Phase 3: Action Plan
Identify desired results
The main focus of my job is to work with the teachers at my school on adding STEM elements to their lessons, regardless of discipline. Technology has been an option for many, but not necessarily in a way that will transform and enhance the learning experience. I want to encourage teachers to optimize their utilization of technology as a means to unlocking trans-disciplinary learning. I desire to see the following evidences below in correlation:
1. The adoption of at least one Wipro summer session strategy or activity that I will introduce to the staff at the beginning of the school year into their routine.
2. The creation of student performances of understanding that require the students to transfer their understanding in new ways or situations.
3. The implementation of C-SUCCESS (Creating Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Stories that Stick) into the curriculum.
4. The application of the five traits of creative teachers:
A. Connecting ones interests with teaching
B. Devising ways to incorporate real-world experiences
C. Seeking new ideas to cultivate creativity
D. Collaborating by asking questions and sharing ideas
E. Taking intellectual risks by trying new things
The first goal is a scaffold to help encourage STEM integration. The activities and strategies that will be introduced lend themselves to being integrated in other disciplines, or to collaborating with other teachers. The second goal is paramount to the success of our students in the long run. Too many students have been learning topics and concepts in isolation, and struggle to apply what they "know". I am interested to see what the teachers come up with for the third goal. There are a lot of creative teachers at my school, and this is a powerful tool to ensure learning sticks. The final goal sums up the "see the world around you through the STEM lens". Each of the five traits encourages creativity, and magnifies the learning potential of the students.
Determine acceptable evidence (performances of understanding)
For the first goal, I will create a simple survey to see which activity or strategy they plan to adopt and how I can help in the implementation. I will follow this up by using their lesson plans, and making classroom observations. I will send out a second survey during the middle of the quarter that asks which activity or activities they have used, if they intend to keep using it, which other one or ones they plan to employ, and how I can be of assistance.
I will determine evidence of the second goal by analyzing the student work. Targeted student assessments in this category reflect performances of understanding that require students to build on, extrapolate, reshape and apply what they know. It requires them to demonstrate their learning in new situations, and allows them the opportunity to make their learning visible through of variety of ways. It embeds basic skills in performances of understanding, and challenges misconceptions; and, throughout the unit, progresses from introductory to guided inquiry to culmination.
The third goal will be evidenced by planning, co-teaching, and classroom observations. The implementation of C-SUCCESS will interest the majority of teachers, yet many will feel the task is daunting. This is an area that will require much collaboration and co-planning/co-teaching. This will afford me the opportunity to have a good gauge on the level of effectiveness in the classroom, and allow me to leverage time spent in this area. Classroom observations will be conducted for those who are more independent in this area and have not spent much time with me in the preparation process.
The fourth goal will also be evidenced by planning, co-teaching or modeling, and classroom observations. I will also have to use their lesson plans to get an overview on their level of commitment and progress in this area, but will have several opportunities to provide assistance through the creation and sharing of instructional videos, articles, and classroom successes. Again, the student work will reflect the degree of attention given to these areas, as well as the collaboration with colleagues along with the types of questions being asked will verify this.
My intention in this is to highlight the great work the teachers are doing. I plan to produce a weekly teacher spotlight video that highlights the fabulous work teachers are performing around STEM. This will help with the establishment of a learning community, and should lead to greater transparency and a higher level of esteem for the all work being done by the teachers. It should also lead to improved performances of understanding. Making public the types of assessments being used and the work being done, will help the focus still rooted in explanation, interpretation and application of understanding.
Plan learning experience and instruction
Context: I am a STEM coordinator assigned to all the teachers at my school. I have a STEM lab for the fifth through eighth grade students, but I only see each class once a week. I have at most two classes each day so I spend the majority of my time working with teachers. It has been a challenge to work with all the teachers due to schedule constraints, and the consideration of the needs of each particular teacher. My school has two computer labs, one a Mac and the other a Dell, and the STEM lab mentioned above. The third through fifth grade students each have access to an iPad, and the fourth and fifth grader have access to shared Chromebooks. The sixth through eighth grade students have either an iPad or a laptop. There are two classes for each grade level sixth through eighth, but only one laptop and one iPad cart per grade level. Our goal is to provide complete iPad sets for the early childhood through second grade students, but they each have a center of five or so iPads.
Content: My goals for the teachers are: the adoption of at least one Wipro summer session strategy or activity that I will introduce to the staff at the beginning of the school year into their routine; the creation of student performances of understanding that require the students to transfer their understanding in new ways or situations; the implementation of C-SUCCESS (Creating Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Stories that Stick) into the curriculum; and the application of the five traits of creative teachers: connecting ones interests with teaching, devising ways to incorporate real-world experiences, seeking new ideas to cultivate creativity, collaborating by asking questions and sharing ideas, and taking intellectual risks by trying new things. The challenge in this is I am unable to visit each classroom as frequently as I would like, and am thus dependent on teachers to be self-motivated in this regard, and innately desiring to improve his or her teaching craft along these lines.
Pedagogy: I planning to conduct a two day professional development to achieve these goals. The first day will be used to introduce this day in history, tech tips, and worlds of wonder. I will reference the history website for this day in history, show them how to unsend an email in Google, and then present my world of wonder from this summer. Discussion will be done one ways to implement this into their respective classrooms, and how to get their students hooked on these. Five minutes will then be allotted for the staff to walk around the building to come up with an images or images that represent their content area. Time will then be allotted for discussion and sharing of how to use that image in a real world lesson, and then two improvisation activities will be experienced: the inner/outer circle role-wheel and the one-word story. The penultimate activity will be the introduction of the "Teaching that Sticks" article, with each group finding an image and constructed a twenty-five word maximum summary for their section, and we'll end with time for reflection.
The second day will again begin with this day in history, tech tips and world of wonder. The tech tip about Pear Deck is combined with the world of wonder I presented this summer. We will then look at the work from yesterday's article in the form of an illustrated book, and discuss the applications for the classroom. We will then complete two more improvisational activities: thirty second sculptures, and role-playing, and then I will introduce TPACK. We'll discuss the importance of technology in transforming learning, and a challenge will be given to create a meme for their classroom. We will end with the "Understanding Understanding" and "Learning from Creative Teachers" articles, before the penultimate time of reflection. The professional development will end with the introduction of my website and the STEM Learning Community section. I will make clear the importance of collaboration, creativity, and supporting one another before introducing the weekly teacher spotlight project. I will inform them of the impending survey and begin initial planning and discussions with interested, eager teachers.
Technology: My initial technological focus will be on creating instructional videos for the staff. I will have a weekly teacher focus, but a bi-monthly technology tip or teaching strategy will be produced as well. Magistro and PowToon will be highlighted presentation tools, and Nearpod and Pear Deck will be the initial focus for instruction, along with Google Forms, Socrative and Edmodo. Desmos will be highlighted for middle school math, and NewsELA will be encouraged for the intermediate and upper social studies and language arts teachers. Time will be spent with each grade level team to plan effective and engaging, multi-faceted lessons using these and other tools.
The main focus of my job is to work with the teachers at my school on adding STEM elements to their lessons, regardless of discipline. Technology has been an option for many, but not necessarily in a way that will transform and enhance the learning experience. I want to encourage teachers to optimize their utilization of technology as a means to unlocking trans-disciplinary learning. I desire to see the following evidences below in correlation:
1. The adoption of at least one Wipro summer session strategy or activity that I will introduce to the staff at the beginning of the school year into their routine.
2. The creation of student performances of understanding that require the students to transfer their understanding in new ways or situations.
3. The implementation of C-SUCCESS (Creating Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Stories that Stick) into the curriculum.
4. The application of the five traits of creative teachers:
A. Connecting ones interests with teaching
B. Devising ways to incorporate real-world experiences
C. Seeking new ideas to cultivate creativity
D. Collaborating by asking questions and sharing ideas
E. Taking intellectual risks by trying new things
The first goal is a scaffold to help encourage STEM integration. The activities and strategies that will be introduced lend themselves to being integrated in other disciplines, or to collaborating with other teachers. The second goal is paramount to the success of our students in the long run. Too many students have been learning topics and concepts in isolation, and struggle to apply what they "know". I am interested to see what the teachers come up with for the third goal. There are a lot of creative teachers at my school, and this is a powerful tool to ensure learning sticks. The final goal sums up the "see the world around you through the STEM lens". Each of the five traits encourages creativity, and magnifies the learning potential of the students.
Determine acceptable evidence (performances of understanding)
For the first goal, I will create a simple survey to see which activity or strategy they plan to adopt and how I can help in the implementation. I will follow this up by using their lesson plans, and making classroom observations. I will send out a second survey during the middle of the quarter that asks which activity or activities they have used, if they intend to keep using it, which other one or ones they plan to employ, and how I can be of assistance.
I will determine evidence of the second goal by analyzing the student work. Targeted student assessments in this category reflect performances of understanding that require students to build on, extrapolate, reshape and apply what they know. It requires them to demonstrate their learning in new situations, and allows them the opportunity to make their learning visible through of variety of ways. It embeds basic skills in performances of understanding, and challenges misconceptions; and, throughout the unit, progresses from introductory to guided inquiry to culmination.
The third goal will be evidenced by planning, co-teaching, and classroom observations. The implementation of C-SUCCESS will interest the majority of teachers, yet many will feel the task is daunting. This is an area that will require much collaboration and co-planning/co-teaching. This will afford me the opportunity to have a good gauge on the level of effectiveness in the classroom, and allow me to leverage time spent in this area. Classroom observations will be conducted for those who are more independent in this area and have not spent much time with me in the preparation process.
The fourth goal will also be evidenced by planning, co-teaching or modeling, and classroom observations. I will also have to use their lesson plans to get an overview on their level of commitment and progress in this area, but will have several opportunities to provide assistance through the creation and sharing of instructional videos, articles, and classroom successes. Again, the student work will reflect the degree of attention given to these areas, as well as the collaboration with colleagues along with the types of questions being asked will verify this.
My intention in this is to highlight the great work the teachers are doing. I plan to produce a weekly teacher spotlight video that highlights the fabulous work teachers are performing around STEM. This will help with the establishment of a learning community, and should lead to greater transparency and a higher level of esteem for the all work being done by the teachers. It should also lead to improved performances of understanding. Making public the types of assessments being used and the work being done, will help the focus still rooted in explanation, interpretation and application of understanding.
Plan learning experience and instruction
Context: I am a STEM coordinator assigned to all the teachers at my school. I have a STEM lab for the fifth through eighth grade students, but I only see each class once a week. I have at most two classes each day so I spend the majority of my time working with teachers. It has been a challenge to work with all the teachers due to schedule constraints, and the consideration of the needs of each particular teacher. My school has two computer labs, one a Mac and the other a Dell, and the STEM lab mentioned above. The third through fifth grade students each have access to an iPad, and the fourth and fifth grader have access to shared Chromebooks. The sixth through eighth grade students have either an iPad or a laptop. There are two classes for each grade level sixth through eighth, but only one laptop and one iPad cart per grade level. Our goal is to provide complete iPad sets for the early childhood through second grade students, but they each have a center of five or so iPads.
Content: My goals for the teachers are: the adoption of at least one Wipro summer session strategy or activity that I will introduce to the staff at the beginning of the school year into their routine; the creation of student performances of understanding that require the students to transfer their understanding in new ways or situations; the implementation of C-SUCCESS (Creating Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Stories that Stick) into the curriculum; and the application of the five traits of creative teachers: connecting ones interests with teaching, devising ways to incorporate real-world experiences, seeking new ideas to cultivate creativity, collaborating by asking questions and sharing ideas, and taking intellectual risks by trying new things. The challenge in this is I am unable to visit each classroom as frequently as I would like, and am thus dependent on teachers to be self-motivated in this regard, and innately desiring to improve his or her teaching craft along these lines.
Pedagogy: I planning to conduct a two day professional development to achieve these goals. The first day will be used to introduce this day in history, tech tips, and worlds of wonder. I will reference the history website for this day in history, show them how to unsend an email in Google, and then present my world of wonder from this summer. Discussion will be done one ways to implement this into their respective classrooms, and how to get their students hooked on these. Five minutes will then be allotted for the staff to walk around the building to come up with an images or images that represent their content area. Time will then be allotted for discussion and sharing of how to use that image in a real world lesson, and then two improvisation activities will be experienced: the inner/outer circle role-wheel and the one-word story. The penultimate activity will be the introduction of the "Teaching that Sticks" article, with each group finding an image and constructed a twenty-five word maximum summary for their section, and we'll end with time for reflection.
The second day will again begin with this day in history, tech tips and world of wonder. The tech tip about Pear Deck is combined with the world of wonder I presented this summer. We will then look at the work from yesterday's article in the form of an illustrated book, and discuss the applications for the classroom. We will then complete two more improvisational activities: thirty second sculptures, and role-playing, and then I will introduce TPACK. We'll discuss the importance of technology in transforming learning, and a challenge will be given to create a meme for their classroom. We will end with the "Understanding Understanding" and "Learning from Creative Teachers" articles, before the penultimate time of reflection. The professional development will end with the introduction of my website and the STEM Learning Community section. I will make clear the importance of collaboration, creativity, and supporting one another before introducing the weekly teacher spotlight project. I will inform them of the impending survey and begin initial planning and discussions with interested, eager teachers.
Technology: My initial technological focus will be on creating instructional videos for the staff. I will have a weekly teacher focus, but a bi-monthly technology tip or teaching strategy will be produced as well. Magistro and PowToon will be highlighted presentation tools, and Nearpod and Pear Deck will be the initial focus for instruction, along with Google Forms, Socrative and Edmodo. Desmos will be highlighted for middle school math, and NewsELA will be encouraged for the intermediate and upper social studies and language arts teachers. Time will be spent with each grade level team to plan effective and engaging, multi-faceted lessons using these and other tools.