Final+Reflection

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I cannot remember where I heard this, but it certainly fit my experience this summer. I thought I was taking these courses to become more knowledgeable, but it turns out this experience is as much about how my students learn as it is a means for my own professional development. We started out learning about learning, (Is that betalearning?) by reading Shulman. Prior knowledge is the lens through which students view and absorb new information. So it must be the start of learning. Before asking my students to read a chapter in a textbook, I am in the habit of first going over the key vocabulary they will encounter. This helps them comprehend the new material they will read and gets them to begin organizing these new ideas into their own mind maps. Until the courses this summer, I did not realize how big an impact accessing prior knowledge has on learning. Consequently, I am going to add to my repertoire, more strategies to get a handle on what the students know, or rather what they think they know, as I begin each unit. Since I teach the technology course to Kindergarten through Eighth Grade, I’ll employ different strategies. For the younger students we will talk about what they already know and begin a KWL chart on the SMARTboard. For the slightly older students, I’ll ask them to either draw a picture or write a few sentences (their choice) in an individual Google Presenter slide. Then we’ll look at all of them. For the Junior High students, we will use the forms in Google spreadsheet for a surveyor open a Google Doc and anonymously write several sentences or text them questions. By ascertaining what facts, attitudes and misconceptions the students have, I am able to see a snapsho t of what they know. Only then, can I focus on what I want them to know and design effective lesson plans and teaching strategies.

I have been told over and over in my Teacher classes that an authentic experience is necessary to motivate students. I have incorporated this into my teaching because people who study motivation and pedagogy for a living say it’s important and they obviously know a lot more about it than I do. So I consistently make the effort to include this strategy in my lesson plans. But I did not believe it. After all, I did not have authentic experiences when I was in school and I managed to motivate myself enough to be working towards my Masters. hen, while I am taking the Masters in Educational Technology program at MSU, our professor posts our “demotivational posters” on his blog. Ok that was nice of him and yeah, I did get a kick out of it. I started to get excited when someone commented about the posters. And that It was Daniel Pink, a well known motivational speaker. And he liked them so much, he tweeted about them. And then people re-tweeted. Until it spread like a virus all over the world. And soon I had this mental image( I think it was an old commercial) of a man in a desert laughing when he saw our poster on his smart phone and him thinking it was amusing enough to show his wife. That’s very exciting. And now, I see how having an authentic experience motivates students. Because from then on, for the rest of the assignments, in the MAET courses (9 credits in 6 weeks). From then on, I wanted to do good work. I mean really good work because you never know, the world might see my work, and they might like it well enough to show their spouse.

Gardner says that it is scientifically verifiable, that it is easier to change minds when they are younger than when they are older. I think the above story may just prove the point! First of all, I do not think of myself as old but I am 50 (half a century old as my brother often reminds me). And as I walked into these courses, I am open to having my mind changed, which as Gardner points out makes it much more likely to happen. I think these courses have set me on the road to being a teacher who purposefully, consciously turns her students on to learning. Thereby stimulating the student to continue pursuing the material even after the chapter test is graded. I get to help my students learn the skills of being a lifelong learner. A powerful way to change minds is offering multiple representations of the material because once one has played with a concept in various contexts, then the concepts seem more concrete, more three dimensional. Another reason to present the material in different modes: analytical (logical/mathical, musical, natural), introspective (intrapersonal, visual, existential) and interactive (kinesthetic, audio/linguistic, interpersonal) is because different people find one particular mode makes it easier to decode and then re-code in an organized fashion that makes it more likely to be retrievable when needed.

Our study of Backward Design reminded me of how effective starting with the goal in mind can be for lesson planning. It is a simple, effective pedagogical method that frankly is also applicable to many of my life’s goals.

TPaCK

The pivotal reading in what I truly feel has been an epiphany in my teaching philosophy.

“Technology is a powerful tool in a teacher’s arsenal. I believe technology can transform learning.”

That’s what I felt at the end of the certification courses. But what I have come to understand is that Technology does not lead into good teaching. Technology has to be a part of the “recipe” of effective understanding. I now see the difference. "Good teaching" is all about how I perform, how well I can show my students the material. More specifically, as the technology teacher, how well I expose my students to all the in’s and out’s of the software and hardware we have in our school, that they will be using in the future.

"Effective understanding" involves all the things I talked about already, exposing prior knowledge, presenting multiple representations of the material in an authentic way, and backward design. Real understanding comes from the ever changing flow of the mix of Content Expertise, Pedagogy and Technology. The magic is in the mix. I have to go beyond my knowledge of Science and Computers, technologies, and pedagogical techniques in isolation. That was my “Ahh “ moment. **That they cannot be in isolation**. Just like in a recipe, how I use one of these three elements //will// directly affect how the other two elements interact and more importantly, the end result. Most of the technologies available today were not designed specifically for education. For example, texting was not invented so that I can generate a survey to assess my student prior knowledge but that is what I am going to use it for next year. The added benefit of this, is that maybe the student is curious and looks it up on Google. Now they are thinking about materials outside of school. If I did not start from the end goal and use portions of the my Technology, Pedagogy **and** Content Knowledge to reach that objective, then I wouldn’t be looking at the new, innovative, cool technologies to see how I can repurpose them into “teachnologies”, for my students. As a teacher I have to go beyond using technology because it innovative and cool. I have to decide what “big Ideas” my students need to understand then I have to decide what technology I can twist ( and the logistics of doing that) into being another way for my students to interact with the content so that they get a richer understanding of the material.

 I am also aware that my students may very well be more proficient at some technologies than I. And that’s OK, because while I am learning from them, other students are too.

I am so glad to have concrete evidence that technology is more than just "cool" for students to use. This series of classes and more specifically the team of people who designed and executed them, have coalesced something at the core of my being. By arming me with all this information on behavior and motivation and creativity and understanding ,understanding and backward design, it is as if you have given me permission to be creative, even though I am not artistic. Permission to use technology not because the students will like it but because it offers them another dimension to the material we are covering and its essential that they are exposed to these many dimensions for their understanding. Permission to be, the change in my building among my peers, instead of just being more than willing to help. And for that, I am grateful for having had the opportunity to be a part of this MAET Summer 2010 experience. This particular combination of fellow teachers and instructors feed on each other and produced powerful changes in all of us. I am just a little sad for the students I taught last year because I am a better teacher now and that is going to directly translate into what my students will take away from my classes this year.

Looking forward. <span style="border-bottom: medium none; border-top: medium none; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;"> <span style="border-bottom: medium none; border-top: medium none; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">I am lucky enough to have both a Pastor and a Principal who believe that we, as a school need to keep up on technology which is an admittedly expensive philosophy. In my school, I am leader in Technology. This past year, I have talked and talked and talked to the PTA, to parents, to student, to the parish council , to the Knight of Columbus about the disservice we were doing to our students by not having a SMARTboard, projector and document camera in every classroom so that we could use the resources available on the internet. Three SMARTboard were installed at the end of May and it looks like there is the money for two more this year. Now I really have a responsibility to my colleagues to help them become comfortable enough to use these tool to their fullest extent. I have demonstrated the in's and out's of new equipment in more formal instructions to the two teachers who have SMARTboards, enough so they could begin to use them. Next year I plan to drop into their classrooms and ask them what new aspect did they weave into their lessons. At the same time I can show them some aspect I had used. I started this last year, and it helped. I am not sure I would call this learning so much as sharing, and all three of us benefited from it.

<span style="border-bottom: medium none; border-top: medium none; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">The other Staff development I would like to pursue next year is to ask the my Fifth grader computer class to become the Technology Coaches for third grade. This is also the basis for my Dream IT project which is available here.

<span style="border-bottom: medium none; border-top: medium none; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">I have decided not to wait for the funding for the flip video cameras. I can start the Fifth graders becoming Technology Coaches without the cameras. I have already met with Mrs. A, the third grade teacher and she was wonderfully willing to join me on this pilot program. I can foresee this being continued with a different teacher and grade the following year.

<span style="border-bottom: medium none; border-top: medium none; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">As you know, my husband , Mike, also was part of the MAET Summer 2010 program. I already see advantages to sharing this experience with him. We have been bouncing ideas of implementing the TPaCK model off one another as it relates to our very different content areas. I can already see how we will be egging each other this coming school year. I think we will keep our mutual enthusiasm's levels high by this interchange.

<span style="border-bottom: medium none; border-top: medium none; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">My more formal professional development will come from taking CEP 820 where we'll be learning how to teach K-12 students online. I will be taking that class online this fall. Taking this class will allow me to receive my NP endorsement.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I attend the MACULhttp://macul.org )Conference every year. This is a conference where I get to learn about specific technologies that have already become "teachnologies" from fellow teachers who have used them in the classrooms. There are several colleagues from other schools whom I regularly connect with at this conference, which gives me another opportunity for professional development. This organization also has their own Ning. This site is a good example of using social networking for educational gain. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">"MACUL Space is a place for past, present, and future MACUL members to stay connected, learn from one another, and gain firsthand experience with powerful Web 2.0 tools. You could read or reply to a blog post or a forum discussion, watch a few videos, start your own personal blog, or join a Special Interest Group for a more focused discussion."

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before this summer I had only used Photoshop to change the size of my images. I had a chance to play with it a little in the last 3 weeks. Here an example of what I created: ||=  ||

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was fun and I can see instances where I could use this sort of thing. There is a gal at the Lapeer Art Gallery who is outstanding at using Photoshop. I am going to talk to her and see if we can work out a deal, where I provide her with beef for her freezer and she lets me in on some of the secrets of Photoshop.

<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ISTE is an association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving learning and teaching by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and higher education.We took a peek into the ISTE convention and I will continue to stay connected via an RSS feed on my Igoogle page.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have seen the powerful ideas and problem solving that can happen when people from diverse professions come work together. And along that vein I am going to read " The Collected Works of Robert Frost by Robert Frost". I chose this poet because my Dad often read passages of his poems to us andlike the "ABC" excercise, I am hoping to see a different perspective of our world while basking in warm memories of my Dad.