Relishing in Reflection

Recently, I finished up a class at MSU that this tab is dedicated to on my blog. We had a chance to return to our very first sets of work and one of these very blog posts to reflect on how different our mindsets our now that we've read, watched, and expereinced more opportunities to connect with others and new ideas. I had the chance to practice this lovely habit of iteration another time on my essay I shared with you "Becoming and Expert: Parallels between Kitchens and Classrooms." So much of what I wrote in that essay still rings true in my brain, enhanced now by even more ideas about learning and teaching. 

My last post focused so heavily in iteration and it's purposefulness that I wanted to share my new, revised essay with you all to enjoy too. I hope you find the newness and sameness of it refreshing. It has been a wonderful way to reflect on my own conceptual change throughout my Masters Program at MSU. There are some ideas woven through from other tabs, too! 

#1 Adopt a New Catch Phrase (Level: Easy!)

Take some intentional time to reflect on your classroom culture and what is and is not working. Consider adopting a new catch phrase that values iteration and reflection practices. My elementary schoolers love to go FAST. They run FAST. They eat FAST. They do their work... You guessed it- FAST. By having a quick saying that values reflection and makes it a pillar of your classroom culture, students can easily remember what might help them learn even more in your classroom. 

Try out any of these from our good AI friend, ChatGPT: 

🐢✨ Catchy Phrases for "Slow is Best":

"Slow Down to Level Up."

"Fast is Fine, but Slow is Smart."

"Go Slow to Grow Strong."

"Quality Takes Time—And You're Worth It."

"Slow Steps, Big Leaps."

"Think Slow, Learn Deep."

"Hurry Less, Master More."

"Speed Isn’t Success—Understanding Is."

"Pause. Reflect. Perfect."

"The Best Work Isn’t Rushed—It’s Refined." 

(Open AI, 2023). 

#2 Modeling Iteration as a Classroom Culture (Level: Intermediate!)

One way we can hold ourselves accountable for iteration is by also holding our students accountable for iteration and making it a core classroom practice for everyone. We can do this better together. When we model for students the process of iteration, we make it important. Iteration is the act of reflecting and revising based on changed thinking or understanding. What is more powerful in learning? To me, it is like the core definition of what learning truly is. The more we iterate, the easier the process becomes. Here are some ways to model iteration: 

1. Do something wrong on purpose. Think aloud, "That doesn't look right..." Have students help you fix it. 

2. Magic Purple Pens: I have a bucket of purple pens in my classroom that are MAGICAL. When students finish writing a story, they find a magic purple pen and use it to help them add more, fix mistakes, and reflect on their writing. The very best part is getting to celebrate all the purple ink that shows another layer of hard work they put into their rough drafts. It is a physical, visual reminder of the work it takes to reflect and make something better. 

3. Show students how to enjoy iteration. Model how to thank someone for catching a mistake with you and correcting it in a kind way. Repeat this as much as you can. 

#3 Iterate Intentionally and Independently (Level: Harder... but it's worth it) 

For yourself, dear educator, you can also spend time practicing iteration independently. We often rely on district PD to do our best work, but there is so much new information to help you reflect on your own teaching practices and planning. Recently, I was able to reflect on my own math instructional practices by reading through some up-to-date research on math and student self-efficacy. We've been starting Geometry in second grade, and I've been interested in how many of the activities are really "sinking in" with students. Upon my reading, I learned that one way I can support my IEP learners is by making sure their math tasks are inquiry-based (Larson, 2021). Another thing I gleaned from my research was that the impact of procedural and conceptual tasks changes as students age. Conceptual tasks are more impactful to their learning as they age, but the slow tapering of procedural tasks is crucial. (Heatly, 2015). This opportunity to reflect on my own math practices- which tasks I am asking for/giving procedures, and which ones they investigating the why behind what we are doing, and how they are balanced- has fundamentally changed how I will go into work tomorrow. It has already changed my Monday Math activities! To practice iteration independently and intentionally, ask yourself these three questions this week: 

1. If I could rewind today, what is one classroom activity, procedure, or practice I would do differently?

2. What went well this week? What needs to go better next week? (Then, think about how you'd make that happen!) 

3. What practice, content area, or area of teaching do I want to get better in? 

As educators, we are lifelong learners. We are committed to this fate, but we are not alone. There are so many wonderful people researching, building tools, and participating in this process with us. I encourage you to intently reflect and find resources and research that can help you meet these goals and make reflection and iteration a habit. 

References 

Bouskill, K. (Nov. 2018). The unforeseen consequences of a fast-paced world. TEDxManhattan Beach. https://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_bouskill_the_unforeseen_consequences_of_a_fast_paced_world/transcript 

Google Search Engine. (2025) "Iteration Definition" https://www.google.com/search?q=iteration+definition&rlz=1C5GCCM_. Oxford Dictionary. 

Heatly, M.C., Bachman, H.J., Vtruba-Drzal, E. (June, 2015) Developmental Patterns in the associations between instructional practices and children's math trajectories in elementary school. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.  University of Pittsburgh. 

Larsen, N.E., Jang, E.E. (Nov. 2021). Instructional Practices, Students' Self-Efficacy and Math Achievement: A Multi-level Factor Score Path Analysis. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. 

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Apr 20 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

Let's Get Critical: Technological Concerns and Classrooms in 2025 

This email serves as a good and necessary reminder of how classrooms today are so very different from classrooms just 10 or 20 years ago. Technology is a huge part of our lives, and our usage of it is continuing to grow. Back in August of 2011, just around 30% of the world had good access to technology (Molinari, 2011). In 2023, those numbers are very different; It's estimated that 63% of people worldwide have internet access (Ritchie, n.d.). Technology is advancing and changing daily, too. With AI evolving fast, new classroom tech popping up everywhere, and some schools offering every student a device, how do we keep up—and more importantly, how do we make sure we’re thinking about all our students? What should we be paying attention to when it comes to their inclusion, their safety, their privacy, and how this tech is shaping their future? In this blog post, we are going to critically examine technology in the classroom and attempt to ask some of these questions with strategies and resources for educators to consider to answer them.  We will be looking at accessibility and privacy, which are important things to consider whenever we use technology- and even when we don't! 

Educators, my hope for this post is that together we are able to continue to critically examine technology in our classrooms. Asking ourselves these questions about what we are doing and why is really the first skill on our job description... or should be! When we are able to take apart tasks in our room, look at technology usage, and figure out where it's most (and least) benefical, we are doing our best work. We are preparing kids for the future. We are keeping families safe. We are doing our jobs well. 

A Ready Response 

My student's mom had all these wonderful concerns, and as educators, we are responsible for educating families, too. This can be tough! Everyone has different values and expectations for their children. So then, we focus on pointing out the skills necessary for kids to be successful on their own in the world someday. I responded to my student's mother thoughtfully with these things in mind. I aim to give families options, opportunities for conversations with their kids, and offensive strategies for the next time these same things might come up in their home lives. Here was my response: 

Hi Mrs. (redacted). I hope you and your family had a great spring break. 

These are all great concerns to have. I can tell you take this seriously, which is a wonderful thing that more parents could do. You should feel encouraged by your commitment to (redacted) and the skills she is building to interact with the world! 

As her teacher, I have access at school on her school device to view her screen as she uses it, to lock her screen, and ultimately shut down her iPad if needed. I hope you find encouragement in the fact that at school, device usage and safety are taken very seriously in my classroom. Generally, kids are not using their iPads if I am not available to log in and monitor their activity on my own device. At their age and skill level, they are curious about so many things, and it is advisable to use the iPad together, monitored. However, I know that this is not always going to be the case and is not a very reasonable expectation. We teach device usage as we teach any other skill that we learn to do- and at this age, it is still very much an in-progress skill. Talking with (redacted) about how to search on the internet in a more specific way might be a helpful way you can approach this with her in a skill-based way. We talk about this more in the coming weeks as we do nonfiction research here at school, too! 

My recommendation, if not already, is to attempt to restrict the content settings if you are still worried about privacy and access after speaking with (redacted). School devices are a bit limited in the settings you can change, because they are meant to be used at school and monitored during use to avoid unnecessary browsing. This is why you may have trouble changing certain settings. On her iPad, you may be able to “Turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions” and only allow certain websites or links to be accessed. I also hold very firm boundaries with iPads in my classroom- it sounds harsh, but in my room, there are no second chances with iPads. If students are not on what they are supposed to be on, I lock it, and they put it away. A second offense results in me keeping their iPad at school until they can show responsibility. It's possible some restrictions like this at home might help (redacted). 

I hope this answers your questions. Internet safety is important and a new skill for most second graders. They will continue to learn more and grow more in their ability to use their device as they progress through Elementary and Middle School as well. 

Warmly, 

Kait Woods

References 

BrainPOP. (n.d.) Information Privacy Lesson Plan: Cyber Security. BrainPop Educators. https://educators.brainpop.com/lesson-plan/information-privacy-lesson-plan-cybersecurity/ 

Kravitz, N. (Host). ( 30 November 2024). How AI can Help Boost Disability Inclusion - Ep. 238. NVIDA. https://open.spotify.com/episode/62 

Learning for Justice. (n.d.) Privacy and Security Online. Southern Poverty Law Center 1991-2024.                                                 https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/lessons/privacy-and-security-online 

Molinari, A. (2011). Let's Bridge the Digital Divide. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/aleph_molinari_let_s_bridge_the_digital_divide 

Open Access. (n.d.) Internet Safety for Teachers. Avid. https://avidopenaccess.org/resource/internet-safety-for-teachers/ 

Ritchie, H., Edouard, M., Roser, M., Oritz-Ospina, E. (n.d.) Internet. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/internet 

Steele, M. (28 May 2021). Maintaining your Online Privacy. NIST. https://www.nist.gov/blogs/manufacturing-innovation-blog/maintaining-your-online-privacy 

Adding Generative AI to your Professional Learning Network

Trying out TPACK in the Kitchen - A Framework for Teaching and Learning 

Have you ever felt like you've been set up to fail? Like you didn't have the tools necessary to accomplish the tasks thrown your way? 

In the silly video below, you can watch me struggle with these same ideas in a very low-stakes way. My friend, with ZERO context for what I was doing, was instructed to pick any 3 things from my kitchen and a number 1-4 (each number correlated to a specific kitchen task). She chose my beloved sourdough starter, a whisk, and a spatula, along with picking task #3 - to use these to chop veggies for a veggie tray! You are in for a treat watching me struggle through the task below. 

This video highlights why it is important to consider technology in our teaching practice- both for our sake and our students'! It supports the TPACK framework (shown below) as a way of thinking and reflecting on the way we teach and the importance of considering technology before a learning task as a core principle of educational practice. 

But what about when the stakes are high? When there is a deadline or something that needs to happen? What happens when you don't have what you need to do what is expected of you? 

Technology is around for a reason. From this video, we glean a few important truths: 

Truth #1 : Context is Important 

Without knowing what I was doing, my friend could not have chosen the tools to set me up for success. She couldn't pick things out of my kitchen to help me be successful with the task. Furthermore, she might not have even known what was in my kitchen to help me. She might have assumed I had the things she listed, or I had what I needed to complete the task. As educators, it is our job to consider the context in which learning happens at school, and if we are asking students to complete tasks outside of school, we need to consider those contexts as well. Without acknowledging contexts, we create frustrating learning environments. We have to ensure learners have the proper tools to be successful in their learning. 

Truth #2: The Tools Matter 

Could I chop the veggies? Sure. Was it my best work? Absolutely not! I would never have taken that vegetable tray to an event (and I didn't even have a tray, technically!) What we use to get the job done cannot be random- not for kitchen tasks and certainly not for learning tasks. The TPACK framework clearly outlines the choosing of technologies to be as important as the content and the teaching strategies themselves. I think this is noteworthy in a world where the constant use of technology is expected of us. We have to identify the correct tools that coincide with the content and teaching practices being used. Without the right tools, we create frustrating learning environments with tasks that don't translate to the current world- which, by the way, is FULL of tech! 

Truth #3: Not Everyone is Successful with the Same Tools 

As I was laboriously chopping vegetables with a plastic jar lid, I realized that I really wanted a knife. However, my friend can create a veggie tray in 10 minutes flat with her fancy box chopper. I began to consider that the way I preferred to do the task is not how everyone would. I also considered the space and size of her kitchen to store such gadgets, which is a luxury I currently don't have in our temporary rental house. Technology presents issues that we must consider- issues that impact our learners deeply. Access is one of them! Winner points this out in a cornerstone article on considering if things are political in mentioning that how we chose to neglect looking at accessibility leads us to passive inequity (1980, pp. 125). Suppose we don't consider technology as part of our root practice, as part of every task. In that case, we are creating inequitable opportunities for students when we send them home with homework tasks or have them complete tasks using all the same technologies. This is why the added bubble in the TPACK framework needs to become a regular consideration for teachers and learners. If not for ease or context, then for being an ally for all learners and their needs. 

References

The TPACK Framework (from http://tpack.org/) 

Winner (1980) Do Artifacts Have Politics?  The MIT Press. https://www-jstor-org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/stable/20024652 

Woods (2025). Cooking with TPACK Video. YouTube.

What Does it Take to Become an Expert? Parallels Between Kitchens and Classrooms 

References 

Bransford, J., Brown, A.L. & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school. National Academy Press. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368 

Smithsonian Science Education Center. (2015, June 15). Good thinking! - Conceptual change: How new ideas take root [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3a_4471DEU&feature=emb_logo