Standing in the Clouds

The water was crystal clear and completely still. I was standing in awe as I saw my future wife standing at the edge of the fountain and I knew that it was a moment that would be imprinted on my mind for the rest of my life. In black and white it is a captivating site; in color it made the world stand still. What made it such a powerful moment was difficult to define or to explain to others. At that exact moment, the rest of the world was animated and spinning...it was going about the business of life. For me, the moment was frozen in time and every second was an eternity full of possibilities. 

I have often thought back to that moment as I have grown older. It seems to me now that one of the most powerful aspects of that frozen moment was the fact that I seemed to be seeing the same sight with all of the various sides of myself and I was drinking in the moment from multiple perspectives. 

At the conclusion of this course I am beginning to feel as if the same kind of awareness is beginning to dawn in my mind. For years I have wanted to be in the classroom with kids, so I see the lessons from these masters classes through the eyes of a classroom teacher. This is a view that I am comfortable with and I can see how a GAME plan can be a valuable asset to a teacher in the classroom. The fact that this kind of planning requires the teacher to set goals, take action, monitor progress, and evaluate the effectiveness of what they have done (Laureate, 2009) makes it a valuable way to approach the planning of lessons. The teacher is directly involved in preplanning and metacognition both of which can be powerful learning experiences for a teacher when considering what is best for students. 

I can also see the value of teaching students to create their own GAME plans. The whole process makes them actively think about the way that they are learning. While based on a small study, Janice A. Wiersema and Barbara L. Licklider (2007) found that this had a major impact on both the way that higher education students and instructors looked at education. I find that this is true for me as well. I think that one of the biggest changes in my understanding of problem based learning is that by having students actively engage in creating a GAME plan, they are more likely to engage in this kind of deep learning experience. 

In some ways though, it was difficult to look at the GAME plan as a way to engage with students, since I didn't have any students to engage with until four days ago and the lessons I created were for later in the year. Many of my classmates found this frustrating, but I think that it was a more powerful lesson for me without the hustle and bustle of having students in the classroom everyday. I was able to focus on each of the roles I fill and think about how the process showed up in each one of them. This was a type of PBL and allowed me to really look at what individual needs I had as a learner that might be different from those of my classmates or colleagues. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) point out that each of our students may need something drastically different from the others when focusing on PBL lessons.

  

And that takes us to the most massive change in my understanding of this process. This change has been on a totally different level though. I find that for the first time since entering this profession, I am seeing a totally different reflection of myself. I have never been interested in administration or professional development until this year. This class has made me reconsider my position. I started out with a plan for engaging students in the environmental impacts of humans through problem based learning, but over time I realized that the real GAME plan I was engaging in had very little to do with the lessons I was creating. The real GAME plan focused on my understandings as an instructor and involved me really taking to heart all three levels of ISTE standards. The administrative, teacher, and student standards have similarities and should all be embraced by teachers who are interested in the true power of technology in the classroom because it takes an understanding of all of these to make real change in a school or district possible. Sometimes looking at a situation through one role means that you lose the power of the overall image. By forcing myself to look at what I was doing from all three roles and through each set of standards made me really reconsider my role within my building and district.

I now see myself as being a true teacher leader within my building. A week ago, on the first professional development day of the school year I gave this presentation on 21st century skills to the staff as a way to introduce the professional learning community that will be driving staff development this year. At the conclusion of the presentation I had many teachers ask how they could use Prezi in their classroom. I then gave a short demo on Wallwisher and was pleased to find out that some of the people in attendance are using the tool to communicate with their students. I have been asked to provide professional development on technology to our fine art department in mid-September, engage with a group focused on mentorship within the building, weigh in on websites for teachers at our district, work with the professional development office for induction, and set up blogging as a common tool for members of my English department. I understand better now that a GAME plan is not just a way to plan out lessons, it is a way to really engage at multiple levels in my profession. Would I have volunteered to present to the staff before engaging in this class? Probably. Would I have been eager to do so? Probably not. But now, I see that it is my responsibility to pass on the information that I think will help make classrooms in my school more engaging for both students and teachers. Really defining my goal as a professional educator throughout this course has made me want to engage and drive change in my building. 

Reflections allow us to see ourselves in a world that might be different than the one that we think we occupy. We can see many things the way they are, but sometimes we can see more than that. Sometimes we can see the possibilities in the reflections. That is what I saw when I really started looking at myself towards the end of this class; the possibility that I could affect change on a more massive scale than simply helping my 160 students. For each teacher I reached the possibility of them affecting their students exponentially increases my potential impact. That potential is what makes reflection so powerful. When we take the time to really think about what we are seeing through all the various parts of ourselves, we can find a deeper meaning in the vision before us. I realize that this is really the same process I experienced earlier in my life. A GAME plan is all about seeing the possibilities that are out there and determining which of them you are going to shoot for. You see, those possibilities are what made me stop in my tracks at that abandoned prison in Tasmania. When I looked at that vision of my future wife standing on the edge of the fountain, I saw my soulmate and the possibility of a life shared with an angel. As I looked at her and her reflection I realized that she was standing on the stone just like me, but her reflection was standing in the clouds and yet they were the same. It was like seeing the soul and the body at the same time. In that moment I found the same truth that I found during this class: If we can allow ourselves to truly see the possibilities and are committed to taking action, we can make them realities...and after a while you stop needing to plan out every step because seeing the possibilities and making them real becomes the way you live your life.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach.  (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Wiersema, J., & Licklider, B. (2007). Developing responsible learners: The power of intentional mental processing. The journal of scholarship of teaching and learning, 7(1), 16-33. Retrieved 22 August 2010, from ERIC. 

Community Chest

At the tender age of ten I bought my first house. Then I bought a hotel. I managed them, speculated on real estate, and collected rent from people who needed a place to stay. I bought a railroad and an electric company and eventually bought the bright lights of Broadway. I collected $200 every time I passed go and even got thrown in jail. It was okay though, because I had enough money in savings to post my own bail...and there was always the chance I would roll doubles. 

It seemed like an easier life back then. I didn't have to worry about my sink breaking or pipes busting in the crawl space under our slab. I didn't have to replace appliances or water heaters or carpet. All I had to do was observe the board and come up with a plan. After I had a game plan it was easy to run the board. All I needed was a little luck and a lot of dedication and eventually I owned the board. The only thing about a game plan is that in order to have any fun, and in order for your game plan to be effective, you need to play with other people. What makes the game intriguing is having other people with other game plans in place so that you can learn and share strategies. 


So here I am thinking about my GAME Plan again and I am coming to the realization that just like when I was ten, I need to share the experience with others for it to have real value. The idea of a GAME Plan can be effective for my students in the same way it is was effective for me. In fact, it will probably be even more helpful for them to create their objectives, take action, and reflect on the process than it was for me. I have spent my whole life doing this kind of planning. I have students who haven't had the benefit of my upbringing though and they might need a more explicit modeling of the process to prepare them for the demands of innovating, communicating, collaborating, and engaging with real problems. These are some of the standards for students defined by ISTE. 


The most powerful idea that I think I have come across while looking at my GAME Plan has been the crystallization in my mind of the story behind the GAME Plan. You see, each GAME Plan has a story behind it that tells you the values, beliefs, and history of the person creating the plan. Digital storytelling can be a powerful way to express an idea to your audience (Laureate, 2009) and a powerful way to cement understanding of a topic in the mind of the presenter. By telling a story we engage with others in a visceral way that creates a common bond between us. But in order to tell a great story we first need to make sure that we have done all of the work necessary to make that story powerful (Laureate, 2009). That is what the GAME Plan is, but if we know that we will eventually be turning it into a story for others, we can approach the GAME Plan on a number of different levels from the beginning. We can look at the research for credibility but also think about how we would visually depict it to others. We can think about how certain phrases might look on different scales for effect. This is part of the visual literacy described by Abrams (Laureate, 2009). 


So when I look at the NETS-S, I am thinking about all of the standards in terms of digital storytelling. I am thinking about ways to have students develop GAME Plans that specifically address how they will create a story that communicates with others in a collaborative environment the information that they have responsibly researched on their own in a problem based learning environment that they have approached with critical thinking skills. A great template should allow them the freedom to address their own self-defined issues in a constructive and thorough manner. Providing them with tools to take their research and make it relevant can make this process even more powerful. 


When I was little each game had a story to it and each story built on the last. This meant that each time we opened up the board and vied for a special piece we were really just continuing to play out parts of the GAME Plan that we had paused at the end of the previous game. That is how our students should look at their GAME Plans too. Each time they begin to look at a problem it should be with the understanding that they already have a fount of knowledge that they can build on and use. One of the best ways to get them thinking this way is to remind them that they have a story to tell and that they have the tools and resources available to make their stories both entertaining and powerful. 


References:


Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Adoption

This image was retrieved from the Geek and Poke blog - while they in no way endorse my blog you should check them out for some very funny graphics on the toils of the technologically inclined. 

When I was about 12 my family tried to adopt a little girl. We went through the better part of the process before we found out that the process itself can take an extensive amount of time. Sometimes you make the decision to adopt before you really realize how complex the process is. In many cases it seems like there are roadblocks in the way just to make it difficult, while many others are in the way because of miscommunication by people with the best of intentions. Often times, these obstacles make it difficult to really understand how the entire process works and what an individual's role is in that process. Like many families, mine never did adopt that little girl because the process was so overwhelming. 


So here it is at the end of the week, four days after I should have posted my initial response to my Game Plan progress, and  I am still not sure how to react. I am a little overwhelmed. Last week I decided that I would change the general outline of my Game Plan so that it was more in line with what would be supported at my district. I reworked aspects of the plan so that they would align. Then, on Monday, the Colorado State Department of Education decided to adopt the national core common standards in English and Math. I have been trying to wrap my head about what that means for the better part of a week (and even asked my building English facilitator) so that I would be able to modify my Game Plan yet again and align it. But, as in many cases of adoption, the answers are not easy to identify, grasp, and understand. There are conflicting statements about what this adoption means in the classroom. There is misinformation on the Colorado CDE website where the old standards are posted next to the newly adopted (and newly discarded) Colorado standards without the benefit of an explanation about how the new common core standards will be woven into, or replace, the existing standards. 


One of the NETS-T standards is that teachers should take charge of their professional growth and leadership. I have been attempting to do this by attending conferences, memorizing and mapping the standards I am supposed to be teaching, and trying to find authentic ways to assess my students by using technology. Right now though, I feel as though I shouldn't be working too hard on some of these pieces because there are changes being made without thorough public explanation on how teachers are supposed to enforce or teach standards. There seems to be a, "We'll figure it out as we go!" kind of mentality and that is frustrating to me as I am in my trench. I feel like I am running in circles without the guidance of those who know how these reforms are supposed to play out and without the power to control what I have access to and what I don't. 


I have been working toward both of my initial goals surrounding digital age learning experiences and fostering creativity. On both of these fronts I believe that progress has been made. I have created online learning environments (Laureate, 2009) and outlined various activities, but I am still not quite where I want to be. I ran into a roadblock in terms of which tools I can access from my school network. I have worked around this in a few ways, by changing the tools I was going to use in one case and identifying procedures for students to follow from resources outside of the district network. I also asked for a few sites to be approved and am waiting to hear back on those currently. I also went ahead and set up social networking sites for my students so that they would already be ready to go when we use the tools in the coming weeks. In addition to setting up certain accounts for them, I read an article about how to use screencasts for student responses and have set up my ScreenCast.com website with folders for each student. 


In this way I hope to be able to model digital age work and learning. I have been reaching out to my social network to find answers to questions that I have. I joined the ISTE Young Educator group in order to find like minded people I could learn from. I am trying to reach out to others who might have a different view of a situation, but I am finding that approaching a problem from a new angle doesn't necessarily make it seem like a different problem or like less of a problem. There are simply not answers right now to the questions that I have. 


So I am modifying my Game Plan again to make sure that it is aligned as best as I can align it right now. I am trying to make the model fit into the ambiguous shape of the standards I have access to. I am not changing the goals that I have, because I still believe that digital experiences and creativity are two areas that I can continually explore. I am, however, modifying my approach to these two areas in order to be more prepared for and aligned with the goals and standards of my district. Unfortunately, right now, those goals and standards are in a state of undefined flux. It is kind of like when I was 12 and we made the decision to adopt. Sometimes the process of adoption can leave you in a state of limbo, where you aren't sure whether to move forward or not. You can not cease acting in any case though, because life goes on. 


References:


ISTE NETS for Teachers 2008. (n.d.). International Society for Technology in Education Home. Retrieved August 6, 2010, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm


Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.