A Wicked Problem By Keith Kingsbury (My Script)
My wicked problem comes out of a series of meetings at school last year. Our middle school NCA team and our school improvement team identified a need to improve vocabulary throughout the building in all subject areas. No one could agree on a strategy to address the need nor could they determine how everyone would be able meet the goal as a group. No one really knew how we could all put together a solution that would be easy for the staff to produce, easy for the kids to find and use, and meet the diverse needs of the teacher and the student. This wicked problem has two parts. First identify a research-based vocabulary strategy that will offer lists of terms by subject area and grade level. Second, identify a common technology that allows an entire staff to collaboratively, as well as individually, address their subject area vocabulary using a variety of
methods and media.
Wicked Solution:
In talking with several staff members from my building (this week) through Facebook, I decided that the most commonly
suggested solution to vocabulary instruction was Marzano. Therefore, I will be using Marzano's six step strategy for teaching vocabulary as the first part of my wicked solution. The final piece will be creating a webpage using Weebly.
Collaboration That Works:
The Weebly website will be divided by subject area so that each teacher is only responsible for his or her own subject area
information. The nice thing about using Weebly as a solution is that each subject area can be logged into their own section of the webpage at the same time. So the English teacher, math and social studies teacher could all be logged in and working on their page without limiting each other's access.
One Stop Solution:
A Weebly website is the best overall solution because of the great flexibility, collaboration, feedback, and versatility it offers.
If that weren't enough, then consider that it also gives students and teachers 24/7 access from anywhere. All this versatility and
power from one centralized location. Students no longer have to navigate from one teacher web page to another,
they just have to remember one website for all their vocabulary needs. No more "I forgot my vocabulary sheet at school," or "I can't find my vocabulary sheet," or "I lost my vocab list, that's why I couldn't study." A Weebly website will allow us to meet
our NCA and School Improvement goal effectively, efficiently and collectively while maintaining a high degree of consistency.
Diverse Elements for Diverse Learners
Another great feature of this solution is flexibility. A Weebly website allows teachers to use a rich diversity in their content delivery. Weebly offers teachers the ability to embed documents, video files, audio files, photogallaries, slideshows and much
more. This means that teachers can address the different learning styles of their students as well as address their
own pedagogical choices.
Let's take a quick look at this website in action:
Here I have created a home page for my students in computer class. That gives them some basic information about computer vocabulary and then tells them where to go next and how to get there. I have also embedded a document on this page so that they can review Marzano's six steps or reference them at another time if they need to.
If we move to Level One, you can see that there I have already completed this first vocabulary list. On this first level, I chose to give the work and it's definition as well as supply an image of the term that I thought best represented the meaning of the term.
I also included additional information about the term. Finally, I included an audio pronunciation of the work for students that
may not know how to say it or need it read to them. This is done for all the terms on this list.
You will see that the Next Three Levels are not finished. This will allow me to create them in a way that meets the needs of the students for that particular unit. For example, I might use Jing to show students what resources I want them to use and the format that I want the vocabulary put into. This is the incredible flexibility that Weebly webpage's offer. I am not cornered into one delivery method, but have many different options as I need them.
TPACK:
By carefully looking at this wicked problem through the TPACK model, I know that I have chosen a solution that finds the sweet
spot. Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Knowledge needs are met by a flexible and diverse Technological
Knowledge solution that enhances them rather than simply presents them in a flashy way using a different technology.
I am confident that by using the TPACK model in developing the solution to this wicked problem, that not only will this project be successful, but it will become a model for solving other wicked problems in the future.
Audience:
My Wicked Problem Presentationis directed specifically at the teachers in my building. The solution to the wicked problem will not only benefit them directly, but also benefit our students as well. This presentation could be played at a staff meeting as part of an introduction to our vocabulary teaching strategy or as an prequel to upcoming trainings on our buildings approach to vocabulary instruction. Professional development will need to be done to educate the staff on how to use Weebly. A member of the English department has already volunteered to give instruction in Marzano's six-step strategy for teaching vocabulary. Combining these two professional development opportunities will allow the staff to be quickly presented this real solution to our real problem. I am convinced that they will embrace this solution and move forward to make it a functional solution to this wicked problem and not just a project created for this course. In fact, the English teacher who is going to do the professional development is working on her section of the webpage this week.
Need and Opportunity Description--Technology Integration Strategy--Logistics--Research Supports--Implementation Plan--Indicators of Success:
Blog Post A
More TPACK Information:
Blog Post B
Want to check out my Vocabulary Website? Click Here
My wicked problem comes out of a series of meetings at school last year. Our middle school NCA team and our school improvement team identified a need to improve vocabulary throughout the building in all subject areas. No one could agree on a strategy to address the need nor could they determine how everyone would be able meet the goal as a group. No one really knew how we could all put together a solution that would be easy for the staff to produce, easy for the kids to find and use, and meet the diverse needs of the teacher and the student. This wicked problem has two parts. First identify a research-based vocabulary strategy that will offer lists of terms by subject area and grade level. Second, identify a common technology that allows an entire staff to collaboratively, as well as individually, address their subject area vocabulary using a variety of
methods and media.
Wicked Solution:
In talking with several staff members from my building (this week) through Facebook, I decided that the most commonly
suggested solution to vocabulary instruction was Marzano. Therefore, I will be using Marzano's six step strategy for teaching vocabulary as the first part of my wicked solution. The final piece will be creating a webpage using Weebly.
Collaboration That Works:
The Weebly website will be divided by subject area so that each teacher is only responsible for his or her own subject area
information. The nice thing about using Weebly as a solution is that each subject area can be logged into their own section of the webpage at the same time. So the English teacher, math and social studies teacher could all be logged in and working on their page without limiting each other's access.
One Stop Solution:
A Weebly website is the best overall solution because of the great flexibility, collaboration, feedback, and versatility it offers.
If that weren't enough, then consider that it also gives students and teachers 24/7 access from anywhere. All this versatility and
power from one centralized location. Students no longer have to navigate from one teacher web page to another,
they just have to remember one website for all their vocabulary needs. No more "I forgot my vocabulary sheet at school," or "I can't find my vocabulary sheet," or "I lost my vocab list, that's why I couldn't study." A Weebly website will allow us to meet
our NCA and School Improvement goal effectively, efficiently and collectively while maintaining a high degree of consistency.
Diverse Elements for Diverse Learners
Another great feature of this solution is flexibility. A Weebly website allows teachers to use a rich diversity in their content delivery. Weebly offers teachers the ability to embed documents, video files, audio files, photogallaries, slideshows and much
more. This means that teachers can address the different learning styles of their students as well as address their
own pedagogical choices.
Let's take a quick look at this website in action:
Here I have created a home page for my students in computer class. That gives them some basic information about computer vocabulary and then tells them where to go next and how to get there. I have also embedded a document on this page so that they can review Marzano's six steps or reference them at another time if they need to.
If we move to Level One, you can see that there I have already completed this first vocabulary list. On this first level, I chose to give the work and it's definition as well as supply an image of the term that I thought best represented the meaning of the term.
I also included additional information about the term. Finally, I included an audio pronunciation of the work for students that
may not know how to say it or need it read to them. This is done for all the terms on this list.
You will see that the Next Three Levels are not finished. This will allow me to create them in a way that meets the needs of the students for that particular unit. For example, I might use Jing to show students what resources I want them to use and the format that I want the vocabulary put into. This is the incredible flexibility that Weebly webpage's offer. I am not cornered into one delivery method, but have many different options as I need them.
TPACK:
By carefully looking at this wicked problem through the TPACK model, I know that I have chosen a solution that finds the sweet
spot. Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Knowledge needs are met by a flexible and diverse Technological
Knowledge solution that enhances them rather than simply presents them in a flashy way using a different technology.
I am confident that by using the TPACK model in developing the solution to this wicked problem, that not only will this project be successful, but it will become a model for solving other wicked problems in the future.
Audience:
My Wicked Problem Presentationis directed specifically at the teachers in my building. The solution to the wicked problem will not only benefit them directly, but also benefit our students as well. This presentation could be played at a staff meeting as part of an introduction to our vocabulary teaching strategy or as an prequel to upcoming trainings on our buildings approach to vocabulary instruction. Professional development will need to be done to educate the staff on how to use Weebly. A member of the English department has already volunteered to give instruction in Marzano's six-step strategy for teaching vocabulary. Combining these two professional development opportunities will allow the staff to be quickly presented this real solution to our real problem. I am convinced that they will embrace this solution and move forward to make it a functional solution to this wicked problem and not just a project created for this course. In fact, the English teacher who is going to do the professional development is working on her section of the webpage this week.
Need and Opportunity Description--Technology Integration Strategy--Logistics--Research Supports--Implementation Plan--Indicators of Success:
Blog Post A
More TPACK Information:
Blog Post B
Want to check out my Vocabulary Website? Click Here