Becoming a Learner

Originally Published October 24, 2016

I stumbled across this blog post through the portal of a podcast and YouTube video. http://myteachingnotebook.com/index.php/2015/08/29/my-journey-to-the-joy-of-learning/ And what I read and saw and heard from Michael Wesch was a reminder, that if I'm going to be a teacher, then I need to remember what it's like to be a learner. I can't remember what it's like to learn to write an essay for the first time or go online to find resources for my research, so really the only way to remember what it's like to learn is to LEARN.

So this thought stuck with me for a while. I'm really good at intending to learn things, HTML, watercolor, knitting, but I'm not really good at actually following through with those things. I still intend to learn to knit and code and paint awesome pictures, but my intention isn't helping me to experience learning.

Then I realized that even before I read that blog post, I actually was learning something new, or mostly new. For the past two months, I've been playing handbells. I learned basic music growing up. I know the different notes and how to read a measure and where to find my two notes on the treble clef, but I haven't read or played music in nearly 15 years, so I consider myself a novice. I'm having to learn how to count beats and play on time, what words like forte and martellato mean, and how to ring a bell and turn a page almost simultaneously. I'm learning to play handbells, and I'm enjoying it.

Chiu, N. (2009) Handbells. Flickr.

I want this blog to be a reflection on my learning journey. I don't want it to be about my intention to learn, but rather written memories on what it's like to be the student. My teachers may come in person like the music director or they may come in the form of internet tutorials, online courses, or self exploration and failure. I need to push myself to learn a outside of my comfort zone because the courses I'll be teaching, while housed in the department of English, will consist of very few English majors who self-elected to spend their college careers reading and writing, and so the content might be a little (or a lot) outside of their comfort zones.

I also know that if I'm asking my students to write, then I should also be writing, so sometimes I'll be doing what I've already learned to do, but as with every field, you can always learn to do it better. It's just that I'll never get to go back to the first time I wrote my own research paper (it was on the dying out of frogs in our ecosystems) or the day I discovered the writing of Ernest Hemingway.

Learning to play handbells has already taught me some about what it's like to be a learner. I experienced not understanding the lingo of a particular field. At one rehearsal, the music director said to me as least 5 times, "play the take." My stand partner circled a note for me and said, "You play that one too." And on about the 6th time through, it finally dawned on me exactly what it meant to play the take, and I played my note. But the language was a total barrier to my understanding, even with all the cues I was given. And so now I know it's important to consider how you phrase feedback or directions to novice learners.

Playing handbells truly is a challenge for me. I have yet to play a song to perfection, nor do I ever think I will. While playing a song I will inevitably either miss a note, play the wrong bell, lose count, forget to take the repeat, play out of turn, or any combination of the above. But I'm okay with making those mistakes because I'm not made to feel like a failure of a musician when I do those things; we just keep practicing until we make fewer of them. The music director believes that anyone can play handbells, but that some just take more time and practice than others.

Isn't that how we should look at all of our learners? All of them can learn; some might take more time and practice, and some might make fewer or more mistakes than others. But if they ever feel like they can't or that they just weren't born with the natural talent to be a writer or a musician or a scientist or a whatever, then they're defeated before they even get started. So what can educators do for learners? We can believe in them, and we can empathize with them. We can create a space for them to make mistakes, to practice, and to perform, and sometimes all three might be happening at the same time. 

I'll hope you'll join in learning with me. Here's to a wonderful journey for us all.

Teacher Appreciation Week

I don't like to be too political, so this post is a bit difficult for me to write, but I've been working in education for almost a decade now, and it really is a struggle to be surrounded by the conversations about education in this country and in this state. It's teacher appreciation week, so at least for the week I think teachers feel rather appreciated, but all of the other weeks of the year, that's certainly not the word I would use. I think Taylor Mali in his poem, "What Teachers Make," expresses a lot about how teachers feel:

I spent too much time reading the comments section last year of news stories about teacher pay raises. To me, pay is one way to show value and appreciation of the teachers in this state, and the lack of pay raises sent a very loud and clear message about that to all of us. But, in reading those comments in the comment section, I was rather surprised at what some of the general public felt about teachers, and it turns out that I've heard similar comments from my family members about how teachers are lazy and undeserving of what they make and how they don't work as hard as other professions. On the other side, teachers and supporters of teachers shared stories about long hours worked, calculated the "real" pay of teaching, and made arguments that in no way affected their opponents. What I should have done was stop reading the news, especially the comments section.

Teacher pay isn't the only issue that creates this feeling of lack of appreciation or value. It's also that so much educational reform happens that so few teachers, if any, have a voice in. It's as if the very professionals who work in schools every day are not at all viewed as professionals. It's frustrating to know that what you're being told to do as a teacher isn't working, and yet having very little power to make any changes.

Yet perhaps we can't entirely blame the institution or society or parents or lawmakers or community members. I think as educators, we have to think about how we represent ourselves, how often we appreciate one another (and take the time to say it), and how we share what we're really doing each day (without engaging in argument as the only way to share it). How can we be more appreciative of our peers? How can we start the movement to helping other see our value? How can we productively engage in conversations that affect what we do in our professional lives?

A wise mentor teacher of mine helped me to realize (even though I have trouble putting it to practice sometimes) that we can't worry about what's out of our realm of control. Worry is just a waste of energy. So instead, what we should be doing something about is what we can control. And we can control what we read (not the comments section), what we say to one another, and what attitude we decide to bring to work with us each day. Teaching is challenging, but realize it or not, teachers are incredibly valuable to our country.

Why I Like My Long Commute (Sort Of)

I have quite a bit of a commute to work each day, and I'm not a fan of morning radio shows, so my options are either to listen to music, NPR, or channel surf until I find something I want to listen to. What I've discovered though is that I have another option, podcasts.

My collection of podcast subscriptions has grown. It started with Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, This American Life, Snap Judgment, and Ask Me Another. I've added new podcasts like Invisibilia and Serial and enjoyed some tried and true ones like America's Test Kitchen and Science Friday.

The best part about listening to podcasts is how much I learn about science, cooking, current events, psychology, and humanity. I like that so many podcasts teach through storytelling, but they also use humor, points and counterpoints, and great guest interviews. My commute turns into the chance to quench my thirst to learn everything I possibly can about the world around me and within me.

As an educator, I have made reference to a podcast I listened to on the way to work or on the way home more times than I can count. Such as, when the science teacher told me his story about sending up a weather balloon, I pointed him to a story I heard on RadioLab about Japanese weather balloon bombs during World War II that you could also listen to here.

I also spoke to a teacher that I work with who drew inspiration to keep trying to reach all of her students from an episode of Invisibilia which tells the story of a young man who is trapped in his own body who many considered a vegetable, but the people who didn't give up on him...well I don't want to give away the story. You can listen to this one here.

Stories, research, expert interview, discussions, debates, and game shows are inspirational parts of podcasts that can help teachers fuel their own passion for learning and pass that on to their students.

What podcasts will you try? What are some of your favorites, and how have they found their way into your classroom?

Ready for Spring Break?

I'm going to the beach in just a few days to celebrate time with family, my birthday, and a break from work. Of course that's why teachers go into teaching, for spring break and summer vacation, right? Right. But a teacher's brain never turns off, even on vacation. I'm always thinking about what I should be grading, what my next unit is, how we're going to squeeze everything in before state testing, etc.

This year, I'm thinking about how I can bring my vacation back with me. Perhaps the best way to survive the long stretch from April to June is to stay on vacation. So, I've been plotting some ways to do this, and preparing some lessons along the way.

I don't have students of my own this year since I'm working in instructional technology, but I do have the chance to share my ideas with a lot of really wonderful teachers. I've also had the chance to especially work with middle school science teachers, so my brain is feeling really science oriented this year. So I scoured through the essential standards and found a few that were exactly what I was looking for:

• 6.E.1 Explain how the relative motion and relative position of the sun, Earth and moon affect the seasons, tides, phases of the moon, and eclipses.
• 7.E.1 Understand how the cycling of matter (water and gases) in and out of the atmosphere relates to earth's atmosphere, weather, and climate and the effects of the atmosphere on humans.
• 8.E.1 Understand the hydrosphere and the impact of humans on local systems and the effects of the hydrosphere on humans.

So what if I bring back with me the ocean tides, images of the mood, tidal charts, ocean sounds, images of creatures, interviews with people who rely on the ocean, and questions about what's out there? How can I use all of this to engage students?

In my luggage I will be sure to pack my digital camera to capture my vacation not only for me but also for my students. And when I come home, I can spend a little bit of time putting together some lessons with questions and pause points or introductory videos to pique curiosity in the unit of study.

Where are you going on vacation? What can you bring back with you to inspire your students and enhance your teaching? And if you're staying home, what's in your backyard, at the local farmer's market, or downtown that you can bring into your classroom?

Oh and don't forget to enjoy your vacation and have a wonderful spring break!

A Blog is Born

It's that time of summer again when school is quickly approaching and summer is fading away. It's one of my least favorite time of year because suddenly all of my freedom feels like it's being taken from me. However, it's also one of my most reflective times of year, when I think about what I'd like to do with my new students and classes and how I can improve my teaching. It's the only time of year that I have enough time to make quality lesson plans without also having to teach and grade and do everything else. So this summer, I've started reflecting a lot on the use of technology in my classroom.

Image the creation of Dr. Ruben Puentedura, Ph.D. 

http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/

Last semester of my graduate courses, one of my classmates posted the SAMR model that really started my reflection process. To me, one of the greatest aspects of having technology in the classroom is its ability to transform teaching and learning, and yet, as I reviewed this model, I realized that much of my use of technology in the classroom was used to enhance teaching and learning. Enhancement is good, but transformation is better. So, I've been reflecting on how to make it to those levels of modification and redefinition, to rise above the line.

Last year was my first year with all of my students have Google Chromebooks in the classroom. For a first year of that experience, I would call it a success. But, I want to do more with them, and less with them at the same time. Sometimes I thought pencil and paper were best, and sometimes we used them, especially to practice writing for timed tests like the SAT, ACT, and AP Exam. And sometimes annotating on an actual article rather than just adding comments on a Google Doc actually helps them to find more stylistic elements that are important to the purpose of writing.

I want the Chromebooks to transform my classroom. The revision/review part of the writing process already has been transformed. My students and I can comment in real time, and I don't have to worry about holding on to their one copy of their paper while I get through the stack. In the fall, I want to try voice comments using Kaizena in hopes that not only will it save me time, but it will allow me to give my students better feedback by more clearly explaining myself.

I also want to rethink the end products of a lot of my course assignments. I have spent much of my teaching career knowing that students need authentic writing experiences but not knowing how to go about those. I think it's finally time to try blogging in class, as I'm finally trying myself. My students need real readers and real reviewers and not just their classmates and family and friends. They need to know that what you write matters, and how clearly you can communicate matters. Writing is such an incredibly powerful tool and these Chromebooks have given me the opportunity to transform my students into writers as soon as I figure out how to modify and redefine traditional assignments.

So this blog is a chance for me to share what I want to try, what I do try, and how it works. I also want to reflect on current technological trends in education, share some of what I'm learning in my graduate courses, and give tips to teachers about how to use technology to not only enhance, but also to transform teaching and learning.