Modern Learning

December 12, 2019December 12, 2019 Michelle Fenn 21st Century Learning, Coding, Combined Grade Classes, Constant Learning, Design, General, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Math, Modern Learning, Robotics, Technology, Technology in school, The Global Competencies, Use of Technology

Coding in Kindergarten

I have taught every grade from K-8 in some way, shape or form. I can say that without a doubt or apology I have more respect for Kindergarten teachers than any other grade level. Hands down. I have loved every grade I taught while I was teaching it. I was young and without children when I taught Kindergarten and can say that there is no tired like Kindergarten teacher tired. That being said, I absolutely love going into Kindergarten classes with robotics. Unabashedly Kinder friends approach you to ask your name and promptly tell you about the “owie” on the bottom of their foot as soon as they walk in the door.

I work with Bee Bots in Kindergarten classes to teach sequencing, estimation, problem solving, geo-spatial reasoning through coding. Bee Bots are a rechargeable, floor robots designed for early learning. It is easy to operate and does not require any other equipment.

We start as a whole group using the hundred’s carpet and decide how to move Bee Bot from our start to another point on the carpet. Students decide upon the directions and we program them in to find out what will happen. Wonderful mistakes happen here and we need to clear the code and start again. When we achieve our goal as a group there is much rejoicing!

It isn’t really about teaching Kindergarten kids how to “code”. Coding is used as a vehicle to teach many other transferable skills. Planning, organizing and communication are just some of the learning skills that come from using the Bee Bots. If you have access to the mats as featured in the photos, you can automatically see the ties to language and math concepts as well. There is a romance period that needs to take place when the students first get their hands on Bee Bot. However, even if they don’t know the words for “right” and “left” at first, they get to know them quickly through the use of Bee Bot. Bee Bots in many of our Kindergarten classes now have homes and some have villages made from found materials so that Bee Bot can be coded to go to different places. The possibilities for creativity really are endless.

For more information about using Bee Bot in the classroom, check out these resources:

https://krgarden.ca/media/hold/the-beebot-robot

https://blog.teaching.com.au/5-mathematics-bee-bot-lesson-ideas-for-the-classroom/

October 20, 2019 Michelle Fenn 21st Century Learning, Assessment, Assessment and Evaluation, Combined Grade Classes, Constant Learning, Curriculum Planning, Design, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Integration, Language Learning, Modern Learning, self reflection, The Global Competencies, Use of Technology

Breakout EDU

Breakout EDU is like an Escape Room in a box. The players use teamwork and critical thinking to solve a series of challenging puzzles in order to open a locked box. The first time I experienced Breakout EDU with my students I was not the designer of the game. Another teacher had designed the Breakouts and we were using it as a provocation for an inquiry on the Olympics. I was amazed at how much I wanted to help my students. It was difficult to watch them struggle and yet, that is where the learning happens. We want our students to BE “gritty” and we need to provide opportunities for students to develop that grit. Breakout EDU is a great way in which to have the students experience “the struggle”. The kit looks like this:
https://www.breakoutedu.com/

The kit itself is quite pricey and unless your school already has one, it is quite an investment. However, you can make your own with a tool box and locks purchased from a variety of stores. You can also create online digital Breakouts that create the same kind of collaborative, problem solving activity just without the cool locks. Here is the link to some curated online “digital” breakouts. I haven’t looked at all of these for curriculum alignment, but it will give you some ideas to use to create your own digital breakouts.

“Breakout” is sort of a misnomer. You are actually “breaking in” to the box using a number of clues students solve puzzles in order to open the various word, number and key locks. This can connect to the curriculum in a number of different ways and can be used effectively as an introduction, provocation or summary for learning. You aren’t going to get too terribly deep into content when students are busy trying to solve for clues. For me, Breakout EDU is far more about developing the 6 C’s; collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication, citizenship and character building. It is fascinating to have students work in groups to solve problems with a common goal. Breakout EDUs provide opportunities for students to practice developing their learning skills and gives the teacher the opportunity to collect data as the learning is self-directed. The activities lead easily into self-reflection of learning skills. Below are some of the questions that I find valuable for the consolidation portion of a lesson after a Breakout EDU activity:

Questions for Reflection

1. How did you determine roles in your group?

2. What did you find most difficult?

3. What did your group do really well together?

4. What would you do differently next time?

5. How did you contribute to the group?

6. How did you work to include everyone in your group?

Once students are familiar with the Breakout EDU format (depending on the age/grade level) they can then create their own Breakouts for their classmates. The students interact with the learning from a different perspective and have to find the most important information to highlight for the clues in the development of the Breakout.

So what are the drawbacks? Breakout EDU is competitive. The students are working against each other and/or against the clock. You have to know which students can handle that type of pressure. Working in groups on a common task may be difficult for some students with self-regulation issues so you have to know your students well and plan accordingly, as you would for any group activity.

Finally, Breakout EDU is also a great tool to use with your staff. If you have a lot of information to get through and you want the participants to get to some salient points and the Google Slide presentation just isn’t cutting it, using a Breakout EDU will make for an interactive, team building staff meeting! It is also great to have the adults experience the struggle that we all want students to go through to develop grit and resilience.

Like with any tool, it takes time and research to ensure that it is right for your classroom. The more I use Breakout EDU in my teaching, the more I think of ways to use it!

October 2, 2019October 2, 2019 Michelle Fenn 21st Century Learning, Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, Learning in a Real Life Context, Modern Learning, Technology, Technology in school, The Global Competencies, Use of Technology, Using technology well

Artificial Intelligence

Have you ever been looking at something on Amazon and then see advertisements for that exact product on your Facebook feed? Do you ever think about how “suggestions for you” on your Kindle or Netflix make it incredibly easy to click on the next book or t.v. series? These are little ways in which artificial intelligence is becoming a normal every day occurrence in our every day lives and we don’t even realize it and we also need to make our students aware of it too.

According to research, scientists are far away from the C3PO kind of artificial intelligence but the reality about A.I. being a part of our world is far from Science Fiction. I firmly believe that teaching students how to think critically about how artificial intelligence works is important. Recently I was a part of a workshop with Microsoft and Kids Code Jeunesse in which we explored some of the pros and cons of A.I. in general and then specifically in education. We need to have these serious, ethical discussions with our students so that they are aware of the implications of a world with A.I. Those recommendations that are computer generated may be helpful or they may narrow your experiences. Just because I like historical drama doesn’t mean I don’t want to also watch romantic comedies. However, until I watch a few, those don’t come up in my Netflix recommendations. The narrowing of choice can save money for companies too. See where I’m going with the moral implications? So…how do we have this discussion with students in a way that they can understand? Inquiry.

During the workshop we used The Teachable Machine which is an online program designed to demonstrate how machines can learn. It is an effective tool to show that the more data that is entered, the more accurate the outcome. If you have a moment to look up the Google image for “Blueberry Muffins and Chihuahuas” you’ll understand what I mean. Microsoft has been working with educators to help foster an understanding of artificial intelligence and bring that awareness to students. On their website they have a number of experiments that you can take your students through in order to experience artificial intelligence at work: Experience A.I. As students use software such as predictive text, Google Read and Write or even chatbots for frequently asked questions, challenge them to ask the questions of how does this work?

Teaching digital citizenship and critical thinking needs to be a constant discussion, not a one and done lesson. Students need to generate questions and explore how to find the answers with guidance from their teacher. I think it is also important to highlight that A.I. might be a scary thing for some students so they need to be aware that although there are skills that humans and machines share, the machines do not learn those skills without the input of a human. Machines cannot replace the empathy, creativity, communication and relationship building capability of humans. They also cannot replace the understanding and caring of an effective teacher.

Fore more reading on the subject of Artificial Intelligence in Education:

Ryan M Cameron, A.I. 101 A Primer on Using Artificial Intelligence in Education

Wayne Holmes, Maya Bialik, Charles Fadel, Artificial Intelligence in Education:Promises and Implications for Teaching and Learning

June 30, 2019 Arianna Lambert 21st Century Learning, Constant Learning, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Modern Learning

Risk Taking

As educators, we’ve all done it. We’ve probably said it and even perhaps written it on report cards. “So-and-so needs to take more risks.” Over the last few weeks, I’ve been contemplating what it means to take risks and how past experiences may form our propensity for future risk taking. In this post, I invite you to join me on a little journey.

I’ll admit it. I’ve often been the one who makes very calculated decisions when it comes to risks. More and more as an adult, I’ve learned to be a little more adventurous in “safer spaces” but I ultimately need to first find that space to hold some safety.

In the work that I have had the opportunity to do with educators, many have put up their hands to attend a session and are possibly ready to take some time to reflect on their own practices. The process is guided and while participants are often thrown into a place where they have to quickly create, many feel safe enough to consider and try new ideas because the scaffolding has been put in place to get to them to that point. They move from a place of being unsure of what the day may hold to quickly being excited about the potential of an idea. With this in mind, I’ve been thinking about my own learning and the learning that I have the opportunity to facilitate in my classroom with students.

As I mentioned before, I’ve always been calculated in taking risks. In school, I remember equating success with receiving high marks. High marks on the last couple of pages of the report card, not necessarily the learning skills, which I was usually able to quietly meet expectations. I think that because I knew the game of school, the learning skills were seen as perhaps the icing on the cake, while the real substance was to be found in the marks received in subject areas. These were the things that were going to help me get to my ultimate goal. I always equated the better your marks, the better your options. This thinking kept me in a space where I focused on making sure that I continued to do what I knew worked. I learned really well to safely play the game of school but at what cost?

I say all this to come back to our students. We want them to be creative risk takers but how do we do this when perhaps what is perceived to be valued is a letter grade at the end of a few months of learning about a specific subject? How do we help students to value process over product and to realize that failure is a part of the learning process? How do we help them to see that perhaps the detriment might be not in the failure itself but in perhaps failing and not learning from it or being so afraid to try that there is no room to fail? We want students to be risk takers and of course there is probably some calculation to that risk but how do we create a system that supports students in truly understand what matters most? How do we create a shift?

Clearly I don’t have all of the answers to this and I know that this isn’t the work solely of a group of educators and perhaps speaks to a larger shift in education. I wonder what changes could be made if we were to create learning environments where there are scaffolds and supports to ensure that students can safely take risks, fail, learn, try again, take even greater risks, fail or succeed and take risks again? I know this is already being done especially in elementary but imagine if there could also be a shift in secondary also. Where an exam or test mark isn’t the only thing that speaks to the success of a student. Would we have more risk takers who are excited about new challenges they will face in an uncertain future? I’m back in the classroom in September and I have learned so much about the value of a scaffolded process and the fact that it might look different for each student. I’m looking forward to using this process to helping them develop a greater ability to take some big risks to try something new.

June 30, 2019 Arianna Lambert 21st Century Learning, Curriculum Planning, Language Learning, Literacy, Modern Learning, Technology

Podcasts for Students

Excitedly, I am back in the classroom in September! Over the past few weeks, I’ve started thinking about new ways to engage my next cohort of students. As I’ve been thinking, a friend reached out to share that her son has been enjoying podcasts and that got me thinking about how they might be useful in the classroom. I started listening to the few mentioned to me by my friend and through searching, realized just how many there are for children. For this post, I’ve included a little about the few that I’ve started listening to so far and how they might be useful in the classroom. By no means is this an exhaustive list, nor have I really had the time to dig into this idea but I’m starting here and will continue to take time over the summer listening and trying to find ways to move students from podcast consumers into perhaps podcast creators.

Six Minutes

Description from Kids Listen: Eleven-year-old Holiday is pulled from the icy waters of Alaska with no memory of who she is or where she came from. Are her mom and dad really who they say they are? And when she begins to develop incredible abilities, she’ll soon discover she’s not alone in the world. Six Minutes is a new mystery adventure for the whole family. Starting on March 1st, new six minute episodes, twice a week, all year long…and beyond.

In the first episode, the Anders family goes on a whale watching trip and finds something miraculous floating in the water. While listening to this episode, I immediately found myself using my imagination to think of what the setting and characters might look like. Because there were no visuals provided, I had to envision the space as the story started to unfold. I started to wonder about having students draw their visualizations as they listened. What would they include on a page and why? What elements might be most important for some and less for others? How might students justify their reasons for adding what they did to the page. I started to think of the creativity and critical thinking skills that could be developed through conversations about what their images may include. I like the fact that the episodes are short. Six minutes is just enough time to capture your attention while leaving you wanting more. I might also think about developing key questions to ask students for each of the episodes, getting them to piece together elements of the story as they unfold, while making predictions of what might come. I only listened to a few of the episodes and this is definitely a podcast that I would listen to myself.

Tumble Science Podcasts for Kids

Description from Kids Listen: Exploring stories of science discovery. Tumble is a science podcast created to be enjoyed by the entire family. Hosted & produced by Lindsay Patterson (science journalist) & Marshall Escamilla (teacher).

As a Science enthusiast, I was intrigued by this podcast and of course I decided to listen to one of the most gross episodes, The Tower of the Vomiting Robot with Anna Rothschild. While it took some time to get into the actual episode, the podcast told how a robot named Vomiting Larry, helped scientists discover how to stop the spread of Norovirus. I thought it was great that this episode sought to find out from grade 4 students what they thought was gross. I think this could be a great way to also include answers from your own students. This episode also got me thinking about the practical applications of technology to advance research about disease prevention and possibly a new design project for grade 5 students in relation to the human body. I also thought that it was neat that there was a blog post about the episode where students could investigate more, if they wanted to. A great way to bring in real-world science to the science we do in classrooms with students.

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

Description from Kids Listen: The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel is a high-quality serial mystery story for middle graders, performed by actual kids. Think Goonies, meets Spy Kids, meets Stranger Things for 8-12 year-olds. Listen along as eleven-year-old Mars Patel and his pals JP, Toothpick, and Caddie set out on an audacious adventure in search of two missing friends. The mysterious tech billionaire Oliver Pruitt might have a thing-or-two to say about their quest, because as he likes to say, To the stars! In fact, that’s just where they might be headed.

With three seasons to this podcast, I love the fact that it’s narrated by actual children. It’s in their voices and I see how it might be totally relatable and of great interest to them. A little longer in length – 30 minutes – it might be a little long for some to listen to in its entirety in the classroom but I’ve heard that it’s engaging for students and time seems to pass very quickly. I like how Oliver Pruitt in the first episode drops you into H. G. Wells Middle School. Again, I can see how students could visualize what is happening as well as make predictions on what might come in the next part.

The following is a list of sites that I will be investigating over the summer to find podcasts that might be interesting to introduce to my students. That being said, I know that choice and voice are extremely important and I also look forward to having conversations with my students around what they may already be listening to. Again, while I’m new to this idea of podcasts in the classroom, these lists are simply ones that I have found online that may or may not include podcasts that are ideal for your students. I think it’s wise to take a listen first and determine that for yourself. In these lists, you’ll see that there is some overlap and perhaps that might be a place to start as you investigate.

Kids Listen – An app that has podcasts sorted in categories based on age. I found it easy to listen to podcasts on my Chromebook which also got me thinking about the ease of use within the classroom depending on the technology available.

We Are Teachers – Curated list of the 18 best podcasts for students in elementary, middle and high school and also gives a sample activity to try along with listening to the podcast.

Cult of Pedagogy – Offers a brief reason what podcasts are and how they can be listened to, along with 8 educational podcasts with a sample episode and brief descriptions of each.

Scholastic – Gives you a list of 9 podcasts, telling you what they are best for, why it’s worth it and where to find them.

Common Sense Media – With fantastic tips for parents and children, this list of the 20 best podcasts has them organized by category based on genres or activities.

Common Sense Media – Another list specifically for little kids, truly highlighting that podcasts can be for everyone.

Finding Cleo – Definitely for older students, this link is to a teacher’s guide developed by the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board educators, for this podcast. Included are letters to parents, suggested assignments for the episodes and further resources.

Have you used podcasts with students? If so, how? What worked and what didn’t work? I would love to hear your experiences and get some ideas from you.

However you spend your summer break, I hope that it’s filled with time to relax and rejuvenate for the upcoming year. Have a happy and safe summer!

May 3, 2019 Michelle Fenn 21st Century Learning, Advocacy for change, Building Inclusion, Coding, Constant Learning, Equity, Gender Equity, Gender stereotypes, General, Genius Hour, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Integration, Learning in a Real Life Context, Making a Difference Through Education, Math, Mentorship, Modern Learning, Planning, Professional Learning and Growth, Resilience, Resources, Robotics, Technology, Technology in school, The Global Competencies, Use of Technology, Using technology well, Women at Work

The Gender Gap in Technology

According to a recent report* by ICTC (the Information and Technology Information Council) Canadian women represent about 50% of the overall workforce but represent only 25% of the technology industry workforce. Of the 100 major tech companies in Canada only 5 have female CEOs and 1 Co-CEO. 26% of the tech companies have no women in senior leadership at all. There is a gender wage gap in the industry of $7,000-$20,00 per year. When I read these statistics I wondered as educators, what can we do about the gender gap in technology? This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a place to begin:

1. Build her confidence in her abilities.

2. Cultivate a community of supportive peers.

3. Provide a STEM/STEAM club for girls.

4. Ensure that access to technology and computer experiences is encouraged and inclusive.

5. Foster interest in computing careers.

6. Be a role model as a LEARNER.

May 11th is National Girls Learning Code Day. If you are looking to encourage coders in your school, why not begin on May 11th? Below you will find links to resources for beginning coding. Many students code on their own at home and may appreciate the opportunity to mentor fellow students. The resources attached will get you started. There is no special equipment or robotics required. Teachers do not have to be expert coders to encourage their students. Teachers can be role models of resilience, risk taking and problem solving by learning alongside their students. Teachers only need to open the door and expose their students to the opportunities.

Girls Who Code Canada

National Girls Learn Code Day

*Cutean, A., Ivus, M. (2017). The Digital Talent Dividend: Shifting Gears in a Changing Economy. Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC). Ottawa, Canada.

Elaborated and written by Alexandra Cutean (Director, Digital Innovation Research and Policy). and Maryna Ivus (Senior Analyst, Research and Policy) with generous support from the ICTC Research and Policy Team.

January 2, 2019 Michelle Fenn 21st Century Learning, Coding, Constant Learning, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Integration, Learning in a Real Life Context, Modern Learning, Resilience, Robotics, Technology, Technology in school, The Global Competencies, Use of Technology, Using technology well

Coding with Microbits

Twice I have attended the Ontario Teachers’ Federation “Pedagogy before Technology” conference in the summer. This year I attended a design workshop that the InkSmith company provided and would never have been able to predict the chain of events that would follow. In the workshop we were grouped with people at our table to come up with a design concept and present it in the manner of a “Dragon’s Den” pitch. As we discussed the concept and made diagrams on chart paper, I put the visuals together in a small Google Slide presentation and added an entertaining video. I have my drama specialist and I’m not afraid to ham it up in front of a crowd. When it came time for the presentation we wowed the InkSmith team and ended up presenting to the entire group. We then went to lunch and I didn’t really think too much more about it. However, because I had so loudly and visibly put myself out there in an entertaining way, I was contacted by the team at InkSmith and then connected with kidscodejeunesse team. Kids Code is a federally funded program that helps students learn to code. They provide free workshops to classrooms across the country using handheld, programmable micro-computers called micro:bits. The coding program is web based and is in the blockly format but can also be switched to html for more advanced coders. When a workshop is provided to a classroom, the teacher is provided with ten microbits for the class to use and keep. You can visit the website kidscodejeunesse to sign up for a workshop for your classroom.

This is the microbit connected to a battery pack.

Kids Code Jeunesse provided me with training and as part of my job as an innovations consultant, I now go into classrooms within my school board to deliver workshops to students. The only coding that I had done up to this point was with Spheros and Ozobots which was quite rudimentary. I am now immersed into the coding culture. Which means that sometimes my kitchen counter looks like this:

It was a little out of my comfort zone to be sure. As I have gone into classrooms I have admitted to students that I’m not an expert on microbit technology and I have learned from some of the students that have been engaged in complex coding on their own time. With a quick conversation with the classroom teacher I can usually make some decisions around differentiating the program to keep students engaged.

You might be wondering what it is these little computers can do. The LED lights on the front can be programmed to light up in patterns which create animations. Students can create dice or rock, paper, scissors games and with a few alligator clips and a small speaker or headphones, microbits can be programmed to create music. With a little innovation and some adaptation it can be programmed to water plants automatically or become a pedometer. It can also be paired with a robot called K8 which can be purchased from Inksmith and assembled. The microbit website itself is where the coding takes place and it has easy to follow tutorials and ideas for projects to code.

The initial workshop is only the beginning. The only limit to these little computers is the limits of your student’s imagination. Microbits would be incredibly useful in a maker space or genius hour environment. The students develop design and critical thinking skills and problem solving techniques as they create and de-bug programs. It is an amazing way to introduce coding to students-especially if you are a teacher who is brand new to coding. Be warned: coding is extremely engaging and you and your students may have an inordinate amount of fun while learning.

December 29, 2018 Michelle Fenn Combined Grade Classes, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Inspiring Students, Integration, Learning in a Real Life Context, Literacy, Modern Learning, Use of Technology

The Almighty Meme

My teenage son is obsessed with memes. I remember my friends and I at his age, randomly quoting lines from John Hughes or Monty Python movies which confounded the adults around us but my friends and I would collapse into hysterics. I am now the confounded adult but instead of movies, the quotes are from internet memes and vines.

As a teacher I always seek to leverage whatever is important to my students in order to make language engaging and authentic. Last year I used their interest in Snapchat and connected it to “book snaps” in order to synthesize information about what they were reading. Over the holidays I played a game called, “What do you Meme?” which is an adult version of “Apples to Apples” but with pictures. Although the content was rather explicit (obviously not to be used in a classroom) and more than a little embarrassing to play with my 86 year old mother, I got to thinking afterwards about the language processing that it took in order to play this game and how could I turn it into an engaging teaching opportunity. The idea around the game itself is rather simple, choose what you consider to be the best “caption” for the meme (photo) and then another person chooses their favourite of those put forth by the players. The idea is to make it “relateable”.

I realized that there was a great deal of inferring going on while we were matching the statements to the pictures. We had to read the facial cues, look for other clues in the picture and then also relate what was happening in the picture to some kind of an emotion or shared human experience. I’ll give you an example.

“When you have beaten your big brother to the last piece of chocolate cake.”

In order to come up with that statement, I had to make some decisions. I really had to think about the photo and determine what was happening. For me, it looked as though the cat was laughing and feeling rather satisfied with himself. Then I had to think of something that would cause that reaction in someone to which other people might relate. It is rather complex thinking.

In the classroom before any writing would take place I would provide many examples of popular (and appropriate) meme photos that are being used in different ways and discuss these with my students over a period of time. What makes it funny or something with which people can relate? What about the human experience is being shared in this meme?

Then I would provide a photo something like the one above on the Smartboard for students at the beginning of the language period. Just one at a time at the beginning so that we can take the opportunity to break down the thinking. Students could then invent their own statement for the photo and justify their idea when they share it with others. In order to scaffold for some students, I might provide a variety of statements like the game itself and have them choose and justify their choice. Students could also take or choose their own photo and create their own memes using apps such as Canva or Pic Collage. This could also lead to an authentic digital citizenship opportunity with how to search and use photos that are public domain. In addition, these memes could then be shared on a class blog or social media to receive comments from others which provides feedback to students on their creations.

To take the idea of the memes further, the students could then use them as story prompts and create a narrative around the meme. I might also ask the students to create some memes like book snaps which relate to the books that they are reading. See the example below:

“When Fudge ate Dribble.”

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing-Judy Blume

A meme that needs an explanation isn’t a good meme, just like you shouldn’t need to explain a good joke. There is a kind of sophistication in the thinking process involved in the creation of memes and they connect us as human beings. Memes are this generation’s political cartoon, headline in the newspaper or funny birthday card from “The Far Side” creators; a visual paired with words that connects a shared human experience. Know what I Meme?

November 25, 2018 Shawna Rothgeb-Bird FSL, General, Modern Learning, Technology in school, Use of Technology

Global Read Aloud – Join In!

Over the past few weeks, my class has been participating in the FSL-centric version of the Global Read Aloud, an international event where classes all around the world read the same books and share their learning over social media. Some teachers choose to connect directly with other classes, some simply share their activities online for others to see, but all are engaging with the digital community in some way.

My class has really enjoyed participating in this event. It was entirely teacher led, initiated by Tammy Aiello of Teaching FSL. The official iterations of the GRA are designed for either English programs or French-first-language programs, making it challenging to engage with the event if you teach an FSL program of some kind. Thankfully, there were enough of us interested in working out the details that Tammy was able to coordinate book lists for all ages (based on teacher input!).

If you haven’t participated in the GRA before, I strongly recommend it. While my teaching assignment and personal life meant that I couldn’t delve as deeply into it as I would have liked, even the small taste my students had of engaging with the online world had them eager to do more. More importantly, though, we chose books with deep meaning and strong curriculum connections. For my age range (Junior French Immersion), the books were about Indigenous issues, LGBTQIA issues, infertility, immigration. We had many valuable conversations in the class about history, human rights, and moving forward with a more open mind. These are not easy issues to tackle, by any stretch, but the books served as rich starting points for these topics of incredible importance.

I spoke so animatedly about what my class was doing that another teacher joined in. This gave us the opportunity to share resources and ideas, compare student engagement, and co-plan. We both realized that we really loved the format of diving deep into one picture book a week, as it opened a lot of cross-curricular doors and made for great teaching. It’s changed my teaching for the last six weeks – and may well change my teaching for the rest of the year.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Global Read Aloud, you can check out the website here. If you’re an FSL teacher, our Facebook group is here. The event is officially over for the year, but you can always start it up in your school and go through the book(s) a few weeks late! Otherwise, see you in September 2019!

November 2, 2018November 2, 2018 Kelly.McLaughlin Assessment, Constant Learning, Inquiry, Inspiring Teachers, Modern Learning, Professional Learning and Growth, Questioning, self reflection

Innovation Collaborative Inquiry

I am currently starting a really exciting journey which involves myself and a group of 10 teachers. We are choosing a topic that interests us and going on a year long journey to discover the answers to this question. We are currently thinking about our question having to do with student led learning and how can we get students to take the lead with their learning and how to make meaningful tasks that will inspire action.

We are meeting 3.5 days this year and we are able to work alongside these other teachers to discuss our findings and see how we can put this plan into action in the classroom.

The first meeting involved getting to know all the teachers. We did this by mingling with the crowd based on which card in the deck we had (all sixes went together, the tens went together..) and then we met up with the same suit cards and then we had a few different challenges after that. When we met with our random groups, we answered the question how have we seen or used innovation in our classroom. It was amazing the chats that we had when this question was posed to us. I felt happy explaining my students current inquiry projects where they research a question of their choice which they will then present to the group it relates to. I also shared about selecting meaningful projects that will somehow create change or an action in our school. We discussed all of our innovation ideas and then we were asked to go back to our seats.

A teacher across the room shared about something that someone had said to her that will change and solve all problems involving math: going gradeless. She mentioned there would be various levels in math like when children go to swimming lessons and they wouldn’t be able to move onto math level two until they finish level one. In a way it sounds like an IEP but it would be in place for all students.

The rest of the morning we had to find a group of people that had a common area of focus as us and that is how I ended up in the student led learning group where students guide themselves to tasks that they find to be meaningful and essentially are 21st century learning tasks. This group will meet next week to discuss our plans.

After going to this exciting learning opportunity, I went back to my class and made a self reflection for our drama haunted house that the students had just finished planning, creating, presenting and then cleaning up. I had them assess themselves using four words: not engaged, somewhat engaged, engaged and very engaged. I told them to circle which word best described their involvement before, during and after the haunted house. It was incredible to see that the word they had circled lined up with the way I would assess them. If they had done this same self assessment and I had put marks or levels on the page, I am not so sure they would have been as successful with their assessment.

I am excited to continue learning with my inquiry group and keep trying out things that we learn as a group. The gradeless self assessment was just one small thing that I know will come of this exciting learning opportunity. It is very fun being apart of a group of like minded people that are really hoping to see a positive change in our classrooms.

More to come!