Scotland Decides

As a political junkie, I often find myself drawn to certain pivotal moments in citizen engagement and democracy.  The Scottish Referendum did not initially catch more than a passing interest when it was first announced in March 2013.  I remember glancing through the proposals detailing what Scottish independence would look like.  Some ideas seemed reasonable enough and yet my own observations of politics in Quebec led me to predict that this would not amount to anything too drastic.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when polls started to show the 'Yes' campaign closing the gap, and even taking a lead, and my passing interest developed into something more substantial.  For reasons I don't fully understand and appreciate, I began to feel that so-called momentum of history.  This began to feel like one of those moments that would really leave an impression.

As it is, I'm having a hard time writing and keeping my thoughts straight as the results have been coming in so quickly.  Just for reference, here's where the totals currently stand as of 9:32 pm (graphics courtesy of BBC News):

I'm going to have to take a break and have some final thoughts when all this settles down.

UPDATE 9:45 pm:  The momentum continues.

UPDATE 9:57 pm:  I don't see things changing with the 9 polls that remain.  BBC seems about ready to call it.

~Mr.T

Blogging Challenge - Day 3

For most of my life, I have absolutely hated any sort of personal evaluation.  I was never bothered so much by school-based exams... I suppose they always seemed a bit removed from the whole process to me.  I would complete the test and be given a grade and that would be the end of it.  Where I haven't always felt comfortable is the whole issue of owning up to my knowledge and/or performance.  I'm not sure 100% sure why, but I think I always felt that not doing as well as I was expected to do would be viewed as a personal letdown to whomever happened to be critiquing me.  

For the first few years of my career, I often struggled to put teacher evaluations in their proper perspective.  I would spend hours and hours agonizing over how I would need to create and maintain the perfect conditions in order to showcase personal excellence.  I would be meticulously detailed in my lesson-planning, often investing the time to come up with multiple backup plans.  I thought that I was being prudent in these preparations and that I would be able to demonstrate just how awesome I could be with my abundance of planning.  Instead, I would work myself into a stressed-out mess, exhausted from my efforts, and too worried about my performance to focus on what was actually happening in my classroom.  In many ways, I would fail the ultimate test for a teacher: I was not myself.

Now, that isn't to say that any of what I was doing was necessarily bad.  An educator should be prepared and organized.  They should know what they are trying to do and have a plan for how to get there.  However, in my attempts to be perfect in my own sphere, I would neglect and overlook the more pressing needs of those in my classroom and 'their' learning would not be all that it truly could.

Having secured a continuous teaching contract is without a doubt, a huge relief, but I have never looked at it as something that would liberate me forever from another evaluation.  Rather, I feel like I can appreciate it more for what it is: an attempt by my colleagues in the profession to further enhance what I can do.

As part of my goals for the year, I have been trying to showcase not just what I can do, but more of what my students can accomplish as I put into practice the philosophies of cooperative learning.  I am trying to not look at my evaluations (which still happen) as a chance to mainly show how much control I can have.  My desire is for my admin team to be able to see that I can put the principles that I am learning into practice by trusting my students a bit more with their own learning.  I want them to be able to observe that I can provide a learning environment where students have genuine direction and motivation to push themselves and engage others in this whole process.  In short, I want that spotlight to shine less on myself and more on those who find themselves in my classroom.

~Mr.T

Blogging Challenge - Day 2

Image Courtesy of goo.gl/oHxkVb 

I've written before about the value of technology in our society, and of the growing importance it has in the classroom.  I like to think like I'm somewhat up to date with the curve on the kinds of ideas that are out there, but the truth is that it can be pretty overwhelming to keep up with.  All too often, I've been excited to try something new only to come crashing down when I haven't had the time to fully implement it when confronted with something else even more new.  The 'new-new' in Ed Tech is no exception.

That being said, I love being able to get excited about stuff... that enthusiasm is never a bad thing in this profession.  I'm very anxious to experiment with Google Classroom and have been really impressed with what I've seen so far.  Here's a little video that gives a nice overview for what the program can offer.

What I like most about this is just how streamlined this makes a lot of the activities that I want to do.  Looking at a standard essay as an example, in the past I would have had to print off hard copies of the topic, arrange for required lab time, collect any and all work printed off by students, grade them (either at work or even at home), and hand them back.  Classroom eliminates a lot of the 'tracking down' that I need to do.  I can achieve almost everything through this one program.  I can even provide feedback on student work before it is completed and handed in.  The only challenge that often remains is getting lab time, but the accessibility of these apps from any internet device lessens that need.  All in all, I really feel that this gives me more time to focus on my students and a lot less on the process of merely completing work.

More to come.

~Mr.T

More Song Crushes...

30-Day Blogging Challenge notwithstanding, I feel like I'll get into the habit quicker if I sneak a quick moment to share something fun.

Here are a few songs that have been stuck in my head for various reasons over the past few months.

1.  "Undercover Martyn" by Two-Door Cinema Club

I have a good friend to thank for this one... he and his wife shared this gem with me as I chauffeured our group around the big island of Hawaii this past July.  It's been in my head since then.  Very catchy... I highly recommend their other work.

2.  "Toilet Brushes - More" by Nils Frahm

This has a bit of double significance.  I admittedly heard it in a trailer for a video game but I have always been a sucker for energetic pieces like this on the piano.  I also saw this around the same time that we got our piano tuned for the first time in a long time and my wife got to play it a bit more.  I'm a huge fan of the performance in the video above... well worth the view.

~MrT

Blogging Challenge

Once again, we have reached the point where I introduce my students to the wonderful world of blogging.  Of course that usually means that I have to explain what a blog even is.

Naturally, that also reminds me of the need to get back into the habit myself.  Inspired by student enthusiasm and the efforts of some of my colleagues, I have come across this 30-Day Blogging Challenge.  As I've recently encountered with some of my personal fitness, I HAVE to have something to work towards that is specific.  I couldn't just say I will no longer be fat... although that would be nice.  Instead, I had to be more direct: I will get into the gym every school day and do cardio.  I'm getting the sense that blogging will need to be one of those areas that require something more concerted.

So. For Day One I will write a little bit about my goals for the year.  Here are a few key things that stand out:

1.  Technology.  This, for me, is a big one.  I love spending time online and with colleagues and friends looking at things that are cool.  The challenge is finding to way to use technology effectively.  Our district has focused a lot on using Google's architecture to facilitate greater collaboration and increase the ease with which we can accomplish our goals.  This year introduces Google Classroom, which I really like and am excited to play with.

I want to ensure that I'm not just using technology just for technology's sake.  There needs to be a purpose and a measurable way to observe and note student progress toward digital outcomes.  My goal is to make sure that when I use an app, be it Socrative, Remind, or Google's suite of tools, there needs to be a reason beyond the simple wow factor.

2.  Kagan.  Our district has also spent a great deal of time and effort looking into the Kagan philosophy of cooperative learning.  I will admit that a good amount of my teaching and instruction is quite teacher centered... I've often fallen into the trap of assuming that I have a more direct role in helping my students to understand what is needed, especially in a subject as content-driven as Social Studies.  Kagan embraces the idea that students benefit more by working together and relying a lot less on the 'sage on the stage' approach that many of us have grown so accustomed to.  My goal is to play with some of the strategies in my big ol' book, to refine them, and make them part of my normal teaching practice.  This may mean that I fall on my face more often than I would like, but if it means that my students are a bit more engaged in what they are doing, it will be well worth the price of admission.

There you have it.  A bit of insight into what I'll be working on this year, and a roadmap to what I hope to showcase through this blog.  Should be a good year...  now for the next 29 days of blogging.

~MrT