Arianna Lambert Constant Learning, Math, Professional Learning and Growth

Building Thinking Classrooms – The Ice Cream Problem

This year, my colleague and I have had the chance to participate in professional development from our Math Department around Building Thinking Classrooms. We’re learning about the 14 teaching practices for enhancing learning and working with teachers at our school on implementing the practices in junior classrooms. My colleague and I shared our learning around the first three practices and as a junior team, we agreed to work on the Ice Cream Problem – found on page 96 of the book – with students. In this post, I’m sharing a little about the first three practices and what I noticed when students worked through this problem. 

Types of Tasks

When it comes to building thinking classrooms, the goal is to give students thinking tasks. Thinking tasks require students to problem-solve. When we consider the Mathematical Processes in the Ontario Math Curriculum, to solve problems, students must: draw on their prior knowledge; try out different strategies; make connections; and reach conclusions. Building Thinking Classrooms suggests that we begin with engaging in non-curricular tasks and move into curricular tasks, as the culture of thinking begins to develop. I struggle a little with the categorization of some tasks being non-curricular because I often see mathematical thinking – particularly in the area of numeracy – in tasks that have been labelled non-curricular.

In the classes that I partner with, I’m absolutely amazed by the way that students are demonstrating their thinking as they have been working on solving the Ice Cream Problem. While the problem asks students to consider the combinations with 10 flavours, we started off with 5 and our first extension was to move into 6 flavours. I’ve seen different strategies used and I have also seen students reflecting on what they have done in the past when given an extension to the problem. I have one class that is particularly excited to come down to the library to solve problems that they see as different. It’s neat to see how excited they are to talk through and work through the problems in their groups. 

Looking for non-curricular tasks? Diana Hong has curated a number. There’s also a spreadsheet of curricular tasks and a site curated by Kyle Webb that you might find of use. 

Randomized Groups

On pages 44 and 45 of Building Thinking Classrooms, we learn about the benefits of randomized groupings based on what was noticed over time:

  • Willingness to collaborate – open to working with anyone they were placed with.
  • Elimination of social barriers – learning from and with other people allowed for the crossing of social boundaries and a greater awareness of others.
  • Increased knowledge mobility – sharing of ideas with others.
  • Increased enthusiasm for Math learning – as social barriers decreased, there was an increase in enthusiasm around Math in this type of way.
  • Reduced social stress – in the selecting of groups both for students who do and who do not have strong social bonds. 

Students know when they are being grouped by readiness or for any other reason. In order for students to believe in the randomness of groups, the groups have to be visibly random.  Using cards, popsicle sticks or Flippity, randomized groups are easy to create. Also, when students know what group they are in and where to meet their group, transitions are more easily facilitated. 

Groups of 3 are ideal in the junior classroom. I created simple emoji cards that I shuffle and hand out to students. Once they have their cards, they find the matching emoji at their workstations and get going on their task. I have been so impressed by how students just find their groups and get to work. Rarely have I had students comment on not wanting to be in a particular group or not wanting to work with someone. This could in part be because they know that groups are always changing and that they will most likely be working with someone else the next time they are given a task. 

Vertical Non-Permanent Surfaces

Off and on, over the years I’ve used Wipebooks and the windows in our classroom as vertical non-permanent surfaces for students to work on. Whether or not I understood the “science” behind it, I noticed that students enjoyed seeing their work or solutions up on the wall and I also noticed that it helped students share their ideas or strategies with others more easily. It was up and visible to all. Also, as a teacher, I could literally see how students were working just by glancing around the classroom.

On pages 58 to 61 of the book we learn a little more about the findings based on using vertical non-permanent surfaces:

  • When students work on whiteboards, they can quickly erase any errors, which, for them, reduces the risk of trying something. 
  • Standing necessitates a better posture, which has been linked to improvements in mood and increases in energy. 
  • Having students work vertically makes their work visible to everyone in the room, thereby increasing the porosity between groups and heightening the possibility that ideas will move between groups.

For our Ice Cream Problem, I saw all three points in action. Students wrote, erased, re-wrote and organized their ideas with confidence. Groups that were stuck glanced around the room and got ideas from others to get them started or help them consider a different way of organizing their solutions. Students have really loved working on the Wipebooks and are often shocked by how quickly time flies when solving problems in their groups. 

This year we are on a journey to support students in their enjoyment of Math. Stay tuned as I’ll continue to share more about what I’m noticing in the coming months.

Diane Kim General

East

In an earlier blog entry, I spoke about those wonderful little moments I have witnessed over the years, snapshots in time of students’ learning, insights, and growth. But the inspiring memories that stay with me through the years are not only of my students. As I’ve said many times before, one of the perks of my job is getting to work with teachers across our board. And as a result, there are a number of wonderful snapshot moments I have of them as well. 

I’d like to share two such moments with you.

I will begin in the East. 

A teacher at one of my East end schools had emailed me early in the fall about adaptations for two of her new students, both new to Canada and new to English. With a jam-packed schedule and never-ending cycle of to-do lists, she somehow managed to find time to meet with me. She outlined the units she was doing with the class and, after sharing some initial ideas, we agreed that intentional teaching and recycling of vocabulary needed for their lessons would best help the students access curriculum and acquire the English needed to do so.  We made plans to reconnect the next week, and she would begin some of the initial vocabulary work in the meantime. 

I returned as planned the following Friday, to help pre-teach some of the words that would be repeatedly used whole-class lessons. As I approached the classroom, I could see the teacher was already waiting for me. 

She had an expression on her face I have seen many times before.  It is at once focused, hopeful … and slightly concerned. She was holding some papers and when she saw me, instantly asked, “Is this ok? This is what they did.”

Now here is the snapshot that will stay with me. I glanced down at worksheet in her hands and saw it was part of the class’s poetry unit.  I could see the list of adjectives all students had brainstormed for their diamanté poems, as well as verbs and other descriptors. And next to each one, her students had written the adjectives in first language. Connected to a single theme, the words created a chain of beautiful description down the page. In Arabic. In Spanish. In English. 

brave, strong    شجاع وقوي   valiente, fuerte …

The beginnings of poetic multilingual creations …

When I had spoken to the teacher the previous week, she had been concerned about including all of her students in the unit, and making sure there was an entry point for multilingual language learners. It seemed to me she had achieved that aim and more. Yet when I looked up from that magnificent sheet, I still saw slight worry in her expression.

I am always surprised when teachers who are so clearly dedicated to their students, who tirelessly try new and innovative approaches, who help students produce such personal, exceptional work … sometimes they seem worried that it is not enough, and continually reflect on their practice to create even more opportunities for students. 

But I suppose that is what all good educators do. And if, as Robert Gilfillan observed, poetry is truth dwelling in beauty, then the snapshot of student learning I saw that day was poetry indeed. 

 Next, I head to the West …

Brenda MacNaughton General

The 75th Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights

This December marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which was drafted in 1948.  This blog highlights a few films produced by the National Film Board that can help address the topic of human rights in K-8.

With older elementary students human rights can be discussed with some historical context. The UNDHR was adopted by a very young United Nations in the post WWII era. Ideally, all of the rights in the declaration would be in place worldwide but there are no countries that are at that point yet. Progress is being made but students may be left feeling helpless as they are aware of atrocities taking place today and in the past.  A film like Hope Builders can make the difference.  This 90 minute film shows Canadian students creating positive change in their community on a year long action project.  It’s a story of teamwork and empowerment, showing the struggles and successes the students had. It ends with an uplifting community meeting that shows how much students can accomplish with good leadership and adults who demonstrate faith in their ability to reach their goals.

For younger students, there is a wordless, animated, 5-minute film called The Orange. It takes place in a classroom at lunchtime and addresses that everyone “has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of their family, including food.” It’s the perfect film to introduce young children to the ideas of sharing, caring and empathy.

Finally, for grades 4 and up there is a film called Why? This animated short film gives students a chance to reflect on how war and poverty can have a negative impact on children reaching their full potential.

Viewing and discussing these films can help students see the world from different perspectives. We can encourage students to take a role in improving human rights in Ontario and Canada by writing to various levels of government with concerns about clean drinking water for First Nations, health care in rural communities, and access to shelter and food, to name a few.

Please keep in mind that discussing human rights can be triggering for students who have experienced trauma.  Beginning the lesson with a compassionate introduction and full awareness of students’ backgrounds and needs is recommended.

Resources

United Nations Declaration of Human Rights 

NFB – Hope Builders

NFB – The Orange

NFB –Why

 

Sharon Ethier General

Come and Join Us!

In conversations with teachers, I often get asked “How do we be more inclusive of all the holidays celebrated by the students in the school?” The answer to this requires some thinking and planning. I recommend starting with having a conversation with students. Whenever I open a conversation like this, I am mindful of my presence and position as the adult in the room. I know that if I say my favourite holiday is Christmas or Easter, I know that will influence what students think I want to hear. Sometimes they will try to make a connection with me, often agreeing that they have the same favourite as I do or most of them say “Me, too!” and then a few of them who don’t celebrate the same way feel left out. Instead I try to begin this conversation by asking what we like best about holidays, for example, time with family and friends, foods we love, etc. We can use this conversation to build connections with one another and each child can have an entry point to the conversation and have a holiday in mind, whether it’s religious or secular or a national holiday. Then, once we have some idea about what makes a holiday meaningful, ask students what holidays they celebrate when the things we like best take place.

Using this information to plan around which holidays you will acknowledge in your classroom, helps to create a culture where we honour who students are. Be sure to celebrate all holidays to the same degree so that no one feels more important than others. You can also use this information to figure out which holidays you need to include because the children might not have any experience or knowledge about them. Whose voices are missing? Whose identities do they need to learn more about?

This year anti-bias and anti-racist leader, Liz Kleinrock, has a new book titled Come and Join Us! 18 Holidays Celebrated All Year Long. This beautiful text illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat centres on so many different identities. It truly gives the opportunity for some students to see joyful mirrors and others to look through windows that allow space to learn about cultures and celebrations they may not have had the chance to meet. My favourite part, however, is the brilliant way this text also invites readers to step through the sliding glass door and build connections and empathy with others. After learning about each celebration there is a reflective question, such as “Do you stay up late for any of your holidays?” or “How do you help and show care for others during your celebrations?” I can see how educators would use this text to learn about others and spark conversations that allow for all children to have an entry point and connection.

Educators could use this text throughout the entire year, inviting children to learn more about different holidays and practice how to be curious and respectful when learning about others. You’ll notice the intentional focus on holidays that are non-dominant in Canada, such as Nowruz (Persian New Year). Kleinrock addresses this in her author’s note at the end of the book, sharing the challenges she had growing up with the ways that others spoke about the holidays she celebrated. It’s a wonderful way to bring forward eighteen different holidays throughout the school year and to continue the conversation as holidays happen.

For more about Liz Kleinrock, visit: https://www.teachandtransform.org/
For information about Come and Join Us! 18 Holidays Celebrated All year Long, visit:
https://www.harpercollins.com/products/come-and-join-us-liz-kleinrock?variant=41010193203234

Will Gourley Advocacy for change, Advocacy for public education, Black Lives Matter, Challenging Topics, Equity, General, Making a Difference Through Education, self reflection, Social Media

speak up

There are a lot of privileges and responsibilities when it comes to using our voices as educators. The potential to inspire and aspire to greater things or to cause irreparable harm if and when we do should serve as a reminder of how we use our voices and who might be listening.

Sometimes, there is an urgent need to speak out against injustice. Did I type sometimes? I meant all the time when it comes to injustice, and that need to do so seems to be happening a lot more frequently in our ever connected world where it is now possible to know about everything, everywhere, and all at once.

Maybe it is a bi-product of years on the frontline of interactions with learners, family members, and other educators, but teachers possess powerful voices. It is in our nature to ask questions, seek answers, and to reflect/learn/draw from it all. Whether it comes through uniting with others in the fight against racism, apathy, or injustice or in active allyship with once silenced voices historically left out of important conversations there is a need to speak up. 

Some find their voices in virtual spaces via social media posts and reposts? For others, it’s in solidarity through meetings or rallies? Our need to speak up can be triggered through moral dilemmas too. What troubles one soul may not immediately trouble another. When it comes to if, when, where, and why we speak up the results vary. How we speak up has evolved greatly.

As a blogger, I am able to use this space and others to purge my thoughts. Podcasts can also be a strong way to share too and they come with the added layer of hearing the passionate tones of the content creator. Maybe it’s because I am more of a writer now than a broadcaster, but I’m still a fan of the idea and potential of handwritten letters. Letters signify that someone took the time to write, address an envelope, and pay for postage. When written(not typed) they demonstrate a personal touch that is often lacking in an email. Talk about making a commitment to sharing a point of view. There is also an art to it when done correctly, and this is what has captured my thoughts as I plan a mini writing unit. 

 A single letter to an organization is often considered to represent anywhere from 15 to 20 other people who share the same opinion. So, my students and I are about to embark on a letter writing exercise, and I have to admit that this has me thinking of the possibilities and conversations to come. As I shared in an earlier post, my students tend to be a little quieter than most. Despite their introverted leanings, or because of them, they are pretty strong writers. Hence the idea to write letters.

For me, this unit will focus around supporting students and their needs. I want to make sure the voices (theirs) in our classrooms serve as conversational conduits that can lead others to critically examine the world around them in order to gain a deeper understanding of its numerous and nuanced issues. With our letter writing project, I am hoping students will really discover, develop, and use their voices to deliver their ideas through respectful correspondence that asks questions of their own while addressing the actions of those making the decisions right now. 

In advance of all of this, we have been considering the differences between elementary schools and secondary schools. This has ranged from chats about course offerings, extra-curricular opportunities, and facilities. It has also led to the realization that the field is not completely level. Hmm? We have also had discussions around some lighter subjects such as the way no one seems to listen anymore, academic angst, the climate crisis, geo-political strife, and playground life. Regardless of which issue they choose to address, the goal will be to amplify each of the voices in our learning space. 

Another way to look at equipping students to use their voices might also be preparing a way for the future voices of others to be heard and or to carry on once our voices are no longer present. Call it strategic succession planning if you will, but learning to speak up is an important skill to share from one generation to the next regardless of the form it takes.

 

Arianna Lambert Constant Learning, Professional Learning and Growth, Technology, The Arts

ETFO’s ICT Conference

This month I had the honour of facilitating a workshop at ETFO’s ICT Conference. This year the conference was offered through ETFO’s Women’s Programs and it was a great couple of days learning from and with teachers across Ontario. This conference has always been near and dear to my heart because it was the first ETFO conference that I presented at years ago. In this post, I’m sharing a little about my session and some ideas you might consider trying with students In this post, I’m sharing a little about my session and some ideas you might consider trying with students.

Creating Art with Google Drawings!

My session was entitled: Creating Art with Google Drawings! The goal was to offer teachers the opportunity to play with Drawings, to share ideas with one another, and to consider what they might take back to their classrooms to try with students. 

I started off the session with an overview of Google Drawings and its features. I shared a cheat sheet that could be used to further familiarize oneself with the tool. From there, we jumped into using Drawings and had some fun with it.

Creating a Picture Using Shapes

Math is all around us and why not learn about shapes while working on art? After all, shape is one of the elements of art. I shared a few books that I have used over the years to help students learn about and identify shapes in the real world:

From there, participants were tasked with using 3 or more shapes to create a picture. They were also asked to label the shapes in their picture. I created a simple landscape but it was really incredible to see how creative participants were and the images they created.

This video shares how you can make a colour block landscape if you are interested in trying out a similar activity with students. 

Creating a Mosaic

Mosaics are found all around the world. From mosques and murals to stairs and fountains, mosaics have served as a means to beautify a space and also to tell stories. I shared a few with participants to get us thinking about mosaics around the world.

  • Vietnam – The Ceramic Mosaic Mural
  • Iran – Shah Cheragh Holy Shrine
  • Switzerland – Mosaik Brunnen
  • Brazil – Selarón Steps 
  • South Africa – Piazza Mosaic

It was no easy feat and yet participants were ready to go and worked towards creating their own mosaics. Some chose birds and flowers while others chose rainbows and butterflies. Zooming in and becoming very familiar with Polyline, participants worked their way to creating incredible masterpieces. Here’s a video that walks you through the process if you are interested in trying it out for yourself or working on mosaics with students. 

Google Drawings is the ultimate blank canvas and an incredible tool for creation. During the conference, I had a great time working with incredible teachers and creating masterpieces using Drawings. If you haven’t attended in the past, please look out for next year’s ICT conference. It’s hands-on, and lots of fun, and hopefully, you walk away with a few things to try with students. Even though I was facilitating this year, our discussions led me to consider other ideas for creation with students.

Diane Kim General

Introductions

One of the most beautiful introductions I have witnessed happened on an ordinary fall day. I had word that a new student would be joining one of my schools, and I remember walking into the office that morning and seeing a girl sitting next to her mother. Her name was Mariam* and she had just arrived in Canada. And as I worked with her over the next year, I learned just what this bright and resourceful student was capable of. Despite having had the opportunity to attend only one year of school in her home country, she was literate in Arabic. And despite the fact that she was just learning English for the first time, she was able to quickly grasp curriculum concepts taught visually and with strategic translation, and demonstrate her knowledge in a host of ingenious ways.

But as I say, I was to learn all of this over the coming weeks and months. The first day of school, in a new country, surrounded by strangers and an unfamiliar language, she was understandably uncertain and worried.

With the help of an interpreter, we explained some of the daily routines, and gave her a tour of the school. We showed her where we would take her to be picked up by her mother at the end of the day, the washrooms, the drinking fountain. Several students had already eagerly asked if they could be her friend, and when she walked into her classroom for the first time with us, the entire class smiled and welcomed her.

But I could see that she was overwhelmed. And really, who wouldn’t be? The scary situations some children have navigate each day might make most of us adults freeze up in panic. Yet Mariam carried on. She walked to her desk and sat down, but when the attention of her classmates again focused on the teacher, I could see her quietly brushing away tears. 

The girl sitting across from her noticed as well. Her name was Ellie*, and she said something reassuring in English but realized Mariam could not understand. I saw her pause, then look around until she spotted one of the class iPads on the table next to her. She took it, and began typing. For the next couple of minutes, I saw her hunched over the iPad in unwavering concentration, looking back and forth from the screen to her paper, onto which she was copying something. Finally she straightened up, looked at her paper one final time, and then passed it across the desk to Mariam.

Mariam hesitantly took the paper, and when she saw what was written on it, her entire expression changed in an instant. A smile like sunshine brightened across her face, creating a change in countenance so rapid and complete anyone walking in at that moment would assume she had been having nothing but a blast all morning. 

I looked over at Ellie’s iPad and saw that she had been using Google Translate. She had typed in English “My name is” and then copied the translation of that phrase, the wobbly and earnest Arabic letters proudly centered in the middle of the paper. At the end of her carefully-copied script, she wrote her own name in English. 

اسمي هو Ellie.

My name is Ellie. Said in a different way than usual, but all the more beautiful for it. Since Arabic reads right to left, the name “Ellie” was placed at the wrong end of the sentence. But Mariam knew what she meant. 

Needless to say, a friendship was born. 

And this introduction is just one of seemingly endless examples of the importance of first language in the classroom and the power it has, sometimes, to make all the difference. 

*names have been changed 

 

`