Check out the Storify from #KidsCanCode chat on December 16, 2014 at 5pm. The moderator was @Kodable.
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A learning curriculum is essentially situated. It is not something that can be considered in isolation, manipulated in arbitrary didactic terms, or analyzed apart from the social relations that shape legitimate peripheral participation. A learning curriculum is thus characteristic of a community. (97) Upon my first go at reading the excerpts from Lave & Wenger's Situated Learning (Legitimate Peripheral Participation) I did nothing, but read through and underline words/phrases I wasn't quit sure of. I let the language paint a picture, albeit a foggy one. I was confident that with several more read throughs the fog would clear. As I reread, and reread, and reread a third time the general idea of situated learning became clearer, though, I was sure I could never explain or discuss this theory in any coherent or educated conversation. So for all intents and purposes of this course I was back at square one. I began to use the highlighting key, which, at least, broke the text down into "sound bites" that made sense to me. The fog eased up a little. You can view my Close read notes here. Then, I had an epiphany! If I wanted to learn about situated learning theory I needed to get "situated" myself! "To the Interweb!" I thought. I needed to position myself not just with others who were man-handling this assignment. I needed to hear from people who understood it and were discussing it. I wanted something, anything, to help clear the fog and shine some light onto my questions. What does situated learning and peripheral participation look like in a classroom? In an online community? It was sounding similar to the concept of the collective from A New Culture of Learning which I'd previously reflected on... I came across the below video interview of Wenger where he discusses a community of practice. The fog cleared a bit more. As a teacher what can I do to support learners learning how to learn in a community.
The video interview helped me to connect the dots between situated learning and the social aspect of peripheral participation. As leaders, we need to find ways to use technology in classrooms to support the learning community. Because of technology we can tap into students' varying levels of understanding to help develop learning in all students. We can use the questions being asked to lead conversations and discussions that move us forward in our thinking and understanding of the curriculum. Cultivating a community of practice as an educator, in my opinion, is much easier to do right now than it was even just five years ago. Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites are tools we can use to develop a community of practice. I like how in the video clip Wenger notes that a discussion board in itself is not a community of practice. The participants are the community, the discussion board is just the tool. My five second summary and over-simplified version of what I understood from these readings:
Situated learning requires being in the right place (virtual or brick and mortar) with the right people for the learning that needs to take place. One's legitimate peripheral participation in the community of practice depends on ones expertise with the curriculum (challenge) at hand and may change over time. I am fairly positive I still do not fully grasp this theory, but I do feel that the fog has lifted and I can at least see past the end of my nose. How did you do with the readings? Check out the Twitter chat I participated in with #edtechchat on December 8, 2014 at 5pm. @MaineSchoolTech and @jlscheffer were the moderators. For the past few weeks many ideas on our current education patterns, rethinking education, and redesigning the image of student learning have been stewing in my mind. I think about it when I shower, I think about it on the drive to and from work, I talk about it with my family and colleagues, and with my principal. It's like when you get back from a really good conference and you are energized to try things you learned. I have seen a shift in the way I'm teaching, but making the shift in what and how I'm teaching is the mountain I'm trying to climb right now. As it is, sometimes I feel like I'm barely hanging on balancing my course work with my classroom work (and all the duties beyond teaching), but I have discovered that I care more deeply about the content of my course work than I had anticipated. It feels really monumental.
I also am passionate about how my current students are experiencing their 3rd grade year. They only get one shot at this and I want their learning to really mean something to them this year- more than it has in the past. Which is why waiting to make a change until after I finish my course work next year doesn't seem fair to my students now. The more I look at the texts/curriculum we have been provided with the more I cringe. It's not bad- it probably was the best option out right now considering the state requires districts to adopt curriculum off an approved list. However, I do have the support and flexibility to supplement and try new strategies. I'm just trying to examine the best and most efficient use of time for getting a game plan together. At this point, I know what I do not want to do and I have some idea of what I do want to do. I do not want to flip my classroom. All my students this year do not have the needed support at home, the fundamental skills,or a combination of both to make a flipped classroom work right now. I'm really interested in getting them reading and writing through engaging in authentic learning in social studies and science. I'm also very interested in using thematic units and some type of gamification to do this. It feels strange to me to come to work each day wanting to make a change, but not knowing exactly where to start. It is like I am doing a puzzle that has no straight sides or corners to get me started. It is fascinating and interesting though. The more I read, watch, make, and imagine the more pieces are beginning to line up and I know they will continue to do so. So I guess the point of this post is to see if anyone else has been or is in a similar situation. What did you do? What do you hope to accomplish? Where did you start? Question:
What practical application do the ideas of knowing, making, playing, hanging out, messing around, and geeking out have on traditional classroom environments? How can teachers take the information presented which explained these 6 tasks and alter instruction, but still meet the demands of district, state and national expectations and standards? Or is short, how can I incorporate this into my class and still have students who are able to demonstrate their knowledge on required standardized tests? Connection: I saw a couple Tweets about being a "Maker", "Making" and "Maker Ed". I decided to investigate this term as I saw a connection in the Tweets and with the concepts being presented in chapter 7. Being a "Maker", as the Tweets were intending it, means that students have a space in their classroom or school or they attend a Maker Club to create, make, and invent things freeform using knowledge of science, technology, engineering, etc. They can use concrete materials to actually construct objects or virtual tools to design items as well. However, the main focus seems to be on actually doing things hands on. This seems like it really develops critical thinking and problem solving skills. When we build or make things we have to be inventive to make out design work the way we are intending. The Maker Ed "movement" is trying to bring this experience back into classrooms. I vividly remember experiencing the feeling of "making" as a child, not just in school, but at home as well. There is something to be said for children playing in the backyard making and building things. That type of learning runs deep. I also connected with the concept of playing as learning. This is not a new idea and there is much research showing evidence of the power of play in education, especially in early childhood. Though as the authors point out, play reveals a structure of learning that is radically different from the one that most school or other formal learning environments provide (p.97). This is can be seen by walking into almost any classroom grade 3 and higher. I would even argue many kindergarten classes have had to get away from using play as learning in the last ten years, though sparks of it seem to be coming back here and there. Epiphany: AHA! Our students already have a new culture of experiencing the world. This is shaping their learning experience. Making, playing, geeking out, messing around, are all tied to how students can function in a Collective. Educators should utilize this rather than fight this. Reference: Thomas, D., & Brown, J. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace. Question:
How do I, as a primary elementary school teacher, balance providing explicit learning opportunities with tactic learning opportunities. A large part of primary elementary grades is focused on reading instruction. It has to be. If students are not proficient readers by the end of 3rd grade research has shown again and again how critical it is for not just their educational experiences, but for the rest of their lives. There are methods for teaching reading that allow students to experience and experiment with reading and language. Word play, rhyming, and phonemic awareness games are good examples of students tapping into their creative nature to "play" with words and word sounds. However, similarly to Thomas and Brown's example of stable information and learning about the speed of light (p. 75), learning letter names and sounds is also stable information that has been well established. Students are not likely to just absorb that information. Therefore, there is a need for explicit instruction and learning. The key is to find a balance between the explicit instruction of learning to read and the tactic knowledge dimension necessary, according to Thomas and Brown, that deepens understanding and learning. This is the challenge for K-3 teachers. Connection: In chapter 4, Learning in the Collective, Thomas and Brown define the collective as an environment where people, skills, and talent can produce a result greater than the sum of its parts (p. 52). I've thought of these types of environments more as communities, but the title collective makes more sense to me now. I'm part of several collectives and I have seen first hand how rich a learning environment it can be. One very clear example of this come from my personal life, rather than my professional. When I first became a mom in 2011, I was one of the first among my closest friends to have children. I sought out support in learning how to cope with new mom issues, such as: infant sleep patterns (or lack there of), breastfeeding, and cloth diapering (we chose to use real diapers for many reasons, but it was all new to us!). I joined a few groups on Facebook that offered breastfeeding support and it is there where I have seen and experienced first hand how the collective enhances and builds learning and knowledge. More experienced mothers could answer a multitude of questions posted by new moms, everyone provided support for each other, experts (certified lactation consultants) could also weigh in and give suggestions or provide additional resources. Just as the authors described, there is no sense of a core or center. People are free to move in and out of the group at various times for various reasons and their participation may vary based on topic, interest, experience or need (p. 53). Over the years, as I gained experience through success and failures nursing my daughter, my role in the group changed. Upon the birth of my second baby in 2014, my role changed again. I was back at the newborn phase, and while I felt more confident this time around, I had a whole new set of questions and experience to share. I've seen this same things happen as other members of the group have more children as well. Epiphany: AHA! Learning (as most things in life do) takes a village. The collective is a "new" way to think of this village that utilizes a wider range of "villagers" made available because of the present technology. If we can set students up to function well in the collective learning environment they will be able to learn anything that may be needed in their lifetime. The point the authors made in chapter six about the new culture of learning not being unstructured or unchecked access to information tied all of these ideas together for me, when I think of my classroom. Learning should occur within boundaries, but those parameters need to take students' passions into account. The questions students investigate can set the boundaries and the collective acts as a space for students to succeed and fail in their learning. Reference: Thomas, D., & Brown, J. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace. My next few blog posts will focus on the book, A New Culture of Learning: |
Author: Kerry StrongEducator. Student. Mom. Wife. Traveler. Archives
December 2014
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