Kristen+Votta+-+Design+Space

= **I. Design space to develop your 250-300 word** // abstract // **that summarizes your question, rationale, and your findings.** =
 * What is your question?
 * What is your rationale?
 * What are your findings?

Children are born naturally inquisitive. They are constant question askers and information seekers. This growth mindset is the only way they have of gaining information and forming opinions about the amazing world around them. Unfortunately, when these amazing, creative students enter into their formative schooling experience, they are all too often taught to assimilate, to conform to meet standards, and to simply follow directions.I struggled immensely with the perceived gap between what I was told I needed to teach my students, and what I felt my students needed to know in order to actively participate in "post school" world around them. School, as I observed it, seemed to be an "inherently artificial" environment. This was very problematic. If students were not actively engaged in their learning, if they saw no real purpose for gaining these necessary skills, then how would these students become "our" leaders? What were the schools doing to generate people ready to take on the demands of the 21st century? In my opinion, not enough. High stakes testing, over crowding and force feeding are not the producing the type of creative, forward thinking and innovative people companies are looking to hire. What a shame this is. Having been a teacher for seven years and a parent for five I began to wonder where it all went wrong and how it could be changed, even if only on a small scale. I asked myself "how can I cultivate a literacy learning environment that requires my students to take charge of their own education, to be problems solvers, creative thinkers and life long learners?"

Equipped with a strong resolve to change the system I embarked on my nearly five year quest to find answers and to develop a better way, at least on a small scale, to help my students succeed. Not just in my classroom, but in life. What I found was that when students are given individualized attention they are able to help craft a purpose for their learning. This teaches them not to become great memorizes of important information, but rather to become metacognitive about their learning process. This in turn helps to craft a positive mindset of school, specifically with reading, which ultimately leads to motivation. Technology has been found to bolster motivation, and also grants exposure to the students to many critical 21st century practices. Combined students have a desire to learn, they are engaged, and leave each day, not over tested and over tired, but filled with the fuel to go out into the world and continue to be life long learners.

= **II. Design space to plan out your** // creative synthesis // **that will visually represent your findings. Remember to include your abstract in your visual representation.** =

==Compelling Question:== > Develop your compelling question related to student learning by the end of your first semester in the program. Decide on a question that you are passionate about and want to focus on for the duration of your program. Click here to learn more about what we mean by compelling question. Here are a couple of examples: How do I creatively and effectively engage diverse learners in my middle grades classroom? How can I effectively engage elementary students in reading and writing?

Literacy, motivation, technology, empowerment, student choice, engagement,

In what ways can I creatively motivate my students to become actively engaged in their own literacy development?

==Gather & Analyze Information:== > Use coursework (including core courses ECI 546, 524, 523, 508 and your content specialty courses), individual investigations, and outside experts to explore different aspects of your question. Actively analyze information from multiple sources and perspectives as you explore answers to your question. Make a list here of the information you are analyzing. As you proceed with your analysis make some notes here about your initial findings and where you anticipate needing more information. Also, make sure to note if and how your compelling question has changed.

508 Teachers as Leaders:Video Review- my bringing my own passion for reading to my classroom I can create a culture in which my student's will value reading, and have a stake in their reading success. 524- Technology literature Review 523 546- PBI

==Creatively Synthesize Information:== > Synthesize the information from and across your sources to create a unique response to your question. You should be able to distill your synthesis into 4-6 bullet points (to be included in your written abstract) as well as provide a creative visual representation of your findings. You may use a variety of media and tools to design your visual representation of your Creative Synthesis. Think carefully about the tools that you will use to represent your findings. The first draft of your Creative Synthesis should be developed no later than Midterm/NCSU Spring Break while you are taking the ECI 508, Teachers as Leaders class. Click here to see sample products from former students.

1. Diagnosis individualized areas of need 2. Create individualized RESEARCHED based programs, for each student ( Teacher as researcher) 3 .Motivate struggling readers by using technology ( 524) 4. 5. Lead other teachers in the building to help their struggling readers (508)

==Critically Evaluate and Revise:== > Seek out at least two colleagues in the NLGL program in addition to your advisor to provide peer feedback on your abstract and creative synthesis based on the NLGL Creative Synthesis Rubric. Based on the feedback you receive, you may choose to make revisions to more fully meet the rubric criteria.

==**Share, Publish, Act:**== > Be prepared to present your Creative Synthesis at the NLGL Design Studio Showcase during your final semester of your degree program, in conjunction with the ECI 508, Teachers as Leaders course.