Reno your Pedagogy

Is it Time to Renovate Your Practice?

I may be risking being a bit derivative with this blog post.  There are lots of great educational innovators out there, folks who are driving change and doing it much better than I am - not to mention writing much better about it than I can.  But, this is where my head is at this week, so this is what I'm writing about.  

I was reading a new post from The Plugged In Portable, a great blog by David Carruthers who is a Technology Co-ordinator with the TVDSB, called "The Biggest Barrier Can be Your Own Thinking."  He was writing about how as teachers, we can be our own worst enemy when it comes to innovation in education.  He got my attention with this:  "Far too often though, educators are quick to turn their backs on innovation. They see barriers without any thoughtful reflection, or questioning, regarding how these barriers can be overcome, or if they truly exist in the first place."  He goes on to say, "However, to a much larger degree, I believe these barriers are erected because of attitude, rather than any limitations placed on us by forces beyond our control."  That got me thinking about a staffroom conversation I had with a colleague a few months ago.

I was in the staff room with a few other teachers doing some self directed PD.  We were working on how to use and implement Google Applications in our classrooms.  A colleague noticed what we were doing and in the conversation that followed stated something to the tune of, "I'm interested in technology but I don't want to learn all about this Google thing and convert everything I do to that, so that in a few years the next new thing will come along and I have to start all over."  

My response was, "But, that's how life works, isn't it?"  I went on to explain that I had spent a lot of time and money renovating my kitchen not that long ago. The old kitchen still worked, but it had it's issues and it was dated.  The new kitchen is easier to work in, has more modern and energy efficient appliances, and the new lighting makes it a safer and more productive space.  Did I have to renovate?  No, but I had the means, the know how and the desire to improve it, so I did.  And I'm loving the change.  Just like in our homes, regardless of what we've used for technology in our classrooms in the past, things change, improve or need to be replaced.

Photo from: https://www.pexels.com/search/modern%20kitchen/

Since having this conversation, I've thought a lot about it.  David's post this week brought it and the the issue surrounding it back to the forefront for me.  We innovate, change and update things in our lives all the time.  I mentioned renovations, but we replace our vehicles, change our hairstyles, buy new clothes and pursue new hobbies on a pretty regular basis.  Why is it that when it comes to professional practice, technology in the classroom, or any change in the educational spectrum, that we can sometimes be so resistant?  I get it.  Change is hard.  Change can be scary. Change is work.  But not changing can be scary too.  You can get so comfortable with the way things are, that you fail to see how great they could be. 

I'm not saying everyone has to jump on every new innovation or idea immediately (unless you want to).  What I am saying is don't dismiss change or new ideas immediately, simply because they are a change or a new idea.  Think about them.  Reflect on how you might be able to improve what you are doing with them.  Pick something you think is doable, and do it.  You don't have to gut your house to improve it.  Start with something small like a coat of paint, a new appliance or some throw pillows.  In the teaching realm it might be doing some professional reading, taking a course, starting a professional Twitter account, joining a PLN or going to a workshop so that you can start a classroom website, get students blogging, or revamp how you are assessing student learning.  Challenge yourself to make one change in the way you do things this month, this semester or this school year.  

If you are reading this and find your back straightening up, your toes digging into the floor and you are thinking, "But, I don't want to change what I'm doing," I ask you to reflect on this... Do you really want your professional practice to be the allegorical equivalent of a kitchen with 1950's era appliances and bright orange countertops?

Photo from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/42353480@N02/5759004867

Oh, those pesky bugs!

Oh, those pesky bugs!

It's mid January and we are now fully invested...or should I say infested in Cold and Flu season.  The past two weeks my classroom has been pretty much decimated by the most recent bug.  One day this week 60% of my class was absent due to illness, not to mention one of my E.A.'s as well.  As my teacher readers well know, our students share a great deal with us, including way too much information on bodily fluids and how they emanate from us when we are sick.  I enjoy bathroom humor as much as my students do, but I have heard way too much about poop and vomit this week.

They also generally share whatever virus they get with us.  I remember early in my career being told by colleagues that teachers build up immunity to most viruses after a few years, but this has not been the case for me.  About 95% of the time, I tend to get whatever virus enters my classroom, despite washing my hands obsessively until they are raw, disinfecting surfaces, regular flu shots and other home remedies.

However, this time, I was the Typhoid Mary of the classroom.  Everyone came back from Christmas break healthy, except me.  I came back with a bug, likely picked up at the hockey arena or at a holiday function the last weekend of the break.  It seems to have been an incredibly virulent virus, because no one has emerged unscathed.  I have simply infected them all.  After more than 20 plus years of teaching and getting all the cold and flu bugs my students have shared with me,  I'm feeling a bit, "Sorry, Not Sorry."

Driving home on Friday, after having to send two more students home midway through the day with flu symptoms, I got to thinking, it's too bad I couldn't viralize other things to infect them with.  I mean, wouldn't it be great if I could infect them with a love of reading or learning in general?  I'd love to give them a bug that would get them to believe in themselves and their abilities, instead of listening to the negative comments of others, or their own negative self talk.  What if I could infect them with resilience, so that they could take the lemons life hands them and make the most refreshing lemonade out of them every time?  How about a virus that reminds them to be kind to each other, at every opportunity, in every exchange?  Or a bug that gives them the courage to take risks, to try new things, to be open to new experiences?  I really should have paid more attention in Chemistry and Biology class - I might have gained the ability to create these "super-bugs."

Alas, I've got to work with what I've got.  Every day, Teachers are going into their classrooms and trying to give our students some sort of vaccine to inoculate them against whatever life throws at them.  Through our training, professional reading and ongoing learning we improve our practice and pedagogy and hope to eradicate the bugs that ail us.  Things like Tribes, Community building, Digital Citizenship, Reading programs, Growth Mindset, (this list could go on and on) are all things we are doing and trying and honing to make our classrooms healthy.

I fear I may have extended this metaphor much too far.  It could be the cold medication.  Maybe I've had one cough candy too many.  Perhaps this is all just a fever inspired rant.  However, I would love to hear what kinds of things you would like to infect your students with - and what you are currently using in place of my viralization theory.  In the meantime, pass the Kleenex and stock up on Vicks Vaporub...it's only January, and Cold and Flu season won't end for months.

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/240000/velka/cold-and-flu-season.jpg

I got a card in the mail this week...

I got a lovely birthday card in the mail this week.

The card I got this week.

You are saying to yourself, "Big Deal.  We all have a birthday every year.  We all get birthday cards.  What, is she fishing for birthday wishes?"  Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself, because this story goes back a long way.  Stick with me.  I have a point, I promise.

On my 15th Birthday, I was in Grade ten and sitting in my homeroom class.  I'm not sure if many schools still have homeroom classes.  Everyone had a homeroom where you would start your day.  It was about 15 minutes long and your attendance would be taken, opening routines like O Canada and announcements would occur. On this day, my homeroom teacher handed me an envelope that had been placed in his mailbox.  I opened it and found a birthday card, addressed to me and simply signed: "A fellow Capricorn."

Who had sent it?  After years of reading the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes and Trixie Beldon books, I sensed a mystery.  The game was afoot!  It was not from my family.  They had given me their cards that morning at breakfast.  My friends had already decorated my locker and given me their cards that morning.  And the way it was signed?  That had to be a clue.  How many other Capricorns did I know who would have access to the school mailboxes?  All morning, while going through the motions of my classes, I was employing my powers of deduction, trying to figure out this enigma.   I mentioned it to my friends.  They looked as surprised as I was and had no answers for me.  Lunch came and went and I was still stumped.

That afternoon, as I was walking into my Grade Ten Science class, my teacher, Mr. Tony Stacpoole, wished me a Happy Birthday.  I wished him a Happy Birthday too.

Eureka!

I instantly flashed back to the exact day one year ago, when I was in Mr. Stacpoole's Grade Nine Science class and my friends and I were discussing my Birthday (I was blessed to have him for Science two years in a row). Mr. Stacpoole overheard us and asked if it was my birthday. When I told him it was, he said, "Me too!"

"A fellow Capricorn."  Aha!

I took the card out of my binder, showed it to him and asked if he had sent it.  He smiled and said he had, "because us January the 10thers need to stick together."  I thanked him and thought how nice it was that he had remembered our joint birthday and taken the time to send me a card.  It really made my day.

The next year, Grade 11, I did not have Mr. Stacpoole for any classes, but I remembered how good it felt to get that card from him and thought I would drop a birthday card in his mailbox, hopefully making his day.  So, that morning, I went to the mailboxes first thing, dropped off that card and got myself to homeroom.  As you are reading this, you can probably guess what happened next, but at the time, I had no expectations.  I sat down in homeroom and was handed another birthday card from, you guessed it, "A fellow Capricorn."  I was thrilled, and a little surprised.  I was no longer in his class and I would not be lucky enough to be in one of his classes the rest of my High School career.  That he remembered our birthday and sent me a card, when I was not even his student anymore was really very touching.

We exchanged cards again when I was in Grade 12 and Grade 13 (that was the last year we actually called it Grade 13 - it became OAC after that).  With Graduation, I figured that was probably the end of the story, but sure enough, a card from Mr. Stacpoole arrived in my parent's mailbox for me my first year of University.  And we continued to exchange birthday cards the year after that, and the year after that, and the year after that....  As Paul Harvey would say, "and now you know, the rest of the story."

I just did the math.  That beautiful birthday card that I got from Mr. Stacpoole this week is the 33rd birthday card he has sent me since Grade Ten.

So here's where I get to the point, as promised.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about my #OneWordOnt 2018 choice of "Relationships".  When I opened my birthday card from my fellow January 10ther this week, I started thinking about what a great example of relationship building this card represents.  I was in Mr. Stacpoole's class for two years.  I cannot say I remember a single amazing lesson plan - although I'm sure there were many because he was an outstanding teacher.  I do remember frog disection day - although more for the smell of formaldehyde and the feeling of cutting through the frog's skin (it was like a rubbery leather).  I also remember he had a funny joke to help us remember what mitosis was.  I don't remember the joke, but the punch line was "and he says, that's why my toes is cold!"  To this day, I can't see a picture of cells dividing without suddenly hearing him say that in my head.

What I do remember about Mr. Stacpoole's Science class is his soft voice, his towering height, his infectious laugh and the way he treated everyone of his students.  He valued our opinions and our thoughts.  He made us laugh and laughed with us.  He built relationships and community in that class and that is part of the reason we all learned so much from him.

How lucky was I to have had a role model like this?  As the year progresses, and I continue to reflect on my #OneWord focus on Relationships, I will keep his example in mind.

33 Years and counting of Birthday cards...that's a tough (but worthwhile) act to follow.

Reflections on The Global Read Along 2017

Reflections on Making Connections through the Global Read Aloud 2017

This was our first year participating in the Global Read Aloud Project (GRA) and it was a spectacular experience for our classroom.  The GRA started in 2010 and is the creation of Pernille Ripp, a 7th Grade Teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin.  It officially runs for six weeks starting in October each year, but can be shifted if needed based on school schedules. The idea is that classrooms around the world at a similar grade level, read the same book, at the same time, and share their learning and questions with each other through various platforms, such as Twitter, blogs, vlogs, Facebook, Skype, Google Hangouts, or any technology you want to use.  The goal is for students to make global connections and develop an enjoyment of reading. I do a poor job of explaining it.  Let's hear from Pernille about what the GRA is:

Pernille Ripp talks about The Global Read Aloud, via YouTube

Our Experience with GRA'17
From the list of books on the GRA website, I chose A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness as our book.  It's about a young man who is dealing with his Mother's Cancer diagnosis and trying to come to grips with "his truth."  Pernille referred to it as a "heart" book.  It really was a book that everyone in the class could relate to and brought about so many great discussions on the themes within.  In fact, I blogged about a really powerful discussion our class had in an earlier post.

A Monster Calls, Book Trailer via YouTube

But, you can probably do that with any great piece of literature in the classroom, can't you?

Sure you can.  However, the beauty of the GRA is the Global Connections you make with other classrooms.  Beyond all the great pedagogy and literature activities you do in your classroom (and you are encouraged to do whatever you like, teach the book however you like) the idea is to use technology to connect with others.  You can make as many or as few connections as you like and make them in whatever way you like.  

How do you make these connections?  Through the GRA communities on Facebook, Google+ and Edmodo (among others), there are lists you can join where you share your contact info, or leave posts asking for a connection in certain countries, grades, etc.  All these connections start by joining the GRA through the website and becoming a member of the community in the platform of your choice.

Here's how we connected:

1.  Snail mail postcards.  We sent out postcards (a picture of the school was on this year's card, but next year I think we will try to send out St. Thomas landmark postcards) with a letter about our community, our school and our classroom, to 40 schools.  We included links to our classroom website and blogs/vlogs.  We did not receive as many as we sent, but that's OK.  We were still excited each time one arrived.  We took a picture of each card and shared it on our classroom Twitter account (@MehargsVikings) and our class website.  The students created a Google My Map and placed pins for each school we received a postcard from.  They tried to get a picture of the school to attach to each pin as well.  We received postcards from all over Canada and the United States.  Some were student made, some were commercially made with pictures from the areas they came from.  We proudly displayed all of these on our GRA bulletin board.

One of the postcards we received.

2.  Digital & Video Postcards.  The students each created a personal postcard using a Google Slide.  We combined them to make a Slide Show of everyone's card and shared it via the teacher email addresses we had, posting it on our class website and sharing it in our Twitter feed using the #GRA17AMC.  The class loves making videos, so they went out and got video of the school and local landmarks and tourist stops.  They then used Google Slides and iMovie to make a video Postcard which we shared the same way as the Slide Show.  If you would like to see the video, check it out on our class YouTube channel (if you are reading this blog after June 30, 2018 - those videos will have gone down due to limits on Image and Video Permissions).  They loved getting videos from other schools in North America - we even had a chain of back and forth videos with a school in Connecticut.  They'd answer our questions about them, where they lived, what they liked to do, or about the book with a video and then we would reciprocate.  It was a great way for schools without access to Skype or Google Hangouts to make connections.

An example of a Student's personal postcard made using Google Slides.

3.  Twitter #GRA17AMC.  By following each book's hashtag, you could participate in a slow chat about the book your class was reading, post questions or answer questions other classes posted.  This was not a huge hit in my classroom, mostly due to the time lag.  My students tended to want their questions answered immediately and didn't have a lot of patience to wait for pesky things like International Time Zones, i.e. for other schools around the world to be in class and see their question.  However, due to the spinning of the earth - this was often the best way to hear from classrooms that were much farther away and not in class at the same time we were, like the folks we Tweeted with in England and Australia.  We also made sure we added the hashtag to any photos or videos of activities relating to the book that we posted and enjoyed following what other classes around the world posted too.

4.  Blogs and Vlogs - WriteAbout & Flipgrid.  As WriteAbout is a Blogging platform that was free for a year through the GRA, we used this to write about what we were reading and invited others to respond.  As a sponsor of the GRA, WriteAbout had many areas where students could exchange ideas and thoughts on the book.  Flipgrid allowed students who were not strong writers, or prefered a video medium to Vlog about the book.  We posted video questions and comments in our own grids and responded to those posted by other classes.  Often invitations to participate in a Flipgrid were shared through the #GRA17 on Twitter.  Because you can set up your grid so the Teacher moderates each video before it gets posted it is a great way to keep the videos on task and weed out any that are inappropriate or just plain silly.  It's also a good opportunity to talk to your class about good Digital Citizenship, their Digital Footprint and how your posts can affect others.

5.  Live Connections Through Google Hangouts.  Our Board does not support Skype in the classroom, but as a GAFE Board, does support Google Hangouts.  These were truly magical connections.  We started with a few Mystery Hangouts with a classroom in our Board (Thanks to Heidi Soloway and her class in London for participating in our first ever Mystery Hangout!), one with  another Ontario classroom and one in Indiana.  The class quickly adapted to using yes or no Questioning techniques to narrow down where each class was and used Google Maps to help us find them.  With these three classrooms, we were able to hold at least one Google Hangout a week (and often more than one) where the students talked about their interests, their school, their daily lives, and about questions and thoughts they had about the book.  Some students were more comfortable sharing live than others, but all were able to participate in their own way, at their own level.   Each Monday they would eagerly ask when we would be "Hanging out" that week and would log questions they wanted to ask once we connected live.  They loved discussing the different school calendar and school day with the students in Indiana.  As we got closer to American Thanksgiving, there was a lot of back and forth discussion about the differences between their holiday and ours.  The Christmas season and end of the official six week GRA program put these connections on hold, but we will be continuing to connect with the class in Indiana and another local Ontario school (different Board) in the new year.  We won't be talking about the book anymore, but we will continue to learn about each other - what makes us the same and what makes us different.

Were there some problems with these connections?  Sure there were.  One day the wifi went down and we had to reschedule the hangout.  Another day, the school in Indiana had a power outage - another reschedule.  I had a couple days where the computer I was using would not let me connect - so I called in our Tech Co-ordinator, David Carruthers (if you are reading this, David, once again...many thanks for your help with this!), and he had us up and running in no time.  I think these problems were great models of persistence and tenacity.  We never let a technical issue stop us from making connections.  Due to different time zones, live connections outside the Eastern and neighboring Time Zones were not really possible within the school day.  But, that's where the postcards, videos, blogs, vlogs  and Twitter Slow Chats filled in.  

The positives?  We made great connections with other students in other locations around the world.  We learned that while the world is a very big place, we have a lot in common and we have so much to share with each other.  We also read a pretty fantastic book.  It was a great experience for every student in the room and I have already signed us up to participate in GRA'18. 

Blogger's Note: As an added bonus for Teachers, The GRA communities for Teachers on the website, through Edmodo, Facebook, etc are also great and Teachers around the world openly share resources, lessons, activities as well as host discussions and forums about the program.  If you would like to learn more about the Global Read Aloud or join us for GRA'18 in October (the sign up is now open) please check out GRA website, follow the GRA on Twitter, or look for them on Edmodo, or Facebook.