The Best 75 Minutes of My Day.

Music is magic.  It can be intensely personal and it can also be a shared bond between us.  It can make us dance with joy, bring tears to our eyes or bring back a moment in time with just a phrase or a gorgeously arranged group of notes and melodies and rhythms.

This year, as it is every year, my class is a group of amazing and wonderful students.  If you know me, or read this blog regularly, you know that I work in a congregated special education class with students who experience the world through the lens of Autism, Down's Syndrome, Global Developmental Delays and more.  This year's class has a commonality of struggling with communication and expressive language.  But come to our music class, and you would be hard pressed to see that.

Each day, I break out my guitar, the song books and some communication/language aids and we jam for 75 minutes.  We work on social skills; taking a turn, being part of a group and making a choice.  We work on our reading by following along in the song books and choral reading.  We learn how to find the beat in music and clap or dance along.  We learn how some songs are meant to be sung softly like a lullaby, or sung with exuberance like a campfire favourite.  We talk about what we think a song is about and how the music makes us feel.

Songbook Choice Board

Choosing a song

Our songbook is an ever-growing mix of about 200 songs for young children, classic rock favourites, campfire songs, and present day requests from the class.  On any given day we may move from Skinamarink, to Crocodile Rock, to the Backstreet Boys, Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi and Green Day.  If they request it, and I can figure out how to play it (and in some cases, find a clean lyric version), we do it.

The set up is uncomplicated.  I supply the guitar, they supply the energy.

Each day, one student takes a turn as helper and is in charge of taking the choice board around to their classmates.   Each student can pick a song by physically pulling an icon for that song off the choice board.  Some songs have visuals that go with them.  For example, The Wheels on the Bus has a set of visual pieces and each student gets one or two,  so that when that point in the song comes along, they add that piece to the board.  For example, when the lyric says "The babies on the bus go waaa waaa waaa," there is a visual of a baby crying that they stick to the board.  When we sing Alice the Camel, there are detachable visuals of each hump with a number on it that they pull off the camel on the board, as Alice loses her humps.  For Aikendrum, each food-body part is assembled on the board.   When the choice is for the Hokey Pokey, we all get up and do the Hokey Pokey.  During Yellow Submarine, we all become the rhythm section by drumming along.  In Three Green and Speckled Frogs, they click on a frog on the SmartBoard and the Frog disappears.  For I Know and Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, they touch the SmartBoard and the next animal to be eaten floats onto the screen.    If we've got a good rock anthem going, we bring out the instrument set and play along.  During the Cat Came Back, we have a stuffed cat that gets tossed from owner to owner.  Sometimes we simply sway to the soft melody and other times we dance.  And we sing!   Boy, oh boy, do we sing!

Aikendrum

Every day, Students who are considered non verbal, hum, clap or vocalize along with the music.  Students who are not usually emotionally expressive laugh, smile and dance with an energy that is contagious.  Students who barely move or participate in Phys Ed class will dance until sweat is running off their faces.   Students who struggle to read written language, follow intently along in the songbooks and those who cannot read, will singalong to a song they love, knowing every word.  I wish I was a better writer, so that these words could truly show you the jubilation that fills our classroom during Music class.

There are all kinds of curriculum and IEP goals that we are working towards in our music class.  But, if I'm being completely honest, it's the pure joy I see and feel from my students that fuels that 75 minute period.  And it's the best 75 minutes of my day.

As always, I welcome your questions and comments below.  I'd love to hear about how you incorporate music in your class and some of the songs that are big hits with your students.

Be a part of #BIT19

It hasn't been the most Educator friendly spring in Ontario.  The political climate has changed and that has left a lot of us unsure of where we will be in the fall.  How our schools will look and run this September will absolutely be different.  Professional Development will be...likely a lot different and in some cases, like the OTF webinars and Summer Workshops, gone.  There may be disruptions to how we work and learn in response to these changes in our Province.

But that doesn't have to change our belief in life long learning.  It doesn't have to curtail our learning and sharing.  Maybe now is the time when we lean into the wind a bit more and rely on each other for opportunities to enrich ourselves through our online PLN and through those irl meetings at conferences that make a big difference in our classrooms and in our own need for growth.  In a time when outside forces try to divide and conquer us and beat down our morale, maybe we need these spaces of collegial learning to help build us up and make our bonds even tighter.

The call for proposals for the Bring it Together 2019 Conference is now open.  I know that I have encouraged many to submit their ideas to present.  Some have taken me up on this, many have not.  Some have told me they are worried about a work stoppage or other disruptions this fall.  If that happens, the Conference is prepared to move to a date outside that window of time.  I've had others tell me they are unsure they will be able to get release time to be a part of the Conference.  Perhaps, but it might be easier to get that release time as a Presenter, someone who is eager and willing to share their learning with others.  Some are still unsure of where they will be and what they will be doing in the fall.  There are no easy answers.  But, don't let that stop you from submitting that proposal.  No matter where you are, you will be doing great things, things that you can share and that we all can learn from.

The Bring It Together Conference (#BIT19) is November 6-8 in Niagara Falls. I'm hoping it is a time for us to lean in to the storm that surrounds us, to lean on each other a little, to get together and grow in a season that isn't giving us the best growing conditions.  Maybe it is a bit of a leap of faith, but I hope you will make that leap with us.  Submit your proposal for #BIT19 here.

#ECOOCamp Owen Sound

Yesterday (Saturday May 5th, 2019) I travelled to Owen Sound to participate in this year's ECOOCamp.  Great Educators from all over travelled to share and learn from each other at Owen Sound District Secondary School.

There were two amazing Keynotes from Peter Skillen and Jen Giffen.  Peter talked to us about the tools being important and remembering to go outside the box to get Students excited about learning and giving them a way in to the curriculum that suites their own learning strengths.  Jen reminded us that every student and staff member is carrying around responsibilities and experiences that we know nothing about, but if we take the time to build relationships with them, we can help them unpack their backpacks.

I was presenting in all 4 sessions, but loved how we were able to share every presentation through the Twitter feed (#ecoocamp) and on Teach Ontario.  I got some great new Chrome add-ons/extensions from Leslie Boerkamp's presentation to add to my arsenal, and I wasn't even in the session.  The smaller number of participants made each session more intimate and more tailored to the needs of the Educators in the room.  Thanks to Fair Chance Learning and InkSmith, I even won a new K8 robot for my classroom.  So excited to share this with my class! 

Making new connections and meeting Educators is always part of what I love about EdCamps and Conferences. I met some awesome folks yesterday!  The opportunity to meet up with folks you only get to see periodically at conferences or even meet for the first time in real life is amazing.  So great to meet Cal Armstrong and Leslie Boerkamp for the first time irl.  Aways great to chat with folks like Jen Giffen, Christy Hopcroft, Lisa Noble, Brenda Sherry, Peter Skillen, and so many more.  While Owen Sound is a bit of a trek for me, it really is a lovely town that I hadn't visited in many years and well worth the drive.

The working relationship between the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario,  the Bluewater Public and Bruce-Grey Catholic School Board was really inspiring to see.  A really great model to show how we learn from each other.  The organizations really worked well together to make a great day for everyone. 

The Educational Computing Organization of Ontario does great work for Educators using EdTech and great pedogogy in their classrooms.  I've linked to their website - but consider becoming a member (membership is free!), attending their Bring It Together Conference in Niagara Falls in November or following them on Twitter @ecooorg

I'll link my presentations here, but they and many others from the day are also shared on Teach Ontario.  Check them out to let the learning go beyond the day!

Getting Snappy with #BookSnaps, #Gratitude Snaps & #REALyouSNaps using Bitmoji and Google Slides.

Connecting Classrooms Through Online #ReadAlouds

Flipping for Flipgrid

Glide into Google Slides

Disclaimer: Ramona Meharg is a Member of the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario and serves on the Board of Directors.  But don't let that stop you from checking them out or becoming a member!

As always, feel free to subscribe by email, or share a comment below.

Canada Beats: Learning about Canada through music

For the last little while, my class has been learning about Canada, but we haven't been doing all of our learning about our Country in traditional ways.  I wanted my Students to be thinking beyond those facts that they can Google about Capital Cities, population and geographic landmarks.  And I wanted them to look a bit at history, but not by using a textbook or a timeline. They are also music lovers and will ask to turn the radio on, or be allowed to use their headsets to listen to music on their iPads every day.  I wanted to leverage some of that interest.  So, we've been using Canadian song writers and performers to look at our Country.

I had been talking to Noa Daniel about her BOB (Building Outside the Blocks) activity called Harmony Through History Beats, where she has students taking a song and deconstructing it to find the history within it.  I wondered if it was something I could use as part of our unit on Canada and give it a Canadian theme.  Noa was very supportive of my amending her idea, and even helped me find some songs and songwriters to add to a shared Google Doc to give my students a place to start.  And so, Canada Beats was born.

I work with students with some fairly high needs, so I knew I would need to help scaffold this project for them.  The shared Google Doc was a place they could find a list of songs that had a Canadian theme or historical background.  They didn't have to pick one of these songs - I was very open to a song or performer they might choose, as long as it had some ties to Canadian history, identity or geography.

Next we decided as a class what our Google Slide Shows needed to have in them and created a template to help everyone understand what information we would need to research.  They were welcome to include more than this, but these were sort of the starting points.  I told them I would create one as well and share it with them and be our first presenter.  Mine was a Stompin' Tom classic.  I gave them some class time to work on it, but many of them used time at home to work on it as well.  One of my students liked the activity so much, she finished hers in record time and decided to do a second one as well.

The hardest part for them was deciding on a song.  Many of the songs they had never heard before because they were released before they were born (some of them even before I was born).  Some of them wanted a more modern song, and spent a good deal of time looking for one.  YouTube got a bit of a workout those first few days.  Some had to do additional research to find out more about a specific historical event, or places mentioned in a song.  With a bit of help from each other, the E.A.s and myself, this was accomplished.

While apps like Vokki and Tellagami, or iMovie were options for presenting, they all decided they wanted to present in a more traditional fashion - just them and their slide show.  All good.  With just one presentation left this week, I have to say, it was a successful activity for them.  The slide shows were good (link to them here), but their presentations really blew me away.  Normally very shy, they really came out of their shells and shared why they picked a song, what they learned from it and even gave additional details about the historical event, place or the band that they learned as part of the research process.

Can they instantly tell me what the capital of New Brunswick is?  Probably not.  Luckily, we have Google for that. (By the way, it's Fredericton - a gorgeous city on the St. John river.)



As always, I welcome your questions or comments below.  Do you think I should be drilling and grilling the provincial capitals?  Is a deeper understanding of some historical events better than a general understanding of a longer historical timeline? Is using music this way problematic?

Snow Day Dreaming

This week, my class was lamenting the lack of Snow Days this year.  This may be something that many City schools don't have much experience with.  But for any kid that rides a school bus (and that's most of my class), the dream of a Snow Day starts in November and doesn't die until late April. We often have a few each year. This school year, there hasn't been one yet.

Early in the week there was a forecast for Snow Squalls in our region, and that got the Snow Day talk fired up.  I reminded them of my theory about Snow Days.  If you talk about them before they happen, you've jinxed it.  You cannot talk about it and you should avoid thinking about the possibility of one.  For a Snow Day to occur, there has to be the right mix of weather conditions, happening at just the right timing (so the roads can't be cleared before the bus routes begin), with the important element of no expectation of it.  If you are dreaming of a Snow Day, you have to keep that dream as a silent little kernel of hope in the back of your mind.  Say the words, "Snow Day" and you can pretty much guarantee you will be at school the next day.  They said the words.  Hence, no Snow Day this week.

I got a little nostalgic talking about this with them.  Or maybe I'm just reading too many of Doug Peterson's "Whatever happended to.." blog posts.  As an adult, Snow Days don't have the same excitement for me as they did when I was a kid.  In my 24 years in the classroom, they have only closed the school twice.  So, for adult me, a Snow Day means that I will be bundling up in my heavy coat and snowmobile boots for the miserable drive into school on hazardous county roads.  I've had days where my travel time doubles or triples thanks to Old Man Winter.  That white knuckled drive is not fun.  At school, I always have a few students who make it in, so we can't really run a regular day.  Generally those intrepid Students and I use the day to catch up on work, get some good one on one consultation time or work on our Passion Projects with lots of help available.  It's a good day for the students that attend, but it's not the same without our whole tribe there.

I grew up on a dirt road in rural Elgin County.  I remember many Snow Days.  There were so many days where the buses didn't run.  I seem to remember being sent home early on more than one occasion.  There was even a day where we got in the school at the opening bell and our teacher told us not to take our winter gear off, because the buses were on their way to come to take us home.  Once when I was really young, there was a terrible blizzard ('77 or '78 - maybe both) that shut things down for at least a week.

Picture from www.theweathernetwork.com

I remember one nearby school had to call the army out in their caterpillar track vehicles to get students home safely in the storm.  Lots of folks had no hydro for an extended period.  Dad had a generator, so we were still toasty warm.  But, I do remember he had to go to town on the snowmobile to get milk and essential groceries.  The snow piles on the side of our road were legendary.  They seemed to be trying to cover the hydro poles.  One year, we could literally step off the roof of the garage onto a snow drift.

Picture from www.theweathernetwork.com

As a kid, Snow Days were heavenly.  We'd hear Bill Brady give the bus cancellation notice on CFPL AM radio and we would cheer! We could go back to bed.  We could sleep late and then get up and watch TV (not that there was much on for us on daytime TV back then.  Maybe Mr. Dress-Up or the Friendly Giant before lunch on CBC.  In a storm we only got 3 channels - CBC, TVO and maybe CTV). I always liked to read whatever book I was engrossed in at the time or play board games or barbies with my sisters all day.  You could watch out the window and mentally estimate or exaggerate the height of the snow accumulation.  When it was really blowing, it was a thrill to notice if the snow had obliterated the ability to see the mailbox at the end of our lane way.  If the storm died down, you could go outside for a bit and build forts in the snow drifts.  There was always hot chocolate with extra marshmallows for us on a Snow Day.  It was like a holiday that you hadn't planned on.  A gift in the depth of winter.

Nowadays, we don't seem to have as many of them.  Maybe it's global warming, or weather cycles or better snow removal equipment or more snow efficient vehicles with 4 Wheel Drive.  Possibly, it's all of these things.  But, I still remember the excitement that the possibility of a Snow Day brings.  So keep dreaming of those Snow Days, kids.  April is still a long way off.

Does your school experience a lot of Snow Days?   What memories do you have of them from your childhood, or even recently.  What do you do as a teacher when the buses don't run and you only have a few students in your class for the day?  As always, I welcome your comments below.

There Are No Rules in Blogging

What makes a good blog post?  I'm not sure I have the answer to this one.

I was podcasting with Sean Gaillard recently and we talked a bit about this.  I asked him what made him hit publish and were there blogs he started but then abandoned? He said once he started a post, he generally worked at it and hit publish, rarely abandoning an idea.  He then turned the question back on me and asked what my response to the same question would be.  I decided I needed to reflect more on this, as I have abandoned posts I've started before.  He challenged me to blog about that.  Well, Sean, here is what I've come up with...

If you do a search for writing a good post, there is plenty of advice out there.  Most of these Blog-sages" look something like this.   They all talk about having a catchy title, tailoring your post to a specific audience, adding in visuals, keep the post short and sweet and end with a call to action.  I must admit, until today, I haven't really considered this.  I like a catchy title, but I don't always come up with one.  I tend to keep my topics centered around education, but I can meander too.  I often ask a few questions at the end, but more to encourage some feedback, than a call to action.

If I think about blogs that I enjoy reading, I don't think they follow all of these rules or sometimes any of them.  They may be about teaching, but often they are not.  Sometimes I interpret them through my educator's lens, but sometimes they are just fun.  I love Doug Peterson's weekly post "Whatever happened to" - it often brings back memories of my childhood or forgotten technology.   Some blogs I enjoy are long, some are just a paragraph.  Debbie Donksy's  blog is always one that challenges me to think deeper or in a new direction about something, but they are generally much longer than one paragraph.  David Carruthers  has a great blog that generally is short and to the point - but so powerful.  Heidi Solway has a personal blog that always makes me laugh.  And Sean Gaillard's posts almost always bring up a Beatles reference that make me start to sing along.

I guess I follow the "there are no rules in blogging" maxim, whether it's one I'm reading, or one I'm writing.

So, what prompts me to hit post?  Hard to say.  Sometimes I am driving home from work and reflecting on something that's gone well, something that's gone horribly wrong or just something I'm thinking about.  Let me tell you...I've written some pretty amazing posts in my head on that drive home.  Then I sit down at the computer and it all just spills out of me like a tap has been turned on.  Or, I sit down at the computer and... nothing.  The idea that formed on the drive home just doesn't work when I try to put it to paper.  Maybe it's because I've had too much time to think about it, and talked myself out of it.  Maybe the fire I felt on the drive home has been extinguished by the time I get home, or I get sidetracked by some other chore or some other idea.  Perhaps that is a post that just wasn't meant to be.  I still save the false starts.  Maybe they are an idea that needs more time to become fully formed.  Eventually, I come back to them with a clearer idea of what I'm trying to share and finish the post.  Maybe I don't go back to that original idea at all and go on to something new.

A while back, I saw a tweet that said "podcasting is the new blogging."  For me this is not the case.  At least with my I Wish I Knew EDU podcast it isn't.  The podcast is a chance for me to talk to other Educators, get them to share the great things they are doing and share some of the wisdom that they've gained in the classroom with new and experienced Teachers.  It's not about me.  I may be directing the questions and reflecting on what they share, but the podcast is about them.  Certainly, talking to these folks has lead me to blog (like right now), but it really isn't the same as blogging.

Blogging comes from inside my head and heart.  It is less in the moment and more reflective.  I don't spend a lot of time writing it, but I may spend a bit of time thinking about it before I actively start typing it out.  I've spent a few weeks thinking about this post.  But, I'm writing it down in one sitting and will likely hit post once I've read it over once and checked it for spelling mistakes (undoubtedly missing a few).  Once I've got the idea out of me and digitized, I need to set it free by hitting publish.

I guess if I'm going to sum up my definition of a good blog post, it would not be about the rules.  A good blog post, whoever writes it, comes from inside the writer.  It's real.  It's passionate.  It gets me thinking, gives me something new to try in the classroom, makes me laugh or it chokes me up a bit.

My blog posts aren't going to always connect with every reader. That's cool.  Maybe this one hasn't connected with you - although if you've read this far... 😉




Your thoughts on what makes you hit publish, or what makes a good blog post?  Drop them in the comment box below.

Fill Your Own Cup With Gratitude

November is tough.  The excitement of September's fresh start has passed.   You've worked hard to build those relationships in your classroom, but the honeymoon period is over.   You've been doing great things in the classroom, and you are planning even more.  There's meetings, Professional Development, extra curriculars, Parent nights....You've got a hundred balls in the air and you are trying to keep them there.  There are no holidays in the month to give you time to catch your thoughts.  The holiday break is approaching, but it still seems a long way off....and there is so much to do before then at school and at home.  You start to feel like Sisyphus trying to push that bolder up the hill.

That's me pretty much every November.  Yep, 24 years in, and November still drags my spirit down.  This year was no exception, except for the fact that I seemed to hit a low that last week of the month that I had never before quite felt, or at least not in a very long time.  There were a lot of factors that contributed to my perfect storm of self doubt and unhappiness that I don't need to go into here.  What's important is that for the first time in a long time, my cup was empty and I was really struggling to just get a drop of anything in it.

I drove home one grey November day thinking, "I don't think I heard one positive thing today."  On reflection, I probably did, I just wasn't in the state of mind to really hear it.  The negative was drowning out every other thing in my head.  Some of those voices were undoubtably my own internal Negative Nancy, whom I generally keep locked up and refuse to listen to.  But, November had unlocked her cage and she was out and she was incredibly loud.

This was not me.  This would not do.  It was time to do some self care and get that b#*%!@ back in her cage.  I took some "me time" to do a few things that bring me peace.  I reached out to a Marigold (If my Marigold reference is foreign to you - check out this post by Jennifer Gonzalez) and bless her, my marigold gave me a positive message I could hold on to through this storm.  There was a trickle getting back into my cup.

Then Joy Kirr shared a video about gratitude on Twitter.  (Source: YouTube https://youtu.be/oHv6vTKD6lg)

And VoicEd Radio started their #voicEdGratitude challenge for December.

I wondered if, maybe, a daily intentional gratitude moment would start to quiet the negative voices.

Each day, Derek Rhodenizer would post a gratitude challenge for anyone following the hashtag to complete.  Some of them were Twitter based like thanking a member of your PLN by sharing their Twitter handle.  Many of them were not Social Media based, like thanking a non teaching member of your staff.  There was even a more intense gratitude "Secret Santa" activity for participating members of the VoicEd podcasting community.

At first I was hesitant.  Did I really need one more thing on my "to do list" each day?  I gave myself a pep talk.  These were not huge asks.  They might help and they certainly could not hurt.

With each task, I felt my spirit start to lift.  I dove into each new gratitude activity with greater gusto.  My own gratitude experiment was working.  My cup was starting to refill, not with positivity from others, but from doing something intentionally positive for someone else each day. 

That is not to say, that by the last day before break, I was energetic and eager and back to my September level of enthusiasm.  I came home that Friday pretty much ready for a long winter's nap.  But, I wasn't on empty anymore.  My cup was becoming self sustaining, at least at a workable level.  After a week of holidays, family time, "me time" and reflection time, my cup is almost full again.  Come January 7th, I'll be ready.  And I'm really going to try to keep my cup from getting that empty again by filling it with the gratitude I give to others.

As always, I welcome your comments below.  Do you get the November blahs?  How do you refill your cup when it is low?  How do you show gratitude year round?

Going All In on Flexible Seating

For a year or more now, I've been pondering and experimenting with Flexible Seating.   I've done some research by reading Kayla Delzer's (www.topdogteaching.com)  work and blogs, the wealth of information available at www.edutopia.org, Pinterest, as well as several books that devote chapters or sections to it (and there are many).  I've visited classrooms who have been using some form of flexible seating.  I've thought about: how I enjoy reading and working in a comfortable chair, the luxury of trying out a new book in Chapters and the whole Starbucks esthetic that is so popular, and inviting.

From my research, I've learned that there are many benefits to using flexible seating in your classroom.  (Check out this post to see some of them).  I was immediately drawn to the idea of flexible seating.  It promotes student choice, as they choose where to sit during different activities and learn about where they work best, or don't work well at all.  I love the community building aspects and how the different and more comfortable options result in more communication and the opportunity for more conversation as a class or in small groups.  Certainly the idea of comfy chairs and workspaces makes school more inviting and perhaps, fun?

But, I had my concerns as well.  I have a class of high needs learners, some in wheelchairs, some with visual, or hearing concerns, autism, and all with a Developmental Disability.  I want the room to be comfy and fun, but also inclusive, and accessible to all.  Would the change in seating become a distraction?  Would there be fights over the most popular seats?  Would students miss the "ownership" of their own desks and workspace?  Would the Administration team even support this radical change in classroom design.

Only one way to find out...try it out.  My neighbours had bought a new couch and asked if I knew anyone who could use their old one.  (It was the couch in the "good room", and while dated in a fashion sense, still looked brand new and was cozy and comfy to sit on).  I said I wanted it for my classroom, but I just had to clear it with my Principal and Vice Principal first.  As their new couch was on back order, they were willing to wait for my answer.  So, I pitched the idea to my Admin team and gave my reasons for wanting to try it.  They had some concerns, some of which were similar to my own, and they wanted to clear it with the custodial staff as well.  After some consideration, I was given the go ahead to bring that sofa in.  So, one clear October morning, my kind husband helped me load it up in the truck and carry it up to my classroom on the second floor.  He didn't question why I was doing it, maybe he just trusts that I have good research behind my decisions, or maybe he is just used to having a wife who does a lot of things he doesn't understand.  Happy wife, Happy life?

That's how the experiment began.  With just one couch.

I placed it off to the side of the classroom, by our bookshelves, hoping to inspire more independent reading with it's enticing luxury.  My students came in the room that morning and noticed it right away (It has brilliant pink flowers on it - it is hard to miss).  We started that day with a class meeting about the couch.  What was it for?  Did we need rules for the couch?  When could they use it?  We bantered and brainstormed about it.  They all took turns trying out the comfort level and pronounced it homey, if "rustic" (their word, not mine).  They decided we needed a few "couch guidelines".

1.  No laying on the couch.  It needs to be shared by up to 3 people.
2.  No feet on the couch.  We want to keep the couch clean and respect that everyone in the room uses it.
3.  No one has ownership of the couch individually.  You cannot claim a spot permanently.

These were their "guidelines"  I would help enforce them... if they needed me to, but I told them that the future of the couch in the room was up to them.  If things went well, we keep the couch.  If I needed to constantly intervene to help them with their own "guidelines", then the couch would have to go.

From that day forward, there was often one or more students on the couch.  I was rarely called on to remind someone about couch etiquette.  They did not fight over it.  They read on it, used clip boards to work on it and loved to sit and work on their iPads or Chromebooks on it.

Early in December, they asked if we could move the couch.  Student desks were usually arranged in a C formation around the room, so that we could all see each other during discussions.  If needed, they were re-aranged into small groupings for collaborative work.  The students wanted the couch to be inside that C formation, so that they could sit on it and be more a part of discussions, and in the center of the room.  It sounded reasonable to me.  So we moved it.  It was an even better spot.  It was never empty and it seemed to improve our feeling of community.

Just before March Break, our Principal told us he was replacing all the furniture in the staff room.  The old stuff would either be thrown out or donated.  I asked if I could have 3 of the sturdy, yet comfortable chairs and two end tables.  He gave me the ok, so a few students and I moved them to our classroom before he could change his mind.  The chairs are a hideous dusty rose colour, which match the pink flowers on our couch perfectly.  It was meant to be.

That's around the time that I noticed that my students were consistently choosing the flexible seating options over their desks.  They rarely sat at their desks anymore, and generally only because there were only 6 comfy seats available.  The quality of their work did not change.  I think the relationships in the room improved as they learned to share and rotate their seats so that everyone could use the "good seats."  In June, when I asked them to blog about the things they liked about the school year, the new seating came up in almost every post, right up there with our class trip to Medieval Times and Casa Loma in Toronto.  High praise, indeed!

Just as exams were ending, a friend of a friend offered me her leather couch and another chair.  She was moving and didn't have room for them.  On the PD day, we met her before school started and moved them into our classroom.  On the same day, my Educational Assistants and I moved all the desks out.  We kept a few different sized tables and I ordered some ball chairs.  A relative has offered up her rocking chair after they move in August.  I've included a few pictures to show you how the room looked as I left it on our last work day before summer.

Some tired Educational Assistants enjoy a few moments on the "new" furniture after moving it in and the desks out on the last work day in June.

I don't know if it will work as well as I hope it will.  I don't know if the set up of the room will change, or if I will need to bring back a few desks.  I have a new class of students and don't know if they will respond as well to Flexible Seating as last year's class did.

I do know I've gone all in on Flexible Seating.  I'll let you know how it goes.



As always, I welcome your comments, questions and advice in the comment section below.

Racing into June

gif from

The last month and a half of the school year always feels like the last 10 laps at the Daytona 500 to me. No more pit stops.  Petal to the metal.  Running on fumes.  Hoping I can keep the car going at peak performance without getting involved in an accident, or hitting the wall at high speed. Able to see that finish line coming and willing myself to take the checkered flag.

With most of our official Professional Development Days done and the last long weekend past us, we are out of pit stops.  There are no more breaks in our weeks and the weekends are full of events.  There are Retirements to attend, Awards Nights to plan, Prom, not to mention family engagements.  There are so many other things going on at school: like year end field trips, assemblies, and coaching spring sports.  We are starting to work on Report Cards, getting things ready for Commencement, and transitions for new students coming to us in September.  Some of us are dealing with EQAO testing and all the anxiety that standardized testing can bring to our classrooms.  There's Spring shows and year end celebrations and saying goodbye to folks moving on to new challenges.

Oh yeah, and we are still teaching too.  Trying to get all those fabulous learning experiences in before the end of the year.  We can see the end of year finish line tantalizingly just ahead of us.  And we are getting tired.  So very, very tired.

gif from

It's the wild and wacky ending to another school year.  It's the culmination of what we've worked for with our Students.  And, it's the expectation of a rest.

I'm trying to make sure while I'm racing through those straightaways and keeping the corners under control, that I take time to enjoy the ride.  I'm drafting a bit on others, and hoping others will tuck in and do the same with me.  I'm reminding myself how thankful I am that I'm in the race at all and what  a great profession I have chosen to be a part of.  All the while, starting to think about next year and the next big race.

gif from

Fellow drivers, we are almost there.  Hang in there.  Enjoy the ride.

Summer is coming.

gif from

#edCampLdn Reflections

So...it's over.  

Ed Camp London has come and gone.  I'm feeling like Christmas Day at about 9 pm.  All the excitement is over, the presents are opened, the huge meal it took days to prepare has been devoured, the guests have all gone home and I'm feeling very full (but instead of a full tummy, it's my brain that is experiencing the turkey sweats) and a little sad that it's all over.   Time to chill, review the day, and perhaps squeak in a nap before supper (I told you, my brain is tired!).

If you have never been to an Ed Camp before (like me!), it is a workshop/conference with no set agenda.  As you arrive, you fill out sticky notes of things you would like to learn about, or would be willing to share about.  The organizers then start to build sessions around common themes.  Nobody actually presents.  You gather and discuss these topics.  You share ideas.  Have a question?  Someone in the room may be able to answer it - or may ask you another question.  It's some pretty rich discussion and an amazing environment to learn in.  This may have been my first EdCamp - but it sure won't be my last!

The Day began with some Ignite talks.  That's where the speakers get a set time and a slide show that advances every few seconds automatically, to share a message with the attendees.  Jay Dubois gave his very first Ignite about trying new things - encouraging us to write in pen so we can't change our mind and erase our good intentions.  Jen Giffen spoke about moving away from the game of school and encouraging our Students to create, not imitate.  Melanie Mulcaster talked about the vision behind great makerspaces.  Derek Tangredi and his former student, Valentina, talked about teachers making a difference by the headlines that don't happen, the importance of empathy, and that students don't need Teachers to be perfect, they just need us to care.  David Carruthers reminded us not to tone it down - not to let the naysayers dim our light.  I love watching Ignite talks.  They don't just fire you up for the rest of the day - they leave you with lots to think about going forward.

I was a part of a small but might session on Coding with Derek Tangredi, his former student Valentina, Doug Peterson, Luigi @TeachCodeCreate (sorry Luigi, I forget your last name!), Melanie Mulcaster and a few others and was blown away by some of the new things discussed.  I picked up some new coding sites too - I can't wait to try Codemoji.com with my students!  Doug brought up an important point as well - that coding is not always about training coders - that it is also about the logic, computational skills and type of thinking that Students are doing when they learn to code.  And Luigi - who works for the Boston Celtics by the way - where the heck would I ever meet someone who does what he does and be able to learn some of the amazing applications coding has in the real world, and the way he is able to condense that into some real world applications for students. 

Then I went to the makerspace at Sir Arthur Currie PS (and thanks to Principal Sue Bruyns for hosting this event in her amazing new building!) and played with some Ozobots and Blue Bots.  Luigi and Melanie were there again - and just listening to how they were working out a lesson using several ozobots and applying it to solving big city traffic issues was like watching master coding teachers at work.  And I will also admit - the bots are just fun to play with too.

After lunch I got to spend an hour discussing FlipGrid and Podcasting with a great group of educators, but for me a real highlight was getting to spend the hour just chatting with Jen Giffen about these subjects (I but a lowly apprentice to the great master) - who I am in awe of.  We also migrated into the power of Twitter for learning, ideas and your PLN. 

My last session was on Global Competencies.  I must apologize to my fellow attendies - my cold medication was wearing off and I was going a bit in and out of focus on this one.  But it was great to have a Student with us and sharing her insights on empathy and communication.

Another great thing about being a part of Ed Camp (as Dawn Telfer and I discussed) is that there are really only positive, innovative, on the band wagon, driving the train folks in attendance.  You would be hard pressed to find a safer environment to get your ed-tech or edu-geek on.  Those who would tell you to "dial it down" or "stop making the rest of us look bad" - are not getting up on a Saturday morning for an event like this.  And some folks, like Jen Giffen and Doug Peterson had pretty long drives to get here.  We were all there because we wanted to be.  We all wanted to learn and we all wanted to share.  Pretty amazing.

Really, though, I think the real power of EdCamp is the connections you make and the conversations you have.  I got to meet Derek Tangredi, Cliff Kraeker, Jay Dubois, Peter McAsh, Andrew Forgrave, Sue Bruyns, Jen Artan, and Diana Hughes, IRL (aka in real life) for the first time.  It is always cool to meet the folks you count as part of your PLN, or chat with online.  I even recruited a few of these folks for future "I Wish I Knew EDU" podcasts.  (You know who you are and thanks for taking the leap and saying yes to podcasting with me!  If you are reading this and would like to make that leap - DM me - I'd love to chat with you!).  It's also a great place to chat with folks you don't get to see much, but whose input you value greatly.  I caught up with Doug Peterson, Melanie Mulcaster, Jen Giffen, Dawn Telfer, David Carruthers, and Heidi Solway, to name a few.  I also met a lot fascinating people who I have added to my PLN.

Thanks to the EdCamp London organizers (my apologies if I have missed anyone): Sue Bruyns, David Carruthers, Heidi Solway, Jay Dubois, Dawn Telfer, Diana Hughes.  You put a lot of hours into a fantastic event and I thank you.  If you were there or have been to EdCamp before, please feel free to share some of your reflections in my comments section below.  I'm always interested in what you have to share.  But right now, I'm going to try and sneak that 15 minute cat nap in.  My brain is Full!

Investing in their Passions

This year I dove into Passion Projects with my class.  

Some folks call it Genius Hour.  I prefer Passion Projects.  I get a bit worried that the word genius puts  a lot of pressure on my students to create something that is the "be-all-and-end-all-perfect-project".  That's not what I was asking them for.  I wanted them to pursue something they are passionate about and find a way to show me what they'd learned.  I would be there for advice and help if needed, but mostly this was to be all on them (with a little scaffolding in some places and lots of scaffolding in others).

I'd heard about these Passion Projects through course work, colleagues and Twitter.  I did a bit of reading over the summer on them.  Come September, it was time to make the leap.  And leap we did.  I introduced the idea to them through a fun little PowToon creation.  I told them I was giving them 75 minutes (1 Period) a week on Fridays to work on it.  We did some activities to help them discover their interests and to help them decide what to focus on.  There were interest surveys.  We played some games where they had to complete sentence stems like:  'When I can do whatever I want, I like to..."  They created Popplets.  They discussed ideas with their elbow partners, the two Educational Assistants, and myself.

Then they had to commit to their project and Pitch it to the class.  Things got a bit bogged down here.  They wanted to get into the projects and didn't understand the idea of the pitch, despite lots of examples and interventions.  After a frustrating third Friday of working on these, we had a class discussion, where we collectively voted to toss out the pitch component.  We still needed some way of getting them to commit to and focus on their topic/guiding questions.  Our solution: they would blog or vlog about what their project would be in a minimum of 5 sentences.  Now we were cooking with gas!

Some of them got really involved in their projects.  They were working on them at home, at night and on weekends.  A student working on a Pixton.com Comic Book format on Monster Trucks for her project added all kinds of pictures she took when she went to these events - and lots from the Internet too. One of the girls was doing her project on the St. Thomas Stars hockey team.  She was meeting with the team coaches and players, conducting interviews and even talked her mom into getting her a Chromebook at home, so she wasn't hogging the family desktop to work on her project all the time.  One changed his mind midstream and completely revamped his project.  Two of them needed a lot of support and assistance to create their e-books using the Book Creator App.  One student with a lot of issues at home, and very low attendance, has not been able to produce a lot.  When he's at school, he does what he can.  He might not finish what he started.  And that's okay.

This week, about half of my class finished their Passion Projects.  In the next few weeks, hopefully they all finish, or get to a point where they can present their projects to each other.  It's hard to get parents in for these events, so I will record these and put them in each student's portfolio. You can see their portfolios and finished projects on our Passion Project Website (they were all excited when I asked them if I could share this in my blog.  They are very proud of these projects and the work that went into them).  The completed projects (as of April 20th, 2018) are those of: Deanna, Kalley, Dylan and Connor.

Image from: https://www.success.com/sites/default/files/7_4.jpg

There are no grades in my classroom.  Never really have been.  Everything is guided by the IEP and our report cards have no marks, only feedback and next steps for their individual goals.  (I might be ahead of the curve on the "no grading" trend.)  In their video reflection on the day they finish the project, I've asked them to assess their work skills and their final product by giving themselves a grade of A, B or C.  They will give each other some Peer feedback through FlipGrid.com and I have been giving feedback all through the process, so all that's left after that is to celebrate their success with a party on a Friday in late May.


Will our class be doing Passion Projects again in the fall?   Absolutely!  I will do more reflection on this over the summer and I know I will tweak things a bit, but overall, I think it went really well.  They were highly motivated, engaged and directing their own learning.  A few things I would change?  I need to have more structure for a few of them.  The wide open nature of the product was too much for them and seemed to paralyze them a bit.  When I gave those particular students a framework to go from, they were able to work more independently again.  The pitch portion needs to be scaled down - like I mentioned earlier, a blog or vlog will do in our room.  I thought they would be able to complete these projects within the semester and start a new one for semester 2.  Nope.  It takes time to do these well.  I'm glad I didn't push them to finish quicker, or to cut off their inquiry too soon.  It took almost the entire school year of Friday period 1s to get to where we got.  And that's okay with me, too.

To paraphrase Kid President, and Robert Frost (my apologies to Mr. Frost);
We came to where the road split into two paths and we took the one less travelled.
We wanted to be on the path that leads to awesome.
And we found a whole lotta awesome!

Image from: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQMxOIKT6ytecwscZbkRYOyd3_2_3_iZz-m5FwNI4ztisb30lB-xQ

What I've been reading lately

Reviews of Recent Professional Reading

I have been doing a lot of Professional Reading this fall and winter.  Especially over Christmas, when the cold weather was not motivating me to get outside and play!  I've got a few here on pedagogy and leadership and then a section on Young Adult Fiction.  Most of the fiction titles are contenders for the Global Read Along 2018 - a chance to see what books might be on the list this year.  These are just my own opinions...check them out yourself and let me know what you think!


Shift This, by Joy Kirr

I think my favourite quote from this book is, "Just keep tweaking.  Just keep tweaking." (p3).   For me that sums up the beauty of this book.  It's all about little ways you can change your classroom, practice, thinking and Professional Development at a pace you can handle, but with awesome results.  As I read, I found many tips for things I am already doing, and so may more ideas for things I am not and would like to try.  It's a great help for someone new to teaching or with a lot of years in the biz, like me, who want to up their game. She writes in a very readable and enjoyable style - I could almost hear her voice as I read, and it felt more like talking in the staffroom with a colleague, than Professional Reading.  Every chapter has real life examples, resources, further reading and reflection questions/call to action statements.  She's also active on Twitter (click on her name above for the link) and as I was Tweeting out #BookSnaps, she was really quick to respond to my questions and comments...something I did not expect!

Learning First, Technology Second: The Educator's Guide to Designing Authentic Lessons,

 by Liz Kolb

This book is published by ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) and is about moving educators to think more deeply and plan more purposefully their use of technology in the classroom.  She provides a strategy called the "Triple E Framework" for assessing and implementing technology in the classroom, and gives many case studies, scenarios, different technologies and resources for you to do so.  There is some really great stuff in here.  That said, it's a very academically written, textbook style book, and not a quick and easy read.  I found myself having to take a break after each chapter and sometimes re-read sections to get the most out of it.  But, if you are looking for a great resource to help you decide how to move your technology use further up the SAMR model, this is a must have.


Making your Teaching Something Special: 50 Ways to Become a Better Teacher, by Rushton Hurley

This was a quick and enjoyable read, likely more suited to teachers earlier in their career, but a good reminder for us old timers as well.  There are sections on building relationships and rapport with students, designing assignments and assessments to be more student centered, classroom management, developing a Professional Learning Network in and out of your school, working as a team with everyone in your building, including parents, custodians and secretaries.  There were several chapters on how to fund things you want to do in your classroom and how to get the resources you need.  These were useful to anyone in the Education Biz.




Code Breaker, by Brian Aspinall

Great introduction to coding in the classroom by one of Ontario's own!  He gives lots of links and QR Codes to projects students have created and resources and videos that will help get you started.  It's easy to read and is a good way for those new to coding to learn enough to get going.  He also explains why coding is important to teach to students.  This is full of resources and also links you to his website - where there are a lot more!  Brian is very active on Twitter and is a great follow if you are looking for resources and conversations about computational thinking and coding in the classroom.





Empower, by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani

This book has a unique style of writing - lots of sketch notes and a no nonsense approach to why and how we should be increasing inquiry learning in our classrooms.  It goes beyond just engaging students and encourages Teachers to Empower students (hence the title) to choose their own paths and find their passions.  They state right off that this is not a 'how to manual' - everyone is different after all.  Once you finish reading it, you should have a good idea of how to start - where you and your students go from there is up to you.  Great read!






Culturize: Every Student. Every Day. Whatever It Takes, by Jimmy Casas

While written more for an audience of school administrators, there are lots of lessons and insights in this book that can be applied to classroom teachers.  He talks about being a champion for every student and creating a culture were all students can succeed.  He included insights from other educators and administrators and give lots of ways you can improve the culture of your school through small changes, big changes, resources, etc.  His chapter on expecting excellence really aligned with my own thinking.  He states that you have to be open to taking some risks and learning from failures, which will not happen if you accept the status quo or reject change.  One of the most powerful passages for me was: "No one person is responsible for determining your success or failure but you, and no one is responsible for your morale but you."  I found this book to be energizing - and Jimmy is a great follow on Twitter as well!



Cultivating Readers, by Anne Elliott and Mary Lynch

Written by two TVDSB'ers, this book is not about improving reading skills
in your classroom, but if you use their ideas, that will likely be a secondary outcome for you!  It's about how to get kids excited about reading and how to make your classroom an environment where kids will become avid readers.  Not just the ones who are good readers already, but those who may not be reading at grade level or who read because they have to, or those who actively avoid reading as a chore.  Anne and Mary share all kinds of activities, tips and advice on how to share and model a love of reading with every student in your room, all of them easy to implement and get started on right away.  The style of writing is really engaging and they use lots of real life examples to bring home their beliefs.  It does have a more Elementary School focus, but many of these ideas could be easily adapted in Secondary Schools.  It got me fired up about my own reading too.  This is a great book to add to your Professional Library!


The Four O'Clock Faculty: A Rogue Guide to Revolutionizing Professional Development,
by Rich Czyz

Sick of "Sit and Listen" style Professional Development?  So is Rich Czyz.  His book is all about ways school leaders and individual teachers can improve and take charge of their own learning to make it richer, more meaningful and tailored to each educator's own needs.  What I loved about his book was that it was about us making choices, and being active in pursing the opportunities that are out there and most relevant to our own practice.  He talks about ways to start, innovate and join PLN's on Social Media, especially Twitter, starting EdCamps, Book clubs, hosting Lunch N Learns, blogging, even a Teacher Genius Hour.  There are lots of ideas you may have heard before, but given a new spin or twist to make the PD better.  There is also a chapter on how to make the best of less than desirable methods of PD.  Some of his ideas will take some work or some school culture tweaking, but some of them are easy and could be started pretty much while you are still reading the book, and it is adaptable to whatever grade level or area of learning you are involved in.  Follow his hashtag ##4OCF or check out more at his website: https://fouroclockfaculty.com

The Wild Card: 7 Steps to an Educator's Creative Breakthrough, by Hope & Wade King

This book reminds me a lot of Dave Burgess' book: Teach Like a Pirate.   Hope and Wade King teach at the Ron Clark Academy and share their creative ideas for making your classroom more engaging.  While it is very Elementary and Middle School focused, the ideas in it could be adapted to Secondary Schools.  They take a cross curricular approach in their pedagogy and regularly transform their classrooms into extraordinary learning environments to teach a variety of subjects with a thematic and inquiry based approach.  The transformations are amazing enough and you really need to read the book and see the pictures to get the full scope of them like a beach classroom or School of Rock classroom, but the way they weave so many learning objectives into these environments without a great deal of cost (Dollar Store!) is pretty amazing.  I loved the chapter where they encourage you not to listen to the Joker - that less than enthusiastic staff member who pooh pooh's change, or the voice in your own head that discourages change.  The book is not just about room transformations either, there are plenty of great ways to use inquiry learning even without a lot of physical changes to the classroom.  They are also active on Twitter and bloggers - so the learning doesn't stop with the book.

FICTION:(MIDDLE SCHOOL AND YOUNG ADULT)

Leave Us In Peace, by Marty Elkins

This is Marty's first work of fiction and follows many characters through WWII from start to finish.  He does a great job of including so many of the events of the War on it's many fronts, but told from the perspective of the people experiencing it, from around the world.  The characters show many different viewpoints as they experience the hardships of war.  We don't often get to read the Russian experience of war in History classes or books in the Western World, but Elkins does a great job of showing the human suffering and loss of these events (especially the Siege of Leningrad) through his characters.  This would be a great book to use in History classrooms and perhaps cross curricularly in English and Geography to learn more about the personal costs of war.



Paper Wishes, by Lois Sepahban

Written for a Young Adult/Middle School audience, this novel is the story of a young American girl of Japanese descent and her family from Washington State who were relocated to an Internment Camp during World War II.

It shows the racism, hardships and heartbreaks they experienced through her eyes as they try to find a way to survive their incarceration.  It is a sad a beautiful story about a part of history (Canada had Japanese Internment Camps as well) that we are not proud of, but should never forget. 

Global Read Aloud 2018 Contenders

In December 2017, the Contenders for the Global Read Aloud were posted on the GRA website - there is also the ability to nominate books you would like to have considered.  I took a look at the list and picked a few books to try out.

ReStart, by Gordon Korman

We've read a few of Gordon's books in our classroom and my students always love them.  He has a very accessible writing style and includes lots of humor and realistic, lovable characters.  ReStart does not disappoint.  It is about a teenager, Chase, who falls and sustains a head injury causing amnesia and complete personality change.  When he goes back to school, he, his family, his friends and his schoolmates have a hard time dealing with this new Chase, who is essentially getting a "do-over" of his life so far...a re-start.  I'm hoping this is chosen as one of the books for GRA18 because I would love to share this book with my class and with our GRA worldwide connections.  My students could really get into the themes and questions this book asks, like "Should people be given a second chance?"



Bronx Masquerade, by Nikki Grimes

A winner of many awards, including the Corretta Scott King Award, this contender looks at the voices and poetry of all the students in Mr. Ward's High School Literature class.  It takes them through a year of inquiry into themselves, their lives, and their ability to express themselves and learn about each other through poetry.  I love that the teacher in this book is barely a part of the story - other than to display some great pedagogy and to set up a classroom that allows for inquiry learning.  Unlike a lot of books and movies about classrooms, where the teacher is the main character and hero - this book is about the journey the students take, based on their own passions and lives.  This book may be a bit beyond my classroom to do for GRA18, but I hope it makes the final list, because it is inspirational.


Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds

Written entirely in verse, this book amazes me for it's ability to tell so much through such precise language.  It's the story of Will, whose older brother has just been shot and killed.  Will is going to follow "the Rules" he's always lived with and retaliate.  On his way down the elevator he runs into various characters who share their experience with "the Rules" over several generations.  It's ending is brilliantly written.  But, I don't want to spoil it for you.  Even written in verse, it's easily accessible for students, but clearly has some mature themes.  There would be so much to talk about and share in this book with a classroom.  Honestly,  I think is a great read for adults too.



Orphan Island, by Laurel Snyder

Nine orphans on an Island.  Always nine.  When a new Changeling arrives, the oldest one returns - to where, we do not know.  But, what if the oldest one stayed?  This is what Jinny, the next orphan scheduled to leave wonders and struggles with throughout her final year on the Island.  She is curious about what is out there, but afraid of leaving her home.  The book is a well crafted look at what it means to grow up, and the desire not to give up our innocence and childhood.  It would be interesting to hear what my students would think of Jinny's choices.  Would they stay or go?  Why?




The Red Bandanna, by Tom Rinaldi

This is the true story of Welles Crowther, one of the many who worked on the 104th Floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center and died as a result of the attack on September 11, 2001. The book takes us through his childhood and shows us what kind of a person he was through the stories of his family, friends and co-workers.  On the day of the attacks, his actions saved the lives of others and serve as a model of courage in terrible circumstances.  This would be an interesting book to share with a class to talk about the choices we make and how they affect our lives and the lives of others.





That's it for this post.  I've already started a few more great reads (Teaser:   Pernille Ripp's two books and Katie Martin's newest book that will be featured in the latest George Curous #IMMOOC) that I will save for my next installment of Professional Reads.  Until then...just keep learning and reading!