I had written a whole long post on this topic last week, and was just waiting for some data to finish it up, but then something tragic happened, and it all got deleted by accident (ctrl+z did not work!). So I'll try my best to recreate what I had written (and perhaps it will be better).
Two terms ago I changed the way I taught reading. I was souring on the effectiveness of achievement (ability) groupings in everything and this was the last frontier. I wrote some initial thoughts after one term, but now I have some data to back things up. In those two terms, 19 of my learners participated in the mixed-achievement groups, reading two novels over the two terms. This change started in early May and the latest results have come during early September, so the time frame is approximately 4 months. Over those four months, the average improvement in reading age has been 9.9 months, more than double what would be expected The smallest improvement was 3 months and the largest was 21 months. Though this is not exactly a scientific study, it does show that a) I'm not crazy for doing this and b) even if the reasons for their improvement did not include the way I taught, it's clear that the mixed-achievement groups does not hinder learners from improving and the children are not subjected to who is in the lowest group. I wish I had taken some other data at the beginning of this (asking learners if they enjoy reading, if they think they are good at reading) as that may have been more valuable, but anecdotally, the class tells me they don't want to go back to the old way.
Furthermore, while looking at the reading results, I had a look at my writing results as well, a subject in which I have not had achievement groups all year. On average, compared to their term 1 Asttle results, my learners have improved an average of 3.1 points on the scoring rubric, which translates (roughly) to 1.5 sublevels, which is approximately the amount of progress expected in a whole year. So overall, my students have improved more than what would be expected over that time.
Given the improvements, I have spent some time thinking about why this might be, and I came up with several reasons:
Choice
Though the choice I gave my learners was not very big, I let them choose from books they would enjoy (Roald Dahl) and didn't force any particular books on them (in fact, there was a multiple step process to figure out which books to read, each step involving learner voice). Having children choose what they read puts a lot of the ownership back onto them, they want to read those books, and they are excited to talk about them.
Discussion
A lot of the work was based around discussions and questioning, directed by both myself and my learners. Since all learners came from different backgrounds and experiences, mixing up the groups provided for richer discussion and thought about the books. Children who have never worked together before had a chance to share their ideas with each other. This is always a good thing, getting ideas and ways of thinking shared between learners, and having them support each other in developing their comprehension strategies.
Enjoyment, not Shaming
Most children who are not in the top group do understand what this means. By focusing on enjoyment over achievement (on an arbitrary scale) learners are more engaged and enjoy reading more. When reading is enjoyable, they do it more often. When they do it more often, they get better at it.
SOLO Maps
Most of the work I do with the groups for their novels, revolves around SOLO maps and using them to understand the book a bit better. From the first to the second term, there was a marked increase in confidence of students using the maps, to the point where some didn't even need me to walk them through it. They were able to think about what happened in the book critically and delve deep into the meaning of what the author wrote.
Harder Books
Rather than give learners books that are "at their level," more difficult books (which are chosen by the children) push them to learn more. They are motivated to read the harder books and when they go back to their levelled tests, they seem much easier by comparison, which helps them succeed more easily.
Overall, I'm extremely pleased with how this reading (and the writing) program has gone this year. My learners are clearly more confident with their learning and sharing what they know (though this is not just because of the reading, but it has played a part in it) as well as working as a team. Incidentally, it has been harder to prove an improvement in math results this year as it is not as easily quantified (or at least I haven't yet tried to do so). Has anyone else tried mixed-achievement reading? Has it been successful? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Showing posts with label PTC 2:Well-being. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PTC 2:Well-being. Show all posts
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Koanga Festival with my Students
I am lucky enough to have some amazing teachers at my school who do amazing things with my students. This Saturday I got to see firsthand some of those amazing things at the Koanga Festival at Bucklands Beach Intermediate. Our school's Kapa Haka group was performing and I made sure that I would make it, having two of my students in the group. I had seen the performance a day earlier, but wanted to go to show my support. The students were amazing in their performance! Even better than the day before (though, the lighting and the larger stage no doubt helped that). Their hard work was clear and evident.
It was nice to be invited to this and to get a chance to experience life outside of school with my students. Being a foreigner (taking all your jobs and such) I have to admit ignorance when it comes to many things Maori. This was a positive way for me to learn a bit more and to help build those relationships with some of my students (even if one of them told me he didn't want to smile for the picture). As an added bonus, three of my students have brothers or sisters in Kapa Haka and I got to see them outside of the normal classroom setting.Thursday, September 8, 2016
On Stepping Back and Watching
For a lot of my teaching career, I have been told that I must be doing something with the students. That maximizing time with me is what will make the difference for students. A buzzword that some principals and other leaders like to use is "direct acts of teaching." Our days are structured by how many groups we can see, as if this makes all the difference in the world.
But I'm here to ask if perhaps we've got it backwards. I'm not saying just let children be all by themselves the whole day - that has the potential for disaster (though I am somewhat interested as to what would happen if that were the case). I'm talking about pulling back and letting students have a go; letting them have a chance to make their own meaning and work through problems their own way.
A big focus of my teaching the last couple of years has been using the problem solving approach in mathematics. In it, I give my students some problems. We discuss what they might mean beforehand, then I let them have a go. Often I just step back and go help the other learners in the class and let them struggle. I've even gone so far as to ban children from asking me questions during their work time. I will drop in and out of each group, asking them to explain what they're doing (and sometimes even doing those - unplanned - direct acts of teaching, if necessary).
The struggle itself is what helps learners learn and grow. I could tell them what they need to know, but a) I doubt very much they're all listening, b) they all need to know different things, even learners who have achieved to a similar degree, and c) learners can and want to learn anything, so who am I to dictate what they should be learning by completing any given activity. There's even evidence that this gives bigger gains in the long run.
More recently (probably in the last few months), I've started doing this more, in other areas. Passion projects are a great way to do this. I've also stepped back in writing and have allowed my students to complete a writing project of their choice - which can range from writing a book to making a stop motion video. Everything we do, I want my learners to grapple with the ideas themselves, experience failure, and then move forward. We are risking the creation a generation of students who merely want to please someone else by spoon feeding them what they need to know.
In writing, I have also begun getting students to evaluate their own work. It was very successful this week. I had taught a quick mini-lesson on improving our vocabulary in our writing and the students went off and wrote on their own. Afterwards, I had them work with each other to identify the interesting words they had used. I watched the whole thing, but the conversations and debates they had ("Is Palmerston North an interesting word?") were much more valuable than me telling them or giving them a worksheet. I even joked during this time to them: "I'm not doing anything". But one student said to me: "Yes you are." They get it. They know it helps them.
There are definitely some interesting perspectives on this. Oftentimes, as teachers we need to feel like we are doing something, as explained in this article. However, I think we need to realize that we can be extremely effective by putting learners into positions where they will struggle and be able to figure it out for themselves.
I also came across this story a while back about WALTS (learning outcomes, objectives, etc for those not down with the lingo) and how they limit learning. Letting students learn their own way means that we shouldn't be dictating the learning outcomes. We can give them a task, but what they learn can be different from one student to the next. Just some more food for thought.
But I'm here to ask if perhaps we've got it backwards. I'm not saying just let children be all by themselves the whole day - that has the potential for disaster (though I am somewhat interested as to what would happen if that were the case). I'm talking about pulling back and letting students have a go; letting them have a chance to make their own meaning and work through problems their own way.
A big focus of my teaching the last couple of years has been using the problem solving approach in mathematics. In it, I give my students some problems. We discuss what they might mean beforehand, then I let them have a go. Often I just step back and go help the other learners in the class and let them struggle. I've even gone so far as to ban children from asking me questions during their work time. I will drop in and out of each group, asking them to explain what they're doing (and sometimes even doing those - unplanned - direct acts of teaching, if necessary).
The struggle itself is what helps learners learn and grow. I could tell them what they need to know, but a) I doubt very much they're all listening, b) they all need to know different things, even learners who have achieved to a similar degree, and c) learners can and want to learn anything, so who am I to dictate what they should be learning by completing any given activity. There's even evidence that this gives bigger gains in the long run.
More recently (probably in the last few months), I've started doing this more, in other areas. Passion projects are a great way to do this. I've also stepped back in writing and have allowed my students to complete a writing project of their choice - which can range from writing a book to making a stop motion video. Everything we do, I want my learners to grapple with the ideas themselves, experience failure, and then move forward. We are risking the creation a generation of students who merely want to please someone else by spoon feeding them what they need to know.
In writing, I have also begun getting students to evaluate their own work. It was very successful this week. I had taught a quick mini-lesson on improving our vocabulary in our writing and the students went off and wrote on their own. Afterwards, I had them work with each other to identify the interesting words they had used. I watched the whole thing, but the conversations and debates they had ("Is Palmerston North an interesting word?") were much more valuable than me telling them or giving them a worksheet. I even joked during this time to them: "I'm not doing anything". But one student said to me: "Yes you are." They get it. They know it helps them.
There are definitely some interesting perspectives on this. Oftentimes, as teachers we need to feel like we are doing something, as explained in this article. However, I think we need to realize that we can be extremely effective by putting learners into positions where they will struggle and be able to figure it out for themselves.
I also came across this story a while back about WALTS (learning outcomes, objectives, etc for those not down with the lingo) and how they limit learning. Letting students learn their own way means that we shouldn't be dictating the learning outcomes. We can give them a task, but what they learn can be different from one student to the next. Just some more food for thought.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
The Case for MakerEdNZ
Since going to ISTE this year, it has become apparent that there is a gap in New Zealand education, at least from my perspective. That gap is makerspaces. Now, I know some of you will be reading this saying: "What are you going on about? I've got an awesome makerspace in my school! You don't know what you're talking about." And yes, you'd probably be right, I DON'T know what I'm talking about. Yes, there are lots of great and amazing makerspaces in New Zealand. However, when I asked the NZ Teachers (Primary) Facebook group about makerspaces, only 43% of the teachers had even HEARD of them and only 11% had one in their school. So I say to you people who have the makerspaces: "How can you help the rest of us?" (note: I'm actually in the 11%, so the question should be: "How can we help each other?")
Instead of getting worked up about it and saying that either: a) it's not fair, I want some cool stuff, or b) what's the point, someone else will fix it, I've decided to do something about it. And thus: MakerEdNZ was born. What is it, you ask? I'm not entirely sure. It's just an idea right now (ok, well actually, it's more than just an idea - but more on that later). But the idea is that we (the keen makers out there, those with makerspaces, and those who just want to bring them to NZ schools) can work together, share what is working for us and get those makerspaces into every New Zealand school. Ambitious? Check.
How this plays out is anyone's guess right now, but I believe that there is the desire to make this change, and that desire will increase as more and more teachers, schools and BOTs see what can happen in a makerspace and the real, authentic learning it can create.
I am currently in the process of applying to two separate programs to help me along in this journey. After being unsuccessful in my first application to the Google for Education Innovator Academy, I was speaking to an Innovator friend of mine about this very idea and it was suggested that this be the project I use in my application. And that's when things got real. When I started thinking about MakerEdNZ in those terms, I got a little more into it and have started work on a variety of angles of it (sneak peek: there's a website in the works, videos being planned, as well as twitter chats and many other ways of sharing) and have started thinking of it on a grander scale. I've literally just sent my application in for that. I'll know in a week (and so will you) whether or not I'll get the support of the amazing innovators at Google to help realize this vision of mine.
The second application I am working on (though mostly completed) is for the CORE education efellows. This will allow me to undertake some action research which will help me make the case for Makerspaces in New Zealand schools (something that would be amazingly helpful in convincing schools and BOTs to help find the space and resources for makerspaces). That application is due next week.
Whether or not I get into both or neither of these amazing programs, this initiative is going ahead full steam (But if you're reading this at Google or CORE right now, don't think that I don't want your help. I think being supported by both of you would really make this idea fly). So if you're reading this thinking "I'd love to help, but I don't know how I can" leave a message on this post, follow me on twitter (@michaelteacher, @MakerEdNZ or our hashtag #MakerEdNZ), or get ahold of me in another way. We need knowledge, skills and experience, but more importantly we need people who want to make a change and be a part of something amazing. We'll work on the knowledge, skills and experience together.
So why do this? What's the point of makerspaces. New Zealand education is fine you say. I have to disagree. Not to be disrespectful, but in my experience, way too many students have become disengaged with their education, right from the beginning. The looks on their faces when they are forced to sit still and listen is painful to me as a teacher (and yes, I know this is not the case everywhere, but it is in a lot of places). The lack of a chance for students to be creative and to make things is scary. Busy work and worksheets reign supreme in some schools and many students are left feeling like school is a prison, waiting excitedly for the end of the day and the weekends. Incidentally, as my students have been given more opportunities to make and create, the "Is it lunch yet?" questions have since been replaced with me trying to kick my students out of the classroom at playtimes. Is this not what we should all aspire to: students who actually want to be in school.
It is absolutely imperative in 2016 that we listen to the voices of our students. What do they want to learn? What skills do they want to try? We need to provide opportunities for students to learn a variety of skills (or just learn how to learn new skills) and expose them to technologies - old and new - that they wouldn't normally get exposed to. We can do better for our students. Would we want to be a student in our own classrooms?
MakerEdNZ has the practical goal of making makerspaces available to all New Zealand students, but the aspirational goal of making every student wake up in the morning and want to go to school to work on their projects.
In writing this, I've also come up with a great new slogan for MakerEdNZ:
MakerEdNZ. Making students want to stay in class during play time, since 2016
Monday, August 29, 2016
An Example of Collaboration and Critiquing
A while ago I had planned to write about my class' first attempt at critiquing, but other things piled up and I never got around to it. We have been trying to critique our work though and something happened this week that made me think about how relevant this concept has become to my class (and how embedded some of my students are with the idea).
We have been planning and making a poster to share the learning we have done with circuits this term and last. I had divided up some jobs and given a group of students the task of making the title for the poster.
I sent them off to work watched them work together. My class has had a lot of experience working in partners or small teams and it didn't really surprise me that they I was hearing them discuss ideas for how we would write the word circuit. What did surprise me, however, was that they essentially started prototyping. They came up with their idea, drew a quick sketch and then, THEY STARTED ASKING OTHER PEOPLE for feedback. With no prompting they did this. And they kept doing it for at least five iterations of the drawing (shown below, albeit a bit faint since they used pencil). We've still got a few steps to go, but the process was actually quite interesting to watch. I'm very proud of them for how they did this - and the latest version does look pretty good.
We have been planning and making a poster to share the learning we have done with circuits this term and last. I had divided up some jobs and given a group of students the task of making the title for the poster.
I sent them off to work watched them work together. My class has had a lot of experience working in partners or small teams and it didn't really surprise me that they I was hearing them discuss ideas for how we would write the word circuit. What did surprise me, however, was that they essentially started prototyping. They came up with their idea, drew a quick sketch and then, THEY STARTED ASKING OTHER PEOPLE for feedback. With no prompting they did this. And they kept doing it for at least five iterations of the drawing (shown below, albeit a bit faint since they used pencil). We've still got a few steps to go, but the process was actually quite interesting to watch. I'm very proud of them for how they did this - and the latest version does look pretty good.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Building a Community Vibe with Karakia
Earlier this year, an RTLB working with one of my students suggested we start a daily Karakia to help make the student she was working with more comfortable in the classroom. I was keen but hesitant (what with the religious connotations and all). Being a foreigner in New Zealand, I do think it's important to learn about the unique cultural history and customs of my newly adopted country. I wanted to strike a balance between doing so and not having students pray in school. I waffled on this idea for a while but a few months ago I spent some time and researched some karakia that are commonly used in schools that had no religious connotations. I ended up finding a few good ones, so I actually made a morning version and an end of day version. We've been doing this for so long now that we've memorized both of them.
I cannot claim that one thing caused the other, but since we've been doing this, I have sensed a feeling of community within my classroom. I do feel that this has made my students more comfortable in class and it has added some structure to our day. A way to start and end it. All in all, it's a small effort that can potentially have very positive outcomes. I recommend that every New Zealand teacher try this (you can even use the ones I've borrowed off of the Internet).
Friday, August 26, 2016
Passion Projects: A-learning We Will Go!
Last term my class started Passion Projects after having tried it last year at my last school. I had meant to write an update as to how the finished products went, but never found the time in a busy schedule straddling the last holidays. The presentations students shared (with myself, the class, our Principal and one Deputy Principal) were a good start. There was some nervousness. The students had mostly put a lot of effort and thought into their projects and it was great to see them share what they learned. But there were many things that could be improved - a lot of which fell on me. Preparing the students better was a priority of mine. Exposing them to better and more interesting ways of sharing what they've learned was another. We had a big reflection after the first round and then again when we started the second time. Students had a better idea of what was expected and way less time was wasted getting started.
This term I have stood back much more than I did last term (at least after the initial reflections) and have let my students explore their questions and take them in their directions. I probed when necessary and helped out when asked. But it was this week that the changes that had been brewing silently finally came bursting out in full view.
What was most startling was the variety of things students were doing this term. Many were using our classroom's Makerspace to create something. Some were coding. But it was apparent, the students were all enjoying what they were doing and were fully engrossed in their projects.
I think the biggest issue during the first go around of Passion Projects was that students were actually a bit tentative when it came to making choices about what they wanted to learn. They were a bit afraid of the choice and choose ways of sharing that were known, and thus easier. Now that they've had a chance to try it, they have begun to try new ways of displaying their information. And no doubt, my understanding and increased comfort level with the chaos has helped.
As a teacher, the idea of letting go was not one that was difficult to come to grips with. I want my students to have choice and control over their education and learning. On a practical side, that isn't always the case. I'm constantly afraid someone will get hurt (hot glue gun, box cutters, kids being kids) or a massive mess (paint, glitter), Legos being lost or sucked up by the vacuum after school, or just things generally being broken or wasted. This does happen occasionally (usually not the getting hurt though) but it's just something I need to get over. Trusting the children is key and they will often surprise you if you give them real trust to learn their own way.
The students have become proud of their work as well, though they have been a bit hesitant to share their work. When they do, everyone has been extremely supportive of each other. It's not just the fact that students are choosing what they learn and are engaged - they have also become a supportive learning community. This has been key in their transformation.
I borrowed a Ricoh Theta this past week to make another video and tested it out by taking this 360 degree video of the class during Passion Project time. I really enjoyed this day (and the whole week) as we have been doing real learning, not just the kind where I stand up in front of (or sit with) a group of children. It was an extremely liberating feeling for me to be able to give my students a voice. I hope that these lessons stay with them for life.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Punk Learning
So I just finished an amazing book: Punk Learning by Tait Coles. This book has both inspired me to change my practice AND embolden me to realize that perhaps I am on the right track, despite what others may say about or to me. The premise of the book is that we should give control back to students (and teachers!) so that they can own their learning. That's a very simplistic summary, but I'll try to do the ideas justice when explaining some of the key thoughts.
At only 163 pages (and short ones, at that) this is a very quick read, but filled with a lot of thought provoking ideas. Long story short: if you're truly interested in doing good by your students, READ THIS BOOK! It's not a recipe for success, but it is definitely a code that you can live by.
I've broken my thoughts down into the mini-chapters from the book (only to help organize the thoughts in my head).
Choice (DIY culture), Mindset
Even before I read this book, I have wanted to give my students more choice and control of their own learning. Perhaps that's why I read the book in the first place. Remember, our jobs are to serve our students - to prepare them for the life they want. Check that. It's to help them become learners and find wonder in the world. It doesn't have to be in the future. It should be now. Punk learning is all about choice and DIY learning. We (adults and children alike) make meaning by asking our own questions (more on that later) and finding the answers. Punk learning is about a mindset, not just going against the grain, just because (which some people seem to think I am doing). You will be amazed by what students can do if you only give them the chance (and the tools!) to be the amazing people that they are inside.
The book suggests that we need to change our perceptions of anarchy. It's a good thing. An anarchist "offers a critique of the existing order." We should all strive for this. A saying I like to remind myself of often is: Adapt or Die. I'm not sure who or where to credit that as it's been so long since I've first heard it. But it's spot on. If you don't change you become irrelevant. Lately, I've been doing a lot of this (partly because of reading this book, but also because I feel that change is necessary for us to move forward). If you want to know all the things that are suggested to create anarchy in your classroom, I suggest you buy the book, but the one thing I will say is that make sure you ask yourself: "What am I doing this?" Nothing should ever be sacred when we're talking about the minds of children.
Famous Punks
A whole chapter is also devoted to discussing famous punks in history. Not just punk rockers (which are quoted extensively throughout the book), but those people who did things their own way and had an amazing impact on millions of others and, in some cases, across centuries. Coles suggests that we teach our students about these people - something I plan on doing (perhaps a weekly "spotlight" - though the caveat here would be to make sure it's not all white men). Among the punk learners mentioned there are: George Orwell, Charles Darwin and Jessie J. I believe there is tremendous value in this - not just discussing the famous people, but by showing that they became famous and amazing by breaking the rules, not by following them blindly.
Punk Learning Manifesto
Included is a Punk Learning Manifesto, which basically states that students should be valued and have control. That's a very simplistic interpretation, but the list given in the book is worth the cost, I'd say. Plus, the whole idea is to adapt and make it your own. So there really is no set manifesto. It should be what your students want it to be. That's something I can get behind. As Obi-Wan Kenobi once said: "Only a Sith deals in absolutes!" (I do know where that one comes from).
Questioning
After a lot of theorizing and grand ideas, the book then gets down to a lot of very practical ideas The first is having students learn how to come up with some really good questions. It is vital to students' learning that they ask good questions. We (should) all know that children are really good at asking questions. They have a natural curiosity that seems endless - until we school it out of them. So we need to leverage this tendency rather than squash it. Our best bet is to teach students to improve their questions and figure out which ones are the best to ask.
So three steps are suggested: 1) Get students to ask questions based on some sort of stimulus (video, article, etc), 2) Get students to analyze, critique and improve their questions, 3) Get students to decide which questions are the most important (for them) to ask.
See how all of those things start with the students doing and thinking?
SOLO Taxonomy
Before this year I had only heard of SOLO taxonomy. I had watched a few videos but wasn't really sure about it. My new school this year is very big on SOLO and I have started trying to use it in class. So it was nice to see that Punk Learning talked a lot about SOLO. To put it simply, SOLO is a great tool to use with students that can be adapted for any type of learning. It outlines the different levels of understanding of ideas or concepts from Prestructural (I have no idea) to Extended Abstract (I understand fully and can use the idea to create new ideas). I'm not going to go into explaining all the levels and ideas around SOLO (one, because I don't have the time or space, but 2, I don't actually know everything... yet). If you're not using it, I would suggest you look it up. It's definitely a useful tool.
There were some practical applications here that I hadn't even thought of. One suggestion is to have stations around the room on a certain topic, for example (from the book: forces. Again, I won't go into details, but each station was designed so that it would help students move from one stage to the next. The brilliant part of the idea is that students choose which station to go to. This gives students a way to access the material at their own levels (differentiation, anyone?). And students can easily make their own decisions about whether or not they should be at a particular station or not. This is because each station should have a list of success criteria for students to check. I'd like to try this, perhaps for our upcoming science inquiry (though again, that might depend on student choice).
The chapter on SOLO actually started with a comparison to Bloom's Taxonomy. I have, for a long time, been a big fan of Bloom's. I like that there are different kinds of questions, though I have always wondered why some of them were above each other. This book is pretty unimpressed with Bloom's, and gives good reasons. I don't think it's worth abandoning it, but I do think that SOLO is a good place to start. I still use different Bloom's questions (specifically Create questions) but then compare them to SOLO levels as well.
Zeitgeist (or the Spirit of the Times)
The next mini-chapter discussed zeitgeist and how we can embrace the idea in our classrooms. As many teachers will know, there are numerous things in which we are told we HAVE to do or have in our classrooms - non-negotiables, if you will. Many of these things may be rooted in something that was once a great idea, but over time they have been distorted and people do them just because (That's What We've Always Done, or TWWAD). We rarely question the reasons behind this and when we do, often we find that it's because we've been told to do them.
While there are many suggestions as to how to improve in this area, I think the main idea is simply this: ask yourself why you're doing something. We don't do this enough. If it helps the students and their learning, keep doing it. If it doesn't, stop.
Critiquing
One of the most powerful things I took out of this book was the idea of critiquing. We all know feedback is one of the most important factors for students when it comes to learning, and often that is interpreted as marking books (see above section regarding TWWAD). This is much more than that. If you want to find out more, buy the book (seriously, why haven't you already?), but the gist is Be Kind, Be Specific, Be Helpful (and Be Harsh if necessary). Students need to know what is good about what they've done and what they need to do to improve it. They need time to actually make the improvements and they can benefit from sharing their critiques. With a growth mindset, children will learn the value of getting this feedback and be able to improve on their own more readily.
Learning vs. Progress
And this brings me to the next point. What is really important at school and why do we measure what we measure? There is a huge trend today to look at data and report on data and compare students to a set of (arbitrary) standards. How has this happened and why do we need to keep doing it? My theory behind this whole thing is that the focus on standards has actually lowered them because students aren't learning the important things. But I digress. The whole point is that we measure progress (what level are you on?) through a set of standards, but we miss a lot of the important learning. We know when learning is going on, we know when students are engaged. What do we gain by putting a number or letter or whatever next to a student in a very specific subject?
Bookwork vs Writing/Recording for a Purpose
This section is actually very close to me these days as we've just had our books checked to see if they are up to standard. What's the point of books? Why do we focus on students writing in books when we never do (I bet someone out there will say they just love to write by hand, but they are the exception, NOT the rule)? Why do books have to be so neat? Personally, I think there is some value in using books (journals), but if we record it needs to be for a purpose. We shouldn't just fill up books so that we can send them home at the end of the year and say: "Look, we're teaching your children - see how much they did!" It's about quality, not quantity. It's about recording things when and how they need to be recorded. It's about brainstorming and being messy (learning is messy). I don't see how making your book neat makes you a good learner. I've started trying to emulate these ideas lately and have several big pieces of paper up in my class with brainstorms we've done (and we share a lot online through GAFE). I like the idea and am not really fond of the "rainbow vomit" (quoted from a former colleague) that many classrooms have up on the walls.
Levels, Numbers for Assessment - Using Rubrics Instead (eg SOLO)
I touched on this idea above, and to be honest, there is not much that can be done about this on a country-wide level (at least not by me alone) anytime soon. The idea is simply this: How do levels (1A, Stage 2, Turquoise for reading) explain how or what a student is learning? Who decided that reading, writing and math are the skils that are most important and that the way we measure them is the best way to measure them.
Again, it is suggested that SOLO can be quite useful here. Because SOLO is such a general tool, it can be applied to many situations, and students can assess their own understanding of ideas, using the levels - even without the aid of a rubric. When you do add a rubric, however, it can become a powerful tool to help students identify what they know and what they need to improve upon. We've already started using rubrics on our writing projects (and in fact, writing in NZ is assessed using a rubric, but rarely is that shared with students - in my class it is though). While numbers that go up may look really good for a school in the eyes of a politician who has never spent a day teaching, they don't really tell the whole story.
How do you know if you're a punk learner?
Ask yourself this: are you doing something because you've been told to, or are you doing things so that the children can learn what they want and how they want? Do you get bogged down in what you have to do? Are you trying to impress someone so that they think you're a great teacher?
Showing creativity in ALL subject areas
Creativity is often given its place in schools: art, drama, music, etc (which is kind of ironic because most of those subjects aren't creative at all). We, as teachers, need to see that students can be creative in any endeavour. Creativity can come out of a simple problem of how to keep the class tidy, or how to sort out who gets the milk (two problems my class has had). Students need to be given the opportunity and time to mull over problems and to find innovative solutions to them. This isn't just students doing what they want - it is just letting students exercise their brains to deal with real world issues.
Chaos vs Control w.r.t. Student vs Teacher Centred learning
Ask yourself: what's better for learning: a room where all student actions are controlled by a teacher or one where students are chaotically doing their own learning? We, as teachers need to cede some control over to our students. This may look like chaos, but out of that chaos comes real, authentic learning. When we allow students to have control over what they learn then it becomes more meaningful to them. If we control them, then many students will become disengaged. This may look messy, but learning is messy.
Girl Power in Schools
The more I write, the more I realize how long this post is becoming (crazy, but it's just a testament to how great this book is!). One of the last chapters discussed girls in education. As I've mentioned in a few posts previously, I do think there are many issues facing girls in school (and sport). One important thing to remember is there is no such thing as a "boy book" or a "girl subject." Somehow society has put labels on things as being for boys or for girls. And this especially can cause girls to not do things they would otherwise want to do. One big takeaway from this is to expose children (both boys and girls) to famous women who have done the "boy" things and been successful (also, encouraging girls to try these things).
Keep on the Bus
One of the final messages of the book was that education can often be like a bus station (I actually had to return the book to the library so I don't have a copy to remind myself of it at the moment - but it was so good, I'll be buying a copy shortly). When you start out you're at the station and you get on a bus with lots of other people and you go the same way as them. But you want to be different, so you say, "OK, I'll go back and try again." So you go back to the bus station and get on a different bus, with new people. Then after a while you realize that you're just like them so you go back and start again. And again. Over and over. We should be staying on the bus though. Eventually, we'll find our own niche and our own way that works for us and our students. Punk learning isn't about following a formula. One punk teacher will be different from all the other punk teachers. It takes time, though. You won't wake up one morning and be a different teacher. It comes in slow steps over time.
My Conclusions
This book struck a massive chord in me. Many things I'm doing but have been marginalized because of them. This just strengthens my resolve to try even more to be better. And by better I mean better at producing competent students who can learn on their own and are empowered. I feel that in the short time that I've read this book, I've been able to take many of the tools I've learned from it and applied them in my classroom (it's taken me a good two weeks to write this post). My advice to anyone else: do what's best for your students. Teach them how to ask questions and teach them how to find their own, meaningful answers. Don't listen to the people who tell you that this is how it has to be done. Have conversations. Get better. Never settle. Always questions why you're doing things.
And go read this book. It will change your perspective.
At only 163 pages (and short ones, at that) this is a very quick read, but filled with a lot of thought provoking ideas. Long story short: if you're truly interested in doing good by your students, READ THIS BOOK! It's not a recipe for success, but it is definitely a code that you can live by.
I've broken my thoughts down into the mini-chapters from the book (only to help organize the thoughts in my head).
Choice (DIY culture), Mindset
Even before I read this book, I have wanted to give my students more choice and control of their own learning. Perhaps that's why I read the book in the first place. Remember, our jobs are to serve our students - to prepare them for the life they want. Check that. It's to help them become learners and find wonder in the world. It doesn't have to be in the future. It should be now. Punk learning is all about choice and DIY learning. We (adults and children alike) make meaning by asking our own questions (more on that later) and finding the answers. Punk learning is about a mindset, not just going against the grain, just because (which some people seem to think I am doing). You will be amazed by what students can do if you only give them the chance (and the tools!) to be the amazing people that they are inside.
The book suggests that we need to change our perceptions of anarchy. It's a good thing. An anarchist "offers a critique of the existing order." We should all strive for this. A saying I like to remind myself of often is: Adapt or Die. I'm not sure who or where to credit that as it's been so long since I've first heard it. But it's spot on. If you don't change you become irrelevant. Lately, I've been doing a lot of this (partly because of reading this book, but also because I feel that change is necessary for us to move forward). If you want to know all the things that are suggested to create anarchy in your classroom, I suggest you buy the book, but the one thing I will say is that make sure you ask yourself: "What am I doing this?" Nothing should ever be sacred when we're talking about the minds of children.
Famous Punks
A whole chapter is also devoted to discussing famous punks in history. Not just punk rockers (which are quoted extensively throughout the book), but those people who did things their own way and had an amazing impact on millions of others and, in some cases, across centuries. Coles suggests that we teach our students about these people - something I plan on doing (perhaps a weekly "spotlight" - though the caveat here would be to make sure it's not all white men). Among the punk learners mentioned there are: George Orwell, Charles Darwin and Jessie J. I believe there is tremendous value in this - not just discussing the famous people, but by showing that they became famous and amazing by breaking the rules, not by following them blindly.
Punk Learning Manifesto
Included is a Punk Learning Manifesto, which basically states that students should be valued and have control. That's a very simplistic interpretation, but the list given in the book is worth the cost, I'd say. Plus, the whole idea is to adapt and make it your own. So there really is no set manifesto. It should be what your students want it to be. That's something I can get behind. As Obi-Wan Kenobi once said: "Only a Sith deals in absolutes!" (I do know where that one comes from).
Questioning
After a lot of theorizing and grand ideas, the book then gets down to a lot of very practical ideas The first is having students learn how to come up with some really good questions. It is vital to students' learning that they ask good questions. We (should) all know that children are really good at asking questions. They have a natural curiosity that seems endless - until we school it out of them. So we need to leverage this tendency rather than squash it. Our best bet is to teach students to improve their questions and figure out which ones are the best to ask.
So three steps are suggested: 1) Get students to ask questions based on some sort of stimulus (video, article, etc), 2) Get students to analyze, critique and improve their questions, 3) Get students to decide which questions are the most important (for them) to ask.
See how all of those things start with the students doing and thinking?
SOLO Taxonomy
Before this year I had only heard of SOLO taxonomy. I had watched a few videos but wasn't really sure about it. My new school this year is very big on SOLO and I have started trying to use it in class. So it was nice to see that Punk Learning talked a lot about SOLO. To put it simply, SOLO is a great tool to use with students that can be adapted for any type of learning. It outlines the different levels of understanding of ideas or concepts from Prestructural (I have no idea) to Extended Abstract (I understand fully and can use the idea to create new ideas). I'm not going to go into explaining all the levels and ideas around SOLO (one, because I don't have the time or space, but 2, I don't actually know everything... yet). If you're not using it, I would suggest you look it up. It's definitely a useful tool.
There were some practical applications here that I hadn't even thought of. One suggestion is to have stations around the room on a certain topic, for example (from the book: forces. Again, I won't go into details, but each station was designed so that it would help students move from one stage to the next. The brilliant part of the idea is that students choose which station to go to. This gives students a way to access the material at their own levels (differentiation, anyone?). And students can easily make their own decisions about whether or not they should be at a particular station or not. This is because each station should have a list of success criteria for students to check. I'd like to try this, perhaps for our upcoming science inquiry (though again, that might depend on student choice).
The chapter on SOLO actually started with a comparison to Bloom's Taxonomy. I have, for a long time, been a big fan of Bloom's. I like that there are different kinds of questions, though I have always wondered why some of them were above each other. This book is pretty unimpressed with Bloom's, and gives good reasons. I don't think it's worth abandoning it, but I do think that SOLO is a good place to start. I still use different Bloom's questions (specifically Create questions) but then compare them to SOLO levels as well.
Zeitgeist (or the Spirit of the Times)
The next mini-chapter discussed zeitgeist and how we can embrace the idea in our classrooms. As many teachers will know, there are numerous things in which we are told we HAVE to do or have in our classrooms - non-negotiables, if you will. Many of these things may be rooted in something that was once a great idea, but over time they have been distorted and people do them just because (That's What We've Always Done, or TWWAD). We rarely question the reasons behind this and when we do, often we find that it's because we've been told to do them.
While there are many suggestions as to how to improve in this area, I think the main idea is simply this: ask yourself why you're doing something. We don't do this enough. If it helps the students and their learning, keep doing it. If it doesn't, stop.
Critiquing
One of the most powerful things I took out of this book was the idea of critiquing. We all know feedback is one of the most important factors for students when it comes to learning, and often that is interpreted as marking books (see above section regarding TWWAD). This is much more than that. If you want to find out more, buy the book (seriously, why haven't you already?), but the gist is Be Kind, Be Specific, Be Helpful (and Be Harsh if necessary). Students need to know what is good about what they've done and what they need to do to improve it. They need time to actually make the improvements and they can benefit from sharing their critiques. With a growth mindset, children will learn the value of getting this feedback and be able to improve on their own more readily.
Learning vs. Progress
And this brings me to the next point. What is really important at school and why do we measure what we measure? There is a huge trend today to look at data and report on data and compare students to a set of (arbitrary) standards. How has this happened and why do we need to keep doing it? My theory behind this whole thing is that the focus on standards has actually lowered them because students aren't learning the important things. But I digress. The whole point is that we measure progress (what level are you on?) through a set of standards, but we miss a lot of the important learning. We know when learning is going on, we know when students are engaged. What do we gain by putting a number or letter or whatever next to a student in a very specific subject?
Bookwork vs Writing/Recording for a Purpose
This section is actually very close to me these days as we've just had our books checked to see if they are up to standard. What's the point of books? Why do we focus on students writing in books when we never do (I bet someone out there will say they just love to write by hand, but they are the exception, NOT the rule)? Why do books have to be so neat? Personally, I think there is some value in using books (journals), but if we record it needs to be for a purpose. We shouldn't just fill up books so that we can send them home at the end of the year and say: "Look, we're teaching your children - see how much they did!" It's about quality, not quantity. It's about recording things when and how they need to be recorded. It's about brainstorming and being messy (learning is messy). I don't see how making your book neat makes you a good learner. I've started trying to emulate these ideas lately and have several big pieces of paper up in my class with brainstorms we've done (and we share a lot online through GAFE). I like the idea and am not really fond of the "rainbow vomit" (quoted from a former colleague) that many classrooms have up on the walls.
Levels, Numbers for Assessment - Using Rubrics Instead (eg SOLO)
I touched on this idea above, and to be honest, there is not much that can be done about this on a country-wide level (at least not by me alone) anytime soon. The idea is simply this: How do levels (1A, Stage 2, Turquoise for reading) explain how or what a student is learning? Who decided that reading, writing and math are the skils that are most important and that the way we measure them is the best way to measure them.
Again, it is suggested that SOLO can be quite useful here. Because SOLO is such a general tool, it can be applied to many situations, and students can assess their own understanding of ideas, using the levels - even without the aid of a rubric. When you do add a rubric, however, it can become a powerful tool to help students identify what they know and what they need to improve upon. We've already started using rubrics on our writing projects (and in fact, writing in NZ is assessed using a rubric, but rarely is that shared with students - in my class it is though). While numbers that go up may look really good for a school in the eyes of a politician who has never spent a day teaching, they don't really tell the whole story.
How do you know if you're a punk learner?
Ask yourself this: are you doing something because you've been told to, or are you doing things so that the children can learn what they want and how they want? Do you get bogged down in what you have to do? Are you trying to impress someone so that they think you're a great teacher?
Showing creativity in ALL subject areas
Creativity is often given its place in schools: art, drama, music, etc (which is kind of ironic because most of those subjects aren't creative at all). We, as teachers, need to see that students can be creative in any endeavour. Creativity can come out of a simple problem of how to keep the class tidy, or how to sort out who gets the milk (two problems my class has had). Students need to be given the opportunity and time to mull over problems and to find innovative solutions to them. This isn't just students doing what they want - it is just letting students exercise their brains to deal with real world issues.
Chaos vs Control w.r.t. Student vs Teacher Centred learning
Ask yourself: what's better for learning: a room where all student actions are controlled by a teacher or one where students are chaotically doing their own learning? We, as teachers need to cede some control over to our students. This may look like chaos, but out of that chaos comes real, authentic learning. When we allow students to have control over what they learn then it becomes more meaningful to them. If we control them, then many students will become disengaged. This may look messy, but learning is messy.
Girl Power in Schools
The more I write, the more I realize how long this post is becoming (crazy, but it's just a testament to how great this book is!). One of the last chapters discussed girls in education. As I've mentioned in a few posts previously, I do think there are many issues facing girls in school (and sport). One important thing to remember is there is no such thing as a "boy book" or a "girl subject." Somehow society has put labels on things as being for boys or for girls. And this especially can cause girls to not do things they would otherwise want to do. One big takeaway from this is to expose children (both boys and girls) to famous women who have done the "boy" things and been successful (also, encouraging girls to try these things).
Keep on the Bus
One of the final messages of the book was that education can often be like a bus station (I actually had to return the book to the library so I don't have a copy to remind myself of it at the moment - but it was so good, I'll be buying a copy shortly). When you start out you're at the station and you get on a bus with lots of other people and you go the same way as them. But you want to be different, so you say, "OK, I'll go back and try again." So you go back to the bus station and get on a different bus, with new people. Then after a while you realize that you're just like them so you go back and start again. And again. Over and over. We should be staying on the bus though. Eventually, we'll find our own niche and our own way that works for us and our students. Punk learning isn't about following a formula. One punk teacher will be different from all the other punk teachers. It takes time, though. You won't wake up one morning and be a different teacher. It comes in slow steps over time.
My Conclusions
This book struck a massive chord in me. Many things I'm doing but have been marginalized because of them. This just strengthens my resolve to try even more to be better. And by better I mean better at producing competent students who can learn on their own and are empowered. I feel that in the short time that I've read this book, I've been able to take many of the tools I've learned from it and applied them in my classroom (it's taken me a good two weeks to write this post). My advice to anyone else: do what's best for your students. Teach them how to ask questions and teach them how to find their own, meaningful answers. Don't listen to the people who tell you that this is how it has to be done. Have conversations. Get better. Never settle. Always questions why you're doing things.
And go read this book. It will change your perspective.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Code Club Week 4: Girl Power Rising
Code Club keeps chugging along. Most of the issues that are coming up are minor - and related to my (mis)management of time. That being said, the majority of the students in the club are just coming in, doing the activities and then leaving. It's a bit like herding cats at times, but I'm not too worried. I wanted to give students an opportunity to code and LEARN some coding. I feel like I'm achieving that. I don't need to limit them by stopping. I will be trying to share a bit more.
One thing I want to talk about is girls in coding.
A common theme today is the lack of women in coding/computer based jobs and being represented in university Computer Science programs. I could cite many different articles (ok, I will: here, here and here for starters). Without going into the various reasons behind this, I feel like as a teacher I should try to do something to correct this balance. Why can't my girls gain these skills and enjoy doing it?
Will one Code Club at a school in New Zealand make a dent in the statistics? Probably not. But the message, once spread might. I've always thought that as a male teacher, I brought some value that my female colleagues could not bring (that's not to say they don't add anything that I can't, but there are far fewer males teaching young girls and having a positive non-relative male role model is quite rare for girls) - namely that I could encourage them, as a male and show them that it is a valued skill in them. I'm hoping that my job is one of keeping the flame lit, rather than re-igniting it.
Have I done anything out of the ordinary for the girls in my club? Not particularly, except I've encouraged them (which, I guess, could be more encouragement than they're getting from other sources). I was quite pleased with the number of girls I had this week. On Tuesday, I had about 3 times as many girls as boys. And honestly, I don't see any difference in their ability to code. One of the stars of my club is a girl in my class. I don't think she has a lot of experience, but she is enjoying it and has been eating up every new thing she can - she even comes both days I hold the club. That's dedication.
In my search to find information about this, I also found some resources for anyone interested in encouraging girls to code. Here are some of them:
I feel this is a very relevant area in all things STEAM. I'm not sure what direction this will lead me at my school this year and beyond, but I do have some plans. If you've got some girls who are really good at coding, there is always Lilypad Arduino as well that can be used to make wearable technology and clothing - though boys can play with those too. I've ordered some and am in the process of trying to figure out how it works (because as much as I may know about coding, it's not really that much.
If anyone has actively gone out and promoted girls in Coding or STEAM, I'd love to hear from you. I may not start implementing new ideas in the coming weeks, but every idea is a spark that is very hard to extinguish in my head.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Friday, May 27, 2016
Student-led Classroom Discussions
In my quest to give students voice and control over their education and learning, I've started giving real-life problems for them to solve. For example, when we had repeated problems with picking who got to get the milk or the chrome books, I asked my students to come up with a solution so that no one would ask me (I have some issues with being crowded and this seemed like something that didn't need approval).
The first two discussions we had were somewhat productive. I was quite impressed that many students gave ideas and spoke out for what they thought was a good solution. They came up with ideas (not the ideas I'd have come up with) and they effectively owned those ideas. For these first two discussions I didn't intervene. I listened but didn't even have to join the circle.
Then we tried a third problem: Making sure the class was tidy. They quickly decided they wanted jobs, but a few other issues came up. One student was dominating the whole discussion and in essence was trying to bully (not really, but that's the closest word to what was going on) the other children to agree with him. The second was that the discussion very quickly descended into chaos as side discussions started happening
So I had to intervene. Even though there were some (most of my students, really) that were genuinely trying to have an open discussion there were some who weren't.
I had a think about it and decided that each of these discussions would have certain students playing roles in order to move things along.
Today we tried out five jobs:
Moderator - chooses who speaks, stops others from interrupting, makes sure everyone has a say
Challenger - puts forth an opposing viewpoint (if it hasn't been already)
Recorder - writes down/types anything that needs writing down
Questioner - asks people to explain their thinking more
Monitor - makes sure we are not taking too long, saying the same things over and over and that students are not disrupting the discussion or wasting everyone's time
I actually had to appoint two monitors today because a lot of students were being silly, BUT the two were pretty good at keeping the students focused. I still needed to add some input, though. They kept on suggesting ideas and then asking: "Who disagrees?" That led to us pretty much going in a circle, saying the same ideas over and over. So I got my moderator to list the ideas and they took it from there - sort of. They have decided to make some pictures to print out for jobs and they want me to laminate it
Was all this hassle worth it? I could have solved the problem quickly myself and come up with pretty much the same thing. But I think that I've planted several seeds in these students now and they will be given more opportunities to have a say. The problem has not been solved, but we have a potential solution.
I do think I'll try these jobs with other aspects of group work and we can develop more roles that will be appropriate to different situations.
As always, suggestions are always appreciated!
The first two discussions we had were somewhat productive. I was quite impressed that many students gave ideas and spoke out for what they thought was a good solution. They came up with ideas (not the ideas I'd have come up with) and they effectively owned those ideas. For these first two discussions I didn't intervene. I listened but didn't even have to join the circle.
Then we tried a third problem: Making sure the class was tidy. They quickly decided they wanted jobs, but a few other issues came up. One student was dominating the whole discussion and in essence was trying to bully (not really, but that's the closest word to what was going on) the other children to agree with him. The second was that the discussion very quickly descended into chaos as side discussions started happening
So I had to intervene. Even though there were some (most of my students, really) that were genuinely trying to have an open discussion there were some who weren't.
I had a think about it and decided that each of these discussions would have certain students playing roles in order to move things along.
Today we tried out five jobs:
Moderator - chooses who speaks, stops others from interrupting, makes sure everyone has a say
Challenger - puts forth an opposing viewpoint (if it hasn't been already)
Recorder - writes down/types anything that needs writing down
Questioner - asks people to explain their thinking more
Monitor - makes sure we are not taking too long, saying the same things over and over and that students are not disrupting the discussion or wasting everyone's time
I actually had to appoint two monitors today because a lot of students were being silly, BUT the two were pretty good at keeping the students focused. I still needed to add some input, though. They kept on suggesting ideas and then asking: "Who disagrees?" That led to us pretty much going in a circle, saying the same ideas over and over. So I got my moderator to list the ideas and they took it from there - sort of. They have decided to make some pictures to print out for jobs and they want me to laminate it
Was all this hassle worth it? I could have solved the problem quickly myself and come up with pretty much the same thing. But I think that I've planted several seeds in these students now and they will be given more opportunities to have a say. The problem has not been solved, but we have a potential solution.
I do think I'll try these jobs with other aspects of group work and we can develop more roles that will be appropriate to different situations.
As always, suggestions are always appreciated!
Thursday, May 19, 2016
School Sports and Gender Issues
Yesterday I helped coach my school's year 5 soccer team at a fun day. The teams were mixed - boys and girls - with every team needing to have at least 2 girls on the field at all times. Over the course of the day, I was at times dismayed and impressed by the interactions between the boys and the girls. Some boys were trying to include the girls, and to their credit, the girls were working hard. But more often than not, the girls would be tentative, and the boys would just charge on by.
Whenever I've seen girls play together, I haven't (always) seen this tentativeness (I'm not going to call it timidness because that's not what it was). After some reflection and discussion with some mothers who were there, it seemed obvious what the problem was/is: the boys have their own misconceptions about what the girls can offer to the team. What got to me even more was that the girls seemed to accept not being involved in the games as much.
So I decided to try something. I told my year 5 team (at the beginning of the last game they played) that if one of the girls scored, I would get them some sort of food treat. The team immediately started trying to help each other get better at passing and scoring. When the game started, the boys were trying to involve the girls more and it did (rather quickly I should add) lead to one of the girls scoring. I was happy that this led to a small success.
I wonder though, was this just making the problem worse? Is me offering this incentive saying to the children (both the boys and girls) that I don't think the girls could score on their own? Is this a means to an end? I was thinking that if they managed to get a goal, then the boys would see the girls as equals and not just run past them without passing. The mothers there seemed to think it was a good idea when I asked that question, but I'm not completely convinced.
I do need to figure out (and quick) what I'm going to share with the children, but I am wondering if anyone has any advice or opinions. I'm very aware of these issues in schools and gender roles that seem to drive a lot of what students do (i.e. boys are good at sports, girls are good at reading, etc) and want to do what I can for all of my students so they are not limited by what "society" says they should like and do. I think that starts with young children, but I'm not always sure I'm helping.
Whenever I've seen girls play together, I haven't (always) seen this tentativeness (I'm not going to call it timidness because that's not what it was). After some reflection and discussion with some mothers who were there, it seemed obvious what the problem was/is: the boys have their own misconceptions about what the girls can offer to the team. What got to me even more was that the girls seemed to accept not being involved in the games as much.
So I decided to try something. I told my year 5 team (at the beginning of the last game they played) that if one of the girls scored, I would get them some sort of food treat. The team immediately started trying to help each other get better at passing and scoring. When the game started, the boys were trying to involve the girls more and it did (rather quickly I should add) lead to one of the girls scoring. I was happy that this led to a small success.
I wonder though, was this just making the problem worse? Is me offering this incentive saying to the children (both the boys and girls) that I don't think the girls could score on their own? Is this a means to an end? I was thinking that if they managed to get a goal, then the boys would see the girls as equals and not just run past them without passing. The mothers there seemed to think it was a good idea when I asked that question, but I'm not completely convinced.
I do need to figure out (and quick) what I'm going to share with the children, but I am wondering if anyone has any advice or opinions. I'm very aware of these issues in schools and gender roles that seem to drive a lot of what students do (i.e. boys are good at sports, girls are good at reading, etc) and want to do what I can for all of my students so they are not limited by what "society" says they should like and do. I think that starts with young children, but I'm not always sure I'm helping.
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Down With Homework!
I've recently read another online article that was shared on Facebook (why look for things when I get a million posts daily from that group?). This one also rang true to things I believe in, but is actually backed up by research. Yay for research!
I also had a great picture of this (think Bart Simpson) but it was not labelled for reuse on Google Image Search, so I didn't use it. Boo for lawsuits against teachers!
The article in question explains that 25 years of research by Harris Cooper suggests that homework has no positive effect on students at the primary level (though it does have a bit for Intermediate and more for High School).
The article talks of negative effects that homework can have on elementary aged children: creating a dislike of school, straining parental relationships, it takes time from sleeping, it takes time from kids being kids AND it does not necessarily help with responsibility (because children often have to be reminded to do it, which isn't teaching them responsibility).
That being said, several alternatives are suggested. Children should be reading as often as possible, but they should get to choose what they read (comic books, books on their favourite topic,etc). Chores are also a great way to teach responsibility. A third option would be visits to a museum, etc (or anything to expand their experiences). It is also important for parents to realize that students are constantly learning so even playing games can be discussed as what they learned (e.g. strategies to win at a game).
Though there are a lot of "experts" saying how much homework is necessary. I have several reasons for selecting this one as a more valid point of view:
1) 25 years of research is a lot
2) The statements given are not exactly in the extreme, nor are they specific (two things that things tend not to be)
3) It fits nicely in with my prior knowledge and passes the "common sense" test.
4) It offers up alternatives to accomplish the same goals that homework claims to.
I haven't given my students homework this year (except for sending home the homework books I had to at the beginning of the year) and do not plan on changing that (this article will be shared with the naysayers).
Also, I should point out that I shared the article with my students and we had quite the interesting discussion. Good times!
I also had a great picture of this (think Bart Simpson) but it was not labelled for reuse on Google Image Search, so I didn't use it. Boo for lawsuits against teachers!
The article in question explains that 25 years of research by Harris Cooper suggests that homework has no positive effect on students at the primary level (though it does have a bit for Intermediate and more for High School).
The article talks of negative effects that homework can have on elementary aged children: creating a dislike of school, straining parental relationships, it takes time from sleeping, it takes time from kids being kids AND it does not necessarily help with responsibility (because children often have to be reminded to do it, which isn't teaching them responsibility).
That being said, several alternatives are suggested. Children should be reading as often as possible, but they should get to choose what they read (comic books, books on their favourite topic,etc). Chores are also a great way to teach responsibility. A third option would be visits to a museum, etc (or anything to expand their experiences). It is also important for parents to realize that students are constantly learning so even playing games can be discussed as what they learned (e.g. strategies to win at a game).
Though there are a lot of "experts" saying how much homework is necessary. I have several reasons for selecting this one as a more valid point of view:
1) 25 years of research is a lot
2) The statements given are not exactly in the extreme, nor are they specific (two things that things tend not to be)
3) It fits nicely in with my prior knowledge and passes the "common sense" test.
4) It offers up alternatives to accomplish the same goals that homework claims to.
I haven't given my students homework this year (except for sending home the homework books I had to at the beginning of the year) and do not plan on changing that (this article will be shared with the naysayers).
Also, I should point out that I shared the article with my students and we had quite the interesting discussion. Good times!
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Doing the Right Thing Wrong or the Wrong Thing Right
Today, like everyday, I saw an interesting article shared on one of the many teaching Facebook groups I belong to. Usually, I just save it and say "I'll read that later" and never do (the life of a teacher). But today, after skimming the first paragraph, something caught my attention, so I read the whole thing. Amazing eh?
The article, HERE, discusses how as teachers, we often work extremely hard to get things right, yet we never ask ourselves if those things are the right thing to do. The author, Will Richardson, talks about another great mind, Russell Ackoff, who was able to explain that even if we do the wrong things and do them well, we're doing a worse job that if we do them poorly. He said that it's more important to do the right things wrong than to spend all our time trying to perfect the wrong things.
And why does he say we do the wrong things? Because it's easier. I'm not so sure about this part of the article/argument, but I'm fully in agreement about trying to do the right things even if it's not perfect. Perhaps we do the wrong things because that's what we've always done (TTWAD is a popular acronym I believe) and that's what we were told.
I don't like to be told what to do. Ask anyone who's tried to do so. I don't listen. I see a good idea, I roll with it. So this speaks quite true to me. Am I doing things perfectly? Heck no! Am I trying to do the right thing by my students? For sure! If I make mistakes along the way, it's better that they get pushed in the right direction poorly than I push them super hard in the wrong direction.
Here's hoping I can stay true to my word (after a long day of planning, I feel that I'm trying to do the right things - though no doubt I'm doing it wrong). And maybe if I get some free time, I'll watch the video in the article.
The article, HERE, discusses how as teachers, we often work extremely hard to get things right, yet we never ask ourselves if those things are the right thing to do. The author, Will Richardson, talks about another great mind, Russell Ackoff, who was able to explain that even if we do the wrong things and do them well, we're doing a worse job that if we do them poorly. He said that it's more important to do the right things wrong than to spend all our time trying to perfect the wrong things.
And why does he say we do the wrong things? Because it's easier. I'm not so sure about this part of the article/argument, but I'm fully in agreement about trying to do the right things even if it's not perfect. Perhaps we do the wrong things because that's what we've always done (TTWAD is a popular acronym I believe) and that's what we were told.
I don't like to be told what to do. Ask anyone who's tried to do so. I don't listen. I see a good idea, I roll with it. So this speaks quite true to me. Am I doing things perfectly? Heck no! Am I trying to do the right thing by my students? For sure! If I make mistakes along the way, it's better that they get pushed in the right direction poorly than I push them super hard in the wrong direction.
Here's hoping I can stay true to my word (after a long day of planning, I feel that I'm trying to do the right things - though no doubt I'm doing it wrong). And maybe if I get some free time, I'll watch the video in the article.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Introduction
Welcome to my professional learning blog.
Introduction
My name is Michael Davidson. I'm a child of the (early) 80s who grew up in Canada. Besides being a teacher, I was and am still trying to be an above average runner. I've now lived in New Zealand for just over 4 years.
Education & Experience
After graduating from High School (Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) I spent 3 years at York University in Toronto. After spending that third year in the Faculty of Education, I transferred to the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia where I completed a B.Ed.
Over the next few years I taught in both Seoul, Korea and London, England, teaching students from Kindergarten to Year 6. After my visa ran out in England, I moved to New Zealand and found work here. While in New Zealand, I was part of the inaugural Mind Lab Postdegree Certificate program (Digital and Collaborative Learning). I have also recently completed online courses with Google and am a Google Certified Teacher (Level 2).
Past
This is not my first professional blog, but the last one was not very good and wasn't really for me - it was for my old school. For the purposes of sharing the whole journey, you can find that site here.
Purpose of Blog
The purpose of this blog will be threefold: 1) to share what I've done with interested parties, 2) to reflect on things that I've tried (when I've got time to actually do those reflections) and 3) to tick some boxes so that I can renew my registration when it comes up. Hopefully I can focus on the first two more than the 3rd, but let's be honest, that 3rd one makes sure I can keep on eating and sleeping under a roof :)
Watch this space for some entries in the next few days to get me going...
Introduction
My name is Michael Davidson. I'm a child of the (early) 80s who grew up in Canada. Besides being a teacher, I was and am still trying to be an above average runner. I've now lived in New Zealand for just over 4 years.
Education & Experience
After graduating from High School (Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) I spent 3 years at York University in Toronto. After spending that third year in the Faculty of Education, I transferred to the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia where I completed a B.Ed.
Over the next few years I taught in both Seoul, Korea and London, England, teaching students from Kindergarten to Year 6. After my visa ran out in England, I moved to New Zealand and found work here. While in New Zealand, I was part of the inaugural Mind Lab Postdegree Certificate program (Digital and Collaborative Learning). I have also recently completed online courses with Google and am a Google Certified Teacher (Level 2).
Past
This is not my first professional blog, but the last one was not very good and wasn't really for me - it was for my old school. For the purposes of sharing the whole journey, you can find that site here.
Purpose of Blog
The purpose of this blog will be threefold: 1) to share what I've done with interested parties, 2) to reflect on things that I've tried (when I've got time to actually do those reflections) and 3) to tick some boxes so that I can renew my registration when it comes up. Hopefully I can focus on the first two more than the 3rd, but let's be honest, that 3rd one makes sure I can keep on eating and sleeping under a roof :)
Watch this space for some entries in the next few days to get me going...
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