548 Reflections
Published on Jun 05, 2016
No Description
MORE DECKS TO EXPLORE
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Race to the Finnish
This article really struck a chord with me. I like how the Fins place health and well being as the # 1 priority, and it is more important to have happy children, not necessarily brilliant children. After completing this masters program, I can say I am a better teacher, and I appreciate that in order to teach in Finland, one has to have a Masters Degree. This article also made me think about the times students are expected to be in school. Right now, my class is working on a utopia project where they design an entire community. It was interesting to see the parallels between what my students thought was important, and what schools in Finland think are important, such as a 15 minute break every 45 minutes, and starting school later in the day.
This is where students make a personal investment in learning. My capstone was about teaching math in a 21st century classroom, and some of my research was around student engagement. Engagement involves important learning that helps students succeed in school by absorbing information, creatively interpreting it, understanding it, and making meaning. This leads to deeper thinking and understanding because students are interested in what they are learning. I have found this to be true with my math teaching this year. I have implemented the use of interactive math notebooks, and an adaptive math app for use on the iPads. Because students are engaged, they are able to spend more time focused on their math and I have seen an increase in test scores because of it.
Photo by Robert S. Donovan
Two years ago, our district created the position of a district math teacher leader. Guided math was new to our district and there were only a couple of teachers who had implemented it into their classrooms. The teacher who was deemed to be the expert, took on the position one day a week. Teachers got together to collaborate and visit each others classrooms to see what they were doing with guided math, and how we could learn from each other. I was part of the first cohort, and because of it, I focused my capstone around math. I have learned a lot about math and teaching in general from this teacher leader, and now that she has moved on to a different position in the district, she has left a vacancy in the position. The posting for this position will be coming out in the next week or two, and I will be applying. I am hoping all my learning from this teacher leader, as well as the knowledge I have gained from this masters program will give me enough advantage to get this posting.
Photo by Marvin (PA)
PLC in our district has changed a lot in the past few years. Three years ago, when I moved to this school, every Wednesday the entire school would be doing buddy reading. One teacher would watch two classes while the other teacher would meet with other "off" teachers in the library for 30 minutes. This was run by our vp, and we were told what we would be learning about. The school did purchase the book for us, but we did not really have a say in what we were going to be learning about. There were a lot of teachers who resented being told what they were to be focusing their professional learning on, and as a result they did not buy in and were not engaged. This ruined it for those of us who were interested in the topic. This year, the position was given to a teacher, so there was not the feeling of being told what to be learning about. She gave us a choice of three topics, and ran discussion groups around these topics. This worked much better, and I learned more this year than I had the past two years combined.
Photo by highersights
Technology is something that is very important to me and to my teaching. I'm not saying I am not able to teach without it , but I really wouldn't like to go back to the days before technology. It allows students who are not able to function "normally" in a "normal classroom" the ability to express their thoughts and ideas and have them heard and valued. I was fortunate enough to participate in a pilot project through SETBC (Special Education Technology BC) where I had 10 iPads in my classroom to allow ALL students to express themselves and show their learning in a way they were able to and comfortable with. I have put the links to two videos in the notes of this slideshow.
Photo by smaedli
