Metaphor Exercise

We were asked to choose an object from the table (Dr. Joanne Cooper’s mini class) so I chose a wooden elephant similar to this

 

Wooden elephant,

Carved, trunk raised, trumpeting,

Worn on a neck like a charm,

 Moving forward, plodding

Eyes clear

Straight ahead,

Confident in the ability to rely on those

Who are looking out,

Protected,

Able to move forward unhindered,

Unfettered,

Undaunted

This is a good point in the program to be a wooden elephant,

A little scratched up,

A little rough around the edges,

But still moving forward,

One step in front of the other

My front right foot leaves a mark

Where my back right foot will follow,

I cannot waver from the path I create, but

Plodding, not racing,

Eyes forward, ever forward,

There is no looking askance,

No need to right now,

I am protected by those around me,

I am supported by those seen and unseen,

My memory for them is deep

The navigation has been set

I raise my trunk in greeting

PD Tuesday: Alana Culture-Based Summer Institute

 

What:  a professional development course that challenges  teachers to incorporate culture-based educational (CBE) practices and resources into their standardized curriculum as a way to approach western content through an indigenous lens.

The course immerses teachers in CBE methodologies through the use of resources (i.e. professional readings, moʻolelo), a wide variety of presenters who are language and culture experts, and day trips into KS land holdings guided by kupuna and field scientists from that area. This course also provides practitioners time to transform a unit, demonstrate their lesson on peers, reflect on their use of CBE resources, and give and receive feedback to the community of learners in the course.

When:  July 15 – 26, 2013 plus 2 continuity sessions in the fall (TBD by participants), 7:30 am – 4:30 pm at KSH Kula Waena. Get 4 B credits upon completion of the course.

Registration

Recommmendation form (from a colleague or supervisor)

For more information, a syllabus, etc., email Cathy.

 

Mind mapping with post its

Alana – awaken in the center

What are the branches that come off of that?Reveals my first blush attempt at what is important:

• Transformation (versus contributive, additive, and eventually leading to social change)
• Transformation must hinge on value added, culturally relevant, relationship centered, ‘ike x 3, measurable
• Kukakuka
• Ma ka hana ka ike – just have to do it – lele

My Geneaology as a Researcher

Who am I as a researcher? How will I set aside my values in order to see/hear my participants clearly?

I look at life through a poet’s eye, so heavy sensory description as well as metaphor making as a way to make meaning. That could be a problem. I need to turn off the interpretation part and just observe. Perhaps recording would be better for me. I like the thought of recording.

• It allows me to capture voices
• If I can video as well as record, I can capture mannerisms, which I like.
• I can save interpretation, and just listen.
• Look for places where I’m surprised. Concentrate on that and record it. The reveal will come later.
• Based on Liezl’s questions before we looked at the T/E data, write down my presuppositions and predictions for my own data so that I can reveal my expectations ahead of time

How am I an insider and an outsider?

• Coach, fellow teacher, person giving feedback – insider
• Researcher, not participating in the work – outsider
• The problem – the assessment part. How do I be course assessor as well as researcher – how do I get around that?

1. Pass or fail, do or not
2. Have them self-assess and self-reflect, offer feedback to peers

Other reminders

• Need to have a plan, but the design must be sensitive to events/people in the field (allow them to choose the time and place for interview – go to them – ask to go to their classes on their terms, not as evaluator, just as observer)
• Cannot be tightly prescribed (flexible, but not loose)
• Do need a guiding research question or questions (need to look at what assumptions are buried in question or what terms need to be defined) – see my interview guide I attached to my IRB
• Share my writing with participants for them to see if my sense-making interpretation is accurate to their own mana’o intentions – and let them call me on it if I’m putting my own wishes into it.

Qualitative Research with Dr. Joanne Cooper, Part 1

Defining qualitative research

• Not in lab
• Data collected in the field, sensitive to people and places
• Does not involve sending out instruments, such as surveys
• Gathers up-close information by talking directly to people or observing how they act in a chosen context

Researcher is the key instrument

• Researcher collects the data
• Highly dependent on the reflexivity of the researcher.
  • How do your values or experiences color your perceptions of this world and your participants?
  • How will you set aside these values in order to see/hear your participants clearly (look for places where you’re surprised – reveals your biasis) (journal)
  • How are you an insider and an outsider to this situation? (Journal)

Involves an emerging approach

• Need to have a plan, but the design must be sensitive to events/people in the field
• Cannot be tightly prescribed (flexible, but not loose)
• Examples: questions may change, forms of data collection altered, participants or sites may change
• Do need a guiding research question or questions (need to look at what assumptions are buried in question or what terms need to be defined)

Involves sense-making interpretation

• examined meanings people bring to social or human problems
• Brings forth voices of the participants (if in transcript, you’re doing most of the talking, wrong!)
• How do they make sense of their world
• Does not focus on the meanings that the researcher or the literature bring to the problem
• Focuses on multiple perspectives, theme, should reflect multiple perspectives

(Journal topic – role of the researcher – my genealogy as a researcher)

Focuses on the voices of participants

• Your job is to bring forth the voices of the participants
• Often involves giving voice to those who have been silenced
• Get your voice out of the way in order to HEAR them
• Involves narratives or words, not numbers in order to represent their voices

PD Tuesday: Blended Learning Webinar

I am the queen of free PD and webinars are a great way to participate in one hour PD.
What: Adopting a Blended Learning Strategy webinar on February 26, 2PM ET (9 am Hawaiʻi) Blended learning, the teaching practice that combines both face-to-face and online learning, offers a model of instruction to engage students in and out of the classroom. It has proven highly effective in helping schools and districts address the challenges of student achievement, limited resources, and the expectations of 21st century learners.

Why: 

• It’s free – register here
• Even if you can’t make it live, they will send you an archived copy
• Hear how  schools are implementing blended learning strategies effectively, addressing the challenges that come with it, and impacting student and teacher success.

PD Tuesday: Ocean Day 2013

Too much rain in Hilo – the kind that is thick with water (you know what I mean if you’re from Hilo)

 

What: Mālama Kanaloa Festival at Hilo Bayfront Park on February 23, 10 am – 3 pm

Activities include

• touch tanks
• tsunami information and demonstration tanks
• fishing games
• watershed information
• native plant seedlings
• live entertainment
• makahiki games

Why: Enjoy the day, bring your ohana and learn together at this free event.

 

PD Tuesday: Lab School @ Punahou

 

What: Lab School @Punahou – a cohort group of educators examining transformative educational practices through technology, inquiry and creativity.

This summer’s cohorts:

July 8-12, 2013, 2013 Monday-Friday $200   

• Technology Cohorts: The iPad and Personalized Learning – Work in small cohort groups led by experienced facilitators to explore personalized learning using iPads during these all-day sessions. Create lessons and activities for individual classrooms.

July 29 – August 2, 2013 Monday-Friday $200

• Global Education Cohorts – Work with experts and colleagues from all over the world during these five full days. Develop plans to improve or launch global collaborative projects or programs in classes or schools.
  

July 29 – August 2, 2013 Wednesday – Friday $200

• Flat Classroom Live! Global Thinking for Local Action – Develop collaboration and leadership skills with real and virtual team members on an action project with a global theme. This all-day conference brings together students and teachers, and leverages technology to connect, communicate and collaborate to improve the world.
  

Why: Punahou School is in its 10th year of 1:1 technology integration, so take advantage of the ways that they have tried to support their own teachers in technology integration in the classroom.

For more information or to get their brochure forwarded to you, email me at caikeda@ksbe.edu.