​For week #8 of Eduu624, I’m going to be looking at traditionally-crafted teaching dispositions and how they are STILL applicable for teachers, like myself, who are focusing on creating a 21st century class room and curriculum and teaching therein.  So, the dispositions in question are Professional Demeanor & Responsibility, Commitment to Learning for ALL Students, Communication, Collaboration, Self-Reflection and Ethics.  In short, all of these things need to be in play for any teacher regardless that teacher’s approach to their craft, to their profession.  Unique to a 21st century setting, “professional demeanor & responsibility” is critical because one, a 21st century teacher is interacting with parents and representing not only themselves as an education professional, but the field of education in general as well as their school facility and district.  Secondly, I believe a professional demeanor and responsibility is important for students, especially 21st century students, because we’re playing the role of hosts/facilitators/guides etc., it’s important that we look and behave professionally.  “Commitment to learning for ALL students” is bigger than just 21st century teaching, but in a 21st century situation, is even more important.  So much of 21st century learning is about a student centered approach and students working with teacher/facilitators to plan and monitor their own learning experiences, teachers need to be equipped to facilitate each and every one of those experiences across the board, for ALL students!  “Collaboration” is also a core part of 21st century pedagogy but not only with peers as in COP’s and PLC’s but with their students.  Teachers must collaborate with their students to chart the educational course but also monitor progress and adapt it as needed and teachers need to be willing and able to learn with their students.  It’s not about teachers knowing everything!!!  “Self-reflection” both individually and within COP’s and PLC’s is critical because you can’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been!  If what you’re doing is causing your students to learn, great!  But you’ll only know that if you take the time to reflect and observe results.  Finally, we have “ethics.”  Ethics are important across the board as well, both professionally for the same reasons I pointed out when discussing “professional demeanor and responsibility” but also to make our students feel respected, honored and most of all, safe!  If they’re not feeling all three of those things, maximal learning cannot and will not happen.  A 21st century class room and curriculum is vibrant and rigorous, our learners need to feel comfortable to be successful.  All of these dispositions contribute directly and indirectly to the success of 21st century students.

Here's my ranking of myself:

I think I’m gonna go with netiquette/etiquette as perhaps the most important thing after having gone over the basic elements of online/blended/on site teaching and learning.  Netiquette/etiquette is important regardless the model because it deals with communication at its most basic level.  Speaking in all caps in an online platform is absolutely considered rude but yet, can be meant as enthusiastic.  Interrupting in a synchronous, onsite class situation is rude too, but can also come from enthusiasm.  Misunderstandings such as this can close the communication and prevent any significant learning from being facilitated or had.  Open, transparent communication is critical for participating in or facilitating a learning experience no matter the type, synchronous or asynchronous.  As in life beyond teaching and learning, healthy, mindful and thoughtful communication is key to any fruitful discourse.  So we’re talking about a behavioral component that can (and will if given the chance) impede or degrade a cognitive one.  If I’ve offended a learner by my netiquette or etiquette during the initial stages of a learning experience, they’re going to shut down, thank you for playing, no copy of the home game for me!  Even if my offense didn’t totally shut a learner down, it will impede our ability to communicate honestly because the learner will be in a defensive posture.  Not impossible to get through that as a facilitator, but awfully tough and often requires a long-haul approach; much time investment of time.  I just have to throw in some thoughts about cues in a distance learning model.  I have challenges on a daily basis with being on camera and staying on camera, and I’ve had some issues with plagiarism – a subject where you for sure don’t wanna cross me.  I’m super liberal about grading/due dates/revisions/do-overs and all that, the value for me is in the student doing the work not meeting a deadline, though I clearly understand that value as well.  If I catch you cheating, I will hunt you down like a dog and there will be a price to be paid.  That is the one area on which I’m totally inflexible and aggressive.  I definitely look for cues and clues.  I will gladly spend the extra time to actively research and track down evidence of plagiarism.  Plagiarized submissions are completely free of value in nearly every way and I nip that in the bud swiftly and aggressively.  Then I launch a campaign to understand what led that learner to cheat in the first place.  I then try very actively to reach that learner in a way that I hadn’t previously, to get through for real, to open the door to us being able to teach and learn together.

I’ve created a Pinterest board as requested, but I didn’t see the value of using the board to focus on blended or fully online learning.  Instead I’m interested in curating a resource for parents and teachers alike whether they’re dealing with a hybrid (blended) or virtual (fully online) learning situation.  Here’s the info:
 
Pinterest name: JCGafford
Pinterest board name: JC’s 21st Century Teaching & Learning Board
Pinterest URL: https://www.pinterest.com/jcgafford/jcs-21st-century-teaching-learning-board/
 
Although this Pinterest board is generated as part of an assignment, I’m pretty sure I’m interested in keeping it going beyond the assignment.  I’m an edunerd for sure so I really enjoy thinking and talking about teaching and learning.  This is why I’m very likely going to go ahead and pursue an Ed.D. degree….if I can do it with scholarships!
 
As for curation as a concept, I like it, hey Mikey!  (Sorry…just dated myself there!)  I can for sure recognize the value of curation not only for learners but for teachers as well!  In the case of learners the thing I like best about curation is that students can document and refer back to their learning.  It becomes a permanent artifact that can serve them in future learning.  I ask my students to grade themselves but they have to provide verifiable documentation of their learning.  That documentation can take nearly any form as long as it demonstrates the student’s learning.  A curated Pinterest or one of the other such sites would be a very genuine and effective way to do that documentation!  As far as Teachers are concerned, once they’ve curated a site, they can use it during subsequent quarters/semesters/years thus not having to recreate the wheel as it were.  This frees them up to take on other 21st Century teaching practices.  Also, teachers can curate a space that can be used by students who are struggling as extra instruction to support and foster improvement in understand and thus, greater mastery overall.

​www.dailyo.in/variety/teaching-teacher-training-education-in-india-new-education-policy/story/1/33674.html

Ok, so for real, this article is so in my wheelhouse right now!  Despite the author using 'she' to describe teachers in every instance but one, the points he makes are succinct, on the money, visionary (getting into AI and education!) and so well said.  This guy really gets it!  Bravo to him!  LOVE this article!

​So the tool I looked at was Padlet.  I really love that it affords students the opportunity to respond to a question or prompt confidentially. This will be useful when I’m asking about dramatic structure in a film etc.  Being able to answer confidentially could reduce stress levels experienced by some students when they are expected to participate in class discussions.  Even teach in a drama classroom, I still have students who do not wish to participate in class discussions; they don’t want to be wrong.  I also love that students can respond with an image or a gif.  That frees them to unleash their creativity but also to stay confidential.  You can also ask students to put their initials or id# for assessment tracking as needed.  Padlet is super easy to use, super easy to customize; I work a lot with imagery as well!  In terms of using Padlet in an authentic learning scenario, I think for one thing that multiple users from multiple groups can share results and/or seek feedback from peer students in a way that benefits all students since all students could have access to a Padlet.  In this current distance situation though, I might use it per group so that collaborators can share insights/feedback/ideas/problems real time, but also in a lasting way.  It would allow me as the facilitator to monitor what’s being posted to have an idea how students are progressing through the learning experience.  For example groups could share status or respond to a prompt incrementally throughout the life of the authentic learning activity.  The Padlets could be saved and reviewed again by students at a later date, when a new Padlet could be made to document, reflect upon and ultimately, share their learning!  What Padlet can bring to my practice that is different from I’d otherwise do is the opportunity give feedback in a way that it can benefit more than just themselves.  Normally I’d seek feedback through some sort of written assignment or worksheet or reflective document, but that would typically be only useful for them and myself.  Other students wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn from the experiences of their peer learners.  Again, their ability to make entries with pictures/videos/GIF’s enriches the experience all the more.  Imagery is a very powerful part of 21st Century learners and learning, so Padlet really allows them to be who they are anyway!