Summer Final Reflection Oscar Newman Looking Back 

What I have learned…

There were many articles for this course that I read when I first became a certified teacher through DePaul University’s Urban Teacher Corps in 1998-1999. I was pleased to revisit Shulman’s work and really focus on what comprises learning. It is useful to revisit educational research from time to time, and I have found that the practice of working as a teacher precludes time spent with academic writing.

However, what I found to be more useful was to learn about aesthetic learning and the role of creativity in teaching, which were among the original attractions of working as a teacher. I have found that a central tension in my experience as a teacher is balancing the competing focuses on un- or in-disciplined play versus formal instruction. Moreover, much of my own professional development has comprised performative contradictions like lessons for teachers on engaging students with group activities presented in lecture format. (An aside: this has been a major source of my skepticism about the flipped classroom: it is still a lecture) In any case, when we do a thought experiment about how we have learned to do something we enjoy and how we propose to teach ideas to our students, we often find a disconnect.

This tension was highlighted in one of the first articles we read, “Rethinking Technology & Creativity in the 21st Century,” that introduced me to the idea of extending play over a period of time. A classroom example may highlight my current practice and what I have learned. When I teach students about electrical circuits, I always provide my pupils the opportunity to play around with the materials. I give them an open ended task, e.g., “make something that lights up” or “design something that can make a sound” and let them fiddle with wires, cut-up holiday lights, duct tape, batteries, foil, buzzers, and so on. Formal instruction follows, and while subsequent activities also involve play, play has not really been an end in and of itself. I think the article “Learning from Creative Teachers” has helped drive home the importance of risk-taking in the classroom - a nice concept to revisit as I enter my 18th year of teaching.

I also appreciated the emphasis on the aesthetic aspect of teaching as instrumental in making meaningful conceptual changes. In the “Teaching That Sticks” article, I appreciated this focus, but the best example was the World of Wonder moments shared by the staff as well as my colleague. I think this method was an innovative way to approach an important goal that I have often neglected in the effort to get through

lots of content and other, seemingly pressing problems in the hand-to-mouth existence as a teacher. Science involves values, namely the value that science is a body of knowledge and process that is central to our world. This message can be stated, but is best approached via important aesthetic moments of awe and wonder. If we think of science as a process of figuring out how the world works, what better way to drive this point home than to create a forum to let this happen in the classroom on a regular basis. This is certainly something I am planning to do next year.

What was new about the experience...

The emphasis on technology was completely new to me. I appreciated the time to play and use technology to allow individual exploration during the classes while acknowledging that this was a difficult norm to embrace, or at least one very distinct from any workshop I have attended. What was more important than all the new examples of technology and amazing expertise of the participants from my perspective was the important work of considering the role of technology as a means to learn rather than an end. Gimmicks are fun, and the sleekest phones, neatest apps, and so on will get our attention, but I think that all the teachers in the program could mention examples of poor implementation of technology.

In the workshop, I mentioned the example of an external floppy disk drive, still wrapped in plastic, that I discovered in the back of the Science Lab in 2001. At that time, the drive had essentially become a paperweight. Further conversations with teachers in the program did make me change my mind in seeing how obsolete technology can be repurposed and that technology is often subversive, but the story is still one of wasted opportunities. Colleagues also mentioned how easily administrators can be convinced to adopt a program from a salesperson without a deep examination on what this change means for learning. What was still missing from this conversation, I think, was some distillation of how we can avoid this problem, i.e., the important questions we should be asking about technology implementation at the school before we buy into something. I think developing this critical capacity will empower me as a teacher leader.

How the experience matters to me...

The experience matters to me because I am making a transition in my role as a teacher. I have many leadership roles as a science educator, but this year, there are some pretty important formal changes in my role. I will become the lead teacher for the middle school grade level team and the science coordinator. I will assemble a

team and collaborate with the Museum of Science and Industry to assess the state of STEM education at our school and determine an action plan to improve it. This is happening amidst major changes in staff and administration. The experience matters to me because first, it has given me a lot of information to consider as I lead our school towards a vision of STEM education. I have refined my ability to think about what hallmarks of effective STEM education are through this program.

Second, as I mentioned above, I will make changes to my classroom practice as a result of this program. This is important because I learned long ago that the most important leadership skill is setting the example. By embodying values of STEM education, I will be a more credible teacher leader to my colleagues (in addition to having a bigger impact on what my students learn).

Looking Forward 

How this program will influence me in the future...

My goal is to create an exceptional program at my school and use our successes as a resource for other STEM educators. This program has helped me become a better science teacher, and has given me insight into lots of other types of classrooms. I hope to use the relationships I have developed among my colleagues and the staff as a resource as I encounter challenges in trying to make changes in my practice and school. I also hope to maintain the relationships I made with other fellows in the program, who I found to be an exceptional source of information, resources, ideas, and problem-solving suggestions.

How this experience changes what I think about teaching...

It is important for teachers to experience things from a learner’s perspective from time to time. The “Curse of Knowledge” presentation was very effective at summarizing the disconnect we have as possessors of disciplinary knowledge when we work with novices. As much as we try to be empathetic about the struggles of being a learner, there is no substitute for the direct experience of learning something new or feeling the pain of a deadline. This is not the first time I have had this thought, but becoming accustomed to life on the teacher side of assignments is natural. For these reasons, as much as I may not have appreciated the Quickfires at the time, I think they were valuable. I do not mean, of course, that their only value is in helping my empathize with my students as they suffer, but that these activities that were difficult, and the conversations about “living in the cloud” (or my personal favorite from my group: “riding the struggle bus”) are hallmarks of effective teaching and learning. By becoming more aware of how students will perceive an effective

environment, I can be more mindful of establishing norms that will help students persevere so they can reap the benefits of their struggle.

What I am taking from this program that I can use in the classroom...

In addition to the other changes I have listed, I would like to highlight the importance of maintaining a balance between the lighthearted and the serious aspects of a classroom. When I began teaching, colleagues told me to “never smile before Christmas” and other nonsense. I found this to be unlivable. That kind of seriousness is not compatible with my personality. At the same time, there are serious standardized tests and serious district- and network-wide initiatives that I need to enact. I have found these aspects of a teacher’s professional life to have the effect of reducing smiling unless I have consciously resisted. Instructional leaders have exhorted me to “teach with a sense of urgency*.” I think I would rather “teach with a sense of wonder” and “teach with a sense of joy.” A final goal I have developed through this program is that I would like to maintain a joyful attitude towards the serious work of educating my pupils, as I believe we were able to conduct the summer workshop.

One of the last readings we had, which led to powerful discussions in our group (as it had when it was first published) was seeing the school from the perspective of a student. I think that as I look ahead it is of the utmost importance to create a classroom where I would be happy to place my own child. * “Let’s save pessimism for better times.” -- Eduardo Galeano quoting graffiti from Colombia