Inspiring Teachers

August 22, 2018August 22, 2018 Deb Weston Advocacy for change, English Language Learners (ELLs), Inspiring Teachers, Social Justice

Welcoming Refugees … by any other name

Turned Away: Tale of St. Louis and the fate of its 907 German Jews.

Welcoming Refugees by any other name

While reading the Toronto Star, I came across an article by Martin Regg Cohn writing about his experience meeting refugees making their way through the Vermont forest into Canada. This made me think about black slaves coming to Canada through the Underground Railroad beginning in the late 1700s. This further got me thinking about all the people who have come to Canada seeking refuge after being forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, natural disaster or just to find a secure place to live and raise their family.

Canada (and its previous names of British North America, Upper and Lower Canada, and New France), has always been a destination for refuge. Today and before confederation in 1967, our nation would not have grown in population or diversity without the seekers of refuge. There’s been significant waves of refugee seekers over Canada’s last 250 years. I was surprised at the extend of the list!

This is a partial list from the Government of Canada’s Canada: A History of Refuge

1776: 3,000 Black Loyalists, among them freemen and slaves, fled the oppression of the American Revolution.

1783: Sir Guy Carleton, Governor of the British Province of Quebec, and later to become Lord Dorchester, safely transported 35,000 Loyalist refugees.

1789: Lord Dorchester, Governor-in-Chief of British North America, gave official recognition to the “First Loyalists” – those loyal to the Crown who fled the oppression of the American Revolution to settle in Nova Scotia and Quebec.

1793: Upper Canada became the first province in the British Empire to abolish slavery. In turn, over the course of the 19th century, thousands of black slaves escaped from the United States and came to Canada with the aid of the Underground Railroad, a Christian anti-slavery network.

Late 1700s: Scots Highlanders, refugees of the Highland Clearances during the modernization of Scotland, settled in Canada.

1830: Polish refugees fled to Canada to escape Russian oppression.

1845-1851: Irish refugees escaping the Great Potato Famine.

1880-1914: Italians escaped the ravages of Italy’s unification as farmers were driven off their land as a result of the new Italian state reforms.

1880-1914: Thousands of persecuted Jews, fleeing pogroms in the Pale of Settlement, sought refuge in Canada.

1891: The migration of 170,000 Ukrainians began, mainly to flee oppression from areas under Austro-Hungarian rule, marking the first wave of Ukrainians seeking refuge in Canada. 1920-1939: The second wave of Ukrainians fled from Communism, civil war and Soviet occupation. 1945-1952: The third wave of Ukrainians fled Communist rule.

1947-1952: 250,000 displaced persons (DPs) from Central and Eastern Europe came to Canada, victims of both National Socialism (Nazism) and Communism, and Soviet occupation.

1950s: Canada admitted Palestinian Arabs, driven from their homeland by the Israeli-Arab war of 1948.

1950s-1970s: A significant influx of Middle Eastern and North African Jews fled to Canada.

1956: 37,000 Hungarians escaped Soviet tyranny and found refuge in Canada.

1960s: Chinese refugees fled the Communist violence of the Cultural Revolution.

1968-1969: 11,000 Czech refugees fled the Soviet and Warsaw Pact Communist invasion.

1970s: 7,000 Chilean and other Latin American refugees were allowed to stay in Canada after the violent overthrow of Salvador Allende’s government in 1973.

1970-1990: Deprived of political and religious freedom, 20,000 Soviet Jews settled in Canada.

1971: After decades of being denied adequate political representation in the central Pakistani government, thousands of Bengali Muslims came to Canada at the outbreak of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

1971-1972: Canada admitted some 228 Tibetans. These refugees, along with their fellow countrymen, were fleeing their homeland after China occupied it in 1959.

1972-1973: Following Idi Amin’s expulsion of Ugandan Asians, 7,000 Ismaili Muslims fled and were brought to Canada.

1979 -1980: More than 60,000 Boat People found refuge in Canada after the Communist victory in the Vietnam War.

1980s: Khmer Cambodians, victims of the Communist regime and the aftershocks of Communist victory in the Vietnam War, fled to Canada.

1990s: By the 1990s, asylum seekers came to Canada from all over the world, particularly Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa.

1992: 5,000 Bosnian Muslims were admitted to Canada to escape the ethnic cleansing in the Yugoslav Civil War.

1999: Canada airlifted more than 5,000 Kosovars, most of whom were Muslim, to safety.

2006: Canada resettled over 3,900 Karen refugees from refugee camps in Thailand.

2008: Canada began the process of resettling more than 5,000 Bhutanese refugees over five years.

2015: Close to 6,600 Bhutanese refugees arrived in Canada. Canada completes a seven-year commitment and welcomes more than 23,000 Iraqi refugees. Canada commits to and begins resettling 25,000 Syrian refugees.

2017: Canada announces historical increases in multiyear resettled refugee admissions targets, as well as new commitments for resettling refugees from Africa and the Middle-East.

2018: Canada resettled more than 1,300 survivors of Daesh in 2017 and 2018.

If it were not for Canada’s generosity to refugees and immigrants, my mother’s family would not have made it to Canada. Her family consists of Scots Highlanders escaping the Highland Clearance in 1830, British Loyalists and Quakers refusing to participate in the War of 1812, and Irish refugee escaping the starvation of the Potato Famine between 1845-1851. My Northern Irish immigrant father, on the other hand, was escaping bad business deals.

Canada, as a place, has not always been generous to refugees. In 1939, the William Lyon Mackenzie King government turned away 900 Jews escaping Nazis rule in order “to keep this part of the continent free from unrest and from too great an intermixture of foreign strains of blood” (Prime Minister King, 1939). Note that a third of these Jewish refugees died in concentration camps. During World War 2, Canada allowed less than 5,000 Jews into the country – a small quantity considering the numbers for the United States (200,000), Great Britain (195,000), Argentina (50,000), and Brazil (27,000) welcoming Jews into their countries.

In what we now call Canada, British governments created their own refugees through the expulsion of the thriving community of Acadians in 1755 and the ongoing expulsion of indigenous peoples from their traditional lands.

Be aware, that once settled in Canada, people were not safe from human rights violations. In 1941, 22,000 Japanese Canadians were interned in camps along with 660 Germans and 480 Italians. My very intelligent mother-in-law lost her opportunity to complete her high school education after being interned in Lemon Creek, B.C. Many of the internees were born in Canada but were treated as foreigners. The Chinese, who’s hands build Canada’s first national railroad, paid a Chinese only Head Tax for every person entering Canada between 1885 and 1923.

Given its history of welcoming refugees, why is there such a great debate about the current refugee crisis in Canada? If I look at the past refugees and immigrants, a great deal of immigrants could be classified as WASP – White Anglo Saxon Protestants who spoke English. Canada has opened its doors for non British, non English or French speaking refugees and immigrants. In the early 1950s, Canada welcomed my children’s grandparents from Yugoslavia. All the families and relatives lived in one house until each family could afford to buy their own house (this is not unlike what some families do today). The Yugoslavians did not speak English, but they were White.

As classroom teachers, we know who is coming into our country as it is evident from our classroom compositions. I often share that if it were not for refugees and immigrants, I would not have a job as a teacher. I have taught many refugees from all over the world including Africa, Bosnia, Kosovo, Thailand, Syria, Iraq and the Middle East. I have been honoured to teach them and to hear their stories.

I believe that the current refugees are receiving pushback from some Canadians (i.e. who’s families were also immigrants and refugees) because many of the refugees coming to Canada are not White. I believe that this pushback is solely due to racism.

Refugees and immigrants, regardless of place, time, or label, sacrifice everything for a chance at a better life when they set foot in Canada. When talking about human rights in my classroom, I always remind my students that if we do not stand up for the human rights of others, ours could be at risk.

If Canadians allow for the discrimination against our current refugees, we are setting ourselves up for a future of more discrimination, regardless of status in Canada. Do Canadians really want to repeat the tale of the St. Louis and the fate of its 907 German Jews? More recently, do Canadians want to see more children like 3 year old Syrian-Kurdish Alan Kurdi lose their lives while their families seek more secure places to live?

This blog is dedicated to the refugees I had the honour to support as a Red Cross volunteer this summer. I wish you all success in your new country, Canada.

Collaboratively Yours,

Deb Weston

References

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2018/08/20/my-border-encounter-with-a-migrant-family.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/canada-role/timeline.html

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1174272-canada-turned-away-jewish-refugees

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_head_tax_in_Canada

https://www.dummies.com/education/history/world-history/canadian-history-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Alan_Kurdi

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.

June 30, 2018 Arianna Lambert Inspiring Teachers, Occasional Teachers, Professional Learning and Growth, Social Justice, Use of Technology

Summer Professional Learning

The summer is here and if you are anything like me, it’s the perfect time for some professional learning. Ok…well maybe after the long weekend so at least you’ve had a bit of time to unwind from a hectic month at school. You may be wondering, “what’s out there this summer for me to learn?”. Well, here are 2 great opportunities that I am excited to be a part of this summer.

MakerEdTO – Every year, during the first week of July, educators who are excited about Making get together for the MakerEdTo Conference which is held at the York School. From inspiring keynotes to hands-on sessions, this is a conference that I’ve been inspired by for the last couple of years. What I appreciate most is having the time and space to play and talk with colleagues about applications in the classroom in order to get new ideas for the following year. Maker Festival Toronto is also happening July 7th & 8th at the Toronto Public Library.

ETFO’S Summer Academy – With over 55 courses this year, ETFO’s Summer Academy has something for every teacher who is looking for more than just a day workshop but rather an opportunity to network and connect with like-minded educators for 3-day courses on topics from Kindergarten to Design Thinking and Technology to Mathematics. I’ve been fortunate enough to learn from some of these amazing educators and I’m certain that you’ll leave feeling excited about trying something new or more confident about a specific area in your teaching practice. I’m facilitating courses on Getting Started with G Suite Edu in Stratford on July 17th, 18th & 19th and Empowering Students Through Design Thinking on July 31st, August 1, & 2nd. Consider joining me!

Prefer to do some professional learning on your own? ETFO has amazing Resources that are available. From resources for Occasional Teachers to resources and Book Lists on Social Justice topics, there is such a wide variety of information available for reading on your own time.

This summer, I hope that you take some time for yourself to rest, relax and enjoy the beautiful weather and if – like me – you get the professional learning bug, seize the opportunity and enjoy it!

June 10, 2018June 10, 2018 Kelly.McLaughlin Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Combined Grade Classes, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, Flexible Classroom, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, self reflection, Student Ownership

Flexible Classroom/Schedule a huge success!

The other day in my grade 4/5 class I decided to try a flexible schedule day where students would have the list of subjects available to them on the board with specific tasks under each subject. This is how the day unfolded.

Students entered the room after French and were confused by the fact that the schedule board was blank. Some of them right away started reading the black board and noticed the various subject headings. Under each heading it said grade four and grade five. The subject choices (which are the subjects that I teach on my one day LTO) were: social studies, music, math and library. In library, they are writing their own books right now so that was a writing choice.

I explained to my students that from 9:30 until 3:10, they would have the choice to pick whatever task they wanted and that they could move on when they wanted. If they completed a task, they could come hand it in to me or hand it in on google classroom. On the board I specified which tasks were to be done on google classroom. The only task on the board that required direct instruction was the grade five math task. When students were selecting that task, I asked them to come see me so I could explain it. This happened every so often throughout the day if students chose math.

I also put a “self regulation/independent work” challenge into the day where I told the class if I noticed them working hard and not getting off task, I would give them a green happy face in my app (which I have previously explained) called iDoceo. Before each break, they could come check in with me to ask how many happy faces they had.

At the end of the day, students were able to reflect on the entire experience. Here are the comments directly from the students.

Students comments about their flexible schedule/task day:

I liked the various choices of subjects
I liked how the option to switch when I wanted was there
This allowed us to get things done in our own timing
If you finished early with one task, you could move onto the other without asking what to do next
I liked the flow of free choice
There was no “have to” involved, I loved the flow of free choice
More time to finish things
“You are basically treating us like high school students”

Of my 25 students, all 25 raised their hand when I asked “How many of you prefer this type of schedule to the schedule we usually have?” The schedule we usually have is 60 minutes math, 80 minutes social studies, 40 minutes music..etc.

These were the students comments about the competition where they were asked to stay on task and work responsibly and they would be rewarded with a green smiley face in my app if they were working well:

The smiley faces made us work harder, they were good motivation
I loved the competition aspect of the day
Something to try for rather than just working
I liked finding out how many I had before each break
It reminded me of a race because you would still get smiley faces even if you didn’t win at the end of the day but you still had finished the race
Some people like competition so you can think about it like that or you could just work like usual
Makes you try different things

I really encourage all educators to try this flexible schedule thing! It was just a way of me looking for students that could handle the independent work challenge. The flexible schedule thing came to me while I was looking for a way to challenge students to stay on task and to work independently. I will definitely try this again next week as the kids LOVED it and as you can read, they loved the pressure free environment it allowed them to work in.

May 31, 2018May 31, 2018 Michelle Fenn Constant Learning, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Professional Learning and Growth, Resilience, wellness

Teacher Guilt

I have felt guilty about my job since the first year that I started teaching. I have always felt that I did not do enough, didn’t contact parents enough, didn’t make it fun enough, didn’t write down observations or assessments enough, didn’t do enough intervention with those struggling readers, writers, mathematicians, didn’t do all of the wonderful Pinterest extras, didn’t go above and beyond enough, didn’t volunteer for enough extra curricular activities, didn’t give enough timely critical feedback, didn’t document behaviour enough, didn’t post enough on Seesaw and the big one is not feeling like I get enough work done on the weekend. When I told a colleague about this recently he said, “If you were only doing half of the things that you do, you would still be working harder than me and a whole bunch of your colleagues!” I thought to myself, “Really? I thought everyone else was working harder and doing more than I was and seemed to have it all together.” The truth of it is though, most of us feel like I do and we feel the same way about our colleagues. Rationally, I know that we can’t “do” it all. However, I somehow feel that I might if I just keep trying! Crazy, right?

I lamented to a friend recently that I don’t get enough done on a weekend and always feel guilty on Sunday night. “I have 48 hours every weekend. You’d think I’d be able to get something done! I manage to watch Netflix and read my book. Why do I feel like such a lazy teacher every Sunday night?” Her wise answer was this, “You think you have 48 hours to do work? I suggest you write down what you do in a weekend, write everything down from sleeping to eating to doing the laundry and driving your son around. You’ll see you don’t have 48 hours to do work. You also need to balance with family time and self care. Reading your book or watching Netflix is not being a lazy teacher. It is practicing self care.” So, I did it. I wrote down everything I did in a weekend. Guess what? I had precisely 3-4 hours to do some teacher type work which is on average the amount of work I do practically every weekend.

Social media keeps me connected with friends and family all over the world. Sometimes, however, it also becomes a land mine for guilt. I find myself thinking, “I should be doing that or what a great idea!” I used to send home a hand painted pumpkin at Halloween and hand painted Christmas decorations for every student every year. When I stopped doing it, no one said a word. That is not what the students remember me for years later. They remember the connection and the relationship. They remember my quirky sense of humour and the hand puppet named Butch who is a little irreverent and likes to use the word underwear in whatever song it will fit. I have discovered that I’m not the Pinterest teacher and I have to be okay with that.

After20+ years of teaching I still struggle in thinking that I haven’t done enough but I’m trying to look at all of the things that we have accomplished this year rather than all of the “great ideas” on the many lists that I didn’t accomplish. I will cut myself some slack. I will look at self care as a positive and necessary thing and not a lazy one. On the lists I make now I will put family time first, accompanied by good sleeping habits and good eating habits. Keeping me healthy makes me a better teacher and a better person. So if you struggle like I do, here is a video that a friend suggested to me to help me get through those negative self-talk times when I feel that I am not enough.

Stop It.

You won’t regret watching it. I promise it will make you smile.

April 27, 2018 Arianna Lambert Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Science, Student Ownership

Science Through Inquiry

I’ve always been excited about Science. Believe it or not, as a child it was my dream to become a Pediatrician. In High School, that dream was slightly crushed by my Grade 11 Chemistry and Grade 12 Co-op teacher who said that I would be a better teacher than Scientist. I thought that if perhaps she had stuck to Science rather than teaching, I may not have been so terrible at it. But that conversation also sparked in me something that made me want to prove her wrong. I went on to get a degree in Science, worked for a chiropractor and then did Pancreas Cancer Research. And then, I got on with my true passion – teaching.

I say this because I think in a very real way, we have the power to be able to shape our students’ interests. If we make a topic or subject engaging, they are more likely to embrace it. If we offer tools to allow them to think critically, collaborate and problem solve, then no matter the content, they can transfer those skills and embrace new learning opportunities.

I remember my experiences and that conversation with my Science/Co-op Teacher vidly because I said that if ever I became a teacher, I would never teach Science in the same way. As a beginning teacher, I think that I did. I taught based on what I remember learning which was through a textbook or worksheets with a few experiments sprinkled in. I wasn’t doing much better because I found myself again mirroring the content-delivery that I was familiar with. It wasn’t until I learned about and understood the power of inquiry that my practice was able to change.

4 years ago I had the privilege of working at John A. Leslie Public School with some amazing teachers who were on a journey through inquiry and looking at how it might be done in the whole school through the theme of water. Classes from Kindergarten through grade 8 were engaged in allowing students to question and explore their own interests related to water. From exploring pollution in the Great Garbage Patch to investigating water scarcity in different parts of the world, – including Canada – students were learning about Science in meaningful ways. Seeing the messiness but high engagement of inquiry allowed for me to make the shift and I haven’t looked back since.

Currently, I teach grade 5 Science and my students have been working on their own inquiry related to Human Body Systems. In the beginning, we watched a few brief videos identifying the systems and their interconnectedness. From that point, students were asked to consider a rich question to investigate related to our learning. Almost every student came up with a different question and they have been investigating them. We’re now at the stage where students are creating artifacts of their learning. Some are creating websites that will host their information for others. Some are creating slides presentations, while other are creating models. Some are even choosing to do a combination of a model and presentation.

During our classes, students are the ones directing what they need to do in order to complete their tasks. They’re collaborating with peers for feedback and to share their information as they learn. They have choice in how they wish to present their learning to others and are excited about doing it in their own way. The process isn’t always as straightforward and sometimes I wish there were more of me to go around and conference with students, but when students are engaged in and learning about something that is meaningful to them, I find it to be the best type of work.

Here’s to hoping that through inquiry, students can find an entry point into the wonderful world of Science.

April 27, 2018 Arianna Lambert Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Music, The Arts

Our Journey In Music

Last month I blogged about Music and Identity and asked you to stay tuned because my students and I were on a mission to dig a little deeper into the power of song. Well, this month, we did just that. In my last blog, I was really excited to have the opportunity to be interviewed by Noa Daniel for the Personal Playlist Podcast and wondered how I might do something similar in my classroom with students as we were in the process of better understanding identity and the characteristics that shape who we are.

On a bright and sunny – well…maybe it really wasn’t bright or sunny – Monday morning, I shared my own Personal Playlist Podcast with students and asked them to consider their own three songs that would be considered notstalic, descriptive of their identity, and a pick me up. What made that morning bright and sunny was how eager students were to jump into it and find songs that resonated with them based on the 3 categories. As students spoke with one another, listened to song choices and read lyrics, there was a buzz in the room and it amazed me because while I know the power of music, it was evident right in that moment that students were really coming alive and energized to share about parts of themselves through song.

From songs like Brave by Sara Bareilles to This Is Me by Kesha, students were pulling out and sharing lyrics that were meaningful to them. It sparked conversations from some of my most introverted students about how they were feeling and what they were experiencing. In Brave, one student mentioned liking these lyrics:

“Innocence, your history of silence

Won’t do you any good

Did you think it would?

Let your words be anything but empty

Why don’t you tell them the truth?”

She stated that everyone should consider the power of their words, not only to bring others down but to be able to bring about change and to really stand up for who you are. This was the starting point for a discussion on when we hear something or see something that isn’t right, we should say something and not only that, make sure that you are living the words that you are speaking. It was very powerful and resonated with these lyrics from This Is Me:

“I am brave, I am bruised

I am who I’m meant to be, this is me

Look out ’cause here I come

And I’m marching on to the beat I drum

I’m not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me”

The student who shared this song mentioned wanting to be brave although it is sometimes difficult because we are bruised by the words and actions of others. We spoke about marching to beat of our own drums and how it is sometimes hard because it isn’t always accepted or embraced by others. We spoke about the challenges that exist when we want to be seen and yet we are so afraid to stand out. How do we become those who make no apologies for who we are?

As if that wasn’t powerful enough, the sharing grew even deeper when our Co-op student shared her playlist which included a song that wasn’t in English. I assumed that it went without saying that students could choose songs in a different language but because I wasn’t explicit, students stuck to songs they knew in English. When she shared her choices, the room erupted with, “Well, I know this song that my mom used to play to me when I was younger. Listen to this…”. All of a sudden, students were sharing about themselves, their families and their histories through songs from different cultures and languages. Whether or not their peers understood the lyrics to the song, they understood the meaning behind it through the help of their peer. All of a sudden, it was connecting on a deeper level. Music really transcends all boundaries.

A few minutes before the bell rang for recess an announcement came on to say that it was an indoor recess due to the rain. There was no groan this time and students were eager to continue on sharing their Personal Playlist.

I have to thank Noa Daniel for the experience and connecting me back to music in a deeper way and ultimately allowing for my students to share their experiences through music. We’re in the process of writing a musical for tdsbCREATES on identity and our time spent examining our own song choices are really guiding us as we start to write our own lyrics to the songs in our musical.

March 29, 2018March 29, 2018 Arianna Lambert Challenging Topics, Equity, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, The Arts

Music & Identity

This past week, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Noa Daniel for the Personal Playlist Podcast on VoicEd. I was asked to identify 3 songs to share: one that held a nostalgic value; one that gave a sense of identity; and one that motivates me. Even though Noa was kind enough to give me a lot of notice, it was difficult for me to find the right songs. When I did, it was amazing how they spoke to different aspect of me and had me thinking about how music is such a powerful tool for allowing us to be able to express our identities and sometimes say things that we have difficulty expressing. I started wondering how something like this might impact my students.

This year, our school was selected to participate in tdsbCREATES which is a program that connects local artists to classrooms in our board in order to shine a light on the Arts and careers in the Arts. Our Artist is a musician who has worked with schools to create the 10-minute musical. This year’s theme is Narratives of NOW – it’s about you, it’s about the world, it’s about time! Immediately, I thought about current issues in the world around us and how students have been speaking up to be able to create change. I also thought about the fact that change usually comes when we identify with a specific issue and so we have started to look at identity and how we might be able to use music to express our own identities and in our understanding of others around us. Today, students had the chance to use a Padlet to be able to add their thoughts on identity after having some time to consider for themselves by making notes in their journals. Many students said that identity is something that we can’t change and is a part of us and that our identities are what makes us unique. They determined that parts of your identity could be based on gender, sexual orientation, race, background, religion and family status. We came to the conclusion that there are many facets to our identities and that there are no two people that can have exact identities because they may also be impacted by lived experiences. It was such a deep discussion and sadly, we had to cut it short for recess.

Thinking about the work that we are about to do with our artist and my recent experience with Noa, my next step might be to get students to consider a song that speaks to their identity and to share the lyrics with us. I think we’ve gotten to the point in our class where we have a sense of respect for one another so that the sharing of songs may be valued and may help us to grow in our understanding of one another. I would be interested in seeing what songs resonate with them and the reasons why. I would also be interested in unpacking the lyrics – considering we will be writing our own for our musical – and seeing how lyrics to a song speak specifically to areas of identity.

I always feel as though I end my blog posts asking you to stay tuned but please do! Next month we will be getting deep into our tdsbCREATES project and I will be blogging about our progress.

Interested in hearing my personal playlist? Check it out this Monday, April 2nd, 2018 at 8:00am and at 7:30pm.

March 29, 2018 Arianna Lambert Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Math, Modern Learning, Play-Based Learning, Students as Teachers, Use of Technology

Digital Breakouts

Escape Rooms have been all the rage as of late. Over the past couple of years, I’ve learned about and used breakouts in my classroom to engage students and as a tool in assessment for and assessment as learning. Essentially, it’s a Google Slides presentation or a Google Site where there are links to different elements of learning and a form where students or colleagues can enter their responses.

Last week, I was fortunate to work with an amazing group of teachers during #TinkeringThursdays and we spent the time breaking out and considering applications for the classroom. I have to say that students tend to be a little more resilient in trying to solve problems but in this process, it was interesting to see teachers as learners and to consider what students might experience when presented with tasks that challenge them and push them to problem solve.

Breakouts with students

As mentioned before, I enjoy using Breakouts as assessment for and assessment as learning. For me, it allows me to see whether or not my students can apply some of their learning to solve puzzles collaboratively. A couple of weeks ago, I worked on a decimal breakout with my students as a means for assessment for learning. I wanted to understand what they already knew about decimals. Now I used this breakout before with students who were a little further along in their learning and it was great to see that my current group of students took the time to view the videos in order to learn or understand a concept in a deeper way, whereas my previous students were more able to apply their learning to solve the problems. Either way, there was the support needed to help guide them as they problem solved. When we work on breakouts, I usually have students work in groups of 2 or 3 so that they have the opportunity to collaborate and possibly look at a problem from a different perspective.

Breakouts with colleagues

Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to present sessions on Digital Breakouts to colleagues and it’s been so much fun. In each session, we start with a breakout and I’ve seen this as a great way to engage in learning in a fun way. This got me thinking about how we might be able to use breakouts to engage colleagues in new learning in staff meetings or PD sessions. Rather than having information delivered, could this be a tool where we – like our students – discover and learn on our own? I’m starting to think about more applications for breakouts with colleagues so stay tuned!

Next Steps

While writing this blog, I started to think about gamification in the classroom. How might it engage some learners and what might the implications be for students who truly enjoy learning in this way? It also had me thinking that it was great that students had an experience in learning though a breakout, but what’s next? How might we use student-created games to not only facilitate their own learning but collaborative learning in our classrooms? My next step is to get my students to start creating their own and getting them to consider how they develop their questions and how they determine what information might be helpful to others solving the problems in their games. Again, I’ll keep you posted. In the meanwhile, if you’re interested in trying the breakout that we used for #TinkeringThursdays, click on the image below. The last couple of slides have important information on creating your own.

Also, please feel free to share how you are using games – like breakouts – in your classroom for student learning or learning with colleagues. I would love to hear from you!