Tender, strong, silly and smart, elephants tug at our emotions and, perhaps, we at theirs. Watch any elephant closely and you'll quickly notice intelligence in their eyes, as well as the sense of playfulness. -Jessica Tracy As I created this video about my journey over the past eight weeks, I searched for a song that would be just right. I stumbled upon “Everything We Wanted” by Pure Mids opening with the line, “feels the same but everything is changing,” and it really struck me. This year has felt routine in ways, but it has also been a season of growth. I got married and my husband deployed, started grad school, live across the country from family, and have taken on the role of grade chair. I reflected on my identity. My intersectionality of white, female, heterosexual, and ablebodied. My career as an educator and innovator. My personality as optimistic, kind, and adventurous. Myself as a traveler, wife, daughter, sister, friend, yogi, writer, hiker, and artist. And I have dreams to be more. This video attempts to represent all these parts, and my journey through making and innovating in my classroom this semester. I broke a filter bubble, delved into copyright, explored Universal Design for Learning, and redesigned my classroom. I learned to be okay with imperfection and view failure as iteration. What beneficial topics to learn working in areas of diversity and need. I love teaching yet am more than a teacher. I’ve taken this perspective with my students, too. Outside the walls of my classroom, they are other things -- athletes, sons, daughters, readers, sisters, brothers, pranksters, friends. I wish for my classroom to accept them as they are and allow them to blossom into more. The video ends in an elephant-shaped collage. I came across a post in my research quoting a Greek tablet. It says to watch any elephant closely and you’ll notice both intelligence and playfulness (Tracy, 2018) This is what I hope for myself and for the lives of my students. References
Everything we wanted [Recorded by Pure Mids]. Single track [mp3]. Dreamtime Palace. Retrieved from https://www.jamendo.com/track/1657649/everything-we-wanted?language=en Tracy, Jessica. (2018, August 19). Elephant symbolism and elephant spiritual meaning [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://7chakrastore.com/blogs/news/elephant-symbolism-and-elephant-spiritual-meaning
0 Comments
This week I was asked to show the learning environment that my students and I experience each day. We all “experience” our environments each day, as David Kelley (2002) discusses in his TED Talk. This task posed a big challenge for two major reasons: I am not fluent with design software AND I have always simply worked with what I had. Being asked to imagine a space that would allow my learners and I to flourish and then create that using technology? Woah. I began by sketching and listing, two of my favorite things. Here’s my hand drawn masterpiece and a digital version of my current classroom created with Room Styler. As I decided what to keep, I put myself in my students’ shoes. Flexible seating is a key, research-based component in my classroom to empower my students with choice. This is something that I wanted to expand upon in my redesign, not inhibit. Additionally, we gather each morning for a “community circle” on our carpet, and my students have voiced to me how valuable this part of our day is. KEEP
Wishes were pretty easy as I often find myself saying, “if only I had…” during the day. It’s Christmastime and my family has a whole email chain dedicated to wish lists! But seriously, research shows that “classroom design could be attributed to a 25% impact, positive or negative, on a student’s progress over the course of an academic year” (Vanhemert, 2013). Twenty-five percent! That’s a big number when you consider we as teachers are typically given just four white walls and 25 desks. As I researched and learned more about “the third teacher” in the classroom (Cannon Design, 2010), the physical space, I asked myself why I wanted certain components. This is as much their space as mine and it should be adapted to meet both our needs. WISHES
Experts ask that we “look at [our] learning space with 21-st century eyes,” (Cannon Design, 2010, p. 56) but teachers are rarely given a matching budget. My sister, Erin, a talented interior designer who works on designing 21-st century office spaces each day, has a wealth of knowledge on this topic. I collaborated with her and she took my simple designs to a whole new level with some of her design software! It was a lot of fun to see how our vastly different careers came together during this project. I also learned that quality furniture is not cheap and her field requires a lot of talent. Allowances for these learning spaces ideally should come from the “top down,” but for now, I plan to work within my means to provide the best possible spaces I can for my students! References
Cannon Design (2010, April 1). The third teacher. New York, NY: Abrams. Kelley, David. (February 2002). Human-centered design [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/david_kelley_human_centered_design Vanhemert, Kyle. (2013, January 18). Study shows how classroom design affects student learning. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/1671627/study-shows-how-classroom-design-affects-student-learning I have been creating, and iterating, an innovative learning experience (fancy name for a lesson plan, huh? Let’s call it an ILEP!) over the past two weeks and I’m ready to share it with you! That does not by any means imply that it is done (are we ever really “done”?) but it is in a stage of finality that I am proud of. In a nutshell, this ILEP asks my fourth grade scientists to use Circuit Stickers to create a constellation seen during their birth month. Further, they may choose to write or verbally explain why that constellation can be seen during that time of the year based on an understanding of patterns of seasonal change. The project ends with a dark room gallery walk to view the night sky through the work of all scholars in our classroom. Fitting that it’s Thanksgiving week and a time where we in the United States tend to express our gratitude, I was reminded of how thankful I am for my peers, instructors, and those in my “teaching tribe” for the feedback and growth they afford me. MY ILEP would not be here without the thoughtful comments that I received this past week. Here’s what my ILEP looked like after the feedback phase - bursting with comments and ideas to work with. Exploring Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and intersectionality (see more about that on my blog post from last week) gave my peers and I new lenses to critique with. I made a few relatively small changes but with a huge UDL impact. It was suggested to give my students multiple means of expression and allow choice in how students construct their explanation. My original plan asked students to write out their understanding of seasonal change, but my improved plan allows students to write or verbally explain in a short Flipgrid video. Students are still meeting the same science standard, but in a way that works best for them. Students with difficulty reading and writing may prefer a verbal option while shyer students may prefer to express themselves with text. I also added more resources, details, and “tinker time” where students could explore the task and technology, make mistakes, and ideate with peers. One aspect I did not change was the rubric where students are graded. I asked if anything needed clarification, but as I attempted to clarify the scientific explanation instructions, I felt that I was simply “giving away” the answers of what students may write. I want their explanation of constellation change based on seasonal patterns to be more organic and truly assess what they understand about Earth’s rotation and revolution. Rubrics are hard! How do we make them clear and concise, yet also allow for creativity and expression? I’m still searching for that delicate balance. As I gave feedback to my peers, my students were at the forefront of my mind. I first searched out positive points to comment on - in this case, particularly ones that addressed UDL and provided multiple means of representation, engagement, and action/expression. I strive to do this each day - both personally and professionally. Our first interactions with our students need to be positive, and a critique to a colleague is much better received when they are also accustomed to hearing me sing their praises. Griping to a spouse when I walk in the door makes for an unpleasant evening; I’d rather enter with gratitude and grace. Once I noted the glowing aspects, I was able to ask questions, request clarification, and provide suggestions for growth. The challenge here was doing this through the perspective of intersectionality. We were asked to view the plan through an identity different than our own. As I gave feedback on a lesson using virtual reality goggles, I focused on the challenges this may present to a student with limited mobility or a student in a wheelchair. These are not challenges I think about each day or during my own lesson planning, so I had to step outside of my comfort zone. As I think about moving forward with my ILEP, I envision big smiles and deep conversations in my classroom. Stay tuned! |
Hi there!I'm Sarah! I have a passion for powerful teaching and lifelong learning. I am a 4th grade teacher turned instructional designer, and this is my blog documenting the journey. Click here to get in touch with me. Archives
February 2021
|