'Engage, Empower and Enlighten' Presentation

Here's the presentation for a workshop I'm taking tonight with some passionate home educators in Southland. It's exciting to sharing with a 'different' crowd and one outside of my normal environment - people involved in schools. But, it's also exciting to be sharing at tonight's conference because our own children are taught at home and I'm sharing some links and sites that have been created by my own kids!

Please dig into the presentation and engage with the links. Most of the images are linked to the actual sites and resources that I share. This is a presentation I'm sure I'll adapt and use a few times more!

Solo Stations and Student Agency

Within our team teaching programme we're looking at how we can create as many opportunities for students to learn at their own pace and with the right learning goals. This, in itself, is quite a huge ask when you're talking about 58 students and counting. 

One of our favourite tools for learners to know where their understanding is, and what to work on next, is the Solo Taxonomy model. The Solo levels are, and framed for a math's learning goal, in a nut-shell;

Pre  Structural - I'm just starting out.

Uni Structural - I know one thing about the goal.

Multi Structural - I know three or more things about the goal but I'm not sure when or why to use them and I sometimes make mistakes.

Relational - I know three or more things about the goal and I know when and. Why to use them.

Extended Abstracted - I can teach others how to do this and I can use this goal to apply to other goals.

This year we've started using the Solo Taxonomy (See Pam Hook's site for more info) to create differentiated stations within our math's workshops. Here's how we put the levels to use;

When we first run a workshop we work with materials and take the whole group through the learning intention and use buddies to share our ideas and work through a few problems. At the end of session we share our understanding of where our learning is at. We talk about what each Solo Level would look like and then share our understanding using hand signals. You can see some examples of the symbols here.

The next time we run the workshop we meet as a large group and quickly remind ourselves of the goal and how it works with a couple of examples. Then we show the symbols our learning is at the moment (we're trying not to say, 'I am....' because it's not US that are multi structural but our learning). This is usually quite varied with students at all stages of understanding.

Then we talk about the different stations around the room. We make sure that everyone knows where they are, what they will be doing at each station and how the will know when they can progress to the next station.

At each station we have card signs for each Solo Level that are shown in the pictures. Here's how each station works.

1. At the Pre-Structural / Uni-structural station the students work mostly with the teacher and are scaffolded through examples with materials and lots of prompting and questioning. The focus here is helping them see some concrete solutions and touching, moving and talking with their thinking buddy.

2. The Multi-structural station has a set of written equations with at least example of how to set out the thinking involved with solving the problem. Students work with a little prompting from the teacher checking in on them occasionally and their learning is written into their books for easy reference for them and the teacher.

3. Lastly, the Relational and Extended Abstract station is where the students can have a chance to confirm that they have a solid grasp of the goal and to check and little holes they have in their understanding. We give them a word problem with the maths within it and they have to read the problem, write down the maths equation or solution to the problem and then create an 'artifact' of the learning that will help others learn. So far these have been posters, instructional videos like Showme or Doodle Cast Pro. 

There are three things that impress me during these workshops;

• The students are (mostly) incredible honest about their understanding. It's very obvious when someone is at the wrong place and their peers are very quick to help them out when they are, either with redirection or peer tutoring. For the odd one or two who constantly over estimate their understanding it's very easy to quickly check in with them once the stations start.

• This approach allows them to move stations when they think they are ready and is always done with some guiding from the teacher. Once they think they are ready to move they check with the teacher and we talk about why they think they are ready. It's wonderfully fluid with some learners moving very quickly and others taking 2 or more workshops to consolidate and really gain some depth to their learning. I have seen learners move from Pre Structural to Extended Abstract in one workshop and it gives them a real tangible way to view their progress.

• These Solo Stations make the learning visible! We can all see where our thinking is working at, where we are moving to next (literally and figuratively) and as a teacher I have a quick snapshot of where this group is currently at.

I should also mention that we run learning programmes where students are guided to make their own choices about the goals and workshops they attend. In a workshop we could have students who have been working on a goal for 2 weeks and others who arrived for the first time. The Solo Stations approach allow us to make the learning M and M - 'meaningful and manageable.'

Our next step is to move this approach and adapt the pedagogy to other learning areas. There are advantages for workshops to remain as a large group and I'm thinking that we could set up the stations later at the end of a reading or writing workshop.

Are you catering for different learning levels and learning paces in your programme? We'd love to hear how you're doing that. 

Reference: M and Ms Pic

The Power of a Quote!

I came across this site (ictmagic.wikispaces.com) on Twitter thanks to a tweet and had a few moments today to record some of my favourite quotes at the moment.

There are some great links to poster creating websites (like this one - recitethis.com) and some sites to download ready made poster quotes like the one below.

Learning is Not

I've always loved quotes and seem to be developing an ability to pull one out at any given moment - much to some people's amusement and possible annoyance. They have the ability to pack a huge amount of profound thinking into a catchy phrase and for me, quotes can be a hook into a powerful truth.

Here are 2 posters I made today from the recitethis.com site that are resonating for me at the moment. What quotes are you thinking of at the moment?

Ownership - Self Directed Guidance

My Teacher Inquiry Goal this year is to provide an increase of student ownership in our
classroom. I mention 'our' because at our school we teach in teams of 2 (3 if you include our release teacher). At the moment I would describe our learning programme as...

 'Using individual learning pathways through a process of guided goal setting. We co-construct our learning goals and help students select goals that lead to a flipped learning / workshop based programme within an inquiry context.'

Wow. It sounds like a mouth-full so to break down the teacher jargon we simply;

• Use our curriculum to help the students set their goals
• They use these goals to select their workshops
• They can learn before, during and after these workshops at their own pace and time
• The learning they are doing always helps them gain the skills and understands to move ahead with our overall inquiry.

If this sounds like a lot of hard work and with the potential for chaos...then YES! I have to admit that at times my finely tuned 'teacher chaos radar' is pinging off bright flashing lights. BUT, the benefits we are seeing in engagement, achievement, motivation and learning dispositions (the ability to learn and take ownership over learning) is huge.

However, one of the reflections I am making from watching what is happening, and talking with the students, is how to help guide the students to be making the best decisions for their learning in a way that both gives structure and support to those that need it, as well as giving the opportunity for those increased 'agency' for those who are ready. Basically, how do I give 'just the right amount of cage' for each learner? We are very good, or better, at differentiating the learning for our students but what about differentiation in terms of the guidance and structure we put in place to help the learning happen.

This term we have added some management structures which to help students do just that. Our question was, 'What can we do to help the students be in the right place at the right time and go where they need to go to access the learning that is right for them?'

Here are 3 things we have set up with some thoughts on their effectiveness so far.

1. Student Calendars and Timetables.

Since last term we have create a class timetable on a Google Calendar and embedded that into our Ultranet Class Page. The embedding aspect has some teething problems by-passing our domain restrictions (it reads 'busy') but we also have it showing on a wide screen TV on the wall. Teachers and students can see what is coming up next, especially the workshops that are happening next door and it even has a function as a planning sharing tool for release teachers who access the workshop notes through the event details.

This week we've started giving each student a paper timetable that we record their workshops on and it also includes an overall picture of events and changes that happen in a lively, colourful school. It's early days with this one but the majority are learning a lot about self management and reading tables and have even started colour coding the learning areas and what they're working on.

There is increased accountability with this timetable as well because we can quickly see if they have booked themselves in for 2 maths and reading workshops. Thanks to @fuse11 and the team of teachers at Russel St School in Palmerston North for this idea.

2. Workshop Selection Tables

We've made a Google doc for each set of workshops for the week. There is a designated 'Mother Ship' imac we have set up to a large screen where the students can move their names from one workshop to the next. The names are an image from comiclife and they are easy to move withon the table - no deleting and typing, just click and drag.

It's been a great way to keep a record of who has attended which workshop and the students check in on the screen often.

3. Ako Hubs

This was an idea we borrowed from @msbeenz  and her classroom. It's a buddy system that gives each learner someone to ask, question and help make great learning decisions. We start our day in these hubs and often throughout the day. They change their hubs each week and have different people to work with often.

We started working in hubs of threes but with the number of students in our room we found it easier to move to pairs. This has lessoned the likely hood that one of the students were left out of the conversation, too. We're finding this a great accountability tool where one student will quickly let us know that their Ako buddy has not picked a maths workshop, or has lost their timetable. We're also really pleased with the modeling that is going on from the student's with high agency for those still learning.

Next Steps?

For a digitally minded teacher it's been an interesting transition this year to having so much paper as a part of our programme. The students have their goals, timetables and books - all paper. For us at the moment it just makes access to all of these things instant and easy. There is no logging in, opening up etc and we have a very 'the right tool for the right job' attitude to what we do.

BUT, in saying that,  I'm really aware that some students would prefer to have a digital version of these tools, just like I would! One student has shown me his ipod Google Calendar and how it's synched with our class calendar. He's really keen to start using this as his timetable and add his calendar over the top. This could be our next step! It's all about choice as there are lots of children who prefer the tangible version.

(Cartoon from http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/uxmagazine/rubes-cartoon-i-roll/)

Getting Started on Twitter - for Teachers

Tomorrow we're holding a Staff Breakfast for getting started on Twitter. Here are some links that I found to help you get under way and even get 'smarter than the average Twitter bear.'

Video - for visual learners.

This video explains, step by step, how to get going and is focussed on educators. (Selena Woodward)

Video Resources

David Wees has some great videos on a range of topics...

Ultimate Guidebook for Twitter

Lastly - this blog post from Edudemic.com has some so many incredible links to get your teeth into!

Twitter - this is where the action happens! You learning, at your pace, where-ever you are! 

Popplet Criteria

One of the principles of quality learning we push with our students is knowing what success looks like. We do this in quite a few ways but having a success criteria is pretty up there.

This week our classes are publishing their short stories on Comiclife, one of the student's favourite ways to publish and share their work. This criteria below was created using Popplet. I love this tool for the following reasons.

1. You can create visually stunning posters in less time than it takes to shake a stick.

2. You can import images, links and video as well as text.

3. It is interactive but also adaptable to be static - you can export or take a screenshot and print this into a great poster for the wall.

This embeded version lets the user move it around, zoom in and out and, if there are videos they can be played within the window, too.

So far this term we have created two different posters of criteria that students can refer back to; this one and one for creating a great instructional video on Doodle Cast Pro (a great video making app). My hope is that we will create a wall of criteria that will help guide the student to success for a whole range of publishing / sharing tools they can choose.

Maths Symposium Presentation

Tomorrow I'm presenting a breakout at the Southland Math's Symposium. The workshop brief I wrote was;

ICTs and Maths - understanding the potential for the tools to take your math's programme to another level!

Today's ICTs are making a big impact on the way we teach and learn. This workshop will explore some ideas for making the maximum influence with your student's and their achievement. We will look at different tools through the lenses of the SAMR model of technology integration and see how they have the potential to revolutionise our teaching practice.

That's a pretty lofty goal, I know! But why not aim for the stars. Here's the presentation.

If you were in the workshop - my apologies for going overtime - mostly because we missed the last few slides! There I promote some amazing resources for more links and tools and mostly because I didn't have time for my Twitter promotion - my best bit. If you're not on twitter and connecting with other like minded, passionate educators then... you are seriously missing out.

(But that's another workshop...)

This is the Hexagons brainstorm* (See Pam Hook's site for more info on this great tool) we made before we started. We had a quick look at the kinds of tools we are using, and saw some of the barriers / frustrations. 

Slow connectivity was a major theme... interesting!

*I've uploaded the image into skitch and added the categories.

Solo Taxonomy Conversation

I posted a photo from our staff meeting this afternoon on Twitter. It lead to a conversation with @bridgetcasse who is an Assistant Principal in Auckland and, coincidentally, co-wrote a book on the use of Solo in the Junior school. 

Here's the thread shown through Storify. I'm always amazed at the connections we can make with other passionate educators out there! And I'm also very proud of our staff and the journey we are all on.

Ipad Updates and Configurator

Our school is very well resourced with Ipads, laptops and Imacs at a ratio of around 1:2, not including the BYOD taken into account - thanks to our Principal @timl27. (He is one of those Principals who asks, "What do you need and why? He then goes about finding solutions to how we can fund that.) But with that many devices in the school comes the problem of maintenance and trouble shooting.

We have recently worked our way through the minefield that is Ipad Configurator (a tool in persistence strengthening and problem solving), not just in the setup and installation but also with the recent upheaval of a major IOS update as well.

This week I sent an email to our staff that explained the process of updating the apps that have needed them after the summer break. I thought I'd share this in case it is helpful for other schools. Who knows.. it may save getting tech support in and save someone some of their IT budget.

Hi Team,

There are a number of updates to install on your ipads that will need to be done this week - our class has found that quite a few apps are 'glitchy' (a good word for broken...) since the latest IOS 7 update and won't work without these updates especially the following

 - doodlecast pro

 - educreations

S0 - it is crucial that these are taken to the imac ipad hub and plugged in through the configurator.

Here are some handy hints for getting this done. (If with any of these steps you need a hand I'm happy to run you through it sometime - just see me to arrange a time.)

1. Take the ipads to the desk. 

   - I've found that with the new covers these just stack up nicely in a pile without having to use the rack. Leave the rack in your room to save unplugging things.

2. Run each ipad through the latest IOS update BEFORE you plug them into the imac. This can be done after plugged in but takes 5 times longer. Make sure the update is completed before plugging in.

    - settings  / general / software update - click on update now.

3. Plug them into the imac cords. Click on 'trust this computer' if the ipad asks you to.

4. Leave them to run the updates until the configurator tells you they are finished. The configurator should look like the attached pic while they are updating. Unplug and run the next 6.

This is a very good time to give them a wipe (there is a cloth and spray on the desk - spray on the cloth and then wipe.)

Also - there are some spare screen covers on the desk to apply if you have some without them. The instructions are on the back of the packets. It's important to keep the glass as protected as possible for when we return them after this year's lease.

Thanks everyone! I know it takes time but is part of the responsibility of having such a fantastic resource in our classrooms! Again - see me if you would like to be shown face 2 face. I'm happy to even run a workshop after school sometime if people would like.

Mark

The Power to Act - Agency

Well - my word for the year (ownership) is growing some really long arms and legs! Here are some of those 'limbs' and the impact they are having on our learners.

This video, by Derek Wenmoth, explains some terminology for me around the concept of 'student agency.' He explains agency as the 'power to act' and it has really captured my attention as we build our active learning approach at our school.

Ten Trends 2014: Agency from EDtalks on Vimeo.

In this video, Derek explains how student agency involves 3 dynamics and I've added some implications for our classrooms.

1. The initiative - self regulation of the student.

• this describes exactly what we are trying to do - engage the learner to be more and more independent and self starting.

2. The relationship is inter-dependent - mediates and is mediated by the socio cultural context of the classroom.

• the importance of a collaborative culture is key here. How we work together, give and seek peer feedback and create an environment where students want to learn together is incredibly important.

3. An awareness of responsibility of the learner's own actions and the impact on the environment and on others.

• our learner licenses approach is working really well in facilitating the right amount of support for each learner and I'm wondering how we can use it better to have student's mentoring / supporting and encouraging others learning behaviours.

I can see how this terminology is going to catch on as some shared vocabulary for our school. Especially with the parents. Interestingly - one thing I have learnt to do, when talking about this with parents is to emphasise the 'active learning' aspect rather than 'independent learning' as the latter has overtones of teachers trying to take a back seat to the process.

So - here are 2 aspects of our programme that we have recently invested in across our school to help develop the agency of our students. While not exhaustive, they both form some important pillars to help empower our learners.

Solo Taxonomy

One of our teacher only days this term was spent working with Pam Hook, exploring the ways to incorporate the Solo Taxonomy approach in our classrooms. Solo is an assessment method that involves students, at all stages of the learning journey, to help them see where their understanding is and what to work on next. Pam, @arti_choke, has a knack for explaining the approach in a way that makes sense for people and has developed some fantastic resources for teachers to use with their learners.

She is always very generous with her resources on her site and we have already started using the hexagons, thinking maps and assessment matrix tools. My goal for our class is to be able to use the assessment icons and levels to be able to understand and articulate how well they have grasped a skill or idea and what they should next. This should give us some important vocabulary to use during those crucial learning conversations.

e.g, "How well do I know how to use syllables to decode words? Well, my understanding is at 'multi-structural' but I need to understand when and why to use them when I read - that will move my understanding to the 'relational' level."

Learning Pathways and Self Selected Workshops

Last week our Senior Teachers travelled to Dunedin to visit St Clair School and we were hosted by @msbeenz (Claire Buist) AP and teacher, and her team. We have been hugely influenced by Claire's approach with empowering students to self assess their progress using Goal Sheets and then booking workshops with the teacher. We were very impressed to hear their journey with this approach last year and to see the development of this approach with her team this year.

Our Senior Team has begun to adopt this approach, with our own spin, and combined it within our team teaching approach which will have, I can already see, the following benefits.

• increased student agency
• increased quality and quantity of learning conversations to help guide and support the learner.
• more active and engaged learners!

One of the areas to explore from our visit is how to best develop the home-school connection and whether our current 'homework' programme is the best approach. I'm expecting that the ability for the learner to engage with their next steps is something that could and should be able to continue outside of school hours. So, there is enormous potential for our use of google apps, Ultranet and our other online tools carry on this journey.

Here are 2 other links to some docs we sent home for parents that explain how our learning programme has developed so far. This 'coalition' between school and home is something we are always looking to grow and the conversations these documents have continued has been crucial to the learning culture we are developing in the school.

MBS Team Teaching

Learning at MBS 2014

We are certainly in the midst of some exciting times and it feels like the pieces of the 'Active Learning' approach are falling into place. And when we combine all this with an increasing access to the learning tools we need (10 Chrome books arrived this afternoon!) then the road ahead just keeps getting more and more exciting. 

I hope our learners are starting to feel excited as well. I'm thinking it may be time for some student voice!

Teaching Kids to be Brave and Kind

I thought I'd pass on this article on the Momastry blog. It's written by Glennon Doyle Melton and really resonated with me this week. From the look of the 1400 odd comments underneath it has for others, too.

The idea that an educator's role is to simply raise achievement standards would rankle even the numbest teacher. There are so many things we do in our classes that can make or break children's futures - it makes me baulk at the weight of that responsibility and to be honest, there have been times in my shortish career where I would admit that I've missed the wood for the trees.

This recount of a parent and their description of the efforts they take to look out for the lonely children in their class is inspirational and incredible challenging! But the line that stands out for me the most is right at the end.

Isn't that what it's all about. Do we teach children how to read and write? Yes. But we should also shape and inspire them to be resilient, to go outside their comfort zones and to move from being ego centric to thinking of others.

So, what does this mean for me? It means that when I have photocopying to quickly grab before the bell goes and a student comes to talk with me and make a connection before the start of the day... I will stop and listen and gift her some of my time. It sounds easy but with the pressures of teaching I can assure you that if my priorities are not right, it's not.

There are lots of little things we can do to make every student feel accepted, safe, cared for and valuable. Lots of small things. And small things, I'm finding, add up to be big things.

Have we missed the point of teaching sometimes? Is it all about technology, innovative practice and passion? No. I wonder if it's about helping kids be brave and kind. I also think that we need to model that to them, too. 

My Word for the Year!

With a new year ahead our staff have decided to have one word - one word to reflect on and set our teacher inquiry goals towards. My word for this year is...

For the last 7 out of 9 years as a teacher I have been pretty passionate about developing young people as independent learners. I first saw this in action with a legendary teacher next door who I hold in VERY high regard to this day. She was, and still is, a master at shaping and inspiring children to take more responsibility for everything they did. And BOY did they ever. Even when their learning went pear shaped they somehow all had an internal drive and resolve to be better next time. Isn't this what we want for all of our students?

Over the holidays I found this chart, from the engagedlearning.co.uk site that was the challenge and inspiration for this year's word. Not only was it the first time I had heard of anything beyond 'Pedagogy' in the classroom but I was also incredibly challenged about the practice I foster in my class. It also gives me 2 more words to throw around when I want to sound smart.

It seems to me that one of the differences between a teacher led approach and a self determining one are found in the answer to, 'Who owns the learning?' It also seems to me that if a student is going to be truly motivated then they will have found ownership of it, whether they have prompted it or not.

So, the drive for me this year is to develop new approaches that will scaffold and assist students to make progress towards truly owning their learning. I'm becoming fully aware of two possible tensions.

1. Maintaining a balance between being 'the teacher' and 'a coach.' 

There is a great debate amongst teachers about how much knowledge you should be passing on to students and how much you should be leaving them to discover for themselves. Are we the sage on the stage or the guide on the side. I am a great believer that there are things that students simply don't know- and they usually don't know that they don't know. This year I'm going to be searching for the balance or the sweet spot between these 2 approaches.

2. Inspiring parents and their children that this is possible.

I believe that every child has a certain amount of potential to take ownership of their learning - at 9 and 10 years of age. I know a great many students who are in our class this year who already do just that. I also know that many children are more ready to reach this potential in a few years time. What I will be working at is demonstrating to parents that I have the systems and support in place to meet every child where they are. If they need more support then we will have that for them. In the posts to come I'll be sharing some of the systems that have worked in the past and also some of the initiatives we are working on.

But here are a few of the things we'll be working on.

• Holding reading / writing / maths groups as self selected workshops for students working across curriculum levels but with a common learning goal.

• Developing eportfolios and reflective journals using Ultranet and Google Apps / Hapara.

• Visiting forward thinking schools and classrooms using similar learning andragogy.

• Integrating student passion projects into our weekly learning programmes.

Bring on 2014!