Communitiy of Practice. Activity 3

The readings and videos from this week had me thinking about my school and whether we had a true Community of Practice which according to Wegner (2000), “a community of practice is defined as a group of individuals participating in communal activity, and experiencing continuously creating their shared identity through engaging in and contributing to the practices of their communities.”

Short answer to this question would be yes, in some parts we do. The long answer is a little more complicated. If I am to be honest, there are small groups within school that are a CoP but overall we do not do it as often as we should. In saying that we are continuing to grow and MIndlab has had a positive affect on this with many teachers that have completed or are on this journey,  

Topic 1: Collaborative Teaching

Where ever you go in education collaboration is an important and ever growing topic of interest.

I have been a part of small collaborative teams in my short time as a teacher and I have had great experiences, but in thinking about this more, a lot of this work could be seen as being more cooperative learning than collaborative. Next year is a big year for myself and a colleague of mine. Because of the classrooms we are moving too we have made the decision to do more collaborative teaching, sharing the planning, teaching, grouping etc. We have already had many discussion about this, we have gone into other schools to see how they are doing this, and we have the backing and support of our leaders in school. It is a new and at times scary thought process but so exciting as well. We will be starting off small (with maths being the focus) but hopefully extends to all areas of learning. While we both have our own children that we have to report to, make OTJs and meet with parents etc, the ultimate goal being that our collaborative approach will support our students and our own growth through professional learning, discussions and a shared vision of where we are wanting the students to be.

 

Topic 2: Student and whanau voice, working with whanau

A topic that would align to my own passion is to have learning that is more meaningful to my students and their whanau. To me this means getting student and whanau voice on what they want to learn/be taught. This part would be outside the core subjects that would be taught, the topic type areas that sometimes can be to teacher centered.

This also means working closely with whanau in a more meaningful way, allowing them to understand more of how we teach/what is taught in class so all teachers in our stakeholders life are on the same page, so there is less confusion between what the students are learning at school and home. Whether it works, who knows but it is something I wish to try.

Reference

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

 

 

Future Orientated Learning: Activity 2

Future orientated learning and Teaching

Everything moves so fast in this profession. I am only 3 years removed from my studies and my own knowledge and skills have grown exponentially with in this time. Unfortunately everything else seems to be going even quicker than I am learning. There are times when I still feel like I am in the dark ages, I sometimes feel like I am falling into a bottomless pit. As for the university, do not get me started on that, I do not feel like I brought anything from my studies into my teaching, the whole education system (especially when you are older and moving into the real world) does not cater to the 21st century learning skills that are needed in the present and future. But I digress. Back to the point at hand, this whole future orientated learning and teaching seems a little daunting at first but with closer look into what I have trialled and currently doing, it just needs a can do attitude, a bit of luck, some common sense, good guidance and a lot of perseverance.

Theme: Personalised learning and subtheme: The role of current and future technologies

Why did I make this change? As with all classrooms, I have a range of learning abilities and skills and there is no on one size fits all for them. We have spent the whole year trying to find out what is best fit for them. The introduction of a more thought out digital plan was 1 plan that has helped many children. When I started my teaching, digital tools were used in a way to keep a student’s busy so I could work with my groups. There was no real learning happening, no learner engagement and no growth. Even now this is sometimes the case. Since I have started Mindlab I have tried to incorporate using digital tools to enhance their learning and knowledge. It is a work in progress, just like life. My class is learning together, we are beginning to understand the why and how, when it comes to using digital technology in our room, children are becoming more confident in explaining their reasons for using/needing certain apps/sites and the overall use of technology has become more efficient and meaningful. This doesn’t mean we have gone away from the pen, or drawing etc. It gives them another choice, and a choice that reflects greatly on future learning. Are we perfect? That is a big NO, but we are trying hard. Technology on a whole makes learning more enjoyable because this is what the world is about today. Everywhere you look technology is abundant, most children themselves are able to use an Ipad before being able to write. It is the way the world works now. Beeland (2002) agrees that technology helps “makes lessons more enjoyable and interesting, resulting in improved attention, engagement and student behaviour essential to learning process”

I am still falling in that bottomless pit but there is light, whether I reach it is neither here nor there. The light will guide me and my learners to continue to raise the expectations, skills, knowledge and understanding of what it is to be a future orientated learner and teacher, and to know that the world is ever changing, education is ever changing and we are either on the bus or getting left behind.

References

Beeland Jr, W. D. (2002) Student engagement, visual learning and technology: can interactive whiteboards help? Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/38455890/COOOOL.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1511846908&Signature=AoLweufmiCp%2BU5AuAMKUzggoRb4%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DStudent_Engagement_Visual_Learning_and_T.pdf  

Ministry of Education.(2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

Reflective Practitioner: Activity 1

Before this practice and before I did any reading on this, I would have said that I was a good reflective practitioner. I always thought of my teaching and my students learning, both in real time (reflection in action) and after the fact (reflection on action), what went wrong, went right, what alterations were needed and how would I achieve these. From there I was able to make the changes to my plans and my delivery. This was an ongoing cycle as what worked for one child/group wouldn't for the next. Reflection for me was everyday, every lesson, every night.

I read 2 articles on this; Finlay's Reflecting on Reflective Practice and Grushka, Hinde-McLeod and Reynolds' Reflecting upon reflection. They were 2 interesting articles that I took a few things from. Firstly Zeichner and Listons' (Finlay, 2008) 5 levels of reflection made me question or reflect on my own philosophy. I feel I definitely do number 1: Rapid reflection, and 2: Repair. Over my time as a teacher I have done number 3: Review, but only during my registration years with my mentor teacher and for my own practice. This part definitely doesn't come naturally. As for researching (systematic and sustained thinking) and retheorizing and reformulating (critically examining practice and theories), I can honestly say that I do not do this.

 Grushka, Hinde-McLeod and Reynolds' (2005) was another interesting read. I really connected with the 3 levels of reflection, Reflection for action, Reflection in action, and Reflection on action. It was more in my talk, simple step by step guide of what each action represented from a technical, practical and critical standpoint. I could look up and down this and tick off most of the technical and practical elements but once again the critical part is lacking. 

Where do I go from here?

Personally I would love to be able to put myself out there more. To have more in depth discussion with peers and colleagues, to share my stories (my success and failures), to become better at the critical part and to become a more confident and competent reflective practitioner. For me as a learner it has always  been easier for me to see things done right and go from there, to just do me and be in my little bubble. This is my first step in this journey, doing blogs, and having any thoughts or ideas out for anyone to see and critique is not a natural thing. After reading a few blogs here, it is not as daunting as my mind makes it and it is time to take the advice I give my kids everyday. Do not be afraid to make mistakes, do not be afraid to be wrong, always try your hardest, learn from everything that happens and everyone you meet.  To be honest, half the time I still do not know if I am doing things right but lets just go from here.

References

Finlay, L. (2009). Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/sites/www.open.ac.uk.opencetl/files/files/ecms/web-content/Finlay-%282008%29-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf

Grushka, K., Hinde-McLeod, J. and Reynolds, R. (2005) Reflecting upon reflection: theory and practice in one Australian university teacher education program. Reflective Practice