This semester has been profound for me in respect of what it means to advocate for my emergent bilinguals. Not only do I have a responsibility to teach English to my linguistically diverse students, I must also play the role of cultural mediator between my families and the school. This advocacy project was designed to celebrate the uniqueness of our families but also understand how I can best serve them in my role as the ESOL teacher.
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A little summer reading encouragement for you wonderful parents!
Charter schools are a hot topic in the realm of education and honestly, I never saw myself teaching for one. Yet, here I am, the ESOL teacher at a virtual charter school that boasts somewhere around 13,000 students across our state in K-12. Thus, I can’t discuss equitable funding for our ESOL program without also discussing equitable funding for state charter schools.
Since I began teaching virtually 6 years ago I have sat through meeting after meeting where our head of school explained that we were receiving about half the funding per student than a traditional public school, yet we must meet the same standards or risk losing our charter and having our school closed. We are a school of choice, yet, if you choose to attend our school, your child will not be receiving their equal share of the money set aside for the children of our state. As a teacher working at one of these schools, you take a pay cut and the state teacher pay scale doesn’t apply. The truth is, I took a huge pay cut to work from home virtually. However, when weighed with the cost of daycare and the amount of flexibility I received, it seemed a fair trade. Coming out of a traditional BAM school, the first year I reconciled this difference by thinking of all the things a traditional school must pay for that we don’t- building costs, custodial staff, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, etc. It made sense that we didn’t need as much money to run our school. However, six years later, I’ve seen what having less resources can mean for a school, especially a school that is Title I with a diverse student body that chooses to be schooled at home for a variety of reasons. As it stands, our school is grossly underfunded which results in a high turnover rate for teachers and staff, less than adequate technology for our students (vital for a virtual school), and an inability to hire specialists where they are needed (reading specialists, graduation coaches, etc.). The truth is, we have needs (costly needs) outside of what a traditional school spends money on, but virtual learning is so misunderstood by state legislators and the general public that they simply don’t understand what our needs are and while they argue over the merits of charter schools, 13,000 children in their state are being short changed. My hopes are that our state is finally addressing the inequity of funding by finally passing HB 787 a few days ago. This new bill “sets the state supplement at the average per-pupil local funding for all 180 school districts” (Tagami, 2018) and although it still doesn’t level the playing field, it is a step in the right direction for all public charter schools in Georgia. Our school heavily advocated for this legislation by rallying at the state capitol, sending letters to our government officials, and even testifying at the GA General Assembly meeting. The parents of our school choose to send their students to us and they deserve an equitable education which can only be provided through adequate funding. Thankfully, our school does receive Title III funds to meet the needs of our emergent bilinguals in the ESOL program. However, the laws for how this money can be allocated are fuzzy and confusing at best. This past year, our school was a part of the GA Consortium. The consortium consists of all the smaller schools in the state and the idea is to pool our Title III money and spend it equitably among all the schools so that the ones with only a few students in the ESOL program are at least having their needs met. As a result, we were able to attend the Consortium Conference and have resources to programs such as Imagine Learning. However, even as part of the consortium, the needs of our virtual learners are not considered. The best example of this was when every school in the consortium was awarded iPads, purchased with Title III funds, for their ESOL program. We were the only school at the conference that didn’t receive the technology because our students already have laptops provided by our school. This is understandable; however, part of our Title III funds went to paying for the other schools to have this technology and we didn’t receive any benefits. In fact, our request for Rosetta Stone for our parents was denied on the basis that it couldn’t be purchased for all schools due to the expense. It seemed that, once again, due to the nature of our school, our students were left out. Thankfully, next year we will not be a part of a consortium and the money we receive from Title III will be spent on our students. Under the new ESEA law, there is a “supplement, not supplant” provision that requires schools to spend the money on improving the programs and not allowing them to reallocate Title III funds to areas that were already funded by other means at the school (NEA, 2015). This will allow our school to really focus on expanding our program and providing resources where they are most needed. However, this also means that we must be careful in how we allocate this funding and it will be up to our Title III coordinator to ensure that our school system is truly supplementing our program and not pulling funding from areas that are currently funded by Title I and other school monies with the intentions of replacing it with Title III funds. Which is why it is so important that a school system makes sure the people they hire have a strong knowledge base and receive proper training on new requirements such as ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act). I also feel it is important for teachers of ELs to understand the allocation of funds, so they can advocate for their programs at the district level. Before I began teaching virtually, I had no idea how Title III funds were to be spent and I think back to resources I could have used in the traditional classroom but wasn’t aware that I could have requested. It seems to me that schools have always had to fight for funding and the fight continues today. As Lawrence-Lightfoot points out “There is no other society that holds up such loft goals for the roles that schools play in the development of children and the building of society as does ours, and no other society that, as a result, expresses as much disappointment and dismay when those goals are not reached” (2003). The truth is, people put money in the things they truly value, yet education is sorely underfunded in our country. Perhaps our society should not hold the education system to such high standards until they are willing to allocate the money required to assist educators in meeting those high standards. Until that happens, we will continue to be a source of disappointment to the American people. "Equality" by Pixel Fantasy licensed by CC 2.0. Lawrence-Lightfoot, S. (2003). The Essential Conversation: What parents and teachers learn from each other. New York: Ballantine Books. National Education Association (2015). All in! How Educators Can Advocate for English Language Learners. Tagami, T. (2018). Georgia legislation would give more money to state charter schools. Atlanta Journal Constitution. Until recently, I’ve never really thought of my relationship with the parents of my students as a partnership. Perhaps it’s the ideological, educational pedagogy that I’ve been reading or perhaps its that my oldest child is now in Kindergarten that has changed my perception of parent-teacher relationships. More than likely its me grasping at the ideal as I try to navigate being the parent in the relationship. As the teacher, I haven’t particularly wanted a partnership with the parent but as the parent, you better believe a strong, mutual relationship is exactly what I want because I know that is what’s best for my kid. However, it seems that the more that I reach out to her teacher, the shorter her responses get until now I’m paranoid that I’m bothering her. So, I’ve lessened the communication which has resulted in less knowledge about what my kid is doing at school which in turn means my daughter and I communicate less about school. This vicious cycle has caused me much stress but I’m unsure of how to correct it. Now, add in a language barrier and a different cultural view of education, and that is probably what the parents of my English learners feel. In her book, Creating Welcoming Schools, JoBeth Allen states that parental involvement that is academic in nature has a much great affect on student outcomes than nonacademic involvement. It seems that creating a partnership with parents simply isn’t enough. The partnerships must be centered around student learning. So, how can teachers of English learners break through the language and cultural barriers to create this special type of partnership? I believe it begins with the teacher simply understanding that all parents want what is best for their children but often, they simply don’t know how to navigate the parent-school relationship. It seems to me, as a result, the teacher needs to extend a hand to the parent and open the lines of communication. Colorincolorado suggests using bilingual translators as well as sending written communication home in their native language. Google Translate and Google Docs have made translating written communications a breeze. While Google Translate is best for shorter translations without formatting, Google Docs will translate a Word document in a couple of step that keeps all formatting: The website also suggests that the teacher learn some of the language that the parents speak. I know many teachers who are not interested in learning a second language or simply, like me, do not have the time. However, I can attest to the appreciation that linguistically diverse parents feel when a teacher uses some words from their language. When I call students with Spanish speaking parents, I often ask to speak with their parent before I end the call and simply say “Gracias por permitirme hablar con su hija. Adiós”. I feel it is important that I show respect for them as the parent and authority as well as respect for their culture. When I use the interpreter to speak with them, I always encourage the parent to email me in their native language and assure them that I will gladly use Google Translate to figure out what they are communicating. I let them know that I need the interpreter to speak with them because I don't know their language, I'm the one with the deficit. These simple steps can help the parents feel at ease and not feel insecure about their lack of English skills. Once the parent feels respected and a relationship with the teacher has been established, then expectations and recommendations can be shared. I do not believe discussions concerning cultural differences and suggestions for how a parent can help their children can happen without a relationship developed by extending mutual respect for the role that each stakeholder plays in the education of the student. As a teacher, I recognize that there are many times when we feel we are the lone advocate for a student. However, we needn’t look far to recognize that the biggest advocate is the person that tucks them into bed each night and if we extend an olive branch, we will begin to see positive change in the lives of our students. Allen,J.(2007).Creating welcoming schools: A practical guide to home-school partnerships with diverse families.New York: Teacher's College Press. Mary Cassatt "A Goodnight Hug" 1880 posted by Plum Leaves licensed by CC 2.0 Perhaps the language used to describe students is the most telling of a school culture. Language is such a funny thing, it’s as if, when spoke aloud, the words build a container around a person and that person seems to grow (or shrink) to fit it. My mentor professor at the University of Georgia, a man that greeted us at the door with a smile and talked of visiting everyone of his students at home every year, said that if you set the bar high for students, they will ALWAYS rise to meet it. He saw evidence of this time and time again and it always starts with the language used in communicating expectations. You see, those words we use to describe students stick to them and either help them grow or debilitate them. We either expect them to be great and speak that greatness into them, or we expect that they’ll fail and speak that failure into them instead. For some reason, his words on that random day in class stuck with me but I didn’t put it into practice until my third year of teaching. I was teaching environmental science to seniors and the year started with a student, let’s call him Andy, that was super annoying. He was late to class, spoke out of turn, challenged me openly, made rude jokes and comments and generally made me dread seventh period. I asked another teacher about him and she rolled her eyes and said I was in for a long year. Apparently, his reputation among the teachers wasn’t good and everyone I spoke with said they simply suffered through the year, writing him up every now and again. About three weeks in Andy and I had a confrontation and I did write him up. It was only my second write up of my teaching career and I absolutely hated doing it but felt that his blatant disrespect deserved some form of discipline. I went home that day feeling like an asshole. The truth was, this kid was well liked by his peers. In fact, his leadership among them was what caused his behavior to be so disruptive. As soon as he acted out, I lost control of the class. He was the ringleader and I was just the side show. As I reflected on it all I realized that what I really needed was this kid on my side and I thought back to what my mentor said and decided that instead of speaking negativity to this kid, I was going to treat him as if he was my favorite student. The next day I put my plan in action. I needed an errand ran and I asked him in front of everyone if he’d run it for me. I’ll never forget the incredulous look on his face when he said “Me?”. It was as if no one had ever willingly let him leave the classroom with any sort of responsibility. I assured him that yes, I wanted him to do it and commented that he seemed like a responsible kid. Over the course of the next few days I did things like call on him to answer questions with remarks like “Andy, you are one of the smartest kids in here, can you answer my question?” and “You’re good at math, will you work this problem?”. The truth was, he probably wasn’t the smartest kid in the class and I had no idea if he was good at math. However, he thought that I thought he was and therefore he did not want to disappoint me. By the end of the year, Andy and I had formed a wonderful relationship. He brought me clay pots for my garden that he had lying around the house and often treated me to biscuits in the morning. He quieted the class when they became unruly and encouraged them to participate. My words built him up and he BECAME the student I said he was. Just like he became the unruly, annoying student that the others said he was. I mention all this to say that the language used in a school defines its students and its culture. The vision of a shared responsibility for every student cannot be achieved if the language that is used doesn’t reflect that. As the only ESOL teacher at my school I often read emails from teachers that discuss my students. Sara is one of YOUR students and she blah, blah, blah. The truth is Sara is one of OUR students as she is on OUR team. Simply by calling her mine the teacher is removing herself as a responsible party. The language used conveys her meaning and her attitude and that manifests itself in how she deals with the student. As an ESOL teacher I work with the language a student must learn daily but until recently, I haven’t put much thought into the language that is inherently used by my administrators and fellow teachers. Early this year, at a conference, I heard the term emergent bilingual to describe an English learner. This term awards the student with a more just description of the talents they possess. Fenner discusses these talents as “the polar opposite of the EL deficit model” and finds value in “recognizing and honoring the cultural capital and funds of knowledge that each student brings to the classroom” (2014). Simply by changing the label we give our students, we can change the way they are viewed by their peers, teachers, and ultimately themselves. We can create a positive environment that builds upon student’s talents instead of focuses on where they are lacking. I firmly believe that for educators to ever “recognize that it is everyone’s responsibility to equitably educate ELs” (2014) a shift in school culture must occur and it begins by changing the language we use. Whether it’s the language used to discuss a student or their family, or how we speak directly to the student. All parties involved need to address one another with respect and appreciation for one another’s uniqueness and contributions to the school. At a time when our country seems utterly divided over race, the school needs to be a beacon of light for those that are culturally and linguistically diverse and I can’t help but wonder at where I fit in as the ESOL teacher. Currently, the lone advocate of our talented emergent bilinguals with a sphere of influence that could possibly reach all teachers in our middle school if I can only find the words to cause a ripple that will ultimately create a change. After all, how can a student learn if they don’t feel heard, understood and valued? How can a teacher spend her precious time on a student if she can’t see an achievable goal when there are so many that need her? Andy went on to graduate from a state university and according to Facebook, is doing very well in life. I don’t credit myself with any of his success as that is of his own making. However, I know that the year he spent in my class he felt valued and the container I made for him with my words was big enough for him to grow and I've used the same method to guide other students towards success. For my colleagues to be able to do the same thing for all our students, I think the words spoken to them must also provide a safe and accepting space for them to grow in their knowledge of how to meet the needs of our emergent bilinguals. They must feel respected and supported as well as informed and knowledgeable. And though creating a shared vision for our students seems to be a daunting task, I believe it begins with the everyday utterings within the school walls, real or virtual. Fenner, D.S. (2014). Advocating for English learners: A guide for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Virtual education is fraught with unsolved problems and in my 6 years of experience, engagement seems to be our Achilles Heel. It is a topic in almost every school meeting, it is discussed in parent teacher conferences, and it is an issue that all of us have wracked our brains over because engaging students through a computer is much more challenging than in the regular brick and mortar classroom. When I call on a student during synchronous classes and they don’t respond, I can’t help but picture the student sitting on their couch, back to the computer, playing a video game. I imagine their parent to be in the kitchen or some other part of the home assuming their child is attending class and participating fully. It is a scenario that, I know, plays out every day in virtual education. Now, add that the student is an English Learner (EL) with a parent that does not understand English and the possibility of disengagement becomes more likely. Very few middle school students have intrinsic motivation to perform well in school and proximity to the teacher can make the difference between a student that focuses and completes their assignments and those that do not. So, then what do you do with students that are hundreds of miles away from their teacher? How do you reach through the computer screen and pull them into the content, have them participate, engage them when they simply have to hit the mute button as soon as they log in if they don’t feel like participating? The simple answer is, the teacher cannot.
In her book, The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn From Each Other, Lawrence-Lightfoot touches on the expectations that Americans put on the school system. She states that “there is no other society that holds up such lofty goals for the role that schools play in the development of children and the building of society as ours does, and no other society that, as a result, expresses as much disappointment and dismay when those goals are not reached” (2003). She also mentions the differences between parent backgrounds and experiences and how that affects their expectations of the school. This is particularly important when it comes to teaching English Learners as I can confidently say that my ESOL (English to Students of Other Languages) classroom is the most diverse class taught at our school. Therefore, how can I, a virtual teacher with expectations of my own, engage students who are sitting in their home and encourage them to take ownership of their education? I think the answer lies in Epstein’s idea that “parents, educators, and others in the community share responsibility for student’s learning and development” (Epstein, 2016). When asked, virtual teachers at my school cite the level of parent involvement as the most influential factor in student success. However, as Lawrence-Lightfoot points out, the parents all have different expectations and from experience, I feel that the parent’s expectations and our expectations as a school, seldom line up. Part of this is due to the reasons students have decided to enroll in our virtual school. The reasons are as diverse as our students and range from needing flexibility because they are musicians, athletes, actors to needing to stay home and care for a terminally ill parent. We also have students who were bullied at school and those that’s behavior had them suspended so much that the parents enrolled them with us as a last stitch effort to keep them in school and out of trouble. With such a diversity in reasons for enrollment and differences in home life, communicating our expectations and creating a school, family and community partnership, as Epstein suggests, will make the difference between a successful virtual school and one that simply passes students through, barely having met the state standards. In an effort to create this partnership and close the achievement gap for English Leaners, our public charter school began revamping our ESOL program a couple of years ago. I interviewed the Title III coordinator, Julie, to find out how the department engages parents and advocates for ELs in the virtual environment. Julie worked as a virtual elementary school teacher for three years before the ESOL program at the school was established. She then became the elementary ESOL teacher and point of contact which equates to the department chair in a brick and mortar school. This year, she has been promoted to the Title III Coordinator for our district which serves K-12. Like most virtual teachers I know, she left the brick and mortar schools when she had her first child because virtual education provides flexibility for mommy teachers. Julie was born in Massachusetts and raised in Georgia. Her family is French and she believes her father would have been an ESOL student as his mother spoke only French. I began the interview by asking how the creation of the ESOL departments has helped the ELs and their families. In response she talks of how virtual students can simply become a name on a screen and how not having a visual reminder that a student may need accommodations or special consideration makes it difficult for teachers in the synchronous classroom. She believes that creating the ESOL department has made these students more visible because now they have an advocate. The EL teacher at their school is constantly reminding the content teachers that the students are there and that they need to accommodate them based on the EL plan that was created for each individual student. The ESOL teachers serve as a reminder in the school that the students are diverse culturally and linguistically. When asked specifically about the school’s biggest challenge to engaging ELs and their families, Julie states that the different cultural backgrounds and views on the parent’s role in education is often a stumbling block. She feels the school is expecting the parents to take a more active role in educating their children than is normally expected in the brick and mortar classroom. This expectation can differ greatly to expectations in a parent’s country of origin. She speaks of teachers as guides and places the role of teacher in the laps of the parents. From my experience, this view of the parent as teacher holds truer in the elementary school than in the middle or high school. This is partly due to much of the curriculum being on paper with the expectation that the parent is working with the child to complete the work. The expectations are more home-school like than at the middle and high school where students are often left alone for the day to complete their schooling online, with the teacher. Even still, both models do not meet the standards of Epstein’s “spheres of influence” (2016) where there is equally shared responsibility between the parent, teacher and community. When asked how we can increase the parent’s sphere of influence, Julie mentions face to face meetings to engage parents so that we can make connections and communicate our expectations. She believes that holding outings in the community for our students will “build relationships with these families and let them know that we want to help them and that we want them to reach out”. She believes that the school has done a fantastic job of creating a community atmosphere and mentions the feeling of “being part of the same thing” when families come together. She does acknowledge that more targeted communication, specifically for EL families in their native language, is needed and thinks the creation of a Facebook group could help bring those families together. She also feels that teachers within the school that speak other languages need to be utilized as an asset when bridging the gap between the school and families. The interview with Julie sparked interesting conversation concerning the school’s expectations of parents. I can’t help to wonder though, if within the virtual world, there is a role reversal in expectations and the disappointment that is felt when the expectations aren’t being met as Lawrence- Lightfoot suggests (2003). In this case, the school has expectations of the parents and time and time again, the parents aren’t meeting the expectations. However, in either case, it is either a lack of ability to meet or the misunderstanding of these expectations, either by the school or by the parent, that results in a student not being successful or achieving their full academic potential. In the end, the one solution that consistently comes up in conversation, whether it be for a virtual school or brick and mortar school is more communication between parents and teachers as well as a coming together face to face and building relationships in a community atmosphere. Epstein, J. L. (2016). School, family, and community partnerships: preparing educators and improving schools. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Lawrence-Lightfoot, S. (2003). The Essential Conversation: What parents and teachers learn from each other. New York: Ballantine Books. After a much needed break, I'm back at grad school and really pumped about my classes. This semester I have the pleasure of taking a class on collaboration within schools and communities and so far, I've been pleased with the readings and discussions. Epstein's theory of overlapping spheres of influence (Epstein, 43) has been eye opening and I may have experienced my first twinge of remorse for becoming a virtual teacher. If student outcomes are increased when parents, teachers, and others in the community work together, then where does that leave the virtual student? Epstein outlines a framework for the different types of involvements that contribute to student success and the 6th, Collaborating with the Community (Epstein 46), is not one that I see in the virtual environment regularly. The parents and teachers are working together but there is a disconnect from that third sphere, the community. My students are spread all around the state and I'm unsure of how to get that last piece of the puzzle. Even as a virtual teacher, I find myself often isolated from my community during the work week. I do try and get out during the weekends and explore the local goings-on in Athens. Our community is rich in music and art and the Athens vibe is one of exploration and acceptance. The overall liberal attitudes of the Classic City make it a place for progress and trying new things and I often take my own kids to participate in activities such as the instrument petting zoo at the UGA School of Music or an art class at Treehouse Kid and Craft. However, Athens does have a very large immigrant population and the English Learners within the school system often experience a different Athens than we do. After much thought to the virtual predicament, I decided to put together a community asset map that outlines a few places within my community that play a big role in the lives of our immigrant population as well as a few important assets that offer services that if taken advantage of, could really make a difference. If I'm unable to expand the community sphere in the lives of all of my students, maybe I can at least expand it for the few students I serve locally.
I used Google Tour Builder to make the asset map and you can find it here. You'll see that I've given short descriptions of the different assets within the Google Tour but I do want to draw attention to a few assets that I found to be particularly useful. The first asset I think more of our Latino population should take advantage of is The Athens Latino Center for Education and Services. This place is awesome! They offer classes such as GED prep, citizenship, ESOL, and Spanish Language. They also offer bilingual psychological counseling. Recently, they've teamed up with The Latin American Association to offer legal immigration services. The volunteers at ALCES are really nice and eager to share their goals and mission in the community. Another important asset in the Athens community is, of course, The University of Georgia. The Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education (CLASE) at UGA is part of the College of Education, my Alma Mater. CLASE exists to serve the Latino community in Athens and help close the achievement gap of Latino students through research and by offering professional development for teachers throughout the state as well as through their mentoring/tutoring program at Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School. Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary is made up of 38% Latino and 47% African American students. The administration and staff are consistently working to close the achievement gap for their students by creating a school community that is accepting of all cultures. I could sing the praises of this school all day as my daughter is in their Kindergarten Dual Language Immersion program. This program is made up of both native English and native Spanish speakers and the students spend 80% of their day receiving instruction in Spanish. They boast the only DLI program in the area and so far, it has been very successful. OAES constantly has activities for the families such as culture nights and family BINGO. Every meeting is conducted in both English and Spanish and every communication from the school is also in both languages. Their parent engagement liaison is bi-lingual and is a respected member of the Latino community. This school is a cornerstone within our community and is an important place where children begin their educational journeys. It sets the standard for the level of engagement that our schools expect from our immigrant families and serves as a bridge between the different cultures represented within our community. Other assets on the map are important places such as the local health department that provides health services such as vaccinations, WIC, and pregnancy counseling for at risk teens. They also offer dental services at minimal cost for local families. The Athens-Clarke County Library is a another great resource as they have Spanish story time and a free software to help non-native speakers learn English. Perhaps my favorite asset though is Bishop Park. This is an important place within the immigrant community as they have soccer fields and host several soccer leagues such as La Liga. On the weekends, Bishop Park has a local farmer's market and food trucks provide food during the soccer games. Several of the students in my neighborhood spend time playing pick-up games during the week and participating in soccer leagues or just hanging out on the weekends at Bishop Park. Overall, I found this project to be both fun and informative. I have many friends within the different immigrant communities and they were all willing to show me around different places that they considered assets in their daily lives. In return, through my research, I was also able to share a couple of assets with them that may be helpful in the furture. Perhaps best of all, I was able to verify, once again, that the Classic City is a community that accepts and values people of all cultures and has many assets to support them. "Athens Dawg" by Jimmy Emerson, DVM licensed by CC 2.0 Epstein, J. L. (2016). School, family, and community partnerships: preparing educators and improving schools. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group. I am finally in the light at the end of the tunnel that is the first semester of grad school. Virtual teaching has been my life for the last 6 years but virtual learning was a completely different perspective. Over the years I have noticed that there is a stigma that goes along with virtual education. I've often felt that brick and mortar teachers tend to snub their noses at virtual teachers and I now see that same snobbery when I say that I'm attending grad school online. It is as though people feel that rigor lies in physically being in the same room as the teacher. I attended the University of Georgia as an undergrad and while it was challenging, I'll have to admit that my first semester of grad school was just as rigorous but definitely more work and active learning. When you don't have the luxury of simply sitting in a classroom, listening to a professor, it forces you to seek out the knowledge that you need. I assume that this bias against virtual learning is due to the first years of module based learning where you read through content, answered a few questions and reflected with a discussion post. The virtual learning of today is much different and instead of simply reading through modules, students are actively engaging with their peers in real time, watching videos, researching, listening to podcasts, and actively synthesizing information to create a product that is rich in content and new ideas.
The Tech Tools class that I took this semester is the reason I began this blog and it has been one of the most enjoyable courses I've had in my educational career. I feel like I've added so many different web tools to my belt, many that can really support my English learners and that I've already implemented in my classes. As teachers we often get into ruts and resort to the tried and true methods. This even holds true in virtual teaching despite having the power of the web at your fingertips all day. Learning new tools I can use excites me and I've noticed that excitement has trickled down to my students. This semester I've started a blog, created a podcast that involves our entire school, created a wiki, and learned how to use multiple free tools that have enriched my classroom. I've even sent ideas to other teachers I know so they can implement new tools in their classrooms as well. Who has two thumbs and is feeling accomplished? This girl. I am taking another tech tools class next semester and I hope that I am forced to keep up this blog as I enjoy exploring new things and writing about it. If I'm not required to keep up my tech explorations, maybe I will anyway. Either way, I am proud of the work I've done. After all, it is all about the journey, right? "Journey" by Praveen licensed by CC by-NC 2.0
Education is fraught with acronyms out the whazoo but as a veteran teacher I have a pretty good handle on what they are. So, it surprised me when I came across NET-S. As a virtual teacher I embarrassed to say that the technology standards set forth by the International Society of Technology Education are not present in our school. However, I hope to remedy that as soon as possible...mission accepted. So, for my final project in this super cool, web tools class I'm taking at Kennesaw State University, I put together this ginormous lesson plan all about one of my favorite topics- Disney movies!
The plan is for ELs and I use several web tools to implement the plan. You can check out an overview of the plan and each tool here:
It is hard to imagine where the future of Web 2.0 technology is going. The internet is so incredibly vast and overwhelming and there are more tools available already that I know I’ll never even learn about. As an online educator I do know that the future of education lies within this complex web and if we are going to meet the needs of our students, we must figure out how to use it to our advantage. As the internet changes, so should our methods. Teacher education programs will need to be heavy in technology education as the days of simply lecturing are quickly coming to an end. This new semantic web will provide our students with more individualized learning. Instead of the teacher having to tailor the instruction specifically for each student before a lesson begins, the linking of information on the web will provide much of that individualization. The teacher will serve as a guide for the students to discover information and learn the content that is presented. The future of Web tools will allow a more student- centered environment and schools are challenged with ensuring their teachers have the knowledge to facilitate education within this new realm. I wonder, though, if that means instead of being student led learning, it will be web-lead learning? Mashups pull information from outside data sources into one interface and allow that information to be presented and used in a different way (Solomon & Schrum, 2014). Feedly is a web tool that allows the user to organize the information they regularly read into one site. For example, I follow science news from a variety of sources such as RedOrbit and NPR. In Feedly, I can create a feed with the label “Science News”, add the news sources I regulary read, and all the new articles on those sites appear in my mashup and are updated every time I log in. Another cool feature is that I can create a board of science articles that I may want to use for my class. As I scroll through my feed and read the different articles, I simply save the ones I like to my “Science for Class” board. Feedly also suggests other sites I might like based on my feed and gives me the capability to share the feed with coworkers. If I wanted to share and discuss the latest trends in education with fellow teachers, I can easily do so on Feedly. Not only do mashups like Feedly allow me to see information easily on one site, it also saves me time that I would otherwise spend going to the different sites individually. The capability to save articles means that I have a plethora of updated resources to use with my students. I can even share the boards with my students and allow them to use the articles they are interested in for classroom projects. Since I teach ELs, I can make boards based on their reading levels. For example, I can save articles that are a higher reading level to a board for my more proficient readers and more simple articles for my lower proficient students. This way, they still get some autonomy in their choice, but I know that whatever they choose to read, it is at the level they need.
Overall, I am both excited and a little anxious about how web tools will be advancing. I do know, however, anything that assists in individualizing education for the students is a good thing. We may have to rethink our modern education system and the role of the teacher as more of a facilitator instead of the source of information. Education methods seems slow to progress so I think it is imperative to create solid partnerships with the tech industry to ensure that our students learn the skills they need to be innovators in whatever field they choose. "The Future of His World" by Thomas Hawk licensed by CC BY-NC 2.0. Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2014). Web 2.0: How-to for educators (2nd ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. |
AuthorI live in Athens, GA and spend my time balancing family and work while trying to maintain an element of coolness. I drink coffee by the pot. Archives
April 2018
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