Joy in Collaboration

December 14, 2008 at 9:00 am | In 21st Century, Collaboration, Global Collaboration, Planning, Professional Development, Project-based Learning, Shift, Tech Integration, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
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I should be baking candy cane cookies right now but while mixing the dough I was thinking about the past 2 weeks at school and how encouraged I feel about the growth taking place.

First, I’ve been invited to help in Kim’s classroom with her center-project-based approach to student learning about the Rainforests. I’ve been helping out 2-3 hours a day, three days a week with students in groups, mainly the PPT group. I bring my laptop with me so I can work on my own things if I’m not needed. There are Kim, one or two parents and myself responding to student questions as well as observing and asking questions to help them self-discover an answer or find the best direction to follow. These projects require students to understand the content in order to share creatively what they have learned. Kim noted that it took a good deal of work to plan and set up, but it has been worth all the effort. On a side note, nothing settles restless 4th graders like Holiday or Celtic music or Bob M. and the Wailers.

Secondly, I asked all grade level teams to meet with me now or after the holiday break to reflect with me on what is working and not, what they need, and what dream projects or activities they would like help developing. So far I have met with the kindergarten and first grade teams and our meetings were very positive and gratifying. Beside the suggestions and problems noted to be addressed I have 2 larger projects I’m excited about.

Kindergarten teachers would like to use the classroom desktops more and need to know what software is on them, what can be added and they want drop-in help during centers to introduce students to online activities related to current classroom content. This is one of my dreams- to see students using the classroom desktops as much as any other classroom learning tool. Also, a second Kinder teacher is interested in participating in KinderKidsDraw!

For the first grade team, I am investigating a long-term project linked to their curriculum that we will co-plan and teach starting in January. They will be studying continents so I am developing a 4-6 week project with a continent focus that incorporates the language study, writing and math skills also being taught at that time.

cardMy position as ed-tech specialist is much less lonely this year as I am in classrooms more (not just in the lab) and have built relationships with teachers. The kids greet me by name in the hall and I’m even getting handmade holiday cards this year (with my new name, Momaly). Yea!

Lastly, and not related to my own campus. For several years I’ve learned so much by searching online to see what other educators are doing in their classrooms and regularly reading some favorite blogs. I have also collaborated with other classes one-to-one. But within the last year I’ve moved from being a blog and Twitter lurker to a contributor. It takes some getting used to, mostly stepping away from brutal self-judgement, and to build relationships but I enjoy connecting and contributing so much more than merely taking and one-to-one collaborations.

So, if you are reading this I want to wish you a wonderful holiday and vacation- I’d share my Candy Cane cookies with you if I could!

When opportunity knocks or is pursued…

December 8, 2008 at 9:35 am | In Shift, Travel | 2 Comments
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Great opportunities don’t often come from ease. I’m reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell who makes the argument that it’s not just talent, intelligence and drive that creates great success, but also opportunity available from circumstances beyond our control.

londonI have moved overseas at a time when I had reached a good deal of security and comfort in the US. But being a restless individual with a dream to travel, I pursued opportunities to work as an educator overseas. In the last 15 months I have grown professionally through my position away from the classroom as an ed tech specialist, learned to live in and appreciate a new country and culture and traveled to 8 countries and on 3 continents. I couldn’t have done that on a teacher’s salary in the US and the opportunities to expand positions and experience as an educator in US schools is more limited.  I have also become friends with colleagues and worked with students who have lived all over the world. Although I miss my family and friends back in New Hampshire each day, this has been a challenging and greatly rewarding new phase in my life.

What opportunities in your life have been presented to you or that you have pursued that have changed your life in a positive manner?

Let’s hear it for shifting teachers!

December 3, 2008 at 7:10 am | In Collaboration, Learning is Messy, Planning, Project-based Learning, Shift, Tech Integration | 2 Comments
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Being a teacher in a school that is shifting is challenging. There is more to learn and adopt than the newest math or reading program- at least in those cases it was essentially a newer package of the usual way of doing things. Also, teaching in a shifting school is more than learning how to use PowerPoint well enough to teach your students the skills needed to do a report using PPT instead of a booklet. What is needed is deeper- modeling and providing opportunities for students to learn, collaborate, reflect on learning and create in ways that extend and express content and ideas.

Asking teachers to take the necessary risks to learn new skills, view learning and learners in new ways, trusting the tech specialist and colleagues, and risk making errors in front of students is asking a lot from already over-taxed professionals. It is also challenging for students who aren’t accustomed to being asked to use what they have learned and use content to extend their ideas.

This is why I am taking the time to write and share a post about a colleague- one of our fourth grade teachers who is going out on a limb and beginning the shift. In the past few weeks she enlisted the support of myself and our science coordinator, Brook, to help create a Rainforest unit based on the curriculum content to support and challenge her students. She wanted research and projects that allowed levels of engagement and addressed a variety of learning styles. We brainstormed and Kim created the final project descriptions with task descriptions and rubrics for each. Brook and I supported by helping to set up the resources needed. Kim also asked for my support and from parent volunteers in class during the next weeks while students rotate through projects- she is the grade level science teacher and works with all three homeroom groups so she will have 3 hours a day facilitating students working on projects three days a week.

What is so unique about what Kim is doing? She is collaborating and using available human resources. She is revising her expectations for student learning and allowing for a variety of student learning styles, talents and ability levels. Students are being asked to engage in learning and apply and creatively demonstrate what is learned. By the end of the first project day students were becoming engaged and interested in what they were learning and Kim was exhausted.

It’s not easy and it’s messy. It required a great deal of preparation on Kim’s part as well as her willingness to take risks and believe in the value of revising the way things have been taught in the past. She also realizes she’s not alone and is willing to collaborate. And it won’t be easy for the students either.

On the other hand, it’s so exciting to be part of an environment where real learning is taking place for students and ourselves and I look forward to the journey ahead, reflecting and where that will take us.

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