Shawna Rothgeb-Bird Assessment and Evaluation, Curriculum Planning, Differentiated Instruction

Ditch Tests – Do Projects Instead!

As the year winds down and you start to think about next year, I have something I want you to consider: get rid of tests.

No, seriously. Forget about them.

When I first started teaching, I, too, used tests. After all, that’s what my experience was: finish a unit, do a test to demonstrate your learning, move on to the next unit. I even did that thing that my own teachers had done where I worded questions in specific ways to try and “trick” students. I told myself that this was a way to make sure they were attending to the questions, really paying attention in class, really knew the material.

Is that true, though?

As I learned more about effective assessment and practice, I started to see how wrong that was. What are we really assessing when we ask students to memorize facts? Complete tests within a set timeframe, inducing unnecessary stress? Give them one chance to show their learning, in one set way, without allowing for student choice or different ways for students to show their learning?

(As an aside, my most hated kind of test is a spelling test.)

I got rid of tests in my teaching several years ago and I have no regrets. This decision has led to a better understanding of students’ needs and learning, higher student engagement, and a more fun classroom all-around.

So what do I do instead? 

P R O J E C T S.

There are so many reasons why I love projects.

  • The possibilities of what you create are nigh endless.
  • You can easily provide multiple options to students.
  • Expectations for the project can be tailored to individual students’ programs and needs.
  • Projects are versatile and easy to adapt on the fly if necessary.
  • Cross-curricular opportunities abound.
  • Projects can be individual or collaborative in nature.
  • It’s easy to integrate technology into your plans. 

What kinds of projects do I use for assessment?

For Grade 4/5 Science, I’ve used Minecraft: Education Edition to have students create model habitats and human organ systems to demonstrate what they had learned. In previous years, I’ve also had students create new animals (inspired by the book Scranimals) and create a habitat that would respond to their needs.

For Drama, Art, and Language, I’ve had students create stop motion animation and puppet shows where they have to think about the backgrounds, character design, sound effects, storyboards.

For Social Studies, students have created museums with artifacts from early societies, explaining their importance and history while acting as tour guides for visitors.

For Math, students have created their “dream home” with set parameters for maximum perimeter and area. At times, I’ve also extended this into financial literacy and planning by giving them resources and asking them to decorate their home within a certain budget.

For Grade 6 Science and Language, students have created dioramas of key moments in stories read in class and incorporated circuitry and working switches into their pieces. (These were extremely cool and some of my absolute favourite projects to date. So many design challenges to overcome. So many creative solutions. So much perseverance!)

For Language and Art, students have created graphic novels of fractured fairy tales, incorporating narrative elements and elements of design into their work. 

Like I said: the possibilities are nigh endless. Often, students will find ways to adapt and change the project in exciting ways I hadn’t thought of before. I can then take their ideas forward into future years.

Using projects as often as I do isn’t without its downsides, of course. Projects take a LOT of time, so you’ll want to be prepared for that. You need to be clear about what your expectations are so that students don’t get too far off track, either. Providing a list of steps for students to follow is helpful, especially with set “check in” points where you meet with them to see how things are going.

One key thing you’ll want to have in place before you dive into project-based learning is a routine around what students can do if they have finished their work. I’ve found that students tend to take different amounts of time to complete their work, some groups finishing quickly while others still have days ahead of them. You’ll want to know what the finished groups will move onto while waiting for others to finish (and no, it shouldn’t just be extra work).

Also, projects tend to make your classroom look a mess. I’ve embraced the chaos. My classroom is never tidy.

Every year, I ask my class what their favourite things were that we did in class. Every year, they mention projects. They love them. They love the creativity, the flexibility, the collaboration.

Even if you don’t completely get rid of tests in your classroom, try some projects, alright? It’s worth it. Even when the projects don’t work out the way you expected and you can’t use them to assess what you thought you were assessing (which happens sometimes!) it’s still a worthwhile venture.

If ever you need ideas for projects, I’m here. I’m happy to share. I do so many of them.

If you already do lots of project-based learning, what are your favourite things that you’ve done?

Melissa Turnbull Occasional Teachers, Occasional Teaching, Year End Reflection

Dear Students,

As an Occasional Teacher, I meet a lot of awesome students.

This school year, I have had the opportunity to teach in MANY schools (both virtually and in person) across two different school boards. I don’t get to wish each of those awesome students a farewell as this school year nears its last day. Some I may see in September, some I may see in the future as our paths align once again, and some I may never see again.

Here is what I would say to them all, if I could:

Dear students,

Thank you.

Thank you for making a school year filled with masks, shields and social distancing feel like community. Thank you for being your authentic selves and finding it within you to make jokes, be silly and have fun. Thank you for inspiring me to come to work every day, to keep learning, growing and wondering.

Thank you for showing me that connection is so powerful and that strong relationships have the potential to break through computer screens. Thank you for embodying resiliency, love, trust and understanding. It is you who have showed me that not knowing the answer is sometimes the most exciting avenue to take.

From you I have learned so much, but most importantly I have discovered that my learning will never stop. I used to view my experience as an occasional teacher as a means to an end. Upon beginning this journey in 2018, I thought being an OT was just something that had to be done. For me, this experience has been vital to beginning to develop my sense of identity as an educator. You have influenced me advocate for change within education, schools, communities and the world.

I wish you all the best as you continue your adventures.

Sincerely,

Miss Turnbull

Arianna Lambert Assessment, Feedback, Report Cards

Going Gradeless in Elementary – Part 2

In my last post, I shared a little about the work that we’ve been doing in our classroom about taking a position and being able to effectively argue. Students have been learning to write argumentative essays and the importance of making sure that they offer supporting details to back up their positions. In this post, I will be sharing insights from students who believe that grades should be eliminated in Elementary schools. 

No to Grades

“Grades do not always show what a student is capable of.”

As the student read this essay, it brought tears to my eyes. It’s the end of May and if we haven’t already done them, we know that class placements are going to be underway very soon. During these placements, students are often reduced to the level given by their current teacher and it’s something that is passed on to the next. 

While sharing her experiences in Math, this student stated that there are times that she just doesn’t get the concept but having the opportunity to have someone pull up a chair and explain it has made all the difference to her. She’s capable and sometimes just in need of a little support. The mark on her report card doesn’t always reflect her in her entirety.  For her, specific feedback on what and how she can improve is important. From there, she can make those improvements and it also helps future teachers to see how they too might support her in her learning on an ongoing basis. For her, the learning skills portion of the report card is important because those are the skills that we should be focused on building, because the content will change over time and our access to the content will also evolve. 

“Grades are not good for mental health. They often make you feel stressed, which can lead to anxiety.”

This student shared that it’s stressful being a kid. Their bodies are changing and their brains are changing too. Managing physical and psychological changes, while having to pretend everything is ok at school is hard. Citing not wanting to worry people and the added stress of not being successful in school, because of your grades, is just too much. This student wonders if there are any studies that have gone into the impact that the stress of grades has on students. They were pretty interested in learning about the education system in Finland and wondered why more countries haven’t taken a similar approach to have a later start at school, more recess, and a lightened load with homework. 

As I read these essays, I realized just how much of an impact the pandemic has had on my students. While they’re on every day and handing in their assignments on time and with care, it really hasn’t been easy. Many are concerned about whether or not we will go back to in-person learning this year and what their transition to middle school will be like. Without answers, they’re left to wonder and that’s producing a significant amount of stress and anxiety on young people who we keep congratulating for their resilience. 

“Teacher comments, on the other hand, can help parents and students, by telling them how well a student is doing in class.”

It’s interesting how many students spoke about receiving quality feedback and opportunities to implement the feedback. Having feedback on a report card is great but it is also seen as somewhat final. Not until the next one, do they have the opportunity to see a change unless the feedback is ongoing. My students are also looking for honest feedback. Many have said that on report cards they have gotten Cs and when they have read the comments, they sound as though they met with success and yet for them, they know that it is still approaching success. 

This comment also speaks to the relationship between home and school and making sure that parents know how their child is doing along the way. For many, they said that they see the school year as a journey in learning and that to them, marks are somewhat final. They want and need to know how they are doing; how they are improving; and what still needs to be improved upon. 

The debate continues on the idea of going gradeless in Elementary. Even the students are divided in their opinions but it’s clear that the current system isn’t working effectively for all. We’ve heard a lot of talk of “reimagining”. Assessment and evaluation is just one area in education that needs further inspection and action for change. I’m hoping that we can move past the talk and into action.

Arianna Lambert Assessment, Feedback, Report Cards

Going Gradeless in Elementary – Part 1

As a class this past month, we have been learning about arguments and how to effectively write an argumentative essay.  From debating the importance of a digital detox to the role of social media in our lives, we’ve enjoyed arguing our positions on a variety of topics; understanding the importance of having supporting details to back up our positions. 

For one of our essays, students reflected on the idea of going gradeless in Elementary. After reading a couple of articles and watching a few videos, students were finally ready to pick their positions and set about organizing their ideas for their essays. Using a persuasion map, students reflected on the information presented and their own thoughts, ideas and experiences, and considered their 3 best reasons for their position. Once finished, they set about writing their essays and I was incredibly surprised by their positions. Many students actually supported the idea of keeping grades but suggested changes that should be made to render the grading system more effective. 

In this post, I will be sharing some of the insights of the students who believe that we should continue with grades in Elementary. In part 2, you’ll have the opportunity to hear the arguments from the other position. Hold on to your hats, these students had some incredible reasons either for or against our current grading system. 

Yes to Grades!

“Good grades lead to scholarships and opportunities for post secondary education.” 

When I hear young students – I teach 10- and 11-year-olds – talking about scholarships and post-secondary education, it always blows my mind. I think that there was always an expectation for me to go to University but I don’t think that I started to worry about grades until I was in Grade 10. It was then that one of my teachers suggested that I do something other than Sciences as I “wasn’t good at them”. I think it was at that moment that I decided that I was going to be a Scientist and I started paying attention to my grades and considering what courses I needed to take in order to prove that teacher wrong. 

While I know that the idea of “success” is drilled into us at an early age, it’s remarkable that these students are already equating their worth or their future employment outcomes based on grades they are yet to attain. I say yet to attain because I really wonder what marks in Grade 5 mean to students who are in Grade 11 or 12.  Many of my students claim that I am a hard marker and this statement alone suggests that grades have a certain level of subjectivity from one teacher to the next. 

Within this particular essay, the student reminds us that the requirements for entry into post-secondary education or for scholarships are directly related to marks and as such, getting rid of marks would require us to change the acceptance criteria for both. Unless we are willing to change the entire system, getting rid of grades at the Elementary level seems counterproductive. 

“School is a replica of life for youth, as stress and competition are present everywhere in the world. Grades are used to measure a student the same way that income is to an employee.”

The argument of school as a microcosm of the world. Those who succeed in the game of school will succeed in the game of life. If only this were true. While I believe that much of what we experience in our years in the education system certainly has an impact on future outcomes and experiences, there are many people who were not necessarily “good” at the game of school, and who have become quite successful in their own right, in the game of life.

This idea of better grades equating to a better job and in turn more money is one that is held by many of my students. It’s a narrative that they have learned along the way and begs for further inspection. I consider many people who are highly educated and still struggle to find jobs for a variety of reasons. I think of newcomers, those with differing abilities, and those who are racialized and face systemic racism. While these play a role in students’ experiences within school communities, the reality for adults who are newcomers, have differing abilities, and/or are racialized, tends to have different layers of impact. 

Do grades now really determine future success? Is managing the stress of grades equal to managing the stress of a job in the future? My students tend to think so. 

“Accountability. If you know you are getting marked you will actually do the work.”

Many students argued that when they are getting marked on something, they actually work harder, which makes me wonder about the intrinsic value of learning. Isn’t that the whole point of school in the first place? To have a desire to learn, rather than a desire to get a gold star? Wait…we do give out gold stars in school too.

During our discussions, students mentioned that if an activity or task was seen as being a practice for an upcoming culminating activity or test, they may not put in as much effort because they know that it’s just practice. On the other hand, for the final task itself, they would be sure to hand in better work because they know that the expectation is higher because this is something that the teacher sees as valuable and worthy of a mark. This made me wonder about my own methods of assessment and evaluation and what I value and in turn have imparted on my students as valuable. How have I contributed to this idea of getting the work done because there is a mark attached to it? Is it more important than the learning along the way?

So there you have it. These are just some of the reasons why my students say that we should keep grades in Elementary. I must admit that even among those who think we should keep grades, there was significant mention of teachers being able to justify the grades through feedback. So even when a grade is attached, feedback is still something that students want. In part 2, I share the other side of this argument.

Melissa Turnbull Mental Health, Mindfulness, Occasional Teachers, Occasional Teaching, Remote Learning, wellness

“Healthy” Eating 101

The Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum requires students in Grades 1-8 to learn about healthy and active living. The curriculum document stresses the importance of healthy eating and the relationship between healthy food choices and strength of the body and the brain’s preparedness to grow and learn. Sounds ideal right? 

Talking about the positive benefits of foods that are high in nutrients, vitamins or those classified as “healthy foods” must be done with extreme caution. Idealizing certain foods or food groups has the potential to demonize foods that don’t fit neatly into the “health” category. 

Seemingly innocent activities such as ‘colour in the healthy foods’ disregards the role and existence that “unhealthy” foods have in our world. Potato chips, french fries, chocolate, milkshakes – they are here (and they are awesome). Students need to hear that these foods are awesome, and they can be enjoyed and loved. Food is good for our bodies. Sharing food with people we love is good for our bodies – and essential for our mental health. 

How to avoid demonizing food or food groups:

  1. Refer to those above mentioned delicious foods as “sometimes” foods
  2. Talk about how food is not only a part of daily life, but culture, celebrations and traditions 
  3. Talk about the various ways in which people eat across different households and around the world 
  4. Talk about ingredients that are in food 
  5. Talk about how your body feels after eating food
  6. Talk with students about prices of food and why people may choose buying one food over another
  7. Talk with students about how to make food!
  8. And, when we are no longer teaching in a pandemic, make food! Share food together as a community. 

Disordered eating knows no boundaries. Eating disorders exist across all demographics of human beings. We don’t know every student’s relationship with food, nor do we know the relationship with food that our students see at home with their families. 

With love from a teacher who has personally struggled with her own relationship with food: Please, proceed with caution.

 

 

 

Ophea: Healthy Eating Resources https://teachingtools.ophea.net/activities/level-up/program-guide/healthy-eating

School Mental Health Ontario https://smho-smso.ca/

Canadian Mental Health Association https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/understanding-and-finding-help-for-eating-disorders/

Will Gourley Advocacy for public education, General

Getting involved in your ETFO

Since this space is dedicated to encouraging new teachers it seems like a great time to share some of the important benefits that you can gain from getting involved early on in your careers in education. 

So here is a little list and some handy links for you to click on to get you started;

  1. Your voice matters and as such you should feel represented and included. Joining a committee and following your ETFO local news is a great way to connect and find opportunities to learn how things work as well as find ways to support and serve in your region. A quick glimpse through some of the provincial locals shows committees for social justice, political action, and new teachers. Make sure you also attend your annual general meetings too. Your votes matter too.  
  2. Find a mentor. This does not have to be someone in your building. Technology and social media have created excellent mentorship channels for new members. ETFO Provincial has a link and as mentioned above, local chapters have New Teacher Committees. New teachers might also want to check out The Mentoree website. 
  3. Don’t go it alone. Although many of us graduate from teacher’s college feeling we have to have it all together, the truth is that no one comes out fully prepared. Once you graduate, and enter the classroom as a teacher or occasional teacher, the real learning begins. ETFO offers the Survive and Thrive conference to new teachers within their first 5 years of their careers. Some school boards also offer summer sessions for teachers who are switching grades or taking on new roles. YRDSB has hosted its Great Beginning Conference for years and it allows attendees to meet others and gain valuable and practical resources from experienced fellow educators. 
  4. Remember you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. When you are new to teaching or even looking to update your own lessons, ETFO has curated an excellent set of resources for its members. Start with Teaching and Learning and click on a sub-topic and scroll down. ETFO members has many phenomenal resources for educators by educators. Check out:
    ETFO Action on Anti-Black Racism 
    Building a Just Society 2SLGBTQ+  
    Adressing Anti-Asian Racism resource booklet
    There are way more to share, but I will let you enjoy discovering them at your own pace. 
  5. Take ETFO AQ and other courses. They are incredibly relevant and well taught by fellow member educators. They are also affordably priced and designed to fit your schedule. 
  6. Get on social media and find other like minded folx in education. #onted is a great place to start.
  7. Subscribe to the Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning blog. 

Most importantly, don’t forget that we are a family of committed, creative, and caring professionals who share a common goal to maintain the best public education system in the world. If you would like to connect please drop a line in the comments section. Welcome to ETFO. 

Tammy Axt General, IEP

Alternative Curriculum Reporting

It is that time of year again when everyone gets to do their favourite part of teaching….. Report card writing!! Woohoo!!

When I began my job as a teacher of students with Developmental Disabilities three years ago, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to write on my student’s reports. All of my students were working towards Alternative expectations on their IEPs and the reporting on the goals was much different than I was used to doing.  It was the first time that I developed Alternative Expectations (expectations that are developed to help students acquire skills that are not in the Ontario curriculum) and the first time I reported on them at the completion of first term. The ministry of Education explains that “for the vast majority of students, these (alternative) programs would be given in addition to modified or regular grade–level expectations from the Ontario curriculum.” In my students case, they have completely alternative IEPs.

In Ontario, there are five categories of Exceptionalities: Behaviour, Communication, Intellectual, Physical and Multiple. Some of these categories have more than one exceptionality under its umbrella, resulting in a total of twelve exceptionalities as outlined by the Ministry of Education. My students who have a Developmental Disability fall under the Intellectual umbrella along with Giftedness and Mild Intellectual Disabilities.

After consulting with parents, guardians, previous IEPs, Occupational Therapist reports, Speech and Language Reports, other staff and Psychoeducational Assessments,  I created goals that my students focused on for the first term of school. For some students, the goal changed many times throughout the term as we made it more challenging or complex because the child mastered the initial goal. For other students, the goal had to be altered completely to meet their changing needs. When preparing to write the report card, I gathered all the assessment that we as a team had gathered and used the evidence to write a comment that reflected the student’s progress.

After three years in my role, I am no expert by any means, but maybe the comments I have used may help give you some ideas of how to start.

Here are some comments for some areas of the Alternative Curriculum:

Communication:

_____ regularly initiates conversation with students online and in the classroom. ___ is working on listening closely to others responses and respond to questions that they have asked. ____ is beginning to be able to express her feelings in detail in the classroom.

_________continues to be able to communicate confidently with staff and students online and in person. ___ has improved in his ability to add his own thoughts and questions to conversations and no longer relies on a model to share his experiences and interests. _______ began Speech and Language online sessions in the Winter of 2020 with a focus on improving ______’s articulation. He has adjusted well to the format of the focused sessions and is very committed to improving.

_________ has improved a lot in her ability to express how she is feeling throughout the day at school. She is able to ask for breaks when she is tired or thirsty and confidently shares when she is having a difficult morning. Her ability to express her feelings has helped her to be more focused in class. ______ has gained more confidence throughout this school year and is now able to ask for assistance from multiple people in the classroom.

Behaviour:

_______ had a very successful term two. He was able to stay calm and focused by using his strategy board when he felt anxious with minimal prompting from staff. During online learning, he used some deep breaths when he felt overwhelmed and remained very calm and focused.

With minimal teacher support, ________ has made significant improvements in her/his self regulation when upset or frustrated.  The use of a calming space with student selected staff, allowed ______ time to use tools to help manage her emotions throughout the day. Using a first then choice board, _______ was beginning to comply with more requests throughout the day.

Fine Motor/Gross Motor:

________ printing has improved this term. It is more clear and easy to read. ___ spent much of the term writing for specific purposes such as letters to all of her friends at home. ____ is able to use scissors well to cut paper activities and is working on completing lacing activities accurately. Currently, he is able to lace straight lines consistently and is working on lacing curved shapes.

________ is completing 3 to 5 laps of the interior of the school every day on his bike. He rides the bike with fluid motion and lots of energy. _______ with consistent support and encouragement is beginning to go up and down the stairs of the school 3 times a week.

Functional Academics:

______ can count to 100 with 80% accuracy. She sometimes need assistance with the numbers 60, 70 80 and 90. She is able to demonstrate one-to-one correspondence up to 20. When __________takes her time, her accuracy increases and she is able to demonstrate one-to-on correspondence up to 20

____ has expanded his list of words that he can recognize in a variety of texts. The words include, but are not limited to: a, and, big, blue, can, funny, go, here, I, is, in, it, jump, little, look, me, my, play, red, run, said, see, the, to, up, we, yellow, you. ____ is also able to sound out unfamiliar short words with 86% accuracy. _____ loves to write and happily learns new words to write every week.

______  showed great commitment to learning some new sight words this term. She identified them 90% of the time using the Olwein method of instruction which worked very well for her. She also thoroughly enjoyed playing games with the words. She can identify the 5 sight words Cars 3, school, colour, her name and run in a variety of contexts. ______ was also able to trace and copy many personally relevant words for a variety of purposes such as writing letters to her friends who are learning at home.

______ can say the numbers in order from 1-12. She can recognize the numbers 1, 2 and 3 100% of the time and can identify 4 and 5 50% of the time. She is able to demonstrate 1- to-1 correspondence on the numbers 1, 2 and 3 with 50% accuracy.

Social Skills:

_________ requires consistent redirection and cues to treat others with respect and kindness. With these supports has begun to show improvement. She continues to respond well to reminders and will use phrases such as “thank you or you’re welcome” when prompted.

_______ awareness of personal space has improved consistently this year. ______ has used visual tools/cues to check how close she can sit beside someone during whole class gatherings

Will Gourley Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Distance learning, Emergency Distance Learning, General, Mental Health, self reflection, social emotional learning, Teacher Wellness, Teaching online

Some days I don’t like teaching

The above title is not a lie, but it hasn’t always been like this. I have no intentions on adding on more unlikeable days either, even while there are forces beyond my control always at work. I am seeking to understand how and why it feels this way?

Prior to January 2020, it would have been easy to count the number of bad days I have had  over 11 years of teaching on one hand – that includes the Laurel Broten years as MOE. Okay, 2 hands #FireLecce. Sadly, a year and a third later, I am using the segments of my fingers too.* I am sure that this admission probably mirrors what many in our profession are feeling whether in class or in virtual school settings. For the sake of this post, I will stay in my lane and write for myself with the knowledge that this is common ground. 

Not that my students would ever notice, but there are numerous days when I find it hard to like what it takes to facilitate instruction of any sort. I am struggling to find any of the profound and prevalent joy that naturally occurs in the in-person classrooms in which I am privileged to teach. While emergency online education has occasional moments of brilliance, they seem more like faded flashes of light than beacons of lasting inspiration lighting the way forward. I perish the thought that this becomes acceptable in education beyond these “extreme and exceptional” circumstances. 

These moments pass through our cold screens as quickly as posts on a social media feed. Lately, it seems as if students have become conditioned to seeking out fleeting moments of happiness/joy while on-line – something akin to the addictive need for instant gratification. They need to know the answers now, and don’t want to wait for them. Are you noticing this happening in your lockdown learning spaces?

At a time when most answers are available to learners by simply opening another tab or pointing an app at a screen, it is hard for students to get excited about “the learning” when it comes without a healthy struggle or a need to problem solve. By being able to get what they need without any demand on their intellect other than Google skills, students are missing out on some deeply foundational learning right now. The issue comes when they are asked to apply some of this instant knowledge to something different that can’t be searched. 

At first, I wondered whether it was the type of questions I was asking. Were the answers googleable? Teachers can fall into that trap really easily, but it can also be avoided by asking students to evaluate and infer as part of their responses rather than to regurgitate the who, what, when, and where answers. I am a why and how guy when it comes to asking questions so most of the literal variables in questioning are out. I suggest reframing questions to help students respond to content in ways that ask for their opinions while using the lesson or text to reference and support their own ideas.

Then I wondered whether the pace of instruction was too rapid? Was I assigning too much? I teach a combined class and try to provide enough time built in for much shorter lessons with considerably more digital supports for students to reference when they are working independently. Providing time in-class, re-negotiating due dates, reminders, and check-ins are all part of the process.

Despite multiple hours of availability on and off line, students have still been struggling to complete work in a timely manner. With so much pressure to keep everyone engaged more content/lessons/assignments get shared over the course of a the instructional week, more check-ins for understanding happen, and the cycle of lockdown learnig online repeats itself. Adding more work was not the answer. Maybe variety is the answer?

So I mixed it up with TED talks, TED Ed lessons, discussions, visual Math, digital manipulatives, assessments with links to prompt and remind students, and some extra time be silly and do Just Dance. That moved the excitement and engagement needle in the right direction and then in the last little while, the cameras began staying off. 

Cue the dots

This is what teaching looks like during a pandemic yet this is the reality of virtual instruction right now. Despite the differentiation it is still hard to find joy or connection in these spaces. At least the sounds of voices and the occasional witty remark in the chat lighten things in the moment. I can only imagine how hard it must be on the students who have been thrust into this virtual maelstrom and expected to perform as if nothing has changed in their lives or the world around them. I am still working on making it better for all of us in the spaces we are forced to occupy right now. In the meantime I am want to make sure that our time is meaningful, fun, and mentally healthy in advance of a return to in-person instruction in the future. Maybe then I can stop counting the unlikeable days and resume counting the amazing ones again. 

Further reading
The Twitter Generation: https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1182

https://medium.com/launch-school/the-dangers-of-instant-gratification-learning-d8c230eed203

Decorative: Minecraft scene
Shawna Rothgeb-Bird 21st Century Learning, Technology, Technology in school, Year End Reflection

A Reflection on a Year of Minecraft: Education Edition

It’s June tomorrow! How is it already June? This year has somehow been both the longest and the shortest year of my teaching career. It’s been a bit of a slog in many ways, so I’ve been thankful for little moments of joy that I have shared with the students in my class over the year.

One of our great joys this year has been Minecraft. I’ve talked about it before, but I wanted to give a little update on our village and the overall pros and cons of using Minecraft in the classroom.

 

A Village Update

We have been working on the village off and on, primarily as a “when you’ve finished your work, you can do this if you want” option, for most of the year. If you’re not familiar with the village, we used a “Starter Town” template from the Minecraft library. It has the infrastructure already set up and you populate it with buildings. We started with students creating their own houses in numbered spaces set aside for this purpose. As you can see, we had a wide variety of styles and building heights.

Many houses have rooftop hot tubs. They are obsessed with the idea of hot tubs.

I will say that in hindsight, this template doesn’t really allow for much sidewalk space between buildings. I appreciated the smaller spaces (the building area is about 10×10) because it forced students to confront design challenges and adapt their plans, but the sidewalks themselves made it feel oppressive and crowded to walk at ground level. I think it would’ve been better to use wider sidewalks.

From there, students started adding all kinds of buildings – a hotel, a pet store, the Merry Dairy (a great ice cream shop in Ottawa), a leaf daycare (it’s a long story, don’t ask)…

There didn’t seem to be an end to their creativity. Some students created a zoo.

Others created an elaborate underground network of tunnels that would lead between buildings. Then, different houses started to appear – rogue houses! Without building permits! 

The builds got even more egregiously out of line with our Super Strict Community Planning: an entire village appeared just outside of the town, complete with blacksmith.

It was really cool to watch them create new things in the world and think outside the box.

 

Reflection on a Year of Minecraft

So… after a year of using this game in class, what do I think? Overall, I’ve been happy with what students have been able to do in the game. They’ve come up with some really cool ways to demonstrate their learning. They show far more perseverance when working through problems in Minecraft than they do at any other time. It’s also been great for collaboration in a year when opportunities to work with other students have been pretty minimal.

This isn’t to say there have been NO issues. We’ve definitely encountered some problems with outdated tech in schools where certain devices can’t be used for the game. During online learning, it’s been really difficult to troubleshoot problems with students. Some students don’t have compatible devices at home, either. 

Then there’s the in-game problems we’ve had, of which I’ll name a few here:

  • Spawning hundreds of animals in town.
  • Using commands incorrectly.
  • Harassing other students with commands.
  • Flooding the town.
  • Burning things down with lava.

I mean, most of those can be solved by students becoming more familiar with Minecraft, but it’s been an adventure.

 

Pros

  • Develops students’ critical and creative thinking skills.
  • Strong cross-curricular opportunities.
  • Can be used for short-term or long-term projects.
  • Tons of premade worlds, lesson plans, and activities in the library.
  • Strong buy-in from students.
  • Can be used in multiple languages.
  • Fosters perseverance.
  • Allows students to take on leadership roles by sharing their knowledge with peers.
  • Collaboration between classes!
  • In-game tutorials for students who are new to Minecraft.

 

Cons

  • Have to have the right devices to make it work.
  • If doing a whole-class collaborative project, one device has to host the world for everyone (and should be reasonably powerful – even my gaming PC crashes when I have 15+ students in our very large village world).
  • Some students are easily distracted by the game itself and don’t always complete objectives.
  • Updates to the game can lead to network issues at school.
  • Students accidentally break other students’ work, especially when first learning.
  • Very rarely, gamebreaking bugs happen that mean a student may have to restart their work or can no longer access a shared world.

 

Advice for Starting Minecraft in the Classroom

  • Give students time to play. They will 100% be distracted and unfocused the first few times you use it and will not get much accomplished.
  • Use the in-game tutorials to show students how to interact and play in the world.
  • Be very clear about your objectives and goals.
  • Give students the opportunity to share what they’ve made with their peers.
  • Be patient. Everything in Minecraft takes longer. Help your students plan their projects so that they don’t become overwhelmed by the scale of what they want to do.
  • A little goes a long way. Take breaks from Minecraft, too, so that students don’t get burned out on it.
  • Allocate time for potential issues. Become familiar with the game yourself so that you can help with common problems. You don’t have to be an expert, but you should know some basic commands (how to teleport, for example).

 

I’m really pleased that my board will be continuing with Minecraft: Education Edition next year. I’m looking forward to working on some new plans for next year over the summer. If you try it out, I’d love to see what you do with it!

Tammy Axt Equity, General, Indigenous Perspectives

Residential Schools

The remains of 215 Indigenous children were found at Kamloops Indian Residential School this past week. Every child found was a brother, sister, daughter, son, grandchild, and important member of their family. Every child found loved and was loved by their family. Every child found was taken from their home and stripped of their culture and dignity. Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation is working with the coroner’s office to determine the causes and timings of their deaths, which is currently unknown. What is known, is that no one from the school, community or government documented these deaths. It is a grave reminder that many people knew the horrors of abuse and disease that was going on at residential schools across Canada and no one stopped it. Not a member of the community, the government, a chief medical officer, a teacher or mayor stepped in to stop this horrifying situation for 150, 000 innocent children and their families. It is imperative that we share these stories so every student in Ontario knows this history and can become an advocate for Indigenous rights in Canada.

A couple of years ago, I was sitting at an outdoor theatre with my aunt watching Charlottetown’s Confederation “Centre Young Company” perform a musical that told stories from all around Canada. At the conclusion of the performance, my aunt turned to me with a surprised look on her face and said, “I didn’t know that happened.” She was referring to the powerful song, written and performed by a very talented young man from Nunavut who spoke of the intergenerational trauma of residential schools. I was incredibly surprised that my aunt had not been aware of the cultural genocide that happened at residential schools but soon realized that through conversation that she was never taught it in school and had never heard about it in other areas of her life. As our conversation continued, I saw the transformation in thoughts about our Indigenous peoples as education and the arts can do.

As educators, it is imperative that we do not have more children graduate from our schools not knowing the harm that was caused by residential schools and the history of Colonialism which is still very much ingrained in our current educational and child welfare systems in Canada.

To support teaching about residential schools, there is a Bookstore in Toronto called GoodMinds. This bookstore is First Nations owned and operated. Below, I have highlighted different books that can introduce and continue to tell the horrific history of residential schools in Canada. It is important as educators that we are teaching our students that as settlers, we all have a responsibility to learn the history and advocate for our Indigenous peoples.

Primary:

When We Were Alone/Quand on était seuls by David A. Robertson and Julie Flett

This book is a very gentle introduction to the concept of residential schools that can be read to children as young as Kindergarten. The young girl asks her grandmother, Kokum,  about her brightly coloured dresses, long braided hair, Cree language, and about the times when she was a young girl. Kokum tells her about her experiences attending a residential school for a number of years as a child in a way that her granddaughter can understand.

Shi-Shi-etko/Shi-Shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell

Shi-shi-etko is a picture book about an Interior Salish child with just four more days at home until she goes to residential school. She takes time to explore her environment and spends quality time with her family. The illustrations are beautiful and conveys the connection to one’s community. Although the book is the final days at home before departing, residential schools are only mentioned on the introductory page.

Junior:

I am Not a Number/Je ne suis pas un numéro by Jenny Kay Dupuis (Ojibwe) and Kathy Kacer

This is a dual language book in English or French and Nibisiing.  Nibisiing was the language that Irene was not allowed to speak at the residential school where she was forcibly sent by the “Indian agent”. The book I am Not a Number tells the story of Irene Couchie Dupuis and her horrible and frightening experiences of being in the residential school system. The book is written by her granddaughter Jenny Kay Dupuis.

The Orange Shirt Story/L’histoire du chandail orange by Phyllis Webstad (Northern Secwepemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation (Canoe Creek Indian Band)

The Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad explains the truth behind Orange Shirt Day held each September 30th. This book describes the sadness Phyllis experienced being away from her family and the cruelty she experienced in the residential school system in Canada.

Intermediate:

Residential School. With The Words and Images of Survivors by Larry Loyie(Cree)

This book honours the survivors, the former students, who attended residential schools. It offers a first-person perspective of the residential school system in Canada, as it shares the memories of more than 70 survivors from across Canada.

The trauma inflicted by residential schools is still very much a part of the lives of many of our Indigenous peoples across Canada. Below is a plea from Kelly Fraser, an outstanding Inuk musician, who spoke about the call to action for all Canadians before her tragic passing in 2019.

“Both my mothers are residential school survivors, both their father’s dogs were taken away and killed so they couldn’t go dog sledding to get their food to feed their family. TB/influenza caused our people to convert to Christianity and let go of their culture (drum dancing, tattooing, throat singing, shamanism…etc)  because the priests were the only ones with the medicine and I’m not here to say being a Christian is not right, I believe in the freedom of believing what you want to and I respect ALL religions. The Mounties were sent by the government to take away our kayaks and made my family walk thousands of kilometers to a new settlement where they were told there would be houses when there weren’t any. I believe we can rise above what has happened to us by telling each other to please find healing and help by elders, mental health workers, there’s the internet where we can learn to meditate, learn about our culture and reach out and help each other heal. Its time for us ALL people to also call onto the federal/provincial/territorial/municipal governments to give us food that is affordable, programs that will help us heal, proper housing, proper education that allows us to go straight to college after grade 12 and proper healthcare by writing to them and calling them up, this is up to ALL Canadians too!!”