General – Page 43

January 29, 2021February 1, 2021 Will Gourley Challenging Topics, COVID19, Distance learning, Emergency Distance Learning, Engaging students with online learning, General, Mental Health, Modern Learning, Remote Learning, Resilience, self reflection, social emotional learning, Social Media, Teacher Wellness, Teacher Working Conditions, Teaching online, Use of Technology

Per / Con / In / Re – form

Perform
I am wrestling with my thoughts again. In other words, I am restless again. When this happens many questions appear soon thereafter. Is there anyone out there that feels restless too?

I can’t be the only one in questioning a lot of things right now because most days I feel like a busker at a street festival trying to juggle a bowling ball(technology), a chainsaw(lessons), and a fishtank(learners). Nothing to see here other than a fairly confident educator having a tough time with something that he’s done before – delivering lessons.

So why am I struggling to deliver my lessons? It seems like a good place to start. Right now, I am questioning everything about my professional practice, and it feels like running along a path and tripping over an imaginary object. My week long tumbles are not so much about the content I am teaching, but rather how it is being taught, how it is being received, and how it can be assessed. It is leaving me limping into the weekend? Tell me I am not alone right now.

Conform
And then it hits. How long until the realization that some of my students are not completely engaging with learning right now even though their eyes and emotionless emoticons tell me otherwise? After extended times staring at screens and thumbnail sized student/profile memes I can tell my students are becoming exhausted too despite the brave faces that I see popping up on occasion when called upon. Is this happening to anyone else teaching right now? Are your students tired too? I am.

Why am I so tired right now? Shouldn’t getting an extra hour of sleep each night, drinking 2+ litres of water per day, reduced caffeine, reduced personal device time, reading more books, and getting more exercise than in years past be helping me out here? I have even added Tai Chi, Yoga, and Hip Hop Dance to our DPA to increase movement during class time. To top it all off, I take daily walks whether I feel like it or not.

Inform
You see, I force myself to take a walk after each of my hyper-telepresent virtual teaching sessions. Once the goodbyes are done, it is pretty much all I can do to get out of my chair, climb the stairs, and get geared up to go out most days. Especially, when I have to pass by a very comfortable couch whose cushions scream, “Remember us?” It is very tempting, but something even better calls, my daily walks.

Regardless of the weather, these walks are my motivational carrots to keep taking the steps that get me through the many muddy moments along each day’s unpaved path. Knowing that no matter how the day goes, a walk awaits has been all it takes to see me through. Whether a lesson went well or died on the screen in front of me ceases to matter when I inhale that first breath of fresh outdoor air. The exhale feels pretty good too.

You watch enough TV, and very soon the inside of your head has become a vast, arid plain, across which you cannot detect the passage of a thought. Harlan Ellison

So far this year, I have only missed one day of walking. In hindsight it was probably the day that I needed a it most. Instead, I ended up planted on that inviting couch with a bowl of Smartfood staring at our television. Tuned out. Achy. Sullen. Grumpy. Numb. These feelings got me thinking about screens.

Reform
Sci-fi author Harlan Ellison referred to TV as the “glass teat”. He even wrote a couple of books about it. I see parallels to how education is being delivered right now. We need to wean our students off of their screens more and more in order to preserve their minds from numbing and tuning out.

Somewhere along my way outside a struggle ensued about the work I am doing in front of my screen. Is it serving to numb our students over extended periods of time? Will these extended periods of online learning cause irreparable tears in our socio-academic fabric? I am not ready to believe that this is the beginning of the end for in person school and that we are heading for our isolation pods as told in E.M Forster’s The Machine Stops?

We cannot continue feeding content from one glass plate after another and expecting students to grow up smart and healthy. A dear friend suggested that cutting the learning day back to 4 days might be a good idea. Allowing the 5th day for asynchronous activities such as self-directed inquiry and catching up on assignments during the day rather than in the evenings when fatigue sets in. Teachers could easily use that time for office hours, for one on one/small group support, and conferencing. Everyone wins.

Yet to form
This is much more than having the tools to master a domain that has yet to be tamed? Virtual learning means we are virtually learning how to do this while we teach? I can tell you there are few system leaders or consultants that have as much experience as any teachers in this medium, and it has largely been gained through self-teaching and experimentation with their classes.

I worry that too much emphasis has been placed on performance and conformity without serious consideration to being fully informed of the true social, emotional, and physical costs of virtual learning. Teachers, students, and families are feeling the stress from this and without an alternative I fear that there will be problems far greater than being behind on assignments or failing a test.

There is a definite need to refine and reform how we are being asked to serve and support our students. I’d love to take a walk around the neighbourhood with those making decisions on our behalf, share some ideas, listen to one another, breath in some fresh air, and take the steps that would best support students and staff -from a safe distance of course. Maybe if we took away their screens everyone might be able to see eye to eye here about helping to change things for the better, our students.

In the meantime, I think another walk is in order.

December 31, 2020 Shawna Rothgeb-Bird General, Social Media

Follow Recommendations from a Twitter-Obsessed Nerd

I love Twitter. I spend an unhealthy amount of time on Twitter. I know what you might be thinking: “This is a terrible idea. Why would someone be on that site? Isn’t it all trolls?”

Look, reader, you’re not wrong. There are a lot of trolls on Twitter. There are a lot of people who are not very… diplomatic… about how much they hate educators.

But those people aren’t why I’m on Twitter. I mute them (or block the really bad ones) and carry on.

The real reason I’m on Twitter is that there are so many incredible, knowledgeable, passionate educators and education advocates on there who give me a lot of insight into the world, both as an educator and just a human being, that I wouldn’t have otherwise.

It’s hard to know where to start, though. I get that. It took me a few months to build up a feed that I felt was really worthwhile and meaningful. When I look for people to follow, I’m looking for people who challenge my worldview, inspire me, show me how to see the world through a different lens.

There are a few people whose posts I always stop to read when I see them. I want to share a few accounts that I think are worth your time if you’re on Twitter or thinking about joining. I’m not going to try to describe what each Twitter account is about, because I tend to follow people who don’t just post about one thing. I can’t reduce them to one topic, one idea, one thing. They’re people.

These accounts are not educators, but I found them all through #onted (Ontario education) threads and discussions.

In no particular order (well, the order is ‘how they appeared in my Following list as I scrolled it looking for the ones I wanted to mention), here are some great Twitter accounts that I enjoy:

You should check out some of those accounts if you have a few minutes. They’re worth your time. If you have any favourite Twitter accounts that you follow, please let me know!

December 31, 2020 Tammy Axt General, Indigenous Perspectives

Calls to Action for Educators: Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls

As part of the 2019 Final Report on the Inquiry of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, there was a list of calls to action created. As elementary educators our call to action is very clear:

We call upon all elementary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions and education authorities to educate and provide awareness to the public about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people, and about the issues and root causes of violence they experience. All curriculum development and programming should be done in partnership with Indigenous Peoples, especially Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. Such education and awareness must include historical and current truths about the genocide against Indigenous Peoples through state laws, policies, and colonial practices. It should include, but not be limited to, teaching Indigenous history, law, and practices from Indigenous perspectives and the use of Their Voices Will Guide Us with children and youth.

Here are three resources to use in your classroom in 2021 to teach your students about the tragedy of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls:

If I Go Missing by Ojibwe author Brianna Jonnie is an incredible adaptation from a letter that Ms. Jonnie wrote when she was 14 years old to the Winnepeg Police Service. At the time of the letter, Ms. Jonnie implored with the police to “do better” when investigating cases of missing Indigenous peoples. It uses a graphic novel format with incredible artwork by Nshannacappo. The artwork combined with the poignant text tell a very impactful story, especially for those students in the intermediate grades. The book is also incredibly powerful as it challenges the common narratives of Indigenous girls and the messaging about them in the media.

We are More Than Murdered and Missing is an important TED Talk by Tamara Bernard. She shares her personal story of the intergenerational impact of her great grandmother being taken and the legacy of trauma that it had on her family. She also speaks about the portrayal in the media of Indigenous women and girls and how that shapes the self perception of many young Indigenous girls. Ms. Bernard touches on some of the historical policies that created a system for Indigenous women to be devalued. This TED Talk would be valuable as an educator tool or for use in an intermediate classroom.

Their Voices Will Guide Us is an education initiative of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. This Resource is for educators to begin to embed lessons in their program about the systemic causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls in order to take collectively responsibility for their safety. If you are an educator who has wanted to begin to introduce these kinds of lessons but have been hesitant because of lack of knowledge this is an amazing resource for you. It clearly speaks to the need for all educators to continue learning and to not let fear or not knowing everything be a deterrent of starting to introduce this very important topic to your classroom. The educator section is extensive and will provide you with many avenues to continue your learning. The resource also has sections for grades K-4, 5-8 and high school. In each section there are a list of themes that you may want to focus on in your lessons and a list of resources to support your instruction.

December 31, 2020 Tammy Axt General, Special Education

Weekly Plan for Online Learning: Special Education Classroom

Here is the plan for our first week of online instruction in January.

Have a wonderful first week back everyone!!

9:30-10:00 Small group instruction using a combination of Google Jamboards and Boom cards. Below are some pictures of the activities that we will be using.

10:00-10:30 Exercise Time!! All students will join in and do an exercise program to get moving and get our heart rates up!!

Here is my New Year’s Playlist for our excercise time this week:

Exercise:

Warm up/Stretches

20 seconds Running on the spot
20 Jumping Jacks
20 Leg lifts
20 Body Twists
20 push ups on the table or wall

Dance Break

Do at least 1 more set of movement exercises. 2 if time permits

Cool down/Stretches

Remind parents that their child needs a place to move, some running shoes and comfortable clothes. It is going to be a 2021 party!!

10:30-11:00 Morning Meeting- All students gather. We practice communication, math, reading and life skills through a series of slides and songs.

11:00-11:30 Small group instruction: focus on communication, functional mathematics and functional language.

Similar to the first period in the morning we will be using a combination of Boom cards and Google Jamboards. Jamboards are ideal if your students are able to click on a link in the chat box and move to a new page. If your students are unable to do that, Boom cards are a much better option.

11:30-12:30 Lunch

12:30-1:00 Small group instruction:focus on communication, functional mathematics and functional language.

1:00-1:30 Afternoon Meeting- All students gather. We practice communication, math, reading and life skills.

1:30– Art/Creation/Friday Favourites-

Art: We do a simple drawing that works on student’s listening skills and fine motor skills. I have found that having the students use either markers, pencil crayons or crayons works best as everyone has different materials in their home. I use pastels when showing the students as it shows up better on camera.

Creation: With everyone at home, it is time to get out the lego and other materials that work on fine motor skills.

Friday Favourties: What is your favourite sport?- Every Friday we take a poll about some of our favourite things. We graph the results and work on our communication and numeracy skills. Here are a few pictures of previous Friday Favourites.

December 31, 2020 Shawna Rothgeb-Bird General, Local Involvment, self reflection, Why unions matter

A Year in the Life: Collective Bargaining Committee

(This is post #3 in an ongoing series. For earlier posts, click here and here.)

Around two years ago, I did something bold, for me: I put my name forward to run for a non-released position with my local. I’d been my school’s steward for several years by that point and had also attended the annual meeting in Toronto a few times. I’d served four years on a provincial standing committee. It felt like taking a more active leadership role within my local would be a good next step to get involved.

In my local, there are a variety of elected positions available to members, from released officers (our president, VPs, and chief negotiator) to non-released executive positions. The one I chose was the Collective Bargaining Committee – a group comprised of the chief negotiator and twelve others elected by the local. It’s a large committee whose responsibilities are primarily, as you might expect, related to bargaining and defending our collective agreement – but there are other duties, too, which I’ll get into in a minute.

Sending the e-mail to put my name forward was the easy part. Just a push of a button, really. It was everything that came after that which made me nervous. Despite having a job where I stand in front of people and talk all day, despite having done a lot of theatre in my youth, the idea of getting up in front of my local and giving a speech was terrifying. But I did it! I may have put off writing my speech until the last minute, as always, and I may have been petrified the entire time, but I got up there, made my case, and was elected to the CBC.

I’m in the second year of my 3-year term now. I’ve really enjoyed my time serving on the CBC, and boy, what a time I chose to be in this position. Between provincial bargaining, local bargaining, and the pandemic, it’s been… interesting, to say the least.

So, what does a member of the CBC do?

It’s worth noting that all locals have slightly different structures, and the position I have here may not exist in your local. Keep that in mind!

Naturally, our primary responsibility as CBC is to negotiate and administer the local collective agreement. During that process, we meet as a group to discuss membership priorities, collaborate on a preliminary submission for bargaining (our first presentation to the employer of what we’re looking for), and elect representatives from our committee to sit on the table team (the people who are actually there in the room when bargaining is happening).

I have to say, it can be very empowering to see your suggestions actually get put into the preliminary submission that goes to the table. Even if your suggestion feels like a small thing at the time, it’s exciting!

Beyond bargaining, however, we also have other duties throughout our terms. We have several committees which we serve on jointly with our employer, some which are a regular part of our year (such as staffing) and others which are shorter-term. During staffing, we collectively monitor the vacancy lists as they’re posted to ensure that nothing wonky happens along the way. There’s an annual survey sent to members to ensure that the CA is being followed and check in on members’ working conditions (e.g. 20 minute instructional blocks, adequate prep and supervision time, etc.) that we review. We hear about grievances (in vague details, to be clear) and discuss issues that we have heard or witnessed in schools.

We also discuss really important issues during our discussions on bargaining – such as when to go with what the majority of members have asked for and when we have a duty to fight for something even if it isn’t one of the highest-ranked priorities of members. Sometimes, the needs of the few must outweigh the needs of the many, particularly when dealing with equity issues.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I threw my name into the running for this position, but I’m really glad I did. My term will be up at the end of the 2021-22 school year, so I’ll need to decide if I’m going to try for a second term or look for other opportunities. No matter what I decide, though, this has been an incredibly valuable experience that taught me a lot about my local and collective bargaining.

December 30, 2020December 30, 2020 Will Gourley Constant Learning, COVID19, Emergency Distance Learning, General, Indigneous Ways of Knowing, LGBTQ2S, Making a Difference Through Education, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Resilience, self reflection, Student wellbeing, Teacher Wellness, Truth and Reconciliation, Wellbeing, Year End Reflection

Hindsight is…

Please don’t make me finish the title until the last second has ticked off the clock. I may have developed a defensive outlook about this trip around the sun. While I know this Gregorian Calender measurement of time will soon be in the rearview mirror of our lives, it is still a battle avoiding the queasiness and wincing that come when I think about all we have been through in 2020. Can resolutions be far behind?

Dang! I just wrote 2020

My understanding, perhaps acceptance, of this year is coming into clearer focus. It has been an extraordinary year on so many levels, and thus a great opportunity for personal growth. It has also been an educational year because, dang, I learnt a lot.

Dang! I just wrote ‘dang’ again.

I also taught a lot, and despite it feeling like a roller coaster ride from hell along the way, it meant that there were many lessons for me as an educator in 2020 too. Which made me happy to find this quote below after thinking I made it up myself.

“If you are not learning, then you are not teaching.” Vernon L Smith*

A wise and gentle reminder that there was always something new to learn about ourselves, the students we teach, and the world around us during periods of unexpected loss, labour strife, professional uncertainty, and a global crisis. Smith’s words echoing loudly as I type. Here’s my version of it à la René Descartes.

I learn, therefore I am a teacher.

So here is what I learnt from hindsight/2020:

Take time to grieve and offer comfort first when students/families are hurting. The lessons can wait. It hurts to lose a student to senseless violence. Our school felt this very deeply last January.
Sometimes governments do not have the best interests of the population in their actions. Standing up to malfeasance and legislated tyranny is the right and a responsibility of all educators.
Mental health matters more than marks. Students/educators who struggle will not miraculously get better after a call to a helpline or a conversation with a social worker/psychologist. It is a process that takes time and patience before progress. I learned that there is much more to learn in this area to better support students, colleagues, and myself.
Remember that no matter how many times people tell you to take care of yourself first, there have to be reasonable boundaries and supports to make that happen. An encouraging message from admin, a Board Director’s email blast, or the Minister of Ed is not going to suffice. Set your boundaries. Do what you can do within them. Take time to be still. The work can and will wait.
Equity in schools needs to go way beyond a single day in the classroom, Orange/Pink/Purple shirt days are great starting points, but most not become performative events, but rather actionable beginnings to build on everyday in classrooms. There are so many amazing inclusion and equity resources being shared via school boards and social media for educators committed to allyship and activism in areas of Truth and Reconciliation, anti-black racism, LGBTQ2+, and culturally responsive relevant pedagogy. I learned that words in a classroom mean very little if they are not accompanied by opportunities to critically engage learners to become agents of change.
I learned not all educators are ready to confront their privilege and unearned advantage. I also learned that acknowledging my own privilege comes with the responsibility to examine my pedagogy and practice. It is a chance to unlearn, learn, and then teach.
If you are going to move into emergency distance learning within a short period of time, take it slow and make sure you have an ergonomic work space for those extended hours of screen time ahead. I learned that not all students have the same amounts of available space or bandwidth required for virtual school. I also had to accept that some students checked out the moment learning became asynchronous.
Rethink, question, iterate, bend, blend, and break everything you have done in the past to teach. Say goodbye to “we’ve always done it this way thinking”. Reimagine your reading lists, your math instruction, your use of worksheets, your classroom management, and your assessment approaches. This will not be easy, but it will be worth it. Embrace the discomfort. Learn from it, and then teach forward knowing 2020 taught us all so much.

Thank you for a wonderful year at the speed of education. Please feel free to add what 2020 taught you in the comments below. Cheers to you all, and to a safe trip around the sun in 2021.

* There is comfort in the knowledge that the quote above is attributed to a Nobel Prize winning thinker because before checking, I thought the words above were mined straight out of my mind. Needless to say, I am happy to share a common thought in esteemed company. Searching out the source of the quote also allowed me to discover some of Smith’s other vast body of work in economics.

December 29, 2020December 29, 2020 Kelly.McLaughlin e-learning, Engaging students with online learning, General, self reflection, Teaching online, Wellbeing, Year End Reflection

New Year’s Resolutions

Hello all and I hope you had a lovely Christmas with whomever you were “allowed” to surround yourself with.I spent the holidays with my close family and enjoyed some quality time at home this year rather than visiting our favourite mouse in Florida. We are thankfully booked in for next Christmas as we are hoping the world will be almost back to normal by then or at least it will be safe to travel.

As we look forward to 2021, I find myself thinking about that time of year when everyone makes some resolutions for the new year. Mine have always been teaching related. Whether it be creating a fundraiser, making a basketball event for the school, planning soccer tournaments or this time last year, we were looking toward to the strike hopefully ending. Being virtual this year and knowing that we are in another lockdown, I find it hard to plan short term. Therefore, I am thinking about making long-term personal goals this year.

To see friends and family more. I think during the regular year I am always focused on what I want to do. The pandemic has allowed for lots of “me time” so I will look forward to planning gatherings with all of the new babies that were just born in my friend circle. Sadly I have not held any of the new babies as they were all born in June, July, November and two weeks ago!
I will also look forward to re-booking a trip with my sister which was cancelled March Break 2020. I was so looking forward to travelling with her and hope to re-book soon.
I look forward to re-doing the backyard of my new home. When I bought this house two months ago, the only thing which needed fixing was the backyard so I look forward to doing that in spring 2021, along with building a deck.

I hope everyone else is looking at the future in a hopeful way and not feeling too sad/stressed with the second lockdown in effect. I am interested in hearing from any virtual teachers if they have any exciting first week back activities. I find it hard to plan during the two week break and always leave it towards the end. I was thinking of continuing with my Monday morning activity “Brag, drag and goal” and maybe I will make that goal a New Year’s Resolution for my students as well. I also start off every new year with an essay writing activity about the MVP of the previous year. I always find a good youtube video about famous people who had a successful year in whatever field they are in. Then, students brainstorm who they nominate and write an essay about why they deserve the award. This is a fun but educational way to wrap up the previous year.

Let me know if there is anything else you have planned 🙂

Wishing everyone a happy new year and here’s to more moments with friends and family in 2021!

December 29, 2020 Will Gourley Constant Learning, COVID19, Emergency Distance Learning, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Resilience, self reflection, Year End Reflection

2020 – the roller coaster no one in education asked to ride

Please secure any loose items and keep your hands inside the car at all times.
Do not exit the ride until it comes to a full and complete stop.

Most of the time the exhilaration of a fast fun paced ride, filled with brief mind boggling G-forces, would come next. At an amusement park perhaps, but it is 2020 after all, and this ain’t your average roller coaster of a year. From the get go, it was destined to be different as it was determined to distinguish itself from the decades of other “normal” years before it. To add even more gravity to the moment, we all had take this ride, and hold on for dear life regardless of height. I want to share what it felt like for me this year.

Instead of the fun and excitement that might normally have been anticipated, this year felt more like being in a time warped slow motion sequence while being suffocated inside of a dumpster that was on fire and rolling down a steep mountain. WEEEE! quickly gave way to AAAGHH!!!

Everytime I opened the lid of my own flaming dumpster car to look out at 2020, I saw flashes of things to grieve, endure, flee, confront, fix, stretch, and learn from.

It was as if the ride was designed to keep going non-stop and at a nauseating speed while everyone was expected to remain strapped in and trying not to lose what they brought on the ride. At times, it felt like working in a vacuum. My lungs empty of air while my mind and body rush up and over the same structure over and over again.

2020 AsAroLLerCoaSTerInEDucaTIon

A year.
A strike.
A job action.
A global pandemic.
A great deal of uncertainty.
A move to emergency distance learning.
A realization that not everything is equitable.
A lack of direction, support and resources at times.
A realization that things may never be the same again.
A new virtual space to occupy, connect, and teach within.
A nagging concern that students may not be coping with this.
A continuous uncertainty around teaching in September.
A cautious return to the classroom – or virtual school.
A heightened vigilance around masks and sanitizing.
A disruptive reorganization with new schedules.
A newly updated math curriculum added in.
A cough that clears crowded classrooms.
A constant need for mask checks.
A need to maintain distances.
A muting mask and shield.
A gasp for fresh air.
A firm resolve.
A bit of hope.
A new year.
A dream.

As this ride finally runs out of track, I’m thankful to be physically in one piece, but still in need of greater peace of mind over this winter break. Recovering from this ride is going to take time. While figuratively staggering off of this year’s roller coaster, I am already heading back to the line to wait and go again.

Looking back on the past 52 weeks of this ride, I am trying to see how this year shaped my personal practice as an educator. I mean, the 2020 roller coaster possessed all the thrilling twists, stomach churning turns, dizzying highs, and sinking lows which no one could have expected. It came as no surprise then that enjoying the ride, catching my breath, or being able to re-orient myself relative to the world around me would not come easy. Despite it all, I find myself resolved to bend, blend or break what has been my instructional practice in order to do better in 2021.

It is perhaps because of this discombobulation, I have questioned everything that I have ever done as an educator. Stay tuned to see where this goes.

In the meantime expressions of gratitude, encouragement, and optimism to all educators who held on through the tumultuous ride that was education in 2020. You have indeed been the models of grace, resilience, resolve, creativity, persistance, and integrity in our profession. You have been inspirations to me whenever I lifted the lid of my flaming dumpster car to look out and take a breath. I’m looking forward to teaching in 2021 because of y0u.

November 30, 2020December 9, 2020 Will Gourley Assessment and Evaluation, Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, General, Modern Learning, Resources

Brutalist worksheets

Have you ever seen something that made you wonder whether it’s sole purpose was to make you feel small or insignificant? I don’t mean this in feelgood sort of humbling way like you might ponder a mountain’s majesty or an ocean’s depth. I mean, the way you feel uneasy when looking at a decades old worksheet from a resource 20 to 25 years past its pedogogical prime – where thought and creativity were never part of its iterations. I’m talking about copy after copy of soul sucking work pages given to students only to be regurgitated upon with rote facts and little, if any, critical thought. Let’s call them Brutalist worksheets because, like the architecture, they make the learner to feel small, and powerless, and the learning devoid of inspiration.

Over the years, I have found a number of Brutalist offerings left behind in the photo-copiers, and they make me shudder a bit to think that they were destined for students’ desks and to inevitable irrelevance shortly thereafter. I’d like to say this is a long distant memory, but it is still happening in 2020.

20 years into 21st Century learning and brutalist worksheets are still being shared. But first a bit about Brutalism.

Minds On

In the creative world of architecture there are several styles that have pervaded through history. We have remnants of the Victorian, Mid-Century Modern, Art Deco, and Modernist eras that occupy much of the past century and its edifices. There is another that cannot be overlooked because of it’s austere, raw, and imposing nature, Brutalism.

Brutalism, but this is a blog for teachers? Why are we having an architecture lesson? Why not? After all, design is design and the way that we construct, craft, curate, and create content for our students matters. It is inconceivable to think it can be done without consideration of the learners we are teaching or without differentiation.

Imagine a stark and unwelcoming piece of paper that seems as if it’s sole intention is to crush your spirit. Next, think of a page full of Math calculation questions that you have been handed, and are now expected to complete before the 2 or 3 minute timer goes off. Think of a different, but equally oppressive Math sheet with instructions, but no guiding example or room to show your thinking? Think of a double-sided sheet of French -er, ir, and -re verbs to conjugate. Brutal and absolutely intended as rote busy work to keep students from being their best.

I was visting a school a few years back and came across a teacher with a stack of photocopies at least 1500 pages or more in total. I asked if this was for a whole school letter to which they replied that it was for their classroom followed by, “You have to keep ’em busy somehow.” I walked away very sad at that moment and have tried to hang on to that interaction as a reminder of what not to do.

Brutalism in our profession has no business in any of our classroom resources. In fact, we need to seriously consider the function and purpose of everything we are printing for students. It starts by cleaning out the cabinets and binders that contain outdated worksheets. I know it means having to start fresh for some, but imagine the potential for deeper learning rather than a time filler destined for the recycle bin? Perhaps doing this over the course of the year will make it less daunting. With so many digital tools at our fingertips now, creating and updating content is easier than those Xerox days of yore.

Our shift to digital learning has allowed many of us to curate constructive content with links that are informative and interactive. There are also environmental and financial benefits from avoiding copy after copy too. With a suite of apps and productivity tools. Teachers can create these spaces from a trove of templates and fellow educators who are willing to share. No need for TPT here.*

Start with the incredible digital resources being shared from your school board and from a cohort of amazing educators via Twitter. I know that PeelDSB, TDSB, DurhamDSB, and YRDSB have provided many excellent resources to their staff, and am sure there are more boards out there doing the same for theirs. If you want to start your own, you can always check out Ditch that Textbook, Mathigon, Shukes and Giff, TV Ontario, and TED Ed for ideas. If you have a favourite, please share in the comments below.

All that I ask is that you resist the urge to hit the copy button without considering the content you intend to share with students. Will it make them feel insignificant and under-inspired? Then you might have a brutalist worksheet in your hands and it might be time to go back to the drawing board to design something inviting and engaging to students as modern learners.

* I always think of toilet paper when I see TPT. Sorry, not sorry.

November 30, 2020November 30, 2020 Shawna Rothgeb-Bird General

This Year’s Teaching Adventure: Minecraft

Every year, I seem to take on at least one new thing to try in the classroom. I’m definitely guilty of jumping into things with both feet – and sometimes, just sometimes, taking on a bit too much at once.

This year, I’m trying to limit myself to one “big” new thing. My school board just granted us access to Minecraft: Education Edition, so that’s where all of my creative energy seems to be going this year.

I can’t imagine there’s anyone left who doesn’t know what Minecraft is in a general sense. What you may not have considered previously is that Minecraft: Education Edition provides all kinds of really interesting opportunities for student learning in a highly engaging context.

I can’t say it’s been smooth sailing. Every time Minecraft gets an update, the game seems to be blocked on my board’s network again – which, this year in particular, can take a few weeks to get sorted out depending on how busy the IT department is. But the game itself is very easy to learn and runs on a wide variety of devices.

My students LOVE Minecraft. Every day, they ask if they’ll have some time to play. I’m quite familiar with the game as I’ve played the standard edition at home for a few years, but using it in the classroom is a brand new adventure.

Our first foray into the game involved working with a group to create a treehouse. It was a low-stress way to introduce students to the game without too many expectations. It also provided an opportunity to work in a bit of oral language, as students could then show their completed treehouse to the class and give everyone a tour.

I learned a few things quickly:

If I host the game and then leave it running while I work with other students, my Minecraft students WILL create elaborate structures around me as a (harmless!) joke. I have now been encased in glass, built into a tree, had a hot tub built around me, and been set on fire multiple times (both by accident and on purpose).
If I don’t provide clear guidelines for what they are doing, they will quickly throw something together that they think satisfies the requirements and then disappear, having gone off in search of treasure and discovery.

For our second big task, I had students design houses that would fit into 10×10 grids. I used one of the worlds built by the Minecraft team – called Starter Town for those interested – and showed the class the town we would be creating together. I assigned them each a plot of land in the world where they would build their house.

The world with our town in it also contains many other things to explore and discover. This week, I assigned them a scavenger hunt within the town and surrounding area. Not only does it encourage them to go off exploring and learn about in-game features, it also allows me to work in a bit of French reading, as they have to follow clues to know what to look for in the world.

Before I set them loose in the town to build their houses and explore, we discussed our digital community and what sorts of behaviours supported our community or hindered it. Students signed to acknowledge that they knew the expectations as members of the community.

My students are still hard at work building their houses, but they already have two dozen ideas for other things they think the town needs. When we finish, we plan to invite other classes in our school to visit our town and maybe do a scavenger hunt of their own. Eventually, we’d like to find some opportunities to collaborate with other classes in a shared world – we miss working with other classes in the school!

I’m really looking forward to finding more ways to integrate Minecraft into the classroom. If you’re also using Minecraft, what kinds of things are you doing with your students?