Apologies for the late post for the my reflection on the week. I went to a wedding yesterday afternoon which, in combination with the preparation for said wedding (including a last-minute haircut) occupied much of my Friday and Saturday time. But I digress! After the creative and inspiring summative presentations in Friday’s class, I feel like I need some sort of theme for updating everyone on my learning journey. So! I created a timeline. You can read more details by clicking on the individual “events” or switching to text view:

I was having a conversation with a classmate today about how this class makes more and more sense the longer we’re immersed in it. I remember on the first few days how we were trying so hard to adjust to the unlearning process (or, in terms of the class metaphor, trying to stay between the rapids and the muddy estuaries of the Fraser), but now that we have a feel for it, there’s this sense of excitement and purpose.

Our grade level group discussions about world libraries did not go the way we expected, in part because we were taking some time to figure out some of the software available for sharing and annotating online resources. After Amy suggested the PDF Reader app for the iPad, I installed it and spent some time trying to annotate the articles that I’d discovered. It is not the easiest app to negotiate, and I was pleased when I was able to access Diigo later in the class. I’ve used this for compiling resources for an inquiry-based research project in the past and I find it to suit my needs – not just because I already know how to use it, but because it has an intuitive interface that was fairly easy to experiment with from the beginning.

Once all of our group members had sorted out the ICT aspect, we had a great discussion about some of the potential for world libraries as well as identifying what the roadblocks may be. Ideally, it would be amazing if all of the world’s resources (or, perhaps more realistically, everything that was available within the libraries of my own school district) were available online, for free, in a digital form, 24 hours a day. It would allow individual libraries to cultivate their own specialized collections while still being able to provide their clients with a breadth of resources. The concerns mainly had to do with distribution and copyright issues. Unfortunately there are still authors and publishing companies that need to make money off of their intellectual property and the more people who have access to their works online, the more they need to charge. We discussed the Creative Commons movement as an alternative to the established method of sharing information and ideas.  When I met with my inquiry group we also talked about the idea of students being able to generate their own information (picture books, textbooks, blogs, videos) and sharing it through social media as an initial step in generating a world library. Sites like Diigo allow those materials to be organized in ways that resemble (but are superior to) library catalogues.

Some very exciting and inspiring ideas, once again! My hope is that we can find a way to continue this work once the course is over.

Had a great discussion with the inquiry group today. We decided to continue the divide and conquer approach, each checking out one of the resources we’d previously located then reporting back to the group. On the “pros” side of using social media in the classroom, we talked about how it gives students the opportunity to share their learning with a wider community. We also saw an example of study done with Twitter where the researchers found its use for educational purposes led to a measurable increase in student engagement as well as GPA. Social media allows classroom discussions to go beyond the time and space allowed in the school day and provides students a safe way to interact with their ideas, each other, and their instructor. On the “cons” side, we spent some time talking about face-to-face communication and that we notice, as time online increases, our students are becoming less comfortable with social interactions in person.

This tied in well with the whole class discussion on linguistic cognitive domains and structural coupling. I liked the idea that we require connection with other living entities and our environments in order to survive. The idea that words are powerful is not a foreign concept, but for some reason I haven’t made an effort to use words more appropriately to create a positive environment in my school. If we, as educators, need more practice in effective social communication, imagine how much our students could benefit from the same. It’s interesting that in searching for how to introduce social skills to students, the majority of the articles involve LD students or those with specific disorders. I don’t think the struggle with social connections is limited to this group of students (or to students at all).

If you have time, check out this TED talk on the adolescent brain, in particular how young people form social connections:

Class today felt very substantial! I feel like some of the ideas that were addressed have the potential to completely change the way I view public education (as an institution) and I hope it’s not one of those situations where I’m inspired at the outset but then that fizzles over time as I forget.

I have been exposed to the idea of inquiry and some models for inquiry in previous courses, through workshops, and through my own practice as a teacher, but the discussion in class today provided some unique outlooks. I can’t remember who brought up the idea of creating a safe learning environment (perhaps Janet?), but I feel that this was one of the pieces missing in my own classroom. Asking students to take on an inquiry project takes a lot of trust. They need to be able to trust us when we tell them that they are in control of their own learning. When I attempt inquiry projects with students I find they want to rely on me for each step in the process to tell them that they’re doing it “right” and are making good decisions. I need to find a way to allow them to feel comfortable in their role in the process.

I also liked the idea of inquiry as an evolution of information. When you look at the models of inquiry, such as The Points of Inquiry,  there is a need to define certain steps and stages, and usually in a particular order. This is a necessity in teaching the process and planning for it within the school schedule, but in some ways it also limits where students are able to take the process. At the end of a week in the library, they may not be ready to come up with a final presentation, but may have gone off on an interesting tangent that they are inspired to pursue further. When picturing what schools could look like in the future, the idea of scheduling time for inquiry is something that needs to be considered.

The “lecture” on institutional isomorphism, dynamic conservatism, and sociocultural homeostasis was surprisingly interesting (given the number of syllables!). I have often felt stuck in a system that pushes back when innovation is attempted, and these concepts offered some explanation of where that was coming from. I was once that idealistic first year teacher that felt I could accomplish anything and now feel myself frequently at the mercy of the bigger institution. I agreed strongly with the point that we have to understand what’s keeping us in place before we can move forward.

As a final point, I wanted to speak to BC’s Education Plan, because it’s been coming up a lot in this course, and I think it’s most relevant today. In the forum posts today, there was some mention of how teachers are resisting the plan simply because it’s coming from the government. I like the idea that the ministry of education is trying to bring our system in line with what research is telling us is best practice (as we’ve seen, it can be difficult to make sweeping changes in a well-rooted system). I think my concern, and the concern of other teachers, is that the plan is so vague that it could be used to do anything, some of which may not represent positive change. One of my colleagues in Surrey annotated the BC Ed. Plan to show some of these possibilities, and I think it’s worth a read if you have time. Of course, some of this just comes from the fear that we have, as teachers, of losing our jobs or our rights. Keeping the system the same guarantees us that we won’t lose what we already have more than a changing system, so in a way we’re part of the problem.

It was great having some time today to come together with our inquiry groups to define our topic and break it down into some more manageable pieces. We set up a MindMeister Map to help us get organized:

Create your own mind maps at MindMeister

We’re all interested in the idea of social media and how it can be used in the classroom and/or school library, but more importantly, why is should be used. The process is still in its early stages, so in the short term we’re hoping to find some research or existing policies which may help guide the rest of our inquiry. The articles the group has located so far seem to support our theory that students learn best when learning happens socially and that social media helps expand that learning network.

Excited to see where things go next!