Why is my favorite question to ask. When my students take part in Socratic seminars, or when they’re writing an essay, or when I just want to push their thinking a little bit more, I always ask, why? Why did you make this decision? Why do you think this character said that? Why did you choose this quote? Often, when asked why, students immediately default to changing their mind. I have to remind them constantly that I’m not asking because they’re wrong, but because I want them to think about it. I want them to understand why they are reasoning as such. My students are not often asked to reflect on their thinking in this way. They are very used to giving an answer, being marked right or wrong, and moving on. I have to admit, this doesn’t really work for me.
When Kelly Reed visited our class, she posed a question that I have often pondered myself. She asked which was more important: for students to know the plot of a story, or for them to be able to decode a text? I am lucky to work in a district that gives teachers the freedom to make our own decisions, but since starting the ASTL program, I’ve found myself wanting to deviate heavily from what my department does. I’ve rebelled by putting more emphasis on the thinking they do, rather than the paperwork they produce. Our classroom discussions are some of my favorite moments, but I do struggle with the requirement of grades. If I can tell from observation that a student is thinking critically about the text, why do I need to give them a reading comprehension quiz? Do I really need them to map the plot of the chapter when they can explain verbally how a character’s actions pushed the plot forward? Even amid all this confusion, I do recognize the importance of students reaching the standards, and those do make up the majority of our focus.
In my seventh-grade English Language Arts classroom, writing is a regular part of our day. Every year, I ask my students to keep journals. A few times a week, I have them spend five minutes writing a response to a prompt. If we are in a novel unit, the prompt might be a question about the story or a character. For example, when we read The Giver, one of our journal prompts is, “Do you think it is good or bad that Jonas' community has a lot of rules? Why? What rules do you agree or disagree with?” Prompts like this encourage students to make connections to their own lives, and to consider the reasons they believe something. They also require that students engage with the reading, as they have to give examples from the text.
If we are reading a short story or nonfiction, I ask students to respond to a thematic prompt, or to write about a famous quote. I emphasize that in their journal writing there are no right or wrong answers. I want them to practice communicating their ideas, and writing is a medium supported by our standards. After they write, we always take some time for students to share their responses, which I think is an important opportunity for them to hear other perspectives, and helps them practice their speaking and listening skills.
Our journals align closely with my belief that learning happens when we make connections between class content and other areas of our lives and world. This reflection is incredibly important to me, and with my change project, I have decided to find a way to take it to a new level. When we went 1:1 with Chromebooks back in December, I moved their journals onto Google Classroom. This made it easier for students to write, and to practice typing skills they would need to conquer the MCAS test online. We continued to share journals as a class, and so the essence of the task was maintained. I enjoy the fact that grading journals is easier with the Classroom Assignments, and I can click through them quickly. But I also came to realize that I could use these quick bursts of writing for more than just a journal grade.
Simon Sinek asks us to think about the WHY of our work. I was essentially asking students to produce a journal (the WHAT) by typing in Google Docs (the HOW), but the WHY was more or less so they could practice writing for a grade. This change project inspired me to make the WHY something my students would care about, or perhaps see more value in. Our Digital Media Literacy blog is a way for us to interact with each other’s writing, either to make connections or to pose questions that challenge us to dig even deeper into our thoughts. Why can’t my own students do the same? I decided to create a blog as my project so then, not only will their writing serve the purpose of engaging with material while practicing a skill, but it will also enable them to make connections with each other on both personal and academic levels. Given the hectic schedule of our curriculum, the more my students and I can accomplish in one assignment or task, the better.
In the last four years I have experimented with so many different tools; for one, we started as a Microsoft district and moved over to Google this year, so I had to become proficient with both systems. I jumped into Google Classroom with both feet, to the point where I have filled up my streams with assignments, resources, and quizzes. I feel as though I have transformed my teaching a lot in the last six months, and have seen it reflected in what my students can do. For example, we had a lot of discussion in my department this year about what to do with writing portfolios. Over the last few years, we have kept a collection of hard copies of student work, but with the implementation of the Chromebooks, we were having our students print their writing less and less. The idea of a digital writing portfolio is very appealing to me, so in the last weeks of school, I walked my students through the process of creating folders and organizing their writing in their Drive. This is a skill that is incredibly valuable to their organization (which they struggle with), and yet it’s something they didn’t even know was an option. No one else in my department chose to go the digital route, but now I have some insight into how to make the process work, so perhaps next year I can lead the charge.
I do consider myself to be a digital native. I am very comfortable with technology, and through courses such as this and SED 561, I have learned to look at a variety of media with a critical lens. When given a new piece of technology or a digital tool to work with, it is easy for me to explore and to adapt these tools into my own teaching. I find that I fall somewhere between a techno-traditionalist and a techno-constructivist, leaning more towards the latter. I am lucky that I work in a district that pushes tech initiatives, and my department is relatively tech-savvy. My change project allows me to push even further into this world.
Before this class, my digital toolbox was a lot emptier. I had tried blogging during my first year of teaching, but it wasn’t very successful. The platform we used was not user friendly, and at that point technology was not very prevalent in our school. The limitations of not having enough devices made it difficult to monitor and follow through with the task. I have seen a total shift this year since the vast majority of my students got a Chromebook. Access has increased to the point where students treat their devices as an extension of their bodies. However, they are not often asked to dive beneath the surface level of academic computer use, nor do they take the initiative to do so on their own. Thus, my change project will serve multiple purposes.
I believe that learning happens when we engage in authentic experiences that require us to apply our knowledge. Media and technology are integral to the lives of my students, so using digital tools to assist their learning just makes sense. I could never simply hand a Chromebook to a student and tell them to have fun; my guidance and support gives them a foundation of knowledge on which to build tech skills. My change project is a way for me to guide my students through publishing their own writing and analyzing each other’s. Sir Ken Robinson talks about people as seeds that need to be watered in order to show life. For students, this means investment in themselves and recognizing their potential to learn. My hope is that by providing my students with a space to write, reflect, and connect, they will bloom.
Since my students spend so much of their lives around technology, there’s nothing more authentic than providing them opportunities to use this technology in a meaningful way. I believe that to construct meaning, students need to interact and listen to each other’s perspectives. They need to have the chance to make connections with others, but to also take new material and connect it back to their prior knowledge and experiences. My official project is creating a class blog. I have set up a page not unlike ours for this class. It includes a page of blogs for each class, a page for the grading rubric, rules and requirements, and a how-to that they can refer back to.
A major component of my student’s blogging experience will be their comments to one another's writing. Within each class page will be a list of blogs that students can access quickly. They will be required to comment on 3 other blogs, and this must come in the form of a connection. Like with their other writing, I ask them to make connections to other things they have watched or read, to experiences they have had, or to something else they’ve learned about. I believe that these connections are a way for my students to create a community and become more comfortable with each other and themselves. I plan to instill in them that writing is a process that can be vulnerable at times, but communicating with each other in a supportive and compassionate environment can help them become more comfortable with their identities as writers. Overall, this is a project about communication, community, and compassion. Supporting these concepts in my classroom is the WHY of our blog writing, and I look forward to embarking on this journey with my students.
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