This week I am more proud than ever of my group. Most of us were in the last days of school and yet we pushed through, collaborated and came up with an end product. I think we were all feeling very overwhelmed with trying to process what our prototype would actually look like. I started watching the helicopter video of module 4 on Sunday and thought oh my goodness we need to meet asap. Yet, it was almost ironic as none of could actually find a time that we were all free on such short notice. I actually think this helped us because had we met I believe we would have just confused ourselves even more. It was as if the time apart gave us space to digest, think and process. As an educator I need to keep this in mind. I may have an idea of what the end product should look like and where my students or teachers should go next but if they are not there we need to provide that time and space for them to process and think. Do we do this enough? I do not believe so. Common core has brought in deep thinking skills in the standards but this is a shift for teachers. We are comfortable with standing in front of the classroom and giving the answers through scaffolded lessons that don’t allow for thinking. Short responses or fill in the blanks have robbed our students of the opportunity to think for themselves. The greatest ah- ha I have throughout this process is once you think you have reached the end there is still more thinking and questioning that needs to occur. We cannot allow ourselves to fall short of the end goal because we don’t want to push ourselves to an uncomfortable level. Collaborating and discussing, reflecting and processing will allow us to reach that end goal with answers that we never thought were possible.
We had a great breakthrough moment when Andrea shared her idea through the google doc. It was as if we all went “yessssss!” at the same time. We were all imagining what the prototype would look like but we couldn’t quite put it down on paper, but Andrea did! Moments like that make me grateful for group work and remind me of the value of working in teams. Conceptually I knew what we wanted but tangibly I couldn’t come up with the idea. We met for nearly 3 hours after she shared her idea as it now pushed it through to the next stage of actually creating the prototype. We broke up the different parts of the prototype and then decided on a due date to submit the work. We know that part of the process of this week is to view the work and give feedback so we made a due date of Friday evening. On top of collaboration I contributed to the end product by creating a screencast demonstrating three different student samples. At first I had several tech issues that created some roadblocks. After stepping away for a bit I was able to come back and create the screencast for our prototype. Once our prototype was posted we were ready for feedback. I think once you put something out there it is a little uncomfortable to anticipate what your peers are going to say. Will they like the idea? Will their suggestions make us go back to the drawing board completely? During this class I have learned how important feedback is for our students. The learning takes place during feedback, which is why having an audience that will give feedback is so crucial for our students and teachers to grow as learners. The feedback we received only made our prototype stronger and I am looking forward to sharing it with teachers within my district for feedback! Part 2 (Collaboration with Sheila Davis) If I had a Hammer- Technology in a Language Arts Classroom Kelly’s question 1: How do you believe the following quote resonates with ed tech teachers- “In the end, it's the message, not the tool that’s key in writing”? Sheila’s answer to Kelly’s Q1: I believe that for most teachers in the beginning the focus is on the technology. It’s a novel approach to doing things the “old-fashioned” way. But what happens once the newness has worn off? Ed Tech teachers, however, are comfortable with the technology. For them, they grasp that the technology is a tool and treat it as such. Kelly’s question 2: What are two ways that using google slides made it easier for the teacher to teach writing to her students? Sheila’s answer to Kelly’s Q2: Using Google Slides allowed the students to organize their thoughts. Students used color, style, background and font to convey emotion and differentiate between important words and ideas. Britta Riley: A garden in my apartmentSheila’s question 1: How can open source collaboration, as explained by Britta Riley, be used to solve difficult problems? Kelly’s answer to Sheila’s Q1: Working through problems open source collaboration solves problems that affect individuals as well as universal problems as well. Essentially they are looking out for the concerns of all. Sheila’s question 2: What are the benefits of using co-developers to build and develop new products? Kelly’s answer to Sheila’s Q2: There are several benefits to using co-developers to build and develop new products. Working together on an open source development allows for a grassroots effort to make a greater change for the environment. In essence, it cuts the middle man out as the problem is shared . Through social media anyone can help find a solution to a problem. This leads to the next benefit in the shared joy of finding a solution to a problem together and celebrating that solution through social media. The partnership that is formed and shared allows for others to see from beginning to end the problem and solution. A short summary of ah-ha's, main points, or topics of noteworthy mention for the four questions. In Module 4, there were several key lessons. One is that technology is a useful tool for encouraging creativity and collaboration. While for many teachers technology can be seen as just a computer that may seem to have just one purpose. However, for our students a computer is now a way of life for them. Through the use of the computer writing can be taken to a whole different level, developing both speaking, listening, writing and reading skills. We have only just begun to see the benefits of how technology can be used as an effective learning tool in the classroom. Overall, the more we are able to think, discuss, and reflect together the more we will be able to solve problems together. What each of us sees as problems may not be a problem at all depending on our perspective. We need to continually learn with and from each other. References Jester, R. (2002, March). If I Had a Hammer: Technology in the Language Arts Classroom. The English Journal, 91(4), 85-88. doi:10.2307/822464 Britta Riley: A garden in my apartment. (n.d.). Retrieved June 17, 2016, from https://youtu.be/YhvfOlPYifY
1 Comment
Sandra Leu
6/24/2016 01:04:00 pm
Hi Kelly,
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