Learning Manifesto

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All Students Can Learn
My Learning Manifesto
By: Quincy Granderson

What am I Passionate About?
I am truly passionate about helping all students learn. Growing up I
struggled in school and many times I felt very intimidated about asking for help
from the teacher. I could feel their frustration when I did not get what they were
trying to teach me. It always made me feel bad because I did not get it. I had to
find what worked for me. I learned as I grew older that I am a very visual learner.
But when I hear it, see it, and do it I learn the best. Projects were I was able to do
things and put things together were always my strengths. I remember building a
solar system out of foam and
wire. I was able to show my
talents. It had an impact on me
because I remember telling
myself that if I could do projects
to show my learning I would be
a strait A student. I would be able to learn much more effectively. In my
classroom I want to be able to show my students different ways to do things. I
know that everything is not going to work the same for everyone. Differentiation
is the key. I currently teach a Personal Learning Plan Class. So I am in a unique
situation where I am able to help my students do this. I help them to find what
works for them. They come to my class to work on other classes homework,

similar to a study hall. So when they are with me I am able to give them different
tools to help them learn differently. I love it when they find something that works
for them and they get that “lightbulb” moment. That is what teaching is all about.
Digital Learning Issues
I think some of the issues related to digital learning is the fact that many
teachers are afraid to adopt new technology. There are many reasons for this.
Does it help with student engagement, does it help facilitate learning, does it take a
long time to learn, what do I have to pay for it, is it easy to use? Technology needs
to engage students. When this does not happen like you plan it to, it could cost you
a lot of time. All the time you invested into setting up the lesson, working through
the lesson,
facilitating
have to
because it did
was intended
you are trying
and
learning may
change
not do as it
to do. So
to change the
outcome before the next class comes in which is an almost impossible task. Then
you have to figure out if students were engaged, did the technology facilitate the
learning, or did it just distract the learning.

A recent survey conducted by the Nevada State Education
Association revealed that teachers don’t have enough time to prepare for their jobs
during the workday, 21 percent of them spend more than 15 hours outside of their
workday to prep for lessons. They do not have time to learn new technology on
top of that. Many districts do not provide professional development to learn the
new technology effectively. Many teachers are evaluated for using technology in
their classroom but few districts actually provide the training to integrate it
effectively in their classrooms.
Image by https://images.app.goo.gl/8vKDDYMnudY9buTJA
Many teachers spend an average of $479 of their own money for data
integration, according to data from the 2015-16 National Teacher and Principal
Survey, a nationally representative sample survey of teachers and principals in the
50 states and the District of Columbia that’s conducted by the U.S. Department of

Education. Teachers are already unpaid and then are expected to spend more of
their money on integrating the technology in their classrooms. Lots of apps offer
free parts of their programs but to get all the perks you have to pay for them.
Information technology departments are usually already spread thin and when you
add teachers trying different technology platforms the infrastructures need to be
able to support this and many do not. I know in my district many videos and other
apps that I have used over the years will now sometimes not work because of
filters and blocked sites. This makes it difficult to provide my students with
different avenues of learning. Just this year Scholastic.com was blocked and after
many emails and conversations (4 weeks) the website was finally unblocked.
This can be very frustrating when you have lessons you were planning on using
and then have to change directions due to technology issues.

What is Wrong with Education and How Can We Enhance It?
I think what is wrong with education is that we struggle to reach the students
that do not learn the same as everyone else. We have to differentiate learning.
Educator Leslie Owen Wilson supports differentiating instruction within the
classroom, finding that lecture is the least effective instructional strategy, with only
5 to 10 percent retention after 24 hours. When children can learn in a way that
makes sense to them, students will actually learn and not just regurgitate
information. They become excited about learning. The main thing about
differentiation in learning is the environment. Teachers have to have a classroom
where everyone can feel safe and able to ask questions. If the culture of the
school/classroom is not welcoming many students that struggle with not feel like
the can learn. You have to let your students know that they have just not learned
the material “yet.” This is
accredited to Carol Dweck
and her “growth mindset.”
We can all learn we just
have to find out what
works for us. We will all
fail but we have to learn from our failures and move forward. Many times teachers
are so over worked and over whelmed that it doesn’t occur to them that they have

to be their student’s biggest supporter at times. We are not there to teach our
students, we are there to help facilitate their learning and give them the tools to be
successful. Technology is just one way to do this. We also need to teach our
teachers that technology is not about just using the apps but actually getting
something out of them. Students need to be engaged and technology needs to help
facilitate learning. We have to learn with our students and let them know that we
are life ling learners as well. We have to learn what works for us and what doesn’t
the same way we differentiate our students learning. Giving our students different
ways of learning and also giving our students different ways of demonstrating that
knowledge builds confidence in their learning.
Image from: https://images.app.goo.gl/riiuTRU33FpGJLyb6

Core Belief System About Digital Learning and
What Can I do Within My Organization?
I belief that anyone can learn. With that being said in order to get digital
leaning into the classroom, teachers have to have professional development that
promote this and they have to be supported within their school districts by
principals and information technology departments. Without this teacher will have
an uphill battle within their school. We will not be able to effectively use
technology within our classrooms.
Image from: https://images.app.goo.gl/EibKqVPYTJcTBmmL8

I plan to offer differentiation within my classroom that students can transfer
over into other classes. I would like my students to take a learning inventory on
how they learn. Are they visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners? Let them learn
what works for them. With this they can have a voice what works for them and
gives them the power on how they need to study in order to be the most successful.
We have to teach them that they can do it, it just may look a little different
for everyone. According to Biancarosa and Snow (2020) “A full 70 percent of
U.S. middle and high school students require differentiated instruction, which is
instruction targeted to their individual strengths and weaknesses.” We need to give
a variety of learning methods
to our students and not be
afraid to try different things
because we want to be able to
reach all of our students. We
have to be able to enhance
students learning by offering
support based on individual needs (Weselby, 2014). This may be in the form of
accommodations such as; providing a copy of notes with visuals, allowing some
learners to listen to audio books, or let others complete an interactive assignment
online. We need to let them show mastery in a variety of ways without always

focusing on pencil and paper tests. This could look like an audio report, a diorama,
a graphic organizer of what they know. When students are given a choice they
take more ownership of their learning. We also have to build relationships with
our students. We have to let them know that they are safe within our classrooms
and that they are allowed to be themselves. Once they know we are invested in
them they will give us everything they have and the real learning will begin.

Retrieved from: https://education.cu-
References:
Biancarosa, G and Snow, C. (2020) Reading Next.
Retrieved from: http://www.adlit.org/article/19784/
Carlson, T. (2019). Here’s Why Teachers Adopt New Tech and Why They Don’t.
Retrieved from: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-05-29-here-s-why-teachers-adopt-newtech-and-why-they-don-t
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
Growth Mindset Image.
Retrieved from: https://images.app.goo.gl/jibWEaVgc8GKNh5h8
National Center for Educational Statistics.
Retrieved from: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass0708_004_t1n.asp
Nevada State Education Association Survey.
Retrieved from: http://www.nsea-nv.org/
Solar System Image.
Retrieved from: https://images.app.goo.gl/n21ez1izEN2wZPT86
Technology image.
Retrieved from: https://images.app.goo.gl/WSYDhbCEjGhWyVNv6
Technology image.
Retrieved from: Image from: https://images.app.goo.gl/Fhecm1e2pf8jg1wX7
Weselby, C. (2014), What is Differentiated Instruction? Examples of How to Differentiate
Instruction in the Classroom.
portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/examples-ofdifferentiated-instruction/
Wilson, K. O. (2019) The Second Principal.
Retrieved from: https://thesecondprinciple.com/