LIBE 467 Assignment 2: Collaborate
with a Teacher and Evolve Their Practice
In this assignment I will be working with one teacher
to evolve their practice through multiple levels, a teacher from kindergarten
that I am hypothetically currently working with as the teacher librarian in the
learning commons. I will be assessing their use of digital reference resources
within their pedagogical practice and providing a plan to help evolve that practice
through multiple levels. I will be using
the Concerns Based Adoption Model, (CBAM), to approach the
change this will involve, and considering the levels of use, stages of concern,
and innovations/adaptations strategies as based
on work by F.F. Fuller and discussed and explained below.
Jane is a kindergarten teacher in our school. She is relatively new to teaching and this is her second year here teaching kindergarten. Jane is familiar with G Suite Google for Education theoretically as our whole school division is using it but finds that kindergarten is very busy, and she has little time to try any google tools or integrate digital reference resources for the kindergarten curriculum. Additionally, since her students can’t read yet and some are esl, text-based reference resources aren’t as useful for her class. Jane is at the point where she is trying to establish professional learning networks with other staff and search out digital resources that are effective at the kindergarten level. She has approached me about increasing her knowledge about digital innovations that are available and how to plan and implement new strategies to use them, so she is at the orientation level of use, (CBAM, 2017). Jane is at the informational stage of concern about technology integration, (CBAM, 2017), so I have started with some discussions about what her needs are and how she is already using technology in the classroom. This places us at the emerging level of the standard of facilitating collaborative engagement to cultivate and empower a community of learners, from the Leading Learning- Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada, (2014).
Currently Jane’s technology usage includes using the smartboard to show the class stories and songs, and for movement breaks especially when it’s too cold to go outside. For stories she uses www.storylineonline.net, for songs she frequently uses Jack Hartmann Kids Music Channel through www.Youtube.com, and for movement breaks Jane uses either Level Up video game workout for kids or Just Dance for kids both through www.Youtube.com.
Jane would like to find ways to embed learning
digitally, but in a format that pre-readers can understand. She would like to
find reference resources she can use for different curriculum units and
objectives. If she can find and learn how to use some new digital tools and
reference resources, she would like to try and use google slides to create
slideshow lessons for some units but would like some support.
Innovations:
Some of the innovations/reference resources I would like to introduce for Jane to use are:
·
Google slides- https://docs.google.com/presentation/u/0/?tgif=d
·
www.sites.google.com/gshare.blackgold.ca/gshare.blackgold.ca/engagingstudents/home
I do have a list of other useful websites and digital
apps and tools for kindergarten, but to start with reference resources and not
overwhelm Jane, I will introduce these first until she is comfortable, and then
I can ask if she is interested in other digital resources. We can look at using
them through the smartboard or creating a digital station during centres with 4
iPads the children could access.
Plan
There is a “bridge” that links the stages of concern
from CBAM, (Bybee, Rodger, 1996), that illustrates the steps needed to support
new learning. On one side of this bridge
is training, with mentoring and coaching as the bridge to get you to other
side, which is implementation of new skills and knowledge.
At the training step I would talk to Jane about the
new technology I wished to introduce and how it would be useful for her in her
class to see if she would like to learn about it. This will promote motivation
and I would use a patient and encouraging demeanor, reassuring her about her
proficiency and building a rapport of trust, placing us at the personal
stage of the CBAM.
Assuming Jane is willing, I would walk her through
some of the new digital tools like google slides to familiarize her with them
and show her how they work and can be used. This would place us at the mentoring
stage of the “bridge” analogy, and the management stage of concern from
CBAM. I would familiarize Jane with this tool by creating an example google
slides presentation to demonstrate. These skills would fulfill her specific
request about using google slides and are necessary to use to present the
reference resource information for the unit she wants to introduce.
Next, I would provide Jane with guided practice to
create a google slideshow she can use for a specific lesson she would like to
create after we find the information and links she wants to use from the
digital reference resource sites.
Then I would share and explore with Jane some sites
that provide reference resources that can be used in the slideshow relating to
the chosen unit.
One area that lends itself well to using reference
resources is science, so we could choose a kindergarten unit such as the 5
senses to embed technology into.
Example
After doing the demonstration on how to use google
slides, I would first show Jane the website for Turtle Diary and its
resources for kindergarten science, and then the google share site from the Blackgold
school division that has a great resource sharing site for all elementary
grades. We could examine what reference information would be useful with the 5
senses unit, and decide what links, videos, and visual information she could
use. Next, I would provide Jane with guided practice so she can create a google
slideshow to use for this specific lesson.
I would follow up with Jane afterwards to see how the
lesson went and talk about any issues or questions she had. We could then try
another subject or unit and have Jane do this one independently with my support
available as needed. This brings us to the implementation stage of the
“bridge” analogy.
Over time as Jane becomes more comfortable and
familiar with the online reference material, I could provide new ideas about
digital tools and resources she could try, making sure she knows I am happy to
support new learnings.
Throughout this process we would have progressed
through the personal, management, and consequences levels of concern in
the CBAM. We would be working through the level of concern of consequences
by going through examples of new technology and ways to integrate it into her
teaching practice.
Ideally over the course of one or two school years we
could progress to the collaborative stage of concern from CBAM where
Jane would feel comfortable enough with the digital reference resources to help
others with them, but allowing flexibility with this time frame depending on
Jane’s progress and comfort level.
Limitations
The limitations for this collaboration would be time
and access to technology within the school. Kindergarten is very busy and
finding time to collaborate could be a challenge. Kindergarten has different
hours from the rest of the school so the lunch hours don’t quite match up, but
I could come early or stay afterschool for this collaboration or see if the
admin would give us release time. Jane’s prep times don’t match with my
availability during the day, but I may be able to consult with other teachers
and adjust my schedule or Jane could swap prep times perhaps with another
teacher.
The idea of using iPads for a digital station for
centres would depend on access to the iPads as the school shares a cart of them
on a sign out basis, so this would need to be considered and navigated.
Works Cited
1. 1. Canadian
School Libraries, Leading learning:
Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada (Links to
an external site.),
2014, pages 21-24.
2. 2. Loucks-Horsley, Susan. (1996). Edited by Roger Bybee. National
Standards and the Science Curriculum. Chapter: Professional Development for
Science Education: A Critical and Immediate Challenge. Retrieved from https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/731/2015/07/CBAM-explanation.pdf
5. SAG-AFTA Foundation. (2020). Storyline Online. Retrieved from https://storylineonline.net/
5. 6. Turtle Diary.
(2020). Retrieved from https://www.turtlediary.com/
6. 7. Creative Commons
Attribution. (2020). Engaging Students-Black Gold Regional Division. Retrieved
from https://sites.google.com/gshare.blackgold.ca/engagingstudents/home
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