Okay, since the great power outage of Northern New Jersey is now over and I am caught up on all of my other assignments I can now concentrate on my blog posting. Yay! Over the past month I have been very busy in regards to designing my Technology Implementation Project (TIP). Lots of great PD things have been going on all around me, verifying why my TIP idea is so important to my colleagues.
About the third week of October, my district sent all of its Professional Development (PD) committees to an NJDOE sponsored event. The main topic of this conference was of course the 2012-2013 school and district PD plan. The state really didn't go into too much detail about what constitutes a PLC this year, as opposed to last year. They seemed to believe that we all were already implementing them in some way or another, because it is a requirement. Instead they focused on knowledge generating opportunities amongst teachers and the importance of those opportunities for professional growth. They then linked those professional learning experiences to student achievement, via different logic models and research. On a side note, being an Ed.D. student, I was especially excited that they were discussing a possible additional theoretical framework that I could use in my dissertation work. Although they made my day in that regard, they really were trying to demonstrate to the many sceptics out there that there is value in collaborative forms of professional development for teachers and students alike.
I feel that many traditionalists do not view teacher time to talk, plan, and create as valuable learning experiences. All of us have been conditioned to believe that true learning can only take place when an expert is in front of a room disseminating knowledge to whomever is listening to them. That is the way we as adults have learned as children and that is the way that many teach their students today. It is the way that many feel comfortable learning. The point the state was trying to make was that we need to break away from those types of traditional learning environments, for both our teachers and our students sake.
I was thoroughly surprised when the NJDOE discussed infusing technology, especially Web 2.0 tools, into teacher and student learning opportunities. They showed a video clip of a 1st grade classroom that used all of the technology we have been talking about, wikis, blogs, discussion boards, podcasts, and video streaming to learn about everything around them. When the clip was over the room was a buzz with people talking. At my table people couldn't believe what they saw. They said that there was no way that could take place in their classrooms. I asked one of my colleagues why she felt that way. She responded that she had no idea how to use those types of technology and didn't understand how they could be valuable learning tools. She felt that texting and typing made communication impersonal and that she felt that typing all of the time rather than speaking to someone face to face, has been taking away from her students' social skills. I asked her if she ever had used any of the tools that the video discussed. She said no, and that she would have no idea how to use them herself or in her classroom. To make a long story short, I followed up with some more questions and in the end the teacher agreed that if she was exposed to and supported throughout her use of one of the Web 2.0 tools mentioned in the video for her own learning she may begin to see the importance of that tool as a learning device and may be inclined to then use the tool in her classroom.
Throughout my development of my TIP I have thought about what this teacher said to me. I must make sure that I support my colleagues through this process while showing them the importance of this tool not only for their own personal growth but for their students growth as well.
Hi Jen:
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post and can really empathize with much of what you said. My district often shows video clips in our professional development, and many teachers reply in the same fashion as the one you quoted in your post. As a young teacher, I feel that, for the most part, I have grown up around technology. Everything from AIM to Facebook to Powerpoint, etc., although some of the tools we are learning about in class are new to me. I try to put myself in the position of older teachers who have not had the same exposure to technology, and I realize that they must be so overwhelmed! No wonder they are opposed to implementing these tools. I was talking with a teacher I work with, and I told her I was talking my class to the computer lab to blog about their informational books. Her response was, “Do I have to do that? I don’t even know what that is!” I too would be reluctant to introduce and use these technologies if not for the exposure in this class and the time I have spent independently researching.
While I do think the teacher has a point that we do need to keep face-to-face social interactions in the classroom, I think the more pressing challenge is for districts to provide enough PD so that all teachers feel comfortable using these tools which are obviously a part of our students’ lives and will undoubtedly be for years to come.
Great post!
Kate
Jen,
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I clicked on your blog. I love the look. I will have to check out blogspot; I am using blogger.com.
You made so many great points, especially about how teachers don't seem to want to change. You feel teachers want to be disseminators of information, I totally agree. Interestingly enough, we all learned to teach mostly by doing it. We get excited when we discover something great to teach the class. What so many teachers don't get is that it is the excitement of discovering the information that is so wonderful, and we need to allow our students the same.
Your sharing your conversation with your peer about technology was so interesting. While I agree that technology has lessened much of our face to face communication, and even speaking, I can definitely say that my own children are much more connected to their friends and the world than I ever was. They are constantly communicating. I even text my daughter during the day while she is in school; she says she only texts between classes (yeah right). The thing is that whether we agree with this type of communication or not, it is how our students communicate and we need to speak their language. Hopefully with more teachers like yourself spreading the word, and encouraging others to jump on board, there will be change.
What great timing! You're really fortunate to have experienced something like that. It sounds like the event was beneficial, and most importantly you had the opportunity to start a dialogue with someone. I think that's the hardest part, is getting people to listen to you in the first place! How many times do we as teachers subject each other to the same disrespect our students dish out? It's so annoying to sit in PD sessions, or even staff meetings when no one listens.
ReplyDeleteI really commend you on getting the dialogue going ... it may give you the opportunity to be a technology "inventor" as Schrum & Levin said. Good luck with your dissertation and research!!
Just curiosity, what was the additional framework that you had referenced in the beginning of your post??
Your post scares me! Although, I clearly feel that I am no longer a traditionalist 9if I ever was). I believe strongly that, in fact, the strongest professional development is taking place in schools where teachers are given the opportunity to talk about teaching and learning. Somehow we missed this and went right to “item analysis” of test data. While structure is indeed needed to help foster rich conversations about teaching (and, yes, data [i.e. the NSRF protocols]), the most powerful PD is happening in what “traditionalists” are clearly missing. Too often the “expert” is disconnected from our students, our school, our experiences. Who better to learn form than those people who share your struggles and successes? Well said Mrs. Morris!
ReplyDelete