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

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/)

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!

Aurasma - an Interactive, Digital Display

We have a third year college teacher, @mattmurraynz, working with us this year and he is proving to be a handy innovator in his own right.  One of his college assignments this term was to create an interactive display in the classroom.  He told me his class were thinking, 'What? How do you do that?'

With a little bit of chatter and after seeing a great ipad app called aurasma lite he came up with an idea for using augmented reality and the student's learning about taonga - special treasures.

The student's held their taonga and spoke about it's importance to them, then Matt made this into a video. The video is uploaded to aurasma and a screen shot of the video was printed out and hung on the wall.

Matt then went through the steps on the app to take an image of the photo and linked it to the uploaded video. And below is the result. When you hold the aurasma app view finder up to the image it shows the video of the student speaking inside the image of the photo.

How cool would our classrooms, office foyers, shopping mall walls, and street signs be with this kind of interaction?

Time Lapse Fun!

During the last school holidays I edited and posted a movie on our class and school blogs. I wanted to showcase the 'business' of our days for the parents of my class - a push back against the 'nothing much' response to that age old question from our parents, 'What did you do at school today?'

The video was posted on the Core Education blog here, a few weeks later.  It was great to see the comments coming in and a few questions asked and the gawker software I used to create the timelapse video is something I'm keen to use again.

Easy Infographics

Yesterday I found an easy (easier) way to make some cool infographics online! Infographics are information, stats and images mashed together in some cool posters. Makes maths super cool! You can see some amazing infographics examples here at coolinfographics or even better, on their pinterest page. There's nothing like seeing info and stats in a visual way - for us 'visual' learners and people who like things that look cool!

A few months ago we had a go at making an infographic in our class, with varying degrees of success, using popplet and uploading images.  They didn't really like look like the genuine article which is ok. Sometimes things don't always go to plan but I was happy with the process of collecting data and displaying it in a static image.  It meant the learning intention which was the goal.

So here's the online tool that lets you use easy templates and input the data you want, where you want. It's called Piktochart. It was super easy to use, lets you add your own graphics if needed but gives you that all important structure that can be hard to make on your own.
And here's my first attempt. It's using some data I collected from a parent survey in Term 1 from my class. I'm looking for another chance to create something else.

Now... where can I get my hands on some stats. Never thought I'd ever write that in my lifetime!

Line in the Sand - it starts with the purpose

The current National Standards debate is highlighting a very important question - What's the purpose of education? Every school, teacher, principal and parent will have an answer for this and we see these ideas being played out in the decisions that teachers, Principals and schools are making every day. Here are three main themes I think you might encounter.

Schools exist to...

1. - assist a student to reach their academic potential,

2. - prepare and produce economic workers for our economic well being,

3. - create well rounded citizens who effectively contribute to society.

If you keep these three goals in mind when interacting with people day to day you will quickly hear the goal they are most striving to meet.

When you hear a Principal talking about their school having student achievement as it's core function - then you are listening to someone who believes in the first idea. If a government puts policy in place to create standardised outcomes for students then it's obvious that the second idea is in mind. And when a school provides extra curricula activities and instills a school wide values programme then the third has become part of it's ethos.

What I'd suggest is occurring throughout the country is a clear demarcation of principals and boards, governments and communities around the aims of education; a line in the sand is being drawn. And there is one obvious litmus test of this line - the actions being taken in the shadow of National Standards, in New Zealand, and national testing worldwide. In other words, how a Principal responds to the National Standards debate is a reflection on what they believe the purpose of our education system is. The decisions they make on time spent in class, how they structure their classrooms, the PD they arrange for their staff and even the physical spaces they create for their learners.

What I'm predicting will happen is that we will see this 'line in the sand', between those schools who see it's purpose being in academic achievement and those who seek a holistic approach to student growth as well rounded people, become more and more vivid and marked. There is little debate around the fact that schools must adapt and reform to meet the demands of an ever changing world ( just google, '21st Century learning') but what IS being debated is how.

Whether schools continue to focus on the 3 Rs, whether they travel on a journey of personalised learning and student empowerment, and whether they deconstruct the traditional teaching and learning model to one that suits their modern learning community. All of these decisions will begin to create schools who look VASTLY different from each other - ones who are completely reformed and those who have stayed the same. These are interesting days and the results of these lines will, I'd suggest, will be very different types of schools across the educational landscape.

So, if I play this prediction out and we do have very different types of schools, it could lead to;

- Parents having a wide range of options about the kind of school they want their children to belong

- Teachers becoming very selective and purposeful about teaching at schools that match their educational philosophies

- Principals forming informal 'clusters' of colleagues that will collaborate together with others of like minds - even more so than we see today.

(Side note - From someone who is relatively young and new to this career... I can see this beginning to happen. And I'm VERY excited!)

Sharing with no one...

This term's focus has been to get our efolios up and running. I've decided to use the edublogs platform this year which is a shift away from my favoured use of blogger. Here are three reasons I want to give edublogs a trial;

1. A clean, attractive interface for readers and users

2. The option to add a password to individual posts (great for assessment details, sensitive information and privacy focused students and family)

3. Nicely worked comments that can show up as threads under a post. Excellent for students answering questions in their comments.

It's the last possibility that I'm most excited about. Yesterday we talked about one of the reasons for having a blog at school - the possibility to share with an audience. I used the analogy of giving a speech to an empty assembly hall and they seemed to understand that vividly.

The image on the right shows how the comments

can quickly become a conversation that is both powerful and engaging - that's the potential, anyway. You can see how to activate this feature here.

Our major 'workon' this week has been to create better comments. We've used this poster I made to help scaffold our comments and there has been an improvement in them. Feel free to download the poster using the download button, bottom right.

'Threaded comments' image source above - writeoutloud.edublogs.org

Just the right amount of cage!

One of the dominant themes in all the dialogue around educational change is the need to encourage and foster creativity and independence in our students. The focus, we say, should be on developing self directed classrooms as the demand for initiative and problem solving skills grows with the rate of change in our ever shifting society landscape.

One of the results of this new emphasis is the call for teachers to 'let go' and work along side students in a more facilitative role. "Allow more freedom and the learning will happen," is the cry. So, one of the strongest values I seek to develop in my classroom is the student's ability to be more in control in the decisions about their own learning. BUT - there is, however, a need for balance with this approach. There are strong parallels here with the analogy of caged birds.

There are some classrooms that aim to put their students in little manageable cages with only enough room to stand up and hardly enough to stretch their wings. You could argue that this would be the dominant model of the 20th century class. The result, of course, being that the bird never really exercises its wings to their full potential.

The other danger is in freeing the bird to fly too soon. Even nature has learnt that a mother bird restrains their young before allowing them to fly the nest. The danger in pushing them out too soon, obviously, can have disastrous effects! Also, if we allow birds to fly too far before they have mastered the art, then we risk them going in circles, or even worse, flying into danger.

The balance that is needed for creativity to grow, in my experience, is for a student to have just the right amount of scaffolding and support. If we drown our students in rules, direction and dictation we risk suffocating them. Likewise, if we allow students to roam around with little support, discipline and direction then I think we are actually doing them a disservice.

So, here are a few things I use in class to provide that structure and guidance.

1. Co- Constructed Criteria

This is a criteria we created together to help us work out what a great Skype is. We had a look at what skype does and used our prior knowledge to make this chart. It helps guide us through each step of the process.

2. Self Review Slips

These Self Review slips are printed, one for each student, and pasted into their writing books. When they have finished their first draft they use the slips to do a self ad peer review that helps them guide their second draft. It also helps me guide the feedback I give, too.

There is plenty of license for them to add their personality and own style to the writing. This slip gives them some parameters to work within a specific genre of writing. Once their second draft is completed they are ready to post their writing to their blogs.

3. Challenge Blogs

One strategy I've used a few times is to create a blog of different activities that are targeted at specific learning intentions.

This blog - "The Not Lost Project" is a blog I've made. It has a combination of links to a variety of mapping, compass and directions geometry skills that target levels 2 and 3 of the NZ Curriculum. The special ingredient to these types of blogs, I've found, is that the student is able to choose the activities he or she completes - but still cover the learning objectives needed. They are motivated to complete 2 tasks on every page to earn their 'Scout Badge'. These blogs even become a quality homework option, too.

4. Independence Licences

This is a fantastic strategy I've picked up from a colleague I once worked with. There are 4 levels of the license and students can work up or down the levels depending on the responsibility they show in and out of class. With each level come certain rights, also. Level 1, for example, ensures that the student work in plain sight of the teacher and asks for permission to use the computer, leave the room and go onto a task. Level 4, however, can work in any learning space around the school, is allowed to use any resource at 'mostly' any time and is largely free to make their own learning decisions throughout the day.

I've found this strategy to be incredibly motivating and rewarding for the students who are genuinely making an effort to become independent and responsible - and rewards them for doing so!

So, let's continue to create and use the right amount of structure for our students to become the creative, problem solving, engaged learners that we know they can be! Free as a bird - with a few fences thrown in...

Skype in the Classroom

On Wednesday I worked with some classrooms who wanted to develop their use of Skype. I arranged for two classrooms to skype with us (thanks to connections with my twitter friends, @Marama and @mrkempnz), one in Dunedin at Grant Braes School and the other at Pukeokahu School near Taihape.

The first class, Room 3 at St Thomas Aquinas, watched this video that explained what skype is and how it works.

Next we co-constructed a chart of what a successful skype session is. The poster below is the version I've put together in popplet - a cool chart maker, I've discovered. The three parts, preparation, during the call and reflection are based on the rubric I found online here, at the 'Educational Origami' blog. We found that it helped us have a great first Skype call, especially the prep stage where we visited their class wiki or blog and prepared some questions to ask.

Here are some reflections I've taken from the two sessions.

1. Watch for tricky technical bridges to hurdle.

It's always important to test your technology before using it, especially when you've arranged a time to do something with someone else- who has built their timetable around it. We had some issues with proxy settings and, I think, some firewall blocks which has tripped me up in the past. Always check your connection before you need it. Especially when using skype for the first time with a class.

2. Always have an authentic purpose.

Anything new has its gimmick appeal. I've found that this lasts for about 20 minutes with kids and then they're over it! When we're using skype to call someone you should always have a real reason for doing so...not just because you can - 'Hey kids, lets skype the class next door!'

With the second session we decided that we'd use the skype call to help the class develop an understanding of open and closed questions - and a real audience to practise on! They were totally engaged in asking their open questions (based on a video the other class made of a science experiment they did with sheep's eyes) and they got experience how powerful those types of questions are. The learning intention of the session was not how to use skype - classic example of use the tool to help the learning..rather than learning the use of the tool.

3. Don't underestimate how familiar our students are with technology

It was amazing to see how many hands shot up when I asked if they had used skype before. Many had skyped their grandparents and family front out of town and a lot of them knew how it worked and what it did.

Often we think that we will be sharing a tool with our class that is innovative and amazing! It may well be, compared to the technology we usually use at school, or even compared to the teacher next door. But to these students it's a normal part of everyday life. It's not so amazing to them - they don't know any different. All the more reason to make our classrooms as relevant as possible to our students everyday lives.

4 Keys for Successful School Sites

It's great to see so many schools wanting to connect with their staff, parents, students and wider community in an online environment. I think many are now seeing the potential for the web to form genuine connections in a fast paced, digital world. But, how do we make sure that our digital strategy will be really effective?

Here are four keys to successful sites for schools that I think are an important element for online sites for your school or classroom.

1. Keep it local and in-house.

When schools first started tapping into the online world the internet was built on complicated and time consuming webpage programmes. Most schools hired an outside agency to design and build their website and relied on them to upload any changes. It's only natural, however, that as time has developed and the online world easier to navigate, so too have the ways that we can publish online become simpler and uncomplicated.

With a basic online understanding we can create web pages using tools like Wordpress, Blogger, Google Sites and others that are easy to use, free! All you need is someone of your staff to have some time and patience to persevere and ask for help when they need it. Having a third party handle your site can slow the process down and make us less likely to keep things current. I think it's much better if we can develop these skills within our own staff.

I wrote a post about the benefits of having a school site with up to the minute information

- School websites, Brochure or Community Builder?

2. Keep it current and fresh!

Things online can become stale and boring if not updated regularly. Having the last change to a site with a date of 6 months ago also reduces the credibility of your site. If we can see that things are up to date then we will be more likely to return to it! It's also time for schools to realise that they can upgrade their school website from what is essentially an online brochure. They can be engaging, interactive and fresh!

3. If it's important to you - give it some resources.

One of the keys to success with anything online, whether it's a class blog or a school website, is having the discipline and structure in place to maintain it. The cost of this will most certainly be in terms of time and sometimes this can be expensive. Can we allocate some release time each week, for example, for a staff member to spend up-keeping a site or can you diary in some time every couple of days to post on your class blog? As a wise eLearning sage once said (@nickrate, yes, you are a sage), 'If it's really valuable to you then you should spend the time on it.' Great advice. I also ask teachers, when they ask how I find the time to do all of this digital stuff... 'How much time do we spend watching T.V?'

4. Use the right tool for the right job - and then link them.

One of the mistakes I see all the time is when people use an online tool to do things it was never designed to do. They all have their uses - from wikis, to blogs, to websites, to social media sites etc. The trap can be easy to fall into when we have several purposes for a digital site and try to use only one tool.

We might, for example, want a school site for

sharing photos of special events, posting

Its newsletters, encouraging feedback from parents and sharing files between staff. Instead of using a blog for all of this we can easily link a wiki, a blog, a google calendar and a flickr account page using url links and embedding tools. Each tool will appear as a page that can be part of one central site - like this site for Salford School that uses the flash based Wix site.

Is there anything you'd add? Do you have some examples of sites or schools that cover all four keys?

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Inquiry Presentation

This is the slideshare I'll be sharing as the conclusion (if there is such a thing) to my engagement inquiry. It's been a process of pulling together the parts and isn't exactly staggering or ground breaking. I guess that's not the aim of a teacher inquiry but more to help us improve our own teaching and learning.

Student Engagement

View more documents from riverdaleschool.

Where would I like to go next?

I met with our Principal and some people from the Ministry last week. They're involved in creating a government project that helps schools with their LMS and efolio platforms. One topic that came up was the lack of academic research (evidential) into the benefits of e-learning and digital tools for student learning - anywhere.

That's a pretty hefty elephant sized bite to take but it's captured my attention.

No hands classroom

We all know the difficulty in keeping some students engaged in a lesson or activity. There's often one or two who sit on the edge and regularly 'switch off'. My mission this year has been to try engaging ALL of the students, ALL of the time. A very lofty goal, I know.

One little technique which has certainly made a difference is having, as much as possible, a 'No hands classroom' philosophy. Intrigued?

As teachers, we are always answering hands, whether its in a whole class or small group situation. It's like we're addicted to the illusion of engagement that it creates. There are always students in the class who answer everything and, to be honest, we all notice when they are away. These students are always thinking, always contributing to the class and gaining a large amount of esteem in the process. This is not bad, for them, but has a debilitating effect on those around them.

The students either side of the 'hyper engaged' realise that 'Martha' will answer the question so why should they even think for themselves. They have a waving hand hosted to the roof, the teacher wants to maintain the energy in the room by asking enthusiastic students and the cycle of disengagement is continued. What's worse is that, for those switched off students, the disengagement becomes like a learned helplessness which creates a situation where research has shown that in any class there are 30% or more students who are simply 'doing time'.

A 'no hands' classroom would strive to have every student thinking, discussing and sharing their ideas at all times. Here are some techniques to help those of us who are 'hands' addicted.

1. Simply enforcing the 'no hands rule'.
When a teacher first tells a class that we won't be having hands up today (or, even worse, ever) it can be very confusing for everyone. Students and teachers have had years of this behaviour ingrained. Teachers can remind students but the enforcement largely lies with us.

2. Have students sitting next to a 'thinking buddy'.
When we want students to think for themselves about something it's very motivating to have someone to share that thinking with. Ask a question, have them share with their buddy and then ask them to report back to the class.

3. Get good at sometimes asking kids who do and sometimes those who might not look engaged.
This sounds mean and can backfire. What happens when they're not listening? It sometimes has an embarrassing effect and can draw kids in by the fear of being asked. It all depends on how we react. I try to be light hearted and 'invite' the student to join in. It usually works but the opposite happens when I'm negative and 'scold' the student.
nb - It can turn into a game as the already engaged students get good at 'faking' not listening and then trick you into asking them!

Like every teaching technique, you have to have a balance in your approach. I think there are times when asking hands up IS appropriate. The challenge for me this term is to engage more of the students, more of the time by having - no hands...

(1st image - http://www.usaref.org)

Engagement Ideas for Fractions

I'm a huge fan of using digital tools in the learning process but I'm equally passionate about children being outside, active and getting their hands on things.

I hated being told, 'Don't touch!' when I was younger. I still do. It bugs me, then, when I hear myself saying it to students in the classroom. This week I've made an extra effort to get outside and let the children 'loose' with some P.E equipment to solve a fraction based problem.

This activity required the pairs of students to
arrange their 'sheep' (the cones) into three equal paddocks. They could move the 'electric fences' (skipping ropes) inside the farm and put the sheep where they thought they could go. It became a great way for the group to encounter fractions for the first time this without even knowing it.

The group then followed this with another 'farm' that needed 15 Lhamas (frisbees, and you can use your imagination) divided up amongst three paddocks. The thinking led us to discover 1 third, 2 thirds and then 3 thirds of 15. They were then able to draw their thinking in chalk on the pavement.



Another small group technique I've started is something I've used for writing groups. It's amazing how motivated students are when they have a whiteboard pen in their hand!

Each student has a laminated white sheet to draw and show their thinking. I do, however, have to confess to using, "3.2.1 hands off!" to regain their attention but the increase in student focus has been amazing to see.




The last development to our maths programme has been the use of an online quiz from Proprofs Quiz School. This is an application that you can embed into a website or blog that records a students results, is incredibly easy to construct and enables embeded video and images.

The quiz tells you when you have answered correct or otherwise and you are given a certificate of achievement at the end. This week I had a relatively low achiever in maths email me his result because he scored 100%. I was able to show him how to email a jpeg version to his Grandad and his face literally shone.

It's amazing me how much progress the entire class has made in a short time we have been learning about fractions. What I'm noticing, so far, is that nearly ALL of the students are achieving success but it does come at a cost.

The reading I've made into student engagement has suggested that there is a difference between engagement and compliance. Some research shows that compliance results in co-operation while engagement results in learning.

It's great to see these activities drawing otherwise detached students into their maths.

Student Motivation Survey

This week I surveyed my class about how engaged and motivated they thought they were (my teacher inquiry this year is on student engagement within a maths context. The format I used was an online survey called Survey Monkey. It's amazingly easy to set up, free and very interactive (exactly what we expect in our rather spoilt, Web 2.0 existence). The results were far from shocking, in fact, they were quite reassuring.


I asked the students a range of questions on topics such as how much they thought they were learning and what helped them stay focused and motivated. Here were some snapshot statements on the results.

- Nearly 80% think they are mostly or always motivated to learn in class.

- 67% think that computers mostly or always motivate them to learn and 73% think that the
computer has helped them learn.

- 84% find hands on activities help them stay motivated during maths small groups.

- The highest rated options to alter small group maths times were
- hands on activities,
- increased time,
- more web based tools / interactives.

The idea that hands on learning and digital environments increase student engagement are not new by any stretch. This survey has, then, validated and encouraged me to continue along the path our class is on.

There were some results, however, that are contrary to what research tells us. The class rated 'Knowing the reason why we are learning something' as the least likely to motivate and engage them. Maybe I haven't promoted this aspect enough in class for them to experience the benefits? Perhaps, also, they don't feel like they have had the permission in the past to ask or even think why.

So, how will this impact my teaching?

- More Hands ON activities?
- More Digital Tools?
- More TIME?