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About the Author
I am an 8th grade math teacher at American Canyon Middle School and the 2017-2018 academic year will be my fourth year of full-time teaching. My motivation for joining the Innovative Learning program was simply because I wanted to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to better prepare my students for the demands of the 21st century by helping them develop necessary skills (6 C's) for college and careers. Particularly, I wanted to affect change within the lives of ALL of my students, particularly my at risk students because I believe that all children deserve equitable access to education and opportunities no matter their background. My passion for social justice stems from personal experience with poverty and adversity. For that reason, I feel a personal connection with my students and I feel deeply invested in helping my students reach their goals and become happy successful global citizens.
To elaborate on my personal experience with poverty and adversity, I attended a very poor and rough high school. My high school was a place that was filled with gang violence where many of the students felt confused, frustrated, and truly believed that effort was meaningless. I like many of my peers, had immigrant parents who spoke little to no English and could not help us navigate the educational system nor advocate for us. Our lack of knowledge prevented us from accessing resources and opportunities. Although that was my reality, I am determined to make sure that it is not the reality for my students. We may not all begin at the same starting line in the race, but with effort, it is possible to arrive at the finishing line with those ahead of us. With the aid of the Innovative Learning program, I hope to narrow the achievement and opportunity gap that exist.
Within my own classroom, there is so much diversity--in race, culture, and abilities. Necessary differentiation is embedded in my teaching practice but does not begin to address the needs of all of my students. Moreover, significant one-on-one student-teacher time is impossible because of the limited amount of time we can allot to each student in the day. Because everyone is at different starting points in abilities and backgrounds, this presents equity issues. Many students are left behind because they cannot keep up or do not have access to a device or the internet. I also noticed that students who learned a skill or concept would quickly forget it and could not apply that knowledge to different contexts signifying that students were not gaining mastery of the content. What is the point in gaining knowledge that cannot be used? Hence, I embarked on this journey in the Innovative Learning program to find out how I can infuse technology and other innovative teaching techniques as a way to not only engage students but to also help deepen their understanding so that they can achieve content mastery and transfer of learning and develop essential critical thinking skills to prepare them for the 21st century.
Reflections on My Journey
In terms of my TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) journey, I feel like I have come a long way. I started out skeptical and am now hopeful and even excited! I first found it difficult to find digital tools that fit the needs of my curriculum as well as the needs of my students. I did not want to incorporate technology for the sake of doing so if it did not provide any other value beyond what paper and pencil could do. However, since enrolling in the Innovative Learning program I have had a chance to dabble with several tools that have great potential in my class. I feel like I have been able to better integrate technology into my curriculum that engages students and deepens student understanding.
Before the Innovative Learning program, my content knowledge was top notch and my pedagogical knowledge was sufficient but my technological knowledge was very much lacking. After embarking on this journey in the Innovative Learning program, I have learned about various tech tools that deliver content better, provides an authentic and global audience, increases student engagement, develops deeper understanding and valuable 21st century skills, and helps students collaborate and retain information better whether it is by using Desmos, Khan Academy, Google Docs, Nearpod, Padlet, Graphing Calculators, EdPuzzle, and more, to support my instructional strategies and teaching methods. I feel more comfortable with TPACK, but I think there is still so much more to learn and explore! I will continue to prod and adventure to discover how I can find harmony between content, pedagogy, and technology as a powerful tool for supporting social justice and the success of my students.
Before the Innovative Learning program, my content knowledge was top notch and my pedagogical knowledge was sufficient but my technological knowledge was very much lacking. After embarking on this journey in the Innovative Learning program, I have learned about various tech tools that deliver content better, provides an authentic and global audience, increases student engagement, develops deeper understanding and valuable 21st century skills, and helps students collaborate and retain information better whether it is by using Desmos, Khan Academy, Google Docs, Nearpod, Padlet, Graphing Calculators, EdPuzzle, and more, to support my instructional strategies and teaching methods. I feel more comfortable with TPACK, but I think there is still so much more to learn and explore! I will continue to prod and adventure to discover how I can find harmony between content, pedagogy, and technology as a powerful tool for supporting social justice and the success of my students.
Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning Program
The Innovative Learning program has so much to offer. It has provided me with the opportunity to embark on a spectacular journey of learning and self-discovery to who I am as a teacher. What I found most intriguing and valuable was learning about instructional design (ID) models. When you get down to it, designing instruction that is effective is so important because it is the difference between whether learning occurs or does not occur. As an educator, I ask myself, are your lessons relevant, do they engage students, do they incorporate time for practicing new knowledge and skills, and do they support mastery learning? Through careful instructional design, I now know that the answer is yes.
Of all the ID models, the ISD, SITE, and ARCS models had the most impact on me because when all three are combined, it provides an amazing learner-centered framework. By applying the ID models during my instructional design it helped me ensure that my learners' needs, socio-cultural subcontexts, and relevance are all taken into account. It has helped me become more intentional in designing my instruction, making sure that the tasks, assessments, and instructional methods and media I choose all work well together to provide the proper support for my learners to obtain the desired learning outcomes. Because procedures are not learned best by rote but through application, that is why I feel that instruction designed to create ample opportunities for practicing these procedures is so important. I love these three frameworks precisely because they emphasize the need for implementing opportunities to practice knowledge and skills in order to help students develop a transfer of knowledge, confidence as well as satisfaction in their abilities. In other words, it helps students develop a growth mindset which is so crucial for success in any classroom, especially the mathematics classroom.
Overall, these ID models required me to develop a broader perspective and understandings amidst the fairly specific goals and teaching techniques in order to develop students as a whole person and enrich a whole society. In the face of the 21st century, as a teacher it is crucial to prepare our students to become autodidacts—people who learn without the benefit of a teacher. There is only one of me and 30+ of them which is why I want to empower my students to learn independently by starting first with good instructional design.
Of all the ID models, the ISD, SITE, and ARCS models had the most impact on me because when all three are combined, it provides an amazing learner-centered framework. By applying the ID models during my instructional design it helped me ensure that my learners' needs, socio-cultural subcontexts, and relevance are all taken into account. It has helped me become more intentional in designing my instruction, making sure that the tasks, assessments, and instructional methods and media I choose all work well together to provide the proper support for my learners to obtain the desired learning outcomes. Because procedures are not learned best by rote but through application, that is why I feel that instruction designed to create ample opportunities for practicing these procedures is so important. I love these three frameworks precisely because they emphasize the need for implementing opportunities to practice knowledge and skills in order to help students develop a transfer of knowledge, confidence as well as satisfaction in their abilities. In other words, it helps students develop a growth mindset which is so crucial for success in any classroom, especially the mathematics classroom.
Overall, these ID models required me to develop a broader perspective and understandings amidst the fairly specific goals and teaching techniques in order to develop students as a whole person and enrich a whole society. In the face of the 21st century, as a teacher it is crucial to prepare our students to become autodidacts—people who learn without the benefit of a teacher. There is only one of me and 30+ of them which is why I want to empower my students to learn independently by starting first with good instructional design.
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