Courtney Waters

Reflection 2

Reflection 2 - Teacher as Designer

  • September 11, 2020 at 6:42 PM
  • Visible to public

Crafting a lesson is both creative and analytical. As the TPACK and SAMR models show, each pedagogical choice is multi-faceted. A teacher must have an awareness of the context within which she teaches, must know her content well, must have developed a pedagogy rooted in both experience and training, and have an understanding of how to authentically implement technology as an asset rather than a distractor or "accessory". 


That being said, the end result is a lesson that is entirely unique to the teacher and her students. It is "novel". Teaching 17-year-olds to write complex, college-level literary analysis is an uphill battle, and no two years of teaching it goes exactly the same. It is an organic process that evolves as the expedition up the hill continues. Thus, "novel". I think frameworks such as these are a useful tool in hitting that "effective" mark. Considering content, pedagogy, technology, and the context of it all is a simple and fairly quick process that can produce a more effective lesson than if the framework wasn't used. Finally, both frameworks help a teacher design a whole product. So many lessons fall flat or are one dimensional simply because not enough thought was put into all aspects of it.

The lesson I focused on was one where students were working on literary analysis skills, particularly thesis writing. The goal was to write a thesis that was strong, as it identified complexity in the text. This would be accomplished through group collaboration, peer and teacher evaluation, and revision. Considering how this lesson should go within the framework of TPACK and SAMR ensured that this lesson would not only effectively meet my learning goals, but also use technology to more efficiently meet those goals. Considering the lesson through these frameworks felt intentional and purposeful -- I was taking what I normally do very quickly in my head and instead putting it on paper and really crafting/designing an experience that was deliberate, mindful, and purposeful.