Possible: Kids Get It

My last post Possible: A Frame of Mind touched on how we as educators need to shift our mind sets to context in order to inspire change in the system. We must understand our “why” and encourage others to find theirs before we ask teachers to change their practice.

Last week, I had an awesome conversation with my students. I asked them what they liked about our class and what they would like to change about school. Here are some of their responses…

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I think teachers should be closer with their students. It makes it so much easier to learn when you are connected with your teacher.

I really like how we have a lot of freedom and choice in our class. I’ve never really had this much freedom in school before.

I really like how we learn in different ways like in Math we use manipulatives and whiteboards and iPads. Math is more fun and easy to understand with manipulatives and it’s so much easier to show my thinking on an iPad than on paper.

Sometimes I think teachers forget what it’s like to be a kid. School is so much more fun when your teacher gets to know you and understand you.

I think more teachers should think about the physical space in their classrooms. How a room is set up makes a big difference in how I feel at school and having different spaces to learn is really helpful.

Honestly, I wish I had recorded the conversation because my kids were SO insightful! Their ideas were extremely well articulated and more powerful than I expected. Everyone was engaged in the discussion and wanted to contribute. We talked about making a video this year to share our experiences and what changes we would like to see in education moving forward. It was a very exciting day for me as an educator and a very powerful group activity. They have since asked if we can have awesome conversations every Thursday.

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We can’t be afraid to have these conversations with our kids. There is so much we can learn from them.

Kids get it. As long as their voices are valued, they will always see what’s possible.

Possible: A Frame of Mind

Lately, I’ve been having a lot of conversations about the need for transformation in education. There are so many incredible educators out there – people who are building strong relationships with their students and making learning relevant in a variety of ways. My PLN is a wonderful source of support in this respect as they have so many tools, ideas, and stories to share with the education community.

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However, I can’t help but feel lately that we are preaching to the converted.

How can we broaden our circles of conversation to include more and more educators?

I think there are endless possibilities for how we can connect with others. Face to face within our schools has always been a possibility, district initiatives, and obviously connecting online through blogging and social media such as Twitter and Google +… and yet it doesn’t seem like enough. It is still a very small minority of educators that are working towards a new and different model of education.

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend the day with Will Richardson (@willrich45) as part of my district’s IML Innovators group. Although many people made insightful comments that day, one of Will’s has stuck with me. He said that it is not enough to focus on our practice; in fact, we should forget about changing our practice. Until we have dedicated the time to discussing the CONTEXT, the reasons for which we believe education needs to change, there is no point asking educators to change what they are doing in their classrooms. Students are not being harmed by anyone, so let’s spend some time understanding the why before we jump into the what and the how.

This was brilliant! It made me realize why I often feel like people think I’m nuts. Although I shifted my advocacy focus away from specific tools long ago, I still feel that tools are what most educators want to be given. They think it’s about the technology, that there are teachers who use tech and those who don’t, when really it is about improving students’ learning experiences. I want to transform education, not mass distribute new tech tools into our classrooms. But Will made me realize that perhaps it was bigger than I thought; maybe they don’t understand the context or the possibilities that changes could provide to education. Suddenly, the “problem” seems much more manageable. Although it may be time consuming, we must value reading, sharing, and discussing educational issues with our colleagues. We devote a lot of energy to building relationships with our students, but we often forget to do the same with our colleagues. Possible is simply a frame of mind; I want all educators to be able to envision what’s possible.

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So I urge you to ask yourself: Is possible your frame of mind? Because if it’s not, if we continue to look for faults in transformational ideas rather than strengths and possibilities, then I think we have already failed. The choice is up to us; we all have the power to put a little more possible in education.

Learning to Be Grateful

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In this profession, it is way too easy to fall into to the trap of being busy, overwhelmed, and quite frankly, exhausted. We get down on ourselves and sometimes even play the competitive sport entitled “Who’s Busier?!” Instead of stressing out, we all need to sit back, relax, and learn to take some time for ourselves. I have to admit that this is not my strength… I am the antithesis of relaxation and I have chronic headaches to prove it. However, it is something that I am working on.

Here are five things for which I am grateful this Thanksgiving season…

1. My dog. I love him. He’s adorable. No matter what happened at work that day, how late I come home, how sick I feel or how grumpy I am, he is always there. This weekend we took him to Campbell Valley Park and he was the happiest little guy in the world. I was not a dog person until we got him 2 years ago… And now I know the definition of unconditional love and (wo)man’s best friend.

2. Good food. I don’t think I realized growing up how lucky we were in my house. We didn’t have more than we needed, but we always ate good, healthy food. To this day, I am so grateful that my mother taught us the value of good food and nutrition. I am also thankful that I learned how to cook as a child; I wish every child got to experience the magic of creating a meal. An untapped source of creativity, I think…

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3. Education. We are so incredibly blessed to have access to free public education for all. Every so often, I try to imagine what it would be like to not have this access and it breaks my heart. The ability to read and write and learn is so incredible. I think sometimes we forget about the magic of stories and the wonder of free access to information. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn openly.

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4. Sunshine. There is nothing more amazing than a beautiful sunny day in the fall. Enough said.

5. Love and laughter. Although it is sometimes difficult to remember in times of chaos… I love my family, my spouse, my friends, my dog, my students… and I know I am loved in return. I am especially grateful for the amazing group of kids I have this year who have already shared so much joy and laughter with me. Everything is better with laughter!

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Try to take some time for yourself this year and remember to reflect on the positive.
What are you grateful for?

Why I Hate Letter Grades

I hate letter grades.
They are harmful, ineffective representations of my students’ learning.

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Those who know me personally know that I’ve always been passionate about assessment. I’ve always thought I had a fairly firm grasp on good assessment practices. I’ve always thought I had students’ best interests in mind by providing ongoing, descriptive feedback and never giving letter grades on projects. This year, we have also explored ePortfolios as a way to document student progress. I spend a considerable amount of time and energy encouraging my students to focus on learning and improving rather than on extrinsic rewards and punishments.

Yet every term, I fail numerous times because I must assign a letter grade in each subject area on report cards.

How is this helpful for students? How does this contribute to passion, intrinsic motivation, or lifelong learning?

Those are the things that really matter to me. I want my students to love learning. I want to inspire them to find and pursue their passions in life. I want them to look honestly at where they are and where they want to go in their learning journey. How can I honestly expect them to do that when all of their amazing progress and achievements are reduced to a single alphabetical symbol at the end of each term? My answer is that I don’t think I can anymore.

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I’ve proposed an inquiry project to my school district that would explore how eliminating letter grades on intermediate report cards in favour of anecdotal evidence, ePortfolios, and conferencing affects student learning. While I feel hopeful that the proposal is a step in the right direction, I have also recently come to realize that we need to create change where we currently have the power to create change. I don’t have control over whether the inquiry project is approved for next year or over our report card templates. Although I will continue to advocate for change in those areas and hope that I am well supported, I am proposing another more manageable shift in practice for the time being. Something I can change NOW.

I know others already do this, so I do not claim ownership of the idea in any way.

Rather than simply involving my students in a discussion about their grades (where they feel they fit on a continuum, why they think they fall where they do) I am going to involve my students in the process of assigning grades. They will decide what they think their grades should be. They will provide evidence from their ePortfolios and projects throughout the year that supports their position. We will have an honest discussion about their samples and their progress and we will come to an agreement about what their final grade should be. I hope this will allow them to truly reflect on where they were and how far they’ve come as well as their strengths and areas in need of improvement. I know that this will actively involve them in a new learning experience.

Screen shot of one of my student’s ePortolio pages – “Français”

I know that this is not a perfect system and that we will make mistakes… ePortoflios were new for us this year and are still progressing in terms of reflection. However, I strongly believe that in their current state, grades are harmful to my students’ learning. I can no longer treat them as they’ve always been treated because it goes against everything I stand for in my classroom. Kids feel a lot of pressure from society to perform, and this often causes them to take less risks for fear of “failing.” How will they ever learn to love learning if they are terrified of failure? How can I ever get them to want to think outside the box when they are placed in a box at the end of each term? I want them to be free of boxes and categories so that they can see the light that is learning!

We have to start somewhere. This will be my somewhere.

Do you plan on finding levers for change in assessment and grading? If so, how?

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This is obviously not a complete argument against grades. There will be future posts on the “why” of abolishing grades. In the meantime, check out @joe_bower’s blog page “Abolishing Grades” for some great resources.

Two Words: “What’s Up?”

“Hey, you’re not quite yourself today… what’s up?”

I have learned more from my students by asking this one simple question this year than any other. Family and friend issues, fears and anxiety, hunger and stress… it all comes out if you just remember to notice. Our students experience so much more in their lives than what we see at school; however, we do see them for a significant chunk of their day. Shouldn’t we be able to tell when something’s up? If we’re not willing to notice and listen, will they ever truly enjoy learning?

I recently attended ConnectEd Canada and finally had the pleasure of hearing Joe Bower speak in person. He explained that too often, we talk too much and we forget to listen. We try to fix problems rather than waiting to find out if our students even need our help. We ignore other problems that mean a lot to our students in favour of using class time for “important things.” How does this affect our relationships with our students?

I think not taking the time to notice what’s going on in their lives is the worst thing we can do to our students. Relationships are the foundation of what we do and how students learn. As Rita Pierson says in the video below, “kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.” Every child is someone’s little boy or girl but it’s our job to make them all feel as though they are our children as well.

When is the last time you asked “what’s up?” How did this impact your relationship with your students?