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Well Centered
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About the Author
What about me?
I liked school, most of the time, but as the years passed I often got into trouble.
Reflecting on this, I believe it was because I was impatient with the speed of the classroom.
As an educator I reflect on my experiences as a learner to help guide my teaching.
Some of my deepest learning has come, not from teachers themselves, but from the experience of how the learning was structured. How the environment was managed and how the teacher felt about their subject.
With these thoughts in mind, I have always tried to engage myself first and my students as a result in the learning process.
I went into education at age 40, after spending 20 or so years working in the food and wine industry and raising my children. During these years I was always learning something new: botany for my garden, horticulture because I live in Napa, cooking because I wanted to stay close to my father, etc.etc.etc.
As an educator I have continually taken classes and read to improve my subject knowledge: Core Math, Teaching American History, Read to Learn, etc.
And still I felt I was growing stale, falling behind.
Over the fourteen years I have been in the classroom, I have watched the students and education evolve. My learning was designed to help me keep up with the evolution.
The piece I was not embracing was technology. I had a basic knowledge, and in fact pushed my site to rethink the use of technology and was instrumental in many of the changes at our site, but personally I was a little bit stuck and afraid, reluctant to put in the time.
With my sites move towards being a model of the modern classroom I knew it was time for me to face my fears and move forward on a new frontier.
I have started the process.
Reflections on your Journey
Three years ago my grade level team was introduced to Project Based Learning, and asked to begin implementation without much support.
Last year our site was invited to be a part of a process for redesigning the elementary classroom. We were encouraged to use PBL, technology
and small group instruction to reimagine what was happening in classrooms.
This year we are in year two of this implementation process and really beginning to see the results of the changes we are making.
With these changes in mind I decided it was time to expand my knowledge of web based instruction and small group dynamics.
Last February I enrolled in Touro Universities MED program with a focus on Innovative Learning.
I was stunned and embarrassed about how difficult it was for me to navigate some very basic aspects of technology.
I ran through my usual responses to encountering something that is difficult for me.
I made excuses. I cried in frustration. I wanted to quit. I stuck it out.
I have since shared this deeper level of metacognition about my own learning with my students, upon reflection and further examination this is not an unusual process. Sometimes we don't get past the first few steps, but if we do, there is so much to be gained. I share this story with my students to help them see that we are all alike, while we are all different.
And while I continue to struggle and often have grave doubts about my journey I am excited to explore this "brave new world" of my classroom and the 21st century students that inhabit it.
With these changes in mind I have researched a web based curriculum to test its value, I have discovered and used game based keyboarding, supported and encouraged group work, implemented small group instruction and peer review.
I have seen wonderful results, and still a have doubts.
Last year our site was invited to be a part of a process for redesigning the elementary classroom. We were encouraged to use PBL, technology
and small group instruction to reimagine what was happening in classrooms.
This year we are in year two of this implementation process and really beginning to see the results of the changes we are making.
With these changes in mind I decided it was time to expand my knowledge of web based instruction and small group dynamics.
Last February I enrolled in Touro Universities MED program with a focus on Innovative Learning.
I was stunned and embarrassed about how difficult it was for me to navigate some very basic aspects of technology.
I ran through my usual responses to encountering something that is difficult for me.
I made excuses. I cried in frustration. I wanted to quit. I stuck it out.
I have since shared this deeper level of metacognition about my own learning with my students, upon reflection and further examination this is not an unusual process. Sometimes we don't get past the first few steps, but if we do, there is so much to be gained. I share this story with my students to help them see that we are all alike, while we are all different.
And while I continue to struggle and often have grave doubts about my journey I am excited to explore this "brave new world" of my classroom and the 21st century students that inhabit it.
With these changes in mind I have researched a web based curriculum to test its value, I have discovered and used game based keyboarding, supported and encouraged group work, implemented small group instruction and peer review.
I have seen wonderful results, and still a have doubts.
Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning program
How do I know that the learning that I have experienced during this program will last? I know because I use what I have learned every day in my classroom. I continue to build and grow and explore all the possibilities to make my students learning environment the best that it can be. I share what I have learned with my colleagues who in turn share their learning with me. We are advocating for our students and for ourselves as learners and educators as we take back our classroom from the years of "No Child Left Behind". I encourage anyone who has thought about taking the leap to a new classroom to do it. It is scary, it is exciting, but most of all it will put the meaning back into your day.