Accessible Learning for All (ALA) Series Introduction

Our district has a team participating in an Accessible Curriculum for All (ACA) cohort this year.  We are learning about accessibility tools for not only special needs students but for ALL students.  As we have learned about Universal Design Learning from CAST, I have integrated the tools into my STEAM and instructional coaching for the teachers in our district. 

I have changed the acronym from Accessible Curriculum for All (ACA) to Accessible Learning for All (ALA) because the point of the tools is to provide equal access to learning for ALL students. This post as an introduction of a series of blog posts I will be writing on the ALA topic.  

The first resource I am sharing was developed from what I have learned and practiced with my teachers and their students.   It is a Multi-media Text Set that has ALA tools with links to videos, screencasts, photos, and/or the play store.  Here is a link  CLICK HERE to access the document and the interactive slide below. 

 The next post will include HyperDoc lessons so you can see the ALA tools in action.

"Try Everything" Another Great Message from Disney

Last Week Skip, Tater and I went to see Zootopia.  As the beginning credits began to stream, Shakira's song "Try Everything" began to play and as I listened to the lyrics tears formed in my eyes.  As usual the message of this movie hit home with me and where I am in my journey as an educator.

All I can say is that you have to listen to the song, there are too many quotes to include... Okay, I'll try...  (This is only a few quotes)

"Try Everything"
"I won't give up"
"I won't give in"
"Till I reach the end and then I'll start again"
"I want to try everything"
"I want to try even though I can fail"
"I'll keep on making those new mistakes"
"I'll keep on making them everyday, those new mistakes"

The entire song is a quote for taking risks, failing forward, and learning from mistakes.  And the entire movie is about problem solving, critical thinking, failing forward and persevering.

This school year I have tried everything in one of my roles as a STEAM coach.  In some cases I have shifted pedagogy which is my ultimate goal.  In other cases I have created random acts of STEAM, which has become frustrating as we work to shift culture, instruction, engagement... well everything.

The frustration is good because it drives me to think and plan ahead.  As we move closer to the end of the year, I need to think of next steps for the next school year.  That is a good thing.  Another good thing is the student engagement that has resulted from my STEAM coaching this year.  a great example is Leo who is on the autism spectrum:

I visit Leo's class once a week for STEAM time where we do maker activities, learn to code, program LEGO WeDo, etc...  STEAM time brings out the best in Leo.  It is one of the times of the week he can lead, collaborate, learn and find success.

As Krissy Venosdale writes in her blog post: STEAM is Not a Class, A Thing, or a Trend, It's the World we need to remember that we need to educate ALL students and STEAM is the gateway to engagement.

Parent STEAM Day II

Chelsea and I had our second Parent STEAM Day on February 26, 2016 (CLICK HERE to read about our first Parent STEAM Day).  There are 23 students in Chelsea's 2nd/3rd grade multi-age class and 32 parents attended our STEAM Day from 12:30pm to 2:10pm.  It was a crowded classroom.  We spent the 2nd trimester focusing on Engineering during our weekly STEAM time.  We used LEGO WeDo and Chromebooks to code, BeeBots, and Spheros.  As an instructional coach, I have watched Chelsea grow as an educator and embrace a new and challenging teaching pedagogy.  Here are the resources SHE created for our big day:

CLICK HERE to view the Slidedeck Chelsea Created

CLICK HERE to view the Disneyland HyperDoc Chelsea Created

CLICK HERE  to view the Spinning Birds LEGO Activity HyperDoc

Here are some videos and pictures from the day:

Coding WeDo with Chromebooks and Parents

Coding WeDo with Chromebooks and Parents

Four Parent working with two students

The girls are working hard

Chelsea discussing STEAM with two board members

It was a great day and learning experience for all!

My Coaching Journey

I have been working to promote the things I am doing for my school district.  I do not sell myself well.  I like to be the behind the scenes person who riles everyone up and sits back to watch the mayhem.  So now, I am shifting to letting others know what I am doing and how I am doing it in a much more intentional way.  I created the slide below for my new superintendent who started in late December 2015.  I also selfishly wanted to track all of the coaching I had done so far this year:

Instructional Coaching Slide

If you click on the link it will take you to the Interactive Slide I created (a format I love to use to share information and/or curate information)

I began this school year adding an instructional coaching piece to my job as Curriculum Coordinator to get myself back into the classroom.  I started with three multi-age classrooms and we did/do STEAM time for around 100 minutes each week.  I am now on sites four days a week and only in the office on Wednesday (which I also sneak in a couple of classes I can't get to on the other days).  

To make sure I am not going crazy I have some specific focus areas as you can see above that fit into three categories:

• Maker Activities
• Coding
• Curating Content and Accessing Curriculum for All (Universal Design Learning Tools)

I am having an incredible time working with the classroom teachers in our district and watching them as they see their students engaged and teaching each other.  I remind them that the technology and other tools will never replace a teacher who can masterfully curate content and facilitate the learning environment of his/her classroom.

I am modeling "I don't know, let's try it!"  Just this week one of my STEAM teachers emailed me and told me she had created the Google Maps activity for her first and second graders during our STEAM time.  In 5 short months she has shifted her pedagogy and instruction!  In one of the other STEAM classes, the students reminded me that I was being "VERY ISH" as I was trying to get our Spheros going.  

We had a parent STEAM day in Chelsea's class on October 23 where 22 parent came and did STEAM time with us.  This trimester our parent STEAM day is February 26, we have 32 "parents" attending for 23 students and that is not counting the board members, superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal... 

I'll keep you posted on how that goes!

How Do You Provide PD for 100 Teachers?

For our district professional development day on January 4th, I went out on a limb and created differentiated tasks based on Wanda Terral's Amazing Google Race and Another Amazing Race.

Here is the link to my Google Folder of documents I created for our PD day: CLICK HERE

I will share some background on the why, what, and whatever else of my development of these activities.

Why:

• I wanted to create meaningful, collaborative, hands-on activities
• I wanted to create activities the teachers could potentially adapt and use with their students
• I wanted absolute choice for each teacher 
• I wanted to challenge and push their understanding of Google Apps for Education
• I wanted to spark a conversation
• I wanted the teachers to explore and play

What:

• I created 4 Tasks: Google My Maps, You Tube, Google Search, Google Hyper Docs
• Each of the 4 Tasks had 3 Challenges
• Challenges 1 and 3 are the same for each of the tasks so they are group collaborations
• Challenge 2 is differentiated or individualized based on the chosen task
• I wanted to make sure that the groups had two collaborative activities and an individual activity based on the specific interest of each teacher.
• I was deliberately not providing specific instructions and/or guidance, I wanted the teachers to tinker

I am going to share the feedback I received from the teachers because it is an incredible tool for me as an instructional coach.

CLICK HERE

I love that the teachers were comfortable and honest.  The feedback gave me great insight as to where some of my teachers are in the process of adopting Google Apps for Education as a teaching and learning tool. 

The feedback reinforces the fact that no matter how I tried to differentiate, one person cannot deliver effective professional development to 100 TK-8 teachers.  I shared the feedback with our leadership team and asked them to consider it as we develop a district-wide PD plan.

It was a blast for me to push myself to develop the activities.  The PD did provide enough for many teachers to consider or find ways to use similar activities with their students.  It was a great learning experience for me and many of the teachers of AUSD.

From Why to What If

About a month ago I asked why (http://bit.ly/WhyteachteKBeck) in regards to an interaction I had with my son Skyler.  I ended the post with this question:

Why do my son's most meaningful learning experiences occur outside of school?

I have been thinking about this for a number of reasons and I would like to shift my question from Why to What if?  

What if our interaction was the jumping point for his learning?
What if he entered his classroom after our car ride and informed his teacher that he would be researching and learning about fog in class today?
What if his teacher embraced his declaration of his learning path for the day or days or week and said "Go to it Skyler!"

With that in mind, here is my vision for my school district and my path as the Coordinator of Curriculum and Instructional Technology:

My vision is to create a 3 - 5 year plan of changing pedagogy by backward planning from the conversation Skyler and I had in the car in November of 2015.  

You are welcome to share insights, resources and information!

Is It a Chain?

Today (12/04/2015), during Chelsea's STEAM time, our maker activity/challenge was for the students to make the longest "chain" using one piece of printer paper (8.5 x 11 inches).  The students were in groups of three and immediately went to work to create the longest paper chain.

Now, I am thinking that you have a mental picture of what you think a chain looks like as do I.  As Chelsea and I walked around watching the students make their chains I came upon a chain that did not fit MY definition or picture or understanding.  I asked the groups making this chain if what they were making was a chain or a strip.  They replied emphatically - it's a chain and I thought to myself that these students did not know what a chain is.  My pre-conceived notion of a chain had temporarily blocked my acceptance of what others might think a chain is.  Luckily, instead of dismissing their understanding or idea of a chain, I decided to throw the question out to the class once the challenge was completed.

When time was up, the students laid out the chains next to each other.  We started off the discussion by asking what is a chain.  Here is a picture of the chains the students created:



As the students grappled with what constitutes a chain, We (Chelsea and I) decided to Google the definition and this is what we found:

chain

CHān/

noun

1. 1.

   a connected flexible series of metal links used for fastening or securing objects and pulling or supporting loads.
2. 2.

   a sequence of items of the same type forming a line.

   "he kept the chain of buckets supplied with water"

   synonyms:

   series, succession, string, sequence, train, course "a chain of events"

verb

1. 1.

   fasten or secure with a chain.

   "she chained her bicycle to the railing"

   synonyms:

   secure, fasten, tie, tether, hitch; More

We did not share these definitions until we allowed the students to ponder the question did you make a chain?  Interestingly, all of the groups believed that what they created was a chain.  

When this activity started I believed that only the groups that had followed the first definition had created chains.  Fortunately I was able to let go of what I thought was RIGHT and chose to model seeking UNDERSTANDING.  

I projected the definitions for all to see and let the students take in the definitions.  These are 2nd and 3rd grade students so I asked for a volunteer to read the definitions out loud and then let the room think and ponder.  after a couple of minutes of letting the students discuss amongst themselves, we asked for a thumbs up if the students thought that all of the creations were chains.  All students put their thumbs up.  Then we asked put your thumbs up if your understanding of what a chain is has broadened.  All students put their thumbs up.

The final part of our discussion was the celebration of others teaching us to have an open mind.  Each group did not consider the others chain as a possibility.  We all acknowledged that we need each others perspectives to create and innovate.

The discussion included many other rich topics like the group who made the very small chains but had a pile of stripes of paper left over when time was called.  The students wondered if that group had had more time, would their chain have ended up longer than all the rest?  

As educators we have to let go of what we think is right and let our students discover as we support and provide resources.  And ultimately we need to let the students decide if something is a chain or not.