As a digital immigrant and
techno-traditionalist, the idea of “building/creating” a web-based application
was a little overwhelming to consider. Thankfully, the pace of the class and emphasis
on process versus product allowed me to venture with less anxiety than a final
assessment would typically induce. The process provided me the opportunity to
engage in a pedagogical reform that I can implement in the fall. Otherwise, applications
and digital tools would have remained something I read about, shared with
colleagues and mentees, and something “other” people did. You could say I was not a technology risk taker. As a result of being
“pushed” into creation mode, I believe I will be able to create a hybrid
pedagogy for my teachers and bring them along at whatever stage they are at; and
I intend to grow and learn beside them.
My
decision to create a LiveBinder for my mentees was not my first choice because
it lacks the creativity and beauty some of the other tools offer. It sounds
simple, but something more visually appealing, colorful, and interactive
interested me. However, the most practical resource that my teachers would find
beneficial is LiveBinder. I typically provide hard and electronic copies to my
teachers communicating everything from informational flyers and documents to
official forms and templates that are part of the evaluation process or
district mandated lesson planning expectations. Sending these documents clogs
up email, becomes redundant and tedious for me. This system is weak; it is too
heavily reliant on me “the person” in the system my teachers depend on to
communicate this information to them. It is more empowering for them to have one location to access everything they need.
Although
LiveBinder still requires my time, effort, and energy, it minimizes my
revisiting the same documents and also provides one place for teachers to
access these required documents in the event they lose or delete them from
their email. They have more control of accessing information because is always
“live” versus contacting me to pass information to them. This is important
because as new and veteran teachers in the district, learning where to
investigate for resources is important because they will not always have a
mentor to lean on. Also, our PPSD district site tends to bury a lot of valuable
information that teachers do not even know exists because it is simply too
complicated to find or stumble upon when perusing the site. Hyperlinks, which is a new skill for me, will also aid in connecting my teachers to information!
In
addition, I am exploring LiveBinder as an opportunity to provide different
avenues for professional growth in the form of articles, videos, and other
topics my teachers may not have previously considered in their practice. For
example, a binder with a list of children’s books that address prejudices could
serve as an avenue teachers had not previously thought of exploring.
The first
thing I did was populate my page with binder titles I knew I would gather
materials for and populate: Who are our students?, Cross-Content Graphic
Organizers, PPSD Employee Resources, Inspiration, Children’s Books that Address Prejudice,
Educator Evaluation Documents, ESL Resources, Group Participation Structures,
Reading Strategies (before-during-after). Then I began populating the binders
appropriately with my electronic collection of professional resources. As I was
uploading and populating the binders, more binder topics flowed into my mind,
which I will pursue as I continue to work on my site.
The other
technology I am constructing is in the form of a blog where my teachers,
although I will open it to all teachers in the community, can go to for support
from each other. They can serve as professional resources to one another and
build upon their own teacher leadership in the form of mentoring one another.
This also serves as evidence for Standard IV of the evaluation rubric they will
be expected to produce. More important than evaluation purposes, I am hoping to
build an authentic professional learning community and safe environment where
teachers can engage with each other in a “risk-free” zone to explore the
successes and challenges of urban teaching and learning. It may be a lofty
vision, but it could perhaps be a transformative step in their development as
individuals as well as a community.
One small action step I plan to focus more on
with my teachers in the fall is the critical eye towards media that needs to be
developed in the students. Maybe my experience as an ELA teachers for many
years leads me to take for granted the emphasis on evaluation of sources and
questioning “evidence” before it is cited as fact, but this is a skill that
teachers should be developing with teachers and I will make it a point to
include this for them to consider when I lesson plan with them and works
closely developing units. The theory on Wikipedia as a transparent form of
information available to us due to system in place to evaluate the newly added
information and the collective knowledge used to construct it was very powerful
for me. I think teachers are quick to dismiss the site, but it could be a point
of learning for teachers and students alike, especially because of its strong
presence on the web and its important role in pop culture.
One thing I can't wait to share with my teachers is the PechaKucha format for presenting! I think the kids will have a blast with that! I also think when we plan PD for our teachers, it could be a cool thing to model for them so they can see it in action and be inspired to implement it with the students! it found it difficult to commit to a script, but the creative/collage process forced me think about exactly what I wanted to say in the same way. Language for me comes more organically, so writing an actual "speech" was hard because I kept changing the ideas and words I tried to commit to, but with practice I could do it. And my experience in doing my own will also be valuable for my teachers to hear about and giggle with me about how excruciating it was for me!
The most
important action step, and what I believe will be the most impactful in terms
of my own professional growth and intellectual engagement as a result of this
course, is to not back away from technology or lean on “the boys” to produce,
connect, or tap into all of the technology our team uses. I plan to collaborate
more with one colleague in particular who will mentor me and invest time with
me on new technological endeavors. I am hoping this will create a professional
learning community among us, as learners and producers of digital technology.
The idea will be to develop more of the technological side of the mentoring
practice and work with teachers to implement hybrid learning experiences for
their students as well. Some of the tools are user-friendly enough for teachers
to dive into without a ton of studying or preparation, similar to the
experience we had in class this session with immediately creating a blog and
experimenting with the technology tools in small groups on the second day.
By
taking steps to create in the digital word, rather than always consume, I am at
the very beginning stages of Noon’s techno-constructivist category. The biggest
benefit I see as a constructivist is the empowerment that can be gained as a
result of engaging in new media and contributing to the vast world the web
offers. It has the ability to be the strongest form of personalized instruction
and growth if one is willing to commit to the process and exploring exactly
what exists and what can be developed.
This
experience aligns me more to the youth I serve because I am “hacking” into their
world. It will serve as another tool I can use to relate to them and share that
will my teachers so they can do the same. This process has provided a great
amount of growth in a very short time. It was the most effective use of
classroom time I have ever experienced.
SELF-ASSESSMENT
EXCELLET GREAT GOOD PASSING UNACCEPTABLE
narrative context - X
Who am I? - X
3 course themes - X
something new - X
hyperlinks - X
writing style - X
writing skills - X
