris raised was that of the “why” integrate. Replacement is not always the answer. What is the purpose of the project? What is the skill that the student will need to be successful? Chances are that their professor or employer would rather the student be able to research and support ideas and have well reasoned responses than to be able to wow them with a pretty slideshow transition and regurgitated views of others. In focusing on the creative tools, we often forget to help students focus on creative thinking.
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 12- TPCK in in-service education: Assisting experienced teachers’ “planned improvisations”
Due: April 29, 2009
Improvisation: the most accurate description of the field of education! I see myself as a perpetual contestant on “Whose Line is it Anyway?” Teachers have to think on their feet and adjust their lessons constantly. It does not matter how wonderful the resources you found or how time consuming the planning, the lesson flows in the way of the students’ needs. I do not know how many student questions have sparked passion filled discussions and on the spot researching. From a click of a mouse and a brief discussion of an author, a 6th grade boy discovered his love for the inspiring words of Langston Hughes. With the viewing of the Presidential Inauguration a fifth grade class is made aware of and curious about a previously unfamiliar topic, the civil rights movement. Real teaching and learning takes place in those moments when we allow ourselves to stray from the rigidity of a lesson plan and truly explore the world around us. Teaching is certainly improvisation at its best.
Technology cannot stand alone, it must be integrated into that daily educational improvisation. Judith B. Harris highlighted the ways in which we fail to do so as well as highlighting some of the shared activities that lend themselves to the proper integration. Proper integration starts with letting go of integrating all of the time and embracing the tool only when necessary and appropriate. I hear so many teachers shifting their lessons to include technology as a presentation of research without ever taking a step back and looking at the damage that can cause over the long run. As part of the Research Methods course with Dr. Griswold, my partner Meg and I are researching the ways to bridge the gap in post-secondary writing needs and secondary writing expectations. Through our research we have determined that there is a deficit in writing skills that is not only impacting college freshman, but also those in the workforce and military services. Yet I listen time and again as people brag about making the traditional research paper more enjoyable by removing the tedious writing component. Where is a student to learn how to write effectively if not in school? Why is it better to have them create a Ning, documentary film, or wikispace? What are we giving up for the sake of engagement and entertainment? I too have fallen into that trap, and yet I am one of the first to complain about dwindling writing proficiency. I think one of the most important points that Harris raised was that of the “why” integrate. Replacement is not always the answer. What is the purpose of the project? What is the skill that the student will need to be successful? Chances are that their professor or employer would rather the student be able to research and support ideas and have well reasoned responses than to be able to wow them with a pretty slideshow transition and regurgitated views of others. In focusing on the creative tools, we often forget to help students focus on creative thinking.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
TPCK Chapter 11 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
TPCK Chapter 11: Guiding pre-service teachers in developing TPCK
Chapter 11 was certainly not written with the in-service teacher as audience. Margaret Niess clearly directed her essay to those in charge of teacher preparation programs at the University level. Yet, I was certainly able to glean a sense of how to assist future student teachers that might be placed in my classroom. It was clearly asserted that pre-service teachers need the experience of real classroom settings and real classroom problems to grow and evolve into effective teachers. I agreed with much of Niess’ recommendations, however, I disagreed with her assumptions that pre-service teachers would not be digital natives or that they would need substantial observations to understand the mental workings of tech. savvy, modern students.
As a twenty-seven year old teacher, I have not found myself out of touch with my students or fearful of their technological fascinations. I am very comfortable with, and aware of, their personal and educational technology devices and habits. I grew up with computers and the Internet, and even now feel excited to try out the latest gadgets or technological trends. This leads me to completely challenge the notion that those entering the field will be unaware of technology as a tool or lacking the ability to truly understand the needs of today’s students. If I have been teaching for five years and don’t feel disconnected, I doubt that someone with more classroom opportunities and experiences with technology will either.
My comfort level may be, in part, from my own interests, but I know a large part is also from my excellent methods courses here at UMF. During my teacher training, I was required to address the use of technology in the classroom and was encouraged to integrate technology in all of my methods courses. So TPCK is not foreign to me or even new. At first, it was difficult to teach differently than I learned, but that is easily overcome when you are exposed to the multitude of affordances by these new technologically inclusive methods. What I have found new and interesting are the ways in which to think about TPCK. I hadn’t thought of the inclusion of technology as declarative, procedural, schematic or strategic, but I see the benefit of assessing its use in this way. I have not spent enough time analyzing the ways in which I use technology or the ways in which I am meeting technology standards. This is certainly an area for growth, as I am teaching my students these skills for use in their real lives. I realize that my comfort level makes it hard for me to remember to stop and explain the technology as a skill at times. I assume deeper understanding of the programs, even word processing programs, than is truly there. Kids really do need those step-by-step lessons at some point in their schooling. In fact, it struck me that one should worry more about those who lack the experience of those new methods courses than those who have had the enriching opportunity of a technology inclusive training program. We are the ones that need to learn how to slow down and teach technology as its own content when necessary.
Seasoned teachers, like many of my colleagues, are the ones who need more in the way of focused technology groups, as indicated in the pre-service training. We are the ones who would benefit from content specific teams to explore new technologies and then reflect on the inclusion of those new technology laden methods in our classrooms. It is not enough to train the next generation. What about those of us in the field? How long will it really be before all of the teachers with limited technology skills are out of the profession? Should education wait that long for change? Should mandates be established that require the integration of technology? These are the real questions that apply to my educational sphere.
TPCK Chapter 11: Guiding pre-service teachers in developing TPCK
Chapter 11 was certainly not written with the in-service teacher as audience. Margaret Niess clearly directed her essay to those in charge of teacher preparation programs at the University level. Yet, I was certainly able to glean a sense of how to assist future student teachers that might be placed in my classroom. It was clearly asserted that pre-service teachers need the experience of real classroom settings and real classroom problems to grow and evolve into effective teachers. I agreed with much of Niess’ recommendations, however, I disagreed with her assumptions that pre-service teachers would not be digital natives or that they would need substantial observations to understand the mental workings of tech. savvy, modern students.
As a twenty-seven year old teacher, I have not found myself out of touch with my students or fearful of their technological fascinations. I am very comfortable with, and aware of, their personal and educational technology devices and habits. I grew up with computers and the Internet, and even now feel excited to try out the latest gadgets or technological trends. This leads me to completely challenge the notion that those entering the field will be unaware of technology as a tool or lacking the ability to truly understand the needs of today’s students. If I have been teaching for five years and don’t feel disconnected, I doubt that someone with more classroom opportunities and experiences with technology will either.
My comfort level may be, in part, from my own interests, but I know a large part is also from my excellent methods courses here at UMF. During my teacher training, I was required to address the use of technology in the classroom and was encouraged to integrate technology in all of my methods courses. So TPCK is not foreign to me or even new. At first, it was difficult to teach differently than I learned, but that is easily overcome when you are exposed to the multitude of affordances by these new technologically inclusive methods. What I have found new and interesting are the ways in which to think about TPCK. I hadn’t thought of the inclusion of technology as declarative, procedural, schematic or strategic, but I see the benefit of assessing its use in this way. I have not spent enough time analyzing the ways in which I use technology or the ways in which I am meeting technology standards. This is certainly an area for growth, as I am teaching my students these skills for use in their real lives. I realize that my comfort level makes it hard for me to remember to stop and explain the technology as a skill at times. I assume deeper understanding of the programs, even word processing programs, than is truly there. Kids really do need those step-by-step lessons at some point in their schooling. In fact, it struck me that one should worry more about those who lack the experience of those new methods courses than those who have had the enriching opportunity of a technology inclusive training program. We are the ones that need to learn how to slow down and teach technology as its own content when necessary.
Seasoned teachers, like many of my colleagues, are the ones who need more in the way of focused technology groups, as indicated in the pre-service training. We are the ones who would benefit from content specific teams to explore new technologies and then reflect on the inclusion of those new technology laden methods in our classrooms. It is not enough to train the next generation. What about those of us in the field? How long will it really be before all of the teachers with limited technology skills are out of the profession? Should education wait that long for change? Should mandates be established that require the integration of technology? These are the real questions that apply to my educational sphere.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
TPCK Chapter 8 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 8- Placing the magic in the classroom; TPCK in art education
Due: April 1, 2009
Even though I am an English teacher, this chapter was by far the most engaging and applicable to my classroom. I am swimming with creative ideas and engaging resources to explore. Right from the start, Nancy DePlatchett identified those necessary skills our 21st learners need and found ways that we could achieve them. She seems to understand that much of the arts are now being swept into the core content areas to be integrated by unprepared teachers rather than being taught in the art or music classrooms as was previously the case. I find it hard to accept that our nation is going to brush aside the potential genius and creative expansion of the mind through the arts for rote memorization and standardized tests, but that day is here. What Platchett effectively achieves, is a bridge between the arts and the core content areas. Just because the program is cut, doesn’t mean that the skills have to be lost.
While reading through the many pages of suggestions and resources, I was struck by the options before me because of the one-to-one laptop initiative. My kids have the world at their fingertips with the click of a mouse. When the anecdotes about “What did you learn this year” were shared, my mind began working out all of the things that I would so desperately like to incorporate in the future. This Masters course has provided me with so many new skills and free resources to enrich my classroom. It can allow me to connect to the other people in my district in ways that I did not realize were possible. This year I would like to see my class working on a Fablehaven blog with the students of Strong, so that they are better able to work on a larger blog around the district read book House of the Scorpions next year. It is not enough to share our thoughts in a group of 12- 20 students. I want them to challenge and be challenged by the minds of others.
The arts allow for a sense of expression that the English Language Arts are not able to do on their own. Kids need the experience of multicultural dances and music as well as the exposure to the many forms of artistic expression. I know that I do them to some degree, but I have always felt that they were “playing” and almost felt guilty about taking the time to explore them. This chapter really affirmed my stance on the integration of the arts in the core classrooms, but it also reminded me that I can’t always do it all alone. I am looking forward to approaching the physical education teacher about joining in our Wabanki perspective unit. I am sure that he would be willing to work with the rest of our staff to incorporate some traditional Wabanaki dances into his curriculum. It might even benefit out unit to approach the steel drum and music teachers about working in some traditional drumming in their content areas. With the help of some of the great resources found in this chapter, I think that we can all feel more prepared to incorporate new and culturally informative practices into our content areas.
From the suggestion of shadow puppet theatre (http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/shadowpuppets/) to the information about educational search engines (Thinkfinity), I know that I am more informed and more excited about technology integration. In my view, this chapter was by far the most informative and inspiring. There are things that I am going to try now and there are things to research and plan for later, but no matter when it happens, my teaching will improve.
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 8- Placing the magic in the classroom; TPCK in art education
Due: April 1, 2009
Even though I am an English teacher, this chapter was by far the most engaging and applicable to my classroom. I am swimming with creative ideas and engaging resources to explore. Right from the start, Nancy DePlatchett identified those necessary skills our 21st learners need and found ways that we could achieve them. She seems to understand that much of the arts are now being swept into the core content areas to be integrated by unprepared teachers rather than being taught in the art or music classrooms as was previously the case. I find it hard to accept that our nation is going to brush aside the potential genius and creative expansion of the mind through the arts for rote memorization and standardized tests, but that day is here. What Platchett effectively achieves, is a bridge between the arts and the core content areas. Just because the program is cut, doesn’t mean that the skills have to be lost.
While reading through the many pages of suggestions and resources, I was struck by the options before me because of the one-to-one laptop initiative. My kids have the world at their fingertips with the click of a mouse. When the anecdotes about “What did you learn this year” were shared, my mind began working out all of the things that I would so desperately like to incorporate in the future. This Masters course has provided me with so many new skills and free resources to enrich my classroom. It can allow me to connect to the other people in my district in ways that I did not realize were possible. This year I would like to see my class working on a Fablehaven blog with the students of Strong, so that they are better able to work on a larger blog around the district read book House of the Scorpions next year. It is not enough to share our thoughts in a group of 12- 20 students. I want them to challenge and be challenged by the minds of others.
The arts allow for a sense of expression that the English Language Arts are not able to do on their own. Kids need the experience of multicultural dances and music as well as the exposure to the many forms of artistic expression. I know that I do them to some degree, but I have always felt that they were “playing” and almost felt guilty about taking the time to explore them. This chapter really affirmed my stance on the integration of the arts in the core classrooms, but it also reminded me that I can’t always do it all alone. I am looking forward to approaching the physical education teacher about joining in our Wabanki perspective unit. I am sure that he would be willing to work with the rest of our staff to incorporate some traditional Wabanaki dances into his curriculum. It might even benefit out unit to approach the steel drum and music teachers about working in some traditional drumming in their content areas. With the help of some of the great resources found in this chapter, I think that we can all feel more prepared to incorporate new and culturally informative practices into our content areas.
From the suggestion of shadow puppet theatre (http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/shadowpuppets/) to the information about educational search engines (Thinkfinity), I know that I am more informed and more excited about technology integration. In my view, this chapter was by far the most informative and inspiring. There are things that I am going to try now and there are things to research and plan for later, but no matter when it happens, my teaching will improve.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
TPCK Chapter 10 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 10: The role of TPCK in physical education
Due: March 25, 2009
At first glance, I would have missed the need for technology in the physical education classroom. I was of the mindset that the kids were mostly hands-on and real world. I believe that this is one of my areas for improvement. I need to broaden my definition of technology and its variety of uses. I limit myself and the tools available by keeping that narrow view of technology as a laptop.
This chapter certainly spent a great deal of time reflecting on the importance of technology for data collection. This felt so foreign to me. The only “data” I collect is in the form of grades that I enter into PowerSchool. I see that the physical education teacher would certainly need more data than that. The idea of utilizing pdas to ease the burden of data collection made perfect sense, but I agree that the cost of those materials would not be easily justified. It made me wonder how many other teachers could benefit from their use and why we don’t have more sharing of these devices. If we were all trying to use the same tools, we would have more grounds for justifying the cost.
When I first read that there is a great deal of technology used in the gym, I could only imagine “Dance, Dance Revolution.” Again, I limited myself to a video game and its minimal benefits. It never occurred to me to view bikes, stair steppers, and other such machines as technology. These are certainly expensive, but it would seem that with the rising obesity rates that the needs for health and wellbeing would out-way the financial burden. I know that our physical education teacher at the high school certainly promotes individual programs and technologies that meet each students comfort level. “Dance, Dance Revolution” seemed to be the hit that got everyone off of the benches and into action. This is what we need. In a world of Nintendo Wii where kids can throw their own bowling balls and participate in action packed softball games from the comfort of their own homes, we need to meet them half way, if not all the way there.
I know that my classroom will never be as mobile and hands-on as physical education, but I can still learn to be more open minded about the uses of technology and what constitutes it. I was just thinking about all of the supplemental aids that I could be utilizing to meet some of these kids part way. I could try to include more use of the smartboard to allow them the opportunity to get hands-on and feel more engaging. The important thing for me is to keep my eyes and mind open while navigating this wide-open technology sea.
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 10: The role of TPCK in physical education
Due: March 25, 2009
At first glance, I would have missed the need for technology in the physical education classroom. I was of the mindset that the kids were mostly hands-on and real world. I believe that this is one of my areas for improvement. I need to broaden my definition of technology and its variety of uses. I limit myself and the tools available by keeping that narrow view of technology as a laptop.
This chapter certainly spent a great deal of time reflecting on the importance of technology for data collection. This felt so foreign to me. The only “data” I collect is in the form of grades that I enter into PowerSchool. I see that the physical education teacher would certainly need more data than that. The idea of utilizing pdas to ease the burden of data collection made perfect sense, but I agree that the cost of those materials would not be easily justified. It made me wonder how many other teachers could benefit from their use and why we don’t have more sharing of these devices. If we were all trying to use the same tools, we would have more grounds for justifying the cost.
When I first read that there is a great deal of technology used in the gym, I could only imagine “Dance, Dance Revolution.” Again, I limited myself to a video game and its minimal benefits. It never occurred to me to view bikes, stair steppers, and other such machines as technology. These are certainly expensive, but it would seem that with the rising obesity rates that the needs for health and wellbeing would out-way the financial burden. I know that our physical education teacher at the high school certainly promotes individual programs and technologies that meet each students comfort level. “Dance, Dance Revolution” seemed to be the hit that got everyone off of the benches and into action. This is what we need. In a world of Nintendo Wii where kids can throw their own bowling balls and participate in action packed softball games from the comfort of their own homes, we need to meet them half way, if not all the way there.
I know that my classroom will never be as mobile and hands-on as physical education, but I can still learn to be more open minded about the uses of technology and what constitutes it. I was just thinking about all of the supplemental aids that I could be utilizing to meet some of these kids part way. I could try to include more use of the smartboard to allow them the opportunity to get hands-on and feel more engaging. The important thing for me is to keep my eyes and mind open while navigating this wide-open technology sea.
TPCK Chapter 5 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 5: An integrated framework for educating world language teachers
Due: March 25, 2009
This chapter was distinctly different in its focus on teacher training instead of student technology training or use. It also felt more content driven, but seeing that my content area is actually English and not world language, this made it quite difficult to apply to my own classroom at times. I did, however, appreciate the general idea that teachers need more training and experience with technology to be able to use it to its fullest within the classroom. I myself have seen a shift in my own teaching following the technology course that I took a couple of years ago through my district and the courses that I have been taking here at UMF as part of my Master’s program. I started a few years ago with simple iMovie options for projects, which then turned into a large scale Madman and Genius documentary Film Festival! As I grew more comfortable with the technology, I felt more comfortable teaching my students how to use it therefore improving their interest and quality of product. Now I am moving into the realm of wikis and blogs in hopes of improving the level of feedback that my students can obtain on their work and to expand their audience. The teacher’s comfort level, knowledge, and confidence with technology really do impact the integration in the classroom.
As far as real-time communication technology, I too would like to include more of this. I wasn’t completely surprised to see that the use of video conferencing, chatting, and emailing was improving language learners skills. It seems only natural that the students would need to practice the skills they are learning in a real way with a real audience to truly improve their performance. I, in fact, want to use video-conferencing and a form of “chatting” to enable my students to communicate with the students of my best friend who will be teaching internationally for the next two years in South Korea. We want to help our own students to experience cultural differences and nuances through real interaction. We also thought that giving the students a real audience would aid in the quality of their writing and other products. We are still working things out and don’t have plans to put this into motion until next year, but we are looking in this new direction.
Although this section was particularly hard for me to relate to, I appreciated the suggestion that teachers can’t do this on their own and that they need strong role models and pre-service opportunities to really work with and feel comfortable with these new tools. It is certainly a whole new world with a whole set of new expectations and new opportunities.
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 5: An integrated framework for educating world language teachers
Due: March 25, 2009
This chapter was distinctly different in its focus on teacher training instead of student technology training or use. It also felt more content driven, but seeing that my content area is actually English and not world language, this made it quite difficult to apply to my own classroom at times. I did, however, appreciate the general idea that teachers need more training and experience with technology to be able to use it to its fullest within the classroom. I myself have seen a shift in my own teaching following the technology course that I took a couple of years ago through my district and the courses that I have been taking here at UMF as part of my Master’s program. I started a few years ago with simple iMovie options for projects, which then turned into a large scale Madman and Genius documentary Film Festival! As I grew more comfortable with the technology, I felt more comfortable teaching my students how to use it therefore improving their interest and quality of product. Now I am moving into the realm of wikis and blogs in hopes of improving the level of feedback that my students can obtain on their work and to expand their audience. The teacher’s comfort level, knowledge, and confidence with technology really do impact the integration in the classroom.
As far as real-time communication technology, I too would like to include more of this. I wasn’t completely surprised to see that the use of video conferencing, chatting, and emailing was improving language learners skills. It seems only natural that the students would need to practice the skills they are learning in a real way with a real audience to truly improve their performance. I, in fact, want to use video-conferencing and a form of “chatting” to enable my students to communicate with the students of my best friend who will be teaching internationally for the next two years in South Korea. We want to help our own students to experience cultural differences and nuances through real interaction. We also thought that giving the students a real audience would aid in the quality of their writing and other products. We are still working things out and don’t have plans to put this into motion until next year, but we are looking in this new direction.
Although this section was particularly hard for me to relate to, I appreciated the suggestion that teachers can’t do this on their own and that they need strong role models and pre-service opportunities to really work with and feel comfortable with these new tools. It is certainly a whole new world with a whole set of new expectations and new opportunities.
Monday, March 16, 2009
TPCK Chapter 9 Reflection
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 9- Science, technology, and teaching: The topic-specific challenges of TPCK in science
Due: March 18, 2009
As one of my integrated unit partners is the science teacher, I began reading this chapter not just for myself but also to aid Tom Piekart in his incorporation of technology rich experiences in our integrated Wabanaki unit. But as I was reading, it became increasingly clear that Tom is one of those exemplary science teachers whose knowledge in this area exceeds the standard. He worked as the technology integration specialist for our school before becoming the science teacher, so he is not only familiar with the available technology but probably aided in its acquisition.
I did, however, learn quite a bit myself about the difference between technology being used to enrich a lesson and technology that is the lesson. My former colleague used to set up cat dissections in her anatomy and physiology course. It was not only extremely expensive but also ridiculously messy and foul smelling. In these tough budget days, it only makes sense for her to switch to a digital version. The lesson will be far more effective when mistakes can be redone and someone going ahead incorrectly can’t ruin the experiment. On the other hand, this chapter also mentioned those technologies that are so fundamental to the lesson that they are themselves the lesson, such as the microscope or the telescope. I found myself thinking about which technologies, if any, are like that for the English teachers. I have come to the decision that word-processing for English teachers is much like the microscope to the science classroom. The lessons could be done without it, yet the lack of the tool limits the student’s application to real life and real understanding.
In the real world, students are going to be expected to use word-processing programs and other technological skills that we take for granted, and yet they all have to start somewhere. I learned the hard way that all students start at different levels and that it is the teacher’s job to be aware of those differences. Having worked with high school students for so long, I set my 5th graders up in the lab right away to start typing and formatting a newspaper article based on a walk that we had taken. It wasn’t until every child’s screen with covered in funky colors, crazy fonts, and jumbo print that I realized that we had never discussed what I expected for behaviors. They couldn’t do the things I asked and were so excited by the options that they could manipulate that they got completely off track. It took awhile, but I eventually did return to the “lab from hell.” I had to learn, as the book suggests, to take risks, learn from past experience, and hear my students. I needed to hear where they were and ease them into the typing pond with floaties instead of dropping them off in the middle of the ocean without a life jacket. It isn’t just science that requires faith and experimentation; that comes in all fields. It is the requirement of teaching.
As for the Wabanaki unit, I was thinking that models and data collection based on those models might help students to get the full Wabanaki perspective. We can’t go back in time to explore the actual hunting grounds and forests of those time periods, but Tom might be able to recreate the conditions and methodologies of the hunters using computer simulations or models. He may even want to consider having the students track the data of hunting and fishing impacts through the ages to draw conclusions about the laws and ethics. Whatever he does, I know he will effectively use the technological tools in his possession.
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 9- Science, technology, and teaching: The topic-specific challenges of TPCK in science
Due: March 18, 2009
As one of my integrated unit partners is the science teacher, I began reading this chapter not just for myself but also to aid Tom Piekart in his incorporation of technology rich experiences in our integrated Wabanaki unit. But as I was reading, it became increasingly clear that Tom is one of those exemplary science teachers whose knowledge in this area exceeds the standard. He worked as the technology integration specialist for our school before becoming the science teacher, so he is not only familiar with the available technology but probably aided in its acquisition.
I did, however, learn quite a bit myself about the difference between technology being used to enrich a lesson and technology that is the lesson. My former colleague used to set up cat dissections in her anatomy and physiology course. It was not only extremely expensive but also ridiculously messy and foul smelling. In these tough budget days, it only makes sense for her to switch to a digital version. The lesson will be far more effective when mistakes can be redone and someone going ahead incorrectly can’t ruin the experiment. On the other hand, this chapter also mentioned those technologies that are so fundamental to the lesson that they are themselves the lesson, such as the microscope or the telescope. I found myself thinking about which technologies, if any, are like that for the English teachers. I have come to the decision that word-processing for English teachers is much like the microscope to the science classroom. The lessons could be done without it, yet the lack of the tool limits the student’s application to real life and real understanding.
In the real world, students are going to be expected to use word-processing programs and other technological skills that we take for granted, and yet they all have to start somewhere. I learned the hard way that all students start at different levels and that it is the teacher’s job to be aware of those differences. Having worked with high school students for so long, I set my 5th graders up in the lab right away to start typing and formatting a newspaper article based on a walk that we had taken. It wasn’t until every child’s screen with covered in funky colors, crazy fonts, and jumbo print that I realized that we had never discussed what I expected for behaviors. They couldn’t do the things I asked and were so excited by the options that they could manipulate that they got completely off track. It took awhile, but I eventually did return to the “lab from hell.” I had to learn, as the book suggests, to take risks, learn from past experience, and hear my students. I needed to hear where they were and ease them into the typing pond with floaties instead of dropping them off in the middle of the ocean without a life jacket. It isn’t just science that requires faith and experimentation; that comes in all fields. It is the requirement of teaching.
As for the Wabanaki unit, I was thinking that models and data collection based on those models might help students to get the full Wabanaki perspective. We can’t go back in time to explore the actual hunting grounds and forests of those time periods, but Tom might be able to recreate the conditions and methodologies of the hunters using computer simulations or models. He may even want to consider having the students track the data of hunting and fishing impacts through the ages to draw conclusions about the laws and ethics. Whatever he does, I know he will effectively use the technological tools in his possession.
TPCK Chapter 7 Reflection
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 7- Perhaps a matter of imagination: TPCK in mathematics education
Due: March 18, 2009
Reaching deeply for connections in this chapter, I found myself connecting more through the struggles and frustrations of my dear friend Renee, the quintessential math teacher. She is young, brilliant, and of the technology age; yet even Renee faces those very questions raised in this chapter.
Understanding that certain areas of mathematics are both interesting, important to her field, and connect to real life, Renee still questions how to teach these things, such as fractals, how much is too much, and how can it be justified. It was almost déjà vu when I read about the fractals and their importance. Renee has been working on the inclusion of this new concept all year. It doesn’t quite fit into her regular lessons, and she has the added pressure of teaching to a particular test, but they validate mathematics and its creativity for her. I am certainly going to recommend the NCTM 2005 Yearbook, which provides 23 articles on technology inclusion in math classrooms. She may be the MLTI integrator in her school, but everyone can benefit from the experiences of others.
Where is the line between technology being an aid and technology being a crutch? Of course Renee goes back and forth over the calculator question with her more basic courses, but it is required for her more challenging AP and BC calculus courses. But I know that she questions the equity and reality of life in a computer age. I face a similar dilemma with spell check and grammar check. One would assume that English teachers everywhere embrace these devices with open arms, but I question the skills that these kids are losing. I don’t see them improving through the use of these devices because they don’t have the necessary background to fully appreciate what it is correcting. They don’t even seem to learn from the consistency of certain issues in their work. So is technology the aid that students need to be stronger writers or is it the answer to the lazy writer’s prayers? Are students in English class being assessed on their ability to write effectively or their ability to use spell check and grammar check effectively? These are real questions that probably will never be answered, but these are the real challenges of the teachers today, even the TPCK teachers.
Although this chapter presented more of a challenge for connections than others, I know that it also offered more validation for the integration of technology in all areas. Technology breathes new life into the core of our subject areas, including the tried and true practices of those mathematics formulas and manipulations that have been around for thousands of years.
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 7- Perhaps a matter of imagination: TPCK in mathematics education
Due: March 18, 2009
Reaching deeply for connections in this chapter, I found myself connecting more through the struggles and frustrations of my dear friend Renee, the quintessential math teacher. She is young, brilliant, and of the technology age; yet even Renee faces those very questions raised in this chapter.
Understanding that certain areas of mathematics are both interesting, important to her field, and connect to real life, Renee still questions how to teach these things, such as fractals, how much is too much, and how can it be justified. It was almost déjà vu when I read about the fractals and their importance. Renee has been working on the inclusion of this new concept all year. It doesn’t quite fit into her regular lessons, and she has the added pressure of teaching to a particular test, but they validate mathematics and its creativity for her. I am certainly going to recommend the NCTM 2005 Yearbook, which provides 23 articles on technology inclusion in math classrooms. She may be the MLTI integrator in her school, but everyone can benefit from the experiences of others.
Where is the line between technology being an aid and technology being a crutch? Of course Renee goes back and forth over the calculator question with her more basic courses, but it is required for her more challenging AP and BC calculus courses. But I know that she questions the equity and reality of life in a computer age. I face a similar dilemma with spell check and grammar check. One would assume that English teachers everywhere embrace these devices with open arms, but I question the skills that these kids are losing. I don’t see them improving through the use of these devices because they don’t have the necessary background to fully appreciate what it is correcting. They don’t even seem to learn from the consistency of certain issues in their work. So is technology the aid that students need to be stronger writers or is it the answer to the lazy writer’s prayers? Are students in English class being assessed on their ability to write effectively or their ability to use spell check and grammar check effectively? These are real questions that probably will never be answered, but these are the real challenges of the teachers today, even the TPCK teachers.
Although this chapter presented more of a challenge for connections than others, I know that it also offered more validation for the integration of technology in all areas. Technology breathes new life into the core of our subject areas, including the tried and true practices of those mathematics formulas and manipulations that have been around for thousands of years.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
TPCK Chapter 6 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 6: Toward democracy: Social studies and TPCK
Due: March 11, 2009
Although this section focused on the social studies content area, I found it considerably applicable to my own English content area. Many of the ten pedagogical actions fit naturally in the English classroom. I made great connections, found some helpful resources, and gained a new appreciation for my colleagues in the social studies arena
Right away I could relate to the difficulty of finding specific lessons or resources online due to the unstructured quality of my own content area. There are so many disciplines within the English content area that it does take time and scrutiny to find those that are most appropriate to your aims and goals. I did, however, question how this would be unique to any content area. Isn’t that the nature of the beast? Technology offers us so much more than we have ever had before in exchange for time and effort in discovering it.
I can certainly appreciate the idea that technology requires new literacy skills. I love how this chapter referenced the blurring of roles of reader and writer through the advent of hypertext and hypermedia. Further explained, the chapter highlighted the new level of interaction now available to the reader. The writer offers paths that lead the reader astray, but only at the reader’s wishes. You are allowed to make your own experience from a text through the materials relevance and importance to you as a consumer of information. My AP Language and Composition students are often analyzing the organization of a piece. This new element confuses the intent. When viewing the rhetorical triangle, we have to view these new articles with the understanding that they won’t be read the same way or even intended the same way depending on the path that is chosen.
My students are also encouraged to view resources with a critical eye. I can see the importance of being able to discern fact from fiction and maneuver the cornucopia of information that technology grants access to. However, I wonder which specific skills I should be teaching them. As technology tends to change rapidly and skills are always evolving, it seems that we, the educators, are faced with an impossible task. I have heard it mentioned in various educational readings that the teacher should act as expert and cull the necessary information for the students. What is that teaching them? I do see the need for better technology based research skills, and I do my best to provide that training, but I question the long-term use of those skills. Even I, a relatively young teacher, must constantly learn new ways and adapt to new databases or search engines.
I agree with the chapter’s main point, that it is important to communicate and connect in a democracy, which is why I too try to work with my students to be effective communicators with the aid of technology in English class. I encourage my students to create the authentic intellectual work that was so praised in this chapter and even try to model it myself. Only this week, I received a box with enough posters and bookmarks for every kid in the middle school and five Fablehaven T-shirts because of technological communications. The local bookstore owner asked me to send him some digital images and a write up about the work my students had been doing in my classroom with the novel Fablehaven. As a result, I was put in touch with the book’s promoter and offered some free promotional materials for my student’s as a reward for their hard work. I would not have been able to do this on my own. It was the use of my social network and supplementary technology that earned me this great new opportunity. As was suggested, I am also trying to get wikis going in my middle school. I am starting with the 6th grader’s Fablehaven book trailer. We are going to try to start a blog about he book and get feedback on the trailer through our district only blog. Then I hope to move to a more widely viewed wiki with them next year during my integrated Wabanaki unit. I understand that it can’t all happen over night, but I feel I am heading down the right road on this technological super highway.
Finally, I walked away with some great resources. I made note of some of the cross-cultural communication supports such as iEarn, KidLink, and ThinkQuest. I also intend to check out the student published resources that the chapter highlighted, including the Cherokee Digital History Project, which might aid in the improvement of my integrated Wabanaki unit.
Overall, I have some new resources to explore and some new concepts to ponder, but most importantly, I have a newfound respect for the magnitude of content that the social studies teachers are suppose to explore. It is true that much of what they must cover centers on democracy, but the content itself winds in and out of every other content area. So, my hat is off to my colleagues in the social studies area.
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 6: Toward democracy: Social studies and TPCK
Due: March 11, 2009
Although this section focused on the social studies content area, I found it considerably applicable to my own English content area. Many of the ten pedagogical actions fit naturally in the English classroom. I made great connections, found some helpful resources, and gained a new appreciation for my colleagues in the social studies arena
Right away I could relate to the difficulty of finding specific lessons or resources online due to the unstructured quality of my own content area. There are so many disciplines within the English content area that it does take time and scrutiny to find those that are most appropriate to your aims and goals. I did, however, question how this would be unique to any content area. Isn’t that the nature of the beast? Technology offers us so much more than we have ever had before in exchange for time and effort in discovering it.
I can certainly appreciate the idea that technology requires new literacy skills. I love how this chapter referenced the blurring of roles of reader and writer through the advent of hypertext and hypermedia. Further explained, the chapter highlighted the new level of interaction now available to the reader. The writer offers paths that lead the reader astray, but only at the reader’s wishes. You are allowed to make your own experience from a text through the materials relevance and importance to you as a consumer of information. My AP Language and Composition students are often analyzing the organization of a piece. This new element confuses the intent. When viewing the rhetorical triangle, we have to view these new articles with the understanding that they won’t be read the same way or even intended the same way depending on the path that is chosen.
My students are also encouraged to view resources with a critical eye. I can see the importance of being able to discern fact from fiction and maneuver the cornucopia of information that technology grants access to. However, I wonder which specific skills I should be teaching them. As technology tends to change rapidly and skills are always evolving, it seems that we, the educators, are faced with an impossible task. I have heard it mentioned in various educational readings that the teacher should act as expert and cull the necessary information for the students. What is that teaching them? I do see the need for better technology based research skills, and I do my best to provide that training, but I question the long-term use of those skills. Even I, a relatively young teacher, must constantly learn new ways and adapt to new databases or search engines.
I agree with the chapter’s main point, that it is important to communicate and connect in a democracy, which is why I too try to work with my students to be effective communicators with the aid of technology in English class. I encourage my students to create the authentic intellectual work that was so praised in this chapter and even try to model it myself. Only this week, I received a box with enough posters and bookmarks for every kid in the middle school and five Fablehaven T-shirts because of technological communications. The local bookstore owner asked me to send him some digital images and a write up about the work my students had been doing in my classroom with the novel Fablehaven. As a result, I was put in touch with the book’s promoter and offered some free promotional materials for my student’s as a reward for their hard work. I would not have been able to do this on my own. It was the use of my social network and supplementary technology that earned me this great new opportunity. As was suggested, I am also trying to get wikis going in my middle school. I am starting with the 6th grader’s Fablehaven book trailer. We are going to try to start a blog about he book and get feedback on the trailer through our district only blog. Then I hope to move to a more widely viewed wiki with them next year during my integrated Wabanaki unit. I understand that it can’t all happen over night, but I feel I am heading down the right road on this technological super highway.
Finally, I walked away with some great resources. I made note of some of the cross-cultural communication supports such as iEarn, KidLink, and ThinkQuest. I also intend to check out the student published resources that the chapter highlighted, including the Cherokee Digital History Project, which might aid in the improvement of my integrated Wabanaki unit.
Overall, I have some new resources to explore and some new concepts to ponder, but most importantly, I have a newfound respect for the magnitude of content that the social studies teachers are suppose to explore. It is true that much of what they must cover centers on democracy, but the content itself winds in and out of every other content area. So, my hat is off to my colleagues in the social studies area.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Integrated Unit: Stage 1 Reflection
Margaret Nerney
Integrated Unit- Stage 1 reflection
Due: March 4, 2009
I am the Phillips Elementary School 5th-8th grade Language Arts teacher. As my unit focuses on Wabanaki culture, I have been working with the science and social studies teachers to create an integrated unit that centers on perspective. The social studies teacher, Paula Roy, and I had been trying to get something worked out for this year, but time constraints have not allowed this. So it was not difficult to get my colleagues to participate in this work. We have utilized our prep. periods and even stayed after school to have enriching conversations and complete stage 1 of our unit plan.
I have also found it relatively easy to maneuver through the stages with them because they are comfortable with and using the backward planning method in their own classrooms. We sat down right away to decide on common goals. It seems that we are all in agreement that students should be able to see situations from the different perspectives of those involved and understand the contextual influences on those perspectives. This made the integration of three separate units able to come together with the unity of a common aim. It is the content knowledge that will be unique for each of us.
As these teachers already teach units that could be easily adapted for our integrated plan, it was easy to sit down and map out each of their individual goals. I have found that I usually meet with each of them individually to work on their specific plans. It also helped to have the template before us and work through it as I had done. Mine was used as an example that we would structure theirs around. I would give them each the chapter overviews and then we would begin discussions. I worked as the recorder. This worked well because I could remind them of the specific wording that was needed and help them restate their goals and questions accordingly. I felt comfortable in this role, as I had already worked out these things with my own unit and feel comfortable with language use in general. The templates also helped to maintain a log of our conversations. We were able to make clear connections between the goals and the eventual things that the students would need to be able to do. I was thoroughly surprised at the ease with which my colleagues and I worked through this. Their expertise in teaching pedagogy and their specific content area knowledge are a true asset to this unit.
Tom already teaches a unit on hunter safety, so he is modifying it to include the Wabanaki hunting traditions and ethics. This will allow him to explore different cultural perspectives as well as the idea of conservation versus preservation. As Tom is very comfortable with his Maine Learning Result standards, it was relatively easy to connect his unit goals to those standards. Once we had the goals and questions, he easily began listing the “knows.” The six facets were a perfect fit for him. I think I spent more time than he did finding the appropriate terms! He would say them aloud and then find them on the list. We even labeled each facet to make sure that we had two “dos” for every one “know.” His unit will be far more hands on and exploratory. The students will even be applying their knowledge in the field.
Paula also teaches a social studies unit on the Wabanaki people. Again, it was easy to identify the Maine Learning Results for her unit because there is a section on Wabanaki people in her social studies section. What we discovered is that we had to explicitly tie the modern issues into her section. They were glossed over. So she worked hard to rewrite her goals and questions to reflect the modern perspective that she felt was lacking in previous years. Again, the templates and specific language that the template provided, allowed us to quickly map out and rethink the focus of her unit. We were able to narrow her studies in some places while expanding them in others.
These two teachers are also very comfortable with technology. Tom Piekart, the science teacher, has just finished his master’s program in technology integration. He is very comfortable with not only integrating technology in his own classroom, but also with helping out me and the social studies teacher. Paula Roy is always up for learning and integrating new things into her lessons as well, so our units will end with an integrated product. We have agreed on a Wabanaki wiki that can be added to in different ways in each of our classrooms. None of us have ever worked with our students using wikis so it will challenge us all in different ways. Paula is use to having kids post their work in First Class Ed., as is Tom. They both have tried online discussions without a great deal of success, so this will be a learning experience for all of us.
Overall, this has been a great way to get to know my colleagues and what they already teach. They are both creative and innovative in their own ways, and I hope to gain a great deal of knowledge and understanding through this opportunity to work with them. So far, I am most impressed with the time that they are willing to spend on this project. I truly feel that they are as invested in this unit as I am. What a team!
Integrated Unit- Stage 1 reflection
Due: March 4, 2009
I am the Phillips Elementary School 5th-8th grade Language Arts teacher. As my unit focuses on Wabanaki culture, I have been working with the science and social studies teachers to create an integrated unit that centers on perspective. The social studies teacher, Paula Roy, and I had been trying to get something worked out for this year, but time constraints have not allowed this. So it was not difficult to get my colleagues to participate in this work. We have utilized our prep. periods and even stayed after school to have enriching conversations and complete stage 1 of our unit plan.
I have also found it relatively easy to maneuver through the stages with them because they are comfortable with and using the backward planning method in their own classrooms. We sat down right away to decide on common goals. It seems that we are all in agreement that students should be able to see situations from the different perspectives of those involved and understand the contextual influences on those perspectives. This made the integration of three separate units able to come together with the unity of a common aim. It is the content knowledge that will be unique for each of us.
As these teachers already teach units that could be easily adapted for our integrated plan, it was easy to sit down and map out each of their individual goals. I have found that I usually meet with each of them individually to work on their specific plans. It also helped to have the template before us and work through it as I had done. Mine was used as an example that we would structure theirs around. I would give them each the chapter overviews and then we would begin discussions. I worked as the recorder. This worked well because I could remind them of the specific wording that was needed and help them restate their goals and questions accordingly. I felt comfortable in this role, as I had already worked out these things with my own unit and feel comfortable with language use in general. The templates also helped to maintain a log of our conversations. We were able to make clear connections between the goals and the eventual things that the students would need to be able to do. I was thoroughly surprised at the ease with which my colleagues and I worked through this. Their expertise in teaching pedagogy and their specific content area knowledge are a true asset to this unit.
Tom already teaches a unit on hunter safety, so he is modifying it to include the Wabanaki hunting traditions and ethics. This will allow him to explore different cultural perspectives as well as the idea of conservation versus preservation. As Tom is very comfortable with his Maine Learning Result standards, it was relatively easy to connect his unit goals to those standards. Once we had the goals and questions, he easily began listing the “knows.” The six facets were a perfect fit for him. I think I spent more time than he did finding the appropriate terms! He would say them aloud and then find them on the list. We even labeled each facet to make sure that we had two “dos” for every one “know.” His unit will be far more hands on and exploratory. The students will even be applying their knowledge in the field.
Paula also teaches a social studies unit on the Wabanaki people. Again, it was easy to identify the Maine Learning Results for her unit because there is a section on Wabanaki people in her social studies section. What we discovered is that we had to explicitly tie the modern issues into her section. They were glossed over. So she worked hard to rewrite her goals and questions to reflect the modern perspective that she felt was lacking in previous years. Again, the templates and specific language that the template provided, allowed us to quickly map out and rethink the focus of her unit. We were able to narrow her studies in some places while expanding them in others.
These two teachers are also very comfortable with technology. Tom Piekart, the science teacher, has just finished his master’s program in technology integration. He is very comfortable with not only integrating technology in his own classroom, but also with helping out me and the social studies teacher. Paula Roy is always up for learning and integrating new things into her lessons as well, so our units will end with an integrated product. We have agreed on a Wabanaki wiki that can be added to in different ways in each of our classrooms. None of us have ever worked with our students using wikis so it will challenge us all in different ways. Paula is use to having kids post their work in First Class Ed., as is Tom. They both have tried online discussions without a great deal of success, so this will be a learning experience for all of us.
Overall, this has been a great way to get to know my colleagues and what they already teach. They are both creative and innovative in their own ways, and I hope to gain a great deal of knowledge and understanding through this opportunity to work with them. So far, I am most impressed with the time that they are willing to spend on this project. I truly feel that they are as invested in this unit as I am. What a team!
Monday, February 23, 2009
TPCK Chapter 3 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Dr. Grace Ward
Chapter 3 Reflection- “TPCK in K-6 literacy education: It’s not that elementary!”
DUE: February 25, 2009
This chapter was an interesting one to read, as I am certified in Language Arts grades 7-12. It brought up a multitude of questions about the differences in the pre-service preparation for the elementary and secondary teachers. Some of the foundational instruction was certainly missing in my program. As a secondary educator, I lacked the training in how to teach someone to read. I lacked the direct instruction for improving grammar and vocabulary acquisition. I am not certain if this was due to the fact that standards indicate that students should be taught that earlier, but the reality is that students come to me without those skills. I do not think it is simply the teacher’s fault that had him/her before me. I think some students just need more time and different approaches. I am worried that the lack of knowledge that I have about those building blocks could limit my impact later on. I can’t build on something I don’t understand or know. Realizing a gap in my content knowledge was definitely a surprise. But it is something that I must work to correct. I have started working with the Kindergarten teacher once or twice a week for buddy reading. I know that she uses the Dibbles program, but I have never really sat down to see how the students that I get later on have been instructed in reading. That will happen soon.
This chapter focused a great deal on the shifting definition of literacy as well as the shifting strategies that are required to improve this new literacy. Although I have been aware of the shift and have tried to stay up to date on developing technologies, I have not been exposed to as many strategies (pedagogical knowledge) that meet the demands of these new technologies and literacy, as I would like. My colleagues and I are aware of the new ways in which technologies have created new reading skill needs. I am just not sure that I have ever really seen any strategies that were meant to tackle the new demands of hyperlinks and hypermedia within a text. This certainly gave me something to look into for my classroom. I have already made the shift to more non-fiction based study which better meets the needs of their real life instead of just focusing on plot and character development. However, I feel that many of the literacy strategies that I have learned are still for writing on a piece of paper in front of you or flipping through a book without the interaction that hypertext and hypermedia encourage.
The chapter suggested some interesting ways to approach the old skills as well. I have not had the opportunity to engage my students in digital storytelling before. I have only worked with 11th graders and storytelling was a smaller part of what we worked on. I am currently working with a group of 5th graders on rewriting fairy tales using the appropriate motifs, so this would work in nicely. They love technology and would probably be more interested in the writing process if there was more visual and artistic creativity. I will definitely be looking into this more. There were a few other sites mentioned that seemed like great ways to take my kid’s writing to a different level. The chapter highlighted a program called SubEthaEdit, which helps the kids to revise with the help of outsiders. I would have to review this more closely before trying it. I also noted www.kidspub.org that seemed to be a place for student’s to publish their work to a real audience! Authentic assessment is often hard to find, but this seemed like a step in the right direction.
Overall, I felt that his chapter reminded me of some of the great resources that I hadn’t returned to in a while (rubistar and ReadWriteThink) and it encouraged me to try out some others that may better engage my students and improve their level of understanding. The one thing that truly stood out to me was that the resources shared in this chapter were just as beneficial to someone teaching at the secondary level as they were to someone at the elementary level. Trying to break technology knowledge into grade levels is not the solution. We can all benefit from these new means. I agree with our sentiments in class: It is not the tool that creates the learning; it is what you do with it.
EDU 583- Dr. Grace Ward
Chapter 3 Reflection- “TPCK in K-6 literacy education: It’s not that elementary!”
DUE: February 25, 2009
This chapter was an interesting one to read, as I am certified in Language Arts grades 7-12. It brought up a multitude of questions about the differences in the pre-service preparation for the elementary and secondary teachers. Some of the foundational instruction was certainly missing in my program. As a secondary educator, I lacked the training in how to teach someone to read. I lacked the direct instruction for improving grammar and vocabulary acquisition. I am not certain if this was due to the fact that standards indicate that students should be taught that earlier, but the reality is that students come to me without those skills. I do not think it is simply the teacher’s fault that had him/her before me. I think some students just need more time and different approaches. I am worried that the lack of knowledge that I have about those building blocks could limit my impact later on. I can’t build on something I don’t understand or know. Realizing a gap in my content knowledge was definitely a surprise. But it is something that I must work to correct. I have started working with the Kindergarten teacher once or twice a week for buddy reading. I know that she uses the Dibbles program, but I have never really sat down to see how the students that I get later on have been instructed in reading. That will happen soon.
This chapter focused a great deal on the shifting definition of literacy as well as the shifting strategies that are required to improve this new literacy. Although I have been aware of the shift and have tried to stay up to date on developing technologies, I have not been exposed to as many strategies (pedagogical knowledge) that meet the demands of these new technologies and literacy, as I would like. My colleagues and I are aware of the new ways in which technologies have created new reading skill needs. I am just not sure that I have ever really seen any strategies that were meant to tackle the new demands of hyperlinks and hypermedia within a text. This certainly gave me something to look into for my classroom. I have already made the shift to more non-fiction based study which better meets the needs of their real life instead of just focusing on plot and character development. However, I feel that many of the literacy strategies that I have learned are still for writing on a piece of paper in front of you or flipping through a book without the interaction that hypertext and hypermedia encourage.
The chapter suggested some interesting ways to approach the old skills as well. I have not had the opportunity to engage my students in digital storytelling before. I have only worked with 11th graders and storytelling was a smaller part of what we worked on. I am currently working with a group of 5th graders on rewriting fairy tales using the appropriate motifs, so this would work in nicely. They love technology and would probably be more interested in the writing process if there was more visual and artistic creativity. I will definitely be looking into this more. There were a few other sites mentioned that seemed like great ways to take my kid’s writing to a different level. The chapter highlighted a program called SubEthaEdit, which helps the kids to revise with the help of outsiders. I would have to review this more closely before trying it. I also noted www.kidspub.org that seemed to be a place for student’s to publish their work to a real audience! Authentic assessment is often hard to find, but this seemed like a step in the right direction.
Overall, I felt that his chapter reminded me of some of the great resources that I hadn’t returned to in a while (rubistar and ReadWriteThink) and it encouraged me to try out some others that may better engage my students and improve their level of understanding. The one thing that truly stood out to me was that the resources shared in this chapter were just as beneficial to someone teaching at the secondary level as they were to someone at the elementary level. Trying to break technology knowledge into grade levels is not the solution. We can all benefit from these new means. I agree with our sentiments in class: It is not the tool that creates the learning; it is what you do with it.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
TPCK Chapter 4 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583 (Cohort 1)- Dr. Grace Ward
Ch 4: Leveraging the development of English TPCK within the deictic nature of literacy
Due: February 11, 2009
When I first encountered the TPCK model, I could not understand why technology required its own circle. I queried the isolation of technology because of its seamless integration into so many of the effective classrooms I have observed. Yet, my experience is limited to my district and those districts around mine. Our local school districts have certainly embraced and appreciate what technology has to offer. Our state, in fact, is ahead of so many others due to our one-to-one laptop program. We, as Maine educators, see the growing wave of the information age, and are preparing to surf in with appreciation and integration rather than get knocked down, dragged under, and swept away by the strong currents of tradition and resistance.
I certainly agree with the author that my eager acceptance of technology may result from the experiences that I have had as an undergraduate and in my first few years of teaching. UMF provided an excellent technology-based education program that allowed exploration of the technologies available at the time and preparation for how to stay up to date. Although we weren’t taught in content specific cohorts, as was the case at the University of Minnesota, I was guided through the integration process for my content area during my practicum block and through the demands of the UMF teaching standards. Technology was an emphasis during my undergraduate years and remained so through my district’s technology-integration goals. Shouldn’t that be the case for all educators?
My principal placed great value on technology in the classroom, and required all of her teachers to set a technology related goal each year. We were provided the assistance of a technology integration specialist and a fabulous technology center. Right from the start, I was provided with a digital projector and even allowed to purchase digital-video recording equipment to enhance the learning of my students. Like Nell, the 26-year veteran teacher from the chapter, I felt completely supported and challenged each year to improve what I was doing and to think in relation to my learning/ teaching goals. The process was painless and continues to help me grow as a teacher and technology integrator. So what if you don’t have a Jeanne Tucker?
This chapter really made me stop and consider the issues that other English educators are experiencing around the country. How can anyone be expected to utilize tools that they haven’t been exposed to or to make innovative integrations of technology without support? No wonder there is often resistance to this new change. It is simply human nature to fear the unknown. But with standards being changed to account for this need in education, something has to be done.
Technology is not just a tool for instruction; it creates needs for new skill sets. In the realm of English education, students need to know how to interact with the new web-based writings and readings that they are exposed to daily. As Amity Beane mentioned in her presentation on technology at UMF’s Teaching in a Diverse World Conference, students need to know how to safely and effectively interact with this new web audience. Amity can’t just introduce them to Facebook or YouTube and set them loose; she has to prepare them for the dangers they could encounter by revealing too much information and explore the importance of building a safe network. It is certainly clear that technology integration is a “wicked problem.”
Resources:
High School-
As many of us are including the use of web 2.0 tools in our classrooms, we should also be teaching the safety tips necessary for using those tools safely. This website outlines issues from the many perspectives of those involved. It has information for the kids themselves, their parents, and teachers. There are tips for cellphone use, facebook, chat rooms, etc. There are even contracts that parents can use with their children.
* http://www.safeteens.com/
Middle School-
http://www.teachertube.com offers great links to videos made by teachers and students. This site focuses on educational needs. I was looking for a how-to video on claymation and came across this art teachers video.
* http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=2f06561da22d9c89ac74
After some 'playing', I came across this cute and simple introduction to what a wiki really is. I know that my middle school students haven't used one before, so I thought this would be helpful for them.
* http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=51aeb480ecbd988cd8cc
Elementary-
This chapter references digital storytelling, which I researched because I thought it would go well with the traditional storytelling aspect of my Wabanaki perspective unit. I stumbled upon this article which provided an example of one teacher's use in his classroom and many tips. I found it helpful because I am already comfortable with iMovie, but my students are not.
* http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan02/banaszewski.htm
EDU 583 (Cohort 1)- Dr. Grace Ward
Ch 4: Leveraging the development of English TPCK within the deictic nature of literacy
Due: February 11, 2009
When I first encountered the TPCK model, I could not understand why technology required its own circle. I queried the isolation of technology because of its seamless integration into so many of the effective classrooms I have observed. Yet, my experience is limited to my district and those districts around mine. Our local school districts have certainly embraced and appreciate what technology has to offer. Our state, in fact, is ahead of so many others due to our one-to-one laptop program. We, as Maine educators, see the growing wave of the information age, and are preparing to surf in with appreciation and integration rather than get knocked down, dragged under, and swept away by the strong currents of tradition and resistance.
I certainly agree with the author that my eager acceptance of technology may result from the experiences that I have had as an undergraduate and in my first few years of teaching. UMF provided an excellent technology-based education program that allowed exploration of the technologies available at the time and preparation for how to stay up to date. Although we weren’t taught in content specific cohorts, as was the case at the University of Minnesota, I was guided through the integration process for my content area during my practicum block and through the demands of the UMF teaching standards. Technology was an emphasis during my undergraduate years and remained so through my district’s technology-integration goals. Shouldn’t that be the case for all educators?
My principal placed great value on technology in the classroom, and required all of her teachers to set a technology related goal each year. We were provided the assistance of a technology integration specialist and a fabulous technology center. Right from the start, I was provided with a digital projector and even allowed to purchase digital-video recording equipment to enhance the learning of my students. Like Nell, the 26-year veteran teacher from the chapter, I felt completely supported and challenged each year to improve what I was doing and to think in relation to my learning/ teaching goals. The process was painless and continues to help me grow as a teacher and technology integrator. So what if you don’t have a Jeanne Tucker?
This chapter really made me stop and consider the issues that other English educators are experiencing around the country. How can anyone be expected to utilize tools that they haven’t been exposed to or to make innovative integrations of technology without support? No wonder there is often resistance to this new change. It is simply human nature to fear the unknown. But with standards being changed to account for this need in education, something has to be done.
Technology is not just a tool for instruction; it creates needs for new skill sets. In the realm of English education, students need to know how to interact with the new web-based writings and readings that they are exposed to daily. As Amity Beane mentioned in her presentation on technology at UMF’s Teaching in a Diverse World Conference, students need to know how to safely and effectively interact with this new web audience. Amity can’t just introduce them to Facebook or YouTube and set them loose; she has to prepare them for the dangers they could encounter by revealing too much information and explore the importance of building a safe network. It is certainly clear that technology integration is a “wicked problem.”
Resources:
High School-
As many of us are including the use of web 2.0 tools in our classrooms, we should also be teaching the safety tips necessary for using those tools safely. This website outlines issues from the many perspectives of those involved. It has information for the kids themselves, their parents, and teachers. There are tips for cellphone use, facebook, chat rooms, etc. There are even contracts that parents can use with their children.
* http://www.safeteens.com/
Middle School-
http://www.teachertube.com offers great links to videos made by teachers and students. This site focuses on educational needs. I was looking for a how-to video on claymation and came across this art teachers video.
* http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=2f06561da22d9c89ac74
After some 'playing', I came across this cute and simple introduction to what a wiki really is. I know that my middle school students haven't used one before, so I thought this would be helpful for them.
* http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=51aeb480ecbd988cd8cc
Elementary-
This chapter references digital storytelling, which I researched because I thought it would go well with the traditional storytelling aspect of my Wabanaki perspective unit. I stumbled upon this article which provided an example of one teacher's use in his classroom and many tips. I found it helpful because I am already comfortable with iMovie, but my students are not.
* http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan02/banaszewski.htm
Thursday, January 29, 2009
TPCK Chapter 2 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 2: Bridging digital and cultural divides
TPCK for equity of access to technology
Due: January 21, 2009
The author’s definition of equity of access is certainly not what I had originally defined it as. I, like most educators, had limited it to the availability of equipment or Internet access. The three levels of access were not something that I had consciously previously considered in regard to technology. In fact, cultural awareness is just something that I try to be aware of all of the time. So it was important for me to see the author’s acknowledge
The lack of specific strategies for dealing with the three levels was a bit frustrating. I envisioned some sort of examples to help clarify the way to be technologically aware of cultural bias. It seemed as though the author’s blamed their lack of examples on it being a “wicked problem”, but a few specific suggestions would certainly have helped my teacher toolbox to expand.
I worry that I am a defensive teacher with my 5th graders. I really limit their own exploration in the lab because they are unable to do the tasks that I assign in a reasonable time frame. The first assignment I had was for them to type their newspaper article and use the computer to create a picture for their column. This simple task took almost three weeks! I was shocked. The next assignment was handled in a more controlled way. I hope that the book deals with strategies for teaching those socio-economically disadvantaged children who don’t come prepared with those basic typing and formatting skills. I felt like an ogre when I read about the “wait for me” aspect of the defensive teacher. I really did that. I wouldn’t let them go on until I checked their work and really took the fun out of the computer work. I will have to pay attention to that as this course goes on. I had always felt like I was a technology savvy teacher, but I had always worked with high school kids who had been taught the skills in middle school. Being the middle school teacher is a WHOLE different ballgame. I do need some new strategies to help equal the playing field.
One of the things that I would like to try, after reading section two, is a parent training session. Since I have been in the district, I have only seen one parent night to address the PowerSchool needs. I know that I get a lot of parent calls or emails due to a lack of navigational skills, so I would really like to try to work with them to improve our communication. I don’t know that it is really an access to equipment issue, so much as an access to the teaching (the 2nd digital divide) necessary to maneuver the program. Even though I post my assignments with the requirements and an explanation, the parents can’t figure out how to get to it. I really want to help parents to help their children. I know that it won’t happen overnight, but maybe getting a conversation around this started at my next team meeting is the first step.
Overall, I really looked at equity through a different lens, and that is always a good thing. This chapter allowed me to be reflective on my practices and to see some of my weaker areas. It is hard to admit that I still have so much to learn, but I think the supplemental texts that I purchased will give me more of those skills and specific strategies that will aid me in those changes.
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 2: Bridging digital and cultural divides
TPCK for equity of access to technology
Due: January 21, 2009
The author’s definition of equity of access is certainly not what I had originally defined it as. I, like most educators, had limited it to the availability of equipment or Internet access. The three levels of access were not something that I had consciously previously considered in regard to technology. In fact, cultural awareness is just something that I try to be aware of all of the time. So it was important for me to see the author’s acknowledge
The lack of specific strategies for dealing with the three levels was a bit frustrating. I envisioned some sort of examples to help clarify the way to be technologically aware of cultural bias. It seemed as though the author’s blamed their lack of examples on it being a “wicked problem”, but a few specific suggestions would certainly have helped my teacher toolbox to expand.
I worry that I am a defensive teacher with my 5th graders. I really limit their own exploration in the lab because they are unable to do the tasks that I assign in a reasonable time frame. The first assignment I had was for them to type their newspaper article and use the computer to create a picture for their column. This simple task took almost three weeks! I was shocked. The next assignment was handled in a more controlled way. I hope that the book deals with strategies for teaching those socio-economically disadvantaged children who don’t come prepared with those basic typing and formatting skills. I felt like an ogre when I read about the “wait for me” aspect of the defensive teacher. I really did that. I wouldn’t let them go on until I checked their work and really took the fun out of the computer work. I will have to pay attention to that as this course goes on. I had always felt like I was a technology savvy teacher, but I had always worked with high school kids who had been taught the skills in middle school. Being the middle school teacher is a WHOLE different ballgame. I do need some new strategies to help equal the playing field.
One of the things that I would like to try, after reading section two, is a parent training session. Since I have been in the district, I have only seen one parent night to address the PowerSchool needs. I know that I get a lot of parent calls or emails due to a lack of navigational skills, so I would really like to try to work with them to improve our communication. I don’t know that it is really an access to equipment issue, so much as an access to the teaching (the 2nd digital divide) necessary to maneuver the program. Even though I post my assignments with the requirements and an explanation, the parents can’t figure out how to get to it. I really want to help parents to help their children. I know that it won’t happen overnight, but maybe getting a conversation around this started at my next team meeting is the first step.
Overall, I really looked at equity through a different lens, and that is always a good thing. This chapter allowed me to be reflective on my practices and to see some of my weaker areas. It is hard to admit that I still have so much to learn, but I think the supplemental texts that I purchased will give me more of those skills and specific strategies that will aid me in those changes.
TPCK Chapter 1 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 1: Introducing TPCK
Due: January 21, 2009
‘Technology integration’ has been at the forefront of my district’s professional learning goals at least since I was hired in 2004. It is the buzz phrase at all of our professional learning days and an essential agenda item of every faculty meeting. I know that it must be a real problem somewhere, but I have never really seen great resistance in my district. It is never “somebody else’s job.” People seem to be fully aware that we live in a digital age with new and continuously changing demands. What I found interesting is the way that the book suggests the small ways in which faculty limit themselves or the technology by the idea of “functional fixedness.” I think that is the real issue in my world.
We try to categorize the new technology in the same ways that we departmentalize all other tools. We try to identify their function and put them in the right place. The smartboard quickly became the math department’s toy, while the digital video cameras were reserved for the humanities folks. Just as the white board was said to be limited in its use only by teachers, we started limiting or technologies by their use in one department. That is slowly falling by the wayside, but we are still trapped by those subconscious constraints.
My district’s attempt to integrate technology effectively makes me so proud. We have one-to-one laptops 5-12 with a cart of brand new macbooks K-4. Our district sports strong administrative support and a great technology department. At times, I worry that our district’s focus on technology has caused a technology overload. Some assignments and tasks that could be done more efficiently by a more traditional means are forced awkwardly into the digital age in the name of technology integration. That focus on the TPCK model is the struggle in our lives. How do we achieve that balance of content, pedagogy and technology without tipping in the name of integration?
So much of what the chapter mentioned hit home with me, especially the need to integrate technology not as a stagnant content but as a complex skill base. Our school’s focus on literacy needs has also forced the staff to look at the technology literacy, what the authors refer to as technology knowledge, that the students must have to be successful in post-secondary ventures. Each student must learn the ways in which to incorporate these new technologies into their daily lives effectively. Students must become savvy in the interpretation of the vast amounts of knowledge that wash over them on a daily basis through those technological advances. Technology has changed the way the world works. Most everything is connected and available at the click of a button. Ultimately, we are trying to prepare students for a world that hasn’t even been imagined yet.
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 1: Introducing TPCK
Due: January 21, 2009
‘Technology integration’ has been at the forefront of my district’s professional learning goals at least since I was hired in 2004. It is the buzz phrase at all of our professional learning days and an essential agenda item of every faculty meeting. I know that it must be a real problem somewhere, but I have never really seen great resistance in my district. It is never “somebody else’s job.” People seem to be fully aware that we live in a digital age with new and continuously changing demands. What I found interesting is the way that the book suggests the small ways in which faculty limit themselves or the technology by the idea of “functional fixedness.” I think that is the real issue in my world.
We try to categorize the new technology in the same ways that we departmentalize all other tools. We try to identify their function and put them in the right place. The smartboard quickly became the math department’s toy, while the digital video cameras were reserved for the humanities folks. Just as the white board was said to be limited in its use only by teachers, we started limiting or technologies by their use in one department. That is slowly falling by the wayside, but we are still trapped by those subconscious constraints.
My district’s attempt to integrate technology effectively makes me so proud. We have one-to-one laptops 5-12 with a cart of brand new macbooks K-4. Our district sports strong administrative support and a great technology department. At times, I worry that our district’s focus on technology has caused a technology overload. Some assignments and tasks that could be done more efficiently by a more traditional means are forced awkwardly into the digital age in the name of technology integration. That focus on the TPCK model is the struggle in our lives. How do we achieve that balance of content, pedagogy and technology without tipping in the name of integration?
So much of what the chapter mentioned hit home with me, especially the need to integrate technology not as a stagnant content but as a complex skill base. Our school’s focus on literacy needs has also forced the staff to look at the technology literacy, what the authors refer to as technology knowledge, that the students must have to be successful in post-secondary ventures. Each student must learn the ways in which to incorporate these new technologies into their daily lives effectively. Students must become savvy in the interpretation of the vast amounts of knowledge that wash over them on a daily basis through those technological advances. Technology has changed the way the world works. Most everything is connected and available at the click of a button. Ultimately, we are trying to prepare students for a world that hasn’t even been imagined yet.
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