For every ending a new beginning

For every ending, a new beginning 

 Photo by Ffaalumni https://www.flickr.com/photos/ffaalumni/9045245222/in/photostream/

I began this blog with thoughts about embarking on a new journey. It has certainly been that for me. This was a new course with a new text and, of course, a new set of students. Stepping into new territory is usually scary – especially if you are on the journey because someone or something else determined you were going there. And this particular course was not a choice for you so… 

I chose this journey and this class. I like IS students and since my own background was secondary I feel comfortable in that environment.  Thursday was at an inconvenient time for me. And, I knew before I began that this would be an uncomfortable fit for some of you and that might cause tension. In spite of knowing this I ventured forth. Why? Why not chose a class at a time without a previous conflict and something easier (like a grad class with 10 or so students)?  Because I so deeply believe that education can and should look different than the traditional model that is no longer engaging students (if it ever did).  And you are the future. You can create the NEW STORY.

Self-assessment

So many of you want more description of what this looks like. But the learner determines what authentic self-assessment (AaL) looks like.  The goal of Assessment for Learning is to create a culture of learning rather than a culture of grades. The ultimate goal is for a student to have the skills to self-assess by the end of the K-12 journey. That is, students are capable of:

1.     Accurately assessing their own work for its quality and completeness

2.     Metacognition: Knowing how they learn and then applying this learning.

3.     Setting goals for future learning based on the self-assessment.

So I expect you to reflect upon your performance in this course. First you need to decide what is worth reflecting upon – hence some kind of assessment tool that sets out the criteria. Then you need to do the assessment – which needs to have a reflective narrative component.   Below is an example of reflection by yours truly…

My metacognitive journey

Applying my philosophy of teaching/learning

I learned what seemed to be the “secrets” about teaching and learning when I taught high school – Phys. Ed., Health, English and Science. I say “secrets” because I learned them by challenging experiences and baptism by fire and not because anyone told me at teacher’s college or that it was the norm in my school.  After some years of experimentation I was excited by my hard won results – nothing really worth learning come easily. Not only did my high school students learn, they were engaged in the learning. In other words, I discovered that learning could be both exciting and FUN.  It was a revelation and made teaching enjoyable instead of a job shoving information down kids’ throats who preferred throwing spitballs. (I am mostly talking about Health, Science and English here as Phys. Ed. already follows some of the principles I learned).

Here are some of the principles I learned and that I wanted you to experience in this class:

All can succeed.

I am determined that you all can and will succeed.  To translate this into grades this means 75 or above. We both have roles in this happening successfully.

I believe in the growth mindset and the plasticity of the brain. That means if you (one in a class of proven successful university students) engage in the learning then you will succeed. But the key here is that you need to actually be here to engage in the learning. I know that – given the grade culture that we live in at this university - you will show up for class if it is a large part of the grade.  This accounts for the high % for participation in your grade composition. 

But “bums in seats” is not the whole story. I need you really THERE.... engaged in the learning.  That is your job. Remember the success criteria we established as a class for engagement? How well did you demonstrate those criteria?

How can I try to insure that you are engaged from a pedagogical perspective? This is my responsibility.

I need to apply what I learned in my teaching days.

Learn by doing

I’m not so convinced about learning styles. I think EVERYONE learns best by doing. That is why I give you class time for collaborative curriculum development and collaborative blogging. To consolidate the learning (from the text and lecture) you need to APPLY it. And I also believe that if you learn collaboratively the learning will stick.

Relevance

I believe that you will engage the learning if it is meaningful to you. Sometimes that is hard if the material is not intrinsically interesting and the only reason to learn it is for the test. 21^st Century learning and curriculum building may be interesting to you or may not. It is very interesting to me - as I have seen an evolution in this over my career and I have been a part of that evolution. I believe I can enhance possible relevance for you by giving you the opportunity for hands-on learning.  Learn by doing.

Finding passion

I love it when I see students who are excited about their learning. I know the pleasurable surge of endorphins from learning itself .  It surprised me the first time I experienced it in my second year university.  I also love it when I see students think outside the box.  They are accountable to the requirements of learning, but also demonstrate the outcomes in some creative way. So I am excited when I hear about the passion-based learning movement and Genius Hour. I need you to have the experience of preparing for Genius Hour or it will be only words on a page. 

Modeling

Since I believe in experiential learning, I needed to ask how will you really learn the big ideas in this class if they are outside your experience?  I need to practice what I preach. Take AfL for example. What is the point in lecturing about AfL and only giving you summative assessments (AaL)?  That is why I have tried to give you feedback rather than grades, and experimented ever so briefly with strategies like Popsicle sticks (but you see you did remember them, even if not fondly). 

I have also repeatedly tried to voice my metacognition and tell you why I am doing what I am doing – this in part to alleviate any discomfort with such a seemingly unstructured learning environment.  I spent a lot of time structuring the seemingly unstructured learning environment. I hope you could hear/understand that most of things I did with intention. I did almost everything for a reason grounded in my personal beliefs about teaching and learning. And why one of the outcomes for this course was for you to BE open to the new and possibly unfamiliar.

Lifelong learning and making mistakes.

As you know I have had many years of educational experience. Yet I am still learning and I can’t seem to be able to pull out last year’s lesson plan and repeat it. There are too many exciting things happening in the world of education to fall back on what I have known. BUT, this inevitably leads to situations where I need to say, “I don’t know how to do this” and ask for your help. I wish that there had been no glitches but there were and you were gracious about it – and helpful. Thank you for your patience and for being my co-learners.  

My report card.

And how have I done? Like you, I have no “grade” from this class. As in your self-assessment, I am not the sole author of this story.  You are my co-authors. I can only fathom my results from your feedback in such things as exit cards, blogs, your “presence” in class, personal emails, classroom conversations, and curriculum projects, Genius Hours etc. I feel vulnerable writing this self-assessment (as you probably will too). I am keenly aware that your assessment might be very different than mine. Like you, I have no exemplars. 

From my perspective, I think almost everyone of you has tried to understand what I am doing and why.  You have filled the "seats with bums" – and have been largely engaged and open to whatever is in front of you. You have written good to terrific blogs. Some of the blogs are most attractive with interesting images and links and deserve a wider audience. You delivered some terrific Genius Hours that went beyond the call of duty and demonstrated what intrinsically motivated learning can look like. You contributed beyond my expectations to the curriculum research forum.  I am confident that the pieces to the curriculum puzzle will fall in place and that you will feel a sense of pride in the results. (You need to trust me on this one.) I know that most of your self-assessments will be thoughtful, reflective and authentic and not just trying to write what you think I want you to write. 

So I base my success on your success and I expect you all to be successful.  

flckr.com

The wheel turns full circle.  Next steps.  

The really fun part for me is that the wheel has turned full circle. The things I discovered by trial and error and came to believe so passionately as educational principles are now a part of the “new story”.  It is not just my story, but also an international movement toward learning that is constructivist, collaborative, experiential and inquiry-based. I thank your for being a part of this journey and hope you will take it forward in your next steps. 

For those of you who chose to continue this direction in optional course 4P29 (21st Century literacies) I promise a rich journey. We will be a small group who now have the theoretical framework for a deep understanding of the real world of 21st Century teachers. I expect it to be a rich and fascinating exploration.