ED 610 Blog Reflection #2

Thinking back on this last year in education, it has been a crazy, mixed up experience for all. I was only in my first full year of teaching (I had started in the middle of the year before), when the Covid 19 pandemic shutdown happened. I don't follow much news and so, the whole thing came somewhat of a surprise to me. I was planning out the end of the year and just thinking about how to finish out the year. Like everyone else, my district shutdown very quickly with the intent to reopen in 3 weeks after our Spring Break. We all know that did not happen. 

The district had to plan out a way to finish out the year in a big hurry. We had paper packets and gave out any device we could to accommodate. Students without internet access were provided with hotspots in hopes that they would work. The district had the infrastructure within the schools to provide access but the students did not have that at home. The reality of the socioeconomic differences throughout our district was made very real and the inequities were brought to light. The CBS Sunday Morning news clip below was shown in May 2020, two months after the original shutdown.

                

Being that I was very new to the district and my school, I had no real say in anything except how I chose to teach my students. There were some in my classes that had access to devices and internet, and some that did not. Those that didn't have devices were given paper packets that the district put together. Those that had access, could access class material on Google Classroom. I set up meeting times that they could join if they were available or needed extra help. A lot of my focus was on communication with students and parents. I was concerned with them more than just academically. I incorporated ways to interact with video through apps like Flipgrid. This helped kids stay connected in other ways. 

Williamson and McMullan (2020) put together some things to consider when remote learning needs to be implemented.

• Districts need to hand out devices
• Teachers need to create and share online assignments
• Students need to submit work online
• Parents need to know how to support and manage their children's time and access to online learning resources
• Tech support should be waiting at the ready

For this school year, the district put out a plan for the start of school, which changed somewhat rather quickly. You can access all the information about the county's policies, plans, and protocols here and here. Now that we have begun using Schoology LMS and students have devices, all of these things could be accomplished much more smoothly in the future. 

Some of the biggest issues with crisis schooling was what Kemble and McMullan (2020) listed below,

• Internet access
• Technology training
• More communication
• More face time with teachers
• Mental health and wellness support

Below is an infographic with some of the major issues facing teachers and students in crisis schooling. 

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My goal throughout the year has just been to support the students in every way possible. That could look like many different things. This year is not just about academics, it is also about surviving something that changed the world. Will students be able to bounce back from this? Sure, but it may not be even next school year. It may take several years. For some, this may have life-long effects on their success. We will not know until the years have gone by and we can research it all. I could not control what my district planned for students, but I could control how I supported them and taught them. 

Resources

Williamson, D., & McMullan, A. (2020, June 30). Learning Continuity Guidebook: Implement Remote Learning. https://www.classlink.com/blog/learning-continuity-guidebook-part8. 

Kemble, J., & McMullan, A. (2020, June 24). Learning Continuity Guidebook: Consider & Work With Families. https://www.classlink.com/blog/learning-continuity-guidebook-part7. 

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S. E., & Zvacek, S. (2019). Teaching and learning at a distance: foundations of distance education. Information Age Publishing, Inc. 

ED 610 Blog Reflection #1

In my college career, I have taken fully in person courses, hybrid courses, and fully online courses. My experience with online courses has been a relatively good one. I enjoy the freedom to complete assignments when I can and not needing to meet in person. I would say that the best thing about online learning is having the ability to complete an entire degree without leaving my house. Something that sticks out as the best experience I've had in all my online learning has been learning about using Learning Management Systems (LMS). I could not have known that my training would be put into place so quickly. The Covid pandemic put my skills to use last year in the most real world experience. I had to teach other educators at my school how to set up their own Google Classrooms and upload assignments. I was able to be a leader in my field. With no experience in teaching an entirely online course, we all fell into the trap of "'dumping' Face-to-Face coursework onto the web." (Simonson, M., et al, 2019, p. 114) Without proper training for the students in how to use the LMS, we were also limited in what we could ask of them. I did feel more prepared than some others in my field. 

 

In this school year, teachers were a little more prepared for online teaching. The students in my district were provided with the technology needed. We also had new access to the LMS, Schoology. Teachers were trained very little and learned most of what they know on their own. Even with more time, the year has not gone as smoothly as it could have. Devices were new to students and there were not enough ground rules and procedures for use at school. The older the students, the more issues with inappropriate use of devices. With the students starting the year at home, they were not trained on the LMS at all. Simonson, M., et al, says "it is essential that training be provided at the beginning of the course." (p. 117) This meant that teachers had to provide online tutorials and do online training with students at the beginning of the year. This has been a struggle all year. Some students never joined online classes because they didn't know how. It didn't matter how many tutorials and support was provided, they didn't use it.

I hope that this year has provided us with the knowledge of how to do things better next year. We need to plan better for more strict rules and guidelines of computer use. We need to do more training ourselves, so that we can train the students better. All of this takes time and energy. This affects the workload of educators and administrators. For more information on how the pandemic has affected our workloads click here. 

We can also learn new ways to create engagement with devices. It is our teaching skills that have to improve with the technology. Below is a great infographic with 10 Ways to Engage Students in Distance Learning.

My dream is that we do not waste the chance we have to establish new education styles that accentuate the available technology. These students' futures depend on technology more than ever. The world is connected by everything and it is our job to build the skills our students need to be successful. 

References

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S. E., & Zvacek, S. (2019). Teaching and learning at a distance: foundations of distance education. Information Age Publishing, Inc.

NBCNews. (2020, October 21). Educators Speak Out About Mental Health Toll Of Teaching Through Pandemic | NBC Nightly News. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtdzwbZ5WqE.

COVID-19 Teachers Survey + Infographic: How the Pandemic Impacts Teaching. Lawnstarter. (2020, October 28). https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/covid-19-teachers-survey-how-pandemic-impacts-teaching/.

powerschool.com. (n.d.). https://www.powerschool.com/infographic/10-ways-to-create-student-engagement-in-distance-learning/.

EDL 677 Field Assignment #2

I currently teach special education at a very large middle school. We have a big department with lots of teachers and paraprofessionals. This means we have to communicate lots of information to a lot of people and do it correctly. In my time in this position, I have been able to observe the ways in which our department leaders communicate with employees. Some have been an example of great communication and some have not. It is a good way for me to learn how to do what is needed in a leadership role to build that environment that encourages team communication. "Managers and researchers have long agreed that communication processes influence the organizational success" (Krywalski, p. 71). 

I know from my studies and reading that taking a leadership role often means that those you lead are apprehensive about communicating their grievances due to fear of losing their position. At the same time, for the leader, it can be a lonely role when you may be the only one in that position. Here are a few tips to help build that team communication and make your organization successful. The leaders at my school do most of these things and it creates a great environment to work in. 

Perhaps the most effective way I've observed is the open-door policy. This creates an atmosphere of a safe place for those you lead to come to you with any issue without fear of being reprimanded or belittled. When a leader does not have an open door policy the work environment has a sense of tension and uneasiness. Employees can feel as if they are "walking on egg shells." 

As a future leader, I need to focus on the actions of those leading so that I will know how to be effective as a leader. This is not something that I really pay much attention to because the system runs smoothly and it is somewhat ignored by those around. In the article, Social effects of engaged leaders on subordinates' experiences in the workplace, Zhao and Xie say, "positive interactions can contribute to improving leader-follower relationships, which consequently increase employees' job satisfaction" (p. 2). Job satisfaction means our teachers will be better versions of themselves and give our students everything they need. 

In the book, Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times, Sheninger says to love your employees. This is one of the Six Secrets of Change from Michael Fullan. This can be accomplished by "helping them all find meaning, increased competency development, and personal satisfaction by making contributions that simultaneously fulfill their own goals and the goals of the organization" (p. 56). Sheninger goes on to add that, "the best way to love your employees is to trust and support them unconditionally" (p. 56). 

As my experience grows, I will continue to observe the behaviors of those leading to better myself. I hope that learning from those that lead me will help me become the kind of leader that can build team communication and encourage those I lead to communicate effectively in the workplace. 

Sheninger, E. C. (2019). Digital leadership: changing paradigms for changing times. Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Leadership-Changing-Paradigms-Times/dp/154435083X.

Krywalski Santiago, J. (2020). The influence of internal communication satisfaction on employees' organisational identification: Effect of perceived organisational support. Journal of Economics & Management, 42(4), 70-98. https://doi-org.ezproxy.montevallo.edu/10.22367/jem.2020.42.04 

Zhao, Y., & Xie, B. (2020). Social effects of engaged leaders on subordinates' experiences in the workplace. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 48(9), 1-11. https://doi-org.ezproxy.montevallo.edu/10.2224/sbp/9244 

EDL 677 Field Assignment #1

This year has created many opportunities to connect with people in new ways. This has been especially true in the field of education. "Educators must be experts in effective communication techniques, especially when it comes to parents and other key stakeholders." (Sheninger, p. 169). For me personally, I would have never dreamed that I would need to be in contact with parents and students as much as I have this school year. I'll just say that I'm not an expert, but I have learned a lot about effective communication throughout this pandemic year. 

When schools shut down in March 2020, I had to immediately begin calling, texting, emailing parents and students daily. It was not something that had been done quite so often. I set up a Google Voice account so that I could text students and parents without using my personal number. This helped me let students contact me with questions easily and send me assignments through pictures. 

At the beginning of this school year, we started the school year online only. I needed to make sure parents and students were ready for the challenges. This year also made it impossible for parents to be involved physically when students did return to on campus classes. I had to make sure to continue to cultivate the relationships with those parents through the many resources available. Technology has been a great asset to help with this endeavor. The article, Can Texting Parents Improve Attendance in Elementary School? A Test of an Adaptive Messaging Strategy, is a study of how having a texting system of contacting parents can improve attendance. In the article Heppen et al. (2020) states that:

Almost 4 million elementary school students were chronically absent during the 2015–2016 school year. Chronic absence is typically defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days. Missing this much school in early grades is linked with lower reading and math achievement by Grade 3 and higher absenteeism in middle and high school. In addition, chronically absent students are at greater risk of dropping out of high school, using drugs and alcohol, and engaging in crime. (p. 1)

This is an example of how technology can enhance our jobs as educators for the betterment of our students. We want them all to succeed and improving attendance will help make that happen. This is an idea that I will probably implement in the next school year. 

Through the use of phone calls, texts, emails, messages on our Learning Management System (LMS), and video conferencing, it makes keeping in touch with parents easy. The parents also have access to so many video lessons and grade reports weekly. "A substantial number of studies have found that parental involvement is a significant factor in students' academic achievement, engagement, and performance." (Krane & Klevan, p. 75) That is why building relationships with families and stakeholders is so important. Below is a great video about building relationships with our number one stakeholder, the students. 

            

For my college courses this semester, I was required to read the book Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times by Eric Sheninger. This book was a great read for learning about connecting with your stakeholders and changing your perspective on how to build those relationships. There is an entire chapter on communication. I think it is very helpful if you are not very familiar with using so many different ways to engage stakeholders. One of my favorite ideas is to create a school hashtag that will be used on all social media. This will make it so easy to find all school related content easily. Sheninger says, "Always return parent phone calls and emails in a timely fashions." (p.171) This is something I make sure to do whenever I get a phone call or email from parents. I also answer students as soon as possible to make sure they know that I care and am invested in them. 

With the school year being nearly over, I am almost out of time to build much more relationships with stakeholders for now. I do have an idea of creating more ways to do this for the next school year. As teacher sponsor of the yearbook, I am going to create a yearbook Facebook page to share content that we might not have room for in the printed copy. I have already created an Instagram page and will link them together. This will be another way that our school will be able to tell our story before someone else does. 

Sheninger, E. C. (2019). Digital leadership: changing paradigms for changing times. Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Leadership-Changing-Paradigms-Times/dp/154435083X.

TED. (2013, May 3). Rita Pierson: Every Kid Needs a Champion. YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnMTHhKdkw 

Krane, V., & Klevan, T. (2019). There are three of us: parents' experiences of the importance of teacher student relationships and parental involvement in upper secondary school. International Journal of Adolescence & Youth, 24(1), 74-84.

Heppen, J. B., Kurki, A., Brown, S., National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (ED), & American Institutes for Research (AIR). (2020). Can Texting Parents Improve Attendance in Elementary School? A Test of an Adaptive Messaging Strategy. Evaluation Report. NCEE 2020-006. In National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.