Trans-literacy is really what it means to be literate in the 21st century. I have spent a good part of my time in cohort 16 developing my own personal tans-literacy. This is not really something new it is just continual evolving and as educators we need to work to graduate transliterate students who are ready for this world of learning and sharing information across a variety of medias.
As I work to develop myself as an innovative educator I must focus my lesson delivery as well as my students presentations in transliterate ways. To me this means more voice and choice for my students so they may take in information in a way that is familiar and meaningful to them. This could expand the collaborative environment in the class room as students demonstrate their skills in different media and then teach their peers. This could also help to support our second language learners reach content that has previously been a challenge to understand. More student experts will be sharing their knowledge as they develop creative and innovative ways of demonstrating their learning. These medias need cognitive as well as cultural literacy which could level the playing field from some of our EL students. Math is it own special language and when I incorporated technology and coding which is also another language the coding was more familiar to my students. The students responded positively to the pace and immediate feedback they received while coding. They are becoming very transliterate which appears to be increasing their cognitive understanding of math. I will continue to develop and work on other ways to incorporate trans-literacy into my math classes. The district is looking to adopt new science books which has never happened in my 24 years. These new science curriculum are full of simulations, video lessons, tech tools, there is definite attention to technology and the connection it has to science I find this to be a much needed and exciting time to be a teacher. Trans-literacy really illustrates the need for educators to continue to learn, to stay current, to continue to innovate.
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My driving question has been evolving for months the more I learn, the more I observe, and the more data I collect the more I realize there is no one question that we can ask there are many layers to our student and their learning styles. We must first get to know our student by asking them questions creating an "End User" survey. We can't make assumptions about them and their learning we need to really ask them.Once we really get to know our students and their needs then we proceed with our research continually making modification for students needs as we progress.
The audience for my research is math teachers and decision makers ! We need to take a serious look at the reason why students are not passing Math 1 but even more why do we put them in the same exact class the next year expecting them to do better. I wondered how student would do if we offered them a new and innovative way to learn math if would they experience more success. Many students entering my Math class at Valley Oak High School have failed 3 to 4 semester of Math 1 before the enter my class. This is an equity issue since Algebra 1/Math 1 is considered a gateway to higher level math and science classes. So I believe this is a real conversation that we need be having. I am aware that often we need some data to illustrate the reason to consider this change. My driving question "What is it about coding that supports struggling students in experiencing success in Math 1 ? " My results are positive students are experiencing success and they are also learning a valuable skill in today's world which is coding. Beyond coding these students are learning the skills of collaboration, problem solving, attention to detail, and perseverance. Just this week I gave the MI test and as I looked through the list of all of our math students I realized that all of our students at Valley Oak are below basic. I do think we have many students with higher skills than that but often they do not try since they see no value to them personally if they do well. But I also embrace the challenge of trying to raise their scores but there are also question I wonder which are how can we motivate students to care, is this the best measure of their skill level, and what other measures should we consider. I hope my research will help I am tracking student growth on the MI, assignment completion , comparing coding vs. traditional assignments, rate of students passing the class, as well as students comments and feedback. Coding seems to level the playing field allowing all students to be on the same level learning and collaborating. Besides learning Math 1 these students are also learning how to code both of these skill can provide opportunities for higher level learning. I am excited to continue to develop my pedagogy and coding skills to continue to create positive change and positive data to spark a movement for our students repeating Math 1. I was very nervous to start this program I have always been a life long learner but putting myself into the shoes of a students with due dates and pushing myself to write that research paper, it has been a journey. This process has grown my teaching world and my confidence and as challenging as it has been I am glad I am on this journey. I think for me one of the best parts of this program has been the people in this cohort !! I feel very fortunate to be in a cohort with such kind and caring people. This cohort has a wonderful diversity of experiences, knowledge, and skill which is such an asset. The love and support I feel has also been so wonderful. I have pondered doing this program many times and I am so glad that I waited to be a part of this cohort, the force was with me. This is an image that illustrates to me how well we all work together. We do all of these things for each other regularly. I have so enjoyed our group discussions, collaboration on projects, and support when we are confused about expectations or other challenges that pop up. I have enjoyed this because even though we talk about the value of collaboration as educators we often struggle to do this ourselves. Not COHORT 16 we are excellent collaborators and it has inspired me to strive for more collaboration with my staff at school. Collaboration is just so much easier with like minded innovators wanting to create change. My hope for this Capstone class is that we all get to know each other better and to continue to share our best practices and the work we have all been working on for this culmination The Capstone. There is just such wonderful knowledge and skills in this group I want to continue to grow our network together, I hope that we continue to stay connected and be a resource for each other.
I also need to again shout out to my study buddy Rafa ! This entire process has been so much easier because we are at the same site and we are in this together. He challenges me and I vent to him . We are both so excited to be learning and we share a similar goal of supporting our struggling math students which has also been great. He has attended workshop with me and we just keep learning. Before this experience I felt very alone in my quest to learn and grow as a teacher and now I feel very connected to like minded innovators. Jane I am excited to learn from you as we celebrate our learning! I want to start my final blog for 791 by thanking my fellow Innovative Teachers in this amazing Cohort. It is our collaboration, support, and desire to learn that has helped me to grow and learn, special shout out to my study buddy Rafa ! I am going to take this time to reflect on all my learning in an attempt to sort out my thought so I have some clarity to move forward and continue on this journey. The Journey started with Dervin and I hated the read I was so confused it made me crazy but I must now reflect that were some important things from this reading that did stick and are a part of my thinking as a educator. One of the most important thing I learned was that "sense-making needs to be studied from the perspective of the actor" for me that is my students of fellow teachers. This has been one of the most important things that I learned in this class. This is the end user for me and during class I know I had many questions about this due to my need to really process it and be frustrated and now finally seeing the importance. In education we have a huge lack of really asking the kids we make many assumptions and often try to make students all learn the same way but we can't we are all different with different experiences and we need options. I think that is what technology provides to us as educators options for how we present material as well as options for how student engage and interact with the materials. I have been traveling this triangle throughout this class and I kept asking questions until I received information I needed to fill my gap. I know realize how important Dervin's study is she made it possible to really understand that we must now what the "information needs" of our student are if we are going to conduct a study to create the change that our students really need not what we think they need. My important take away from Dervin is the sense making triangle and the need for what she called the "Help Chain" or we called the End User guide. As I sit in meeting and listen or watch my students in class I find Dervin often popping into my mind this has made me a more sensitive teacher really thinking about students true needs, giving students more of a voice. Then there was Baggio and her thoughts and ideas we so clear as they should be she was talking about things we can all relate to since most of us are visual learners. She has given me a fresh perspective on visual learning. When I make presentations I really think about my visuals and text. Another important learning moment was her discussing cognitive overload. I do that to my students often and I do it to myself, I am working on it. She discussed the trilogy of mind. We need to remember to reach the affective domain, cognitive domain, and conative domain as we teach. I appreciated the 5 strategies for aligning visuals and connecting learning objectives.
Finally the SAMR Model which really points out the need to use Technology in new and innovative ways. The focus must be on transforming teaching and learning. Technology must be a redefinition allowing for the creation of new innovative tasks, or it must be a modification allowing for innovative redesign. Tech must not just be augmentation or substitution, that is not innovation. This has been a great journey and I feel different, I look at situations differently, I see the need in education differently, and I now have different frustrations.
The intense engagement on the faces of these teens is not excitement in solving math problems , or is it ? I have often spend time listening to my students talk about video games and wished we could harness that engagement and energy an channel that for the good of math. There is no question that we have a serious math education problem in the United States and even right here in Napa Valley Unified School District. I have been teaching these struggling Math students for years in the past I was charged with helping students pass the high school exit exam which was so defeating for so many students. Today I am working to help students who are very bright pass the first high school level math class they have ever past in their high school career many are 11th graders. I have a very brilliant girl in my class who joined my class 7 weeks ago and she has picked up the coding so quickly and she has completed all of my assignments. I gave an "End User" type survey last week and one thing she said was that she is excited to be passing her first math class ! She is very bright we have a system that is not meeting the needs of our students and we can't change quick enough in my opinion.
Gamification is definitely part of the change that needs to occur ! I have explored some really exciting games and apps that I want to incorporate into my class. I am very excited to restructure my class, my practice, and make a new experience for my math students. The addition of Google Classroom I think is perfect timing for me to make this change. Here is the list of math related sites/apps I am planning on using Desmos, Youcubed, Teaching math with Google Apps, Quizizz, Quizlet. I most say I left this search feeling that something is missing for us upper grade math teachers. I looked at Prodigy and it is so awesome it is like a real video game and THAT is what we need for high school. I just haven't found something like that for teaching Algebra or higher. I found a site for something called Math Trip which is coming but it doesn't look as cool. I think we need something with the look of Class Craft for teaching Math. There is a movement happening but it is behind the need we have I think. Our high school students play complex realistic looking video games if we want to reach them where they are we need to build something like that. I have never been a video game player but I watch my husband play and I am always asking questions it is crazy how real it looks. I WANT TO FIGURE THIS OUT ! Who can we ask ? Who would fund or work on this ? Is there something out there that I can't find ? It is just another example of how behind education is with what our students are experiencing. I feel we are just at the tip of the full potential that Gamifying our classrooms could truly have on Education. I do see that game -based- learning will totally support students mastery and I also like how gaming supports the model of personalized learning as well. I feel like these are all such exciting tools in our teacher tool box and it is our charge to find the right balance/combination of how best to organize our classes and present this exciting technology. Game - based - learning is an excellent example of technology being used for a new and innovative purpose. This movement is also demonstrating that education is trying to meet our students where they are to really become more aware of their needs, interests, and culture. True Innovative Teaching Playing is the work of childhood ! Read this in a Tweet this morning and it really is so true our big high school boys are still kids and they do need to play more life is so serious most of the time. After watching the gaming videos it opened my mind to why video games are popular and I think I might play a game for change so I can become more immersed into this culture of gaming. There is so much going on in my head, so many questions, wonders, reflections, ideas I am becoming an Innovative Teacher. As I was reading the amazing book "The Innovators Mindset " everything started to make sense a bit more for me. The author George Couros lists 8 characteristics of an Innovative Teacher and I want to list them because they apply to all of us I think. 1. Empathetic 2. Problem Finders/ Solvers 3. Risk Takers 4. Networked 5. Observant 6. Creators 7. Resilient 8. Reflective These Characteristics fit into all of the models and pedagogy we have been learning. He then goes on to pose a question which will be my driving question the rest of my teacher career; Would you want to be a learner in your classroom ? Well I am striving to make the answer yes everyday but this is a process, it means we are reflective and open to change. Change is hard, it takes time, but change is good and necessary. For me the ideas in the Innovators Mindset just helped me see the purpose for all the many different things we have been learning. With that said if I was talking to a group of teacher sharing my journey I would start by saying that as educators we must be innovative in guiding our students to become innovators. I would be very clear that the world is changing very rapidly and we should not be teaching our student the same way we were taught or at least how I was taught VHS class of 1984. If we were more reflective as a system the need for change is evident and has been for many years, it is clear that we live in a very different would now then in 1984 (unless you were reading a scifi novel with that title). It is that feeling that I wasn't connecting, that something needed to change that pushed me to earn my Masters. My love of teaching and supporting my student had me searching for new and innovative ways to present information which guided students on a journey to learn and create. Clark has us ask who has a need? As I read Clark it made me see the value of routine, structure, even a regular process to support our students learning. There is still room for creativity but things need to be clear , expectations need to be clear, the process needs to be clear. She talked about the content having a real purpose that could be incorporated to support the learning. Baggio made me really think about my learning environment and how it supports the construction of knowledge. The revelation of truly understanding being a visual learner was monumental and all teachers need a heighten awareness to this topic. She really presented best practices for us to use to create the Class we would want to be in as George Couros mentioned. Dervin made me really take more time to evaluate individual circumstances; to bridge the gap I understand the need for the end user much better and for me it is the SITE Model that guided me. The SITE models set of questions really make me think more about individuals needs is a structured and organized way. I have always made modifications and really tried to understand students needs but actually taking the time to ask them all and giving them a voice in this process is awesome and fellow teachers we all need a system for doing this and I recommend the SITE model for helping you. The following questions are my End User Focus: 1. Who are the learners? 2. What values do the learners hold? 3. What will motivate the learner? 4. Which tools , systems, and techniques will assist learners to realize goals or values that are important to them ? 5. How do these tools, systems, and techniques form paths to goal achievement? 6. How will learners recognize opportunities offered by tools and techniques and how will learners perceive these tools and techniques might be linked to their goals and values? 7. What skills do learners need to access information and knowledge about how to achieve their goals to uphold their values? 8. What assistance would improve this access? Pebble in the Pond Model this resonated with me because I do think this is how I operate I see a problem then the ripples start . Problem Student success in Math 1 Analysis Students have failed multiple time I need a different system Strategies 1. Get to know your end user / students SITE Model / Dervin 2. Research see what is out there. Netwrk make connections. 3. I found C-Stem curriculum Design Design a plan to implement and try and reflect and redesign .... Production create a Capstone and tell people about your success. I will be using TPACK and SAMR as my models to design and create change. TPACK is the fancy pencil Lisa was talking about it is not tech for the sake of tech it is tech because it creates new and meaningful learning opportunities. I want to strive to hit the sweet spot in the middle of this model and will use this a goal when planning. The SAMR model is what I really identify with is planning and working on my driving question "What is it about coding that allows struggling math students to succeed? " As I look at how teaching traditional math concepts with coding I see it really engages my students and the students who traditionally struggle the most are excelling. With the SAMR maodel guiding me I feel many of the coding lessons that I am teaching are in the transformation portion of the model which is where I want them.
Redefinition: Tech allows for the creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable My students are learning a new language as they create codes to solve math problems. They write their own codes, they modifiy code, and they trouble shoot/ debug code all while working through Math 1 content (TPACK). Modification: Tech allows for significant task redesign. This technology is creating change school wide we have 2 teachers teaching with this curriculum we have 10 students on our robotics teams the energy from the students is facilitating the change. Blogging has become a way for me to reflect and sort out where I am and what I need to think about more deeply. Thank you for reading this long blog. My motivation is that I can't keep teaching math the same way to students who have failed it multiple times they deserve a new approach maybe all Math 1 students deserve some innovative change. Adjusting the pace + Adjusting the learning approach + Leveraging student interests/experiences = Personalized learning Graphic from Xyleme This is an image of what my brain feels like and I LOVE IT ! I am learning so much and I am really realizing that learning feels so amazing I want to work to improve my classes so my students experience this feel more than they are right now. They are learning but they are not feeling the same excitement and ownership of their learning as I am. Why ? I have been reflecting on that a lot lately, the power of reflection is highly underestimated. One thing I have realized is that we have a personalized learning model that really works for me. Ours is of course more personalized sine we have more freedom to decide how and when to get our work done but I do think our students could do this to a degree in class and then possibly do different pieces of work from home if needed. For me sometimes I need to be locked away to read and really understand other times I can be out and do work while life happens around me. I want to create a learning environment that is more personalized, giving students more choice, and more voice, I want to update my teaching! This weeks homework was all about exploring tools that will do just that for me , help me update my teaching. I have now experienced Snag-it, Screencastify, Screen Cast o Matic,Adobe Spark,Voice Thread, Kaizena, Powtoon, Flip Grid, We Video. Before starting this Masters program I had used We Video, this teacher was in need of a serious upgrade and I am not ashamed to say it. I am so excited about all we have learned and I am going to keep myself in the loop so I continue to stay updated. The tools I really enjoy are the tools for screen casting and presentations. I am going to have students use these programs next year. Just last week I gave my students creative freedom on a project and a student introduced me to Powtoon it was great I had her show it to the class and another group of students tried it. As George Couros says in his book The Innovators Mindset learning is creating something with your knowledge and all these programs support that. I am going to be using powtoon, screencast o matis, voice thread, all to help students create with their knowledge on topics of Climate change this week. They are good at making Google Slides and I am working on teaching them some Baggio tips and then they must add voice over/ video. These will be on display at the Makers Faire. I must say the single thing I am most excited about using is Google Classrooms I think this is going to be the best tool for me to create my personal learning model. I know this was not really on the iCare but I spent Saturday with Alice Keeler and I became inspired. What I am most excited about is the ability to make personal comments to students and then have them respond back to me. Through this class I was searching for a tool to help me do that I was trying to figure out how I could use blogging to assist but it still wasn't what I wanted. Alice Keeler again reminded of the powerful impact feedback has on learning but then even more important demonstrated the tool to do just that. For my lesson this week I am going to explore Google Classroom and assign students work from there so that I can give personal feedback. I will still use ECHO grade book but will now put work in Google Classroom I want to see the impact of personal feedback. I am going to try this with my most challenging math classes and see if this will improve their grades. I will also introduce some creation tools like screen cast and We Video. There is so much learning in the area of Google for education and I am excited this will keep me learning more next year as well. I would highly recommend an Alice Keeler training she is a wealth of knowledge. My lesson plan that I will try this week will be using Google Classroom and giving some personal feedback because that is what I think my students need the most. I will create a screen cast to teach them how to use the basics of Google Classroom and how to join and find my class. I will also use slides and spread sheets more as I learned from Alice. Learning is awesome it makes me feel so alive and I am so excited to learn with all of you in the cohort. For the first time in a long time I am super excited to work and plan over the Summer so I can incorporate many of the new tools, strategies, philosophies, and ideas into my classroom. I am excited to start the new year off with Google Classroom and redesign my practice ! Graphic from Vanderbilt Teaching Center
This weekend I was really working on wrapping my mind around all of these models and sorting out how they impact my students, my planning, my learning, and my teaching. So here goes some of my Sense Making. First I have realized that my End User is directly connected to the SITE Model Analysis. The following questions are my End User Focus: 1. Who are the learners? 2. What values do the learners hold? 3. What will motivate the learner? 4. Which tools , systems, and techniques will assist learners to realize goals or values that are important to them ? 5. How do these tools, systems, and techniques form paths to goal achievement? 6. How will learners recognize opportunities offered by tools and techniques and how will learners perceive these tools and techniques might be linked to their goals and values? 7. What skills do learners need to access information and knowledge about how to achieve their goals to uphold their values? 8. What assistance would improve this access? For me we have been looking at so many different models , doing so much reading involving a variety of different ideas and thought that I am experiencing cognitive overload and this is my attempt.using visuals and grouping to make some sense of it all for me. As you all know this end user question has really been a struggle for me I ask questions every time we meet and I think finally today it is starting to make sense. I was getting very confused with Dervin and Clark but revisiting SITE Model Analysis really helped me make some sense ( maybe you all got it the first time but my light bulb just turned on). The question in this analysis will improve our ability to reach our students and create more meaningful lessons, experiences, even learning spaces for them to be successful. End User which seemed to be a marketing term to me now makes much more sense as I look at it with my educator lens. I value these questions and they are a part of my action research and will always be present as I do my planning in the future. Brenna shared this models with me at our 1 on 1 meeting and I have found it to be very helpful. During that meeting Lisa also helped me as I changed my driving question a bit as it is now more focused on observations happening in my math class. What I have been observing since last year is that students who have struggled with math for years excel at coding. They have more perseverance and problem solving skills than their higher math achieving counter parts for some reason. My new question " What is it about coding that allows struggling math students to succeed and how can we develop this as a way to support these learners ? " has developed from these observations. With my new question and this model I have now revisited Bloom's Taxonomy as well as the SAMR which is where I am deciding to channel energy for my Capstone. Substitution - tech acts as a substitute - form me using ECHO with tech is a substitute for a grade book or even binder reminders for kids ( Nothing new or fancy / no fancy pencil). Augmentation- Tech acts as a direct tool substitute with functional improvements ( pencil is getting fancier). Coding needs the laptops and students have their own flash drives, students are also learning a new language C++. Modification tech allows for significant task redesign. ( pencil is pretty fancy now ). The way we present and teach Math 1 has been redesigned by the use of coding and robotics. Redefinition tech allow for the creation of new tasks. The pencil is something different it is a code. Students write codes to solve equations, to calculate sales tax, area of shapes, and robotics will run the graphs previously drawn by a pencil MATH 1 has received a much needed upgrade. Learning this new way levels the playing field and creates more opportunities for meaningful collaboration. So this is the beginning of how I see SAMR fitting into my research and now I need to insure that with this I am addressing Bloom's higher- order cognitive skills. I am going to use this wheel to help me in being intentional about my lesson design and assessments of student learning. I still have a lot of work to do but this blog helped me to sort some of my confusion out giving me more clarity and focus. Maybe it will also support you in Sense Making.
There are so many cool digital tool that really support students engagement but Google Forms does that and it supports teachers making our job a tiny bit easier which is AMAZING !! I tell everyone about them and how awesome they are all the time. I used Google Forms to gather data for "The Paper" and I was able to get all my charts and graphs from the results. I am planning on using surveys for my capstone and so will again use forms just in a Julie is evolving manner. I am really being more thoughtful about what I am measuring and what data I am trying to really collect. I now think about things like the Bloom's and SAMR models. There is just so much to learn about all the different things Google Forms can do and then there are the Add-ons. Truly amazing the few I have explored so far are Flubaroo, Doctopus, formMule, and EquatIO. FormMule is cool I have added it on to the spread sheet I am using for presenters who have signed up to participate in the Makers Faire and I think I am cool they all now get a kind response from me when they sign up. I am also using formMule to respond to my students grade reflection form I made.
I was pretty darn frustrated most of Sunday spent hours trying to figure out equatIO since g(Math) is gone. So one down side to all this technology is it moves fast and is tough to keep up for us as learners and our teachers. So eqautIo is not an add-on it is an extension so I did get it I am just not sure how to use it in a form. I sent a message to their help desk and have watched videos. I signed up for the free teacher version and am still not sure it will work with forms at this point I need a more user friendly math solution. I have realized there is a lot to learn so Rafa and I signed up to attend the Alice Keeler training that is coming up in Stockton that Scott mentioned. I am excited to learn from an expert. Then Rafa and I are also signing up to go to Sacramento to another Alice Keeler workshop on math I obviously really need that one. I am also very excited to be moving to Google Classroom I think it is going to be so much easier to use all Google. I have no doubt this is worth learning and even keeping up with all the updated because my students are really responding well to all things google. They loved the peardeck I created for them, the like to quick quizzes, and are even giving me really thoughtful paragraph responses. This is so important and needs to become a larger part of our PLC work as well. The Evolution of My Thoughts
Sometimes we search trying to find what it is we need to work on or understand deeper and then we realize that what you are looking for is right in front of your face. I care deeply about so many things I am learning specifically mindset since my students all struggle so with mindset. The thing is I have been working with so many different tools to improve my students ability to grow their mindset and access knowledge I hadn't really realized an important phenomena occurring right before my eyes. It wasn't until I had my one on one with Lisa and Brenna sharing this crazy thing occurring that I can't wrap my mind around that they helped me see this is what I need to be talking about , researching, and doing action research on. The phenomena occurring in my class is the surprising success of struggling learners to succeed at very high levels in coding. My most struggling learners seem to be having the most success with coding. It is crazy to me how well they do ! So I went on a mission yesterday searching for some answers , I spent the whole day finding new research since this is a shift in my focus. The results are exciting there are studies out their demonstrating how coding contributes to cognitive growth. There are studies discussing how coding is being taught to younger children to develop their cognitive growth. There are further studies showing that coding can support the cognitive health of older peoples minds < praise the lord I am helping my mind while I struggle to code! I have emailed a researcher to ask questions because I am not seeing anything about struggling learners and success in coding. So my new driving question " What is it about coding that allows struggling students to succeed? " As I read Baggio I think about : The Trilogy of the Brain
3 Things that influence LEARNING
This information from my Clark reading will support this new study I am on. Procedure :
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Julie LovieJulie Lovie Is a Math and Science teacher at Valley Oak High School with 25 years experience in teaching at a continuation high school. Julie Also teaches at Napa valley Adult School in the High School Diploma Program. She is passionate about the environment, loves gardening, and learning. Archives
June 2019
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