"Think you've seen it all? Think again. Outside those doors, we might see anything. We could find new worlds, terrifying monsters, impossible things. And if you come with me... nothing will ever be the same again!" ~The Doctor
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.
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
