“What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must we want for all children in the community. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy” In response to the quote above...I just registered my first born child for kindergarten yesterday. Being an educator and then putting your own child into public education kid of helps to clarify for me what the parents of all the children I have taught for the last 8 years have really wanted from me when up until how it really hasn't been as clear. I think that what they wanted from me was to be teaching their children how to think. How to listen. How to learn in many different contexts. How to be adaptable. How to be perseverant when things get hard. I think that no matter what new expectations children are held to and no matter what new technologies are being used and introduced as long as they have the critical thinking and problem solving skills necessary.... they will be successful. How do your findings fit in with the other topics in this class: 21st century teaching & learning, equity of opportunity for students, the brain, inquiry-based learning, etc. I think that what this brain research touches on is that we as teachers need to tap into how the brain learns and make that the primary focus of how to teach children. Many times we loose sight of this because there are things coming at us in all directions. There was a picture that I found that seemed so appropriate for the discussion of the brain (seen above). The density of synapses in the brain is actually less dense from 7 years old to 15 years old. Why? Probably because in education we limit students creativity. As the video from a few classes ago by Ken Robinson stated, " All children have tremendous talents and we squander them pretty ruthlessly." Without a clear understanding of how the brain learns information and how to best teach so that students will learn we are really kind of wasting our time. Content ( what to teach) has overshadowed the need for attention to the pedagogy ( how to teach it). I think that the tips on Neurobiology and learning was a really helpful tool that teachers should be reminded of. The 4 C's is really the how....if we can teach our students HOW to be creative, think critically, communicate and collaborate we will be giving the gift of being able learn and navigate through any content they may be faced with. I really liked the Brainy Bunch page by Pat Wolfe and how it stated , "So the next time someone tells you that any student or group of students is destined to fail in school, don’t believe them. Their path is in their heads. If they have belief, hope and tenacity, there is no telling how far students can go." This further emphasizes the need for equity in education. If we make sure that all students have access to technology, tools and well trained teachers then there is no limit to what any child can achieve.
5 Comments
I think I have changed my essential question and it has evolved so much over the past few weeks that I kinda feel dizzy. I started by trying to focus on students of trauma. I mean that is the majority of the population at Shearer, but as I trying to bring the study into focus and be able to have clear-cut results I struggled to find a way to define whether or not the three pillars of trauma informed care would actually be having a positive affect on the learning of students in my classroom.
I can trace my essential question back to one of the first few classes we had in 701 where we were asked to find some different videos of technology in the classroom. I stumbled upon an app being used in the classroom and I was instantly drawn to it. I wanted to go to school and try it right away. Keeping a journal of my ongoing questions at the end of the week actually helped me to hone in on my questions. I was left so frustrated at the end of the week with how much I was being expected to implement and try and use with no real plan for how to do it. I realized that with the use of this new tool I found I might be able to solve some of my problems. Even since the beginning I have wanted to focus on closing the achievement gap. Originally I was planning on focusing on just students of trauma, but I think that limited the potency of my study. I didn't want to set limits on seeing if technology had a tried and true effect on student learning. I realized that there were some themes in the trainings I had attended and those themes were: student engagement, rigor, visible learning ,( goal setting and timely teacher feedback), and preparing students with 21st century skills. I was faced with the challenge of doing all this with the curriculum that we are required to use. I think and hope that my essential question and research could have some positive effects at a school level, state level and a national level. I think that closing the achievement gap is such a huge feat for teachers and there is definitely not a shortage of people trying to find ways to do it. I think, however, that we have gotten lost along the way and need some redirection. I think that there is an easier way to look a student learning on many levels without ripping our hair out. I also think that there is a way to boost students engagement and motivation in the meantime! I think 21st century learning can feel daunting expecially for lower grade levels. At least that is how it felt for me. I am searching for a way to reach these goals I have for my teaching with the use of different kinds of technology. I also hope there will be a positive effect on student learning and engagement. I still feel as though I need to hone in on just one aspect of this.... I am feeling really hopeful and pessimistic at the same time. I did a PBL training last week, a benchmark Advanced training and a grading summit this week and now I am just left to sit and stew in what it looks like to teach all these skills and make sure that all the standards are met but do it in a way that in engaging and relevant to all the varieties of different learners and ability levels in my classroom. I feel like this is a near impossible task. Every year I have been faced with the feat of trying to get all 24 students to read, write, speak in complete sentences, add and subtract within 20, wait their turn, show respect and still have enough time to have a little bit of fun in the process.
I think that the new app I am using this year will really help with helping with the use of technology because I will have a large database of student work samples to use along with informal assessment. I guess what I am saying is I need to get a couple really good tools that are proven successful for each area of the 4 c's that I can start using immediately such as: Communication: Sentence starters/ friendly feedback prompts Collaboration: teaching the act of what collaboration looks like ( taking turns when speaking, listening and re-stating what someone has said to check for understanding) Critical thinking: Comparing, contrasting, relating vocabulary and practice. Creativity: showing what you know is many different ways This is the case study I chose. This video is an example of 21st century learning because they are using the 4 c's and they are using technology in a valid way. There are high expectations for the students. Science is a natural engagement strategy and kids are clearly asking/ answering important questions as well. https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/first-grade-science Along with all the curriculum and strategies that they throw at us and expect us to know, understand and implement- at the end of the day.... you aren't a good teacher if you are stressed about what you are teaching. If its not fun to teach then why are we doing it that way? I strive to implement more science based lessons into my day that drive students to ask good questions and collaborate and communicate with one another. I'm going to take a breath now... repeat my " I am a good teacher" mantra and go back and do it all again tomorrow....
BOY OH BOY! I have been that person who struggles to nail down an essential question! There is so much that I want to know and I am having a hard time designing a question that has internal validity.
I need to take a survey to get some baseline data on classroom community and interpersonal relationships. I will use this data later on to help compile my focus group. I will also compare this survey to another survey later on to see if my treatments have worked and also to possibly see if there is a correlation between positive classroom surveys and reading and writing scores. I feel like I still have so much to figure out about this topic and I am also thinking that my essential question may change as the book said may happen. I need to research some trauma informed delivery models that fit my needs and the needs of my students. I also need to get some baseline data on reading and writing by giving a cold write and also completing my beginning of year Dibles benchmark assessment completed. OH! and one more thing! I have to get the Seesaw app up and running so I have a seamless way of collecting all this data!!!! wow...that a lot to do. What are you passionate about with regard to learning and why?
I am passionate about so much when it comes to learning. So much, actually, that I could go on forever. First and foremost I am passionate about the feeling that I get when I learn something new. Its an excitement that has fueled me my entire life. Honestly, when it comes right down to it, I think that the entire reason I became a teacher in the first place is rooted in my love for learning. In the teaching profession it is imperative that you are a life-long learner. Things are changing so quickly all the time. The students you teach are changing yearly, daily, if not by the minute. The curriculum is changing. The expectations for any given year are changing. Your colleagues are changing. I could go on. The need for teachers to be ready to jump in with both feet and learn how to use a new strategy or technique is frequent. I love this about teaching. I love adding to my practice. I love being wrong and finding a new way to do something. A way that is completely different from the way I did it before. I try to pass this love for learning on to my students. I tell them from day one that even though I am an adult and they may think that I have all the answers, that in reality, I really do not. I want them to challenge me and respectfully critique me. I got hired as a first grade teacher 8 years ago at Shearer Elementary and for anyone who may know the school I refer to it has a reputation of being a school that has a very high Hispanic population and we also have a very high population of students who are living in poverty. Most families do not speak English in the home and most qualify for free and reduced lunch. I think it is so wonderful to be bilingual. I wish I was closer to being bilingual myself, but the climb to the top of the mountain of knowledge that must be achieved in first grade feels a lot steeper when there is a language barrier and you are not able to teach in Spanish. That being said, learning does not come easily at the school I teach at, in fact it is very very hard. If you don't really love learning and believe wholeheartedly that what you do can change the world then you wouldn't do this job. If you don't believe that every child can learn regardless of their circumstances then you would go to teach somewhere else. The fact that the climb is so hard is what makes the journey so rewarding and fullfilling to me. I think there is something pretty special about the grade that I teach as well. In first grade they come in as such little guys and gals. They are so dependent on me. I find myself calling them my little ducklings because that is kind of how they seem. By the time they leave me they are transformed. They are readers and writers. They are mathematicians and scientists. I shed happy tears each year that I say goodbye to a class because of the amazing learning that has been done. What problems in your classroom might point you to your driving question?
Many of my students come from a low socioeconomic background. In most of these families both parents work and some even have more than one job to make ends meet. This means that mom and dad are not around much for support with schooling. My driving question will originate from one of two areas of interests for me. These interests originate from the needs of my students one being wellness and the other being play. Wellness is something that I started teaching in my classroom about 3 years ago. Many of my students come to school with an "invisible backpack" on and they carry around extra baggage from lack of routine, lack of sleep, and so many other factors. The teaching of wellness techniques has always seemed important to me, but I was never sure what its impact on learning and social and emotional health really was. That sparked an interest for me to go and find out. As far as my other potential driving question I had the pleasure of working with someone who was from the Queen of the Valley hospital and would come once a week to work with the 1st grade students. She taught them how to play games that were geared toward gross and fine motor development. The benefits for these students was endless. We got to talking about the importance of doing exercises that crossed the mid line. These exercises are imperative for the development of an area of the brain called the corpus callosum. I have heard that the corpus callosum plays a heavy role in reading and writing ability. In 1st grade these two skills are in their developmental stages. I am wondering if an increase of playtime and exercises that help with the development of the corpus callosum would in turn affect reading and writing ability.What will you “Need to Know” to answer that question? Before I can even begin to start answering either of the two questions of interest I will need to get baseline data to show where my students started from academically. I will need to have a group of students that I will observe and keep record of to see how their progress changes depending on the input that is being given. I will also need to see what research is out there that is already out there about this topic. What do you already know (from your own experience and from reading about)? I already know that both wellness strategies and play have positive effects on learning. I know that in most cases children will learn in a vacuum. Despite what strategies you impart on them they will make growth. I already know that a lot of learning and growth depends on what takes place at home which I have absolutely not control over, but as a former administrator once said we have to take action over the variables that we have control over and that is precisely what I intend to do. |
AuthorI am a first grade teacher who is passionate about her students and learning new things! Archives
January 2019
Categories |