I'm drawn to this image because it has so many words. All are important, hwo do you know what to focus on. For me and the research I am going to do, I think we need to focus on critical thinking. I like how the word is larger and more pronounced to show importance. After our readings and study lately, it is hauntingly clear that we can't keep up with the lightning speed of technology. What we can do, is teach our students to think. I have come across teachers that don't quite know how to get English learners to do critical thinking. So, they just don't do it. There is still a mentality that we only focus on Depth of Knowledge level 1 type questions, especially for English learners. I will admit that it is difficult at the Elementary level for students with low levels of English to show higher order thinking skills. However, they can and do have those capabilities. We need to spend more time to figure out how to teach those skills and practice them and not assume our ELL students have cognitive limitations instead of just language limitations. Thre are many many ways to teach critical thinking with ELs. We have to have comprehensible rigorous input in the content areas for students regardless of language proficiency. What I have seen lacking is the scoffolds in place to move ELs in their language AND content. In my experience, some teachers have trouble with students lacking skills in language and content and curriculum that is far above their students skill levels. I have learned extensively about how to do this. However, the kicker is to try to manage that within the confines of a online world for 8 year olds. I have ideas and I'm slowly working toward that. I need to intoduce flipgrid to my students. I also need to figure out how to use the collaboration and communication rubrics within the conines of Zoom and 1-13 children right there observing everything. I am very dedicated to figuring it out as that is a huge part of my research but more importantly I owe it to these children that need to learn. These are importnat skills, much more important than finding the key details in text. These are skills they will need and use in all aspects of their lives to be successful. I am going to work on oral academic language skills but the goal is to have the necessary language to discuss the concepts and content taught. With the appropriate scaffolds and technology, we can absolutely work on it, we have to.
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790 Research Action Action Research is exciting. I consider myself a data person so everytime I would get the school started with SMART goals and working with teachers to test, plan and refine, that was one of my favorite things to do. So, I am ready to get started. Of course my downfall right now is time. Trying to manage my planning of my 3rd grade class and all that entails in Distance Learning and my own children, let alone my house and exercise and .... it goes on. So, my goal this week is to organize my time. Last Friday, I was able to record my students sharing an item from home in a smaller group in a Zoom breakout room. I was impressed with those that we could hear but realized that my students have some major problems with their technology or internet because there were many that we could not understand. I will have to look into that. I can't wait to look at the transcripts just to get some information. This was not an official baseline test as they were not using academic language, I just wanted to get started and test my system. So, I have some tech issues to deal with first. Reading Mertler and the detailed step by step plan for action research really helped me calm down and not feel overwhelmed as did my meeting with Dr. Redmond and Dr. Craig. I still feel worried that my research is not innoative enough but they reassured me that anything right now is innovative. I really need to take that to heart because I have never done this before, not even in the spring. It does help that I have been able to observe Zoom classes, that was the bulk of my spring activity. I would much rather be teaching than watching. I guess you could say that I had my own mini observational data session. I am also concerned about the potential to have my class change soon. Actually, it is pretty much a given that my class will change. I would like to stay home and teach but not all my students will stay home. But we will have to chalk that up to something I can't control so I have to let it go. The bright side of that is that I feel like I bonded with my class fairly quickly so hopefully we will be able to get throught the changes together and start really learning. My essential question has not changed much as I am still wondering how we can prevent long term English lerners but I will need to narrow my focus to academic oral language. Innovative learning makes me uncomforatble. There, I said it. I have been "successful" in how we have been teaching. My own children are successful in the current system. They will go to college and be successful in the current system. I also realize that we are the privileged few that will benefit from this system. We have what we need, we get to choose what we want to do. I worry my child will pick an art school, haha. But, what are they learning? Are they really learning what they need to be active participants in their lives, their community, their chosen career? They are both smart and have great critical thinking skills for their age but are their schools teaching what they need? Are they prepared? As we have learned this week, the paradigm should shift in education to keep up with the changing and somewhat frightening world. We can't prepare them by teaching them the set of facts of all they need to know by June of their 12th grade year. We have to teach them to think, process information, create new ideas, and make decisions, solve problems, ask questions, infer, collaborate and organize. These are the hot commodity for my kids and my students. I have to put emphasis on how to do these things and use the information in the standards to do it. Is it important for the 3rd graders to know that the Wappo tribe used to trade obsidian with other tribes, no. However, should they be able to evaluate what was the best course of action for the Wappo to survive so that one day they can help communities survive? Maybe. Should I change my tactic in class, absolutely. I'm still thinking about how to increase collaboration and oral academic language (and let's be honest, basic teaching on Zoom) for 3rd graders. We are still in the heavy emphasis stage of Social Emotional Learning but that is really providing some thinking and analysis for these students. We are reading and thinking about the message, theme and our connections to the books we are reading and responding with drawing and writing about our experiences. The cohorts are getting better at breakout rooms so we can start to use language and collaboration that we need to be productive as well as our higher order thinking skills. I have a long way to go in a solid distance learning experience, let alone adhering to the shift needed. But what if I use this time to do it? Could we really thrive as teachers and students now? Could I learn from my students and they learn from me in a new way? I really hope so. I commit to trying. Wow! That was depressing. Chaper 1-3 of The Flat World of Education by Linda Darling-Hammond was really upsetting and fascinating at the same time. The description of the Finland School System on pg. 5 was really interesting. It was compelling to me about using the tracking system from the high stakes testing to follow and place kids. I was thinking oh, it's good we don't do that, hey, wait a minute! We do! I had this moment a lot while reading the first few chapters. Some of the horrors of our educational system we participate in, right here in Napa. I participate in. That is a tough pill to swallow but as difficult as that may be, my eyes are a bit more open and that can only be a good thing. As the testing coordiantor for the last five years, I was intimately involved with all aspects of all tests for elementary that our district gave. I do believe in a lot of them and find use for them for sure. Are they perfect, no, not at all. (Especially after the online version of ELPAC for 5 year olds) but I do want the information from them. I want to know what our kids can do, I do want to see the gaps and address them as a system and a teacher. I also know that the tests can't be the end all, be all. My school is the lowest elementary school in Napa Unified. I did feel pressure to succeed because of that. There weren't "sanctions" but we needed to do something about it. We got more money with a ton of restrictions that it almost wasn't worth having but we are still working on that as COVID is here so we can't even use the money right now. The idea of the information doubling exponentially and that we can't teach the same way because there is so much information, we have to teach what to do with the information. That is certainly something that California schools are not completely set up to do. In looking at our standards, most of them are facts and not necessarily what to do with information. The statement about there being 12 years worth of information so there are 12 years of education, that is crazy to think about, that the limit came from that finite amount of information originally. How many years do we need? Another note that stuck with me was the lack of teacher education and teacher training as a widespread problem in the US. How wonderful, if we were taken care of like teachers in other developed nations. I feel like this is something that has bothered me from the beginning of my career. I felt woefully unprepared to teach when I got my credential, luckily, I had a mentor and wonderful team members at my school but I still remember vividly being like how do I teach guided reading? I had not one clue. I have sought out education all along, moved over on the pay scale quickly and maxed out. Now, I have no incentive nor am I paid to get more education so I didn't for years. However, I was an Academic Specialist and we had coaching and training but that program was suspended due to lack of funding so there are a bunch of us around with a lot of training, I am actually excited to try many new ideas with my class. I also did seek out becoming a Project GLAD trainer and I feel like that was a masters degree right there. Alas, that program won't continue due to lack of funding. I am seeing a pattern here. How do we manage our education dollars to meet the needs of our students, in Napa and beyond? I look forward to reading more about the solutions in the following chapters. As a person who likes to solve problems, I can't wait! |
About the AuthorI teach 3rd grade in Napa Unified. Archives
December 2020
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