Spring 2020

Design is the crossroads where practice meets intention. Throughout my time in the DDLS program, I have had much time to consider which teaching practices are best and which need to be rethought and done differently. As a Teacher-Designer, I have learned to retool my current classroom practices to align learning goals and classroom constraints with design practice. I have also learned to differentiate designing from lesson planning:

• Lesson planning is considering learning outcomes, assessments, instructional strategies, and learning activities.

• Designing is creating authentic learning experiences for students to play, collaborate, and make meaning, while considering the elements of lesson planning.

I used design to to bridge my teacher knowledge with classroom practice in the Spring 2020 semester. I actively used the processes and patterns of designing for literacy and problem solving in my Latin and AVID classes:

• Latin 3 students created explanative graphics of buildings in a Roman military camp.

• Latin 5 students created representative graphics of a Latin text about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE.

• AVID students made their thinking visible through thinking routines.

  • Think-Puzzle-Explore

  • “I used to think...Now, I think…”

  • Circle of Viewpoints

• AVID students role played college financial advisors to counsel a rising senior about paying for college.

My biggest challenge this semester was persevering through the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As schools closed and learning moved online, I became more intentional in my practice as a Teacher-Designer. I leveraged familiar and new digital tools--especially Google Suite for Education, Pear Deck, and Screencastify--to creating online Latin and AVID classrooms. When the opportunity arose, I mixed my teaching and DDLS practices, such as when I used EDIT 781 and 783 designs for a month-long AVID unit on paying for college.

While technology has greatly aided in how I stay connected with my students, it cannot replace the social interactions, collaboration opportunities, and group learning experiences that enhance learning in a brick and mortar classroom. Google Forms have replaced exit tickets, synchronous Google Meets have replaced direct instruction, and Hyperdocs have replaced lesson plans. Meaningful online learning has become both a reward and a challenge as I try to create moments of engagement and connections to all students.