Module 5 -Journal Entry 4- Final Reflection

As I work through the first half of my Master’s program: Graduate Program of Professional Inquiry, through Queen’s University, we have been challenged on making connections with professional communities. As a result from my experiences during my week at the Project Zero Classroom 2017, I am using Project Zero as the community for my focus. I have connected with them as through twitter, educators from my study group during my week at Project Zero Classroom, personal e-mails with educators I met during the week course, and most recently through the Project Zero blog.

@ProjectZeroHGSE

@learnfriendly

#pzc2017

Group S – Study Group Google Group

Personal E-mails

www.pz.harvard.edu/blog/learn.outofedenwalk.com

Through this course I have been uncovering research and information about conceptions of curriculum, educational philosophies, curricular designs, planning, instruction, and evaluation.  Through my new knowledge of these areas I have made a lot of connections between the studies and Project Zero’s Philosophy.

Project Zero has really supported the ideas of the course.  A strong link I found was through Ron Ritchhart’s 8 Cultural Forces the define the Classroom and the Humanistic Curriculum since it is integral to have a strong culture in order to have a focus on the student.

http://www.pz.harvard.edu/resources/the-8-forces-that-shape-group-culture

@RonRitchhart ‏

The Humanistic Curriculum

This curriculum is about the student.  It is looking at what they are learning and should learn to develop themselves as a person.  It is a focus on personal goals, challenges, growth, and development. It is bringing in the experiences and needs of the student, directly into the classroom.

Assessment is another area where what I have learned from this course supports my professional learning community.

Through my experiences at Project Zero I began to reassess my own ideas and recognized the dynamic nature and value of assessment.

Quoted from Project Zero:

“Assessment, evaluation, and documentation are essential to any teaching and learning process. The way learning is documented and assessed directly influences what gets taught. Rather than a focus on products, assessment should focus on documenting a combination of learning processes and products as a way to inform pedagogical decisions.”

As posted in my the blog for Module 3 I outlined some assessment tips. (Shepard, 2000)

Dynamic- on-going (formal assessments), making sure instruction is in their “zone of proximity” (Vygotsky).

Prior Knowledge- pretests: How much do we use them to drive instruction? KWL charts used to help track new understandings- How could they be used as an assessment tool?

Feedback- Use errors along the way as opportunities to gain deeper understanding!

Transfer- use a variety of applications

Explicit Criteria- Be transparent, present exemplars of great work and have students participate in co-creating criteria (Ann Davies) and using the exemplars to self-assess.

Self-Assessment- If criteria is clear, students can take more ownership and responsibility of their products, are more involved than a simple handing in to the teacher and asking, “How did I do?”

Evaluation of Teaching- Assessment not only gives us important information about the learner, but it can be used to shape our instruction. Give frequent check-ins and redirect with mini-lessons.

This connects with the resources as shared through Project Zero.

http://www.pz.harvard.edu/topics/assessment-evaluation-documentation

There is so much rich material from that site that has provoked continued e-mails and Google group chats with my Study group.

This course has provided me with a foundation of knowledge about conceptions of curriculum, educational philosophies, curricular designs, planning, instruction, and evaluation. It has opened my eyes to identify aspects of my own teaching and philosophies.  Some occur consciously and others subconsciously.  The research I have read has shown me some of the impacts and consequences of applying different forms of instruction in my class.  Through the first few modules, after reading about curricular designs, I found myself being pulled to ones with certain characteristics and goals.  Project Zero’s own philosophies help support and challenge me in providing tools, resources, and continued dialogue to grow my own teaching. This course has provided me a significant opportunity to provide me with the roots of an understanding and then be pushed to extend myself to a greater community.