LIBE 477 63A Supporting Teachers’ ICT Curriculum and Pedagogy: On-going Professional Development

Sharing is Caring

In TED Talks, The Way We Work series Robert Reffkin gives viewers suggestions to stay connected with their co-workers.  He claims that "technology has made it easier to communicate.  But it hasn't made it easier to connect with other human beings" (2020). How evident is this now?  I can only imagine being a part of a new school right now.  Making meaningful connections at present require more time, creativity, and effort amidst all the other challenges that face educators today; a special type of brew.

image by Bitmoji

The three that I really appreciated are:

👍 show gratitude - be thankful for your peers' abilities, skills, talents, and willingness to share them.

👍 share and inquire - share resources/ideas/your point of view and be open to receiving others'

👍 be honest - go beyond the "niceties" of small talk and really get to know the people you are working with.

At the moment, I am co-teaching the Seven Sacred Teachings (this is a full unit plan if anyone may be interested) with our school indigenous support worker.  Some of the ideas that Reffkin offers tie in with the teachings: 

image from southernnetwork.org

Just to use as an example, the grade 3 curriculum is focused entirely on indigenous studies.  I am quite aware that I am not an expert in the field, however, I do know there are many in the district that are trained to support my students' learning in this subject area.  Instructors from the district have come to the school to explicitly teach peace/sharing circles.  To promote awareness and understanding of indigenous cultures, the Aboriginal Program offers classroom presentations, for example in grade 3, Ms. Gabriel teaches students about Sto:lo tools past and present.

Image from Bitmoji.com

Who knows what hidden talents, skills, and professional development your colleagues have?  I worked with an intermediate teacher and I would like to think I was friendly enough with him, but I had no idea that he was opera trained!  He never volunteered for the Christmas concerts and just by chance our friendly conversations turned into this little treasure revealed.

How can we best respond to the needs of our staff, in their wide spectrum of abilities and experiences, with the most appropriate and useful professional development?

We need to know what the actual needs are of our staff: being a part of school based team meetings, school goal committees, action plans, and other groups within the school that focus on student needs and improvements will give us a more thorough understanding of what professional development would be appropriate and useful for fellow staff members.

In our district, we use Microsoft Teams, and the TL having a channel of his/her own would help teachers look back at any staff meeting presentations available for viewing later, instructions for using tech tools in the learning commons, link to book TL/llearning commons facility, etc.  Because it is a program that each teacher in the school has to use on a regular basis, it is easy access for peers.

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How can we, as educators and TLs share what we've learned with our wider communities of practices?

As we all have experienced, in order for learners to engage, there has to be a "buy in".  I believe the same goes with adult learners.  Canvasing co-workers, be it personal drop-ins or an inquiry note in their mailbox,, noticing frequently checked out teacher resources and print material for the classroom, observing what teachers are attending for professional development days, or using online surveys to gather intel.  Most administrators will give their TLs time during staff meetings to up to date everyone on what is happening in the learning commons, so I feel that is a great start - something short, sweet, and enticing.  I have seen TLs use SWAY, Bitmoji Classroom, Prezi, and Keynote.  

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image from weareteachers.org

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What tools and strategies are best implemented to meet the professional development of staff?

As the professional development representative at my school level, I have found that scheduling presenters to come into the school for Pro D days have been more meaningful and has created team-building opportunities.  BCTF offers quite an array of speakers on various topics.  We have had speakers come in for conflict resolution, self-regulation, mindfulness, and balance.  Understanding where our co-workers are coming from and taking common professional development has been quite nurturing.

Caskey and Carpenter's article on Building Teacher Collaboration provides an explicit organizational model that promotes teacher collaboration within a school.  The biggest take away has been that collaboration must be meaningful - teachers that are working together share the same vision for their students on their focused topic.  Educators are willing and voluntarily carve time out to work, professional develop, gather data, and discuss students' needs, then put it into practice.

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As a TL, providing mini-workshops to familiarize teachers with programs within the learning commons and resources has created an on-going professional development for teachers and EAs within the school.  Our previous TL held a "Tech Tuesday" after school for anyone and for any topic regarding technology that wouldn't be appropriate for the district IT team to problem solve.

What about the stakeholders?  TLs should be making a regular appearance in PAC meetings; there is a beneficial reciprocal relationship in the rough here.  As well, making connections with the local public library and their programs could support the school learning commons.  For example, if the public library is using coding tools like this one here: Spheros at FVRL and Ozobots at FVRL perhaps co-teaching and collaborating with teachers in the school to use these could also create on-going professional development and lead to new technology discoveries.

Image from Bitmoji.com

 

Works Cited

Caskey, M. M., & Carpenter, J. (2014). Building Teacher Collaboration School-wide. Retrieved October 22, 2020, from https://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/446/Building-Teacher-Collaboration-School-wide.aspx

Coalition, O. (Ed.). (2020). Teachings of the Seven Sacred/Seven Grandfathers. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://onlc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/7-Grandfathers-Student-Manual1.pdf

Reffkin, R. (2020). 5 ways to create stronger connections. Retrieved October 21, 2020, from https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_reffkin_5_ways_to_create_stronger_connections

LIBE 477B 63A Developing ICT Skills and Pedagogy

 How Do my I.C.T. Skills and I Live Happily Ever After?

(image from Bitmoji)

With the rapidly evolving technology that grows infinitely as I write this post, the need for continuous professional development is mandatory.  As educators, we are often given websites, blogs, digital videos, and apps that are supposed to enhance our learning in the classroom. These tools are as extremely relevant as the quantity of them is overwhelming, 

Author, John Green discusses cartography and learning communities that inspired his learning https://www.ted.com/talks/john_green_the_nerd_s_guide_to_learning_everything_online/transcript. He goes on to say,” I do believe that while maps don’t show you where you will go in life, they show you where you might go,  You very rarely go to a place that isn’t on your personal map” (Green, 2012).

I.C.T., for me, also stands for 

Identify Focus

Connect, Collaborate, and Co-Teach

Training

Skills for a Digital World This policy brief outlines 4 key priorities for skills policies to meet the challenges of a digital world. The article focuses on the general work force, but I interpreted the emphasis put on:

1. formal and informal education (MOOCs, Youtube tutorials, OERs)

2. staying relevant with the needs of your students

3. teamwork, but also autonomy

4. training offered by your school and district

My effervescent, high-spirited, boisterous daughters played a large part in mapping my professional development for the past decade.  I felt like I was pulled in different directions in the past from numeracy to literacy and back to reconciliation, but then there’s the Reggio Method and nature-based play to check out.  So, every year or two years I would set off on a singular quest.  First, there was self regulation and classroom management.  

  (personal image taken in Abbotsford, B.C. October 15, 2020)

Then there was numeracy and open-ended questioning.  https://www.pims.math.ca/

                                                (image from www.pims.math.ca)

After that, was re-visiting my literacy teaching practices, which was mostly visiting Teachers Pay Teachers and purchasing a lot of Adrienne Gear texts.

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Most recently, it has been this magical librarianship adventure.  Most of my professional development was based on physical texts until now...

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This is where the connection, collaboration, and co-teaching is of utmost importance.  I am motivated to continue reading academic articles that tell me about ICT, but to actually put some of these strategies, tools, and resources into quality practice? I need a fairy godperson or two.  Anytime I have tried something digital be it creating a weebly website, using Class Dojo for home/school communication, or Pixton to create comics, I always searched out like-minded individuals that would be willing to go on this journey of unlearning and relearning.  We would meet regularly to plan, execute, and reflect.  If the online tutorials were not able to help, I would seek out a mentor like instructional coach or school lead.

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At this point, I am a bit at a crossroads. I feel like I am coming up for a breath from my digital wanderings without a treasure...because there was too much!

This is where my last concept of training explains my ordeal.  At the district level, there is so much that has already been vetted, FOIPPA approved, and organized with instructions and support.  SD 35 uses Microsoft Teams, where materials needed for digital instruction as well as any curricular instruction is organized by grade and subject area. Pertinent files are included, experts are always a click away, and there are many scheduled webinars, virtual visits to the classroom offered for free.  We also use One Drive and other applications of Office 365 like Notebook that helps staff members share files. I can bravely say, that my ICT skills with navigating this platform alone, is pretty bare.  With remote learning, a lot of this especially Teams was just sort of handed to us and we were expected to start using it and get parents to use it, before we even knew how to!

                    (images from www.google.ca)

To further develop my knowledge, expertise, and skills with ICT, I can confidently say that before I go down a virtual rabbit hole, I am going to use the platforms and apps that are district-approved, not so much because I am not a risk taker, but if I want to continually develop my learning, I want to ensure I can find peers to be genuinely invested in my personal focus as well as have access to trained individuals or thorough resources to support my ongoing development.

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At this point, when I look back to my inquiry on MyBlueprint, a digital portfolio for students to reflect on the curriculum’s core competencies and development of their self-awareness and metacognition skills, I have already begun the process of identifying focus, collaborating, and getting training.  I have completed a webinar with our district lead on MBP and I am scheduled for a virtual visit with my students to start on a second activity in their portfolio.  This upcoming October Pro D, I have set aside time with my cohort teacher and grade group to explore MBP together and develop a plan of action for the school year.  My personal map of learning involves people over programs.  This year may involve more of a reliance on technology be it walkie talkie apps, cloud sharing, and digital notebook platforms, but the quality and effectiveness will be attributed to the users and the team.  

Works Cited

Green, J. (2012). Transcript of "The nerd's guide to learning everything online". Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.ted.com/talks/john_green_the_nerd_s_guide_to_learning_everything_online/transcript

Oecd. (2016, June 02). Skills for a Digital World: 2016 Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy Background Report. Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/skills-for-a-digital-world_5jlwz83z3wnw-en;jsessionid=l62mEeWdjOf68OC0uKCsYAaz.ip-10-240-5-59