Digital Learning Portfolio
William Waples
Digital Learning Portfolio
William Waples
Foundations I Guiding Questions
Week 1 -September 9, 2019
What is the purpose of teaching and schooling? (Initial response)
Teaching and schooling should be a process of mentoring and nurturing students to become productive members of society. The goal is to not only impart knowledge in a given subject area, but also the tools to expand upon that knowledge and apply it to aspects of daily life.
Watch the following video:
Robinson, K. (2010, December). Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html
Did anything in this video challenge your conceptions of schools and teaching? Why? Why not?
Wow, there are a lot of ideas in that video. My initial reaction was to be quite skeptical of the ideas and information presented. After reflection, I think my initial response above is highly complementary to the ideas in the video. The video did challenge me to think more critically about what type of society students will join. Our current educational model is old and based on employment requirements for the industrial age, while the modern world is increasingly demanding a post-industrial model. More often teachers are no longer training students for a single profession that will employ them for their entire working lives. Modern society and economies are changing at such a rapid pace that employees need to be flexible and adaptive enough to change with it. This should start with early education emphasizing more flexibility and adaptation in how it teaches. Teachers can’t only lecture facts to be memorized.
While this video does a great job calling for a re-evaluation of traditional paradigms, I do think educators should be cautious about abandoning them. Many traditional paradigms highlighted in the video still have a useful function. Not all modern jobs are fluid and dynamic, many modern technical jobs still require an ability to perform mundane and repetitive tasks requiring prolonged attention and focus. Most employees are required to maintain a dedicated work schedule with punctuality. Standardized testing is a useful method of evaluation used not only in schools, but also by professional associations. It is a simple and convenient way to determine if people have a sufficient knowledge base to perform their duties. If preparing students to become productive members of society is an aim of education, then I think there is still value in what the video defined as traditional features of education. I do find myself questioning how to balance these traditional education features with need the calls for paradigm change the video presents.
What is your initial reaction after reading about the ethical standards and the standards of practice? Why do you think you had the reaction that you did?
Initially I feel the standards are vague and far reaching. They don’t give specific instructions regarding how to act appropriately. Having a defined code of conduct as outlined in the standards expectations is a novel thing for me. The more I read through and think about them though, the more I can rationalize why they might be required. I also think they are intentionally vague in their definitions and application. If they don’t define elaborate on individual standards then it places the onus on me to think more deeply upon what they mean and how i should apply them as a teacher.
Why are the misconceptions of teaching detrimental to your learning? How will YOU personally address your own misconceptions of teaching (especially if you are not aware that your beliefs might be outdated or are indeed misconceptions)?
I must be aware that my misconceptions of teaching can prevent me from knowing what skills I need to improve to be a better teacher. I belief teaching candidates are prone to believe that their personal experiences in a learning environment (often exclusively as a student) summates the entire teaching experience. I’m learning that my existing personal experiences are not going to prepare me to educate a group of students who will have different learning experiences. For example, they might have differences in background knowledge, home support, cognitive abilities, and personal interest. Any of these can make their learning experiences dramatically different from my own. If I am to be an effective teacher, I must be able to develop a teaching method that can effectively meet the learning goals of these students. The act of teaching and being taught are very different and I must also avoid assuming that doing one effectively prepares me for the other. I must learn in addition to presenting knowledge, teaching requires classroom management, effective communication and organization skills. My assumptions about what a teacher is and does should be tested often.
It is difficult to accurately assess what you don’t know. How can I effectively address my misconceptions and assumptions if I don’t always know what they are? One way is to experience teaching with an open and questioning mindset:
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Think about and plan how to structure a learning experience. What should the learning goals be? How should I present them?
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Develop tools for effectively communicating ideas. Can I use a hood to generate interest? What examples can I use? Can I apply this somehow?
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Put myself into teaching situations and evaluate how effective I am. Did I communicate my learning goals? Can I access this?
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Carefully observe peers, mentors and instructors as they teach. What errors of assumption are they making? How are they effective?
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Reflect on my learning experiences. What worked in a situation? What didn’t work? Can I change things to make better next time?
Hopefully by reflecting on my teaching experiences I can learn what teaching misconceptions I hold. I need to be open to peer and self critic and willing to learn and change in response. I need participate in different types of learning experiences to become aware of my hindering misconceptions and be willing to adapt and change to overcome them.
Week 2 -September 16, 2019
BEFORE reading and viewing the materials below, what do you personally first think of when you see/hear the term “classroom management”?
I would define classroom management as all of the things a teacher does to facilitate the classroom as a learning environment. This would include defining and maintaining expectations and responsibilities of class members, physical setup of the class, delivery of course material, evaluation methods to evaluate success criteria and any accommodations and exceptions to engage all learners in the class.
BEFORE reading and viewing the materials below, jot down what you wrote in #1 above, and from where you think you based your description?
I think my description is based on my expectations of what a teacher needs to do to maintain the classroom as an effective learning space for students. All of the management strategies that a teacher can practice.
BEFORE reading and viewing the materials below, how do you describe the role of classroom management in teaching and learning?
Classroom management is probably the most important skill a teacher needs to develop to be effective. It is assumed that teacher candidates possess subject knowledge, but classroom management skills are needed to effectively pass subject knowledge to students.
Now SKIM (enough to respond to the questions below—we will have an opportunity to work in class on the rest of the reading!) Chapter 6 Designing Learning Environments in: National Research Council. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2000.
How does a learning community contribute to the learning process?
In learning community, the authors are defining the different levels of social structures that students experience. This can be as small as groups or a class, or grow to include a grade level, department, school, board and city. Different learning communities can have different social, religious or cultural norms and practices that can impact the learning experience. The article uses an example of Inuit children having a cultural expectation to be quiet in class shows why these practices need to be understood while teaching. Normally Canadian children are encouraged to verbally participate in class and being quiet is seen as a disadvantage. Teachers in Inuit communities need to understand these differences and modify their teaching so that neither type of student is disadvantaged.
Why must learning environments be student-centred?
Students come with individual sets of skills, knowledge and beliefs on subjects. This background can help or hinder a student’s ability to learn. Student-centred environments are careful to consider what students are bringing into the lesson with them. Teachers can then modify their teaching strategies to be compatible and relevant to students they teach. This can help challenge hindering misconceptions and properly build upon existing knowledge foundations.
Why must learning environments be assessment-centred?
Assessment is an important feedback providing teachers with information about their students. This can be diagnostic, to help understand preliminary bias and knowledge base before starting a topic or assess learning goals and knowledge application after a lesson.
Describe one particular learning environment from your K-12 experiences and describe the degree to which the setting or situation was student-, knowledge-, assessment-, and community-centred. How did this setting influence your learning? Why? How might others in that particular setting respond to this question? Why?
My grade 9 math class occurred in a small school in a small rural town. Classes typically involved a review of homework, a lecture on a topic followed by independent work assigned for class and homework. Student-centred learning was accommodated through asking the teacher questions during lecture and work time. Assessment was promoted through homework review quizzes and exams but didn’t take into account preliminary student knowledge. Knowledge-centred teaching was promoted through independent problem solving. By today's standards, the community was socially and culturally homogenous, so little thought was given to these aspects. This was a good learning environment for me and promoted independent learning skills. It wouldn’t be a great environment for students who didn’t have strong independent learning skills. Students with language or cultural barriers might have struggled, as well as students who needed extra help in applying the knowledge learned in lectures to solving assigned problems.
Then read: Class Culture vs. Class Management
Now VIEW the next three videos (View Humour in the Classroom, Tough Love and Tribes), and complete this graphic organizer to discuss in class (point form only!). We will refer to this during class for further discussion!
Week 3 -September 23, 2019
Using your understanding of backwards design AND the Ontario Tech lesson plan template as a tool to guide your planning, where would you start the planning process? Why? Consider the manner in which you would work through the template. Be prepared to explain your rationale.
The planning process should start with section 7, learning goals and success criteria. This is what you want the students to learn during the lesson and everything within the lesson should be designed to facilitate this task. Knowing where I need to finish, I can start thinking about how to get there. Section 1, Lesson overview summary, begins to map out how to develop the lesson plan. Next, I’d want to look at pre-assessment needs. Have the students learned the topics before? How can I see their level of knowledge? Afterwards I’d start thinking about how to organize the lesson by looking at the other sections. What content do I need to include? Do I want a “Minds On”, collaborative brainstorm, group worksheet or other type of activity? How will this integrate? From this point I think I’d shift back and forth between sections until finished.
What is the overarching purpose of assessment within the K-12 context?
Assessment is a tool to understand what students know. This can be used diagnostically, to review what students know before learning, formatively to determine how students are progressing with learning, and summatively to determine what students have learned up to that point. In all cases assessment is a tool for teachers to monitor how learning is taking place and whether it is effective.
Compare assessment "for" and "of" learning. How are they similar? Different?
Assessment for learning can be a diagnostic or formative assessment tool that helps determine what students understand where they are in their learning. It can take a wide variety of forms from asking and answering questions, completing worksheets, or from teachers listening and watching students as they work. It does not involve marks. Assessment of learning is usually a mark based assessment and measures knowledge of topics learned up until the point of assessment. It is a type of summative assessment.
What is assessment AS learning?
Assessment as learning is an act of peer or self-assessment used by learners to assess where they are in their learning. It requires that students be aware of learning goals and success criteria.
Consider your previous K-12 experiences. How was assessment "as learning" integrated into your experiences?
This is a difficult question to answer as I have difficulty finding scholarly examples. I do recall my parents and teaches promoting assessment as learning principles to help me direct my behaviour in school. Clear behavioural expectations were presented to me and I was guided to reflect upon what I needed to do to fulfill them. When I missed expectations I was guided to reflect upon the reasons why and what I could do in the future to have a better outcome.
Why do some authors claim that assessment "as learning" benefits students more than other types of assessment?
Assessment as learning is intended to promote meta cognition in students. It encourages them to think about learning and to learn how to learn from their own individual perspective. Through modelling and practice, self-assessment skills can be developed. The long term goal is to teach students to be independent learners which is something other styles of assessment don’t efficiently promote.
http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/aer/eModules/courseEngine/assessmentForAndAsLearning.html
Week 4 -September 30, 2019
After going through the required reading/viewing – the LP Assignment Resources (above) – respond to the following questions:
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What are your initial thoughts/reactions as you go through the various sections of the lesson plan resources? Why?
There are a lot of resources that need to come together to create a lesson plan, especially when trying to combine multiple subjects. There are the overall and specific expectations for each curriculum, the achievement chart criteria for each curriculum and the learning skills listed on the report cards common to all subjects. Additionally, there are potential accommodations or modifications due to individual IEPs. Teachers also need to make sure lessons are reflective of the cultural diversity, language diversity, aboriginal and gender viewpoints present in Ontario. That is a lot of different things to consider and integrate into lesson planning.
2. What are some questions you have as you go through the various sections of the lesson plan resources? Jot them down as you will revisit these questions in future.
How do you fit all the different content into lesson plans?
How many components of them should be integrated into an individual lesson?
How does a teacher tell what level of instruction is appropriate for a grade level?
How can a teacher make lessons accessible for all types of learners in the classroom?
How can I build flexibility into my lessons to allow the class to explore content in a self-directed manner?
Once I develop a lesson plan, how do I develop assessment tools?
How do I ensure I am assessing students fairly?
How do I develop appropriate accommodations and modifications for students?
Week 5 -October 7, 2019
1. What has helped YOU as a learner as you have progressed through this assignment thus far? Why?
Reading and understanding the concepts of the language curriculum, including the glossary of terms has been extremely helpful as it is something I’m not very familiar with. The layout of the lesson plan into sections with hyperlinks and description videos has also been very useful. It helps remind me of the purpose of different sections and what information needs to be included.
2. What has hindered your learning as you have progressed through this assignment thus far? Why?
I spent far too much time thinking about what content I wanted to add to the lesson, instead of what learning objectives I was going to teach. A lot of emphasis was placed in class on backwards by design, yet I still didn’t follow the advice well. I was also delayed by not reading and understanding the key terms listed in the language curriculum glossary. It was also difficult figuring out how to incorporate ideas from two separate curriculum streams (language and science).
3. How might you address what you have identified in number 2 above moving forward?
In the future I need to focus more on picking specific learning objectives before developing significant content for the lesson. I also need to better locate resources for completing curriculum. Even after selecting the objectives of my lesson, it took a lot of time to find material I could use to teach it. I need to either improve my efficiency, or learn to find and use pre-existing lesson plans.
Week 6 -October 21, 2019
1. In the original lesson plan template, section 8 was comprised of one section rather than the multiple sections that currently make up section 8. Lessons tended to be very teacher-directed in the previous format so we changed the format to its current state. Why would we subdivide Section 8 into so many sections? What did we hope to encourage?
Section 8 Scaffolding
Agenda Item:
Level of scaffolding:
☐ “I do it” (demonstration or modelling) ☐ “You do it together” (guided practice)
☐ “We do it” (shared practice) ☐ “You do it” (independent practice)
Consider a gradual release of control from teacher based modelling --> guided and shared --> independent practice
Sequence of instruction/strategies for this component of lesson:
How will I perform the instruction for effectiveness? What important cues or questions do I need? What are some expected student responses and how will I respond?
Assessment (purpose)
☐ for learning (diagnostic or formative) ☐ as learning (formative) ☐ of learning (summative)
How will I know if students are engaged and learning. What types of things to I need to assess (eg. Preliminary knowledge, misconceptions, knowledge conceptualization, application etc.)
How will you gather evidence of student learning?
☐ observations of:
☐ student/teacher conversations (whole class, small group, individual questioning) regarding:
☐ student tasks / products that provide students with ways to demonstrate learning, specifically:
Having the section 8 divided into multiple sections encourages us teaching candidates to consider multiple factors when planning how to implement agenda items for the class. It also encourages us to vary the way in which we present items. Since teaching is new to us, I think teaching candidates default to the teaching strategies they are most comfortable with. For most of us this would be a teacher centred lecture style. Having to check what type of scaffolding and assessment we will employ during each agenda item makes us consciously aware of how we are teaching and subtly reminds us to consider other strategies.
Week 7 -October 28, 2019
The following questions concern the questioning video library at EduGains
After viewing (or reading transcript) Segment 1, how does planning potential questions ahead of time (like in our lesson plan!) help reduce the number of closed and procedural questions?
Open questions can take time and thought to develop, especially as a new teacher. Proper planning and implementation of a lesson will help ensure I am asking questions with a purpose and as a tool to direct and assess student thinking. If didn’t pre-plan questions before the lesson, I think I’d ask many more procedural and closed questions. While effective for certain purposes, they don’t get students thinking with a desirable level of complexity.
Based on what you viewed (or read) in Segment 2:
a) When might closed questions be beneficial in a classroom?
Closed questions are used to illicit a short response where there is one correct answer. They are useful to assess prior knowledge and ensure students have learned new facts or concepts. They can also encourage reluctant learners who might not volunteer to answer more difficult questions.
b) How were the teachers using students’ anticipated responses in their planning processes?
They were using anticipated student responses to identify areas of the lesson where students my have misconceptions that need to be corrected. This allowed them to highlight part of the lesson that might need clarification. They also used anticipated responses to fine tune the specific wording of the question. This helps ensure they properly direct student thinking and cue specific types of answers that they are seeking.
After viewing (or reading) Segment 3:
Making thinking visible with follow up questions
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Ask students for clarification
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Ask students to expand on an answer and provide more details
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Asking for a rationale
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Postponing - allow extra time to think before following up
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Gathering – taking an answer and encouraging more input from others
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Asking for Analysis – Asking a follow up analysis question
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Redirecting – Refocusing the questions towards a desired line of thinking
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Synthesis – Combine answers and asking about the relationship
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Summarizing – Summarize and organize several answers or ideas
a) Give an example of how thinking was made visible.
Asking a student for clarification or to expand upon their thinking help encourage them to provide a longer and more detailed answer that makes their thought process more apparent.
b) Why is this important?
Knowing what and how a student is thinking is useful for assessing if they are applying knowledge correctly. This is a higher metacognitive process than factual recall as it requires student organize and integrate previously learned information and properly apply it to a new situation.
c) What is necessary for students feel comfortable in responding to open-ended questions?
Students need to feel open to share. Classes need to be open and non-judgmental enough for students to try answers that may be wrong or that they haven’t fully developed yet.
View (or read) Segment 4 with the intention of critiquing the questioning strategies based on last week’s class and on what you have read/viewed this week. Provide two examples of “effective” questioning and explain why the examples are effective. Provide one suggestion and provide a rationale.
“Is it beneficial to our legal system to allow people who have been convicted to bring reasons why they should receive a lesser sentence? “
This is a good example of an open question. It is asking students for a value judgement on a specific aspect of the sentencing process. It could illicit a wide variety of responses.
“Anyone want to expand on that or add to that?” “Does anyone have a different opinion?”
The teacher asks a follows up question trying to expand on the first answer. This can allow for further supporting information in support of this opinion. It is then followed with a prompt for a new opinion the subject which illicit several more student responses. Students began responding to other students in the class and the teacher acted as a moderator of the discussion.
The conversation and responses remained somewhat vague. It might have been interesting to add specific details to see if student responses and thinking changed. For example, is a lesser sentencing appropriate for historically marginalized individuals? Is it more appropriate for first offences than for repeat offenders? This new context might have challenged student viewpoints on both sides of the argument.
After viewing (or reading) Segment 5, how will you incorporate what you viewed/read into your lesson planning?
Ensuring there is enough wait time to allow all students in the class to think before seeking answers or moving on is something that I’m going to struggle with. After this reading I can appreciate how important it will be to implement in the class. It is going to be better to ask fewer well designed questions and provide more time for student thinking and responses.
Name one tangible and specific next step you will take to help you develop effective questioning while in the field?
As I gain experience teaching, I need to be willing to try out new strategies and reflect upon their effectiveness. I need to observe and evaluate the teaching methods and question strategies others use. Finally, I need to seek out and reflect upon critical evaluation by my peers and mentors. It seems developing effective questioning strategies for teaching a lesson is a skill that I will need to practice and develop with experience.
Week 8 - November 4, 2019
EduGains eModule: The Achievement Chart
Complete this Anticipation Guide and then upload to your Week 8 Guiding Questions
1. The purpose of the achievement chart is to guide assessment.
Before we begin: True.
Now that we've finished... True, the achievement chart is designed to guide not only assessment, but also instruction and evaluation.
2. Assessment tasks must include all four categories of knowledge and skills.
Before we begin: True
Now that we've finished... False. Individual assessment tasks may reflect all or only a portion of the achievement chart categories.
3. Balanced assessment reflects the four categories of knowledge and skills over the cycle of learning.
Before we begin: False
Now that we've finished... True. In a given cycle of learning (i.e. reporting period) teachers need to ensure they have developed assessment tasks to fully cover all four categories of the achievement chart.
4. When planning with the end, we start only with the learning expectations.
Before we begin: True
Now that we've finished... False. We need to use both specific learning expectations and the criteria of achievement laid out in the learning expectations. I need to include aspects of a subjects achievement chart when developing learning goals and success criteria for my daily lessons.
5. Achievement charts are only helpful when long-term planning.
Before we begin: False
Now that we've finished... False. Achievement charts are can guide the development of daily instruction and evaluation. When used to create an assessment rubric for a specific expectation, an achievement chart can help provide meaningful feedback to students to help guide their learning.
How will you use the Achievement Charts during your practicum?
I will use achievement charts to evaluate the general expectations of student in a subject. When combined with the specific expectations they will help me develop more effective instructional strategies that help student develop general skill sets that will be transferable to other subject areas. The achievement chart can help me more effectively plan, assess and evaluate student learning and provide me with a context to provide useful feedback to students about their learning. This feedback is important in promoting a growth mindset in students where students develop skills to guide and improve their learning outcomes.
Achievement Chart Anticipation Guide – Week 8
Week 9 -November 11, 2019
A reflective analysis of my personal growth and changes to my philosophy of teaching since joining the program will replace this weeks guiding questions.