14 December 2009
Some of My Favourite Picture Books - Great for all Ages
I have always loved picture books. I've used them with students of all ages for a variety of purposes. When I taught grade 11 Parenting, one whole day every week was devoted to children's literature and how it can be useful in teaching everything from a moral lesson to literary devices to discussing social justice issues. Coupled with beautiful illustrations, these books are truly a treasure to have in the classroom. The grown-ups that I've shared them with love them too!
13 December 2009
Student Engagement is VITAL
Whenever I think about what "student engagement" means, I almost always think to a specific scence from the film Sisterhood, where Whoopi Goldberg's character, Sister Mary Clarence, is leading the choir for the first time at Sunday mass...
The music brought in kids from off the street who probably wouldn't have chosen to be there in the first place but they were captivated by what they heard. I always wondered, "If my students had a choice, would they really want to be here? Am I giving them reason enough to care?" These questions have always kept me in check. Yes, our kids, to a certain age, have to be in school because the law compells them and their parents but that isn't enough. It creates complacency if you ask me - on both sides of the teacher's desks.
I recently read an article called Setting the Stage for Student Engagement by Jan Richards (2006). She had me from the very beginning with this statement:
Hit the nail right on the head. Good teachers constantly reflect on what they did to facilitate those wonderful moments, and when it's not happening all the time, they take an honest inventory of what was or wasn't done. This is basically critical pedagogy. They rethink the teaching model(s) they employed or they fine-tune their knowledge on a specific topic. Richards suggests that there are four key factors that teachers consider when attempting to maximize student engagement in the classroom: issues of time, space, materials and relationships. In a nutshell, this is what she is getting at:
TIME
-the lesson should be an appropriate length for the students you are teaching
-plan for the timing of all parts of the lesson, especially transitions -be aware of wandering eyes and movement -given information in small chunks
-provide short breaks or change in location to keep the momentum of the lesson going
-try to strike a balance among cognitive, social, and kinesthetic experiences -keep the day of the week or time of year in mind when planning the kind of lesson you wish to deliver
SPACE
-arrange desks in such a way that will encourage on-task behaviour and conversation
-allow room for easy transition from direct instruction to cooperative activities
-avoid crowding where possible so that students don't have the excuse to be distracted -avoid creating an "action zone" - groups of students who tend to participate the most - because other groups will naturally be disengaged from the lesson and the general culture of the classroom
-move around the classroom and change up the areas from where direct instruction is given
MATERIALS
-have all materials needed for the lesson ready to go before the lesson begins -use as many hands-on materials whenever possible
-have a seamless routine for the distribution of materials in place
RELATIONSHIPS
-be conscious of facial expression
-monitor the tone of your voice
-care - about ALL students; students want to be liked by their teachers, whether they admit to it or not
-be sensitive to the difficulties some students are facing
-be accepting of differences and encourage students always
I don't know that these factors are listed this way for any particular reason. Admittedly, I'm surprised that there wasn't really any mention of differentiated instruction in the article. It's a no-brainer, really. DI keeps kids engaged, learning and well-behaved. It also shows that you care about how students learn, what they are interested in and they appreciate the choice that is afforded to them. For me, relationships is the most fundamental. Quite frankly, with a caring adult in the room, the chances for success increases astronomically for our students. The other factors are simple and do-able, but how we get along with our students can sometimes make or break the experience they will have in our classroom. If nothing else, begin and end the day with a smile. Easy stuff...
The music brought in kids from off the street who probably wouldn't have chosen to be there in the first place but they were captivated by what they heard. I always wondered, "If my students had a choice, would they really want to be here? Am I giving them reason enough to care?" These questions have always kept me in check. Yes, our kids, to a certain age, have to be in school because the law compells them and their parents but that isn't enough. It creates complacency if you ask me - on both sides of the teacher's desks.
I recently read an article called Setting the Stage for Student Engagement by Jan Richards (2006). She had me from the very beginning with this statement:
Most of us have experienced such moments of "student engagement" when every learner seems utterly focused on the task, and time seems to stand still. They are what teachers live for. You wish you could capture the exhilaration of these moments to sustain yourself through those exhausting, miserable days when everything seems to go wrong.
Hit the nail right on the head. Good teachers constantly reflect on what they did to facilitate those wonderful moments, and when it's not happening all the time, they take an honest inventory of what was or wasn't done. This is basically critical pedagogy. They rethink the teaching model(s) they employed or they fine-tune their knowledge on a specific topic. Richards suggests that there are four key factors that teachers consider when attempting to maximize student engagement in the classroom: issues of time, space, materials and relationships. In a nutshell, this is what she is getting at:
TIME
-the lesson should be an appropriate length for the students you are teaching
-plan for the timing of all parts of the lesson, especially transitions -be aware of wandering eyes and movement -given information in small chunks
-provide short breaks or change in location to keep the momentum of the lesson going
-try to strike a balance among cognitive, social, and kinesthetic experiences -keep the day of the week or time of year in mind when planning the kind of lesson you wish to deliver
SPACE
-arrange desks in such a way that will encourage on-task behaviour and conversation
-allow room for easy transition from direct instruction to cooperative activities
-avoid crowding where possible so that students don't have the excuse to be distracted -avoid creating an "action zone" - groups of students who tend to participate the most - because other groups will naturally be disengaged from the lesson and the general culture of the classroom
-move around the classroom and change up the areas from where direct instruction is given
MATERIALS
-have all materials needed for the lesson ready to go before the lesson begins -use as many hands-on materials whenever possible
-have a seamless routine for the distribution of materials in place
RELATIONSHIPS
-be conscious of facial expression
-monitor the tone of your voice
-care - about ALL students; students want to be liked by their teachers, whether they admit to it or not
-be sensitive to the difficulties some students are facing
-be accepting of differences and encourage students always
I don't know that these factors are listed this way for any particular reason. Admittedly, I'm surprised that there wasn't really any mention of differentiated instruction in the article. It's a no-brainer, really. DI keeps kids engaged, learning and well-behaved. It also shows that you care about how students learn, what they are interested in and they appreciate the choice that is afforded to them. For me, relationships is the most fundamental. Quite frankly, with a caring adult in the room, the chances for success increases astronomically for our students. The other factors are simple and do-able, but how we get along with our students can sometimes make or break the experience they will have in our classroom. If nothing else, begin and end the day with a smile. Easy stuff...
One Step at a Time...
I've been doing a lot of talking lately about Web 2.0 with various groups of teachers and inevitably, there are always some who are unsure - about themselves and their ability to understsand and effectively use the technology with their students in a meaningful way or that using the web-base applications will in some way compromise the integrity of the work they have been doing up until now. Let's face it - this sort of stuff makes people really itchy. I received this vides clip in an email:
Why I love it so much is because it illustrates the point that I try to make when I do try to bring awareness to teachers about Web 2.0. Like in the video, there will be some who feel so confortable with these new options that they will run up the proverbial stairs like it's nobody's business. Others will cautiously toe-tap their way up. Others still will continue doing what they've always done - take the escalator. The point is that we've all got the exposure and more information, which is one step ahead of where we were before in the use of this technology. Whether teachers use it or not is not of great concern to me, although our kids would appreciate the engagement it brings, but simply knowing about the benefits and potential will allow teachers to provide students with even more choice that is far more relevant to them. Imagine! Allowing students to use technology at school the way they LIVE it their lives outside of school...
In the meantime teachers, relax! Give yourselves a break and afford yourselves some time to become comfortable. I promise, you won't see this stuff popping up in curriculum documents or in board mandates. Play a bit and see for yourselves. The possibilities are endless.
Why I love it so much is because it illustrates the point that I try to make when I do try to bring awareness to teachers about Web 2.0. Like in the video, there will be some who feel so confortable with these new options that they will run up the proverbial stairs like it's nobody's business. Others will cautiously toe-tap their way up. Others still will continue doing what they've always done - take the escalator. The point is that we've all got the exposure and more information, which is one step ahead of where we were before in the use of this technology. Whether teachers use it or not is not of great concern to me, although our kids would appreciate the engagement it brings, but simply knowing about the benefits and potential will allow teachers to provide students with even more choice that is far more relevant to them. Imagine! Allowing students to use technology at school the way they LIVE it their lives outside of school...
In the meantime teachers, relax! Give yourselves a break and afford yourselves some time to become comfortable. I promise, you won't see this stuff popping up in curriculum documents or in board mandates. Play a bit and see for yourselves. The possibilities are endless.
11 December 2009
Wordle!
I love WORDLE!
Wordle is an online application that allows you to create word clouds from the text (words and phrases) that you provide. You can modify the shape of the cloud, the font, the colours - it's great! The site allows you to print your creations or you can post to the public gallery.
This is the Wordle I created with a critical literacy theme:
How is this useful in the classroom?
-great for poetry
-works great as a "getting to know you" type of activity
-awesome for displays in the classroom (eg. bulletin boards)
-neat addition to works of art
-effective posters concern social justice issues
The only thing that irks me (but only slightly) is that you can't save your Wordle. To get around that, I simply performed CTRL+PRT SCR and pasted it into a Paint file, trimmed the edges and saved the image as a JPEG. A bit pesty, I admit, but until I figure out and easier way of going about this, I don't mind doing it. I really recommend playing around with this one :)
Wordle is an online application that allows you to create word clouds from the text (words and phrases) that you provide. You can modify the shape of the cloud, the font, the colours - it's great! The site allows you to print your creations or you can post to the public gallery.
This is the Wordle I created with a critical literacy theme:
How is this useful in the classroom?
-great for poetry
-works great as a "getting to know you" type of activity
-awesome for displays in the classroom (eg. bulletin boards)
-neat addition to works of art
-effective posters concern social justice issues
The only thing that irks me (but only slightly) is that you can't save your Wordle. To get around that, I simply performed CTRL+PRT SCR and pasted it into a Paint file, trimmed the edges and saved the image as a JPEG. A bit pesty, I admit, but until I figure out and easier way of going about this, I don't mind doing it. I really recommend playing around with this one :)
The 21st Century Learning Part 2
I'm a bit behind in my blogging - can ya tell?
On December 3rd, we had the greatest time with teachers in part two of our series on The 21st Century Learner. Teachers got right into looking at the kinds of questions we as teachers ask of our students and how we can challenge our students more with deeper questioning. Next, we moved onto a really rich discussion in critical literacy. We examined what it is and what it isn't. We looked at some media texts and asked some really tough questions. Generally, I've found that critical literacy makes people really itchy but this group was really receptive to this world view. What made me a bit sad was that a teacher indicated that there is a negative stigma attached to embracing this kind of teaching. Teachers are really feeling pressured to conform to the ways things have always been done. My response was that teachers who believe in critical literacy often find themselves alone at first, but it catches on really quickly. Once colleagues see how engaged students are, they'll want to try it too.
In the lab, we "mucked around" with Delicious and I think teachers were excited about the "green potential" this application has.
All in all, a fantabulous day!
On December 3rd, we had the greatest time with teachers in part two of our series on The 21st Century Learner. Teachers got right into looking at the kinds of questions we as teachers ask of our students and how we can challenge our students more with deeper questioning. Next, we moved onto a really rich discussion in critical literacy. We examined what it is and what it isn't. We looked at some media texts and asked some really tough questions. Generally, I've found that critical literacy makes people really itchy but this group was really receptive to this world view. What made me a bit sad was that a teacher indicated that there is a negative stigma attached to embracing this kind of teaching. Teachers are really feeling pressured to conform to the ways things have always been done. My response was that teachers who believe in critical literacy often find themselves alone at first, but it catches on really quickly. Once colleagues see how engaged students are, they'll want to try it too.
In the lab, we "mucked around" with Delicious and I think teachers were excited about the "green potential" this application has.
All in all, a fantabulous day!
The 21st Century Learning Part 2
View more presentations from guest7a7987.
Moderns 2.0: A P.A. Day Well Spent!
I was sooooo thrilled to be spending the day with our Moderns teachers on December 4th. This power point accompanied the keynote address that I gave in the morning. It was so great how receptive participants were to these ideas and to looking for new ways to engage students in their classes.
In the afternoon, I hosted a workshop where teachers basically got to play! They "mucked around" (a very technical term I learned from Michele Knobel) with various Web 2.0 applications and voiced their excitement as well as their concerns about using them in the class, but it was certainly a productive afternoon.
What a great day!
Moderns 2.0: A P.A. Day Well Spent!
View more presentations from ChrissyYCDSB.
In the afternoon, I hosted a workshop where teachers basically got to play! They "mucked around" (a very technical term I learned from Michele Knobel) with various Web 2.0 applications and voiced their excitement as well as their concerns about using them in the class, but it was certainly a productive afternoon.
What a great day!
10 December 2009
Some Food For Thought...
In May of 2008, Sony BMG featured this video at a conference. It fits in beautifully with the major themes around 21st century learning. We included this as part of the materials for the September PA Day, which focused on differentiating instruction for the 21st century learner.
Great Video Clip!
I found this clip on YouTube. One of the reasons I love it is because it's set to a mash-up of Under Pressure by Queen and I Wanna Rock With You by Michael Jackson. Mash-ups are a really interesting topic when it comes to 21st century learning. Essentially. a mash-up takes two completely different songs and seamlessly blends them together to create a brand new product that is relevant to a new audience. If the ability to create is the new high order thinking, then a mash-up is a great example of this new kind of skill.
07 December 2009
Typography
Check out this link on Vimeo: Typography - poem by Taylor Mali and animation by Ronnie Bruce. Very thought-provoking...
02 December 2009
Tools for Real-World Work
Today, thanks to an email sent to me by a teacher-librarian in our board (Jeanne - you totally made my day!!), I've discovered a terrific blog run by Carolyn Foote, a librarian from a high school in Austin, Texas. The blog focuses on how we can use Web 2.0 tools effectively with our kids. A couple days ago, she posted, "What are really fighting for?", and this is what she had to say:
I think this is brilliant. What is especially brilliant is that this message is coming from a teacher-librarian - the ultimate partner in 21st century teaching and learning. If there is anyone in a school is sitting more on the cutting edge and keeping up to speed with what's going on in the world, it's our teacher-librarians. Our school libraries are the hub of a school, and active and vibrant place that should be connecting our kids to the outside world.
It's not about jazzing up our lessons so that we can look like we're keeping with the times. It's about giving our kids the opportunity to use real-world tools to solve real-world problems and develop real-world skills. Who can argue with that?
We all talk a lot about tools. About great sites; about Animoto and Twitter and Facebook; about Voicethread and Delicious and blogging.
We struggle in our districts to convince them to lower the filter so we can use some of these tools effectively. We fight for Skype or Facebook or Blogger. We fight to use wikis or Ning or YouTube.
But to paraphrase Dr. Seuss in the Grinch, maybe it’s about a little bit more than we are fighting for.
Because after all…
It’s not about creating a blog, it’s about expressing your own ideas and beliefs clearly.
It’s not about using delicious or Diigo, it’s about developing a system to keep up with your stuff and to share your stuff.
It’s not about Skype, it’s about understanding how to communicate globally in a video setting or via chat/conversation.
And it’s not about making an Animoto slide show, it’s about having a good sense of design or telling a story.
It’s not about learning to use the software, it’s about the skills our students will carry with them that these tools and others like them allow. It’s about our students expressing themselves clearly, beautifully, and skillfully.
And that’s what we should be teaching them. And that’s what we should be fighting for.
I think this is brilliant. What is especially brilliant is that this message is coming from a teacher-librarian - the ultimate partner in 21st century teaching and learning. If there is anyone in a school is sitting more on the cutting edge and keeping up to speed with what's going on in the world, it's our teacher-librarians. Our school libraries are the hub of a school, and active and vibrant place that should be connecting our kids to the outside world.
It's not about jazzing up our lessons so that we can look like we're keeping with the times. It's about giving our kids the opportunity to use real-world tools to solve real-world problems and develop real-world skills. Who can argue with that?
Rynee Flaherty's story
Thestar.com - VideoZone - Rynee Flaherty's story
This video accompanies one of the articles in the previous posting. Really good...
This video accompanies one of the articles in the previous posting. Really good...
It's Not Going Away...
No amount of government restitution can repay the damage done throughout history to Canada's First Nation, Inuit and Metis people. Just because official apologies have been issues and token amounts of money handed out, doesn't mean that we stop talking about the issues and concerns that continue to plague Canada's first peoples. A fantastic teacher in our board sent me three links to some very compelling articles from the Toronto Star. These are great resources for teachers to use:
www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/732447--high-arctic-exiles-still-feel-raw
www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/732175--inuit-were-moved-2-000-km-in-cold-war-manoeuvring
www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/732446--her-quest-for-justice-started-early
www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/732447--high-arctic-exiles-still-feel-raw
www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/732175--inuit-were-moved-2-000-km-in-cold-war-manoeuvring
www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/732446--her-quest-for-justice-started-early
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