I have been labeled an organized friend, mother, co-worker and family member. I realize some of this has been a facade. The reality is, I am not really all that organized. My house may be clean, my fridge may look somewhat decent, but in reality, my brain is constantly organizing different projects, roles, and ideas at a speed that often overwhelms others.
Now that I teach beyond classrooms, in different states, for practitioners at different stages of education I realize that in order to maximize the innovative technology best-practices beyond the typical school campus or classroom I need to take my organizational gifts to the next level.
Currently, my organization uses google drive to organize out documents. As I look at ISTE Coaching Standard 4.b our current system of file organization lacks the curation sophistication that could take us to the next level of innovation-driven instruction that could be shared across classes and programs.
Reeves, et al., (2002) (pg 565) defines authentic learning through 10 characteristics backed up by educational theory.
Authentic learning is engaging – professional development should be engaging in ways that empower educators to take risks with new systems and ways of thinking. As professional development practitioners organization of resources and thinking plays a large role in our ability to intentionally support our peers.
We know professional development should be relevant (characteristic 1 & 7) and often team-based (characteristic 4, 5, 6, & 7), in order to be accountable and meaningful for the growth of schools and students. How can we maximize our organization of thinking and resources to demonstrate best practices (characteristic 9) that we can use as professionals and educators of our future 21st-century learners?
Wakelet is a resource that I have used to organize resources and can be used to curate more than just articles. Schools could curate and share different resources between teams while demonstrating products of learning in one shared space. Professional development practitioners could share specific collections via a link share around topics and best practices.
Section 5.2 in Transforming Professional Learning in Washington State- Project Evaluation Report (2016) states “Professional learning that involves Collective Participation from the CPDS displayed very strong and positive relationships with student achievement in math and ELA measured by the SBA.”
Professional development that fosters and tracks collaboration IS a best practice in the curation of cutting edge technology that positively impacts student achievement.
It is time to up my organization skills and transfer my home organization skills to the professional arena- it will be nice to mentally clean house and feel confident to invite others to collaborate with my peers, it is clearly time to organize and share-alike.
References:
Bishop, D, Lumpe, A., Henrikson, R, & Crane, C. (2016). Transforming Professional Learning in Washington State – Project Evaluation Report. Seattle Pacific University: Seattle, WA.
ISTE. (n.d.-b). ISTE Standards for Coaches | ISTE. Retrieved February 14, 2020, from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-coaches
Wakelet. (n.d.). Wakelet – Save, organize and share content. Retrieved February 14, 2020, from https://wakelet.com
