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629 Week #8 - Reflections on Peer Students' Growth

5/2/2021

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I chose to look at the blogs of D.Y. as I have enjoyed looking at her blogs and threaded conversations previously in the program.  In her March 4 blog, she shared very candidly about some of her struggles with the workload of the 21st Century learner program especially the reading assignments at the onset of the program.  “And yes, the first two weeks of the class were a bit challenging. Seeing more than half the students “drop out” was concerning but Dr. K came in and assured us that this experience would be well worth it, and she was right! So my feelings absolutely changed throughout the 7 weeks of instruction, all for the better.” She spoke about how Dr. K was able to step and ease her mind and offer assurance that the time spent working on this course was going to be well worth it.  So later in the post D shared about how Dr. K was able to help her feel better and she was able to overcome her anxiety as a result: “Instead of my goal being about the grade, it was truly about the process with little worries about being “dinged” for having that change in focus.”  In her April 15 blog she spoke of how she has become a fan of using discussion boards and how those helped her with the 21st Century learner program.  She also, in the same post, spoke of how she enjoys working with Padlet and she shared information about how to use that application.  She liked both the discussion boards and Padlet so much that she incorporated both into her demo unit.
To summarize D’s growth: 1) she came to appreciate discussion boards and incorporated them into her demo unit, 2) she learned about Padlet and all it can do and again, she incorporated that into her demo unit and 3) she was able, with Dr. K’s help, to overcome her anxiety and really engage with the course authentically and not just for the grade.
 
I also checked out K.K.’s blog posts because she actually works in the same district that I do.  In her March 13 post she states: ”I have used Canvas as a student and compared to Blackboard I found it more engaging.  Using this trimester as a resource to explore UDL and what to put in a class was great.  Now to use it as an LMS, I have some thoughtful responses.”  She discovered that she prefers Canvas over Blackboard and she’s begun to use that in her practice.  In her March 14 post she wrote of her experiences and anxiety over transitioning to virtual instruction.  She shared what she didn’t know and how this 21st Century learner program helped her: “In August I did not really know there was a theory of education involving constructivism; let alone Vygotsky. In August I did not even consider it teaching if I was not face to face; let alone students engaging with technology.  In August I would have not even read the article, because the classroom and teaching live and in person was the only way I believed education would sustain itself.  The pandemic is now 1 year old and I am a virtual educator.  My growth and development have never been so accelerated, so magnified, and so needed for survival.”  In a second March 14 post, K shared a moving account of her battle with self to not quit the 21st Century program.  “I thought I would quit this program because there was no economic necessity. But what became evident, what became authentic, was I needed this class to move myself forward, to heal, to breath, to accept. I needed a teacher not to pass me, not to give me an A, or to allow me to quit but to return me to me.”  Instead she chose to finish the program and return to her high standards of being a student.  In the process she gained powerful new insights into her students: “I never saw student’s in this way. I thought students they [were] either lazy, not motivated or unable. I never thought students were just surviving in the moment.”  I gained some powerful insights into my students this year too.  One of them witnessed his father attempt suicide right at home then went through a back surgery to fix a football injury.  Had this kid not shared this with me after I inquired about how I can help him succeed in the class, I’d never have known what he was going through.  K’s eloquent phrase “I never thought students were just surviving in the moment” is so powerful and should remind us all that we don’t know what our students are going through in their personal lives, especially this last year.  Really important, transformative stuff right there!
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So in summary, K.K.’s growth included 1) coming to appreciate Canvas over Blackboard and she’s begun to use Canvas in her classroom, 2) successfully transitioning from an in-person instructor to a virtual instructor, 3) fighting herself to not quit the program in the aftermath of losing her father and 4) gaining new insights into her students.
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629 Week #7 - Reflections on UbD (Backward Design): in chunks

4/25/2021

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Question Chunk 1:
How did the process of designing in a "Backward fashion” work for you? For me it went famously!  I’m not new to UbD or Backward Design or Backward Mapping.  We learned about that at NYU and I practice that when I design for my classes, so, it’s already in my blood.  Working with it in the context of this class was just another exercise.
Was it empowering? It’s always empowering for me.  If I didn’t recognize the value of UbD I’d have just used it at NYU then abandoned it in my professional practice.  But I do recognize the value and furthermore I’ve seen it work effectively in my classroom!
Annoying? It was counterintuitive at first, but for me, it has not ever been annoying and it was not annoying this time either.
Are you pleased with the final outcome? Yes, I think I created a very strong unit that scaffolds nicely, is accessible, offers students lots of choices, features collaboration and produces several artifacts that students can have for the rest of their lives.  It’s a unit that I do in my classroom already, but this process really flushed out some new activities and approaches so yes, I’m very much pleased and I’m also very much looking forward to trying it out next year!
Will you use it again in the future? Yes, I used UbD all the time.
How much synthesis between UbD and UDL did you discover once you truly got into your design process?  That was very interesting for me.  UDL and accessibility, to the degree we looked at it in this class, is new and I really felt myself thinking about accessibility with each step of the design.  I’ve acquired a new sensibility and since I’m super comfortable with UbD I was really able to focus on UDL and the incorporation thereof.


Question Chunk 2:
Are you clear and comfortable with the level (and amount) of Constructivist engagement in the DEMO UNIT DESIGN overall with (A) content, (B) peers, and (C) the environment? Yes, I think so.  There is much room for student choice both in the content and in how they show mastery.  The content scaffolds logically and both peer and instructor feedback are key elements throughout.  There is much collaboration with peer students and the instructor and there is an emphasis on making the environment safe for risk taking which is inherent in creative work. 
If so- what do you feel makes it all work so well and if not, what would you like to change and why? I think I covered this in the first response in this chunk.
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629 Week #6 - 2 Important Theory Things for Teachers of my Demo Unit

4/18/2021

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1) UDL Series Part 3: HOW to UDL, Action/Expression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okN5L87ZIZM

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This unit features 4 out of 5 of the UDL concepts outlined in this short video.  I HIGHLY recommend checking out the video but the image above points out the elements discussed that are present in this unit.  The other information in the video and the series will only make your practice all the more authentic and valuable for your students!
 
 2) UDL to Support a Variety of Learners (IRIS Center): https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/udl/cresource/q1/p02/#content

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More UDL, I know, but there is no such thing as too much UDL in our consideration of teaching and learning and in our planning of learning experiences.  If our learners can’t access the learning – we’re sunk from the get go!  The three principles shown in the above graphic from the cited video are all important parts of this unit.  Please familiarize yourself with them and more if you’re able!
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629 Week #5 - Building an Online Community of Inquiry

4/12/2021

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​I’ve gotta start this post by saying that there is a distinct difference between a Community of Inquiry (CoI) and a Community of Practice (CoP).  The Bektashi article defines a CoI as “any group of individuals that have a commitment to address a shared issue, problem or interest through a method similar to scientific investigation” where as a Community of Practice (CoP), as defined by Wikipedia, is a group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly."  The main focus of a CoP is to look at data about student achievement and seek out ways to improve student learning.  The main focus of a CoI as is articulated in the Bektashi article, is that “the most important thing is that this community produces knowledge.”  So, CoI and CoP are entirely different beasts.  That said, I believe that social, cognitive and teaching presence can be built and maintained in online and blended courses by 1) by including collaborative experiences that utilize the concepts of SLT (Social Learning Theory) and 2) by being careful to build learning experiences that scaffold and that meet the needs of 21st century learners and 3) by avoiding creating learning experiences that follow the old paradigm: cram, memorize, regurgitate and forget.  The elements of social, cognitive and teaching presence can be used to support disciplined and creative thinking by empowering students to be partners in their learning – to help chart the course of their learning journeys and not just knowledge dumpsters.  This is a key tenet of 21st century teaching and learning and are an inherent part of effective curriculum design.
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629 Week #4 – The Creative Mind

4/2/2021

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The top 4 elements of my electronically-mediated unit and why they’re so crucial?
  • Students work in CoP’s.  This is crucial because students will experience a much higher degree of creative output than if they were working alone and thus, a far more authentic and meaningful experience with the unit.
  • Students engage in SLT.  This is crucial because students develop collaborative problem-solving skills that will serve them in many facets of their lives.
  • Students are afforded multiple opportunities to make their own choices only parameters are provided, how they meet the parameters is on them individually and collaboratively.  This is crucial because 21st Century learners want to be able to make choices about their learning, they want to partner with instructors to chart the course and they want multiple ways to demonstrate mastery.  This unit allows for all of that.
  • Students receive weekly, rapid and authentic formative feedback from peers and instructor.  This is crucial because 21st Century learners have a “level-up” mentality (John Seeley-Brown) and they want prompt feedback so they can understand what needs to happen to meet their goals.
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629 Week #3 – Respectful & Ethical Minds

4/2/2021

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3 specific guidelines I feel ethically obligated to communicate to those future teachers of my unit to ensure that every student who takes my “class/unit" has a learning experience that is safe and integral are:
  • Instructor modeling of appropriate, safe and effective critiquing is critical to the success of this unit.  If the students actively and genuinely feel unsafe and/or uncomfortable and/or disrespected, barriers will arise and they will either not engage or not participate at all, authentically.  It is critical that very early in the rehearsal process the instructor circulates to all groups and make sure that this is happening.  If your students haven’t had any experience peer critiquing then covering that prior to beginning this phase of the unit is super important.
  • This unit doesn’t address how to be a good audience member because it comes midway though semester 1 and I cover audience ethics very early on.  But if your students have not had some guidance about how to be good, respectful audience members I would absolutely recommend doing that prior to asking any students to share their work.
  • It is imperative that the instructor make sure that themes/stories/subjects chosen by students to base their scripts upon are appropriate and will not offend anyone.  That’s why I have students creating their scripts on a shared Google document so that the instructor has ample opportunity to make sure nothing goes awry in this way.
  • I also recommend letting students know that if they are experiencing any disrespect or mistreatment of any kind to share it in the journal and that it will be dealt with quickly and aggressively.  That’s a private setting that is totally safe because only you and the students see it, weekly.  That gives them a safe way to share with you what they’re going through.
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629 Week #2 – The Disciplined Mind

3/26/2021

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​Well it seems to me that the concept of “The Disciplined Mind” parallels pretty closely with constructivism and SLT as both have to do with acquiring knowledge/skills.  Further, to achieve the “The Disciplined Mind” there has to be some interest on the part of the learner.  For example in my world, the world of drama, students who are not interested in performing arts can succeed on course work and pass the course with an A.  But for some, they’ll really enjoy the work and will really want to go the extra mile to acquire the discipline above and beyond course requirements for simply passing.  That all said, it’s important that I provide learning experiences that accommodate those who just want to get through it, as well as those who are really engaged with it and want to take it to the next level.  I’ve always tried to do this anyway because many of the students in my class are there because the class they really wanted was full and they need to fulfill their VAPA requirement to go on to a UC or CSU and I’ve always needed to provide an authentic experience for both sets of students, concurrently.  I do this within my paradigm in a few ways.  First, I always have a sort of next level of work.  That is, I provide parameters for a project, but include ways to go above and beyond that for extra credit and I include clarification of that in my explanations which are generally written, video recorded and verbalized and posted for their reference in Google classroom.
 
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629 Week #1 - Reflection

3/26/2021

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​I have developed to incorporate 1) student constructivist engagement with content first be becoming aware of constructivist theory in general, but also by trusting my instinct to give students as many choices and options in lessons and units as I possibly can.  I remember when I was a student in 7-12 and I always engaged so much more authentically when I was able to make choices and I want my students to engage as much as possible.  That’s also why I’m so liberal on late submissions – my priority is for them to do the work, not to get wrapped in deadlines etc.  Of course, I understand that learning to work with parameters such as deadlines is important, it’s not as important, at this stage of their lives, as grasping and mastering content.  I’ve also developed to incorporate 2) student constructivist engagement with peers through experimentation with peer critiquing and collaboration.  The latter of those is a huge part of who I am anyway because I’m in dramatic arts field and as a director I’ve learned that collaboration is everything!  As for peer critiquing I was a bit nervous at first, but I learned that with a provided framework and modeling, it’s a very powerful and very effective tool!  Developing to improve student engagement (overall) with the electronically mediated environment by slowly embracing and incorporating technology in my practice is perhaps the most notable benefit I’ve gained from this program and from being forced in virtual learning.  I’m still no expert and I’m still learning new things, but with each passing day I’m feeling more and more competent and willing to try new technology with my students.  I’ve already begun to use Canvas to host a threaded conversation with my Drama 2 kiddypoos.  I’m only using it, so far, for that purpose but again, as I continue to use it I’ll continue to grow comfortable with it and will use it more.  I’m excited and grateful that this program is affording me the opportunity to grow in this way and expand the opportunities and learning I can offer my students.  Finally, I see myself in the second of Cuban’s scenarios, the “preservationist” scenario both before this program and now.  I really don’t see that changing because it’s the one that is open to any and all tools available being utilized.  Hillary Clinton said about raising children that “it takes a village”, well for best practice teaching and learning it takes variety of tools and I’ll not ever stray from that.
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628 Week #8 - Authenticity.

3/7/2021

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​My experience designing and building my DEMO UNIT was pretty authentic!  I figured it would be a breeze because I’ve done a similar unit in the past.  But, once I really got into the meat of it and that paperwork of it, I started really thinking in a much deeper way than I have before.  That plus all that I’ve learned thus far in this program, I think I created a pretty strong unit!  It’ll be interesting to actually deliver it and see how that feels and works!  I feel pretty excited about doing that and I’m looking forward to 629 where I’ll actually do that, so by the end of this program I’m gonna have an amazing unit ready to deliver!  YAY!!!  I for sure felt like I was doing the work of a 21st century teacher because I know so much more now about 21st Century learners!  There’s pretty much no going back now – and really, why would I even want to?  I didn’t have changes when I imagined a student going through the unit because I was pretty careful to consider that in the design in the first place.  It didn’t make it to the paper until I had put myself in my learner’s shoes – like that would even be possible with my size 15 feet!  LOL.  But I did spend time with that before finalizing anything, so I was pretty good on that front.  My experience with this project and this program in general has been transformative!  The word “authentic” has a whole new meaning for me and it feels great by the way!  I love teaching and learning and I just love the educator I’ve become!  In some ways I’m doing what I’ve always done, BUT, I’m coming at it in a much more informed and knowledgeable way!  I can back up/clarify/explain anything I design now because I have so much knowledge behind me.  As for what more we could have done in this class to make it more authentic for me, very honestly, nothing!  As the prompt states, short of going out and doing it, this experience has been incredibly rewarding and transformative, sometimes repetition is called for!
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628 Week #7 - UDL (Universal Design for Learning) IRL (In Real Life)

2/28/2021

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How do I feel I “did” thus far in my “first stab” at instructional design in relation to UDL?  Well, I feel this is not my first stab at instructional design in general, it is however my first stab at instructional design that digs this deeply into the preparation steps.  I’ve designed lots of units but I’ve never gone through this process before, so in that respect I think I did pretty good.  I have multiple elements to my summative assessment, I have tons of formative assessments, students have many opportunities to make choices about the work, there is SLT going on in multiple ways, I have tons of student reflection and I have feedback coming to students in multiple ways.  I also think my unit scaffolds pretty well; it gives students lots of background information and build skillsets that culminate in the final artifact they produce.  All the activities are UDL friendly and there is room for assistive technology to be utilized with little to no modification.  UDL was definitely on my mind when designing this unit in a way it never has been before and I believe that’s a good thing!  As for what elements that we’ve learned about so far will I bring with me into the next and final course, SAMR (which really should be RMAS according to the graphic hehe) is an area where I think I’ve made lot of growth and I have a new ease of mind when considering how to bring tech into my practice.  Even now I’m using MOTE to give feedback to my students as they navigate their SDP projects (student driven project) and I’ve added the creation of a collaborative slide deck into my existing Fallen Stars activity which has made it MUCH better, MUCH more interesting, MUCH more UDL friendly and much more engaging.  These things will be sticking around and I’m pretty confident that I’ll continue to seek out and experiment with technology in my practice.  All in all what I’ve learned in these courses has made me a much better facilitator of learning experiences and has awaken my mind in a way that has been very transformative.  Ed.D. I’m comin’ for ya!
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