Journey of the Author - The Beginning
Teachers tell their students all the time that learning should be a life-long activity. I truly believe this statement and continually strive to improve my own knowledge and skills as an educator. I was considering returning to school for a master’s degree when a colleague told me about the master’s program at Touro University. Upon attending an information meeting I learned that Touro University partners with NapaLearns to offer master’s programs that promote instruction and student learning that are infused with technology. NapaLearns’s fellowship program was a large factor in choosing the Innovative Learning program. As I reflected on the components of the Innovative Learning program I became convicted that I needed to make this my master’s degree because I need to grow as an educator in the area of technology in education and teaching 21st century learning skills.
I began my teaching career in 1995 when “you’ve got mail” and “surfing the worldwide web” were rather new and exciting phrases.
(insert more background information? Ie: basic resume style timeline?
Over the two decades I’ve been teaching, I have managed to maintain basic proficiency in the use of technology, but I had never gained a deep passion for incorporating the use of technology-based learning. I had even felt a resistance due to concerns about possible detriments of our societal shift of reliance upon technology. I believe that fluent reading with deep comprehension is the most essential foundation of all learning. Acquiring this fluency and comprehension is a complex process requiring memorization, attention span, background knowledge and interaction with the physical world, early verbal language, socialization, many hours actually reading, and critical thinking skills. I’ve seen how increased screen time, online research, immediate availability of facts, information overload, and shortcuts taken by students can be detrimental to many of these processes. On the other hand, I also realize that my ignorance in the area of technology infused teaching and learning is stopping me from exploring its best uses. I hope to become a more informed educator in the area of the efficacious uses of technology in the classroom. I hope the Innovative Learning program will help me leverage my use of technology to maximize the benefits of technology while minimizing any possible drawbacks to student learning and critical thinking.
My greatest challenge as an elementary teacher has been reading instruction and bringing all students to proficiency or mastery. I believe there is a growing achievement gap in pre-school reading skills instruction. Greater knowledge of the issues will help me see how digital technologies may be able to bridge this gap at home and in the classroom. I hope to find programs and techniques that can help with early literacy, acquiring reading fluency, deepening comprehension, and practicing critical thinking skills.
Another challenge I’ve faced as a teacher is meeting the needs of students with IEPs, 504 plans, or with undiagnosed learning differences. With mainstreaming and large classroom size, it is difficult to make one-to-one time or small group situations for these students to modify their curriculum or accommodate their needs. I’ve already seen how many digitally based learning platforms are able to examine each student’s particular need and use adaptive learning software to hone in on the student’s needs. I would like to learn more about leveraging digital technology to assist special needs students.
Teachers tell their students all the time that learning should be a life-long activity. I truly believe this statement and continually strive to improve my own knowledge and skills as an educator. I was considering returning to school for a master’s degree when a colleague told me about the master’s program at Touro University. Upon attending an information meeting I learned that Touro University partners with NapaLearns to offer master’s programs that promote instruction and student learning that are infused with technology. NapaLearns’s fellowship program was a large factor in choosing the Innovative Learning program. As I reflected on the components of the Innovative Learning program I became convicted that I needed to make this my master’s degree because I need to grow as an educator in the area of technology in education and teaching 21st century learning skills.
I began my teaching career in 1995 when “you’ve got mail” and “surfing the worldwide web” were rather new and exciting phrases.
(insert more background information? Ie: basic resume style timeline?
Over the two decades I’ve been teaching, I have managed to maintain basic proficiency in the use of technology, but I had never gained a deep passion for incorporating the use of technology-based learning. I had even felt a resistance due to concerns about possible detriments of our societal shift of reliance upon technology. I believe that fluent reading with deep comprehension is the most essential foundation of all learning. Acquiring this fluency and comprehension is a complex process requiring memorization, attention span, background knowledge and interaction with the physical world, early verbal language, socialization, many hours actually reading, and critical thinking skills. I’ve seen how increased screen time, online research, immediate availability of facts, information overload, and shortcuts taken by students can be detrimental to many of these processes. On the other hand, I also realize that my ignorance in the area of technology infused teaching and learning is stopping me from exploring its best uses. I hope to become a more informed educator in the area of the efficacious uses of technology in the classroom. I hope the Innovative Learning program will help me leverage my use of technology to maximize the benefits of technology while minimizing any possible drawbacks to student learning and critical thinking.
My greatest challenge as an elementary teacher has been reading instruction and bringing all students to proficiency or mastery. I believe there is a growing achievement gap in pre-school reading skills instruction. Greater knowledge of the issues will help me see how digital technologies may be able to bridge this gap at home and in the classroom. I hope to find programs and techniques that can help with early literacy, acquiring reading fluency, deepening comprehension, and practicing critical thinking skills.
Another challenge I’ve faced as a teacher is meeting the needs of students with IEPs, 504 plans, or with undiagnosed learning differences. With mainstreaming and large classroom size, it is difficult to make one-to-one time or small group situations for these students to modify their curriculum or accommodate their needs. I’ve already seen how many digitally based learning platforms are able to examine each student’s particular need and use adaptive learning software to hone in on the student’s needs. I would like to learn more about leveraging digital technology to assist special needs students.
Journey of the Author - The Middle
Being an Innovative Educator
My thoughts about being an innovative educator are eloquently expressed by a famous innovator, Albert Einsten. “Therefore it is by no means an idle game if we become practiced in analysing long-held commonplace concepts and showing the circumstances on which their justification and usefulness depend, and how they have grown up, individually, out of the givens of experience. Thus their excessive authority will be broken. They will be removed if they cannot be properly legitimated, corrected if their correlation with given things be far too superfluous, or replaced if a new system can be established that we prefer for whatever reason.” Albert Einstein
To paraphrase this groundbreaking thinker, as innovators in the classroom, we should become practiced at analyzing our past and current practices. It is not a waste of time, an idle game, to examine the concepts under which we operate in education for their usefulness and correspondence to the reality of the human experience, particularly the student perspective. We must be able to justify our choices as teachers. If our practices are not resulting in deep learning, remove them. If we add too much superfluous material - too much and unnecessary, correct it. And when we find a new system that we prefer for good reason, replace the old with the new.
Einstein does not say to throw the baby out with the bathwater. When I began the journey through the Innovative Learning program, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical - I had a preconceived notion that most people who bandied about the word “innovative” were jumping on a bandwagon of glittery newness simply for the sake of the novelty of the strategy or the cool factor of the technology. After being in the trenches for a couple decades, I’ve seen many fads come and go. What began as the latest greatest idea was, a few years later, proven to be poor practice. Then a few more years down the road, that same idea came full circle again, refurbished a bit, rebranded, and “voila!”, suddenly it was the thing to do again. I entered determined not to follow blindly a new trend unless I was thoroughly satisfied that the philosophy, concept, and practice would truly benefit my students.
Being an Innovative Educator
My thoughts about being an innovative educator are eloquently expressed by a famous innovator, Albert Einsten. “Therefore it is by no means an idle game if we become practiced in analysing long-held commonplace concepts and showing the circumstances on which their justification and usefulness depend, and how they have grown up, individually, out of the givens of experience. Thus their excessive authority will be broken. They will be removed if they cannot be properly legitimated, corrected if their correlation with given things be far too superfluous, or replaced if a new system can be established that we prefer for whatever reason.” Albert Einstein
To paraphrase this groundbreaking thinker, as innovators in the classroom, we should become practiced at analyzing our past and current practices. It is not a waste of time, an idle game, to examine the concepts under which we operate in education for their usefulness and correspondence to the reality of the human experience, particularly the student perspective. We must be able to justify our choices as teachers. If our practices are not resulting in deep learning, remove them. If we add too much superfluous material - too much and unnecessary, correct it. And when we find a new system that we prefer for good reason, replace the old with the new.
Einstein does not say to throw the baby out with the bathwater. When I began the journey through the Innovative Learning program, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical - I had a preconceived notion that most people who bandied about the word “innovative” were jumping on a bandwagon of glittery newness simply for the sake of the novelty of the strategy or the cool factor of the technology. After being in the trenches for a couple decades, I’ve seen many fads come and go. What began as the latest greatest idea was, a few years later, proven to be poor practice. Then a few more years down the road, that same idea came full circle again, refurbished a bit, rebranded, and “voila!”, suddenly it was the thing to do again. I entered determined not to follow blindly a new trend unless I was thoroughly satisfied that the philosophy, concept, and practice would truly benefit my students.
Many of the educators on the forefront of the innovative education movement impress me with the depth of their considerations. At the moment, the thinking that most resonates with me and sums up my evolution in thought is George Couros, a modern innovator in education. He also does not advocate newness for newness’s sake. He defines innovation as being new AND better. He also does not insist that a digital tool must be included in an idea for it to be innovative. Of course, he does encourage the use of technology when it is a better, more efficient, more engaging, less expensive choice, and he particularly notes that technology gives us the ability to access information and learning that we could not previously access. Another advantage is the ability to connect to other people:for educators and students to share ideas and connect globally.
One analogy Couros makes that speaks to me is that using social media to network with other teachers is like placing yourself into a stream of information and ideas. A deluge of ideas rush past you and you watch them stream by and use the ones that spark excitement, creativity, and innovation. Not all ideas are usable, not all ideas will “getcha”, some will need to be tweaked. But at least you’re in the path of innovation.
One analogy Couros makes that speaks to me is that using social media to network with other teachers is like placing yourself into a stream of information and ideas. A deluge of ideas rush past you and you watch them stream by and use the ones that spark excitement, creativity, and innovation. Not all ideas are usable, not all ideas will “getcha”, some will need to be tweaked. But at least you’re in the path of innovation.
Einstein and Couros also agree on another aspect of innovation. Concepts should be corrected if they are superfluous to the given thing. I’ll take our “given thing” to be setting up the ideal learning environment. As a learner in this program, and one who comes to the table not having grown up in the digital age, I appreciate the idea of focusing on the necessary, essential elements first and growing from there - especially when it comes to infusing digital tools into my repertoire. One of the powerful, thrilling opportunities for educators is the vast array of digital tools available to enrich our classrooms and our students’ learning. It can also be daunting. I felt what can only be described as relief when a go-getter innovator like Couros says in his chapter on professional growth for teachers, “If we aren’t intentional, we may promote confusion and burnout, instead of inspiring innovation and deep learning” (The Innovator’s Mindset). His advice is to focus on a few new ideas and practices at a time. Achieve mastery and then add more digital tools to your arsenal.
Images are powerful tools. Often they speak more succinctly than words.
So here’s the image of my thinking before this program...
So here’s the image of my thinking before this program...
Here's the middle...
To be continued...