Kelly.McLaughlin Challenging Topics, Distance learning, Mental Health, Teaching online, Wellbeing

Bell Let’s Talk Day

Yesterday was Bell Let’s Talk Day which, as we know, is a great chance to engage in mental health conversations in our classroom. In my grade seven classroom, we opened up by discussing what the quote “It’s okay to not be okay” meant to everyone. Students were excited to open up and share about ideas of what they could do when they feel sad, bored, lonely, etc. Here are some coping strategies they shared with their classmates:

  • put on headphones and listen to music
  • relax in their room
  • write in a journal
  • talk to friends
  • play video games
  • spend time with a pet
  • take a break

It was great to hear so many students sharing ways they cope with a bad situation or a sad day. Some grade sevens expressed that they had never felt sad or alone which is great, but I still mentioned that these strategies will be useful if you ever happen to feel that way in the future.

During our morning discussion about Bell Let’s Talk Day, why it exists and how people donate, some students shared that they felt mental health had been swept under the rug at their homeschools. They had never discussed the importance of talking about their mental well being or felt there wasn’t room for these conversations in the past. One student even went as far to say that this is the most comfortable he has ever felt in a classroom. A classroom that is 100% virtual, taking away all challenges that a physical classroom may present. I was very relieved to hear this as being virtual since September, I often struggle with the thought that none of these students will ever feel a connection to myself or their classmates. That comment made me think otherwise. I truly think that for the first time, some of these students can be their true, authentic self.

Throughout the day, we watched the Michael Buble video that donates 5 cents to mental health initiatives, we discussed how being physically active can help with mental health issues and we also talked about how there is always someone to talk to if you are feeling sad. One of my students even shared some important phone numbers in our chat that could help if someone was feeling overwhelmed.

One of my colleagues went as far as to call Kids Help Phone with her class and her students were able to ask them some important questions. They had great discussions about how old you have to be to call, what you could do if you were feeling sad and even what to do if you call and do not know. I thought that was a great idea and I look forward to calling them next year.

Mental health is so important to discuss in our  classrooms, especially in remote setting as well as in light of the events of the past year. We need to know our students are okay and we need to let them know it’s okay if they aren’t. I don’t like that I know more about what my students know in math, science, etc. than about their mental well being. For that reason, last week I did a survey where I asked students to use one word to describe their feelings when coming to remote school each day. This was an anonymous survey so I feel that my students answered this as honestly as they could. Here were the results:
13/33- happy, excited or fabulous
4/33- tired
1/33- bored
2/33- confused
5/33- 0kay
8/33- did not respond to this question

We discussed these results as a class and students shared ideas of how to help the students who felt confused, bored, tired, etc. We talked about how it was great that so many people are happy but we should look to how to connect to the other students who are feeling something else. One of my students brought that up on her own and we had a great discussion about how we can create the best environment possible.

I want to continue doing morning check-ins to ask about their evening and how they are feeling. I will continue to create surveys where they can submit private concerns to me so that I can help them feel okay each day. I will make sure to put a higher emphasis on feeling confident, happy and comfortable next term. I have a great group of students who are excited each day to express their concerns and share their feelings. I encourage everyone who is nervous to ask these challenging questions or talk about the harder to approach topics to do so with their class. You will see how grateful your students are after these real-life discussions.

Hope everyone has someone to talk to during these challenging times.

Kelly.McLaughlin 21st Century Learning, Black Lives Matter, Challenging Topics, COVID19, Distance learning, Mental Health, Remote Learning, self reflection, Social Justice, Students as Teachers, Teaching online, Wellbeing

At a loss for words

Did anyone else have a very hard time before class Thursday, January 7th?

Thinking about how to start discussing the terrorist attacks in the United States on Wednesday, January 6th? I spent the entire evening feeling sick about the whole situation. Then, an entirely new wave of anxiety came over me knowing that I would need to address it with my grade seven students.

At first I reached out to fellow intermediate educators, asking them how they were going to start this challenging discussion. They mentioned breakout groups, article readings and then discussions. Then I spoke to some friends about it who helped me come up with careful and sensitive things to say. In this profession, it is hard to speak about these topics (without being political) and to do so in a calm and professional manner. This attack was something that was devastating towards many people, especially BLM activists who were attacked with tear gas, etc. when they peacefully protesting in 2020.

The morning of January 7th arrived and class had begun. I always start the day with morning music and I found it appropriate to play the song “Where is the Love?” by the Black Eyed Peas. I found some of my students did not know what had happened the night before. A student in my class asked to speak on the mic and inform them about the terrorist attacks on the US Capitol. That student spoke very well and did a good job informing anyone who did not see the news, instagram, twitter or other social media platforms. I spoke about it for a while and explained the importance of positive role models/leaders in societies. Followers will always act on behalf of their leaders and this led to a discussion about positive leaders and how they have positively inspired change (Greta Thunberg, David Suzuki, etc.) Our conversation lasted about thirty minutes and was mostly student-led. Many grade sevens came on the mic to share their thoughts and they all did so in a respectful and calm way. Many students expressed their sadness for families that had children going through many things in the past year: forest fires, a pandemic, the death of Georg Floyd, the violent police response to BLM protestors, remote learning, election issues and then, this. We talked about how we are merely watching from Canada but imagine being in that city during this event, worrying about what may happen to you and your family. My favourite part of the discussion was when one of my students expressed her gratitude for talking about the situation rather than pretending it never happened and going about our day. This made me feel that the discussion had gone well and reaffirmed my thoughts about why current events cannot be swept under the rug (especially with intermediate students). We eventually went on with our day after first checking with all students, making sure that they were okay to move on from the challenging topic.

This week, we received an Emergency Alert on Thursday that informed us we are in a State of Emergency and a stay-at-home order is now in effect. This came during class time and many of my students own phones. We discussed what this means and I made sure to answer any questions students may have had. I discussed how the return to school date had been pushed back (that does not matter to us as we are always a remote class), plus the outdoor gathering size had changed to five and also, just to try their best to only leave home for important reasons. We had a great conversation about how the word “exercise” was now added as a reason to leave home. We continued a discussion about how mental health relates to exercise. This had tied in nicely to our healthy living presentations which had been going on during the week. We talked about how important it was that the government acknowledged that leaving your home for a walk or a run was an important thing to do.

After all the discussions were said and done, we did get back to our usual topics but as we know, the mental health of our students is the most important topic and we should always do our best to check in. This is especially important as we continue to learn online, with little to no face- to-face interactions with our students.

I am hoping everyone had a great start to 2021 so far and all that challenging conversations went as smoothly as they could go. I know I was extremely anxious about the conversations but I shouldn’t have been because my students prove to me time and time again their maturity and positive attitude towards their learning and overall outlook on our world.

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.

  1. 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!
  2. 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.
  3. 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!

 

Kelly.McLaughlin Teaching online

Teaching in Small Groups

Every day when teaching remotely, I worry when I do not hear from a student for the entire day. Either they did not post in the chat that day or they did not turn on their microphone. I often wonder if they are even there. I had to think of something to reach every child and to have at least one small contact with these “non-participants” once a week.

 

Thankfully, my board had a guest speaker at our last staff meeting and I was able to hear about a great idea to start small groups. You create small meetings for six students per day. I meet with these students at the beginning of our language meeting and we meet for thirty minutes. I had to think of fun animal names and it is the new norm that they join that call rather than joining our larger meeting. The first week was an introduction to our media literacy unit, last week was reading a newsela article about Sarah Fuller being the first female in a Power Five football game and this week, we will do fun holiday activities. 

 

During these group meetings, I encourage students to use their microphone rather than their chat. It is an intimate setting where I leave my camera on and it feels like small groups in the physical classroom. Students that are nervous to participate in the larger setting get a chance to shine now. They are doing much better in this setting and I am looking forward to hearing from them during this time. Even some of our students who have been anxious to turn on their microphone have made it their goal to speak in the small group meetings. I made sure to group the students that participate the most in a group together so that the students who haven’t been participating as much have time to share their ideas in their group.

 

I look forward to extending this idea during math periods and continuing to set up these meetings for students who are involved in group meetings for science or other subjects.

 

 I am really excited to continue trying things that have been working for other remote teachers and keep posting the ideas that have been working for me. I am getting really used to the online platform and although I do miss the face to face connections, I am loving this new and innovative way of teaching! 

 

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all. I hope the well deserved break will recharge us for an exciting (and hopefully less dramatic) New Year!

Melissa Turnbull 21st Century Learning, Building Inclusion, Constant Learning, Distance learning, Inclusion, Occasional Teachers, Teaching online

Occasional Teaching Online (part 1 of 3): My Realization

Full Remote Learning or FRL for short. 

A concept that I had never even imagined myself being a part of in the position of the teacher. Remote learning for post-secondary students was something I was familiar with. In fact, I was learning myself remotely as a Master of Professional Education student, but how would this be possible with children?

I applaud any and all people who have dedicated themselves to ensuring Ontario’s students are safe, engaged and happy during this extremely challenging school year. Educators have put in countless hours and ongoing efforts to reimagine their classrooms (whether they are virtual or face-to-face) all while keeping student’s needs at the forefront of their priorities. This pandemic has forced us all to stop and think and required us to view the world through a lens in which we never have before. Each person with their own perspectives, hardships, wins and realizations. Each person has their own narrative, each educator has a different experience. Personally, my emotions are running higher this year as I feel more nervous, uneasy, confused and overwhelmed than I ever have before. 

 

“The realization that life is absurd cannot be an end, but only a beginning” – Albert Camus

 

I am constantly reflecting on my teaching practice and how I can adapt to new changes, learn from them, grow with them and ‘realize’ from them.

In early October, I picked up my first supply call for FRL. I had no idea what to expect. How would I enter this classroom community and have a positive impact on these students? How do I ensure students are provided with chances for sharing? Collaboration? How do I ensure a safe space for students to take chances, ask questions and make mistakes in the era of ‘muting’ your microphones?

The resilience of children never ceases to amaze me. Here we are as educators feeling unsure, uncomfortable even, as students join in as though they have done this 100 times in the past. Teaching and learning online has reminded me to never underestimate the power of connection. Just a few days ago, I was teaching in an FRL grade 5 classroom where a new student had joined the class that same day. Before our scheduled ‘recess’ time, one of the students in the class asked me if he and the new student could remain online with me for a couple of minutes so he could introduce himself. When the rest of the class had left the Google Meet and the three of us remained, he said “Hey! Do you wanna be my friend?” and the conversation blossomed from there. 

 

THIS. 

 

It was at this moment I had a realization. It became apparent to me that we cannot stop children’s will to connect, drive for relationships and the innocence in their hearts. Nothing will stop this. Not removing them from the physical school building, not the transition to learning online, not wearing a mask, not social distancing, not a pandemic. Nothing.

Arianna Lambert COVID19, Distance learning, Engaging students with online learning, Field Trips, Science, Teaching online, Technology in school, The Arts, Use of Technology

Virtual Field Trips: Connecting With the World Beyond the Classroom

The pandemic has changed the ways in which we can explore the world around us. Rather than being able to sign up to go on a field trip, many educators are opting for virtual field trips. With so many options out there, how might we ensure that we use these opportunities to connect it back to the learning in the classroom and to life in general? I ask this because I’ve been guilty of giving students these links to get them to simply explore but I wonder if there is more that we might do with these incredible opportunities. In this post, I’ll share a few ideas that I have.

Zoos & Aquariums

The San Diego Zoo and Ripley’s Aquarium are 2 sites for virtual field trips related to zoos and aquariums. I have to admit, these creatures are amazing to look at and I think it’s incredible that we have the opportunity to watch them live. 

While watching, it got me thinking about a debate we had in class several years ago about zoos.  After researching a variety of animal habitats, we used found materials to create our own zoo of sorts in our classroom. Students were tasked with determining what conditions needed for their animal of choice to survive and to build their habitat. Once all of the habitats were created, we organized the animals into areas that we thought made sense based on their needs. It was pretty cool and it led us to start talking about animals in their real habitats and in zoos. 

We researched and discussed differing opinions and feelings about zoos. 

A zoo supporter might say:

  • The zoo is a fantastic place to learn about and see animals from different parts of the world.
  • Zoos help to keep animals safe so that they don’t become in danger of extinction.
  • Zoos help to take care of animals who may become sick.  In the wild, these sick animals may die.
  • Because of pollution and deforestation, animals are having a hard time finding food.  Animals in zoos are well fed and taken care of.

Someone who is against zoos may say:

  • Zoos don’t teach us much about animals because the animals there don’t act the way they would in the forest, jungle, or ocean, where they belong. We can learn more about animals by reading books or watching wildlife programs on TV.
  • Animals are not happy in zoos. They want to be free to walk, run, fly, climb, hunt, and have families. There simply isn’t enough room for them in the habitats that are created at the zoo. 
  • When a zoo doesn’t want an animal anymore, the animal gets killed or sold to another zoo and might have to travel far away by boat, truck, or plane.

After sharing these ideas, students were asked to reflect on a couple of questions, and as a part of our classroom blog, they shared their thoughts and debated their points with their peers. The questions were:

  1. What kinds of things do animals need to be happy? Do you think animals in zoos get all these things? Why or why not? 
  2. Think about the animals you’ve seen at the zoo. Do you think there is somewhere else they would rather be? Something else they would rather be doing? Why or why not?
  3. Do you support zoos? Why or why not?

There was a lot of healthy debate going back and forth as students justified their answers about whether or not they supported zoos. 

Not only might heading on these virtual field trips be a great way for students to see animals they may not have seen before, but it may also be a great start to conversations around the need for zoos and aquariums and the ethics behind them. 

Museums & Art

Art has always been of interest to me. From studying Art from a particular part of the world to understanding how art is connected to culture, so much can be said by looking at a painting or sculpture. Here are a few sites that I’ve explored with students:

  • Christi Belcourt – Christi Belcourt is a Métis artist with a deep respect for Mother Earth, the traditions, and the knowledge of her people.  In addition to her paintings, she is known as an environmentalist and advocate for the lands, waters, and Indigenous peoples
  • Tomb of Menna – Located in Luxor, the tomb of Menna is known for the colorful and well-preserved paintings that adorn the chapel walls.
  • The Canadian Museum of History – The mandate of the museum is “to enhance Canadians’ knowledge, understanding and appreciation of events, experiences, people, and objects that reflect and have shaped Canada’s history and identity, and also to enhance their awareness of world history and cultures.”
  • The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology – Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the study of ancient life.
  • The Aga Khan Museum – The Aga Khan Museum presents and collects art from historically significant Muslim civilizations as well as contemporary Muslim communities and diasporas around the world.

When exploring museums and art, I’ve asked students to reflect on pieces that stand out to them and to explain why they were of particular interest. I’ve also had students consider the elements of art – line, shape, texture, form, space, colour, and value – and how the artist used the elements to evoke particular emotions or feelings. I also tend to ask students if there is a particular style that they can attribute to the artists and consider learning more about their particular style. I’ve mentioned before that art is connected to culture. Perhaps posing a question such as, “Is art shaped by culture or is culture shaped by art?”, might spark meaningful conversations around the connection between the two.

Science

Ok…zoos and aquariums fit under this category too. Here are a couple of virtual field trips that my students enjoyed related to physical and earth sciences. 

  • Slime in Space – This is a 15-minute virtual field trip to outer space to see how slime, and water, react in a microgravity environment.
  • Hawaii’s Volcanoes – Take a trip back in time to explore the land shaped by the world’s most active volcanoes.

Everyone loves slime. Ok…well…maybe not everyone. I’ll admit. I’m not a fan. When I stumbled upon the link to Slime in Space, it got me thinking about the time I had a student teach the class how to make slime. It was an opportunity to see the connection between procedural writing for a science experiment and an exercise in problem-solving when it didn’t quite work out.  It was an experiment based on the student’s interest and it was amazing to watch them lead their peers with great enthusiasm. When thinking about student interest, last year I had a student who was so fascinated by natural disasters and when it came to exploring Hawaii’s volcanoes, he was all in. This interactive adventure allowed him to learn more about volcanoes and understand how the land was formed in a way that was more real than reading it in a book. How else might we bring student interest into the classroom through these virtual opportunities?  

The world is changing and it seems as though virtual field trips are a way to still connect us to the greater world around us. By no means is this an extensive list of what is out there in terms of virtual field trips. Hopefully, this gives you some ideas of how they can be used in the classrooms with students. Have other ideas to share? Please feel free to add them in the comments below!

Kelly.McLaughlin 21st Century Learning, Building Inclusion, Celebrating Success, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Distance learning, e-learning, Engaging students with online learning, self reflection, Students as Teachers, Teaching online

From zero to one hundred, real quick!

As my online teaching journey continues, I find myself always thinking about the importance of reaching all students.

Last week, I noticed I only had about 13 out of 31 students participating daily. I wouldn’t see the other students writing in the chat, posting in the discussion section or raising their hand to speak on the mic. I started to worry if they were even in front of the screen during our calls. I started to think about solutions to this problem. I contacted every family in the class to touch base about their child’s online participation. Not even one hour later, I noticed a huge change in my entire class. I know this motivation came from a parent this time, but in the future I believe it could turn into self motivation. I received 25 out of 31 responses in math, 18 readers for our online novel, nine more short story submissions and six students speaking on the microphone for the very first time. To top it all off, this was happening on a Friday afternoon!I wondered if Friday was just going to be a one off and students would go back to their bystander ways in the future, but participation during these past two days have been better than ever. Not only that, my original 13 that participate so much (since the first day) are always encouraging everyone that is just starting to participate. The environment could not get any better!

We started off this week talking about goal setting and the importance of student participation in the classroom. Every Monday, students would set a goal that they hope to achieve by Friday. On Friday, I will ask students to type in the chat or use the microphone to share if they met that goal. If they did not, their classmates will help them brainstorm ideas for them to reach it the next time.

I know teaching new concepts is something that I can do during math, language, etc. but I love when the students get to hear from each other on that microphone or in the chat. In math, I find students teaching each other concepts before I am even quick enough to reply. In language, students are congratulating each other about their reading abilities before I even think to do so. My favourite moment of last week was in drama when a student gave away his turn because he wanted someone else to have a turn who had not participated yet. I constantly feel like crying tears of joy because of the supportive environment my class has created.

I look forward to continuing this online journey as I know I have a group of hardworking, goal oriented, passionate and kind students.  I am so fortunate to be on this learning journey and I am learning that the online environment really is turning out to be an incredible place for student growth. I cannot wait to share another great success story!

 

Michelle Fenn 21st Century Learning, Celebrating Success, Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, Distance learning, e-learning, Engaging students with online learning, General, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, Mental Health, Modern Learning, Resilience, Start of the year, Teacher Wellness, Teacher Working Conditions, Teaching online, Technology, Technology in school, Use of Technology, Using technology well, wellness, Wellness

Teachers Are Still Rocking It-

In March we were “Emergency Learning”.  Now we are either teaching “virtually” or “socially distanced” in classrooms.  We never thought we’d be teaching from behind a screen, learning all kinds of new technology tools, wearing masks and shields in front of students or removing all of the manipulatives from classrooms. We don’t know how long this will last.  We don’t know if COVID will worsen.  Educators aren’t used to not knowing things.  Most teachers I know like schedules, routines, knowledge and thrive on consistency.

However, in the midst of the new rules, changes and all of the things that we “can’t” do-teachers are still rocking it.  Throughout the summer I worked with a team of teachers providing virtual professional learning for KPRETFO.  Hundreds of teachers used their summer holidays to learn about technology tools before they even knew whether they were going to be teaching virtually or not. They logged in at 10 am some days in order to learn and some teachers even came to all twenty sessions that were provided. Educators were dedicated to their professional learning all summer long.

At the end of August, I had the privilege of working with another fabulous team of educators who dedicated their time to providing a three day virtual conference for over 500 Ontario Educators with ECOO.  These educators gave up their time to organize all kinds of schedules, sponsorship, presenters, keynotes and much more.  In addition, over a hundred educators created and presented webinars for their colleagues.  It truly FELT like a face-to-face educational technology conference took place in my living room!
There was a feeling of sharing, helping and collegiality.  It was exhausting but my bucket was over flowing.

As our school year is now well under way teachers are reaching out to me for assistance at all times of the day and night through email because they are dedicated to their students and want to do their best.  They are attending our evening “PD in your PJs” webinar sessions through our local union office to learn new tech tools at 7 pm on the week nights. The educators that I work with continually astound me with their dedication to professional learning.

I recently binge watched a Netflix series called “Away”.  It is a futuristic fictional narrative about the first manned mission to Mars.  The astronauts were in uncharted territory.  They encountered problems along the way for which they had not trained.  They endured mental and physical fatigue beyond anything they had ever felt before.  They were innovative and creative in order to solve problems and reach their goal.  While watching, I couldn’t help thinking about the parallels between this movie and the present state of education. We’ve heard that as we design these new learning structures and environments it is like we are building an airplane while flying. If I am going to stay true to the analogy here it is really more of a rocket ship! Educators are facing situations that they hadn’t even thought about in Faculty of Education Programs.  They are encountering issues of teaching without many of the tools they normally use such as manipulatives, group work or technology. They are suffering mentally and physically. They are being innovative  problem solvers around tools, equipment and technology.  They are building the rocket ship while they are flying it and it is full of students.

Are educators stressed?  For sure.  Are their nerves frayed?  You bet.  Are they innovative, creative, dedicated and passionate about learning and teaching? Absolutely, without a doubt.  Every educator is a front line worker,  doing their best, making a difference, being brave beyond imagination and truly an inspiration.

 

 

Arianna Lambert Design, Learning in a Real Life Context, Teaching online

Passion Projects Through Design

This past month I was honoured to be able to share my love of design when given the opportunity to be a part of a team of ETFO educators working with TVO to support alternative learning opportunities for students across Ontario. For the last number of years, I’ve been using design with students as a means of building empathy while problem solving in a real way. During this recent time of distance learning, my students participated in creating meaningful solutions related to covid-19. I was blown away by the ideas that were being crafted as we looked to have a positive impact during these challenging times. Having had the chance to work on this with students during this time, I thought using a similar framework could be a great way to get students solving problems related to their passions. In this post, I’ll share a little about each of the episodes from the Power Hour of Learning. Perhaps as we look to an uncertain September, some of the ideas contained may come in handy as we work with students to continue building some of these essential skills.

Part 1- Picking Your Passion and Understanding the Problem

Designers and Engineers are the people who make virtually everything that we use on a daily basis. In this episode, we have the opportunity to learn a little more about Designers and Engineers as we start to consider our passions. Identifying a passion is a challenge for some. This task alone can feel daunting to many. Earlier today I was speaking with a few colleagues and we spoke about ensuring that we are open to the possibility that students may be passionate about any number of things so it’s important to value what students share they are passionate about. In this episode, students are given the opportunity to brainstorm their passions a bit and then they start to think of some of the problems associated with that passion. Throughout the 3 parts, I share about a design project that I worked on with middle school students a few years back. Once they have identified a problem associated with their passion, we spend some time trying to get a complete picture of the problem by answering the 5Ws and how of the problem. The episode ends with students gaining a deeper understanding of their problem but also understanding that more research about the problem might be required before moving on. We really want to get a full picture or the real story about the problem before we start to think about potential solutions.

Part 2 – Ideation

This is by far my favourite part of the design process. It’s the part where students can use some of the tools used by designers and engineers to quickly come up with new and creative solutions to the problem they identified during part 1. Using Crazy 8s, students are guided through rapid ideation and are asked to consider a specific user for whom they would like to solve the problem. The episode ends with asking students to pick one of their ideas to move ahead with. In design, we’re always narrowing things down and focusing in on the problem. 

Part 3 – Storyboarding and Prototyping

Once students have identified the solution they are most interested in focusing on, they can start to consider the steps they will take to bring their idea to life. A prototype is a physical solution that they can put into the hands of their users to test out and students learn just how to do that in this episode. Whether they are creating a physical product or program or service, students are given the opportunity to get started on a plan of action that they can take. In this episode, students are also reminded of the importance of checking in with their users and feedback in the process.  At the end of the episode, students should be ready to get started on their prototypes.

It was such a pleasure to share my experiences in design on this platform. As we look to September, I wonder how I might be able to further connect students to their passions and how that can be a way in which students can further share about themselves with their new classmates. I can’t imagine what learning at a distance might look like as we start a new school year but I do know that honouring the individuals who show up will be of the utmost importance as we get started.

I hope that you have a happy and safe summer. See you again in September!

Will Gourley Celebrating Success, Emergency Distance Learning, General, Making a Difference Through Education, self reflection, Teaching online, Year End Reflection

6 Similes to describe how it felt to teach during COVID 19 Quarantine

Teaching during a quarantine was…

Like meaning with no  I, N or G. It was just mean. There were times when it felt forced, and meaningless because I was trying to make sense out of how to do this when it seemed more about keeping students busy and less about how they were feeling. 

Education during a pandemic was…

Like an infomercial. But wait, there’s more! More to do and definitely more to worry about.  Our students went AWOL – They’d gone absent without learning because they couldn’t connect. Their worlds had been turned upside down, and the one place where they could count on from Monday to Friday had been shuttered and now they were shut out. 

Learning for students during COVID 19 was…
Like making a pizza without a crust – there was nothing to hold all of the ingredients in place for students when life’s bigger problems consumed their ability to learn from home. Students needed their teachers to keep things together when things got tough and the class pizza, with all of its different toppings, got thrown into the oven.

Emergency distance learning was…
Like an ice cream cone with a hole in the bottom – the goodness melted away fast  and ended up on your shirt. Either way what was good couldn’t last long and usually there was something to clean up afterwards. I saw my students trying to make the best out of this mess yet there always seemed to be a scoop of some new flavour that no one wanted being added to the problem of learning outside of the classroom. 

Teaching from home during a shutdown felt…
Like performing a symphony where I had to write the score, conduct, play every instrument, and stack the chairs. There were so many little things that consumed the movements and moments of my day. It felt like I was simultaneously teaching a song to 25 individual performers all locked in their own rehearsal spaces.

Distance learning was…
Like running a marathon for the first time. You knew there was a finish line, but couldn’t remember how far you’d run or where you were going once you hit the wall. There came a point where fatigue set in and I began to doubt why I took this on in the first place? Some students hit the wall after the first day while others lasted until being told that the rest of their year at school was done. Even our strongest learners hit the wall at some point. Despite all of my training as a teacher, the toll that the marathon of teaching from home took on my mind and body was significant. I can only imagine how it affected our students.

I’m tired and a bit broken. The breath was stolen from my body when our students went home on March 13th. None of us imagined that we would be away for so long. I was allowed to visit my empty classroom 3 times since then and still hope that this has all been a bad dream. Walking down an empty hall in an empty school denied it’s life breath of students and their teachers was not how any of us would have wished this time in quarantine to be. 

From the onset and onslaught of learning in quarantine we had to work together, to grow together, and to continue learning together. It took time, patience, and grace. Each moment required a willingness to work meaningfully, to seek out those who had gone AWOL, bake a crust under that pizza, put a marshmallow in that cone to stop the good stuff from dripping out, play music until our fingers ached, and get up the next day ready to run the race again. 

The summer finish line has been crossed. We made it. Now where’s that pizza and ice cream?