Tag: teaching

Why the PYP Exhibition Brings You to Tears

Why the PYP Exhibition Brings You to Tears

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This past month was an explosion of students who completed their PYP Exhibition. It was fantastic to see on Facebook and Twitter all the pictures and videos of the kids. For those people who live outside of the International Baccalaureate (IB) bubble, The Exhibition is the mother of all projects for the primary program and is a culminating event of the Primary Years Programme (PYP). Students, in grades 5 or 6  have to literally become their own teachers and plan and conduct a personal inquiry and then present their research using the arts and technology. Anyone who is familiar with the IB will understand that this is no ordinary project as the kids have to incorporate all 5 elements of the PYP into this inquiry, creating a central idea and lines of inquiry-based on conceptual understandings they want to explore, all the while demonstrating the learner profile and attitudes. The major emphasis is to “do something” now that they “know something”, so the students are expected to act upon their new-found knowledge in a way that is meaningful to them. Needless to say, it is an exciting 6-8 weeks of learning, and it is a lot of work to guide the students as they are pushed to go deeper and are challenged to become independent learners.

At the end of April, we completed our own school’s P5 exhibition and it was really powerful. For 7 weeks, the typical school timetable collapsed and they only met with mentors and specialists who help guide their research, as well as stand-alone math lessons. It’s hard to really articulate what a transformative experience this is for the students, but it is definitely one of my favorite parts of the PYP and why I am such a staunch believer in the IB framework. During our opening ceremony, the students performed this song and there wasn’t a dry eye in the whole room, everyone was moved to tears.

Say something, I’m giving up on you I’ll be the one, if you want me to/ No one’s been there when we ask them to. Anywhere, I would’ve followed you/ Ignoring the problems that you knew Say something, I’m giving up on you

And I am feeling so small It was over my head I know nothing at all

And I will stumble and fall/ When we stumble and fall I’m still learning to love/ The way we treat others Just starting to crawl/ It makes them feel small

Say something, I’m giving up on you I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you/ no one’s been there when we ask them to Anywhere, I would’ve followed you/ ignoring the problems that you knew Say something, I’m giving up on you

And I will swallow my pride/ And you, are using your might You’re the one that I love/ The power you have And I’m saying goodbye/ To take other’s rights

Say something, I’m giving up on you And I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you/ I’m sorry that I didn’t fight for you And anywhere, I would have followed you Oh, oh, oh, oh say something, I’m giving up on you

Say something, I’m giving up on you/ Say Something, you have the power to Say something

Created by Ms. Overby’s P5 students, 2017

Parents and teachers were in awe and other students were inspired, as our students inquired into the “access to equal opportunity” in the Sharing the Planet theme.  On the day of the Exhibition, students gave workshops and shared their art, as they explored issues such as family problems, human rights, money’s impact relationships, gender inequality and the Syrian refugee crisis. We had a giant “reflection” canvas that students, teachers, and parents wrote or doodled on to express their reactions to the presentations and ask questions to the students. The students got a lot of feedback from this process and enjoyed engaging with an authentic audience.

But even leading up the day of Exhibition, students were promoting awareness of their topics during school-wide events such as assembly and International Day. Their research wasn’t hidden in the 4 walls of their classroom but was shared with all of the students, and many of the younger students’ curiosity was sparked.

I think because of this, it made the opening ceremony and the workshops even more potent, as finally, the unveiling was taking place. Because all the artwork was put on display all over the school, students were still commented on the ideas presented and the topics still lingered on their minds. It was obvious to us teachers, that other students had impacted and uplifted just by proxy of the Exhibition.  I was glad that we did Exhibition earlier than other schools because there was still a buzz for weeks afterward and it inspired the Grade 4 class to want to do a mini-X for their final unit.  The Grade 5 students then became mentors for this mini-X, which further empowered them.

 

One of the group’s artworks on display, demonstrating the basic human rights which government must uphold.

There is absolutely no doubt that these Grade 5 students are prepared for our Middle Year’s Programme, as the seeds of life-long learning have been planted and they have the skills necessary to be successful. As a teacher and PYP coordinator, I wish this experience for all students, as they discover that they can take charge of their learning and can create their own path in life, making a difference through community service, raising public awareness and art. As a parent, it gives me great hope in what this empowered generation can bring to our world. It is for this reason why I have tears of joy and not sadness when I look upon the accomplishment of these students.

 

 
Eat, Sleep and Learn: In A State of Perpetual Practice

Eat, Sleep and Learn: In A State of Perpetual Practice

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Practice is a kind of severe devotion… This kind of discipline creates muscle memory, but even more so, this internal sensitivity andfamiliarity with the craft opens up and sparks invention and improvisation. Any kind of regular practice makes way for discovery and subtlety, and imaginative nuance will follow. -Gail  Swanlund-

I’m starting a new unit: How We Express Ourselves- We appreciate both the patterns that occur in the natural world and the ones that we create. During my first week of pre-assessment my mind says “No, no, no–these plastic toys and manipulatives, they are eye catching and helping them to develop the concept of pattern, but I want them to observe the natural world and get inspired by the lines, shapes, and colors they see!”

I can’t begin to tell you how mixed my emotions were–most of my students are on target, as they seem to understand the basics, copying, extending  and creating models, but this unit is supposed to be about the appreciation of the aesthetic, I have to dig digger and find ways to induce a state of curiosity and wonder in order to develop creativity and expose the limits of their imagination!!

If any early years teachers accustomed to teaching 3-5 years old were to look at these photos, they would be content with the approximations and, in some cases, clear understandings of the concept of pattern in our first week of our unit.  I think these learning tools are excellent ways to develop the structure of how we can manipulate shape and color, and it also gives them practice at creating repetition in forming patterns. However, as much as I love these little people’s effort, I know if I am to continue in this vein for this unit, I am totally missing the mark of the transdisciplinary theme.

I grabbed my laminated line drawing cards and dragged our lovely art teacher into my room to help me think about my classroom design and how I can organically teach pattern in lessons. I knew as soon as I began collaborating, I was out of my depth–I am not an artist, or at least that is how I perceive myself. (God help me when I sit down with the music teacher.) Panic began to set in….

So I  have begun to convert my classroom into different “environments”. One will be “water world”, “forest world” and “human world”, respectively.  And, if I was to really nail this unit, I was going to have to work on developing my craft so I could faithfully explore the idea of the aesthetic so the kids would demonstrate higher forms of creativity and irules-coritanventiveness.

With that in mind, I have decided to embark upon a learning journey, to jump into this inquiry as if I was the student and not necessarily the teacher. I’ve signed myself up for an Introduction to Image Making MOOC  from a graphic design perspective, and start to explore how I can incorporate some of these class assignments into my classroom. As I think about this endeavor the “rules” by Sister Corita Kent really speaks to how I can approach areas of my practice which are not as I am not as comfortable and familiar with.

Since I have decided to use the context of different environments to observe patterns, I have begun to consider how I might devise different provocations in which we can look at animals and their markings. Here are just a few ideas I have for the unit during our exploration and finding out phase of the inquiry.

  • Animal tails: I was thinking about a “cover and peek” activity. Using some of the languages from the Visible Thinking strategy, I See, I Think, I Wonder, we can look at pictures of animals with only their tails showing. Later, the students would be offered the use of materials like string and felt to create wavy, spotted and swirly tails.
  • Thunderstorm: I was thinking of listening to sounds of different types of storms and have the students give me words to describe what they hear.
    • Then I would give them some instruments and let them try to model what they hear. Later I would offer some drums, but I was thinking that I might cover the drum with some white paper and tape some different color crayons on it. In that way, when they are making their sounds, there would be markings on the paper.
    • Also, I plan on offering the colored water and droppers. I  was thinking that we could make raindrops using those materials, and they could watch the concentric circles form, as they drop the colored water into a tub of clear water.

These are just a couple of ideas that I was inspired with after 1 week from that MOOC. The longer I teach, the more I come to understand how important to do things that stretch me so that I not only cultivate a classroom rich in learning but that I model the growth mindset in my classroom–even if these ideas fail, at least I developed some opportunities to show the creative process over product. I want to endeavor to experience this inquiry as a participant, as much as I am the facilitator, so I am equally excited about what the students will come up with once the reins are taken off their imagination.
A’ Wondering about Educational Technology

A’ Wondering about Educational Technology

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Have you eve thought that at one time in human history cave art was a huge technological leap. As as we evolved and paper was invented, scrolls were considered controversial forms of educational technology; according to this research, ancient philosophers felt that if things were written down, then it depleted your memory. Quite surprising, huh? Thus our current digital technologies are no different: there will always be people who embrace technology wholeheartedly and those who resist it.

Nevertheless, iPads and other tablets have infiltrated so many households that to not use them in the classroom would be a sin. At our school, we have a BYO-ipad policy for students in grade levels 3-5. And as educators this type of technology transcends so much of what we can do with pen and paper. But where to begin?

I’ve been really inspired by the presentation by  Tom Daccord & Justin Reich as they strive to guide teachers through the murky waters of using iPads in the classroom. I appreciate how succinctly they spell out the taxonomy of their use with 4 levels: Consume, Curate, Create and Connect.

ipads

Although I get enthusiastic about using apps for education, there are some thorny issues that we have been discussing, especially with regards to research skills. Not only has there been much debate over having students use books vs. internet websites as primary sources of information, but whether using apps like Notability or One Note to curate content really helped students digest the information and convert it into personal knowledge. As I reflect on the graphic above, it makes me wonder if these are not really levels, but the process by which we should take students through a project or problem that they must solve as they research ideas using the iPads. As more of our classrooms begin to shift to embrace these technologies, I think we need to consider how we can go deeper in our learning so that, not only does the technology evolve, but also the thinking in our classrooms.

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 
Teachers are Students too

Teachers are Students too

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stressfulI was startled by Dylan William’s research which suggested that teachers’ pedagogical growth and openness to professional development begins to wane after 3 years of classroom practice. I found that incredibly interesting; however as I recall my own journey,  it took me about 3 years to develop my classroom management style and get a handle of the paperwork and other demands of the profession. Perhaps these educational housekeeping items get confused for “good practice” and teachers can stagnant professionally once their comfort zone becomes established. Of course, the current boom in project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, STEM, flipped classrooms, design thinking and educational technology have disrupted a lot of teachers’ around the world. It may seem overwhelming at times to keep evolving.

Whether or not you adopt these principles and trends or not, I think there are some “basic needs” that educators have to master.

Here are some essentials elements of a quality classroom: (Must DOs)

  • Be intentional and set learning goals for students.
  • Laughter and humor are really important in learning –whether it is laughing AT the learning process or DURING the learning.
  • Hard Fun: challenging and engaging projects always trump didactic teacher directed lessons. (ie: Ditch that textbook and create meaningful work tasks for students.)
  • Get every student answering questions through better formative assessment practices.
  • Create blended learning experiences, in which technology is integrated as a component of learning.
  • Communicate with families and share the learning!
  • Growth Mindset isn’t a theory–it’s a fact and intelligence is malleable. Allow mistakes and failure to be fodder for deeper learning.

Here are ways to extend the quality of pedagogical approaches: (May DOs)

  • Keep a teacher reflection journal that documents what worked/bombed in the class.
  • Read educational books, blogs or take MOOCs/Online training so you can extend your pedagogical knowledge.
  • Develop a professional learning network, which could be inside your district or virtually, through Twitter, Facebook or Google+ communities.

And remember, the best teachers are the best LEARNERS! If you feel listless, then NOW is the time to inject some energy into your practice. You don’t have to wait for a school leader to drop a training into your lap, take charge and develop your craft–you are really the only one who can do that.
Teaching with Intention: 4 Ways for Improving Formative Assessment

Teaching with Intention: 4 Ways for Improving Formative Assessment

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I’ve been binge watching webinars by Dr. Dylan Williams, and if you don’t know who that is, well am I glad you came to my blog because I am going to share of some of his techniques for embedded formative assessment. His ideas have really made me take pause when it comes to assessment for learning in my classroom. There’s no way I could distil all his wisdom into this blog post but I will offer you 4 techniques that he has shared in one of his recent books on assessment.

  1. Plan your questions!  Questions should be clearly focused and link to the key concepts of the lesson. The questions should be worth asking and answering. Those questions should “hinge” on the direction that the learning needs to go next.
  2. No hands up, except to ask a question. This can be a powerful technique in improving student engagement. With this strategy, you ask the question first, then pick a student at random. Picking students at random can be as simple as using Popsicle sticks with student names on it (put the names BACK into the container though so they don’t think that their turn is over and they disengage), or using a tool like Class Dojo which can randomly select students (although awarding points for their answer is not necessarily encouraged).
  3.  Wait! And Wait AGAIN! After posing a question, give it a 3-5 second pause. Dr. Williams suggests that you let the students know that you are providing them more time to think so that students don’t rush and give more thoughtful answers. And then after a student answers, give wait time again so that students can reflect on the idea given. As teachers we shouldn’t be in a hurry to validate or correct answers. We should allow students the opportunity to respond to the idea shared.
  4. Avoid questions altogether. It has been suggested that asking questions shuts down discussion because there is a “right” and “wrong” answer. So, if you have reluctant learners, sometimes its best to provide a statement and have students evaluate the idea and give justifications for their response. For example: “Donald Trump claims that the election is rigged.”  Right now, especially if you are an American, you began to think whether you agree or disagree with that statement. You can imagine how discussion could ensue from this statement, right?!

So hopefully these ideas will elicit some inspired action in your classroom this week. And if you can’t do them all, then what can you do? What is one small step, one idea, that you can take to improve how your generate and use formative assessment in your classroom?

 
Supporting Inquiry with Apps

Supporting Inquiry with Apps

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Our school does a BYOD  iPad program for grades 3-5, and then we have sets of iPads that are shared with EY-P2. Using iPads for learning has been really beneficial but it’s not all rainbows and flowers. It takes experience and thoughtfulness when using apps because sometimes you spend more time on learning the technology vs. actually doing the project you intended. This happened twice last year for me while using Padlet to do a collaborative mindmap as a part of a formative assessment and then keeping a digital journal using Microsoft’s OneNote.  It was a love-hate relationship, and I learned a lot from the experience.

So now as I support teachers with using apps in their classroom I have to think about how long it might take to teach a new application and if the benefits of the learning outweigh this loss of instruction. Here are some apps that I like that I think can support some of our upcoming Units of Inquiry:

EY 4: People can help our communities by working in different ways.

  • Inventioneers and Busy Water. I love these apps because they have a great STEM link for little ones as they learn how to design and build structures in order to solve problems. Busy water is less challenging, in my opinion, but both games are engaging.inventioneers

KG:  Living things have specific needs in order to grow and stay healthy.

  • Virry: This is a great interactive game with “live” animals (I presume in a zoo setting), in which you get to feed animals like lions or meerkats. The free version just lets the kids do limited basic things whereas if you get a subscription, you have more engagement and learn more about the animals. I don’t mind paying for subscriptions when more content is added, but I haven’t seen that yet. However, it is a very unique game and it is worth the .99 USD for a month of its use.

virry

P1: Personal histories help us to reflect on who we are and where we’ve come from.

  • Aging Booth or Old Fart Booth: The kids LOVE these! This apps give them the impression of what they could look like as an elderly person. And the apps are FREE–my favorite word!

aging-booth

P2: Maps can be used to help people locate places.

 Google Maps and Google Earth are the most obvious choices. And although there are other great apps out there , after reading this website, I think that Google Maps is so rich, there is no reason why other apps are really needed. Quality over quantity! However, teachers could recommend other apps like National Girrafic and Tiny Countries for home learning.

smarty-pins

P3: Understanding movement enhances our creativity.

We have had a lot of conversation about which way this inquiry could go. The Arts teachers will obviously focus on dance and expressing movement visually. The last unit was about covered content like body systems and nutrition so I thought Grade 3 could consider movement in terms of exercise and think about apps like Charity Miles to link creative ways to encourage movement. But if you consider movement with a perspective as a scientist or engineer, then that opens up a variety of other applications. Here are some ideas:

  • Scratch Jr, Hopscotch , or Logotacular: coding comes to mind as a neat way to think about programming movement. However, it really depends upon the teacher and their skill level in order to guide students, but there are a myriad of coding apps (more than I listed here), so it would be easy to differentiate for learners.
  • Simple Machines: I am a fan of the Tinybop developer apps. This one is quite nice but I do think Inventioneers could more engaging for this age group; although the Amazing Alex app would be my first choice–if only it was offered for iPads. Sigh..

charity-miles

I’ve already blogged about using technology in the upcoming P4 unit: Getting Modern about Ancient Times. And P5’s next unit (Humans express their ideas and use persuasion to influence others.) focusing on using surveys, which they use Excel for their results; so their technology concentration is on using spreadsheets and converting data into graphical representations with that program.

But hopefully sharing these ideas will help inspire you about what and how you can use apps in your classroom. I really interested in others’ ideas if any other apps come to mind when looking at our Central Ideas for our inquiries. Please share in the comments below!

Happy Apping!

 

 

 
Shifting the Classroom

Shifting the Classroom

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The Creature in the Classroom

BY JACK PRELUTSKY

It appeared inside our classroom

at a quarter after ten,

it gobbled up the blackboard,

three erasers and a pen.

It gobbled teacher’s apple

and it bopped her with the core.

“How dare you!” she responded.

“You must leave us . . . there’s the door.”

The Creature didn’t listen but described an arabesque as it gobbled all her pencils, seven notebooks and her desk.

Teacher stated very calmly, “Sir! You simply cannot stay,

I’ll report you to the principal

unless you go away!”

But the thing continued eating,

it ate paper, swallowed ink,

as it gobbled up our homework

I believe I saw it wink.

Teacher finally lost her temper.

“OUT!” she shouted at the creature.

The creature hopped beside her

and GLOPP . . . it gobbled teacher.

When I think about how much education has been transformed in the last decade,  I find this poem a bit ironic and have to wonder if the poet knew what was in store for  today’s classroom when he wrote that. Did he know how technology would “gobble” up paper and ink–even to some extent the teacher?
 However, there’s no doubt that our classrooms have become more student-orientated rather than teacher-centered. And I was reminded lately  during an IB webinar, Creating Inspiring Places, that our classrooms need to be designed for learning rather than merely being decorated. With that in mind, I loved this infographic that I snagged from the presentation.

todays-classroom

While looking at this, I asked myself what do I do well and what do I need to work on more this year in my own classroom? I’m feeling lucky that I have a long holiday week nearing the corner so I can sit down and take this all in more so. And what can I share with teachers? What would inspire their learning spaces?-What needs to be “gobbled up” in our school so that our “creatures” get the best education that they deserve? Hmm…

What about you?–What do you think needs to be “gobbled up” in your classroom?
Leading Curriculum: A Brief Reflection 

Leading Curriculum: A Brief Reflection 

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It’s hard to imagine that this year is drawing to a close. As I’ve entered into a new era of my leadership skills, I feel the need to reflect on what I’ve accomplished and what is still for me to do is vital.

My favorite part of this year was definitely working with teachers, coaching and mentoring them. I love planning and delivering professional development that engages and enriches the practice of teachers. I appreciated their dedication to our students and to developing a strong curriculum in which students felt valued and challenged. I feel a heavy obligation to take good PD and make it great with rethinking how we can do PLCs and in what ways we can also allow for differentiated learning among our staff. This is definitely my summer homework as I think ahead for next year.

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The Grade 5 Exhibition Professional Learning Opportunity at TIS! I really enjoyed the conversations that I was able to facilitate within our network of schools.

 

Next year I go back down to the Early Years as a teacher, which I look forward to since I get to play and teach units of inquiry that I am familiar with. I think finding a balance between supporting my students and supporting teachers has been one of the biggest challenges in my role as a curriculum coordinator.  Although my time table says 60% teacher and 40% coordinator, the truth is I have spent way more time in both of those roles. Being a Grade 4 teacher (and doing maternity leave for the EY class) has been a fun challenge–doing inquiry based learning at that level and cultivating students into agents of action has enhanced my practice greatly. But since I just don’t open a book and turn to page 43 to teach “today’s lesson”, coming up with creative and interesting ways to develop conceptual understandings and promote wise use of technology in our classroom wasn’t always easy.  I am grateful for the opportunity to gain this perspective and work with this level of students.  I know I can make better decisions and coach more effectively since I can now speak to both spectrums of our program, from the youngest learners to the oldest. As a result, I really understand the need for more differentiated staff meetings so that those groups of teachers can discuss and collaborate more deeply and effectively. Creating those kinds of opportunities are on my “to-do” list for next year.

What went well for you as a curriculum leader? What are your priorities for next year? I’d love to hear  others’s ideas! Please share!

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Climbing the Great Firewall of China! I’ve appreciated all the ideas and willingness to try different ways to develop 21st century learning in our classroom presentations. Next year we hope to utilize OneNote and SeeSaw to create digital “portfolios”.
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Teachers sharing how we can effectively implement models of co-teaching in our classroom for our ESL push-in program.
My Quest to be a Know-It-All

My Quest to be a Know-It-All

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Professional Development is something that I take seriously, and I am constantly researching about the latest developments in education and I am eager to share with my colleagues what I have learned. When I’m not reading, I’m engaging in Educational “Hangouts” or Twitter chats. I love MOOCs and take at least 3 a year.

I have highlighted just some of my professional development that I have formally received.

Professional Development that I have attended:

  • Introduction to the Primary Years Programme Curriculum Model (International Baccalaureate)
  •  Teaching and Learning (International Baccalaureate)
  • 3-5 Year Olds (International Baccalaureate)
  • Role of the Coordinator (International Baccalaureate)
  • Differentiated Instruction (Staff Development for Educators)
  • Digital Learning (Intel Teach to the Future Program)
  • Structured English Immersion (Arizona State University)
  • Systematic Change in Reading  (Arizona Department of Education)
  • Conceptual Based Learning in Math (Math and Science Partnership Grant, University of Arizona)
  • Enhancing Creativity (University of Phoenix)

I also have an IB Webinar Pass and frequently listen and learn from new and archived webinars, as well as IB conference talks on iTunes. As a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), I regularly attend webinars and online courses offered on topics such as formative assessment, managing differentiation, and creating high quality units.

On My Bookshelf (or Kindle)

…

Read More Read More

Teaching Creativity

Teaching Creativity

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Since I have been teaching in the UAE, I have noticed a stark difference between American (ergo western children,in general) and my Arabic children when it comes to creativity. I might easily shrug it off to teaching ESL, but I co-teach so I get to observe their behaviors during Arabic and Islamic Studies.   Indeed, the children here spend more time running feral in play than plopped down in front of cartoons and computers, but that certainly wouldn’t account for the muted expression of curiosity or creativity, in fact, it would have made me think just the reverse since they have so much free play. Thus, it makes me beg the question: are we born naturally inquisitive and creative or are those attributes acquired through our culture?

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When given a box of legos (bricks), students rely on pictures of examples of things they can make before attempting to design something.

Many of us Western teachers have observed similar behavior in other grade levels. And, at home, when we might have been plagued with the endless amount of energy of questions and tangents of imagination our students would go on, we are absolutely desperate to get students to think for themselves, let a lone outside the box. I don’t mean for this observation to reflect poorly on our students, because they are bright and able, but perfection and high marks are what is really valued in this culture.  Whether a student writes a lovely poem or paints a beautiful painting is not as appreciated as an A on a paper. So I have to think that this is a cultural influence.

Since the Abu Dhabi Education Council is wanting to reform their schools to more western style approaches to learning, they are trying to shift from the more traditional methods into ones that will sponsor innovation and technology through critical thinking. Increasing inquisitiveness and creativity seem paramount to this task, so we have felt at a loss at how to systematically teach it.

Enter Harvard Project Zero! Through research done, they have created something called “Visible Thinking”, which they noticed that ” Often, we found, children (and adults) think in shallow ways not for lack of ability to think more deeply but because they simply do not notice the opportunity or do not care. To put it all together, we say that really good thinking involves abilities, attitudes, and alertness, all three at once. Technically this is called a dispositional view of thinking. Visible Thinking is designed to foster all three.”  (Visible Thinking)

I have been implementing many of their core routines and it has been interesting to actually gain insight into their perspectives and ideas.  Naturally, since I teach in a bilingual classroom, most of the responses are in their home language of Arabic, but my counterpart will translate their ideas to me.  It has been very helpful in cultivating a culture of deeper thinking, respect for different points of view, and looking closer at things. The easiest routine for my ELLs has been  I SEE, I THINK, I WONDER  .   I also really find Creativity Hunt to be another really interesting one that has a high level of engagement.

Overall, I really recommend teachers to take a look at their site because their are so many simple things that you can add to your lessons to increase creative thought and critical thinking–No matter the grade level.  I hope you take some time to check  out some of the material and implement some of the routines in your classroom.

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