Confer with Colleagues and Students
For Dilemma 1 where I am teaching outside of the curriculum, it was suggested in my teacher focus group that I continue to teach to the framework, but to find time to include students’ own self discovery with 3D printing. Suggestions from my students is to have this as our Friday class. I love the students’ idea of having this as our Friday lesson. We already use Friday in our Math class for review of math concepts using games on our tablets so that I can meet with students one on one. I am thinking of having Science centers on Friday where one could be tablet time to review vocabulary or week’s concepts, a center with creating with playdough or Legos, a center with the 3Doodlers where they have to imagine a math or science concept and represent it in 3D printing, and a center with either 3D design on the computer or drawing. I am not going to force every center to have to be on something that they learned in Science from the week: like one teacher suggested, it could be all about them and their self- discovery. Another option for this is to have an afterschool class once a week with select students where I do not need to manage behavior and have it be all about them.
For dilemma 2 on assessment, the teacher suggestion is to continue to use my own assessment whether it be exit slips, verbal or written assessment, presentations, etc. I will also look into Marzanos self assessment as a teacher suggested to help with my ELLs. The students said they liked doing presentations such as Power Points on their tablets. Sometimes those could take awhile so what I am thinking of is having the students create a Weebly site where they track and monitor their learning in Science by blogging, taking pictures, and uploading videos (I am trying to see how they could do that without YouTube.) I started at the end of last year and it was a hit (I completely forgot I even did that!) I spoke to my assistant principal about the struggle of the grades and I am just going to grade how I think is best. I am okay if the students are all receiving A’s and B’s because they are focused and interested and putting in their best efforts.
I am happy that I was able to talk to my colleagues. I was worried about how I was going to implement my ImagineIT in a school that is so intent on micromanaging their teachers. Speaking with my fellow teachers that are in the same predicament made me realize that I need to just focus on my students and how I think they will learn best and what I think is the best way to prepare them for jobs that require these inquiry and problem solving skills. I will do my best to align what I can and to keep the standards the same on paper, but to honestly let the kids just learn.
I completely agree with this teacher on what she said during my teacher focus group. I have the ability to help change this, so why shouldn't I.
“Students are told to be quiet too much. They don’t know how to speak to their teachers. These kids are so afraid to speak up for fear of being wrong. They are so afraid of taking risks! Their learning that they would rather just sit there and be spoon fed everything they need to say, write, and do. They don’t explore anything on their own. It’s so sad. This is our future.”
For dilemma 2 on assessment, the teacher suggestion is to continue to use my own assessment whether it be exit slips, verbal or written assessment, presentations, etc. I will also look into Marzanos self assessment as a teacher suggested to help with my ELLs. The students said they liked doing presentations such as Power Points on their tablets. Sometimes those could take awhile so what I am thinking of is having the students create a Weebly site where they track and monitor their learning in Science by blogging, taking pictures, and uploading videos (I am trying to see how they could do that without YouTube.) I started at the end of last year and it was a hit (I completely forgot I even did that!) I spoke to my assistant principal about the struggle of the grades and I am just going to grade how I think is best. I am okay if the students are all receiving A’s and B’s because they are focused and interested and putting in their best efforts.
I am happy that I was able to talk to my colleagues. I was worried about how I was going to implement my ImagineIT in a school that is so intent on micromanaging their teachers. Speaking with my fellow teachers that are in the same predicament made me realize that I need to just focus on my students and how I think they will learn best and what I think is the best way to prepare them for jobs that require these inquiry and problem solving skills. I will do my best to align what I can and to keep the standards the same on paper, but to honestly let the kids just learn.
I completely agree with this teacher on what she said during my teacher focus group. I have the ability to help change this, so why shouldn't I.
“Students are told to be quiet too much. They don’t know how to speak to their teachers. These kids are so afraid to speak up for fear of being wrong. They are so afraid of taking risks! Their learning that they would rather just sit there and be spoon fed everything they need to say, write, and do. They don’t explore anything on their own. It’s so sad. This is our future.”