How vs. Why

Jeff Utecht wrote a great post on UTechTips about how sometimes “it is about the tool.” He pokes at a phrase our district has used on a number of occasions – that it’s not about the tool; it’s about the learning. The technology, as the saying goes, is just a tool to enhance learning. I wanted to expand on his ideas just a little bit as they relate to my experiences, both in the classroom and in technology leadership.

Our district has spent a lot of time and money trying to train teachers in technology. I would estimate that about half of that time has been spent on dealing with the “whys” of technology as it relates to teaching and learning. This trend continues – even our most recent technology trainings have spent a good third of the time explaining why this is a good thing to do. Obviously, this is something that teachers must know. We should understand why it is important for students (and for us) to keep up with the pace of technology. We have to grasp the significance of the changes we are seeing in the world, as well as the impending consequences on our students’ futures.

While all this is certainly valuable, the problem I’m seeing is that the teachers continue to hear the same things in every training they attend. Having attended trainings for a couple of years now, it has become evident that the vast majority of our teachers “get it;” they understand the importance of engaging students through technology and they have bought into using technology in their classrooms. What they don’t get nearly as much of is, as Utecht puts it, the “how.”

There are really two sides of that question as I have seen it play out in our district. First, teachers often leave our training still wondering “how do I use this tool?” Whether it’s something as simple as Animoto or something as complicated as Adobe Premiere Elements, there are always some teachers who need additional support learning how to use the tool. Depending on the tool we’re training them to use, this could be anywhere from one or two people with simple trainings like using Vista, to the majority of teachers for something like photo or video editing.

Much as in the classroom, differentiation seems to be the answer – creating valuable learning opportunities for a range of abilities at the same time. Providing differentiated learning opportunities for different groups of learners helps pinpoint the needs of individuals. For example, creating a training that allows tech-savvy teachers the freedom to explore, but also provides extra help for hesitant learners, is turning out to be a necessity.

The other side of the “how” question is a much more frequently asked one: “Now that I know how to use the tool, how can I use it in the classroom to enhance student learning?” This seems to be the topic that gets left out of many of our teacher trainings. I know I am guilty of this myself in the trainings I’ve conducted. While there are a couple of methods I’ve seen regarding this topic (suggesting some possible uses, asking participants to identify some uses), I’m a bit behind on this one.

If you conduct technology trainings, how do you help address this issue of “how”? What methods do you use to help teachers identify classroom uses for the technology you show them?

This is a question that I’ll be spending some time on, I think. I guess it’s just that important.

Goals for This Year

I just had my annual goals meeting with our administrator and thought it would be worth sharing the three goals I’ve set for myself this year. They’re each fairly specific and I’ll probably be inquiring about other teachers’ solutions to these in the near future.

1. Develop a stronger understanding of how to teach the writing process (rather than just the  product); specifically, methods for conferencing with students while keeping the class engaged in meaningful learning.

2. Find creative and purposeful ways to model thinking (including reading and writing strategies) in front of students. Part of this is being willing to make embarrassing mistakes in front of students.

3. Become innovative in creating and assigning papers, projects and other assignments by employing role playing strategies to raise real-world problems for students to solve.

One of the things I appreciate about these goal meetings is the opportunity to lay out my vision for my own development as a teacher, and for my students’ development as readers, writers, thinkers, and most importantly, people. I am forced to reflect on my own teaching critically and find areas that need to improve if my students are going to get the best possible education in my class – something I enjoy thoroughly.

I should note that both goals 2 and 3 are in part inspired by the book our administration has us reading: Teaching for Tomorrow: Teaching Content and Problem-Solving Skills (a link to the book’s Shelfari page – something I’m going to be doing when I mention book titles). I was pleasantly surprised to find myself marking pages with sticky notes and plowing through some of these big ideas and little strategies.

Do Teachers Just Want to Teach?

A post today on Seeking Shared Learning got me thinking…a lot. I don’t do it often, but I thought I’d post my own comments on this topic and get some feedback:

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I think you’ll find that most teachers, particularly at the secondary level, would disagree. I find it ironic that this post was inspired by the “Dangerously Irrelevant” blog, because I (and many others I work with) would feel that is exactly what our teaching would become if we lost all control over curriculum. When teachers have no control over what they teach, the content will inevitably become stale, stagnant, and unresponsive to the needs of the diverse individuals we call students. It also eliminates the option to experiment with new ideas, new instructional methods, and even new technologies. And if our goal is to focus on 21st century skills (or Outcomes and Indicators) rather than content, why is it so crucial to teach the exact same content across the board?

When many of the secondary teachers in our district (and, I can confidently say, all of the teachers in my department) read something like this, and when we hear about curriculum binders with scripted lessons, we worry that we will lose all of the things mentioned above. And for good teachers who are committed to providing their students the best possible education they can provide, this is a scary thing. To remove teachers’ ability to be creative and innovative seems to contradict the goals of our district – in fact, teacher innovation seems to be what has made this district so successful. We may also find that when teachers lose the ability to create and innovate in their own classrooms (which most of us share in with our colleagues), they will seek out a place where they will be allowed to do so.

All that said, there is certainly a balance to be sought after. Students in Class A should certainly have the same opportunities to learn as students in Class B – the same skills being developed, the same opportunities to use technology, and so on. There are many positive learning experiences that we can all participate in. There are many other ways to find consistency without having T&L mandate curriculum to teachers – even consistency within a grade level and a department is still consistency, and it is something that can be achieved by allowing professionals, who are extensively trained in their profession, to collaborate with each other and reach a consensus of their own. Does this require more time and effort? Absolutely. But there are a lot of reasons this is not an easy profession, and we knew this when we signed up.

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For those that are currently in the classroom, do you find yourself agreeing with this, or would you prefer more standardized curriculum?