Touro University California is a university under Jewish auspices founded upon the universal values of commitment to social justice, intellectual pursuit, and service to humanity. As such, Touro University California is dedicated to the following:
I believe strongly in each of Touro's values, in addition to others, such as the need for individuals to understand their own sense of self and sense of belonging within their communities. When we act from our innermost values, we make the best choices possible in our personal and professional lives. The work that I have done in the Innovative Learning program is driven by these values in order to make changes in my work with students and collaboration with other educators. For example, the emphasis on student inquiry in my action research has included a deep respect for the value and dignity of each of my students. I've been compelled to find ways to support students in their own research, no matter what their knowledge and skill levels are. I hope to be able to show differentiation within my Capstone Project, but it has definitely been part of my thought process throughout this program. Another example is how, as I'm preparing to teach U.S. History this coming year, I'm focusing on student-centered, inquiry-based learning. My students will consider moments in our country's history in light of current issues. As in all of my projects, they will learn the foundational information about important events and then discover a variety of perspectives, causes, effects, and lessons we can learn and apply in our lives. Moving forward, I plan to:
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Inquiry requires that students (and their teachers) believe in their abilities to learn for themselves. True learning is messy as students learn to make sense of the world for themselves, with their varying background knowledge, abilities, and skill sets. As I ponder the opportunity gaps that exist in education, I worry that I can't do enough to teach all of my students all of the skills they need for an unknown and global future. To this end, I frequently tell my students that my job is not to "teach" them, but to "make sure they learn." Sure, they give questioning looks, but as we discuss the difference between my role as facilitator and their role as learners, they quickly understand that they are responsible for their education and that they need to show their own understanding of the knowledge and skills at hand. This way, I can support ALL of my students in learning problem-solving skills, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and how to reflect on their own learning. This opens up the space needed for our students to take responsibility for their own learning, for them to engage meaningfully with learning experiences, and ensures that their academic foundations will be strong and their 21st century learning will continue to grow exponentially.
As I have analyzed the learning processes involved for student inquiry in my classroom, I've seen my students repeatedly get stuck in similar places - usually at the beginning of their research. I've tried so many different ways to help prevent frustration and distraction through teaching note-taking, questioning, and analyzing skills. I didn't want to go to structured or controlled inquiry, though, because my intentions have always been to help my students become more autonomous in their learning. As I began my action research for this Innovative Learning program, I learned that the hinge-point of my students' struggles was in finding reliable sources. So, instead of teaching my students what they "should" do, together we looked at what they naturally did and then tried some new strategies that are explained in the Learn More section of this Capstone Project. Oh, how I really dislike being in front of a camera. Thank goodness my husband knows a lot about how to create videos and he was willing to help me with my beginning efforts. My biggest challenges were in choosing to not have my answers scripted or rehearsed in any way so I could answer them authentically. I sometimes stumbled over my words, so I'm grateful for additional footage that I can work with during the editing process. It really helped to have my daughter ask me the questions and to look at her throughout the filming. This helped me relax more as well as think about the students who are at the heart of my action research. Having supportive people nearby as well as mentally reviewing my preparations helped me the most in facing my challenges. I'm definitely still in my learning pit but concepts are making sense and I am beginning to see how to complete the other elements of this documentary. In my classroom, students also struggle when preparing for and delivering presentations. They do practice presentations as well as review strategies that work for them personally to make their presentations stronger. They discuss and reflect upon their challenges and solid strategies throughout each project, helping to develop their growth mindset. It is really helpful that I have 7th and 8th graders in the same class, empowering them as they coach each other throughout their projects. This way, when 7th graders struggle with presentations and other elements of their projects, the 8th graders can help give them insights and support. I periodically do the projects that I ask my students to do, especially when it's the first time I'm assigning a new format or end product. I believe that I should not give my students an assignment that I'm not able or willing to do myself. My favorite example of me completing an assignment just before my students is my first Art Integration project, pictured below. In addition to the artwork, I wrote my Artist Statement to explain the symbolism - the same way I had my students explain their artwork. Sometimes I only complete a portion of the project so that I can emphasize certain aspects or skills. I have quite a few unfinished projects around from when I've started to create my own final product with my students but then get "distracted" by needing to help them in their own work. It seems that students need to get some modeling from teachers, especially in how the processes should look - to help them get started. Then, they need our samples less over time. Any 21st century classroom is expected to have technology actively involved. It's easy, though, for politicians, administrators, teachers, parents, and students to believe that if technology is being used, students are learning the skills they need as well. However, for true learning to happen, technology cannot be used just for the sake of having technology in the room. The TPACK framework is a lens to help teachers use content, pedagogy and technology to supporting student learning:
The relationships between the types of knowledge is where deeper understanding happens:
Of course my students use technology daily, but only in support of their learning the knowledge and skills needed. I've found that it's usually best to keep the frequently-used tools simple so that students are using them to learn the content and have the academic experiences planned to meet the learning outcomes. This way, they're not distracted by too many "bells and whistles" on a daily basis. When my students use new tools, for example, Screencastify, they work together to figure out the tool and then incorporate it into their technological toolkit. When students add one digital tool at a time and become proficient in using it, their confidence and abilities grow. The most common ways that my students use technology are to:
I have enjoyed reviewing my journey through the program by creating the Action Journey Sketchnote and by reading through previous work to plan for the various pages on the Learning Innovation Lab website. It's been challenging to stay focused while getting information from diverse places, but I'm using a Google document to keep my notes, images, and connections organized. The checklist for what goes on each page is helpful in making sure nothing is left out.
The past capstone videos have been enjoyable to view, as they show the caliber of work that we're looking for and explain what the creators want us to focus on in their work. The twist of creating a mini-documentary is appealing as Point of View is going to matter more than a traditional presentation format. While watching the mini-documentaries and instructional videos, I've been considering initial ideas for a storyline. My mini-documentary is intended for teachers and instructional leaders. It's important that they understand that student research is embedded throughout standards, yet needs to be explicitly taught. Attention needs to be paid to the Research Cycle and what students experience throughout their research. Far too often, teachers try to incorporate student inquiry and then face seemingly insurmountable challenges and return to more traditional teacher-led instruction. Teachers need training and support to empower them in maintaining student inquiry as an integral part of their classroom practices. My storytelling will emphasize the need and the "gap" in what students and teachers need to do in regards to student research - and then focus on the supports available to help teachers gain ideas to use in their contexts. Ironically, I was able to find more information about the Napa Valley Unified District policies related to technology in my research in December 2019 than I am able to find now. Below are the notes that I took at that time from the district website (which are not able to be found anywhere now). I definitely needed to know the current policies as we transitioned to Distance Learning in March 2020. I know, through experience and research, that Napa Valley Unified has long been committed to using technology to enhance the lives of students. What I've been able to piece together about the current tech policies has come from 1) Strategic Goal #1, 2) NVUSD Technology Department, and 3) the Technology Use Agreement and Consent Forms. Strategic Goal #1: Student Learning, Achievement and Access The portions that apply to technology explain:
The NVUSD Technology Department has been incredibly busy this year, before and during school closures due to Covid-19. It's reassuring to be able to recognize different peoples' names in the tech department, but this is mostly because my colleagues and I needed tech support when River School moved to a new campus in January 2020. I've been impressed with how responsive and timely support has been since the beginning of the year. However, I don't remember this transparent and detailed support being as easily available in the other two decades that I've been teaching (at three different middle schools) in the district. I'm hopeful that support, as well as continued training (that increased due to the sudden Distance Learning that occurred because of Covid-19) will continue to be available as we move forward into the next few school years. Below, the Technology Use Agreement and Consent Forms that each student and parent/guardian must sign each year (first for K-8, second for 9-12) were last updated in 2013. These are very much legal documents. They definitely fill a need... but not in communicating clearly with our students. I believe the district policies need to be:
When Distance Learning began in March 2020, teachers needed to be clear, with themselves and with students, about expectations for technology use and behavior in our shared digital spaces. This information needed to be communicated quickly. As I helped create the Middle School Social Studies learning modules for the four district middle schools, I used the K-8 Technology Use Agreement and Consent Form to create the following infographic and a video (begins at 1:23) to explain the expectations. As there was no information on the district forms to explain what "Be Polite" looks like, I added some details based on common sense and ideas from other educators. The remainder of the information came straight from the forms. Though I felt my work was good and I was happy to share with middle school Social Studies teachers across the district, it was discouraging that multiple teachers in other content areas were also needing to "re-create the wheel," instead of having something ready to go from the district. For example, one of my colleagues created this presentation to be used in Science classes: Video Conferencing Guidelines and Etiquette for Students.
Clearly, I have a lot to consider and express regarding the communication and implementation of the NVUSD technology policies. I am completely grateful that our district (as well as the Napa County Office of Education and NapaLearns) is committed to student achievement as well as communication. There have been so many details that the district and site leaders have needed to pay attention to this year and I believe they're doing an incredible job. I will keep an eye out for the right place and time to share my feedback with leadership. I am confident that attention will be paid to these details. I'm embarrassed to have spent so many hours drafting my logo, especially when others right around me (in my home and in this program) can create logos so easily. I experimented with LogoMaker, LogoMakr, Looka and Google Drawing. I found helpful elements and limitations within each, so just kept playing around. It definitely helped to write down a few notes such as hex numbers and font styles to use across the different tools. My biggest challenge was in finding images that captured my ideas as well as worked well together. It did finally become fun, so I look forward to creating other logos to use in my classroom, now that I'm becoming a bit better with the digital tools. This logo is my favorite so far. My driving question and action research emphasize the need for students to effectively and efficiently access reliable sources while conducting their own research. Therefore, I want my logo to focus on questions/inquiry and on digital research. My students' research is all about social science topics, so I like the combination of the globe with the lightbulb to show acquisition of ideas and knowledge. Below are some other variations I'm considering. Like always, I have to play with a variety of ideas, let them percolate for a while, and then come back to tweak them more.
For years, I've grappled with how best to support students in their Social Studies research. It's tempting to say "look up" some information, or just "go do research," especially as so many middle school students believe and act like they can independently look up information. At the same time, students tend to get frustrated and distracted throughout their research. To help my students focus their efforts, I've created so many different "Research Guides" over the years, worked with various questioning strategies, and continually refined my projects. Here is an example from 2016 - even as I see it now, there are so many things I would change. There are far too many different tasks involved within this Research Guide, even though it was completed by partners over time. Throughout my research, I've seen how most teachers have not been trained in the research process and rely on their own research experiences. I most certainly have done this over the years. I also discovered how, due to the complexities and challenges faced throughout student inquiry, many teachers have reverted back to traditional ways of teaching. This is understandable, but not the path I want to take. I'm so glad to have studied various Instructional Design frameworks (particularly Clark, Dervin, and the Pebble-in-the-Pond model) as well as the Guided Inquiry Design framework. As my goal is not just for my students to effectively and efficiently conduct their own research, but to gain independence over time, my research has helped me be more strategic in breaking down the research process into manageable chunks. Below is a student's Research Guide from last November. My instructions were intentionally simple:
I know that I'm onto something here. Every time I speak about my work, I get animated and passionate... and other teachers and librarians see a need for the work that I'm doing in their own situations.
After I complete this Innovative Learning program, I will:
When we learn to read, we each learn what letters look and sound like, how they work together, how to make meaning from the words, etc. At a certain point, we become "literate" in our native language and possibly other languages. But ultimately, the ability to read supports part of communication - the ability receive ideas from others. It also increases our confidence in being able to acquire new knowledge. When learning to be transliterate, we need to learn to recognize different literacies within various mediums, see how they work together, and learn how to move fluidly between continually evolving mediums. I'm not sure how we know when we "become" transliterate, but it seems that a certain level of confidence and the ability to move fluidly between different mediums is involved. It's been helpful for me to dissect transliteracy a bit, especially while teaching middle school students how to become more autonomous in their research skills. My students have many skills, but not all, that are needed to be transliterate in the 21st century. In this respect, they teach me as much as I teach them. However, transliteracy is not about teaching skills in isolation. Students need to learn different skills (like reading, writing, grammar, conventions, etc.) that can be applied and adjusted to diverse mediums. For example, being able to gather information on a particular topic from an article, blog, tweet, video, podcast, etc. requires knowing enough about how each work as well as the ability to move fluidly between them. But consuming information is not enough in today's society... students are creating and producing information in a variety of mediums. Even more media literacy and digital citizenship are needed. It's essential to incorporate methods to teach and practice transliteracy skills. I love these "throwback" pictures because they show students (who have already graduated from high school) practicing their use of media in order to learn the content at hand. These students have gone on, learned much more, and done much greater things with their own transliteracy, but they needed time in earlier years to practice without fear of judgement and with plenty of room to make mistakes and grow. Again, they've taught me as much as I've taught them. Sketchnoting, as a way to look at transliteracy, for this course has been an unexpected and interesting challenge for me. I frequently have my students do variations of sketchnotes to organize their notes and to communicate what they've learned. Here are some student samples from our last project: However, as soon as I needed to sketchnote my Action Research Journey for this course, I struggled with a lot of thoughts many of my students have previously expressed... "I can't (really) draw," "This is ugly," "This isn't good enough." So I "practiced what I preach" to my students. Yes, it took many iterations, but I'm practicing my transliteracy skills and taking notes along the way. I'm grateful for this experience to step into the shoes of my students. I've gathered more videos, explanations, etc. to support my students this next year to make sketchnoting an even greater part of my classes. Pictures of my Sketchnotes... I created these to help me wrap my mind around the processes I've experienced. |
Megan BurtonInnovative Learning Archives
June 2020
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