Week 19- Community of Practice

Inquiry learning Topics:

Step 1 (Descriptive):

The two inquiry topics I have chosen are:

• Using student blogging in the classroom
• Using google docs to improve student writing

3 elements of a community of practice relating to these are:

1. Joint enterprise: (Domain) We want to help our learners improve their writing skills so that they are writing at or above the target levels for our school. In addition we want our students to be actively engaged in their learning, with whanau, collaboratively learning and supporting each other. All members of the community are committed to this aim.  

  

2. Mutual engagement: (Community) the members  of our community are senior syndicate teachers. There are four teachers in the syndicate ranging from Years 4-8. We share a passion for learners to be active and capable members in our school community. We plan to meet weekly in Term 2 to discuss initiatives.

3. Shared repertoire: (Practice) Resources at hand are Chromebooks in Year 7 & 8 class, Ipads in Year 4 class and a scattering of other devices in the Year 5 and 6 classes. I will focus on using either blogging or google docs on the Chromebooks (in my Year 7 & 8 class), with all the myriad of activities that are possible with these. In addition we have a teacher provided by Manaiakalani in the Year 4 and Year 7 & 8 classes, working alongside classroom teachers and providing support.

How the topics relate and contribute to the Community of Practice

Our learners enjoy collaborative learning and blogging enables this. Past initiatives in writing have failed to accelerate our children’s writing. The digital initiative, will hopefully engage and accelerate learning, using fun and exciting platforms. Learner’s personal attributes will be used to make learning individual, interesting and creative. The topics contribute to the community of practice because the ideas planned emcompass all participants, using learners and parents interests, skills and identities to foster learning, with teachers designing and guiding them on the journey. The value to the community is that we can share our learning as syndicate members and identify areas where we can improve our delivery of the programme and share what is working. Success will depend on the discussions and interactions we have as a professional community. As the educational theorist and practitioner Etienne Wenger extolls, we must be active participants in our practices of social communities, and in the construction of our identity through these communities (Wenger et al. 2002).

Step 2 (Comparative):

All syndicate members are excited about the changes that are taking place in the school (and syndicate) and they would like to have the opportunity to be 1-1 (with electronical devices). This year the Year 4 class will also be blogging, while the Year 5-6 classes will in 2019 (when they are 1-1). As a result of this, the 5-6 classes are keen to see what difference the changes make to the learner’s writing and engagement.

Research on students blogging conducted by Jessica Bakan (Bakan, 2017) has demonstrated that students experience positive feelings, are excited to write and are more motivated when blogging. In the same study students also reported that blogging allowed them to be more focused when responding to texts.  Colleen Gleeson (Glesson, 2010) has shown that the use of Google docs made student draft writing more efficient, they enjoyed immediate teacher comments, and the flexibility for editing. Students were also motivated by parent participation in their blogging. Additional research by Dr Rachel Williams and Dr Rebecca Jesson, (Williams & Jesson, 2017) has found that blogging over the summer months significantly reduces the ‘summer lag effect’, where students effectively ‘go backwards’ in their writing ability over the summer holidays.

Step 3 (Critical reflection):

The implications of blogging are that children will hopefully be more engaged in their writing and parents will feel more connected to their children’s learning and what is happening in their children’s lives at school. It could also mean that learners who have a negative view on writing will become motivated and excited about writing (especially if they are given more freedom to write about topics that inspire them).

I am hopeful that parents will read and reply to the posts their children make, because it will provide the children in my class with an authentic audience within their immediate family. I will need to regularly check the learner’s blogs and ensure that we have quality posts with relatively few errors. I am also aware that regular blogging does not guarrantee improvement in learner’s grammar and content. As a consequence, effective feedback and reflection on posts will be essential in this writing initiative.

References:

Bakan, J. (1-23-2017, January 23). The impact of blogs in the classroom: a qualitative analysis of elementary students using blogs to respond to texts. Retrieved from https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3350&context=etd

Gleeson, C. (2010). "What is the impact of the Manaiakalani Project on literacy teaching and learning?" 2008-2010 Final Report. Retrieved from http://www.manaiakalani.org/our-story/research-evaluation/2008---2010-final-report

Wenger, E.(2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2), 225-246.

Williams, R and Jesson, R. (2007, May).  An Evaluation of a Design-Based Approach to Holiday Blogging in New Zealand Primary and Intermediate Schools- A Summary Report for the Manaiakalani Educational Trust. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0N0b7eCxgaLQ1JWNGYycjk4UU9xQVhCSlNaNk50M3MyV1pB/view