What a Twit! Social Media and its use in the Classroom.

I used to love social media on a personal level (probably a bit too much😜) but have continued to pull back from this way of communication more and more in response to some of the things I was seeing and experiencing online. The increased personal attacks (that I was witnessing), lack of regard for others and general bombardment of advertising made social media for me at times, an unpleasant experience.

BUT... on the flip side, I discovered this amazing world of professional learning communities and have gravitated along this road now.

Just like for me, our students need to learn how to negotiate and navigate this polarising world of social media. That is one of our key roles as educators; helping to prepare our students to become responsible digital citizens so that they can interact and use social media to its fullest whilst being aware of the dangers it can hold as well.

In this post, I want to discuss the impact and potential that can be unlocked through accessing social media platforms on a professional learning level, using Jay and Johnson's (2002) reflective model, and reflect on a positive and negative experience I have had in my own personal learning journey when interacting on Twitter.

Describe:

The professional social media platforms I mainly use are Pinterest (ohhhhh you vortex of time and space), Twitter, Facebook, Google+ community and VLN (Virtual Learning Network). Each provides something different and a way of connecting with other educators on a variety of levels.
Melhuish (2013) describes in her thesis the key principals of effective social learning; learning that is social positioned, co-constructed and one that allows students to have agency over and drive their own learning inquiries. The ways and degrees in which people interact and participate on social media also has an impact. Some are active drivers of learning and discussion whilst others prefer to watch and observe from the periphery. For me, I am more of an active watcher- I get a lot from this and enjoy seeing different views and opinions. I occasionally participate in Edchat or other twitter chats and will freely share ideas and thoughts on google +. I am very selective about what I choose to comment on for a variety of reasons: passion about topic, moderator control or 'tone' on the chat and of course, time.

Compare:
As I have become more confident I have broadened out and commented more and more on different social media platforms. Here I would like to discuss positive and negative aspects I can see when interacting on Twitter.

I only use Twitter as a way of following other educators or education topics. The majority of my twitter experiences have been really positive. I love following new people, especially leaders in their professions that I otherwise would NEVER get to interact with. Having interactions like this is really exciting and pushes my thinking forward. I LEARN so much, get new ideas and as stated above, get to choose what I learn about and how I interact with others. Most moderators are sensitive to their users during chats and can skillfully elicit thoughtful dialogue and challenge participants to think on deeper levels.
On the other hand, we need to be careful that we don't fall into a 'cliche' of thinking too and only sign up or interact in conversation that only reinforces our own ideas. When we challenge or question others it needs to be done in a sensitive way too. Context and tone can often be misconstrued outside of face to face interactions.
One US tweeter I used to follow was a gal who was very tech savvy and I was learning lots of her tweets. One day she posted about assessing creativity and how to go about this. For me, this was quite an arbitrary topic and something that perplexed me so I posted, why would you want to assess creativity? I received quite a bit of backlash from the question and didn't really know what to do after that. I withdrew from the conversation. And here was where the problem lay; two different education systems, with two very different philosophies about teaching and learning. I have been into some American schools and know SOME of the differences in our systems. Instead of addressing our differences and having a really good conversation about assessment and creativity I unfollowed her and didn't participate any further. Did I bite off my nose to spite my face?? Maybe? Were our worlds too far apart?? Maybe? Should I have stayed and expanded on my ideas and thinking further? Maybe?
I did what I did- but that has made me super aware of what I post and need for understanding and appreciation of where someone is coming from when they post. I also need to have the courage to share my ideas though, in a thoughtful and considerate manner too. BUT only on forum, tweets etc that I feel safe. You can't control what others are going to say to you.

Critical reflection:

So what have I learned and where to next?

• As teachers, we need to share these experiences on social media with our students- both the positive and negative in the aims of keeping everyone safe. Social media provides such a rich and wonderful learning opportunity for students and for a teachers' professional development.
• We need to be willing to have professional discussions without attacking- critique instead of criticising.
• We also need to be aware of different perspectives and be aware of others experiences.
• Social media can break down isolating barriers depending on how much you want to get involved in this form of interaction.  You can link to ideas and people that can push and challenge your thinking
• Events that happen in real time serve as a source of rich learning material- something that social media does extremely well- just be careful of potentially 'surprising' things that may come up with un-viewed material too (when sharing with students).

References:
Jay, J.K. and Johnson, K.L. (2002) Capturing complexity: a typology of reflective practice for teacher
education.Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 73-85.

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 05 May, 2015 from https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8482/thesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Ochoa, R. (2009, May 13). Twitter_Good_Bad [Digital image]. Retrieved April 1, 2018, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosauraochoa/3528880050

Getting there. (Yes, finally!!!) - Research in Education

Oh wow! I have worked my little brain off this morning.

It was with some trepidation that I started my Week 20 Mindlab work today. The LOOMING question was: how to narrow down and focus on one idea for my teacher inquiry project and the up and coming literature review?
In last week's blog I recorded so many possibilities for my teacher inquiry that my head was spinning. So... after watching all the videos and reading (most of 😇) the readings, in a roundabout way I have come back to two key features I am REALLY interested in exploring and applying in my practice, that I had recorded in last weeks blog:

Design Thinking in education and Learner Agency.

I fell across Core education's website regarding top ten trends in Education for 2016 and 2017 and after a morning of scribbling down ideas and processing my thoughts, am really excited about how I can combine these ideas together to benefit my students and their learning for next year's class.

My beginning scrawlings.

Getting closer!

So why have I chosen to focus on these areas?

During my Mindlab experience for last year, my colleague and I created a learning unit where the students (after a lot of teaching and preparation) created and designed a digital television episode that they shared with our families. In that, I really got to experience students having and taking ownership of their learning, some elements of design thinking, experiencing the 'messiness' of learning and not rescuing students from finding their own solutions to problems.

At the heart, though I would like to explore learner agency more, helping kids have the mindset that it's okay to not have the answers, to fail and to persevere with their learning. I want to look at who really owns learning- who comes up with what is to be learned and why? I want to look at learner engagement over entertainment, as I see a bit of that going on and have probably been guilty of this myself at times. Something one student in my class last year would do was rate the learning going on by it's fun-level. I could have used that as a learning opportunity but want to explore that with my students next year. How can students really use technology and create with it? Collaboration is real and tangible in our classrooms so how can we apply these ideas to a new classroom and continue to grow the collaborative skills in a new group of students

So to me, Design Thinking with its:

• humanistic elements 
• students and teachers learning alongside one another 
• explorations of multiple perspectives and collaboration 
• creating and testing ideas
• problem-solving focus  
• future focus- 21st Century skills

is a great fit. I don't know enough yet but think this will work in beautifully with our school inquiry model. 

So what is my question at this stage?

Please feel free to comment and critique my question:

• How can student/learner agency and engagement be fostered through Design Thinking?

Communities of Practice

Curious minds coming together for a shared purpose, to grow and extend their (and other's) learning, AKA Communities of Practice.

Well, that's my definition of this concept. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a social anthropologist and an educational researcher and practitioner respectively, were the first to coin this term (Wenger Traynor, 2015).

Wenger (2002) highlights three key elements of a CoP

• Joint enterprise: is a shared domain which is the “collectively developed understanding of what the community is about”. The topic of interest shared by the group. 
• Mutual engagement: the members engage through interactions within the community, building mutual trust in the relationships. The shared activities and interactions members have concern the domain. 
• Shared repertoire: is “the communal resources” that the community of practice produce (Wenger, 2000, p.229). Shared tools, language, and practices of the community etc.

I personally find being involved in CoP's important. Not just for the personal and group growth of knowledge and learning, but for the other aspects as well. Being involved in a mutually respectful team with people who have similar passions helps to motivate and drive the profession (or interest) forward. These sorts of organic groups are vital (in my opinion) for personal satisfaction and the challenge they can provide. There also seems to me, to be a vital element of choice within a CoP which makes the CoP seem more a more authentic group to participate in. The domain is not mandated by 'others' but driven by participants themselves to improve their 'practice'.

My main CoP would center around the Year 8 team members I work with, in my school. We are a very collaborative group and gain a lot from sharing our teaching and learning experiences together. We are led by a very capable leader who helps push and challenge us. We have a group vision based around doing the best we can for our students and who they are as people. Within this CoP and throughout our school other CoP's occur based on interest and need.
So how does teacher inquiry contribute and link learning in our CoP?
By interacting and endeavoring to learn, working together, sharing, researching and discussing we will construct new knowledge and understanding which should work towards improving our practice and the outcomes and benefits for our students.


Issues (or ideas for exploration) in my professional practice:

• As a team, we are always looking for ways to authentically engage our students in their learning. To grow and foster their academic and social growth. 
• Using digital learning tools in more creative ways. 
• Continuing to develop more opportunities for students to create digital content instead of mainly consuming content. 
• Using and applying higher levels of the SAMR model within classroom practices. 
• Helping students understand that mistake and decision making, as well as forging their own learning pathways is a key element to their learning. 
• Improving student autonomy and agency. (Probably a bit broader than the idea above). 
• Developing programmes that employ more problem solving and 21st-century thinking skills for students to engage with.

After sifting through a multitude of ideas (and believe me there were MANY) I have narrowed my inquiry ideas down to the following:


1. How can Augmented Reality be used to enhance student learning and curiosity during inquiry?

2. Can design thinking processes be used to improve student autonomy and agency within the classroom? 

Each of these topics for inquiries can be used to grow the shared understanding and knowledge of our CoP and address some of the issues currently faced. Moving forward from this and applying Kotter's change model (Kotter, 1996), early adopters will also be keen to take on and use what has been found out to help make the technological changes that can help grow our CoP's teaching/knowledge repertoire. This, in turn, should help equip students with more if the 21st-century learning skills (Lichtman, 2013) and fulfill the expectations of the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) that have been highlighted as being so important for students have and use in their futures. There will be both short and long term benefits.


What will we need to be aware of in a CoP?

• Time limitations- teachers are busy people and making an inquiry a priority can be challenging. 
• Researching and inquiring broadly (thanks lit review!). At times CoP's could be in danger of being 'blinkered' because those involved often think and act similarly, (Hodkinson and Hodkinson, 2004), we (or I) will need to stop and check in for academic rigor in the work done and the knowledge grown. 
• Critiquing work, highlighting potential biases and expanding perspectives. 

References:

Hodkinson, P., & Hodkinson, H. (2004). A Constructive Critique of Communities of Practice: Moving Beyond Lave and Wenger. (Seminar Paper). Retrieved December 4, 2017, from Oval Research 2004 website: http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/18014

Knox, B. (2009, December 4).Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk

Kotter, J. (1996). Leading Change. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review Press.

Lichtman, G. (2013). What 60 Schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21st Century Skills: Grant Lichtman at TEDxDenverTeachers [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZEZTyxSl3g

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/

Puzzle [Digital Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2017, from https://www.cdc.gov/phcommunities/resourcekit/intro/cop_approach.html

Too Many Choices [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2017, from http://awordywoman.com/1102/

Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2), 225-246.

Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice. Retrieved December 04, 2017, from http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

On My Own... My Reflective Practice

Reflective practice is probably something most teachers do innately. Stopping and changing tack in the middle of a lesson, responding in a different way to the behavioural needs of students or thinking back about what worked or didn't work in a lesson and what to do differently for next time. I personally couldn't imagine a time or place where some sort of reflection has not been used in my own practice to help make sense of a situation or to try to make the best learning outcomes for my students. 

But what makes reflection meaningful and pushes us further in our practice rather than just a quick glance back into our day?
Findlay (2008, p10) states 'Done well and effectively, reflective practice can be an enormously powerful tool to examine and transform practice." A question and a complication from this statement arises: what is effective reflection and how can it be managed by busy teachers for a real and meaningful, transformative effect? 

What I enjoyed and one of the main understandings I got from Findlay's (2008) paper was that one size doesn't fit all. How, and when, and why teachers reflect, and for what purpose and outcome, can all vary. As with most things, choosing and selecting the type of reflective model that best suits you at the time is what will be of most benefit. Being exposed to a range of models and identifying the benefits and drawbacks of each type of model could empower teachers to increase the complexity and depth of thinking they participate in. Thanks to Craig Lineham for finding this link about a range of reflective models. 

Another thing I found useful when thinking about reflective practice was the challenge involved in reflection; personal challenge that makes us identify our own biases and assumptions; challenge in going deeper and not just skimming the surface of our understanding; and challenge towards incorporating reflection actively in our practice in a way that works for each individual.

So in critically evaluating my reflective practice, I completed a quick survey (based on the following questions) to get the brain juices flowing.

How often do you reflect on your practice at the following levels? (Rapid, repair, review, research, re-theorising and reformulating).
The second question of the survey is adapted from Zeichner and Liston’s (cited in Finlay, 2008, p.4) five levels of reflection:

• Rapid reflection - immediate, ongoing and automatic action by the teacher. 
• Repair – in which a thoughtful teacher makes decisions to alter their behaviour in response to students’ cues. 
• Review – when a teacher thinks about, discusses or writes about some element of their teaching. 
• Research – when a teacher engages in more systematic and sustained thinking over time, perhaps by collecting data or reading research. 
• Retheorizing and reformulating – the process by which a teacher critically examines their own practice and theories in the light of academic theories.”

Like many other teachers, I find it easy to reflect at the rapid, repair and review levels- I think that comes quite naturally. The question posed was what can help you reach a higher level of reflection?
I think, like with teacher inquiry, research and sustained thinking over time needs to have a clear focus or avenue of inquiry. What patterns keep occurring, what data can be produced? Actively working and finding a way to record and pursue reflective ideas can be challenging. Working through Mindlab and being 'made' to reflect and compare my reflections with current theory etc will be helpful towards achieving those higher levels of reflection and purposeful investigation into practice. Hopefully, this will become a habitual part of what I do...

How often do you reflect on your practice in the following ways? (conversation, journaling, tweeting etc)
I am probably more of an informal reflector. I personally get more from having conversations with colleagues or confidants about issues or things I am reflecting on and enjoy having someone provide prompting questions etc to make me think on a deeper level. From this, I can also identify that I am somewhat passive in my reflections; waiting for someone to prompt or question me is not challenging myself to ask those uncomfortable questions. I also don't particularly enjoy being asked uncomfortable questions and am not a person who can answer more probing questions straight away- I need time to process.I like to think and mull over ideas. In some ways I can be avoidant towards some trickier questions. So to make my reflections transformative and meaningful I probably need to ask and face those harder confronting questions.


I look forward to seeing the strategies and other ways teachers delve into the deeper levels of reflective practice.

References:
Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file/ecms/web-content/Finlay-%282008%29-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf 


Gross, S. (2003). It Sort of Makes you Stop and Think.[Cartoon]. Retrieved November 20, 2017, from https://www.art.com/products/p15063312757-sa-i6845266/sam-gross-it-sort-of-makes-you-stop-and-think-doesn-t-it-new-yorker-cartoon.htm

MindLab (2017). Evaluate your Reflective Practice – July 2017. Available from:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSee9-DSqP0CG293TIgL5lq7H3c2Nbh5QyBrejnfWg1M0FAGsA/viewanalytics

[Reflective Practice Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2017, from http://facilitationcourse.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/reflective-practice-collaboration-and-stakeholder-communication-4-638-1.jpg

Teacher Inquiry and the end of the First Half of the Mindlab Course

Sixteen weeks have just flown by. Sixteen sessions with the team. Three and a half assignments complete (currently halfway through one right now).  And now, we're about to start the next part of the course online. This course has been challenging and inspiring, and I've really appreciated the deeper understanding I am developing as a teacher and a collaborator of educational outcomes. I'm looking forward to this next stage.

Last week for session 15 we looked at Inquiry; both teacher inquiry and student inquiry - the parallels between the two are so similar. For this blog though, I want to focus in on teacher inquiry. Why? Because it is something I have really struggled with. Teacher inquiry, to me, has felt arbitrary and another thing to load on top of already busy teachers. Not the best attitude I grant you but that is/was my honest feelings.

I am naturally am a learner. I like to find things out; think I'm quite a curious person, like to get the positive results out of my students and do the very best I can.  I  naturally inquire into things from my observations of my class and students and work from there. Isn't that what teaching is about? The thing that didn't quite connect to me was the whole paper trail of proof (wasn't that in the results, the student voice, the formative feedback, assessment and student work?) and the top-down approach I would feel during this process. Cynical yes, but write it down, tick it off, let's look at it again next year and go from there.
But to be honest, often I would blank out when it came to that time of year and really not know what I wanted to 'commit' to as an area of focus. There are so many needs. Fear of failing and not meeting the 'right' target or showing enough growth always paralysed me.

Luckily, I have an amazing appraiser who has been able to see through my cynicism and 'teaching baggage' to help me do what I need to do, while still encouraging and challenging me in my practice. So when I saw we were going to do Teacher Inquiry as part of the course I wasn't too sure where this was going to go and whether I would be interested. I was pleasantly surprised though and have had some big shifts in my thinking.

The Spiral of Inquiry.

Timperley, H., Kaser, L. & Halbert, J. (2014).

Our school's current teacher inquiry model that we use is also a spiral based model but for some reason, it didn't connect with me. Maybe I didn't understand it properly or was a bit too close minded to appreciate it.  BUT after reading and learning about the Spiral of Inquiry by Timperly, Kaser & Halbert (2014) I feel like I've had a bit of an epiphany. Not only am I seeing the possibility of using this model in my own practice but I am feeling like I'm getting the bigger picture of the whole Teacher Inquiry thing! 😇

Using the spiral of inquiry:

•  Actively investigating in a teacher-led inquiry: "This requires a shift from student voice to developing learner agency, as the students help to identify and address issues in their learning environments. In the past it has often been adults who have decided what is right or wrong with learners, and what is good for them, without involving them in either identifying issues or developing solutions. Deciding what is going on for learners without their input lacks respect and is unlikely to be productive." Timperley, Kaser & Halbert, (2014.)

For this teacher-led inquiry to work, teachers must come at their inquiry with a mindset of curiosity. It allows teachers to suspend judgement and make changes based on evidence. What is happening and why? I love this!

• Scanning: open yourself/school up to honest judgement. Terrifying but I'm getting to grips with this not as an element of criticism but of opportunity for growth. Okay, I am a still a huge bit terrified.

I like this spiral of inquiry more because of the deep connected, human element to it. The learner's at centre, the teacher as a learner, depth over surface. 

The guiding questions and boxes in the article (referenced below) are Excellent! 

Two key questions posed that stuck in my mind were: Is it acceptable for some learners to be pursuing important questions in depth while others are restricted to ‘covering’ the curriculum? Is it all right for some learners to experience challenging and engaging learning in one class while learners in the room next door are not? WOW !!Food for thought. Those are hard, challenging questions.

I haven't gone through the rest of the model but these are some of the things that have stuck and resonated with me. I'm looking forward to exploring my own teacher inquiry and general teacher inquiry through the second half of the Mindlab course in more depth over the next sixteen weeks or so.

References: 
Timperley, H., Kaser, L. & Halbert, J. (2014). A framework for transforming learning in schools: Innovation and the spiral of inquiry. Centre for Strategic Education. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/content/download/74475/611763/file/Spiral%20of%20Inquiry%20Paper%20-%20Timperley%20Kaser%20Halbert.pdf