A Rational Vs. Irrational Rationale Ramble

Caveat: 

I have been having a bit more difficulty planning this week's post. In thinking about the projected content for this Rationale focus, I have plenty of ideas about the Why of my final vision project on Place-Based Education—after all, those are the issues I've been concerned with for several months throughout this LIBE 477 course. But, I've already written extensively about the Why, so to do so again here seems redundant—especially since the Why will be the "main course" in whatever format I choose to present the project in very soon.

But, I think the real issue causing more writing/thinking blocks this week is the consideration of the Rationale around the Who question. Who is this final vision project for, or who could it potentially be useful for? Beyond the because-I-have-to-as-a-requirement-of-this-course reason, why am I going to make this final vision project? And since that is the area of discomfort, that is the area I'm going to force myself to focus on for this blog post.

So, without further ado and caveats, I show now finally truly begin.

The Rationale questions to I have asked myself this week are as follows:

1) WHY do I think it is necessary or desirable to deliberately incorporate Placed-Based Education (PBE) into teaching?

2) WHY do I feel the scope for increasing PBE must include my three priorities of A) art and design instruction, B) field (literally) trips out into local nature, or to local community resources, and C) the use of technology tools to record, present, and share student learning?

And,

3) WHO is this final vision project really for? Who is the audience? What is the intended reach?

As alluded to in the caveats at the top of the post, I will focus an awful lot on the answers to the why questions, numbers 1 and 2, when I construct the final project. WHO? is the question that matters right now.

I suppose I am doing this project, naturally, for myself first and foremost. When teaching, or being a Teacher-Librarian, it is best if you have thought about, and researched, and practised, and evaluated what you believe to be the main goals of education. I have really come to believe that Place-Based Ed is vital to making learning more relevant to students. I have come to believe that connecting them more to the place in which they live is a way to make them truly notice what we have around us locally so that they are willing to protect what is worth it, and fight to change what is wrong. I have a strong belief that incorporating art into all subjects, into every lesson possible, is a way to keep students self-regulated, while increasing creative thinking. I believe that teaching them about page layout and design allows students to think more flexibly and gets them to present learning in more striking ways by encouraging self-expression. I believe that using various technology tools to research and record learning, and then to present it and share it out, taps into vital 21st century literacy skills. And, I believe that using technology tools, such as iPad apps, to make presentations about what has been learned, is a way to extend the pencil/paint/etc-and-paper art and design skills into the technology realm—blending "analog" and digital art.

So, the project is for me: a way of solidifying my tenets and future directions.

And, of course, it is for my course requirements, and for my instructor. But, really, the value of the course is lies in the belief statements made above.

Another WHO that this project will be for is the small Personal Learning Network of my classmates in this online course. Hopefully, it will be of some interest or use to some of you out there (I know that I look forward to seeing what so many of you come up with).

However, it is thinking about WHO beyond the reach of this course could my final vision project be for that is the problem.... We are encouraged by the very design and the stated goals of the course to share widely, to put ourselves and our ideas out there into the ether for all to see and hear/read...(or to ignore—ha!). It still feels weird. But, I suppose I will tweet out links to the final project and see what happens. It could be interesting to receive feedback from other educators (if anyone sees it at all). 

Posting things far and wide still seems like an act of ego to me, even though I respect that it really is more about an act of sharing and generosity and connection for most ICT users. I do like, though, the idea that it could be the ultimate act of humble pie to post far and wide and hear nothing back—that has a dark humour that I like!

Closer to home, I suppose that I could create a final vision project that could be used as a presentation to my staff at a staff meeting. That makes me uncomfortable. I don't really lack confidence in front of an audience...but, I do feel discomfort about being/acting like some sort of education proselytizer. Maybe I just need to get over myself. I prefer having one-on-one discussions about my education beliefs over lunch in the staff room, or when sitting down to plan team-teaching units. Maybe I should push my self further. I will, at least, make my final project available to my colleagues via a link or attachment in a staff email so that they can access it if they choose.

Another possible way to share my final vision project would be with my local Chilliwack Teacher Librarians' Association. I would somehow feel a little less like a proselytizer in one of those meetings, I think. 

Could it ever be something that would be developed into a Pro-D workshop? My first instinct is to say, "No, definitely not interested in that." Probably due to a magnification of the who-am-I-to-be-proselytizing-to-all-of-you worries already mentioned. Within a course like this, it seems fine to work through your thought process "aloud" to an audience, because that's part of its purpose; it seems a different matter to formally present those thoughts as a pro-d workshop. But, I have talked to other people who have presented for the first time on a topic they are passionate about, and they felt the same way initially, but pushed through it and gave great workshops. So, perhaps, if I can manage to create something I'm happy with, I should not discount taking it that route (even though I am discounting that possibility even as I type that self-advice—ha!)

So ends my ramblings this week.

Up PeriSCOPE!

Scanning the Possibilities for a Final Vision (21st Century Learning) Project.
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Module #10 begins...now is the time to consider the Scope for my final project for the LIBE 477 course...was going to intro the ideas by talking about submarine trolling through topics, blah, narrowing the focus through the persiscope, blah, launching torpedos, blah—but, I'm really not a big fan of educational journey metaphors, so I'll just jump right in after letting these pictures stand in for a fleshed out theme:

 1  2

3

3 Creative Commons licensed images courtesy of  1) Tim Moreillon, 2) Marion Doss, and 3) Naval Surface Warriors

In choosing a final vision project, I decided to focus on an exploration of Place-Based Education. The place being British Columbia in the most general sense, and specifically Chilliwack, where I live, and even more specifically on the community of Sardis, where I teach at Sardis Elementary School. 

In most cases, I'll be focusing on Social Studies curriculum. I'll need to seek staff input on how to make other subjects include lessons on the Chilliwack/Sardis area.

In creating Place-Based Education lessons, I want to always be sure to add in these three key components:

A)  Art and design lessonsB)  Field trips out into nature, or to local community resourcesC)  Technology tools for researching, recording, and presenting        learning

The art and design component will include things like guided drawing, painting, drama, photography, page layout discussions, digital collaging, and so on. For field trips, we will ideally choose walking distance destinations (Sardis Park, Stó:lō Nation site) in order to cut down on bussing costs and environmental impact; for trips a little farther out, the goal should be to combine two or three locations into one all-day excursion (Rotary Vedder River Trail, Blue Heron Reserve, Cheam Wetlands). Before, during, and after the field trips, art should be created as a part of the learning process. The technology tools our students could use for learning and presenting include iPads and laptops to access internet research (plus text resources), and various apps such as HaikuDeck, Puppet, Piccollage, iBooks, ThingLink, etc.

   

                       

Things to consider as I move ahead...

Most of my personal teaching and ideas around Place-Based Education are specifically fitting in with the Social Studies curricula for various grades: I should eventually add Science, Math, etc; also look at integration of several subjects within one project.

Build on place-based successes already in my teaching repertoire, learn from and team up with other colleagues already doing PBE (purposefully, or not), and connect with and team up with anyone else interested on staff.

This final project should probably be presented as an iBook or HaikuDeck that links out to examples of Puppets, PicCollages, and ThingLinks showing the use of art/design lessons for place-based units in various subjects. Thus, my presentation becomes a showcase of the types of tools and ideas I'm advocating.

The final project almagamation will need to include references to materials I discovered throughout this course on the topics mentioned throughout this post.

Another think to think about is who I will present this vision for 21st Century learning to (beyond classmates) and how and when I'll do that. As part of my PLN online, with staff, with T-Ls...?

The circular and interconnected thinking process...

Now, in phase three of the course, I'm returning to the roots of my main interests explored at length in phase one of the course....

As usual, I like the big-picture approach, so I had a hard time separating out the different elements of Modules 10, 11, and 12 as I looked ahead--so, I planned them in tandem on paper...a bit of a linear mindmap (I always still rough my ideas out on paper in word doodles no matter how much I incorporate tech tools into my life). This is what it looks like:

Take-Aways: The Freebies of Exploratory Learning

So..Phase 2 of LIBE 477 is coming to an end. This means it's time to reflect on what I've learned over the past several weeks, and what I'll take away, what will stick with me....

I thoroughly enjoyed all the discussions from classmates on promoting reading culture within their school sites (or in the DL world). I now have some new ideas to add to my own repertoire.

I was amazed to find out just how much there is in terms of completely free online pro-d: from MOOCs, to self-paced courses, to webinars. As aside note, when attending the BCTLA Chapter Councillor meeting after the conference, I learned about a fabulous program of our association's: BCTLA Webinars in a series of four per year, for a $20 fee, plus free access to anybody to the archived sessions. Information about this year's series will be sent out via Chapter Councillors soon. The archives can be found here and/or here on the Youtube channel.

Furthermore, the number of amazing TL blogs with how-tos, and YouTube how-tos are an incredible resource in my own as-needed pro-d around Teacher-Librarianship.

Being "forced" to look into all of this stuff has been very beneficial.

Those online pro-d sources will become a sort of  Personal Learning Network--a PLN that goes beyond just attending Chilliwack Teacher-Librarian Association meetings every couple of months. Also, getting back into using Twitter and having a small group through this class to follow, having a small number of blogs to follow, and making connections to other Chapter Councillors will be the start of an ever-increasing PLN.

I was really impressed when researching and reading blog posts about world libraries, with how many different innovative groups and ways there were of bringing both text and digital libraries to people and remote communities throughout the developing world.

However, I think my biggest "take away" from this section of the course has been engaging my curiosity about just what is being done closer to home, here in Canada, about increasing library access to remote communities, and especially to our chronically under-served Aboriginal communities. I think that looking into this is going to become a bit of a mid-to-long-term goal. As I've said in comments on other blog posts from this course this week, we've all heard about deplorable infrastructure conditions on reserves, about water that is completely polluted, and so on, but I know from talking to at least one teacher who worked in northern Saskatchewan for 11 years that library resources there were almost nonexistent.

The study referenced by Jen Maclean in her blog post, Libraries in Developing Nations, will be a great starting point for me to branch out from: Aboriginal Peoples and Access to Reading Materials. I have a feeling we could direct much more attention and fundraising toward supporting access to Library resources (print and digital) within areas of our own country instead of only trying to fix problems outside our borders.

References

Bctf.ca,. 'BCTLA: Professional Development For Teacher-Librarians'. N.p., 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

Maclean, Jennifer. 'LIBE 477B Inquiry Blog #4: Libraries In Developing Nations'. Adventures of a Teacher-Librarian 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

National Reading Campaign,. Aboriginal Peoples And Access To Reading Materials. Osweken, ON: Stonepath Research Group, 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

YouTube,. 'BC Teacher-Librarians' Association'. N.p., 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

Help Myself to Help My Colleagues Find On-line Pro-D

Thoughts Going in 2 (or more) Directions...
Looking for a Focus...
For this week, the Inquiry Blog assignment pulls me in two directions... The first is to focus on a digital "professional collection" in terms of creating a Library Digital Learning Commons website of some sort that houses learning links for teachers (and students), and that contains examples and tutorials on using apps, etc to enhance learning in the classroom (all of which is a goal I'm slowly building towards). The second direction my mind is going in is related to becoming a conduit for connecting fellow teachers to on-line course work as pro-d. Since I know that I mirror colleague curiosity and trepidation about this realm (even though I've liked taking LIBE/LLED courses online), I pushed myself to go exploring in this second direction. So...

The Question to Focus On
How can we as Teacher-Librarians lead the way in teaching, or pointing the way toward, meaningful ICT professional development on-line for our colleagues?

The True Confessions Component

Yikes! A daunting question up above. One which makes me nervous as I feel new to the whole realm of online pro-d myself (beyond UBC T-L courses). I have participated in two math webinars (three years ago) and, truth be told, did not love the format...maybe just because I'm geezerific, maybe because the particular moderator/teacher wasn't as effective as others, maybe because I just wasn't used to it—I'm not sure. 

Similarly, I was part of a group participating in a sort of digital teleconference/webinar (two years ago) with John Mighton at the CISCO building in Vancouver, that gave me a rocky intro into online pro-d: we started nearly half an hour late due various technical difficulties getting synced audio and video. Mighton is the originator of JUMP Math, and is the author of The End of Ignorance, which I had read—and really appreciated—as pro-d to increase my math instruction skills for my grade 4 classes. Watching video footage of his math teaching in the classroom using scaffolded questions and kids scrawling answers on individual whiteboards had transformed my lessons into something I (and the kids) thoroughly enjoyed. [Oddly, I couldn't find the particular videos of Mighton teaching kids that I once viewed; only pieces of them within other videos; I did stop searching after 15 min., though]  I was really looking forward to learning alongside John Mighton, but the tech difficulties were really tedious to sit through.

Getting Over Myself (speaking of ending ignorance...)

However, in the end, it was exceedingly cool to be sort of face-to-face with an educator I respected while he was thousands of kilometres away in Toronto. And do a few tiresome tech difficulties really undermine the amazingness of being able to do that; do they eliminate the benefits of connecting to a personal learning network that would have been impossible not so long ago? No, definitely not. In the end, everything eventually ran smoothly. I was glad to have been a part of it. And with the rapidity of tech advancements in this era, there is every chance that the flaws of a few years ago have already been mitigated...

So...this week, I decided to get over myself, and began to look into what sort of online—preferably free—pro-d is available currently available. I have heard of things like MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), but didn't realize just how many of them were out there! I figure that as a T-L, becoming a portal to such pro-d info for my colleagues has some value: everyone is busy, and so everyone can appreciate a middleman who points out a course of possible interest. And who knows, I just might find something for myself, too! Posted below are a few finds...

A Few Good Finds for Online Pro-D

What I really liked about Class Central (above image) was that it was laid out simply and started with offerings current to the date of searching and expanding out into the future, rather than being yet another list of various MOOCs, etc, that were amazing, but already over. On one level, we could simply send the link out to colleagues to do their own searches through the offerings, or, even better, we could scroll through looking for topics that suit individual staff member interests, or school pro-d goals, and send info about those specific courses.

A site called Edudemic also was useful for online pro-d suggestions using ICT tools. Its "9 Places to Find High-Quality On-line Professional Development" article led me to the TeachersFirst website.

If a colleague was tentatively interested in using blogs, I would definitely send them there; then, once they had chosen a blog tool, I would make sure I learned all about it, send them a video link showing how to set up accounts, and then sit down with them to set it all up together.

TeachersFirst also offers a wide variety of live online pro-d in their "OK2Ask" section (pdf schedule of coming events attached here). The description in the picture here sums them up nicely: 
This site also has an archive of how-to "courses" that walk teachers step-by-step through how to incorporate technology in their teaching. The information is presented in bite-size chunks, which is non-threatening. The interface is relatively low-tech looking, uncluttered, and not full of flashy distractions—perfect for those colleagues nervous but curious about using more tech in class. One particular example: I read through the course called "Blog Basics for the Classroom," and found it to be a great intro.

Another possibility found via Edudemic was the Intel Teach Elements site. I could see a small group of colleagues choosing a self-directed, self-paced course together on a topic of mutual interest. It would especially lend itself to our district's After-School Collaboration Sessions pro-d, where teachers interested in a given topic meet together for four to five sessions throughout the year (and receive two set lieu days in recognition of the time devoted to extra pro-d).

Closing Thoughts

There is an amazing variety of useful coursework to be found out there in the ether...best if we Teacher-Librarians decide to be a guide towards finding it for colleagues.

Besides pointing out the above online courses available to my colleagues, I plan to continue investigating uses for various apps, and suggesting/demonstrating uses for them in my colleagues' teaching. Sometimes teachers come to us wanting support with incorporating tech tools, but if we can anticipate good options and approach them with an idea already fleshed out...well, that tends to get quicker buy-in. Investigating the new curriculum documents and planning ahead with how to help teachers' pro-d transitions--and how to incorporate 21st Century Literacies into that curriculum--is a big goal for this year and next year. I would like to create some grade-by-grade links for teachers showing how to use interactive communication tools to meet curriculum content goals, in much the same way the new curriculum documents provide digital audio/video examples in the "Competency Illustrations" page of the Communication tab, as in these two items:

A)
Blog: Perfect School, which could be used to further support the imagined colleague I mentioned earlier who wants to start using blogs.

B)
Retelling Little Red Riding Hood, which simply shows how using the iPad camera to record students' oral language learning can show not only what they know, but make visible their confidence, their memory strategies, their voice modulation, and so much more--all in a format that can re-played for deeper assessment purposes, or that can be shared with a parent to deepen their understanding of their son/daughter's skills or challenges.

References

BC Ministry of Education,. Competency Illustrations: Retelling Little Red Riding Hood. 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Curriculum.gov.bc.ca,. 'Building Student Success - BC's New Curriculum'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Curriculum.gov.bc.ca,. 'Communication Profiles: Communication Competency Illustrations: Blog: Perfect School'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Intel,. 'Intel® Teach Elements'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Jumpmath.org,. 'JUMP Math :: Home'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Learning, Class. 'Class Central'. Class Central. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Lepi, Katie. '9 Places To Find Great Online Professional Development'. Edudemic.com. N.p., 2013. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Mighton, John. The End Of Ignorance. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2008. Print.

Ncte.org,. 'NCTE Framework For 21St Century Curriculum And Assessment'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Teachersfirst.com,. 'Teachersfirst - Ok2ask®: Free Online Professional Development For Teachers'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Teachersfirst.com,. 'Teachersfirst: Blog Basics For The Classroom'. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Let the PLN-ing begin...! But, "Slowly, slowly, slowly," said the thoughtful sloth.

Creating a Personal Learning Network can be a bit daunting, because every time I make a foray into education forums, blogs, etc, I see so many amazing ideas, so many new and different apps, so many intriguing voices, SO MUCH _______________. I have an ideas file folder in my email with links that I may never get back to to explore them further.

So, I'm thinking the key (for me, and for others?) may be to start small, with a narrower focus. As a kind of portal to possible items of interest, I've made an account with Edutopia and started to explore within it. There may well be better sites, but as a start, it will do; I do appreciate the simple clean layout with Topic, Video, and Conversation menu buttons at the top; the breakdown of grade groups one level in is also useful.

http://www.edutopia.org

Although the link below, on Edutopia, about augmented reality apps didn't relate directly to me and things I would use...

Tech Toys (and Tools) for Learning

...it was interesting--but more importantly, it reminded me about last year when some of my staff saw a bit of a novelty augmented reality app in a workshop that really wowed them...I meant to approach them with ideas for using Aurasma this year. 

Anyway, using Edutopia as a start linked me to a curated blog post (a potential PLN connection) which reminded me of a way to connect with colleagues (my main PLN) in my building—and it wasn't overwhelming, which was a great way to get started PLN-ing...

I used Aurasma a few years ago to create a treasure hunt-style interactive experience at the Stō:ló Nation site near my school (as a follow-up field trip after the Gr 4 Longhouse visits). It has since become a standard part of my grade 4 SS unit on First Nations cultures, and a cornerstone in my attempts to stick to Place-Based Education. Aurasma is an app (linked to the online site) that allows you to make a video clip that will be triggered to appear when the iPad camera scans over a chosen trigger object, scene, etc in the real world. I've meant to use it in more ways within the school; now, I've been reminded to do just that.

In terms of creating a PLN, I like being in this LIBE 477 class and being given a mini-PLN--in the Bears group. That narrows my focus to make it manageable; with only four or five people to follow, I can pursue all of their ideas and links more thoroughly; and then choose to venture outside of the group when necessary or when wanting even more variety. And when venturing out, it is definitely best to have a specific search topic in mind and to stick to it...stop clicking on other interesting-sounding things!

Following the same narrow group on Twitter has been a great way to get started as well; I've added a few others to my following list, but not too many. Just dipping my toe in. [During our last strike, I was very active on Twitter, under a now-defunct account, following many people, and interacting a fair bit, but more for educational/political purposes—so, I know it can be very useful and rewarding.]

I saw a retweet in my feed of something that sounded interesting from an educator guru named Catlin Tucker, so I tentatively followed her for now. That led me to this very interesting post:

This tied in nicely with my re-invigorated thoughts about augmented reality apps. I can see using ThingLink as a great alternative to traditional elementary Library research presentations on animals...imagine snapping a photo of the animal, then attaching clickable icons to the image that opened up info on its adaptations such as claws, eyesight, tail, etc...? This video explains the process: How to Thinglink!

The final element of starting to create a PLN that I'd like to discuss is the the idea to "Share everything (or at least something)" that Richardson implores us to do in his eBook, Why School? Sharing and soliciting feedback is naturally a great way to hone your skills...so I'm trying to get on with it. I often share ideas for possible collaboration with my staff in formats like those down below. Now, I'll put a couple of them out there in their rough, unpolished way for fellow classmates reading my blog.

Chris' audio/video clips (3-4 min each; created with Puppet and Screenchomp apps) about using an app for math instruction and teacher/parent connections:

Impromtu message to colleagues re: tech tool to help with math instruction, or to use as a teacher/parent connection tool

Quick Screenchomp sample video to show colleagues how to use it for math teaching, students demonstrating mastery, or as a teacher/parent homework helper

Does anyone have any similar or different tech ways of accomplishing the skills or goals I mentioned in the above clips? I'd love to hear them.

Let the PLNing begin...!

References

Aurasma. https://www.aurasma.com: HP Aurasma, 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.

Carle, Eric. "Slowly, slowly, slowly," Said the Sloth. New York, NY: Philomel Books, 2002. Print.

Hunt, Christopher. (A Message To Teacher Colleagues About Using Screenchomp As A Math Teaching Tool; Created Using Shadow Puppet.). 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Hunt, Christopher. (A Screenchomp Video Created As An Example For Teaching Subtraction, A Tool For Students To Demonstrate Mastery, And As A Resource To Send To Parents.). 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Jayne, Clare. 'Tech Toys (And Tools) For Learning'. Edutopia 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.

Richardson, Will. Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning And Information Are Everywhere.. 1st ed. TED Conferences, 2012. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.

Screenchomp. http://www.screenchomp.com: TechSmith Labs, 2011. Mobile application.

Shadow Puppet. http://get-puppet.co: Shadow Puppet, 2014. Mobile application.

Thinglink. How To Thinglink!. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Thinglink. 'Thinglink - Make Your Images Interactive'. N.p., 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Tucker, Catlin. 'Catlin Tucker On Twitter'. Twitter. N.p., 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.