PLC and the DLC

Our school started this year with PLC's (Professional Learning Communities), this is closely related to the DLC's (Dynamic Learning Communities) from our reading this week. We are one fourth of the way through the year with the PLC's and this article helped my understanding about what my school is attempting to establish and the problems that my PLC is encountering.

In our PLC's it has taken us a while to become comfortable with the idea of shared control. We are used to having meetings where someone is in control of a meeting. Distributed control has worked better the more times we meet, but was tough initially. We have good dialogue and are flexible, but our main problem has been focus. The lack of central control is something we have left is needed. While this is listed as a possible negative outcome, I think it could be alleviated with a few check in points during the year. The PLC is a different way of decision making for our school, and without proper training we seem to be at a loss.

I agree that instruction has a negative connotation, but I do not think that it is deserved. While a learning community establishes growth of all individuals it does not match how schools are assessed. With a learning community freedom of curriculum needs to be given to let the class go where the path takes them. The teacher does have some control over the path, but with the shared responsibility of every learner, if the consensus is to explore areas not on the curriculum freedom needs to be given. The problem I always run into when looking at varied instruction is evaluation of schools. Current standardized tests do not allow for creative and free form thinking. If test were constructed in a format similar to the AP exams, where students are asked to be creative and supportive in their responses, then the measurement would work with a DLC format. If students were assessed by their individual growth for the year, as apposed to how well the scored compared to national norms, then DLC’s would be given the necessary freedom.

Media

I found it interesting that this article was the week of the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. That was the show that started to shirt the focus of children's television and is one of the most successful children's programs. This show brought about the idea of having programming for children that was both entertaining and educational. I thought the point of the value of the media was important. If kids receive very little educational influence at home, then television can have some positive impact. I wonder if the connection between socio-economic level and television impact is more of an influence of how often them parents have the ability to educate their rather than the quality of educational programming.

I thought the section on cognitive skills was interesting when looking at the driver's education program at our school. The fact that video games can improve visual tracking is similar to what we had in our school's simulator program in driver's ed. However, our simulator system was antiquated, but still helped with the visual spatial skills. It gave students the ability to feel comfortable with the speed and motion of driving, while not requiring them to be on the road. However the State of Illinois no longer recognizes simulator as part of the requirements, so the program has been lost from our curriculum. Personally, I think and updated system could still benefit our students and provide them with the experience and familiarity of driving without the risk of putting them on the road without practice.

Laptops for all

I found this week’s article very interesting. Our school has been tackling similar issues with a variety of results. We have slowly been integrating tablets into the hands of instructors. We started with a small pilot program of 25 teachers and now have about 150 teachers with tablets. All of our math and science teachers have a tablet and we are slowly incorporating into other departments. The unfamiliarity with new technology experience by staff members is an issue that we still encounter. As a technology coach one of my roles is too help with the transition.

We are slowly approaching laptops in the hands of our students. One of our middle schools has started a program where all students currently have a laptop. These students will be freshman next year, and we had a meeting today to discuss how this could potentially change how we do things at the high school.

I was especially interested in the mathematics teacher, for obvious reasons. It was interesting to see that initially the laptops were used only a few times, and as a reference tool. As the involvement of the technology increased in class, the lessons became more constructionist. The lessons were much more interesting, and closer aligned to the national mathematics standards. The issue that then became a problem was assessment. The assessments became more subjective, that is a difficult transition for a mathematics teacher. It did seem to work. I look forward to the challenges I will encounter when my students start showing up with their own technologies.

Advanced Distributed Learning

I have seen a few examples of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) in a few of our programs at school. I feel that ADL has been so effective in corporate setting because the system probably only is about a few topics at a time. If only one topic is cover, then a system of resources can be carefully organized and available in each trainer.

However when it is used in an educational setting, the ADL will get considerably more complicated. A complete curriculum will require a greater amount of resources. I do agree that real-time interaction is important when used in an educational setting. Our school uses two different ADL’s class.com, and Umbudsman. Class.com is similar to the example from academiccolab.com. Students have a few example videos, some resources websites to visit, online checks, and an assessment and the end of each lesson. These assessments are graded by a teacher at our school and then returned to the student. There very little real-time feedback for students, beside the online checks. An improvement would be an area where students could ask questions and receive instant feedback. Our second program, Umbudsman has greater support. Here students work through similar online trainers, but have subject supported instructors available onsite for support.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is developing standards for a more experiential form of mathematics. ADL’s could help with providing students with examples of how mathematics is used in real life settings. This would cause the roles to shift as mentioned. Students would have more responsibility for independent learning and the teachers will have to become a greater facilitator of information.

Politics of Curriculum

The structures discussed have basis into our schools current system. The Reproduction Theory discussed developing "the types of personal demeanor, modes of self preservation, self-image, and social class identification that are crucial ingredients of job adequacy." Our schools attempt to prepare students for college and the working world. Through student interaction with peers they develop a sense of self image and in high school they develop their image of their personal expectations on a career. High school students have very little control of their academic direction until they attend college. High school has some freedom of electives. However, this is still only 2 classes a semester out of a total of 7 courses.

Teacher resistance has never been more evident than with No Child Left Behind. There is a mandate set at the national level with mathematically unrealistic expectations. The main forces of resistance are due to the lack of funding and expectation that all students will eventually be above average. A more realistic approach is to strive for all students to improve. Their improvement could be measured by a student’s own personal growth, rather than national standard. Even with the teacher resistance, NCLB had created a useful focus of all school subcategories.

The concept of "democratizing the curriculum" is an idea that can be very effective for schools. All stake holders should be involved in the curriculum process. This should include teachers, administrators and students. This would require a thoughtful conversation rather than a meeting to enforce state standards. All invested parties can bring their strengths. Administrators with their understanding of state assessment tools, educators with their knowledge of contents, and students with their input of ability to understand the material could bring forth a powerful partnership for change.

Assistive Technology and Universal Design

When I was in high school I worked with a special education program through the local park district. It was an experience that has influenced my entire life as an educator. I worked in the sports program, specifically swimming and softball. The kids ranged in age from 5 to 15, and had a variety of either physically or developmental challenges. My group of friends worked to get a fully accessible playground in our town. Our initial presentation to the village board was not well received. We were told that, “Those kids don’t use our parks.” Our second presentation included 100 parents with the children that would use the park, and was better received. At the time, the park was state of the art. Now the park is very similar to any park renovation, with a universal design that children of all abilities can use.
As an educator, I have encountered a variety of assistive technology. Text books have been enlarged, digital textbooks incorporated, and the voice recognition software that Kim displayed last week was a great example of this adaptation. I think that some assistive technology can be modified for all students. Students are finding digital versions of their textbooks easier to use at home. The online modifications also includes and audio component where mathematical examples are explained verbally, in both English and Spanish. These adaptations work well for every student, but were rooted in assistive technology.
Our school had three major expansion programs and it was interesting to see where universal design was implemented and where it was missing. Our field house and theater had very little universal design. Each had handicap accessible entrances, but this is where the universal design stops. Neither area has seating that would be useful for students with physical challenges. Our theater has a dressing room and stage area that is not wheelchair accessible. Our pool has a much better level design and access. There is a zero depth access, a bulk head that can be adjusted in the pool and a chair that help raise and lower students into the pool. These changes in design can also be seen in the frequency of use. Our special needs students use the pool three times a week, while rarely enter the theater and field house.
Students have the right to have an equal opportunity. Assistive technology helps on an individual basis. Universal design has a wider reach for its benefits and will always exist in a project.

Promoting Teacher Learning

I like the idea of using a teacher current content knowledge as a base to increase teacher learning. Often in development seminars not enough acknowledgement is given to the resources readily available. I think it is important to asses the strengths that teacher bring and then, develop new ideas.

Often teacher are not flexible in their teaching. Schedules are constantly changing due to assemblies, staff meetings, and a variety of other school events. With and increase in teacher learning, more thought could be giving to the variety of ideas available.

I enjoyed the pacing that this article provided. There was continued emphasis in support that this article provided. The continued supported that was suggested the article is important for teachers. The freedoms and flexibility that teachers are giving with this set up help with incorporation of new ideas into the classroom. Often new curriculum development ideas are seen as just summer workshops, or weekend conferences. The idea of continued support could make any type of staff development more effective.

I agree that educational materials should promote both student and teacher learning. At one conference I once heard that for good pedagogy teachers must really love their subject. This love of content can translate into how teachers are willing to learn more about their content area, and are willing to develop their ideas as the year progresses. Classrooms should to be controlled by the curriculum. Pacing and development should be dictated by the needs of the participants in the class. This includes both the teacher and the students.