Wk 32-How have I changed my practice during your Postgraduate DCL journey?

To reflect on my year, I will be using the Reflective Practice Model of Osterman and Kottkamp, (2015, p70).

When I reflect on the past 32 weeks and the changes to my class program, and my knowledge and understanding of great pedagogy and leadership it is a source of amazement and pride.

Problem identification:
I was always an early adopter, an agent of change.  A teacher waiting to challenge and disrupt an educational establishment organised by silos and tick boxes.  I read what I could inspired by blogs/sites such as Edutopia, Mindshift, TED Talks, Tech Thought and Educational Technology and Mobile Learning to name but a few.


But, very like our classroom learners, for me at least there is nothing like that 'hands-on' learning.  Where you get to play, make mistakes, try again work with your peers.

My problem was that I was limited to what I read.  I had a couple of colleagues (would later join me on my Mindlab journey) who shared my passion for digital and collaborative learning but we had limited opportunities to collaborate and share ideas/pedagogy.  We were in  different year levels and teams within a large Primary school we rarely shared what we knew, what we pondered and the impact our ponderings were having on our classes.

Stage 2:  Observation and Analysis:

I observed through Blog posts and discussions with teaching professionals outside KKPS that there was a movement a groundswell of change in the teaching profession and the pedagogies being used to engage and deepen our learner's understanding.  

I knew there was a big wide world out there beyond National Standards and levels achieved in Reading, Writing and Maths.... a world where 21st Century Learning pedagogies mattered, I knew that in 2020 New Zealand would introduce a new digital curriculum.  I knew that there was lots of talk about teachers being a "guide on the side" and not a "sage on a stage".  I had read about Makerspaces, and coding, and stop motion, and lots more... in fact in my 2016 appraisal doc I created this visual and pondered the question how does this all fit together?

Taken From my appraisal Doc 2016

Stage 3:  Abstract Reconceptualisation:

Mindlab gave me the opportunity to understand concepts and ideas that I'd known in theory.  Yes,
I'd heard the terms but I really didn't know what they meant or how on earth I was going to learn about
them or teach them.  Each week a little piece of the puzzle joined together, each week the picture grew
bigger and bigger.  As we joined the pieces I began to see how each of these tiny elements can work
together in building a 21st century classroom.  Finally it all made sense.

Stage 4: Active Experimentation:

One of my biggest fears was always the 'how'.... not the 'why'.  I knew the why and through reading blogs
and articles and watching TedEd I even knew the 'what'.  I knew the terms coding, maker space, 21st
Century pedagogy, learner agency, Modern Learning Environment  and so on.  But how am I going to
teach this?  How do I introduce coding?  What is a Makey Makey?  and how could I possibly use that in
my classroom?

Each Thursday night Karen, our Mindlab tutor shared, excited and engaged us with new pedagogies and
the theory to back it up.  Scratch was no longer something I did to an itchy bite, Stop Motion was no longer
reserved for the Lego movie, collaboration took a new purpose and I began to understand how children
learn.  Each Friday morning I introduced my class to what I'd learned the night before.  Within a matter of
weeks we were all coding using Scratch, we made Stop Motions to illustrate books we had read, or
concepts in Maths.

The transformation in my practice is extreme and the engagement in my children has grown exponentially. 
To top all of that so has my confidence to lead from right where I stand, as a passionate collaborative teacher
of a year 4 class.

Reflecting back from our first few weeks at Mindlab, I think about the TPACK and SAMR models, which
we learned in theory and now can see what huge strides I have made in engaging children in
authentic and purposeful collaborative and digital pedagogies.  I'm hitting the TPACK sweet spot and
and striving for some of my class's learning to be redefining what they can achieve.

Osterman, K. F., & Kottkamp, R. B. (2015). Reflective practice for educators : professional development to improve student learning.(2nd ed.) New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

Puentedura, R. (2010). SAMR and TPCK: Intro to advanced practice. Retrieved from http://hippasus.com/resources/sweden2010/SAMR_TPCK_IntroToAdvancedPractice.pdf.