New Year, Let's Video!

I would very much like to become better at video editing/production. It seems to me that there are some amazing examples of student work that gives them access to a professional class or consideration. Video is a great way to share ideas, give instructions, or present a body of work. That being said, poor video quality and editing can result in being dismissed or undervalued. I would like to become better at some video program, imovie or otherwise, so that I can teach my students to become fluent in that capacity as well.

Emotional Impact

As I continue to grow as a teacher, my sights set on different objectives or evolutions of those past. What I have been thinking about most this year is the impact of emotional response on education and the ability to learn. We recently lost our school counselor position, and while I think that this role is of great value in any school, I feel that all students in all settings could benefit from an understanding educator; one that makes them feel confident, cared for, and challenged. It is not enough to provide emotional consideration to struggling students alone. All students deserve a chance to be their best and the only way they can get that chance is if they are in a safe enough space to take risks.

In order to provide a safe environment for students, we all have to be explicitly taught how to be respectful and how to empower ourselves. We use Second Step curriculum to teach these skills and it delivers an impact I see clearly in my room and students. My class contributes to our school culture system, Positive Behavior Interventions Supports. We have made school posters for student expectations, pick up "positive paws" for our weekly raffle, and present at "expectation stations." PBIS and the Digital Age Learners Leadership Academy inspired me to deliver lessons on digital citizenship including making a student video on how to be Safe, Respectful, and Responsible when online. This year, I have made more effort in this respect, directly teaching rules for working with partners/groups and training to help students have good conversations.

Teaching to the individual is of the utmost importance. None of us are the same, so what works for, or is interesting to, one student may not be for another. This is why I find the inquiry model so exciting; it is more difficult to deliver, but the impact of the meaningfulness for the students trumps any curriculum I would have "made them learn." Likewise, one type of redirection, praise, or feedback that gives security to a student, allowing them to be their best, may not have optimal outcomes for others, in fact, it usually doesn't. It is as if I have 30 registers for 30 students. At the end of the day, I feel that my job is one of a facilitator or coach. I cannot go out and make the play (or learn) for them. They have to want it. I can show them how, give them opportunity to practice, and guide them with feedback, but they are the ones who need to try their hardest. They will only do that if they can take risks, if they have confidence, feel cared for, and are used to rising to the challenge.

Go Get'em, New Teacher

What seems to surprise me, without exception, is that no matter how much anticipation, analyses, or preparation is made, things are never quite what one expected they would be. This reminds me of every time I moved somewhere new, took on a new position, and attended one event or another. What has surprised me the most is the degree of misconception I made about becoming a teacher. From the outside looking in, I thought that it was fairly straight-forward; come to school, teach some curriculum, enjoy the company of students and staff, assess for ability, design neat projects, go home, and start again. Instead, this path has left me astounded with the intricacies and complexity of a world that is ever evolving with varying levels of intensity both in emotional and intellectual capacities. The volume of responsibilities school employees are asked of outside of the ongoings of the classroom where hidden to me as part of the general population. As an insider, there are opportunities at every turn, so much so that one can become easily overwhelmed. Knowing when to take up an extra task on top of all other expectations and when to respectfully decline that opportunity is vital.

Likewise, I never knew the emotional complexity in working with thirty children every day of the school year. Even as a substitute teacher I was able to leave my work at school. Having a new group of students each day proved to be something of a relief. There were times when I told myself, "I'll never do that again" or "I could have handled that better," but the reality was that my relationship with that class, student, or lesson had ended at the end of the day. There was not an opportunity to mend a relationship or better reteach a concept lost. The learning curve in having one's own classroom is a drastic one. There is no better lesson than experience, and until a teacher has their own classroom and set of students, there is no way to convey the massive undertaking of being an educator.

The thing I try to remind new teachers at my site is that they should only take on what they are comfortable with. All teachers seem to remember their first year and most reflect on how challenging it was. With that, most site members will be entirely empathetic. The other piece of advice I like to give as it helped me when I was first starting out is to hang in there... it does get better. The sharp learning curve comes with difficult lessons to learn, but valuable all the while, and this is reflected in each year as teaching continues to become that wonderful, exciting, and meaningful career we all thought it would be.

Field Trip Meme

Tech cause Tech

In our last meeting, although these have felt more like gatherings of like minded individuals with a common goal (I am not sure all meetings are), there was great discussion at the Humboldt site. The shared conversation via Hangouts was invaluable as participants in other counties made terrific points that our site hadn't yet considered and articulated more clearly the perspectives we were less able to define. I am certain that all groups had equally engaging conversations at each site. Unfortunately, the dynamics of DALLA's size and span make hearing all of those comments  impossible; however, by its very nature, our Digital Academy virtually allows professionals to communicate clearly... no ocean too wide.

In one of our short breakout sessions in considering SAMR scale questions I made the comment that I did not wish to teach technology for the sake of technology. A member in our group was struck by that. After I finished my thought, she asked what I had meant by my comment, stating that she faces a similar mentality at her site, and in our profession, quite frankly. After hearing my words restated, I understood her reason for flagging my remark. In her experience, some teachers, especially those with decades of experience, reject the idea of introducing new technology or the application thereof into their teaching. This can be for multiple reasons, the more obvious being the enormous task of taking on and synthesizing something new and/or the notion that it is a waste of time. And I suppose that, given the latter sentiment, she was not too far off in her analysis of my statement.

When we were discussing the lessons for their level of technological impact, we found ourselves, other sites included, disagreeing to some degree. As we move up the SAMR scale, what seems to develop is how technology has facilitated and altered a lesson. There were several occasions when participants disagreed on a facet of a lesson that was either Substitution or Augmentation, Modification or Redefinition. As I considered this, and flip-flopped while I listened to others, it became more clear to me. The SAMR model and technology in the classroom should at least practically and at best philosophically improve a memorable learning experience for a student. How is this application better helping my student understand the standard of focus? What I found was I would perhaps overestimate the impact of the technological component. It seemed to me to be a slippery slope.

This is why I said, "I do not want to teach technology for the sake of technology," at least through a SAMR lense. For example, Polaroid cameras were a modern marvel. They redefined photographs by way of appealing to our impulsive nature to see our pictures immediately... well, almost. I would not consider, however, their employment in a lesson to be anything more than a Substitution for a drawing. Camcorders were amazing. In an affordable fashion we could film something and play it back, copy it, share it. Now I can't implement this technology because it doesn't communicate with anything made after 2001. So, is it important to teach technology? How it was made? What its intent and effect was? The conditions which brought it about? Of course. But when we consider the impact of technology on an "everyday" lesson, we should not simply settle for word processing our final drafts. I mentioned to my DALLA partner that the way she interpreted my statement didn't even occur to me. "Technology is like air," I said. "You can't avoid teaching it; you are surrounded by it. These students are of a different time. We're learning it; they're living it." Obviously we word process. Even that sounds antiquated. It seemed to me that some things didn't need to be said.

What I am noticing is that with time, everything is replaced by inspiring the next application (or generation), some which will redefine our lessons, teaching, and impact. As Isaac Newton said, "if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Perhaps I wasn't that far off in my first-ever blog title, "The DALLA Continuum."

The DALLA Continuim

As a third year  educator, I consider myself fortunate to have entered into a field that seems to be launching at the beginning of my career. While at times the demands of an educator and the endless possibilities can be daunting, they are the very reasons why this profession is so exciting and ever progressive. As Soren Kierkegaard once said, "to dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself." The face of education is changing and we find ourselves interlinked in order to meet the challenges of the myriad of ways we can synthesize technology and education. I eagerly look forward to learning, exploring, sharing, and applying technological integration.  In a position that is so foreign and vast, I am happy to know that the DALLA community will be one which provides these opportunities.