Bits and Bytes
WBMS Personalized Learning and Technology Newsletter
A Teacher's Reflection on Co-Planning
Imagine that you are visiting a restaurant that you have visited several times before. As you look over the menu before ordering, you probably engage in a bit of self-talk. If we could hear it, it might sound like this:
I'm trying to watch my diet, so I should choose something healthy. I had chicken for lunch, so I don't think I want that for dinner. I'm tired of chicken. Seems like I've eaten chicken every day for a week. Maybe a hamburger? No, the goal is to keep the calories to a minimum and keep it healthy. Fish might be interesting. I've never had the fish here. The other people at the table said it's pretty tasty. Blackened? No, too spicy for me. The last time I was here I could hardly eat the blackened chicken. I think I'll order the broiled fish. That way I can try something new, prepared the way I like, and still meet my goal of keeping the calorie count low so I can lose those last 5 pounds before Spring Break.
This kind of self-talk is a little like the reflection that we would like students to do when they are exercising their "choice and voice" in personalized learning. They need to think about their goals as learners. They need to reflect on what works for them, what might be a pattern of behavior for them, what might be a stretch for them, and what new learning strategies they might like to try. Being able to reflect on their learning and their learning goals is a key feature of co-planning in personalized learning.
One way to encourage this kind of reflective self-talk is to have students complete a reflection after a learning or assessment task.
I have found success in my classroom by having students complete a reflection after each summative assessment. The reflection questions guide them through a taxonomy of reflection, from identifying what they did (e.g.," I missed 5 questions, " ) to identifying patterns ( "I missed all of the map questions") to creating a SMART goal for the next unit that will help them make choices on the next unit of study.
I send the reflection questions to the students as a quiz via Edmodo. This makes it easy to monitor completion and it makes it easy for both student and teacher to revisit the reflection and SMART goals at any time. Because the quiz format makes it easy to organize and find the reflections, the students and I both are able to see how the learning goals change as the year progresses, and how the students mature metacognitively as they think about their thinking and learning.
To get more information about using the quiz functionality of Edmodo, be sure to stop in to Room 125 at 8:00 AM for Wired Wednesday on October 19. If you would like a copy of the reflection quiz, email me, and I will be happy to share it via Edmodo!
Oh, and try the lobster! It's really great!
- -Joanna Gillespie
Be sure to stop in to Room 125 at 8:00 AM for Wired Wednesday on October 19.
*Remember, Wired Wednesdays are Stay and Play or Get and Go
Jackie Gerstein is an experienced educator who has been working as a classroom teacher and pre-service teacher trainer for years. With a background in experiential learning, Gerstein is excited about current trends in education that have more people excited to try project-based learning, maker education and other approaches that let students get hands-on with their learning.
She hopes all the excitement turns into robust, meaningful change in how mainstream teachers educate. To do that, she says it’s crucial that teachers not only focus on the materials and tools of a maker activity, but also carefully frame it and reflect upon it to make sure learning happens.
“If we don’t create a process of reflecting and framing them, then we are leaving learning up to chance,” Gerstein said on a panel about makerspaces hosted at the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) conference.
To frame lessons, Gerstein thinks carefully about her goals for the lesson and then makes sure the kids are thinking about those goals, too, by asking essential questions. If the goal is to meet certain standards, the class might have a brief discussion of the standards in question, framed in kid language. Or the teacher might ask, “How would an inventor or scientist approach this problem?”
“I think maker-ed has huge potential to build social emotional skills and I don’t think that’s being tapped enough,” Gerstein said. Problem-solving, managing emotions, organizing one’s time and designing with empathy are often all part of the making experience, but if teachers want to make sure students recognize they are building those skills, they need to frame them explicitly.
For example, Gerstein will raise the question of frustration, noting that some students were frustrated during the last experience and asking what they might do if they experience frustration again. Then, while the making is happening, if she notices a child getting frustrated, she can remind him of the ideas the class generated together before the activity.
“I like framing my activities with self-awareness,” Gerstein said. “You’re planting these things into our learners’ heads prior to doing our making.” This seeding of ideas before students dive in is crucial, Gerstein said, because it is easy to assume that students understand the learning goals, when really they are just following directions.
“Just because students are complying doesn’t mean they are learning,” Gerstein said. “We teach too much compliance in schools. I think if 10 percent [of your students] like your lesson and 90 percent are sitting there tolerating because they’ve learned to tolerate, that’s a failure in my mind.”
This is an excerpt from Mind/Shift. Finish reading this article- HERE
edcamp Fulton
Saturday, Oct 22, 2016, 08:45 AM
4110 OLD ALABAMA ROAD ALPHARETTA, GA
When: Saturday, Oct 22
8:45am- 12pm
Where: Autrey Mill Middle School
4110 OLD ALABAMA ROAD
ALPHARETTA, GA
WHAT IS AN EDCAMP?
- An organic, participant-driven professional learning experience.
- A community created by educators, for educators.
- The leading edge of professional development in education.
TENETS OF EDCAMP
- Free
- Open to everyone
- Created by participants on the day
- Sessions facilitated by anyone
- Reliant on the "rule of two feet” that empowers everyone to find session that meet their needs
- Vendor-free events
AGENDA
8:45 Arrival & Topics
9:15 Session 1
10:00 Session 2
10:45 Session 3
11:30 EdCamp Smack Down & Closing
Join us after edcamp Fulton at Brooklyn Cantina for lunch and to continue the conversations and friendships!
Click here for all the information-> https://www.smore.com/gqjzg
*You get a badge for attending edcamp Fulton
Contact Me
Email: pardee@fultonschools.org
Website: wbmsedtech.weebly.com
Phone: 470-254-8722
Twitter: @mkpardee