BLOG 701 My Journey to 21st Century Teaching
In your blog, consider reflecting on your journey towards 21st century teaching practices (or leading them). After reading about what is expected (in terms of the standards, 4Cs, etc) and the path the journey takes, what are you feeling? What can you do in your classroom/school to engender 21st century teaching and learning? What do you need to learn? Include your thoughts related to the Darling-Hammond readings, too, as they apply. My journey towards 21st century teaching practices has greatly accelerated in the last few years. I remember those learning walks that Mark Morrison described in the video. It was an exciting time in our district. We were all getting trained in PBL, we were observing other teachers and trying new ideas. We had a lot of coaching on how to write PBL units and how to use the ECHO platform to launch our PBLs. At the time our school was not one-to-one devices. We had classroom sets of computers. It seems so long ago but I do remember all the trouble shooting involved in kids sharing computers, the wifi being very unreliable, and yes it felt very overwhelming most of the time. There were some really magical moments when kids connected with the real aspect of a problem and shared their passion in creating a solution. There were also some almost comical moments when my lack of skill and experience in teaching within the PBL model resulted in a bunch of very fun and creative board games made by my 7th graders that taught almost zero of the science concepts that were the whole purpose of the project. I learned the value of project checkpoints in that PBL. PBL is not really the focus at our school anymore. Michael McDowell loosened the reins it seems on what PBL could look like, how it could be organized, and what the outcomes could be. Critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, communication, and creativity are all still the legs that PBL stands on, but the PBL creature has many more forms depending on the content, the grade level, and the individual teacher and school’s personality, community needs, and philosophy. I have found that doing shorter problem based projects with some engaging phenomena / mystery to start the unit off, works well for my students, and follows the NGSS guidelines. NGSS has been adopted now by our state and is being implemented in our district with a new curriculum from Lawrence Hall of Science. These new science standards include not only the content (disciplinary core ideas) but also the performance skills (science and engineering practices) and cross cutting concepts. The 4 C’s are built into the DCIs and practices. The new curriculum has critical thinking / problem solving activities, collaboration, and communication built into the lessons. The one area that I feel like I have to keep providing more opportunity for is creativity. The students get to do a lot of model and design thinking, but I sense that some of them still need to just create and explore with the supplies and tools in each unit. Especially during this Covid time, I can just feel the need for kids to release some of their stress and anxiety through creative outlets. Everytime we use Kami (love Kami!), I see it. They take the time to color code parts of their lab and illustrate ideas. I just know they are taking their time on it because it feels so good to create. I think what I need to learn is how to use a strategic number of tools really well. I think this idea is supported by Linda Darling-Hammond’s data about the need for highly qualified teachers and ongoing teacher development. Right now I know so many more digital tools than I did one year ago. I am having so much fun creating ways to deliver my lessons that are enjoyable and effective for my students, and I’m always trying to find that hook for engagement. But I remember learning in Scott’s class that for me and for my kids there can be cognitive overload. Edu Protocols is the way to go. Get really good at a few new tools, teach my kids how to use them so they can do it without stress and without too much thought about HOW to use the tool. Then we can all move to deeper thinking. It is a journey after all, not a race, and we need some time to stop and enjoy the flowers along the path. I am grateful for Mishra’s permission to develop a “thoughtfully playful attitude towards understanding the landscape being created by these new technologies. “ I read that and thought, “I need to get back into Canva and play!” It was just what I needed to get my brain going again.
2 Comments
Kelly W.
2/22/2021 10:14:31 pm
Hi Betsy!
Reply
Janine Burt
2/24/2021 10:40:58 am
Hi Betsy, I thought you gave a good description of where we've been as a system from the early days of PBL. It sounds like you've kept the essentials of your learning from back then to add to your current practice. I don't know the NGSS standards too well yet so it's nice to hear that they support 21st century learning.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories |