Journal of Connections to My Professional Community
I have no idea how to maintain image quality on Blogspot... my (readable) screenshots from my PLC can be found on this Google Doc!
Journal #1
November 17th, 2020
I spent some time further examining my chosen PLC platform, and actually noticed that a lot of the discussion boards and groups that I had looked at were fairly inactive! There tended to be contributions every 2-3 weeks, rather than daily posts and comments. I realized that the regular levels of engagements in the groups that I had looked at would not really work for this module task, which is a bit more time sensitive.
Unfortunately, all of my requests to join some of the private discussions (which had a few more members than most groups) have not been approved, so I decided to be a bit more ambitious and create my own group in hopes of facilitating some engagement that is directly related to curricular design. I decided to make the guiding questions related to the pandemic, as I have spent a lot of time reflecting on how my approach has changing during the switch from in-class to virtual this school year. I am sure that other educators will feel the same, there is likely a lot to talk about!
Journal #2
November 18th, 2020
My group currently has just one member (me), but I’m hoping to engage other educators by using the ‘tags’ feature. Hopefully other educators will see Curricular Design pop up in other areas of the site and will be compelled to click around. Blitz (2013) writes, “Teachers collaborate to create knowledge and then adapt their instructional practice for a greater positive impact on their students. When teachers disseminate this knowledge to other teachers and invite feedback, their school becomes a learning-oriented and results-focused organization” (p. A-1). I am hoping that a few other educators will be motivated to collaborate and share their own experiences.
I decided to go ahead and post a poll, asking “What curriculum design do you use the most in your teaching practice?” I decided to build on this question by asking people to comment with a statement on whether or not their curricular design has changed due to the pandemic.
Journal #3
November 20th, 2020
I was able to gather a whopping 6 votes! Many of the people who voted in my poll also ended up joining my group. It looks like Learner Centred is the most popular curricular design among the small sample of people I gathered information from. A lot of the commenters stated that they had the same teaching goals in-class and virtually, and thus their dominant curricular design did not change.
I thought this was interesting, because personally, I have noticed a shift in my teaching from being learner-centred towards a more subject-centred design with virtual learning. I don’t necessarily like this practice, because I see fewer opportunities to differentiate instruction and meet the needs of a variety of learners. As a new teacher, I do feel very textbook reliant (if that makes sense for a Visual Arts teacher), which is something that I would like to change in the near future. Quadmester 1 was about gathering my bearings and figuring out how to navigate a new system, but for Quadmester 2, I really want to improve and make sure that I am being the best teacher that I can be!
Journal #4
November 21st, 2020
Some more encouraging news: a few of my new group members shared some resources and their thoughts on curricular design as it relates to the pandemic! It’s great to see that people are responding to my posts and starting a dialogue within the space. I also like the idea of this group being both a place for discussion and a resource hub. I will be posting my output infographic tomorrow, which will hopefully spark some more discussion on the relationship between planning, instruction, and assessment in different curricular designs.
One point by Blitz (2013) noted that PLCs in online formats tend to thrive when membership is diverse, when there is an effective moderator, and when group members are able to meet in person. I can see how this could be the best way to use the online platform, but I also recognize that any ‘in-person’ community that I would be a part of would typically be within my own school community. This made me pause and consider what would be considered ‘diverse’ – everyone would be making contributions with varying levels of experience, teaching contexts, and professional areas of interest. I think it’s really interesting how unique members of a school community can be, and am excited to see the impact of branching out to connect with other Ontario educators!
Journal #5
November 23nd, 2020
Yesterday, I posted a chart to my PLC, asking teachers how well their curricular designs for planning and instruction align with their assessment practices. I was able to gather two responses, which were very thoughtful and prompted some of self-reflection on my part.
The comments both mentioned that while they thought that their curricular design was fairly straight-forward and singular, the infographic made them realize that they do tend to branch out into other areas of planning, instruction, and assessment. There were a few suggestions of the best practices for doing this, which I thought was interesting, such as co-constructing criteria with the students. The comment about certain subject areas (such as World Issues) being naturally focused on problem-centred design stood out to me. Ornstein & Hunkins (2013) state that problem-centred approaches can be used to develop critical thinking skills while teachers act as facilitators and agents of change. I can see this being easier to ingrain in content areas that are centred on contemporary issues, but can be a meaningful approach in any teaching context.
Overall, I thought that my engagement within this PLC was fairly successful. While two comments and six group members does not seem like a lot, I think it’s a pretty good turnout considering I started the group a week ago! I think that with more time, I could create a more developed community, possibly with a more specific focus. I could go on to network more with other educators within the group and gain a better understanding of their teaching contexts and professional interests. I learned a lot throughout Modules 4 and 5, and have gained a deeper understanding of the value of being a member of a professional learning community.
References
Blitz, C, L. (2013). Can Online Learning Communities Achieve the Goals of Traditional Professional Learning Communities? What the Literature says. REL 2013-003. Regional Education Laboratory Mid-Atlantic.
Curricular Designs. TVO Teach Ontario. 24 Nov. 2020. [images] Retrieved from https://www.teachontario.ca/groups/curricular-design
Ornstein, A. C., & Hunkins, F. P. (2013). Curriculum: Foundations, principles, and issues (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Read Chapter 1-6.
Hi Karissa,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your journal articles for Modules 4 and 5. It seems as though your engagement within a professional learning community turned out to be quite successful. I commend you for taking the risk of creating your own group within your PLC. Six group members in only one week is very impressive!
When comparing our PLCs and the presence of curricular designs within them, I can see many similarities. You mentioned that learner-centered curriculum design was the most popular curriculum design among members of your group, and when I analyzed my Social Emotional Learning and Teaching PLC, I also found that many of the posts described components of learner-centered curriculum design. In my PLC, I noticed that many of the resources that were shared incorporated hands-on, inquiry-based activities, as well as student self-assessment and reflection.
Another similarity I noticed between our PLCs is that there was discussion about the current pandemic and ways in which curriculum has been adapted in response to this. Of course, this is no surprise as we have all been impacted by Covid-19 and have had to, in some way or another, adjust our teaching practices during this time. In your third journal entry you mentioned that you have noticed a shift in your use of curriculum from one which incorporates learner-centered design to one which focuses on subject-centered design. Reflecting on my own use of curriculum this year, I have also noticed changes. I have found it somewhat difficult to incorporate open-ended, hands-on learning activities, particularly for my students who are learning from home. It has also been challenging to assess my students who are learning from home in ways which align with my preferred learner-centered curriculum design.
When reading your journal entries, I also noticed a few differences between our PLCs. Furthermore, the structure of our PLCs and communication within them appears to be quite different. Because the PLC that I joined is a group on Facebook, there is no opportunity for me to create smaller groups within my community. It seems quite beneficial to be able to have these smaller groups in order to further incite dialogue about a specific topic or subject area. Another thing I noticed when reading your journal articles is that you received some very thoughtful feedback on the chart you posted. It seems as though the chart was very well-received which allowed for conversation with your group members. Perhaps next time I post in my PLC I will try to use visuals or charts in the hopes of receiving more engagement.
Modules 4 and 5 have ultimately helped me realize the value of joining professional learning communities as I continue my lifelong learning in the field of education.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with your PLC!
Take care,
Amy