APPLIED PRACTICE IN CONTEXT, ASSESSMENT 2 Blog Post 3: “REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND CHANGES IN PRACTICE” Reflective practice is an organic, ongoing, demanding and sometimes frustrating process. ( Osterman & Kottkamp, 1993, p.2) It requires high levels of self critique and patience before desired results are achieved. It can be more effective when undertaken in a collaborative setting, to allow for unbiased peer critique. Reflective practice begins when we become aware of a need for an area of change . For example, when I was working on my early Digital and Collaborative assessments the need for more Professional Content Knowledge when learning how to Screencastify a slideshow was overwhelming! Next, I entered the experiential learning phase, facing considerable challenges when working out how Screencastify worked. During Digital classes, I was also confronted with assumptions that I knew how to use apps such as Scratch, which I found frustrating as I felt I was ...
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APPLIED PRACTICE IN CONTEXT, ASSESSMENT 2 Blog Post 2: “INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS IN PRACTICE” * A potential interdisciplinary connection from my map as my near future goal … When discussing my connection focus, I have decided to link it to the University of Illinois Thomas & McDonaugh video, as it resonated most strongly with aspects of my practice I wish to focus on. The connection I have as a near future goal is that of working more closely with and learning from our Unique Learning Needs Co-Ordinator. She does an amazing job of implementing the AKO Solutionz Mana Enhancement Plans (MEP) for our troubled students whose learning (and the learning of others) is being affected by behaviour challenges. I have focused on this area because I currently have students in my pod who are working with a plan and next year I know there will be a group of students coming through who will present me with a raft of behaviour challenges that I need to become better e...
APPLIED PRACTICE IN CONTEXT, ASSESSMENT 2 Blog Post 1 SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN TEACHING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT The use of social media in my practice Kathy Cassidy, a teacher at Westmount Elementary School in the United States makes a strong case for the use of digital technology, including social media, in classrooms of the 21st century. She suggests that as children are exposed to increasing amounts of digital technology at home, a school is not in touch with real life if it not also used at school - they are “powering down” in a sense. I agree with this statement, as I begin to see benefits of implementing social media into my practice. This has been mostly evident in my use of Seesaw, an online app used as a portfolio to reflect student’s learning. Family members and teachers can easily access student’s work and give them feedback - this is a big motivator for the students, as suddenly their work has a wider audience. Through using Seesaw, my students have...
MindLab Blog Post 5 “Influence Of Law And Ethics”
“Influence Of Law And Ethics” The dilemma Based on the concerning amount of young (and not so young!) people I witness with their faces buried in devices instead of talking to the person right next to them, I make an effort not to let social media have too much reign over my life in general. I only have Facebook - no Instagram, Snapchat, Vine or anything else like that. Emanating from this is the ethical dilemma I have faced in my practice of whether to “friend” or “follow” a colleague on Facebook. So far I have been resolutely resisting the urge to “friend request” colleagues I am close to, but it is difficult when you have a lot in common both professionally and personally and you just get on so well … Ethical issues arising from the dilemma Giving up on this resolution would blur the lines between my professional and personal life - I would be letting them into my digital personal life! Once the “friending” is done, it’s nearly impossible to undo - “defriending” could...
MindLab Blog Post 4: “Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness”
My critical understanding of indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness. Before viewing Russell Bishop’s 2012 EdTalks video, I was still a little hazy in my understanding of what indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness really was. I had heard the terms around my school, but had not yet fully investigated its meaning. From the video, I have developed the understanding that I need to: ~be open to the issue of colonisation as being partly responsible for the educational disparities between Maori and non Maori - are Maori getting their promise of their part in a good education as set down in the Treaty of Waitangi? It is not all down to other preconceived notions of Maori. ~be aware that there is a worrying connection between achievement gaps in Maori and the high percentage of Maori currently incarcerated ~ be culturally responsive is to nurture relationships with Maori; take a genuine interest in their culture ~engage in appropriate Professional Devel...
MindLab Blog Post 3: “Practice in the context of different audiences and their perspectives”
I see the impact of future trends as opportunities, not challenges. Exciting opportunities to learn and grow my practice. The US National Intelligence Council’s 2017 report on exploring Key Trends when looking at the future from different perspectives highlights a trend particularly salient to my practice; that of Technological Innovation accelerating progress, but leading to discontinuities. (p.15) It refers not only to the development and deployment of ICT and AI (Artificial Intelligence) disrupting/altering labour, health, energy and transportation systems, but challenges me to ask: what effect will it have on the education sector? The report’s implications are clear that increased efficiencies and the surge in cloud-based platforms operating without local infrastructure may reduce the need for teachers to be so physically present in the classroom, as it were. Classrooms of the future may bring a strange sense of deja vu , echoing the “correspondence school” style of le...