Reflect Upon "New" Learning

Last month finished up another semester of my master's degree program. The classes all ended with the obligatory final project and final exam. Each of these teachers posed the same basic question on the final exam: "How has your new learning this semester influenced the way you will create lessons and teach in the future?" This of course got me thinking, but not necessarily about what the teacher intended.
I started thinking about the insane number of teachers, including myself, that have asked this question of their students in some way or another. I know that as teachers we are hoping to teach new concepts and that we are enlightening our students at all times, but there are times when that just doesn't happen. So then when the question is asked of students "What did you learn?" we as teachers are assuming that we have indeed enlightened and inspired our students in some way, and that this is a justified question. But what happens if we really haven't imparted any new wisdom upon our students, or they simply haven't obtained any new information or skills? What happens if a student answers "I haven't learned anything new." How do we as teachers react? I would be willing to bet a number of teachers would raise their eyebrows at said student's answer and award zero points to the student for that question and then move on with teaching.
But what would have happened if in my master's level course I had answered that nothing I learned from the instructor was new to me? What if I had said the class I had just paid $700 for really had not taught me much of anything that will influence the way I teach? Because, this in fact for one of my courses, was the case. Not to say I didn't learn and grow as a result of this class, but almost all of my learning and growth came from interactions with my fellow students and the ideas that they brought to the class. I wish that could tell you that I had the nerve to say exactly that in response to this question, but I did not. So for me, for now, this question will remain unanswered and I am left to wonder "What if?"
At least I can now reflect upon this question for my own teaching and whether or not this is an appropriate question to ask of my students. Maybe a more appropriate question would be "Have you learned new information or skills that will change the way you go about business?" or "If you have learned new skills or ideas, what are they?" And then follow up with the question of "If you haven't learned new skills or information, what could be added to this class (or lesson) that would help you?"

Image courtesy of Flickr and The Library of Congress

No Tech Interventions

So I sat this morning through four hours of training on the intervention program that was piloted in a few of our middle schools this year and will be at all of our middle schools next year. I started the session with all other instructional support personnel beginning a KWL chart for this program. The presenter, who is a representative of the intervention program company, comes to our table and starts talking to us. Everyone else at the table had met with the rep before so she immediately asks at which school that I teach. I of course say something along the lines of I don't have a school, that I am an instructional technology specialist for the secondary level. That woman ran away from me so fast I could almost see the smoke coming off of her shoes!
Before she really got into the presentation she moved us all away from power outlets and told us there would be no need for computers, that paper would be provided if we wanted to take notes. So we all "powered down" for the next 3 1/2 hours (you read right). I sat and listened to the presentation and followed as best I could, although I kept thinking about how I was either going to lose the piece of paper on which I was taking notes or that I wouldn't be able to read my handwriting later.
The program itself is not bad. Students take an assessment at the beginning of the year. This particular program places them in an "on or above" grade level class, 1 - 2 years below grade level, and then 3 - 4 years below. All classes follow a five-part lesson structure, which is all well and good, and "tiers 1 and 2" pretty much follow the same curriculum - "tier 2" having more support structures in place. The "tier 3" students follow the same scope and sequence as the district, but has a very regimented class structure within which the teacher has no real freedom.
The presenter then walks us through a typical lesson within the structure. Not a mention of any technology. Not only is there no mention of technology, but when the question was asked if they could receive the materials electronically so teachers could use them with SMART boards, clickers, or other such equipment, they were shot down. There is apparently no need to "distract the students" with such items when they can't even read or do math. (I'm not making this stuff up here.)
I never really recovered after that point, although it did shed some more light on the "no computers during training" from earlier.
So now I'm left to think "Are our kids really going to have to power down across the district in the coming years?" and "Aren't we taking a huge step backward?" I know that there are many teachers out there don't implement technology simply out of fear-be it fear of the technology not working or the fear of not being an "expert of all things" in their own classrooms. But are we really benefiting children and learning if we continue to validate those fears? Why is it acceptable to push students out of their comfort zones in school but not teachers? One would think that in order to promote life-long learning in children, one would need to be a willing life-long learner - wouldn't they?

Image courtesy of rotkappchen143 and Flickr.

"Blast" from the Past

I was sitting in my living room a bit earlier this evening when the doorbell rang. When I get to the door I see that it is "Juan." (Student's name has been changed.) Juan was that kiddo that did absolutely everything under possible to purposely get under the teachers' skin. He was a gang banger (or really close to it anyway), attended class only intermittently, had more missing assignments than completed ones, and had one heck of a mouth. To say he caused me stress would be an incredible understatement. To say he failed my class would only hit the tip of the iceberg. And to say there were days that drove me crazy, well that one is accurate. Juan was definitely on a path straight to nowhere good. In fact, more people knew him by his street name than his real one - even the teachers. Juan was one of those kids that really tested me as a teacher and a human being.

But, he was smart - REALLY smart. When he was in class and awake, he knew all the answers before anyone else. When he participated in labs, he always figured out the solution before anyone else in his group. And when I asked for feedback on the lessons he really gave sound and constructive advise - when he wasn't cussing at someone. I knew that the window for "keeping him" was closing rapidly - and I taught 6th grade. So, I made sure he stayed in the classroom even when he was trying everything he knew to get kicked out. I knew that he was listening, even if he didn't want to and wouldn't admit to it. And I just really felt that if I made him stay in my room, he might just inch a little bit closer to the right path. The next year certainly didn't see much improvement for Juan's behavior or academics, and I lost track of him after that but I was quite sure he was one that had gotten away from us.

So imagine my surprise when he arrives at my door, selling coupon books for the varsity soccer team for his high school. A team on which he is playing. That meant he was still in school AND passing classes! We talked for a bit about school and how his life is going. I bought that silly coupon book, of course. He introduced me to his soccer buddy, saying I was always in his business but my class was still pretty cool. And then he says "And oh yeah, I want you to know that I'm getting a B in Biology even though my teacher is boring."

I don't often get to see my students after they have left me. Usually they become way too cool to talk to their sixth grade science teacher, and once they go to high school I loose track even more. But I am so incredibly grateful that Juan showed up at my door today. Seeing such a drastic turn-around definitely energizes me to keep going. I don't want to leave anyone with the impression that I think this child was put back on track by me. That decision was clearly his own. But, I would like to think that I played some role, no matter how small, in his decision to do so. Juan left two hours ago and I'm still smiling.

Image courtesy of Ridkydavid and Flikr.

From Teaching Students to Teaching Teachers

In my job I spend the majority of my time teaching adults how to integrate technology into their daily instruction. I love my job! That being said I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about the preparations that I do teaching adults compared to when I go into a classroom full of students and how different the two groups really are.

When I was in the classroom, I had learning outcomes, planned the activities (knowing full and well that some wouldn't get done and some would be modified for each class), and we would move forward. There would be weeks that all would go relatively close to how I had planned, and weeks that I would scrap it all ten minutes into the first lesson of the week. Either way, the students were always up for it. If I said to them, "Hey guys, I don't think what I had planned is going to work. How about we try something else?" They would follow me into the supply room and help me carry out all the new supplies for the day and we would all learn together - and we all loved it that way.

The first session I did on my own in this job was a total disaster. I tried to do a hands-on educaching session with middle school teachers. I basically went in, told them what geocaching and educaching is, showed them how to use the GPS units, and sent them on their way. It was a total disaster! I had complaints that there weren't enough hand-outs, complaints that I didn't explain enough about how GPS works, complaints that we didn't find enough caches together, and even more complaints that I can't even remember. On top of all that, someone complained to my boss and he told me he was already thinking that he had may have made the wrong choice in chosing me for the job. Needless to say, I was totally devastated. From then I went into planning overdrive for the next six months. Every time I had a training session, I spent hours planning, anticipating participant questions, creating hand-outs and "quick start" guides, and basically structuring every minute of the session. After six months I still had complaints that I didn't have enough hand-outs, or the right hand-outs, or didn't do enough step-by-step instruction. After a while, I realized that I wasn't enjoying teaching anymore. Not only that, but I was only teaching people how to use the tools. I wasn't modeling the kind of integration that I wanted others to do. In other words, I wasn't doing my job.

So I had to do some major self-reflection to get moving down the right path again. I knew that I was a good classroom teacher and I knew that I had things to share with teachers. I just had to figure out where the disconnect was. I realized that the reason my teachers weren't responding the way my students had was because they were of different generations. I had never really taken time to internalize the major differences between the education styles of "Generation Y" and previous generations. Teachers wanted step-by-step because that was the way they had been taught when they were in school. The only way to get teachers to move away from that model is to push them out of it, but support needs to be provided.

With this new "revalation" (which many, many, many before me had already experienced) I re-invented myself as an instructional technology specialist. I still spend large amounts of time planning training sessions, but my sessions are now almost exclusively hands-on and learner centered. I still make hand-outs, but they are more along the lines of a guided notes outline than the whole printed slide-shows from before. Additional support pages and references are posted to the web and participants are pointed to them if they feel the need to print them. I've also started implementing multiple types of resources and differentiation into sessions in order to catch all learning styles and allow learners to go where their needs take them.

In all, I think that I have become more effective and affective in my position and that I am still postively impacting students. I have come to really love my job and the continual learning and growing that comes with it. I find myself actually grateful for all those complaints in that first session. If it weren't for those complaints, who knows how long I would have wandered down that winding, inefficient, and ineffective path.

Image courtesy of Pablo Barra and Flickr