IICTI part 2 - module 2 reflection

Next year I have the privilege of teaching one of the 4 credits in the digital historian project.  I am unbelievably excited about it, and fairly scared as well.  So when I went to the edugains site to see what videos I could watch I obviously picked the one about the Digital Historian.

I was excited by the way Neil talked about assessment being continual and much of it informal as the students delve into their individual and group work.  

“I’m assessing the kids every day. I’m assessing each individual kid’s pathway to success, of which there is no one pathway." (Neil Orford, teacher DHP)

When people ask why I teach my standard answer is that I love seeing students learn to see things in a new light and broaden their perspectives.  In reality I’m not sure how much I actually see this happen in my regular classes.  There are moments of inspiration, and moments of awe as students appreciate things they’ve never thought about before, but they are not, unfortunately, the norm.  

“You teach for those teachable moments when kids say things, or they make connections or they synthesize ideas.  I used to be quite happy to see it a few times a semester.  I see it every day that I’m here in this program.” (Pat Hamilton, principal CDDHS)

One of the other things that stood out to me as being significant in its lack of focus is the Digital part of the Digital Historian Program.  I think this is the way it should be.  The only place it really came up in the video was when Neil spoke about his limited experience and knowledge of digital technologies.  I find it inspiring that although Neil felt uncertain about the digital technologies he still saw the importance of creating a new experience for students that embraced them.  He truly adopted the mindset that while technology/digital tools would need to be used in this program, but that they were the primary focus.  I think this speaks to the adoption of a TPACK balance whether or not Neil would be able to identify the model itself.   

With Neil retiring, Asher and I will be left with big shoes to fill. I am excited and nervous about it. I jumped at the offer to take on one of the sections as I've been following Neil's journey since he started the program. But it really is a new way of teaching. I think it matches what I believe to be important in teaching in the 21st Century, but it's a pretty big leap.