I’ll be the first to admit that I am overworked. I, like many teachers, cannot get my head above water. Just planning and presenting lessons takes the bulk of my workday. This does not include time for adjusting lessons, contacting students and parents, and grading. My goal was to survey teachers to attempt to get to the bottom of my wicked question - with an ever growing list of responsibilities, how can teachers find the time to ensure they’re doing their job well and respecting their personal lives? Creating the survey was a challenge. What platform do I use? How can I ensure that the questions are clear? How do I ensure they have the tools to answer appropriately? Does this sound whiny or cynical? How many open ended questions are too many? How do I ensure that I get meaningful/helpful answers? Ultimately, I decided to use my expertise from the classroom and lead with examples. It was not enough to ask them what technology or organization has made their day more efficient, instead I wanted to give them several types of technology they have used, list specific examples of each, and limit the answers to multiple choice. Once they were able to give me examples of technology or an organization that had provided them assistance, I then provided the open ended question so that they could elaborate and explain exactly how it was helpful. My assumption is that if I just asked about tech or organizations, they would struggle to think of examples and be less inclined to answer. In the end, I am curious how many choose to skip the questions that ask for elaboration, but I wanted to make it as painless as possible.
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I am fortunate to live with a teacher. So much of our career is collaborative and reflective, and while there is value in “turning off” when you get home, we will often discuss planning, issues we face, and other things that help us manage the difficult schedule of teaching and get better at it. In addition to working together, living together, and being married, we are also enrolled in the same graduate program. This has led to so many excellent conversations of us filtering all of the information throughout our differing perspectives. Marissa teaches Math, and I teach English. This week we decided to record these conversations in the first ever episode of Two Teachers Talkin’. This was an off the cuff, one-take, digestion of the concepts of Universal Design for Learning(UDL) and Intersectionality, and how we both apply them, and fail to do so, in our classrooms. Feel free to listen below:
Universal Design for Learning and Intersectionality are essentially two ideas that revolve around understanding your students as unique human beings with their own perspectives, preconceived ideas, and cultures. It is easy for educators to look at our students as simply teenagers, or one specific cultural identity, when all humans are the products of so many identities and experiences. The more we think about these things when crafting lessons, the more power we give our students to be successful. I want my students to care about what they do, be invested in it, and work hard, but to do so, I as their teacher, must first invest in who they are as individuals and work to connect the curriculum to what they bring to the class.
References:
McGregor, D & McGregor, M (Hosts). (2021, November 25). Universal Design for Learning & Intersectionality [Audio Podcast episode]. In Two Teachers Talkin' https://www.buzzsprout.com/1893797/episodes/9613782 A More Beautiful Question (2014) by Warren Berger, discusses how innovation and progress comes from asking questions and how in schools we often focus on the answers alone. Berger mentions, “Anything that forces people to have to think is not an easy sell…” (p. 6), and I never felt that more than with the creation of this sketch note video. This was tough. There are few things in this world that I am more self conscious of than my handwriting (in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t that bad). After printing my digital sticky notes, losing them, and printing them again only to leave them at work, I decided to use a purely digital format to complete my video. Even with the method down, the final product is not what I envisioned. The whole process was like patting your head while rubbing your belly. Either I tried to do it in real time, and caught myself stumbling over my words, losing questions, or just losing focus on the concepts that I wanted to present, or I recorded the sorting and then tried to choreograph my talking points to hit at various moments while watching the video. In the end, it sounds rushed. After multiple takes, over multiple days, this is what I accomplished: Despite my struggles, I do see the power of this in a classroom setting. I would much prefer doing something like this with real sticky notes and some poster paper. Students could draft questions about the choices an author makes during a rhetorical analysis brainstorm. Then gather together and sort them based on connections to effect, author’s purpose, or categories of their choosing. I think there is power in working with ideas in a physical space and I cannot wait to try this in my classroom. References:
Berger, W. (2014). A More Beautiful Question. Bloomsbury. McGregor. D (2021, November 19). Quickfire Sketchnote [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/IRQlmXedsd0
I have little social media presence, and only keep my Facebook profile for an excellent AP Language and Composition community. In many online communities people are not just negative, they are mean, and unwilling to talk about any disagreement. So, I removed myself from the conversation and deleted Twitter and the Facebook app. For the MAET program, I reactivated my Twitter and searched “education”. I followed several professional organizations and then found Nicholas Ferroni. I was immediately taken by this tweet:
As a teacher who consistently reminds my students that it is THEIR class, I appreciate that he respects what his students bring to class, even when it isn’t curriculum.
I am a media skeptic. As an English teacher, I frequently remind my students of the importance of scrutinizing sources. I show them the way news is disseminated through biases and various lenses by using a variety of news networks, websites, and blogs. We look at headlines from various outlets and discuss how it “shades” the news to fit a particular message.
Despite my proclivity to scrutinize the information that graces my screen, I had no idea that Google’s algorithm had already done some scrutinizing of its own. I immediately shared Eli Pariser’s 2011 TED Talk, Beware online “filter bubbles” with my colleagues and students. We are wrapping up 1984 and, to me, it exemplified the purpose of Newspeak, the fictional language of Oceania, that limits the characters' unorthodox thoughts. My students and I googled a variety of innocuous terms and shared the differences between our results. Following this, we had a wonderful discussion about 1984, Newspeak, and technology limiting our thoughts. While they struggled to understand Newspeak in the book, the TED Talk and activity showed them that it is about what you aren’t seeing that is the problem.
References:
Ferroni, N. [@NicholasFerroni]. (2021, November 18). My students got jokes I left the room and return to this… [Image attached]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/NicholasFerroni/status/1461396610324353024 TED. (2011, February). Beware online "filter bubbles" | Eli Pariser. [Video]. Youtube. https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles/transcript As an English teacher at the secondary level, I knew I wanted to read more about Fair Use. I am constantly pulling articles, video clips, excerpts from songs, etc. to use for all of my classes, and I never knew the legal ramifications of such actions. Like Renee Hobbs discussed in Copyright Clarity : How Free Use Supports Digital Learning (2010), I was the “See no evil” teacher who just assumed everything I was doing within the guidelines of Fair use. (Pg. 22). I am happy to report that despite my ignorance, I was pretty much using all media within the Fair Use guidelines. I explored Fair Use as it pertains to the classroom, and discovered the four factors needed to ensure your media usage is within the legal definition of Fair Use. These include, the amount used, the purpose of the use, the nature of the original work, with more factual works often being easier to use under Fair Use, and the effect on the market value of the copyrighted media. See my video below for more details: The conversation about Fair Use has come up during this school year due to our department being in the middle of a curriculum revision. Many of us will bring in articles or excerpts of longer works for our students, and some of the teachers have mentioned their uncertainty on the legal consequences of doing this. I am thrilled to be able to bring this information to our curriculum revision as we have been discussing how we can keep the curriculum up to date and contemporary. Having the freedom to adapt and bring in new texts can hopefully keep students more engaged and interested, and Fair Use law allows for that. References:
Common Sense Education (n.d.). Creativity, Copyright and Fair Use [Video]. Commonsense.org https://www.commonsense.org/education/videos/creativity-copyright-and-fair-use Hobbs, R. (2010). Copyright Clarity : How Fair Use Supports Digital Learning. Corwin. McGregor, D. (2021, November 13). Fair Use in Education [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/OIBpNFfhDl8
Must Have Been Mid-Afternoon
While jogging to the self described “Best ‘90s Alternative Playlist Ever” the 1995 Dishwalla song “Counting Blue Cars” popped on. Beyond some nostalgia of middle school and the memory of owning it on the ill-fated format of the “Cassingle” the song has never taken up much real estate in my head. However, this play was a bit different. Maybe it was due to it being mile two (the worst mile), but I wanted to take my mind off the huffing, and the only thing I had to think about was this decent(?) song. We all remember the chorus of, “Tell me all your thoughts on God, because I’m on my way to see her”, which has always elicited a distant high-five from me, but this run I was going to crack this cryptic tune. Turns out it is totally appropriate to the book that I am reading, A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger (2014). In the song, a child is asking about faith. The child is curious. In fact, the lyrics address this, “He had many questions, as children often do”.
Berger mentions that, “...the average four-year-old British girl asks her poor mum 390 questions a day” (pg. 4). While adults often ask questions to seek simple answers, Berger found that, “By age four, the lion’s share of the questions are seeking explanations, not just facts” (pg. 40). These questions are based around an understanding of what they do not know, and identifying that someone else may know the answer. They are asking the people around them to help them understand and “categorize what they experience” (Berger, 2014, pg. 41). This unrestrained and curious mind is again illustrated by “Counting Blue Cars” with its most famous line gendering god as female breaking the status quo. What happens between childhood and adulthood to get us to stop seeking explanations?
Why We’re Who We Are?
We were asked to practice questioning through a “quickfire” in which we asked questions of our profession over 5 minutes. Below you can see the results of this exercise:
Maybe due to my role as the vice president of my district’s union, but I noticed that many of my questions have to do with teacher advocacy. Teachers are conditioned to put their students first, but without support from one another and self-care, you have to question our efficacy. Teaching the classes that I do, to the level that I would like to teach them, has required me to work from roughly 6:15 AM - 4:00PM Monday through Friday. Arriving early, I am able to reflect on what is working and create new lessons based on my students' feedback. Often, I collaborate with another early riser who happens to teach the same classes, and we modify, tweak, and create new lessons. I am able to do this due to my limited responsibilities outside of my career. I don’t have kids and I work with my spouse who shares the same schedule. These are not something that all teachers can manage. What are the systemic solutions to managing time in public education? How do the expectations have to change?
Am I Very Far Now? Over the past 3 years, I have worked to design lessons around the students creating questions. This begins with giving them question stems that coach and guide them to “why?” questions. As they read, instead of filling out a reading guide, they write questions, turn those in via Google Classroom, and then they are anonymously shared via a data projector. Our discussions are led by the questions that they have. I have found that there is far more focus on the discussion than when I have relied on old school lectures or asking them questions with simple answers. Despite that, many of our assessments rely on regurgitation of facts, and due to educators being evaluated based on test scores, my colleagues fear not practicing answers and do not practice questions. With our quality of teaching being determined, in part, by standardized test scores, how can we be expected to try new things? Who knew there was so much philosophy in an average rock song from the 90s?
References:
Berger, W. (2014). A More Beautiful Question. Bloomsbury. Dishwalla. (1996). Counting Blue Cars (Tell Me Your Thoughts On God) [Song]. UMG Recordings, Inc. McGregor, D (2021, Novemebr 10). Question Quickfire [Image]
As an elementary student, roughly 30 years ago, my first taste of failure came in the form of spelling tests. I failed every single spelling test in elementary. Ironically, I now teach English in a K-12 public school. At the time, I saw the practical application of spelling well, but the whole process felt like memorization. At the same time, I could recite from memory the code to the final boss in the Nintendo classic “Punch Out!” (007-373-5963). That had value, that was a product of my effort, and it was the key to a task that had to be completed. It was a failure, but the only penalty was reloading and trying again, and I was getting better! All of my skills led to this moment. Remembering the code felt like an accomplishment from my hard work, remembering the spelling words just seemed annoying.
In middle school, I gained a new found love of words. In my age-old, “Sage on the Stage” style English and history classes, I learned to love stories. This led to me reading and that led to success with reading and writing. Math on the other hand, in my young opinion, lacked creativity. I didn’t care to reach the solution, because I didn’t see the value that the solution had. It was a puzzle, I hated puzzles (Unless they were puzzles to be solved by an Italian plumber by way of Japan). Like the spelling words, it just seemed like an annoying task. Despite that, I loved going to school, listening to stories, chatting with friends, and then struggling in silence in math class. I occasionally even took “sick days” to avoid math altogether (Ironically, I am now married to a math teacher).
High school saw success through the math classes providing context. Each new concept was introduced by explaining the real world application. We dabbled with the concepts through “Math Labs” that would use physical objects, such as LEGO or other building blocks to work through geometry. Little did I know that this was illustrating the power of constructionist learning. By allowing us to “play with” math and apply the concepts to the world outside of the class, having us share our ideas and work in groups, and ultimately present both our successes and failures, I was able to make meaning of something that had been pure anathema to me for years.
Constructionism is built around ideas of “learning around making rather than overall cognitive potentials” (Ackermann, 200, p. 4). It considers, not just the experiences that students have, but also the context they bring, the context and contemporary ramifications of the assignment, and how it connects with the others around it.
The stumbles of previous math classes that left me feeling stupid were rewarded here. My peers recognized my shortcomings and provided input that helped us move the conversation forward together, and this was in 1999. Here we are roughly 20 years later, and we are still making an effort to move public education forward in a more inclusive, understanding, and contemporary way. Similarly, Bransford et. al, in How People Learn, published in 2000, discusses the importance of the context of the lesson and those that the students bring to class, and we are still working to show students that they have agency in the learning process.
As an educator, it is my responsibility to march towards constructionism. Our department has been making these moves by giving students choice in the books they read, incorporating diverse perspectives, allowing choice in final products that analyze the material including, podcasts, videos, presentation, and writing, but we have a long way to go. While we are often told by our boss that we are free to try new things and fail, we still have several who are worried about yearly evaluations, merit pay, and observations that come once a year and are unscheduled. Shifts toward constructionist teaching will require a cultural change that respects the professionalism of educators. From there, putting the building blocks in our hands, giving us the time to collaborate, and work towards solutions together and with the help of our students could see us all overcome our deficiencies like I did 20+ years ago.
References:
Ackermann, E. (2001). Piaget's constructivism, Papert's constructionism: What's the difference. Future of Learning Group Publication, 5(3), 1-11, doi:10.1.1.132.4253 Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school. National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368. McGregor, D. (2021) How to Fail Forward [Infographic]. https://create.piktochart.com/output/56655551-how-to-fail-forward Presentation in the classroom is connected with real work skills including, preparedness, practice, and clear communication of ideas. While a clear real world application is often the first step in students understanding, and even enjoying, a lesson, public speaking is often one of the most stressful assignments we can give our students. Fears in the Classroom addresses a wide range of fears in the classroom, and one solution they theorized is getting students “acclimated” to the cause of their fears (Deluty & Devitis, 1996). Flipgrid allows for many of the real world skills of public speaking to be practiced and presented in a comfortable venue. This use of video can serve the purpose of acclimation, as well as illustrating what the student is capable of thus emboldening them. Practice where students have time to record and view their successes and failures have proven to be effective in building confidence for in-person presentations (Hartmann & LeMay, 2004). Additionally, Use of Self-Assessment of Video Recording to Raise Students’ Awareness of Development of Their Oral Presentation Skills, found that students recording their presentation and watching themselves had a “heightened awareness of the importance of presentation skills without provoking their anxiety.” (Tailab & Marsh, 2020) Flipgrid allows multiple takes so students can record, view, and practice their skills then reflect on their strengths and weaknesses. Despite that, it can stoke new anxieties, by moving the venue from the classroom to their homes, which may not always be stable, it requires a computer and stable internet connection, and it has some strange default settings, including a visible view count, which has caused my students to wonder, “Why isn’t my video being as viewed as my classmates?” Still, the benefit is students seeing, and celebrating, the capabilities that they have, and potentially, being emboldened to present information with confidence. References:
Deluty, R. H., & DeVitis, J. L. (1996). Fears in the Classroom: Psychological Issues and Pedagogical Implications. Educational Horizons, 74(3), 108–113. Hartman, J. L., & LeMay, E. (2004). Managing Presentation Anxiety. Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, 46(3), 145–154. McGregor, D. (2021, November 3). Flipgrid for Presentation Practice [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/qXLiRIMUmZ4 Tailab, M. M. K., & Marsh, N. Y. (2020). Use of Self-Assessment of Video Recording to Raise Students’ Awareness of Development of Their Oral Presentation Skills. Higher Education Studies, 10(1), 16–28. |
David McGregorI am an English teacher and cat lover from Genesee County, Michigan who is eager to learn new things. Archives
August 2022
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