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.

Why do I do what I do?

This post is inspired by the following video by Simon Sinek.

It got me thinking about my vision in teaching. Why do I do? What drives me to go to work everyday?? What is my vision of teaching????

Let's run through them, should we?

I believe that my students need to be creative and innovative. Therefore my students need to create and innovate.

My students need to be able to pull knowledge (off the Internet) and construct their own knowledge, be critical and be aware.

My students need to be problem solvers.

I am only a guide. Often, in learning, I am not always necessary. I am merely providing the structure.

I am responsible for creating 21st century students, ready for a 21st century world.

I am a teacher.

Constantly exploring the WHYs continually challenges me to teach in a more effective way. I now need to listen more to myself when I am asking these WHYs!!

M.

Flipping it over: Let's try it the other way...

Thank goodness I can read - and do read, more regularly now that I am committed to write. In reading other teacher's reflections, observations and musings, I am often pushed and inspired to go beyond what I already do... and I find this exciting!

In one of my viral stints, I came across the idea of the Flipped Classroom. This idea has intrigued me to no end. I am now thinking of ways to get the classroom started on this - will it be math? Language? How will differentiation work with this? Oh, the questions!!!

Just like it all though, I gotta jump right in and give it a try. I'll figure it out while I go along. 

In experiencing change and pushing/shoving at school towards progress, I am owning and taking pride in that quality about myself. It may seem reckless, but it is how I learn. I can't possibly figure out all the things I need to know, predict all the contingencies and know all the possibilities before taking one step. Things may get a little crazy, but we all go along together. So with my next unit, let's try flipping things around a bit. 

This is gonna be interesting!

M.

Creativity and Innovation

I seem to be returning to this theme quite regularly within my reflections upon my practice, then quite acutely when I read this post by Jon Castelhano, entitled This and That: Creative Juices. This post spoke of the necessesity of creativity and innovation in today's education.

Well, I seem to be working towards that! My writing program, I feel, is really leading the students to be creative in their work. Just today, one of my students M was looking for his next piece to write. Having just written to describe, he needed to choose another purpose to write. I suggested writing to socialize - perhaps choosing  an apology to write? He wanted to write something about hockey. Together we came up with the idea of someone writing an apology letter to Sidney Crosby for hitting him too hard and giving him a concussion.

This was an amazing event, that was over in a flash, but set this child upon a writing task that is creative, innovating, engaging and motivating! He is writing! He is inferring! He is commenting on the state of hockey today! AND (to add panache to my writing) this is a reluctant boy writer (well, before he came to my room). Look! Boys who write!

All joking aside, this is a clear example of how creativity and innovation are thriving in my room. With just that short intervention, I have taking a struggling child on a path that is going to get him writing.

This creativity spreads around the room. With that loud conversation, others (who were meant to) overheard and were inspired to do their own writing. Very quickly I heard from two others who wanted to write something similar. Soon I had a couple of boys lean in and help M with his writing, giving him names, dates, games, locations that he could refer to. Off M went with his plan! Collaboration!! Amazing!!!

Though we, as teachers, spend little time recognizing when we do good work, I want to take this space today to do just that. I foster creativity and innovation in my writing program, and its a good thing!

M.

My learning environment: Controlled Chaos or Well oiled machine?

As per my previous post on using my MOODLE (my Virtual Learning Environment), and in response to this amazing video, I have been thinking about my learning environment. Is the space I've created preparing my students for 21st Century Learning?

I've always physically winced at the mention of silent classrooms, filled with portable offices, USSR time, rows and pins dropping. Part of me always somehow knew I could never sustain an environment like that (most likely because of my somewhat erratic management systems, coupled with my energetic teaching style). I also know that I don't believe in that. I value collaboration among students. All of these structures and systems don't lend themselves for working together, and working from each other.

My classroom is busy - this year especially. Not to prompt the sexist gasps, but I have 21 boys in my room this year - and 7 girls. I will save my thoughts on boy learners for another post, but these boys have taught me a lot this year. I am not the circus entertainer teacher, constantly soft-shoe'ing, jazz-hand waving fool, trying to keep them engaged through fun. There is a particularly interesting point in the above mentioned video from the Fraser Institute about chocolate on broccoli. I know that there is something wrong with my teaching if I am teaching broccoli.

I need my students to be engaged - and for that to happen, the learning must matter. I am not awarding gold stars, but relying on the learning itself to be motivating. It is important to learn because learning is important. So my classroom reflects this.

I have lots going on in my room. During my literacy block I have kids on computers, kids reading together out in the hallways, kids learning with me on the floor, other adults working in small groups - we are all learning. Are we all quiet? Heck no! It may be slightly disrespectful to the classes next door, but we try not to bother them. We are all learning. I set high expectations and we all work towards meeting them.

Is this enough of an excuse for the noise coming from my room? Who knows! I do know that I am working towards creating learners that are ready for the 21st century!

M.