(April 2022)
When I signed up for this class, I knew I had some learning to do. I am surprised, humbled, and excited about just how much! As an experienced teacher with a solid base of technical how-tos, I had expected that this course may help fill in some gaps and expose me to some novel (but maybe unnecessary?) technology integration ideas. What actually happened was an examination and reflection of why and how I do what I do and an assessment of how that trickles down to student achievement. My knowledge base, integration mindset, and actual teaching practice have all been put under the microscope. I continue to sort what works and what doesn’t. I think about how I arrive at these conclusions and how I decide what next steps could be. I look beyond replacing traditional practices with digital tools and imagine new possibilities. That’s a lot of growth in a year!
The 6 C’s of education, Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy, the SAMR model and Tpack framework are items I return to again and again. What I create for use in the classroom, and how I hope students will engage with the content must go beyond a digital worksheet and do more than make assessment efficient. What follows is a specific example of one item I have reimagined since beginning this program. There have been so many others. This is how I will continue to keep higher order thinking skills at the forefront and put the learning, reflecting and collaborating in the hands of the students.
The Evolution of Class Notes:
I have often created notes outlining the main ideas of a topic. Years ago, these would be housed in a sample binder on my classroom counter. The idea was that students could compare their notes to mine at any time to confirm that they were organized and up-to-date. This supported students that were absent, those that needed help with organizing, and guided some teachers I worked with in pace and progression.
The first edit to this idea was the creation of digital class notes. The idea was that students would have a printable page and/or digital version with the main ideas of a topic and some worked examples to follow. It could be passed out if needed or housed in a google classroom. I was pretty proud of this effort at the time. While it is a step toward technology integration - it’s a baby step. No more than a direct substitution really. Making notes digital made them more accessible and brought parents and other teachers into the conversation, but this did not impact student engagement or achievement in a real and measurable way.
The next enhancement to my class notes idea began in September when it was clear that just having worked examples was not enough. Student and teacher attendance was spotty and unpredictable. Could the Class Notes idea be used to support both teachers and students in their efforts to keep moving forward in spite of some obvious challenges? I started adding video lessons to my digital notes. Short (less than 5 minutes) excerpts of the main ideas in a lesson and how the examples can be solved. This supports teachers in focusing on the main ideas given by the outcome and shows ways of modeling solutions using concrete, pictorial, symbolic, and other representations. It can help educators see how digital math tools can be used to promote understanding when traditional manipulatives cannot be accessed. It also supports students in that they can continue their learning while still at home and return to lessons as often as required. These lessons could also serve as the pre-lesson in a flipped or blended classroom. I was pretty excited about the possibilities. Looking back, I can see that this is certainly an enhancement but not necessarily a transformational move just yet.
I am now imagining my class notes idea as a starting point in the year with a new batch of students. “This is how I summarized the main ideas - what do you think?”. Then I could progress to a stage where students design their own digital notes. These could be complete with video how-tos, links to relevant information, and self reflections as they progress through the learning on a topic. They could include peer and teacher feedback and showcase work they are proud of and assessments demonstrating their growth. Perhaps a digital-portfolio-class-notes idea.
How do I get from here to there? What further reimagining can this idea undergo? What learning do I still need to do? How can I guide students in figuring out where they are in their learning and what next step is right for them? How can I promote and model constructive criticism and use peer reviews to improve work? How can I entice students to look beyond scores and be motivated to do more, learn more, engage more?
These wonderings are leading me down the path of redefinition. Transforming a classroom is no small feat. Promoting these ideas/ideals in other teachers’ classes adds an extra layer of challenge. I am up for it. In the small adjustments I have made that push technology integration beyond replacement, I have noticed huge pay-offs in engagement, quality discourse, and student achievement. Continuing to reflect on my choices and the learning that results will keep me pushing forward towards that redefinition I seek. I’m looking forward to the next leg of the journey.
(February 2022)
Just halfway through the second course and I’m recognizing a huge shift in my thinking and actions when it comes to technology integration. With every tech choice, I find myself considering the 6 C’s. How will this lesson or activity promote creativity? Will students be able to collaborate? Is this beautiful slide I have created just a glorified worksheet? How far along is this in Bloom's Digital Taxonomy? What value does the technology bring to the learning?
I have been using technology for a while now and pride myself on creating resources that engage students and provide examples or how-tos for teachers. Looking at what I create may give teachers ideas on how to provide choices, differentiate, sequence lessons, and formulate assessment items. But why the tech? Just for tech sake? No more! Leveraging the power of technology and thinking through how edtech adds value to the experience is my new first thought instead of an afterthought.
My practice in sharing resources has also changed. I found that activities I shared were often not used as intended. I now include a section called Tips for Teachers and have extensive teacher notes on each slide. My idea for future resources is an audio how-to for teachers along with video support where appropriate so that the rationale behind the work is clear and resources will be used appropriately. Using technology for the lesson with students and in the communication of rationale for teachers is a level of tech integration that I am proud of and passionate about.
As a math coach, choosing the audience for my work has been a constant concern. I don’t have a class of students of my own to test out ideas. When new tools or integration ideas are introduced in class, my excitement about the possibilities is often replaced with frustration since I can’t jump in as others might to play, test, and reflect. Even when teachers welcome the idea of modeling a tech integrated lesson or learning tool, most educators know that every lesson hinges on the relationships built between learners in the room. How can I learn and grow and reflect, when I don’t have the same access to a group of learners to learn and grow and reflect with? How can I gauge the effectiveness of technology when the barrier might be my relationships with students and not the tech used? I am realizing now that I can share what I learn with teachers and help facilitate the integration with their students. The collaboration with other educators as well as the reflection conversations that follow have been valuable to all of us. Sharing my rationale and decision making out loud has helped me consolidate my own ideas. Hearing the purpose behind the work has helped teachers use my creations in a more thoughtful manner. Those that do not have reflecting and assessing as a habit of mind have begun this journey through this process. Students have been drawn into the conversations and share their preferences, abilities, and understandings. We are co-constructing the best conditions for learning with technology together.
For the next few weeks, I plan to focus on a specific topic and share my lesson and activity ideas with teachers, coaches, and consultants. I have grown my professional learning network to include other educators that reliably provide feedback that goes beyond the “Nice Job!” comment from those just noticing that an activity is visually appealing. I have professionals that challenge me and help me think through each decision to help create a well thought out package that aligns with learning goals, attends to recent research, provides opportunities for choice, allows for differentiation and differences in learning environments, and includes assessment and reflection components. I will start with dividing fractions, a topic that is often a struggle for both teachers and students and ask for feedback. I’ll use the feedback to reflect and revise and to sharpen my focus for the next topic on my list. This process of creation, sharing, testing, reflecting, and revising will be the structure of my technology integration plan. Assessing its success on a small scale will allow for adjustments to the format, timeline, and process for topics to come. Gathering and examining data from teachers and students will help me decide the success of the resources and help me determine next steps.
(December 2021)
Ohhhhhh the Aha! moments. As an educator I've witnessed more than a few. It’s actually the most important part of my job: setting up the conditions that will allow Aha! moments to happen. When they happen to me, as opposed to in front of me, I really take notice. I write about them, plan around them, and embark on new journeys because of them.
The Aha! moment that started this latest adventure, my pursuit of a Connected Classroom, began in the spring of 2020. You remember it: the exhaustion, the fear and dread, the not knowing how to connect and learn and lead from a distance. Or maybe you were further along in your technology integration journey and weathered the storm in a more productive way. For me, it went something like this…
As soon as the pivot to at-home learning was announced I got right down to business. I created slide decks containing links to video lessons that I painstakingly recorded using Screencastify with Google Slides. I included levelled questions to engage all learners at their current stage of understanding and had fun add-ons like math art and puzzles. I would share these through google classroom and monitor the progress. I’d create, share and correct, create and share and correct. I had back issues and carpal tunnel syndrome from the effort and I missed my students immensely. While we met in Google Meets to check in, it wasn’t the same as the in-person learning experience. I struggled to engage students in real time and the collaboration and building on each other’s ideas that is such a vital part of math learning was completely lost.
On my mind too, were the two students in particular that I hadn’t managed to engage much even in person. While I worked hard and made strides in building a relationship with them, that hadn’t yet translated into any real learning or effort on their part. Once we were learning remotely - those two students were completely silent. I was worried...but also exhausted, and out of ideas. Something had to change.
I met with another teacher, my trusted friend, Valerie Targett, and we tried to problem solve together. What we were doing was not sustainable. Even worse, after our hours and hours of attention and effort - what we were doing was not effective for many students. Luckily, I was becoming more active on Twitter. I had made the move from silent observer to casual and occasional questioner. I heard mention of an ed tech tool that seemed interesting...Flipgrid. While nervous to attempt something completely new from afar, I had to make a switch. Feeling so disconnected from my class and so ineffective as an educator was zapping my strength. I needed to hear and see each member of my class. Val and I made an agreement. We would both try something new and report back in a week. For me, it was time to give Flipgrid a go.
That experiment resulted in the tweet you see here:
https://twitter.com/joann_sandford/status/1257393210839752705?t=qht-kyTnRREiAr5UdJTrqA&s=19
Success! I finally connected. I heard voices. I saw faces. And they saw me and each other. We laughed and joked and eventually collaborated on some math too. It was magic. But the best part - the Aha! part was when I noticed who had responded first. Yup - you guessed it - my silent duo. I literally had tears in my eyes as I watched and re-watched their thoughtful videos and rehearsed content. They cared. They finally engaged. I just needed the right medium. For them - it was Flipgrid.
I realized too, the mistakes in my initial efforts. I was trying to duplicate my classroom environment online. Instead of looking for a tech substitute for my in-person activities, I should be thinking about what I want my students to be able to learn and do, and look for the appropriate ed tech match. Over the next year I have done just that. I have extended my ed tech repertoire and in doing so realize how much there is still to learn. Every time I try something new, I see a new set of kids light up. While some students will learn in spite of what you do, (yes...I can admit that) I take special notice of what activities and tools allow my reluctant or otherwise exceptional learners to shine. And like always, I try to offer choices in how students engage in and showcase their learning; only now the choices I offer include a few tied to technology of some sort.
I have learned how to create self-correcting activities like pixel art (Thanks Souad El Achkar!), and activities in Desmos (Thanks Erick Lee and Erika Swinemer!). I’ve seen the limitless potential of Mathigon Polypad (Thanks David Poras!) and watched ideas and proofs come to life with Geogebra (Thanks Shelby Strong and Tim Brzezinski!) I’ve gotten nervous and excited along the way as I tested out my creations in classes and crossed fingers that they worked. While learning remotely kick started the process, it was the results that kept the technology integration going long after the at-home learning phase was over.
About 20 years ago I felt the same electric excitement for trying new things in the classroom. It came when I was first introduced to using concrete materials and manipulatives for learning in mathematics. The Aha! moments that arose, and continue to arise, from that enterprise have kept me glowing for two decades! And now this - technology integration: another exciting source of energy with endless possibilities. My new adventure has begun.
(Fall 2020)
This fall I am beginning a new adventure: A Masters Degree in Curriculum Studies, Technology Integration. As with any new adventure I am excited and a little nervous. Will I have time to complete my assignments and really engage in the material with everything else I have on the go? Will the content and course requirements align with my needs, wants and goals? And what are my needs, wants and goals? What should they be?
I pride myself on being a lifelong learner. If something will engage my students and move their thinking forward - sign me up! With the learners of today, technology needs to be a core component of the learning process. Having recognized this for some time, my pursuit of a connected classroom began more than 15 years ago. I initiated a Teacher Tech Talk at my school. Tech savvy teachers shared what apps, platforms, and tech tools they were currently using in their classroom with teachers interested in learning more. The best kind of professional development: self directed, optional, timely and relevant. I set this up to be on the receiving end. Knowing there were so many talented teachers in our building with so many great ideas, I recognized the opportunity to collaborate and learn together. I heeded the sound advice of those further along in their technology integration journey who encouraged me to dive in, play, and see what happens. You will rarely be the expert in the room, they told me, but you can and will learn alongside the students and troubleshoot together. Since that time, I have embraced the journey. I have used technology to make my teaching life more efficient, my lessons more accessible, and to engage learners in new and exciting ways. I know enough about technology to realize that while I have learned and incorporated so many things, I have so much more to learn.
Over the years I have also witnessed classroom practices I did not wish to emulate. Using technology for entertainment with little or no learning, or simply replacing pencil and paper tasks with a tech equivalent without reflecting on or examining student gains did not interest me. This was a trap I was careful to avoid. As Dr. Robin Kay points out in his Twitter bio: Pedagogy First, Then Technology.
I continue to marvel at the power of technology when integrated appropriately keeping learning goals, engagement and equity at the core of the work. As a student in a Masters class this summer at Mount Holyoke College, I watched my classmate’s thinking come alive before my eyes. Her investigation and conclusion about finding the area of triangles was made visible using GeoGebra. Examples could be tested, generalizations made, what ifs and possible exceptions all handled within minutes. Other students could test their own ideas and examples in order to build their own conjecture. Communication between learners all over the globe was done in real time. Technology did that.
As a teacher, I have seen students' curiosity piqued and attention refocus when the same idea or information we had a discussion about, was presented using a familiar app. I was speaking their language. Technology bridges that gap.
I have connected in meaningful ways with my students, in real time, in and on the same workspace remotely and in-person. Using Demos, jamboard, google forms, slides, and sheets, online whiteboards and digital manipulatives, I have been able to view student work, comment on ideas, engage students in possible next steps, and provide timely feedback. Technology has made all of that possible.
As a coach, I have created a website and blog where I share my favourite lessons and activities and what I am working on and wondering about. Educators who are working toward similar learning goals with students reach out with feedback, questions and comments. It was technology that united us.
With technology, my professional learning network has expanded beyond the walls of my current school. With Twitter I can seek out and readily find my people. Ideas are shared, next steps suggested, and collaborations organized. I have math teachers, coaches, and consultants that I work with regularly from near and far who I may never meet in person. We discuss learning goals, problem solve next steps for students and rely on each other for support, ideas, and alternatives. Technology connected us.
I want to investigate ways to harness the power of technology so that students can access relevant and timely information safely, manipulate data to determine parameters or cause and effect relationships, and showcase their learning with others in authentic ways. I want to move past using technology to make my current practice more efficient and instead use technology to engage with ideas, people, and problems in ways that were not before possible.
I am excited that I am extending my professional learning network just by signing up for this new educational adventure. That alone makes this program worth my time. Where do I hope to end up? I’d like to think that the end result is beyond my current imagining. Technology integration and a connected classroom can do that.
References
Brzezinski Math. (2021, July 9). Triangle area explorer (Video file). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=digAAmPQac8.
Kay, Robin. [@kayuoit] (2009, June). Dean and Professor in Education and Technology. Pedagogy First, Then Technology. [Tweet]. Twitter https://twitter.com/kayuoit