Leadership in Curriculum Course Reflection

I feel I hold onto my new knowledge and hopefuly understandings by a tenuous thread. It doesn't yet feel comfortable. I have too much fear of doing it wrong. One essential question I learned in my voice lessons is that the best singers get out of their own way. They learn correct technique - breathing, support, etc, and then trust the technique and sing. I hope I can transfer that to teaching: prepare as best I can with my new knowledge and understanding, which is based on my previous knowledge, and teach. Another voice lesson understanding: if you make a mistake, make it big. At least you'll know you made a mistake so you can fix it.

Understanding by design, the focus of this course, involves thinking about curriculum and lessons with the end result in mind. Assessments, which are traditionally planned after the lesson material is planned, are to be thought of in the beginning stages of curriculum/unit/lesson planning. Everything flows out of the big idea - or essential question, which is not necessarily content-specific. The UbD design forces the designer to think through the curriculum/unit/lesson from many angles and have coherence within the plan. UbD seems to be more efficient for unit and curriculum design. It is a bit tedious for daily lesson plans. I believe that once I get proficient at UbD, I will be able to design really effective units and create abbreviated daily lesson plans.

When I look at my Understanding by Design project, I see coherence, sense making and flow throughout the plan. Our museum table top exhibit opened my eyes to a major "big idea" in fashion design: pieces and the whole. I think focusing on this essential question in daily lessons will greatly improve student understanding and ability to "do" fashion design. The class is only a semester long - I have to maximize learning and new skills in a short time. UbD will help me evaluate what I do in the course. Is the planned activity relevant to the big idea? Can I rearrange things to accomodate my teacher mission statement, so I am actually doing what I say I'm doing? Can I explain/state things in a different way to make the "a-ha" moment happen sooner?

When I compare my Understanding by Design project with my teacher mission statement, I see a disturbing inconsistency. One of my goals as a teacher is to encourage students to practice democracy. While I give some choices for students in my lessons, I need to work on incuding democracy in the classroom. I love Wiggins and McTighe's (2005) idea of soliciting weekly or frequent student feedback. This will help me understand my students better and include their ideas and views more solidly in the classroom experience. Adding this student feedback activity will help students learn the democratic process as well as assist in constructing knowledge and creating community. Except for the democracy point just mentioned, I believe my UbD project and my teacher mission statement are in agreement. I create community in the classroom by having students collaborate, present to each other, listen to each other and critique each other. Respect for others is not written into the lesson plans but is a strong presence in the classroom. Students have opportunities to transfer knowledge and create understanding throught the class activities. Activities and learnings are chunked into skill sets or ideas so students can build their skill level and knowledge of how it all fits together. Students sometimes work by themselves and often work with others to discover ideas and create knowledge. Students learn from each other through collaboration, presentations and class discussions. They are given ample opportunities to practice their learning and skills through practical exercises and assessments. Students receive feedback from peers and the teacher and have regular opportunities to reflect on their learning.

This class has been intense. It's difficult to know what I will retain, but I am thankful for the opportunity to learn UbD from a knowledgeable professor and endlessly inspiring peers.

Wiggins, G. & McTigue, J. (2005). Understanding by design, expanded 2nd edition. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Knowing and Understanding

We are approaching the final day of our summer courses! As I swim through the glee, a few thoughts surface. Backwards design differentiates between knowing and understanding. Knowing, the facts and knowledge of something, is separate from understanding, which is where transfer occurs. As a teacher, I strive for students to know and understand the content or concept. You really cannot have understanding without knowledge. You cannot make connections and transfer to new situations if you don't have the basic knowledge. The knowing, the facts, can be taught in a constructive manner, but is often (and successfully) taught traditionally. There is room for different learning theories in the same classroom depending on the desired end result. If I keep the difference between knowing and understanding clear in my mind, I am more apt to clearly teach knowledge and provide real-life opportunities for students to transfer their knowledge into understandings and connections.

So, will all this new knowledge and (hopefully) understandings that I've acquired over this (very long) summer session bear lovely fruit in my teaching and learning? Oh, please, let it be a resounding and enthusiastic yes.

Grand opening for our table top exhibits

Our table top display

The museum table top exhibit yesterday was, beyond compare, my best experience in graduate school so far. I think I needed to struggle through the other classes to have this class mean as much as it did. All my previous learning seemed to converge and come together in this class. Even though I got very little sleep on Wednesday night, I was not anxious and stressed. I was busy thinking of how I was going to put things together or sewing, sewing, sewing. I was creatively, completely, happily submerged in the experience. Having objects I created next to museum objects was thrilling. For me, the exhibit was an embodied experience with art.


I have never before experienced the level of collaboration achieved on this project. Our small exhibit group collaborated. Fellow classmates collaborated. Our museum liaison collaborated with abandon. Our professor models collaboration. The director of the lending collection collaborated. Interns and museum staff collaborated. I think we defined ideal collaboration during this process.



Our exhibit's concept, "Pieces and the Whole" can be used throughout the year in all the classes I teach. I believe I am beginning to understand how to write an essential question. Could it be that for me, these confusing pieces are starting to come together to make the whole?

Table top exhibit

object boxes from the lending collection

The concept for our table top exhibit is “Pieces And The Whole: Inside and Outside the Body”. This concept emerged from a common concern: students do not understand how pieces fit together to make the whole. K. teaches health. Students do not understand how body systems work together in harmony. D. teaches clothing construction. It is difficult for students to comprehend what garment pieces look like before they are sewn together. S. teaches Language Arts. She wants her students to understand elements of poetry and how they fit together. The brain connects the concepts of inside the body (body systems) and outside the body (clothing). S. wove poetry about the 5 senses through the exhibit. The exhibit connects pieces inside and outside the body with the literary pieces of poetry – triangulation!

The exhibit has many interactive pieces. It is designed for a middle school and high school audience, although other age groups can participate fully. Viewers are invited to participate by seeing fabric textures, smelling fabric, tasting, hearing a tuning fork, touching the museum objects and interacting with them. Labels can be picked up and manipulated. Many labels ask questions, inviting the viewer to seek answers by observing the objects. Participants can form a flat sleeve pattern piece into a sleeve and insert it in the bodice, draw a pattern piece and pull a string to gather fabric.

We’ve layered textures, objects, text and activities to demonstrate how “pieces make the whole”. The exhibit is an example of different subjects (health, family and consumer sciences, language arts) coming together to form a unifying concept. Each subject area is taught by one of the groups’ teachers. The display directly relates to what is taught in the classroom and can be used to introduce the “pieces and the whole” concept. The concept can be revisited and built upon often during the school year. We think the collaboration produced a rich, multi-layered presentation that is much greater than what we could do alone (pieces make the whole). It has been a joy to explore object-based lessons using museum artifacts in a collaborative environment.

Objects!

Salt cellar, Norwegian design. Who would use this object? Where would it be used? What can we infer about the user of this object? What questions do you have?


What do we see all around us? Objects! What is a powerful teaching and learning tool? Objects! We are learning to use objects to introduce a concept, capture learner's interest, and teach supporting ideas. My group is working with the concept of "pieces and the whole - inside and outside the body". When planning object-based displays, less is more. In our gallery walks, we saw space is a precious commodity. Every object needs to earn the right to its space. Does the object convey more than one idea? Is the idea clear to others, not just to the display planner? Today, we will build our table-top display using amazing museum objects from the lending collection. Exciting! I can see many classroom applications for object-based lessons. At the museum, we were shown boxes that contained an activity designed for independent learning. The theme is clearly and simply marked on the box. Everything in the box has its place so things can be put back properly. The orderliness invites the learner to explore and enjoy while treating the objects with respect. Directions are clear and simple. I envision creating learning boxes for sewing construction techniques and for different aspects of Foods and Nutrition - BMI index? Nutrients? What else?

Object-based learning has cognitive and constructionist roots while addressing multiple intelligences. The participant gains knowledge by interacting with the object and the accompanying information. He is constructing knowledge and perhaps identifying misconceptions by seeing the object in its context and making connections to his prior knowledge. He is able to use various multiple intelligences - linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist (Gardner, 1983). Object-based learning is engaging, interesting, fun and has solid theoretical basis.

Gaarner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.

My Personal Mission Statement for Teaching

My Mission Statement

My mission as a teacher is to foster a sense of personal and group responsibility and respect, develop students' critical and creative thinking skills to apply to diverse problems and situations, and to foster the development of passionate knowers.

Family and Consumer Sciences - Then and Now

What is Family and Consumer Sciences - formerly known as Home Economics? Is it just cupcakes? For FCS'ers, them's fighting words. The American Home Economics Association, founded in 1909 by Ellen H. Richards (1842-1911), was created after a series of conferences held in Lake Placid. Home Economists struggled to define themselves and their purpose in a changing world (like we, as teacher-leaders, are struggling to define who we are and what we want to do as teachers). The original focus emphasized cultural, ethical and social ideals as well as the scientific management of a household. Home Economists were research leaders in human nutrition, child development, fiber science, design and consumer economics. They helped rural communities grow, preserve and prepare food in an efficient and sanitary manner. Home Economists worked in schools, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, extension services and for the government. Public schools offered vocational home economics education for girls. Many girls dropped out of school after completing 8th grade; this program gave career opportunities and a reason to stay in school.

Home Economics changed with the times in the 1950's and 1960's as America became more of a consumer culture rather than a producing culture. Career opportunities grew. More women were working outside the home and more men were becoming increasingly involved in home management and child care activities. Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, prohibiting sex discrimination in education, opened home economics classes to males, who signed up mainly for foods and interpersonal relationships courses.

In 1994, the field became known as Family and Consumer Sciences to reflect modern needs. Family and Consumer Sciences' nine goals are:
1. Strengthen the well-being of individuals and families across the life span.
2. Become responsible citizens and leaders for family, community, and work settings.
3. Promote optimal nutrition and wellness across the life span.
4. Manage resources to meet the material needs of individuals and families.
5. Balance personal, home, family and work lives.
6. Use critical and creative thinking skills to address problems in diverse family, community, and work environments.
7. Foster successful life management, employment, and career development.
8. Function as providers and consumers of goods and services for families.
9. Appreciate human worth and accept responsibility of one's actions and success in family and work life.

Through hard work and struggle, Family and Consumer Sciences are represented in strand 9.1 and 9.2 in the NJ Core Content Curriculum Standards.

What does the Family and Consumer Sciences of the future look like? There seems to be an emphasis on preparing students for careers in food service instead of preparing students to be proficient in food preparation for (mostly) home/personal use. Reality TV interior- and fashion-design shows are increasing student interest in these areas. Family and Consumer Sciences changes with the times to stay relevant and emphasizes interdisciplinary skills. It is disheartening that no state college or university in NJ certifies Family and Consumer Science teachers. Montclair State University dropped the program several years ago.

FCS educators think what we offer is important and adds value, compassion and practical skills to students' school experience and beyond. We can't seem to get beyond the struggle - for understanding of what we do, to stay relevant and timely in our course offerings, to train new, knowledgeable, enthusiastic teachers to continue our tradition - all this AND make a mouth- watering, have-to-sit-down-it's-so-good, don't-talk-to-me-now cupcake.

References:
American Vocational Association. 1994. Home Economics Vision and Mission Statement. Alexandria, VA: American Vocational Association.

Brown, Marjorie M. 1980. What Is Home Economics Education? Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Minnesota Research and Development Center for Vocational Education.

Musings About Constructivism and Curriculum

Of the three main learning theories (behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism), the education world seems to have embraced constructivism. Full-out constructivists believe knowledge does not exist outside the mind, truth is not absolute and knowledge is not discovered but rather constructed by individuals or groups who are making sense of their world (Yilmaz, 2008). The learner uses prior knowledge to understand the new learning experience and learns in a social setting - with and through others. When learners encounter dichotomies in what they know and what they are learning, they either disregard the new learning and stick with the original way of thinking, believe the two opposing things at the same time, compartmentalizing or categorizing each learning to keep them separate, or they let go of the original learning and embrace the new learning (Fosnot, 1996).

Where am I on the constructivist scale of constructivist-light (coined by fellow classmate Stacie) to constructivist-heavy? I cannot embrace that knowledge does not exist outside of the mind or that there are no absolute truths. The idea of constructing knowledge in a social setting resonates with me. Perhaps I'm mid-constructivist with light leanings. As a soon-to-be teacher leader, I desire my school to establish a teacher resource library so teachers have tools to construct new understandings through current journals, articles, books and quality information on the Internet. Some schools probably already have these resources. I find it odd that educators are not encouraged to grow and learn as learners and teachers in as many ways as possible. We complete the mandated professional development hours, but what about reading and study time, even if done on our own with school provided resources. Teachers can, of course, purchase and read resources on their own. It would be a beautiful example of a constructive learning opportunity to make relevant materials readily available for the teacher/learner.

Curriculum has to reflect the learning theory of the writer/school/district. A constructivist curriculum has to provide many opportunities for students to construct knowledge individually and in groups. Constructivists are about big ideas and connections. We are working on a table-top display at the museum. My group's theme is parts and the whole. We want to explore separate parts of the body's organs and well as parts of clothing. We want the learner to think about how parts fit together to make a whole. These thoughts can be applied to the workings of internal organs as well as to how pattern pieces fit together to make a garment. This display should embody constructivist learning.

How does this picture relate to constructivism and curriculum? The building is constructed by a team working together with different jobs and skills (architects, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc) to produce something concrete. The two country's flags suggest that differences can exist, side by side. Can you think of more ways the picture relates to constructivism and curriculum? (Taken in NYC on Norwegian Independence Day, May 17th).

Fosnot, C.T. (1996). Constructivism: A psychological theory of learning. Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives and Practice, ed. C.T. Fosnot, 8-33. New York: Teachers College Press.

Yilmaz, K. (2008). Constructivism: Its theoretical underpinnings, variations, and implications for classroom instruction. Educational Horizons, 86(3), 161-172.

The Importance of Triangles

At the museum yesterday, I learned good artists use the triangle in their paintings.  It makes the eye move, making a more interesting and engaging picture.  I had fun, in an art-based version of Where's Waldo, discovering Where's The Triangle in the pieces I viewed. (My version of art - my daughter and niece when really young showing off their missing teeth and forming- ta-dah! - a triangle.) Think about clothing - flattering v-necks, the expanse of a man's crisp shirt under a tailored jacket, the empire line of a dress floating out to the hem, the nipping in at the waist of a top or dress - triangles, all, and very pleasing to the eye and flattering to the wearer. In Cajun cooking, the trinity, or base of flavors, come from cooking celery, green peppers and onions until fragrant. Preachers often compose their sermons around three points. What about triangles in research?

 Triangulation, which does sound a bit tortuous, is when three different ways or sources confirm the fact or idea, making the information more reliable and trustworthy.  In teaching?  Approaching a concept from three different ways (read, draw, small group discussions, perhaps) to embed it in learner's minds.  How do triangles apply to writing curriculum?  Essential question - crafting understandings - assessments? Including at least three points in understandings and assessments?  Or am I thrilled with the triangle idea because it seems like a pattern to use to help me figure out how to write good curriculum and be my best in the classroom, but it's just one tool of many and not the answer to all things . . . There is the dark side of triangles - the Bermuda triangle, the barely-ever-works threat of One, Two, Threeeeeeeeeee, the idea that bad things come in three.  The useful triangle isn't a saint, after all.  It's  up to me to use its mighty strength to my best advantage.

The struggle with with essential question

Curriculum design should start with an essential question - what do I want the student to understand?  The backwards design concept (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005) is different from the way I've written curriculum in the past.  Our school wants us to write curriculum this summer using the backwards design model.  My struggle is figuring out what are the essential questions in my content area.  My current understanding is a good essential question isn't just a recap of the unit, but a question that goes beyond the subject matter - a "life question" that will be illuminated by studying the unit.  One of my courses is Baking and Pastry.  What are my essential questions?  How is gluten managed in baked products?  Is that an essential question - or does the question need to be more global? Another course is Fashion Design.  Essential question possibility:  How do fabric pieces fit together to make a garment?  I don't think I'm really on the right track.  I realize I need to come up with a series of essential questions for each course, and I feel a little ridiculous that I am struggling with how to phrase a good essential question.  I hope for more clarity as I read further about Understanding By Design.



Some baking essentials

Inconsistencies

There are so many inconsistencies in life and in teaching.  There's a huge green movement, yet we buy water bottles, drive gas guzzling cars and throw many things away.  The state issues standards for education but doesn't allow for the means to meet those standards.  Schools mandate policies without input from teachers.  I want my students to be able to think for themselves and transfer knowledge to new areas, yet I sabotage my intended outcome by explaining every detail, not really scaffolding so students work towards self-sufficiency.  It's so much easier to get upset by inconsistencies I don't create.  It makes me pause, think, and sheepishly admit I help perpetuate this sea of inconsistencies.  

So, what can I do?  Be thoughtful and honest.  What am I really doing in the classroom?  What are my intended results?  Does reality even come close to this vision?  If not, what changes will I make so my intentions match my practice?  

Before I happily denounce  inconsistencies generated by others, I need to look in the mirror.  

What makes an educated person

An educated person can

• find information and use it
• transfer knowledge to new situations
• think critically
• express oneself clearly and well