Final Reflection - where to next?

The ride on the Mindlab bus over the last 32 weeks felt more like on a roller coaster to me. There were moments of excitement as well as confusion and uneasiness, but overall the ride has been amazing and worthwhile.

Three key actions in my teaching practice have occurred as a result of the Mindlab course.

Giving things a go 

Every year I would list all the amazing things I would to try in my teaching that year and at the end of each Term that list remained mostly unticked. I just didn't have the conviction to put them into practice. Well that has changed. It started with the decision to do the Mindlab course, which I knew would be a challenge with two young children (one at primary school and the other in day care), a full time teaching load and a husband who works full time as well. That decision set the wheels moving and I haven't looked back since. Since the start of the course, I have tried out every idea I had and implemented each plan I made. Some were successes, some not, which is irrelevant. The learning that came out of them is priceless. I have realised that I cannot advice my students to "give things a go" if I can’t do the same myself.

Be the change I want to see

Change has been a part of my life for as long as I remember and so I am comfortable with change. But in a professional setting, getting on with change is sometimes difficult when you have to work alongside others who don't support the change. What I have realised in the last year is to support the change and be openly positive about it which hopefully will motivate others to follow.

Reflect and review, again and again and again....

The power of genuine reflection (and review) has been proven to me through the course. While I did practice reflecting on my teaching (in each lesson) mostly as a thought process, the value of reflecting more openly (eg - blog) has been new to me and it has made me more aware and also question my practice at more depth.

Its all connected

I have felt for a long time the need for school curriculum to do away with stand-alone subjects and instead have interdisciplinary/cross curricular teaching and learning. While the current NZC does provide these opportunities, the school structure has changed very little since I left school, making the change very difficult to achieve long term. Today's learners can access knowledge instantly, but unless they understand the processes and links between the strands of knowledge, it is of little value to them. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge with no purpose must change if we are to produce learners who are capable of making connections and understanding the world through those connections.

Considering the above mentioned points, it strongly indicates Practicing Teacher Criteria 4: Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice.

I have also made changes in my lessons to promote collaboration and discussion at all ability levels. My senior physics classes consist of highly motivated, academic students as well as those who are more hands-on and just do the bare minimum academically. I have pushed both groups into collaborating with each other using technology and digital tools to benefit from each other's strengths and also to learn how to work effectively and supportively in groups that are diverse. This aspect of my practice aligns with Practicing Teacher Criteria 7: Promote a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive learning environment.

My next dream is to play a leading role in introducing STEM learning as a major component in the curriculum, alongside the NZC/NCEA expectations. Currently there is no real backing from the science and maths teachers to work together to promote the need for STEM education for girls. My plan is to introduce activities, sessions that introduce our students to the opportunities out there so they are better prepared to grasp them.

Crossing boundaries and creating connections

Shuichi Kato from the Ross Institute explains the importance of our students to be informed participants in solving real world problems "...Those big problems in the world we can't solve technologically. Basic solution can derive from radical change in values. So therefore education is very important to change direction. Before it will become too late".

Shuichi's words echo one of my personal beliefs about the importance of science education for all students irrespective of ability. The awareness and understanding we provide our students about real world issues that exist today will enable them to appreciate the wonder of awe of nature and its systems and respect them by having personal values that protect these systems.

My interdisciplinary goal is to incorporate the unique geographical and geological positioning of New Zealand in terms of seismic activity with learning outcomes across geology, physics, electronics, geography, mathematics, design and technology.

Late last year we received a seismometer through a project managed by the University of Auckland. The initial focus was to allow students to "see" seismic activity on a real time basis through the seismometer measurements. After considering the potential learning possibilities the project has, I have decided to develop it further as an interdisciplinary project.

My goal is to focus the project at either Year 7/8 level or Year 9, preferably Year 7/8. The reasoning being the flexibility available in their timetable and the students' existing familiarity with interdisciplinary learning.

The planning would be done collaboratively with the three core intermediate level (Year 7/8) teachers, as they teach the majority of the subjects to their Year 7/8 classes. 

The project would be aligned with the learning outcomes they aim to achieve for that specific year/Term. For example in maths, students can use their knowledge of geometry and measurement to locate the epicentre of an earthquake using the data from the seismometer. From a physics angle, students can learn about electromagnetism concepts by observing how the seismometer detects and records vibrations. They can also learn how the vibrations travel through the ground as waves and how these are used in the device to detect them. The design of the device can be used to learn about simple electronic circuits and how to design and build them. These are just a few of the many paths and aspects this context can take.

The real world relevance and the authenticity of the example to their own experience means students view the learning as being useful and important in becoming citizens who are aware of their world. The challenges faced in implementing such a context with wide ranging foci would be in the planning. Whether all of the aspects can be covered in the same cycle or not is one issue. The willingness of the other teachers to implement such a theme as another, specially is they are not familiar with some or most of the content.

Use of social networks in teaching and professional development

Social networking has been a part of my personal and professional life for the last two decades. Back then social networks were in very early stages but even then its power to connect people across locations to share ideas, opinions and generate conversations was apparent. Since moving to New Zealand and changing careers to become an educator, social media continues to be an important aspect of my online presence.

I use Facebook mainly to keep in touch with family and friends, many of whom live overseas. I have over the last 2 years also used Facebook to be connected to the developments in Physics by following the NZQA Physics page as well as some of the pages of local physics competitions. So my focus in terms of using Facebook is purely to stay informed about aspects that relate to the planning of my teaching.

In terms of social networking tools I use the most in my classroom teaching it would be TedEd, TeacherTube, PhysicsTube to be inspired, chllenged, gain ideas and resources usually but I have shared some of the resources I made for my class through TedEd. I have used Skype a few times in the past and plan to utilise it again this year to communicate with experts in fields of physics to provide guest speakers for my classes. Our school used Edmodo as our Learning Management Systems at the initial stages of trialing and since then use Schoology as our school wide LMS. While the school login is to a closed community, there are hundreds of interest groups in the wider Schoology community that provide valuable resources, discussion and inspiration for my teaching.

Melhuish, K. (2013) talks about the opportunities social networking provides members to create, share and curate the knowledge in a shared space where the members' thinking is facilitated and developed by each others' thinking. Sharples, M., de Roock, R., Ferguson, R., Gaved, M., Herodotou, C., Koh, E., ... & Weller, M. (2016) also mentions how social media brings learning to life through joining together varying times, spaces, characters and possibilities and how this supports 21st century skills such as creativity, collaboration, communication. All of these aspects are important to our learners as their learning must reflect the environment they live in for the learning to be effective. Most of the social networking tools I use relate to my role as a teacher. The level of social network involvement in my students' learning is quite minimal. While I am part of the "digital immigrant" generation, the current Year 9 group are the first batch of "digital natives" to reach secondary education in New Zealand. For this reason, having a social networking component in my students' learning has become unavoidable.

But there are some challenges. Melhuish, K.(2013) points out that the common ideals on these networks may mean there is a lack of critical voice. While they provide food for thought in terms of ideas, the depth of knowledge to be gained from them are usually superficial so is unlikely to challenge one's existing ideas or practices. And because the network revolves around how one member interacts with others, the communication could be one-dimensional rather than co-constructed. Sharples, M. et al (2016) also raises the issues of these networks providing students with inaccurate information, biased comments and even hostile responses.

Since enrolling for Mindlab, I have increased my presence on social media through the G+ community. I am aware of my activity on these sites being mostly observing and consuming rather than developing or sharing. This is an aspect I plan to work on.