Communication with Parents and Guardians

July 23, 2018 Michelle Fenn Assessment, Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Constant Learning, Inspiring Teachers, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Modern Learning, Professional Learning and Growth, Resources, self reflection, Start of the year, Technology in school, Use of Technology, wellness, wellness

My Yearly Notebook

Each summer I buy a brand new spiral bound notebook. Not the skinny ones that you get in the 3 pack from Hilroy with the flimsy cover that rips within a few uses. I am particular about my stationary. It may be a kind of a problem. I get the 8 1/2 by 11 solid cardboard spiral bound notebook. It is where I keep my lists. Lists of things to buy for the classroom. Lists of things I want to change in the physical space of my classroom. Lists of books I’d like to read or add to my classroom library. Lists of things to get done before September. Lists of the curriculum topics I’ll be teaching and in what months I plan to teach them. Lists of special events each month that I might highlight or celebrate with my students. Lists…of lists. I use that big notebook all school year long to add notes from meetings, professional development sessions and of course, more lists. I have many already filled spiral notebooks of new ideas that I’d like to try over the school year on my shelf in my office. This summer I realized something. After the school year is over I have NEVER opened those notebooks again. There are lots of great ideas in there that I didn’t implement and then I feel guilty about that! Teacher guilt never seems to stop, unless of course, I choose to stop it.

This summer I quickly read the book, “Ditch That Textbook; Free Your Teaching and Revolutionize Your Classroom” by Matt Miller. It has fantastic teaching tips for technology integration in the classroom. Although I do not have the desire nor the access to the 1:1 technology to go completely paperless, I found a lot of wisdom and great teaching tools in Matt’s book. I have also provided a link to Matt’s blog. Matt helped me to break a cycle. I haven’t bought a spiral bound notebook this summer and I’m not planning on buying one. Among many pieces of advice in the book, Matt suggests picking two new things that you are really excited about to add to your teaching practice, being clear about your intention for using those practices and following through. I’ve been guilty of overdoing the professional learning to the point that I overwhelm my students by doing a whole bunch of new things all at once and then don’t end up sticking to any of them. I also get overwhelmed by the many great ideas out there and wonder if I do something else, what I’ll have to give up doing.

I’ll admit that I’m already kind of cheating. Instead of just choosing two teaching practices I’m also choosing two new technology platforms to learn about for next year. One of the practices that I would like to get in the habit of doing is adding more descriptive feedback to assignments that students do online and have multiple opportunities for the students to respond to that feedback and re-submit assignments with changes. The second thing that I would like to do is educate parents on how to leave constructive feedback for their students online rather than a thumbs up or “Good job!” I plan on exploring the video and audio creation tools, WeVideo and Voki. I may explore more than these but these are the ones that I am committed to doing. Since I have written my commitment here on the blog, I also commit to sharing what I thought about those tools in a review format. If you get a chance to read Ditch That Textbook, I highly recommend it. It is a quick read with great already-made lists and hey, it made me “Ditch That Notebook”.

July 1, 2018July 1, 2018 Michelle Fenn Assessment, Challenging Topics, Combined Grade Classes, Constant Learning, Curriculum Planning, Differentiated Instruction, Genius Hour, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Integration, Learning in a Real Life Context, Math, Modern Learning, Professional Learning and Growth, Questioning, Report Cards, Resilience, Student Ownership, Students as Teachers, Technology in school, The Global Competencies, Use of Technology

Why Coding is Important Part One

I consider myself a fairly techie teacher. However, until recently I hadn’t really tried my hand at coding or robotics. Well, I had, but I had lost interest as I quickly felt as though I was out of my depth. So, I did what I always do when I really want to learn something about teaching, I go to a colleague that has the knowledge and I try it WITH the students. Collaborative inquiry.

Until recently, I didn’t see what the big deal was or why it was important to teach coding to students. Yeah, playing with robots is fun but what does that have to do with curriculum? When I started working with and learning coding along side students I had a change in mindset. There is a lot of math, strategic planning and visualization in coding. Coding may not always directly relate to curriculum content-that is true. However, in terms of teaching students about the deep learning competencies, coding is key. If you aren’t sure what I mean by the deep learning competencies; they are referred to as the 6 C’s. Here is a link to the New Pedagogies for Deeper Learning paper but I have extracted a summary of the 6 C’s for a quick reference:

Character: Character refers to qualities of the individual essential for being personally effective in a complex world including: grit, tenacity, perseverance, resilience, reliability, and honesty.

Citizenship: Thinking like global citizens, considering global issues based on a deep understanding of diverse values with genuine interest in engaging with others to solve complex problems that impact human and environmental sustainability.

Collaboration: Collaboration refers to the capacity to work interdependently and synergistically in teams with strong interpersonal and team-related skills including effective management of team dynamics, making substantive decision together, and learning from and contributing to the learning of others.

Communication: Communication entails mastery of three fluencies:digital, writing and speaking tailored for a range of audiences.

Creativity: Having an ‘entrepreneurial eye’ for economic and social opportunities, asking the right questions to generate novel ideas, and demonstrating leadership to pursue those ideas into practice.

Critical Thinking: Critically evaluating information and arguments, seeing patterns and connections, constructing meaningful knowledge and applying it in the real world.

I reflected on these 6 C’s as I wrote the learning skills for my grade 4/5 students this year. I spend the most time on my reports creating the Learning Skills for each student. They are personal and they reflect each individual student. As a parent, it is what I am most interested in reading about my own child. The 6 C’s are competencies not only for school, but for life. While students were exploring coding I had them working in pairs or small groups to give them the opportunity to communicate, collaborate and show leadership. When the code didn’t work, they were able to go back and find the error and correct it and try it again with results right away. Sometimes they found it painstaking and I had to let them work through that and they were glad in the end when I didn’t give them the easy way out and they solved things on their own. When they learned something in coding, they quickly wanted to share their learning with other students. I gave basic instruction about the program to start using a youtube tutorial and then let the students go. Students who often don’t do well in groups with “typical” academic tasks often excelled as leaders in coding because it is a divergent way of thinking and they had a self-check strategy built into the task. It was incredible to witness the amount of learning that was taking place.

You don’t have to have robots to code. There are online coding websites that teach kids to code such as code.org and Scratch. The students even as young as grade 3 are easily able to use these sites to code. Scratch Jr. is available for younger students. The sites have great tutorial videos and somehow the students seem to just start discovering and creating things intuitively. They begin helping each other when they see that someone has created something cool and ask the creator to show them how to do it too.

I am proud to say that I can now code a square, star and a small obstacle course using blocks and a Sphero robot. My students discover new things every day and share them with me. It is definitely a new age in teaching.

May 31, 2018May 31, 2018 Tammy Axt Communication with Parents and Guardians, Special Education

Setting up Successful Transition Meetings

I am really excited to be starting a brand-new job in September! I am leaving the world of music behind and entering the amazing world of Special Education. This has been a long time passion of mine and when the wonderful opportunity came up to open a class for students with a Developmental Disability, I jumped at the opportunity.

In preparation for my new role, I have had the pleasure of sitting through transition meetings for all of my new students which have been immensely beneficial. This was my first time sitting in on transition meetings and I am so pumped for the new school year now that I have heard all the amazing things about my wonderful new students.

Listening through the presentations, as the sending schools were sharing information with us, the ultimate goal was to make all our families feel comfortable about this big transition their child was facing. Below are a few ways that we tried very hard to make all our families feel welcome!

All families were invited to the transition and welcomed into the meeting with smiles. Food was ready and water was available in the 30+ degree heat for all families.
At the beginning of every meeting, parents were told explicitly that the goal of the meeting was for them to leave smiling. This reassured them that they were an important part of this process and that their voice was valued. Some parents took this opportunity to share their thoughts about the child’s needs and their anxieties about the transition. It was a great opportunity to begin to build trust between the new school and the parents.
We had a flyer ready for every meeting inviting all of our parents to an “Ice Cream Party” in late August right before school begins. All families and students were really excited about the ice cream party idea and it was such a positive way to end every meeting. Everyone knew that they were invited to see the school, see the classroom and meet their whole teaching team.
One of the most exciting aspects of our transition meetings for students and families was receiving some swag from the new school. A brand new Mustangs t-shirt and water bottle were a big hit with all of the families and made them feel welcome as a member of their new community. There were lots of smiles and excitement at the thought of their child wearing them.

The transition meetings were also an important forum for sharing information. If you are doing the transition meeting for the first time this year or next year, after listening to some very talented teachers present their students, this is what I saw this week that was very helpful.

Bring pictures of the child and important items in the room. One of the teachers gave me a copy of a poem that really helps alleviate anxiety about making mistakes that she uses with one of my students. I will use this familiar item to help my student transition from one school to the next as it will be so familiar to her. Also, the pictures of my students doing his or her favourite things also started to give me an idea of my student’s interests and likes. It was great to put a picture to a name from the beginning. Families smiled when they saw their child doing all these wonderful things and it set a really positive tone for the meeting.
Be specific and detailed about needs in the area of toileting and eating. Some forms do not have a specific section for both of these items so it is important that you are clear and detailed. It is important for the incoming school to fully know the routine so that we can replicate it on the first day of school.
Be detailed about strategies that work to aid in positive behaviour. It might feel a little bit obvious but it is important information to share.
Be sure to bring a copy of the IEP, transition form and behaviour plans. All of this information is highly beneficial in purchasing items needed and preparing a beneficial program for students.

Hope these ideas help you set up amazing transition meetings at your schools!

April 30, 2018 Tammy Axt Assessment

Training Students To Have Independent Reflection Skills

Assessment in my music room follows a gradual release of responsibility model. I explicitly teach students how to self-assess their ability to create and play a song correctly. I do this regularly throughout the year as we learn how to play different instruments, songs and arrangements.

Co-creating a Criteria

Near the beginning of a new unit, the students and I co-create criteria using Anne Davies’ Model. This process helps me understand where my students are in their assessment for learning and often identifies areas where they will need help. You can see from the picture below that my students really understand the idea that you are supposed to cover the holes when you are playing music on the recorder, but tonguing is something that this class needed a lot of help with, as only one student used it as part of the criteria. The criteria that we create is used in all subsequent lessons to help students have a deep understanding of how they can be successful.

After we have written the criteria, I have the students use the criteria to assess me while I am performing a piece of music. I explain thoroughly each part of the criteria as I demonstrate what a level 4 looks like. In the next three or four classes that follow, I do a warm up using the criteria until I feel that the class has a firm grasp on how they will be assessed. I want them to be empowered to be able to explain and use the criteria that we have created. In the warm up, I play for them and they give me feedback. I fill in the gaps or explain any pieces of the criteria that they are not fully understanding.

Assessment as learning

After students have some understanding of how they will assess themselves, they spend time receiving feedback from both me and their peers. They play for me in person and through Google Classrooms.

After the first couple of times that they play with me, I ask them to assess themselves with my support. I train them to express their next steps orally with me in small groups or one on one. For those students who need further practice, I do small group instruction where they play and we work through each part of the criteria until they understand it fully.

Assessment of learning/Celebration of Learning

Once each student is able to fully assess themselves confidently, they have so much ownership over their growth and I focus on helping them achieve as much as they can in one year! My assessment of learning is always a celebration of how far the students have come. I always make it a point to show them their progress as they move through various units, so that they have confidence in their abilities.

This process takes quite a bit of time, but it is well worth the skills that the students acquire. The skills required to be able to identify areas of need are the skills that will carry our students through much bigger challenges than Hot Cross Buns on the recorder.

April 22, 2018April 22, 2018 Will Gourley Assessment, Celebrating Success, Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Feedback, General, Modern Learning, Resilience, wellness

Do-over day

https://www.flickr.com/photos/42931449@N07/5263539723

Have you ever wished that you could do something over again to make it better?
In education, this could be everyday, every week, every month, and every year in our classrooms. If we let it.

Have you ever taught a lesson more than once in order to ensure your students understood and could master the concept(s)? What, you’ve done this over and over!? You don’t say?

This happens more often than all of us think and that’s okay. I learnt very quickly in my career that last year’s grand slam lessons do not always guarantee success when used in the years to come. Hence the need for the do-over, or reinvention in order to revive or re-invigorate what we teach.

What about a retest? A few years ago, I completely misread my students’ progress on a Math strand and the results were glaringly obvious that I failed them. After an open discussion about the daunting unit, I had students take their tests, crumple them up, and throw them around the classroom. It was like a giant breath of fresh air had blown into the room as everyone exhaled.

We restarted the unit from ground zero and had a “do-over day” a couple of weeks later with much improved results. As a result, our class grew closer as a learning community. Students knew that I had their best interests at heart and that learning in our class did not come with an expiry date as laid out in dusty long range plans. After all the curriculum says, “by the end of each grade…” and not immediately after an assessment of learning.

Recently, my students were preparing to share a series of movie trailers they created about the book Loser by Jerry Spinelli. Each group, of 2 or 3, was asked to pull key elements from the text and to present them in the form of a live drama or digital version.

After much planning, production, and practice, the big day arrived for everyone to share their work. Not surprisingly, there were a number of interpretations of the text being shared and the trailers were being presented and screened. And then it happened.

Whether it was nerves or a case of over-preparation(I think it’s a thing), the majority of presentations shared were not the shiniest outputs from this group. Cue the do-overs. When I suggested this, the students seemed generally wary about it, but I was serious. With some descriptive class feedback, we started over again with much more positive results.

Now think about your classroom? Is there room for the do-over within your walls and halls? Imagine the opportunity to reinforce the idea that failure can still be a positive result when it is used as a stop along the way rather than the final destination to success. I believe that the more we build this into our pedagogy, the more our students will be willing to take chances, make mistakes, and move forward.

Thank you for reading. Please share your “do-over” stories in the comments section below.

March 31, 2018March 31, 2018 Will Gourley Assessment, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, General, Inquiry, Modern Learning, Technology in school, Use of Technology

Define and defying (smart) device use

There’s more to Modern Learning than delivering lessons on to smartphones.
There’s more to Modern Learning than having a paperless class.
There’s more to Modern Learning because there just is…
And I’m fine with that because there is more to Modern Learning.
So much so, that we are seeing more and more educators trying to define it even if others seem to be defying it.

Walk into a K- 8 classroom and you’ll most likely see students and teachers using smartphones, tablets, MS desktops, Apples, and Chromebooks. Perhaps they’re inquiring about a recent lesson, or digging deeper into a passion project during Genius Hour? Maybe the whole class is playing Kahoot with their French teacher?

From a distance it looks amazing. I have been the teacher who has witnessed all of the above and I’ll throw in a Google Classroom, TED Ed Lessons, Padlet, and raise you a Twitter. Can you hear the government types and administrators applauding and patting themselves on the back for allowing it to happen. However the applause should be for the educators who have led the charge to implement Modern Learning into their spaces. They are willing to take risks, try new things, and make mistakes to reach their Modern Learners. Teachers are in the trenches of learning everyday and understand the what, why, and how of their classrooms.

Outside looking in

To outsiders, visions of devices and technology in every hand sum up their understandings of modern learning. A cynic may equate Modern Learning as simply a shift from text books and worksheets to students completing digital versions of the same old thing.

Keep in mind, “Modern learning” is not limited to tech use alone, but will be for this post. Technology in the hands of educators and learners has now become the conduit through which learning takes place. When modern tools and passionate instruction are paired, learning becomes more relevant and engaging to students. Imagine being able to ask a question and have time to search for the answer immediately with only a few keystrokes and clicks?

“Technology’s primary effect is to amplify human forces, so in education, technologies amplify whatever pedagogical capacity is already there.” Jørgen MORTENSEN

Board wide access to WiFi means more and more students are taking notes during lessons using the technology at their fingertips. At the same time, teachers are gathering evidence of learning too. And, still others are watching a cool cat video or streaming music? It’s all possible in the modern learning classroom. However, as many educators have already discovered, the use of smartphones can be a friend and foe in the classroom and comes with a few caveats.

A smart device is a tool in the learning toolbox not a cure all. It is not the only one and as such should never be relied upon for a quick fix or for ushering in the ‘educational renaissance’. Consider what Jason Lodge writes,

Enhancing education is a complex, wicked problem because learning and teaching are multifaceted phenomena, involving biological, technological, psychological, social, economic and pedagogical factors.

Reading this provides little comfort to my understanding of Modern Learning. In fact it leads me deeper down the rabbit hole in pursuit of understanding it better. Despite the wonder promised by all of this technology, students are still engaging with it far more often to connect and communicate rather than curate, create, and collaborate on content.

True story time

The other day I observed a grade 6 student using a device at an inappropriate time. As I approached, she quickly hid it(an iPhone 6+). Like a phablet that size can be hidden. I asked what she was so consumed by on her device that she was defying school policy? She shared it was a fan site for Ariana Grande.

Not the worst use of WiFi by a student, but off topic to be sure. After a few more questions I asked her to explain to me what she liked about Ariana Grande. We chatted about the March For Our Lives rally and about her performance. The convo continued and I got to know more about the student rather than defaulting to a YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER moment, followed by the standard lecture on appropriate use of technology.

Maybe this approach can be considered as Modern Learning too. If not, we can call it Modern Pedagogy that builds relationships and connections before asking students to fall into curricular compliance without context. Maybe Modern Learning has to be willing to defy convention?

By taking the time to discover her interests, some barriers were taken down. It was only afterwards that I suggested that classtime was intended for curriculum, and that I would suggest a Genius Hour activity in the near future where she could combine learning with her personal interest in Ms Grande – all the while helping other students discover, scratch, and share their own intellectual itches.

Another approach

At other schools, students are now required to lock their smartphones away for the learning day as an effort to reduce misuse and device distractions. What the link did not mention was that the school probably has students on computers or tablets as part of the instructional space. Anyone who has booked a computer cart or lab knows that students can become as easily distracted by these tools too.

So what ends up happening are these absolutes and dictums from class to class and school to school. It is obvious that some teachers are more open to embrace this more easily than others. Perhaps it is an admin or system issue, but there does not appear to be a consistent policy about device useage in schools. The dissonance in all of this for me is that we ask our students to innovate, we give them the most amazing and powerful learning/communication devices on the planet and then expect them to be able to put them aside to listen to a lesson that is being pulled from a text book or source older than they are. In other cases, students are creating multi-modal masterpieces of identity and ingenuity.

How about engaging and empowering them to use their devices for everything that is possible, trusting them to make good decisions, and having them create the criteria for use in classrooms? At the same time, educators can model appropriate use by sharing documents, links, updates, and evidence of learning via Twitter or class web sites.

The technology is not going away. The when, where, why, and how it will be used needs some defining so that students are not seen as defying school when they use their devices. Then maybe Modern Learning can be more than just more with technology.

Extra Fuel for your Modern Learning fire;

Teaching in a 1:1 Classroom from John Woodring

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/06/why-technology-alone-wont-fix-schools/394727/

March 20, 2018 Michelle Fenn Communication Tools, Constant Learning, Curriculum Planning, Genius Hour, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, Planning, Professional Learning and Growth, Technology in school, Use of Technology

Twitter EDU

Over the last few years many people have become disgusted and disenchanted with the platform of Twitter. I agree that it can be an echo chamber for those who like to hear their own voice. However, I also know that it can be an effective Professional Learning tool. I have created an entire Professional Learning Network on Twitter because of the people that I chose to follow and I am diligent about blocking people who are spreading unworthy tweets. My Twitter account posts nothing personal. It is about my own professional learning. With Twitter colleagues challenge my thinking regularly. Questions that I have for my educational colleagues are answered immediately and without judgment. Global connections are made easily and then I use these connections to learn with my students.

Let me give you a few examples of how I’ve used Twitter in the classroom. One of my students brought in a rock with a fossil on it from his backyard. We took a photo and tweeted it out to find out if anyone could tell us what it was and the approximate age. Within an hour we heard back from a scientist at the ROM. He had an answer for us and was happy to help. In fact, he told us that corresponding on social media at the ROM as a scientist IS his job! One of the students brought in a mushroom from the woods near their house. We tweeted out to our PLN because they wanted to know whether or not it was edible. We were answered immediately and there were many links to other sites for information that sent us on a further journey into the wonderful world of fungi. Consequently, the advice from our Twitter contact was to never eat anything you find in the woods unless you are a scientist. In music, we were learning the words to a song by the Alternate Routes band and the students asked to tweet the band. They tweeted us back thanking us for the support and encouraging us to keep singing. We found some great classes across Canada to Skype with through Twitter and did mystery number finds with other grade 1 and 2 classes. You get out of Twitter what you are willing to put into it.

I have gotten more out of 15 minute Twitter education chats than I have out of some day long workshops. The educators on Twitter chats are there by choice and they are passionate about education. The questions are specific and the answers are in 140 characters. The best part is, you don’t even have to comment if you don’t feel comfortable. You can just sit back and learn. I have also met these Tweeters in person at IT conferences and taken their workshops. Knowing the presenters ahead of time and having a connection is like going to a concert when you already know the newest album really well; it makes the experience richer and deeper.

Here are a few EDUTweeters that I suggest you follow to get started:

@dougpete @peterskillen @brendasherry @avivalova @mraspinall @sylviaduckworth @Toadmummy (that’s me)

Here are a few #hashtags to follow

#EdchatON #edtechchat #teacheredchat #bfc530

Twitter may not be your thing, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it as your #PLN. I guarantee you will find some ideas for #deeperlearning or #inquiryed.

February 18, 2018February 18, 2018 Michelle Fenn Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Combined Grade Classes, Communication Tools, Constant Learning, Curriculum Planning, Differentiated Instruction, General, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Integration, Literacy, Modern Learning, Professional Learning and Growth, Resources, Technology in school, Use of Technology

Free Creation Apps to Show Student Thinking

I was asked to present a workshop about using technology in the Primary grades over a year ago and got into a debate with the Principal at the host school about apps. The Principal was quite excited about the apps that he intended to purchase for his teachers to use with their students and he showed me his list. I was surprised. None of the apps were creation apps. They were all “practice basic skills and keep kids quiet apps”. I showed him my list of preferred apps. It was his turn to be surprised.

“These apps that you have chosen for the teachers are a lot like fancy worksheets for kids to practice basic skills. Those skills are important, but doing a worksheet on an iPad might be a little more engaging, but it is still a worksheet, and an expensive one at that! The apps that I am going to share with the staff today are all apps that students can choose from to show their thinking in a fun, engaging way that also provides opportunity for feedback and editing.” Unfortunately, he didn’t stay for the workshop.

The main difficulty that I have found with apps is finding something that you can use in schools that doesn’t cost a lot of money and isn’t just a free trial or have “in-app purchases”. I don’t mind paying a few dollars for an app but when you get into the double digits for a school, it isn’t sustainable. I thought I would share a few free creation apps that I have used with both the primary and junior grades. I have also included some samples. None of the samples are done by students, but I can assure you that each of these are quite intuitive and easy even for primary grades to use. Each of the apps has a link to it in the App Store for further information.

Shadow Puppet EDU The name is deceiving and the little white bunny on the app icon is too. It basically provides a video of a slide show in which you can add voice and text. Students can link to the already sourced for copyright pictures provided within the app or take pictures from their iPad or with the camera. The students find this one easy to use but tricky to edit some of the text. It uploads to Seesaw and other platforms easily.

Here is a sample of Puppet EDU:

Padlet I have used this a lot in order to begin a new unit of inquiry on something. It provides a place to put safe links and videos that I have sourced for the students as a starting point and reference. In addition, the students can collaborate their thinking with sticky notes. You can share it publicly with other Padlet users, but we keep ours private at this point. We may share our Padlets with other classes at our school through the use of the QR code and password. The sign is uses a QR code which you can print out. We are using Padlet for our unit on the Olympics. The students will then create their own Padlet to share with classmates on an Olympic event that they will research. Students will be invited to provide feedback to one another. This is a screen capture of our Olympic Padlet:

iBrainstorm This app allows students to add sticky notes, text or hand written notes to templates like Venn Diagrams. In addition, up to 3 other people can be invited to collaborate on the same template in real time. You can take a screen shot and save it to photos. It also uploads to multiple platforms easily.

January 31, 2018 Will Gourley Assessment, Celebrating Success, Differentiated Instruction, Feedback, General, Mental Health, Professional Judgement, wellness

The Downside

It’s a wonderful time of the year…ish. However, there are a few downsides.
Starting with the scary winter weather commutes, bone-chilling outdoor supervision at -16C, or the daily loss of at least a half hour of instructional time while students remove their winter wear or gear up for recess. Today I was convinced that a child went out for recess and returned as a snowman. It was touch and go whether we would need a lifeguard on duty once all of the snow the students brought inside began to melt.

Then, there’s the realization, that maybe, just maybe I missed assessing something for my upcoming report cards. That sent a shiver down my spine. In my mind I just wrote report cards a few weeks ago. 10 weeks is a few, right?

The end of January signals the half way mark of our instructional year and things are clicking in the classroom. We have our routines back in place, students have shown a lot of growth since September, and there is a feeling of hope in the air at times. Maybe that’s tied to the temperature rising a few degrees and for the days when the trek between the portapack and the main building does not require a Sherpa or tethering students to a guide rope. With chilly temperatures, indoor recesses, and daylight still getting longer, this time of year can sneak up on your mental health and well being to blind side you when your not expecting it.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sherpa_Glacier,_Cascades.JPG#file CC BY-SA 4.0

Today, a student was having a bad day. No one saw it coming. I was called into another class to provide support. The student was experiencing an anxiety attack. The entire class was genuinely concerned for them, and offered their support and kind words. Seeing this warmed my heart on a chilly day, but it also screamed about the fragility that exists in our learners. In my opinion, we never get the whole picture of our students lives. Finding time to fit it all in beyond the superficialities is difficult when deadlines and commitments loom.

Although we are in each others’ presence 6+ hours per day, we are often humans doing more so than humans being aware of one another when they are feeling sad, frustrated, or stressed. I am finding it more and more important to let students vent about what is weighing on their minds. Yes, it’s during instructional time, but it is an absolutely integral part of my classroom mental health strategy.

If my students are sharing from their hearts, they will also know they are being heard in a safe and supportive space. If we miss these chances in favour of trudging through the lessons hoping it will just go away, or that the student will get over it in time, then we are at risk of missing our opportunity to help our students when they need us most. There is a downside to this that could lead to depression, disconnection, and despair.

In his 2017 TEDxKitchenerEd Talk, Andrew Campbell shares the reason why he meets his students at the door each day. While watching him share this incredibly personal message, I wondered whether all of the other educators in the theatre wanted to be back at school at that very minute to greet their own students. I know the next day couldn’t come fast enough for me. I wanted to make sure they knew they mattered, that our classroom cared, and that even though we had just started the year, I cared too. It is only through these connections with students that I see any learning made truly possible.

The choice of whether to support, stand still, or dismiss could mean the world of difference to someone who is struggling. Choosing to connect and care over the curriculum at times may be the cure. No downside there.

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018 Laura Bottrell Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, General, Use of Technology

Digital Documentation

Documentation can be one of the most time consuming aspects of teaching Kindergarten and working with young learners. Especially in a program where there are no pencil-paper assessments, but rather the learning is something that is seen and heard.

I found a tool a few years ago that changed the way I document tremendously. Not only is documentation easy, natural and quick – it is inclusive of families and further builds our classroom community.

SeeSaw is an online documentation tool designed for teachers to capture the learning of students through photo, video and audio recording. What makes SeeSaw unique, and in my opinion its best feature, is that it acts as almost a social media tool for engaging parents and families. Here are some ways that SeeSaw is working wonders in my classroom:

SeeSaw is easy and quick, allowing me to capture learning in the moment. I have the app on our classroom iPad as well as my own device. This way, I’ve always got my documentation tool at hand when learning happens. The interface is easy to use and navigate. SeeSaw allows you to create a folder for each individual child, which is visible only to that child and their families. For each entry, I can select individual children, groups of children or post it to the entire class’ journal. SeeSaw allows you to add multiple teachers to the account, which makes co-teaching and collaborating with prep coverage teachers even easier.

SeeSaw has tools that deepen and strengthen learning. After capturing a photo, I have the option draw on top of the photo (even record and replay this drawing), as well as record audio. If I take a photo of a structure a child built in the block centre, I’ll ask them to add a label or verbally describe their creation. I can also record how my students are thinking while writing and view it again later. The opportunities to capture much more than a written sample are endless!

SeeSaw can be used by my students to document their own learning. This takes a little bit of scaffolding, but children as young as Kindergarteners can independently use SeeSaw to document their own learning. In my classroom, we have a designated SeeSaw iPad that children know they can access to take photos and videos of something they are proud of. This is powerful because, even with two educators in the room, we can’t always see everything that happens. At the end of the day, I can scroll through what the children chose to document that day and “approve” their posts to the journal. This provides so much insight into what my students think is important. In the older grades, the opportunities are endless to use this as a tool for paperless assessment.

SeeSaw has become the guide to our “reflecting and connecting” discussions. My favourite time of day is just before we head outside for our second outdoor block, when we all sit down together on the carpet and “see what we saw” – a term coined by one of my year two students! During this time, we scroll through the posts to SeeSaw from that day and talk about them. We might view a photo of an art project done by some students, invite them to talk further about it and then ask the entire group if they might feel inspired to try something similar the next day. This way, my students have a chance to see what other children are doing during the day and be inspired by their ideas. It also allows us to have reflecting and connecting conversations about our experiences. This continues at home, when children and parents can do the same together.

SeeSaw is the “one stop shop” when it comes time for writing the Communication of Learning. When it comes time for assessment and writing reports, I’ve got all of my documentation in one spot. I simply open that child’s folder and then have access to hundreds of photos, video footage and notes that I have entered about that child’s learning and development. I also record my students during their DRA assessments so I can share this with parents and I can refer back to their reading behaviours. This allows me to easily include very personalised information into my comments, including direct quotes from their videos and audio recordings.

SeeSaw brings parents into our classroom and opens doors for family involvement. My favourite thing about SeeSaw is how inclusive it is of families. As I mentioned earlier, it acts almost as a social media platform where parents can view their child’s or class wide content, “like” it and even add comments. The comments build community between families but also acts as a communication line between the child and their parent. If a comment pops up during the day, shortly after I post something, I will share it with the child and then we reply to the comment together. Parents in my class are fully informed about what we’re doing in the classroom and what their child works on during the day. Many parents have told me that it has become a nightly ritual to sit with their child and look at SeeSaw together, discussing the events of the day. Parents love the app because it provides spark points for discussions about what their children are learning, rather than asking what they did that day and being told “nothing!”. SeeSaw also has a messaging tool that allows me to send announcements to families (for reminders, etc) and a private messaging tool that I use for all communication with our families.

SeeSaw is a wonderful tool for all grade levels. So far, I have used it with Kindergarten, 2/3 and 5/6 and have found new and wonderful uses for it in each setting! If you’re looking to try something new with the way you document your students’ learning, I recommend checking out this awesome – and free – app!