Wicked problems have multiple variables that often require compromise and creative ideas to work toward complicated solutions. I considered why so many teachers are overworked. What is it about the day to day job that leaves us burned out and tired? What responsibilities are necessary and which could be modified to simplify our lives and make our jobs more fulfilling? I drafted a survey, did some research about the causes, and delivered the survey to my colleagues. After a week, I collected the data, and you can see the method and findings below: In addition to my role as a high school teacher, I am the current Vice President, Secondary of my local Education Association. I have been a member of the negotiation team for several years, and have been part of the negotiation of other smaller Letters of Agreement outside of the negotiation window. These LOAs are used between contract negotiations to shore up problems that arise due to the ever changing needs within education. Administration, and their understanding of this problem, is key to finding compromise and solution. I drafted a sample Letter of Agreement that hopes to address some of these issues. Read it here. Topics that educators are able to negotiate do change from state to state. For example, here in Michigan, evaluations are a nonnegotiable topic. However, a district may still work within the law to alleviate some of the teacher workload due to it. While they cannot eliminate the evaluation process, they can lessen some of the stress. The goal of this LOA was to clarify some language and hire support staff to help teachers with some of the problems that they mentioned as unnecessary and issues that caused them to feel overworked. This is just one sample set, from teachers in Mid-Michigan. There is much more work to be done, but we know that the responsibilities of teachers continue to grow. The state of Michigan continues to see a shortage of educators, and without meaningful conversation about how to support educators, it is likely to continue. References:
McGregor, D. (2021, December 16). Why Are Teachers Overworked?. [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/sPwvUR-YlkQ
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Prior to this course, I would have never referred myself to a maker, but after dabbling with course content, technology, and ideas, and producing a variety of creative items, I realize that most teachers are inherently makers. From the way we let students guide us through the curriculum, to our modifications of that same curriculum, we throw various things at the metaphorical wall to see what sticks, and then we do it all again the next year, but ideally, better. Beyond the great interactions with the students, being creative and trying new things is the best part of the job. Why I never saw that as “making” until this course is beyond me, but I am eager to continue to learn, share, and make for as many years as I am allowed. I used the 1 Second Everyday app to cobble together short videos from my life from October until today. In it, some successes and failures with my innovative technology, but mostly shots of Marissa and I at home, with our cat. I guess I am a cat lover, teacher, gamer, board game designer, endlessly curious, and with a brief surprise at the 56 second mark, an expectant father. The past 8 weeks have been a whirlwind, and will certainly sit with me for the rest of my life. Maybe I will name the kid MAET(pronounced Matt), but probably not. I hope to share my curiosity with MAET(it is growing on me), and Marissa and I can continue to be inspired by young people, but this time one of our own creation. I never knew this semester of “making” would culminate with this, but here is to new adventures. References:
McGregor, D. (2021, December 13). Well, That Was a Couple of Months [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/eQRyb__ZEtU My room, 518, is pretty typical of the American public school classrooms that I have been in. There is a giant whiteboard on one wall and a projector that points directly at it. I, of course, have a lectern at the front of the room that is used more for storage than its intended purpose. All of the rooms in the school that I work in function the same way. We do have some modern luxuries, such as air conditioning, however the AC units are huge grey abominations that make a hideous racket, and compete with the original boilers, so that the temperature fluctuates constantly. While our school has invested millions in the athletic facilities, and the cutting edge technology therein, there has been little conversation about the layout of the classroom and the effect it has on students’ learning. Sadly, this isn’t uncommon in districts around the country. Over the years, I have tried to incorporate cozy “reading areas” and other options for students, but they are rarely used. Maybe it is the high school fear of being an “outsider”, but students never engaged in these spaces. One year I created a “backyard” theme to the class, with artificial grass rugs and lawn chairs adorning these “reading areas”. I had two tables with small artificial candles that produced light with a flickering effect to simulate an outdoor fire. This proved to be much more popular, but I did away with it due to COVID restrictions, and it has not returned due to the continued complications of the pandemic. I was surprised to see the benefit of letting the, even artificial, outdoors in was supported by Barrett et. al.(2012), in A holistic, multi-level analysis identifying the impact of classroom design on pupil learning. This study found that classrooms that focused on design and aesthetic elements provide success, but so do those with usability. Given my inability to expand my classroom, my goal with this redesign was to focus on usability and collaboration. I wanted a classroom that would work without recreating the floorplan and something I could realistically bring to administration. I began with circular desks. Without immobile desks pointing toward the front of the room, there was no way for my students or myself to make assumptions about where the “show” was. We were all going to be moving and working together. Instead of one huge whiteboard, I added multiple smaller whiteboards that could be used for the type of group collaboration that is celebrated in maker movements (Halverson & Sheridan, 2014). I wanted students to dabble with ideas, share opinions, and work on a variety of “products” or “artifacts” together. Low storage was added to free up wall space avoiding clutter and overstimulation. While my classroom looks quite cluttered in the attached pictures, due to an invasion of Turkensteins, I generally avoid it. My work space rarely has loose papers, and everything is filed or returned the moment it is graded. However, I have always celebrated student artwork around the upper perimeter of my classroom. According to research presented by Barrett, et. al.(2012), this collage of art may actually have a negative affect on students and provide overstimulation. My remedy to this is to move the student artwork to this oddly shaped alcove in the northeast corner of the classroom. I have always used this space to hold a file cabinet that has not been used in years. I went ahead and trashed the ancient file cabinet and replaced it with a shelf for student creations. Additionally, I figured I would move the collage of artwork to these walls. That way they would be out of the way for students who may be overstimulated, yet still there to celebrate the artwork. I want the students to feel like they have agency in the classroom, and they have a chance to leave something behind. I remind my students often that it isn't my class, but theirs. I hope they know they lead my decisions in the way I filter curriculum, and with open spaces, less formal and disciplined instruction, and more trying, collaborating, and making, they finally feel that it is their room. References
Barrett, P., Zhang, Y., Moffat, J., & Kobbacy, K. (2013). A holistic, multi-level analysis identifying the impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning. Building and Environment, 59, 678–689. https://doi-org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/10.1016/j.buildenv.2012.09.016 Halverson, E. R., & Sheridan, K. M. (2014). The maker movement in education.Harvard Educational Review, 84(4), 495-504,563,565. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/maker-movement-education/docview/1642662200/se-2?accountid=12598 McGregor, D (2021, December 8). Classroom Photos [Images]. McGregor, D (2021, December 8). Classroom Floor Plans [Images]. Teaching English Language Arts allows for so much freedom to design lessons that connect the skills of reading and writing with each student as an individual. I remind my students that the key skill of any English class is empathy. Each piece of reading requires us to understand the thoughts and motivations of the characters. Each piece of writing requires us to consider our audience and their thoughts and understanding of the topic so we can properly leverage our ideas. Due to how open the course material is to students’ interpretations, I have found it easier to connect traditional course content to contemporary and diverse media. I set out to incorporate the use of 3D printing into the ELA classroom. As I was brainstorming, my English 12 students were working through 1984 and I had them write arguments about the symbolic meaning of the famous paperweight. The paperweight has totemic power for Winston Smith, and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if they could fabricate an item that had some symbolic meaning?”. I drafted my lesson and was fortunate to get feedback from peers. Through their excellent feedback, that was filtered through the lens of Intersectionality and Universal Design for Learning, I was able to see some of the shortcomings of my lesson. I lifted the reins on the forced grouping. What seemed like a way to get them talking and brainstorming in big ways, could also stifle ideas from students less willing to speak up. Instead, I decided to open it up to a “loose” collaboration. They are all making objects, but we will be having discussion and sharing our breakthroughs as a class. I also felt the need to reinforce ideas of symbolism and, at the recommendation of my professor, have them practice crafting pictures of abstract concepts using a Pictionary generator. I took most of the advice given, but I did not change the overall structure of the lesson, and retained its loose feel. I wanted it to feel like we are all figuring it out as we go. Looking at research on using 3d printing in the classroom, the authors of, Use of 3D Printers for Teacher Training and Sample Activities (2021), had teachers from a variety of technological backgrounds use 3D printers and get their opinions on the use in the classroom. Some challenges expressed included the difficulty of the design work and the length of time it takes to print. I considered the difficulty of design, but I was hoping that through examples the students would understand that I was looking for something spontaneous and imperfect. My intention was to model this with some of my own designs, but I am certain students may find the process frustrating. The study concluded by saying that, “The majority of participants had positive views on the effect of 3D objects on learning. They stated that 3D objects turned abstract concepts into concrete visual representations, facilitated learning, made lessons enjoyable….” (Arslan & Erdogan, 2021, p. 355) I was excited to see that they felt that abstract concepts being made tangible had such value in the learning experience. Tinkering learning in classroom: an instructional rubric for evaluating 3D printed prototype performance (2020) discussed the importance of formative assessment throughout the process. Throughout the design process my goal is to be an active participant in the discussions and move around the room. This finding about formative assessment, coupled with my experience in the MAET graduate program, led me to the rubric format that was used in that program. I wanted to celebrate what they did well and allow for some revision to improve. The whole lesson was based on a philosophy of tinkering and making mistakes along the way. All of the students should get some positive feedback about their willingness to figure out the technology, connect the tech to the text they are reading, and create a tangible object. Initially, I wanted to connect this to a text, but it might be more impactful for the artifact they create to not represent a text, but their lives. Much like Winston Smith’s paperweight, their object could have meaning for a personal goal, belief, or aspiration. Maybe that will be v3.0? References
Arslan, A., & Erdogan, I. (2021). Use of 3D Printers for Teacher Training and Sample Activities. International Journal of Progressive Education, 17(3), 343–360. https://doi-org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/10.29329/ijpe.2021.346.22 Çelik, A., & Özdemir, S. (2020). Tinkering learning in classroom: an instructional rubric for evaluating 3D printed prototype performance. International Journal of Technology & Design Education, 30(3), 459–478. https://doi-org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/10.1007/s10798-019-09512-w |
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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