How have you evolved as an innovative thinker?
To be honest, I still do not completely identify with the term “innovative thinker”. I have definitely grown as an educator and my digital toolbox has increased tenfold, but I don’t know if I am innovative yet. Miriam Webster’s Dictionary defines innovation as “a new idea, device or method”. In my mind “innovative” is a high compliment that signifies a truly impactful change. I think part of my hesitancy in connecting with this term is that I haven’t yet seen an impactful change in my students. I am extremely excited about using my digital feedback tool and teacher/student conference form (still designing that piece), but I still don’t know if my new tool is going to “cut the mustard” as my grandma used to say. This course has forced me to think metacognitively almost every week since many of the concepts were are learning are abstract, deep and unfamiliar to me. At more than one point this semester, I have thought to myself “This is what my struggling readers must experience everyday!”. I had to reread the articles several times and even then, I felt like I was only to grasp a few of the most important concepts. Learning to struggle and giving myself permission to not understand all the material has helped me to become a better learner. The Why-How ladder was very useful in helping me to choose specific words that would encapsulate my driving question. Using a mind map to create my prototype was also valuable to me because I actually used the digital tool Popplet to help me think through my ideas instead of just creating a final product. Perhaps the most relevant part of this course was my book review choice of John Hattie’s Visible Learning for Teachers. His expansive scientific research study synthesized what actually works and doesn’t work in education. His emphasis on the high impact strategy of providing effective feedback and the specific questions that push students to reflect, helped to shape my final capstone project. I now want to include an monthly individual teacher/student feedback time to discuss “Where am I going?”, “How am I going there?” and “Where to next?” I’m fairly certain I know where I am going, less sure of how I am getting there, but where to next is yet to be discovered! Maybe it’s innovative thinking...
4 Comments
Jenny
12/11/2016 08:29:19 am
I share so many of your sentiments! Perhaps it's easier to see in someone else because I am struggling to see it in myself but definitely see it in you! I've been so impressed with the way you have been able to transfer new learnings to your instruction and your project. I can't wait to see where you end up! I especially connected with the idea of giving yourself permission not to not understand all the the material...yet. One of the ideas I'm taking away from reading John Hattie's Visible Learning for Teachers is that circling back to the ideas is more effective in developing understanding and I'm finding that true in myself as a learner.
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Florencia
12/11/2016 02:35:17 pm
I agree with Jenny that you are further along as an innovator as you think. However, I do agree with your that we cannot call ourselves innovators if we don't create new ideas, devices or methods. Using new tools in our classroom does not necessarily make us innovators. Like you said, we have a make an impactful change in our students.
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Lori Meyers
12/11/2016 04:35:25 pm
My favorite of your comments was "Learning to struggle and giving myself permission to not understand all the material has helped me to become a better learner." I know that we've learned about many more sophisiicated aspects of teaching during this program, but your growth in this area of mindset and grit sounds, to me, like one of the most beneficial parts of this program for you as a teacher, as a learner, and as a person. Congratulations!
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KAte
12/13/2016 10:51:48 pm
I have very much the same feeling as you describe at the beginning of your blog; my digital toolbox has increased, but I'm not sure how much more innovative my thinking is. I'm sure that if someone else analyzed my work they'd find all kind of ways to explain how I'm thinking innovatively, but I've long struggled to articulate how I think about my practice. I tend to do what feels right. Fortunately for me it's usually aligned with best practices, but I'm not always sure about how to use the right buzzwords to explain it. (I really struggled with all the reflective writing in btsa!)
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Dana HandI teach Read 180 at Northwood Elementary School and I am passionate about reading (obviously!) In my "free time" I love hanging out with my 2 teenagers and taking our two dogs for long walks. Archives
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