What describes my teaching?

Day 18 of the +TeachThought 30D Blogging Challenge!

I've written about this before but I believe in it so strongly that I'm not worried about sharing it yet again. This motto was created by my class and I a few years ago.  The students were aged around 9 and 10 years-old. It's become my driving force or mantra and I absolutely believe in it.  I am a learner alongside my students.

I don't have issues with sharing learning or 'retaining control'.  I never expect that I should know more than my students.  Yes, content knowledge is important as is curriculum and teaching knowledge but these are ever-changing things and we, like our students, need to be able to adapt, construct and reconstruct knowledge and understanding.  This is why I love what I do!  It's the chance and opportunity to learn something new, to be exposed to new knowledge and create knowledge in our learning communities and environments.  That's what makes what we do so exciting!  Trust and respect are key.  I never demand respect from my students - I have to earn that too.  (I do demand good manners while earning their trust, however!)  It's all about mutual respect and trust and a whole lot of fun and reflection.

I'm not the 'sage on the stage' nor am I the 'guide on the side' - sometimes I'm both, a balance and mix of the best of both I hope.  My students are also the sages and guides.  I'm a student, facilitator and lifelong learner alongside my students.  I need to know the 'right' questions to guide curiosity but sometimes the most powerful questions will come from the students themselves.  I'm a reflective practitioner and I expect my students to be reflective also.

This is a true community of practice and it's not limited to a specific age group.


#reflectiveteacher

Day 2 of the TeachThought Blogging Challenge - 1 Piece of Technology I Want to Incorporate This Year

There are so many tools out there but I always start with the question of why?  If I can't articulate that a tool will make a change to my students' learning, then I would have difficulty in justifying its use.  It is simply just a 'cool tool' or the latest new 'must have' tool, but if it doesn't impact student learning in a positive manner, I won't use it.

I start with the SAMR model of adapting technology for learning and teaching - to see how it fits and how it can be adapted through the levels.  If I'm using it to just replace something else, for example using Word to replace writing in a book, that's okay but it needs to do more, it needs to reach the 'Redefinition' stage - to create something new that may not have been possible previously to having this tool.  Kathy Schrock has fantastic resources on the SAMR model and all other things tech.  I've been folowing her since about 1998 and can't recommend her more highly.

One tool I really want to explore is actually a suite of tools - Google Apps for Education and Hapara and now Google Classroom!

Check out the presentations below and see why these tools can make such a powerful change in learning and teaching.

Google Apps for Education (GAFE): Giving Students an eLearning Space from Iain Doherty

Google Classroom - Set Up and Tips for Teachers from John Sowash

#reflectiveteacher 

Not Another Interruption!!! Valuing Learning and Teaching

Over the years the issue of constant interruptions to our learning and teaching has at times frustrated me and sometimes made me very annoyed.  I've been told that it's just part of being in the classroom and that it happens 'in every school.'  Don't get me wrong - I've been just as guilty as some, at times, of being the one interrupting and sometimes for a very irrelevant reason, particularly when I've been part of the senior leadership team and may have momentarily forgotten my manners and/or what it's like to be in the classroom full time and interrupted without good reason.

We all know what it's like.  You're in the middle of something that is exciting, the students are engaged, they're sharing the teaching and learning and the discussions are amazing and then it happens......  The door opens, or the phone rings - for the 40th time that day, or the intercom goes - for the 30th time that day...!!!!!!!  (A slight exaggeration but most of you will know exactly what I mean and it's not restricted to any particular country or situation / level - it's a global 'phenomenon'.  (Maybe that's not the right word so please insert in there what you think fits your situation - and also feel free to share that in the comments following this post!).

In my second year of teaching - a little while ago - I started to question what we were valuing in our schools if we were allowing these constant interruptions that had little or nothing to do with learning and teaching to continue.  Fortunately, I had just arrived in a new school where our Principal felt the same way.  As a staff we began to question our practices and routines in the school.  We had senior students who were 'monitors' in the school which, while it did give them leadership opportunities, some of them - particularly those who had the role of taking the daily notice book around the school - could be out of class for up to two hours...a day.  We questioned how this was valuing the learning and teaching in our school.  Yes, it was helpful to the running of the school but there were many more leadership opportunities in the class room if that was the reason for the creation of these jobs.  It was not making the learning important.  We can't waste a minute of learning time -  it's too precious but wasting it was precisely what was happening.

Imagine if the same students were out of the classroom every day for two hours a week - that's 10 hours a week of learning that is lost and cannot be recovered or made up.  You can do the math on how many hours that would be a term, etc.  (Another side of this argument - hours out of class due to family holidays is about to rear it's head in this post).

The discussion around this involved the whole staff - not just the teaching staff - and it was incredibly powerful.  We decided that there would no longer be non-essential interruptions and that we would use as many digital tools as possible to cut down on unnecessary interruptions, e.g. email, school website, intranet for daily notices, etc.  The intercom was only used in an emergency and there were no telephones in the classrooms.  The difference was palpable - and noticed by everyone, from staff to students.  We were a school whose staff and students very obviously, and publicly, valued learning and teaching time.  If there were any non-essential interruptions, students would comment on their learning time not being valued.

So, if I'm arguing that we need to value learning and teaching and not interrupt it unnecessarily, then what are my thoughts on the following article which appeared in some of New Zealand's media over the past week?  (I researched this a little further and there are an incredible amount of articles about this issue on the net).

I'd love you to read the article, form some opinions - you will already have many on this issue -  and then I'll carry on.

Pupils pay heavy price for cheap holidays

If I'm so against unnecessary interruptions, then where so I stand on the issue of parents taking students out of school for family holidays during term time because it's cheaper?  (And, is this in fact the only reason why they do it.  I don't believe it is - work opportunities, learning opportunities and family commitments all play their part too).

Where do I stand then?  Well, it depends - and I'm not fence-sitting here, truly.  If it's just a holiday in the island sun then I'm pretty much against it as I also am if it is going to interrupt NCEA (in New Zealand) or other Senior exams, courses etc globally.  However, if the family holiday is an 'experience of a lifetime' and includes opportunities for amazing learning and putting into practice what is being learned in the classroom then isn't this what we want as teachers and learners?  Don't we want to flatten the classroom walls and develop our eLearning / Blended learning environments to extend well beyond those walls?

The opportunities of being able to explore the globe and really understand some of the main issues that relate to what we've been learning in the classroom surely shouldn't be passed up.  What if your inquiry has been about global poverty and ways to combat this issue and one of your students has the opportunity to travel to a very poor country where this is their main issue, because his/her family is involved in an organisation helping alleviate poverty in that country.  How powerful would that learning be?  Doubly powerful if the digital tools now at our disposal are used to communicate the issues with the class back home through videos, blogs, etc., and create discussion and debate.

If it's travelling through different countries and experiencing different cultures then isn't that learning too?  We are arguing that eLearning is 'anytime, anywhere' learning which includes Blended and Mobile learning but then we want to restrict it to what happens in school by way of us saying that students can't be out of school during term time.  To me, this doesn't make sense.  I want my students to be engaged, critical, creative thinkers who have empathy for others and who want to make a difference to their world.  Don't these experiences help them to become connected global citizens.  For me, that's part of my goal as an educator.

There is an argument - which is valid - that they can wait until they are older and travel then when they've finished school or university.  I would argue that the earlier we help develop our global citizens the better and it's even more effective if we can link any classroom learning to the world outside the classroom which makes it relevant and real learning.  It has a purpose and it 'flattens the classroom'.  If we are saying that educational trips can't be taken, what message are we sending to the wider community - that the only 'real' learning can happen in the classroom?  I think this is the opposite of what we want.  I know it's the opposite of what I want.

So let them travel and learn and become global citizens as early as possible - within reason.  Please don't take them out at crucial assessment times in their senior years and I'm not sure how the 'week in the sun on the island' is supporting the goal of global citizenship but use the tools we have to really connect through digital learning and teaching tools.  Apply the pedagogy of eLearning and I think we can really develop something special with our students and expose them to real and relevant learning which can only strengthen what we are trying to achieve in our classrooms.

Homework - What's the Alternative?

In the past few days, and indeed over the 16 years I've been teaching, there has always been the debate over homework - Do we give homework?  Should we be giving it?  The research says it doesn't work.  The research says it DOES work.  How much is age-appropriate for the different levels.  Parents want it so we give it.  Parents hate the amount - it's too much, too little, and on it goes.  It really is hair-tearing-out stuff!!

I think we're going about it the wrong way.

We want our students to become confident, connected learners who question, debate and create their own knowledge with our support.  I'm not convinced that homework in its current form achieves this.
An example.  Spelling lists.  The students learn their words - they may even put them into sentences.  We test them, they do well on the test.  Try testing the same words a few weeks later, (I've done this to prove in my own mind the  value - or otherwise - of this method of 'learning' words).  What happens?  Their stellar results often slip to well below par, unless we've combined that learning of spelling words with learning and knowing the spelling strategies or using the words many times in daily writing.  If we're just giving lists to rote learn then most of our students will 'remember' the lists but they won't learn them or transfer that knowledge into their long-term memory.

I've asked students about homework many times over the years and have consistently received the same answers - It's boring.  We do it because we have to.  I already know this....  It's too hard, it's too easy - often from the same student in the same week!!!  I don't need to go on because you've heard them all too.  The idea behind homework is that it is designed to reinforce the learning in the classroom but does it really do this?  Unless it's tailored to individual learning needs and is personalized to those needs, then I'm not so sure.

So what's the alternative then?

Preparation for Learning - or, as my class shortened it to - Prep for Learning.

I wanted to find a way that engaged the students more fully in what we were learning in class.
We use our blogs for many different learning tasks so I wanted to harness the enthusiasm the students had for blogging in some way.  We've used our class blog and our Literature Circles blog as the basis to make a change and it's been one that has stimulated class discussions and changed our attitudes to learning towards developing an eLEarning philosophy - that our learning happens anytime, anywhere and in so many different ways.  Not just in school but anytime - this was the key part and also included the parents in their learning in a much deeper and more meaningful way.

• The main philosophy around Prep for Learning is to have the students thinking about the learning they are part of all the time.
• Questions are posted on the blog prior to new learning to get the students to begin thinking about the learning that is coming up.  This can be in any learning area.  For example questions can be posted prior to an inquiry to get the students to Tune In to new learning / ideas. (Check out Kath Murdoch's website - one of my favorite Inquiry gurus!)  In maths, it could be a new Geometry topic coming up and you want to know what they already know and understand.  (The Prep for Learning can be a great formative assessment tool too!)
• Students jump on and add their current thinking in preparation for discussions in class.  This means that they are coming prepared to think, debate and join in the discussions.
• Sometimes students will go a step further and take ownership of the learning by posting further questions for others to think about before they come to class to discuss them.
• The purpose is also to engage thinking in the learning areas.

Students still read every night - often joining in the discussions on the Literature Circles blog, and they still have their maths Basic Facts but the main 'homework' is now all around engaging in their learning by participating in thinking about and discussing that learning.  The isolation of filling in one sheet for the whole class for homework has gone.

Another bonus - you are building very strong home and school links by parents and caregivers being able to see what their children are learning - and they are also encouraged to join in and add their thinking too, as are our global collaborators.  This gives the learning a whole new and very powerful bonus - local and global collaboration that really does impact teaching and learning in a concrete and very relevant way.

Yet another bonus - most parents have commented on their child's renewed enthusiasm for school and learning and best of all - they don't have to fight to get 'homework' completed!!  Has to be a good thing!!

Students who don't have computer access at home don't miss out either as they get class time and have requested computer time before and after school, and at break times, to be able to join in the online discussions.

Our students are 21st Century learners.  We need to adapt to their way of thinking as consumers and creators of knowledge - not vessels into which knowledge is poured and then 'spat out' again without any meaning having been made of it.

The Importance of Liking the Students We Teach and Learn With or "Kids don't learn from people they don't like." - Rita Pierson

How important is it that we like the students we interact with and teach and learn with each day?  For me, it's an essential part of what leads me in everything I do on a day-by-day, minute-by-minute basis.

Teaching is not just about 'facilitating learning'.  It's so much more than that.

It's about connecting with our students and showing them that we care about them as human beings.  We care about, and are interested in, their hopes, dreams and aspirations, the sports they play, the hobbies they are interested in.

I watched this presentation, (another fantastic TED Talk), by Rita Pierson, a teacher of 40 years' experience and would love to read what you think. She raises an interesting question in relation to whether our students' achievements can be at their optimum level if we don't 'like' them and believe in them.  Is this part of the 'x-factor' in teaching - that element of difference between a good teacher who has the pedagogy and content knowledge and a great teacher who also possesses these elements along with being able to connect with their students on a collaborative and friendly level, and who also shows a genuine interest in who these amazing human beings are whom we have the privilege to teach and learn alongside every day.

Some of us live this profession - it's so much more than 'just a job' - we live this life.

Rita also speaks about some of the 'reforms' in education but her main focus is the value of human connection and relationships in learning.  It's a powerful message.


'Kids don't learn from people they don't like'.  True.  Rita is an inspiration and what she says is so true, powerful and valuable.  The power of self-belief cannot be underestimated - for both students and teachers.

We need to make a difference, not just academically, but in the human context.  I believe in my students unconditionally, I like and respect my students - yes, even the ones who dyed my hair red on a school camp many years ago.  (I was secretly proud of their creativity and innovation in completing the task they set themselves!!)

Teaching is connection.  Success for our learners comes through connections.  Taking time to get to know our students is key.

What's at the Heart of Your Teaching and Learning?

I've started to blog about the ILoveTeaching Conference held last week but, over the past three days, have also attended the RSCON3 - The Reform Symposium online conference.  This conference has involved over 75 presentations and 12 keynotes covering a diverse range of areas but they've all had one thing in common - teaching and learning with passion in the 21st Century.

There's been a bit of a theme happening here then over the last few weeks.  Interestingly, the theme of many of my readings for my Masters has also been around this!  Passion in teaching and learning has always been key for me since I began studying to become a teacher 15 years ago.  It just seems to make sense.  Commonsense.  If the teachers don't have the passion for what they do then how can they expect the students to show any enthusiasm?  

I've been reflecting on this an enormous amount, particularly over the past three days.  A presentation by @ShellTerrell (Shelly Terrell): The 30 Goals Challenge for Educators: How Will You Be Inspired - has really hit a nerve - in a very good way.  Shelly is a passionate educator with so much enthusiasm for what she does that it can't fail to rub off on you - or affirm your beliefs.  Shelly's bio on the Reform Symposium site sums up what she has achieved so far a great deal better than I could.  I recommend that you check it out, follow her on Twitter and also read her blog.  Be inspired. I certainly was and will participate in the 30 Day Challenge.

When I took a break from teaching at the end of the first term, I knew that I wanted to study and gain my Masters, knew what it was going to be in and what my focus would be, but I wasn't 100% sure about where I wanted it to head from there.  Was it research?  Was it educating other teachers?  Was it going back into the classroom?  I think it's all of these but I really want to find a way to help teachers connect to and with their students, learn together and be passionate about what they do on a daily basis.  

One of the Keynotes this afternoon carried on this theme and stated out loud what is often in our heads - "If you're not having fun you shouldn't be there... because you are dealing with their future."  This is in relation to being a teacher and it is so true. The presentation was by the Couros brothers: @courosa, (Dr Alec Couros), and @gcouros, (George Couros).  These inspirational teachers have clear messages that were also in line with the ILoveTeachingConference: We need to change what we do, not do more of the same, just with different tools.  We risk taking the passion away from our learners, and from ourselves if we do this.

Links to George Couros can be found here:  http://georgecouros.ca/blog/

Links to Dr Alec Couros can be found here:  http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/

Both are recommended reading.

There were so many other inspirational speakers: Kelly Tenkely, Lisa Nielsen, John Davitt, Chuck Sandy, Dr Pam Burnard, Edna Sackson, Josh Stumpenhorst, Kathleen Morris, Brad Patterson, Tom Whitby, to name a very few at this stage.  I will reflect on their ideas over the next few days.  In the meantime, I'm off to catch the next great sessions.  The conference finishes at 9.00am tomorrow morning with a Keynote from Steve Wheeler - also known as @timbuckteeth on Twitter.  If you're not reading and reflecting on his blog, then you probably should be if you're a teacher and learner who is passionate about his / her work.

All of the sessions have been recorded and I'll post links as soon as they're available.

In the meantime:  Keep fighting to retain creativity and passion in teaching and learning so that we have engaged, motivated and passionate learners.  We're all teachers and we're all learners.  (A motto from my last group of fantastic learners!)

Trust is the key to developing passionate, creative, engaged and motivated learners... and teachers!  Passion and creativity are non-negotiables in teaching and learning.