Beyond the Bridge

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Comment by Lynn Full on June 4, 2008 at 7:31am

Great point, Karla. It is better to try something new and fail then to not try anything at all. This is a great time of year for reflection and to think about change. It can be exciting to think about a new school year and the opportunity to try something different. Karla, I love the structures lesson. So simple...just let them do it! But many teachers would not be brave enough to the let them go at it. The focus group at the end was a great way to bring about reflection. We are often so busy trying to start the next unit, that we don't leave time for this essential piece of the puzzle.
Lynn

Comment by Karla Willdey on June 4, 2008 at 6:45am

Its a little scary to be reflecting so heavily on our practice and noticing all of the things we are doing "wrong" - all of the things that we are wanting to tweak a bit. The thing that is coming through loud and clear to me girls, is how much we all care about doing the best we can for and with our students. I think the only mistake we can make is to do nothing at all. Keep moving forward!

Comment by Therese Mair on June 3, 2008 at 10:01pm

Sherri,
It sounds like you are "on the way" to becoming a leader in new literacies. I feel I have begun a new path in my teaching, too. Today I was demonstrating how to use a Smartboard to a grade 5 class. They way I went about it was quite different today than it would have been if I had had to do this 6 weeks ago. I am now much more aware of trying to make my lessons learner centred with constructivism as a base, also much more aware of trying to enable students to reach higher level learning. I have begun, but I am still "on the way". At least I know what direction I want to go in and am not lost at sea.

Comment by Therese Mair on June 3, 2008 at 9:49pm

Karla,
Your "Structures" lesson with the 2/3s sounds just fantastic. It involves collaboration, both on the part of the teachers and the students. It involves constructivist theory where students create their own learning. It involves guided inquiry. It also involves higher level thinking. Talk about a wonderful activity. Right on Karla!

Comment by Sherri Boutilier on June 3, 2008 at 9:40pm

Hello Ladies,
Just taking a break from the readings to catch up on the group forum. I miss our little group discussions!

I've been thinking a lot about changing my teaching practices the last few weeks, especially since I now know for sure that my assignment will change next year. I have to admit that this past month has been a steep learning curve for me as I reflect on my current teaching style and my beliefs about research. What is sad is that I see so little of even the traditional research taking place in my school...how am I to take a leadership role and plunge into learning with these new ideas? And to support Lynn's 'rant' do this with so little time!!!! But as Therese said, baby steps might be the best way. Go slowly and lead by example working first with my own class (since I don't really have the oppportunity to do it with anyone else.) It's exciting to think about planning for a new school year in which I can do more hands on learning about learning. I have already made some small changes in my teaching, mainly around students making more choices and becoming engaged in their learning. Today we had a "Disease Buffet" in health for students to have a quick peak at 20 different infectious diseases so they could decide which disease they will research for their final product (rather than just assign a disease or pick from a hat). They also have to "prove" to me why they should get that disease (not literally) for their final project.
As I finish reading the last two articles I am challenged as to how I am going to incorporate more of this into my classroom and school. I can see the ideal but I'm not seeing the logical and practical way to get there. It's comforting to know that there are 20 some others out there who are going through the same process with me.

Enjoy the remainder of the course and the last 16 days of classes!
Sherri


PS - Karla...what a great project! I especially liked the reflective focus groups at the end.

Comment by Karla Willdey on June 3, 2008 at 9:27pm

There's another case of Karla not being much of a technology girl...I tried! Sorry, but if you tilt your head just a little, you'll make sense of the pics!!

Comment by Karla Willdey on June 3, 2008 at 9:26pm

Chapter 5 Response

So...I think we provide a lot of this type of learning experience in our schools, at least in the elementary grades. There is a focus on exploration and discovery.

I think specifically of a project I just conducted in the library with our grade 2/3 class. They were looking at structures as a part of the science curriculum and had conducted a few experiments in class. I thought it might be fun to have them build a structure--the classroom teacher and I decided on a chair that would support their weight. They would be given only one roll of masking tape and as much newspaper as they wanted to use to build their chairs. They could use a ruler if they wanted.

I provided a mini-lesson on structures--what makes a structure strong, what shapes add strength, how to use ties to add stability etc. We looked at pictures of several structures (buildings, houses, bridges) and looked for shapes common to them--triangles. We did some brainstorming about structures and then I set them to the planning of their chairs. They worked in pairs and spent some time on the planning drawing diagrams and showing their thought process- the classroom teacher and I wandered and offered support, encouraged ideas, collaboration and thinking.

The next day, I put the supplies on the table, gave them their time frame--four 30 minute periods to build their chairs and set them to the task. They were very excited!

I stopped construction several times to talk about what good architects do in terms of communicating, planning, adding strength, stability and balance. Students need the freedom to explore, try, test and discover but they also will thrive if they have the tools and the framework to support their learning.

When kids were simply wrapping the tape around haphazardly, it was time to stop construction and provide a "just in time" intervention as opposed to a not-as-effective "just in case" lesson. When the legs of the chair were uneven, it was time to intervene and offer guidance around using a ruler to help them.

We tested out the chairs yesterday. Each pair had to present their chair with a short oral presentation, discussing how they added strength and stability, what they were most proud of, what they would do differently next time. They then tested the chairs with stuffed animals, 6 encyclopedias and finally themselves. What fun! To end the project, I invited them to the library where we split into 2 focus groups and reflected on the process and the product - I heard such things as "It was great to work with my partner and listen to her ideas. We had better ideas together." "I learned a lot about structures because I learned what didn't work. Next time, I could make it work." "The teachers were there to help you if you needed help but mostly they just left us alone."

Karla

Comment by Lynn Full on June 3, 2008 at 9:26pm

Hi Therese,
I guess the approach we have to take is that of "baby steps". Try something new, see if it works. If it does great, elaborate on it. If it doesn't, head back to the drawing board noting what changes need to be made. I can definately appreciate your feeling of 2 full time jobs!
Lynn

Comment by Therese Mair on June 3, 2008 at 8:48pm

I respect your "rant" Lynn. I am 50% librarian at my current school, and I know how busy it is. My other 50 %is resource and I find with all the assessments, reports, IEPS, etc., I feel like I have two full time jobs instead of 50% of each. If I can wrap my head around how what we are learning can be practically done in a classroom/library, it will help. With each new RBL station group that comes in, I can change things bit by bit, a few stations at a time.

Comment by Lynn Full on June 3, 2008 at 7:55pm

What do I want to know?
In Kapitzke’s article Information Literacy, he refers to the “federal and state government reports, school policy documents, practitioner manuals, and publications for library professionals tout information literacy as a core skill for education and the workplace.” (38) Knowing this as well as the capability of a fully-functioning school library to act as the “hub” for information seeking and critical reflection, why are teacher librarians made to feel like we have to constantly prove ourselves in order to retain time allotment?
These questions are going to sound facetious but how are we, as teacher librarians, supposed to have this great impact on our students by exposing them to “new literacies” when we are only allotted small portions of the daily schedule to spend in the library? I am 33% in my school library and I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones. With so many other responsibilities (ordering, Marc records, inventory, shelving, teaching library skills, circulation, working with various groups, pulling books for teachers, loan reports, etc) when are we supposed to find the time to persuade reluctant students and teachers to jump on board? How do we convince our administration that we are key leaders in the school to support the use of technology in combination with higher level thinking by our students?

I don’t know if there are answers to these questions but it really is frustrating to have the desire to try something new only to feel the burden of time (or lack there of) zapping your energy.

There is my rant for tonight….:)
Lynn

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