Fall-ing forward reflection
It is winter, midyear and the DreamIT project has shifted once again. I hardly recall what it was I was really trying to accomplish so I read the previous entries to find focus. The project has taken several twists and turns along the way that create new possibilities and diminish previous expectations. If I could start the DreamIT project over again I would have tried to find a regular teaching position so that I could actually create and facilitate learning experiences with students. Since that is no longer possible, I continue to work with teachers to ultimately see an effect on teaching and learning. With a chance to start over, I would have tried to visualize a clear end goal so that I could communicate that to teachers. At this point I’m not so sure what my end goal is and maybe that’s not so bad. Nevertheless there have been some significant changes in the school environment that are connected to DreamIT.
One very noticeable change is the way we meet. At the beginning of the year electronic devices were banned from meetings to insure that everyone would be more engaged in the meeting. What has occurred has been a total shift to paperless meetings. A folder with agendas and relevant documents is created on Google drive and shared with each teacher. Any next steps or minutes are recorded on a shared Google doc that is then used as reference for following meetings. Teachers are becoming familiar with the technology and in turn are beginning to use it more frequently for communication and collaboration.
Although the online collaboration is just beginning to materialize, the time spent on discussing understanding has been limited to grade level meetings, and only when I have been able to have input on the purpose of the meeting. This has been inconsistent and I wish I could have taken advantage of other opportunities for interaction to reinforce a message or clarify a detail or two about the development of UbD units.
I have an opportunity as a coach to work with specific math and science teachers to develop units, follow progress, observe, share student work, and confer with the teacher about what works and what does not. I would like to include these units as part of the artifacts I can present as examples of what teaching for understanding looks like in a similar context and share teachers experiences as well.
But it seems like there is something else I should be doing, some missing part. I think this has become clear with the re-launch of the afterschool program sponsored by the school-community partner. I asked if I could determine the content of the math portion of the afterschool curriculum. This is a new part of the DreamIt project that surfaced unexpectedly, but also provides a new opportunity to model for teachers. It’s a way to make the idea more concrete in my own mind as well. I have been working on creating project based units that cover common core math standards through a real world context that is integrated into the actual school environment.
This seems like the direction to follow. It was never an expected outcome or area that I had expected to be involved in. I am attempting to create units that teachers will use in afterschool programs that model the idea of teaching for understanding. The conditions are not perfect. There is limited contact with students and I have been falling behind in the planning for 7 grade levels. That’s seven units and more importantly seven teachers that I can work with directly on planning and shaping learning experiences that help students understand important concepts in mathematics.
Each of these units involves a project where students use mathematics to help design a solution to a specific school need. There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm on the part of the students and cooperation from the teachers. What if this could spread to every student and teacher? Teachers would be able to avoid the “test, then prepare for the next test” rut. Instead they would wonder how their teaching is relevant through clear connections to issues and applications that are important to understand. Ideally the DreamIt Project would transform the entire school into a vibrant learning community that takes risks by experimenting with teaching and learning - an exciting place to be for teachers and students alike.
One very noticeable change is the way we meet. At the beginning of the year electronic devices were banned from meetings to insure that everyone would be more engaged in the meeting. What has occurred has been a total shift to paperless meetings. A folder with agendas and relevant documents is created on Google drive and shared with each teacher. Any next steps or minutes are recorded on a shared Google doc that is then used as reference for following meetings. Teachers are becoming familiar with the technology and in turn are beginning to use it more frequently for communication and collaboration.
Although the online collaboration is just beginning to materialize, the time spent on discussing understanding has been limited to grade level meetings, and only when I have been able to have input on the purpose of the meeting. This has been inconsistent and I wish I could have taken advantage of other opportunities for interaction to reinforce a message or clarify a detail or two about the development of UbD units.
I have an opportunity as a coach to work with specific math and science teachers to develop units, follow progress, observe, share student work, and confer with the teacher about what works and what does not. I would like to include these units as part of the artifacts I can present as examples of what teaching for understanding looks like in a similar context and share teachers experiences as well.
But it seems like there is something else I should be doing, some missing part. I think this has become clear with the re-launch of the afterschool program sponsored by the school-community partner. I asked if I could determine the content of the math portion of the afterschool curriculum. This is a new part of the DreamIt project that surfaced unexpectedly, but also provides a new opportunity to model for teachers. It’s a way to make the idea more concrete in my own mind as well. I have been working on creating project based units that cover common core math standards through a real world context that is integrated into the actual school environment.
This seems like the direction to follow. It was never an expected outcome or area that I had expected to be involved in. I am attempting to create units that teachers will use in afterschool programs that model the idea of teaching for understanding. The conditions are not perfect. There is limited contact with students and I have been falling behind in the planning for 7 grade levels. That’s seven units and more importantly seven teachers that I can work with directly on planning and shaping learning experiences that help students understand important concepts in mathematics.
Each of these units involves a project where students use mathematics to help design a solution to a specific school need. There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm on the part of the students and cooperation from the teachers. What if this could spread to every student and teacher? Teachers would be able to avoid the “test, then prepare for the next test” rut. Instead they would wonder how their teaching is relevant through clear connections to issues and applications that are important to understand. Ideally the DreamIt Project would transform the entire school into a vibrant learning community that takes risks by experimenting with teaching and learning - an exciting place to be for teachers and students alike.
