As I survey my current situation in life, I feel renewed hope. I am still here, and I have actually accomplished a few things. These past eight weeks have generated a constant supply of memes – – – those poignantly humorous visual snippets of popular culture. As a teacher in the COVID-19 era, I have also been flooded with themes and mottos and inspirational sayings sent down from the administrative sages up high. After all, we teachers have the nasty habit of trying to make sense of things. So what is the most commonly heard phrase in my instructional neck of the woods? We must be fluid and flexible. “Fluid and flexible” sounds so much better than the more accurately stated “educational contortionist.” These past eight weeks have seen more changes in direction, procedures, policies, and best practices than I have experienced during my entire teaching career. So yes, fluid and flexible is certainly the way to go.
Fold in the cheese…
One of the more comical but on-target expressions that is currently resonating throughout the teaching community comes from the Canadian sitcom Schitt’s Creek and the TikTok social media app. Yes, “fold in the cheese, David.” For those unacquainted with the premise of the skit, it basically encapsulates a person in authority telling someone on a lower rank to do a job that the supervisor does not understand him or herself. Moira Rose does not know what “folding in the cheese” is nor how to go about doing it while making enchiladas, but she insists that David must still, somehow, some way, fold in the cheese. Teachers quickly made the connection between this vignette and being told to teach remote and in-person students synchronously without extra time, resources, direction, or functioning technology. We must deliver a product that administrators, curriculum superintendents, board members, and elected officials insist exists but do not know how to produce on their own.
Although my experience with “folding in the cheese” at work has eaten away at my life, I am thankful that my graduate instructional design work has been sane and forgiving. Stepping away from my work duties for just a bit this weekend, I was able to gain some ground on my awaiting instructional design project. It is coming to life.
Ch-ch-ch-changes…
Once I plunged back into my original design, I first needed to process feedback provided by my peers. The changes that they suggested served to make my design tighter, more cohesive. For example, one of my peers’ comments prompted me to create a key that describes the basic requirements of my various activity types. The activity type entitled “Internet Research” is now formally described as “guides to select Internet sites with accompanying questions.” After making this change, I logged into the Canvas LMS and got to work. Once I explored Canvas’s offerings, I decided to revisit my design for yet another revision to bring the structure together. By simply renaming my activity types by language already used in Canvas (i.e., “discussion” instead of “forum”), I believe I have strengthened my product.
Bend and keep grrowing…
I am comfortable in saying that my instructional design piece has now moved solidly into development. However, my previous research on the flexible Kemp ID model reassures me that there is nothing wrong with occasionally back stepping into design. I am finding that this model possibly does capture the free-flow nature of my innate work habits. At this point in time, I have been most comfortable with abandoning the traditional progression of ADDIE and instead working from an overall course framework that is gaining more and more flesh and substance over time. I have the big picture, the bones, and am bringing the specifics into focus. I am trying my best to be fluid and flexible.
Grrowing Ideas 