My History:
NETS Reflection: Digital Age Teaching Professionals & Flight Path:
In your own teaching, in what ways do you:
1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
o For projects and large assignments, I provide rubrics with assessment guidelines. I involve students in creating many of the assignment rubrics so they have ownership in their work.
o Exemplars for many of the projects are provided using a variety of styles and resources. Students have the opportunity to use any form of multimedia to present their projects and are not restricted to one single style.
o Students explore real-world issues and review topics while contributing to the class wiki and their wiki pages where they store all of their progress, assignments and favourite review sites, kind of like a mini-efolio for French class.
o While working on projects, students explore and research their topics online and are encouraged to use different presentation styles for each of their projects throughout the year to add to their media skills tool kit.
o I use questioning techniques to encourage my students to participate in the f2f class discussions. Many of them prefer the discussion boards and chat forums online.
o In my Math classes I try to use a lot of student-centered activities where they have to share in the learning process much like a jig-saw format. I also use my IWB daily and provide demonstrations, simulations, and exemplars of concepts in the lessons and projects.
2. Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments
o I use a Moodle LMS for my French 20/30 class for specific purposes: we use the discussion forums and chat forums for synchronous and asynchronous class activities. Many of the kids who are shy to speak the foreign language rather write it and type to their friends in the forums.
o The class also uses the online review and translator features of the Moodle for text and workbook work which helps individual assessment.
o The class wiki is linked within the Moodle to facilitate navigation for the students. The class can peer edit and provide peer feedback to any and all of the class assignments that are posted on the wiki and they are encouraged to give peer feedback to 3 of their peers for each assignment. This has helped tremendously build our learning community when they all work together and provide feedback to each other (even though required).
o Instructor feedback throughout projects f2f and online. When planning a unit, I try to find activities that can be learned via technology so that they can build their digital skills.
3. Model digital-age work and learning
o I demonstrate new technology integration within class such as using Google Docs for collaboration, wiki building of our class wiki and navigation of our class Moodle.
o I provide access to course outlines, unit plans and resources online within the LMS and class wiki so students are aware of the outcomes and objectives.
o I encourage multiple forms of communication (f2f, email, discussion and chat within Moodle LMS, phone, texting).
o I use my Smart board daily and integrate some Web 2.0 technologies into appropriate lessons.
o I include web based resources located on the Moodle and class wiki for remediation, refinement and enrichment to meet the needs of diverse learners.
o I talk to my classes about my MET courses and what I’m learning quite regularly. Some have said t me that they feel like they can talk to me easier now because I know what it feels like to be a student again like them. After 15 years of teaching, this is certainly true. I can definitely relate to the pressures and stresses that students commonly feel and as their teacher I try to recognize these stressors for them and we try to work around them if we can. They can’t believe the amount of reading and work required at the secondary level, some have admitted that it puts their high school “homework load” in perspective when they see mine at the university level. I have often had the conversation with my students that if I don’t know the answer, I will find out for them or perhaps we can look it up and discover the answers together. I never claim to be the “all knowing one”. Seeing me become a student again has helped them realize that learning is a lifelong process and a journey that we navigate and travel throughout our lives. They like seeing my projects in progress and especially the final product. I like to show them the new technologies that I am learning and how they work. Some have taken to using Google Docs on their own only after I demonstrated it once on how we do group work online when we all live so far away. I show them the wikis I’ve created for courses as well as my e-portfolio which is a work in progress. Each of these examples seems to spark their interest more on what can be created online since I’m an online student.
4. Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility
o There are online alternatives to traditional assignments located on the Moodle.
o I only use copyright free music and images in my presentations and I show them where to find them on the creative commons or the links to the sites that they came from. This always starts great discussions on copyright, digital citizenship, online privacy and safety issues.
o I provide feedback to parents and students using a variety of digital media formats that are used by our school including email, digital report cards, automated daily call system for attendance absences, personal phone calls and IWB presentations at f2f meetings. We also have a school website and a few school wikis for different topics such as Band, Music, Math, Trips, etc.
5. Engage in professional growth and leadership
o I am taking my MET degree (finishing in December this year).
o I attend Math & French conferences held in the province (Alberta) as well as attend local PD sessions.
o I’ve also led a few PD sessions on integrating Smart Board into the classroom and building Smart Board lessons for French classes.
o I have led wiki building workshops at my school for staff so they can integrate wikis into their courses.
o I am a member of the AISI team (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) in my school and our current 3 year focus is one of technology integration including peer coaching and collaboration.
My Flight Path
What are the key skills and approaches that you feel you need to develop to meet your goals?
• For my flight path, I feel I need to learn more about interactive media and more Math related media resources since most of my previous focus has been French as a Second Language – I’m currently changing my focus to all Math since the new French Immersion teacher at our school is taking over the entire French program so now I can focus on all Math and no more teaching split classes (very time consuming – double the planning and marking).
What areas are most important to your own goals in becoming a digital-age teaching professional?
These areas can help guide my flight path!
• Ascertain theoretical frameworks to help advise and guide my AISI team at our school over the next 3 years in our technology integration focus.
• Develop a tool kit or list of what is available and which programs or resources work best for which subjects so I can help advise my AISI team next year to help integrate these technologies with our staff
• Discover new technologies or interactivities for my high school Math class
• Learning about ways to use technology to engage and support students who struggle in Math. I find what is lacking thus far, is that I need time to find the resources for online games, online research and quizzes, short videos, and interactive whiteboard activities.
• I’d like to implement some sort of Wimba voice recording in my French classes so the kids can also practice leaving oral messages in the discussion forums.
What I need to improve on:
• Finding ways to encourage & engage my grade 12 math class similarly to how I have implemented technology into my French classroom.
• 1b. The second part of this statement where you use digital tools and resources to solve real-world issues and solve authentic math problems is where I need to focus more attention. We don’t make it to the computer lab very often as a whole class (I have 43 in Math 12 this term) due to size alone but I do try to demo on my Smart Board many authentic problems and solving them using technology resources and tools. We solve them together as a class and I display the digital process on the Smart Board.
We do class projects that involve these guidelines and criteria to use digital resources and media to present findings and solve problems but I find that 3 projects per semester is not enough. There needs to be more time in the curriculum based on building and refining these types of technology, problem solving and critical thinking skills. I think one mini-project per unit (6 or 7 mini’s per semester maximum) would be better, one every 2 weeks or so would help with continuity of subject matter and help build and refine the new skills being learned. It takes time to develop the critical thinking and metacognitive skills and this can happen through collaboration and project work with correct scaffolding and sufficient time allocation. Time and curriculum constraints are what we deal with unfortunately. I truly believe there needs to be the time (taken from somewhere) for teachers to help our students build these necessary 21st Century skills in this digital age.
Cheers,
Evonne