Activity 3: Contribution of Teacher Inquiry Topics to my Communities of Practice
Step 1 (Descriptive):
The two inquiry topics (sort of 3) that I have grown my interest from the start of this course are:
Domain: These communities have an understanding of building pedagogical skills that is developed around gathering student voice and implementing new technologies into the classroom so that our students will build on their knowledge to become collective, sharing members with their peers. Both groups also have the school wide focus of improving literacy among students.
Community: My faculty had a large staff turnover, with being an Assistant HOF, our community has focus on building relationships with each other and sharing ideas during faculty meetings and building resources on the team drive through google. There is a sense of belonging because student interest is at the forefront and using an approach from traditional teachers and adding some flare from new teacher graduate ideas has meshed into some very interesting teaching practices.
My Col group also has the focus on literacy and we have been building the trust of opening up in our weekly group conversations to drop the guard and allow for reflective practices through the sharing across all subjects, once again on team drive from google.
Practice: The two communities are combined into one since I am a leader in both. I bring together the ideas from both communities and place the thoughts and ideas into a communal drive that is constantly being built up. During my weekly discussion with my Col group I am able to share benefits from technology (ie 3d printer, sphero, padlet) innovations that engage students and share the positive responses. The faculty benefits from the Col group and vise versa by breaking apart the silos for common goals.
Step 2 (Comparative):
The members in the communities of practice view the two main topics with skepticism, but also with open eyes. The Maths faculty has seen the shift in engagement and lesson content, through extensive school wide teacher inquiry into collecting and implementing change in the classroom. They have seen actual results and realize the value of contributing new ideas and inquiry goals that implement technology (ie desmos is amazing). The Col group is a little trickier. Some members feel there is no need of an inquiry system, “if the wheel is not broke, why fix it”. While the majority feel an improvement in their own practices and have different perspectives of using new technologies (padlet) to foster a growth mindset (hence why the third topic). Scaffolding techniques and reaching for a deeper understanding have been the focus readings for both communities.
Step 3 (Critical reflection):
The output I am hoping to see from the teacher inquiry and the implementation of technology is for students to become more self regulated as well as equal collaborators when giving a group task. The deeper understanding that comes from Maths is difficult to manage in group situations and hence collaborative work is normally unequal in terms of student work. Without a foundations with basic Maths my task heavily advantage (or was designed) toward Mathematically inclined students. But now through the communities I am now able to redesign my lessons and use technology to build of missing foundations of students so that they are able to equally contribute to a task with ideas and processes vs mathematical working that has always been expected. Sphero robots and padlet have renewed my perspective of how a Maths lesson can be conducted. Moving away from calculators to real 21st century group projects that require discussions, coding, and problem solving situations instead of just numbers has really opened my eyes up as being a functional teacher in this day and age.
References:
Timperley, H., Kaser L. & Halbert J.; A framework for transforming learning in schools: Innovation and the spiral of inquiry,Centre for Strategic Education Seminar Series Paper No. 234, April 2014
Gibbons, P. (2009) English Learners Academic Literacy and Thinking. Portsmouth NH: Hienem Planning for a High-Challenge, High Support Classroom;
Fisher,D., Frey,N., & Hattie,J.(2017). Teaching literacy in the visible learning classroom. Thousand Oaks,CA; Corwin
https://www.fisherandfrey.com/
Knox, B. (2009, December 4).Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk
The two inquiry topics (sort of 3) that I have grown my interest from the start of this course are:
- Teacher Inquiry into Student Learning
- Implementing Technology Innovation in the Classroom
- Developing a Growth Mindset
Domain: These communities have an understanding of building pedagogical skills that is developed around gathering student voice and implementing new technologies into the classroom so that our students will build on their knowledge to become collective, sharing members with their peers. Both groups also have the school wide focus of improving literacy among students.
Community: My faculty had a large staff turnover, with being an Assistant HOF, our community has focus on building relationships with each other and sharing ideas during faculty meetings and building resources on the team drive through google. There is a sense of belonging because student interest is at the forefront and using an approach from traditional teachers and adding some flare from new teacher graduate ideas has meshed into some very interesting teaching practices.
My Col group also has the focus on literacy and we have been building the trust of opening up in our weekly group conversations to drop the guard and allow for reflective practices through the sharing across all subjects, once again on team drive from google.
Practice: The two communities are combined into one since I am a leader in both. I bring together the ideas from both communities and place the thoughts and ideas into a communal drive that is constantly being built up. During my weekly discussion with my Col group I am able to share benefits from technology (ie 3d printer, sphero, padlet) innovations that engage students and share the positive responses. The faculty benefits from the Col group and vise versa by breaking apart the silos for common goals.
Step 2 (Comparative):
The members in the communities of practice view the two main topics with skepticism, but also with open eyes. The Maths faculty has seen the shift in engagement and lesson content, through extensive school wide teacher inquiry into collecting and implementing change in the classroom. They have seen actual results and realize the value of contributing new ideas and inquiry goals that implement technology (ie desmos is amazing). The Col group is a little trickier. Some members feel there is no need of an inquiry system, “if the wheel is not broke, why fix it”. While the majority feel an improvement in their own practices and have different perspectives of using new technologies (padlet) to foster a growth mindset (hence why the third topic). Scaffolding techniques and reaching for a deeper understanding have been the focus readings for both communities.
Step 3 (Critical reflection):
The output I am hoping to see from the teacher inquiry and the implementation of technology is for students to become more self regulated as well as equal collaborators when giving a group task. The deeper understanding that comes from Maths is difficult to manage in group situations and hence collaborative work is normally unequal in terms of student work. Without a foundations with basic Maths my task heavily advantage (or was designed) toward Mathematically inclined students. But now through the communities I am now able to redesign my lessons and use technology to build of missing foundations of students so that they are able to equally contribute to a task with ideas and processes vs mathematical working that has always been expected. Sphero robots and padlet have renewed my perspective of how a Maths lesson can be conducted. Moving away from calculators to real 21st century group projects that require discussions, coding, and problem solving situations instead of just numbers has really opened my eyes up as being a functional teacher in this day and age.
References:
Timperley, H., Kaser L. & Halbert J.; A framework for transforming learning in schools: Innovation and the spiral of inquiry,Centre for Strategic Education Seminar Series Paper No. 234, April 2014
Gibbons, P. (2009) English Learners Academic Literacy and Thinking. Portsmouth NH: Hienem Planning for a High-Challenge, High Support Classroom;
Fisher,D., Frey,N., & Hattie,J.(2017). Teaching literacy in the visible learning classroom. Thousand Oaks,CA; Corwin
https://www.fisherandfrey.com/
Knox, B. (2009, December 4).Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk
Which Community of Practice do you feel you have benefited from the most and why do you think that?
ReplyDeleteHow hard is it to change peoples thinking from "if it aint broke why fix it" to lets take up the challenge of teaching in the 21st Century without throwing the baby with the bathwater.
ReplyDelete