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I doubt that there are many classrooms that have gone through as many reorganizations as this particular grade 2 room in my school. They started with groups. Thinking it would help them ‘self-regulate’ the students asked if they could set up their desks in rows. Soon, they discovered that this wasn’t working for everyone and they switched to 1/2 rows and 1/2 groups. Speaking with the teacher I was stunned to learn that these shifts had been thought out, and requested by the students. Once they convinced their teacher that they had legitimate reasons for the next change it was granted.
After the half and half configuration the teacher started to get a little curious about the whole experiment. What would happen if there were no desks? How would they do? Thus she planted the seed! This time, the students thought it was their idea, but it was really hers, she just wanted to see how they would do. Although they enjoyed it, it was quickly apparent that this worked much better for some than others and thus another student driven change was discussed. The result?
The interesting point about this one is that the teacher provided no direction as to how to set up their desks. It was simply decided that if a student wanted their desk back, they could go retrieve it from the hallway. It is also important to count the desks. TEN, there are ten student desks in this picture, and two that are used for other purposes. It is also important to realize that the desks are in rows. The students didn’t appear to discuss this, they just did it.
This picture was taken the next day. Count again…Twelve! Again, still in rows.
So this morning the teacher comes me again to show me what has happened. Due to a number of activities today she didn’t bother setting up her computer and Smart Board projector this morning. Now look at the three tables in the foreground and recount the desks. We are back to 10, and the tables are being utilized as work spaces. The most interesting question of the day definitely goes to the student who said “Mrs. O. I really like working at this table, can we get more tables like this in our room?” You can imagine the smile deep down in the teachers heart.
I wonder if the students will figure out that they can arrange their desks into groups that begin to create a space similar to the table? (45)
I have very fond memories of childhood days spent in my parent’s garden. From pulling carrots, rinsing them with the hose and eating them as I play to lying in the sun hulling peas for my mom (at least half of which ended up in the bowl). I remember watching the pumpkins grow in the fall waiting for them to turn orange, and coming in covered in scratches after slipping while trying to grab that perfect blackberry that turned out to be just out of reach.
 This exposure to gardening early in life probably helps to explain why the windowsill of my front room now looks like the picture to the left, and also why it makes me so happy to see my four year old son get up every morning and call me to come and see how much the pumpkins have grown. I have come to learn that the benefits of gardening are plentiful to both young and old.
There is much research showing that children who are involved in gardening are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables on a regular basis, and even more research showing the improved interpersonal skills and social emotional benefits to children who partake in this activity. Children who have a foundation in gardening are also shown to become better stewards of their own environments and have an increased self efficacy (or belief in their own abilities).
With this in mind I believe that:
BIRCHLAND NEEDS A GARDEN!
Unfortunately we don’t yet have the infrastructure to build a garden on our property, but what we do have is a teacher and a group of students who are keen to start planning, watering, weeding and harvesting some vegetables. Thus we are asking you if you know anyone who has a house in the area with a garden in the back that is not currently being used. We will come, dig it up, plant it, water it, and maintain it until summer hits. All we ask is that the home owners throw some water towards it when it looks dry over the summer, and eat any vegetables that ripen over the summer. We will then return in the fall to finish the harvest and clean up the garden before winter.
If you know anyone who might be interested in such a partnership please let me know, and we will pick up our shovels and head over! (65)
After relenting to her students there were rows (What happens when the students revolt!) (Students Revolt).
After realizing one size didn’t fit all there were rows and groups (The students discuss their revolt.) (Student discuss their revolt).
Now I notice the desks in the hallway and a classroom that looks like this!
They still appear to be learning. I assume the kids chose this, I better have a chat with the teacher and find out what exactly is happening now. (43)
This is a Newsletter Article I wrote a few weeks back. A huge thank to Rob McFaul (Principal, Montgomery Middle) for the use of his missing arm analogy, and to Chris Wejr for his blog post “They need teaching, not punishment” which introduced me to the work of Dr. Ross Greene and has lead me down a new learning path using the material contained in “Lost at School”
Once in a while students are asked to come down to the principal’s office to have a ‘chat’ with me.
Often the first thing I hear such a student say is “Mr. Pearse, am I in trouble?”
My usual response sounds something like this “Trouble? If your left arm was at the other end of the hallway, spewing blood, and you were standing here, with only one arm still attached, that, would be trouble! Especially if I was the only caregiver around, as I would likely be screaming in terror at the sight of all the blood, and your outlook would not be good!”
To me, the word ‘trouble’ signifies a situation that is not necessarily solvable – fortunately I have yet to discover a situation in a school that is not solvable. My next comment to the student usually defines the need for conversation to clarify the issue and work towards what needs to be learned from the issue. Finally we can look at what restorative actions the student can take to rebuild any relationships they may have damaged.
Traditionally, ‘issues’ at school were dealt with through the use of punishments, under the premise that if students want to do well, they do. Personally I tend to believe that if students can do well, they do. If we use punishments to make a student who doesn’t have the skills to do what is required we are probably doing more harm than good, as in all likely hood the student already wants to do well, but they don’t know how. If we look at the behavior from the point of view that the students need to learn how to do well, we can then work with them to figure out what they need to learn, and help them learn it.
This philosophy leads me to try (usually successfully) to avoid the use of punishments, and instead look at each issue as a learning situation. Please understand that on those rare occasions that I need to phone home regarding a recent ‘issue’ that no, your child is not in trouble but instead that there may be an issue that needs to be solved, and there is probably some learning that needs to happen. (73)
A few weeks back I posted a couple of pictures from a grade 2 classroom in our school. If you haven’t see the post take a look (What happens when the students revolt!?). The discussion that this caused (with comments, on twitter and in our staff room) was amazing. I would highly recommend that you read through the comments and then watch the TED posted by Anita Strang on introverts. At a recent Pro-D afternoon our staff looked at the blog post together, read through the comments and then watched the video. The discussion that evolved from this point was really interesting as we started to examine our classroom arrangements from different angles. Another member of our staff who writes a blog on classroom design (Take Your Learning With You Wherever You Go) provided some great context for us relating the idea of “Campfires, Watering Holes, and Caves” to the Groups vs. Rows discussion and information about introverts.
In her comment to the post, Lori, the classroom teacher, spoke about some brainstorming her students did around the Pro’s and Con’s of the rows. The charts are below (names have been blacked out)
As all students didn’t record their thoughts on the papers this was followed up with a class discussion to find out where the students were at with their thinking. And in the teachers words:
“It seems that the consensus is: “We like it!”. Part of this is the desire to have a space of their own. There aren’t too many places in their world that belong just to them. Interestingly enough, during a literacy block, 2 of my girls were working on writing a book together and asked if they could put their desks together. As they started to work, one of the girls announced that they may be on to something here. I agreed, but didn’t make a big deal of it, wanting to see if any others would jump on the bandwagon. … The only direction I’ve given them is that they have to be able to show me how any new arrangement will help us reach our original goal. I know they’ll be able to come up with something interesting and thoughtful. They are such smart cookies!”
Walking past the room this morning is appears that they have begun to figure it out…
To the observant eye it appears that the students may have decided that what is good for one student is not good for all students. Apparently some students work better in desks on their own and other work best in groups. I think Mrs. O was right…they are smart cookies! (33)
Walking by a primary room (that shall forever remain nameless) this afternoon I noticed that the desks in the room (usually in groups) had been reconfigured.
The teacher, looking rather ashamed, looked at me and said “It wasn’t my idea, read the poster!”
So I read:
“They wanted to try it…what was I to do?”
“I argued vehemently against it, but they wouldn’t back down”
Personally I think it’s awesome. The kids are in charge on their learning environment. They realize that they are having “personal space” issues, and have chosen to try something to help themselves self regulate. The teacher, thinking ahead, has allowed it to happen for a defined period of time. At the end of the week I know they will re-engage in the conversation and I will be very interested to hear their thoughts?
And we (the teacher and I) are also interested to hear yours! (104)
One of the gifts of being new to a school is the ability to view the organization with an objective eye that is not clouded by being a ‘part of’ what goes on in the school. Although this ‘objectivity’ is already starting to fade it has allowed me to make some wonderful observations during my first three weeks at Birchland.
One of the first things I noticed at Birchland was that the systems built to support student learning were designed differently than those present in other schools in which I have worked. Instead of planning a lesson and then finding ways to adapt the lesson to the level of their students (which often involves ‘pulling’ students out of class) teachers at Birchland think first of the needs of their students and then use U.D.L. (Universal Design for Learning) to design lessons that will meet the needs of all the learners in their classes. This process is guided by three primary principles:
- Providing Multiple Means of Representation – Which involves allowing students many ways to acquire information or knowledge,
- Providing Multiple Means of Action and Expression – Which involves allowing students many ways to demonstrate their knowledge, and
- Providing Multiple Means of Engagement – Which involves tapping into students’ interests, to challenge them appropriately and motivate them to learn.
Designing learning opportunities in this way allows for learning support to be given in class, to all students in a seamless way. As well as a resource teacher who works within the classroom context, all students at Birchland have access to many “assistive-technology” tools to use in their learning. The SOLO-6 Suite (Co Writer, Write Out Loud, Read Out Loud), Smart Boards, Sound Field systems and Document Cameras are some examples of the many tools seamlessly integrated into instruction here at Birchland (It is also of note that SOLO-6 can also be used at home, which is very useful for our intermediate students). As you can imagine this looks different at the primary grades where the curricular goals are met in a more exploratory and play-based way. It is significant to note however that a similar planning process is used and that similar tools (document cameras, Smart Board, and software such as Tumble Books) are woven into the day of our younger learners.
If you haven’t yet had time to interact with the BC Education Plan being put forth by the Ministry of Education I would strongly recommend that you take a few minutes to take a look. When you do you will probably notice that many of the ideas put forth in this plan are already in place here at Birchland, which offers an explanation as to why the Honorable George Abbott (Minister of Education for British Columbia) chose to come see the exemplary things taking place at Birchland during his brief visit to our district last month. Personally I think he wanted to see an example of what every school in the province could be providing for their students.
Please remember that these are my initial impressions regarding the thought that goes into the teaching process at Birchland. Teaching is a very complicated process and there is much for me to learn about how the educators in our building work to engage your children in their learning and help them to develop into self motivated learners. Please take the time to speak with your children about their learning and ask them how some of the above tools help them to engage in their interests and work towards becoming independent learners. (29)
Noticeably I have not blogged in quite some time. As I have now moved into a new role I have decided to use this blog to post my bi-weekly newsletter pieces. Feel free to comment, ask questions or borrow any of the ideas presented. I also aspire to return to my regular blogging as time permits.
Cheers,
Frank. (19)
At today’s staff meeting I wanted to help my staff understand the power of creating a PLN. Always trying to model what I believe in, I decided to have my PLN create the content rather than creating it myself. To this end I created a Google Doc, made it public, then used Twitter to ask my PLN to tell my staff why they should have one of their own. The result is below:
Please explain to our staff why you think every educator should have a PLN.
A PLN enhances opportunities to encourage, challenge, and support colleagues – no matter where they are in the world.
(Headings 2-6 from Tanya Rascola)
- Show this video : http://vimeo.com/10398759
- To learn with others
- Professional Development everyday (if you want)
- Challenge your thinking by blogging and putting your ideas out there
- To share your ideas and thinking with people like you and people very different from you.
- Efficiently connect to ideas, information, and people from wherever you are.
- To serve your students
- Have your own set of local, provincial, national and international pen pals
- Collaboratively plan lessons / units. Connect your students’ work with the work of other students around the world.
- To access dynamic resources
- Have greater access to resources, journals
- Stay more current in education
- Why reinvent when chances are someone, somewhere around the world has tried it and will be able to give you feedback on their experience
- To be plugged into the idea universe.
- To extend your learning base
- See and understand what is happening in other districts around BC and the world
- To be able to connect to people outside your normal sphere of contact and influence.
- Find out about conferences world-wide that are streamed and that you can attend virtually for free
- A PLN/social network is a major amplification of your ability to learn from and with others not possible in a purely face 2 face world.
- To stay engaged in education
- Be exposed to other (radical?) ideas
- Introduce a few of the tools: Twitter; LinkedIn; Google Docs; Skype
Your PLN:
Challenging u to (re)think old/new ideas; sharing resources, strategies, thoughts, feedback; connections w/ educators: local & global
During the staff meeting I started by tying 21st Century Skills and Personalized Learning (two big buzzes in our district (province) right now) into the work our school is doing on Project Based Learning, then talked about how a PLN is a great tool for improving practice. I had actually printed (yes, I know) the document created on the Google Doc and put it with the meeting agendas, when I told the staff that I didn’t actually create that, just asked for input for others I could tell that most people understood what I was meaning about the power of a PLN. Mission Accomplished!
I am sure the Google Doc will continue to be edited and updated. Feel free to access it here: Why a PLN?
Thanks again to @remi_collins, @bkuhn, @i_rober, @ms_michal and the many other anonymous members of my PLN who created my presentation for me – Good Work, you were well received and helped make my point!
(15)
It really surprised me that during a 5 month..vacation?..sabatical?…let’s go with adventure, away from work I didn’t have an itch to blog…I guess I should say ‘itch to blog here’ as I did blog here. I guesss that could be considered a good thing, as I managed to unplug (for the most part), turn off (disconnect) the blackberry and enjoy time as a new dad.
I guess I must really be back at work now as I am feeling the itch. I have now completly reconnected and am likely to get back on board soon. Most likely about Project Based Learning, Geocaching in Social Studies (I teach a class now, which is cool), and other admin stuff.
Soon, I promised myself, soon! (14)
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