MST PORTAL - Promoting Open, Reflective Teaching & Learning

In my previous post I outlined our plan for an environmental science year-long project with K-5 students and our initiative for attaining pedagogical changes in instruction for our team of 15 teachers. So what do we, a group of elementary teachers, do next to make our vision a reality? After our poster session on Monday in San Antonio our team of 5 met outside on a patio to escape the cold air conditioning and tackle the obstacles waiting for us in September. Here’s a summary of our collective ideas.

Team Initiative: Shift instructional practices in our school to become constructivist in nature using inquiry-based methods and increase the use of technology to facilitate learning for both teachers and students.

• Choose a professional development on-line course offered as part of the HP grant for the entire team’s participation that is tied to constructivism and inquiry. (possibly Constructing Learning Centered Environments offered through PBS Teachers)
• Plan short afterschool meetings to discuss PD coursework. Rotate the role of facilitator for each session.
• Encourage team members to inquire into the topic and ask their own questions, seek answers, and share learning with the group.
• Communicate our plan clearly with the building principal and work to tie this initiative with our annual building goals.
• Provide individual choice for professional development offerings (webinars, books, other on-line courses) in addition to the group’s on-line course.
• Use the MST room to model 5E lesson plan implementation for the first quarter. Starting in the second quarter team members can write their own 5E lessons and revise together.
• Encourage peer observations of lessons using the ISTE Classroom Observation Tool.
• Encourage and offer opportunities for co-teaching.
  
• Help to build background knowledge on constructivism and inquiry with video clips, short articles, etc.
• Open up all afterschool meetings to the entire faculty.
• Participate in a book study on Inquire Within by Doug Llewellyn.
• Support, model, and require the use of technology for personal learning, group collaboration and communication (Google Docs, Google Reader, Google Calendar, Wikispaces, blogs, on-line courses, etc.). Offer small group sessions this summer to help get team members set up and comfortable in these environments.
• Request release time throughout the year for additional meetings and planning.
  

Environmental Science Project with Students: Students in 13 classrooms K-5 will be exploring and collecting data on the waterways in Webster as they assume the role of environmental scientists.

• Identify essential understandings and key concepts for K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 through examination of NYS and National Science and Math standards at our July workday (paid by district) and write pre/post and formative assessment measures for each grade.
• Use the MST room for modeling and/or co-teaching of lessons to support identified understandings as well as to familiarize and train students/teachers on the use of various technology tools to support their learning (science sensors, wiki, Tablet PC, digital camera, iPod recorders, digital binoculars, etc.).
• Assign new team members a mentor from Year 1.
• Identify key students from last year’s project work to become mentors to new teachers/classes.
  
• Continually reassess the role and direction of the project as students develop their own scientific inquiry investigations.
• Use Wendy’s role to connect with other classrooms (Chicago & New Brunswick so far) also participating in environmental water studies.
  

Our excitement that day was contagious. A woman sitting nearby came over to group and shared that she couldn’t help but listen in on our conversation. She said that our enthusiasm and collaboration during that short time was just awesome. We all couldn’t agree more and walked back into the convention center completely energized. While our plan is still in the inital stages, we’d love any feedback or new ideas to consider.

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My attendance at NECC in San Antonio was made possible through the HP Technology for Teaching Leadership grant award. Last year a team of five teachers from our school were awarded the Technology for Teaching grant and because of our success with implementing our Pond Partners project we were awarded the additional funding as part of the Leadership grant for year two. We now have 15 teachers on the project with 13 k-5 classrooms participating. Saturday and Sunday at San Antonio were spent in meetings with14 other schools awarded the Leadership grant to discuss and plan for the coming year.

Debra Reed, our district’s K-12 Science Curriculum Supervisor, and I mapped our course for next year. The biggest shift in year two of the grant is moving from project-based planning to an initiative based on systemic change for our elementary building. Here’s our draft from our initial planning sessions.

Focus of Team Initiative

Goal #1: Our most important initiative is to shift instructional practices in our school to become constructivist in nature using inquiry-based methods. Both problem and project-based experiences will be the foundation for long-term student-driven investigations centered on living environment concepts. All teachers and students should be involved in real issues that require creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving to generate possible solutions and share findings and learning experiences with stakeholders.

Goal #2: Our second initiative is to increase the use of technology to facilitate learning for both teachers and students. We believe that technology (goal #2) must serve pedagogy (goal #1). We believe the infusion of technology must enable teachers and students to research, create, communicate, and collaborate. This initiative will create the transformative process we are seeking in technology infusion for our teachers and students.

Initiative Objectives

As a result of our initiative, teachers will:

• Understand constructivist theory
• Implement inquiry-based lessons (5E) and experiences (including PBL)
• Integrate technology into lessons
• Involve students in real-world issues that require creativity and innovation
• Establish their own personal learning network
• Design pre/post and formative/summative assessments tied to NYS/National standards
• Use data to inform instructional practices
• Work in collaborative teams focused on student learning

What will change?

Our current state of practice reveals many teachers using traditional, teacher-centered (didactic) direct instruction, where students are passive receptors of knowledge. The change will be the systemic impact on instructional practices and student learning.

As a result of our initiative, students will:

• Develop and implement their own scientific inquiry investigations
• Collect, organize, display, and analyze data from investigations to make decisions and develop solutions
• Increase content understandings related to the living environment
• Use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively
• Create and share multi-media presentations to reflect information learned through the project
• Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology

What will change?

The change will be the shift towards a student-centered environment where they take the lead and responsibility for their learning and are supported and guided by classroom teachers.

As a result of our initiative, systems of technology support, leadership and administration will:

• Facilitate and support collaborative technology-enriched learning environments conducive to innovation for improved learning.
• Support hardware/software/networking

Plan for Measuring Impact on Teaching and Learning

Guiding Action Research Questions

1. What is the effect of implementing inquiry-based instruction on student learning?
2. How does technology support learning?

Multiple Measures of Data

1. Student Learning
   1. How do the post test measures of participating classes compare to the control classes?
2. Perceptions
   1. How do students, parents, and teachers gauge the importance/value of learning through inquiry?
   2. How do students, parents, and teachers gauge the importance/value of using technology?
3. Demographics
   1. How is student learning affected within various demographic groups? (special ed., gender)
4. School Processes
   1. How does the collaborative nature of this initiative support the shift in instructional practice and school/district goals?
   2. How does this initiative support collaborative technology-enriched learning environments that are conducive to innovation for improved learning?

Student Measures

• pre/post content assessment
• open ended task (post)
• journals/learning logs
• inquiry investigations
• graphing & analysis of data collection
• multi-media presentations
• surveys
• post reflections

Teacher Measures

• survey on student learning
• reflections
• pre/post HP technology survey
• pre/post Klem South pedagogy & technology use survey
• peer classroom observations

Leadership, Technology Support, & Administration

• survey
• reflections
• classroom observations

What’s important to note about this initiative is that it is TEACHER DRIVEN with administrative support. Planning for this systemic change for our school is incredibly exciting, yet brought about some personal stress and uncertainty. Last year it was a tremendous amount of work to be the Lead Teacher on the grant with just 4 other teachers and three classrooms working on the year-long project. Now that I’ll be working with 14 other teachers and 13 classrooms, how will we not only implement the environmental science year-long project with k-5 students, but also attain the pedagogical changes in instruction? In my next blog post, I’ll share what happened when our team of teachers in San Antonio met to tackle the obstacles and create a workable plan to create cohesion, excitement, and success for all teachers on the grant.

Questions and feedback on our plan are welcomed as well as other examples of systemic changes driven from the classroom.

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The team of teachers involved with the HP TfT Pond Partners grant recently reflected on both student and personal learning throughout the experience as we wrote our final report.

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Data Supporting Impact on Student Learning
When examining the data it is important to note that the three participating classrooms have high populations of students receiving special services. Taking this into account, the gains made through the hands-on, technology rich classroom environments are noteworthy.

2^nd graders in Eva Burns’ class and a control class were given two different assessments; a ten question multiple choice test and a scientific process design task. Results reveal that students in Eva’s class scored higher on several of the multiple choice questions, in particular the questions about seasonal changes, making observations, and identifying correct units of measure.The scientific design task revealed significant differences in the depth of student responses from Eva’s class. We feel the hands-on inquiry-based focus of this project was the factor resulting in students in her class demonstrating a deeper understanding of the scientific method.

3^rd graders in Martha Erbland’s class and a control class were also given two different assessments; a 15 question multiple choice test and a scientific process design task. While the results of the test did not show significant gains, responses on the scientific design task from Martha’s students showed a much deeper understanding and application of the scientific method. Martha also stated that beyond these scores she has seen a marked improvement in her students’ questioning skills, ability to make connections across subject areas, and their understanding and interpretation of data.

4^th graders in Donna Hoffend’s class and a control class were given a fifteen question objective test. Results reveal no differences in student results between the classes. It is also interesting to note that 75% of current 4^th graders had the opportunity to work on a similar year-long project while in 3^rd grade. After lengthy discussions of the data, the team feels as though outside factors may have affected the results. Donna has students with multiple needs including students who receive weekly psychology and talk mentoring sessions. Coupled with the extreme academic needs and special education services, we were very pleased with the test results.

Impact on Instruction
One of our main objectives was to infuse technology into project lesson plans to engage learners, promote higher-order thinking skills, and provide authentic experiences. Through our individual professional development plans and our face-to-face meetings, each member was able to redesign lessons to become more constructivist in nature. Eva stated, “In the past, I gave my students all the information they needed to know. I told them what they would be learning. This year, I am able to give them the technology tools they need in order to find out what they want to know about. We used inquiry throughout the project and students were more motivated to learn because they had an invested interest in what we were learning about.”

The level of personal confidence with technology integration has soared for all participants. Donna noted, “Many of these new technological skills allowed me to create new and interactive lessons for my students.” Just looking at the pre and post data from our technology surveys reveals an incredible amount of growth in regards to the use of technology to support learning.

Another objective was to participate in a Professional Learning Community to reflect on improving student performance throughout the project. Chris reflected, “Perhaps the most important improvement to my teaching repertoire was the collaboration I had with team members. I learned how to redirect our focus based on the questions and interests of our students and the data collected from formative assessments.” This focus has afforded us opportunities to open our practice and learn from each other in ways we have never experienced before.

What’s Next?
Now we wait to see if we will be awarded a continuation and expansion of the grant for our school next year. If awarded, ten additional teachers will join and we’ll expand our focus to “Environmental Stewardship” K-5. If not, I’m sure this team of teachers will work on other problem and project-based learning experiences with their kids next year and encourage other grade level team members to join in.

While this was the most intensive project I have worked on in years, it was by far the most rewarding working as a collaborative team and seeing the kids present their findings, reflect using VoiceThread (in progress), and seek out new learning opportunities. Isabelle wrote on the Pond Partners wiki, “Fourth grade learned about potable water and how we waste it. I think we should also take into consideration how much garbage we throw out. Do you think we could all team up to try and recycle more? Are garbage dumps are getting full of things that we can recycle? Anything that has a 1 or a 2 on the bottom you can recycle. Lets all recycle!” I see a possible PBL topic for next year!

I’d love to learn more from other classroom teachers who are collecting and analyzing data to identify the impact of technology and/or PBL on learning for both students and teachers. Please share your ideas and suggestions. Thanks!

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Brian and I hosted a parent meeting last Thursday to introduce the Pond Partners Wiki. Our goal was to provide parents with information about what a wiki is, how it is used, why we choose to create one for the project, and how their child can contribute and collaborate from home. If you want to see and hear more, check out the ustream.tv video of the meeting.

I checked the wiki last night and two students have already worked on it from home. This is exactly what we were hoping for - to have students add their own knowledge, reflections, and questions to this shared space independent of their teacher and school. For this first attempt with using a wiki, so far I’m pretty excited. I’d love to hear more ideas about ways to continue to foster this experience for the students.

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According to the National Science Education Standards students at all grade levels and in every domain of science should have the opportunity to use scientific inquiry and develop the ability to think and act in ways associated with inquiry, including asking questions, planning and conducting investigations, using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data, thinking critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations, constructing and analyzing alternative explanations, and communicating scientific arguments.

Teaching science as inquiry requires teachers to shift their instructional design from showing and telling to providing opportunities for students to observe, share ideas, grapple with discrepant events, ask their own questions, and discover ways to collect and analyze data, conduct research, and ask new questions based on their discoveries. Inquiry is messy, open-ended, and often time consuming. Yet this student-centered approach is essential if we want our students truly understand key scientific concepts.

Today I worked with 3 classes participating in our HP grant project, Pond Partners, and the goal was to have students develop their own questions to investigate out in the field as part of this project. It wasn’t easy. The classroom teachers and I had to continuously probe their thinking, model how to ask questions, and focus students’ attention on the purpose of the project. We choose to guide and direct their inquiry rather than have the experience be completely open. While this may not always be the best approach, given our time constraints and project outline, it was our best option. If by the end of the year students can ask relevant scientific questions, these guiding steps will have been well worth the effort.

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