PD with COVA

Just this week I had the honor of running 2 PD sessions for our new HS teachers on Technology. The first session was only allotted 40 minutes to sprint through all the different  tech systems the district uses and why. But the second day I had double that time to focus on our new learning management system, Canvas. I care very deeply how these PD sessions run, because I have sat in too many sessions myself where I felt unfulfilled by the end. I wanted to be effective, inspirational and fulfilling. So how would I use my time! Well I first did some small projects for my own classes to get myself back into the rhythm. How could I possibly be on my game if I hadn't taken a few swings in the cage so to speak. I worked on a project I had started at a conference back in July, but didn't have enough time to tinker and see through at the time. 

Then I decided to organize my presentation. I wanted to do what was successful in my roll out last year with our whole faculty, so I decided to spend the first 10 minutes in TED talk fashion focusing on the Whys of using Canvas and Chromebooks in the classroom. Then the How and the What of it all. (Sinek, 2016). After helping them better understand our districts mission and the system's capabilities it was time to show them how. I began by touring a couple Canvas courses that I developed and how I had revitalized the syllabus and made it into a media mixed module that culminated with a quiz on all the important info they should have gleaned. I showed how I would conduct my classes online and in person. Now it was time to give them space to choose their own path, show ownership, have a voice...the only thing left was for me to sit back and enjoy the significant and authentic learning experience I had created. The last 30 minutes was their time to choose. They could take a self paced course I made for them to experience all the submission styles with creative assignments that would show them just how the system would occur for their students and hopefully inspire them along the way. They could search the guides for tutorial videos or the Canvas Commons, they could start to make a landing page or begin to put together a bio for their syllabus page. They sky was the limit. This way my colleague and I were free to be facilitators in their learning journey. We got such rave reviews with the only criticism that they wanted more time than we were allotted and someone requested snacks! 

My point being that the COVA model of education works. It allowed me to envision what my classroom will look like this year. And although I am doing a complete overhaul of my classroom philosophies to embody COVA, I am not nervous. Previously as a younger teacher I think I was so worried about being a fraud or that they were expecting the Wizard of Oz and I didn't want them to know there was just a man behind the curtain and as a result I feared trying new things. I am so grateful that I now see the bigger picture. Although I am seemingly giving up control of the classroom in the moment by not lecturing, I still need to be ready and flexible for all the possible teachable moments that lie ahead and because I know this method will not only lead to achievement, but will ultimately lead to engagement and fulfillment for all my students, I can walk in proudly day 1. Make no mistake, I will stumble and some lessons will fail, but deep down I have a serene feeling because I know this is the path of education in today's world and it is what the students deserve. I am excited to finally be ready to embark on my version of that path, because just like language...we may say we all speak the same language, but really we all develop our own version of it with our choices and style. And because of that I have no anxiety that I need to live up to some unattainable goal. I just need to be myself and provide a significant learning environment...aside from that I just need to learn when to get the heck out of their way; there is no better time than now to be a learner!

I hope you all have a great start to the year! 

Learn more about COVA here!

A Lifelong Learner

At the end of last year I helped our most veteran faculty member utilize our new LMS of Canvas to administer his Chemistry final. It was an honor and I wanted to be perfect and work hard to match his stellar reputation. So all year we would meet and develop a plan. Then the week before, we really sat down and refined the exam. As I set to copy it from our sandbox course into the live courses I made a mistake that caused us to lose a portion of the final 72 hours before the exam. I was mortified. He worked over the weekend to redo what was deleted and when I went in to profusely apologize thinking he was going to holler at me, he just asked me if I learned from it. I said that I absolutely did. He said that's all that matters and that he personally hopes that he never stops learning. The exam went off without a hitch and he then wrote me a nice email thanking me for all my efforts. As it turns out that was his last day and he retired quietly without telling anyone.

I tell that story because of his line that he hopes he never stops learning. And after 35 years in public education and retirement upon him, I found that to be a profound statement. And as I finish my coursework on my ePortfolio, I realize the work is not done. I have been given choice and I take ownership of that and have found a platform that gives me a voice about how I view education and a place to soundboard the ways I hope to create authentic environments for my students. So I look forward to continuing to grow my ePortfolio. It has become an extension of myself and the act of curating it is very therapeutic much like in my favorite 80s movie, Karate Kid, I want to be like Mr. Miyagi curating the branches of that Bonzai tree. I have a lot of great work to do in education and I have a lot to say about that work. I'm grateful for the opportunity to shine my light for others to see. It gives me continued purpose and allows me to be like Mr. Garman and never stop learning!

Check out my ePortfolio!

A New Hope...4 things I learned this week

Perhaps some of you are like me. Each year I find myself getting a little wound up about new initiatives and buzz words in education. It makes me anxious and I often wonder what will happen if we find out much later that this was not the best path. Recently I have been reading COVA by my Lamar University professors (Harapnuik et al., 2019) in which they discuss the importance of giving students choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning experiences.

Truthfully I have been reading it with a skeptical lens as I do most new thoughts on education (or really anything I read). But then I came across a part in the beginning that immediately spoke to me and kept me wanting to read more. On page 15, Dr. Harapnuik begins to discuss how family often asks his opinion on hot topics in education, which led to a focus on four major presuppositions about education that made a lot of sense to me and will help me lower my anxiety as we begin a new year with a new principal. 

Here is a brief synopsis of his 4 presuppositions and what they mean to me.

1. Anything we do for a learner will improve achievement.

This presupposition is based on the work of John Hattie and gives me immediate peace of mind. No matter what the initiative we will never harm students. Our efforts will not be lost, we just may find varying degrees of effectiveness. So buying into a new building's culture will never take you to hell in a hand-basket!

2. There has never been a better time to be a learner!

This speaks to the incredible technology we have at our fingerprints and not that lectures are better than ever! We need to redefine how we interact with our students and begin to bring in tools that will enhance our classrooms and alleviate the stress of being the main actor on the stage trying to do five shows a day. This thought then flows well into the next presupposition.

3. No new approaches to learning; just new ways to combine well established ideas.

The ideas that seem new are really very similar to established ideas from great educational minds like Piaget and Dewey. Newer technology now allows us to engage and break down the walls of our classroom; if we let it! I personally need to do more lesson study and really plan out my lessons and all the variables and curiosities that could arise so that I can help make all moments teachable. So instead of wasting time making worksheets and copies I should use my planning time to see how the dots will connect for each of my students as their cogwheels begin to spin. With more individuality comes more questions. As I get to know my students I will begin to see how their brains work and now that I'm free from being the sage I can now help facilitate individual needs and curiosities.

And most importantly...

4. There is no quick fix to enhancing learning.

We are a culture of fads and instant gratification. And that can bleed into our work. We need to pick a course of action and see it through. Don't throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water. Real change takes time. As a parent of an autistic child I have learned so much about patience and staying on track even when there seems to be no light or end to the tunnel. I need that same persistence and patience with my classroom. 

So as this year approaches I plan to keep my cool and focus my attention on things that matter. Developing great lessons that have real world implications. Lessons where each of my students recognizes that they have choice, ownership and voice while I work to bring together tools that will provide them with authentic learning opportunities. If we create significant learning environments then we are doing our jobs. No worksheet will do it for us!

For more info on COVA e-book click here!

Dew on the Thorns

As I dive deeper into my graduate studies, I really want to buy into the COVA approach where I give choice, ownership and voice through authentic learning opportunities. It is a thought that goes back as far as John Dewey and even beyond. And you might say, what's the issue, just go for it! I worry because our schools still operate heavily according to Edward Thorndike and his factory style education that is based on averages. And you still might be saying, "what's the big deal, just shut your door and do you!" The issue with that kind of maverick thinking is...what happens to those students when they have a different teacher next year? What happens when I am required to give common assessments that scream of Thorndike and have very zero tolerance for anything COVA or Dewey related. If the system is not ready to change I become handcuffed. I have to color within the lines to a certain extent. This becomes very frustrating. However as the research of John Hattie tells us anything we do with students short of abuse will have affects on achievement, its just a matter of how effective. So I can take solace that my efforts to give my students choice, ownership and voice through authentic learning experiences will still have value and be worth the effort despite the fact that I will need to channel my inner Thorndike as I help my students prepare for their future Spanish teachers.