Collaborate with a Teacher and Evolve their Practice
Supporting our colleagues in their
professional growth is an important aspect of the Teacher-Librarian job. It is
also important, as a teacher, to help and support the other teachers within the
school. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) offers a structured approach
to supporting teachers in their professional development. SELD suggests that
"successfully implementing a new program
involves more than providing staff with materials, resources, and
training" (2020). CBAM outlines stages of use and concern that can help
identify what the teacher needs, what questions they may have, and help design
a plan for supporting them in their learning. The Stages of Concern and the
Levels of Use are shown below.
(https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/731/2015/07/CBAM-explanation.pdf)
Teacher X
Teacher X has been teaching for
twenty years, and has implemented many new and engaging learning opportunities,
for her students, over her years of teaching. Technology is one hurdle that she
hasn't been ready to fully tackle yet. While teaching researching and inquiry units
in science, and social studies, she relies solely on printed resources. She
provides a variety of non-fiction texts in the classroom and gets students to
take out books from the school learning commons, to support their
projects.
While print sources are excellent
sources of information, online reference sites offer different information,
presented in other ways, and an engaging way for students to research. The
use of technology, in assignments, can be very exciting for students. The
online reference tools also offer videos, a variety of pictures, and even links
to other resources. Using print and virtual resources can make student learning
far more effective.
With the shift to online learning
in the Spring, and her grade three students, this year, asking about using the
internet to research, Teacher X decided to seek some help with bringing online
reference tools into her lessons.
Looking at the Concerns-Based
Adoption Model, the first step to supporting Teacher X would be to identify her
current level of use. Currently she isn't using technology, but she is inquiring
about using it in her classroom. On the Levels of Use table, that puts her at a
one, orientation.
The next step would be to find out where she is in the stages of concern. This could be done in a few different ways. SELD suggests using "a questionnaire, interview, and open-ended statements" (2020). To begin with, the best course of action is to interview, or discuss with Teacher X, how she is feeling about technology and teaching her students about online reference tools and how to use them when researching. The model below outlines some clear questions to help determine where she falls on the Stages of Concern table.
Based on a discussion with Teacher X, she already has an understanding of what an online reference tool could look like, but she is uncertain how it works and how to use it with her students. This would place her in the Information stage and moving towards the Personal stage. To give her more information on how to use online reference tools, a good place to start would be to show her some online sites like World Book and National Geographics Kids. Since her students are in grade three, and relatively new to online researching, World Book Early Learning might be a good starting point, before moving into World Book Kids or Student.
Since students primarily use Chromebooks at our school, it is important to show Teacher X how to access these online reference tools from a Chromebook. Showing Teacher X how to access the online reference tools on Destiny, and how to use the site, isn't enough though. After giving Teacher X a better understanding of what these online sites look like, it would be good to show her how students use them.
Setting up a time where Teacher X could observe a lesson, where students are using the Chromebooks to access the online reference section on Destiny, is a great way to give her a better understanding of how she can structure her researching lessons. SELD says "Each person will respond to a new program with unique attitudes and beliefs, and each person will use a new program differently" (2020), which is completely true. One teacher may teach or use a program differently than another teacher.
To give Teacher X a better understanding of how to structure her lessons, it would be good if she observed more than one teacher. She could observe her cohort partners' class to see how same aged students are using and reacting to researching online, and she could observe an older grade class to see how students, with more experience, will use the online reference tools. While she may not have used online researching yet in her classroom, her students could be at a variety of levels with their understanding of the internet. This will help her support all her students, with where their understanding is at.
Another way to support Teacher X, in her understanding of teaching students how to use online reference tools, would be to connect her with the teacher-librarian. At our school, the teacher-librarian offers collaboration blocks where the teacher-librarian, and a teacher, can collaborate on a lesson or project and easily use the library resources. Teacher X and the teacher-librarian could collaborate on a small research project where students use World Book or National Geographics Kids to find more information on a subject. The teacher-librarian could be a leader in the lessons, until Teacher X feels more comfortable with teaching about online researching.
Hopefully, these three learning opportunities, will help support Teacher X in her understanding of online reference tools and help her create a plan to teach these skills independently. This will then move her from the Informational stage to the Personal stage, and possibly into the Management stage, where she can begin to perfect her skills.
The Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition Model (SAMR Model)
The SAMR Model is similar to the CBAM model, in that it helps create a structure for supporting teachers in their professional development, but SAMR has a focus on technology. Technology is developing and changing at a rapid rate, and its important that we teach out students how to use technology, so that they'll be ready for the future. To be able to teach our students how to use technology effectively, we need to be able to use it first. Below is an image that shows the SAMR Model.
As a teacher moves through each stage,
they gain a stronger understanding of technology and use it more fluidly in
their classroom. The goal is to move from just printing off worksheets, to
using it to support authentic learning opportunities for students, where they
can share their work with audiences.
Teacher
Y
Teacher Y is a relatively new teacher,
who is now in her second full time contract in a grade two classroom. Teacher Y
knows how to use technology, and uses it to find resources, print off work, connect
with parents through email, and uses iPads with her students. Technology isn't foreign
to her, but she could be using it more readily in the classroom, to create
engaging learning opportunities for her students.
Teacher Y uses technology for simple tasks,
like communication with parents and printing off work, so she is at least in the
Substitution stage. She also uses iPads with her students, to allow them to
play learning games to support their literacy and numeracy development, which
means she is past the Substitution stage, and more likely in the Augmentation
stage.
With a strong focus on technology
recently, she has decided to put a greater focus on her professional
development in the technology field. She wants to learn how to use it more
regularly in her classroom. She has an interest in using technology for
nature-based learning and STEM-based activities. She also hopes to learn how to
use Freshgrade as an online portfolio to share
with the students' parents.
Freshgrade is used by many teachers in the school, especially after online learning. All the teachers are in various levels of understanding, and many want to continue learning about it. There is a plan to have an after-school meeting once a week or once every two weeks, to discuss Freshgrade, to gain a better understanding of how to use it. This "club" is a great place for Teacher Y to continue to learn about Freshgrade. It would also be helpful for her, to get connected with one of the teachers that have a stronger understanding of the program. One of the kindergarten teachers plans to run the Freshgrade club, so that would be a good teacher to connect Teacher Y with.
To support Teacher Y in her exploration of STEM-based learning, she could connect with the Teacher-Librarian. Two years ago, the Teacher-librarian purchased coding robots for the library learning commons. The coding mice would be an excellent starting point for a grade two classroom.
The
Teacher-librarian could show Teacher Y how to use the coding mice, and use one,
or more of, Teacher Y's collaboration weeks to co-teach how to use the coding
mice with her class. While her students are using the coding mice, Teacher Y
could take pictures or videos of her students. These photos and videos could
then be shared on Freshgrade, so the parents can see what their children are
learning. Teacher Y could bring these photos and videos to the after-school
Freshgrade club, or a discussion with the kindergarten teacher, to learn how to
share them on Freshgrade.
To learn more about using
technology in nature, Teacher Y could begin by seeing what other teachers are
doing outside in nature or in the school garden. Discussing with other
teachers, and observing lessons, will help give Teacher Y get a better understanding
of what she can do with her class outside. This could be as simple as taking
the iPads outside to take pictures of nature, which the students could analyze,
draw, or learn about later.
There are a few eco-schools
in the district. The teacher-librarians from those schools may have some ideas
of what teachers do with technology, in nature, at their schools. The
teacher-librarian could connect with the teacher-librarians at the eco-schools.
There also may be an opportunity to learn from one of the teachers, from the
eco-schools. The union offers Professional Learning Partnerships (PLPs). The
PLPs allows teachers to take two half days to observe another teacher. Teacher Y
could do a PLP with a teacher from another school, or one from her own that is
using technology and nature in their lessons.
Learning more about
Freshgrade, STEM activities, and technology and nature, will hopefully help
Teacher Y gain a better understanding of how to integrate technology in her
classroom, and use it as an effective learning tool.
Conclusion
Learning about a new program isn't as simple as going to a session on it. Attending a professional development session is a great starting point but isn't always enough to get teachers using it effectively in their classrooms. The SAMR Model and the CBAM are great tools for supporting teachers in their professional development. With them, we can help facilitate a teacher’s deeper understanding of a new program, resource, or technology piece. To be successful in this learning, teachers need the support of their administration, colleagues, including the teacher-librarian. With this support, they will be able to answer questions, they have, and gain a strong understanding of what they're wanting to implement in their classroom.
Ms. Armstrong
References
Duckworth, S. (2015, April 02). New #sketchnote The SAMR Model @karlyb @ICTEvangelist @ShakeUpLearning #elemchat @TheTechRabbi #ipaded #ipadedchat pic.twitter.com/1lJAqEE6my. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/sylviaduckworth/status/583778319235031041
Learning Resources Code & Go Robot Mouse, Coding STEM Toy, 31 Piece Coding Set, Ages 4 , Science - Amazon Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2020, from https://www.amazon.ca/Learning-Resources-Programmable-Robot-Mouse/dp/B01B14XK00/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=coding mice&qid=1604262572&sr=8-2
Loucks-Horsley, Susan. Professional Development for Science Education: A Critical and Immediate Challenge. National Standards & the Science Curriculum. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1996.
National Geographic Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2020, from https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
SAMR Model - Technology Is Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2020, from https://sites.google.com/a/msad60.org/technology-is-learning/samr-model
SEDL. (2020). Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM). Retrieved November 1, 2020, from https://sedl.org/cbam/
Stages of Concern - Concerns-Based Adoption Model. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2020, from https://sites.google.com/site/ch7cbam/home/stages-of-concern
The Portfolio & Assessment Platform: FreshGrade. (2020, May 06). Retrieved from https://freshgrade.com/
World Book Online Reference Center: Online Reference Book: Online Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2020, from https://worldbookonline.com/wb/Login?ed=wb
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you mentioned that all teachers are in various levels of understanding which provided your mapping out the process a deeper level of awareness and consideration. Great that you highlighted eco-schools and the PLPs.