4/17 WHAT I LEARNED IN GRAD SCHOOL...

 

1. Skills: My analytical writing skills have improved. They improved drastically over the course of my undergrad career and then improved even more this year. I know this learning has happened because I recognize a difference in the thought processes that take place whenever I sit down to write a paper. Now, I'm thinking about ways to challenge authors' assumptions and how to piece together arguments from different sources in order to form my own original argument. In addition to improving my writing, I have also learned how to analyze policies and organizations (thanks to Milbrey McLaughlin and Gilli Drori).

 

2. What I want to do for the next two years: Ironically, I did the POLS program instead of the STEP program because I didn't want to commit to teaching right after college--I wanted more exposure to all of the career possibilities in the field of education before I made that decision. Within the first month of POLS, however, I realized that I needed (and wanted) to go into teaching. Both the amazing experiences that many of my peers had as teachers and the belief that I will be a more effective leader if I gain experience in the classroom first, motivated me to try teaching next year.

 

3.  A ton of content: Whether it's information about charter schools, vouchers, community involvement in education, progressive reform, etc., I've gained enough content knowledge to be able to field more education questions that come my way and to understand educational issues that I read about in the news on a more sophisticated level. During my undergrad career, I had no "speciality" in content knowledge (I just knew a lot of random stuff). Now, I feel I'm starting to develop a specialty in a content area, which is a good feeling. :)

 

 

Jessie- Ashley, I think it's great that you are going to try out teaching next year. Have you already decided where and what level? I agree that I have improved my writing skills and gained an understanding of a large amount of content during the past several months. I saw your post on my page and would be curious to hear what work you did in AP? I had an opportunity to work in Hyderabad for a few months, but it was not in an education capacity. While there I did volunteer instruction at an orphanage which was an amazing experience. I definitely want to go back and do education-related work at some point...

 

Paitra-  I think that is great, it is amazing how much goes into figuring that out, and I think it is the most important!

 

MY GOALS

 

My major goals for graduate school include: 1) to gain a broad overview and understanding of past and present efforts that promote social justice in the field of education, and 2) to learn information and strategies that will enable me to be an effective classroom teacher next year and ultimately an effective leader in the field of education.

 

My goal for this class is to develop an understanding of how to design learning spaces, particularly in school settings. As mentioned above, I will be teaching next year for the first time (with Teach for America) and know that the principles I learn this quarter will be extremely helpful.

 

Dan - Ashley, thanks for sharing.   In general, schools at the primary levels (K - 6) tend to be fantastic at organizing space to support a wide variety of leaning activities.  Small groups of desks, science stations, public displays of student work, etc.  My experience has been that the obstacels for thinking creatively about space in schools have been cultural far more than financial.   One of mhy goals for this class is that students feel empowered to initiate discussions of space in the settings that they go on to beyond Stanford.

 

Lin - Hi Ashley, Thanks for your story. I am also planning to teach after LDT program and interested in effective space designs in school settings. Although I don't have any previous experience learning about desgin, I think this class will be very helpful for future teachers like you and me to get a sense of making formal learning places more meaningful and pleasant. I hope you have a great time in this class, and I also wish you the best for your future teaching career.

 

Andrew--Ashley, I am glad you are thinking about the spaces you will be teaching in.  As a teacher of five years I can tell you that the physical environment has a tremendous amount of impact on a student's learning.  One thing that you could think about is getting your students involved in the design of their learning space.  Once you have established class norms you could open the design process to them and ask them how they would like to change the space so that it meets the goals of the class.  This would be a great opportunity for them to be reflective on the goals and norms of the class and think how they can translate those norms into specific actions such as rearanging or remaking theiir environment.  A fun activity would be to come up with a set of norms for a different group of people and have them design that learning space first and then do it for real with your classroom.  Have fun teaching!

 

Rolf - Great Discussion, Ashley, Lin, and Andrew! This is a school based project from last year that might be worth browsing for a few minutes. They had to deal with some pretty interesting constraints... including not knowing if the school would even be there in 2 years! http://www.stanford.edu/class/educ303x/2007archive/ProjectTeams.SCC.html

 

 

 

Field Trip Write-Up

826 Valencia: The Writing Center

 

During our second conference call with the NOCCA leadership, Andrea Chen recommended that our team check out a non-profit called 826 Valencia: The Writing Center, located in San Francisco. At the time, we were a little fuzzy on the reason why this organization seemed relevant to NOCCA’s library redesign project. I think Tirzah and I remained a little confused even after stepping foot into 826 Valencia’s building for the first time because the entire front part of the building is a pirate supply shop. The man working at the front desk of the place informed us that they could only get space for the non-profit if they were selling something. There is apparently an 826 Valencia: Writing Center in other cities across the country, each with a front shop of a different theme (i.e. super heroes and secret agents).

This man told us that in a nutshell, 826 Valencia: The Writing Center is a non-profit that aims to support students ages 6-18 with their writing skills and to help teachers get their students excited about writing. They host field trips, writing workshops, and after-school tutoring.

To get a sense of the space (we were not allowed to take pictures inside), please see the rough sketch below.

 

The big area behind the pirate supply shop is the actual writing center. There are many tables for students to work at and a little nook that serves as a hangout area, which we learned was a primarily a place for teens to hang out. The tables are all facing a big whiteboard that can be written on or projected on during programs. There is also a back room where there are computers where students can word process their work. On the walls of the writing center, there are rough drafts of writing framed on the walls to highlight the importance of the writing process. Another interesting space is in the pirate supply shop, where there is a fish tank viewing room, with 3 movie theater chairs. On the walls of this dark, tiny viewing room, are short creative writing pieces about the fish.

Although the reason we were referred to this place for the library redesign project is not entirely clear, there are some cool things to consider when designing the NOCCA library. For example, I like the huge whiteboard/projection display. This could enable Matt, the NOCCA librarian, to do some programming in the library. I also think that highlighting the writing process is extremely important. Having a tiny hangout area within the writing center is also a nice concept. For the NOCCA library, we’re considering having compartmentalized spaces (one space for working and one for hanging out). I also like the fish tank viewing room. I think that having a fish tank is a really neat idea. Tirzah and I just sat and talked in front of the fish tank for about 30 minutes about ideas for the NOCCA library. Looking at the colorful fish is extremely captivating and inspiring.

This place is extremely interesting. I would like to come back during a full-on tutoring session or workshop to see how the space is actually used.

The front of 826 Valencia.

 

 

The fish tank!!! I really want to see one of these in the library. It inspires creativity and encourages relaxation.

 

Dan - Sounds like a fascinating place, I wonder what your PWR instructors would think of this place.  I'm glad to read that you went to a place that wasn't exactly clearly linked to your team project.  It sounds like you found that useful.   I am interested in hearing more about your thoughts on transitions between individual and collaborative work that started to surface in this trip.  Well done.

 

Terman Engineering Library-Reflection

 

The Terman Engineering Library is on the second floor of the Terman Engineering building on the west side of campus. The Terman building itself is a relatively social/noisy building (there's a cafe on the bottom floor, which contributes to the noise), however, the library is extremely quiet--I worried about making even the slightest noise when walking around. As a result, this space seems to foster individual learning. The furniture and design of the space confirms this point. There are many individual study booths all over this three-story library (there are even a couple maps that highlight where all the individual study booths can be found!). There are also VCR listening stations for individual use. There are also half tables built into the stacks so that users can pull a book from the shelf and do work immediately (NOTE: remember this for NOCCA design).

 

I did not see any students interacting with each other in this space; I think this is a missed opportunity. For example, there is enough room in the library to add a few seminar rooms designed for collaboration (equipped with smart boards, whiteboards, etc.). While the cafe on the bottom floor is probably considered a social space for engineers, I think that having collaboration spaces designed for more academic interactions would be extremely valuable...especially because many of my engineer friends have to work on team projects!

 

Generally speaking, I believe libraries should have different spaces for engaging in different types of activities--more quiet/individual work AND more collaborative/social engagement. This can be solved by partioning off different spaces with flexible/movable walls! There are so many resources in libraries and students should have the opportunities to interact with the resources in many different ways!! NOTE: readers should see NOCCA team page for more thoughts on this topic. :)

 

Dan - Interesting to hear that you worried about making the smallest noise, that somehow you would absolutely destroy the experience for everyone by just dropping a book or something.  I like your specific note about the half tables that pull out from the stacks.  The School of Engineering is building an entire new campus with a new library - who is going to make the case for more collaborative spaces in the library?  As with your field trip above it was very helpful to see references to your specific team project.