Literacy Success Criteria

This is my success criteria that I've been using in Grade 6 over the past few years. 

Click here to download.

Publishing Product

A few years ago, I was in an after-school workshop, and the presenter was showing another great site where we could find lots of great resources to support our teaching. It was great - not only were they great, but they were made by teachers.

Then - and here it comes - he dropped the challenge: As teachers, we are used to taking. But how often do we give back?

How much do we contribute to the larger conversation?

So, sporadically, I would like to use this space to share what I've been working on, to add to the larger conversation.

M.

Curse you poster board! Let's really engage them!

I'm not sure if its irony, but something came back to get me. Could it be karma?

I pass 3 high schools on the way to my job. Each school is just about to start, so I get to see herds of kids, often begrudgingly trudging to school. And I'm sure that I am putting my own spin of this, but the most forlorn seem to be those kids holding a rolled up sheet of poster board.

Poster board! Really?!? What could possibly be the purpose of that poster board? Do NOT tell me it is a crucial part of a presentation!!

With all the technology available, with amazing and engaging presentation software, with the future looming closer every day, can we not think of a better way to engage our students? Can we please move beyond making our students do what was done to us!

http://www.chocolate-candy-mall.com/images/posterboard.jpg

So, with this daily rant fresh in my mind, my daughter (who is Grade 3) comes home with: A poster board project!! Oh, the things I wanted to say!

First of all: Why? Why does my daughter need to present to the class using a poster board? I tried to chip away at her resolve, offering to help her using a computer to create something much more amazing. However, I was met with an 8 year's resistance: "No Daddy. Mrs. H. says we need to use a poster board. So we have to." Done.

Second: What is she learning? Never mind that this project is an at-home project, what in the media literacy curriculum could she be discovering? We talked about placement of graphics and text. I insisted that she type up each of her fact bullets, and we printed them off (in colour!) along with graphics and clip art to enhance the presentation, as best we could. 

Here-in lies my professional conflict: Everything we know about student engagement and 21st century learning speaks to an eye to the future. Though we ended up bonding and "enjoying" the project (a project with 9 days left in school is worthy of another post!), I can't help but feel that an important opportunity was missed.

I am undeterred. I still think we can do better than poster board!

M.

I'm Not Going to Play: Taking issue with Gamification

This is the first among many, I'm sure, critical reflections after my amazing time at EdCampHamilton!

One session I went to was in gamification in education. I got so upset that I forgot the guiding question! The following is my attempt to add to the conversation, in however I can.

I have a cynical love/hate relationship with gaming, and gamification. My initial hesitation to embrace came about from a healthy suspicion that anyone pushing gamification usually had a product to push. Really, I believe that I am getting to a space where some of the most valuable educational resources are free.  So I threw off gamification as the fad I was convinced it was.

Then, ironically, at a product-pitch, I came to really appreciate the ideas and motivations behind gamification. Gamers will spend hours persevering and problem solving, collaborating and working relentlessly towards a goal. In education, who wouldn't want that? Who wouldn't want a group of kids who are working their *sses off towards a goal!

Then, at the un-conference, I heard the story of a particular teacher who had gamified his entire room. Now, assignments are worth points - more depending on the difficulty. Students are rewarded badges and tokens for all sorts of things, such as attendance, etc. The cynic in me then jumped in full-force: Don't we cheapen the experience by disguising it? Why do we have to hide the learning behind codes and rewards? Why do we have to trick the students into learning by reducing our classroom environments to entertainment?

Ideally, I would love to be in a space where the learning is the true reward. I want students to engage in the learning much like they engage in their games. I want this motivation to learn to be a part of my classroom. The rewards should be the learning itself, not tokens and prizes. I see how appealing the tokens and badges are - as they are instant feedback and rewards to the student - so this suggests to me that I need to provide the same feedback and rewards for the learning. 

So, all I need is just a fundamental shift in attitudes towards all things related to school. Passion and love of learning should be synonymous with school. 

That's all.

M.

Guess what I'm thinking? It starts with a 'Q'...

I've been doing some thinking lately, and then unexpectedly given the gift of time. Now I'm going to attempt to put some of this thinking into the larger conversation.

I've been thinking about how we teach through our questions.

When I was doing my practicum placements I was given some great advice. It had to do with the questions I asked. I was challenged: was I leading the students to one right answer, or to a wide open conversation?

In my attempt to visualize this thinking, I keep coming up with the same image - the prism of light. I see the potential of questioning to come through two different possibilities. If the prism is the teacher, I can either break open the conversation into a million points of light - or I can take all the millions of points of light (as the amazing ideas of the students) and force it into one response - the one I was looking for.

I created my title with a purpose - because I have heard this in classes. I've heard teachers ask their students questions, very thin and narrow questions, and up goes all the hands. Then as the first few are chosen, the teacher dismisses these with the "clue" - it starts with a (any given letter).  Then the hands go down, as the students start to run through all the possibilities of this magical word. Starts with an a? Apple? Aardvark? Antelope?? The thinking shifts so suddenly and fundamentally from the rich (well, maybe not so rich) conversation to an almost comedic run through of the alphabet!

There is so much possibility, and indeed, so much great research into questioning. But I also think this points to the teacher's position within the class. Back to the tired, but ever important: Sage on the Stage, or Guide on the Side?  If we can't truly engage WITH our students, especially with our questions and prompts, then really, aren't we wasting this potential?

M.

Creating 21st Century Educators

I once believed everyone was like me. Well, not exactly like me, but the pack I ran with was as driven as myself. I have worked at the same school for the past 8 years. The staff chosen to open a new school are a particular breed of teacher. They are passionate about education, willing to regularly go above and beyond what is expected, and pursue excellence relentlessly. Sometimes this requires a bit of focus, as we've been described as a soccer team with too many coaches. With the right leadership, though, we were very effective.

Now, though, I have left this wonderful school to help support two other schools in the district. This has been a real shock to my system, as I can now see other kinds of teachers. I love my two new schools, and have felt very welcomed and valued in these spaces. But this experience has really called into question some assumptions I've had about teaching. It has also taught me a lot about how I teach.

I once believed everyone was like me. I am a great teacher. This statement has taken a lot of concerted effort to accept, and even more to put into a public space! I am a great teacher because I have a vision. I am a 21st Century Educator. 

Now, I don't truly believe that everyone is exactly like me, but I did think that there are a lot of people who share this vision of teaching. I was wrong. So I am going to unpack what it means to be a 21st Century Educator, and how I can instill these qualities within the teachers I work with (whether they are willing or not!).

What is a 21st Century Educator?

In a quick google search, there are a lot of differing opinions on the qualities of a 21st Century Educator. 

In trolling through these pages, I've come up with the following list - mostly because I feel that I am like this, or strive to be!

• Future-focused
• Life-long learner
• Embraces transformative technology
• Collaborative, connected
• Creative, Innovative, Imaginative
• Relevant, Committed, Authentic, Passionate

And this list of 25 Signs you might be a 21st century teacher just made me laugh.

My challenge in my role is to get others - possibly very resistant - teachers to think this way. I have a surprising amount of teachers who are really close to retirement. I mention this to challenge my own assumptions - as the majority of these teachers are not the resistant ones. However, their challenge is overcoming years of teaching practice that do not prepare our students for the world of tomorrow. Yet this is true for, possibly, the majority of teachers I'm working with. So my challenge is to simply transform the pedagogy of these teachers. Easy, right?

Future-Focused

I don't know what the future holds. I do know that there are certain skills that will be valued when the students I teach arrive at this future. They will need to deal with massive amounts of information. So I need to get these students dealing with information now. This changes my position in the class - and I know we've heard this before - but no longer Sage on the Stage, but Guide on the Side. To me, though, this means that I am not the deliverer of information. 

To me, this seems obvious - but not so much when going into other rooms. Information doesn't need to travel through the teacher - there is just way too much of it - and if the information is traveling through the teacher, then the kids aren't getting enough of it. So, to me, the Guide on the Side means that I will move alongside the kids as they deal with this information, help them manage and make sense of it. This creates a less structured, yet more focused approach to teaching. It is less structured because the students may be working on different things at the same time. It is more focused because I would argue that the kids themselves set the focus - what are you learning - and why?

So how do I get teachers to start looking towards the future? Perhaps it starts with a simple question: How is this helping your students prepare for their future? This question really isn't that simple, because we really don't know what the future will be like. Things are changing so quickly - but there are people who have an eye towards this uncertainty.  Teach your students to deal with this information, rather than listen to your information.   

Life-Long Learner

Truth be told, I'm getting kind of tired of this phrase. Too often I hear it being said, with no value behind it. There are many teachers who aren't life-long learners. What, indeed, are teachers doing - daily - to improve their practice? What reading are they doing? What conversations are they having? What reflecting are they doing? What changes are they doing? Are they truly responding to the students in front of them??

It has been difficult to convince my wife that after 6 years of teaching the same grade, I am still as busy as ever. There are certain things that remain the same, yet the program is vastly different year to year. This year especially is full of changes, with me leaving being the biggest! However, the changes came fast and furious this year because I became immersed in my Personal Learning Network (PLN) via Twitter. I love Twitter! I follow thought-leaders from around the world, learning from them, building my ideas from their thinking. I no longer feel guilty about the stack of books laying unopened on my bedside table, as I am daily engaged in professional learning. 

So I encourage the teachers I work with to get a Twitter account, and follow people who inspire them. If you aren't inspired within the work you are doing, then you aren't doing it right. If you aren't responding to the students in front of you, then you aren't doing it right. If you aren't engaged in improving your program, constantly, then you aren't doing it right.

Embraces Transformative Technology

Technology is crucial to today's teaching. It is crucial because it transforms the way we connect to our kids, our kids connect to each other, and how they can connect to the world outside of the classroom walls. 

I see data projectors, interactive white boards, document cameras, tablets, laptops, smart phones - oh the joy! - but to see the devices being used to re-create a worksheet breaks my heart. 

I was fortunate to attend the Mobilize Conference 2012, presented by Desire2Learn. One of the final speakers still challenges me with his words. Larry Smith spoke about going beyond the obvious. To misquote him badly, these devices we use are much more powerful than word processors and containers of porn. What can they be? Who knows - but much more than flash cards!!!

Teachers need to use technology to transform the learning product. Are kids (re)producing something they could do by hand? Is this simply just a fancier poster board presentation? Is using technology essential to what is being done? 

So I am a double pusher, of sorts. I am encouraging teachers to use technology - and then encouraging these teachers to use technology in a transformative way. Have kids create something that forces the technology to be essential. 

Collaborative, Connected

I get so upset when I see classrooms set up in rows. There: I've said it. It will be soon that I challenge these teachers: How are your kids working together if they are in rows! The answer is, though I already know: they can't. Clearly, a classroom in rows does not value student collaboration and connection. 

I love photos of the classroom of tomorrow. I love these creative spaces that encourage students working together in different ways. 

Of course, most of this vision is product driven: does purchasing a fun chair increase student success? Probably not - but it will if it encourages collaboration. I value work that gets kids to work together. 

So, get rid of the rows. Get rid of the lecture! Well, not totally - as there still is a space for teacher-inspired instruction, but it shouldn't be the majority! Get your kids connected and working together.

Creative, Innovative, Imaginative

I see this lacking tremendously within the participants in the PD sessions that I run - and this challenges my own assumptions that I'm just beginning to explore. I didn't think creativity, innovation and imagination was important, yet I held it close as the most valuable part of my program.

I recently ran a Math and Technology workshop with a few of these underlying values: I wanted my participants to be comfortable with technology, have a creative imagination, and drive the session with their own questions. I presented the MOODLE, a virtual learning environment, as a blank template, full of possibility. However, upon reflection, it came across with all the horror of a blank page to a person with writer's block! 

There were so many people who were frustrated at this workshop, because of what I thought was inherent to good teaching, but was sorely lacking within the majority of people who attended my session.  I've noticed this trend within those teachers now taking technology courses. I'm not sure what wave we are at, but it certainly isn't those who are on the cutting edge, or the bleeding edge! I'm seeing now a lot of people coming to technology-oriented workshops because they recognize that it is important, yet are very hesitant about it. So I have this group of people coming, yearning for something, yet having no idea what to do with it. So they want me to give it to them.

I hate this.

I hate this because it leads to teaching to the tool, not using the tool for teaching. I continually challenge my participants: what do you want the kids to do? Collaborate on a project? Share their work with a larger audience? I can show you how to do that. I will not tell you what to do - as I don't know what goes on in your classroom. Perhaps this is my own cop-out? The longer I'm in this leadership role, I see that the divide between the 21st century educator and the traditional educator is growing ever-wider. So much so, that I'm getting ridiculous resistance: How can I teach handwriting using a computer?? Where is the worksheet function on the MOODLE? I think this is the true root of my frustration - there are teachers who are just so far behind (yes, I said behind) the times that the basic infrastructure of their teaching will not support the power of technology. So then we have classes full of students using iPods as flashcards. Argh!!!

Perhaps sharing, inspiring, and even telling what to do with technology with begin to create in teachers an ability for them to use technology in a creative, imaginative and innovative way. 

Engaging Students: Relevant, Committed, Authentic and Passionate

I'm probably going to get in trouble for telling this story, as the teacher I was working with is fantastic and there is certainly more going on within the class than I was able to observe, but here it goes...

I was in a Grade 6 classroom, and the students were presenting orally their procedural writing. A boy stood up in front of the class and began: "How to Tie Your Shoes. Goal: To tie your shoes. Materials: shoe. Step 1: Take your shoe...." And it continued.

I tell this story because it bothered me, to no end, that the boy was not engaged. I even had a dream about it that night! A number of things needed to be addressed: Why is this acceptable as an oral presentation? Why was it necessary? Why is it important that he tell about this? Is this truly the best that he could do? How is this helping this child prepare for the future??

I spent way too much time brainstorming, to myself, other possible ways that would be so much more engaging, to meet the need of a procedural piece (though that, in and of itself, is troubling too). Argh!

If your kids aren't engaged, then why bother? Stop wasting time! There isn't enough within the day, and even school year. If it isn't important, don't do it!!

So I've made it my mission to share engaging ideas within the teaching circles I move in. Not in a way for them to simply copy, but to inspire all of us to come up with ways that will inspire the kids in front of us to do better.

So there it is. This is where my mind in now. It isn't an easy task, but I'm up for the challenge. There will be casualties along the way - and I'm sure there will be an end-point in my frustration, but for now - the future is wide open - and I'm ready for it!

M.

Student Engagement: Snack is not in the curriculum!

I am relatively new to my leadership role. Going on two months ago, I was happily teaching Grade 6, hyper-focused on my own class. I am now a Literacy/Numeracy coach for the board of education, charged with helping two schools improve in student success. There has been a lot of growth and learning that have happened, but I wanted to use this space to share some of my musings. 

As my title suggests, I have become focused on student engagement. Having the priviledge of joining other teachers, and in visiting other classrooms, I am continually seeing students NOT engaged. The following is me trying to make sense of student engagement, and my thoughts around this topic.

You get what you get and you don't get upset

Having young girls at home, I am very familiar with the teachings of Pinkalicious. 

There is a nugget of wisdom from this book that reminds me to stop complaining about things I have no control over. I was once told by a very wise principal that parents are sending their best kids to school - they aren't hiding them at home! Why am I getting upset about (behaviour? lack of home support? poor home condition? lack of parental involvement?)? The list could go on and on. I need to stop complaining and then start doing!! I can't make these kids better by complaining about them. I work with what I've got. 

Instructional time is precious

I can be a bit intense as a teacher. There is an urgency to my teaching - I only have these kids, the best that are sent to me, for a set amount of time each day. I cannot control anything else beyond what I have in front of me. So I need to maximize this time. This time for my teaching is precious and needs to be protected. This means that anything that takes away from this precious time needs to be cut. 

In my own practice, I needed to look carefully at what I was doing, and were students engaged in doing this. Not only does it contribute to behaviour problems (kids bored=trouble) but it is insulting to everyone.

Let's cut the garbage. I have had spirited discussions with other teachers about how they are spending their time - in response to my reflections on how I was spending my own time in my class. If I am complaining about not having enough time with my students, then what can I do about it?? If I need more time with an intervention group, then how can I free myself up?? 

What about the daily routines - calendar comes to mind. Could the kids run that routine, giving me time to work with a small group? Could I post the answers to homework, giving me time to work with kids that need it?? Do I need to spend time in class teaching handwriting???

What would make you run to school?

In her amazing blog post on The Passion Gap, Angela Maiers asks this question: What would make you run to school? I love this! I have often struggled with my role as a teacher. I am funny, but not an entertainer. I am not a friend to the students - but I am the one responsible for the learning environment. 

In my learning environment, I am passionate about success. I am passionate about giving amazing educational experiences to my students. I would love the experiences in my class to be the best part of the day for my students. 

In my travels, I have seen many amazing things. However, I have also seen kids filling in time until they can get on with the better parts of their day: recess, home time, gym, time with friends, etc. This breaks my heart!

I challenge my students who wear those disrespectful t-shirts. 

Why is it you don't like school? Probably because school isn't engaging. You don't have to love school... or do you? Why don't you love school? I don't think that's okay to publicly declare that you don't like school. My job, again, isn't to entertain you - but I do have to engage you. This is a shared responsibility - my students and myself. 

I need to give opportunities for the students to share their passions, engage in their passions, become as passionate about learning as I am!! If you aren't passionate about school, then that is a problem - not something to be celebrated. 

Snack is not in the curriculum

A VP of mine, who spoke fondly of the curriculum, was often heard reminding us that snack is not in the curriculum. Do kids need to eat? Certainly, but that dead time spent twice a day could be better used doing something - something real and engaging! You can eat AND work! Amazing!!!

Maximizing my time

I send homework home - and expect it to be done. Homework, I feel, is a great way for students to practice and solidify the skills I've taught in class.

My struggle has been about taking it up. How do I honour those who do the work, while really the kids who needed to complete this the most - mostly likely haven't done it! Therefore, the time I spend taking it up (to an audience that really doesn't need it) means that I am taking time away from the students who really it the most! 

I have had to be a little creative about homework. I've lately posted the homework and answers on the MOODLE, so those who did it can immediately correct it, so in class I can focus on giving more time to those who require it.

I share because I am passionate about student engagement. I will continue on this journey, as I continue to learn and grow in my role. Some remaining questions I still have:

• How do I get other teachers passionate about teaching?
• How do I teach others to be passionate about student engagement?
• How do I model this passion to others?

Here's to sharing my passion!!