We Stand Together Display
Carmen.Oliveira Equity, Inquiry, Integration, Learning in a Real Life Context, Literacy, Questioning, Social Justice

Learning While Making a Difference

The last month has been a whirlwind of learning and creating social action in our classroom!  It is amazing how a simple learning goal can transform into an inquiry project that takes us and our students to another level of understanding.  Of course, those are the most unforgettable experiences which often lead to continual exploration and questioning.  Let me explain…

As part of our Grade 6 unit on Native Peoples, I decided to have students look at  history through different perspectives.  This meant that we explored their culture, customs, and stories through their eyes.  At the same time, students were reading a Silver Birch book entitled “Shannen and the Dream for a School” by Janet Wilson describing the journey taken by an Aboriginal teen living in Attawapiskat who fought to have a new school built after the old one was torn down only to sadly lose her life in a bus accident before seeing her dream become reality.  Coincidentally, I received an invitation for my class to take part in an enrichment program headed by Free the Children’s Craig Kielburger and the Paul Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative (MAEI).  The We Stand Together initiative would have students explore Aboriginal issues facing communities today while also learning about and celebrating their culture.  This invitation could not have come at a better time for us and what unfolded was an inquiry project based around the topic of equity in education for all Canadian students.

The excitement and engagement became immediately palpable once my students felt that what they had studied began to manifest into a relevant and current topic that could bring together so many different people from such diverse backgrounds and cultures.  Our learning became embedded into the Arts by exploring Aboriginal art, listening to Aboriginal music, and appreciating their different styles of dance.  We looked at the issue of residential schools and how that impacted Aboriginal children and their families.  Students decided to create a display case in the hallway of the school providing information about inequitable education practices and what we planned to do to make a difference.  We also kept a learning log which the students are very proud of because they can see the journey they’ve taken throughout the inquiry.  Presently, students are writing letters to the MP for Attawapiskat, the Right Honourable Paul Martin, and Craig Kielburger to let them know how they feel and what they plan to do.  We are creating a book and video to send to the students of Attawapiskat to simply let them know that they are not forgotten and that students in places like Scarborough are working to bring awareness to the issue and have committed to doing their best to help influence the decision to finally build the school they’ve been promised so many times before.

Our inquiry will be presented at a school assembly this month and even though the students are proud of what they’ve learned and hope to do in the future to make a difference, ultimately, they’ve come to the realization that the questions just keep coming and the journey continues.  As one student commented, “I can’t believe I’m learning about this happening in my own country.  I used to think that only other countries had unfair laws or ways of treating their people.  I like learning about the history but it’s great that I can make a difference so it doesn’t happen again.”

Students decided that they would all read "Shannen and the Dream for a School"

 

Students learning about the current issues faced by Aboriginal students

 

Students sharing ideas using an Aboriginal custom called "Circle Talk"

 

Proud to show the display case providing information for the school
Photo of Roz Geridis
Roz.Geridis Building Inclusion, Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning About Your Students, Questioning

Wait time

The other day I was reading through Professional Speaking (our OCT magazine). I came across a little piece on wait time and it reminded me of a situation and comment from a colleague last year. I was a model classroom for a combined grade social studies lesson. While I was teaching my lesson, I utilized my wait time with the students throughout my lesson. Upon completion of the lesson, during our debrief session, the Instructional Leader highlighted my wait time. Which developed a fantastic discussion amongst the teachers. Some of the comments were about how long I waited, thought no one was going to answer, how quiet the room was, how proud and surprised many colleagues were about the rich classroom discussion developed due to enough wait time.

Wait time is something which is very important. The first few students who are ready to answer the questions are the students who may not need wait time and are ready to answer most questions. However, by using wait time we allow many students (if not all) an opportunity to process the question and gather information to answer the question. We also know that most students are ready to move on in the lesson and are not left behind still thinking about the question or answer.

A strategy I use to help keep the students focused is I asked the question a second time, the third time I will rephrase the question. Also, sometimes I may need to help activate the prior learning by using some guided questions. Every year I use wait time. Some years I have to wait longer than others but all my students know they need to be engaged and paying attention to the lesson and classroom discussions.

 

 

Photo of Tina Ginglo
Tina.Ginglo Assessment, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, Literacy, Planning, Questioning, Use of Technology

Using Audio for Self-Assessment

I have added a new layer to the writing process in my third-grade writing workshop.  As I wrote in a past post, our writing workshop process begins with students writing in their Writer’s Notebooks.  When a writer completes a piece of writing, they then meet with their assigned writing partner and/or me for a writing conference.  At this conference, writers review the success criteria for their writing assignment and then identify two ways in which they have successfully met the criteria.  Writers then identify one criterion that needs to be developed further. They then transfer their writing to their laptop keeping in mind the feedback they received and making their revisions as they type their second draft.  Ultimately, writers post their narratives in their writing group on Edmodo.com where they receive more feedback from their group members.

Using Audacity software and a set of headphones with microphone, my third graders have learned how to read and record their personal narratives.  Once recorded, students listen back.  They then ask themselves two questions:  “In what ways does my story sound like a real story?”  And “In what ways can I make my story sound more like a real story?”  Students enthusiastically record their stories.  This component of the writing process engages those auditory learners who could benefit from this new component of the writing process.

I have changed the way I phrase these reflection questions.  At first I instructed students to ask themselves, “Does my story sound like a real story? Yes or no?”  If yes, why does it sound like a real story? If no, why not?”  I found that this self-assessment exercise wasn’t making a significant difference in their writing.   I concluded that it wasn’t the process that was ineffective, but the questions I was asking writers to consider.   These yes/no questions left writers basically rating their narratives as “good” or “bad.”  Their narratives either sounded “real” or didn’t.  These questions didn’t allow students to identify the strengths in their narratives and where it could sound better.  Realistically, all of my writers’ stories sounded a tad real, some more so than others. The goal here is to make everyone’s writing sound better. Using these new questions should ultimately improve the writers’ craft.

I am also thinking of adding audio to the writing conferences with writing partners and teacher.  Some students struggle to give feedback on other students’ writing for a number of reasons.  Perhaps a student’s penmanship is difficult to read or spelling or punctuation is interfering with comprehension.  Listening to a story as it is intended to sound eliminates those barriers to comprehension.

I am proud of my third graders.  Each day they are becoming more independent writers.  I believe the secret to their success is that the students understand the flow of our writing workshop and, thanks to clear success criteria, they can identify their strengths as writers.   They see themselves as writers!   I am fortunate to have access to audio technology.  In reality, you don’t need computers or even headphones to make this happen in your classroom.   You can go “old school” with a mini cassette recorder.   Some old cell phones have recording devices.  One of our goals is to teach our writers to write like readers and read like writers.  Using audio is one way to get there!