Making Learning Visible

As part of our District’s Innovative Learning Design Project (Phase 2), we have a number of teachers involved in collaborative inquiry.  There are 9 classroom teachers, 1 LST teacher, the Teacher Librarian and the administration involved in the project.  There are teachers are working in groups of 2 or 3 on a particular inquiry question of interest.  We will share these questions at another time.

Our school, over-arching question is:

How can we make learning more visible?

At our school-wide Welcome Assembly last week, our principal, Carrie Burton, talked about Making Learning Visible.  She made everyone aware of what learning looks like when she demonstrated her own learning.

Take a look at the video below to see what learning looks like.

How are you making learning visible this year?

No One Knows Everything

As I reflect on my holidays, and think of the new year upon us, a conversation I overheard stands out.

Photo by flickr member, henriksent.

I was standing in line at a grocery store in San Francisco.  Two people (obviously tourists to San Francisco) were standing behind me and one said to the other quite curtly,

“Yah, people in San Francisco sure aren’t very nice. They are all so unfriendly!”

First of all, I love San Francisco. I have never had anyone act in a rude manner toward me or my children in San Francisco.  I could not just let this go without saying something. So, I said,

“That’s really too bad you’ve had that experience, but I am also a tourist and I have nothing but great things to say about the people here . . .”

Then, I went on to list a few specific instances during the past two days where people who lived in San Francisco had been nothing but helpful, gracious, and friendly to me and my family.Continue reading “No One Knows Everything”

Learning Learning Learning

We just completed our first week with our school full of students, educators, and parents. What a great week it was.  It’s always so much better once the staff and students arrive.  They make all the planning and hard work before-hand worth it.  I don’t know about you, but seeing the faces of the children just make me energized and makes me want to work even harder.

So, what am I so excited about this year, you wonder?

It’s all about learning, growing, and blossoming into something that is better than before (even though it looks pretty good as it is now)!

“Blossoming” by henriksent (aka ME)

Our school has a number of exciting things in the works this year.

First of all, we were fortunate to be chosen as one schools involved with the Innovative Learning Designs Project – Phase 2.  We are excited with all the new learning that will result (staff and students alike).

Next, George Couros (@gcouros on Twitter) helped to raise the bar of excitement, wonder, and interest when he came to lead our summer Pro. D. Day on August 31st. He really got a lot of people pumped about learning new things and trying things in their classroom that they may never have tried before.

As a result of the teachers excitement and interest in learning, we are having our first Digital Discovery sessions this week. We will actually be having two – one on Tuesday morning and one on Thursday at lunch. I will be offering two sessions each week because there is so much interest and we have many teachers who work part-time, but still want to be involved. I will do whatever it takes to help our staff become more connected, so two sessions each week it will be. Our first session will focus on Twitter. I’m sure there will be a number upcoming sessions about Twitter as well.  You can’t accomplish too much in 30-45 minutes. It is just enough time though – so teachers will not get overwhelmed and their interested will be piqued. That is my hope anyways.

Continue reading “Learning Learning Learning”

Twitter for Beginners

We are about to embark upon our Staff Digital Learning Journey. We are calling our sessions “Digital Discovery”.  It is an exciting time for us all (and probably filled with some nervousness).  In an effort to make this new learning fun, interesting, and worthwhile, but not overwhelming, I am providing staff with an opportunity to attend weekly 30-40 minute learning and discovery sessions. To enable all staff to have the opportunity to participate, these sessions will be offered twice a week (we have a number of part-time people who only work certain days).

This week (and probably for many coming weeks), we will focus on Twitter.

My goals for this week’s Digital Discovery sessions about Twitter include:

  • The Why of Twitter – Learning from and with amazing educators – 24-7
  • Signing up on Twitter (if they are not already signed up) – including the importance of using a real name and a real photo
  • Twitter Language – # @ DM
  • Some hashtags to follow (#sd36learn, #bced, #bclearns, #brcklearns, #edchat and specific grade chats like #1stchat, #kinderchat, and others)
  • Some people to follow (how to find people to follow will come at a later session) Continue reading “Twitter for Beginners”

Being Pushed

Just found this post in my DRAFTS and thought I should publish it. I’d love to have some opinions and ideas regarding the questions at the end of the post.

Yesterday, August 31, our school had our summer Pro. D. Day with our special guest George Couros (@gcouros on Twitter).  We were very excited to have the opportunity to have George come to our school to spread his passion toward learning and education to all our educators.

If you have never worked with George in person, let me tell you, he’s great because he pushes the limits, makes people uncomfortable, and makes them think – about the hear and now and the future.  He pushes you to think about the WHY.  He didn’t limit his pushing to anyone, in particular. He went after everyone – including me (for which I am grateful).

You see, I am pretty new in this journey.  Yes, even though I am going into my 18th year as a teacher, I am still rather new with a lot of what is happening in education today. Don’t get me wrong, technology, communication, and finding news ways to do things have always been a big part of me as an educator. When I taught grade 1 10 years ago, I had three different websites – a Poetry Site, an Educational Links site, and a classroom site.

Then, I had kids and went on to be an administrator and things shifted a bit. Come to think of it, that is when things shouldn’t have shifted. It was then that my schools, teachers, students, parents, and my own children needed me most to continue on my journey.

So, here I am with a year and a few months under my belt as a connected educator. Have I made a difference in my own learning and the learning of others? Absolutely. Do I have a long way to go? Certainly. That’s what is so great about it though, there is so much to learn, all the time. The knowledge out there is outstanding.

Okay, back to yesterday with George.

Yes, he pushed my thinking.  He made me continue to go back to my why. His questions made me

– iPads – signing out of them

– George suggested teachers (Grade groups) come up with a proposal for what they were going to do with the ipads – a project. He told us about his division having loaner iPads (ours does to, but we do it differently) that teachers can sign out for 6 weeks.  The iPads are cleaned off. The teachers decide what they need for their time with the iPads. This must be a project-based activity with the students.  The first week is just for “playing with ” and exploring the devices. For the next 4 weeks, the students work on their project(s).  The last week is for getting the work off of the iPads (this can be quite a chore sometimes).  Each teacher is required to document their learning – one blogpost each week.

This sounds great, but I am conflicted.

What about having all teachers/students have the opportunity to use and work with the devices? There will only be a limited number of teachers who will be able to use them if the devices are booked out for 6 weeks by one teacher or grade group.

Is that a problem?

According to George, it isn’t. Those who want to use them, will put in a proposal or a plan and then will use them with a purpose. They will document their learning for everyone else’s benefit – for the school, the district, and the world. Talk about making learning visible!

But, I continue to go back to equal opportunity.

What I also continue to think about is just because a class may not get a chance to use the “iPads” throughout the year, it doesn’t mean they can’t do innovative learning. We have to continue to remember it is not about the device, it is about the learning. Innovative teaching and learning can occur without any iPads.

But, even with that considered, we still have the problem of our iPads.

So, I’d like to put it out there for everyone….

With limited technology, how does your school decide how the technology is distributed or signed out?

Do your teachers have any accountability to demonstrate what their students have used the iPads to do?

When considering to buy more technology – laptops or iPads, would you ensure teachers have personal devices first before purchasing devices for student use?

Why or why not?

As you can see, I am still struggling with some of what George pushed me on.  That is a good thing though. It is important to push one’s thinking. That’s what it is all about, afterall, It’s All About Learning!

Pushing the Envelope

We are about to embark upon an exciting new school year!

Our school received an Innovative Learning Designs Grant which 10 of our teachers are involved with. Those teachers formed small groups and wrote inquiry questions in April of last year. Those inquiry questions were to be their focus this year.  We  will be revisiting the questions and what Innovation means to them and their students in the coming weeks.

As part of our learning, we have the pleasure of having George Couros, Division Principal for Innovative Teaching and Learning in Edmonton, come lead our summer Professional Development Day this Friday, August 31st.

I am both anxious and excited.

I am anxious because we have many staff members who are not yet comfortable using much technology in their rooms. Their understanding of 21st Century learning is limited. I really don’t want them to become overwhelmed (although, for some, I realize this is inevitable).

At the same time, I am excited at the possibilities of change. I am excited to hear the chatter, the questions, the ambiguity, and even the possible frustration.

I am excited by the discomfort that I know will come on Friday. It is through this discomfort that growth happens. It is through this discomfort that change happens and people move forward.

I am excited to continue to learn in this area WITH my staff.

I am excited to be able to be there to assist everyone on this journey, even after George leaves.

So, indeed, like most educators feel at the beginning of most school years, I am anxious AND excited at the challenges and the possibilities.

How are you feeling as we embark upon this new school year?

Summer Memories

After a week back to work already, I’ve been pondering our summer and the wonderful memories we made together as a family.  While I could write a book about the summer and everything that happened, I would like to share one memory. A sweet memory about my 4-year-old son, Pauli. But first, some background . . .

As I wrote about in my last post, we went on a road trip to Disneyland this summer.  We weren’t even sure if we were even going to actually go to Disney this year. We went the last two years, but really, after last year, we wondered if we shouldn’t wait a few years to go again (the kids were a bit whiny and didn’t seem to enjoy themselves much last year).  But, we knew that the new CarsLand had started in California Adventure and we knew how much Pauli would love to see Lightning McQueen! Our daughter was also very excited to go on some of the rides that she’d been on the year before.  Honestly, I think she wanted to make up for the year before.

So, off we went to a day at the Disney Adventure Parks.  We had a lot of fun in the morning at Disneyland. After lunch, we decided to go home for a rest time (our 1 1/2 year old really needed a proper nap – as did Daddy).  The older 2 and I played at the hotel pool for a couple of hours and then went for a rest in the hotel room as well.

After an early dinner, we headed over to California Adventure.  Just as we were waiting in line to get into the park, I look over and my exhausted son, Pauli, has fallen sound asleep in the mountain buggy (he “rested” but didn’t, in fact, sleep when we went back to the hotel).  We tried to wake Pauli up when we got to CarsLand.  No luck. Trista and I went on a few rides and explored a bit. Then, finally, we just couldn’t let him sleep any longer.  We did whatever we had to do to wake him. He wasn’t too happy – until he realized where he was – CARS LAND!

Now on to one of my favourite memories of summer . . .Continue reading “Summer Memories”

Be Curious

For the past three years we’ve taken a family road trip to Disneyland. Even though we end up at Disney, this vacation is much more than a Disney trip. We take our time driving down, stopping at many forests, playgrounds, beaches, and visiting friends along the way.

One playground we have stopped at on each trip is at Shell Beach Elementary school in a most beautiful location – Pismo Beach.

I would like to thank this school for an important reminder about the importance of looking beyond the exterior of a building or child.  This message is especially important as we start a new school year. One full of possibilities. One full of promise.

The location of the school is just gorgeous. Most classrooms have a view of the ocean. The playgrounds overlook the ocean.  It’s so beautiful.  Every time we’ve been there, I’ve walked past the staff room, with huge windows and couches facing the water and have thought to myself what a beautiful location this would be to work and learn.

Here are some photos of this gorgeous location:

Classrooms looking out to the playgrounds and the gorgeous view.
     Here are some classrooms looking out to the playgrounds and the gorgeous view.
Here is the upper playground. Look at that view!
Here you can see the upper playground and the lower playground. There is another playground at the front of the school.
Here is the beautiful sunset at the front of the school by the primary playground.

As I walked by the outside of the school office on this visit, I noticed something I hadn’t noticed before: the class lists. They were posted outside of the office.  As I looked at the lists, I read the names: Scott, Alicia, Jose, Charlotte, Jordan, Michael, Eva …   As I read the names on these class lists, anonymous to me, I began to wonder about each of the students.  I wondered about their learning challenges and how these learning challenges are met. I wondered if they had the same learning challenges as the diverse learners who attend our school.  I wondered about the level of diversity of their students. What is their ELL population?  I wondered about the teachers.  Where did they come from? What was their background – both personal and academic.  I wondered about the administration. I wondered what the parents and community were like in such a fantastic looking location?

There is so much I wonder about this school.  This school, like every school, every classroom, and every student, is so much more than the stunning exterior.

I hope you share in this reminder and take it to heart.

As you start your new year, and meet your new students, please take the time to get to know them. Take time to wonder. Try not to make judgements or assumptions about your student’s exterior, what their previous teacher has said, or based upon his or her reputation. Get to know each students’ strengths, passions, hobbies and, challenges. Get to know about their family and their home-life, but, please don’t judge them based on these factors. They are not their parents. They are not their siblings. Where they live does not define who they are now or will be as they grow up.

As you get to know each student, be open. Be curious. Ask questions. Listen. Be observant. Be approachable. Be helpful. Be real. Be authentic. Be you.

What you learn about each student may surprise you. What you learn will help to inform your practise and best meet the needs of each learner in your class (or school).

Better yet, you might even learn something about yourself.

 

Some Plans For This Year

I have a new role in my school this year.  In addition to being the Vice-Principal, I will also be one of the Learning Support teachers (last year, I was the Early Literacy Teacher and the Intermediate Prep teacher for 4 classes in addition to my Vice-Principal role).  I look forward to being part of the LST Team and working with the teachers and students in this role.  While I know that I need to wait until I see the students in the classes and get to know the needs of the teachers and students, I have already started thinking of some initial plans for this new role.  (I will write another blog post about my plans/goals for my leadership role in another post).

As an LST teacher, I will . . .

  • Find ways to best support the needs of the individual teachers with whom I will be working so that they are able to meet the individual needs of all their students.

I would like to do this with all the students, in the classes I will be working.  The students at inner city school where I work have many complex needs.  As the LST teacher, I believe it is my role to help the teacher, and not just small groups of students because there is no way that I alone can help all the students who need additional support.  To do this, I plan on helping the teachers with some initial assessments (as long as the teachers agree with this).Continue reading “Some Plans For This Year”

Connected Educator Month

August is Connected Educator Month

Throughout the month of August there are a numerous activities, discussions, keynote addresses, panel discussions, webinars, book groups, etc… to participate in.

I have had the opportunity to attend a few of these worthwhile events over the past couple of days:

Professional Learning and the Learning Profession

Cathy Gassenheimer, Jackie Gerstein, Caren Levine, Stephanie Sandifer, Kathy Schrock, Will Richardson, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach [mod]

 

#Genius Hour Chat on Twitter (I was impressed by the number of SD#36 teachers who were participating and contributing to the discussion on this topic).Continue reading “Connected Educator Month”