Areas of Opportunity and Planning Our First Build Cycle
In our first interviews with teachers we identified some areas of opportunity, or places in the teaching experience where we could effect some change.
Note: Teacher names are pseudonymized in this post
Teacher/Administrator or Teacher/Teacher Feedback
Description: Both teachers we spoke to before compiling this document mentioned the role that feedback played in their teaching. They explained that the way feedback is handled can have a large impact on how well a teacher is able to adjust their teaching strategies and maintain motivation. We think there is opportunity here because the current systems that our teachers mentioned were considered to be less than ideal. Brenna described the BTSA support/feedback program for new teachers as mostly useless paperwork that was not aligned with her personal goals, and Brad implied that administration feedback was infrequent and strained teacher-administration relationships because it could affect how much the teachers were paid. Both Brenna and Brad also described the methods that they used personally to make up for the missing feedback, and we think that if we gather more information in this area, we will be able to generate some interesting solutions.
In what ways do the current mechanisms strain relationships?
What does the ideal feedback tool look like in terms of the problem areas Brad and Brenna mentioned?
How frequent is frequent enough?
Student Goal Setting and Reflection
Description: Brenna spoke a bit to the uncertainty around implementing self-directed learning structures, particularly goal-setting and reflection. In encouraging SMART goals, it is easy for teachers to quickly determine that a proposed goal is or is not Specific, Measurable, or Time-bound, but it is more difficult to appraise Achievability, and could be nearly impossible to determine Relevance without a significant student-teacher relationship. In short, it’s difficult to measure the authenticity of a goal. An app that helps teachers be more effective in guiding the goal-setting process and getting a sense of goal authenticity would be helpful.
Most reflective activities seem to require substantial authenticity to be effective. We want to make sure that students are not just ‘going through the motions’ but meaningfully reflecting. At the same time, reflective structures should be useful to the students, not simply busywork or unnecessary scaffolding. Helping teachers engage students in meaningful reflection on their goals could significantly improve teacher and student experience.
What happens when student goals don’t align with teachers, or care about different things?
Why is it difficult for Brenna to gauging Achievability or Relevance for her students’ goals? Does it have to do with a need for personal connection, and if so, why is this hard to develop?
Teacher-Teacher Sharing and Recommendations
Description: Brenna discussed how a lot of the technology she uses is her classroom, she adopted on the recommendation of another teacher in her school. For example, the other science teachers told her about the Plicker app they use, where they scan the class with their smartphones and students hold up printed QR codes to answer questions, as a sort of low-tech clicker system. Additionally, Brenna discusses how the science labs aren’t adequately stocked with lab equipment like force sensors, but the school has a cart of iPads and they make do with those instead.
From this, we’ve identified that teachers seem to put a lot of stock in what other teachers are using and doing, a lot more stock than they put in a company or external force telling them what they should be doing. And a lot of teachers are making ends meet or making do with inadequate resources and have come up with creative ways to solve their problems. We think we could connect these categories into a system where teachers can share and recommend systems to one another - be in cool tech to use in the classroom, or creative ways to work around resource shortages that could inspire other teachers with similar problems. A large network like this could allow greater sharing of ideas in an easy-to-find format to connect teachers with teachers outside their school but facing similar issues.
How can we encourage a switch from passive resource discovery (having it presented to them) to active (going out and looking for it)?
What is the ideal resource discovery system for teachers? How would they prefer to receive/browse this information?
Description: Brenna told us a lot about her various experiences as a new teacher and the different support systems she had experienced. Brad told us about how teacher-teacher support had helped him develop classroom activities. We think that this is an area of opportunity because the systems that seem to work well are currently something that teachers either self-design or are only available through student-teaching programs like the one Brenna participated in at Stanford. We heard a lot about how more-experienced teachers support new teachers by answering questions and suggesting solutions. This happens on an informal basis, but when it is formalized successfully it can be really powerful. Brenna said that the most useful support she received was during her student-teaching, when she was working in a master teacher’s classroom and having meetings to discuss issues right after they happened. Working in this environment was helpful because she was able to have her questions answered by someone who was having similar experiences and teaching the same subject. She said: “[At Stanford] I was doing the things I wanted to do, and they were helping.”
In contrast, the support she received from California’s BTSA program was from a teacher who was not in her subject or grade level, and in order to complete the paperwork and get checked off by the program she has to do extra work to make the work she is already doing fit the program requirements. The bureaucratic structure of the program is not designed to support her activities so much as to help her conform to a broad standard.
How do other teachers feel?
What constitutes good and bad feedback from mentors? What do they look for in a mentor or supporting teacher?
Do mentors look for mentees, or vice versa?
Getting Students Attention without Disrupting Them
Description: Brad talked about how, at the beginning of class, students are often engaged in discussions that are relevant and useful to them. He doesn’t want them to stop and lose the value they were gaining from the discussions if they are just cut off, but he needs them to wrap up in a timely manner so he can begin class. He would like a way to get student’s attention and alert them that he would like to begin class, so that they can finish their discussions naturally without a sudden ending. He needs them to be aware of wrapping up soon, but not immediately, and something noticeable, but not disruptive.
How do teachers currently deal with the situation?
What about ways to get a single student’s attention without calling them out in front of the whole class?
What We’re Making for Our First Build Cycle
For our first build cycle, we decided to focus on teacher/administrator feedback. During our first few interviews, we consistently heard that aspects of this system were challenging for teachers, and we found that there were instantly a lot of ideas that we could play with in this space.
Our idea is a feedback system for teachers and administrators. In our interviews we learned that teachers often record their classes, through video or voice recording, and then reflect on what they are doing well and how they can improve. Our application will allow teachers to upload these recordings and then select two small samples of classroom interaction to send to administrators. One sample will be of an interaction that the teacher thought went especially well, and the other will be an area where the teacher wants feedback on how to improve. Because the samples are short, administrators will be able to review them and communicate with teachers on a regular basis. They can offer resources to help the teachers or engage in dialog. As a result administrators will be better attuned to what is going on in classrooms and when they have to come supervise classes in an official capacity, they will have context for the issues they are seeing.
The idea we have settled on will hopefully engage teachers and administrators in a consistent feedback loop, rather than stressful and infrequent classroom visits. Our goal is to allow teachers to set their own goals for their classrooms while keeping administrators involved in this conversation. We also think that this system could be extended to teacher/teacher feedback, or even self-reflection. We are excited to do more research and user-feedback sessions as we build our prototype and improve knowledge of this area of opportunity.
