Dissonance

As a teacher, I am constantly faced with professional dissonance- a battle between theory vs. practice.

Every September as I meet a new group of students, with their new needs and challenges, I struggle with whether I'm really cut out to be a teacher. Do I really have what it takes?

I read these beautiful and inspiring blogs about how the real education happens through inquiry and exploration... how we need to move away from worksheets and embrace true curiosity, student ownership and individualized learning.

And I LIVE for things. I research and read and create lessons and materials to bring about those key elements in my classroom.

But sometimes you get a group that isn't quite ready for that.
And when I try... I get crickets. Total lack of engagement and attention. And if you know me, you know my lessons tend to be hands-on, quick-paced and deep thinking. But this year's group just isn't with me. (Yet).

And then I have well-meaning and non-judgemental observational comments by another teacher or EA saying, "wow, they are much noisier and distracted than they were with last year's teacher."
And my world falls apart.

At the end of my first week with them, I literally thought, "Ok, we need to go back to rows and concrete, step-by-step worksheets." Words I swore I'd never utter from my lips.

Can we pause for a moment and be honest with ourselves?
Whether it's open inquiry, new math, ownership of learning, project-based learning, discipline that does not embarrass or upset them...
am I the only one that's feeling that our pendulums are swinging way out of control sometimes?
Each of these elements has one thing in common- giving up control. And we all know there is a fine line between giving up control and actually losing control.


via GIPHY


Ha- the funny thing about this gif (I was looking for a pendulum swinging out of control) is that even though they are wildly out of synch near the beginning, they end up all coordinating and making some really interesting patterns in harmony. 


Hmm. So maybe I need to stop whining, start with what my class needs, and gradually guide them to those places. As I learn this new group and their complex needs, I know it's going to take time and patience to get them to where I want them to be.

Science can be creative

Some amazing learning happens when we create.

I love to find creative ways to bring science content to my students. I realize, though, that it's something I'm so passionate about but I don't often give them time or opportunity to do the same. So I'm saying it here- I'd like to bring those opportunities more into my practice!

Now,  here's my response to the song writing challenge... to write a song about the Kinetic Molecular Theory and states of matter.

I'm sort of cheating, because it was written by myself and fellow creative science facilitator- Deb Calderon- while we were leading a science camp, about 15 years ago. We asked participants for a topic and one hour, and this is what we came up with. (I haven't put it to music yet but I hope to do some more of that this summer.)

States of Matter (tune of Locomotion).

Here’s a little phase moving through the nation  (come on baby, change your state of matter)

It’s all about what happens in a transformation (come on baby, change your state of matter)

Matter changes phases when you change the heat,

It’s a constant cycle that will always repeat.

Come on, come on and change 

Your state of matter with heat

If it gets a little hotter when a solid’s around (come on baby, change your state of matter)

It’ll cause some action as it starts to melt down (come on baby, change your state of matter)

Molecules speed up and before very soon,

They’ll break up all their bonds and they’ll take up more room

So come on, come on and change

Your state of matter with heat

You’ve got to heat it up now,

Come on baby

Speed up, slow down

Molecules moving around.

When you heat a liquid, then they start to move (come on baby, change your state of matter)

Molecules dance faster getting into the groove (come on baby, change your state of matter)

It’s all about the atoms and their love for vibration

As it turns to gas it’s called evaporation

So come on, come on and change

Your state of matter with heat

You’ve got to cool it down now,

Come on baby

Speed up, slow down

Molecules moving around

Take a gas and cool it, the result is a drop (come on baby, change your state of matter)

Condensation happens, the routine never stops (come on baby, change your state of matter)

Now it’s turned to liquid, it’s no longer a gas

It may change its appearance, but it won’t change its mass

So come on, come on and change 

Your state of matter with heat. 

“Connect with people and your practice will change forever.”

If I had to describe it in one statement, this is what CAfLN meant to me. Now if I could only remember who said it! 

This May, I met a group of passionate people who are on the ground and getting dirty with assessment. This is grassroots change operation!  I had such an energizing conference- from leading the school tours, to immersing in a full day of workshops, to wrapping it up at the Symposium.
In the moment, CAfLN was a bit of a blur. An awesome blur, and one of my favourite growing and learning experiences in a long time. It was inspiring to know people are out there with the same passions, striving to improve their practice- not only for themselves, but wanting to change how assessment is done. 

A brief summary...

As part of the planning committee, I volunteered for the school tours to proudly show off some great things Delta is doing around AFL. These things are, in fact, the reason I left my previous district after 20 years to join Delta!  I was honoured (they seriously let me have the tour bus microphone!) to lead 60+ educators through 3 different elementary schools.

It wouldn’t have been right to lead them without giving them their own learning targets and reflection! 

Each school was quite different in their demographics, but had a similar focus and purpose. 

We finished off the night with our Farm Roots Mini school tour, BBQ and ignites. Here’s the link if you want to hear my thoughts on the challenges and successes with going gradeless, in Dr. Seuss rhyme, of course. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRLIpPRS5Ac&feature=youtu.be

The next day, the conference itself, was a day filled with rich assessment knowledge. I loved the variety of research, practical experience and everything in between. And the final day, the Symposium for members, was another time for sharing, connecting and tying it all together in reflection.  Ok, this is a really brief summary. I’m still processing all of that and finding ways to weave all the learning into my teaching. 

What I really wanted to talk about, though, is what happens after the conference. 

When you work out, the muscle growth and strengthening doesn’t happen in the gym during your exercise. It happens later, when your body is at rest. The growth occurs because the strain has created small tears in your muscle fibers. It is only in the resting stage that your body begins to repair the fibers and make them stronger.

I did a mud obstacle run two days ago. It was exhausting and I pushed myself to my physical limits. And that’s not when I was building muscle! But now, two days later, my body is very sore. I can rejoice in the fact that as I rest, my muscles are repairing and strengthening. 

This is how I feel about my time at the CAfLN conference. And about learning, in general. The richness comes in the reflection. It’s going to take time for me to process the learning that took place over those few days. 

Reflecting with Students

Experimenting with portfolios in Fresh Grade has taught me the real power of self-assessment and reflection. Students noticing their strengths, thinking about things that challenged them, and taking time post-activity for reflection has been a powerful exercise. 

When I was a younger teacher, I did (and still do) a lot of hands-on science activities. The lessons were engaging and had deep learning connections. I often wondered, though, how much the students were actually learning and taking away from the experience. I was missing a step, and that step was taking time after the action to debrief, to self-assess, to let the learning settle down into the cracks and solidify. 

So how do I let this knowledge change my practice? 

Slow. Down. Strive for depth, not breadth. Revisit lessons and student responses. Don’t be so quick to move on. Value the time it takes to let them think, process and reflect.

One of the most powerful formative assessment practices I used this year was spending 2 weeks on the same piece of journal writing. It felt painfully slow at the time, but looking back, I’m so glad I took the time to give feedback, let them revise, set goals, highlight growth, self-assess from exemplars, and then have them share the process with their parents. 

I believe it was the back-and-forth, one step at a time, deliberate and purposeful building blocks where the real learning took place. 

I’ve tried to build in reflection as a consistent and frequent thinking routine in our classroom.

From art… (how else could you assess art?)

to science…

I used this with my 6/7’s and they were all able to do this with growing insight and depth.

These tools allow students to start taking an active part in their assessment… and the results have been amazing!  

So ask questions!

What is the most important information/ skill/ lesson you learned?

Why is this learning important?

What are you finding challenging?

Where are you thriving?

What do you want to improve on?

What steps can you take to move forward?

These are the most important questions we can ask our students, and it all really comes down to this: 

Igniting Assessment

I was recently given the opportunity to speak at an Ignite Event for CAfLN (Canadian Assessment for Learning Network) Conference.

What could I say to this audience- the converted- about assessment for learning that could be thought-provoking? I wasn't sure anything I had to say could possibly be profound to the leaders of our country in formative assessment.

So, I decided to tell my story- the good, the bad and the ugly- of moving from grades to a standards-based assessment. It hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows. There have been A LOT of discussions, changes, struggles, and hurdles to overcome. And I'm nowhere near at the end of my journey.

Here's my story. And thank you, Dr. Suess, for your inspiration.

https://youtu.be/aRLIpPRS5Ac

A new look at homework

Homework.

It’s debatable about who gets more frustrated with homework- the students, the parents or the teacher.

It is the nature of today’s classrooms that some students are finished their work before some have even started. Each day, some students have diligently completed and handed in all their work while others did not finish or cannot find theirs.

As a parent, I can relate to questioning, “Are you sure there’s no homework?” I’m torn between wanting to make sure my son is prepared for highschool, and yet also having the freedom to participate in sports… and just be a kid. We’ve spent the hours and hours at the kitchen table in tears. I admit to just giving my son the vocabulary answers, or grabbing the pencil crayons and colouring the title page just to get it over with!

This is one of the most debatable and inconsistent areas amongst intermediate teachers. Homework is widely disputed and research supports both sides of the argument. What is clear, however, is that meaningful and purposeful homework can help students learn important skills to promote academic success.

My philosophy about homework is that it should be to practice and strengthen the skills and lessons we are learning in class. The school day goes by so quickly and we don’t always get the time we need to practice and reinforce those skills. Homework should be meaningful and definitely not frustrating.

·      You can expect that we will assign homework for work that is not completed in a reasonable time during class.

·      We will also occasionally assign long-term projects that will need work out of class time to complete.

·      Students that are organized and productive in class will find they have very little assigned homework.

I’d like to propose a new way of thinking about daily homework. Education is no longer a one size fits all system. All of our students have different strengths and needs. This includes what they need outside of school as well!

What if homework was individualized? What if it was chosen with meaning and purpose- and connected to a goal?

What if parents, teachers and students worked together to create a home plan that meets the child’s personal needs?

You know your child’s strengths, stamina and schedule. If your child is an avid reader, it’s probably not necessary assign home reading for 20 mins/ night. If your child has difficulty staying organized, this is one of the most important areas to focus on to help them be successful. If your child is very busy with sports and is strong academically, perhaps he/she would prefer to work on a community service project and develop his/her leadership skills.

Let’s turn homework on its head and let you and your child decide what it might look like. We can support, guide and provide resources to help. I firmly believe that student ownership in their learning goes a long way!

Parents, when you read the following areas below, take note of what stands out as an area you would like to see your child improve in.

Choose 1. (Or 2 at the most.) In Grade 6, these are the skills we feel are important:

·      Quick recall of addition and subtraction facts to 20, multiplication and division facts to 12 x 12

·      Two hand typing with relative efficiency

·      Reading for enjoyment and understanding

·      Developing organization and planning skills

·      Developing writing skills

·      Improving spelling and vocabulary

·      Physical activity for enjoyment and exercise

·      Developing coding skills

·      Learning life skills such as cooking and building/ construction

·      Develop leadership skills and compassion for others.

We have many resources we can suggest to help foster these skills.

I sat down with my son and created a plan for first term. (Practice what you preach, right?) He is reluctant to work on these things- but I knew I was on the right track when I had buy-in from him. He was able to answer honestly about an area he needed to work on. When I showed him some of the writing prompts I was thinking about, he got a little twinkle in his eye and admitted that it actually could be fun. 

The prompt, by the way, was "Imagine you are 80 years old. Write a rant about kids these days."

Here is our plan:

 

Core Competencies through ADST

The most important thing to say about the Core Competencies is that they are nothing new. The language, yes, but the concepts are part of EVERYTHING we do. Being kind to others, working together, explaining our thinking, taking risks, solving problems, understanding ourselves, regulating ourselves... it's part of every good teacher's curriculum.

It didn't take long to start noticing the skills in our daily classroom life. Then it's all about pointing it out. The kids were naturally able to reflect once they had the language and understanding.

As our district mentors say,
"Notice it, name it, nurture it."

Here's a higher resolution copy:

https://vimeo.com/216943059

BC's New Science Curriculum

I was getting stuck in some linear thinking. I couldn't see how the new curricular competencies and content were supposed to fit together seamlessly.

For many subjects, we've been given a grid that links competencies and content in perfect little boxes to tick.
"Develop and apply mental math strategies..." could go with, say, "multiplication and division facts to 100." Very nice for us A-types who like boxes to tick.

Science has presented an interesting problem for me. Every single one of the curriculuar competencies relates to the scientific process- from questioning, predicting, and designing experiments, to analyzing results and communicating conclusions.

Love it. I'm all about the scientific process. However...

the curriculum doesn't specifically say anything about learning the content. When do we actually teach them information?
My confusion was thinking that the competencies were supposed to be the only way to learn the content. Which was frustrating when I have things like excretory, endocrine and reproductive systems on the docket. Question, predict and design an experiment? I can think of a few but not to teach our entire content!  It doesn't help that the Grade 6 textbook - a fabulous resource- is now completely dead to us.

I also can't help feeling that I am using that old, linear way of thinking- and seeing myself, or the textbook as the main learning tools.

I sent out a desperate plea for help to our brand new Science Helping Teacher, Craig, about this and he helped me clarify it in my mind. I knew I can't be the only one who is asking these questions, so I thought I'd share his advice, and my ways of making sense of it all.

Students will Know the Content by Doing the Curricular Competencies in order to Understand the Big Ideas.

He suggested trying to hit the competencies over the year; some topics lend themselves more to certain parts of the competencies. Ie- Focus on planning and predicting for Chemistry, Applying and Innovating for Space etc.

This was a very helpful insight for me:
Curricular Competencies get emphasized much more deeply than they have in the past because they have been neglected. But they do not replace the learning of information. They only change some of the way that information is learned. Rather than just telling them stuff, hands-on learning is the starting point for exploration. But there will always be a place for us to “teach” (in the old-fashioned sense) information.    

Phew!   Ok- I don't have to throw out everything I've ever done or the methods that I've taught. 
So here's my summary of all this brain spewing I've been doing:

Content is what they should (could) know

Curricular competencies are what they should do- but not exclusively. The competencies don't have to be the only way we should be learning it. (Again, it was the grid concept that was throwing me off.)

Time to start shift that lens and start planning!

UPDATE: Aug 2017
After teaching the it for a year, I've come to a bit of a different way of thinking. What if... the curricular competencies are really the focus? The content is the suggested way you can meet those, but not the 'must complete.'

I killed myself trying to fit in 4 body systems, chemistry (a small and random piece, I might add), space, Science Fair and Newton's laws this year. And I was already integrating all my Language Arts into Science- which was my main focus for my 2 days I teach. I still had the old way of thinking, that I had to cover it all. This way of thinking is a lot more freeing.

A New Hope

Kudos to those of you  who caught the Star Wars reference in my title.  My husband would be proud.

I was very encouraged the other day while working with a student teacher. I am mentoring her through the incredibly difficult year of learning basically everything there is to know about teaching. Of course we learn and grow so much over our careers, but besides your first year, student teaching is one of the most intense times of growth. At least it was for me. And the worst part is, not only are you learning how to do it, you are being constantly monitored and judged at the same time.

This brings me to a thought someone planted in my head a long time ago, and I've never forgotten:
It is very difficult to be a mentor and an evaluator at the same time.

Think about it.

This is the flaw of the student teaching program, being highly dependent on the teacher you are placed with. Some are mentors, some are evaluators, and very few are both.

The first thing I told Emily (aforementioned student teacher) is that your student teaching year is one where you are supposed to LEARN. You don't have to be perfect at everything at the start (or ever after that!)  She compared herself to her classmates, many of whom taught overseas or as an EA in a classroom for many years. So many of us hold the expectation that we have to enter our student teaching year already knowing everything. You don't. But you do have to be able to take chances, reflect on your practice and be constantly learning and evolving.

So this brings me to my blog post title- and why I was encouraged with the new generation of teachers coming up through the system.
Emily and I were looking at differentiated instruction in math. We talked about how it is important to assess your students before you teach them, to see where the students are. For a lot of (ahem) older teachers like myself, even this is a novel concept. It is not just giving them a pre-test worksheet and then doing things the same- it is a whole paradigm shift of how we teach.
For Emily, it seemed this was common practice in her university studies. (1 point for UBC!)

After assessing students, there are many different ways to address their needs. We talked about guided math, small group instruction, games for fluency practice, and more. Then after lessons and, of course, units, there is more assessment of their learning.

Ok, now I'm getting to the exciting part.

She asked a very simple, but profound question. It separates the older generation from the newer generation of teachers (which has nothing to do with age or years teaching, but philosophy).

She asked, "So what do you do with the students who still didn't get the concept?"

For so many years, we have been evaluators. Teachers, yes, but in the end, we are judgers, putting kids into Good, Satisfactory or Needs Improvement. Gets it or doesn't get it.
What if we didn't stop until they did?

I know, we all immediately go to the logistical frustration/ impossibility of this concept. That is, if you are looking at it with the same lens you have always had, and teaching the way we always have.

NO WONDER kids get so behind by the later grades- we've moved on and stamped a "didn't get it" on their report card. I am the teacher who works with the struggling students. The ones who think they are not smart, and yes, the ones who have been left behind. I applaud Surrey District for taking away some of the pressure to label kids through letter grades. What if we were more cheerleader and less of a judge? What about leading them through their learning where they are at?

I believe this is where education is headed- what all those buzz words like differentiation and student-directed learning are trying to say.

Even if you don't agree with how it can work, it's an interesting conversation.

How to use board games to improve your child's math sense

I was playing Pokemon Monopoly with my Gr. 1 son today. I was amazed at how much math we could practice and reinforce with a simple game of Monopoly.

First there was the rolling of the dice, which involves counting each "pip"(dot)-  OR, just seeing the whole number, which is an important skill in itself! Next, you must add the 2 dice. I work with many kids throughout elementary (up to Gr. 7!) who still struggle with adding single digits by memory. Below I have listed a few different levels of understanding around adding the dice- and how you can lead them along the continuum.

Then there is all the handling of money. Oh the things you can work on...! It gets me giddy! (See below for concepts)!

Monopoly is not unique- most board games require adding dice and moving squares. The earlier you practice these skills, the more familiar they are with it when they see it in school!
The great thing about games is that they add an element of fun and competition. So much of learning is dependent on motivation! My son quickly learned the joy of collecting $200 when passing go, and the frustration when he had to pay it out. On the next turn, when he had to pay $4 rent- it was no big deal. Then, because clearly he doesn't understand chance and logic, he put most of his money into buying a hotel on the Boardwalk-equivalent in the Pokemon version. Of course I landed on it on my next turn, and had to pay him $1700, which completely bankrupted me. Lessons were learned!

In addition to Monopoly, The Game Of Life is a good one for using money as well. Between gift cards, Paypal, iTunes and debit cards, kids just don't have enough exposure to money any more! (Oh wow- did I just make a "kids these days..." statement?)

Parents, when you are playing board games with your kids, look for/ encourage these things to increase your child's math sense and ability. You may need to build up to some of these concepts over time:

DICE:

• try to see the number without counting each dot. The big math word for it is subitizing.
• add the 2 dice using adding strategies
• try to correct them if they are starting at the first dice and counting each pip. For example, a 5 and 3 are rolled (and recognized). Then, the child starts over and begins counting the 5 again as part of the adding 5+3. Initially, this is important in their development to count each dot, but eventually, kids should know that there was already a 5- (they knew it was a 5!) so they need to start counting on from 5. It is easier and more efficient to always start with the higher number
• point out doubles and numbers that make 10 (4&6, 5&5). These are great to learn as part of their quick recall!
• Point out that 7 is the most common number to roll on 2 dice. What are the combinations? 1&6, 2&5, 3&4, 6&1, 5&2, 4&3. Did you know these numbers are always on opposite sides of the dice from each other?
• counting your spaces to move forward. It is SO important for kids to learn that they don't count the square they are on. I always explain it as counting the jumps, not the squares. This skill becomes critical when understanding number lines - a foundational tool we use often in math.

MONEY:

• First, I would work on recognizing and ordering the various denominations. Realizing that $100 or $10 are very different numbers is important- in math, and in the game! Even sorting the money and putting in order is a great initial skill to learn.
• Though your child may not be able to be the banker, you can work on handing out and counting money together. 
• count by 10's, 20's, 50's
• add hundreds first, then tens, and ones. (it seems simple to us, but may need some modeling). $325- How do we make $300? $20? $5?
• Show the connection between  2+5=7 and 20+50=70. 
• Find/show different ways you could make an amount:
• $80- 50, 30, 10 or 4x20
• What if you ran out of 20's? What could you trade in? How many would you get?
• Making change- when they are ready, see if they can figure out how much they (or you) should get back. Try starting at the number they owed, and count up to the number they paid. 

Depending on the grade level, these skills might take a (primary) teacher 1- 3 months of class time to cover! What a great way to work on improving number sense and fluency, while having some fun together. And nothing is better than bankrupting you on a 1 in 40 chance of landing on Boardwalk with the only hotel on the board! :P