For our class, we focused on looking at how schools can adapt through a constructivist lens. As I was reading the article, I was constantly reminded of our school district. Since we got a new superintendent last year, we have really taken the steps outlined in the reading. Our district has struggled with two failed referendums for a new building and stadium facility prior to this new superintendent. When he came in, he instituted plans to get feedback from all the groups in our district; students, teachers, admin, and community members, on what they wanted to see happen in the district moving forward. It has been a collaborative effort on all decisions and they have been grounded in lots of feedback and data. the whole last year was spent in different listening and data collection sessions to hear from all the different groups involved about what they wanted to see done and from that, we have created a program or intervention for the future that is highly focused.
Within my personal building, we still struggle with this constructivist lens. We do still have a lot of agendas or new implementations being introduced almost from out of nowhere or with little explanation for why we need them or the reasoning behind them. We also have a tendency to start the constructivist process but then leap forward without really reflecting on it and improving it. My example for this is our new storm program that 8th grade helped to develop and pilot last year that kinda felt forced upon the other grades before we as a grade level were able to really figure out the kinks and adjust; and without the other grade levels really having a say in wanting to try it out. I think to become more constructivist as a building, we need to have more opportunities to develop initiatives and revisit them with teacher input and more communication with why we are doing things. I think, we as a school also tend to like to claim we do all the things, but we do them all very superficially instead of doing a few things really great.
My action research and the process going through it will include a lot of explanation for why we are doing the reading of the novels as well as student feedback on how what we are doing is helping them. I'm trying something new to help my students build their content knowledge and comprehension skills.
Hanna, I really liked the connection that you made to our district and especially our school! I loved how much emphasis Sinclair is putting on developing a strong Portrait of a Graduate from SRR that doesn't necessarily mean that they go to college. Very cool connection.
ReplyDeleteAlso, great point with the 8th Grade STORM implementation. I love the idea, but I know my grade level felt like we didn't have a choice and without the authenticity or autonomy, it's hard to make sure that this constructivism is meaningful. Again, loved the connections!
Yeah, we talked about it in 8th grade too. We definitely felt like it was implemented and forced on you guys before we even had a chance to really reflect and improve upon it and make sure it really worked. I feel like we always get like halfway through the constructivism process but never full complete it truly
DeleteHanna- It shows you put a lot of thought into your work and your desire to understand and connect to the initiatives in your school. With Erin's comment you can hear the connections she made matches yours. What a gift to have a community for support. Your student input component demonstrates the full circle connection to the article. Hope to hear how the changes go.
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