“Instruction should have clear goals that are separate from the means for completing the task, and these goals also should be thoroughly understood by the teacher and clearly communicated to students” (Basham & Marino, n.d., pp.11). This is what we hope for daily. We spend hours designing lessons, reviewing curriculum and examining formative assessments to support the clear goals that will propel our students to the finish line of learning. If our students learned the same way, we would be able to formalize this process within a cookie-cutter approach; our students may enjoy a cookie but they are not cut from the same mold.
Baham and Marino continue to anchor us in the educational needs of our students with the statement “Instruction should be intentionally planned so that it is personally challenging for all learners” (Basham & Marino, n.d.). Educators will wax and wane about the time it takes to create learning experiences like this; when the topic of a lesson plan enters the conversation they get tight-lipped about sharing a comment along the lines of knowing material and content, to a level that a lesson plan can not match. In short, a teacher’s brainpower and instinctive understanding of what their students need to master the learning outcome should not be challenged but rather built upon.
Facilitating learning takes time, and yes even the teacher who chooses to not plan may have a wonderful day or two in the classroom. But our learners are complex human beings with needs to be met. As educational settings and the workplace require complex thinking skill sets, we can no longer assume students have learned the material by grading a vocabulary test. In the spirit of a creative, student learning-centered classroom out compliance-based lessons will no longer cut it.
ISTE Coaching Standard 3 speaks to the instructional planning needed to support our diverse student populations within the Digital Age Learning Environments that mirror the working lives they will lead.
- 3B – Maintain and manage a variety of digital tools and resources for teacher and student use in technology-rich learning environments.
- 3D – Select, evaluate, and facilitate the use of adaptive and assistive technologies to support student learning.
- 3F – Collaborate with teachers and administrators to select and evaluate digital tools and resources that enhance teaching and learning and are compatible with the school technology infrastructure.
A theme emerges within these standards. Teachers are given the control to manage, evaluate, and select the proper tools to support today’s student. How do we go about doing this if the technology is changing at such a rapid pace?
Wakelet is a free digital tool that supports the curation of tools for use tomorrow, next week or next year. Instead of trying to file the ideas away in our head we can now organize our resources, articles, and tools to support today and tomorrows student. The lesson plan may not always work but Wakelet provides flexibility and categorization that teachers can easily ” maintain and manage” (ISTE 3B), evaluate and make not of how to use the tools (ISTE 3D), and finally, collaborate with other educators to “enhance teaching and learning”(ISTE 3F). The values of Wakelet support the students we are growing in our classrooms; empowering readiness behaviors that will create and empower the future leaders and creators we facilitate.
If Wakelet is going to organize the tools for us, how do we know the tools will support our students?
The Tripple E Framework provides a model to intentionally support teachers as they look at tools for the classrooms they teach. One tool may not work year after year, as different learners need different supports in order to be empowered to grow outside the mold of compliance.
The framework model can be applied through the use of a rubric to check the applicable practice for your current students through a stop light rubric assessment.
The intentional assessment of tools coupled with a formative assessment of student learning has the possibility to maximize student-centered learning opportunities we know engages all of our learners. The Triple E Framework Rubric, is supportive of the teacher who works from instinct and data to support the learning.
If I could turn back the clock and utilize these tools with the teachers I have coached I would do so in a heartbeat. The use of The Triple E Framework combined with Wakelet and the anchoring ISTE Coaching 3 Standard, provides a rich learning opportunity with check points that will enhance your lesson plan. May we all be empowered to grow within the digital world and utilize theses tools in the classroom.
