It's All About Learning

I Heart Pro. D.

If you’ve been reading my blog, you probably know that I love learning. So, it wouldn’t surprise you that I love Professional Development Days and today was one of those days.

While I will discuss my Professional Development Day experience in a later blog post, I just wanted to talk briefly about why I love Pro. D Days. There are so many reasons!

1. I love that you get to catch up with people you may only see a couple of times a year – at these events.

2. I love that you can revisit connections you have made at previous workshops.Continue reading “I Heart Pro. D.”

Yesterday was the day that I committed to myself and, more importantly, to my students that we were going to have our Health & Career Education class in the computer lab. I’d been planning this since the summer, but it just hadn’t happened yet. The students were ready, but I wasn’t quite ready, but I knew it was time.

I took both of the classes I teach into the lab for our time together. They were introduced to our Edmodo site (which I am still learning about). I had them take a “quiz” about their learning thus far. I told them that this wasn’t their usual “quiz” that they were used to. This “quiz” would give me the opportunity to see what they have learned so far, what we need to review/reteach/teach in another way and if we can move on to our next topic. They hadn’t “studied”. They didn’t look in their notebooks for answers (not sure why I didn’t let them do that).

The students were excited and motivated to do the quiz because they knew they were going to have the opportunity to explore our Edmodo site when they were finished. Edmodo turned out to be very user-friendly. It was easy to sign on and easy to do and submit the quiz. There were no problems at all.

After they finished the “quiz” the real fun (and learning) began. The kids started exploring. They started asking me questions about how to do things: change their profile picture, if they could use a different picture than was on the Edmodo site, and how to do this. I gave them free rein basically (of course, no violence or inappropriate pictures). They went with it.

When they asked me how to do something I would just tell them, “I don’t know, but I’m sure you can figure it out.” And they did. I had many students ask me things, but I kept telling them that they could figure it out because I had no idea. I didn’t. I really don’t know this site well at all. Could I have figured it out for them, sure, but what would that have taught them really? They asked friends, they shared, they laughed, they learned. They learned on their own. They learned together. They had fun!

Yes, some were silly. Writing “Hi” about 20 times on our “wall”. Over the last day and a half, students have been on and off of our site constantly. Many of the students signed in at home and wrote messages for their classmates, “Is anyone on right now?” Some of the students seem desperate for a connection with their classmates. I have received many personal messages saying that they can’t wait until the next class, that they love our class, etc… They are excited. They can’t wait to see what else they will learn, how else they will get to use technology in their learning.

To help the students (maybe) move from the “HI HI HI HI HI” messages they are currently writing, I have written a message to both of the classes. In this message, I asked them to write down what healthy foods they eat this weekend. I also asked them to write down any physical activity they participate in over the weekend. While the playful, silliness has to happen for the students to learn, I am attempting to try to focus their conversations a bit on the topics of Health and Career Ed. and what we have been learning over the past month. We’ll have to wait to see if they take that challenge.

Overall, I am very pleased with how things went yesterday in the lab and how they continue to develop since the students were introduced to this site.

I am still a bit nervous, but my students enthusiasm and love for learning is trumping any nervousness I may continue to feel.

Life Long Learners

The district in which I work is an amazing district, full of truly dedicated educators and people who really care about kids. They want to make a difference. And they do. Each and every day.

Last week, I blogged about the wonderful initiatives being provided to the administrators in our district: study groups, independent studies, action research, and a new Digital Exploration series. You can read more about these initiatives in Exciting Things Are Happening.

I could almost not contain my excitement last night when I read a tweet by one of our Directors of Instruction, @ECSD36 which read,

Starting a Digital Exploration series 4 administrators. So far, 171 principals & vps have signed up. Lots of interest. #bced #sd36 #cpchat.

171! That is amazing. I’m not sure what the percentage of administrators that is who have signed up so far, but it is quite high (and there are still two more days to sign up).

This makes me very excited for a number of reasons.Continue reading “Life Long Learners”

Leading the Millennials

As part of my professional growth I am involved with a study group of administrators. We are focusing our growth in the area of technology and 21st Century learning and education. We have chosen to read Leading 21st Century Schools:Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement as our first book on which to focus our learning.

I have only read the first two chapters and I am already impressed by what I am reading. I know that this will be a wonderful read filled with useful suggestions and information.

In Chapter 2: The Digital Information Age: Who Are Our Students and Teachers, Schrum and Levin describe the students in our schools today and how different these students are now from even 10 years ago. This is something that I’ve been thinking a great deal about in the last few months. I’ve been pondering different ways of reaching these students, motivating them, and inspiring them to learn and develop a love of learning.

In this second chapter, the authors also talk a great deal about our teachers: who they are and how to lead them. The authors focus much of their discussion on the “Millennials” – those born between 1980 and 2000. Many of these “Millennials” are teachers in our schools today. I’ve thought a lot about the other generations of teachers and how to help move them toward 21st century learning, but, to be honest, I just figured that the newer teachers, the Millennials, would just “get it”. They have used technology all their life. Technology IS their life and has been all they’ve known. I have, however, heard some complaints about the Millennials, which could be summed up in the Wordle below:Continue reading “Leading the Millennials”

Confession

I’ve got a bit of a confession to make.

Over the past few months I’ve been doing a great deal of learning online and that has been so very exciting! It allowed me to start the year very excited and pondering the impact technology would have with the students I teach at my new school. Having watched students and their engagement with technology in the past, I knew it would have a positive impact at my new inner city school.

At the beginning of the school year, I blocked off times in the computer lab for the days and times I would be teaching my two Health and Career Education classes (Grade 5/6 and Grade 6). I was planning on teaching the majority of our classes in the lab and incorporating technology into all of our lessons, however, we started our classes in an actual classroom. I thought it might be better to get to know the students a bit before letting them go in the lab.

So… my confession… it is the middle of October and I’ve not yet had any of my classes in the computer lab. Knowing what I know and knowing how excited the students are to incorporate technology into their education, I am disappointed in myself for not yet bringing them to the lab. While I have brought technology into our classroom with the introduction of different tools – prezi, glogster, our wikipage, youtube videos (which have been great, by the way), and 360learn videos, I haven’t taken the next step. I haven’t given the students more ownership of the technology use.

It was time for me to reflect.

What am I afraid of? Why not just bring them in there and have them do some exploration? What am I waiting for?

Then, I realized that this is new to me and I am just a little uncomfortable with the unknown. Even though I know how important it is for technology to be in the hands of my students, it is difficult to give them that freedom.

I shared my thoughts and concerns with those two classes today and let them know that I am committed to taking them into the lab for our classes starting next week (we have our classes on Wednesday and Friday). They listened to my confession, my thoughts, and concerns thoughtfully and sincerely and cheered when I told them that next week would be the week.

I knew I had to tell them a day. Commit to them. If I didn’t, I’m not sure I’d get over my fear of the unknown. I’m not sure when they’d actually get actual computers at their finger-tips.

With all of this in mind, it makes me realize how other classroom teachers, especially those who may not be as interested and involved with technology as I am, must feel. The thought of integrating technology must be a real challenge for them.

We must more forth though. We must. I must. It is important for my our students. All students. Their future. It’s time.

It is important to realize that I will also learn a great deal from my students about the process. About learning. About computers. About personalization.

Next week we start. We really start.

Wish me luck.

I’m Thankful

The Thanksgiving long weekend is here already. It’s amazing to me how fast this year has gone so far! I can’t let this weekend end though, without blogging about the 10 things for which I am most thankful (I’m sure there are well over 10). In no particular order, this year’s list of the Ten Things I am Most Thankful For are:

I am so fortunate to have a loving husband who does such a great job caring for our three children when I am at work. I can’t believe that we’ve been married for 18 years (together for 23) already. Where has the time gone?
Trista, my 6-year-old daughter. I am so fortunate to have such a loving daughter who is sweet, kind, compassionate, caring and inclusive to everyone around her. She is a great big sister to her two little brothers. She has shown a new level of maturity, love, and patience toward her brothers this past year.
Pauli, my 3-year-old son. Pauli is one of the sweetest, kindest little boys you will ever meet. I truly believe this. He has such a big heart and very nice to everyone. He has such a great sense of humour. He makes us smile and laugh every day.
Carson, my 9-month-old son. Carson is such a bruiser! He is a big boy who always has a big smile on his face (when he isn’t sticking something in his mouth, that is). He has such a nice personality and has made it very easy on us. He is so easy going and loves just hanging out and watching his big brother and sister. Continue reading “I’m Thankful”

Exciting Things are Happening

We have such an exciting, innovative district! I am so excited about what the future holds with our district. Let me share a few initiatives that were shared with us at our admin meeting on Wednesday.

Administrators can choose to be involved in a variety of different opportunities, which include:

Study Groups – we’ve always had this option. 6-8 administrators get together on a regular basis throughout the year to discuss a particular focus. This year, my group is going to focus on the book, Leading in 21st Century Schools. We already have 10 people in our group, so I am thinking we may have to make our group somewhat smaller. We’ll see. I’m so excited about the interest and enthusiasm!
Action Research – As a team (2 or more administrators, I believe), we may choose to do an action research project in an area of our choosing.
Focus Team Study Groups – We can choose to be involved with a particular Focus Team, in which the topic is already provided for us and the materials and resources will also be provided for us.

Digital Exploration Series – I am very excited about this series, because it is very much the same as the Digital Playground series thatI blogged about a number of times (here and here). It is so exciting to see this come to fruition. This will be an opportunity to bring together administrators who would like to learn more about technology. There would be a small focus of the session, which would be the “start” of the session and then the administrators would be given the opportunity to “play” with the tool or whatever is being introduced in that session. How often do we have time to actually play in a supportive, collaborative environment?

We also have the Engaging the Digital Learner dinner series happening in our district this year as well! Wow!

Now, with all of this opportunity, how will I decide which one(s) I will be involved with? How am I going to limit myself and not jump in feet first into all of them? That is the real question!

What an exciting district in which to work and what an exciting time to be an educator and leader in education!

Engaging the Digital Learner – Part 1

The first night of the Engaging the Digital Learner dinner series planned by our District Helping Teachers was this past Thursday night (September 29). What a great event! It was a full house (well over 100 people), full of excited, enthusiastic, and caring educators (teachers, administrators, district staff and senior management) who want to make a difference with the students in our schools. 🙂 Surrounded by geeks and geek-wanna-be’s, I was in my element! I could be me and not be apologetic or feel awkward about having my computer right front and center.

We sat in tables of 8-9 people to listen to the message from our first series speaker, Chris Kennedy, superintendent of West Vancouver. His presentation was interesting, engaging, and inspiring. He inspired each of us to realize the huge potential of digital literacies and the importance for us to “Own it, Guide it, Engage with it.”

Chris talked about something that I strongly believe in: to have real impact, we have to have administrators lead in this innovation. It is extremely difficult to be effective in this area without administrator support and, more than just support, their knowledge and willingness to learn and lead in their own learning. Administrators don’t have to know it all, but need to be willing to take risks in their own learning. How can we begin to expect teachers and other educators, parents, and community members to embrace, or even attempt to understand, this change and what mobile literacy has to offer unless we model this risk-taking? I loved Chris’ message,

“We can’t do it without administrators! It is no longer optional. It is no longer, ‘That’s great, but I do things in a different way – it’s just not my style.’ “Continue reading “Engaging the Digital Learner – Part 1”

The Importance of the Three C’s

So, here we are the end of September already. I can not believe how quickly this month has gone. It has been so busy though, so it’s not surprising it has gone so fast. I have spent a great deal of my time working with the Three C’s – Collaboration, Consultation, and Communication. Each one of these C’s has been very important in my learning and understanding the students, their families, and our staff.

Much of my Administration time (1 1/2 hours each afternoon) during these past two weeks has been spent working in classrooms, collaborating with teachers, and getting to know students. My administrative partner and I have been sharing the responsibility of relieving individual teachers to meet with the Learning Support team, Child Care Workers, and Counsellor to discuss the students in their class, including their individual needs and concerns. These are often called “netting” sessions, where it is the hope that we are able to catch the most needy children in our “nets” and help them as a team.

At times when I was in the collaboration meetings, my principal worked in individual classrooms on a specific activity we planned to do school-wide with all students in all classrooms. During this time, I attended the meeting with the “team” and the classroom teacher. Then, for some of the “netting” meetings, I worked in the classrooms, while my principal attended the “netting” meetings. While it has been great to go into the classrooms to work with the classes, it would also have been very beneficial to have both my principal and I in each of these meetings. However, one must think outside of the box, work differently when needed, especially for things we believe in strongly. We must make the best of these situations and always try to think positively. Continue reading “The Importance of the Three C’s”

Making Sense of Children

Some of our staff went to a Professional Development workshop today entitled, “Making Sense of Children: How educators can help support students to realize their full potential“. During this presentation, Colleen Drobot presented us with the material of Dr. Gordon Neufeld. This is the first of a series of presentations Colleen will make to a large group and later, hopefully, she will be able to do follow up work with smaller groups of (or individual) teachers who are dealing with very challenging children.

When we arrived this morning, we noticed that the handout was the same handout we received when we had Colleen present this summer to our staff and other staff from various schools around our district. Knowing how much work I had waiting for me back at school, part of me thought that I should just head to work and just forgo the presentation. I am so glad that I remained to listen to Colleen speak.

While I heard the same message from Colleen, I heard it differently: through different, more knowing eyes. Her words resonated with me even more than they did just 4 weeks ago. I could now connect her stories and descriptions with students I have now come to know and care about (even after only a month). Her words meant much more to me now. Not only could I now put faces of students to the stories she told and descriptions she gave, but I could also put faces of teachers to those who could possibly need a little coaching in this area. Continue reading “Making Sense of Children”