Time flies when you are engaged and learning a lot! Where did I start....as an Academic Specialist much of my job is focused on data, foundational skills and assessments. My job is to make sure teachers know how to give assessements, make sure data is being looked at, organized professional development around assessments and data. Rarely do I get to talk about student engagement, creativity or what motivates students to learn. In fact, much of my job revolves around what teachers percieve to be "carrots and sticks". Teachers often see data and assessments as a reward and/or punishment...instead of a check point, or a tool to drive instruction.
What has changed?.....I know that my job will always be tied to data and assessments. The district and state needs accountablitity to prove that teachers are teaching and students are learning. I think the big shift for me is that while we still need data, assessments and foundational skills....that should not be the basis for our instruction. Kids do not aspire to have amazing foundational skills. They aspire to be scientist, inventors, artists and creators. It is our job to make learning so engageing that they want to learn those foundational skills because they need them to do the tasks. They want to see their own data and feedback to see how much they have improved. They enjoy taking the assessments becasue it allows them to show off their learning. I think that this transformation will take time. Moving people away from assessments being the focus, to assessments being a by product or a measurement of exciting learning will not be easy. I think we can learn from schools that have already started this transformation. I think that the tools and resources from this class will help me plan meaningful professional development.
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The Flipped Classroom Infographic was very informative and was a great source of basic background knowledge. I found it interesting that the Flipped Model was organically created out of a real need for students to access lectures after being out sick. This makes sense. I was also impressed by the data produced by by Clintondale High School outside of Detriot. In the traditional model, 50% of freshman flunked English. After using the Flipped model only 19% failed English. The data alone makes a strong case for using the flipped model. April Tucker's Website gave a good overview on how a teacher might implement the Flipped model in their own classroom. I really like the 10 Do's and Don't of Flipped teaching. I still have some confusion on the different types of "flipping" Traditional, Explore-Flip-Apply etc. I think I would need to watch some actual observations to see the difference between these styles. I think this would be a go-to resource for teachers looking to try the Flipped Model. I enjoyed exploring Dr. Ramsey Musallam's website, although I did not ever find the Resources link. I love his passion for inquiry and curiosity. I thought he brought up a great point that providing boring content in a Flipped model is still a boring lesson. Just because you use a flipped model, does not mean the instruction, learning or engagement improves. I think moving to a Flipped model is the result of changing your core instructional practices. The link to the ISTE Special Interest Group (SIG) on Interactive Learning and Teaching Webinar on Flipping Your Classroom did not work. So I google ISTE flipped learning and found this article . What I found interesting about the article is that it talked about using screencast in Flipped model and traditional models. The article discussed using screencast as a way for traditional classrooms to provide additional supports for struggling students. Students can watch the content repeated times, or work at their own pace. If a few students need reteaching or extension, teachers can use screencast as a way to differentiate instruction. I can also see this as being of great use in PBL projects. Teachers could post screencast or othe video content for students to access repeatedly or as their group gets to those tasks. Challenge Based Learning Video- I really enjoyed seeing the empowerment of children. These kids felt like a valuable member of society that was able to contribute and make a difference. This is what PBL would call true Authenticity. This is a real world problem, not a simulation or pretend situation. I think kids were very engaged because it was real. Their success or failure affected real people. Several of the links did not work (I requested access). I did read the Challenge Based Learning Guide. This is an over view of the components and guiding practices of CBL. I did see a lot of similarities between CBL and PBL. I liked the greater emphasis on Authenticity. I can see how it leads to better engagement. The authenticity piece is one that PBL teachers at my school struggle with. I think the examples in the video are "doable" even in an elementary school. I liked their process in planning the units starting with Big Ides, then Essential Question and then Challenge/Action. I liked the structure of mini projects within the greater project. My immediate response is this sounds great...but how will it fit with mandatory assessments. In the FAQ section I took a Jing screenshot of their answer: I liked exploring the Challenges and seeing how they would incorporate the standards into their units. I can tell that students communication, creativity, collaboration and engagement would be very strong in CBL. I am interested in exploring the challenges further to steal ideas to incorporate into PBL projects.
Reflection: Daniel Pink argues that "carrot and stick" motivation has been scientifically proven not to work. Curiosity and meaningful experiences motive people to learn. Both Flipped learning and CBL provide better opportunites at meaningful experiences. CBL engages students in real world problem solving. Students are engaged in helping others. Their solutions matter to real people. I think that my current experience with PBL in elementary school has always been more of a simulation than real authenticity. Teachers uncomfortable with the change from traditional insturction still teach PBL projects in the same manner (teacher driven instruction) as traditional. I think using some aspects of the Flipped Model in PBL projects might allow teachers to release control of "content" and leave some room for voice and choice for students. A major complaint about PBL in an elementary school is that the teacher ends up doing all of the research. If students can't read, they can't research. Using the flipped model, teachers could link videos and articles to teach content. This would give some choice and differentiation students in a controlled manner. I think I could use the CBL challenge resources to create more authentic projects for students. I plan on sharing these resources with my teachers at our next professional development. |
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December 2016
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