If you never did, you should.

Anthony Speranza

Developing the positive connotations around failure, effort, and growth mindsets is one of the most powerful gifts that we can give to our students.

People would agree that if students are not making mistakes and learning from them, they’re not developing as they should be.

I would argue that if you are not making mistakes as a teacher and learning from those, you are not developing as you should be either.

Of course, mastering the classroom curriculum is very different to mastering the fine art of teaching. However, when it comes to the professional standards for teachers, I would argue that a teacher cannot possibly develop through these standards unless they are willing to try new things, reflect, and learn from their practices.

Modern students are encouraged to take risks in their learning. Therefore, we as teachers should be encouraging ourselves to do the same. If we are not failing and learning from these failures, we really need to be asking ourselves if we are daring audaciously at all.

We are creatures of comfort

Teachers tend to find the familiarity of daily practice comforting and predictable. A new process, idea or organisational change becomes a very threat to that because it is in opposition to what we know and expect.

The human brain is hardwired to keep us safe, the consequence of which is to be habitually averse to change. We tend to stick to tried and tested units of work rather than embrace new methods. We wouldn’t want to look silly in front of our students if that new gadget or gizmo didn’t behave on the day, and we certainly wouldn’t want to deal with the mess or chaos that might ensue if we gave a bit more freedom and autonomy to students in the classroom.

Change is both hard and uncomfortable.

We plead with our students to take risks in their academic work, yet many adults in our system seem to stay frozen in time, rarely changing their classroom structure, embracing a new technology, redesigning a curriculum unit or reimagining a lesson plan.

If we are serious about providing the best possible education for our students, we need to face the reality that the traditional schooling that we have inherited is inadequate. If we want to change the way our classrooms and schools operate, then we must put the expectation upon ourselves to dare to do things differently, better and more deliberately.

Previously, I have discussed the need for schools to think and act in agile ways if they are to remain relevant for modern students. Progressive change in our schools goes against the traditional notion of schooling where educators teach masses of content in an orderly and easily digestible way that is ultimately measured on a report card or a test score. We can avoid the ‘same old, same old’ if we decide it is time for us to embrace change and approach our professional practice with a willingness to innovate, try new technologies and pedagogies, and constantly reflect upon and improve students’ classroom experiences.

Pausing to reflect

To progress is to learn more about what we don’t know, which requires a curious mindset and a willingness to be investigative by giving something a go.

All teachers should be encouraged to innovate in their classrooms if they are to reimagine the possibilities for their students. This requires thoughtful reflection around asking the right questions about the current state of the school or classroom, and thinking about where the desired outcomes should be.

This happens best when we slow down and step back. This is seemingly difficult because humans can be very task and goal orientated. Especially, when it comes to workloads, teachers can have the feeling that there should be no time for pausing and reflecting, but rather, getting on with the task at hand. It is hard for individuals, and even harder for organisations to build a culture where reflection and questioning is prioritised.

Stopping may be perceived as the antithesis of progress but, when you stop, you pause and invite questions. These can lead to insights, ideas and new possibilities. For example:

• Why is teaching content decided by teachers?
  Asking ‘Why’ can provide insights and offer perspectives on problems and challenges that can be used as opportunities for improvement.

• What if students had genuine co-creation in the curriculum plans?
  Asking ‘What if’ invites the creative imagination and brings an innovative mindset to the fore, allowing for the exploration of new possibilities in the classroom or school community.

• How might we include student voices in the design of the curriculum?
  Asking ‘How’ invites action and the execution of ideas, which can be explored in an iterative manner, embracing risk and failure as part of the process.

Taking a leap of faith

Organisations and schools are facing times of dramatic change, reflective of the world around us. Therefore, the school community and individual teachers need to be comfortable with constant questioning of and reflecting on current practices.

We may find that each time we challenge ourselves it becomes a little easier and that, in doing so, we gradually expand our comfort zone and deal with our fear of change. It is through deliberate practice that we can build our own capacity for change, just as we tell our students.

Every day we have the opportunity to improve ourselves. Let’s think about our own practices and the bold path and required actions towards great educational experiences for our students.
In the wise words of Dr Suess:

“If you never did, you should.

These things are fun and fun is good”

Week 1 Term 1 Break

ED Tech Summit Thursday 20th and Friday 21st April

Link to Blog for Summit Notes

Week 11 Term 1 Reflection

Reflection on Term 1 2017

Looking back on the term, I am confident in saying it has been a successful term.

Why?

• I survived the term with John - several positive interviews with his parents, positive email conversations, John has settled as a learner and is no longer trying to dominate the classroom. He has started to make responsible choices about where he sits and has all but stopped his social conversations during learning time.  Building relationships with my students is paramount and I made a concerted attempt to do so with John (as with all my students) - and I think there is now a respect and trust that is a good foundation for the year ahead. 
• Key Competencies: I am continuing to develop my understandings of the key competencies and how they are absolutely integral to sucessful learning. I have had an awareness of them in the past as part of the NZ curriculum, however did not really make them a feature of my learning programme. This I have now started to do by talking to the students about what it looks like when they are managing self, and participating and contributing, thinking, relating to others .... Term 1 has been a focus on managing self with learning the difference between a learning and social conversation, making a learning decision about where they sit and who they will work with, moving out of their comfort zone to work with others in the room rather than always their friends, the levels of work completion - completed the work, completed work with my best effort, completed the work with my best effort and challenged myself. 
• Digital Learning: I have continued to build on Classroom as the platform for communication and digital learning. Every week there has been assignments in reading, writing and math and the students have nearly all been able to work in this environment sucessfully. There are a few students who prefer to work off the chrome book, so they have the opportunity to do this as this is their preferred way of learning. I have several students who have found the independence required to work in this environment difficult and next term I will look at how to scaffold and support these students further. (Anthony, Cale and Suhyeok) 
• Relationships: As a unit of inquiry this was completed with a good degree of engagement and interest. I dont think it was an inquiry in the true nature of inquiry - it was definitly a guided inquiry, however has given a good base to develop futher my understanding of inquiry and also for the students to understand what inquiry is. Next term I am going to look at Genius Hour again as this is where I would like my inquiry projects to go. 
• Planning: I am always looking at how to refine my planning and how to make it succinct and a record of student learning. Havent nailed it this term - while my daily planning was reasonably up to date most weeks, it still isnt where I would like it to be. I tried putting my literacy and math planning onto the inquiry planner this term rather than having separate plans, however dont really feel this is how I want to do it. 

 

 

    

Week 10 Learning Objectives

Are we educating or still indoctrinating?    (click for the link to the article) 

1. Are we still viewing learning from a purely input-output based system that only values industrial age productivity? (i.e. what an individual can perform based on what has been presented instead of what they can create with what they know and understand).

This statement stood out for me in this article.  Mainly because I had also read the article linked below on learning intentions and success criteria. I wondered if by constantly telling a child what they are learning and why we are in fact doing the opposite of what we intend to do ..... 

Learning objectives a waste of time?     (click for the link to the article) 

https://allearssite.wordpress.com/2017/04/18/learning-objectives-a-waste-of-time/

This was an interesting blog post as it talked about the clumsiness of having learning intentions and sucess criteria for everything that we presume a student learns.

It made me reflect on how learning intentions could assume learning as linear. Students move from one aspect they are learning how to do to the enxt, when in fact much learning could be happening at the one time without being narrowly tied down to one learning intention that they will either achieve successfully or not. 

Week Nine Te Whare Rama

Te Whare Rama    29th March 2017   Introduction Day Windsor Park

Te Whare Rama means Lighthouse. (Doctor Michael Irwin)

71% of students referred to RTLB are boys. Most of these students are boys who have a dislike for writing.  There are many reasons why they dislike writing – lack of ideas, boring genre, handwriting, have to sit and be quiet, and more.

All kids have imagination
Throw away genre
Bring back the magic of writing for our children.

Show not tell
Say as much as you can in as few words as you can.
Engaging, drawing, talking, talking and more talking.

Writer and audience - readers attention needs to be caught
Express and create a scene where the reader is hooked and wants to know more.

Technology: finding ways to build connections: Google mad, google earth,  - becoming a shared community of writers.
Used digital devices to reduce barriers
Typing instead of handwriting, easier to find correct spelling, writing easier to revise and make changes,  giving feedback to each other, million dollar word sentences.

Emphasis on language and building vocab. Million dollar words and million dollar sentences - how descriptive is your word or sentence.  Aim to encourage more precise, descriptive vocab choices. Million-dollar word different for each student - challenging themselves to build a stronger word than they have previously used.  Actually gave them million dollar notes  - word written on the back, pinned up next to a child's name - encouraged to use others million dollar words. Showcase the words. Same with sentences - creating vivid imagery. Show not tell.  

Telescopic text.  Begin with a simple sentence. Insert words or change the text and elaborate on their ideas.   Changing one word can make all the difference to the picture you are building.

Too easy to get hung up on surface features. Focus on ideas and building language. Workshops help as needed on surface features.

Finding a way to motivate kids and love writing.  Kids have the ideas inside them - find the way to unlock the writer.

www.talk4writing..co.uk

Year 3 experience
Imagination Station
The mystery box - visual artefact very important.
An old scratched wooden box. Where did it come from?
Could hear there were things inside the box,but it was locked with no key.  Go and draw what you think was inside. Building the excitement.
Next day the key was delivered in a gold envelope.  Inside was a map and a tooth necklace. If the box was locked, it meant there was something new in the box. This became a dragon theme.
When drawing, it's not an art lesson. Draw what is in your mind, take rubbers away.

Sparking groups - lighting a fire in someone else's imagination. It's not stealing ideas, it's building power together as a writer.
Engaging, drawing, sharing and talking. This is our writers community. Add to their drawing after talking with their sparking group.

Important for Oracy:  If they can't tell a story, they can't write a story. So the talking and sharing very very important.
Rich picture books also vital to start the next piece of drawing or writing.

Tell me the dragon by Mackie Morris.
The egg by MP Robertson
The genre came incidentally through the term depending on the motivation.

Writing tools: devices, writer at work lanyard , writers notebook. What are u if u are a writer? What is your job? ( audience - no point in writing something if no one is going to read it)
Ninja mode - silent mode. Lanyard on. Writer at work. Do not disturb.
Writers notebook - very important - a writer will carry around a notebook to jot down ideas, drawings, pictures, you just never know when you are going to need words or pictures or drawings to spark.
Wow words wall - newspaper wall - words put up on coloured paper then be ones a resource for all.
About ownership of the writers notebook. Covered writers notebook with brown paper and try decorated it.

Flip books made for dragons.

Writing books are the students - they may choose to draw through it - ownership.

Student voice
Publishing writing so it is available for everyone to read.  These often be one the most read resource.

How to share writing that is online - not printing it out.

www. nightzookeeper.com.

Engage, draw, share, write.       Process that engages.  Visual artefacts.

Michael: engagement most important but engagement has to be open. E.g what's behind the door?
Drawing is about capturing your ideas visually - it's a visual reference - not an art lesson.
5 minute engage, 10 minute draw, 5 minute share, write.
Some children are very poor story tellers. If they can't tell you the story, they can't write the story. We are pressured as teachers to have kids write, but it doesn't happen as a writer until you can get the ideas out orally.
As a teacher its exhausting.  Listening to writers sharing their writing with you.
Teachers should have autonomy in their own rooms. Writing may be all day and other areas come from it. Balance out your programme.
Planning - you don't know where it's going to go. Plan week by week. Reflect each week then add the next week.

KellySinger
Not writing about their weekend.  Audience - who is the audience ....teacher??
Ownership and empowering them through choice
Writing groups are based on the passion. Eg ninja group, adventure group
Have to let go of planning for the term ahead. Has to be flexible and move with the kids.

Anticipated learning
Learning observed
Engagement ideas
Teacher reflection

Passion based writing clubs. Have an identity, name, motto,
Sparking - kids bouncing off each other
It isn't about the length of the story, it's about what has been said in the writing and how it was said.

Community of writing. Building a team.
What will work for one class, won't always work with your next class so need to be flexible and open to change.
Each assign based group had a closed blog.
I write - app

Artefact could be something from the story they are writing, e.g Make the dragon tooth necklace.  Clay and sculpture. When the artefact is put on they become the character.

Focus on storytelling not genre
Flexible planning

Making groups - write on post it notes all the things they are passionate about. Teacher then groups so it isn't friendship based.

Each child has 3 goals: Goals come from the writing sample and rubric the school has. These become the hot spot workshops - these are the gals they are filling.

Group intervention initially.
Moved to whole class - challenges with access to technology, dealing with many more kids, how to give feedback and make comments, relationship building with all your writers,

Week Eight Key Competencies

Key Competencies (KC's)    

Over the past year, I have had a growing realisation of the importance of the key competencies as learning behaviours and prerequisires to being sucessful academically.  The curriculum says: Key competencies are the capabilities people have, and need to develop, to live and learn today and in the future. 

The project Imaginery Land was first developed by Marion Littin. I changed elements of it to make it relevant to my class in the way it was worded and specific content to reflect previous learning we had been doing this term.  There were 3 compulsory tasks and options to choose from for further presentation of their country.  All presentation were completed on slides and shared with the class. The class gave feedback on what they liked about the country and about the imagination and thinking that had been used.  This feedback was given orally and then added (by the teacher) in the comments section on classroom before the work was "returned" to the students. 

Brief for Imaginery Land

Today you are going to use your Key Competencies. These are ways of working that help you to be successful learners.

1. Thinking - you are going to use your imagination today! You are also going to think about what makes a country a country and invent a whole new culture!
2. Managing Self - you have to finish your project by Thursday midday. You’ll need to plan your time and make sure you stay focussed.
3. Participating and Contributing - you are going to work with one or two other people on a shared slideshow. You will need to work together to contribute to the shared presentation.
4. Relating to Others - Speaking and listening respectfully and constructively is important. You are allowed to disagree, just do so respectfully and be prepared to negotiate.

5. Using Language, Symbols and Texts - well, this is reading, writing and maths. You’ll notice that the compulsory tasks all use these skills. You also have the option of inventing a whole new letter and number system!

Students were in self chosen groups of 2 or 3. They were reminded that these groups needed to be based on a learning decision rather than a social decision. Most students managed to do this and the groups all worked successsfully together.

The students loved the opportunity to use their imagination. No two countries were in any way alike, such diverse thinking and creating. This project lends itself to just so many paths for further learning and directions. I was really amazed at the level of thinking the students were able to do when given the power to do their own thinking with minimum guidelines. In fact I'm quite excited about how the students were, without exception motivated, engaged, creative, and all eager to share.

All students reflected on the key competencies saying what they had been successful in and what they thought they needed to develop further. (all on classroom)