Get Blogging, Mr. Thompson!

It would be super easy to just let this whole blogging thing curl up and die.  Like Voldemort in "The Deathly Hallows: Part 2"... only less gross.  I can't help but feel, though, that the insight I can gain from a little bit of reflection far outweighs the extra time I might gain to do something more lazy.  And I really like being lazy sometimes.

Once again, I find myself needing to recommit.  Here are a few quick thoughts...

READING

It didn't take long into the semester to introduce my Grade 8s to my grand plan of reading more books over the course of the year.  I've even had some successes.  Most of the kids appear to enjoy the time that they get to read something that they are interested in.  Some books have become quite popular, possibly necessitating the need to secure additional copies.  Perhaps more telling, though, is the fact that a handful of students who were convinced at the beginning of the year that this just wasn't for them, have found themselves regularly buried in a book... and even liking it.

A bigger challenge has been the regular implementation of the 'Reader's Notebooks'... an idea that seemed simple enough in it's execution.  I would purchase a simple notebook for every student (which I did), and then I would collect them at the end of each week.  I would then read and respond to every single entry shared with me.  This, however, has proven to be more difficult than I had planned on.  The first time I read through them, for example, it took me over 5 hours to do so.  While the feedback from students has been invaluable, I have sometimes struggled with the prospect of occupying so much of my weekends with these notebooks.

Overall, I'm happy with a lot of the things that I have seen so far, but I have to admit, that I can approach reading with a more positive attitude in spite of the day-to-day that can sometimes sap the class and I of our enthusiasm.  I can't just provide the time to read and act with a seeming indifference when it's time to move on.  

There is still work to do.

JOURNEY

I recently took to a little bit of time to play through a game on PS4 called "Journey."  I remember being intrigued by the concept when the game first released on PS3 in 2012.  I just never got around to it.  Well, it was free last month with Sony's monthly subscription program... and I like free things.

This would be what I would call an 'artsy' game: not a genre that I've always enjoyed in the past.  The objective isn't always abundantly clear other than seeing a giant mountain in the background and knowing that's where you need to go.  There's no traditional action or combat... it's just... a journey that you're on.  And I quite liked it.

I'd recommend this one for those who have yet to take the plunge.  It only lasts about the length of an average Hollywood film, but it left me thinking quite a bit about the presentation and, admittedly, the emotions I felt.  I have also found myself playing the soundtrack in the background while doing some work or when I've needed some quiet time.  It has been quite therapeutic.

I'm already telling myself that I need to experience it again... once I take care of those Reader's Notebooks first.

SO MANY MOVIES!!!

It's a very good time to be a fan of geeky movies.  I have a few on my radar, and by that I mean I actually have a countdown on the whiteboard in my classroom.

ONE LAST THING...

It's my intention to start providing some more 'educational' insights and not just make myself some sort of middle man between YouTube and my very limited audience.  I did come across this last gem which I en joy watching with my boys.  My body is too 'big-boned' and I'm too scared to do this for real.  Videos like these will be the closest that I will likely get to thrill seeking for the rest of my life.

More to come...

~Mr.T

Back to School Round 9

While I wouldn't ever call my class 'super cute' under any stretch of imagination, there is something to be said about the value of that last little bit of preparation before students come barrelling through my door.  I've been getting into my classroom fairly regularly for the last few weeks but it really hits you in that last day.

A couple of things that I have enjoyed the past few days include:

• visiting and joking around with colleagues that I haven't seen since June
• seeing some of my former students pop in to say hi after getting their ID Cards and textbooks
• having a few of my upcoming students introduce themselves and talk about how excited they are to come into my class
• quietly celebrating the painting over of the wall mentioned before; there's already some talk about how we can use the space in our Middle School
• adding a few more books to my growing library; I now have 106 books in my class!

The big unknown many of my colleagues are focusing on is the introduction of a new teacher-advisor period known as CHAT (Crescent Heights Advisory Time).  This will be a school-wide program that is being implemented to help teachers build more meaningful relationships with students over the course of the year.  I'll see my CHAT group (and Homeroom) every day for 40 minutes.  There won't be content to teach but students are being given some new options that they hadn't been given before. 

In our Middle School, student will have a 5-day schedule that will include:

• Two days to focus on Numeracy and Literacy.  Students will have time to work on their assignments and ask for help from other teachers as needed.  
• One day will be dedicated to building our classroom community.  I imagine that I will be looking for activities and games to play that will help each of us to get to know one another just a little bit better and enjoy ourselves a bit.  
• One day will be spent in intramurals, where students will be divided into 8 teams across both Grade 7 and 8.  Our Phys Ed department will have competitions and challenges throughout the entire year.  
• One day spent in FLEX Learning.  While we don't yet know what options will be provided here, the plan is to provide students with some additional learning opportunities that they might not otherwise have in the course of a 'normal' school day.  This will be based primarily on student interest and will hopefully allow us to explore some exciting things.

I'm looking forward to reporting on our successes (and failures) over the coming days, weeks, and months.  

An Old Habit Returns...

I have been known to dabble with a little game called World of Warcraft over the past decade, give or take a year.  Some of my friends and I recently thought about getting back into things with the release of a new expansion today.  Suffice it to say that I may have given into the temptation once again.

I won't go into detail here, but I do have two quick thoughts that have crossed my mind in the past week or so as I've found those moments to play in between my preparations for the year.

First.  I have been impressed with some of the game mechanics that have been introduced in this release.  World of Warcraft is, in a nutshell, about making a character and questing, raiding, and otherwise developing them over a plethora of adventures in Azeroth.  Players in the game recently got to participate in 'Invasions' where forces of demons would show up and people could join in the efforts to defeat them.  The neat part about this is that this content wasn't limited to the best, high-level characters: almost everyone could participate regardless of what their level was.  The content of these objectives was scaled to each individual player at the same time as everyone was working together.  

Maybe it's a stretch, but there's probably a message in that.  Regardless of where students might be, we can scale and adjust content and expectations to their level while still moving forward as a group.

Second.  I was reminded once again of how much I enjoy the music in this game.  While I'm still very early into the new content, there are a few pieces that I have absolutely loved.  In fact, I've been listening to it while completing some of my work, including this blog post.

Here are a few variations on a theme that I have particularly enjoyed thus far.

One More Cool Thing...

My wife and I recently watch the move 'Chef'... an enjoyable story about self-discovery and one man's attempts to reconnect with the things that matter most.  It's definitely worth checking out if you don't mind a little language.  Anyways, I particularly enjoyed the parts of the film where the main character's son uses social media.  At one point in the film, the son makes a One-Second Video... a collection of one-second clips over a period of time that are stitched together.  

I decided that I wanted to do that.  So, I found an app and put it on my S6.  The app in question is "One Second Everyday" and you can find more information about it right here.  

In discussing the idea with some family and colleagues, I made the point that since using the app I have been more aware of the need to see the positive in my day.  I find myself looking for more of the kinds of little moments that make my life more enjoyable and worthwhile.  I don't think this is a bad thing.

Time for some rest.  I have a big day tomorrow.

~Mr.T

Back-To-School Blogging, Summer Recap, and "The Book Whisperer"

The return to classes can be an exciting and overwhelming time.  I imagine that like many other teachers I have spent a good deal of time thinking about the new things that I can bring to my classroom.  I'll get to some of those things in a minute, but I must, once again, acknowledge my failures to be a regular blogger.  It seems that in addition to the new, I must continue to work on some of my previous commitments.

Here we go...


How I Spent My Summer

I'll keep this brief, but I can't help but take a moment and reminisce about the exciting adventure that I was able to embark on with my family.  It was something that my wife and I had been planning and looking forward to for years and I was so grateful to be able to share so many memorable experiences with my children.

Without going into too many details, here are a couple of highlights:

• Driving around 6000 kms through the western United States
• Spending a week on the beautiful Oregon coast
• Enjoying 5 glorious albeit exhausting days at Disneyland
• Travelling to Calgary for a family wedding; we will be travelling to Edmonton for a second wedding in a week
• Other trips back and forth to Calgary to spend time with family, enjoy the zoo, and a day at Calaway Park

Much has been said about how good teachers have it when it comes to summer.  All I can really do is express my gratitude for having a career that allows me the freedom to spend this time with my wife and children.  I'm no busier or more special than a lot of other people, but it feels really good to unplug after what has often been a very busy school year.

Here are a few pics for good measure...

Liam exploring the trails near our condo in Oregon.

The tidal pools along the beach were always neat to see.

Our second go on what became our favourite ride at Disneyland.

Hard to beat a picture with Oswald.

"The Book Whisperer"

My wife has been encouraging me for years to read "The Book Whisperer" by Donalyn Miller.  She kept telling me for years that it might give me some ideas about how I could help give reading a jump start in my classroom.  I was genuinely interested in the concept, but often told myself that I was too busy during the school year to really have a look at it and I could maybe check it out in the summer.  I finally caved... and I'm glad that I did.

I won't give a detailed review or breakdown of the main points now, although I will likely touch on them over the course of the year.  Suffice it to say that my perspective on the value of reading was given a good wake-up call.  I was reminded of what reading is intended to be: something of interest that will draw you in.

I was so excited about some of the ideas that I even took one in particular and started running with it.  Donalyn Miller strongly advocates for the need for students to see constant reminders about the value of reading in the classroom.  This doesn't necessarily mean a dedicated reading area, although that would be great.  She does stress, though, that there is need for kids to be around good books.  In previous years, I have relied too heavily on whatever happened to be left in my classroom.  That wasn't going to cut it anymore.

With my wife's blessing (and eager offers to help, I might add) I began putting together my own library.

I will be giving myself a monthly budget to work with so that I can be constantly adding to the collection.  My hope is that I can create a library with something for every Developing, Reluctant, and Underground reader that enters my classroom.  I'll be reporting on my progress throughout the year.

Much more to come...

~Mr.T

Student Motivation and My Latest Song Crush

If there's one issue that probably provides some of my greatest challenges as a teacher, it would probably be dealing with student motivation: either encouraging it and keeping it intact, or trying desperately to overcome what often appears to be a lack of it.  Learning anything obviously requires some sort of interest or investment in order for it to sink in.  Even if material or concepts are disliked, a recognition of the value of what one is doing is essential in order to see growth and progress.  This really shouldn't be a foreign concept to anyone.

Almost every day, I'll sit down with students who appear to need some help only to encounter a shrug, a vague expression, or the expression that they don't know what to do or understand why they need to do this in the first place.  The easy thing would surely be to lay blame on these students and tell myself that I tried and quickly move on to someone more interested.  More often than not, though, I have to remind myself that there must be some reason for this detachment and I need to figure that out.  Easier said than done.

I came across an article on Edutopia that addresses four strategies for improving student motivation.  I don't wish to simply repeat everything from the summary, but I do have a few quick thoughts:

1.  Providing students with freedom of choice (organizational, procedural, and cognitive.

I think most people would agree that having some kind of input is a good thing.  It reinforces the belief that you are an active participant in the classroom and not simply a passive observer.  Knowing that your perspectives will be heard and considered can go a long way towards convincing someone that they belong.  I appreciated the distinction provided between different kinds of choice.  Organizational choice, for instance, focuses on structure for things like seating plans, group makeup, and classroom rules.  Procedural choice would mean that students can have a greater say in approaching how they're handling course work and even the very form that some of this work takes.

Cognitive choice, though, requires a greater investment on the part of the learning community.  With this third level of choice, learning becomes very student-driven with a particular emphasis on forming their own assessments, sharing what they have learned along with how they discovered their answer, and a focus on PBL (project-based learning).

2.  Giving critical feedback to build competence instead of simple praise.

I agree with the idea that sometimes we are too quick to give praise.  A quick "nice try" and the everyone-gets-a-medal movement haven't done much to add to a willingness to look more deeply at what we are doing and how we can make improvements.

I was intrigued by the strategy of "plussing" where instead of only critiquing and pointing out where mistakes were made, positive suggestions are also offered.  Pixar uses this strategy which is based on improvisation: accepting all offers on the table and making sure that you are making your partner/team look good.  It can be really easy as a teacher to notice mistakes and I can see where this can be a more than a little disheartening, especially if you are already struggling with something.  I like the idea of asking students "What if..." as a way to get them more involved and see where they can add to what has already been done.

3.  Building high quality relationships with students.

This is pretty straightforward: I can't really expect students to buy in to what I offer as a teacher if I'm not willing to buy-in to them.  The need to be friendly and provide encouragement, taking an interest in what matters to students, and remaining positive in spite of frustrations will help to convince kids that they want to be in the classroom.

I love hearing when my students say they enjoy being in my classroom.  Any teacher would love to hear that.  It also crushes me when I hear the opposite and end up feeling like I've dropped the ball somewhere.  I won't lie and say that there have been some students who have not been challenging.  No teacher (at least not one that I've seen) can reach absolutely everyone.  Seeing students for who they are, though, will go a long way to at least helping as many kids as possible.

4.  Making efforts to address relevance of new learning.

Self-reflection is probably one of the things that I've struggled with the most.  I regularly think about how my day went on the drive home or when I talk with my colleagues.  This isn't to be boastful or to brag about how amazing I am as an educator.  However, I don't always give my students to chance to think for themselves about the potential significance of their own learning.  "Why do we have to do this?" is so often asked and the answer I usually give is that it's in the curriculum.  I need to step up my efforts in this area.

Having students generate their own connections through personal reflection and discussion brings their own perspective into the mix in a way that I don't always appreciate.

Principal Skinner is never wrong.

Now, this is all well and good but the question that remains for me if dealing with student apathy and the occasional instance when kids just don't care.

Some suggest that we teachers need to continue to hold all students to high standards.  Others suggest that we need to praise mistakes, build on existing strengths, and challenge the so-called 'failure mentality.'  There are number of other options that emphasize giving a choice of assignments, and incorporating student interests into assessments.  

Either way you look at it, the battle continues.


Latest Song Crush

When we bought our new minivan a few months ago, we were given a year of free satellite radio.  My two favorite stations have been those allowing me to relive the 80s and the 90s.  I came across this gem a little while ago and it has successfully lodged itself into my brain.  I certainly wasn't the biggest fan of Duran Duran as a kid, but I find it interesting just how much I gravitate to these little reminders of a time not so long ago.

~Mr.T

World Poetry Day, Smash Brothers, and Jeff Dunham

This might be a bit of a shock for most people who know me, but I've never really considered myself to be much of fan of poetry.  I certainly haven't gone out of my way to read it and never really made it a priority in my life, instead choosing to focus on things that I felt mattered just a little bit more than words on a page. 

When I was first given the assignment to teach Grade 8 Humanities, I immediately felt inadequate and unprepared for the challenges that would surely lie ahead.  I had spent 5 years up to that point focusing on Social Studies and on helping students to tangibly understand their place in a rapidly changing world.  I've never doubted the value of good literature in our history and society.  I just didn't really think that I was the right one to properly convey that understanding to students.  Three years on and I'm still figuring things out 

Realizing that today was World Poetry Day gave me an opportunity to steal a colleague's idea (Thanks, Jen...).  In short, students would be given an opportunity to reflect on one poem that they like and to write a brief blog entry explaining what exactly they like about it.  The recognition that poetry is a much broader form of communication than originally thought definitely makes the assignment a little bit easier.  I'm also hoping to take advantage of some of the sharing that blogging makes possible.

I did, however, start thinking about my own experience with poetry, limited as it is.  While perhaps not the most profound example and one that is even somewhat cliche, I've long enjoyed 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley reproduced below


Out of the night that covers me,
  Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be 
  For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
  I have not winced nor cried alout.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
  My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of weatch and tears
  Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
  Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
  How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
  I am the captain of my soul.

I remember coming across this poem as a high school student and thinking it was neat and promptly moving on.  However, a film on the end of Apartheid in South Africa (coupled with some darn good rugby) brought the poem back into my attention a few years ago.

I've long been a believer that individuals are in charge of their own destiny.  Age and experience has reinforced the knowedge that if I want to get something done for myself I need to get to work and get it done.  I can't hope to rely on the good graces of others so that I can craft my own life, for "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."  This poem is a call to stand up in spite of adversity and the challenges that get in our way.  Life is not easy and we cannot let the "fell clutch of circumstance' keep us from our potential or break us.  

I'll read this to myself every now and then or when I'm feeling a little down.  Maybe I'm struggling with something professionally or personally, or I'm questioning why things are turning out the way they are.  If I really want a quick turnaround, I'll even listen to the narration of Morgan Freeman.  Even if I'm roughed up and 'bloodied' by the journey of life, I can press on because I, and I alone, can determine the direction of my life.  

CHHS eSports Smash Tournament

Look how excited everyone is!!

This past Friday saw the first Smash Brothers Tournament hosted by the CHHS eSports Club!  All in all, I was very happy with the turnout and excitement that made the event such a huge success.  We had 22 students who made their way through a double-elimination bracket.  At times, the matches were pretty intense and the competition fierce, but I was impressed by the level of sportmanship that prevailed before and after matches, and the efforts by all those in attendance to help the even run smoothly.  We brought in pop and pizza for those in attendance, and had prizes for the top 3 finishers.

We are already planning our next event.

Jeff Dunham: Perfectly Unbalanced

Even with the 40 minute wait to leave the parking lot, the show was enjoyable.  I particularly enjoyed the efforts to discuss local matters, such as the legend for the name of Medicine Hat.

Mr and Mrs. T waiting to see Jeff Dunham

~Mr.T

The Multiplayer Classroom: Early Thoughts

Well.  When I woke up this morning, I certainly wasn't expecting a Monday quite like what happened.  In all seriousness, these are the kinds of days that you never want to deal with as a parent or teacher because it shatters the sense of safety that should prevail within our schools.  That some idiot somewhere thought that this would be fun or a good idea just makes me angry.  While I'm relieved that there was no incident in any of our city's schools, it was frustrating to see the disruption and confusion in what should have been a fairly normal day. 

That being said, I did have a chance to actually do some reading and took advantage of some free time to get started working on "The Multiplayer Classroom" by Lee Sheldon.  I've been impressed so far with the emphasis on developing a wholesale approach to gaming as the classroom as opposed to playing games in the classroom.  This is perhaps where I felt like I've been coming up short in my own limited attempts with programs like ClassCraft.  I love what the app allows me to do but it isn't really integrated into my approach as a teacher: it is tacked on and feel more like a gimmick.

Fairly early in the book, Sheldon talks about how learning through play is an important part of our own identity.  We develop our understanding of the world around us as we experiment with our senses at a very early age.  He uses the oft-used example of the child drawn to the heat of the fire who ultimately learns best by making the 'mistake' of being burned.  Sheldon argues that this is far more effective than any instruction on the matter and ends up asking why it is that we stop this play once children reach a certain age.  This decision to "get serious about learning" by regimenting it lessens the whole point of learning.  

Needless to say, I continue to be intrigued and think I've found something that I'm anxious to work my way through.  More to come...

Stardew Valley

Last week, I came across some review for an independently developed game called "Stardew Valley" which has been described as a love letter to some of the classic life/farm sims from the mid-1990s.  I can remember absolutely loving a game called Harvest Moon 64 which was incredibly simple in its premise: make relationships with those in the community, explore the surrounding environment, and save the family farm.  It is that simplicity that made the game so charming and enjoyable back in the day, and it is that feeling which Stardew Valley is trying to capture.

Behold...Schute Farms (I was going for Schrute but made a little typo)!  It ain't much but it's mine!

I love the fact that the game so lovingly creates that vintage / retro feel of its predecessors.  It definitely has captured that essential "just-one-more-day" drive that has so far kept fans coming back for more.  I've probably put in more time than I'd care to admit, but I'm amazed at just how much depth there is in something so seemingly simple.  Perhaps there's a lesson there.

And that music though... Beautiful!

I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a break from the hyper-realistic, overly violent shooters that too often drive the gaming industry.

~Mr.T

Gamification and Student Buy-In

I took a longer break from blogging then I was planning on, mainly because I got caught in that trap of looking for wider relevance and therefore sat down and have written, re-written, and scrapped this post a number of times.  I really don't want this pattern to take hold again so I told myself that I just needed to get some quick thoughts down and move on.

I recently came across a post from Vicki Davis who talked briefly about gamification in classrooms.  For the uninitiated, this refers to the application of traditional gameplay elements within regular school routines.  Having grown up playing a lot of games, board- and card-based and electronic, this seemed like something right up my alley.  My thinking was that if I loved playing games and I saw that lots of my students also loved playing games, this would be fairly easy to implement.

I was wrong.

Don't get me wrong, though, as I have had some successess in this area.  Last year, I started using ClassCraft as another layer on top of the work that we were already doing.  Students can receive XP for doing well on assignments or for demonstrating positive behaviour.  Likewise, they will receive small penalties for not completing assignments or being a disruption.  However, I can't help but feel like I'm not really using this as well as I should.

Vicki Davis (courtesy of Kae Novak) wrote about the idea that gamification can't just be "chocolate on broccoli."  It can't just be throwing in meaningless points and rewards in addition to the work that needs to be done.  Instead, it has to become a complete approach overhaul to how classrooms are done in the first place.  I haven't really done this... I've merely thrown in the appearance of something new and exciting and the result has realistically been something of a casual level of tolerance.  "Oh, look.  Mr. Thompson's gave me points.  Or something."  This won't do.

I've decided to look a little bit more into this, beginning with Lee Sheldon's book "The Multiplayer Classroom."  I also want to engage with my students on a more meaningful discussion about the kinds of things that they feel would make for a more relevant and enjoyable experience.  It's with this post that we're going to begin looking more at online commenting and the building of digital connections.

Here we go...


One More Cool Thing

I came across this a few days and have viewed it a few times.  Not only is the song one that I've found myself humming to myself every now and then, but I'm just amazed at the work that went into making this possible.

~Mr.T

Struggles and Reflection

I wish that I could always have great days as a teacher.  Like pretty much every other teacher out there, I love coming home feeling like I've made connections with my kids and that everything just clicked that day.  Truth be told, I probably have these kinds of days more often than I realize and even if they aren't perfect, there are still a lot of good things that happen that make everything worthwhile.  On the flip side, though, I have the occasional bad day.  These are the days when I feel like I'm the one who failed... maybe due to lack of planning, or patience, or something that just wasn't there the way it needed to be.  These days are pretty tough to take.

After our recent Teachers' Convention, I walked away feeling that I should at least be focusing more on making connections with course outcomes and helping students have greater clarity regarding my own expectations for them.  I came to school on Monday and spent time talking about the need to be equipped to solve the problems and challenges that we will be facing for what remains of the year.  I used 'The Witness' to demonstrate how frustrating it can be when you don't really know how to go about solving problems and how much easier and fulfilling it can be once we know what we need to do.  We then transitioned to the Grade 8 Language Arts Program of Studies and the curricular outcomes found there and got groups started on trying to make more sense of them.  I felt like most kids got what I was trying to say, and I looked forward to the further reflections that would be coming out of our revamped blogging.

Today did not quite go the way I had planned.  While I won't say that the day was a total loss (we still got our work done), it was one of those days that left me feeling like I let myself down.  In this case, I was starting to feel that perhaps my own lofty ambitions were getting a little too far ahead of what I could reasonably expect my students to grasp.  I can sometimes be less patient than I ought to, and it is not unlikely that I was slightly less-than-welcoming of some legitimate concerns and questions than I should have been.  I kind of hate when I do that.

Failure and opposition can definitely be tough to take but more often than not, though, this is when I'm at my most reflective.  I don't say this to brag or to boast or to show off how contemplative and virtuous I am.  I mean to say that being knocked down a few notches reminds me of just how much I can't do on my own.  A little humility helps me to more effectively connect with others for support and look just a little bit harder for what I can do better.

Easier said than done to be sure, but a necessary step in this journey we find ourselves on.

The Plan For Tomorrow

I've been a stickler for good spelling since my time in elementary school when I was locked in a perpetual battle for spelling supremacy with one of my best friends who would always beat my by one or two points on our regular quizzes.  I guess in a lot of ways I've continued to feel that this matters and should be emphasized as a valuable skill.

Sticking to the theme of making connections, I'm going to try to have a little more fun tomorrow as we shore up our writing skills.  I remembered on my drive home reading about the efforts of a class in Brazil as they attempted to correct that they found in a variety of social media posts.  A brief write-up can be found here.

I've already sent out a request for a list of celebrities and popular figures from my classes.  We're going to get set up with correcting some of the mistakes that we can find, and maybe letting our 'friends' know ever-so-politely where some improvements could be made.

Now we just need a hashtag.

Mock House of Commons Debate

Feel my Bearded Fury!!

So.  I finally began our debate on the school's dress code today.  Each student in the class gave a brief statement in support of their party's general position, followed by open debate.  I won't lie... I wasn't really sure what to expect.  Planning for a debate is pretty tough to do because you don't really know what points are going to be brought up or how much people are going to buy in.  I can honestly say, though, that I was very impressed with a good portion of the class.  Not only were they reasonably well informed on the issue, but they were pretty engaged in the whole process.

And it didn't hurt that we had some pretty sweet 'mic drop' moments in the debate.

The plan was to be finished today but we ran out of time and there were lots of hands waiting to jump in.  We are extending the debate into tomorrow.

More to come.

~Mr.T

Teachers' Convention: Day 2

It is together... TOGETHER that we prevail!!

Another Convention has come and gone and I can honestly say that I have a greater desire to reflect upon the things that I have learned over the past few days.  This is not always easily done as the majority of sessions that I have been to don't do much beyond than share a positive and energizing message.  Now this isn't to say that they have been empty or a waste of time, but I've also been in too many situations where I've thought something was cool and quickly forgot about it as I went on with my day.  The need to act is probably my main responsibility as a conference participant.  presenters and speakers have done their job, now I need to so something with what they've shared.

As a quick follow-up from yesterday, and thanks to a suggestion from George Couros, I have now listed the 11 points of the Teaching Quality Standard on the side of my blog.  When I post, I will be making some sort of connection to what I'm expected to be as a teacher instead of just cobbling together a few thoughts that just might warrant a little bit of discussion.  It's my hope that as I am more involved as tying connecting my thoughts to my own professional development, blogging will be more meaningful for myself.

So.  What did I do today?

The day started off with an opportunity to gather with other teachers to build upon our early work with Project Based Learning.  After taking a few minutes to introduce ourselves and explain the projects that we worked with, we were given the morning to break off into smaller groups and get to work.  I can't really explain just how valuable I found this.  It was really nice to be able to work with a few colleagues and think about our successes and failures, along with our ideas for moving forward so quickly after our first try.

In 8 years of teaching, I've been introduced to a variety of different philosophies including Adaptive Schools, Instructional Intelligence, Tribes, Kagan, and PBL to name a few.  Learning new approaches to education is all part of the process and I'm certainly not the kind of teacher who wants to get in a rut and stick with my routine until I retire.  However, there are few times where I've really felt like I could take the time and debrief regarding the new ideas that I've tried to implement.  This inability to reflect isn't really anyone's fault, mind you.  Usually it stems from a feeling like I just don't have the time to detach from my busy teaching schedule to revisit what we spent so much time on.  The need to keep moving forward can be pretty relentless in school's and it doesn't always provide the chance to meditate.

I'm grateful for colleagues who I can be honest with and who are so willing to share.  It made for what I felt was a pretty productive morning where I really felt like I had something to show for my efforts: I didn't just learn about PBL but I did something with it.

I also had the opportunity to hear Brian Keating talk about sacred groves and the benefits of conservation.  He definitely had some great stories to tell about his travels to places in the world I probably won't get to see for myself.  He also shared a reading assignment that I'm intrigued with, having already discussed the topic somewhat with my wife.  I'm going to try and track down a copy of "The Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv and see if there's something to this idea of overcoming so-called Nature-Deficit Disorder.

~Mr.T

Teachers' Convention: Day 1

 

In my 8 years of teaching, I've been able to attend a number of Teachers' Conventions... each one filled with a variety of different sessions leaving me feeling anywhere from extremely bored to ecstatic and energized.  Understand that I'm not questioning the need for Teachers' Convention and the need for it in my own professional development.  I inevitably hope each year, though, that I can have more of the kinds of experiences that not only build me up but give me tangible steps for achieving relevant and realistic change within my classroom.

Today I had the opportunity to attend a keynote by George Couros, someone that I have previously followed on Twitter but hadn't really looked into all that much beyond knowing that he has been a big advocate for using technology to expand learning and innovation within the classroom.  Without going into too many specifics, his presentation focused a lot of how educators need to embrace a growth mindset, focus on building resiliency, and build meaningful relationships with students through empathy and trust.  On the whole, it was one of the better presentations that I've been to over the many Teachers' Conventions that I have attended.  While I can't say that I agree with absolutely everything that was shared, I had a lot of moments while listening where I was asking myself questions about how I could do things just a little bit differently.

First off, I can't really disagree with the desire presented that sees technology as a way to empower kids.  I love using it myself because of what it allows me to do and the connections that I can make with a much larger community.  For many students, the power given to them through a smartphone, ChromeBook, and the Internet as a whole is incredible.  My earliest exposure to the Internet mainly involved playing Warcraft II and tying up the family phone line (much to the dismay of my parents) or taking 15 to 20 minutes to download songs on Napster.  Times have changed more than somewhat.

In discussing the presentation with some colleagues, we were pretty much on the same page in terms of recognizing these benefits.  However, we weren't as universally optimistic about the prospect of having unrestricted access to technology.  We were shown examples of schools where there aren't restrictions on device usage and told of the advantages of trusting our students to do what they should be doing.  I love the enthusiasm... but I'm still struggling with how to reconcile these good intentions with my own overly practical observations.  

Take cell phone usage as one example.  The message from the presentation was that we aren't doing anyone any favours by having penalties for using cell phones and technology.  Right off the bat, we were told, this creates a feeling of distrust: we can't possibly have our students govern their own use of cell phones so we need to do it for them.  In a perfect world, I'd love to be able to trust that each of my students can stay on-task and pursue their own learning and complete their work.  However, what I usually see when many students have that kind of freedom is that they will use that to do something else like play Agar.io or some other game, send a few texts or Snapchats, or something else that doesn't necessarily have a whole lot to do with the task at hand.

Naturally, this gets me thinking about what it is that I'm asking them to do.  There was one key question that Mr. Couros shared with the audience that really stuck with me: Are students creating content in spite of or because of school?  I'm not going to lie and say that every single lesson and activity that I have in my classroom is fun and engaging and all too often I feel like I really have to push the content that needs to be taught as prescribed by the Program of Studies.  However, we were also challenged to give students the chance to make connections for themselves if we're going to establish something more relevant for them.

It's still tough for me to process all my thinking and reflection at this point.  I have concerns, yes, but at the end of the day I'm probably asking the kinds of questions that need to be asked if I'm to grow and develop professionally.  You'll likely read more about this as I can do a better job organizing my thoughts into some sort of plan.

Another One of Those Super Good Commercials

I started watching the newest season of Survivor after a few years of a break.  During one commercial break, they showed this ad and I just thought it was awesome.  

I'm going to let it speak for itself.

There's a pretty powerful and simple message here that can be applied into more than just your phone's operating system (Android is better, by the way...).  I'm excited to show this to my students and see what they think about it.

There's also a behind-the-scenes video that I quite liked, having played piano and being involved in music for most of my life.  That a piano had to be made from scratch in order to meet the demands of the ad was pretty impressive.

 

Other Thoughts from Teachers' Convention

Here are a few other thoughts that stood out to me after attending a session on using blogging to create a digital portfolio.

• linking blog entries to the Teaching Quality Standard; making some connection to what we are expected to do as professionals
• Blogging is about making connections... students can and should be encouraged to link blog content to their different course outcomes
• The process involves 4 steps: Write, Categorize, Tag, and Publish
• This is a process that is continually evolving and can be something that students and staff do over years
• I need to look a bit more into wordpress and Edublogs for next year and see if those can't be used more effectively than what I'm doing here in Blogger
• I don't use Twitter as much as I should in part because it can be a bit overwhelming to sift through all the information... I really, really like Tweetdeck now

More to come...

~Mr.T

Annual Ski Trip and Hands-On With Governance

Apologies for the brief lapse in posting.  A quick but busy escape to the Rockies over the weekend, not to mention the pleasantness that comes with a sinus cold, had me more occupied than I would have preferred.  The last thing I need to to so quickly undo the progress that I have made.  This is even more true given my renewed commitment to do this regularly within the classroom.

The more I stare at this picture, the more uncomfortable it makes me...

I started skiing when I was 12 years old.  One Christmas, in fact, I received a gift from my dad that included my first lesson and an opportunity to share something with my parents that they enjoyed.  Like many others who have taken to the slopes, it definitely took some adjusting.  I knew pretty quickly that this was something that I liked, but I also had many times where I let fear and my own insecurities get the best of me.  This was often frustrating for my dad to say the least, but I eventually overcame these challenges and enjoyed a number of family trips to Whitefish, Sunshine, and regular getaways to Hidden Valley in the Cypress Hills.

When I first met my wife, one of the first things that she told me about herself was just how much she loved to ski.  Growing up in Calgary gave her and her family numerous opportunities to head into Banff to tear up the slopes.  My father-in-law even had a goal to teach his grandkids how to ski, which has been something that we have definitely taken advantage of.  He has been gracious enough, and patient enough, to work with my own kids and help them develop a passion for the sport.

What amused me (in that parental karma sort of way) about this recent trip to Lake Louise was seeing the frustration of my own kids when they were unsure about their own skiing.  I'll admit that I butted heads a bit with one of my boys when he outright refused to leave the safety of the Magic Carpet, in spite of skiing for nearly four years.  He didn't feel like he could attempt anything new mainly because he didn't know how it was going to turn out.  I tried to reason with him that we wouldn't be taking him on any runs that he didn't feel comfortable with, but that he wouldn't really be improving until he made the effort to try.  It took some time but we eventually made the most of what remained of our day and my son admitted that he was glad that he tried.

I suppose it says a lot about the centrality of teaching in my life when I spent so much time thinking about how these lessons could be applied into so much of what I do in my own classroom.  I often hear some of my students say that they can't or won't try something new because they think it will be difficult: they want to stay within the safety of the Green runs.  The continuing challenge for many teachers today is to find ways to give kids the incentive to try something new or more difficult.  The fear of failure has caused far too many to remain within their own comfort zones.

I don't always excel at guiding my students through this process, and can sometimes lose patience if I don't get the sense that my attempts of guidance are being that well received.  Still... we press on.


An Attempt to Add Relevance in Social 9

The Social Studies curriculum for Grade 9 in Alberta is heavily focused on the aspects of government and economics in Canada.  These are, admittedly, not always the most thrilling of topics for most 14 and 15 year-olds and yet the fact remains that this is their objective for 5 months.  This semester I have a class of 31 students... a group large enough to leave me feeling that I need to be more directly involved in providing and explaining content than I would perhaps like to be.

I suppose that it would be really easy to post notes, give my spiel, and hand out a worksheet.  It can be tough, after all, to engage with such a large group on an in-depth discussion on the meaning and impact of the three branches of government on the individual lives of the average teenager.  However, this semester I really wanted to try to give kids a chance to at least attempt the process of governance on something that many of them have to deal with on a regular basis: the dreaded school dress code.

After briefly explaining the process of how bills are made into law in our Parliamentary system, I asked the class what they felt some of the most pressing issues were from their perspective as students.  I have to admit that I was secretly hoping that at least someone would bring up something dress code related because I hadn't really planned for anything else.  Sure enough, and much to my relief, one student quickly commented that our school's hat rule (which is to say no hat's at all) was dumb.  This led to a quick conversation about some of the other policies in the dress code with an unusually smooth segue into my idea.

I divided the class into three main groups representing the Liberal, Conservative, and NDP Parties in their relative seat proportions as currently found in the House of Commons.  I then explained the purpose of this activity: our little assembly would discuss, debate, and vote on a revision to the school's dress code policy.  I further added that each group would have to work within the broad strokes of a policy standpoint that I would provide them:

• Liberals: We will respect student choices on what to wear while in school
• Conservatives:  We will respect student choices on what to wear while in school with a few reasonable restrictions
• NDP: We will respect student choices on what to wear while in school and provide financial means to provide students with greater clothing choices

I won't say it was a perfect match, but I think one could make a reasonable argument that this at least roughly mirrors what we might see within our political system.  Truth be told, I do have one student who insisted on representing the Green Party.  I allowed it for two reasons: first, like our actual Green Party it doesn't really matter all that much in the end, and second, I particularly enjoyed this student's intentions for improving the dress code with green incentives.  It should make for an interesting combination.

We should be finishing up the policy preparations tomorrow before moving on to getting individual statements ready.  I'll report more on this as things progress.  

~Mr.T