My Ritch Performance Task: My learning...So far

 "If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn"
-Ignatio Estrada

 

I love the quote above, for everything that it says, and everything that it implies. This is the motto I have experienced in my life - through situations that have taught me the most - it is the ideal I currently hold about education, and it is something I will strive to implement in my future practice. For me, this is the essence of 21st century learning. Finding meaningful ways of connecting with my students by using methods that facilitate learning, directed by students themselves,  is how I can best summarize the integration of the 21^st century literacies into my own practice.

I have learned a lot during my four years at university, and this semester in particular has pushed my conceptualizing of teaching/learning to incorporate means and methods that I had not previously known even existed. I have been learning, and have been exposed to educators who are so radical in their practice, that I have been pushed to think more deeply, find more practical and diverse resources, and reconsider what it means to be a teacher in today's changing world.

Over the last few months, I have followed, and learned from some exceptional educators. These people have inspired me with innovative ideas, creative problem solving, and most importantly, authentic incorporation of 21st century skills and literacies.  As for myself, as a current student and future educator, I plan on incorporating the 21st century literacies in the classroom by being a life-long learner. Ac cliché as this term sounds, I hope to use this post to outline some of the recent things I have learned, as well as things I will continue doing in order to stay engaged, current and use the mass online resources as a platform to further expand and enrich my practice.

This course -21st-Century Literacy Across PR/JR Curriculum - has made the old educational story blatantly obvious for me. That is education that used to be based on marks to 'ensure' future academic as well as life-long success, was practiced by educators who would impart knowledge on students and was rigid in both method of delivery.

Education today has been vamped up, transformed and re-emerged with the driving goal of learning through discovery, in real, authentic and applicable means.  Today, we want students to be creative, global and self-directed 21st century citizens. While I can honestly say that this has not been my experience as a student, I have internalized these qualities to a greater extent as a young adult and an aspiring educator. For instance, I paint. While I admit that I am not very good - and I know this because I have heard it enough times from my former art teachers - painting allows for a creative expression unlike anything else. I am a self-directed learner; I have been reading about, discovering and participating in my own passions. I am also a 21st century citizen; my eyes have been opened to possibilities provided by the internet to engage my future students, and to utilize resources available to me for program planning for my upcoming summer job - as the director of a science summer camp.

Over the past few months, I have been reading several blogs about the ingenious ways that educators have transformed learning in their classrooms to include 21st century literacies, and one common theme amongst these have been ways of fostering student engagement in learning.  The roots of these methods are grounded in problem based learning, and the most concise explanation of this is depicted in the following image:



Link

One common method of promoting student engagement used by educator bloggers is through student inquiry, and fun learning.  Student inquiry learning is unique not only because it is student-led, but also because it is unpredictable, and often appears chaotic. I resonate with the way that educator Joshua Block phrases this by saying, "deep learning is messy and complicated". What is most beneficial to me about this approach of learning is that it shifts the power dynamic away from the teacher as the 'all-knowing' and provides students with agency as learners and as individuals. This has been my experience in this course. Learning about being a 21st century educator in an environment that was structured differently than I had previously been accustomed to first terrified me, but allowed be to explore on my own, to find footholds and resources about topics that interest , as well as an opportunity  to learn more than what is highlighted in the syllabus. I learned to be patient, to be flexible with deadlines, and most importantly, I learned that learning can be fun, and it can be explorative, not rigid.  I have enjoyed the up-keep of this blog tremendously, much more so than I had expected.

While student inquiry can seem like a daunting, and elaborative endeavour, Ms. Cassidy shared just how easy this can be. On Friday afternoons, the class reads by flashlight, instead of using the overhead lights. By simply changing up routine, with something a little more creative, students are enlightened, and excited about reading.

I have stumbled upon an article titled "8 Ways Teachers can Talk Less, and Get Kids Talking More", which provides some very practical ways of engaging student in learning. One way that stood out to me was related to the little things that teachers can say to infuse more student ownership over learning.  An example is "not stealing the struggle".  By this, the author means allowing students to work through problems, regardless of how uncomfortable those prolonged silences can be for teachers. Another suggestion is to turn statements, such as "Nice work, I like the strategy you used for ___" into questions such as "Tell me how you chose to use that strategy for ___". These little changes are immeasurably powerful for shifting 'teacher talk' to 'student talk'. In doing this, we allow students to explain and expand on their thinking, gain confidence in their decisions, and maximize their oral literacy skills.
That being said, when we provide students with feedback, we must keep in mind that we are targeting the love of learning.  As previously discussed, when we praise children's  intelligence, we decrease their willingness to take chances in learning, for the fear of losing their "newly acquired genius statuses".  Instead, we must focus on progress and effort to promote the idea that that learning is attainable, but requires work.

 Another common thread among the educator-bloggers has been use of technology. One thing I have found striking is that technology has been used to complement learning, not just for flare.  Ms. Cassidy, is a prime example of this, as she has all of her grade 1 students curate their learning in their own blogs. One of hers students, Jakob utilized the program 'Duck duck moose' to create a video exemplifying his addition skills. The benefits of this transcend the math skill, and incorporate significant 21st century skills, such as technological literacy as well a sense of creativity. Aviva provides some technological tools applicable for math learning. One of this in particular is very interesting to me. Lightbot is one resource that teaches students math skills such as addition and subtraction, in combination with computer programming. The latent learning of this app appeals to me, as it exposes students to a variety of different skills that they might otherwise not be exposed to in work-sheet-style learning.




The following image provides a variety of technological tools that teachers can implement into learning, broken down into the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy:

 A third way that educators have been increasing student engagement has been closely tied to developing global citizens.

What does global citizenship mean?

The website Measuring What Matters Measuring What Matters  describes citizenship as preparing students with the "knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to take a full and active role in their society". This concept involves a majority of the 21st century literacies: multicultural literacy, by developing an understanding of how actions impact people around the world; critical literacy, by becoming challenging social issues through a form of social change (Minott, 2011); character education, by presenting a representation of the qualities of a "good person" (Gilead, 2011) and environmental literacy by reducing the negative impacts that our actions have on the planet.

Mrs. Wideen  utilized global citizenship learning  in her classroom by showing students how easy it is to connect with other students, in other parts of the world. She accomplished this involved her students in an Oreo stacking challenge, that was not only "very messy and fun!", but involved some friendly competition with students from around the world (blog).

Using somewhat of a contrasting method, Aviva has fostered more local relationships, between her students and their reading buddies from a different school. In one of her blog posts Aviva makes note of the un-planned relationships that were built through a common struggle between people. She says " we both stumbled. We both fell down. We both benefitted from some encouraging words from other students and other staff members. But we both made it!" The bonding that occurred after a challenging feat holds all of the criteria of citizenship: knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for an active role in society.

Overall, one thing shines clearly: the magnitude of the impact that authentic, caring, and personalized learning can make for our students. Aviva writes a heartfelt blog about a student who has thrilled to be back at school after March break. For me, this is what it's all about. Caring for our students by making them feel save and valued, but also showing them that they are important to us as individuals, and integral for the collective success of the classroom as a whole. And secondly, I have redefined what I constitute as the role of students. I now think of students as creative creators who need educators as coaches who provide feedback, encouragement and mediate learning.


Thanks for reading,


Ana

 

Resources:

Minott, M. A. (2011). Reflective teaching, critical literacy, and the teacher's tasks in the critical literacy classroom: A confirmatory investigation. Reflective Practice 12(1), 73-85.

Gilead, T. (2011). Countering the Vices: On the Neglected Side of Character Education. Studies In Philosophy & Education, 30(3), 271-284. doi:10.1007/s11217-011-9223-1


Blooms Taxonomy Image Accessed From: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/544513411169913318/