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I used to hate Weebly with a passion. Now, I simply hate Weebly. I am less passionate about my hatred!
To me, this is growth. I am now more able to navigate this web-builder, and almost able to produce digestible content. And you know what? The quirks are REALLY growing on me! Lost a page? No worries! I would like to redo that page anyway. So take THAT Weebly, you cheeky devil. You can’t beat me if I am smiling. And maybe in a way, TPACK has some level of parallel. I find myself leaning on tech more heavily to reach my classroom goals. If it weren’t for my ability to use Padlet, for example, I think that semester two would be a failure so far for me in the classroom. When people starting checking out— Padlet has become a way for students to ALL engage, draw, respond, create links, comment, and become a virtual workspace. It’s a small example, but a powerful reality for me. And even though it’s not always perfect, I am finding a home with new tech to deliver opportunity for new content. Google Forms is God-like. Adobe Spark is great. I am using Piktochart with my AP Lit-ters. And as an explore the curriculum with a new set of eyes, I have moments where the trifecta of TPACK is working. And I see it. Real talk: does ANYONE actually read these (mission statements. I know for a fact that maybe two people read my blog) ? I know I don’t. I was never directed to these as an employee of NVUSD. Do parents check this out? I would probably say this is a “box to check” that some small group worked diligently on but in reality, it serves mostly as a symbol of a system that is united than a doc that in fact has meaning. A former principal of mine said that, “a mission statement is only worth it’s significance to teachers and staff.” Using that as a barometer— I would have to say it’s not worth much, currently. I did check it out. It’s not bad. If I were moving into Napa and I were curious, it would suggest that we are a great place to go for learning. But as a teacher, and dept chair, there are things on there that just don’t really hold as much weight as they once did. Like PBL. That is not across the board any more. But if the purpose is to look good on paper— it does a passing job. But until I am given a survey by the district that asks how realistic all of this is, or how much buyin my dept has, or if we have feedback to improve it (and to be followed by actual discussion) I think just seeing it as a placeholder on a website is mostly my take. And the ubiquitous “box to check” has become such a synonym with teaching in this day. The problem though is that type of system is a house of cards (a good series by the way, until Kevin Spacey revealed himself as a really, really not cool dude. And at that point, I have a really difficult time separating the art from the artist. Like R Kelly. How can anyone support artists like that????) because once you ask teachers what their day to day practice is, or what their planning looks like, it’s not as if we are using the mission statement. Which ideally we probably should be. Maybe simpler is better: ”Hey, we are going to work really, REALLY hard to make sure your child matters to us. We are going to take their growth personal and make it our professional mission that they learn, become better people, and play an active role in that process. And we expect that at home, too, your child works on these things. That part’s on you. It takes a village, right? Together, we can help prepare your child for life in 13th grade— whatever path that might be.” If I have a school district, this might be my first draft of a mission statement. But more than likely, this statement probably ended my bid for superintendent in year 2035. I committed to learning more about feedback loops and peer feedback is simply that moment where you have worked ALL weekend for two consecutive weekends and you pass papers back to students. As students chit-chat, they glance at their paper, pause for 25 seconds? or so and then go back to chatting as they put their essay in their backpack.
Meanwhile I look on, realizing that each essay took 10-15 minutes to score and comment on. And I gave up two weekends. And I gave up time with my kids. And I am feeling burned out. And my students didn’t really use the feedback in any meaningful way. It was about the grade. And when students or parents email, it’s about the grade. It’s. About. The. Grade. And I realize that I want that to change. That I want it to be about learning. And that learning is a partnership. And that partnerships by definition require buy in from both sides, in this case the teacher and the student. And as I watch English teachers age at a disproportionate rate, and as I see kids needing to learning and connect in meaningful ways, I decided I needed to explore feedback and how that all works. My next steps are obviously to bring this info to my dept and to my AP teacher brothers and sisters. They/we need it yesterday. Then I think I want to write about it. I want students to know that feedback can look different and that peer feedback *when done correctly* can be incredibly beneficial. And teachers need to be open minded to change. And maybe that time is now, because change has been on the menu lately. If you know me, you have heard much of this before. I just want to save teachers and students from the game of grades that distract from learning and lead to loss of interest, creativity, and energy. I haven’t really made my own website. This Weebly blog is pretty much it. Having said that, I like that this is all scaffolded for us. It makes the content remain the focus— not the building of the website (well, not quite as much). Looking at the samples, I thought they were pretty level-headed. Nothing too crazy. Basically, “hey, here is what I learned. Here are some links. Come in and explore with me.” Some had a little humor and personality. Others not so much. Kind of like our blogs. But they were effective because they were clear and uncluttered. I like that. Simplicity. It’s like how I like my personal closet in my bedroom: have things you really like and use. Toss the rest. Simple.
(Okay having said that I have about 20 pairs of shoes. There are exceptions) I think for me, the target audience is teachers that feel they have to grade it all, all day, even over the weekend. WHY OH WHY DEAR TEACHER DO YOU DO THIS TO YOU OR YOUR STUDENTS. It’s for the teacher that doesn’t reach out to students and ask, “hey, what feedback would you like to see here?” (I mean, c’mon, that should be obvious right? At least at a certain level? That is my focus here. Maybe we can evolve just a little bit and meet kids with what they need, and not what our teachers gave us. The whole, “well I turned out all right so I’ll teach the way I was taught as a student” is SO full of flaws and logical fallacy. Hopefully one teacher at least can at least examine their own practice though the lens I present through and maybe save their work/home balance a bit, and step forward with feedback techniques in the process. |
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April 2021
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