I have learned many things related to design this semester. I think the one that will stick with me most was the Dervin assignment from the beginning of the semester. When I read (tried to) Dervin's "From the Mind's Eye of the User" I immediately got nervous that there would be Dervin readings for each class (cold sweats!). Luckily, the introduction of Dervin served as a great teachable moment far beyond the words on the page. Reading the text made me confused and tired, like I was trudging through quick sand, which was the point. I believe Professor Curtis' true message was to be able to observe how our students react when they are learning something new, especially if the content is difficult. I felt like I was living the experience as I was reading about the experience, strange yet cool feeling. It finally clicked, as I was reading the text, I was actually learning about myself and my learning tendencies. Awesome! At that moment I knew this would be a powerful class and it was. I believe that I have evolved as an innovative thinker. I try to consider Dervin and many other learned design methods whenever I am planning a unit. Being aware of unique learning styles and how to design a lesson allows me to better reach my students.
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The Touro Masters program has come at an ideal time for me. Strategies and innovations such as Zoom and FlipGrid have made the transition to distance learning much smoother.
I can't help but thinking about my DQ during this time, I have been focusing on how to best reach advanced learners during a typical instructional day. I have compiled a list of teaching opportunities to reach advanced learners, many of them would apply to distance learning. I hope to share these advanced learner opportunities are with my school and administrators as the study continues on.
A very important question that I continue to consider are my end-user needs. After reviewing several websites it became obvious that a clearly defined objective is essential when designing a site. Users must easily understand why the content would benefit them. Learning about the SITE model, Baggio and Clark have made me rethink my final project. At first I wanted to provide a quick-reference resource guide for teachers who want to challenge their advanced learners during regular class instruction. I believe now that my vision was too small. Questions have been raised regarding how to find my end-users. I now think that expanding my media/marketing opportunities will help me gain exposure for my resource guide. I plan to make a blog, use Twitter and potentially link the resource to Teachers Pay Teachers. I also decided to call my resource Kriner's ALIVE! (ALIVE stands for Advanced Learners InVigorate Education). Lots of work to still do but I feel like the prototype philosophy has given me a blue print for success.
Fortunately, I was able to gather the necessary data for my second round of research. This is the same data that I used in action research round one. For consistency sake, I will use the survey and Reading Inventory research methods and compare them to the round one data. I have learned so much during my time as a Masters student at TU. I find my inspiration from challenging students to reach their highest potential. My action research is focused around implementing an in-class G.A.T.E. program. I am happy with my focus because it has broadened my vision as an educator and allowed me to become more in touch with my student's needs and strengths. Being exposed to design practices such as the SITE Model has shed some light on how to best reach all of my students and how I can develop myself as a learner. The SITE Model describes how learning is not only directly linked to the exposure of content, it focuses on informational, social cultural and technical as well as information to make for the best opportunity for the learner. I have implemented several practices into my class based on my action research including adjusting our selection of library books to read. I noticed that my reading assessment scores were flat lining, especially with my advanced learners. When I checked in with my students, I found that most were reading novel selections well below their own lexile levels. Now each student knows their reading lexile level and should only choose a library book at or above their level. In the past few months, I have students challenge their reading choices instead of reading the same old thing. I think the practice of reading appropriate level books may be something that can be overlooked, I am in communication with colleagues about possibly adjusting how our school organizes the school library. I am thinking organizing novels by lexile level may be a better system? Another consideration that I have come up with through the action research process is related to parent involvement. I am very intrigued with how to best encourage parents to be involved in their child's education independent of the school. My thought is that this "at-home" parental education system would be especially beneficial on weekends or over school breaks.
As I have been reading and learning about instructional design models, I have been trying to find the similarities and how they might be connected. Because education models and techniques seem to be limitless, I have found that observing model pillars for strategies that seem to be agreed upon across the board. From my perspective, Clarke, ARCS, Baggio, SITE, Robinson (Creative Schools) and more seem to agree on a few cornerstones of education. Three cornerstones of instructional models (that I believe would be agreed upon) are variety, support/guidance and making education personal.
With regards to variety, Baggio and Dervin would both agree that content cannot only be taught (and learned) in one manner. Educational variety is key in the sensemaking process and 21st century skills including visuals may be a much stronger method of instruction than the traditional pencil, paper, desk style of learning. With regards to support and guidance, Clarke and Robinson believe that just because an instructor has a skill set does not make them able to teach others. Lesson plans need to have opportunities for guidance throughout the learning process. With regards to making education personal, the SITE Model describes how learning is not only directly linked to the exposure of content, it focuses on informational, social cultural and technical as well as information to make for the best opportunity for the learner. This seems to be in sync with other educational philosophies such as Sir Ken Robinson who believes that once we find the passions of our students, the learning can begin. The ARCS Model explains how content relevance will help develop motivated learners. How might the exposure of design models affect my driving questions/action research? The more I understand a student's motivation, the better I can teach them. My action research revolves around how to implement an in-class G.A.T.E. program to improve ELA scores. That being said, I think I need more interaction and to learn more about my students. I am considering a one-on-one interview portion of my research where I can find out exactly what motivates a student, this would be particularly beneficial at the beginning of the school year. Having this knowledge would also give me insight about potential projects or subjects that a student might find particularly interesting. I am also considering adding more artistic components to my classroom. Sometimes art and creativity can be put on the back burner, I think I can do a better job of this. Teaching in a variety of ways may reach students that I may not have reached yet and also give other students additional support to increase the depth of knowledge. How do students make sense in my classroom? The readings in this session made me consider my teaching practices. Below are a few standouts and commentary from Baggio, Clark and Dervin.
Baggio Chapter 4-6
Clark Chapter 1-2:
The comprehension of Dervin's article regarding sense-making was very challenging for me. I began by doing a surface read of the article while using a highlighter to focus on key concepts. As I was reading through the packet I became confused and was not grasping many of the concepts. I began to consider my meta-cognitive process and what works best for me. I realized that much of my confusion come from not being completely aware of key vocabulary terms including sense-making, transmission, construction and more. I decided to use a dictionary to clarify key words, I also studied the pictures at the end of the packet and on Google images because I am a visual learner. The images (see above) helped but it wasn't until I watched a video that described sensemaking as the "path to a solution". I finally understood the 791 exercise and was happy to be a part of it! I learned something about myself and about how I learn. When I get confused, I will look at alternatives (mostly visual) in order to comprehend content. This opportunity also made me think about how to best connect and teach my students, I will consider sensemaking in future assignments.
Research Paper Recap Questions 1. How did your findings influence your thinking about the bigger challenge? Information from my findings open the door to new, bigger challenges. I have focused on GATE strategies and have found there are many ways, untapped opportunities that I have learned about that would not only support GATE students, they would positively impact all of my students. 2. What do I know now? My findings have shown across the board ELD growth for my students but there has been a smaller increase in my GATE students compared to non-GATE students in my class. 3. What do we still need to know? I still need to figure out which strategies best challenge advanced learners. I have been looking at new opportunities relating to lexile levels and vocabulary that I have implemented. I am excited to see what the data show when I begin a new research cycle in a few weeks. |
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May 2020
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