Will Gourley Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Modern Learning, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection

Painting with the same brush.

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Underlying
An artist was preparing to paint one day. First, she stretched and secured her canvas over its wooden frame. The artist continued by arranging her brushes, planning a colour scheme, and then by setting up her supplies. Finally, it was time to ponder her subject forever to be captured in a moment of time and occupied space – where her vision would be on display in pigment, oil or acrylic for evermore for all to enjoy.

The artist could already see her finished masterpiece. As if the picture had miraculously painted itself. Without anything left to imagine, conjure, or deliberate she began.

Un-(der) inpired
It was all right there in living, er um, cold dead colour. All she had to do was slather it onto the wintery whitewashed space in waiting. She pulled out the widest brush in her kit, dipped it into the first colour, white, and painted a perfectly straight line across the top of the canvas. She dipped her brush again and repeated, the same thing over and over, with the precision of her first strokes until she has covered the entire canvas. She felt satisfied, but did not have time to admire her work for long. There were 29 more canvases to cover just like the first one. She smiled, sighed, dipped her brush, and started on the next one.  Yet, with a pallet of colours and brushes at the ready, the artist only knew how to paint with a single brush and to use white paint to do her work.

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Under pressure
Does teaching ever seem like this to you? Do educators feel they are asked to paint blank canvases everyday, but are only given one wide brush and a single colour to work with? I wonder whether that is how some teachers have come to feel when a learning system is imposed on them which expects students to be taught to the test?

Teachers plan and prepare their materials to deliver a lesson much like the artist in the story above and in the end are expected to use the broadest brush and one shade of paint. What may be more disappointing, is that many only have time to paint one coat before feeling they have to move on.

Underwhelmed
I am not a huge fan of the traditional textbook. In fact I have called them “knowledge coffins” in the past. When traditional textbooks are at the centre of the instructional day, there is little option for learners to explore beyond its pages.  Yes, it’s all in there, but at what cost are other things and ideas being left out?

First, consider the cost of purchasing texts/licenses per class. Math books alone can range upwards of $1500 to $2000 for a class set per subject. What happens when the curriculum gets revamped like what has recently happened in Ontario with the French(2013), Health/Physical Education(2015), and Social Studies(2013). Could the money schools, boards, and government pour into photocopies and textbooks be used to provide Chromebooks for every student instead? Imagine the cost savings in paper alone. If we did this, every learner from K to 12 could be equipped with a productivity and research tool for the classroom at their fingertips? And, at home too if WiFi is available.

Unrepentant
I am a fan of adaptive and hands on learning environments. In the classroom, I want students to have a voice in how and what they are being taught so we can democratize education. I believe all educators possess the means/ability to transform and tailor their instruction to suit their students. What they need now is a safe place to do so and that’s an issue of system and school leadership.

JFK Paint by Numbers
JFK Paint by Numbers

To paint a portrait of the future, educators need to use the prescribed curriculum as a pallet filled with colours that is not limited to a paint-by-number task. However, many are afraid to use other, less traditional brushes and materials to paint their masterpieces because the outcomes might not look resemble or match work gathering dust on the walls.

Yes, there are things to be taken from the past, but the world outside our classrooms has not remained fixed in space and time. Neither should it remain static inside. The classroom must become a vibrant and connected place where students have access to, and be able to contribute to a world of knowledge.

This requires courage to happen. It requires time for others to understand, accept, and embrace. It doesn’t have to look perfect. The mess is an important part of the process.

Ask yourself what or who inspires you to take chances as a learner? What new idea(s) would you try in your classroom if you knew you couldn’t fail? Start by giving yourself permission to change things up in one subject area, and then go from there.

I’ll be here to chat if you want to talk more about how we can change the portrait of education to a landscape of creativity, differentiation, and encouragement.

In the meantime I have some brushes to clean.

Mike Beetham Celebrating Success, General, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, solidarity

Remembering To Remember

Life is so busy that it sometimes takes an overwhelming effort to make time for yourself, let alone remembering all the sacrifices that have been made that allow us to live in such a free country. Yet we must and we must teach our children so they understand the why of remembering and not just the act of remembering.

Every year we make a concentrated effort to bring the community and school focus on Remembrance Day. Teachers and students put together emotionally compelling presentations to honour the generations from our past that made the ultimate sacrifice to make Canada the country it is. As part of our daily commitment to students we must commit to educating them not only about the world events that lead us to November 11, but also the small, day-to-day acts that make their world safer, healthier and provides them with a seemingly endless list of opportunities.

Take the time to have classroom discussions about the role of police officers, firefighters, physicians, crossing guards and any other key individuals that impact their life. Write letters of thank you and deliver them to those individuals or organizations. As a teacher (and key role model for your students) model for them on a daily basis how remembering can be demonstrated in such small ways as simply saying thank you.

Finally, as a teacher who has been in the profession for over thirty years, I must say thank you to the generations of colleagues before me. They spent days on the picket line, sacrificed family time and were the target of public scrutiny in order to make my profession what it is. I am blessed to have job security, benefits, peace of mind knowing my wife is treated equitably as a teacher and that my working conditions and student learning conditions are constantly being protected. This was not always the way for teachers.

 “Remember For More Than A Day”

Will Gourley Celebrating Success, Challenging Topics, General, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, self reflection, Year End Activities

Start strong. Finish stronger

I write this post as a tribute and thank you to all educators who breathe inspiration into the lives of their students and into one another from September’s strong start to June’s stronger finish.

This post is the completion of a promise after a response reminiscent of a rant  written to address comments in the media about educators. In the spirit of warmth and fuzziness I’ll keep my word(s) positive.

You did it!
10 months in the books, out of the books, torn away from the books, and complete with several second looks. From field trip bookings and to figurative (text)book burnings the school year sparked a 5/6s of a year long fire of growth. And now, as the embers cool, the ash settles, and the warmth fades another year of memories will linger as ember in the mind to be stoked again soon.

Does anyone else feel the same way? I do and know that I’m not alone on this one.

This year, my seventh, which I am privileged to witness many intellectual and life fires lit, fanned, spread wildly, and occasionally control burned. A feat, I am sure, that was accomplished throughout millions of classrooms around the world thanks to incredibly caring educators like you.

Imagine that you were part of the transformation, edification, and education of a student. You helped someone, or several someones, be a part of something, achieve something or realize something they’d never known before? Could there be a more noble calling?

When students arrived in your classroom last September, they were rough around the edges, unsure of what was to come, carrying some of the baggage from the previous year, and full of energy (nervous and otherwise). And from that you set out rough around the edges, unsure of what was to come, carrying some of the baggage from the previous year, and full of energy (nervous and otherwise).

There were times, too many to mention (reports, parent meetings, phone calls, bombed lessons, planning lapses, sick days, and life in general) that required us to dig deep into our vaults to rise above, resolve, and retain our raison d’etre.

And now?

Rest, raise a toast to one another, as I do to you because you started strong and you finished stronger.

Cheers! Santé! Gom bui! Kampai! Prosit! Djam! Mabuhay!
Thank you for the inspiration.

Will

Mike Beetham Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Diverse Learning Needs, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education

Harvesting Our Apples

It is that time of year when I am able to enjoy the labours of my endless hours of worrying, endless hours of commitment and endless hours of planning for my students. We call it our harvest time.

At the beginning of every school year a new group of students come into our program with a variety of dysfunctional behaviours accompanied by a lack of success in school and we always start with the same story. I bring out a group of apples in various conditions and ask them which one would they choose. Of course all of their decisions are based on what they see on the outside. Is it bruised? Is it ripe enough? Does it have the right shape as compared to all the other apples? But yet the best part of the apple is the part that nobody can see, the inside. That is who my students are. They are completely judged by what people see on the outside and from what they have experienced from the outside. Often, past teachers have no opportunity to experience what a wonderful, young person they truly are due to the violent, aggressive behaviour they exhibit. My first question to the students is how do we show people what an amazing person you really are on the inside. How do we show them your best part?

That is the question that was first asked over 10 months ago and after a year of academic and behavioural programming we have arrived at harvest time. They are now being judged for who they truly are and not what they previously looked like. Both the adults and students in Room 16 take great pride and enjoyment during harvest time. In our daily circles we are preparing them for that transition back to the regular world. That begins by revisiting awkward or negative scenarios that took place in our room, except at this time of the year we are able to laugh about it. The students shake their heads in disbelief as they have come so far and changed for the good so much, those past behaviours seem incomprehensible to them (self evaluation at its best).

They then begin to identify which strategies or skills have worked best for them over the year. They make a list of their most effective strategies, expressions or visuals and we put that together into a laminated bookmark. That is taken with them as they transition back to their next academic setting and becomes the foundation for their next year’s success.

I hope you are taking the time to enjoy your harvest time!

Mike Beetham Before School Starts, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education

School Spirit

What is it? Where do you buy it? How much do you need? Who is responsible for it? Several weeks ago I was part of a re-opening ceremony for a former school that I had taught at in the 90’s. That once old, archaic building had been transformed into an architectural state of the art learning environment. As I watched special guests, children and their families and community members arrive you could hear the oohs and ahs as they entered and saw the amazing interior of the school. If you have ever bought a new home, a new car or anything new, you know the excitement that comes with it.

This is where my post shifts gears. It was not the shiny new building. It was not the posh interior that I was in. It was not the formality of the ceremony, nor the speeches, nor the prestigious opening ceremony that had impacted me. What struck me that night was the immediate feeling I had as I entered the building of being a ‘Wildcat’. It had been almost two decades since I was a part of that staff and community. Yet, that feeling of belonging, that feeling of loving to be there and that feeling of comraderie immediately overcame me. Of course the culminating event that cemented that feeling was when a friend and former colleague lead the entire crowd in the long-standing Wildcat cheer. The building erupted into an atmosphere that resembled a pro sporting event.

When I went home that night still on an emotional high I sat and pondered why I had not had that feeling in such a long time. What was it? What caused it to resurface? I have been in many school settings over my career and not every place created that kind of feeling. According to Wikipedia, school spirit is defined as the emotional support for one’s educational institution. There is no curriculum to create it. There is no instruction booklet on how to teach it. There is only the passion and commitment that the teachers bring to their classroom and school.

 

Beverly Papove Making a Difference Through Education, Social Justice, Truth and Reconciliation

“Watch, Listen, and Show Respect”

Last week on a warm Wednesday evening, I had the very good fortune of attending an event where the Honourable Senator Murray Sinclair spoke to an auditorium full of educators and students. Although he has become a senator, he may be better known for the work he did as Chief Justice Sinclair, head of the recently concluded Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which investigated and made recommendations for the government of Canada, following the documents and testimonies of hundreds of survivors of the sad legacy of the Indian Residential School system.

To start the evening, we were all welcomed by a drum group, followed by greetings and prayers from First Nation, Metis, and Inuit elders. As soon as Senator Sinclair took the podium, there was a standing ovation. Even before he spoke to the audience, there was deep respect shown for him and for all he stands for. The immense and comprehensive task he and fellow members of the TRC were responsible for unveils an unbelievably long and dark chapter in Canadian history – a chapter that has only recently begun to be learned about in Canadian schools. This was at the heart of what Senator Sinclair was to speak about and what we had all come to hear. As he began to speak, however, he completely caught us off-guard with the way he introduced himself. For almost twenty minutes, his speech was hilarious, but never irreverent, as he made fun of himself, revealing a side of his persona which one might not otherwise infer, given the critically important role he played as Chief Justice presiding over the traumatizing and cruel personal histories of Indian Residential School Survivors. Instead, here was a man who, along with the humourous asides and wit, shared a warmth and respect for the world. Even if he had not gone on to speak about the role of education in reconciliation, Senator Sinclair would have, none the less, taught us by example how to lead a good life.

His message was clear – education caused the problems affecting Aboriginal families and communities, and education can now be part of the solution. All Canadian citizens need to learn about the history of Indian Residential School schools in Canada. Senator Sinclair suggests our role as educators is to begin by helping our students to do three things; to watch, to listen, and to show respect. We, too, must do the same. It is a simple recommendation to help bring reconciliation to our classrooms and it will mean so much for all our futures if we are able to model and teach our students how to be good listeners and observers, who show respect for all.

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

Students making a difference

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

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

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

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

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

Tisha Nelson General, Inspiring Teachers, Learning in a Real Life Context, Literacy, Making a Difference Through Education

Teaching the Language of Power

Most of the learning I’ve experienced as an elementary school student is a blur. There are few moments, however, that stand out as pivotal and that have helped shape my experiences as an educator today. One of such moments was grade 7. It was in grade 7 that I learned the word mediocre. Before then, I had never encountered this word and once introduced, it was truly a powerful moment for me. In learning this word I was given language to express an idea that I didn’t even know had existed. This is the power of language and this is why I fell in love with words. My fascination with the ways in which words can be intentionally nuanced to convey ideas with such lyrical intensity fascinates me; not only because of the creative ways in which ideas can be constructed, but also because it is a tool for granting access to discourses that without them one would remain silenced. I experienced the power of language but also that language was power. This experience brought me to my journey of engaging my students in the politics of language and exploring ways I could grant them access to platforms of thinking simply by equipping them with the language of power.

More than mere vocabulary boosters, words of the day or word studies, when introduced in meaningful contexts, can not only enrich student vocabularies, but can also give volume to their voices as thinkers, activists and world changers. My journey toward empowering learners with the language of power began in my first year of teaching. It was a grade two class and I was terrified. I had no idea what to do or how to go about it. It seemed like all the learning from my formal teacher education went out the door as soon as the students walked in. I realized I was in trouble when I would speak to my students only to receive blank stares. What I wrestled with was whether or not to make what I was saying more child-friendly or to simply bring the children up to speed and create many teachable moments with the words that I used. The result was the latter and we began an anchor chart entitled “Ms. Nelson’s Fancy-Schmancy Words” where when students stopped me mid-sentence to seek understanding of a specific word I used and it would be added to the list along with its definition and the sentence in which it was used. Now, 7 years later, the anchor charts have evolved into a word wall in which students are constantly identifying not only new words that I used but also introducing ones of their own and adding words they find in the literature they read or listened to on a daily basis. The love for words became contagious and the thirst for learning new ones was intrinsic.

Students were then invited to use words, or the language of power, as tools in exerting voice to an authentic audience. Students were empowered by words when they interviewed all 5 Mayoral Candidates in the 2015 Mayoral Election. Students wrote speeches and presented them as great orators in front of invited community members that included the local crossing guard, a church pastor and family and friends. Students raised awareness by writing blogs about the impact of their social identities and shared these sentiments with the school community. Their words spoke to issues of social justice and coloured the imagination with distinct imagery, was a power to be wielded in the pens and voices of elementary school students.

IMG_0600

Word wall from my Grade 5/6 class: sabotage, aesthetics, logistics, schema, implications profound, trajectory, embrace, chronological, deconstruct, procrastinate, intimidated

 

 

Tisha Nelson Challenging Topics, Diverse Learning Needs, English As Second Language (ESL), English Language Learners (ELLs), General, Making a Difference Through Education, Math, Questioning, self reflection, Social Justice

Is Math Neutral?

The notion of neutrality speaks to the experience of being impartial or unbiased. It speaks to the absence of asserting value, power or privilege over another or the act of being impartial, unprejudiced and nonpartisan in nature. There are many areas of teaching and learning where the existence of prevailing politics is named and sometimes challenged: Whose stories do we include in the social studies/history curricula? What literature is considered to be the cannon? What art forms are considered cultured? But when educators think about the tapestry of math education, this notion of it being neutral tends to be widely agreed upon because of the perceived objectivity and absolutism that characterizes the ideas that are explored. But I wonder…is math really neutral?

“Math is about numbers. Surely it is neutral.”
This year, in supporting English Language Learners in math, I have learned many new Mandarin and Cantonese words from my students. More specifically, I’ve learned the inherent ways that Chinese characters are written to nurture a conceptual understanding of quantity. For example, the number eleven is written 十一 which means “ten-one” or can be understood as “ten plus one”. Similarly, the number twenty is written 二十 which could be understood as “two tens” or “two times ten”. Finally, the number thirty-three is written 三十三 Which could be understood as “three ten and three” or “three times ten plus three”. The fact that the word for the number eleven, when represented in English, has no relationship to the the concept of quantity speaks to the way numbers are represented are not neutral. This discrepancy in language representation speaks to the biased nature numbers are conceptualized through language. Thus proving an inherent bias in the ways in which numbers are conceptualized and number sense is acquired. Similarly, the bias toward English representation of numbers can limit the conceptual understanding of languages that represent numbers in a more conceptually friendly way.

“Math is about problem solving. Every has the capacity to solve problems.”
Consider the following problem: Brandon travels to the city using the subway. Each car seats 30 travelers. How many people might be on the subway if there are 10 cars? What background knowledge might students need to have in order to understand the context yet a alone respond the the problem mathematically? While the problems we pose to our learners may involve numbers that can be calculated and manipulated in flexible ways, the context, when coming from particular experiences, can deny access to the learning that needs to be achieved. In other words, if the context from which we invite students to explore math concepts can be carefully crafted in order for our learners to be able to relate to the ideas, they can also be unintentionally crafted in ways that could limit students access. In this way, contexts are never neutral because they come from a particular place of knowing or experiences that not all students have access to.

So there you have it. I’ve explored two very simple ways bias is experienced in math discourse. The presence of even one form of bias discredits the neutrality of math. If math, a lens for viewing the worlds through numbers, shapes and patterns, can be ladened with bias and politics, what else about the schooling experience share this similar trait?

Kelly.McLaughlin Combined Grade Classes, Constant Learning, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Integration, Learning in a Real Life Context, Making a Difference Through Education, Resources, Students as Teachers, Use of Technology

Tech Talk

I would like to share a new initiative my class is starting at our school Ancaster Meadow.

Our class realized the large need for technology in the classroom. We noticed that students are sometimes unfamiliar with apps that are available for completing work and for presenting learning. We are starting a new program called “Tech Talk” where as a class we travel to classrooms and instead of “Reading Buddies” we will assist the class one on one with apps of the teacher’s choice. We came up with a benchmark of five:

  1. Explain Everything
  2. Kahoot
  3. Weebly
  4. Pic Collage
  5. Prezi

These apps will be explored in detail by my class so when we visit our first class after the break, the break off sessions will be smooth and very productive. We will offer this program to grades two-five and speak to teachers before regarding sign up. Students will be able to explore the apps, prepare a small task and then share it with the whole class. The sessions will be fifty minutes long as that is how long a period is in our school. We hope that students will learn from each other and that everyone will be able to use these apps in the new future. I hope it will be a meaningful experience for my class to teach younger students skills that they already have. I cannot wait for our first trial after the break. I encourage everyone to try this  “Tech Buddies” program and share your experiences as well.