“Every New Beginning Comes from Some Other Beginning’s End”

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If you’re a child of the 90s,  you’ll realize I’ve just dated myself by quoting Semisonic.

If you’re a philosopher, you might be outraged/amused that pop culture introduced me to the wisdom of Seneca.

Sorry, my friend, it is what it is.

Consider me dated, melodramatic and unashamed.

At any rate, it’s true that as I wrap up CEP810 I’m aware that this is both an end and a beginning.

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 The End

The close of the course causes me to reflect on what I’ve done and learned and how I’ve grown as a result of CEP810.   It’s been a stretching and fun experience, which is exactly what you’re hoping for in a class.

Here are my major takeaways from this semester:

• Networking will be a part of any healthy teacher’s professional “diet.”  Technology can make this easier than ever before.  Twitter, for example, is not just for star-struck teenagers – it’s a powerful way to build a professional network.  I’m amazed at how my first small step into this world has already given me lots of encouragement and great things to think about.  Especially because I work from home, this connection to teachers on a larger scale has been really refreshing!  Already I’ve been able to grab ideas to use with our students and resources that I’ve been able to push out to our PLC.

• I have to be the kind of learner I want my students to be – I’ve got to practice what I preach.  I can’t expect that they will think divergently and learn to repurpose tools if I won’t.  I have to demonstrate 21st century skills in the way I live and the way I teach.  My teaching has to first impact my own self!

• Technology (like any tool) is only as good as the person wielding it.  I need to expand my exposure to as many tools as possible, but I need to weave these into my teaching in a purposeful way.  The “T” in TPACK is only a part of the equation; if Pedagogy and Content Knowledge aren’t also in balance, Technology isn’t going to rock anybody’s world.  Not really. Awareness and ability to use a technology doesn’t automatically make it something that supports learning – that’s the job of the teacher.

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 The Beginning

In a real sense CEP810 is a beginning for me.  Although I’m not pursuing the whole MAET at MSU, I will hopefully complete the Ed Tech Certificate.  In this way this course is the beginning of my pursuit of that concentration.  It is also the beginning of my pursuit of deeper understandings and more robust applications of the material we’ve covered.

Here are some questions I still have, and ways I see myself seeking their answers:

• How will I use my network?  It’s all well and good to have instant access to great ideas and encouraging colleagues, but that in and of itself isn’t going to do much good.  The Dead Sea, after all, has plenty of input – it’s the lack of output that makes it unsuitable for life. If I don’t want to be that kind of educator, I’m going to have to find outlets (both within the context of my students and beyond) for all of the ideas coming my way due to networking.  I’m experimenting within my current context, but I’ll be looking for ways to expand my use of my network.

• How will I become an expert learner?  The NLP pushed us to learn something new using online forums and YouTube.  That was a great experience in terms of giving me insight into what informal, online learning can be like.  I’m choosing to do my MATC program online, as well, and this has given me a great insight into my own online teaching as well.  But if it stops there I think I’ll have fallen short.  I need to find ways to engage in learning WITH and ALONGSIDE of my students, because I think that’s really where the example becomes powerful.  When I was face-to-face with kids in the learning lab, that was simpler, but in a fully online community I need to regain this footing.  We now have a “Group” feature in our online platform for WAY, and I’m excited to explore how this might be used to share learning experiences more organically with students.

• How will I become an excellent wielder of technology?  I have a few tools that I’m very comfortable with, but I think my first step for this one will be to expand my comfort zone.  There were a couple of great lists provide in the middle of our course, and I’m hoping to revisit those.  On the other hand, I don’t want to just start popping cool new things in for the sake of looking tech savvy.  The second step will be to take a step back and critically review my curriculum to see what my big needs are.  The hope is that by thinking through these things separately, I’ll be able to see authentic points of connection in the long run.

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The Future

Education is changing and will continue to do so over the next century.  We can envision a system revolutionized by a whole new way of living and try and give our students what they need to navigate this future.  It’s an exciting time to be a teacher if you’re the kind of person who thrills at intellectual adventure.  And really, as I’ve gone through this class and continue to think about the current state of education, I have a feeling that far from requiring a new kind of teacher, the changing world will require exactly the same kind of thinkers and doers that have always excelled at teaching and inspiring.   The increasing  rate of change complicates things, to be sure, but I am excited to try to meet this challenge with the same tenacity, creativity and adaptability that great teachers have demonstrated again and again.

Teaching at Genius Level

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Repurposing in the Kitchen

This week in CEP810 I was introduced to the TPACK model and got my hands dirty in the kitchen.  It was a situation in which we had to repurpose tools to achieve an outcome.  Here’s my experience:

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Mission: Divergent Thinking

Throughout this activity, I thought frequently of this excerpt from this TEDTalk, given by Ken Robinson because I could feel myself challenged to think divergently.

I wonder how most teachers would fair in this “cod example.”  Certainly there’s a need for divergent-thinking teachers as classroom situations are often less than ideal. Teachers regularly face this kind of square-peg-in-a-round-hole scenario.

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If We Can’t, They Won’t

More resources and technology could potentially add value to the classroom, don’t get me wrong.  (Please don’t read this as “teachers should just use what they’ve got and be grateful.”)  But, no matter the resources, ideal circumstances will never exist – that’s just life.  And it’s why divergent thinking is crucial for teachers.  We must “repurpose” everything, as Punya Mishra, co-creator of the TPACK model, would say.  

I’d say that one of the best ways to teach divergent thinking is to have divergent thinking teachers. People who think divergently – who explore, create and share, according to Mishra – inspire this in others.  I gained inspiration from watching a colleague make-do in the kitchen this week.  Her tools weren’t the same, but seeing her think divergently to repurpose her tools, helped support my own repurposing once I started.

Too often we play by the rule, “Do as I say, not as I do.”  Too often we want students to think in wildly creative ways, without being will to do so ourselves.

This week I’m feeling reenergized to dive in, to repurpose what I have, and to teach at genius level.

Lesson Planning in the 21st Century

Teaching Context

I work for a blended online school creating curriculum and assessing learning artifacts.  It’s a lot like teaching using FB, blogs and forums – which for me is a bit of a dream come true!  21st century skills are important to us; we like/use Tony Wagner’s 7 survival skills, but Hobbs’ 5 literacies which I learned about this week in CEP 810 (Access, Analyze, Create, Reflect and Act) are also reflected. (Hobbs, 2011)

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Lesson’s Context

The lesson is embedded within a larger PBL project introducing Researchers to WAY Program.  The final product will be a Personal Learner Profile answering the question – How will PBL work best for me?  They have four choices  – one for each of the VARK learning styles – a picture collage, a playlist, a brochure or a learning tour.  They will create something that represents and explains their learning style, setting (each kid’s home/lab set-up is different), learning goals and personal organization plans.

For this step they will focus on learning about their learning style – the goal is that this will help them embrace their strengths and develop a more robust self-concept.  One of the things that many of the 21st century skills require (whoever’s list you’re using) is that a person must learn to trust themselves and their abilities.  That is why doing some  learning about themselves at their start with the program is so crucial.  Thomas and Brown note that in order to succeed in ever changing learning systems students must “learn to generate content that represents their learning.” (2011)  In many ways this is the big aim of the bigger project, and it requires some instruction regarding learning styles here at the start.

In terms of Hobbs’ literacies, they will:

• Access:  Given resources, but must determine which will be most helpful for them in their context.  Learning to use resources appropriately by learning citation. (Access is linked with Analyzing in Wagner’s list, and both of those apply here.)
• Analyze: Read resources through the lens of “what will help me most?”  Apply their learning to their personal situation.
• Create: The final product options will give them a choice in how they communicate their learning – images, video, etc. – and encouraged to share with the learning community at large.
• Reflect: Thinking about who they are and how they can leverage these strengths pushes them to reflect on themselves in a clearer way.  This learning will also help inform future reflections.
• Act: This will come later when they leverage what they’ve learned to create personal goals.  (Linked to what Wagner calls “Initiative.”)

I’m hoping to teach them to navigate our program, understand who they are and how that impacts their learning process.

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The Lesson

Documents to Explore:

“Step 1:What Is Your Learning style?”

• Learning Collage
• Learning Soundtrack
• Learning Brochure
• Learning Tour

Students will encounter:

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References:

Hobbs, R. (2011). Digital and media literacy: Connecting culture and classroom. Thousand, Oaks, CA: Corwin/Sage.

Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant changes. Lexington, Ky: CreateSpace?.

Wagner, T. (2015). “Seven Survival Skills: As Defined by Business Leaders.”  Retrieved from http://www.tonywagner.com/7-survival-skills.

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Knowing What You Don’t Know – Networked Learning #2

Sometimes you have to learn a little to get a glimpse of the depth of your ignorance.  That’s My experience as I learn my Canon Rebel T2i.

creating need-to-knows

To start I watched some overviews of my camera.  I waded through several videos – the first has been the most helpful (straight-forward and geared for beginners), the second is an example of something that was over my head (too conversational to be helpful to a new learner).  I quickly realized that I needed more background in photography basics.

With these, I got a list going of things I needed to know:

• vocabulary: ISO, shutter speed, aperture, exposure, f-stop, white balance, focus point, Av, Tv, exposure compensation, AE lock, focal length, depth of field
• Where do I start?  Which one of these should I learn to control first?
• What kinds of pictures would be best to practice with?
• Where should I go to find help & feedback?

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Grappling with the basics

I searched YouTube for basic photography videos.  This series was particularly helpful as the videos were short enough to not overwhelm and had great examples to demonstrate concepts.

I started experimenting with ISO, shutter speed and aperture using objects from my desk , going back to the Canon T2i videos to review.  It was fun to see the images change as I changed exposure settings.

I also learned how to focus the camera on a specific point.

For example, the bird is in focus here . . .

and the paper weight here:

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Embracing my ignorance

Searching photography forums, I found Digital Photography Review, a massive site with an extensive network.  I signed up and got ready to ask – “Where do I start?”  I was surprised at my inner conflict as I did this.  Why was I having such a visceral reaction to something that should be no big deal?!  You see, I haven’t been true beginner in quite a while.  Most of the things I learn these days are for areas in which I already feel semi-successful.  Not so with this.  I was literally at the beginning, a Kindergartener learning to read.

This comparison to a Kindergartener  was freeing . . . I was able to embrace my ignorance and swallow my pride.  After all, no five-year-old walks into Kindergarten feeling foolish for not knowing how to read.   Choosing to adopt this attitude was my first big hurdle – without it I wouldn’t have been able to engage with willing teachers.

I’ve been surprised that: 1) many people were eager to teach and 2) they were welcoming and encouraging.  This is not the intimidating experience I anticipated!  Sharing/verifying my thinking with others on the forums has been a huge benefit to my learning!

I was also directed to another resource, Cambridge in Colour, that has become my favorite reference for digital photography explanations.  It provides bite-size written tutorials with visual aids and examples.  I’m able to learn a bit, play around with that new information and double check that I’m on the right track back in the forums.  Getting a cycle of learning starting to flow has been awesome.

After My Second Learning Cycle

(Getting the hang of white balance.)

  

After My Third Learning Cycle

(Working on manual focus and shutter speed.)

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Updated Needs to Know

Basic Learning:

• ISO
• shutter speed
• aperture
• white balance
• focus
• use still or slow-moving objects for practice

Currently Learning:

• exposure compensation

Next Steps:

• depth of field
• focal length

Learning to Run on Auto-Pilot

I wear many hats, (who doesn’t these days) and switch them multiple times each day.  Add to this that no two days of my week have repeating schedules for work or home, and I’m left running on all cylinders just to maintain status quo.

As I listened to David Allen talk about his GTD method for CEP 810 this week, I realized I waste lots of energy remembering routines between my various roles.  I yearned for more of what he calls “psychological bandwidth.”  As a result, I explored several new productivity tools with gusto!

The 30/30 app has been my favorite.  It collects reusable task lists.  Each task is assigned a time and the time to complete the full list is calculated.  Once created, you just open your list, press play and follow the directives you’ve outlined.  It was also intuitive, a plus since I didn’t have time to watch tutorials on Evernote.

30/30 has helped reduce my stress about what to do next.  I can identify a 4 hour work period, a stay-at-home morning, or an evening with a work meeting, think about the routine once and save it to use whenever need arises.  While it can’t take the place of my calendar or lists, it’s had a lot of bang for the buck. I freed up energy because 30/30 let’s me run on auto-pilot.

Avoiding Lone-Wolf Syndrome

Wolves are pack animals, and truth be told so are teachers.  We don’t always operate this way, sometimes preferring to stay cloistered behind classroom doors or to organize collaboration strictly along content lines, but this is not the “natural habitat” of the thriving teacher.

Can lone wolves survive?  Of course.  Do they have to deal with the dominance politics of the pack?  No, they get a free pass there and sometimes they can even lead to renewal by breaking the mold, but that is the exception, not the rule.  Without a pack a wolf must survive without group protection and without pooled hunting resources.  Life is harder, and often ends sooner, for a loner.  Period.

The same is true for teachers.  The lure of avoiding school politics is attractive to many, and there is the possibility to survive or even lead change by acting alone, but this is the exception.  Teaching isn’t just a full-body sport, it’s a full-life profession, and as such teachers need an appropriate support system if they are going to avoid crashing and burning.  Finding a healthy “teacher pack” used to be more difficult – something grown within a single building, or through professional journals and conferences.  Enter mass Internet use and social media, and today’s teachers have many more tools they leverage towards this end.  Creating a pack and forming a professional learning network (PLN) have never been easier.

But the ease of activity doesn’t ensure it will happen.  There’s still the need to act and integrate the pack-mindset into our own professional growth and teaching.  Here’s a mind map of my own pack or PLN at the moment.

As I completed this activity, I realized it could/should be much larger and more nuanced.  I am reminded of the need to fight against lone-wolf syndrome.  Working alone always seems easier in the short term – long term it makes much more sense to rely on my pack, my network.

A Picture’s Worth – Networked Learning #1

I love pouring over pictures, especially family pictures – always have.  As a kid I spent hours studying our family photo albums, fascinated by life before my memory.

(Two of my favs – baby me with mom and baby me with dad.)

Recently, my family’s been on an ancestry quest and so delving into century old photographs is a new favorite past-time.

(My great-great-great grandmother, Anna Fox.  I’m sorta, kinda named after her, but that’s a long story.)

And then there are the millions of pictures I take of my kiddos.

(These are from an attempt at a home photo shoot last year.)

All things considered, I have a thing for pictures, and when my in-laws gifted me a shiny new Canon Rebel, I thought for sure I’d sit down and become a photographer.  Not so.  Life happens, school happens, work happens . . .and so I use it as a glorified point and shoot, with quick edits in iPhoto later on.  Every so often I happen to snap a good one just by clicking a million, and I’ve only had the other lens on once for about five minutes.

  

(Here are a few examples of edits using iPhoto.)

The Networked Learning Project for CEP 810 is the perfect kick-in-the-pants opportunity to actually do some real learning about my camera, lighting, composition, etc.  I’m excited to see what I can do within a few weeks.  The goal of the project is to track our learning progress (the “learning” piece) as we attempt to learn via YouTube and Help Forums (thus the “networked” piece). Posting some of my pre-learning examples in this post, so I can track my progress.

Here goes nothing!

-Anna

When They Begin the Beguine

"When they begin the beguine
 It brings back the sound of music so tender
 It brings back a night of tropical splendor
 It brings back a memory ever green
 I'm with you once more under the stars
 And down by the shore an orchestra's playing
 And even the palms seem to be swaying
 When they begin the beguine"

- Cole Porter, "When They Begin the Beguine" (1936)

Our brains – they can so capture the physical and emotional nuances of a moment that it is almost possible to relive pieces of our pasts.  Whether it’s the comfort of your grandma’s perfume or the romantic longings that surge when hearing “that song,” we all have sense memories.

This clip of two tap legends dancing to Porter’s song is one for me.  I see it and I’m five, sitting on grandma’s couch, studying every move, dreaming of broadway, waiting for grandpa to come around the corner and assure me for the one hundredth time that I am the world’s next Eleanor Powell.

Newsflash – I did not become the next Eleanor Powell (surprising I know), but I did excel at tap.  The context of my family and my prior knowledge almost literally set the stage for my first “shuffle step.”

CEP810 has me thinking a lot about prior knowledge and knowledge construction this week.  As I contemplate the marvelous nature of our brains, Porter’s song keeps popping into my mind and I realize that you never know what will be a “When they begin the beguine” kind of moment for someone.  As a teacher, I want to play the “beguine” for each of my students – to tap into their prior knowledge in such a way that they are propelled toward deep understandings.

I’d love to hear your ideas.  How do you “begin the beguine” for your students?

Check out my thinking on a teacher’s place in knowledge construction in this short essay.