Looking back:
What have I learned this summer?
A lot! Going back over my reflections from class reveals these authentic learning moments:
“We were tossed into our first quick fire activity - where we had to make a video story problem after watching the example from the presenters. Their example asked how many combinations of enchiladas you could order at a local restaurant based on the options available on the menu. I worked with Marianna Jennings and we posed the problem of calculating what percentage of a building is covered in windows. We could have made it cooler but we did our best and it worked well I think.” - 7/9/15
“Something is due by Monday and this website will be our primary way of putting up our work for the class. I’m starting to work with Weebly - the instructors gave us a set of guidelines to follow. I need to make sure I don’t overthink this! Get started, it’s not a set of stairs that has to be cut perfectly - I just need to get stuff on there and remember that I can revise anytime. I don’t want to waste my life on this!” - 7/10/15
“Today I was really deep into my work with the video. I filmed this morning before class and took a lot of time during the day to edit and enhance the video by adding multiple pictures with quotes that added deeper meaning to the narrative that I wrote yesterday. I am amazed at the amount of work that I have managed to get done.” - 7/21/15
I chose these quotes to show how the process of learning can and should be a very active one. In this class, I’ve learned how to use technology effectively to produce online products and I’ve learned that ideas can be powerfully represented through combinations of images, videos and text. But in the process of learning these skills and concepts, I’ve also learned that active engagement is a powerful teaching approach.
What is new about this experience?
There have been many new experiences for me in this project. These included new technologies, skills and concepts. In my reflections I noted the following:
“Today was a blur of the new...We started by using a new way of asking questions (plickers) where we responded by holding up a geometric shape that the presenter scanned to get the results. Then we took selfies and posted them to twitter. (new to me!)” - 7/8/15
“...we moved on to discussing the readings on TPACK which looks at the expertise of teachers in figuring out how to find the natural classroom intersections between pedagogy, content, and technology. We played a game where we were given two of the three and had to come up with the third. For example we had Laboratory experience for P, reading literacy for C and for T we decided it would be fun/hilarious for kids to make 1-2 minute videos of how they did their experiment along with their results based off of a complex procedure.” - 7/13/15
“The website is well away. I’ve got most of the pages set up, but there is plenty more to do! Beyond all that, we made two videos today, one about misconceptions where Daphne and I debated whether or not people have blue blood in their veins. “My Daddy Said!” was her main argument which is an important source of misconceptions. Next we made the broken laws of physics stop motion video - we did one on entropy.” - 7/16/15
I chose these quotes to show that the newness was not just technology, but really the TPACK concept of an integration of concepts, teaching styles and technology. This was the big new experience I had at MSUrbanSTEM. Looking back at my reflection notes, I can see how TPACK was actively used in the process of creating this class. It made for an exciting learning experience.
How does this learning experience matter to me? Why?
My philosophy as a teacher is to ride the waves of change that are a constant part of education. It is tempting to dig in and resist the new theories and ideas because, you know, “the more things change, the more they stay the same…” I try to resist this line of thinking and instead engage new ideas as they come. MSUrbanSTEM has brought me face to face with several new ideas about education. Engaging these ideas has challenged me to reflect on my teaching practice and consider how I can improve. In my reflections this engagement can be seen in the following notes:
“We spent time discussing the reading about constructive teaching and misconceptions. In the reading, Ms. O’Brien’s class spent several days debating and experimenting about a claim to do with the warmth in clothes and blankets. It was a great case study that brought up a lot of key issues in education - one issue that spoke to me was the concept of developmental stages and when children are really ready to learn certain concepts. I don’t know that we came to a real solution, but it was an insightful discussion.” - 7/17/15
“I struggled with the whole add a quote or line to an image to bring my idea to life thing. I get annoyed with the over simplification of ideas, I actually appreciate the complexities of ideas.” - 7/17/15
“Our readings for today were about sticky teaching and walking in student’s shoes. The sticky teaching reading presented us with the 7 rules of creating a sticky lesson. The rules I want to run with are emotions and storytelling. People love stories and this takes advantage of that. The walking in kids shoes article was an eye opener that all teachers should read. We forget what the kids go through and lose our empathy for them. It’s a gut check to read about how frustrated and tired kids get in our classes. It’s important to remember the little things, like giving them time to get up and stretch and the importance of not being sarcastic.” - 7/22/15
I chose these quotes because they demonstrate the engagement I felt as part of this class. Each reading and activity sparked internal debates about the nature of knowledge and learning. The course was richly engaging in both the readings and activities.
Looking Forward:
I see this summer’s experience influencing me in that I will start thinking about my teaching in terms of TPACK. Technology, pedagogy and content were always separate issues in my mind before this course - with technology usually getting the short shrift. In the future I will consider how all three of these pieces need to fit together in order to give my students a transformational learning experience.
My experience with MSUrbanSTEM has changed my view of teaching substantially. Previously I felt that teaching was primarily about pedagogy with content being less important and technology only functioning as a tool for presenting or transmitting material to students. I have been to so many professional development programs that emphasize pedagogy exclusively that my views had been somewhat narrowed about content and technology. This course has helped me re-see the critical value in content and the importance of technology as part of the learning experience. The timing of this is nice because I will be teaching International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Biology this coming year and their curriculum pulls no punches when it comes to content knowledge.
I plan to take several things from this experience and use them in my classroom. My Deep Play Group topic is aesthetics and I’m going to focus on storytelling. I want to enliven the content by tying concepts to stories with emotional weight. The challenge is to research such stories and present them in an aesthetically powerful way. Another part of this experience that I want to use in my classroom will be experiential learning. I feel I am already good at giving my students open-ended learning experiences, but this course really underscored the power of this type of learning. I want to ensure that students in my classes are regularly engaged in project-based learning that provides them with opportunities to try, fail, get support, help each other and eventually succeed. Finally I want to bring greater style and creativity to my classroom. I’ve never been much of a stylish teacher and this is something I want to improve. I have a knack for coming up with cool activities for students to do, but my presentation methods have been pretty boring - mostly word docs and power points. MSUrbanSTEM showed me how lessons can be delivered in myriad ways and mixed up with cool side stories, games, pictures, connections to random facts and so on. These bits of frosting make the learning experience more fun for students and I think they can make teaching more fun.
What have I learned this summer?
A lot! Going back over my reflections from class reveals these authentic learning moments:
“We were tossed into our first quick fire activity - where we had to make a video story problem after watching the example from the presenters. Their example asked how many combinations of enchiladas you could order at a local restaurant based on the options available on the menu. I worked with Marianna Jennings and we posed the problem of calculating what percentage of a building is covered in windows. We could have made it cooler but we did our best and it worked well I think.” - 7/9/15
“Something is due by Monday and this website will be our primary way of putting up our work for the class. I’m starting to work with Weebly - the instructors gave us a set of guidelines to follow. I need to make sure I don’t overthink this! Get started, it’s not a set of stairs that has to be cut perfectly - I just need to get stuff on there and remember that I can revise anytime. I don’t want to waste my life on this!” - 7/10/15
“Today I was really deep into my work with the video. I filmed this morning before class and took a lot of time during the day to edit and enhance the video by adding multiple pictures with quotes that added deeper meaning to the narrative that I wrote yesterday. I am amazed at the amount of work that I have managed to get done.” - 7/21/15
I chose these quotes to show how the process of learning can and should be a very active one. In this class, I’ve learned how to use technology effectively to produce online products and I’ve learned that ideas can be powerfully represented through combinations of images, videos and text. But in the process of learning these skills and concepts, I’ve also learned that active engagement is a powerful teaching approach.
What is new about this experience?
There have been many new experiences for me in this project. These included new technologies, skills and concepts. In my reflections I noted the following:
“Today was a blur of the new...We started by using a new way of asking questions (plickers) where we responded by holding up a geometric shape that the presenter scanned to get the results. Then we took selfies and posted them to twitter. (new to me!)” - 7/8/15
“...we moved on to discussing the readings on TPACK which looks at the expertise of teachers in figuring out how to find the natural classroom intersections between pedagogy, content, and technology. We played a game where we were given two of the three and had to come up with the third. For example we had Laboratory experience for P, reading literacy for C and for T we decided it would be fun/hilarious for kids to make 1-2 minute videos of how they did their experiment along with their results based off of a complex procedure.” - 7/13/15
“The website is well away. I’ve got most of the pages set up, but there is plenty more to do! Beyond all that, we made two videos today, one about misconceptions where Daphne and I debated whether or not people have blue blood in their veins. “My Daddy Said!” was her main argument which is an important source of misconceptions. Next we made the broken laws of physics stop motion video - we did one on entropy.” - 7/16/15
I chose these quotes to show that the newness was not just technology, but really the TPACK concept of an integration of concepts, teaching styles and technology. This was the big new experience I had at MSUrbanSTEM. Looking back at my reflection notes, I can see how TPACK was actively used in the process of creating this class. It made for an exciting learning experience.
How does this learning experience matter to me? Why?
My philosophy as a teacher is to ride the waves of change that are a constant part of education. It is tempting to dig in and resist the new theories and ideas because, you know, “the more things change, the more they stay the same…” I try to resist this line of thinking and instead engage new ideas as they come. MSUrbanSTEM has brought me face to face with several new ideas about education. Engaging these ideas has challenged me to reflect on my teaching practice and consider how I can improve. In my reflections this engagement can be seen in the following notes:
“We spent time discussing the reading about constructive teaching and misconceptions. In the reading, Ms. O’Brien’s class spent several days debating and experimenting about a claim to do with the warmth in clothes and blankets. It was a great case study that brought up a lot of key issues in education - one issue that spoke to me was the concept of developmental stages and when children are really ready to learn certain concepts. I don’t know that we came to a real solution, but it was an insightful discussion.” - 7/17/15
“I struggled with the whole add a quote or line to an image to bring my idea to life thing. I get annoyed with the over simplification of ideas, I actually appreciate the complexities of ideas.” - 7/17/15
“Our readings for today were about sticky teaching and walking in student’s shoes. The sticky teaching reading presented us with the 7 rules of creating a sticky lesson. The rules I want to run with are emotions and storytelling. People love stories and this takes advantage of that. The walking in kids shoes article was an eye opener that all teachers should read. We forget what the kids go through and lose our empathy for them. It’s a gut check to read about how frustrated and tired kids get in our classes. It’s important to remember the little things, like giving them time to get up and stretch and the importance of not being sarcastic.” - 7/22/15
I chose these quotes because they demonstrate the engagement I felt as part of this class. Each reading and activity sparked internal debates about the nature of knowledge and learning. The course was richly engaging in both the readings and activities.
Looking Forward:
I see this summer’s experience influencing me in that I will start thinking about my teaching in terms of TPACK. Technology, pedagogy and content were always separate issues in my mind before this course - with technology usually getting the short shrift. In the future I will consider how all three of these pieces need to fit together in order to give my students a transformational learning experience.
My experience with MSUrbanSTEM has changed my view of teaching substantially. Previously I felt that teaching was primarily about pedagogy with content being less important and technology only functioning as a tool for presenting or transmitting material to students. I have been to so many professional development programs that emphasize pedagogy exclusively that my views had been somewhat narrowed about content and technology. This course has helped me re-see the critical value in content and the importance of technology as part of the learning experience. The timing of this is nice because I will be teaching International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Biology this coming year and their curriculum pulls no punches when it comes to content knowledge.
I plan to take several things from this experience and use them in my classroom. My Deep Play Group topic is aesthetics and I’m going to focus on storytelling. I want to enliven the content by tying concepts to stories with emotional weight. The challenge is to research such stories and present them in an aesthetically powerful way. Another part of this experience that I want to use in my classroom will be experiential learning. I feel I am already good at giving my students open-ended learning experiences, but this course really underscored the power of this type of learning. I want to ensure that students in my classes are regularly engaged in project-based learning that provides them with opportunities to try, fail, get support, help each other and eventually succeed. Finally I want to bring greater style and creativity to my classroom. I’ve never been much of a stylish teacher and this is something I want to improve. I have a knack for coming up with cool activities for students to do, but my presentation methods have been pretty boring - mostly word docs and power points. MSUrbanSTEM showed me how lessons can be delivered in myriad ways and mixed up with cool side stories, games, pictures, connections to random facts and so on. These bits of frosting make the learning experience more fun for students and I think they can make teaching more fun.