Pecha Kucha Narrative

 

Pecha Kucha Loom 

Pecha Kucha- Google Slides

Hi! I am Katy Carvalho. Most of my day I identify myself as a mother. I am the mom of a 3 year old girl named Riley and a 5 month old boy named Jackson. Prior to becoming a mom, I had taught for 4 years as a second grade teacher. Becoming a mom admittedly gave me an entirely new lens into how I view my students.

On the days that I am exhausted, or admittedly frustrated about what is happening in my classroom I remember my own children and myself as a learner. 

I think that it is important to remind ourselves that our students are children, not miniature adults. I believe that our practices in the classroom need to be developmentally appropriate and reflective of our demographics. 

In elementary classrooms, it can be easy to lose sight of the needs of our students when we feel like we need to get to certain objectives in our curriculum. 

As a person, and as a learner, I am energetic, outdoorsy, artistic, organized, family oriented. Furthermore, I am unique. Although I share traits with other learners. It is important to emphasize that other learners do not share in all of my experiences. I believe that our experiences play a large role in how we interpret and build connections within the classroom. 

I grew up in Barrington, Rhode Island. Upon graduation I attended undergrad to receive my Bachelor’s degree from Salve Regina University in Elementary Education and Special Education. And then my career began. I began working at The Hope Academy (which is a public charter) in Providence, Rhode Island. There I taught second grade for 4 years and was a K-2 literacy coach for one year. I then transitioned to a first grade ESL classroom in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. This placement gave me the opportunity to begin my graduate studies, within the Woonsocket TESL cohort at Rhode Island College. 

I am a culmination of my experiences as a person, learner, mother and professional. I believe in hands-on learning and field trips. I believe in creating creative, but structured opportunities for my students. I believe that we learn in community. And I believe that we deserve choice in our education. 

In my classroom, my literacy block is structured to include a whole group mini lesson, phonics instruction, guided reading groups, small group and independent writing, and computer- based literacy work. When my students are using their computers, there is an expectation that the work that they are completing is independent. But as I look around the room, it is clear that our computer routine lacks engagement. 

This brings me back to my core beliefs about teaching and learning. I believe that students need choice. Giving students choice ensures that they have a voice in how they practice a skill or how they demonstrate their learning. 

My experience and views on technology align with that of a part-time technocrat and part-time techno-traditionalist. (McKenzie, 2005) In my personal life, I rarely break out my laptop. I’ve used my work provided iPad once or twice, prior to learning that the access limitations make it challenging for me to use the technology that it seeks to provide. And my personal iPad that was gifted to me is so out of date, that it would probably take hours to charge and update. 

I do not agree with Marc Prensky’s philosophy as it relates to digital natives and digital immigrants. Prensky argues that, “Today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors.” (Boyd, 2014, pp179) However, I do agree with Danah Boyd in regards to her one size does not fit all mentality. I often reflect on the teaching that I observe of others and struggle to believe that age equates with wisdom or tenure equates with stronger teaching. I agree with Danah Boyd that young people (digital natives) do not necessarily know how to consume, navigate or siphon through media. She stated that, "Being exposed to information or imagery through the internet and engaging with social media do not make someone a savvy interpreter of the meaning behind these artifacts...perspective. Neither teens nor adults are monolithic, and there is no magical relation between skills and age." (Boyd, 2014, p.177)

And likewise older people (digital immigrants) are not necessarily inept in their abilities to utilize technology. She states that, "It behooves all of us to move past assumptions about today’s youth. Both adults and youth need to develop media literacy and technological skills to be active participants in our information society. Learning is a lifelong process." (Boyd, 2014, p.198)

Digital natives vs. digital immigrants | Sree Sreenivasan | TEDxNewYork

Boyd also mentioned the notion about how students often have different opportunities to engage in technology consumption and learning depending on their privilege. (Boyd, 2014, p.180) In the community that I teach, students have more limited access to technological tools at home. As such we are often teaching our students how to navigate their Chromebooks versus the appropriate ways to consume media.

When I am in the classroom I try to present myself as more tech-savvy. In my work I identify more-so as a techno-traditionalist. (McKenzie, 2005) I am comfortable using all Google platforms, email, Zoom and Clever in the classroom. I can navigate the tools that our school uses to assess and progress monitor our students. Where I have continued to have difficulty is developing inventive ways that do not just place students behind a screen, but also keeps them engaged in their learning. I think that changing my mindset and attempting to bridge into the realm of a techno-constructivist may improve my students' engagement. If I can incorporate more thoughtful, creative, differentiated and authentic computer-based learning opportunities, I believe that more students will become more engaged in their work. 

As stated in Rethinking Popular Culture and Media, "Youth interact with a vast amount of media that require teachers to be aware of and fluent with the diverse popular cultural materials and modes through which young people read, view, and consume the world." (E. Marshall & Ö. Sensoy, 2016, pp.1) I believe that providing students with a digital playlist will create an opportunity for me to construct new ways for me to embed technology in a structured and meaningful way, which will incorporate giving my students a choice in how they use their time during our computer-based literacy block.

I had first learned about a playlist through a Graduate School Skills playlist that I had completed as an assignment in a previous course. In my school we currently use Clever badges. Where they are invaluable in helping students avoid having to log-in manually. I have found that students often click into Apps that are literacy-based during math time or vice versa. Or stick to a single app for too long and concurrently lose focus and their engagement declines. 

So I began constructing a literacy playlist. This playlist is designed to target objectives based on literacy standards. Students will be able to check off when they have completed a task, and would be able to submit their playlist form into Google Classroom once submitted. 

To address my concerns about students getting lost in the apps for too long or not varying their tasks. I chose to embed a twenty minute timer into the digital playlist. This will help the students to monitor their time more wisely. Through this work, I learned how to create an image that has a hyperlink, rather than having a web-address for the students to click, they can click on the familiar icon or visual. 

One of the areas that I focused on was independent reading. I put the word reading in quotation marks because I believe that my students can “read” by accessing text through multiple forms. In my classroom my students will always have the opportunity to read printed texts in guided reading groups, so these apps will allow them to extend their consumption to digital texts, audiobooks and read-alouds. 

Similarly in the area of writing I will be attempting to have my students utilize Google Docs or slides to produce media or “write” about a topic or something that they may have read. Seesaw is another option and an app that I have heard of for several years but have not had the opportunity to use due to media release issues or lack of iPads. 

Finally, I have created an area of the playlist that was dedicated to comprehension. Although students can demonstrate comprehension which is embedded into reading a to z, creating a Jamboard that has a topic such as central message or lessons will allow students to stop and jot ideas that there text made them think about. Podcasting may also be an optional mode of demonstrating their expertise on a topic or a book review. 

Overall my change project emphasized my belief in providing students with choices in how they learn or how they demonstrate their learning. It also reminded me that there are small ways in which I can choose how to present my material to my students.

References

D. Boyd. (2014). It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. Yale University Press. Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DZxLwG7Lw1-w9OvjpbyUSspSofpp6699/view  

E. Marshall & Ö. Sensoy. (2016) Rethinking Popular Culture and Media. Rethinking Schools, Ltd: Second Edition. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LakonRFLM8mzZGiBBdQOi1Mut7ea0Uxv/view

W. McKenzie. (2005) Multiple Intelligences and Instructional Technology: A Manual for Every Mind. (2nd Edition). Eugene, Oregon: ISTE.