LEARNER AGENCY
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Dynamic Communication
Communication is an integral part to everyday life, and as educators we have to be able to model what effective communication looks like. The BYOT article (2017) states that when teachers facilitate the learning of communication, we are nurturing an environment to support skills that are essential for personal and professional success. Knowing how to communicate is essential to fostering a personalized classroom setting as student begin advocating for their learning. Sword (2020) states “teachers should be proficient in all four modes of communication – listening, speaking, reading and writing.” Reason being stakeholders are going to have preferential styles of communicating and teachers should have the skillset to meet the needs of each stakeholder.
In a personalized learning setting, encouraging self-advocacy amongst students is needed for efficient student-teacher communication. Taylor (2018) states, “Self-advocacy is one of these essential skills that students must master, not only for their education, but for basic functioning and socialization throughout life.” Modeling what self-advocacy looks like to stakeholders in personalized classroom setting can be challenging but rewarding in facilitating student learning in the classroom. Kesty (2021), mentions “When we teach them to self-advocate, we often alleviate the cognitive load and anxiety that plague the use of new or developing skills.” Communication is a soft skill that teachers must integrate into their classroom lessons to support student learning.
In a personalized learning setting, encouraging self-advocacy amongst students is needed for efficient student-teacher communication. Taylor (2018) states, “Self-advocacy is one of these essential skills that students must master, not only for their education, but for basic functioning and socialization throughout life.” Modeling what self-advocacy looks like to stakeholders in personalized classroom setting can be challenging but rewarding in facilitating student learning in the classroom. Kesty (2021), mentions “When we teach them to self-advocate, we often alleviate the cognitive load and anxiety that plague the use of new or developing skills.” Communication is a soft skill that teachers must integrate into their classroom lessons to support student learning.
Coaching Learners to Initiate Communication
Artifact #1Student led conferences is a new strategy that my teaching team has joined me in completing. Students have an electronic student portfolio using Microsoft OneNote where they keep their handouts, homework, goal settings, and more. During parent-teacher conferences, we allow the students the opportunity to communicate their co-planned goals with their parents and allow the student to show their digital portfolio to their parents to support communicate their progress in their classes. This artifact shows pieces of a student’s portfolio for science.
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Artifact #2Classroom Mailbox is a tool that is new in my classroom. Students can use this mailbox for a variety of things, and it can be anonymous or not anonymous. Many students will put in suggestions or questions that they may have had about a lesson that we did in class. Some students have even suggested moving the deadline for a culminating task in my classroom. I check the mailbox twice a week and after warm-up activity is complete. We discuss the topics left in the Classroom Mailbox.
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Artifact #3During Co-Planning students and I collaborate with one another to create a plan of action for how they will navigate through content in the personalized classroom setting and how they plan to show their mastery. During this co-planning, students establish their SMART goal and communicate with their teacher how they created the SMART goals based on the learning objective provided by the teacher.
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Communicating Curricula
ClasslinkClasslink is a single sign on software that houses all student login information and data to access resources that the district provides. I also share a variety of resources and tools to students using Classlink to make access to these tools available for all students. Some resources that are available to students are Flocabulary, BrainPop, NearPod, and more within the platform.
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Microsoft OneNoteMicrosoft OneNote is slowly creeping up on my educational toolkit list. This tool has proven to support productivity and facilitating healthy communication between stakeholders within my classroom. I use Microsoft OneNote to provide my class the instructional framework for the day. Students have quick access to the plan for today and the tools that will be utilized to complete it. I often link online tools/resources or provide instructional hints throughout the lesson.
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PresenationsI create PowerPoint Presentations for each of my units to provide students with concrete notes that they can reference throughout a unit they are progressing through. The presentations allow students to see what they are going to be learning and what is expected. Students can refer back to the Presentations as often as needed to ensure learning is proficient.
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Model and Nurture Effective Communication
PadletPadlet is an online tool that we use in my classroom often. This tool fosters communication and collaboration amongst the students and teachers. Padlet encourages class discussion and communication amongst students. I often use it as a homework assignment where students make observations at home and post their observations using the link provided to the Padlet.
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RemindUsing remind has been a great tool facilitate communication with parents and students. Many parents are more comfortable with communicating through remind compared to email. Parents have expressed that the conversations do not feel as formal and more like “texting.” Students are also able to contact me with questions they may have as well.
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Learning Management SystemItslearning is our district’s current and the LMS allows for teachers to send out reminders as well includes a parent app that parents can access connected to their student’s account. Parents can see their student’s progression within the course as well stay up to date on upcoming assignments and coursework. Students and parents can also access the tools/resources provided within the online learning management system to support at home learning.
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References
Communication for Personalized Learning. BYOT Network. (2017, January 3). Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://byotnetwork.com/2016/06/28/communication-for-personalized-learning/
Ketsy, S. (2021, February, 10). Teaching Students to Self-Advocate During Distance Learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-students-self-advocate-during-distance-learning
Sword, R. (2021, December 15). Communication in the classroom: Skills for teachers. The Hub | High Speed Training. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/communication-skills-for-teachers/
Taylor, W. (2018, April 17). Teaching self-advocacy in the classroom. Learning Essentials. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://learningessentialsedu.com/teaching-self-advocacy-in-the-classroom/
Ketsy, S. (2021, February, 10). Teaching Students to Self-Advocate During Distance Learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-students-self-advocate-during-distance-learning
Sword, R. (2021, December 15). Communication in the classroom: Skills for teachers. The Hub | High Speed Training. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/communication-skills-for-teachers/
Taylor, W. (2018, April 17). Teaching self-advocacy in the classroom. Learning Essentials. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://learningessentialsedu.com/teaching-self-advocacy-in-the-classroom/