Reflecting on my learning philosophy from the beginning of the semester has made me realize there is definitely more I would like to add to it. I strongly believe that for the majority of learning you must have a growth mindset. So much of what my students achieved this past school year resulted from their willingness to take risks and accept failures as opportunities to improve. My philosophy was very reflective of that. What I did not mention was the use of technology to take risks, or for teachers to reach outside of the classroom to connect globally with others. Even though I think these things are extremely important I still believe that these things happen as a result of a growth mindset. Teachers and students want to learn; this requires stepping out of their comfort zones to try something new and make connections that wouldn’t have been made otherwise.
How do you now define learning?
- Learning is organic, it occurs as a result of your culture, social group or network, and as a result of your own characteristics. Having a passion for a topic or a problem that you want to solve drives learning.
How do you now define teaching?
- Teaching occurs both formally and informally. I never gave much thought or credit to learning through social networks. Reading the Greenhow article was very enlightening for me, it really opened my eyes to how much can be learned from developing PLN’s. After my week at KTI summit and really connecting with and learning from other teachers I think very differently about teaching. I think the foundation to teaching is connections. Developing connections with our students but also feeling connected with colleagues and others in our network who support us.
How has your philosophy changed (or not) or been refined from the start of the course?
- I am still a firm believer in the growth mindset. I believe that real, authentic learning, occurs when the learner is not afraid to fail. Failing forward is to take a risk to learn something and if you happen to fail along the way to take that failure and use it to improve your thoughts, strategies, or ideas of what to do next.
How does learning happen?
- What I have learned from this course is the impact that social networks and PLN’s have in learning for both teachers and students. It can be challenging for teachers to include a student’s social network into the formal learning environment however with challenge comes opportunity.
What roles should the teacher and student play in this new ecology of learning?
- The role of teacher must shift to one of a facilitator. Time should now be spent working as a classroom community supporting and encouraging others. With the use of technology in the classroom, teachers have the ability to offer targeted feedback based upon what the student is working on at the moment. This feedback can be offered virtually or in person. For example, a math lesson can begin as a mini-lesson, then students break into teams to complete an activity to apply the skill. The use of technology in the classroom not only allows the teacher to differentiate what students work on but also allows opportunities for students to have a choice in how they demonstrate their learning. Student engagement in the learning process would also cause a big shift in classroom roles. Students can be co-creators of their learning, interacting with the curriculum and working with teachers and peers to determine what the approach to learning might be as well as considering how to share their product.
Student and teacher role and responsibility shifts are the most interesting to me. The learning environment is setup to be a collaborative learning partnership with students and teachers thinking interdependently, as well as students self-monitoring and having strategies that allow them to think about their thinking.
How do you know when learning takes place and what visible indicators or signs demonstrate that learning has taken place?
- Real learning takes place when students are taking risks, sharing their work with an audience and accepting constructive feedback to improve their work. Perhaps the biggest indicator of learning is engagement. When students are engaged in their learning they don’t want to stop working! They are excited and driven to keep going.
What is the role of technology in your learning philosophy and what is a tangible example of how you plan to implement it in the future?
- Technology is embedded in my learning philosophy because technology is no longer the future; it is the present. We as teachers must expand our own knowledge base and learn how to incorporate Web 2.0 tools into our everyday teaching lives. There are many things that I am excited about for this upcoming school year. To begin with, I would like to teach my learners about how to connect and collaborate globally using Seesaw connected blogs. I will introduce Ozobots to my coding club. I will use the free instruction offered to teach students lessons with Ozobots that include things like writing your name in code; coding a story; retelling a fairy tale with Ozobots, and even practicing multiplication facts.