Research Check-In

So, if someone is reading this from outside my class, here’s the deal: I am currently taking part in the Seven Valley’s Writing Project, a part of the National Writing Project and SUNY Cortland. I am conducting professional research about my own teaching and  long term goals, as well as developing effective literacy instruction for my class (Middle School Technology Education).

Right now my research stand as this: I see my goal. My goal is a class where I set the framework for learning, the objectives, the end-results for my students. That end result is a student who cares about how the designed world around them actually works, and feels comfortable diving into any technological problem, whether fixing their bike or building one from scratch. I don’t need my students to walk out of my class with all the answers, but rather have the ability to find their future answers themselves. Writing the entire time with relevant design journals where they share tidbits of important knowledge for the future, or arguing one side of another of the pressing technology problems of our time. This goal is becoming taller and sharper all the time.

On the other side of what is a rapidly appearing canyon in my mind is where I am right now. I am amassing a large and actually quite useful bank of information. I have learned (and come to believe) that effective literacy instruction involves students “writing-to-learn” and not just “learning-to-write” or, worse, just writing because the state says they have to in tech class. To give physical validity to my canyon metaphor, my “starting” side has an ever-growing stack of books, articles, and authors to help get me started.

So, maybe “canyon” sounds a bit dire, or negative, to describe where I currently am with my research. Here’s what I mean: I have a clear, defined starting point. I have a clear, defined ending point. Now it’s time to build a bridge.