Hi Folks...sorry I forgot to post on Monday. I was in Phoenix and the 3 hr time difference messed with my head. I'm going to go ahead and post our last 2 discussion questions.
Well, we are down to the home stretch. Only 1 more post left in the book club. If you are behind in your reading and/or commenting, now is the time to catch up. In order to be eligible for the PGPs, you will need to have commented in every post either to the blog post or to comments by other participants. All comments must be made by Monday, July 27th at 5pm.
We are nearing the end of the book and getting some last thoughts from Don on how to get started with innovative projects. The three practices he discussed in this chapter were: giving yourself permission, transparency, and trust. How do you see any or all of these practices helping you as you move forward to more of an innovative culture in your classroom?
Next week we will read the supporting materials at the end -- Coming Together: Speaking the Same Language and Additional Resources -- and share what you're going to do moving forward.
Out of the three practices, I need to work on giving myself permission to be more innovative. For the most part, I am eager and willing to try new ideas. I have embraced new technology and incorporated different models of instruction and assessment into my classes. However, as I think about how I am going to use what I learned this summer, I get stuck. I think the best place to start will be to give myself permission to let the students express their ideas. This is a scary place for me to venture because I like to be the one planning and organizing.
ReplyDeleteAt Southwestern, I feel the trust component is there. I know the administration will support whatever new ideas I want to try in my classroom. On transparency, my door is always open. I am willing to share and talk to others about what I am doing if they are interested. I am not the type of person to go out and say to everyone, ,"hey...look what I am doing in my class!" However, if someone wants to meet up with me personally I would love to talk and share ideas. A goal of mine could be to branch out more on social media to share ideas.
The hardest practice is giving myself permission. I look for new ideas and search for best practices and even projects to incorporate but sometimes hold back for many reasons. Last year, I was able to try a hands on teaching method with the unit circle. For the most part it was successful as the students got to build the circle and start to discover relationships on their own. It was very rewarding to watch the discovery happen with minimal guidance from me. It's my hope these students will be able to work with the unit circle with more confidence as they move to the next level.
ReplyDeleteAs I look at these three practices from an administrative role, the most difficult one to provide school-wide is trust. Sadly, a few students' poor choices make this area the most difficult. We also need to help parents and community members understand that innovation and social media use during school can be educational. As soon as we figure out how to address these two issues, I believe we will be on our way to successfully providing all three of these key ingredients.
ReplyDeleteWe consistently give our teachers and students permission to try new ways to help students be successful. Our gradual transition to K-12 1:1 implementation has drastically helped this area. Our teachers are also transparent with their instructional practices. Administrators, community members, and other visitors are in our classrooms often enough that teachers must be transparent.
Until we can successfully address acceptable use by all students, we will continue to block sites as needed and give limited access when possible.
I think as a teacher it will be hard to trust the process. I like trying to control situations to help the students be successful. Sometimes students just need a little success to gain confidence. I hope if I incorporate innovation class into any of my class that I allow freedom for the students. I know failure is going to happen but sometimes the disappointment on a child's face is sad. I just hope I begin to give some trust to the students so they can fail.
ReplyDelete