Category: Primary Years Programme (PYP)

Putting Theory into Practice: How to Develop Student Agency through a Translanguaging Approach.

Putting Theory into Practice: How to Develop Student Agency through a Translanguaging Approach.

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I was so captivated that I think I leaned in so much on my laptop that my face was barely on the Zoom screen. It was hard not to get carried away when Eowyn Crisfield talked about multilinguistic pedagogies. I was really reluctant to spend the last week of my school holiday taking a course from Erin Kent Consulting (EKC), but I am glad I did. Translanguaging is not a word that just rolls off the tongue, right? So naturally wrapping your head around what this could look like in practice isn’t easy as well. I think of all the books and articles I have read about translanguaging and all the webinars and workshops I have taken, but Eowyn’s clarity made it all come into focus.

SO WHAT?-Perspectives on Multilingualism

Although many in the field of education can agree that Language is a verb and not a noun, that doesn’t mean that what looks like conceptually in our brains is agreed upon. Because expressing ideas as “languaging” is thinking itself, not everyone agrees if multilingualism is one unitary system or if it’s developed cross-linguistically, in which thinking is transferred from the dominant language to the language that is being acquired. Eowyn was quick to point out that the theory of “one linguistic repertoire” is too abstract and isn’t helpful for teachers in designing their lessons or supporting multilingual students in the classroom. I have to agree. But once we get all the abstraction out of the way, it is easy to see how we can empower our multilingual students to not only acquire new languages but to develop student agency–the ability to exercise voice, choice, and ownership in their learning.

Voice

Whether you believe that providing students with the opportunity to express themself in their home or dominant language is a human right or a resource to support academics, cultivating a learning community that values other languages honors the identity of the child by defacto. This is a foundational element of developing student agency, in which a child feels that they have something to contribute to the learning community despite not being proficient in the academic language(s) of the classroom.

Though it’s important to also apply the skillful use of translanguaging and requires thoughtful consideration and the WHEN, WHY, and HOW students will use it in their learning. Most classrooms default to its serendipitous use, allowing students to speak and write in their dominant language or discuss their home culture in classroom discussions. And although this might be appropriate for our youngest learners, as students mature, we have to improve our classroom practices and intentionally plan for it in. Eowyn calls this careful planning the “translanguaging cycle“, in which academic tasks and activities are thought through the lens of the input/output of language within learning. Moreover, ensuring that students have an opportunity to process the content of the lesson, is another part of the intentional planning process to scaffold knowledge and skills in the target language.

The question posed in this graphic is succinctly explained in this video, as well as an introduction to task design in this video.

Choice

Intentionally planning is a great way to get into the habit of translanguaging within instruction, but the next level can be offering students choice in…

  • the resources that they want to use to access the content
  • the language group they work in during collaboration
  • the language that they want to research in (which can change the cultural perspective that they get of the learning material)
  • the tools they use to record their learning (for example, making a video in the target language rather than a live presentation)
  • the language that they want to communicate their ideas (speaking or writing)
  • the language that they want to demonstrate their understanding

Ownership

Of course, the goal of developing proficiency in the target language doesn’t have to be sacrificed in the name of “choice”, and teachers must ensure that there is a balance of using their dominant language over the academic languages. So teachers must support learners in taking responsibility of the WHEN, WHY and HOW of their choices. Eowyn offered two frameworks that support building metalinguistic awareness and accountability in attaining proficiency in academic languages.

A Classroom “Language Policy”

A lot of schools might already have language policies but this is really specific to the learning culture of the classroom. In a straightforward way, the learning community decides as a whole what is going to be the “Language Policy” of the classroom and develops Essential Agreements for it. Discussing what the collective language goals of the learning community and how we might use our home languages as a resource are necessary to talk about when developing the “policy”. As you can imagine, co-constructing Essential Agreements is a powerful way to not only provide personal safety for students to use their dominant languages in academic discourse and completing tasks but ensure that the “policy” can be adjusted throughout the year.

Using a Choice Board

Many of us know what a choice board is and have used it in a variety of ways, but this one has the twist of providing students with the power to decide how much of their dominant language they are going to use within an activity or task. The choices should be in student-facing language, and although the choices were offered only in English, you can imagine that some truly emergent students would benefit from having these options translated in their home language so they could effectively make choices and set goals. Examples shared by Eowyn of choices might include:

I will use my (home) language to plan my work and then use English.

I will talk with my learning partner(s) in my (home) language and then complete the task in English.

I am going to use English for this task so that my classmates and teachers can also share in my learning.

NOW WHAT?

As I reflect on the journey that we have been on to create a culture of translanguaging at our school, I believe adding some of these ideas to promote empowered learners will help us continue the momentum of our initiatives. But whether or not your school is dedicated to a translanguaging approach, using a student’s home language or dominant language as a vehicle for increasing autonomy and self-direction is an integral practice, especially in PYP schools. It is my wish that you might consider some of these practical approaches that I gleaned from my EKC training and start leveraging languages to support student agency. And if any of these ideas got your head spinning and your heart thumping, please share in the comments below.

From Posters to Practice: Cultivating PYP Classrooms

From Posters to Practice: Cultivating PYP Classrooms

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As I walk through the halls of a school building, I am always looking for evidence of the culture and beliefs of the learning that takes place there. When I open a classroom door and peek my head inside, there is a lot of data: the furniture arrangement, where the teacher’s desk is (or isn’t), the classroom “decorations” and signs that thinking is taking place, and whether posters/charts on the wall are fixed or ever-changing, as well as who is creating the “decorations” in the classroom. The whiteboard is actually one of the most telling places in a classroom. It often includes the schedule and topics for that day, as well as the teaching points in a lesson. Sometimes I see student names on the whiteboard, and it makes me wonder why they are on there. 

As a coordinator that was new to my school, these walks made me question where we were as a school in terms of our implementation of the program. You see, I remember in my early days of being a PYP practitioner, my PYP coordinator insisted that I had the Learner Profile on display as well as the Central Idea and Lines of Inquiry. One of my new-to-the-PYP colleagues HATED this and thought it cluttered up her classroom wall space, encroaching upon her word wall and anchor charts.  I personally never resented this ask and always enjoyed finding fresh ways to display unit of inquiry work, but this debate about prioritizing our framework in our classroom environment has left an indelible mark. Should we, as pedagogical leaders, insist on having the framework on display? 

I’ve sat on this question all year long. Carefully observing classrooms and reflecting on whether or not elements of our program are being showcased in our learning areas, and whether or not that translated into better practice. To be honest, my view is still mixed. 

Is it a POSTER or a PRACTICE?

Display posters from Teacher Pay Teacher or Twinkle can just be a static fixture to appease the “PYP Gods”, as one teacher liked to refer them. But when I twisted his arm to post the Central Idea and Lines of Inquiry during the unit, his practices with concept-based inquiry improved. He referred more to our elements and started to use these teacher-centric materials as manipulatives. It could have been an odd coincidence, but I would like to believe that because it was in his eyesight, it was a reminder to ratchet up his inquiry approaches and refer more to our learner profile and approaches to learning as well. However, I had another teacher who had beautiful displays of the PYP jargon but never shifted from a very teacher-centered learning environment. Student agency?-that was only for students who were “good listeners” and “respectful”. So displays are hardly a telling sign of the quality of the practices. 

Why am I reflecting on this, you might ask? Why do I give a hoot about classroom displays? Well, anyone who has recently gone through or will be embracing an onsite IB evaluation visit understands why I am contemplating this. The environment of our schools provides an essential clue into our classroom practices and the overall “strength” of our PYP program. 

What are the telling signs of a constructivist classroom? As a PYP coordinator, making edicts on how our classrooms “should” look like I think would miss the goal of developing our skills as PYP practitioners. Instead, I think if teachers carefully examined the Life Long Learning Strand of the 2020 Standards and Practices, they can begin to think about what this could look like in the classroom environment. Here is a little brainstorming I have done as I think about what might be on “display” in our learning environments.

Lifelong learners 1: Students actively develop thinking, research, communication, social, and self-management skills. (0402-01)

This standard is about our Approaches to Learning–how are students learning how to be lifelong learners. Some examples of “artifacts” in a learning environment might include:

This “next level” KWL chart develops, not only attributes of the Learner Profile but supports the AtLs.
  • Students’ responses to Visible Thinking routines such as See, Think, Wonder, Creative questions, Feelings and Options.
  • Research questions posted
  • Anchor chart with peer feedback sentence starters
  • Student examples of solving math problems in different ways. 
  •  Compliment jars or boxes.
  • Interactive displays that support emotional regulation, decision-making, or collaboration skills.

Lifelong learners 2: Students demonstrate and reflect on their continued development of the IB learner profile attributes. (0402-02) 

This standard is about living the learner profile. Some examples of “artifacts” in a learning environment might include:

  • Student responses to Visible Thinking routines such as Step Inside, Red Light, Yellow Light, or Imagine If.
    From @kjinquiry
  • Split-screen learning objectives. (The “what” we are learning + the “who” we are becoming through the “how” we are learning).
  • Anchor charts with co-constructed success criteria or checklists.
  • Student-designed learning goals.

Approaches to teaching 1: Teachers use inquiry, action, and reflection to develop natural curiosity in students. (0403-01)

An interactive “unit wall”.

This standard is about our approaches to inquiry. Some examples of “artifacts” in a learning environment might include:

Approaches to teaching 2: Teachers focus on conceptual understanding to support students in developing their ideas. (0403-02)

Teaching dictionary skills with the Key Concepts.
  • Students’ thinking that emerged when “unpacking” the Central Idea or Lines of Inquiry.
  • Daily/weekly guiding questions are posted on the whiteboard.
  • Unit of Inquiry “Word Walls” that display the big ideas and key vocabulary.
  • Using the Key Concepts as opportunities to solicit student thinking and questions.
  • Student examples of work math prompt
  • Concept maps, which can be as simple as a mind-map, Frayer model, or more complex like a Visible Thinking Routine like Color, Symbol, Image. 

These ideas are hardly an exhaustive list. Moreover, any simple search on Pinterest will provide LOTS of visual examples of these ideas, and I love heading over to Sharing the PYP blog to see great models of practice. But I think what we really need to keep in mind is that these elements of our PYP program are not just classroom decorations, but living documentation of the robust learning that is taking place within its walls. Steeping our walls in the artifacts of learning shouldn’t be viewed as a chore, but a joy to curate all the wonderful moments we create in our learning communities by putting our PYP principles into practice.

A Different Way to Promote Teacher Well-being (#PYPCBookClub)

A Different Way to Promote Teacher Well-being (#PYPCBookClub)

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I’m going to be honest, I am skeptical about 2022.  Although Covid has impacted me on a minor scale personally, it’s quite clear that this pandemic isn’t over yet and I have had friends and colleagues who have really experienced its malingering effects. So, would putting a pause on professional learning be better for teacher well-being? Hmm….. 

Recently in a Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project’s coaching institute Brooke Geller spoke about how important professional development is, especially during this time because teachers need to know (build capacity) and need to grow (have motivation). When we engage in meaningful and authentic professional learning experiences, it helps to fill our teachers’ emotional tank, as they feel reignited with purpose. But training and PLCs are not enough to sustain this spark. As leaders, we have to recongize how fragile and fleeting aspirations may be, thus kindle teachers enthusiam and interest. More importantly, we have to be vunerable and stand shoulder to shoulder with our teachers, learning together so we can grow together. Moveover, Brooke cited some of the advice from Leading the Rebound, in which leaders have to be more explicit noticing and naming the causal relationships in teacher’s practice and how this effort leads to impact on student learning.  An example of a teacher conversation might  “I noticed that you updated your word wall and because you updated the word wall, I see that the kids are using it to discuss new vocabulary terms and reference it for spelling.” In times like this, teachers need to know that their efforts are making a difference. Even our best, most talented and resilent educators need to be openly acknowledged. 

This insight could not have come at a better time. I am in the midst of reading  another great book, A Guide to Documenting Learning,   in our PYP Coordinator Book Club. Although this book by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano and Janet Hale is aimed mostly at teachers, it challenges all members in a school community to consider how they can make their learning visible. They bekon all of us in education to embue the qualities of a life-long learner:

  • the curiousity and risk-taking of a Researcher
  • the restless spirit of an Adventurer
  • the dedication to unlearning and relearning as we make theories like a Scientist
  • the imagination of a Story teller
  • the courage of an Innovator

Thinking about my role as the coordinator, I feel I have an obligation not only to model this but to document these attributes in our teachers.  As a matter of fact, when I read this quote, I heard myself gasp outloud, as I recongized its signficance with professional learning:

You might agree that most teachers (like most adults) don’t know what they don’t know until they have an “ah-ha moment” or epiphany. Of course I can orchestrate self-reflection through the intentional use of thinking strategies in our meetings. But I want to stretch myself be a mirror in order to help teachers to see how they are as life-long learners as well as putting into focus the impact that they are making on student learning. I think I can not only proactively capture how learning is occuring but also provide noursishment to the souls of my teachers, making them aware that who they are and what they do matter. 

So as we begin our new term’s PLCs, I am making the intention to not only verbally praise teachers’ efforts towards self-improvement but also create artifacts of their learning journey (as well as the students) so I can model how to collect evidence of learning, but more importantly promote teacher well-being. And although I feel that 2022 feels a bit tenuous, I am excited by the prospect of demonstrating the growth and development of my amazing teachers. 

 
A Difficult Habit Worth Developing (#PYPCBookClub)

A Difficult Habit Worth Developing (#PYPCBookClub)

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Our PYP Coordinator book club just finished reading The Coaching Habit by Micheal Bungay Stanier and it was the simplist book to digest, but hardest to put into practice. Coaching for professional development isn’t about solving the problem-it’s about focusing on the person themselves in order to support them to become their own problem solvers. And through his 7 Essential Questions, people learn how to troubleshoot their issues and engineer their own solutions.

Sounds brillant right? Only 7 easy questions-Piece of cake!……

Except it hasn’t been. It has been confronting. I have learned that I come into meetings, ready to give advice, to share my wisdom, but it’s not actually helping teachers become better PYP educators. He reminds us that “the problem isn’t with advice…it’s when advice giving is our default response”. Very true.

So, it’s made me reflect and ask whether, as a PYP coordinator, am I Modeler of Inquiry or Inquirer Role Model? In other words, do I lead with an inquiry stance or do I just talk about learning through inquiry? There is a difference. You see, the longer you are engaged in the IB, the clearer it becomes that the PYP isn’t just a Framework, it’s a Mindset. The Learner Profile isn’t something that we teach kids, it’s an aspirational way of being. I think Jennifer Abrams says it best:

“One cannot lead effectively without modeling what it means to be a professional, and it’s also important to model what it means to be changing and growing oneself as well as stretching one’s learning edges and developing. Leaders must walk the talk.” from Stretching Your Learning Edges

Thus, as a pedagogical leader, I have to demonstrate our approach as lifelong learners with my actions and words. Clearly I may be able to explain how inquiry “works” but I need to work on developing my curiousity muscles, and keep my mind open to other possibilities when involved in interactions.

Sigh.

Now do you see why this “habit” might be a bit tricky when the leadership paradigmn is that we are supposed to have all the answers? That myth is simply not accurate. And apparently, not effective.

So let me share with you why advice giving is garbage when it comes to coaching. Questioning is the gold.  (PS. this is also true for teacher-student interactions, and not only relevant to those of us in leadership titles).

My advice might be for the wrong problem.

When others come to you with their “problems”, the first thing they share is often not the heart of their issue. They need to talk out the issue so they can figure out what is at the heart of their challenge. It is through questioning that they are able to distill what is the REAL problem. Once we have discovered, “What’s the real challenge here for you?”, then addressing it becomes more efficient and potent.

Advice giving is disempowering

This hurt the most, but he’s absolutely spot on. As I reflected on his ideas about helping vs. “being helpful”, it made me realize that when I offer up my ideas as solutions, it develops a power dyanmic that creates co-dependency and it sends the message that “you can’t figure this out by yourself”.  If I want to develop authentic teacher agency, then I have to provide opportunities to boost their confidence and give them ownership is solving their own problems. Makes sense, right? So when I drill down to the real challenge and I ask “And What Else?” (The AWE question), they have an opportunity to witness their own capacity to discover the possibilities that exist as solutions while taking on personal responsibility for the outcome. Much, much better, right?

Reflection is THE practice we are cultivating.

All schools are learning organizations, but in the IB being a life long learner is a practice that we wish to embody into our schools. Life long learning is not only seeking knowledge, but reflecting on that knowledge and who we are becoming as we strive to learn more.

Micheal Bungay Stanier shared something in the book that I believe is the genuine reason why reflection as a practice is so powerful:

People don’t really learn when you tell them something.

They don’t even really learn when they do something.

The start learning, start creting new neural pathways, only when they have a chance to recall and reflect on what just happened.

So, as I think about WHO WE ARE as an organization, our goal is always to encourage reflection. Reflection is a habit that I, myself, work to cultivate, but I also wish to develop in others. When I ease off giving advice and instead lean into questioning, “What was most useful here for you?”, I am developing the larger goals of our IB programmes and truly helping others to be leaders of their own learning.

Although this blog post serves as a reflection tool, the real testimony to this habit change comes when I…..

Choose: the question that prompts the reflection in others

Act: in a supporting way to honor the learning and development of others.

Reflect: on how this practice is changing me, as a person, the teachers I support, and the students with whom they serve.

My parting advice to you (Ironic, I know)

The book isn’t lengthy, but starting with curiousity can be a big ask for those of us who haven’t developed “the coaching habit”. Besides reading the book, I would encourage you to watch his Ted Talk  on how to tame one’s “advice monster”. No matter where we are and who we serve in education, I believe if we can stay curious longer, we can make a greater impact.
Creating Machines or Mathematicians? How Might We Use the Learner Profile as a Math Planning guide in the #PYP

Creating Machines or Mathematicians? How Might We Use the Learner Profile as a Math Planning guide in the #PYP

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How would you finish this sentence? Math is…..

  • practical, a part of every day life
  • happening all around me.
  • fascinating
  • a language
  • a mindset
  • an opportunity to build relationships
  • a form of creative expression

These are just a few of the ideas that pop into my head as I reflect on what Math means to me. But I wouldn’t say that I felt that way all my life. There was a time when I wouldn’t answered it as boring or hard. It really wasn’t until I studied Calculus that I realized that the journey to getting an answer was actually where “math” happened. The solution wasn’t as rewarding as the struggle. And puzzling over a challenge can be fun. 

But no one has to wait until high school or college to experience joy when doing math. I feel strongly that we have an obligation to use our PYP framework to intentionally develop mathematcians. Lately I have been thinking, reading and reflecting on how to support New-to-the-PYP teachers in shifting their practices. More than I care to admit, I’ve heard these fledgling PYP teachers retort, “It’s okay to ‘do the PYP’ for Unit of Inquiry time but for literacy and math? Nah?!”

I fight to keep a straight face when I hear them say things like that, while inside my heart goes

The PYP isn’t some jargon-filled, philosophical mumbo-jumbo, it’s designed on best practices. I know that the framework is a lot to take in for newbies, and, as a PYP coordinator, I must be patient. They are learners. And I am a learner too….and sometimes I am learning how to get teachers to not only “drink the kool-aide” before they can serve it to others. 

But I digress…..

Examining the research and approaches to rich math learning experiences, it’s obvious to me that our PYP standards and practices are grounded in not only what is joyful but what is powerful in math learning. Take a look at this chart–doesn’t it just scream our Approaches to Learning?! 

From the book, Everything You Need for Mathematics Coaching: Tools, Plans, and a Process That Works for Any Instructional Leader, Grades K–12

I love how this chart clearly articulates what competant mathematics do and how teachers can create the culture and opportunites for engaging in learning to solve problems through math. For teachers who struggle without a textbook or scripted curriculum, transforming their practice takes a lot of support and compassion. I think we all can acknowledge that most teachers who fear to stray off the pacing guide or curriculum resource is really just trying to do their best to ensure that students get the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. They are not trying to be defiant or stubborn, they are just don’t feel competant enough in their own decision-making abilities to support learners. To call them robots or machines because they can’t teach without a script would be cruel. Chances are they never had an authentic experience in which they embodied the spirt and curiousity of a true mathematician. Whether you are in leadership or just a peer, we have a duty to encourage them to take baby steps and take risks. 

The Learner Profile isnt just for the Students

Since we are in the throes of our IB Review Cycle, I’ve been reflecting on the new standards and practices. In particular, I’ve been thinking about the Learning standard practice:

Approaches to teaching 4: Teachers promote effective relationships and purposeful collaboration to create a positive and dynamic learning community. (0403-04)

Approaches to teaching 4.1: Teachers collaborate to ensure a holistic and coherent learning experience for students in accordance with programme documentation. (0403-04-0100)

Approaches to teaching 4.2: Students collaborate with teachers and peers to plan, demonstrate, and assess their own learning. (0403-04-0200)

The “PYP” isn’t something we do during our Unit of Inquiry time, it’s how we approach EVERY aspect of learning content to ensure a holistic and coherent learning experience for students. Moreover, it’s not something that the students do. EVERYONE DOES it!! Teachers promote….a positive and dynamic learning community. To think that teachers work outside of the jargon is to miss the point. We provide students with an everyday example of living the Learner Profile. But do we use it when we are reflecting on our planning?

As a PYP practicioner, do you ever ask yourself…..

How am I using the Approaches to Learning (Atls) to do math?

Who are the students becoming as I create opportunities to develop the Learner Profile in the context of solving problems using math?

Those questions need to be asked on a daily basis, as an individual teacher and within our teaching teams. When we live and breathe the values and philosophy, it’s easy to communicate it to other members in our learning community. 

Since I am working on supporting teachers who still learning how to shift their mindset and approach to designing learning experiences through the lens of the PYP, I’ve been thinking about how I might try to kill 2 birds with one stone:

#1: Elevate the implementation of our IB Standards and Practices

#2: Use the Learner Profile as a filter/checklist as we plan.

After a lesson, we might reflect, how did I create…

Risk-taking today?

Open-mindedness today?

Thinkers today?

Communicators today? 

etc…

Circling back to the “baby steps” a novice PYP practicioner might take could include embracing one or more of our Learner Profiles as we approach planning math, whether it is a stand-alone unit or transdisciplanary.  For example, perhaps they want to set a goal and become more of an INQUIRER in their math practices. I can help them then paint a picture and start to describe what kind of evidence they might see, hear or feel in the classroom environment to demonstrate that they are achieving this professional goal. Moreover, when I come into the classroom and see the teacher honoring the kids questions about math on a Wonder Wall, I need to acknowledge and provide accolades for their effort to shift their practice. Change isn’t easy and becoming a competant PYP teacher requires intention and a desire to be a creative educator. And, at the end of the day, I want them to experience the joy of engaging in math, not as a machine, but as a real mathematician–even if they have to live vicariously through the students.

I’m curious, can you think of other ways might we help support the development of PYP teachers through explicitly developing who we are as educators through naming and noticing the Learner Profile?  Please share in the comments below! 

What To Do When We Don’t Know What to Do

What To Do When We Don’t Know What to Do

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What do we do when we don’t know what to do? This question summarizes the chronic condition that we are facing these days: VUCA, an acronym used to describe the state we are living in: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity.

If I am being honest, my head has been flooded with all the recent events happening in our world. There is no doubt in my mind that our world is not only globally experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic but also our hearts are being awakened to the paradigms of power and its embedded systems that are beginning to crumble.

For me, these last 14 months have been intense and have made me have to confront myself, questioning my personal beliefs and values.
What do I believe about health and medicine? 
What do I believe about media and truth?
What do I believe about race and equity?
What do I believe about the environment and the consciousness of living things?
What do I believe about structures and systems in education?
What do I believe about personal choice and freedom?
What do I believe about gender?
What do I believe about money and financial well-being?
What do I believe about friendship and connection?
What do I believe about the purpose and life meaning?

I am still very much in the throes of self-reflection as I recognize the complexity of the issues that are rising to the surface. I feel very much like a chrysalis in a cocoon. Unfinished but preparing to emerge. I believe that many of us are in this state of ambiguity and transformation. I am reminded of a Native American Indian Teaching:

Message from the HOPI Elders

“There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift
that there are those who will be afraid.
They will hold on to the shore;
they will feel they are being torn apart
and will suffer greatly.

Know that the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore,
push off into the middle of the river,
keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.

And I say, see who is there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history,
we are to take nothing personally,
least of all ourselves,
for the moment we do,
our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The way of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves.
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner
and in celebration.

WE ARE THE ONES WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.”

For me, this captures this moment in time in which a great shift is upon us and provides a lot of useful advice. Because we are in the midst of change, a new timeline of possibility is being created. We cannot see the road ahead because we are building the road into this new future with every thought and action we take now. Despite the precariousness of the situation, nevertheless, I feel optimistic and enthralled with the changes that are yet to come. I resonate with the opportunity for celebration.

So as I think of the school years ahead, I consider the message of the Hopi Elders. What wisdom, keys and insights are contained in this message as to how to approach uncertainty:

Know that the river has its destination.
The discomfort we feel right now is temporary. We should embrace the challenges and trust that they will lead us to a new place, personally and professionally.

We must let go of the shore
We must accept the change. We must update and upgrade our ways of teaching and learning. Using technology to teach is no longer an option–it is a new normal in how we approach pedagogy.

Keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.
There are systems that are antiquated and can even be oppressive in our schools and we must not only draw awareness to them but have the courage to challenge them.

The way of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves.
Silos within our schools and communities can no longer exist. We must improve our ability to collaborate and strengthen our relationships. We NEED each other.

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

Our trajectory is determined by our mindset. We can no longer view change as a problem, we have to reframe this crisis as an opportunity to innovate and accelerate new possibilities for humanity. Growth is a good thing. 

These are some phrases that stand out to me. What ideas stand out to you? I think many cultures and civilizations have had to contemplate handling serious threats to their way of life. So, reflecting on their wisdom can help us to navigate change.

I would like to suggest that the only reason we view this moment as a “crisis” is because we feel surprised and unprepared. But what if we perhaps viewed this moment as an amazing turning point in which we started to expect the unexpected and developed strategies and solutions that make us more creative and resilient. What if we became comfortable with being uncomfortable? And what if we became more curious about challenging our fears?

Although I feel so much disequilibrium and confusion, I am choosing to embrace VACU. In my mind, that’s the only thing we can do when we don’t know what to do.

Diversity? Average, Lazy and Different

Diversity? Average, Lazy and Different

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Recently I was struck by a Twitter post on Angela Aow in which she said, “diversity is a fact, a right and a valuable resource. Schools have a moral imperative to cultivate safe and equitable learning communities where all can thrive.“

Does every educator believe this? I have some doubts. I think about the policies, structures and systems in our schools.  I would challenge that so many elements of education are poised to create intellectual monotones, in which achievement is based on “standardizing” students, reporting on if they are “meeting” the expectations of these norms. If these students aren’t within the benchmark levels, then we are assume that there is something different (read: wrong) with them. Maybe they are “special” or they need “learning support”.  We are quick to label, to judge, to evaluate. 

In this same vein, let’s consider other language in which we describe students. One of the most disrespectful names you could call a child is “lazy”. If I could wave a magic wand, I would permanently stop teachers from saying it. Because it simply isn’t true.

Uninterested? -fine

Unmotivated? -probably

Disengaged? -that’s more accurate

But lazy, no–that word, in my mind indicates an inborn apathy and that the individual willfully chooses to avoid all effort and labor. I have never seen a baby lazy–I have seen them absorbed in learning– learning about their bodies, learning about their environment, learning about those they have a relationship with. Deeply curious and immersed in discovering what it means to be human. That is how we are born and that is how we remain, especially with the right education. Learning is innate. We all can do it and want to do it.

So, please don’t call a child lazy. However, you can admit that, as a teacher, you have been…

Ineffective.

Preoccupied.

Incapable.

Because if a child “can’t” learn, then we, as “expert learners” have a responsibility to reignite their spark for learning. It’s there! 

Pardon my rant. I have a pet peeve around this. …….

The hardest part of learning something new is not embracing new ideas, but letting go of old ones.
― Todd Rose, The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness

I love that quote. It makes me wonder about how we might go about this paradigmn shift as Angela suggests–that diversity is a fact –That everyone of us is unique and deserve to have an education that not only accepts this, but has it baked into our learning communities through disrupting systems and structures that try to create “avereage” students?

I think to pursue ideas that disrupt the habit of labeling students average, lazy and different-abled would be a worthy challenge and one that all of us take seriously. 

Thank you, Silvia! #LangwitchesLegacy

Thank you, Silvia! #LangwitchesLegacy

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I haven’t blogged or Twittered much during the pandemic. I’ve been so absorbed in my work and so annoyed with the new block editing system of WordPress, that I have really lapsed in “documenting my learning”.

Yes, that is what I think I am doing here. Why do I think this? -Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano! Some may also know her as Langwitches due to her amazing blog and website.

She was a person that I had never met face to face but stood larger than life in my view. We spoke through Skype, email, and What’s App, and every conversation left my head spinning and my heart recharged to engage in the courageous effort of challenging the definition of literacy and using media as a means to develop it. When I heard that she passed away, I felt great sadness and loss for all the conversations we will never have again. She was a truly remarkable person, a force to be reckoned with, and I was grateful that I got to know her on a professional level.

Through the book (A Guide to Documenting Learning), her blog, and our interactions, she shifted my views as to how I could see, not only education but the world. She had this passion for digital storytelling and always reminded me that educators needed to stay relevant with their technology skills in their pedagogical approaches. She also challenged my thinking of how teachers should document their professional learning as a part of our PLCs–not for the sake of teacher evaluations but for the sake of their professional growth.

She was such a passionate person. Gosh, so many of her ideas were ahead of the times. It feels like there will be so much opportunity to uplevel ourselves as educators post-pandemic and she would have been there, supporting the effort and likely to see more of her ideas put into action. My heart really aches to think Silvia will miss this.

Silvia, thank you. These sentences are just the tip of the iceberg and what an indelible mark you’ve left. It’s really so hard to communicate what an extraordinary person you were and how much I appreciated your ideas and humanity. I feel like I am a better person for knowing you. RIP, beautiful soul.

3 Reasons Why Schools Should Adopt a Translanguaging Approach

3 Reasons Why Schools Should Adopt a Translanguaging Approach

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Translanguaging. A word that makes you cock your head to one side and say, “huh”. It’s a bewildering term.

For quite a while now I have been processing the concept Translanguaging and trying to find space within my existing paradigm to make room for this idea. On the surface, Translanguaging seems like it’s just a way to promote learning a target language, particularly English; but the more and more I learn about it, my understanding is deepened to grasp that this is more than about language. As my knowledge increases, the more I feel a battle cry roar up within me, and I want more schools to develop this approach. I have 3 main “why’s” for schools who serve multilingual students should adopt this approach.

Why #1-Accelerating learning

Many international schools are considered fancy language schools in the parents’ minds so if you know this perspective, it feels like a justifiable approach to learning English or other target languages. I think this is the main reason for schools’ rationale in using this approach is to facilitate the learning of a target language. As I prepare for a parent coffee on this topic, I know that this is my entry point for our discussions: it’s a more efficient way to learn. Moreover, it develops students’ critical thinking skills because students must use their metacognition skills in order to think deeply about language and within a language.

Why #2: Honoring identity and appreciating culture

Through the lens of Translanguaging, students are Thinkers and Communicators, not ELLs or EALs. When we apply those kinds of labels, it is to see them through the lens of a deficit model of what they are “acquiring”, not what they already have. That seems so 1-dimensional to think of students in this way.

When we remember that students come to us with a foundation of their home language and we are building upon it, we can harness their strengths and develop their confidence. Asking them to communicate in “English Only”, is asking them to deny who they are and the wealth of delight and richness that comes from their home language. As an IB educator, demanding students to speak and write in English doesn’t seem very “internationally-minded”, if you ask me. If we say we value other cultures, but deny one’s ability to communicate in their home language, then this seems like an act of cruelty, and an abuse of power. This leads me to my next Why….

Why #3: Promoting principles of diversity, inclusion, equity and justice

Although educators don’t swear the Hippocratic oath, I think all of us could agree that we wish to do no harm to our students. When we examine the ability to express ourselves relegated to the more desirable language in which an English-only policy pervades, it can be thought of as an act of oppression. I know some of you might have gasped at that thought but when you study the history of the English language, I don’t think it’s that far-fetched. When we preclude our students from using their full language repertoire, we are asking them to assimilate into a narrative that’s been promoted for hundreds of years.

“But English is the language of social mobility–it’s what parents want!”, you say. There is truth in that statement. Acquiring English is a status symbol and provides an advantage to many learners. I’m not denying that.

However, can you recognize that when we insist on “English-Only”, we are inadvertedly promoting the “whitening” of our students, making them feel ashamed for who they are and where they come from, diminishing their humanity?

Consider instead that there are opportunities within the layers of this hidden oppression to utilize translanguaging to bring out our students best selves. We CAN simultaneously promote academic language development AND honor the history and home languages of our students. It first begins with our own self-reflection as a pathway to change, and then challenging the institutional policies that propagate practices that deny the child to express their intelligence in a variety of ways.

Although I am grappling with this term and working hard to create value for it within our school community, I think translanguaging is the next step in our evolution, an inroad to de-colonizing our schools and cultivating a truly international-minded community.

Can you think of others reasons why schools should adopt this approach? Please share below so we can grow in our capacity to articulate this stance in our schools.

How Can Opposites Attract? Teaching for Complexity

How Can Opposites Attract? Teaching for Complexity

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Since the political season, I’ve been reflecting on how polarized people have become. How have our realities become so splintered? How have people’s opinions become so calcified?  This sense of “you’re either with us or against us” has really permeated the fabric of our society. Is there any way forward for democracy if we can’t listen to differing points of view? 

And so I’ve been wondering what role education plays in all of this–is this inflexibility and warped views of one another the product of a “textbook answer” schooling and overvaluing authority over the good of the group? Surely this cult thinking has its roots in how we’ve been educating children and the enculturation process of young minds. 

When I consider this fact, I feel incredibly proud to be an IB educator, to know that the work I lead in classrooms is fulfilling a mission in which we 

“develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect….students across the world become active, compassionate, and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right. (Read the full IB Mission Statement here)

But whether your school is IB or not, I think we, as educators have an obligation to address this dualistic thinking in our schools. We have to address absolutes and teach into complexity. We must actively teach “grayscale thinking” that helps students grapple with uncertainty and change. They must become aware that there is rarely a “right answer” but many ways to arrive at a solution.  

A few years ago I came across the work of Sue Looney during the Build Math Minds Summit. Her website Same But Different had been a teaching resource for me but I had never considered the bigger picture of the work she does until recently. One would hardly think of Math as a subject to explore grayscale thinking because it is the ultimate “right answer” subject but her work clearly demonstrates that there is really no discipline in which this type of thinking can’t be taught. Complexity exists everywhere. 

 So I’d like to share 3 Concepts that were inspired by Looney’s work which can be taught in any subject area that develops perspective and nuance that we can imbed into our practice. 

The Power of Connection: Relationships

In order to discover the “gray”, you must explore the basis of how things are connected. Examining relationships to see how they are the same but also simultaneously different.  So let’s look at a couple of concepts and their related concepts in which students can start to develop an understanding of connection through a learning lens:

In math, one can explore the relationships through….

  • Quantity: Backwards and Forwards

In language, one can explore the relationships through….

  • Meaning: punctuation

In science, one can explore the relationships through…

  • Properties: states of  matter

In social studies, one can explore the relationships through…

  • Time: events (especially when the juxtaposition of the location to show cause and effect)

Identifying Misconceptions: Interpretation

One of the most important aspects of teaching into the “gray” is to use 2 ideas and compare them. When you think about the polarity that exists currently, using this binary approach to encourage the idea of nuance is helpful. Learning things in pairs really facilitates students to develop perspective and recognize distinctions.

Visual information like this is an example of how you can observe something that appears to only be one “way” and yet it can be adjusted to bring out other ideas.


Views of the World

Of course, you could do this in other ways. For example, using a probability continuum with “likely” and “unlikely” on the opposite sides and having plot a concept on it. Getting a kitten? Seeing their grandma during the holidays? Losing a tooth?–it doesn’t have to be big adult ideas because the purpose is to show how a shared experience can be interpreted in different ways. This is the whole point of the learning, and to have children think about where they might put this event/concept is where the thinking happens. Moreover, it doesn’t have to be a probability continuum, you can use emotions with one side “happy” and the other “sad”; the intention is to bring out one person’s point of view can be different from ours when filtered through a personal lens. 

Of course, you can do this in other ways. Let’s say you were doing a nutrition unit and you wanted to teach “healthy foods”. A good many of us would allow students to think that drinking soda is “bad” for us and instead children might drink fruit juice instead. But instead of allowing students to assume this, we could delve into the complexities of how things are processed and provide students with 2 kinds of juice with varying degrees of nutritional value. Can the kids “taste” the difference? Can they tell which one is healthier? How might they investigate these suspicions? (Hopefully, they will read a food label!)

So, there are many ways to explore complexity through interpretation, and hopefully this is sparking your creativity. 

Developing Complexity: Interrelatedness

From a young age, students learn how to categorize things. Sorting things into groups is probably one of the first skills that we teach children. But I want you to think about the last time you used a Venn diagram. This tool helps us to expand on our notions of difference and provides a visual representation of how there is overlap when looking at relationships.

Here are some rather simple examples of how you can use a Venn diagram to demonstrate interrelatedness:

 

Hopefully, these ideas inspire some of your own thinking. Black and white thinking–thinking in absolutes–can be so damaging to our society. As educators, we need to teach into nuance and the subtle differences between things. Developing students’ thinking skills through examing relationships, interpretation, and interrelatedness are key ways to develop critical thinking and an awareness of life’s complexities. 

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