Synthesis Essay: When You Teach, You Learn Twice
When I think back to my first couple of years of teaching, the first thing that comes to my mind is, "I can't believe how much I didn't know." With the teaching profession, so much of what we do is so invisible to the general public. It can be hard to even describe the process taken to plan and implement just one lesson, from gathering sources, to analyzing student data, to giving feedback, to integrating innovative pedagogy. As I mentor a first year teacher this year, I have gone back to my own mentor from when I was first hired multiple times to say, "I get it now!" It is incredible to think how far I've come as an educator to be able to articulate my own thinking about the nuances of my profession, and to realize just how much knowledge, strategies, and resources I've added to my own repertoire. So much of this growth can be attributed to my work in the MAET (Master of Arts in Educational Technology) program. Over the past two and a half years, I've grown from an eager young teacher, trying to jump head first into all of the latest and greatest new "hip" methods and techniques, to an equally eager, but seasoned educator, who critically assesses new tools for their purpose and effectiveness, and leads others in adapting positive change. I think the main reason for this change is that, by getting to be a student again, and not just a teacher, I view myself as a lifelong learner, and strive to learn alongside my students and fellow staff everyday. Although all of my graduate coursework has helped lead me down this path, three classes in particular stand out as paramount: CEP 812, CEP 815, and CEP 820.
As one of the very first classes I ever took in the MAET program, CEP 812: Applying Educational Technology to Practice gave me some of my first opportunities to learn more deeply about the world of education. Our Wicked Problem Project, where we critically analyzed a multi-faceted problem in the field of education to propose several solutions, proved to become pivotal in guiding my subsequent teaching practice. My group researched the wicked problem of "failure as a learning mode." We learned that because many students view failure as crippling and are therefore risk-avoidant, they lose out on opportunities to grow their own thinking, and are less likely to have a positive outlook on school in general. I created this infographic to illustrate the many layers of this wicked problem. In our white paper, we proposed solutions such as re-imagining grades and how we give feedback to students to reduce focus on the grade, as well as including explicit teaching on growth mindset at the beginning of the school year and beyond.
The thinking we did in this project shaped my own mindset in my own classroom in many ways. I started to notice things students would say, and obstacles they would encounter, and realize that they were due to a fixed mindset, and viewing any setback as a failure from which they could not rebound. I decided to design a "GRIT" unit for the start of my school year, and have since created many activities intended to allow students to experience failure and frustration right away, so we could reflect on strategies for adopting a growth mindset. I created an acronym for GRIT (G for Growth Mindset, R for Resolve, I for Interpersonal, and T for Technology), and a song ("Gettin' GRITty With It" to the tune of Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy With It") to inspire students to take on this mantra. I gave students a mindset survey at the start and end of the year to measure change in their perspective. Some of their reflections were quite profound! I also now read the book Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak to my students at the start of each year. This text breaks down some basic brain science to show how mistakes can stretch your brain and grow neural connections. Our first science unit is the human brain, so this flows quite nicely! My students also experience several "brain bender" tasks as part of learning the norms and procedures for workshop time. These tasks do not have one path to solving, or even one singular solution, and we discuss how we felt during the activity and what we can do to overcome those thinking obstacles. Additionally, we look at several "famous failures," or celebrities and renowned historical figures who have experienced extreme adversity to illustrate how the path to success is never as straight as we think it is. Finally, we talk about how our classmates, as well as technology resources, can be tools to help us when we bump up against an obstacle. Our first project-based learning experience of the year is to create a presentation in response to the guiding question, "How can failing help me learn?" We refer to this unit all year long, and I truly believe that addressing this wicked problem as kickoff to our year sets us up for lifelong learning and resilience.
When I think back to my first couple of years of teaching, the first thing that comes to my mind is, "I can't believe how much I didn't know." With the teaching profession, so much of what we do is so invisible to the general public. It can be hard to even describe the process taken to plan and implement just one lesson, from gathering sources, to analyzing student data, to giving feedback, to integrating innovative pedagogy. As I mentor a first year teacher this year, I have gone back to my own mentor from when I was first hired multiple times to say, "I get it now!" It is incredible to think how far I've come as an educator to be able to articulate my own thinking about the nuances of my profession, and to realize just how much knowledge, strategies, and resources I've added to my own repertoire. So much of this growth can be attributed to my work in the MAET (Master of Arts in Educational Technology) program. Over the past two and a half years, I've grown from an eager young teacher, trying to jump head first into all of the latest and greatest new "hip" methods and techniques, to an equally eager, but seasoned educator, who critically assesses new tools for their purpose and effectiveness, and leads others in adapting positive change. I think the main reason for this change is that, by getting to be a student again, and not just a teacher, I view myself as a lifelong learner, and strive to learn alongside my students and fellow staff everyday. Although all of my graduate coursework has helped lead me down this path, three classes in particular stand out as paramount: CEP 812, CEP 815, and CEP 820.
As one of the very first classes I ever took in the MAET program, CEP 812: Applying Educational Technology to Practice gave me some of my first opportunities to learn more deeply about the world of education. Our Wicked Problem Project, where we critically analyzed a multi-faceted problem in the field of education to propose several solutions, proved to become pivotal in guiding my subsequent teaching practice. My group researched the wicked problem of "failure as a learning mode." We learned that because many students view failure as crippling and are therefore risk-avoidant, they lose out on opportunities to grow their own thinking, and are less likely to have a positive outlook on school in general. I created this infographic to illustrate the many layers of this wicked problem. In our white paper, we proposed solutions such as re-imagining grades and how we give feedback to students to reduce focus on the grade, as well as including explicit teaching on growth mindset at the beginning of the school year and beyond.
The thinking we did in this project shaped my own mindset in my own classroom in many ways. I started to notice things students would say, and obstacles they would encounter, and realize that they were due to a fixed mindset, and viewing any setback as a failure from which they could not rebound. I decided to design a "GRIT" unit for the start of my school year, and have since created many activities intended to allow students to experience failure and frustration right away, so we could reflect on strategies for adopting a growth mindset. I created an acronym for GRIT (G for Growth Mindset, R for Resolve, I for Interpersonal, and T for Technology), and a song ("Gettin' GRITty With It" to the tune of Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy With It") to inspire students to take on this mantra. I gave students a mindset survey at the start and end of the year to measure change in their perspective. Some of their reflections were quite profound! I also now read the book Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak to my students at the start of each year. This text breaks down some basic brain science to show how mistakes can stretch your brain and grow neural connections. Our first science unit is the human brain, so this flows quite nicely! My students also experience several "brain bender" tasks as part of learning the norms and procedures for workshop time. These tasks do not have one path to solving, or even one singular solution, and we discuss how we felt during the activity and what we can do to overcome those thinking obstacles. Additionally, we look at several "famous failures," or celebrities and renowned historical figures who have experienced extreme adversity to illustrate how the path to success is never as straight as we think it is. Finally, we talk about how our classmates, as well as technology resources, can be tools to help us when we bump up against an obstacle. Our first project-based learning experience of the year is to create a presentation in response to the guiding question, "How can failing help me learn?" We refer to this unit all year long, and I truly believe that addressing this wicked problem as kickoff to our year sets us up for lifelong learning and resilience.
Another course that has been crucial in developing me as an educator is CEP 815: Technology and Leadership. This course, as one of three courses I took as part of the Summer 2017 Hybrid Cohort, gave me unexpected opportunities to stretch myself as a leader and try on new roles amongst my peers. Up until this course, I found a few ways to lead somewhat passively within my district, but was always told by my administrators that I had so many good ideas, that they wished I would find ways to share more frequently with my colleagues. In CEP 815, we designed and facilitated a webinar, where we researched and developed interview questions for guests based on a current topic in education technology. My group chose to investigate how to encourage reluctant teachers to use technology in the classroom. Inviting published, seasoned technology integration specialists, and preparing for the discussion allowed me to view myself as an expert in the field. Then, due to a technology snafu with one of my teammates, I ended up having to facilitate the discussion, rather than moderate the Twitter feed, which, while being nerve-wracking at the moment, turned out to be a great way for me to impromptu utilize my leadership skills. The discussion ended up being rich, and we came to a much deeper collective understanding of the nuances of this issue.
Another project that was extremely important to developing my leadership skills was presenting at the steamLAB conference in East Lansing. While I had done a lot of work on growth mindset in my classroom previously, as described above, when my classmate and I decided to create a presentation on the topic for this conference, I wasn't sure how it would go. I didn't see myself as having enough experience for others to learn from, and I certainly wasn't confident in my presenting skills in front of a room of adults. After much preparation and reflection, my teammate and I ended up having one of the most well-attended sessions at the conference and received much positive feedback on our topic and presentation in general. So, I then decided to volunteer myself to present at my district's symposium for our opening professional development day for this school year. I tweaked our presentation and presented it to a wide range of K-12 educators within my district, to equally positive feedback. This opportunity for me to branch out and lead my peers made me realize that I do have a wealth of knowledge and perspective to offer, and while I may not have the most years of experience in the room, or the loudest voice, I can find ways to lead right now, and going forward.
Another project that was extremely important to developing my leadership skills was presenting at the steamLAB conference in East Lansing. While I had done a lot of work on growth mindset in my classroom previously, as described above, when my classmate and I decided to create a presentation on the topic for this conference, I wasn't sure how it would go. I didn't see myself as having enough experience for others to learn from, and I certainly wasn't confident in my presenting skills in front of a room of adults. After much preparation and reflection, my teammate and I ended up having one of the most well-attended sessions at the conference and received much positive feedback on our topic and presentation in general. So, I then decided to volunteer myself to present at my district's symposium for our opening professional development day for this school year. I tweaked our presentation and presented it to a wide range of K-12 educators within my district, to equally positive feedback. This opportunity for me to branch out and lead my peers made me realize that I do have a wealth of knowledge and perspective to offer, and while I may not have the most years of experience in the room, or the loudest voice, I can find ways to lead right now, and going forward.
The final course that had a profound impact on me and my pedagogical methods was CEP 820: Teaching Students Online. In this course, we created an online module to teach one unit of study in our curriculum. I chose to make a Weebly site for my unit on division and angles in math. Throughout the course, I learned about different ways to engage students through online learning management systems (LMSs) and how to blend learning through online and face to face modalities. This directly influenced my teaching in my fourth grade classroom, as I began implementing different iterations of flipped math lessons. I have also since implemented some personalized learning modules in reading and writing using online teaching videos (i.e., LearnZillion) and interactive practice sites as options for working on areas of need. I also collect formative assessment information from my students using Seesaw and GoFormative to shape future lessons and strategy groups. This course changed my viewpoint on purposeful technology integration, and helped me critically analyze technology tools before incorporating them into my instruction. Looking at multiple platforms and discussing affordances and constraints of each raised my standards for how much an online tool should enhance the learning. I have now experimented with Weebly, Google Classroom, and PowerSchool Learning as LMSs, and have settled on PowerSchool Learning as my primary site. Here, I can create assignments that link right into my grade book, and I can build enrichment and remediation modules for learners that need extensions or reinforcement on a particular topic. I have also designed a professional development course for adult learners on the topic of project-based learning through this site.
All in all, my journey through MAET has shown me that, as much as I love teaching, I want to always be a learner first, and use my thirst for more knowledge to drive my instructional decisions. I want to continue to build foundational growth mindset skills, to always view failure as an opportunity for growth, to find ways to lead actively in my professional life, and to integrate technology both purposefully and meaningfully into my practice with a high standard for effectiveness. As I look back on how much I "didn't know" back then, I am sure there is probably equally as much that I don't know now, but I have certainly gained the skills to look forward with a learner mindset and conquer the next set of challenges put before me. I hope that my mentee this school year can one day come back into my classroom and say, "I get it now!" and I can have had some small part in fueling her journey.
All in all, my journey through MAET has shown me that, as much as I love teaching, I want to always be a learner first, and use my thirst for more knowledge to drive my instructional decisions. I want to continue to build foundational growth mindset skills, to always view failure as an opportunity for growth, to find ways to lead actively in my professional life, and to integrate technology both purposefully and meaningfully into my practice with a high standard for effectiveness. As I look back on how much I "didn't know" back then, I am sure there is probably equally as much that I don't know now, but I have certainly gained the skills to look forward with a learner mindset and conquer the next set of challenges put before me. I hope that my mentee this school year can one day come back into my classroom and say, "I get it now!" and I can have had some small part in fueling her journey.