Teacher Leaders Standard 12 Reflection: Evaluating and Using Technology For Teaching and Learning

Standard 12 Reflection: Evaluate and use technology for teaching and learning

Background

Prior to starting my master’s program in Educational Leadership, I had a fairly good background in evaluating and using technology for teaching and learning as I was on our district’s Tech Summit board as a representative for my school.  As an advisory board member, in addition to being responsible for making and revising our budget with Tech Levy funds as needed, each of us was also responsible for piloting technology in our classroom as well as assisting staff and students in learning the technology available.  During the time we were piloting the use of new technology it was our job to not only use the technology in our classrooms, but also evaluate the tool. As a team we also realized that we need “to change the focus from the technology itself to ways

that technology can be used to bring out the very best in how teachers teach and how students learn” (Robin, 2008, pg.220) and a result we have changed some of our procedures in adopting new and emerging technology.

Due to our technology levy failing this past year, we have given up our Tech Summit committee.  Instead we now have a tech advisory committee that is made up of fewer staff members, but now includes community members.  Although due to other commitments I was not part of the new committee I still am able to give input into the decisions since in my new role as Future Ready Librarian I  support staff and students with technology needs. The levy failing has helped us to look at our evaluation practices and uses more closely as we have lost a major part of our funding for technology and are working to get community support of our technology needs when we run this levy again this coming year.  

As I support in the area of technology I am often called upon to help teachers find and use technology that will enhance or transform their curriculum.  I also support teachers as they learn how to use the technology we already have such as SKYWARD (our grading program) , Simplified Website Integration For Teachers (SWIFT) for communication with parents, Google Classroom and products, ActiveInspire (Activboard Software).  I also help find technology that will help with a particular need. Over the years as an early adopter of new technology I have lead small groups during our new teacher trainings and at our district’s Tech Conference to learn how to use various digital tools

Learning and Applied Practice

For Teacher Leadership Standard 7, most of my learning came from my Teaching with Technology class. In this class we used the Practical Inquiry Model (PIM) to investigate the topics of this course. For each module our professor asked a question (triggering event) that we would personalize to fit our own teaching situation.  Then we found resources which would help us answer our question (exploration)  The next step was to collaborate with classmates through use of our discussion board and participation in a Google Hangout. (integration).  Lastly, we wrote blog post about our question which explained what we had learned and what we still have questions about (resolution).  The following were the questions I addressed while going through this protocol:

• How can I incorporate technology to give my students authentic experiences to improve their their speech and listening skills as well as with their non- fictional reading?
• How can I use technology to help students use assessment data to assess theirown learning, determine learning goals and monitor their progress over time?
• Since we live in a global and digital society, how can I model and facilitate the incorporation of current and emerging digital tools into our social studies curriculum?
• How can I integrate digital citizenship into my social studies classes?
• How can I continue to increase my repertoire of digital tools and resources and effectively integrate them into my classroom to support student learning?

In addition to going through the above protocol, I also was exposed and challenged to try new things around technology.  The first was to attend Ed Camp.  Ed Camps last a day and are usually held on Saturdays.  The unique thing about this conference is that the participants create the agenda for the day as well as lead/facilitate the discussions that happen.  The second new thing was to create and use a Twitter account to keep up to date with technology in the classroom. Lastly, I created a poster using Picktochart about digital citizenship.

Issues Encountered/Problems of Practice Addressed

I think one of the biggest problems we encounter in using technology in the classroom is that often we are using technology just to say we are using technology in the classroom rather than using it to enhance or transform the learning happening in our

classrooms.  I know that my district has been guilty of this and as a result of evaluating the technology we have used we have found that pencil and paper works just as good if not better from some tasks. As I learned more about the Substitute, Augmentation, Modification and Redefining (SAMR)  model I realized that I could move my students from the Substitution and Augmentation phase to the Modification phase through using digital storytelling as an option when working on projects with simple adjustments.   Some tools I thought I could use in order to do this in my class were Jing, voicethreads, as well as borrowing ipads that we have for teachers to film with.

The next issue that I addressed was how could I use technology to help students use assessment data to assess their own learning, determine learning goals and monitor their progress over time.   The first tool I found for students to use to do this was Google Sheets. My thought behind this was that not only does it introduce how to creating charts digitally to students, but it can help them reflect in what they need to work on to improve their writing and set their own learning targets as we go forward.   The next tool I found was was WriQ which is a add on tool for Google Docs that is free, but it only provides information on conventions. Kahoots and Plicklers are other digital tools I found  that could also provide opportunities for students to gather data about their learning, but it does not explicitly help them set goals and/or monitoring their progress over time.  Even though I found tools that could help with formative assessments instead of a tools that would directly help my students reflect and assess their learning, I now think that by integrating these tools my students will have a “sense of accountab- ility and ownership over their learning process”(Horizon Report, 2015, pg. 16) like they found in the Horizon Report, therefore meeting my goal.  Also, since these tools are competitive they will keep students engaged and wanting to improve their learning.

With everything else teachers have been asked to do, it is often difficult for us to facilitating and incorporating current and emerging tools into our classroom   As I looked for articles to help me incorporate digital tools into my classroom,  I found an article entitled Five Tips for Incorporating New Technology in the Classroom which discussed using our best teaching practices when teaching other educators about using technology.  I believe we can use those same best practices to teach students how to use technology. For example, we need to remember that our students come with different backgrounds and knowledge in regard to technology, so having them work with a group of mixed abilities is good for all students.  Those who need extra help can get it readily from those in the group and those who provide the help

deepen their knowledge. We also need to provide ongoing opportunities for students to use the digital tools we have taught so they can deepen their learning and see how their learning can be transferred to other subjects and therefore to their future choices.   And, most importantly, we need to provide a culture in our classrooms where it is okay to take risks and make mistakes, since we learn from these experiences.

As  was doing some of my research throughout my Teaching with Technology class I was reminded that we need to continually educate our students how to be digital citizens in this global world.  Since we do research in our social studies and language arts classes it seems like a logical place for us to talk about “safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources”(ITSE 4).  In order for this to happen we should be only teaching this explicitly, but also modeling it throughout the

year in our own practices.

Lastly,  I looked how we could we as teachers could  increase our repertoire of digital tools and to integrated those tools into my classroom within my time and funding limits.     Through looking through many articles I have realized that there are many free resources available that I can use as time permits and on my own time schedule to increase my repertoire of digital tools as well as to learn from others how to effectively integrate them into my classroom.  For example, you can look through Twitter even if you don’t have an account to learn about new digital tools used in the classroom as well as how they are being used by others. You can also take free online classes through Coursera to learn how to use new technology as well as to find some new tools.

How Evaluating and Using Technology for Teaching and Learning is Supported by Research

As I researched information for my first triggering question, How can I incorporate technology to give my students authentic experiences to improve their their speech and listening skills as well as with their non-fictional reading? I found an article, Digital Storytelling:  A Powerful Technology Tool for the 21st Century Classroom which

began by stating that studies by the U.S. Department of Education found  “no significant differences in student achievement between the classrooms that used the technology products and classrooms that did not”.  Several people responded in disagreement to their findings as they felt that the study did not take everything into consideration. Their main argument was that in the classrooms that were studied, the  technology had just been added into the classroom as another teaching strategy instead of as a way to enhance the teacher’s ability to teach and students’ ability to learn. Of course this means that we need to put time and effort into teacher training with the technology that is available.  Technology for digital storytelling is a solution for this problem since it is inexpensive in both time and money and can provide authentic learning opportunities for students. They found that the technology which is currently available was easy to use and could be used to enhance a lesson that a teacher had already had been using.  For example, you could use a story that was already created to enhance a lesson on the Vietnam War making the lesson “emotionally charged and personally meaningful to both the author and the viewer“. “Even though few research studies on the effective- ness of digital storytelling have been conducted, numerous findings have been reported on the benefits of multimedia projects in which students have shown an increase in research skills,increased organizational skills, and a greater interest in the content being taught.”   After reading this article I believe that digital storytelling is a way to improve students listening and speaking abilities as well as to improve their 21st century skills.

To answer my second question, how can I use technology to help students use assessment data to assess their own learning, determine learning goals and monitor their progress over time? I read the article “Classroom Tech for Learning Checks”.   This

article started by talking about how with everything else teachers have been asked to do, it is often difficult to provide feedback in a timely manner to our students. The authors suggest that we embrace technology to help us do this, not only to help us manage the task, but to also provide an authentic opportunity for a our students to practice using technology.   It then goes on to talk about how Kahoot, Plickers, and Today’s Meet are technology tools that provide feedback and engage students at the middle school level.   The question of equity is also briefly discussed. For this they suggest looking into funding through grants at the district, state and federal levels as well as through private foundations. Overall, the article encourages the use of technology for formative assessment since “the goal of a relevant and integrated classroom is good teaching and engaged learning”(Smith & Falbe, 2016, pg. 43).

As I was reading through articles to answer the question  Since we live in a global and digital society, how can I model and facilitate the incorporation of current and emerging digital tools into our social studies curriculum?,  I couldn’t help but think that they were geared more toward digital natives and I am a digital immigrant.  I also realized how many digital tools I do use in my daily life in the classroom and it is much more than what I do in my personal life which is the opposite of what it said about digital native teachers.  I started off with reading the article “Cross-Reference of Online Teaching” which confirmed my belief of “why” we need to teach how to use digital

tools as it helps our students to “become more marketable for the careers they will be competing of in the future, many of which are yet to be created”(Kennadee, pg.  22).   As teacher our  goal is to teach the the content in our curricular area, but more impor- tantly to teach our students the processes so they could transfer those skills to what they will be doing in the future.   By incorporating the teaching of current and emerging tools, we doing exactly this. Then as I looked for articles to help me incorporate digital tools into my classroom, I found an article entitled “Five Tips for Incorporating New Technology in the Classroom” which even though it was directed at how to teach other educators about using technology,  I believe those those same practices can be used to teach students how to use technology. For example, we need to remember that our students come with different backgrounds and knowledge in regard to technology, so having them work with a group of mixed abilities is good for all students.  Those who need extra help can get it readily from those in the group and those who provide the help deepen their knowledge. We also need to provide ongoing opportunities for students to use the digital tools we have taught so they can deepen their learning and see how their learning can be transferred to other subjects and therefore to their future choices.  And, most importantly, we need to provide a culture in our classrooms where it is okay to take risks and make mistakes, since we learn from these experiences.

As I read articles to answer my fourth question, how can I integrate digital citizenship into my social studies classes?,  I realized that we need to take the opportunities as they present themselves to teach our students to be good digital citizens throughout our lessons or conversations we have.  A natural opportunity we have to do this when our students are working on end of unit project. And can be as simple as teaching the “three pillars” of respect, educate and protect (REP) that I read about in the article, Middle School Digital Citizenship:  What Students Need to Know and Why while “advocating, modeling and teaching safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information

and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources” (Watanbee-Crockett, 2016)  while working on these projects.

For my last question, how can I continue to increase my repertoire of digital tools and resources and effectively integrate them into my classroom to support student learning? I found the article “Four Tips for Effective Digital Leadership” to help answer my question of how to increase my repertoire of digital tools and resources.   In this article the author gives tips of how to become a digital leader that include being a visionary, focusing on professional development, building a professional learning network, and model risking taking.   In the third tip entitled “Build a Professional Learning Network”, it discusses how we need to collaborate with others in order to grow as professionals, but with our busy schedules we may not be able to do this.  The good news is that we can collaborate with others through participating on Twitter, LinkedIn, TechinEdu, TED ideas worth spreading, ISTI, or Educational Leadership. This not only is a great way to get our professional development needs met, but it also helps you to collaborate globally with hundreds others who also wish to increase their toolbox.  

Overall Impact

My Teaching with Technology class has helped me find new tools to use to provide authentic experiences and checks for understanding, but also has reminded me that I need to not only use digital tools in my teaching, but also evaluate them to make sure that they are enhancing and transforming my teaching practices.  I also have been reminded that I only need to teach, but also model being a good digital citizen as I support staff and students in their use of technology. One way that I help teach this skill is by teaching staff and students how to use databases and citation applications. As I reset student passwords I re-teach the use of strong passwords and not sharing passwords.   Additionally, I have incorporated digital citizenship lessons into our Future Ready Day. I have also continued to research and evaluate tools that help teachers teach as well as students learn. Others ways I model being a digital citizen to my staff is is by giving credit to sources used when I am finding pictures for sort activities and incorporating digital citizenship into our rubrics by having a citation category.  

Additionally as I support staff and students in technology, I  need to remember that our staff and students come with different backgrounds and knowledge in regard to technology, so having them work with a group of mixed abilities is good for all.  Those who need extra help can get it readily from those in the group and those who provide the help deepen their knowledge. As with other professional development I also need to provide ongoing opportunities for staff and students to use the digital tools they have been  taught so they can deepen their learning and see how their learning can be transferred to other future choices.

Lastly, I have continued to attend Ed Camp opportunities and to use Twitter to keep up with the emerging trends and tools.

References

Dabbs, L. (2012, August 07). 5 tips for new teachers to become connected educators.
Retrieved December 03, 2017, from ttps://www.edutopia.org/blog/new-teachers
-becoming-connected-educators-lisa-dabbs

Gonzales, L. (2016). Four tips for effective digital leadership. Tech & Learning, 37(4),
32-33.

Holtz, S. (2018, April 17). 12 rules of effective instructional technology coaching [Web
blogpost]. Retrieved from https://blog.neolms.com/12-rules-of-effective
-instructional/ -technology-coaching/

Horizon Report (2015 ed., Horizon K-12 Edition, pp. 1-60, Rep.). (n.d.).

ISTE Standards for Students. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards
/for-students

Kennadee, K. (n.d.). Cross-Reference of online teaching. In Distance Learning (2nd ed.,

Vol. 7, pgs. 21-28.

Robin, B. R. (2008). Digital Storytelling: A Powerful Technology Tool for the 21st
Century Classroom. Theory Into Practice, 47(3), 220–228.

Smith, K., & Falbe, K. N.,  (2016). Classroom tech for learning checks. AMLE Magazine,
4(4), 42-43.

Stanfield, S. (2013). Five tips for incorporating new technology in the classroom.
Learning & Leading.

Walsh, K. (2016, September 17). Kelly Walsh. Retrieved from https://www.emerginged
tech.com/2015/04/examples-of-transforming-lessons-through-samr/

Watanbee-Crockett, L., Middle school digital citizenship: What students need to know
and why. (2016, December 08). Retrieved November 15, 2017, from
https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/middle-school-digital-citizenship

Teacher Leadership 5 Reflection: Establishing a culturally inclusive learning climate that facilitates academic engagement and success for all students.

Standard 5 Reflection: establish a culturally inclusive learning climate that facilitates academic engagement and success for all students.

Background

As our schools become more diverse in race, religion, economics, sexual orientation, and language, we as teachers need to be prepare our students with “knowledge, attitudes,

and skills needed to function in a diverse world” (Banks, 1996, pg. 42).  In order to accomplish this my teaching practices have changed and as a result I have established a more culturally inclusive learning climate that facilitates academic engagement and success for all students. For example, over the last few years my teaching practices have changed drastically due to the expectations from the Common Core Standards and TPEP (Teaching/Principal Evaluation Program).  As a result, I think I have become a better teacher who meets more of the needs of our students. I have implement GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) strategies, PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Systems) strategies, no-opt out questioning, student talk, clear learning targets with success criteria, Socratic Seminars, classroom circles, and multiple levels of scaffolding into my teaching practices.  Additionally, in my most recent position as our Future Ready Librarian I have increased the number of books that were written by people of different cultures and perspectives into our school library this year.

I teach in a school that is not only becoming more ethnically diverse, but also has the highest percentage of low-income students in the district.  Through the leadership of our principal we have embraced that this is an opportunity instead of a problem. We are in the process of trying many of things that Howard suggested in his  article As Diversity Grows, so Must We.  A couple of  years ago we did a similar exercise to the workshop he discussed where educators looked at their race, gender, religion, etc. and asked what they would be willing to give up.  As we did this is was interesting to hear what people were willing to give up and why they choose it. As a PBIS school, we are constantly working on promoting respect, kind word and actions, as well as providing clear expectations for all of our students.  In our departments we have been looking at data to redesign or tweak our curriculum to help all of our students make more than a year’s worth of growth. We have done a good job over the years with our level one and

two students, but not so much with our level three and four students.  One of the ways we have done this is by providing more choices for students to show us their knowledge. Although I believe we are heading in the right direction, I think we need to have those tough discussions to address the inequities both past and present of non-White and include our community more as we make decisions and address these issues.

Learning and Applied Practice

While taking my Culturally Responsive Teaching class I realized that looking at the

contributions of others is a great start, but at some point we want to get our students to take social action based on their learning.  When I was an Ancient Civilizations teacher at the middle school level, I taught about contributions made by a variety of cultures to our world. As I went through this course I have realize although this was a great start, I needed to go further.  Prior to taking this class I used Socratic Seminars and Document Based Questions to help my students to look at events from a different perspectives as was suggested by the Project in Intergroup Education group that was discussed in the article The Intergroup Education Movement.  But, after taking this class I realized I also need to help my students make the connections between the curriculum and current events so they could take a stand against injustice.  I also realized that by giving students opportunities to make a difference through social action, not only are we empowering them, but taking some of the load off of ourselves. It is exciting to see our students passion as they have addressed issues at our school as well as around our country.

Another thing that was reinforced as I took this class was the importance of  building relationships with our students, their families and our community to help students grow.  As a secondary teacher I think we have a lot to learn from our elementary counterparts in this area.  Through building relationships and by letting them tell us their stories we are, not only learning about our students and their backgrounds, but also showing they are being valued which was the goal of the Multicultural Education Movement we read about in Bank’s book.

Issues Encountered/Problems of Practice Addressed

As I said in my autobiography for my Culturally Responsive Teaching class,  I came from a white-middle class family and I need to remember that as a result I had privileges that I didn’t realize I had.  At the same time, I think my upbringing and experiences have helped me to make sure that all students have access to common experiences and feel included since we don’t have a choice of what family or race we are born into.  It has also caused e to have empathy towards those who did not receive the privileges I did as a white middle-class child. I also realize that I need to listen to my students’ stories to learn more about them and see where I can help them to be successful and what I can learn from others.  

Another issue, is that 90% of our teachers in Washington State are Caucasian even though in most the our communities in which we serve,  less than 90% of our students are Caucasian. This is for a variety of reasons. One is that those who are non-Caucasian rarely, if at all had a teacher who was of their race.  Therefore, they didn’t even think being a teacher was a possibility. For other it had to do with finances or family expectations. Recently, the Washington State legislation approved a law to “ease requirements for teacher preparation programs” (Bazzaz, 2019) to respond to these concerns.   This is one barrier that hopefully will help us to diversify our teachers staffs, but we also need to step out of our way to be welcoming and encouraging  to staff that is of a minority of our school since it is difficult when you are the only one, or one of a few who look different on your staff. Not only do we need to establish culturally inclusive learning climate for our students, but also as a staff if we wish to see academic engagement and success for all.

How Establishing a Culturally Inclusive Learning Climate that Facilitates Academic Engagement and Success for All Students is Supported by Research

In the United States 80% of the teachers are Caucasian and even more than that are women while our classrooms are more diverse in ethnicity and gender.  This makes it difficult for us to connect to our students. Yet, there are things we can do to make this connection and value the perspectives they bring to our classroom.  Below is a list from the article, Welcome One, Welcome All: The Culturally Inclusive Classroom:

1. Use open-ended questions to engage students. (i.e., “Would anyone like to share a different perspective or another opinion about that?”)
2. Establish clearly defined rules for your classroom as to what is and what isn’t appropriate. (e.g., Be respectful of others and their ideas, Be open to perspectives and opinions that are not like your own, etc.)
3. Express your commitment as an educator to understanding cultural differences and your desire to have a classroom where culture is valued and respected.
4. Share details about your background, upbringing and other personal information with students to inspire them to do the same.
5. Replace ethnocentric terms with more inclusive ones. (e.g., Use ‘Winter Break’ as opposed to ‘Christmas Break’)
6. Encourage all students to think about things from a perspective other than their own.
7. Promote open, honest and respectful class discussions whenever possible, even if it is uncomfortable. (Most growth comes when we’re pushed beyond our comfort zone.)
8. Avoid making assumptions. When in doubt, or better yet, as a general rule: Ask first. Find ways to get to know students on an informal level, through out-of-class activities, after school office hours, between classes, etc.
9. Practice positive and welcoming non-verbal communication with students. (e.g., Smiling, eye contact, posture, gestures and physical proximity)

If we start with these simple steps we can make a difference and help our ALL of our students be successful, not just a few.  And as a result hopefully it will encourage our non-Caucasian students to go into the teaching field to be examples for future generations.
Additionally, in the article, As Diversity Grows, so Must We, Howard suggests that as we see the increase in our schools’ diversity as an opportunity instead of a problem.  In order to do this we need to re-exam our teaching practices and be “looking honestly at outcome data and creating new strategies designed to serve the students whom instructions in not reaching” (Howard, 2017, pg. 10) and meet “students where they are at and build on that” (Howard, 2007, pg. 11). As we do this we we need to make sure all students,   their families, and our staff members feel connected and respected. We also need to build curriculums where all cultures are honored and meet the diverse needs of our students. Lastly, we also need to hold our all of our students to high expectations.

Overall Impact

As a result of being in my Masters in Educational Leadership program, I will continuing to fight to give more choice to students to show their learning as one way to establish a culturally inclusive learning climate that facilitates academic engagement and success for all students. Unfortunately, because of Common Core Standards, we currently have students show their learning through writing paragraphs or essays in most subject, but, that is not the only way to assess what students have learned and by giving students choice we can meet them where they are and can play to their strengths.   I hope to change others’ mindset so students are also being assessed through their participation in Socratic Seminars, being able create a poster, slideshow or game to teach others about an given topic. To help support this effort in my position as the Future Ready Librarian I have been creating websites with resources which will help teachers provide these opportunities.  I have already created three, two for social studies (6th, 7th) and one for science.

I have also had the chance over the last two years to reflect on how my teaching practices have been influenced by my culture and how that has helped or hindered me to create a classroom where all can learn about themselves, appreciate others, and speak up against injustice.  Through the stories of others I feel I am more prepared to and inspired to “create a school culture that empowers all students” (Banks, 1996, pg. 338), parents and staff members.

Lastly, in my position as Future Ready Librarian one of my major jobs is to administer our STudents REaching Toward new CHallenges (STRETCH).  During the first semester of this program we teach students traits of successful middle school students, financially literacy, and about choosing and get them ready for a career that will support the lifestyle they wish to have in the future.  During the second we give them a chance to explore a couple of different electives. This gives out students an opportunity to try things they may have never thought of doing before. Additionally, we have members of the community come in a share their careers with our students during a Future Ready Day which I facilitate.  This program helps us as a school district provide a culturally inclusive learning climate that facilitates academic engagement and success for all students.

References

Banks, J. A. (1996). Multicultural education, transformative knowledge, and action: Historical
and contemporary perspectives. New York: Teachers College Press.

Bazzaz, D. (2019, April 28). New law may make it easier for people to become teachers in Washington state. Seattle Times. Bergant, D. (2005). Welcome, One and All. America, 192(13), 47.

Chaparro, E. A., Nese, R. N. T., & McIntosh, K. (2015).  Examples of engaging instruction to
increase  equity in education.  OSEP Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Supports.

Edutopia Follow. (2015, June 04). Teacher Tested Strategies for Differentiated Instruction.
Retrieved August 11, 2018,

Hattie, J., & Zierer, K. (2018). Ten mindframes for visible learning: Teaching for success. London:
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Howard, G. R. (2007). As diversity grows, do must we. Educational leadership, 64(6), 16–22.