Week 32: APC - Reflective Practice – PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

“Unimaginable, cannot believe it’s all over!

Or just Started”

Before doing the mind lab's course I use to consider that I am a very reflective practitioner. However while working on “Leadership In Digital and Collaborative Learning” I came across Larrivee, (2000)’s article on transforming “Teaching Practice: becoming the critically reflective teacher”. This has been the most enlightening article I have across as the first phase of my journey which made me question my “Status Quo” and made me analyse the steps I use to take in the reflective process. This process provided me with a clear sense of vision and totally new perspective in my progression of experimental classroom. The biggest change I believe that has happened in last 32 weeks has been around following things:

Exploring, learning and trialing new technology related strategies in my classroom practice. Which I use to consider after spending two decades as educational practitioner that I am too old for this.

(First Animation)

Not being afraid of failures and developing growth mindset. To ensure that me as teacher promotes anything in the classroom must first adapt that it in my practice and my learning journey is important as my ākonga’s one. As rightly said

Lastly but the most valuable one is collaboration. Working as a team and understanding that, this team is not limited to colleagues or the network that one establishes while attending an external professional development. However this collaboration is possible while sitting in the comfort of your classroom or home. By engaging in professional conversation online and  by being part of professional community network online.

Two key changes linked with my practice in relation to the Practising Teacher Criteria (PTC) in e-learning:

Criteria 3: Demonstrate commitment to bicultural partnership in Aotearoa / New Zealand.

It has been a helpful reminder to my professional commitment towards bicultural partnership.

I have incorporated flipped classroom model in my teaching practice, since I worked on “Digital & Collaborative Learning in Context 2”. I have quite a mixed ethnic group class, with whom I tried this model. The main focus while promoting this model has been around Mannaakitanga. Informing students why we are learning this way, building student’s trust in adopting to a new practice, involving whanau and ensuring during classroom sessions this approach will provide lot of opportunities to learn from peers. This peer support provided an excellent opportunity in building open and trusting relationship among students as well as teachers. So much so that initially when groups were created lot of students were challenged to move out of their comfort zone. However after a term or so when I asked my students to go back to their original friends groups they didn’t wanted to do that as they felt that groups that I had created for them are far more powerful in supporting each other’s learning, that students preferred to stay in groups that I had created for them.

Criteria 4: Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice.

At the beginning of the course I had a goal to challenge myself by incorporating digital tools in my classroom practice. However I use to struggle to use them in a meaningful way, considering that my knowledge around information technology (IT) is poor. So I went for this perception that mind lab course will enhance my IT knowledge by teaching introducing me to the A-Z of IT. However after first few weeks I felt it’s going to be a struggle as tools were thrown at us without much demonstration on how to use them. Regardless as I moved deeper into the course I realised that this is been best way to create self-regulated learning environment, where I need to participate responsibly in professional learning opportunities within the mindlab learning community. Mindlab Initiate learning opportunities to advance personal professional knowledge and skills. Where now I am part of some online professional communities, I am embracing new tools around digital technology by giving it a go myself and not afraid of not only learning from my students but being open to them that I am learning and trying (whatever the new tool could be) for the first time. For example first time I created a blog my year 9's and my son helped and proof read it before I published it.

Even on simple things like twitter I never believed it’s for me, but now I am promoting it among my colleagues as well as my students.

Thanks to “Applied Practice In Context” I can actually do blogs Brilliant !

Though I am fortunate to be working at a school where ongoing professional development is considered as a big thing. In past sometimes I use to do it as a tick box thing then to be looking at long term personal and professional benefits in my teaching pedagogy. Mindlab helped me to understand differences between “Practitioners as passive consumer and Practitioner as action researcher” Osterman and Kottkamp, (1993).

Future:

While working on literature review in “Research and Community Informed Practice” a hidden learner inside me has been reborn.  The first time when I had read about growth mind-set in 2014, this concept had resonated quite a bit. However the real impact of it actually happened only while doing literature review around growth mind-set. In fact this has been so powerful, that I have already written my proposed research plan to carryout research (Ph.D.) in education. I have checked with a few New Zealand universities and am glad to know that I qualify to enrol straight into doctoral studies in education, due to my previous Ph.D. in Zoology.

So currently I am searching for a provider who could lead me into this field “To investigate the impact of micro-intervention of growth mindset in partnership with parents on student’s academic performance”.

To conclude I would like to acknowledge my Mindlab peers, mindlab facilitators, my friends & colleagues at Pakuranga College. Above all this journey has only being possible with regular support and encouragement from my husband and my two lovely kids my son Navrajdeep and daughter Afreshdeep.

References:

1. Action, E., Wha, P., & Haka, K. (2015). Weaving together as one. Ka Hikitia in Action. Page 8.
2. Larrivee, B. (2000Transforming teaching practice: Becoming the critically reflective teacher. Reflective practice, 1(3), 293-307.
3. Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators.California.Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files/RefPract/Osterman_Kottkamp_extract.pdf
4. Ministry of Education (nd). Practising teacher Criteria and e-learning . Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/Registered-Teacher-Criteria-and-e-learning
5. http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/10/twitter-for-professional-development.html

Week 31: My Interdisciplinary Connections Current & Future

Week 31: My Interdisciplinary Connections Current & Future

Current practice:

My first experience of cross-curricular had been at my previous school. Where we had a low reading ability student group and the staff teaching this group had organised an integrated approach to teach them skills necessary for various disciplines. In every subject area we used to contextualise the content and skill learning around a common theme. For example if context is sea/ water then in social studies they would learn about oceans and rivers, in science water cycle, in mathematics measurement of water to understand volume and numbers, in English they might be writing a paragraphs around Rangi’s tears and so much so that even in art the emphasis will be on paintings with water colours.   

My Current & Potential Interdisciplinary Map

Interdisciplinary means “The ability to integrate knowledge and modes of thinking from two or more disciplines to generate a new insight” (Ivanitskaya, et.al. 2002).Research suggests (Mansilla, V. B. (2007) that interdisciplinary approach prepares students as life-long learners, adaptable problem solver and prepares students to understand and solve global issues.

The chemist Willard Libby who discovered radiocarbon dating, applied his findings in Chemistry to the discipline of Archeology and won the Nobel Prize the discovery in 1960 (Youngblood, 2008).

My near future Goals:  working with music and computer technology curriculum areas while teaching waves topic of physics.

Physics is a science that deals with structure of matter and interactions between the constituents of universe. Certain aspects of physics appear challenging to students as they see it to be quite abstract hence struggle to understand the concept, however, if these could be integrated well with another discipline giving more hands on experience to students and also build holistic view. One of the area of physics wave’s topic can be covered with excellent interdisciplinary approach around curriculum areas of music, art and digital technology. 

The only way possible to cover this is to have a project based learning, where staff could organise a scheme of work with interdisciplinary approach. Students could start from scratch makey- makey tool in a technology class, come up with a plan which instrument type and music they are interested in. Maybe at second phase students could design their selected instrument in an art class, at the same time they can start learning characteristics of wave in physics and learning to play musical instrument in music class.

Interdisciplinary approach to prepare students for 21^st century:

 At Pakuranga College we have already started working around this by using our learning charter to build learning habits around core values of our school, as indicated below:

Staff has been asked to try incorporating learning habits around each of these core value and maybe try some in their unit plan on weekly basis and then add their notes on a template shared through google doc. One example around learning habit Care for ourselves, others & the environment resources is shown below:

Things to remember while creating Interdisciplinary learning model

(Acknowledgement: www.interdisciplinarystudiespz.org/pdf/) 

Benefits of Interdisciplinary environment:

    Learners are motivated and involved; they demonstrate an inquisitive attitude.

    Learners develop confidence in facing challenges, both intellectual and practical.

    Learning is connected and directly related to real life experiences.

  Learners work individually and collaboratively

    Students can become independent, confident individuals who ‘learn how to learn’ and develop lifelong learning skills” (Duerr, 2008). Jones (2009) suggests that students who are taught with an interdisciplinary technique develop higher order thinking skills.

    Interdisciplinary learning build holistic view of students rather than making them master academic content knowledge.

    Teachers who embrace interdisciplinary teaching often view their students as individuals with unique interests and diverse intellectual profiles.

    Barton and Smith (2000) suggests that interdisciplinary units enable teachers to use classroom time more efficiently and address content in depth, while giving students the opportunity to see the relationship between content areas and engage in authentic tasks.

    Finally, some teachers find interdisciplinary teaching rewarding because it offers learning opportunities that enable them to find novelty and interest in their work. They find opportunities for new and creative professional life as they consider using materials stemming from multiple disciplines, (as opposed to a single textbook).

Challenges of Interdisciplinary environment:

    In tertiary education the professors who focus on interdisciplinary studies isolate themselves from the core of their field which lowers an academic's reputation in the eyes of his peers and hurts his chances for tenure” (Kanakia, 2007).

    Szostak, author of “How and Why to Teach Interdisciplinary Research Practice” explains that the methodology of the practice of interdisciplinary is lost when a single interdisciplinary course is then considered as a major field of learning.

    Interdisciplinary curricula is time consuming and hence require lot of unit plan preparation time with collaborative approach.

References:

Barton, K. C., & Smith, L. A. (2000). Themes or motifs? Aiming for coherence through interdisciplinary outlines. The Reading Teacher, 54(1), 54-63.

Duerr, L. L. (2008). Interdisciplinary Instruction, Educational Horizons. Retrieved August, 8, 2011.

Ivanitskaya, L., Clark, D., Montgomery, G., & Primeau, R. (2002). Interdisciplinary learning: Process and outcomes. Innovative Higher Education, 27(2), 95-111.

Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI, 7(26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai

Kanakia, R. (2007). “Talks touts benefits of interdisciplinary approach, as well as some of its pitfalls.” Stanford Report. http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2007/february7/barr- 020707.html.

Mansilla, V. B. (2007). “Playing Sound Waves ”, Quality interdisciplinary teaching in middle school classrooms and beyond . Veronica Boix Mansilla. Education, 1–20.

Staples, H. ( 2005). “The Integration of Biomimicry as a Solution-Oriented Approach to the Environmental Science Curriculum for High School Students.” 

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/c2/3d.pdf.

Youngblood, D. (2007). Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and bridging disciplines: A matter of process. Journal of Research Practice, 3(2), 18

Week 30 - APC - Professional Online Social Networks

We are in the second generation of internet web 2.0. This is mainly dominated by social media.

Social media:

As defined by Oxford dictionary "communication with people who share your interests using a website or other service on the Internet."

( Acknowledgement: https://xkcd.com/802/)

Social media could be useful in teaching and learning for:

       Collaboration: slide share, prezi, google doc, survey monkey, Edmodo, padlet, zoho docs

       Networking: Facebook, forums, g+, texting, LinkedIn, instant messaging

       Video-sharing: You tube, blip, vimeo

       Image-sharing: Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest, Picasso

       Blogging: Blogger, weebly, WordPress, tumbir

       Micro-blogging: twitter

Social media has a lot of benefits in educational setting depending upon the task and type of media used. It provides an excellent tool to socialise online and build communicational skills.  Social media creates personalised learning environment as per the learner’s needs and used in correct way can enhance self-regulated learning (Dabbagh & Kitsantas 2012). Students believe social media being very helpful as they can get instant help with their homework from peers (Mao, 2014).  

Bates (2014) suggests that using social media in classroom might answer most of these questions:

    How do I engage my students?

    How do I communicate with my students?

    Do students need digital literacy?

    How do I utilize new tools?

Potential challenges that I consider teachers need to be aware of when integrating social networking platforms into teaching activities

Learners in New Zealand school are from different cultural background hence one size does not fit all. All times there is a great need of differentiation in our classroom depending upon the learning needs of individual students. Social media used effectively can differentiate task, where learner can control their learning in meaningful way. However, the biggest challenge here for educators is to keep learner focused on task, directing learner in their formal learning set up towards the key areas that relevant for the course( especially in high school curriculum).

Possible challenges an educator might come across while introducing social media are:

    Difference in digital competency of digital natives (current students born with technology and digital migrants (staff who has been in teaching for many years) create challenges for many teachers to try new things when they feel bit challenged, especially in front of their students. However, I believe to be open and ready to learn from your students. In fact this helps in making student-teacher relationship stronger.

    Culture of an organisation is absolutely critical when introducing change into any organisation to take people (employees, community, parents, external authorities, etc.) with you to the greatest extent possible. To introducing social media into school one need to win the hearts and minds of school staff, students and parents. The only effective way to do this is to demonstrate its potential for improving the quality of teaching, and its real impact on students’ learning. One has to give clear and concise reasons on why school should adopt social media. The core rational for social media adoption must be to improve school communication with stakeholders, to enhance learning and teaching that leads to improved motivation and increased attainment (Silius, et. al., 2010).

    Social media use require an excellent technical set up. School management must support teachers’ needs to provide good ICT tools and ongoing professional development. Employing corporate ICT staff and maintaining good working relationship to support staff around their everyday ICT issues. Rather than locking and blocking certain net working tools for students, training and awareness around safe use of social media to build a culture of making students responsible digital citizens. 

    To ensure the effective use of  social media use in schools, timely communication with stake holders is vital to inform them about what will be the new change and why? It is important to make sure that everyone in a learning community knows that the school intends to try something new. People are often anxious about change and this anxiety seems to be amplified when the change is occurring because of the adoption of new technologies (Mao, 2014).

    More use of social media has impact on social skills as some students are very comfortable in social networking, however, are less able to communicate effectively in person. Social networking has a negative impact on students’ social interactions, emotional health and work completion (Kitsantas, et. al. 2016).

    In secondary schools the time constraints of course completion and content of external topic limits the choice of differentiation within a curriculum area, thus the social media tools tend to narrow down, where the use is limited to collaboration, and peer support and 24/7 help availability.

Social media platform that I feel best supports my professional development.

Before doing Mindlab course my use of social media was only limited to Facebook. I used to use Facebook to interact with my cultural groups or my tutor group through my Facebook page. However, while covering last two modules I have started incorporating blogging for my year 9 students where they write their fortnightly reflections on what they have learned, what they have most and least enjoyed during this period. Plus student share their blog with at least four other students in the class and interact with them by adding subject specific comments.

For my senior NCEA classes I am planning to set up a Facebook page where student can support each other’s learning. I will ensure that students bear in mind cyber safety issues, while interacting with peers on this page.

For my senior physics students I have suggested them to follow 3tags‏ @3tags_org and Fermilab –@Fermilab. A group of four student will analyse an interesting tweet that they come across and share as a group once a month interesting information that their group has read on twitter. This is mainly to encourage their learning in an informal set up and to keep them informed about new scientific developments. Who knows this information might inspire a student to take up as career in future.

Planning to start a blog for parent community to update them about their child’s classroom.

Social media to enhance my professional development.

    I find Pond NZ as the best place for educators and learners to discover, share and grow. I find the resources shared by teachers very useful for classroom use. I am also part of this group on pond.

FarNet -Online Community

    Virtual Learning network: I have not joined as such this network, however on off I do find some discussion among teachers around Maori and Pasifika learners very useful.

    I am part of physics Facebook groups, this keeps me up to date about new developments in physics globally and at national level.

    G+: enjoy interacting with the November intake G+ community of Mindlab, plus I am also member of growth mindset G+ community. Both platforms provides heaps of strategies to use in classroom. Plus I find this community network very useful due its availability to ask for help 24/7. In lieu of this being too spoiled I have started the following community for professionals in my circle to continue sharing resources and ideas.

Mindlab G+ community once we finish course

    Blog: Creating and sharing blog with my professional community, gives me opportunity to collaborate, receive feedback and a place to record my reflections.

References:

Dabbagh, N., & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The Internet and higher education, 15(1), 3-8.

Kitsantas, A., Dabbagh, N., Chirinos, D. S., & Fake, H. (2016). College students’ perceptions of positive and negative effects of social networking. In Social Networking and Education (pp. 225-238). Springer International Publishing.

Mao, J. (2014). Social media for learning: A mixed methods study on high school students’ technology affordances and perspectives. Computers in Human Behavior, 33, 213-223.

Ministry of Education (2016) Educational council. https://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/what-social-media.

Silius, K., Miilumaki, T., Huhtamaki, J., Tebest, T., Merilainen, J., & Pohjolainen, S. (2010). Students' motivations for social media enhanced studying and learning. Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal (KM&EL), 2(1), 51-67.