Tag: student voice

#PYP “Sharing the Planet” by Design

#PYP “Sharing the Planet” by Design

I think one of the hardest decisions an educator has to do is to release the curriculum into the hands of the students. On most days, it’s just being in the “teachable moment”, but what if you handed over a whole unit of inquiry. Forget vertical alignment this once. Could you do it?

Last year we had a unit that was an abomination that I wrote about in Post Mortem Reflection: Autopsy of a Failed PYP Unit (Sharing the Planet). Needless to say, we WEREN’T teaching that unit again but then what would we teach?

In our new approach to planning, we usually properly launch a unit with doing provocations and THEN determine the learning outcomes. But I felt like we were trying too hard to interpret what the students were really interested in and assess their previous knowledge to determine the direction of the unit. Upon reflection, I felt it’d be better just asking them so we waste less time. I prefer to “pre-pack” a unit of inquiry rather than “unpack” it, so we took a Design Thinking approach to co-creating this unit with students.

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With that in mind, we had to understand what the student’s prior knowledge might be. We felt a simple class discussion in which they could do a “turn and talk” then share their thoughts and feelings about what it means to “Share the Planet” would be perfect. Funny enough, they touched on every dimension of the transdisciplinary theme, which just seems like a testament of the genius behind the framework. Here are some note that captured some of their ideas:

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After reflecting on the ideas they shared, we summarized them into 5 main areas which touched upon the descriptions of the theme and highlighted the main concepts. We thought we’d have them rank them as their “learning priorities”. We spent some time describing the concepts and then gave them an opportunity to consider which ideas they felt most intrigued by. (The link to this doc is here.)

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While they were cutting and pasting their priorities, we went around and asked them to tell us a bit about how they were ranking them to gauge how much prior knowledge they might have of the concepts. The main concepts were:

  1. Sharing with living things
  2. Pollution
  3. Resources
  4. Earth Cycles
  5. Poverty

My favorite part of this exercise was actually when the students came back into the “big group” and talked amongst themselves about why they ranked the concepts in the order they did. Their conversations were gorgeous to listen to, and we found out if there were misconceptions or ideas that we need to clarify. Great data!!

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After that, we surveyed the class about their learning priorities to find out how we might craft central ideas to suit their interests. The students “took a stand” for what their first learning priority, and then we had them repeat the exercise for their second learning priority. We then added those up to get a total vote count. This helped us to define what the unit was going to be about: Sharing the planet with living things and Pollution were nearly tied.IMG_8335

Afterward, our team met and debated the concepts from this survey. We found it really hard to resist the urge to override the majority because we felt that “poverty” would be an interesting concept to delve into since most of our students have such limited appreciation for their high quality of life. Also, lower grades rarely touch upon this aspect of the transdisciplinary theme, and we were compelled by the challenge, especially since it would have a strong transdisciplinary math link with using money as the fodder for addition and subtraction. However, at the end of the day, we all agreed that if we were to honor the voice and choice of the students, we had to put aside our desires, but would see how we might add this concept to other units this year.

Once we were in alignment with that, we started to pour over our notes and curriculum documents to evaluate what they already have learned, examining our school Programme of Inquiry and ManagBac to get a bigger picture of where we might take the learning. We began to ideate, brainstorming some central ideas, and agreed on 3 potential central ideas. To be honest, we spent so much time looking at the data, we didn’t have much time to wordsmith anything unique so we modified a few that we found on other school’s POIs. If we had more time, however, we would have had the students help us write them in more to suit them specifically and in kid-friendly language. These were the central ideas that made it to the final round of debate and voting by the students:

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We discussed each central idea with the whole group then pinned them up around the classroom. Students took a moment to talk amongst themselves about what those central ideas meant to them and why they thought they would be interesting to learn about. IMG_8337After some time to discuss, we asked them to “take a stand” again, and migrate over to the corners where the central ideas were posted.  The vote counts were extremely tight, and we ended up having a near tie, which provided a great opportunity for students to debate and deliberate their choices. We asked one of the groups to re-choose and so the “leading” central ideas had to persuade those individuals to choose their central idea. It was fun to hear their interpretation of the central idea and their reasons why they thought that central idea would be the best one for our learning. At the end of this exercise, we came back as a teaching team to refine the central idea and create lines of inquiry that balanced student interests and the objectives of the TD theme:

Central Idea: Living things are affected by and often adapt to the natural world.

Lines of inquiry

  • Adaptations to weather (change)
  • Habitat loss (connection)
  • The impact of pollution on living things (causation)

Following the flow of a Design Thinking approach, we are in the prototype stage, and when we come back from holiday break, we will test this unit with our thoughtful provocations. It’s hard to describe the level of excitement for this unit by the students, and by us, the teachers. Emphasizing their voice and providing them with ample opportunities for choice grows their agency and engagement.

I hope you consider how you might apply a Design approach to co-constructing units with your students, no matter the age. I don’t know why we wait until the “Exhibition Year” group to have them write their own units. That puts tremendous pressure on those year group teachers. I understand that we didn’t have them write lines of inquiry, but we could certainly do that in our next unit since we already have a template of this experience to build upon. Perhaps this has sparked some thinking around this, and if you have alternate ideas, I would LOVE to hear them.

 

The Only Thing You Need To Do To Develop Student Agency

The Only Thing You Need To Do To Develop Student Agency

Every school is trying to define and articulate how they are developing “Agency” in their curriculum, but I’m going to tell you the only thing you need to know. I’ve come to realize that it’s not that complicated. First of all, if the term confuses you, change it to “Independence”, because that is what it really means. Don’t overthink this jargon. Now, simplifying this term should help you to realize that you don’t need to create huge innovative initiatives at your school. In fact, I believe it doesn’t begin with our heads, it starts in our hearts. So what is the ONLY thing you need to develop student agency (i.e. independence)?–It’s TRUST. So ask yourself right now, Do I trust my students?

That’s a really important question so sit with it for a minute because our level of trust gets communicated with our words and actions (or inaction) toward our students every day in our classrooms. Have a think about this quote from Peter Johnson, author of Choice Words.

When you figure something out for yourself, there is a certain thrill in the figuring. After a few successful experiences, you might start to think that figuring things out is something that you actually can do. Maybe you are even a figuring out kind of person, encouraging an agentic dimension to identity. When you are told what to do, particularly without asking, it feels different. Being told explicitly what to do and how to do it–over and over again–provides the foundation for a different set of feelings about what you can do and can’t do, and who you are. The interpretation might be that you are the kind of person who cannot figure things out for yourself.

A few weeks ago we had a parent meeting, and there was a lovely debate about what was “better” about teaching through inquiry vs. traditional methods. Parents questioned why education was moving in this direction that felt “slow” to them. “What has changed since we grew up?” was the essence of that sentiment. Perhaps you could say that technology has taught us teachers that we are not the beacons of knowledge anymore–but I replied “brain research”. In my opinion that is really the heart of why we are shifting because inquiry-based approaches have been around since the time of Socrates–maybe even longer. This approach isn’t new either, it’s really an ancient technology that is making a comeback, if you will, in education. However, now we have evidence that our brains get wired differently when we have passive vs. active learning experiences. Since these ideas are still under research, not many schools develop metacognition through the use of using neurological terms like synaptogenesis and neural plasticity, but I do think that the term Growth Mindset has become more commonplace which reflects this phenomenon. Having a Growth Mindset is the key to cultivating the confidence that encourages this “agentic dimension to identity”, as Peter Johnson calls it.

So what does trust look like? We’ve filtered it down to 3 things: giving students more choice, voice, and ownership in their learning. And because we are educators, we feel the need to unpack this, create criteria and continuum that demonstrate the growth of these things in our classrooms.  If you are not sure what I am talking about, here’s an example:continuum-voice-web

It’s a great reflection tool for us when we examine the culture of learning in our classrooms and schools, but this is not in and of itself the means by which agency is developed–we are not trying to force kids into action (not that these teachers are suggesting this with this infographic but I know there are some school leaders who may take it that way) just so we can say that we are ticking the box when it comes to “Voice” with student agency. Truthfully, our kids come with lots of “voice” when they first arrive at school–we can just “shush it” out of them. I know, I am an Early Years educator, and there are lots of gentle and not so gentle ways of doing this; it’s a burden to consider how much our classroom culture shapes their identity and confidence level in these formative years.  But their voice is the expression of their thoughts, and when we suppress that, we limit their motivation to think and contribute to problem-solving situations. Furthermore, if we never offer them choices, then there is no practice in making good decisions, which means “ownership” is void. How can you “own” something you never have the privilege of thinking carefully about and solve problems around? I’m sure you can relate to this through your own experience.Future (5).png

In my mind, this quote from Ron Ritchart really summarizes the work we do to not only create “cultures of thinking” but foster agency. When we promote students making connections and the mindset of “I can do this”, it is no longer a question of IF they will take action, it’s just a matter of WHEN. And we have to TRUST that too–that time is on their side.

Recently we had a student-led Performing Arts assembly that was outstanding. It was extraordinary because every element of that assembly was created by students. Our performing arts teacher, Graham Baines (aka PYP Chef), provided the props and structure, but otherwise, it was purely the students. They’ve been working on a personal “dream goal” for months, spending break time, lunchtime and after-school time to practice and perfect the performance that they designed independently or in collaborative groups. Here is one of the fun student performances–an audience favorite:

It was such a stark contrast from previous assemblies which felt awkward, tense (at moments) and contrived, from the teacher written MC scripts to the songs performed to the order of the acts. This one was energizing, fun and inspiring. There is no doubt that other students will be eager to put in the effort and time to improve their “dream goal” and perform for a large crowd just like this. Also, imagine how those students feel with having such wonderful success, which they get to completely own. However, Graham had to completely trust the students and relinquish control of “the show”, even if it meant that his reputation might be diminished as a teacher in our parent and teacher community.  I have high regard and appreciation for that level of vulnerability and visible courage, as he broke the mold when it came to providing this opportunity to students.

So, with that in mind, how can we not only let go of trying to control everything and trusting students but how can we get more of their thinking expressed in general? Because when we give them space, I truly believe that they will exceed our expectations and their own.

Feedback: The Teacher Kind

Feedback: The Teacher Kind

I can’t help but chuckle when I walk into the library and see this engraved nameplate with the message Every day I’m hustling on our librarian’s desk.He Said She Said - Everyday I'm Hustlin It’s so true, each of us is busy, doing our best, in the ways we know how to eke out “a’ learning in our schools.

One of my colleagues told me recently, “I think you have very high expectations.” I’m still trying to figure out if this was a compliment or a suggestion to ease up a bit. (If you knew me, you’d be laughing out loud). But at least 5 days out of 7,  I wake up and the first thing on my mind is learning. It’s not what I might eat for breakfast or what I may do on the weekend, it’s usually about a provocation or a concern I have about a student or something “Google” since I’ve been working on my Google Trainer Certification. When school is in session, I’m definitely hustling. But does it have to feel like a “hustle”? Like I’m tricking someone into learning?

Every morning, one of the first things I do is take my dog outside and I walk around my garden, listening to a podcast. I feel like I got a partial answer to my queries.

We tend to think of feedback in schools as what teachers say to kids. Traditionally as a kid, I got feedback through what teachers wrote in notes on my papers, or grades that I got. But feedback, the more important kind of feedback, is student to teacher feedback. And John Hattie writes about this in his work, the classrooms where there is student to teacher feedback it correlates well with student achievement.

Carl Anderson, from a Teacher’s Guide to Writing Conference, Heinemann Podcast

As I reflect on his words, I recognize that we are 6 weeks into school already and there hasn’t been a whiff of student-to-teacher feedback. But today that changes.  I sincerely want to know How am I doing as your teacher?

When experiencing failure, remember: This is a Start

I put up an Activity Post on Seesaw to provide our 1st Grade students to tell us their “2 Stars and a Wish”. We told them that this is a secret teacher message and it won’t go up on their journals so they could say whatever they like. The most important thing was they were honest and helpful. (“Helpful” is a loaded term, I know, but it’s a message that we are sending about feedback in general)

Here’s what I learned:

  • “I like playing games with you.”
  • “I like sounding out letters with you”
  • “I like Maths”.
  • “If I work hard, I will be great.”
  • “I want to do more math because it’s fun.”
  • ” I want my friends to be happy.”
  • “I want to use Chinese to count (to 50)”
  • “I want to be a good writer”.
  • “I like it when we play games but I don’t like it when we get dirty outside.”
  • “I want more time writing and making books”
  • “I want more learning choice time”.
  • “I want more literacy time to play Teach Your Monster to Read“.
  • “I want to go for a walk to collect some small moments for writing”.
  • “I wish I can speak better in English”
  • “I wish I could write better.”
  • “I love learning choices.”
  • “I like to draw when I am doing my ‘small moments’.”
  • “I like it when we do maths because it makes me calm.”
  • “I really like the teachers.”
  • “I want to use playdoh and I wish I could read eBooks.”
  • “I want to do more maths with numbers and patterns.”

Although these comments warmed my heart and intrigued me, they didn’t provide the insight into “how I’m doing as your teacher” per se. When I look at this, it tells me a lot about what they are connecting to in our learning community: words, numbers, nature, language, technology, pictures, sensory play, intrapersonal learning, and interpersonal learning. Indeed, this helps to shape a picture of who they are and provides us with more data as teachers to know how to communicate with them but the intent seemed lost on the openness of this question, which I reckon may not be the best approach with children this age (6-7-year-olds), at least for this time of the year.  So I ended up walking away, feeling that I failed to get the desired feedback. But because I believe that all learning–even when we make mistakes–is helpful, I reminded myself that this is a start.

The Struggle Continues: Peer Feedback

Since our staff has been inquiring into student engagement as a part of developing greater student agency with the PYP Enhancements, our professional goals this year are rooted in it. We are taking a very systematic approach to it, using peer coaching to explore where we are in our mission to “challenge, inspire and empower”, using the work of Jim Knight and his Impact Cycle.

Peer to peer feedback is highly valuable, and when done in the spirit of non-judgment, care, and positive intention, then an authentic critical friendship can ensue. I whole-heartedly believe in it. C’mon-Who doesn’t want a true loving fan, sitting on the sidelines, applauding our growth and challenging us to bring our best self into the “game”?? I personally delight in having someone who can discern the subtleties of a lesson and provide me with something that I can reflect upon to improve my practice. Bring it on!

So now I ponder this quote:

If we don’t design lessons and units that will earn students’ commitment to learn, then we can’t expect them to take an active or in-depth approach to learning. In other words, if we fail to take student engagement seriously, then the best we can hope for from our students is superficial learning.

The Eight Cs of Engagement by by Harvey F. Silver & Matthew J. Perini

Before I sit down and watch a recorded video of a lesson, I want to ensure I had clarity of what I am reflecting on. I picked out some of the attributes of engagement, creating a “rubric” that I can score where I saw my students during the learning period captured. It’s my “baseline” if you will, and I want to make sure it is objective and telling. Also, this is my first thinking about how I might assess myself, so I am bound to make amendments to it along the way.  But at least I can examine the video and pick out evidence of where the level of engagement might generally rank on this scale/rubric to give more direction for my goals.  Also, I feel this might be a talking tool for our peer-to-peer dialogue about what they saw, heard and felt was happening in the lesson.

engagement rubric

Next Steps: Fail Again

So I think we need to go back to the drawing board on mining for feedback from students, refining questions so we can penetrate deeper into their perceptions of our teaching and their learning community.

I feel like student feedback is an opportunity to reflect on where we are with respect to developing agency as well. So now I wonder if taking the “temperature” might be a better first approach to gaining an understanding of how students feel about their learning.

I was thinking that I could use Plickers as a tool to take a “snap-shot” of the children’s perspective during a morning meeting. I don’t want to bombard them with a heap of questions, so these are the student questions that might establish a general idea about our learning environment:

  1. Do you usually understand what is expected of you in our classroom?
  2. Do you usually understand the directions given?
  3. Do you think the teacher gives you enough time to think?
  4. Do you think the teacher gives you enough time to write?
  5. Do you think you have a voice in our classroom and that your ideas are valued when you share them?

Of course, I would need to follow up with the No’s, as well as examine recorded videos to see who may be lingering in the far end of the engagement scale, digging a bit deeper with more thoughtful questions for them such as:

  • How do you show your teacher that you are enjoying learning?
  • *Which teacher do you find most helpful?
  • What does this teacher do to help you learn best?
  • What specific advice would you give to help your teacher improve?

(*We are a teaching team, with 6 of us working at any given time with our Grade 1 students. I wanted to add this question to help us think about why and how certain teachers resonate with learners. Maybe we can capitalize on the rapport and connection they feel with us.)

What if…..

Also, I was thinking that if we looked at a videotaped lesson alongside them, a teacher could ask them directly if they were engaged; and why or why not they were engaged-what influenced their interest and concentration during the lesson? Could there have been a missed opportunity to move them into a more active stance in their learning?

I’m a scientist at heart and I LOVE dissecting things, but let’s be honest, this would be a luxurious survey given how limited our time can be. Yet, I reckon that it would be really helpful for those students who don’t generally demonstrate “active compliance”.

Final Thoughts……for Now

So I don’t think I’m going to bring an end to the hustle any time soon, but I feel that an honest and hard look at my practice and the dynamics I have with learners would be a good place to start.

Start.

Yep, that’s where I really am in this process. Perhaps you are too.

But I think if I keep walking in the direction of my original question, Does it have to feel like a “hustle”? Like I’m tricking someone into learning?, then I think I may arrive at some conclusion. It may not be the end, but it could be a step in a new direction.

I think, ultimately, that is where feedback lands us: in a new territory of growth and learning.

 

Student Voice: Taking Interest so We Can Facilitate Action

Student Voice: Taking Interest so We Can Facilitate Action

As we begin to reflect on community spaces,  we did a deep dive into our community space of our classroom. In one of my previous posts, A Journey Into Design Thinking To Tackle Classroom Challenges, I confessed that I needed to go back to the “drawing board” and collect more ideas from the students so I can transform the challenge of”managing them” and more on empowering them with our learning environment. This is definitely a shift from my former thinking as a classroom teacher as I work on developing my student-centered learning environment and an “innovator’s mindset”.

Innovation starts not by providing answers but by asking questions.

-George Curous- #Innovator’s Mindset

So, I created a provocation with a Google Slide presentation of different interesting classroom spaces that I found from the internet and also included some environments from our own school. Then I asked the students to draw sketches of what they thought our learning space should look like. Yes, there were some students who wanted to put in a nerf gun obstacle course and jumping castle inside our classroom–they are 1st graders with lovely imaginations– but through questioning and dialogue, I was able to determine what elements of the learning space were important to them. I was also able to get some formative assessement of what their understanding of our central idea is, Community spaces provide opportunities to connect, as it related to our community of learning.

It was delightful to discuss with them what they felt we needed for our learning spaces and why they personally needed them. Some of the conversations made me laugh, others surprised me with their insight and awareness, while others made me feel a bit disappointed. Here are some of the ideas that came up during my interviews:

  • Have a space for relaxation so that students should take a rest. (3 votes for hammocks!)
  • Big whiteboards that we (the students) can write on.
  • Have our ‘own space’ and an ‘everyone space’
  • A place for some free choice.
  • We can eat inside the classroom.
  • A space just for computers.
  • A ‘mini’ makerspace.
  • More artwork displayed in our class.
  • Students should teach more.
  • A tent as a meeting area.
  • Pleasant smelling flowers. Plants in the room.

As I reflect on these conversations,  two things stood out to me: firstly, a desire to be trusted and given “space”, and how their ideas closely mirrored the elements of a learning space that are suggested from The Space: A Guide for Educators: spaces for collaboration, creation, showcasing learning, and quiet.

Image from the book: The Space: A Guide for Educators 

So as we move forward on this journey, I really want to facilitate students’ initiative to take ownership of their learning space and cultivate their interest in co-designing it. As I tune into their ideas, I will continue to collect data from them, finding out what’s essential for them to feel comfortable and confident. While this is just a beginning, there is something that is exciting about making changes to our classrooms, especially as I think about the cultural shift that is occurring through this process. I feel hopeful that when our students really feel listened to and their ideas valued, becoming more responsible for the classroom and our learning community is a natural outcome and not something that must be “taught” or “managed”.  I believe that when we, as teachers, show through our actions and words that we trust students, they rise to the challenge and have a desire to be co-designers and collaborators in their own learning.

What experience do you have with this? I’d love to hear your ideas and gain your insights! Please make a comment.

 

A Journey into Design Thinking to Tackle Classroom Challenges

A Journey into Design Thinking to Tackle Classroom Challenges

Design thinking isn’t a subject, topic or class. It’s more of a way of solving problems that encourage positive risk-taking and creativity.

-From LAUNCH by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani-

I am not proud to say this but I am really struggling with our school’s initiative to tear down classroom walls and combine classes to increase collaboration. I’m usually keen to try out new ideas but it’s made me question so many things about what is trending in education and has really made me “sharpen my stone” when it comes to classroom management.  But here’s the thing, I don’t want to ‘manage’ the students, I want to empower them. So I wonder what I am missing –how can I use this structure and type of learning to fulfill the needs of our 21st-century learners? How will this better prepare them for their future?  George Curous says “Change is an opportunity to do something amazing“. So I’ve taken on my innovator’s mindset and have begun to apply design-thinking to build a better functioning learning environment.

In Design Thinking, initially, you seek to understand your “audience” or the “user” and define the problems that they may have.  Currently, we have two perspectives to consider: our students and our team of teachers. Collectively we are a community of learners, but it’s important to put the needs of the children first–they are the reason why we are here anyway, right?!  But as teachers, we are the facilitators of this change, so I think our focus will ultimately be on the big WE, and cannot carve ourselves out of the equation when developing a flourishing community of learning.

user experience.jpg
The journey begins! What does our community of learners need? Why? How does it make them feel?!

Because this is the research and discovery phase, I am really digging into books and articles to find ways to make this work–not that we survive but to thrive in such an environment, and turn this challenge into an opportunity.

So I’ve begun to approach our situation through the lens of curiosity and ask questions about the challenges that are most immediate and pressing. As teachers, we have three main areas of concern: time for learning, the organization of the learning space, and conducting effective and engaging classroom discussion (in the large group and in small groups with our noisy space). Here is a list of just some of the questions I have begun to formulate about our collaborating Grade 1 classes:

  1. How can we structure our timetable to ensure that we have enough stand-alone literacy, maths and then transdisciplinary unit time?
  2. Of those transdisciplinary subject areas, how best do we need to develop the knowledge and skills in that areas?-in the “large group” (both classes combined) or in “split groups” (separated grade 1 classes) or through a carousel of activities.
  3. How do individual voices get heard in all the “noise”? What tools and strategies do we need to employ to make sure that there is a diversity of ideas being shared, especially our English Language Learners?
  4. How can we use our space to design areas, not just for literacy and maths, but for genuine collaboration, creativity, and quiet?
  5. What gets the kids not just “doing stuff” but actually thinking and reflecting?
  6. And how do we develop strong relationships with our students, knowing about who they are and how they learn best? What feedback systems can we create to help them go from learning passively to actively engaging and ultimately being empowered?

Although I know that we have already begun a rough “prototype” with how we tackle these challenge areas, I recognize that we need more time to understand our learners, our constraints and what the research says about developing more collaborative learning environments, which some have dubbed as Modern Learning Environments (MLE). 

desing evolved
From the wonderful website: http://corbercreative.com/the-ux-process/

So as I layer the designer mindset to frame our challenges, I recognize that we will need to actually get more data. If I am to rewind and start again, then our discovery phase requires a deeper analysis into the complexities of our learners and the needs of our community. Other than our co-planning meetings and daily reflections, I have 2 other ideas for mining some data:

  1. Student survey: we need to find other ways to include their student ideas so they are co-designers of our learning community. In the book, The Space: A Guide for Educators  , the authors encourage including student voice to create a purpose for the learning spaces and cultivate behaviors that support their emotional and mental growth. I am thinking of using the formative assessment app Plickers for a general climate survey and then work on interviewing students either individually or in small groups to get their feedback and input on how we can improve the learning.
  2. Fly on the Wall-I would like to ask some staff members, including administrators, to just pop in and make objective observations. I am thinking about making a questionnaire as a framework for their drop-ins, but I’m also really curious about them just capturing some conversations that they hear–what is the “talk” in the classroom?

As I begin to dive into our data, I will be sure to share some of the results. Truthfully, I’ve always thought about design thinking as something that you introduce when doing project-based learning and never thought to use it in this context, so I’m exploring new territory.  I am really keen to hear other people’s stories and ideas about how I can go deeper. What am I missing? What suggestions do you have?

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