BLOG #5 792 TPACK Reflection After jumping into the Innovative Learning masters program I quickly learned about TPACK, which stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Don’t let this scare you off. It is a big fancy name but if you break it down like the graphic below nicely shows, we quickly see that TPACK is simply the three big realms teachers work in. As a science teacher, my content is all the science skills and standards that my student will learn in a year. Content answers the question “What am I going to teach?” Science fascinates me. I love teaching science and learning new stuff every year as our world’s scientific knowledge expands. I would have to say that of the three realms, content is my home base. Pedagogical Knowledge encompasses all the ways teachers teach. We can think of this as the “How?”. How am I going to teach the science content? Pedagogical content knowledge is the knowledge a teacher uses to make the subject matter understandable for students. For my class, this included as many inquiry and hands-on labs as I could create, plus debates, discussions, group projects, Cornell notes, and games. For me, pedagogy was always about making students feel like scientists and having a lot of fun. Pedagogy was definitely my other comfortable spot. The third area of TPACK is Technological Knowledge and this was surely my weakest point. My other two areas were so satisfying and made my teaching so relevant to students that I didn’t really push myself in the technology realm. I used Google slides for notes and group presentations, Google forms for quizzes sometimes, and Kahoot! and Quizlet for vocabulary review, plus some digital videos for content, but seriously I was not tech-savvy. I learned new tools at a very slow pace and just did not focus on it. Most of my students had much better technical skills than I did. Then March 2020 arrived and we were thrust into virtual teaching and learning as Shelter in Place orders closed down schools for the remainder of the year due to the Covid pandemic. Over the next 3 months, my TK “muscle” would be forced to grow and become stronger as I added tool after tool to my teacher “Tool Kit” in order to reach my students virtually. In my reference list you can view some of my favorite tech tools that I can no longer teach without. This has been a technology transformational journey for me and it also influenced and grew my skills and knowledge in Pedagogy and Content. For my students and for me personally, I have experienced that synergistic sweet spot where the content, pedagogy, and technology all overlap. One important idea I would add to TPACK is a foundation of social-emotional learning (SEL). I put the heart behind the TPACK graphic to symbolize this. SEL is still so foundational to student learning. At the base of all this learning, students must first feel cared for, confident, capable, and like they belong and are known. SEL must come first and be intertwined throughout TPACK for powerful learning to happen.
3 Comments
Kimberlee Nelson
7/8/2021 09:09:51 am
WOW, Betsy! I loved reading your blog. You really presented your understanding of TPACK and your journey well. I especially loved your last paragraph, "One important idea I would add to TPACK is a foundation of social-emotional learning (SEL). I put the heart behind the TPACK graphic to symbolize this. SEL is still so foundational to student learning. At the base of all this learning, students must first feel cared for, confident, capable, and like they belong and are known. SEL must come first and be intertwined throughout TPACK for powerful learning to happen". This is why you are such an amazing teacher and your students do well. They know you care about them and only want the best for them. Well done, Betsy! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
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Kelly W.
7/8/2021 05:03:45 pm
Hi, Betsy!
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Janine Burt
7/20/2021 04:44:32 pm
Hi Betsy, just playing some catch up on these blogs. I really like that you added the SEL component to your TPack reflection. It used to be that people talked about these as "soft skills" as though they are less important or just fluff. Not so! We know it's more important than ever to have emotional intelligence and relational skills. Thanks for the reminder!
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AuthorHello! Welcome to my blog! This will be a fun place to share thoughts about teaching and learning. I am a middle school science teacher at Redwood. When I'm not teaching, I'm hanging out at home with my family or enjoying nature somewhere in the valley. Archives
March 2021
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