This week’s reflection serves two purposes:
1) To analyze what standards were covered in the final projects and assessments during the last week of distance learning; were they cumulative in nature? 2) To transition towards the final three days (our weekly plans ahead) of the digital learning path that my son’s school has determined as the end date- May 28th.
When breaking apart the McREL International Standards (as this is this method for measurement used at my son's school), it is important to recognize what the culminating project (my son was assigned) covers exactly, and how each of the standards are unpacked. One part of my work, in curriculum development with teachers, is to help support by building more diverse opportunities for the advanced learner as well as providing more direct scaffolding materials for the learner who is struggling. What I have often observed, in my teaching career, has been that the majority of educators (even myself at times) have worked tirelessly to teach to the middle group on any given topic. At the practical level, this method helps us, as educators, feel as if we have covered the majority of students to the best of our ability. The problem with this type of learned, even accepted mentality that has been woven within the very framework of education training through previous generations is that it leaves out a half of the class, by avoiding the extra support materials necessary for leading struggling learners toward intrinsic incentive and self-inquiry and challenging the advanced learners with higher-level concept opportunities, a place in which to play with their learning.
This outdated framework only succeeds when we come to accept that “average” is okay. I am not willing to accept that status quo for any of my students, and when speaking and working with many teachers from different fields and backgrounds, I’ve heard the same sentiment uttered with passion! The question, then becomes: How, in a classroom of say 20-28 diverse learners, does only one teacher and perhaps (if lucky and funding permits) an assistant meet(s) all of the diverse learning needs on any given day; this feat is unrealistic if quality is indeed the ultimate goal. Compound that reality with the kind of teaching relationship now necessary-- the emergency distance-learning platform enacted upon many teachers across our World since March. The scenario (generally-speaking) worsens rather than improves. Most parents, families, teachers, curriculum leads, principals, and mentors all went into “survival” mode to deliver the best content under the best support materials they had access to at the time; under each family’s and school's given set of circumstances.
Now, as all that “dust settles,” it is extremely important to reflect and analyze exactly what and how this forced-upon-us kind of “final educational experiment” is really working. Very simply, this analysis can start with a conversation, among educators and curriculum experts, that takes a given example- a culminating assessment like a final class project assigned and begins to examine the process of alignment to the Standards or Common Core that the given School is following for uncovering what is working well digitally and what pieces need some tweaking for the following year.
For the purposes of supportive training, I will take one cumulative assessment from my son’s school and break down the best pieces as well as identify where the holes are in the distance-learning component to illustrate how to conceptualize-- more importantly-- articulate with other educators the alignment of the learning goals and standards at a given school district or even private and or charter schools. My son’s school follows the McREL International Standards for learning measurement. Some Common Core is interwoven within the McREL: [https://www.mcrel.org/].
My son’s final project was to research and create a scientific interpretation of The Food Chain, placing a species within its cycle and correct natural environment. The Checklist provided was clearly written and showcased reader appeal for every learner in the grade specific to his class. It followed at least ten of the standards listed for the current grade level. I was excited to see listed what statements and parts of the chain to include and how the assessment would be valued; this was a solid rubric written in the age-appropriate form of a checklist for the student. The variety and choices available for presentation and construction of the project were also illustrated with graphics appropriate and engaging on the digital platform chosen. This move, by the educational team at his school, (they included various teachers from different disciplines to address the kinds of samples available for explaining a food chain) was a supportive one. This type of educational modeling showcases the underlying points for collaborating in teams for future work endeavors and also shares different ways for achieving a similar outcome, which-in turn- supports independence and creativity within the actual learner. There was also a YouTube video in the drafting stages (that provided a nice momentum in pacing), where the science teacher walked through a sample project that contextualized a local food chain example; The Brook Trout's Ecosystem. This lively and age-appropriate reference video supported familiarity with the topic and helped the student feel comfortable in seeing the teacher complete the task that was being asked of the learner. I appreciated the addition of the teacher providing a walk-through when there was not a classroom face-to-face experience available; however, at a higher grade-level, walking through each step, could place too much structure on the advanced student meanwhile creating the “copy-cat” syndrome in the struggling student, which neither option promotes independent learning. A way to adjust this piece in the teaching cycle with modeling, a common classroom practice, especially within a digital learning experience, is to survey the students after the food chain concept is taught to see which students need the full sample and which students' learning is hindered by viewing the full sample. Unpacking this key component requires some reflection. I am not indicating to avoid samples for students struggling with a concept; what I am proposing is to survey (pre-assess) first what the students heard or saw (comprehended) in the directions of this larger project and then offer half of the template, so the learner who struggles can remain active in the learning process and the advanced learner doesn't "blow it off" with a quick response.
For example, an instructor might ask the student who is having a difficult time processing how ecosystems operate to locate two ecosystem templates and compare them. This is also true of the advanced student, who might need to be probed with different questions that lead to a challenge. For this student, one might ask: How would you present this ecosystem to a group of scientists, or high school biology students? Create the challenge by layering another component of sophistication within the basic requirement of illustration and research of a food chain. Now, the advanced student has to consider audience and adjust for more technical terms on the project. Again, the pacing slows a bit, but for larger culminating projects, the slower pacing is beyond valuable in engaging student learning. Active learning means more than field trips and outdoor hikes or painting; rather, active learning is ensuring student responsibility and engagement is an option built within the learning assignment itself.
One other component to consider for extending and connecting (which very well may come next week from the teaching team at my son's school, as they have continued to provide wonderful resources and support for families throughout the experience) is to reinforce how the project fits into not only the learner’s world but also the curriculum world. There were not enough words woven into the checklist that reiterate or contextualize what the learner is covering and why. Balancing this rhetoric of Educator Speak, highlighting Standards or Common Core components in the teaching materials is paramount to helping learners transition from year to year. Though, I caution the classroom that has every single standard or given day spelled out with the technical language stamped all over the learning materials; feels forced and suffocates the natural curiosity of the human element inherent to extraordinary learning. The learner can become overwhelmed with convoluted terminology or standards-based technical language, and teaching in the real sense can be lost on the learner and teacher even.
Balance is key; avoiding a lot of that jargon was a strength in this project’s checklist, although leaving out critical commentary of what the students are engaging in upon completion of a larger, culminating assessment can have alternate effects as well. It is extremely important to help come up with a system that is organized and refers to the measurement language for the learner when approaching Curriculum Standards or Core in the classroom, one that helps students remember and understand the “what” and “how” this content relates to themselves, the classroom whether digital or face-to-face, and the external framework they are working within. This outlining and referencing piece woven, within the learning materials time and again, helps support recognizable growth in the following grade levels. The students can now, under their breath, say: Oh, yea, last year we uncovered, through scientific communication and the inquiry of the life cycle. Now, I need to take that same process I did last year in scientific communication and apply it (a higher level on the Bloom’s Taxonomy Scale than just conceptional checklists for content memorization) to this new science topic the teacher is presenting. The brain needs to know the framework terminology and familiarize itself with the bigger picture for learning to stick and progress from year to year.
One way to ensure this curricular process is taking place on an intrinsic level for the students is by adding a few reflective questions for the class to complete at the end of the project that can accomplish and bridge that gap in the memory of the learner. Cognition is the place to begin in the conversations taking place regarding authentic learning that builds the student’s memory retrieval from year to year. This can easily take place in a class conversation with teachers face-to-face and students conversing, but how can teachers ensure this takes place within their distance learning platform on an individual level rather than a quick dialogue via discussion board after the project presentations. One example of this kind of detail is to follow up with a digital survey that questions the learner’s understanding of the "whole" project operating within the framework presented (learning about learning), and then also to add a teacher’s commentary, a quick written or recorded synopsis sent to the families that can be shared with their learner, at home, as a form of wrapping up the project and for building the cognition reiteration it takes for the following year.
There is much more detail I can provide in clearly written scaffolding materials and sample reflective questions to include that align with various content topics, and I am happy to continue or begin a conversation with fellow educators on the topic of cognition, alignment, and reiteration as we move to build stronger online curriculum opportunities for families and educators.
To move from the serious to the celebratory act of teaching, albeit, is where this blog commentary needs to continue. The final days of a school year are typically filled with yearbook-signing picnics, games, active and fun artistic or musical activities, even send-offs and honor or service award nights, etc. It is a lively time to be at school, almost as exciting as the first weeks of school beginning each Academic year as classes settle in and build community. My son’s school remained true to the spirit of the last week of the school year; they emailed a list for an impromptu Spirit Week to celebrate making it through this “stay-at-home” experience. They even invited families to come to the school grounds for a honk-and-wave to all of the staff and teachers during a set time on the very last day of school.
As a means to extend this feeling of celebration, I have stashed away a plan to create a butterfly garden in the backyard to symbolize change and to place a positive twist on the current lack of community felt during the last three days of school. I love that my son’s school cares so much about the "whole" person in that they have taken the time to set aside some creative ways to build that spirit back into the closure of the school year; it is my job as a parent to step up this closure time for my son this week as a means for helping him feel somewhat solid in the midst of so much uncertainty. The butterfly garden is just a way to complete the continued love and support I have tried to provide from the very first weeks of this jarring, sometimes very challenging and tiring experience. Ms. Porcupine and "J-Z" are going to craft some pottery and paint a sculpture to place in the butterfly garden and then invite a couple of household family members to ride with us to the send off at the school parking lot. At day's end, we will come back and eat some cake. Just like the day we flipped pizzas in the air, I will close the year by having my son help me bake his favorite summer cake to celebrate, as we christen the butterfly garden. Any kind of activity that leads to physical play and celebration (that parents deem important) can have the peace-filled closure effect upon the student/child and build some internal strength and joy in your children’s spirits as they all transition to this newly forming summer, one like we’ve never known.
Sending a Happy Memorial Day wish to our readers, from Ms. Porcupine and her son
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