Thursday, May 28, 2015

Outside the Box

The most recent reading I was given in my 5W's training involves reading about the Finnish education system. After reading the article it was easy to see how far behind the U.S. is on thinking outside the box.  In Finland the focus is on the student, their learning, and their progress.  There is NO standardized testing (until the senior year) which allows more flexibility to cater to the students needs and interests.  The teachers in the article say: We know more about our students than what that test can show...so true.  Students do not get left behind, forgotten, or overlooked.  Teachers are required to have masters degrees and the government pays for them (and teachers get paid a reasonable amount yet are in the classroom less hours than U.S. teachers).  There is an emphasis on students getting outdoors; lessons are able to be done outdoors (even in classes like math). Finally, teachers have students for 6 or more years sometimes so they can bond, build relationships and trust, and know what the student wants and needs out of their learning.


It makes me think of how lucky I am to be going to a school that does allow me flexibility to really improve my teaching, classroom, and student relationships (nothing is possible without those relationships in my opinion).  Unfortunately it also makes me think of how poor so many initiatives are that a lot of Florida (and the U.S.) are currently doing (in my humble opinion).  Increased standardized testing, 27 page frameworks for an introductory course instead of allowing flexibility, curriculum maps that require teachers to stay on track with little flexibility, and so much more.  Districts don't like to use the word "pacing guides" yet they want teachers to say when they'll teach what throughout the year and how they'll do it...sounds like a pacing guide to me!   I would rather there be an outline of broader standards like Finland that allows flexibility for a student that goes faster to do so or that needs more time in an area to do so (along with some freedom to cater to that's students interests).


I am glad to be passionate about teaching and feel it is important I have masters and am earning a doctorate (although it does mean HUGE student loans...eek).  I think the focus on better educated teachers that want to be in their jobs and are passionate about it would make a bigger difference and a better teacher than any of the previously mentioned initiatives.  Alas, this is not the case in the U.S. currently.  I am not sure school districts fully understand how contradictory their efforts are (personalize learning and do project based assignments but wait! Cover all standards and pass this standardized test that requires the student to be taught to it with little flexibility).  Perhaps one day things will be different but for now I am truly thankful for the flexibility I have in my classroom this coming school year and I truly wish every teacher who is passionate about their job gets that type of opportunity some day.


If you want to read more about Finnish education check out the link to the article below:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/#ixzz1eMID6Lni

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Start of the Year Idea!

Going over all my options on how to start the year is exciting.  I want to start my new classroom off on the right foot while engaging my students and making what they learn relevant to what they need to learn.  So...I've got it!  I thought of something exciting and interesting that I hope my students will really benefit from.  I will start the year off first by having them tell me about themselves.  Not the standard name, favorite color, birthday but going deeper like what is your favorite video game (I teach game and simulation after all), music, hobbies, sports, etc.  Okay not that different from what a lot of teachers are doing, right?

What happens next is the exciting part though.  I want to start the course off with students doing searches on indeed, internships.com, and career builder for actual game development companies hiring in Florida.  We are lucky enough to have big companies like EA Sports in Orlando to look at.  I want students to look at actual CURRENT job postings and see what sounds interesting to them.  What do they see themselves doing?  Once they find something I want them to really break down the posting into what they would need to know and show to get this job one day.  We will begin a digital portfolio at the beginning of the program (not a final assignment 4 years in) and base their weekly topic assignments and semester projects on what they need to show that potential employer.  I want to give the students options and build their time with me around what they want to do after HS (i.e. the student that wants to be a QA Tester should know about Excel in addition to gaming, the student that will write design docs should know how to use Word in addition to design, students that want to do programming should know languages like C# and Visual Basic, and it goes on).  

Basing what students do on what interests them and what they actually will use in the future is key to me.  I don't want to bore my students into submission.  I want to have real relationships with them where I help them succeed in doing whatever it is they want to do.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

What's it called?

I'm sitting here thinking about all the education reforms and trainings I've been involved with just over the five years I've been teaching. Personalized, collaborative, small learning communities, standardized testing, project based learning, gradual release, and more just in that short time. Do any of these methods really meet my student's needs? Do any of these truly keep 100% of my students engaged, interested, and learning? In my very humble opinion...no. 

So what type of classroom am I looking for? I mentioned that my new classroom will be a personal learning classroom but I want it to be even more because I don't want it to stop at that. Just like we learn new techniques, new technology gets created, and our knowledge has grew from the earth being flat to round; I want my classroom to be an ever-evolving and growing environment.  I want to learn from my students, seek out new techniques, and evolve my skills. I want my students to know real enagagement, feel truly respected, know I care about their success, and that I know they're each unique while they learn.

So I suppose I want an evolutionary classroom...one that never stops changing because my students will never stop changing. Is that too much to ask?

Monday, May 11, 2015

New Way of Thinking

I just got the official call from HR that I got the position I wanted in the school I wanted.  It doesn't get any better than this!  In August 2015 I'll be working as the new game and simulation instructor at Career Academies of Seminole.  Now the work begins! 

I previously taught gaming at another high school and have some lesson plans and projects already but this coming school year will be different!  The school I will be at is working towards personalized learning.  I am currently enrolled in the 5 W's of Personalized Learning to learn more about the process. I am also gathering a wealth of information from articles and blogs written by teachers.  Teachers that have already been through the process and now do personalized learning in their classrooms.  What an exciting prospect!  I don't know about it being "personalized" but more making learning "personal" excites me.

I love the idea of personal learning because truth be told I was no honor roll student.  Actually...I got mostly C's and a few D's and was so proud when I got B's or A's.  I always knew my grades weren't a lack of intelligence or laziness but that I was bored. SO BORED!  I was disengaged and never learned about anything I was actually interested in until one English class.  The teacher let us do a final project on anything we wanted.  It wasn't fully personalized learning because he gave us a specific timeline and rubric with requirements of 10+ pages, a presentation, interactive piece, and visual display but we did have the choice to do it on absolutely ANY topic.  I did mine on Bob Dylan.  My interactive piece was going to a Bob Dylan concert, my presentation involved playing his music  and talking about what I learned in class, and my paper was all his life and music career.  It was the first thing I ever did in school that made me smile when I worked on it and made me proud of the finished product.  It was exciting, interesting, and I actually learned a lot. Not just about Bob Dylan but the influence on music he had, the influence music has had on society, how people can overcome amazing things in their life, how to write a well written paper in MLA style, and so much more. 

What if I had full "voice and choice" as a student in all my courses?  Would I have been an "A" student who actually remembered the things I learned? Personal learning is all about teacher and learner roles changing.  This does not mean the teacher does nothing and the student works extra hard.  Personal learning to me means teacher facilitates learning, helps students locate resources, introduces them to new information, gives the student voice and choice in what they learn, and gives students the power to become learners instead of just students following orders.  It makes the teacher and student partners in learning.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I started designing what personal learning would look like in a classroom where department of education standards are required to be covered.  How much choice can students have, right?  I am lucky enough to teach a course that students have to choose to be in (not required by the law or high school) so that certainly helps.  I started to think of ways I can give students voice and choice. 

I decided that each week students can choose a project (based on current topics but extremely flexible); the weekly timeframe is a starting point and if the student needs more time and is doing an advanced project they come to me, talk it out, and I will extend it.  I want to make the topic personal to the students. Students will also answer three questions (these were adapted from some of the blogs/articles I've been reading):
What am I going to learn? How am I going to learn it? How am I going to show the teacher I’ve learned?

Students already have a lot more voice by answering these 3 questions than they ever had in the past.  The question of how they'll show me what they've learned is the most exciting because there are not limitations and the students decide on their own form of "assessment".  I plan on giving suggestions to get them started like social media campaign, publishing works (website, app, etc.), blog, tri-fold, PowerPoint presentation, video production project, informational booklet, collages, play/skit, research paper, creating a playable game, and so much more.  The great thing is I am not going to give them 3 choices and they pick one.  I am going to encourage them to get creative and show me something I haven't seen before or if one of my suggestions interests them that is fine too.  If a student is artistic they could create a comic strip or storyboard with just as much information as a PowerPoint the business minded student might create or the video game the technological student may do.  All of these show the student learned so why limit them?
 
My idea for Friday's is what is most exciting to me though.  Fridays I want to be for sharing sessions.  If a student has a presentation they can do it that day.  If a student wants to bounce ideas off other students Friday is the day.  In general Fridays will be open for students sharing information about what they are currently working on, what they have learned so far, what is not working for them, and how they are planning to adjust in the future.  Sharing all the different things students are doing with one another allows students to also learn from each other in an interesting way.  I also will incorporate group projects and larger individual projects but once again...on the students terms with me as a guide rather than a one size fits all lesson planner.