MST PORTAL - Promoting Open, Reflective Teaching & Learning

Students involved with the creation of the Save the River video received quite a few positive comments from viewers. (Making Connections for Kids and Students Work to Save the River)

Here’s an excerpt of an email sent to me from Bud Andress, Sr. Park Warden – Special Projects PARKS CANADA.

“Every once and awhile one will come across an initiative taken on by young students with the aid of their teacher and others that simply leaves you awe struck. Such is the case with your video about early ship navigation in ice in the St. Lawrence River. Please know, and tell your class that I think they have made a fantastic video…Young people, on both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the River, like your grade 4 class, are the future of our communities here in the 1000 Islands. It is important that a healthy river ecosystem be there for them as they become adults and raise their own children. It is ever refreshing to see such an environmentally sound message delivered so well.”

Pete Grannis, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation also sent a letter to the students.

“I wanted to let you know how delighted I was to view your video production Save the River on the web. It is one of the most impressive presentations of an important issue that I can recall from my days as a legislator and now as Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation. I commend you all for both the creativity and quality of your work along with your strong commitment to protecting New York’s environment and the great St. Lawrence River.

I strongly believe your use of new, multi-media techniques and the internet places you at the forefront of environmental advocacy. When a sincere and professional piece like yours is made available on the web, your message can reach a huge audience and have a real impact. Together, your ability to harness this technology in the early years of education suggests great possibilities for future efforts to reach out to people and build awareness of environmental issues. …”

Then the letter arrived from Collister Johnson, Jr., the Administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation. While acknowledging the students’ environmental interests, Mr. Johnson is obviously not pleased with the video. He writes,

“But I am concerned, and frankly surprised, that your teachers and school would allow you to be used and exploited by an organization to advance its own political agenda. Unfortunately, your video, which follows the script supplied by Save the River, contains allegations and assertions that are simply not accurate, nor based on science. In a word, it is propaganda. You may not be familiar with that word, but I hope your teachers will use this exchange of letters as a learning experience and explain the meaning of it to you.

…If you are ever in Washington, D.C., please let me know so that my staff and I can further explain to you the important work that is supported by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.”

So what were the students’ reactions to the letter? First, they wondered why he had to use “such big words.” Once they discovered what word propaganda meant, they became defensive about their work and the message they were trying to convey. I asked if they wanted to continue the conversation with Mr. Johnson and they wholeheartedly said yes.

Here’s what they wrote.

Administer Collister Johnson, Jr.
Policy Headquarters - St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Suite W32-300
Washington, D.C. USA 20590

Dear Mr. Johnson,

Thank you for writing us a letter and commenting on our Save the River video. We would like you to elaborate on your thoughts about the problems with our video. Since we did quite a bit of research, we are wondering what you think is not accurate. Would you be willing to videoconference with us so we may have a discussion with you? If this is not possible, would one of your staff members be able to chat with us about our environmental concerns with winter shipping on the river?

Thank you and we look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

4^th Grade Students at Klem Road South Elementary School

The letter was sent out on Monday, April 21^st. So far we haven’t heard back yet. Hopefully Mr. Johnson will reply before our last day of school on June 23^rd. His letter was actually a great eye-opener for the students, parents, and me. The follow up discussion I had with this group of students was fantastic and truly extended upon their work. Students learned that not everyone will agree on important environmental issues, to make sure you have reputable sources of information (like the Dept. of Environmental Services), take the good with the bad, don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions, stick with your beliefs, and persevere. Let’s hope Mr. Johnson will agree to continue the conversation with these kids.

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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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This past week I was lucky enough to work with data specialist Jennifer Borgioli to discuss possible data collection measures to measure the goals established for this newly established MST position.

MST Goals:

• Increase student opportunities to explore long-term science & math investigation
• Increase student performance in both science content and in using the scientific method
• Increase teacher confidence with technology integration

Since this is the first year I don’t have my own classroom, there are several challenges I’m working through. One is the difficulty in measuring an increase in student performance. Most of the time this year, students have visited the MST room for a series of 3-5 lessons as part of a larger unit in science. Recently for 5^th grade, the purpose of the lessons is to build background for a unit on the changing Earth (geology). I have data on formative measures which show some growth, but not as significant as what would be seen later in a unit. Since I’m not teaching an entire unit, nor am I working with all classrooms in the school, what is the best way to measure the increase in student performance?

The other piece to this is in regards to project and problem based learning experiences. Part of my focus this year has been directed at implementing an HP team grant with three classroom teachers (2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th grade). We have students investigating water quality at local ponds/stream through the year using various data collection measures. They have worked liked scientist collecting and analyzing data, developed their own inquiry questions, have had the opportunity to explore a topic in-depth, worked in collaborative settings, and will be presenting their findings to an authentic audience (Monroe County Water Coalition Meeting in March at the Brighton Town Hall). The way this learning experience is assessed is much different than the format of the NYS 4^th grade science test. What happens if the group of 4^th graders on this project does not perform as well on the NYS test as others in the grade level but has demonstrated a deeper understanding of living environment concepts through their experiences and tasks in the classroom?

One idea she shared by Jennifer was to interview a sample of students to gather information on their perceptions of learning. Examples: How well do you feel you learned about ___ through this project/problem? How do you feel this experience has helped you? How involved in learning do you feel you were during this project/problem?

From what I’ve researched on my own, the format of this instrument is intended to elicit students’ estimates of how much they gained from the class, and to relate their gains to particular aspects of the class pedagogy. Its particular focus is on what students gained from the class rather than asking students what they “liked” or “valued” about their classes.

I’m interested to hear more about how this type of data collection can be used to measure the identified goals. How can the questions be tweaked to elicit the most meaningful responses? How many students should be surveyed and how should the students be chosen? Also, what other less common forms of data collection can be used?

Now that I’ve had the opportunity to work in this position for 6 months, there are other unintended outcomes, not directly related to student performance, but rather to an increase in teacher confidence and use of student-centered practices such as inquiry and PBL. Should data be collected on these unintended goals? If so, what data collection measures would work best? Ahh…the challenges of learning how using data effectively!

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Where were you at midnight to celebrate the New Year? I was jamming away with Guitar Hero 3 for XBox 360. I even donned a pink bandanna headband to put me in the mood to ROCK. Missed the ball dropping and everything, but it was worth it. When my fingers were numb, I knew I had to stop.

Yes, it’s 2008, but as educators we typically ring in the New Year in September. January 1, 2008 means we have only about 6 months left to work with our current group of students before sending them off. What could you do in the next six months that would have the greatest impact on student learning? Thinking ahead, what you accomplish in the next six months may not directly impact your group of students this year, but rather potentially transform your teaching for next year. Are you planning on participating in our Collegial Circle to explore the K12 Online Conference? Are you interested in learning more about problem-based and/or project-based learning? Is your interest mathematics and changing your practice to become more inquiry-based? Want to learn more about Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, del.icio.us, Twitter, and Flickr? Share your thoughts and ideas on ways to ROCK on into June.

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