As I reflect on this school year and my graduate school program, this year has been a rollercoaster to say the least. Looking back on all that I have done, especially when it comes to my collaborative group and my contributions to my learning, I embraced Fink's idea that to become a "powerful performer in life as well as [a] self-directed learner, [1] must learn how to assess the quality of [my] own work” (Fink, 2013). Reading through my previous reflection posts from my graduate courses provides evidence of my growth:
For this term, there were a few live class sessions I was unable to attend but that did not deter me from watching the recordings multiple times and reaching out to my peers for support. Posting and replying on the discussion boards is where I learned even more. Once I completed my post, I consistently reviewed the boards and replied where it felt necessary to let others know how they could improve but also validate their hard work and share that they inspired me to think deeper or from another perspective I had yet to consider. There were a few times I also editing my initial post to add new ideas or information based on the feedforward I received. The deadlines and associated requirements of two replies was something I checked off for the purpose of the grade, but that did not end the work, as I would reply after the deadline and definitely more than twice. Providing feedback/feedforward to others gives those same people permission to provide it to me, which is something I crave because I am aiming to make those tiny gains that add up. My collaborative group was vital to really pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone and think beyond the basic requirements of the courses and the programs. While we were encouraged to change the group up each term, I cannot express enough how grateful I am that we stuck together and brought another member in. What we called the "core four" of myself, Amanda Mask, Lindsay Krueger, Hillary Turnage, and then adding Katie Beauchene created a group of women who come from various educational backgrounds and are in a range of positions from kindergarten teacher to coordinator of digital learning that collectively build each other's individual pedagogy into a more global perspective that will enrich all of our students' lives. My last two courses, Instructional Design of Online Learning and the Synthesis of Applied Digital Learning, went hand in hand. The instructional design course was something I anticipated the entire program to be, about creating content-driven instructional online courses and add to them as we learn more tools. Fortunately, the exact opposite occurred because the program allowed us to experience the true effectiveness of choice, ownership, voice, in an authentic learning environment that created significant learning, so as I created my 3rd 9 Weeks of Algebra 2 for next school year, there was more to the learning besides the math. My innovation plan has always been about teaching 21st century skills in a blended learning environment through the lens of mathematics but I never saw that to fruition until now. This meant that I constantly shifted back and forth between the work because the assignments and learning relied on each other. Reflecting on the overall program in the synthesis course enhanced the materials I was creating for the instructional design course. If I were to give myself a grade on my contributions to my learning and the learning of others, I would give myself a 98/100 for both classes and also a 99/100 for the entire program. My accumulation and contributions of learning have grown and thrived over the past year and I cannot wait to see what next year has in store. References Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences : An integrated approach to designing college courses. Jossey-Bass.
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Initially, I thought the program would be a piece of cake, just learning some theories through a textbook and lectures, and then regurgitating them in a test. Thinking even further back in college and high school, I learned how to play the game of school and win with grades. There were glimpses though of self-directed learning and significant learning environments but I was ready to get a master's degree in the same structure I had earned everything else... a very traditional setting with hints of technology and choice. It is absolutely amazing reflecting back on how much we have learned over the past year and I am so thankful I started this program in June of 2023. Considering the first two classes of developing the innovation plan and building the shell of the ePortfolio were really the foundation for everything else, having the summer time to immerse myself in the self-directed learning structure was vital to finishing the program stronger than ever. Here are some highlights from the summer:
Through these discussion boards, the videos, and all of the reading, I was learning that my ideas had value and had been defined by others in more concrete ways, such as the learning theories and cognitivism or even more recently cognitive overload. Being surrounded by other educators who also want to improve their practice and passion to serve their learners as best as possible in our constantly changing world also made me feel more sane. I tend to give off the vibe of being extra and doing too much, being a brown noser or a teacher's pet, but it is really because I have lived my entire life just wanting to learn and make the most of the one life I have. Knowing those like you reading this right now have a similar perspective on life, learning, and education, encourages me to keep being authentic and provide students the same opportunities. I also thought this program would be about just making the digital resources and learning new tools along the way. Instead, we found that there is so much more to just putting something online or taking a physical document and linking the digital version online... we have to emphasize choice, ownership, and voice. We got to experience that ourselves and know what it feels like from the receiving end so we can be more effective in leading organizational change or providing professional learning opportunities. Here are some highlights from the fall:
How many times have we been told in our lives "I told you so" but those saying that knew from experience exactly what we would learn through our own experiences? The deepest learning happens through experience, not a textbook, and not someone just telling us how it is. We need to feel it, see it, understand it ourselves through our lens. This program provided that and more and it really started to drive more radical change as the program began to reach its end. Here are some highlights from the spring: What really worked for me was the growth I could make in my learning through the choice, ownership, and voice. It sounds so cliche but it is very true. I've mentioned before that I expected to breeze through this program just to get my master's on my resume but words cannot express how deeply grateful I am to have not gotten that experience. There were times I struggled, as we all do, when the whirlwind gets in the way (I wrote about it quite a bit but one blog post that really encompasses the idea is The Wild Ride of Winter) but ultimately this was the perfect time and place to struggle through it and come out the other side realizing I had more potential that I could have fathomed. My entire ePortfolio up to this point captures all of my learning so far and the work is not done. What I could do better is not being so self-critical. My entire life I have been my own harshest critic... I mean even my parents did not ground me for "bad grades" because they knew I would be harder on myself than they could ever be. Even in education, when others have given me the feedback of "you are doing great", a lot of negative self-talk would creep in. I always want to give my best, don't get me wrong, but sometimes it is not about the final product in this moment in time because it's just that, a moment in time, a snapshot of where I am that is not set in stone. There is always room to learn and grow but I need to give myself more grace to not be at 110% all the time. I am definitely anticipating change for the next school year. There are a number of teachers and friends leaving education for valid reasons but those who are staying in the fight with me, including my collaborative group, have similar growth mindsets that sort of counter what administration and the system expects of us. A colleague phrased it nicely... education is becoming "what more can teachers do so that students do less?" Do we really want a society of people who are doing less? I would hate to look back on life and feel like it was wasted. This is where the courage to abandon the past comes into play... my campus has a strong legacy of academic excellence that is slowly fading not because students are not capable, but because we continue to conform to past standards and teaching practices that do not meet the students of today and tomorrow. Where the most effective change can happen is in my classroom and I can use the tools and resources and ideas we have gained through this program to bring others into the journey with me and build a community that breaks the status quo, walks against the grain, and really pushes for the change that is necessary in education. People have asked me if I want to be an administrator and my response is typically "absolutely not". My passion and purpose in life, in this moment, is to be a teacher in the classroom with students, working alongside other teachers to pour into others what teachers have poured into me. Unless God tells me otherwise, I am sticking around for the long haul and am ready to be a driving force in the change needed in education while directly in the classroom. Algebra 2 carries a lot of weight in Texas. A part of the school accountability rating is tied to graduation rates on the distinguished achievement plan/diploma and the one class that is explicitly stated that students need to take to get this is Algebra 2. There are also implications that Algebra 2 is setting students up for success on the SAT, which has a minimum score of 520 on the math portion for a student to be considered college and career ready, another part of our school accountability rating. The range of students we have in Algebra 2 is probably some of the biggest in the department. We have students who have failed Algebra 1 STAAR on multiple occasions, students who have historically had to take credit recovery or summer school to earn math credits, students who have been successful in their math classes and are average, and students who are more accelerated than their peers and could potentially test out of Algebra 2 and move onto upper-level math classes. With such a wide range of needs, a blended learning environment with synchronous and asynchronous components has the potential to reach even more students where they are at and build them up to their next level accordingly. The Algebra 2 team and I have worked closely together all year long, adapting our instruction almost daily to meet the diverse student population needs so when considering who I should have look at my 2024-2025 3rd Nine Weeks, they were the first people I trusted to go to because I know these colleagues will support me and provide the best perspective and feedback. Geometry leads to Algebra 2 so I got them involved too as well as our Math Instructional Coach who has worked extensively with these two professional learning communities. Geometry teachers know the students who will be seeing this course next year, the Algebra 2 teachers know what we went through this year and how we planned on adapting the content for next school year, and the Math Instructional Coach understands bigger perspective and effective instructional practices. I put my work into my Canvas Sandbox course that I could enroll the Algebra 2 teachers, the Geometry teachers, and the Math Instructional Coach as students into it so they could navigate it like the students would and they tested it during one of our conference periods. Knowing my team, they will focus on different components, i.e. some will focus on making sure the math content is explained correctly or written with appropriate vocabulary in that context, others will focus on the bigger picture and consider how what they are working on ties to other material, etc. I also wanted them to go into the course like a student and use the information given to them in Canvas to complete the tasks. If I were to give any more detail, then I would think that detail would be considered important enough to put into the pages in the module anyways. I am leaving it open for them too, just like I would leave it open for students to have choice, ownership, and voice. They reported back through direct observation and response. The Algebra 2 and Geometry teams work very closely together with each other and the Math Instructional Coach so us sitting down together to analyze our resources, give constructive feedback, and adapt our work according to that feedforward is a part of our routine. I received a lot of feedback that my consistency with my structure was great. Our campus and district just implemented Canvas for the first time this 2023-2024 school year, so we are all still learning what Canvas is capable of doing and what impact it has on student learning. Canvas is very user friendly from both the student and teacher perspective so constructive feedback that was given on how to improve overall usability was really in the small details. One of those details is how I organized my information. I have added a different organizational structure for my learning resources and applying activities, which organize them by the objective. The applying activities also includes quick checks, which are more formal formative assessments for students to analyze their work. I also am considering ways for the reflection piece to be a part of that grade. I learned that sometimes I give too much information. My innovation plan aligns with my big hairy audacious goal, which is that in the nine-weeks cycle, learners will develop deeper, more internalized mathematical patterns and logical reasoning by actively participating in specific and intentionally designed modules that facilitate connection building between prior knowledge, current topics, and other subject areas. This incorporates process standards and 21st century skills. Within every module, I put the page of all of these components, but every single person looked at it and said “no, I am not going to read any of that if I am a student because that is too much information”. Suggestions were made, brainstorming happened, and together we identified that it would be beneficial for students to have access to all of these components but be specific when stating content objectives that we are also focusing on specific process standards and 21st century skills too, so I took away the page for the process standards and 21st century skills in every module and focused on specific standards and skills within a module, listing them in the objective page. Once I implemented the feedback and showed the second iteration to my testers, they agreed that it was even more student-friendly. I also learned about item banks and quizzes in Canvas! Initially I had just decided to stick with the requirement of using the online testing platform, Aware, for any assessments, but if I really want students to have more choice, ownership, and voice, they need access to their own assessments to analyze their progress. Embedding quick checks through the Canvas quizzes using item banks so not every student gets the exact same question (opening the door for cheating), then they will see that the purpose of these quick checks is not about the accuracy grade in that moment to then put into the Skyward grade, but it is about tracking their own progress and using that data to make decisions on what to do next, go back and keep practice or move forward. Being explicit with which resources go with which objectives and consistently reiterating the objectives throughout will make the growth more significant. What I plan on doing to take it to the next level is incorporating components of the 2024-2025 3rd Nine Weeks 3 Column Table more explicitly too. That is definitely something that will happen as the year progresses and based on feedback I get from students throughout the next few years. What I could improve for in the future is getting feedback from other teachers at my campus, particularly the Precalculus and College Prep Math teachers who typically see our students next year in class, as well as other teachers from the district. Something to consider would be presenting the course to a non-math teacher because they would then have a different perspective that is more aligned with students, learning the content for the first time or refreshing their memories on what they have learned in the past. I also would use my students over the next few years as usability testers. Once the course is created, I would not simply implement it and then wait until the following year for feedback. Any insight on usability would be addressed immediately as any teacher would and should. Usability is using my ability to learn and grow, just like I expect from students. Overall, the work that I did for the 2024-2025 3rd Nine Weeks with my Instructional Design andImplementation Considerations, and blogging about it in Applying Digital Learning in Algebra 2 and Applying Digital Learning to Algebra 2 Part 2 has been incredible. I was able to put together something that actually might make a difference for students, rounding out my master's program at a high point.
In my previous post, Applying Digital Learning in Algebra 2, I began the process of brainstorming and drafting my expectations and goals for my Canvas course for the next school year. Naturally, the next step is getting into the work of actually creating a "prototype" of what I envisioned to get feedback from others reviewing my work. Initially, I just started making modules and throwing some pages in here and there with no sense of direction other than my 2024-2025 3rd Nine Weeks Course Outline.
When I go into tornado mode of throwing everything into the whirlwind and brain dumping my ideas, I tend to shut down due to the overwhelming crush of disconnected ideas. This is something I definitely do not want for my students, confuddling their understanding and perception of math and consequently limiting their opportunities to acquire 21st century skills, but what are some ways to address this? I learned from Darren McNelis's TEDTalk on cognitive overload that stepping away from the thinking to reflect can support our working memory, so being purposeful with dedicating time to do so is critical. Using the guidance of my graduate program, discussion boards, and this particular video, I found myself refocused when intentionally writing out my 2024-2025 3rd Nine Weeks Implementation Considerations as I reflected on my work. This created a structure within my modules that built over the progression of the 3rd nine weeks, as you can see from my screenshots of Week 1, Weeks 2 and 3, and ending with Weeks 8 and 9. It starts with some of the traditional math classroom elements, like objectives and learning resources (i.e. videos, written out examples, practice problems, etc.) but starts to extend towards a blending learning environment where students have choice, ownership, and voice over how they can apply their learning within the math context and beyond. Here are some screenshots of what a learning resource page and applying activities page look like: If you have followed along with my work through this program, you know I am implementing Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics by Peter Liljedahl. Consider what you might see, hear, and feel in a traditional classroom. Now, consider the opposite. That is what a thinking classroom looks like. Transitioning components of this into a digital platform has a lot of promise and I hope that the "course" I have created will develop student's math and 21st century skills with fidelity. A part of this includes experiential learning, particularly with thinking tasks. Just imagine the "puzzles" that go viral on social media regarding math (Math.Number.Puzzles Instagram is an example of a social media account dedicated to these things). These tasks are non-curricular and curricular where students start building their classroom culture and really developing a sense of critical thinking, communicating, and collaborating through problem solving and open tasks. Here is an example of a curricular task from Robert Kaplinsky's Open Middle website I have embedded in my course, along with its asynchronous discussion board: Why don't you try a non-curricular task like I would ask of my students? Use the following link to try the Wolves and Sheep Thinking Task in a Desmos activity. Once you think you have a solution, make up your own wolves and sheep thinking task and solution: Wolves and Sheep - Change Parameters. In the corresponding discussion board, I ask students to share what task they came up with, so feel free to comment on this blog post what you created! There are so many other things that I would write about regarding my implementation, but recording a video, 2024-2025 3rd Nine Weeks Modules and Implementation discussing the details and adding other thoughts and reflections can give you a better sense of what I expect out of my course. Now that I have a plan and have drafted my initial course, the next steps are to edit and refine my work. I have already started using ChatGPT to prompt my thinking, but I also plan on getting some other stakeholders, like my instructional coach, fellow Algebra 2 teachers, administrators, and graduate classmates, to provide feedback on the usability and ease of my course so I can continue editing and refining this curriculum and structure to further enhance the opportunities for student success, not only in acquiring math skills but the 21st century skills everyone needs to thrive in life.
References
Cognitive overload -- rewire your brain in the digital age | Darren McNelis | TEDxTallaght. (2014). [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0ztO86ImQg
Kaplinsky, R. (2021, May 19). Square Root Function Features 1 | Open Middle®. Open Middle. https://www.openmiddle.com/square-root-function-features-1/
Every so often, my writing has incorporated how my perspective on my master's program shifted from what I expected to the reality, especially as I reflect on my journey in COVA. What I expected was a bunch of reading, a little writing, and taking assessments where I just recalled theoretical practices in a multiple choice format. From time to time, I also anticipated creating materials for a digital platform and figured I would just use what I already had created and implemented in my classroom. Campus and district colleagues consider me a technology guru and my itsLearning and Canvas pages have been used as exemplars for what an effective use of the learning management system should look like, so they should be good enough for a master's program, right?
What I have learned is there is so much more to building effective and significant learning environments where students can be vocal and engage in choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities. A blended learning environment is not about taking what is done on paper and putting it into a digital format for students to access (think how textbooks have just gone from physical copies to digital versions), but leveraging the digital resources to enhance student learning. While we are still in the last few months of the school year, I am already thinking ahead to 2024-2025 planning and how to truly implement what I have learned in my graduate school courses to enrich future students beyond the methods and structures I have used so far. Fortunately, this term I am in a course that is exactly what I expected a part of the program to be... creating materials for a digital platform and organizing it as a course in the digital learning platform! Perfect! Beginning the work now, especially on the content we just finished covering in this school year, allows me to immediately reflect and implement feedback on the successes and areas of improvement for this year towards next year. Starting here with the third nine weeks content will establish a foundation of the processes and structures I can use to strengthen my changes, adjustments, and enhancements to the other nine weeks when I am not officially in the graduate program anymore. To start this process for 2024-2025 3rd Nine Weeks, I answered some underlying instructional design questions, created a Fink's 3 Column table, and wrote a course outline to get feedback from peers in my graduate program. Most of the peer feedback addressed the strengths of being realistic about the limitations of grading policies and procedures but not letting that deter me from seeking opportunities for outcome-based learning in the context of acquiring and developing 21st century skills and finding appropriate activities and resources to meet this lofty goal. This 2024-2025 3rd Nine Weeks Planning video walks through these materials. Recently, I have been using ChatGPT as a resource to generate questions or ideas for me to consider. Sometimes, I will submit my writing and ask ChatGPT to generate what questions it thought I was trying to answer to see if my responses truly capture my intention. Other times, I will ask it to create its own rubric and then grade me on the rubric, with suggestions on how to improve my score in certain categories. For this assignment and what I have created so far, I simply asked what I should consider to enhance my work further. Here's its response.
I think what I do with my 2024-2025 3rd Nine Weeks components will address these concepts. When implementing the outline, I will show explicit samples of the learning and assessment activities that address scaffolding techniques, differentiation for remediation and extension, and digital resources. I also believe my Week 1 with the community building component will speak to fostering the collaborative learning environment. Something I had not considered is incorporating possible obstacles that could arise from this structure and the associated resources but as I proceed through the work, it is something I will explicitly acknowledge and proactively find options and solutions to these potential problems.
As the 2023-2024 school year comes to a close and I graduate in May, looking forward to the future and what I could do better brings a renewed sense of purpose and hope. Of course, I am still trying new things every day in my classroom and with my Algebra 2 team to better serve students and engage them in significant learning environments for authentic learning opportunities, but through reflection, I know how I could adapt, enhance, and enrich student lives further through a more intentionally designed blended learning environment. While I look forward to the summer, I also look forward to applying what I have learned through my experiences in the classroom as a teacher and as a student for the future.
References
OpenAI. (2022, November 30). ChatGPT. Chat.openai.com; OpenAI. https://chat.openai.com/
Consider when you first learned about the concept of numbers and counting. You probably learned one to ten because of your fingers and toes, using a tangible representation. At this developmental stage, this information was the reality, but eventually we learn that there are numbers beyond that.
Counting to 20, or 100, became another milestone. Negative numbers represent the lack or reduction of a quantity, so comprehending we can count forwards and backwards became the new truth. Eventually math extends to fractions and decimals, irrational numbers, and even more abstract concepts like imaginary or complex numbers. When does it stop? Getting metacognitive, what are numbers without objects? Did we discover math or invent it? Jeff Dekofsky addresses this question. This progression through the simple concept of numbers can happen organically in a mathematics classroom. It is not limited to numbers, really any math idea or topic can be expanded upon in this way. Now, consider when we first learn to communicate. We start expressing ourselves through sound and movement, developing oral language starting with simple one-word statements and eventually crawling, walking, and running around to speak through body language. As we age, we acquire new vocabulary in a variety of contexts, such as academically through literature, or socially through friend groups and family dynamics. We develop multiple ways of conveying our thoughts, feelings, and ideas. According to Lingua (2022), there are over 7,000 languages around the world, and new bussin’ words are added to language every year. In her TEDTalk, Lera Bordotisky explores how languages shapes the way we think. Just as math concepts and language can be organically explored, so can 21st century skills. What if this approach is the cheat code to our future? My innovation project,teaching 21st century skills in a blended learning environment through the lens of mathematics has definitely evolved from the past into the present and it will continue to evolve towards the future. As I reflect on my journey, I need to consider how to start at the foundation and root of one idea, building and growing outwards and upwards, expanding to new connections and possibilities.
The Past
When first developing my innovation plan, it really inspired me to start thinking about what education gifted me, which is the skills and characteristics that support my continuous growth and improvement towards success. Being a millennial and growing up in the transition of Y2K, 21st century skills were something society just began articulating and my path through high school in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and college gave me opportunities to develop these skills real-time. My transition from a student to an educator aligned with my learning philosophy and starting the Applied Digital Learning (ADL) program, I learned about the new digital age and new learning culture. A lot of reading research and literature on blended learning environments and 21st century skills reinforced my experiences and were consolidated in a literature review. I spent the summer producing an implementation outline ambitiously anticipating I could flip my classroom on its head within a year and refine after the follow two. Unfortunately, while I was learning what my mind and spirit felt true all along, putting those ideas into action fell short.
Creating my innovation plan felt natural and sharing my ideas with others was also exciting. A new school year meant this new opportunity to go for it and transitioning from teaching Precalculus (a subject I had taught consistently for the past seven years) to teaching Algebra 2 also provided a chance to use the change for the better. Breaking the cycle of factory model is hard, especially when collaborating with other teachers who have a fixed mindset and are closer to the end of their careers. With the team I am working with this year, I honestly cannot blame them at times for wanting to stick with what is comfortable because everything about education is exhausting. Despite my initial enthusiasm, there were many obstacles hindering me, and the vortex of the whirlwind sucked me right up into the abyss of a fixed mindset, rather than my yet mindset. I found myself ignoring my innovation plan because it seemed like it would have created double work for me on a lonely island under attack from the outside world. My soul has felt crushed one too many times to count for pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into a lesson, unit, activity, student, etc. that feels like no positive results are being produced. I want to be a great teacher, but what makes a great teacher?
Periodically, I would develop a lesson that incorporated some technology components, but it was not done consistently or with intention; I was just using technology for technology's sake or doing a great activity amid all the same old repetitive routine. This barely appeased my guilt of not teaching 21st century skills through the lens of mathematics in a blended learning environment to meet my student needs. Looking at my Implementation Outline – Version 1, it is safe to say I have done nothing since August 2023 as listed in this outline. If I have, it was done by accident or without the focus of the innovation plan. Everything changed though in December to now.
The Present
As semester exams were just around the corner, an overwhelming sense of regret and frustration brought me to a breaking point. When students were demonstrating that they retained little content but also lacked the skills necessary to take responsibility for their learning, it forced me to reflect and be self-critical. How can I expect students to attain these skills if I have yet to give them the significant learning environment in which to develop and refine them? I had completed practically nothing except the initial stages of my project.
In one of the discussion boards, a classmate recommended Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics by Peter Liljedahl, so I added it to my list of books. Coincidently, a few months later, my district launched a cohort to do a book study on that same book. The first meeting in November incorporated the first three practices within Liljedahl’s writing and encouraged implementing some of the 14 practices in our classrooms. I told myself I would wait until the spring semester, or even next school year, pushing what needed to be done now into the future. It hit me like a brick wall. I needed to adapt my innovation plan to utilize these practices that break the norms of a traditional mathematics classroom and through these structures, identify technological components that would enhance the learning through a blended learning environment. I drafted, revised, and finalized an article about my journey from past to present, promoting the publication through podcasting and reflecting on writing through writing. I am learning that I am still a recovering perfectionist and that my life of "balls to the wall or not at all" can really be a detriment to my professional growth and ultimately my students’ learning and engagement. I would not consider my innovation plan a win or a loss, but unavoidable in identifying how to actually follow through with my plans.
The Future
Now that I can reflect on what I have done and am currently doing, seeing the the back of the puzzle box - the big picture, there are some things I intend to address and implement in the future.
Amidst the chaos, I realized the importance of getting more people alongside me earlier on and using my voice to speak up and say that we should try innovative ideas for students. If anyone questions us, we need to stand firm and articulate that what used to work is no longer effective and we cannot be instructing students with the ways of the 20th century, considering where the head and heart meet. This is especially difficult with math because it seems like math never changes. Facts are facts, order of operations will always be true, and there's not really ways to be creative with math when we know the most "efficient" ways to solve problems. This is not true, but the fixed mindset of some of my colleagues believe this in their souls. Fortunately, I have one colleague in my content team, along with the Building Thinking Classrooms cohort, doing similar innovative structures to collaborate with, and I can take my experience from this program and really use it to my advantage (plus there will be so much more time once I graduate!). Another improvement is being slow and steady with my changes within a NOW culture. I initially asked why not now? but it takes time and effort to figure out what works and what does not, along with making the systems and structures that do work more efficient over time. My innovation plan will look remarkably similar to before, but the timeline will be adjusted to refine components at a more appropriate and sensible pace. Focusing on a few 21st century skills, such as communication, collaboration, and reflection, rather than the larger list, will also make things less daunting. This is definitely something I would have done differently if I could go back in time and start again. My ambitious nature can be beneficial in certain situations, but this was a time when the goal’s timeline was too sudden to realistically implement amongst the other obligations as a teacher. Through my roles as a content team member, department lead, and cohort member, I will intentionally share what I am doing in my classroom with my peers through writing, conversation, and even observations. Inviting others into this new world will also hold me more accountable with following through on my plans. My failure to follow through with my plans is actually a win. Often times, educators do dream big, but we have conflicting responsibilities and commitments that hinder our capacity to make these dreams a reality. What I have learned throughout the ADL program is that a lot of work is done behind the scenes before anything can be done in front of the students. This journey of learning and growth highlights the iterative disposition of education, preparing me for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
References
Boroditsky, L. (2018). How language shapes the way we think | Lera Boroditsky [Ted Talk]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKK7wGAYP6k
Dekofsky, J. (2014). Is math discovered or invented? - Jeff Dekofsky [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_xR5Kes4Rs Fractions explained - a guide for parents. (n.d.). Komodo Learning. https://komodomath.com/us/blog/fractions-explained-parents-guide Lamb, R., & Shields, J. (2008, June 24). How are Fibonacci numbers expressed in nature? HowStuffWorks. https://science.howstuffworks.com/math-concepts/fibonacci-nature.htm Liljedahl, P. (n.d.-a). 14 practices. 14 Practices. https://buildingthinkingclassrooms.com/14-practices/ Liljedahl, P. (n.d.-b). Https://buildingthinkingclassrooms.com/. Building Thinking Classrooms. https://buildingthinkingclassrooms.com/ Liljedahl, P. (2021). Building thinking classrooms in mathematics, grades K-12 : 14 teaching practices for enhancing learning. Sage Publications Inc. Lingua. (2022, June 29). How many languages are there in the world? | lingua.edu. Lingua.edu. https://lingua.edu/how-many-languages-are-there-in-the-world/ Newmarket. (2019, November 30). How to get past counting on fingers & toes. https://www.mathnasium.com/ca/math-centres/newmarket/news/how-to-get-past-counting-on-fingers-toes TEDx Talks. (2017). What makes a good teacher great? | Azul Terronez | TEDxSantoDomingo. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrU6YJle6Q4 When I first applied to the Applied Digital Learning (ADL) program, I genuinely thought this would be a walk in the park, breezing through the content in a few weekends, taking any assessments, and having the rest of the time to relax. I would follow what seemed to be the easiest path to learning some information, regurgitating it in assignments and tests, and walking across the graduation stage with a master’s degree, ready to change the world. I now know how naive that perspective was but how grateful I am to be wrong. It was apparent from my first course in ePortfolios that choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning environments (COVA) would be something I would experience firsthand (Harapnuik et al., 2018). It did not take me long to be VOCAL and embrace the COVA approach despite the discomfort. Looking through all of the examples and suggestions on how to build an ePortfolio, I was overwhelmed with the abundance of options within a number of blogging websites for layouts, fonts, and colors that I would have to choose from to represent my brand, my spirit, and my passion for education. I quickly realized my use of language, pictures, and videos would help me be vibrant and share my love of teaching. I even wrote about my path in building my ePortfolio a few times early on... ePortfolios - GenuineLee Me, ePortfolios - GenuineLee Me Pt. 2, and Exploring Worlds through ePortfolios. Getting feedback that did not address my lack of color but really about the content supported my understanding that I genuinely had choice, ownership, and voice over my products and even the process to building them. The initial shock of the program being the exact opposite of what I had anticipated wore off pretty quickly, but that also is likely due in large part to being a life-long learner (see my post on the Living Museum of Me, Math, and More). I figured out quickly that this program is the antithesis of my previous experience as a student, which initially was overwhelming. Freedom and responsibility for my learning means making more decisions on top of the numerous other decision I make daily as a teacher, leader, wife, dog mom, and friend. Embracing the challenges and discomfort of freedom has nurtured substantial personal growth than a factory model program I expected. One decision I am beyond thankful I made was taking ownership and tackling everything head on, including forming a collaborative group. Finding others as eager as me meant looking at discussion boards, actively engaging in breakout rooms during class meetings, and being bold to initiate the awkward conversation of “hey, do you want to be in my collaborative group?”. This actually reinforced my confidence in my own voice. I have always had a strong opinionated voice and being more confident and comfortable in my own skin came out of my mental health journey (one which I am still very firmly on...). What this program is helping me to do is to speak more boldly at school. My innovation plan, Teaching 21st Century Skills in a Blended Learning Environment, is very authentic but has evolved into one that utilizes Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl to provide opportunities for students to use 21st century skills. First semester, I did little to nothing regarding my innovation plan with the exception to telling colleagues about it in the first week back to school. The challenge has really been about how to articulate my plans effectively in my organization and acquire the support I feel I need to bring people alongside me in my innovation plan to help me be intentional and consistent in my work. As we learned about how to influence people by identifying vital behaviors in my big picture growth and catering to the six sources of influence, motivation, and ability in the personal, social, and structural categories (Grenny, 2013), as well as Covey’s four disciplines of execution in my big picture goals, (Covey et al., 2018), realized why I was ineffective in gaining traction from the beginning of the school year, essentially abandoning my notion of change in the fall semester. Even if I had gotten others invested in my ideas and dreams, the whirlwind got in the way, and I did not focus on my big audacious goals. My goal, like most teachers lately, became to survive. Lately though, it has become overwhelmingly clear that the work is hard, but necessary and I should not let obstacles or fixed mindsets hold me back. My innovation plan was not just created to get through the course work; I really hope to change my organization from inside out, starting in my classroom and working out in waves across my content team, department, campus, and district. One major change that I desire to bring is actually utilizing COVA and creating significant learning environments in the math classroom. The analytical logical person I am finds comfort in the cognitivist mindset within my learning philosophy, building connections between what I know and what I am learning to weave everything into the existing web of information, but the ADL program has evolved my perspective into a blend of cognitivism and constructivism. If I cannot find a connection, I ask questions and search for my own answers, making and creating new connections. Another way I fuse these viewpoints together is through my writing and the use of analogies. They help me to create a picture of what my brain visualizes and understands to be true, attempting to articulate that viewpoint to others also have their own unique perspective and internal philosophies. With this new viewpoint of the importance and necessity of COVA and CSLE, I am empowered to make decisions that disrupt the comfort of students, parents, colleagues , and administration with purpose, to engage students in deeper learning than they have probably ever experienced inside the walls of a classroom. My campus has a legacy of high achievement in the state and nation, so changing the pedagogy that produced those results seems ridiculous. Why fix what does not seem broken? If it worked before, it should work now, right? Realistically, because our society has evolved exponentially over the past decade, we cannot continue implementing past practices in a future world. Disturbing the sense of order is daunting because it directly impacts others and their sense of comfort and safety in what they feel should be normal. Going through this program though has immersed me in the environment I know I need to build for my students. Having lived the life of a learner breaking out of my comfort zone of regurgitating information on an assessment and into a world of connections and creation, it is inspiring me to really consider the possibility of what might come out of doing this in a mathematics classroom. Conflict will inevitably arise from developing an expectation that what was once the norm is now in the past is scary, because it will be, at times, exhausting to manage the combatting side. It will definitely require me to be even stronger in my conviction that COVA and CSLE need to happen now and not later, breaking the chains my current setting has me in. If we want to maintain the legacy of high achievement, we must evolve with society to reach these new heights. I will start by bringing in other members of my content team to come beside me and learn by implementing innovative plans together. I will use the knowledge and resources I have built within the structures I have learned about in the ADL program to develop professional learning that models the blended learning environments we should be creating, providing those attending a glimpse into what our students’ realities could be. I need to be intentional about what I am doing and why. Explicitly sharing the reasoning behind my actions can obtain buy-in and continuously reiterating this rationale throughout the year will only emphasize its importance to me. It is challenging still for me to consider what choice, ownership, and voice looks like in a math classroom bounded by state objectives, grading guidelines, and standardized tests. In a subject where the question usually leads to one correct answer, being intentional about questioning that requires open-ended responses and can lead to multiple answers and even more questions will take work, time, and energy. Current available resources like this are few and far between. Also, the control aspect of the classroom is why teachers, specifically math teachers, tend to stick with the factory model. Math logic is “always” true but when computers can run calculations, we are essentially training our students to also be computers cranking through calculations rather than making connections. Students have been subconsciously conditioned to expect this from a math classroom, which is why my innovation plan and Building Thinking Classrooms principles are so troublesome for a lot of people. I can already hear the complains in questions:
Nobody will argue that 21st century skills are vital to one’s future and society’s survival, but the learning environment needed to facilitate acquiring and refining these skills does not meet the norm. Again, I need to be intentional about what I am doing and why. Explicitly sharing the reasoning behind my actions can obtain buy-in and continuously reiterating this rationale throughout the year will only emphasize its importance to me. Being transparent in my purpose will begin building a culture of trust and collaboration, encouraging students to take risks and explore in their learning. To incorporate COVA, I must provide opportunities for students to have choice, ownership and voice.
As I include these opportunities in the classroom, I can use strategies I have learned about action research to determine the impact of specific structures and share my findings with colleagues to further enrich the work they are doing in their classrooms. Applying effective structures and strategies within professional learning and reinforcing their effectiveness by including my findings will further develop the same culture of taking risks and exploring ideas I hope for in my classroom. If you had told me a year ago that this is where I would be, after ten years of experience in the classroom, ready to start again like a first-year teacher by finding my groove and establishing what my classroom looks, sounds, and acts like with the COVA approach to create a significant learning environment, I would likely say you are nuts. But let’s go crazy and change the world. References Covey, S., McChesney, C., & Huling, J. (2018). 4 Disciplines Of Execution. Simon & Schuster Ltd.
Grenny, J. (2013). Influencer : The new science of leading change. Mcgraw-Hill Education. Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., & Cummings, C. (2018). Choice, Ownership, and Voice through Authentic Learning. Creative Commons License. Liljedahl, P. (n.d.). Building thinking classrooms. Building Thinking Classrooms. https://buildingthinkingclassrooms.com/ Liljedahl, P. (2021). Building thinking classrooms in mathematics, grades K-12: 14 teaching practices for... enhancing learning. Sage Publications Inc. This term has been rough on a number of fronts. The figurative rollercoaster has me going all over the place. Most of the time, I just ride the ups and downs with a growth mindset, knowing the chaos will periodically subside and I can rest before the tide rushes back in. These current eight-week terms of graduate schools have felt like eight days and eight months simultaneously. I am going to use one of m favorite picture of myself, my husband Scott, and my sister-in-law Stephanie to describe this most recent chapter in my life. Let’s start with Stephanie. The first big drop hit, and I went all in screaming my lungs out. It was also in the beginning that Katie joined our “core four” collaborative group. Her and I had worked together individually, authentically connecting and contributing to the dots, and circumstances led her to looking for others to work with in addition to her core group. I got ahead in a lot of assignments, posted enthusiastically in discussion boards, and even read most resources before the term officially started (thank you Dr. Harapnuik for blogging about the resources once upon a time). My collaborative group probably thought I had a new kind of chaotic energy with all my gifs and texts in our group chat. Being labeled an overzealous overachiever can be exhausting, especially when I hit the lows. Scott’s entire body position and face embodies the middle of this term. I felt paralyzed with all of the work I had for school, teaching, and life as a wife and daughter. Crippled by overstimulation and anxiety, I froze and went missing in action for a while. Assignments were getting done last minute and I did not always get to class on time, if at all. I’ve talked about my mental health journey and these few pages of the story could have been ripped out of that book and glued straight into this one. I went from "balls to the wall" to not at all but not at all was not an option. Fortunately, those around me continued to support and love me, being a sounding board to hear my frustrations and sorrows and allow me time and space to come out of the darkness into the light. In this last week, I am getting back to being more me, smiling almost in a psychotic way while the whirlwind swirls around me. I have revisited discussion boards, revised my assignments, provided feedback and encouragement to my peers, and started to coast into Spring Break. My publication about Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl, blended learning, and 21st century skills goes hand in hand with my action research plan, which will hopefully answer the question “in what ways do Desmos activities (a technological tool) impact student growth in 21st century skills of communication and collaboration (two key components of Building Thinking Classrooms) so my contributions to learning are interconnected and tightly intertwined. Seeing connections in my learning and investing myself more in the authentic learning experiences my master’s program has strengthened my resolve to keep fighting the food fight and give my best of right now. For both of my classes, Resources in Digital Environments and Assessing Digital Learning Instruction, I would give myself a 97/100. While I definitely did not do my best this term compared to other terms, I did my best given the circumstances and stresses I was facing.
When I first imagined my experience in graduate school, I envisioned reading and regurgitating content and theories alongside systematically following procedural assignments that would teach me educational technology tools to create textbook-like curriculum and lessons. I planned on going through the motions of school and coming out on the other side with a degree that earns me a few more dollars per paycheck and enhances my resume for future education endeavors. Man, I was wrong.
This false sense of reality mirrors my initial expectations of being a teacher in the classroom. I thought I would design and implement lessons that I could continuously recycle year after year, going through the motions of teaching. Professional development might teach me a thing or two that I can bring back to the classroom that would support me changing the lives of my students in the process. Never did I dream that I would be at this point in my life and career, finding myself learning and growing more through experience, trial and error, and collaborative communities that emphasize continuous reflection and adaptation. If you ask me to talk about my journey through life, in and out of school, I likely would not know where to start. It would inevitably be a brain dump of information seemingly disconnected from one idea to the next... but it makes sense in my mind. The only person who loves me enough to tolerate this chaos besides Jesus is my husband Scott. Most of the time, I sense I scare people... Writing and developing my voice to connect the analytical, cognitive side of my perspective to my free-flowing emotional sand spiritual side allows me to take my word vomit ideas and cohesively pain a picture others can view, and hopefully appreciate and be inspired by, to take their own artistry of education and life further. The procedural process of brainstorming ideas, creating an outline, drafting an article, and revising and editing the work based on an abundance of feedback from different perspectives has led me on a voyage to building my courage and bravery to speak louder than my current volume to a larger audience than my collaborative group, my family, and my tight knit community of colleagues at my campus. Promoting my publication through podcasting was definitely a new level of learning too as I relied heavily on my classmates' strengths to create a quality product. Documenting my experience from the burnout (we all need a break) and defeat of student disengagement and lack of student thinking to the renewal of my faith in the future by providing students opportunities to build 21st century skills in a blended learning environment through the lens of mathematics and trying practices from Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl has increased my confidence that my vulnerability will inspire other teachers like me to continue to dream big for our students. I hope to publish at Texas Council of Teachers of Mathematics or National Council of Teachers in Mathematics to expand my community further and speak to other like-minded professionals eager to set sail into the reality of our education future and not the delusion or mirage, figments of our imagination as to what we thought education is. The whole writing process is just what we expect out of our students as we guide them not only to learn our content but also learn to be lifelong learners, continuously evolving, not just going through the mundane motions of life but thrive in adventure and possibility. The work of learning is never done and the journey has more value and fulfillment than any checkpoint or destination. Because of publication consideration requirements, I cannot post my products I created throughout this cycle. However, I do look forward to blogging some day soon with a celebration of formal publication and linking to an official professional website, but in the meantime, keep learning something new every day. I know I am.
References
Conspiracy Charlie Day GIF - conspiracy Charlie Day crazy - discover & share gifs. (n.d.). Tenor.com. https://tenor.com/view/conspiracy-charlie-day-crazy-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-qanon-gif-23738584
When I first considered my innovation plan, teaching 21st century skills My journey through the Building Thinking Classrooms and being bold in writing for publication has been really encouraging for a number of reasons. Learning that I am not alone in my frustrations with the traditional mathematics classroom brings a sense of comradery but also urgency to collectively disrupt the status quo and establish new norms for the future of education. Being validated in the hard work by instructional coaches and administration has also been reassuring. When feedback from the principal's observation includes "all students were engaged and actively participating in lesson, including students who struggle to find their pacing in other classes. Intentionality of grouping is effective and appreciated. Clear evidence of student retention of and ability to employ skills was observed throughout classroom visit", I know something must be going right. It also has been really empowering to hear how other educators in different roles, schools, and subjects are also transforming education in their own capacity.
Through my master's program, I have been blessed to be a part of a collaborative community that has quite a bit in common but also diversity in our different roles in education. When we review each other's work, these fresh perspectives enhance our own and we can even come together to see the bigger picture of how our individual ripples in the pond are actually making giant waves in the ocean. We realized our impact on inspiring other educators with what we doing is better when we come together. While we have such distinct sets of circumstances, common themes of lifelong learning, play, and opportunity can be felt throughout our work. Relying on the expertise of Amanda Mask with her knowledge of video and audio editing in iCloud, Hillary Turnage and Lindsay Krueger with their knowledge of Canva and its incredible capabilities, and Katie Beauchene with her knowledge of a plethora of educational tools her teachers have played with through her coaching cycles, we decided to commit to spending time having a conversation in a podcast. Our podcast provides a glimpse into what we are writing for publication, promoting our perspective to inspire others to share their voice too. I hope you enjoy listening to our first episode by clicking the EdTech Talks Podcast graphic and become excited to read more in depth about our individual pieces. While my piece is in the middle, it is worth your time to listen and gain perspective on an even bigger picture. Promoting our publications through podcasting brings more opportunity to make waves together. |
My husband lovingly teases me when I reflect on my day with him and say "I learned something new today!" because he would be surprised if I didn't learn something new.
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