english leadership quarterly Vol. 41, no. 4 april 20192

iPads, but use them as little more than digital notebooks. Some teachers have interactive whiteboards, document cameras, clickers, and any number of apps provided to them by their districts or schools but lack the training or confidence to use any of these tools to enhance instruction or increase student agency. Across the country, I have certainly seen students and teachers innovate and achieve by using technology in and out of school. More often, I have observed the misuse or under utilization of tech tools, especially in the ELA classroom. Project Tomorrow (2013) found, in fact, that

many novice teachers still feel “underprepared for the realities of teaching with and about new technologies.”

Searching for ways to effectively use technology in English classrooms as a doctoral student, teacher, and ELA consultant led me to a transformational co-teaching experience that has not only made effective use of tech tools and redefined the “school” experience but also increased student ownership of learning in new ways and decreased teacher workload. My journey began with the NCTE Conference on English Leadership (CEL). Two years ago, I left the traditional high school English classroom to become a district instructional coach in the largest public school district in Kentucky. While I had held various teacher leadership positions in my school building, I had never been in a formal role outside of my state affiliate, the Kentucky Council of Teachers of English (KCTE). So, as a new “official” leader, I sought a mentor through CEL and was serendipitously assigned to an existing group of teachers mostly residing in the Chicago suburbs. Still in Kentucky, I connected with them every couple of months and began discussing ways to best meet the needs of the teachers I served in my new role along with instructional ideas to use in my college teaching position. The group members became fast friends and I no longer felt alone in my new role.

The concepTs of creativity and student agency, two oft-used buzzwords in the current education world, have pushed teachers at all levels to think beyond the traditional classroom, where direct instruction and print textbooks are curriculum and instruction. Educators at all levels are charged with meeting the demands of the rapidly changing, tech-driven economy while still meeting the standards and checking all the boxes. Knowledge Officer at next generation learning Challenges (NGLC) Kristen Vogt explains that if educators incorporate reflection, transparency, thoughtful teacher prep,

modeling, student self-direction, choice, a growth mindset,and real roles into instruction, thelearning environment

will be conducive to increased student agency (2016). One way to begin to incorporate these tenets is surely to integrate educational technology into regular instruction. But having technology in the classroom certainly does not automatically increase student agency or foster creativity; it takes careful planning and shaking up tradition that has been embedded in classroom practice for over a century. Being one-to-one must become more than using Chromebooks as expensive word processors.

While many states have explicit standards for using instructional technology for a variety of purposes, including

creating, publishing, and sharing content,the quality andeffectivenessof technologyintegration varies wildly. Some students are one-to-one with their own dedicated devices, such as Chromebooks or

a Blended approach to ela instruction Kristie hofelich ennis, Murray State University, joined NCTE 2006, CEL 2016

nglC

For what does nglC advocate?

what is . . .

Having technology in the classroom certainly does not automatically increase student agency or foster creativity; it takes careful planning and shaking up tradition that has been embedded in classroom practice for over a century.

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

. . . for educators

. . . for Coaches

. . . for students

identifying the standards

Us department of education (Challenges and guidelines)

novice teachers and technology integration

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english leadership quarterly Vol. 41, no. 4 april 20193

By the end of the next school year, I had moved to the Chicago suburbs myself and connected with my CEL mentor, Christopher Bronke, to do some action research with his ninth grade honors English students. I missed teaching, and this gave me the opportunity to dream big, conduct research, and implement new ideas with a willing audience. I did not live in the area for long, but I established relationships with both my mentor and his students. With the end of another school year looming, analytical writing on the horizon, and Romeo and Juliet on the required reading list, Mr. Bronke and I began to discuss the possibility of collaborative planning. It was normal for us to run instructional ideas by each other or ask for feedback on professional writing, but this upcoming unit prompted us to develop a co-teaching model to increase student autonomy, maximize teacher capital, and effectively utilize available instructional technology. We wanted to explore how two teachers from two different states could collaborate to provide the best possible learning environment for students to end their ninth grade English experience.

Using the NGLC suggested points for increasing student agency and our own shared pedagogical values, which leaned toward a writer’s workshop approach based on our combined twenty-five years of teaching experience and research, Mr. Bronke

and I planned a unit that would focus on close reading, analysis, and writing, with a text set that included paintings and poetry from the sixteenth century to the modern era, Romeo and Juliet, and Baz Luhrmann’s film version of the Shakespeare play. The overarching unit theme was Love through the Ages, which we knew would be timely in the spring semester for 14- and 15-year-old ninth graders. We determined our intended student learning outcomes, then set up weekly meetings to plan and began collecting paintings and poetry for mini assessments throughout the unit. Finally, we determined how instructional technology could be effectively used to facilitate this co-teaching experience, both for us as teachers and the students we served.

How could two teachers in two different states collaborate to provide the best possible learning environment for students at the end of their ninth grade English experience?

set Up a writer’s workshop

Creating a writers’ workshop in a secondary Classroom, edutopia

Using mentor texts in writer’s workshop, iowa reading research Center

mentor texts to start the school Year, moving writers

hOw tO . . .

Utilizing the tools we had available to us, including student Chromebooks, teacher laptops, webcams, a classroom projector and audio system, and reliable internet access with enough bandwidth

to stream live video, Mr. Bronke and I developed a five-week unit that began with the creation of a dedicated space in Google Classroom to house all assignments, resources, planning documents, and student files. The students had been using this tool already and were comfortable with it, which cut down on instructional time needed for training. Mr. Bronke developed a Google Slide presentation with all the paired poetry and painting analysis assignments, and each student created a copy of a master Google Slide

presentation that would show their work from the Week One pre-assessment to the Week Five summative assessment. The students shared their Google Slides with both teachers (as editors), and we

divided the roster of28 students in half forfeedback purposes. Then, the instructional sequence commenced, incorporating both technology and pedagogical decisions

that fostered student agency at each step:

• Week One: Introduction and Pre-Assessment

° Learning objectives and big ideas shared with students inclass

° Pre-assessment completed (five instructional days tocomplete) in Google Slides

° Teachers make notes on student pre-assessment successesand areas of growth for instructional planning purposes and meet to discuss via Zoom or other digital meeting software.

° Teachers record themselves completing a Think-Aloud onthe pre-assessment poem/painting analysis using Zoom and post to Google Drive folder.

° Romeo and Juliet text and film analysis begins.

• Week Two: Self-Reflection and Close Reading/Viewing

° Students view the teacher Think-Aloud and reflect onhow they approached the pre-assessment analysis comparatively.

Zoom

hangouts

google drive

google + Community

digital tools to Facilitate a Blended approach

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english leadership quarterly Vol. 41, no. 4 april 20194

° Students discuss in small groups and share insightswith whole class via discussion group on Google+ Class Community.

° Formative assessment #1 is assigned and completed viaGoogle Slides.

° Teachers review assessments and meet to discuss studentsuccesses and areas of growth.

° Romeo and Juliet text and film analysis continues.

• Week Three: Self-Assessment, Digital Writing Workshop & CloseReading/Viewing

° Students analyze a student sample of the most recentassessment and assign it a score according to the stated criteria, citing areas of success and growth.

° Teachers “live-score” using Zoom in real time duringscheduled class time to model how they assessed on student sample based on scoring criteria.

° Students reflect on their own writing and discuss insmall groups how the live-scoring affected their own assessments of the sample.

° Students revisit their own writing and self-assess based onthe teacher live-scoring and their group discussions.

° Romeo and Juliet text and film analysis continues.

° Students begin to formulate claims about the definitionof love through the ages, using text evidence from any materials in the set as evidence.

° Second formative assessment assigned via Google Drive.

• Week Four: Digital Writing Workshop & Close Reading/Viewing

° Teachers provide digital feedback to their studentgroups via Google Slides using the comment function on individual slide sets.

° Studentsreflect and respond to the feedback through the comment function, asking clarifying questions and making adjustments as needed.

° Teachers meet via Zoom to discuss instructional needsbased on this third assessment data and student engagement in digital feedback process.

° Romeo and Juliet text and film analysis continues.

° Students share claims about the definition of love throughthe ages via Google+ and discuss with classmates and teachers informally.

• Week Five: Summative Assessment & Publishing

° Teachers live-score again to begin the week, sharing theirfeedback on a student sample in real time during class (Zoom).

° Students reflect in writing using Google Docs and makeadjustments to their own writing accordingly.

° Students resubmit their most recent assessment forteacher and peer feedback via Google Slides if they so desire (not required).

° Complete Romeo and Juliet text and film analysis viaGoogle Docs.

° Teachers provide digital feedback on text/film analysis viaGoogle Docs using comment feature.

Kaizena

Vocaroo

5 web tools for giving students narrative Feedback, teach thought

digital Feedback Possibilities

Student aSSignment completed in google docS with teacher feedback aS commentS.

inStructorS’ collaborative Student aSSeSSment documentation in google SheetS

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° Students complete the summative assessment and scorethemselves according to the stated criteria via Google Slides; must provide rationale for their own assessment grade, and if teachers agree, these will remain the students’ grades.

° Students complete feedback/dispositions survey viaGoogle Forms for assessment of teachers, use of tech, and content.

In this instructional sequence, Mr. Bronke and I placed much of the learning in the hands of the students. As teachers, we used instructional technology effectively to facilitate learning, and collaborate and create, assess, and publish content, but so did the students. Together, students and teachers provided feedback to each other using Google Classroom and Zoom. Students analyzed eight paintings paired with four poems from a variety of time periods, closely read Shakespearean drama, compared it to a modern film adaptation, and wrote complex claims about love across the ages. Mr. Bronke and I improved our use of instructional technology and consistently reflected on our practice, eliminating the time and space barriers that we thought we had when I moved from the Chicago suburbs to Ohio and eventually Kentucky. Most importantly, students demonstrated growth in technology use, analytical writing, self-reflection, and close reading. This approach has now evolved into a fully self-paced, blended learning environment in which students choose what they’re working on at any given time and interact with peers and teachers in a workshop

environment daily to make progress in essential English skills. They present a mastery defense at the end of each term, showcasing their skills, and only get one grade each semester. We’re looking ahead to integrating a problem-based focus next year. Both teachers are invigorated in our professional growth and students are making strides.

While all teachers do not have the luxury of one-to-one devices for their students, reliable internet, or even colleagues with whom they can collaborate on a unit like this, I hope this example is at least thought-provoking. Consider how co-teaching, even with someone outside your school, district, or classroom can bring new

energy and expertise into your instructionalpractices. Considerhow you can use the technology that is available in your school to empower students to self-assess,

create, collaborate, share, and ultimately take control of their own learning. Consider how educational technology can supplement and enhance the English teaching and learning experience. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, consider how all of this can better prepare students for the ever-changing demands of the adult world they will soon enter.

Follow our progress on Twitter: @Kristiehennis & @mrBronke in #bronke3, and at findyouredspark.com.

referencesProject Tomorrow. (2013). Learning in the 21st century: Digital

experiences and expectations of tomorrow’s teachers. Speak Up 2013. Retrieved from http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/tomorrowsteachers_report2013.html

Vogt, K. (2016). How next gen learning can support student agency. Next Generation Learning Challenges. Retrieved from https://www.nextgenlearning.org/articles/how-next-gen-learning-can-support-student-agency

the Future of learning impacts the Future of work

what is the Future of work?

From Classroom to workplace

Student Self-aSSeSSment documentaion in google SheetS

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