Embedded Files
It must be admitted that some of my best lessons have sprung organically from a magical intersection of events; however, I couldn't have been mentally prepared to capitalize on the opportunity without first having a solid foundation to stand on.
I've seen the teaching pendulum swing back and forth over the years. One of the positive changes has been the development of educational standards. While a first-grade teacher can still proclaim that January is "Penguin Month," they can no longer do so without focusing on the student learning objectives that need to be both the basis and the goal of every lesson.
Naturally, these SLO's are the objective but they also need to be carefully reviewed in order to build the foundation of any lesson or unit. In developing their unit's architecture or a lesson's blueprint, the instructor needs to keep in mind what the student will have to have learned and how they will be able to demonstrate their mastery of that knowledge.
In order to enable this, the unit's lessons need to fit together as well as bricks in a wall. For the students to be able to master their learning objectives, the lessons need to be scaffolded as neatly as the treads on a staircase. The document at right is my first attempt at creating a unit that was architecturally complete (still a work in progress). While I have always been mindful of the fact that standards need to be covered and objectives need to be outlined, @One opened my eyes to the need for SLO's. As a high school teacher, I've often been required (for example, before a WASC visit) to post the learning objectives for our lessons on the wall. Appeasement in the form of a dog-and-pony show is nonsense, but, if I think of SLO's, then I have a real-world outcome to share with my students that helps give relevance to their instruction.
Relevant, practical instruction is the desired outcome of my planning and there is no single way to accomplish such a goal; there are many components involved. Again, @One has helped me see beneath the outer shell of a lesson into the foundation.
Giving equal access to all learners can be done in different ways. Just as we have multiple intelligences, we also have varied needs. In creating the captioning for some of my videos, it made me aware of simple things that I could and should do, from a lesson's inception, in order to make it a more universal product. As I review my work, I see that I haven't necessarily held myself to the same high standards to which I hold my students; there is much room for improvement. For example, while captioning an 18-minute video of student feedback (used for pre- and post-assessment purposes), I found that I had so sloppily pieced together their videos that I hadn't noticed an audible, inappropriate comment off-screen. My dilemma, should it stay or should it go? Running out of time and firmly believing that one should own up to one's errors, I left it in and added some apologies in the frame.
In reviewing my work, as closely as an building inspector checks a custom home, I don't only rely upon my own judgment; every interaction, every collaboration that I have with my peers, whether formal or informal, yields ideas on how to improve my craft. Twitter has long been one of my favorite tools for keeping up with educational trends and sites. Online resources, such as wikis and Google sites, have widened my professional development horizon immensely, sometimes taking me in directions that I hadn't imagined.
While searching for ideas on rubrics this month, I came across one teacher's site. I adapted her rubric and attributed it as the model for my creation. Feeling a trifle awkward at putting a stranger's name on a document, I sent her an email.
Not only was she gratified that her work was helpful, she shared additional rubrics and handouts via Google docs.
Soliciting student feedback helps me refine assignments as well. I respect their opinions, when they're respectfully presented. I encourage my students to be honest, which, sadly enough, surprises them. Convincing them that their frankness will elevate the assignment is not easy; they have to learn to trust me first. Giving respect yields respect in return.
I challenge them with open-ended questions. If their answer doesn't yield what I expect, then I respond with a question to help them narrow their focus. For example, when they told me how much they HATE Moodle, I followed up by asking them how they think it could have been improved (well, it turns out that ANY written assignment just serves to annoy my Media students). On the flip side, students are also happy to reflect on how they have grown and improved during the course:
Feedback is vital to ensuring a quality product that is tailored to engage and instruct. Feedback is helpful with formative and summative assessments, as well as with pre-assessments, so long as it is thoughtful and detailed. There's always room for improvement in any endeavor. Enterprises involving technology cannot be static; they must evolve with the changing times. Technology has the power to reach so many people and serve their infinite educational interests, as well as address a student's styles and needs.
The links on the sidebar will take you through the iNACOL standards and my reflections on how how I incorporate them in my instruction.
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