{"id":4697,"date":"2018-01-23T20:24:59","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T03:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/?p=4697"},"modified":"2018-01-27T19:28:46","modified_gmt":"2018-01-28T02:28:46","slug":"grade-2-3-colleagues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/2018\/01\/23\/grade-2-3-colleagues\/","title":{"rendered":"Failure is OK, collaboration, plan for the skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

For my interview, I interviewed Mr.H, a colleague at my current school.\u00a0 Mr.H and I have been colleagues for two years now and have enjoyed a few ventures exploring technology at our school.\u00a0 Last year, he was assigned to a grade 4\/5 class and we often participated in co-teaching lessons involving technology as buddy projects.\u00a0 This year, he has taken on the tech teacher <\/em>role at our school and is responsible for all of the digital technology.\u00a0 He has been teaching for the past 8 years and has spent time teaching in the States, overseas and has now settled in the lower main land.<\/p>\n

We conducted our interview at 3pm after school on a Friday.\u00a0 It ran about 30 minutes with a few interruptions from other colleagues.\u00a0 As we conducted the interview, I was surprised and intrigued by the experiences he had with technology during his professional development program and how he uses his understanding to plan lessons with technology now.\u00a0 The three main themes that came to mind as I reflected on our interview were: failure is ok, collaboration throughout the school, and plan for the skill.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Failure is OK!<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Research has indicated that teachers are hesitant to integrate technology into their practice due to the perceived lack of support and personal experience. How would you describe your experience in developing a sense of confidence when implementing technology into the classroom?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n
    Quotes<\/td>\nReflection<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \u201cSomething that I experienced in my PDP program and the teaching experiences that I have prior to coming to Canada to teach.\u00a0 Was this notion of try it out and if it fails whatever at least you tried.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t going to work right the first time but when it does it is going to be awesome!… It is going to take more than one time.\u201d<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u201cWe have all had lessons that failed and it can be scary to go back there.\u00a0 And with technology there is such a steep learning curve and the chance of failure is higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u201cI am ok with failing.\u201d<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u201cAs the years have progressed I have felt more, I feel like I don\u2019t give the primaries enough credit as they are due for their skills on this type of thing.\u00a0 So although I felt more hesitant with my 2\/3\u2019s than my 4\/5\u2019s, I am learning that we can work through it no matter the grade.\u00a0 It is about being confident with your group\u201d<\/p>\n

     <\/td>\n

    		To begin our interview, I asked Mr.H to reflect on his initial experience with technology.\u00a0 We discussed at length his experience in the professional development program, and his experiences teaching outside of the lower main land.\u00a0 He said that his experience with technology could be characterized by the phrase: try it, if it fails, oh well<\/em>.\u00a0 We both giggled but this idea of failing really resonated with me.\u00a0 As a young student myself, I was always told that failure <\/em>was not an option, getting things wrong was just not acceptable.\u00a0 I believe that this has carried with me as I now begin my professional journey as the teacher.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The reality of technology is that things will almost never work the way you thought it would.\u00a0 Whether it be a technical issue, students understanding more or less than you expected, or many more reasons, technology can be a scary\/frightening tool.\u00a0 It is therefore understandable why teachers can be reluctant to explore it.\u00a0 However, Mr.H was persistent when explaining how critical it is for teachers to make the first step and just try.\u00a0 As the year continues with a group of students, both the teacher and student will develop in their skills and it will only get better year to year.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    COLLABORATION throughout the school<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. How do you think the school\/district has helped or hindered your implementation of technology in the classroom?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n
      Quote<\/td>\nReflection<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      \u201cThese are important skills for our students to learn but where do I take the time?\u00a0 I would be perfectly happy taking an hour out of the day to work on these things: coding, modeling and life skills that I think they are going to need.\u00a0 But what is coming out?\u201d<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \u201cWhen we remove math, reading, science the teachers in intermediate are frustrated with what we are focusing on.\u00a0 So it is my personally opinion that it needs to be a complete shift as a school goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \u201cResources and funding are important but support is more important.\u00a0 And not necessarily support from admin because that comes in whatever direction it will.\u00a0 It is support from my colleagues.\u00a0 It is support to be able to say \u2018you know what we think that this is important\u2019 and for people to understand that in order for this to happen, something is going to suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \u201cEveryone be on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

       <\/td>\n

      		As the interview continued, we moved the discussion from how he felt as an individual using technology, to how the school community was effecting the implementation.\u00a0 A common term entered the conversation was time. <\/em>\u00a0He truly felt that as educators we are expected to follow a check list.\u00a0 A list of things that need to be taught each year so that the students can progress in a linear fashion.\u00a0Mr.H believes that \u201cwhen it comes to being able to use computers and use programs is so very important.\u00a0 Those things need to be taught, explicitly taught.\u201d.\u00a0 This meant that in order for teachers to spend the necessary time on teaching digital literacy, something else was going to have to give.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Now although Mr.H felt comfortable in forgoing other topics, or integrating skills like patterning (a skill typical associated with math) into coding, the concern was that other teachers would not feel the same way.\u00a0 For instance, teachers in the intermediate classes feeling frustrated that although the students are equipped with tech skills, they are lacking in content in other areas.\u00a0 It is therefore his belief, that the school needs to make a shift and collaborate on an area of focus for the entire school (technology, environmental learning, social emotional learning, etc.); as well, come to a consensus on the acceptable repercussions of time being spent on this.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Plan for the SKILL!<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. What tips or strategies would you suggest to teachers looking to introduce STEM into their classroom? In what ways can they introduce different subjects or topics into a joint project?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n
        Quotes<\/td>\nReflection<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        \u201cI think that a big part of that, and how I have always planned my units and lessons is, what is the thing that I want them to do?\u00a0 What skill do I want them to develop?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \u201cOk lets do research skills.\u00a0 Well to do that they need to know how to work a search engine.\u00a0 Ok well what content am I going to attach to this, ok animal life cycles, science.\u201d<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \u201cThere is a lot of flash in a lot of products.\u00a0 And it doesn\u2019t necessarily take it to another level\u2026 something I have to ask myself is is this going to provide them with a skill that they are going to need in the future<\/em>.\u00a0 I think something like coding, which is flashy, but it is functional.\u00a0 Using programs where you have to build something for the 3-D printer, functional.\u201d<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \u201cWhat are the skills you want them to learn, so when it comes to STEM or technology portions, it is finding what skill you want to focus on and then fitting in other stuff.\u00a0 You need to decide though if this is a skill that you are going to develop with or without tech and then move from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \u201cContent is fluid.\u00a0 It is starting with the skill and how you are going to teach that skill and then broadening out.\u00a0 Think of it as a web.\u201d<\/p>\n

         <\/td>\n

        		As a teacher ready to take the necessary steps to implement technology more effectively in my room, I was interested to know how to go about accomplishing this.\u00a0 His recommendations were simple and followed a linear plan.\u00a0 He recommended beginning by identifying the skill that you want your students to walk away with.\u00a0 This could be research skills, communication skills, etc.\u00a0 Following, we need to decide which, if any, types of technology are necessary for this skill.\u00a0 Meaning, that it is not always necessary to integrate technology into every lesson or unit. \u00a0He believes that technology needs to be used purposefully, not as another box on a check list. Once the teacher has identified the skill and technology, then we can move to attach content.\u00a0 He recommended this process because he believes that content is fluid and the connections are endless.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        He used the example of a research project he was working on with his grade 2\/3 students.<\/p>\n

        -The skill: research<\/p>\n

        -The technology tool: Google search engines<\/p>\n

        -The content: life cycles of an owl<\/p>\n

        From here, he was able to set out lessons that began with teaching students the literacy and skills needed to maneuver Google with a wide range of topics. \u00a0Then, he introduced his major project and sent students to use these skills in a practical way.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        For my interview, I interviewed Mr.H, a colleague at my current school.\u00a0 Mr.H and I have been colleagues for two years now and have enjoyed a few ventures exploring technology at our school.\u00a0 Last year, he was assigned to a grade 4\/5 class and we often participated in co-teaching lessons involving technology as buddy projects.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1669387],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-interview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4697"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4757,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4697\/revisions\/4757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}