Moving Mindsets

How can learning really be measured? Grades are not the way to measure learning. Grades are subjective and should be replaced with meaningful narrative feedback that would help the student understand what learning outcomes have or have not been mastered. Feedback encourages learning and gives real meaning, suggestions, and guidelines to the student. A "grade" really tells us NOTHING! Learning should be shared, discussed and evaluated openly; these discussions should be accompanied by objective feedback that guides students to other possibilities and to reflection and self-evaluation (Mark Barnes, 2012). Grades also serve as an intellectual segregator. First off, they do not show "how smart" a student is, only how compatible they are with the current education system. Teachers need to recognize different types of learners and educate them accordingly. Feedback benefits the student (constructive criticism) and the teacher gets a better game plan on how to differentiate the instructor based on where the individual student is. I am in total favor of a Results Only Learning environment. This environment for learning offers autonomy and ignites a thirst for learning. It promotes collaboration and lets students "CHOOSE" the way they want to learn. No worries about a "No Zero" here, because students are engaged and invested in their own learning. Student achievement goal setting is a skill that is being used in our elementary schools in my district. Student academic progress is a significant component of evaluation. This could easily be carried over into my middle school. A results-only system makes learning a shared responsibility between teachers and students. This learning environment is student-centered and project-based. I do a project in Health called "Free to Learn". Students can choose anything they want to learn about as long as it affects their health or the health of others. Well that pretty much branches out to just about anything in this world. Students begin this project-based learning at the end of December and carry it over until their presentation in May. Guidelines are provided and my role as a teacher has changed from provider of information, to facilitator of whatever I can help with. I solicit parents, experts, and community members to assist in the learning process. I provide help where needed, so the responsibility is shared. Everyone involved provides narrative feedback to change and improve any activity, in order to demonstrate learning. Yearlong projects target learning outcomes more meaningfully than worksheets, homework, tests, and quizzes. It does require a lot of individualized work, but I learn even more than the students. Their topics are so wide and varied, that it requires a lot of connections that are way outside of my comfort zone. I get stretched right along beside them. A rubric is provided at the beginning, so that the expectations are clear and set. They match up with Standards and clearly define each level of proficiency. Unfortunately, my system still uses a letter grade system, but I correlate the rubric with feedback to an end grade. not the ideal way to do it, but until the system changes I still must conform to its unity. Real results correlate with real-meaning to a project that makes a difference to the individual, the community, or to the world. This is real 21st century learning. School should be about the learning, not the grade. It’s about mastering concepts, not being tested on them. It's about learning to fail and how to pick yourself up and try something else. It's not about giving up if at first you don't succeed! This is how you instill a love for learning!

Time Management Skills with an emphasis on Goal Setting for Pivot Point Learning

People tend to neglect goal setting because it requires time and effort. What they fail to consider is that a little time and effort put in now saves an enormous amount of time, effort and frustration in the future. I must admit that I am one of those people. I have a tendency to create in my head, and throughout the process, things become a bit jumbled and lost up there. To improve my Time Management skills I need to prioritize the goal setting aspect of the process. If I take the time in the beginning to do this, it should save me time and effort later in the process. Mind Tools has two great articles on goal setting that gave me a blueprint writing objectives and action plans. You get so focused on the outcome that you forget to plan all of the steps that are needed along the way. By writing out the individual steps, and then crossing each one off as you complete it, you'll realize that you are making progress towards your ultimate goal. In the article "Action Plans: Small Scale Planning" they clarify the definition of a successful action plan. Action Plans are simple lists of all of the tasks that you need to finish to meet an objective. They differ from To-Do Lists in that they focus on the achievement of a single goal. "Action plans are useful, because they give you a framework for thinking about how you will complete a Project efficiently. They help you finish activities in a sensible order, and they help you ensure that you don't miss any key steps. Also, because you can see each task laid out, you can quickly decide which tasks you'll delegate or outsource, and which tasks you may able to ignore." I am currently planning a Tuff Mudder experience for the eighth grade Physical Education classes at my school. The SCHEMES* mnemonic gave me a method to check that my plan was comprehensive. It gave me a better incite into all of the areas in which I need to consider. I also downloaded the To Do List (file:///C:/Users/owner/Desktop/Pivot%20Points%20Curriculum/PrioritizedToDolist.pdf) to assist me in prioritizing the Urgent/Important list that Michael Hooker alluded to in the "Time Management" video. By following the SMART guidelines for goal setting I can see where my time will be better spent in the long run. By Including precise amounts, dates, and so on in my goals, I should be more ready to measure each degree of success. Without a way to measure my successes I could miss out on the celebration that comes with knowing I have actually achieved something. The feeling of accomplishing the "small steps" of the big plan of action will keep motivation high! So in the words that B.J. Fogg shares: I will be able to check off each success and celebrate with an "I am AWESOME!"

Peeragogy and Tools for Collaboration

Peeragogy and Tools for Collaboration

Copy of 366105031-Oscar Pistorious

Copy of 366105031-Oscar Pistorious

My adventure last week was into the world of interactive surgery.  These simulations were created by the crew of Clearly Trained...headed by Eric Bort.  Amy and I are very interested in having Eric look at our ideas and see if we can come up with something created especially for Vet Tech students. 

We love the ideas contained in Edheads and Surgery Squad, and hope to combine both concepts and design in our interactive virtual suturing simulation. 

Surgery Squad is an online interactive simulations for several surgical procedures.  It was designed to explain what goes on when a patient goes under the knife so to speak.  Two virtual physicians, Dr. Jeff and Dr. Suzi help guide us through liposuctions, tonsillectomies, dental procedures, tatoo removal, hair transplant and laser hair removal,  and so much  more. 

But the participant needs to remember that these are not medical sites...it calls to mind the "Pretending" element that Marc Prensky talks  about in his article Interactive Pretending.

The format is user friendly and starts with beneficial information that is informative for the patient.  It goes through phases with buttons that enable you to repeat or skip ahead.  The graphic detailing is suberb.  The tool useage is very basic, and our simulation would require much more indepth manipulation...but all of the basics are there for a fact filled, fun simulation. 

I highly recommend http://www.surgerysquad.com/ for anyone who wants to play doctor, or just needs some information on an upcoming surgery. 

My first attempt at Star Shooter

Ok - a gamer I am not...but fortified with a Hershey bar and the will to succeed...I downloaded my first video online game.  I chose this game, because I had read in my research that Star Shooter helped promote eye-hand coordination in surgical med students.  Since Amy and I are interested in suturing skills, we are always looking for games that will promote needed skills.  So if Star Shooter can enhance visuo-motor skills then it might be a recommended game for vet tech students to try. 

I was immediately fasinated with the colorful 3-d like graphics, and animations.  There was soft music in the background (I was sure to calm my nerves), and it appeared that I was seated in a cockpit of a plane.  The soft melodic tones were interrupted by gunfire and before I knew it an enemy plane was coming towards me with flashing guns. 

Where were the instructions?  How do you play?  What do I push?  There were no instructions, directions, coaching tips...Nothing.  So I imediately began to bang my mouse in hopes that my guns would begin to fire.  Within the minute I was destroyed by enemy fire.  I took a moment to catch my breath, sigh deep, and try again.  This time I manipulated my mouse right away, and was not so focused on the beautiful artwork on the scene.  In time and practice I learned how to zero in on incoming planes and planet destroyers.  I am too embarassed to really share my highest score, which only took me to level two, but I did learn the game by playing it.  I did feel a sense of accomplishment when I finally made it through the novice piece.  But my newfound pride was quickly defused with new challenges in level two.  Things moved quicker and there were more to destroy. 

I felt totally glued to the screen, and my sense of competition enabled me to continue time after time of being destroyed by enemy fire.  It did challenge my depth perception, reaction time, and my manipulation of the mouse. 

In all fairness and complete disclosure...I had to ask Kyle, my twenty-two year old son to play the game, so that I could view what happened at other levels.  He was completely engaged.  Although he shared a bit of dismay at not understanding how to manipulate the mouse, and complaint that there was not a controller like he was used to, he figured it all out in less than a minute and stayed completely engaged for forty-five minutes.  He was determined to be the high scorer and to reach the top level (whatever that is).  I was able to witness increased graphics and challenge with each upward level. 

I highly recommend the game as it was free, and could provide hours of enjoyment if you like blowing up planes, ships, and keeping the planet safe from aliens.  As far as educational value - I would not play it for knowledge content, but it did promote problem-solving, critical thinking and decision making.

Instructional Design and some of my random thoughts.....

 Instructional design should be all about helping students to learn better.  That puts a pretty "broad" concept out there.  Broad is the key word here - obviously what works for some, does not work for others.  Today’s classroom is a broad chasm of disarray...where some grab the rope to climb out and enter the "light". Some don't know how to use the rope to climb out, and others can never even find the rope.  (You knew that I would use some "physical anomaly" to convey my thoughts...)

The purpose of instructional design should be to engage all learners (the educational buzz word of today)

The purpose is to know and understand the reason for learning, the goal, it's relevance; to take their learning and apply it to something beyond their classroom walls.

It should give students an opportunity to use, to practice, what they are learning with the appropriate tools.

When I think of Instructional Design - I think of analyzing data, learning styles, students needs and goals.  I think of creating educational materials that give meaning and purpose to the process.  I associate the need to understand how people think, learn and solve problems.

It should "speak their language" - so they are motivated, engaged and invested...otherwise why bother?

So obviously there is a lot of trial and error involved. It will need to be evaluated, revised, and in a constant state of flux.  It should be as individual as every learner is.  Perhaps every learner needs an IEP –RTI -  that will be evaluated yearly (hhhmmm - I want more thought here), and changes as the individual grows.

There will be commonalities - state mandates, limitation of resources and tools, budget constraints, and I could go on and on.  When the design is for the masses - many considerations are left behind - gender, class size, environment, individual beliefs just to name a few. 

The purpose of instructional design should be to engage all learners (the educational buzz word of today)

The purpose is to know and understand the reason for learning, the goal, it's relevance; to take their learning and apply it to something beyond their classroom walls.

It should give students an opportunity to use, to practice, what they are learning with the appropriate tools.