This semester has really helped me out to be more of an innovative thinker. Am I where I want to be, probably not but, at least I feel I am moving forward. I can say that I have learned more because last semester there was so much focus on designing the research paper that I honestly think there wasn’t much focus on innovation. But now with the instructional design models we have looked at this semester it has helped me out quite a bit. There was a lot of focus on Dervin and Clark this semester that it helped me understand the importance of how and why we should design our curriculum and instructional strategies around these two theorists’ ideas. A challenge for me is that I do have tasks from Mathematics Vision Project that has students practice the 4 C’s as they go through the task, but there is no student motivation around the content in the tasks. This is where the ARCS model has helped me out on how to get students motivated in the classroom. When I worked with matt and James on this model it was really clear and straight to the point on how to apply this model and I plan to use it as much as I can when designing instruction. A lot of the times it seems like these models would have been a great introduction to the beginning of this program. I think that if I had these models and have studied them in detail like I have this semester, I would have been able to create a deeper and structured driving question. That also would mean I would have had a better written research paper with better data. At least I think I would have. I have to finish this blog with making sure that I give my C-15 fam some credit. Anytime I needed help on something from the program, the person I contacted or whomever was readily available, were there to answer my questions. They have made my time in this program enjoyable, yes enjoyable, I said it. So thank you very much everyone! C-15 fam represent!
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I remember when TPACK was first introduced to us last semester and at first it was a difficult concept for me to follow with all of the “educational grammar” in it. But throughout the previous semester and now this semester, it has been making more sense. To me though TPACK’s concept of instructional design can be used with other models we have looked at like ARCS, Dervin’s engagement learning environment, SITE and Clarks Concept chapter. In other words I see TPACK encompasses these models concepts. Every time we design lessons we should consider the main concepts of TPACK which are Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge. With all the educational tech tools we have explored we can cover the technological aspect of TPACK. Then with what he have explored through our research and analyzation of the data we have and will look at is where we can come up with pedagogical strategies. Then with content knowledge is where we could focus on the standards that we are to teach our students. I think the ARCS model can be applied here since we should use the TPACK concept but also apply the idea of getting students attention and having the activities we do in class to be relevant to them in order to deepen student learning and the practice of the 4 C’s. And let’s not forget about Baggio’s ideas of how to present our content to our students. Visuals can be used as we design lessons around TPACK. I did think about some of these things as I was creating my prototype. I knew that I had to create it around my DQ but I had a difficult time building around it. It wasn’t until I got my research paper and my initial analysis and thought about them as one. Then I was able to think of the process of how I would want to “teach” colleagues on how to plan for ELL’s while addressing my DQ. I also thought about what instructional design models would work and which ones make sense to me. I used ARCS, SITE and TPACK. I could have inserted Dervin since it was such a big influence on us this semester but I believe that these models have a little to a lot of what Dervin addresses in her article.
One of the things that I am most excited about is how I will try to integrate more technology into my classroom. I have used some digital tools in my classroom throughout the program that has gotten me wanting to try them out on my students. I have used very little technology in my class so this will be big change. Therefore, I will be applying it little by little so I won’t overwhelm myself and my students. For example I have students work in Collaborative Study Groups (CSG’s) every week and they have to do a written reflection on how their session went within the group, but now I would love to use Flipgrid and have them upload an oral reflection of a minute or less of how it went. Also Screencastify is a great tool I enjoyed using and hope to teach this to my students to work on projects or even small homework problems. I would love to do this all around collaboration this is where my DQ revolves around. But now after seeing the video of Eddie Obeng, he mentioned something about if we are trying to try something new we should be asking ourselves, “Hmm, I wonder whether this also makes sense in our new world after midnight." This comes to the way the world is evolving as such an exponential rate but learning isn’t evolving at the same rate. So it gets me thinking to if what I am doing is really innovative or not. Will it be useful for my students? But I think this where Baggio, Dervin, Clark and the SITE model come in to play because they support in what I believe in is that we should try our best to not just listen to our students but try to empathize with them in order to create and plan lessons around them. But to me one of the biggest influence has been Baggio. This has got me going me all over the place on how to create worksheets, assignments, tests, and any presentations that I might have going on in class. I want to make sure I don't have any CRAP-py materials/presentations.
After taking the Learning Style Quiz these are my results: 56% Visual 16% Auditory 28% Kinesthetic One of the main things been that has inspired me so far has been the evolution of technology upgrade in my teaching practice. My driving question revolves around my ELLs so I have had them in the back of my mind on what tools might work best to support their academic achievement. I say this because I truly believe that if the tools help them out these tools can help any other student in the classroom. At times though it does seem overwhelming with all the information that we have looked at like Baggio, Clark and the SITE model. But for example, focusing on specific strategies like “mirror” effect on slides as mentioned by Baggio, concept cognitive learning load from Clark, and the SITE model it can really bridge lesson planning and collaboration among colleagues to support our students. I think that if appropriately blending just the right and enough ingredients from our resources from our 791 class, we can definitely have our students practice 21st century skills in and outside our classrooms. With these resources it can help my audience understand my action research, my practice and what I am learning in the Innovative Learning program. The SITE model helps me think and examine my students and audience in context. Creating the character profiles has supported me in empathizing with my students as well. It’s opened a new way for me to understand the struggles my students have when I present new material or new projects. And this is where the concepts of the SITE model support me as a teacher to lesson plan while I have my students on mind. This thinking also goes along as I start to think a little bit more on my capstone for this program. How will I carry out my message to my colleagues about what I have learned and how I plan to evolve my practice with what I have learned so far? I will keep the SITE model in mind when thinking about the sociocultural, technical, informational and educational sub context of colleagues and students.
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