Thomas Sherlock - Home

The Next 5 Years

5/6/2016

GOALS: My overarching goal has always revolved around seeking out ways to improve myself professionally. One area of focus centers around increasing student learning. This year I have focused on the experience I provide students to make this happen. Throughout my years of teaching I have developed an efficient system to improve student performance as it relates to knowledge and skills, but I’ve neglected to develop the behaviors, values, and preferences that are equally as important. I’ve been imposing my values, behaviors, and preferences, which provides results in the short term, but suppresses a student’s natural curiosity about the world. Therefore, I intend on making curiosity, play, and exploration more of a priority as I move forward.

ANTICIPATING CHANGE: To be honest, I am tired of technology. Everyone talks about preparing students for jobs we know nothing about. Robots, wires, programming are going to consume the world we live in and we need to prepare our kids or else! Whatever. The change I anticipate has to do with how we approach learning, not exposing kids to the latest and greatest in educational technology. The path we are on with testing has not been a good one. Educational policy needs to be reshaped and theories that allow teachers and students to cultivate the natural process of learning must be embraced.

NETWORK DIVERSITY: I need to do a better job with networking and broadening the range of my connections. I guess it is human nature to seek out like-minded people, but this just leads to an echo chamber of similar experiences and perspectives. It's tougher relating to people who don't share the same exact backgrounds as me, but the effort to seek out diversity will no doubt pay off. The MSUrbanSTEM has been a positive experience, in that it has expanded my scope, provided a platform to connect with a broad range of colleagues, and has highlighted the importance of connecting with others.

ABANDONING THE PAST: If you do not create change, change will create you. So, it is only natural to embrace the new, and let go of the old. Abandoning the past is a natural process of how we grow and change professionally and personally. It is about closing one chapter and opening another one. Abandoning the past is synonymous with new beginnings, and the results will only bring excitement to teaching.

Final ImagineIT Report

4/29/2016

From some of our strongest emotions come some of our greatest sources of inspiration. We all seek to have positive experiences and responses throughout our life. Yet, it is naive to believe that we can avoid anger, fear, rage, and frustration. The design process is often frustrating and infuriating, but there are those moments when it can be fascinating. Afterall, without any pressure, there would be no diamonds. One of the biggest lessons I have learned this year is to teach my students about failure. Nothing is worse for students than failing in a project, especially after spending time and effort in the development of ideas and turning them into a final product. On the other hand, failure can be a unique opportunity to learn and improve one’s self. Designing experiments, prototypes, and interactions and testing them is at the heart of design process. Yet, so is an understanding that not all of them are going to work. As we seek to solve big problems, we’re bound to fail. But if we adopt the right mindset, we’ll inevitably learn something from that failure.

Throughout this past year, I have had many conversations with my peer and focus group on the concept of STEM education most have embraced it. In fact, there is widespread consensus that our education system needs to do a better job at promoting and supporting STEM education. Yet the problems remain. Our education system is designed to reward success based on attributes that are measureable. MSU doesn’t admit students that demonstrate the ability to learn from failure, they reward students that demonstrate the ability to recall facts on an ACT/SAT exam. So, until policies change from the top down, teachers will still be pressured to give students all the answers, students will be focused on improving their scores, and failure will continue to be frowned upon.

Setting Goals: Instrumental and Missional Thinking

3/13/2016

Short Term: Engage more early childhood students in STEM education.

The is no doubt that a best practice in education is to break away from passive instruction and allow students/kids for time more play and investigation. We have a good start going at our school, but I would we need to continue to push this practice down to K-3. It goes without saying that if we can provide more opportunities at an earlier age that our students will builds the skills and interests that will serve them throughout their school years, and later in life.

Long Term: Provide more avenues to develop students intellectual curiosity.

I personally have never seen a student that was not curious about something. Yet, I have seen, and been a part of, suppressing student curiosity to such an extent as to be nearly undetectable. Because all students can learn, much of educational reform has been dedicated to bolstering numbers in the high-stakes testing game of student assessment. We have lost sight of an important clue in helping our students succeed—that curiosity is an essential ingredient in wanting to learn. I realize this is debatable, but the focus of this writing is on looking forward. So, I would like to create more of a balance. Fostering curiosity is the key to learning, it's difficult to achieve in the classroom, but something I would like to strive for.

ImagineIT: Spring Update II

3/5/2016

The focus of my ImagineIt project is to use audio and video as a pedagogical tool for learning. In short, I seem to be drifting around. My project doesn’t seem to hit on a specific plan or purpose. Yet, I am ok with that. I just haven’t found the right fit for how audio and video can be integrated into my work. That isn’t to say that I haven’t made progress, and I still feel I have been productive and learned a lot from tinkering around with things and ideas. Previously, I wanted to make videos that assisted students in discovering more about the projects they are working on. Although that has failed, what’s actually been occurring is students are developing their skills at exploring and researching videos on their own. Maybe this is the modern day style of research? Why read about it, when you can listen and see it? Students are learning to be critical of the videos, what videos have valuable content, and which videos do not. I feel many students are starting to break out of the traditional mold where the teacher provides the answers, rather than tries to their questions on their own. Although I will facilitate when things get complicated, students are learning that I am not their to give them the answer. Students have been working with Snap Circuits, Makey Makey, Adobe Photoshop, etc., They get these tools without any prior knowledge and are learning to explore the unknown.
Another side project I have started is to get third graders and fifth graders to create blogs. We are trying to encourage the students to do more writing. I plan to incorporate an audio component into the blog, where students record themselves and post it to their blog. It would also be interesting to see how video can be incorporated into this project as well. So, to sum up, my plan hasn’t gone the way I want, but I am learning and making progress as I try to follow the principles of STEM.

Rocking the Boat

2/22/2016

Task Zero, Review:
Anyone who has chosen to be an agent of change, hasn’t chosen an easy job. Debra Meyerson tackles the subject of organization change in her book Rocking The Boat. In her book, Meyerson shows that the most effective radicals are those who have learned to both oppose and conform at the same time. As she puts it, ‘they are able to rock the boat and yet stay in it’. Meyerson describes how it is possible to challenge the status quo at various levels and develop an ability to walk the fine line by looking into the pros and cons of the situation. She details the process of change by focusing in on three areas: first, how to define a tempered radical. Second, how these radicals bring about organizational change. Third, the potential challenges that these radicals face.
In the first section, Meyerson lays the groundwork by introducing us to the tempered radical. She provides examples that define a tempered radical as a person who exists as an outsider within an organization because her values and identity differ from the majority. These are the people that want to fit in yet they want to retain what makes them different. The second section focuses on how tempered radicals introduce change through individual effort. Meyerson explains the psychological aspects of resisting and making a difference, how threat can be turned into opportunity, and how negotiation is used to bridge the gaps. She also describes how small wins create opportunity. The final section of the book deals with the potential challenges that can be emerge. Meyerson describes the difficulties and how to deal with the psychological pressures that can arise.

Task One, How am I different?
To a certain extent, I can identify with each of the ways people experience “difference” from the majority. Yet, the area that resonates the most with me is in having philosophical differences, particularly with some of my colleagues. I have strong opinions on curriculum choices, pedagogical approaches, and how classrooms should be managed. I share my opinions, and evidence to back up my position, and I’m often unapologetic in my desire to advance them. What might be most surprising is that many of the positions I hold on curriculum, pedagogy, and classroom management, conflict with the very foundations of the STEM approach to learning. I don’t want to get into details, but the educational system, particularly in Chicago, is too bureaucratic. The threat of scores, accountability, and evaluations is very real in our system. So, much of the change I seek has less to do with rocking the boat as it relates to STEM, and more to do with just making sure the boat stays afloat. I also differ from Meyerson viewpoint, in that I don’t resisting change quietly. This might be good, or it might be bad, but it’s often how I approach what I believe needs to changed. I agree that negotiation is part of the process, that you leverage small wins, and it is necessary to organize collective action, which is no small task.

Task Two, Becoming a Tempered Radical:
Where I am at on the continuum depends on what I am trying to accomplish. With some of my broader agenda items, specifically with curriculum content, I am leveraging small wins. Other items, for example, the flow of language arts in the classroom, I am still in the broadening through negotiation stage. The goals I set could be specific to a classroom or could be something I feel should be implemented school wide.
There are many lessons that I could take away from this book. One of the biggest lessons I can take away from the book is that the only rules that matter are the ones that are right for me. I don’t like to blindly accept things I don’t agree with. I feel that my personal goals are aligned closely with those of the school I work for, but I am “still nudging at the system — and those little nudges make a difference."

Task Three, Facing challenges:
As Meyerson notes, “Challenges and obstacles may be an inevitable part of tempered radicals’ swim up the tide,” so figuring out how to manage these challenges is important. The first challenge that Meyerson covers is ambivalence, she describes the challenge of ambivalence as simultaneously holding opposing feelings toward the same object. Certainly, there are ways of doing things that are in place, for example the STEM approach to learning, that is an approach to learning that I support, but understand teachers don’t implement when they have to make sure student scores are high or they lose their jobs. Another major challenge that Meyerson writes about is the lure toward co-optation. Basically, describes this challenges as a struggle against conformity. Many organizations reward people based on maintaining the status quo and showing loyalty. I am a team player, but I have my agenda and how I think things should be, and will voice my opinion if I think it is in the best interest of the team. So, again there is a line that should not be crossed, and if that line is crossed, Meyerson explains how reputation can be damaged and legitimacy lost. I have crossed the line, and it has taught me that sometimes my opinion is best reserved to keep to myself. Lastly, Meyerson describes how radicals can become frustrated and burned out for trying to create change for such a long time. There is no doubt that there are those moments that I question the purpose and whether or not it is really worth the effort. At the end of the day, I have to remember to be thankful for the opportunity to have a job, and maybe trying to create change shouldn’t be such a priority.

ImagineIT: Spring Update I

2/15/2016

The focus of my ImagineIt project is to use audio and video as a pedagogical tool for learning. I have made some progress with video, but not as much as hoped to. With testing season arriving soon, and teacher’s ratings and jobs on the line, I’m not sure I’ll be able to make much progress either. I’m not sure what the reasons are, but students don’t seem to really want to dive into film. On the surface, the students are interested, but I am not finding the students that are willing to take the equipment and run with it. I realize the software and equipment can be a challenge to learn, but I was hoping for more students to be self-motivated and experiment and explore what they can do with the variety of resources our school has. So, in this sense, I am little disappointed.
I have some students that are interested in using some of the audio equipment we have. I am going to arrange some time for these students to play around with it. Previously, I had some students who were interested in using the equipment. I arrange some time in the morning for the students to work before school started. I felt that if students really wanted to learn, they would make the effort to arrive a little earlier before school began. It lasted for a few days, and the students stopped coming in. They still show interest, but haven’t been determined enough to put forth some effort. So, this is what I am dealing with, a lack of time on my end, and a lack of desire on their end.

Digital Presence

2/7/2016

Thomas Sherlock

I did a Google search for ‘Thomas Sherlock’ and the first result was from Wikipedia. I discovered that I was a British divine who was born in 1678 and served as a Church of England bishop for 33 years. I am also a Professor of Political Science at West Point. Really, after Googling my name, I didn’t find anything surprising. There are only two images that are related to me that appear in the image search section, a picture from MSUrbanSTEM and the other is from my Twitter account. Ever since I started to use social media, I have been conscious of what I share. My content settings are set to private for the majority of the media I use, and for the most part, all of the content I share is rated ‘G’. I work and spend time with my family, so the content that I share reflects that. If I could change anything, I would like to have more of a work related digital presence. The MSUrbanSTEM course has pushed me to share and connect, but I should try to more.

ImagineIT Timeline: Spring 2016

1/31/2016

My project has taken many twists and turns throughout the course of this year. Ideas, things I want to try or explore with video, always come to mind and how I can use video to enhance the classroom experience for students. I would’ve like to seen more progress with initial goal of having students create videos, but some of the obstacles have been a challenge to overcome. To sum up the project: I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
I teach in a STEM lab, and my students are working on different projects at different times. This in itself is a challenge, especially when the students are so used to being told what to do. The goal of the STEM lab is to get kids to explore and discover answers on their own. To jumpstart the process, my students need some background knowledge of how some of the tools we have function. In general, most of my students don’t want to read and follow a scripted Powerpoint that provides background knowledge on science or math behind the tool. For example, most students don’t want to read through the physics involved in building bridges, they rather get to exploration part of how a program like West Point Bridge Builder works. I can’t blame them, I would skip ahead too. So, I would like to travel down the flipped classroom model a bit more.
This semester, I would like to compile some videos that would provide some basics on how things work in the lab. If students are learning to program a Lego EV3, I want to have some video resources available that show them how to get up and running. My students are too needy, and I don’t have the time to go one by one and hold their hand as they struggle with how to solve problems on their own. So, my wildest hope for this project would be to see my students work on different projects, at different times, not asking me to tell them what to do, and discovering how useful video is as a resource for learning anything!

In the Room Activity - Digital Quickfire

1/24/2016

ImagineIT — Phase 6 Final ImagineIT Report

12/13/2015

The big takeaway from What Should I Do? Confronting Dilemmas of Teaching in Urban Schools book, is that a teacher must be a dilemma manager. Teachers have to deal with dilemmas on a daily basis. The book highlights some of the biggest challenges that teachers face in urban schools. The dilemmas I still struggle with are the curriculum and deciding on how much control I should have over the video projects students produce. My second dilemma revolves around assessment and how to critique the content presented, as well as, the way it is presented in a video. The most important part is understanding my struggle, is trying to evolve and make choices that can make effective change.
My focus group of students also provided me with some feedback on my dilemmas, yet the suggestions were not as useful as the feedback I received from colleagues. One interesting suggestion that was given was to have video project roles. Some of the suggested roles included director, producer, researcher, script writer, artist, set designer, camera operator, sound, and actors. Depending on the number of people involved with the video project, roles could be combined and assigned to one person, or could be assigned to two people to work as partners in the same role. Students also suggested that they assess each other's projects.
After explaining my ImaginIT project and dilemmas, my colleagues provided me with some great suggestions. Both Sandra and Preston thought that it was important to create a balance for both my dilemmas. My colleagues thought that I should require students to outline project goals before searching or creating media to use in the project. They also suggested that I require students to write a script and submit it before they start using the production tools. Once an outline has been established and approved, I can then encourage them to use their creativity to interpret and demonstrate their understanding of the required content.
The biggest insight I have with my ImagineIT seems to revolve around the concept of power. Effective teachers providing students with many ways of meeting their students’ need for power. If I empower students by giving them a voice in the classroom and really listen to what they say, if I provide all students with recognition for the unique strengths they bring to the class, and if I provide students with other ways of feeling like they make important contributions to the class, I just might create an empowering environment.

Looking forward, what key items would I change when I implement round 2?