Changes in Practice

Reflecting on my Journey

Wow! What a learning journey! My journey with Mindlab was I hoped to up-skill myself in the use of digital technologies - I have certainly done this.

In the beginning I felt overwhelmed and wondered if I had made the right decision doing the course. I was the only one from my school doing the course and at times felt quite isolated. In hindsight it would have been better if another teacher had done the course as well. 

Some weeks were more challenging than others. In the first 16 weeks of face to face I found I didn't always have enough time to digest everything I was learning. Over time I have revisited a number of sections and will continue to do this over the coming months, especially in the digital learning area. I always used the 2 week extension which was a godsend at times just taking the pressure off even if I didn't use it. I have made it to the end of this part of my learning journey and have found out some things about myself and my learning.

Criterion 4 Demonstrate commitment to ongoing  professional learning and development of professional personal practice.

 Being able to do Mindlab has certainly ensured that I have shown I am committed to ongoing learning and development. Through doing this course I have learnt so much that I have been able to share with my colleagues and then implement in the class. Being able to network with others face to face and then through blogs and G+ has been fantastic - sharing ideas and what is happening in other areas of NZ has been wonderful. It is good to know that others are facing some of the same challenges in their schools. 

I will continue to reread my notes and try to engage in meaningful dialogue with others in G+. I am going to try to continue to blog each month just to reflect on what I am doing and implementing in my class from my Mindlab learning. 

Criterion 8 Demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how akonga learn.

By engaging in research I have reflected on what I am doing in my class for my learners. I have talked with my colleague about some of the findings I found in my Mindlab research and we have changed and refined some of our practices within the classroom to help our learners.

 Our school is focusing on our students becoming Agentic learners - taking ownership for their own learning, self regulated learners, empowering them to have a voice, and using digital technology in all areas of the curriculum.It has been wonderful to revisit my Mindlab readings on learner agency and 21st Century skills to assist with what will work best for my learners at the moment and try new things in the class.

My dreams and goals

I have a new challenge ahead of me for next year. We are looking at Play Based Learning in our junior area of the school. I am going to use the 'skills' I have learnt in Mindlab for research to delve a little deeper into this. It is an exciting time but I am a little apprehensive about introducing this fully in our area. We have a lot of sound practices and routines that work and I'm not sure how PBL will work within this - certainly don't want to throw out what is working.

 As Osterman (1993) says 'new theories suggest different strategies that can then be tested through action. In short raising questions about practice begins a learning process that leads to behavioural change.'


 I need to proceed with an open mind.

References

Ministry of Education (nd). Practising teacher Criteria and e-learning . Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators.California.Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files.

Professional Context - Crossing Boundaries

INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION

My Interdisciplinary connections

I am sure that there are many more branches that could be on my map as this is only my professional connections at the moment. These will change over time.

What does an interdisciplinary approach mean and look like for me?

Andrews (1990) defines interdisciplinary collaboration as occurring "when different professionals, possessing unique knowledge, skills, organizational perspectives, and personal attributes, engage in coordinated problem solving for a common purpose" (cited in Berg-Weger &. Schneider, 1998). 
An interdisciplinary approach has more than one perspective and provides students with more meaningful learning experiences. For teachers it is the same. We have experts in all areas we can collaborate with to gain knowledge to help us with our teaching. I know I can talk to any of the people of the branches on my map for advice and guidance when needed.



What does it mean for my teaching?

As Jones (2009) states "the interdisciplinary approach synthesizes more than one discipline and creates teams of teachers and students that enrich the overall educational experience". For me it is my colleagues, some outside agencies, students and their parents. They are intertwined, all working together to improve the learning for our children. Mulligan and Kuban (2015) show how intertwined a successful model looks.

Figure 1: Our conceptual model for successful interdisciplinary collaboration

There are three parts to this successful model :-
                     -  workplace conditions
                     -  qualities and attitudes
                     -  common goals.

In my school I am lucky as I believe we have a very collaborative team.  .At our staff meetings and syndicate meetings all views and ideas are listened to and considered. We are always looking at how to improve our teaching and learning to enhance our programmes. In our staff room you will often hear teacher conversations about their programmes and the children in their class. These 'talks' at times can be the positives that are happening and/or at other times seeking ideas of what to do with those not making the progress they expect. These are informal but very valuable. The trust and common goals we have as teachers are shared without any bias. 

I have two goals for next year. One is being part of our local Community of Learning and sharing my ideas and feeling as though they are listened to and valued. Although this is a collaborative group it does not feel as secure as our own school environment. This will take time to trust others and share willingly within this group. 

The other is to bring thinking skills such as de Bono's hats, HOTS, Blooms, Gardeners, Ryan's thinking keys, back into our classroom and school. We have focused on Growth Mindset this year and this is great but as we are going to focus on inquiry and integration next year, I believe we need to bring these skills back to help with the 21st Century Skills of critical thinking, communication skills, collaboration, and creativity. 

Students and teachers will advance in critical thinking, communication, creativity, pedagogy and essential academia with the use of interdisciplinary techniques. Jones (2009)





References

Berg-Weger, M., &. Schneider, F. D. (1998). Interdisciplinary collaboration in social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 34, 97-107.

Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI7 (26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai


Mulligan, L. M., & Kuban, A. J. . (2015). A Conceptual Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Retrieved from http://acrlog.org/2015/05/14/a-conceptual-model-for-interdisciplinary-collaboration

Professional Online Social Networks

Social Media use in Teaching and Professional Development

Using Social Media both personally and professionally is a normal part of our lives now. Most of us use it in some form or another, be it Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, YouTube, or Instagram. 

How do I use Social Media in my teaching?
In my Junior class we use Seesaw for students to share their work with parents. The content can only be shared to the child's journal when a teacher has reviewed and accepted it. Children can video, take photos or record themselves. This is a fantastic way for student's to show their learning to their parents that day and it is a journal of their learning over their time at school. 

In what ways has Social Media been beneficial to student learning?
Seesaw for me was a great tool to use to check up on children's understanding in our topic for instance when we did the water cycle. Children drew a diagram, labelled it and then explained on their Seesaw Journal the process.  It showed those children that still had gaps in their understanding. For the children they are learning how to video and take photos and what they have to consider e.g background noise, location within the class, keeping still and in focus. They are making the choice of what they want to share with their parents, what they are most proud of be it writing, art, or maths. Children get to share their learning again by talking with their parents about what they have learned.


What are the challenges that arise when you use Social Media in your teaching?
Some of the challenges is having enough devices and ensuring they are always charged, making time to post regularly on their blog and choosing the right content. Another challenge is when new students arrive in the class they don't know how to use Seesaw which sometimes can be annoying although on the positive side of this it means that other students can show them how to use it without my assistance.


The Social Media I use in my personal/professional life most often is Facebook. I am a member of a number of pages related to my teaching and often read through to see if there is anything of interest for me. Sometimes I will comment but I mostly look, read others posts and get ideas. I also use Google+ although this has been a new experience for me and one that I hope I can continue with after finishing Mindlab.

Like Melhuish (2013) said it does give affirmation of practice, advice on experiences within the classroom, new resources, and mentorship and this certainly allows people to connect with and learn from others who were previously inaccessible. These people can at times be on the other 
side of the world. As on the video of Connected Educators, posting a question late at night in one country you may get an answer from someone on the other side of the world. 

Social Media is here to stay and we as educators need to embrace all that it offers us. I think as an educator I need to keep exploring and upskilling with different forms of social media and using these in my class. 

Reference

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/han...

Office of Ed Tech. (2013, Sep 18). Connected Educators. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=216&v=K4Vd4JP_DB8