Self Reflection of Teacher Leadership in Curriculum

This has been an intensive learning experience within the area of curriculum. I have been challenged to think deeply about my mission as a teacher and coach. I have learned to articulate my mission and defend my practices with learning theories, as well as create a unit plan that puts my mission into action. I have refined my professional voice. The process was often tedious however it helped me to recognize and name purpose in my instruction. The collaborative work done with my partner on this project has proven my theory that collaboration is the key to best instruction. The process of creating a unit plan according to Grant Wiggins Understanding by Design was both enlightening and challenging. I would like to further explore the use of it and see how it unfolds in my instruction.

In my opinion, the curriculum Mary and I wrote is internally coherent and representative of our individual missions.

We began with our goals by asking ourselves some questions. What is the purpose of this unit? What is the big picture? What do we want our students to understand, to know, to be able to do? After establishing our goals, we simultaneously formed the essential questions and understanding for the unit, being sure to link them back to the goals. We explored essential questions used by educators in the past and revised them to suit the needs of our students and our envisioned learning outcomes. Our list of understandings informed us as to what our students should know which in turn helped us develop our list of what our students should be able to do. Our work was cyclical. All parts connect both to what comes before it as well as what comes after it.

This idea of working cyclically ensured coherence throughout the entire unit plan. Our evidence – what would be acceptable work – was based on our goals, EQs, understanding, knowledge, and what we expected the students to be able to do. Assessment connects to the goals in the same way the goals connect to the assessment.

The lessons literally fell into place because our results and acceptable evidence of understanding were clearly defined. At the core of each lesson are the goals and essential questions. Once again, each stage aligns with the one before and the one after to create a unified learning plan.

To further illustrate the idea of internal coherence, let us use an example from our unit plan: Finding History in Historical Fiction. On Day 3, one of our goals was to build a knowledge base of a specific time in history to support and enhance the comprehension of historical fiction. This connects directly to our essential question: How do historical artifacts help us understand stories? In order to answer this EQ and achieve the goal, students must understand that objects enhance our ability to envision history. Knowledge of what artifacts are, and how they are used by historians, will aid in the aforementioned understanding which enables students to connect the artifact to the story and explain its relevance historically speaking.


My role as a library media specialist is to coordinate an integrated program of library and information skills instruction for my students. I strive to cultivate a love of literature as well as the information literacy skills needed to satisfy inquiry. I believe that this unit clearly aligns itself to my mission as a Library Media Specialist. This unit blends both literature and information literacy skills. The use of historical fiction fits in both aspects of my mission.

I'm Sold!

Okay. It took two weeks of convincing, but I know for sure that object based learning can enhance any curricular area. I wittnessed it today. From Family and Consumer Sciences to Business to First Grade, each and every table top exhibit used artifacts to teach the content. And, some went way beyond the literal content into big ideas and essential questions that go to the heart of each discipline.

It was also quite important for others to see our finished products. The visitors ranged from MSU faculty, to Newark Museum faculty, to NJEA members and even our own Curriculum Center. Of course the refreshments were a treat as well but the best part was the accolades and affirmations that what we are doing and creating as teachers using artifacts reflects our teaching.

But, I know I am biased, but I think the best part was having my son there. My father made a special trip to bring him down to the museum just to view the exhibits. After all, these exhibits were created for children, and he had the undivided attention of teachers eager to share and "test it out" on a real live kid! The volcanoes and body parts especially caught his eye and he spent time exploring each exhibit.

See the brain in his hand? Wearing a Civil War hat? Listening to an iPod?

Now, of course, my son's favorite exhibit was his Mom's. So here are some photos (see sidebar slideshow) that don't do it justice because what it brings to the classroom interactively is impossible to capture on film. Again, I am sold!

Do's and Dont's of Teamwork

This short entry is just a reflection on what my Action Research project has morphed into over the past few months. I have decided to study myself and what promotes collaboration:

Collaboration is the work done among individuals that results in a product that, in our case as teachers, benefits instruction. Currently, creating the exhibit for the Newark Museum, I am working with two talented, successful, and dedicated teachers. We have created an exhibit that I am brimming with pride over. And, the reason this exhibit (pictures to follow) is such a success in our minds is because we have worked together, collaboratively, to make it happen.

We, as a team, are willing and eager to listen to each others ideas. We are similar in our dedication to the exhibit, and we feel it is important to divide our tasks evenly. We are all on the same page, so to speak.

And what this teaches me, is that if teachers of different backgrounds and disciplines come together around instruction, with respect for each other as professionals, we create a product that is both instructively sound and increadibly innovative. Who benefits? Our students.

So, how does this speak to my self study Action Research project?

Advice to myself on collaboration:

1. Listen to each other. Hearing what others have to say is essential.
2. Incorporate everyone's ideas. Instead of saying "Yes, but" say "Yes, and"
3. Even out the workload. Nothing breeds resentment like doing the lions share of the work.
4. Work with others like you. Let no one take advantage of your work ethic. Show colleagues how working hard is done with grace.
5. Don't sweat the small stuff and don't make it personal. This is business. We are here for the same purpose. Don't let little frustrations distract you from your ultimate goals.

Remember, this list is not so much a preaching list but rather a selection of do's and don't's for myself, but sharing here on my blog.

Collaboration is, I believe, the secret to education. If we can learn from one another, keep our students learning as a priority above our ego, we can impact learning in the ways we have only dreamed.

More to come...

Finding History in Historical Fiction

The weeks spent at the Newark Museum have been a refreshing boost to my instruction as a Library Diva (LMS). The work I have been doing thus far in the Masters for Teacher Leadership has mostly been about my role as Professional Development Coach (AKA Literacy Coach or Staff Developer). But, this work has brought the instruction in the library home for me.

Our concept, as mentioned in an earlier blog, is finding the History in Historical Fiction. We focused on, again, as mentioned earlier, the Battle of Gettysburg. Talk about an embodied response to art: I am consumed by this process. I am talking about this exhibit with everyone I see. In fact, my son has let me "borrow" a book about the Civil War to add to our Lit Links portion of our exhibit. I think about the faces of the pictures I have downloaded for our slide show. The music that accompanies it tugs at my heart! I read over and over again the picture book The Cemetery Keepers of Gettysburg and learn more each time I do. I touch the cape and hat that once clothed a union soldier and I think about the sacrifices made by the generations that came before us. Even more, I think about the pain and suffering of the soldiers and those who loved them. They have created the country (united!) that we are today. The picture below haunts me-- their eyes and pride. The resolve in their faces, with a bit of fear in others.

This is the kind of response and understanding I can bring to learning in the library.

There were a new set of standards just released by the American Association of School Librarians that indicate the need for students to be able to think critically, create meaning through inquiry, utilize technology, to share knowledge in a productive and ethical manner, and to take that learning and pursue personal growth in areas of interest. The role of object based learning is clearly supportive of these standards, most especially in motivating students to learn more about a particular area of interest and to think critically about those areas. Surely the use of artifacts and cultivate the learning and standards set forth here by the new wave of thinking from School Librarians. I know this because I am experiencing that desire to know more and learn more about a subject I had really no prior interest in.

So, my conclusion is that finding the History in Historical Fiction will have the draw for my students the same way it has had the draw for me.

Table Top Exhibit

For the past two weeks our cohort of Teacher Leaders has spent our days at the Newark Museum trying to wrap our heads around Object Based Learning. The final product is a table top exhibit that illustrates a concept in our chosen discipline. The items shown in the exhibit are part of the Newark Museum's loan collection and are meant to bring to life the curriculum of our chosen fields.

Honestly, up until the moment we started brainstorming our options for a table top exhibit I had absolutely no idea what I would do. I was originally hoping this would work in with my Coaching position, but clearly, it fits much better with my role as Library Diva. And, as we were discussing, it just clicked. One of my favorite genres to read is Historical Fiction. I also love using picture books with older readers as read alouds: the same concepts, expectations and content as found in novels, but in a smaller package. A picture book leaves more time for talk as well. So, the concept was to highlight, bring to life so to speak, the history of historical fiction. So, we grouped up, chose a picture book (The Cemetery Keepers of Gettysburg) and started creating our exhibit.

It is a multi-media display of civil war artifacts, with a focus on the Battle of Gettysburg. And, as we were taught, the objects are the focal point of the exhibit. I also found a free download from iTunes that has Jeff Daniels reading the Gettysburg Address (also has Sam Waterston and Johnny Cash) with photos to view while listening: this is our listening center. I also created a slide show of faces of the Civil War, including battle scenes from Gettysburg (see the show to the right). The artifacts on display include confederate and union uniform pieces, a haversack, canteen, bullets, and flags of both sides. The backdrop of our exhibit is a blown up illustration from the book that inspired the exhibit. We furthered the learning with links to other pieces of literature set during this time, inquiry questions about the literature, objects, and centers.

And, a moment of clarity came today when our professor explained to me that I needed to step away from my instinctual teaching-- literature first, then objects. And into a new advance of objects followed by literature. Ah ha! I see now the benefit for myself as an instructor-- a new approach is always worth a try. I can certainly say that this exhibit is absolutely fascinating and exhilarating! My students will be enthralled by this.

Essential Questions

At the moment I am struggling with the concept of Essential Questions, what they are and what they aren’t. This is a term that is used in many different ways by many different people in a variety of circles. When looking at the essential question from an inquiry or research point of view, this is the question that is narrowed and refined to point the researcher in the direction of learning. We have heard this term again and again in the experience at Newark Museum, and often the learning stations are filled with these kinds of essential questions.

But the Wiggins and McTigue concept of Essential Questions (with a capital EQ) is a bit different. From the work that I have done with Grant Wiggins as part of the Task Force for Clarifying the New Jersey Core Content Standards, the work of selecting Essential Questions was long, tedious, and controversial. A team of us from around the state needed to decide on what we believe the Essential Questions for Language Arts should be. Essential Questions by Wiggins and McTigue are seen as “doorways to understanding” and push to the heart, or the essence, of learning. These questions are not just topical, looking for an answer that remains simplistic in its answering, but rather has many layers, can be continuously explored, year after year.

Some examples of these kinds of Essential Questions in writing are (Wiggins 2007):

v Why write? What if writing didn’t exist? Why share personal experiences in writing? How is written language different from spoken language?
v What makes writing worth reading?
v What makes writing flow?
v How do effective writers hook and hold their readers?
v Why am I writing? For whom? What am I trying to achieve through my writing? Who will read my writing? What will work best for my audience?

These questions practically beg to be investigated. They are created to uncover ideas, create meaning and inquiry to bring students to new understandings. Furthermore, these Essential Questions come from what Wiggins and McTigue call Big Ideas: a conceptual lens for prioritizing content which act as an organizer for connecting important facts, skills, and actions. Examples of Big Ideas are: writing as self expression or writing to persuade.

While these definitions are clear, actually creating Essential Questions to begin a unit of study is quite challenging. I just need to live with and try out the questions, grapple with their validity, revise, and move from there.

Resources:

Grant Wiggins, Powerpoint Presentation at the NJ Task Force for Clarifying the Core Curriculum Content Standards, 2007.


Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design 2nd ed. ASCD: Alexandria, VA [ISBN 1-4166-0035-3].

Object Based Learning

As one of the comments to my postings pointed out, all of the posts in this blog that are about learning have illustrated the belief that people learn best by doing: apprenticeship, mud pit, running.

But, lets face it, not everything can be learned by doing it. There are concepts that are simply out of reach, out of budget, or out of time. For instance, history is a subject hard to learn by doing. It happened already! Reading fictional text is genre that makes it challenging to learn by doing—how can we expect our students to deeply comprehend experiences a fictional character is having if they have never had a similar experience? Research has stated that students, especially of the younger set, develop a fixed interpretation of a text and do not budge from that the way some stronger readers might (Grossman & Schoenfeld 2007) And, if we are expecting students to construct meaning for themselves, how do we do this without experiential learning?

One answer to this challenge is object based learning. Using an object that illustrates an historical concept can help that concept come alive. In my personal experience at the Newark Museum, the Ballatine house has done just that. When driving through downtown Newark, and looking at the remnants of what used to be a prominent part of the city, there are bits of history that hint toward the prosperity of the days gone by: a particular ornamental piece still on the building, the size and length of the window frames, the peaks of the roof. And, I try to picture what it must have looked like. Step into the Ballatine House and instantly I see in front of me the way life was in the late 1800’s when that street was one of prominence and wealth.

Now, it is impossible to bring the entirety of the Ballatine House to a classroom, but it is not impossible to bring smaller objects to enrich the curriculum. After looking at the room housing the 15,000 objects that can be on loan to a school—ranging across time periods, cultures, and subject areas—our curriculum can be much richer by using them.

Our group is planning on blending history and literature by creating an exhibit based on Historical Fiction, namely picture books set during the Civil War. We are looking at using The Cemetery Keepers of Gettysburg and The Ghosts of the Civil War with objects such as a union soldier hat and a confederate flag. Our hope is that this will bring to life the history in historical fiction through object based learning.