Be an agent of change. Work tirelessly to improve your profession, your practice, your student's learning - yourself. It is difficult to cast aside what we know and work towards trying what we don't. It's the price of reform that also comes with a disclaimer that advertises "personal and professional benefits to all who self-reflect and self-improve."
Teaching is a dynamic profession. It requires people that are invested in equipping our youth with ideas, skills and the necessities of life. All too often, we can get bogged down by the policy and procedures without truly understanding the impact we can exert on our students. Students need direction; but they will only follow those directions that get them to where they want to be. If your practice is outdated; if your methods are outmoded; if your ambition has been outsourced - get out.
The world is changing. We are watching it unfold and become a reality. Our students will grow up in a system and society that has re-defined itself on the merits of technology (for better or worse). Our schools are a microcosm of society. If they are crying out for new ideas and new directions through escalating negative behaviours and poor attendance patterns - listen up. The students have things to offer us teachers that have not been printed on the School Improvement Plan or planned for on the Board Course of Study. They have needs and wants that are emerging as their day progresses, often in response to what they are being subjected to in our classrooms.
Just as we can often conceptualize our ideal version of something based on the negative experiences we have had, our students are envisioning a classroom that is the alternate reality of what they're used to. We deliver that vision, and we will deliver them into an effective 21st century education.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The Seven Sins of Forced Education - Review
"Seven Sins of our System of Forced Education" (Sept. 2009) is an article written by Peter Gray that was featured in Psychology Today. I was passed on this link by a member of a LinkedIn group of teachers that I belong to. I thought the name seemed familiar, so I checked my bookshelf and discovered that this is the same Peter Gray that wrote the 1st Year Psychology textbook that was used when I went to Queen's University. This man has important things to say and the psychological training and field experience to back it up.
I explored his blog entitled "Freedom to Learn" and read the titles of some of his recent blog posts. There is a great deal of overlap on what he tackles and the main ideas of my blog posts, since starting it in January of this year. That's not to say that I should be held in the same company as Dr. Gray and his insights, but it does solidify the reason I started this blog, and affirm the notion that there are so many talented and brilliant writers out there who are also driving educational change.
"Seven Sins" has many harsh and blunt moments. It accuses schools of being prisons. Reading this article forces the reader into a prison-like state-of-mind cultivated by the desire to read on through the damaging comparisons, but feeling helpless when Gray's critical observations hit home, especially to those of us currently working in the education sector. Gray states that he is casting off euphemisms, in an attempt to expose the truth - regardless of the uncomfortable thoughts it creates.
The main points of Gray's article focus on the negative effects of schools directly created by achievement-driven programming, isolating student tasks, age-based groupings and policies, lack of student input and direction in school activities, limiting top-down teacher delivery of the curriculum, lack of play and exploration in learning, anxiety cultivated through competition and student comparison, and an overall limiting curriculum that inhibits student resourcefulness, ingenuity and critical thinking skills.
Many who read this article will debate and refute the merits of such a scalding exposition. I propose that Gray's seven signs should be a report card of sorts for educators and administrators who can use it to self-reflect and track their progress on the path to educating our youth. Every teacher, school, school district and state or province, would fall somewhere on a spectrum for each of these sins on any given day or at any given teaching moment. These sins should be a warning. A glimpse into the mirror to measure our resolve in eliciting the lasting and meaningful change needed to better serve our future generations.
Rather than scoff and dismiss Gray's arguments as tyrannical judgments on your chosen career path. Think about each area of criticism and provide yourself with the personal examples and insights that absolve you (at least to a degree) from the idea that you have helped to perpetuate the very things that need to change in the best interests of our students.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Is There Something We're Missing?
Have we been distracted from the real issue in education?
It seems that in the education sector, there are always new issues that breed new initiatives. When an idea is presented at the right moment, it can garner interest and speed to those who write policy and guide action. Whether the issue is using technology, preventing bullying, engaging boys in learning, differentiating instruction or raising achievement data; something is always on the horizon lingering as the next focus-fix. There is a multitude of issues in education that can be the source of funding, time and professional development - which one is the most important?
The point of the video is to draw a parallel to the current educational climate. Maybe all the aforementioned issues are the way we have distracted ourselves from what our true focus should be...student happiness.
How well does someone learn when they are unhappy compared to when they are happy? Now, focusing on raising student happiness is not an easy task. Perhaps the students in your class need basic needs met (i.e. food, shelter, safety) and providing snacks, consistent personal support and genuine interest in their lives, is the way you will improve student happiness and mental well-being in your room. Maybe your class needs hands-on, tech-based activities and assignments to feel engaged, improve their sense of self-worth, and therefore, feel happy about their accomplishments in school.
Whatever the specific need, your students will connect, produce and internalize more if they are enjoying their time in your classroom and value their place in your lessons. Some of our students come from horrendous family situations and brutal living conditions, your sole purpose in teaching should be to provide a safe and "utopian-like" environment for every minute they spend with you. After all, these are the students who look forward to school as a place of order and also an opportunity for distraction.
All of identified issues in education have value. But, how might the success we experience as teachers to our students change if every lesson we deliver was precluded by deliberate thought about how students might enjoy what they are doing? If they find happiness in something, they will attach to it - that's your motivation.
Let's expose the gorilla and have some fun. The students probably won't see it coming - and they surely won't forget it.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Team Teaching with YouTube
We've often heard the saying, "Everything I need to know, I learned in Kindergarten." It's supposed to be a humorous view of how the education system teaches the fundamentals early on and then fills the remainder of a student's time with information that is not as important. I'd like to offer my own current one: "Everything I need to know, I learned on YouTube." Students today are using this video archive to teach them skills and information that they search and seek out.
We don't need to be the controllers of the content. Teachers today stand to gain nothing of themselves or their students by keeping the knowledge guarded or secured. We need to educate students about how to use the knowledge. They can already find any answer they want by searching it online. They don't need a teacher (for instance) to inform them about historical dates and details. They need a curriculum expert to enlighten them about how those historical events are playing out right now in our world.
Students need direction and critical thinking skills about the kinds of things they seen online and find posted on YouTube. They can access it at almost any age; and yet, have not been taught how to process most of it into a context or framework that can build their own knowledge or understanding. YouTube and Google hold the knowledge. Teachers, now, are standing outside looking in through the windows and wondering what lessons their students are learning in today's online classrooms. They attend their choice of online classes at any given moment. They search and it appears instantly. They read what they want and move on when they feel like it.
When you teach, ask yourself, "how does this information prepare my students for the real world and what matters to them?" If you struggle with this question, how would you use the information if you weren't a teacher and therefore didn't need to know it to teach it? Do you remember when you learned the things you know or do you perhaps even learn some of it only because you need to teach it to your class? Rethink what you do and reap the benefits of either legitimizing your practice or starting to drive the change to improve your practice.
We don't need to be the controllers of the content. Teachers today stand to gain nothing of themselves or their students by keeping the knowledge guarded or secured. We need to educate students about how to use the knowledge. They can already find any answer they want by searching it online. They don't need a teacher (for instance) to inform them about historical dates and details. They need a curriculum expert to enlighten them about how those historical events are playing out right now in our world.
Students need direction and critical thinking skills about the kinds of things they seen online and find posted on YouTube. They can access it at almost any age; and yet, have not been taught how to process most of it into a context or framework that can build their own knowledge or understanding. YouTube and Google hold the knowledge. Teachers, now, are standing outside looking in through the windows and wondering what lessons their students are learning in today's online classrooms. They attend their choice of online classes at any given moment. They search and it appears instantly. They read what they want and move on when they feel like it.
When you teach, ask yourself, "how does this information prepare my students for the real world and what matters to them?" If you struggle with this question, how would you use the information if you weren't a teacher and therefore didn't need to know it to teach it? Do you remember when you learned the things you know or do you perhaps even learn some of it only because you need to teach it to your class? Rethink what you do and reap the benefits of either legitimizing your practice or starting to drive the change to improve your practice.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Web 2.0 and You
This "GoAnimate" animation has been created to explain what Web 2.0 is. There are many programs being used by students that are interactive and user-based; rather than content-based. With these tools and applications, though, comes responsibility. It should be the role of the parents and schools to educate students on how to use these Web 2.0 tools, in order to facilitate digital citizenship values in our youth. Digital citizenship is the next great frontier of curricular development needed to further our students in the coming years.
These kinds of technologies have exploded into our lives - so fast that there has not been the framework and support system put in place in our education system to properly equip students for their 'online' lives. Teachers find themselves caught in the middle between traditional methods of teaching that appear to be relatively safe and known, and web-based methods of teaching that are still somewhat unchartered due to their constant development and innovation.
Choosing to stay 'ahead of the curve' when it comes to implementing technology into your classroom practice, also means that you will need to show the professional commitment and initiative to map out these rich areas of 21st century learning in order to be successful. There are many opportunities for personal and professional growth in this learning realm, should you jump on board and began your ride. The key is the confidence and resilience you will need to experiment with your methods, evaluate your pedagogy, and forge a new teaching identity to your students.
These kinds of technologies have exploded into our lives - so fast that there has not been the framework and support system put in place in our education system to properly equip students for their 'online' lives. Teachers find themselves caught in the middle between traditional methods of teaching that appear to be relatively safe and known, and web-based methods of teaching that are still somewhat unchartered due to their constant development and innovation.
Choosing to stay 'ahead of the curve' when it comes to implementing technology into your classroom practice, also means that you will need to show the professional commitment and initiative to map out these rich areas of 21st century learning in order to be successful. There are many opportunities for personal and professional growth in this learning realm, should you jump on board and began your ride. The key is the confidence and resilience you will need to experiment with your methods, evaluate your pedagogy, and forge a new teaching identity to your students.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Educational Leadership
Education needs leadership. It craves direction and begs for insight. Teachers need to feel that they matter and are part of a bigger picture in the lives of their students. Without strong educational leadership, no teacher can teach to their true potential. Leaders find purpose and value in any action; whether it is a positive or negative experience. Visionary leadership is the ability to make connections that are not even there yet, and to offer possibilities that no one has thought of. However, it is the social connections that leaders make with their educational teams and staff that cultivates the audience for your school ambitions and goals as a leader.
My own personal philosophy of education is that people, intrinsically, want to better themselves. Learning and interacting are two important ways to accomplish this, and both are available through the vehicle of education. The classroom environment is as important to a student as a home to a family member. Within these walls, students must feel safe, appreciated and welcome. Whether through the seating plan, wall posters or classroom routines; your decisions must consistently demonstrate fairness - not necessarily equality.
The same is true for a staff. As a leader, fairness must emanate from your choices and actions. Your decisions must be transparent and predictable, that is how teachers become comfortable with your vision for the school and its direction as it pertains to their daily work. Without this, people do not buy in and are guarded in a self-preservation state for as long as it takes to survive.
If you have had the chance to work for a strong (or even visionary) leader, share some of the qualities they possessed or even an anecdote about them as a comment to this post. Thanks!
My own personal philosophy of education is that people, intrinsically, want to better themselves. Learning and interacting are two important ways to accomplish this, and both are available through the vehicle of education. The classroom environment is as important to a student as a home to a family member. Within these walls, students must feel safe, appreciated and welcome. Whether through the seating plan, wall posters or classroom routines; your decisions must consistently demonstrate fairness - not necessarily equality.
The same is true for a staff. As a leader, fairness must emanate from your choices and actions. Your decisions must be transparent and predictable, that is how teachers become comfortable with your vision for the school and its direction as it pertains to their daily work. Without this, people do not buy in and are guarded in a self-preservation state for as long as it takes to survive.
If you have had the chance to work for a strong (or even visionary) leader, share some of the qualities they possessed or even an anecdote about them as a comment to this post. Thanks!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Ignoring Our Curriculum
A recent N.Y. Times article, "Let Kids Rule the School," describes how the Independent Project in a western Massachusetts school has shown the tremendous benefits of student-driven learning within an open-design educational model. Students in this program are required to map out their learning in a way that relinquishes teacher control and demands student facilitation. Teachers are accessed as experts and mentors in the learning process - not "key holders of curriculum knowledge."
This article addresses one possibility for a dramatic shift in our delivery of the current educational model. Giving students much broader definitions of grade expectations will allow them to participate more efficiently in their own learning. With so many point-by-point curriculum restraints, we cannot fully allow students to buy-in to the idea of being designers of their school day. Yet, no teacher can confidently abandon their carefully crafted units and classroom models to implement this kind of alternative programming approach, unless major changes take place to our educational framework.
Parents reading curriculum documents together with their children reflect a major shift in the accountability of a teacher - not to their self and administrator - but to families who access these legal resources in order to monitor how a teacher runs their class. How can we take the next step as 21st century educators, if we are constantly defending how we teach to an ever-informed community?
The only way is to ignore our curriculum.
The Ontario Curriculum should be a guideline. It should be a model of subject ideas - not a collection of required, restrictive topics. Give students the freedom to learn about what they want and have them link it to a curriculum framework that is more open and yielding. As a way of being accountable for their own educational decision-making, they will still need to conform to some sort of structure - but one that is not tied to assessment dates and reporting periods in a way that races through key ideas merely out of time constraints.
Learning is meaningful when socially-interactive and delivered in meaningful blocks of time. What could be more exciting to a student than coming to school with an idea that they want to learn more about and then being given the time and support to carry out that learning? They plan their approach. They monitor their own choice of peers for group work, evaluation and feedback. They choose the format and choice of technologies to best address their learning styles and multiple intelligences.
It is not until we take that first step into the dark that our students will finally light the way for us.
Thanks to Miss M. for another thought-provoking article to inspire the online dialogue.
This article addresses one possibility for a dramatic shift in our delivery of the current educational model. Giving students much broader definitions of grade expectations will allow them to participate more efficiently in their own learning. With so many point-by-point curriculum restraints, we cannot fully allow students to buy-in to the idea of being designers of their school day. Yet, no teacher can confidently abandon their carefully crafted units and classroom models to implement this kind of alternative programming approach, unless major changes take place to our educational framework.
Parents reading curriculum documents together with their children reflect a major shift in the accountability of a teacher - not to their self and administrator - but to families who access these legal resources in order to monitor how a teacher runs their class. How can we take the next step as 21st century educators, if we are constantly defending how we teach to an ever-informed community?
The only way is to ignore our curriculum.
The Ontario Curriculum should be a guideline. It should be a model of subject ideas - not a collection of required, restrictive topics. Give students the freedom to learn about what they want and have them link it to a curriculum framework that is more open and yielding. As a way of being accountable for their own educational decision-making, they will still need to conform to some sort of structure - but one that is not tied to assessment dates and reporting periods in a way that races through key ideas merely out of time constraints.
Learning is meaningful when socially-interactive and delivered in meaningful blocks of time. What could be more exciting to a student than coming to school with an idea that they want to learn more about and then being given the time and support to carry out that learning? They plan their approach. They monitor their own choice of peers for group work, evaluation and feedback. They choose the format and choice of technologies to best address their learning styles and multiple intelligences.
It is not until we take that first step into the dark that our students will finally light the way for us.
Thanks to Miss M. for another thought-provoking article to inspire the online dialogue.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Getting Your Class Back
There are moments as a teacher when you feel that you have strayed from your plans for the class. Class conflicts, poor marks and brutal work habits are some of the ways that we recognize our struggle with how to move a class forward in their learning.
Specifically, teenagers are a difficult age to crack and maintain a good rapport with. And when you find yourself already off to a rocky start, hope it seems is your solitary comfort. In the past, when I have felt that I am losing a group, I would surprise them with an act of kindness...
Spend an entire class putting curriculum aside and find out what they're interested in. Ask them favorite movies, television shows, bands, video games, tech. devices. When they see that you are willing to put them ahead of the learning (even if just for a class period), you will gain respect as a person - not just someone doing their job.
Take what they tell you and find a way to turn it into an independent project, unit or at least a lesson focus. They will appreciate having input into their learning and want to engage more in the process of it - especially since it will be driven by THEM - not just your curriculum documents.
I hope anyone reading this (especially those who teach teenagers) find this helpful. I have a soft spot for teaching adolescents having taught them for 9 years. It is a daunting task, but so rewarding when you break through and cause meaningful change and guidance for them.
They put up walls that you don't expect, do everything in their power to hide the cracks from you, and yet, if you can find a way in, they will be awed by your interest and resilience. Teenager brains are wired to become unwired and unpredictable. They don't know why, but they crave and seek out conflict in a way that is hard not to take personally.
When all is said and done, teenagers are the most vulnerable and important age group some of us will ever teach. They need strong role models and purposeful guidance in making their life decisions - often far before they plan to or are prepared to. Be cautious, but don't show fear. They admire confidence and appreciate honesty. As such, your strength as an educator should be your best tool for success.
This post was inspired by a reader question from an article I wrote for suite101.com entitled, "Expert Teachers in the Classroom: Part 1 (The Knowledge).
Specifically, teenagers are a difficult age to crack and maintain a good rapport with. And when you find yourself already off to a rocky start, hope it seems is your solitary comfort. In the past, when I have felt that I am losing a group, I would surprise them with an act of kindness...
Spend an entire class putting curriculum aside and find out what they're interested in. Ask them favorite movies, television shows, bands, video games, tech. devices. When they see that you are willing to put them ahead of the learning (even if just for a class period), you will gain respect as a person - not just someone doing their job.
Take what they tell you and find a way to turn it into an independent project, unit or at least a lesson focus. They will appreciate having input into their learning and want to engage more in the process of it - especially since it will be driven by THEM - not just your curriculum documents.
I hope anyone reading this (especially those who teach teenagers) find this helpful. I have a soft spot for teaching adolescents having taught them for 9 years. It is a daunting task, but so rewarding when you break through and cause meaningful change and guidance for them.
They put up walls that you don't expect, do everything in their power to hide the cracks from you, and yet, if you can find a way in, they will be awed by your interest and resilience. Teenager brains are wired to become unwired and unpredictable. They don't know why, but they crave and seek out conflict in a way that is hard not to take personally.
When all is said and done, teenagers are the most vulnerable and important age group some of us will ever teach. They need strong role models and purposeful guidance in making their life decisions - often far before they plan to or are prepared to. Be cautious, but don't show fear. They admire confidence and appreciate honesty. As such, your strength as an educator should be your best tool for success.
This post was inspired by a reader question from an article I wrote for suite101.com entitled, "Expert Teachers in the Classroom: Part 1 (The Knowledge).
Saturday, March 12, 2011
If It Bleeds, It Leads
Classrooms should be places that are linked to the outside world. One of the many ways that you can make this happen is to program for current events. As a tool for literacy, social studies, science and even math, current events create a place to share news and explore student connections to them in a controlled and safe environment. As a place for learning, classrooms offer a forum that can follow the rules of discussion and debate and encourage students to compare points of view and even bias in the media.
With the real-time coverage of the quake and tsunami disaster in Japan unfolding in front of us, students will be watching these horrific events in a way that is reminiscent of the Twin Tower explosions during 9/11, 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and Tsunami that decimated parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. What does this mean? Well, for starters it means that our children and students cannot be sheltered from the harsh realities of the world. If it is a major news event - whether war, natural disaster, plane crash or terrorist attacks - our youth will be watching and attempting to process it.
It used to be that these events were mere words on the page with a black and white photo in the newspaper. Hard to come across and even harder to imagine, disturbing news items were experienced by adults and kept within mature circles of conversation. Now that our students are actively pursuing information and media stories, it is the job of teachers to prepare them for what they are going to find.
We need to teach about global issues and the power of humanitarian efforts in minimizing loss of life and supporting the international community. We need to assure them of their safety, but be careful to educate them about the reason that these natural disasters occur and perhaps why they are growing in severity and magnitude. We need to expose the linkages between media, point of view, bias and news-making. Students have to understand why these stories are covered in the manner that they are; who covers them; who owns the networks that determine what is news-worthy; how this all impacts on the final video clip, tweet, headline or streamed video link that they view.
In short, we need to create a world for them that is safe from harm, but not ignorant of it. Give the tool of critical thinking when exploring current events. Their eyes are already open to them, but how they process what they see and feel is largely up to us as teachers.
With the real-time coverage of the quake and tsunami disaster in Japan unfolding in front of us, students will be watching these horrific events in a way that is reminiscent of the Twin Tower explosions during 9/11, 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and Tsunami that decimated parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. What does this mean? Well, for starters it means that our children and students cannot be sheltered from the harsh realities of the world. If it is a major news event - whether war, natural disaster, plane crash or terrorist attacks - our youth will be watching and attempting to process it.
It used to be that these events were mere words on the page with a black and white photo in the newspaper. Hard to come across and even harder to imagine, disturbing news items were experienced by adults and kept within mature circles of conversation. Now that our students are actively pursuing information and media stories, it is the job of teachers to prepare them for what they are going to find.
We need to teach about global issues and the power of humanitarian efforts in minimizing loss of life and supporting the international community. We need to assure them of their safety, but be careful to educate them about the reason that these natural disasters occur and perhaps why they are growing in severity and magnitude. We need to expose the linkages between media, point of view, bias and news-making. Students have to understand why these stories are covered in the manner that they are; who covers them; who owns the networks that determine what is news-worthy; how this all impacts on the final video clip, tweet, headline or streamed video link that they view.
In short, we need to create a world for them that is safe from harm, but not ignorant of it. Give the tool of critical thinking when exploring current events. Their eyes are already open to them, but how they process what they see and feel is largely up to us as teachers.
Friday, March 11, 2011
The Times They Are a-Changing
"The Secret Powers of Time" shows the present-day effects that society's use of time is having. The perceptions of people who are past, present or future-oriented impacts on the way that we live our lives and carry out decision-making. It talks about how the brains of boys are actually being digitally 're-wired' due to video games and instant gratifications that they encounter on a daily basis. People around the world perceive themselves as busier now than ever before; and yet, the growth in technologies is supposed to make our lives easier and less taxing - not more stressful and increasingly time-consuming.
Schools today are premised on the idea that learning will have a future pay-off. These future-oriented schools don't mesh with today's values about living in the moment and creating whatever isn't offered (the premise of the web 2.0). Our lessons are built on the idea that knowledge and skills will pay off with future goals and options, and yet, our students enjoy instant results and immediate gratification from instant messaging, tweets and wireless communications when they step outside our classroom walls. These two perspectives are clashing in our classrooms as instructional times that are not high-interest, socially connected and personally gratifying events for the student often lose the audience.
Teachers are competing with an exponentially growing movement that pits the person at the center of the world and hands them the master switch the size of a cell phone. Our schools are places where those cell phones aren't allowed, because it would distract students from our messages and lessons. That cell phone and its applications have become more a part of your student's life than anything you can craft and present in a class. We need to merge the two worlds in order to use the powers of technology for good (not "evil") and bring life-long learning to the conversation table in our student's mind.
Our teaching must touch them in personally relevant ways. More often than not these days, that means instantly gratifying instruction that prides itself in students actively constructing knowledge in socially-networked ways.
Schools today are premised on the idea that learning will have a future pay-off. These future-oriented schools don't mesh with today's values about living in the moment and creating whatever isn't offered (the premise of the web 2.0). Our lessons are built on the idea that knowledge and skills will pay off with future goals and options, and yet, our students enjoy instant results and immediate gratification from instant messaging, tweets and wireless communications when they step outside our classroom walls. These two perspectives are clashing in our classrooms as instructional times that are not high-interest, socially connected and personally gratifying events for the student often lose the audience.
Teachers are competing with an exponentially growing movement that pits the person at the center of the world and hands them the master switch the size of a cell phone. Our schools are places where those cell phones aren't allowed, because it would distract students from our messages and lessons. That cell phone and its applications have become more a part of your student's life than anything you can craft and present in a class. We need to merge the two worlds in order to use the powers of technology for good (not "evil") and bring life-long learning to the conversation table in our student's mind.
Our teaching must touch them in personally relevant ways. More often than not these days, that means instantly gratifying instruction that prides itself in students actively constructing knowledge in socially-networked ways.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Critical Thinking - A Flawed View of the World
Perception is everything in a world that is driven by rational and reflective individuals. What we think about something is shaped and contorted by our schema, which largely influences our actions. The world as a whole has a number of perceptions and bias about it that have become part of our collective consciousness and version of the truth. Geography is a perfect example. Human-made maps and collected data have shaped our view of the world and its places. The result is adopting and believing things that are inaccurate or misrepresented.
This West Wing clip entitled: "Why are we changing maps?" explains this very point. Critical thinking in a classroom is important. With nothing else at your disposal, you can always rely on open-ended questions and critical thinking to ignite discussion in your class. The quality of the talk and duration of the conversation will always depend on the nature of your class, but even if the discussion relies heavily on only a few students, the others should still be listening.
Students need challenges. The ones that really inspire thought and harness the potential of the student mind lack an answer and dare them to try. Critical thinking is vital to preparing global citizens and responsible members of the world. Progress demands that we question. History begs us to improve. Teachers need to set the stage in their rooms before releasing students into the world.
This West Wing clip entitled: "Why are we changing maps?" explains this very point. Critical thinking in a classroom is important. With nothing else at your disposal, you can always rely on open-ended questions and critical thinking to ignite discussion in your class. The quality of the talk and duration of the conversation will always depend on the nature of your class, but even if the discussion relies heavily on only a few students, the others should still be listening.
Students need challenges. The ones that really inspire thought and harness the potential of the student mind lack an answer and dare them to try. Critical thinking is vital to preparing global citizens and responsible members of the world. Progress demands that we question. History begs us to improve. Teachers need to set the stage in their rooms before releasing students into the world.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Begin Your Web 2.0 Journey
A common theme that runs through most educational discussions on technology seems to be web 2.0 tools. These are applications that allow a teacher to deliver content, and a student to receive it, by designing it online. Things like glogs, blogs, wikis, prezis all offer a new way of reaching students and reshaping the learning process. The problem with these programs is not a new one in the education sector - time.
It takes time to navigate new technologies. Time to become comfortable with them. Time to purposely plan for their use and its impact on classroom learning. Time is always at a premium.
Training does allow for the opportunity to be exposed to these web 2.0 tools, but the majority of training often comes as an after-hours, during breaks, or informally delivered chance with a colleague. Steps in a new direction can be trail-blazing for your classroom practice; but they still need a path - and this path requires a guide. Whether your guide is self-guided learning on the internet at home or networking with a colleague during lunch; your choice of guide can make or break whether you choose to take these new tools and actually use them.
Here is a starting point for those who want to be exposed to some of the possibilities out there. This website offers a list of different kinds of web 2.0 tools and explains their purpose and use. It is not exhaustive and should be merely a starting point. If you truly want to begin your journey of web 2.0 technologies, choose ONE thing and implement it. Let it be messy. Show the students how it looks to figure things out...in front of them. You will be modelling resilience, problem-solving and patience. These are some of the most important skills a student can learn. It serves no benefit to always be perfect and properly execute a lesson as a teacher. Students need to see a mentor struggle to envision what strategies will lead to success.
Don't get overwhelmed if you're new to this. It is a process and simply reading this blog post has landed you somewhere on the web 2.0 path. Now choose your next step if the time is right for change.
It takes time to navigate new technologies. Time to become comfortable with them. Time to purposely plan for their use and its impact on classroom learning. Time is always at a premium.
Training does allow for the opportunity to be exposed to these web 2.0 tools, but the majority of training often comes as an after-hours, during breaks, or informally delivered chance with a colleague. Steps in a new direction can be trail-blazing for your classroom practice; but they still need a path - and this path requires a guide. Whether your guide is self-guided learning on the internet at home or networking with a colleague during lunch; your choice of guide can make or break whether you choose to take these new tools and actually use them.
Here is a starting point for those who want to be exposed to some of the possibilities out there. This website offers a list of different kinds of web 2.0 tools and explains their purpose and use. It is not exhaustive and should be merely a starting point. If you truly want to begin your journey of web 2.0 technologies, choose ONE thing and implement it. Let it be messy. Show the students how it looks to figure things out...in front of them. You will be modelling resilience, problem-solving and patience. These are some of the most important skills a student can learn. It serves no benefit to always be perfect and properly execute a lesson as a teacher. Students need to see a mentor struggle to envision what strategies will lead to success.
Don't get overwhelmed if you're new to this. It is a process and simply reading this blog post has landed you somewhere on the web 2.0 path. Now choose your next step if the time is right for change.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Self-Directed Schools - Students Without Classes
A recent article in "Professionally Speaking" (the magazine of the Ontario College Teachers) featured self-directed schools with a spotlight on two Ontario high schools that are built on this concept. These are places for learning where there are no classes; just student goals and a focus on independent work habits.
One of these self-directed schools, Mary Ward Catholic SS, explains in its mission statement that 'students flourish in a program of self-directed learning that calls on every student to be a leader in an achievement-oriented environment, and that all students can reach their highest potential through self-directed learning.' Wow. Now that seems like a step in the right direction. Differentiated instruction, multiple intelligences and preferred learning styles all rolled into one approach to educate our high school students - and in OUR province.
These are places where students come to learn with the knowledge that they are in control of how that learning will look. They set their own agendas in many ways and receive close attention from teachers who also function as their advisors. The statistics are impressive too. About 85-90% of students from the two self-directed Ontario high schools go on to attend college or university. Our provincial government's current goal is to have an 85% graduation rate in Ontario (79% in 2009) - which says nothing to the path of post-secondary education - that goal is simply to get students to finish high school not travel further than it.
Teachers at these schools are responsible for 18 students who will be in their advisory groups for their time as students at Mary Ward. This reminds me of the British system I worked in where there were Head of Year teachers who were assigned to a grade and then stayed with that grade (e.g. Year 8) all the way through until their graduation. This seemed like a good system and gave a closer bond between a group of students and one teacher who could advise, track and discipline as needed.
We don't currently have these roles in our public high schools. Guidance Counselors and Student Success teachers are in place to help students and monitor "at-risk" students; but imagine the close bond that forms between a teacher advisor and a student who is only 1 of 18 in that group (not an entire school population, or sometimes, A-K and L-Z). These self-directed schools demand face-to-face meetings with a teacher advisor to plan career paths, check academic progress and other short-and long-term planning on a continual basis. The communication between students and teacher is paramount and purposeful checkpoints are in place to ensure that students do not fall through the cracks or fall behind without a chance of intervening for their benefit. At home, student and parent are kept closely linked through the use of a wall calendar that tracks major units and assignment planning. It all sounds ideal.
So what is holding our conventional model of education in place throughout all the other high schools in Ontario? Is it too bold a step to scrap the old schematics and draw entirely new ones? It is ambitious - and scary - to begin anew in a sea of uncertainty. But it would also be liberating and exciting to walk a different road and see how it goes. Sometimes patching the problem works, but maybe we are approaching the point where there are as many patches as original parts. Why should we continue to fix the mistakes and add small parts of new ideas to the original framework? Some of these revolutionary educational ideas just don't fit inside the rows that some of our classrooms have to offer. They deserve a new environment in which to flourish and one that will command the respect of unsuspecting students as they are offered an ACTUAL new perspective to their learning. Not just some new buzz word with an international case study to cite its benefits. From the bottom-up. Students driving learning. A revolutionary idea - but not in at least two Ontario schools today.
One of these self-directed schools, Mary Ward Catholic SS, explains in its mission statement that 'students flourish in a program of self-directed learning that calls on every student to be a leader in an achievement-oriented environment, and that all students can reach their highest potential through self-directed learning.' Wow. Now that seems like a step in the right direction. Differentiated instruction, multiple intelligences and preferred learning styles all rolled into one approach to educate our high school students - and in OUR province.
These are places where students come to learn with the knowledge that they are in control of how that learning will look. They set their own agendas in many ways and receive close attention from teachers who also function as their advisors. The statistics are impressive too. About 85-90% of students from the two self-directed Ontario high schools go on to attend college or university. Our provincial government's current goal is to have an 85% graduation rate in Ontario (79% in 2009) - which says nothing to the path of post-secondary education - that goal is simply to get students to finish high school not travel further than it.
Teachers at these schools are responsible for 18 students who will be in their advisory groups for their time as students at Mary Ward. This reminds me of the British system I worked in where there were Head of Year teachers who were assigned to a grade and then stayed with that grade (e.g. Year 8) all the way through until their graduation. This seemed like a good system and gave a closer bond between a group of students and one teacher who could advise, track and discipline as needed.
We don't currently have these roles in our public high schools. Guidance Counselors and Student Success teachers are in place to help students and monitor "at-risk" students; but imagine the close bond that forms between a teacher advisor and a student who is only 1 of 18 in that group (not an entire school population, or sometimes, A-K and L-Z). These self-directed schools demand face-to-face meetings with a teacher advisor to plan career paths, check academic progress and other short-and long-term planning on a continual basis. The communication between students and teacher is paramount and purposeful checkpoints are in place to ensure that students do not fall through the cracks or fall behind without a chance of intervening for their benefit. At home, student and parent are kept closely linked through the use of a wall calendar that tracks major units and assignment planning. It all sounds ideal.
So what is holding our conventional model of education in place throughout all the other high schools in Ontario? Is it too bold a step to scrap the old schematics and draw entirely new ones? It is ambitious - and scary - to begin anew in a sea of uncertainty. But it would also be liberating and exciting to walk a different road and see how it goes. Sometimes patching the problem works, but maybe we are approaching the point where there are as many patches as original parts. Why should we continue to fix the mistakes and add small parts of new ideas to the original framework? Some of these revolutionary educational ideas just don't fit inside the rows that some of our classrooms have to offer. They deserve a new environment in which to flourish and one that will command the respect of unsuspecting students as they are offered an ACTUAL new perspective to their learning. Not just some new buzz word with an international case study to cite its benefits. From the bottom-up. Students driving learning. A revolutionary idea - but not in at least two Ontario schools today.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
More Cowbell
Teachers become mentors to the education process. We do not simply exude knowledge when we walk the halls or leave traces of learning on the desks for students to find as they enter - we mold and wield it to our interests. Incredible things are made possible in the classroom when there is a teacher with new eyes and a fresh perspective on how to approach teaching. We bring the curriculum along for the ride, knowing that it has a place on this trip. But we do not expect those formal expectations and words to carry the conversation in our classroom; that is our place. Our students merely need to mention it now and again, thereby making sure that it doesn't feel excluded.
Our lessons are shaped by our ideas and those influenced by the world around us. Anything can be a teaching moment and those things that seem the most trivial are usually the ones most in need of teaching. The hidden curriculum is what builds better global citizens and responsible students; manners, social cues, character education and common sense. These are the building blocks of a better world and they have been left without a place in the conventional curriculum.
We know when something in our midst is on the verge of breaking through and taking over the learning environment. We can sense the excitement in the room when a student is about to grasp a new concept or one that has alluded them until now. Those are the times when a teacher feels like an expert. If you haven't felt that way in a while there could be any number of reasons for it. But, ultimately, it needs more cowbell. And when it gets that cowbell - incredible things will happen for you and the students in your room. Focus on what the problem is that is preventing you from feeling like the expert and professional that you are. Whatever is holding you back has to be reconciled before those gold records find their way to your walls again.
Our lessons are shaped by our ideas and those influenced by the world around us. Anything can be a teaching moment and those things that seem the most trivial are usually the ones most in need of teaching. The hidden curriculum is what builds better global citizens and responsible students; manners, social cues, character education and common sense. These are the building blocks of a better world and they have been left without a place in the conventional curriculum.
We know when something in our midst is on the verge of breaking through and taking over the learning environment. We can sense the excitement in the room when a student is about to grasp a new concept or one that has alluded them until now. Those are the times when a teacher feels like an expert. If you haven't felt that way in a while there could be any number of reasons for it. But, ultimately, it needs more cowbell. And when it gets that cowbell - incredible things will happen for you and the students in your room. Focus on what the problem is that is preventing you from feeling like the expert and professional that you are. Whatever is holding you back has to be reconciled before those gold records find their way to your walls again.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Find Your Epiphany
I am not a megalomaniac. But I do have a path. Since starting this blog and sharing my ideas, there has always been one topic that I have grappled with discussing. I'll allude to it in this post. Since the summer I have been re-acquainted with my passion for writing. I spent a good part of the summer reading books on writing and publishing. My brain has been fixated on the prospects of changing my path - because of a change.
I want this post to read as a do-it-yourself for resilience and hope. With teachers being told their teaching placements for next year in the coming weeks; I want to offer my own example in hopes that you can rise above anything you are given. Last year my teaching assignment was drastically changed to one that I had not anticipated or planned for. My leadership role within the school was removed without discussion. I have had one year to make sense of this change.
As an individual faced with a decision, you have to prioritize everything. I created a hierarchy with my family at the top. Just as I believe anyone else would do; I chose them. Since being placed in my current assignment, I have taken 3 additional qualification courses that amounted to completing extra course work in 9 out of the last 13 months. I have just registered for my next course to begin early next month. Professional knowledge and qualifications is the first path to which I am blazing a trail.
I have excelled at my new teaching placement and certainly found the positives and benefits to my own pedagogy by being the teacher in that room. But, I was never in doubt of the value of teaching a special needs classroom. What I have been battling is the process that can take place to alter your entire view of education through one sweeping action - or in this case - one chart on a page.
The second path that I am exploring is one of leadership in and about teaching. I have just earned a place on our Federation's County Bargaining Team during the next round of contract negotiations, and am thrilled at the prospects of being part of meaningful discussions and change in the quality of the teaching profession in this district. Simultaneously, I have created a downloadable resource page for teachers ("Teaching Ideas and Resources"), started this educational critique as a blog ("Ignite. Incite. Inspire.") and have started writing teaching-related articles for Suite101.com as a "State of Education" writer.
The final path for me is writing. All of these experiences build to a creative climax when I sit down to put my thoughts on (virtual)page. I have joined "The Red Room" (a social media site that connects writers) and numerous educational forums (edubloggers, linkedin groups) in an attempt to network and steer the craft. I hope to enter some of my writing in "The New Quarterly" for an upcoming essay/poetry contest and will try to have some of my writing published in teaching-related magazines if possible. .
I am reaching out in three different directions - and all the while I am inspired by the choice.
I have something to offer the world - and so do you. Despite your placement, working conditions, family situation or life hang-ups; I can attest that you direct your fate and next move. "Do not go gently into that good light. Rage, Rage,"[when faced with fight or flight]. I could not be doing what I am without the incredible support of my amazing wife (Chy-Anne) and a mounting group of friends and professionals that give me strength in words to convince me that posts like this are non-negotiable. This is transparency and I welcome the dialogue.
I am in the John Nash moment where the world fades out and he sees the mathematical links in the situation. I am George Malley consuming books and moving objects. I am Mark Zuckerberg furiously programming a revolutionary program. I am in that moment that everything seems to make sense in an unbelievably simple way. I am a writer that happens to teach and a teacher that happens to write. This is my epiphany and I will drag it on as long as I can; if that is what it takes to find the right path.
I am not a megalomaniac. But I do have ambitious goals and something unique to offer the world. I will not be a passenger in my own life. I am driving the ship now and will plan my own route.
Find your epiphany and build your brand. You are the best at what you do at any given moment. If the people that matter are lining the path with you; the ones who don't matter will be pushed aside and forced to consider you in a different light. You have lined my path up till now; I hope I can return the favor when the time is right for you.
I want this post to read as a do-it-yourself for resilience and hope. With teachers being told their teaching placements for next year in the coming weeks; I want to offer my own example in hopes that you can rise above anything you are given. Last year my teaching assignment was drastically changed to one that I had not anticipated or planned for. My leadership role within the school was removed without discussion. I have had one year to make sense of this change.
As an individual faced with a decision, you have to prioritize everything. I created a hierarchy with my family at the top. Just as I believe anyone else would do; I chose them. Since being placed in my current assignment, I have taken 3 additional qualification courses that amounted to completing extra course work in 9 out of the last 13 months. I have just registered for my next course to begin early next month. Professional knowledge and qualifications is the first path to which I am blazing a trail.
I have excelled at my new teaching placement and certainly found the positives and benefits to my own pedagogy by being the teacher in that room. But, I was never in doubt of the value of teaching a special needs classroom. What I have been battling is the process that can take place to alter your entire view of education through one sweeping action - or in this case - one chart on a page.
The second path that I am exploring is one of leadership in and about teaching. I have just earned a place on our Federation's County Bargaining Team during the next round of contract negotiations, and am thrilled at the prospects of being part of meaningful discussions and change in the quality of the teaching profession in this district. Simultaneously, I have created a downloadable resource page for teachers ("Teaching Ideas and Resources"), started this educational critique as a blog ("Ignite. Incite. Inspire.") and have started writing teaching-related articles for Suite101.com as a "State of Education" writer.
The final path for me is writing. All of these experiences build to a creative climax when I sit down to put my thoughts on (virtual)page. I have joined "The Red Room" (a social media site that connects writers) and numerous educational forums (edubloggers, linkedin groups) in an attempt to network and steer the craft. I hope to enter some of my writing in "The New Quarterly" for an upcoming essay/poetry contest and will try to have some of my writing published in teaching-related magazines if possible. .
I am reaching out in three different directions - and all the while I am inspired by the choice.
I have something to offer the world - and so do you. Despite your placement, working conditions, family situation or life hang-ups; I can attest that you direct your fate and next move. "Do not go gently into that good light. Rage, Rage,"[when faced with fight or flight]. I could not be doing what I am without the incredible support of my amazing wife (Chy-Anne) and a mounting group of friends and professionals that give me strength in words to convince me that posts like this are non-negotiable. This is transparency and I welcome the dialogue.
I am in the John Nash moment where the world fades out and he sees the mathematical links in the situation. I am George Malley consuming books and moving objects. I am Mark Zuckerberg furiously programming a revolutionary program. I am in that moment that everything seems to make sense in an unbelievably simple way. I am a writer that happens to teach and a teacher that happens to write. This is my epiphany and I will drag it on as long as I can; if that is what it takes to find the right path.
I am not a megalomaniac. But I do have ambitious goals and something unique to offer the world. I will not be a passenger in my own life. I am driving the ship now and will plan my own route.
Find your epiphany and build your brand. You are the best at what you do at any given moment. If the people that matter are lining the path with you; the ones who don't matter will be pushed aside and forced to consider you in a different light. You have lined my path up till now; I hope I can return the favor when the time is right for you.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Web-Constructors of Knowledge
During a meeting with a couple of teachers today, I was asked by a colleague whether I felt that new web-based technologies (i.e. glogster, blogging, wikis, prezis) were being implemented in classrooms today because they are ideal for how our students learn or was it for us to 'hook' them into learning.
I told him that I felt that these programs are non-linear and so is student thinking and learning preferences today. Students today are interacting with data and online applications in a constant manner. They move and click, manipulate, comment, and tweet. When all else fails, if students encounter something that does not excite them or allow them to make it 'their own' - they do just that.....make one of their own. Our students are online collaborators. They are webpage authors and facebook administrators. They have been raised in an online environment that is built on collaboration and integration of ideas (between web and self).
Our students are in control of what they do online when they spent their time that way - and they are increasingly choosing to do this. They want author rights to things. They do not enjoy the same artistic license and opportunity in many of our lessons. They are largely passive and static unless personally engaged and challenged to be a creator of something. Use these web-based technologies to both hook and adhere to their preferred learning style, that is, one that is egocentric and grounded in their ability to control and manipulate the information. We need to teach them the digital citizenship skills required to keep these tools and goals in line with educational priorities; but it is they who will need to invest in the adoption of vital online rules and expectations.
I think we are headed in the right place with new programs and learning opportunities that embrace the web and its many applications. The nature of schooling today is in flux. There is a great battle between traditional and non-traditional ways of teaching and those teachers and principals that have not opened themselves to the expanding possibilities of technology are finding themselves on the outside looking in. They might want to be a part of this educational revolution, but feel that they lack the fundamental skills and knowledge needed to be an active participant. Educators need to collaborate on these issues in appropriate and engaging ways (just like students!). When our classrooms become places that integrate self and learning - it will be lasting and dynamic. It's the reason we are shifting to differentiated instruction techniques and it should be reason to incorporate more web-based programs and new online learning tools.
I told him that I felt that these programs are non-linear and so is student thinking and learning preferences today. Students today are interacting with data and online applications in a constant manner. They move and click, manipulate, comment, and tweet. When all else fails, if students encounter something that does not excite them or allow them to make it 'their own' - they do just that.....make one of their own. Our students are online collaborators. They are webpage authors and facebook administrators. They have been raised in an online environment that is built on collaboration and integration of ideas (between web and self).
Our students are in control of what they do online when they spent their time that way - and they are increasingly choosing to do this. They want author rights to things. They do not enjoy the same artistic license and opportunity in many of our lessons. They are largely passive and static unless personally engaged and challenged to be a creator of something. Use these web-based technologies to both hook and adhere to their preferred learning style, that is, one that is egocentric and grounded in their ability to control and manipulate the information. We need to teach them the digital citizenship skills required to keep these tools and goals in line with educational priorities; but it is they who will need to invest in the adoption of vital online rules and expectations.
I think we are headed in the right place with new programs and learning opportunities that embrace the web and its many applications. The nature of schooling today is in flux. There is a great battle between traditional and non-traditional ways of teaching and those teachers and principals that have not opened themselves to the expanding possibilities of technology are finding themselves on the outside looking in. They might want to be a part of this educational revolution, but feel that they lack the fundamental skills and knowledge needed to be an active participant. Educators need to collaborate on these issues in appropriate and engaging ways (just like students!). When our classrooms become places that integrate self and learning - it will be lasting and dynamic. It's the reason we are shifting to differentiated instruction techniques and it should be reason to incorporate more web-based programs and new online learning tools.
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