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Beverly Papove General

How to get at the truth – maybe

Almost everyday in kindergarten someone tells a fib. Sometimes it is me – “I will come over to see you swing on the monkey bars in just a minute.” More frequently, however, the most talented fibbers are from amongst my class of 26 five year olds. Occasionally, the fibs are small, like, “No, I didn’t bring my library book,” or “Yes, I washed my hands,” – either of these are easy enough to verify by checking in a backpack or looking at the hands in question.  A more substantial variety of the fib comes in the form of a tall tale, which I guess is a subcategory of the fib, but far more interesting and creative. Examples include; “I found a wasp as big as a bird in my backyard,” or, “One day, I lost my tooth, broke my arm, got stung by a bee, AND fell off my bicycle!” Which was curious, because the exact same thing – minus the broken arm –  happened to another student one day, too.

These kinds of untruths can be left as is because no one is harmed by such exaggerations. A student who lets loose with one of these may be heralded amongst his or her peers as cool, lucky or a great story-teller, and may even garner a “Student X has an excellent imagination” comment on a report card from his or her teacher. However, the fibs that are problematic are ones which can cause some sort of injury. This is often the time when the truth is harder to get at and when we, as teachers, need to figure out what has happened so that we can report to parents or to the administration. Nothing is more frustrating than having both parties involved in a conflict deny involvement. How can they be so convincing? Looking you straight in the eye, and giving their side of the story, you think you may know who is telling the truth, until the second student denies everything. OK, someone here is not telling the truth, but who is it? I don’t have training in the forensics of lie detection, I don’t have the time to slowly draw it out of a student when my classroom is in full swing with 24 kinders, and I need to get to the bottom of this. What to do?

Quite by accident, the other day I stumbled upon a strategy that seemed to work really well and quickly. I am not sure if it was a one-off or if it would work with other students, but it is definitely worth trying again. The situation was a relatively common one in the school yard; one boy had shoved another boy during outdoor play. When I went over to put a stop to the scramble, I was ready to give a serious reminder about schoolyard behaviour to the boy whom I had seen doing the shoving, when he very quietly told me that the other boy had tried to pull his pants down. What?! This was a very uncharacteristic statement from a boy who enjoys running and wrestling and has received the old ‘proper playground behaviour ‘ talk a few times already.  But the other boy said that he hadn’t done anything! He told me several times, in fact. Here’s the problem; when we are dealing with our students in delicate situations like these, we always want to be fair, but it can be really hard when 2 five year olds look at you and blind you with their cuteness and excellent fibbing skills. So, instead of being hasty and jumping to conclusions, I decided I would try again to ask my question, “Did you do that?” but this time, I told the student he could answer me with a thumbs up if he had done it, or a thumbs down if he hadn’t. When I repeated my question, he squirmed a few seconds, looked everywhere but at me, folded his arms, then, there it was, the thumb popped up. Now we could get somewhere!

I can only assume that it is more difficult to tell something that is not true when you cannot use your words, and I can only assume that it may even be a small kind of relief when your body just goes ahead and tells the truth. There is no more conflict or hole-digging once the gesture gets everything out in the open. I am not really sure why it worked, but it was a gentle way for a problem to be resolved and for me to help two little boys who had both gone too far in their actions, and, as a happy ending to this post, I am happy to report are still good friends.

Kelly.McLaughlin Inspiring Students, Learning in a Real Life Context, Making a Difference Through Education, Occasional Teaching, Social Justice, Student Ownership

Students making a difference

Throughout this school year, it was one of my goals to not only start a fundraiser that would benefit a charity somehow but to have students orchestrate most if not all of the procedure. At my school Ancaster Meadow, I asked a group of 30 grade eights to plan with me a day entitled “All Star Day”. Together with myself the grade eights:

  • chose two charities for all monies collected to go towards
  • selected how the day would work picking the events at All Star Day
    • 3 point competition $10 to play
    • All star skills competition $10 to play
    • All Star game where kids from grade five to seven would play and would be coached by grade eights $20 to play
    • All star game where grade eights would play the teachers $20 to play
  • help run the day and organize the crowd to watch the event

There were many other tasks involved to help make the day a success. I went to 30 different companies to ask for donations as well as other companies to sponsor t-shirts, lunch the day of and volunteers were involved from Redeemer University.

The day went off without a hitch and we raised $2000 total, $1000 going to each charity. After this day, every grade eight came to me asking to lead more events, raise money for more charities, etc. They had all these ideas that are impossible to all say yes to because it is May at the end of a school year and the ideas they have would take many months to plan for. However, students do have the potential to make the greatest difference in their school. Whenever you have an idea, put it in the hands of your students and trust that they can take it anywhere. I have never seen kids more involved or more into what they were doing in a school building then I saw on that day. I cannot wait for next school year when I can do that same event again, keep building on it and inspiring children to know that they can make a difference and have an amazing time while doing so.

If you would like to see videos from our event, you can youtube: Ancaster Meadow All Star Day. IMG_4604

Will Gourley Modern Learning, Student Ownership, Use of Technology

Maybe it’s not as simple as 1, 2, 3, BYOD

It’s simple, or so many of us want to believe, but…

If you want to be guaranteed access to technology in your classroom bring it yourself…for now!

Much has been shared in the last 5 years in the edublogosphere and media about bringing your own device to school. This post will attempt to share my thoughts when witnessing, discussing and reflecting on BYOD.

History and Questions

The term BYOD origjnated in “Tech” sector companies permitting workers to use their personal/preferred technology (phone, tablet, laptop etc.) with the goal to allow staff to use a favourite more user friendly option. However, over the past 4 years, BYOD represents an increasingly acceptable approach to equipping  21st Century Classrooms. In a world of austerity and cost cutting, I call this the ultimate download because it allows schools, school boards and government to abdicate much of their responsibilities to provide funding towards the substantial costs of classroom technology (laptops, tablets) all of which now gets dumped onto students and their families. 

Is BYOD fair? Not yet. It’s unfair to this point because not all students/families are able to afford technology.  It’s not fair because infrastructure does not have the bandwidth, server capacity or security measures in place to support it. It’s not fair because teachers are still stuck in transmission models of education at the expense of inquiry. It’s not fair because classrooms become another snapshot of haves and have nots. Socio-economic realities are still dictating that some students will be given tools to succeed while others will be left stranded when it comes to BYOD.

Could this be an equity issue around access, availability and apathy? Will BYOD really allow students without their own devices more frequent access to technology provided at school? Yes, in some schools, but not in others. Unfortunately, unless it can benefit all learners, and not just the ones who can afford it, the disparity will be perpetuated repeatedly unless preventive policies in are put place. Who is going to pay for all of this because it’s always doom and gloom in the world of educational funding.

““If technology is seen as the vehicle for learning, it needs to be accessible to everybody,” said Jeff Kugler, of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. That means there has to be enough tablets or laptops to serve every child that needs one.” from the Toronto Star

In Ontario, Canada  (a.k.a home) there is a concerted push towards using technology from K to 12. My board (York Region District School Board) has adopted a very proactive approach and continues to develop and refine its policies as well as upgrading the infrastructure to accommodate this growing trend. Another such commitment to BYOD comes from the Peel District School Board. Their progressive approach  and promotion of BYOD is giving more students access to the resources of the internet and 21st Century learning and collaboration than ever. Although socio-economics dictate that this board will still need to provide tech to students, the opportunities for students are increasing.

 “some students will have a great device, some an old device, and some no device at all. But savvy schools will leverage BYOD projects in ways that will increase access to technology for all students. If a classroom has 30 students and five computers, it has a 6:1 student to computer ratio. If half of the students have a personal device that they can use, the ratio in the classroom becomes considerably lower. Schools will need to provide access to online resources by lending out individual devices or opening labs for students who do not have their own equipment.” Doug Johnson,  Power Up! On Board with BYOD

Resolving the financial constraints allowing access to all can move this favourably forward to more equitable eduction for all. So what happens then?

Favourably Fast forward

BYOD is here to stay. After millions of dollars in server upgrades, purchases and professional development students are connecting like never before to content, Web 2.0 tools are making learning come alive and on terms and platforms that modern learners are intuitively seeking to use (see graphic).

Proponents believe that BYOD allows for a more fluid access to information in the classroom. I agree and disagree.

At its finest, access to the resources and potential of the internet are everything good about this shift. In my classroom when a student has a question or inquiry I find it incredibly valuable to have them get on their device (if available) to scratch their immediate intellectual itches. With access to BYOD this becomes a seamless act allowing for neural myelination to happen. At this point, knowledge can be reinforced when the ideas and thoughts occur thus engaging us with our learning. Think of it as being able to protect your tech with a shield like an OtterBox. Myelination allows neurons to be reinforced while at the same time boosting the recall and connectivity of the neural architecture. This is where I see BYOD blowing the roof off a detractor’s arguments. Imagine the depths of engagement when students are given the latitude to control their learning the moment an idea occurs?

But wait! Students are playing Candy Crush not inquiring about Chemistry. They’re on Snapchat not researching their Social Studies. They’re taking pictures of each other in bathrooms and they’re bullying each other on social media. Aargh!!!

Of all the shadowy sides to BYOD the above seems to be the most reviled by teachers and board IT folks alike. That is the misuse of bandwidth and technology for surreptitious activities on social media, gaming and video streaming sites. Schools now have to institute and educate students and staff on acceptable use procedures and then enforce them. A great example of this working well is in New Jersey, USA via Eric Sheninger. His post BYOD begins with Trust and Respect is a good place to start. Seeing this as a teachable moment has lead to several digital citizenship lessons with students in my world.

Technology will continue being a part of learning whether we can afford it, or are prepared for it. Students must be given access to the tools, the time and the trust to use technology to advance their learning. Failing to do so is not an option. Turning the negatives into positives(teachable moments) will allow BYOD to move forward.

And going forward is good, but it comes with its share of work. No one said BYOD would be e-a-s-y as 1, 2, 3. But with patience, leadership, hard-work  and responsible funding its benefits will be immeasurably beneficial to students and teachers alike. This in itself should be the impetus for a greater commitment by schools, school boards and governments to continue moving in this direction. 

Further Resources (since you haven’t read enough)

http://chalkboardinquiries.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/reflections-on-digital-citizenship-and-the-byod-classroom/ (Paul Aniceto)

http://edtechreview.in/dictionary/278-what-is-byod-byot

http://esheninger.blogspot.ca/search?q=BYOD

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/byod/

http://stager.tv/blog/?p=2397

Mike Beetham Challenging Topics, Communication with Parents and Guardians, General, Homework, Learning About Your Students

Homework or No Homework?

This is a question that I have asked myself over and over. At different phases of my career I have given myself different answers ranging from they must have homework because that is what good teachers do, to homework is a vehicle that creates problems and turmoil for the families of my students and thus should not be a part of my program.

There is no answer that fits all classrooms or that fits all students. Like every other aspect of my program I have to differentiate according to the needs and circumstances of my students and their families. The following site pinpoints the top 5 reasons for assigning homework and top 5 reasons for not assigning homework ( http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/proandconhomework.html

I am going to share with you an event in my career where assigning homework created a very negative scenario and conflict for a student. This student was a very intelligent, friendly, polite young man who was a pleasure to work with in class. Over the first two months of school he excelled in class but habitually did not complete any home tasks. It got to the point where his lack of responsibility toward homework was seen as a behaviour concern. A few weeks later I became aware that his Mom was in a coma and that his family spent each night by her side in the hospital. My lack of awareness of my student and his home situation created undue and unneeded pressure on him and the family. As a result, homework was not a part of that student’s program.

On the other side of the coin, a student that I am working with this year spends time every night with his Mom reviewing the day’s work along with increased home reading. That has resulted in an accelerated growth in his area of academic deficits. In both cases, my decision to not assign homework to student A, and to assign extra homework to student B was the right thing to do. Homework for the sake of homework is not a productive component to any student’s learning. It must have a specific purpose that is helping meet the targeted academic outcomes of the classroom.

Tisha Nelson Assessment, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Report Cards

Report Cards – Writing the Narrative of Student Achievement

Although it seems like the school year has just begun a few weeks ago, it’s actually coming to a close next month. Yes! You read that right. School’s almost out for the summer – despite the fact that summer seems to be taking its sweet time to arrive with the weather feeling more September-like rather than spring. With all this mix bag of weather and perhaps emotions concerning the close of one school  year and the horizon of another, there is still one thing on every teacher’s mind: report cards! Gasps for fear; leaps for joy; however you reconcile this extremely important process of formally reporting student achievement, the narratives we write have the potential to impact our learners in very significant ways.

Though the Report Card tends to be written with parents/guardians in mind, it really has a wider readership that includes the students themselves as well as a host of future teachers who have access to it through the Ontario Student Records (OSR). Knowing this, how might we be more intentional when writing the report card since the contents have far reaching implications?

Firstly, the report card is meant to be meaningful. As teachers with teaching degrees and constantly immersed in “edubabble” (terms that are usually commonplace for educators), it is important that the things we say in the report card are communicated in the most effective way so that our message comes through with intention. Keeping the use of educational terminology to a minimum will ensure that the audience can arrive to its intended message with ease. This might mean rewording the curricula using reader-friendly terms. Remember this revised versions of K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple […and Significant]. Report comments should serve as a window to student achievement in ways that demonstrates both the scope of learning that took place as well as the degree of success students experienced within it. Teacher jargon can inhibit this very clear message which can be then deemed irrelevant to parents/guardians and students.

Next, embrace a positive tone. The rhyme, “Sticks and stone may break my bones but words may never harm me,” proves false as words have the power to either build one up or tear them down. When writing the narrative of student achievement with a focus on both their strength and next steps, it is important to frame students’ areas of need from an asset-based approach rather than solely iterating deficits. “Karly constantly talks during independent work time” tells a very different story than “Karly is beginning to regulate his behaviour during independent work time.” Mere semantics? Maybe. But the impact of one semantic can birth a positive outlook or reinforce a negative one.

Finally include feedback that will matter. This is particularly true for the final report card of the year as that the content that will be learned in the new grade will differ from the grade-specific content that the student is graduating from. In this case, next steps should serve as feedforward  as opposed to feedback. What might be the skills or habits of mind that will be salient in future learning opportunities? What concepts will form the foundation for future understanding? These are the next steps that will prove useful if articulated well. Including student voice in this aspect of report card writing is a great way to value the person who is set to internalize the feedback given. Imagine the partnership that can be developed when students remain accountable to themselves as well as previous teachers for their commitment to improving their outcomes.

So my few suggestions, though not revolutionary, can alter the ways in which the report card serves out its function. Families are notified of students progress and achievement, students are empowered with meaningful next steps and future teachers read the narrative of a student from an asset-based approach. Happy writing!

Mike Beetham Anti-bullying, Building Inclusion, Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Student Ownership

Get, Give or Pass

As part of our end of the week celebration my class convenes with our daily circle discussion. In addition to our debrief of the week’s events, we add our ‘Get, Give or Pass’ activity. Each person in the circle is asked whether they would like to give a compliment to another person, get a compliment from a fellow student or pass. This is truly a very powerful measure of the level of community that my class has evolved into.

In order for this level of comfort to be present in my group I have to spend time daily working on team building tasks that facilitate a comfort level between all members of the class. In addition, there is extensive time spent modelling and supporting effective communication skills. As with any other outcome, this has to be scaffolded over time in order for the activity to be successful. If this activity is done without the time spent in building to this level of trust it could and will most often produce negative results.

Two pieces of advice I would offer to teachers in implementing this strategy are first and foremost to spend daily time reinforcing the expectations you have around how people are expected to treat each other in your room. This is best done by finding and recognizing students who are exhibiting the target behaviours you seek to develop.These expectations must be clear and consistently followed through on. The second critical piece is the modelling by  you of the way to speak, to listen and how to give and receive compliments from other people.

Tisha Nelson Inspiring Teachers, Occasional Teaching, Resume Writing, self reflection

Resumes – Writing the Narrative of Your Practice

Next to journaling and writing for the Heart and Art blog, resume writing is one of my favourite ways to reflect on my practice. The process of communicating my philosophy of education and demonstrating how this plays out in the day-to-day ignites my passion for teaching and learning and reminds me of why I do what I do as a teacher.

Shifting one’s role, whether it be changing schools or position or seeking new experiences, is one of many ways that educators can embrace new learning opportunities and refuel their energy for the journey ahead. Embracing the stance of reflection when composing one’s resume is essential in this regard as it distinguishes candidates amongst a large pool of applicants. The following suggestion are some of the tricks I’ve hid up my sleeves in order to present myself as a strong candidate for the mirage of opportunities within the education sector. Why am I telling you this? I don’t know. But perhaps after many years of my unofficial resumes consulting, these tricks will prove useful in your journey.

1. Use a relevant framework. The Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) governs the teaching profession in Ontario and as such, using the OCT Standard of Practice as a framework for designing your resume structures the narrative of your practice in ways that align with the directives and outcome of best practice. Using the standard heading, Education, Experiences, Interests, etc., may serve useful in less specialized sectors, but as a profession, teacher resumes should mimic the framework that serves to structure our professionalism.

2. Show, don’t tell. I have read countless teacher resumes that indicate that applicants planned and taught lesson. But starting this task that on a resume is not distinguishing at all. Every teacher seeking an opportunity in education must have planned and taught lessons. A more effective way of demonstrating the scope of your practice is to paint the picture of your practice in action. This is where reflection is essential. Rather than telling what you did, show it using an affect-oriented narrative. “Embraced proactive approaches to classroom management in order to nurture a positive learning environment and foster a sense of community” paints a more intentional picture of teacher practice than “Created a positive learning environment.” The latter tells what was done while the former shows how it was done and explains why. What sets the two statements apart? Reflection that articulates the desired outcome of the action being described.

3. Treat the page like limited re-estate. Though not every posting for teachers may stipulate a maximum page number for the resume, I tend to stick to the standard 2 pages rule when applying for teaching positions. With over 7 years of experiences that seems like an impossible endeavor but by being strategic in my articulation I can demonstrate the breadth and width of my practice while maximizing the limited space of 2 pages. Being intentional about what to say, how to say it and where to say it can be fruitful in staying within the page limit. The key is to avoid repetition. Though you may have many teaching experiences that you want to display, be sure to be succinct about only demonstrating a particular aspect of your practice no more than once, regardless if it was something that you employed in other experiences. There are better ways to demonstrate your strength as an educator other than repeating yourself multiple times. Likewise, many resumes are accompanied by a covering letter which structure is very different than that of a resume. It is in your covering letter that your prose can come out in ways that will allow you to delve deeper into your practice. But remember, if you said it in your resume, use the covering letter to say something else.

So there you have it. My 3 easy steps for educators to engage in reflective resume writing. However you decide to engage in it, your resume speaks first, often before you are invited to articulate your vision and passion in person. Write it well. Write it with intention. Write is as a way to stay reflective. In the process you may be reminded, again and again, of just why you truly are an educator.

Tammy Axt General

Music Monday

Today is Music Monday. It is a nation wide celebration of music and music education, always on the first Monday in May.

Schools celebrate Music Monday in a variety of ways. Some schools go outside and have a sing along in the great outdoors. Others have a sing along over the announcements. Some go to a special celebration in a city park designed to bring schools together.

Our Music Monday celebration today was a mini concert with a variety of students speaking, performing and singing. Below is what we did and hopefully it will give you some ideas for a Music Monday celebration at your school next year.

First up, we had our choir present two songs that they have learned in April. One was a Tamil Lullaby and the other was a great jazz piece from Doug Goodkin called “Step Back Baby”.

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Next, I introduced my student who spoke about my teaching partner and the impact that her teaching has had on him.

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Some grade four and five students then led the school in some actions to go along with the Music Monday song “We Are One”

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Our school had raised some money in honour of my music teaching partner, Ms. Lynda Wulkan, and we had a presentation to Brampton Animal Services.  (Some of our grade 2 teachers made the cheque. They used bristol board and markers and it looked fantastic.)

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Next in our presentation we had groups of grade two students do movement pieces to go along with the Carnival of The Animals. There were…

Kangaroos

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Lions

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and the Aquarium

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We finished up our presentation today with an excerpt from Peter and The Wolf.  The students acted out a part of the story and showed the instruments that are used in the story.

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I hope you had a great Music Monday! It is a great way to bring community and school together to focus on the importance of Music Education. Music programs are vital to creating vibrant, creative and successful communities.

Shawna Rothgeb-Bird Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection

My Experience With a Lesson Study

Last month, my Principal put out a call to the staff at my school: if anyone was interested in participating in a lesson study, she would make it happen. She had briefly filled us in on what a lesson study was at staff meetings, so this was not out of the blue. After debating for a few days, I submitted my name.

A lesson study, for those who aren’t familiar with the term, is a collaborative exercise in professional development and reflective practice. The team creates a lesson together, one teacher delivers the lesson while the others observe the students being taught, and afterward the team discusses their observations. The idea, at least in the case of my school, is to gain insight into how students engage in the lesson and which strategies yield the greatest results for our students. This allows us to reflect on our own practice and see where we can change some things to better help our students succeed.

The response at my school was great. We had enough teachers to run two separate lesson studies, one in Primary and one in Junior. I volunteered my class – a busy, but lovely, group of thirty Grade 4 students – to be taught by another teacher. We planned a lesson related to our School Learning Plan, an annual goal set each year to target our students’ areas of greatest need. Our lesson would teach students about word choice and words with “swagger” (also known as juicy words, to some). We spent half a day setting up the lesson, talking about the students, and deciding which strategies the teacher would focus on using in the classroom.

Two days later, I gave my students a little pep talk, explaining that there would be a teacher delivering a lesson to them while other teachers watched from the sidelines. They thought it was a little weird, but I’m a pretty weird teacher already, so they were ready to roll with it. When the lesson study team arrived, my students got a little weirded out; suddenly there were six adults in the room, including the Principal and their homeroom teacher, and they were clearly feeling like they were under a microscope.

As soon as their teacher – we’ll call her Ms. J – arrived, though, they forgot all about the rest of us. She walked in with spaghetti in her hair (an activation moment for them, as the poem she was reading to kick off the lesson was all about spaghetti) and they immediately needed to know what was happening. She jumped right into the lesson, keeping my students’ attention the entire time. I still don’t know how she did it, but I’m so glad she volunteered to teach the lesson.

While Ms. J was teaching, the rest of us on the team were watching the students, not her. We kept notes on what we noticed – who was fidgeting, who was responding to the strategies Ms. J was using, how the students interpreted the questions being asked, how they interacted with the teacher and each other during the lesson. While the students worked in small groups later in the lesson, we flitted about the room eavesdropping on their conversations, listening to how they interacted with one another. It’s rare that I get to see my students being taught by another teacher, so this opportunity to really focus on them was great.

After the lesson, we had a few hours to chat with each other about our observations. It was interesting to see how we all took notes on very different things, but the take-away from our observations was always the same. That conversation after the teaching was finished was arguably the most beneficial PD that I have had in years. The conclusions we came to, which I’ll mention soon, have had a significant impact on my teaching since participating in this exercise – because we saw just how well the students engaged with and understood the lesson.

So what did we learn?

Our biggest take-away was the idea of intentionality. Everything the teacher did in that lesson was intentional, from walking in with spaghetti in her hair, to the poems we chose for group work, to how we built the groups. We had discussed the class beforehand, so she knew which students might have difficulty focusing and she was able to work things into her lesson to grab and keep their attention. Because of the work we put in during the planning phase, there was no wasted time in-class. Everything in the lesson was there for a reason. Being that well-prepared for the lesson meant that during the teaching part, Ms. J was able to adapt on the fly while still sticking to the learning goal.

Another thing we felt was really beneficial was having the learning goal stated explicitly for students at the outset of the lesson. During the lesson, Ms. J would frequently refer back to the stated learning goal any time it seemed like students were drifting off-course. When it came time for them to work in groups, every group knew exactly what to do because they were so in-tune with their goal.

The last thing I want to mention is the idea of letting students engage in the lesson without “judgment”. In order to explain what I mean, I have to give a brief example of what happened in the classroom.

The class had read a poem together as a shared reading exercise. Ms. J then asked them to work with their neighbour and highlight four words in the poem which really stood out – words with “swagger” – and explain why they chose those words. She asked students to come up and highlight the words they had chosen directly on the poem. The first pair of students went fine; they circled a few words, explained their thinking, and returned to their seats. The second pair of students, however, started underlining entire lines of the poem. Ms. J looked for just one brief moment like she was going to stop them, but ultimately she let them finish without comment. In the end, this pair of students underlined four full lines of text, explaining that these four lines summed up the entire poem. As they explained their thinking, it became clear that for them, underlining four words wouldn’t really make the point they wanted to make. They needed all four lines, even though that wasn’t what they were asked to do.

If Ms. J had stopped them and insisted they choose only four words, their entire line of thought would have fallen apart. Instead, she let them do what they had to do without “judging” their response as wrong/a misinterpretation of the task. Because of that, these students were able to demonstrate their learning in a very clear, very comprehensive way. It was a really cool moment, and I suspect it doesn’t come across as well in text. You had to be there.

 

We learned a lot more than just those three things, of course. We still find ourselves talking about the experience weeks later, finding new things to get excited about and implement in our classrooms. If I get the chance to do another lesson study, I’ll jump on it – and I hope you will, too. It’s a great chance to collaborate with your colleagues and reflect on your practice.

Beverly Papove General

Circumstances Beyond Our Control

You know that feeling you get when you sit in a meeting with a parent and it all becomes clear as to why your student/their child behaves the way they do? Or when after meeting with the family, you would like to recommend the parents for parenting courses, or worse, you feel you may need to call for the support of CAS? We know we must do everything we can to protect our students from abuse by reporting when we have reason to believe that they are in harmful situations, but what do you do when the behaviour is inappropriate or harmful to the child in more subtle ways? The chaos, the disfunction, the stress in certain homes is out of our reach but it is what is ‘normal’ in the child’s life, and it will present itself in some way in our classroom.

We have such a student. Doctors are inconclusive in their diagnosis of Tara (not her real name), although ADHD and spectrum disorder are part of her treatment profile. In her home, there is discord between her parents which may or may not have been present before Tara was born, but which currently translates into a push-me-pull-you situation with regard to the way she is being brought up. To expect this child to easily switch gears as she enters our classroom and leave any emotional baggage at the door is a huge expectation. All we can do is offer the opposite of her homelife – a calm, safe, predictable environment. But the physical environment is not enough to bring Tara around and we are constantly trying new ways to ‘keep the lid on’ because what worked last week may not work this week. Usually we know within the first 15 minutes of our outdoor learning what kind of a day she is bringing with her, although, a good start does not necessarily mean a good end to the day. At the age of only 5 years, diagnosis of behavioural problems is still unclear, although a series of potent medications have been tried to help her bridge the turbulent episodes with the beautiful, calm, smart, kind child that she is most of the time, without too much success. Tara’s home life is inconsistent and so is her behaviour, to the point where aggression is surfacing. Thankfully, there is a big support system for her at school and good communication with one of her parents. It takes a lot of human power to help Tara manage each day – but it is worth it. If she is having an off day – we ALL have an off day.

One of our strategies that hasn’t changed is to have a quiet conversation with her every morning to remind her of how valued she is, see how she is feeling inside, and ask her what she’s looking forward to in her day. I recently saw an inspirational video of a teacher who does just that, making a point of connecting with each of his students in his behavioural class each day for about 5 – 10 minutes. It may seem like a lot of time directed away from instruction, but if you think about it, the learning environment is so much richer when our students feel comfortable and safe. For students who are riding through stormy seas, whether behaviourally or developmentally, a calm and caring voice can be an anchor for them. Rather than feeling lost and out of control, they can feel connected to something bigger than the storm, because, as we have seen with Tara, when she is lost in the storm, it is nearly impossible reaching her. So the only time to make that connection is sometimes a small window of opportunity when she is calm.

Tara’s awareness of her situation is heartbreaking because, after the fact, she knows when she has gone too far and she is not proud or happy about it.  While the event is tumultuous and we need to ensure her safety, evacuate the classroom to ensure the safety of the other 25 students, and try to contact the administration for back-up, our approach is consistent, nonjudgmental, and calm. We try to help her and the rest of the class by remaining calm during an episode of throwing chairs, emptying shelves, and yelling.

Of course the parents love their child, but we cannot underestimate how stressful it must be on them to hear, almost daily, that their child is causing serious problems at school, as well as continuing this behaviour at home. Tara needs to feel the consistency of attention and love in a calm and caring environment, as well as a unified approach to behaviour so that school and home are synchronized. This may not help her through everything in her troubled life, but it would help her brave her stormy times. It seems so easy for us because we only see Tara at school, but it is what we would love to be able to say to her parents.