Targeting the Overwhelmed Teacher – LIBE 477 Final Vision Post #2

Being a teacher is overwhelming.  Full stop.  In the same way that good parents feel as though they are never doing enough, good teachers feel the same.We know what we should be doing.  We know that we must keep up-to-date on current pedagogical practices.  We know we must be on top of the newest technology.  We know that we must differentiate instruction for our students rather than teaching to the middle.  We know we should collaborate with other teachers.  But the truth of the matter is that we are only human.  We must take care of the educational and emotional needs of our students.  We must take care of our family’s needs, our home responsibilities and ourselves.  It is a big job and something’s got to give.

A 2018 RAND Corporation study regarding the prevalence of collaboration amongst teachers in the United States revealed that while teachers understand the importance of collaboration for career development, they just cannot find the time to do it.  The report states that “collaborative activities (such as peer observation and co-planning meetings) can provide opportunities for teachers to engage in informal mentoring with more-experienced and more-effective colleagues, experiment with new instructional approaches, and co-construct understandings of policies and practices — which, in turn, can shape their teaching practice” (Johnston 2018).  There are certainly many reasons why teachers may be reluctant to collaborate, however, “just 31 percent of teachers reported that they have sufficient time to collaborate with other teachers. Not surprisingly, those educators who said they had greater opportunities and time for collaboration consistently reported higher levels of collaboration activity” (Schaffhauser, 2018).

In light of this, I would like for my digital artifact to help teachers to find ways to effectively integrate technology into their classroom without requiring too much time on their part.  As mentioned in my previous post, teachers often use Google searches and Pinterest for ideas on lessons – largely due to time constraints in planning.  In fact, Robert Pondiscio says that “nearly every teacher in America – 99 percent of elementary teachers, 96 percent of secondary school – draws upon “materials I developed and/or selected myself” in teaching English language arts. And where do they find materials? Among elementary school teachers, most common answer is Google (94 percent) followed by Pinterest (87 percent). The numbers are virtually the same for math” (Pondiscio, 2016).  It is for this reason that I would like to create a primarily visual-based Pinterest-esque website whereby teachers can see at a glance exactly what information applies directly to their search.  There is a plethora of excellent resources out there on the World Wide Web, but teachers simply do not have the time to sift through the information to find the information they need.   This website would allow for a quick search of a smaller curated database to make finding ideas and information much more efficient.

Also in the name of efficacy, I would like to begin by targeting teachers at one school.  In this way, I can collect ideas using the technology that I know is available at that particular school.  I will be able to focus on the grades and subjects that are taught at that school as well.  Having too large a scope for this project will only defeat the purpose – the point is to provide information without overwhelming teachers.  I would like for this site to be a wiki or another (perhaps less complicated?) type of site such as Padlet which would allow for teachers to share their own successful lessons with others in the school as well.  There are several teachers in the school who are quite the techies, and who integrate technology regularly into their classes.  It is quite likely that these teachers have lesson plans already developed that they may wish to share on the site as well.

By providing a digital platform for teachers at our school, particularly one that is visual-based, I hope to make it easier for teachers to begin to integrate technology into their classrooms and to collaborate with one another in a way that is the least intrusive, the least time consuming, and arguably the most effective way possible.

Bibliography:

Johnston, William R. and Berglund, Tiffany. (2018). The Prevalence of Collaboration Among American Teachers: National Findings from the American Teacher Panel. Creative Commons. Retrieved from: www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2217.html

Pondiscio, Robert. (2016, 6 May). Education’s Dirty Little Secret.  U.S. News. Retrieved from: https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-05-06/why-teachers-rely-on-google-and-pinterest-for-course-materials

Schaffhauser, Dian. (2018, 26 April).  Teachers too Busy to Collaborate.  The Journal.  Retrieved from: https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/04/26/teachers-too-busy-to-collaborate.aspx?m=1

William, Anthony. (2019, 10 October). Online Collaborative Learning. Teaching in a Digital Age, 2nd Edition. Retrieved from: https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/6-5-online-collaborative-learning/

*Featured image source: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/may/13/teacher-burnout-shortages-recruitment-problems-budget-cuts

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