Teaching to the nth Degree

Oct

2011

Reflections from my first edcamp

When I first heard about edcampTO, I was intrigued by the idea. I put it into my schedule, but knew that it was still many weeks away. Then the weeks turned into days, and finally it was the night before the event. I must admit, on Friday evening I had a lot of reservations about going. The thought of getting up early on a Saturday morning and leaving my family for the day did not thrill me. My family time is precious to me, and the thought of missing a day that we usually all spend together was enough to make me rethink my decision. I was also going alone, and I have never been good at that. However, despite my reservations, my alarm still went off early Saturday morning. I got up, got ready, and headed out to York University for edcamp.

I registered, walked into the room, and sat at a table alone. I immediately opened my laptop and begin to follow the twitter stream. Within a few moments I was approached by one of the organizers, asking if I would be willing to help out at the registration table. And so off I went. When I had done what they needed, I headed back to my table and waited for the events of the day to begin. Within a few moments I was joined by some others and we began to talk. (Many thanks to Stephen Lippa and Tim King for pulling me out of my lonely start.)

I chose not to enter my own topic (way too bold for me) and instead I jumped into the sessions led my others. At first I was very quiet and just listened. Eventually I entered into conversations and felt free to voice my opinions, even those that were different from the opinions of others. When I left I felt drained, but I also felt that there was so much that I got out of the day. It took me into the evening before I was able to piece together my thoughts and impressions.

So now it is one day later, and here is some of what I took out of edcampTO:

• We want students to take risks in the classroom. In fact, we tell them to. Yesterday it was hard for me to enter a room full of strangers. I also recognize that in the first session it took me a while to find my courage and voice my opinions. Once I had taken the first steps the ice was broken, and the fear was gone. When encouraging students to take risks, we need to find ways to help them take those first steps, and then we need to ensure that we follow up with them afterward. We also need to share our experiences so that they know that what they are feeling is quite natural.

• There are many people who are not teachers, but who value education enough to have spent their Saturday discussing topics with teachers. As introductions went on in sessions, I kept meeting people who were outside the direct field of education. Yet these participants were highly engaged in conversation and had strong opinions. It was nice to see.

• The day was definitely a validation that I and my fellow educators at my school are doing something right. I was so surprised to hear about how students are taught in many classrooms around the city and province. These were not the practises of the educators at edcampTO, and I believe that wholeheartedly. Any educator who is willing to spend their weekend discussing how to improve their students’ learning is not one who discounts the needs of those same students. Rather it was the stories they told of what they have seen from others that shocked me.

I heard about teachers who stand up in front of the classroom and deliver lectures – day after day after day. I kept asking “Does that really happen?”, and the answer was, unfortunately, yes. Perhaps it is because that I do not work for a school run by the Ministry of Education, and so I am not mandated to ensure that I can check off every curriculum expectation as having been covered. I follow the Ontario curriculum, but I am not bound by Ministry guidelines, and so I have more freedom in my classroom. I guess this allows me more time. That time is spent letting students build and construct, letting them explore concepts and dive into real-world tasks. It is a rare week that they have not participated in a hands-on task. I never realized that this was not common practise in other classrooms.

I heard about teachers who only allow learning to be shown through essays. There are no other options. Other than formal lab reports, my students are allowed to present their learning in whatever format suits them best. They can write an essay if they choose, but they can also prepare blogs, twitter streams, documentaries, commercials, letters, books, or any other presentation mode which will best highlight their abilities. When I shared this with a group, one person asked if I have difficulties managing the students with so many different things going on. My answer was no, because the students are doing what interests them, and so they are engaged.

I left knowing that I am doing good things in the classroom. I may not be doing everything right, and I most certainly have my moments when I do things wrong, but I feel that those moments do not define me.

• I listened to many opinions about good practises in education. Some opinions I agreed with, and some I did not. (I so wish that I had been in the session on homework – they would have heard an earful!) Sometimes you are not sure how strongly you believe in something until you are forced to defend your thoughts. This day allowed me to question some of my beliefs while strengthening others, all done through good conversation.

Thanks, edcampTO, for a great experience.
And thank you to all those who talked with me and shared ideas throughout the day. I look forward to our continued conversations on twitter.

Oct

2011

Are smartphones smart for the classroom?

I know that there are many who are in favour of using smartphones in the classroom, but I must admit, I just don’t get it. I am a middle school teacher who incorporates tech as often as possible, and I see no need for my middle school students to bring their phones to class.

In trying to understand the viewpoints of the other side, I have come across many valid reasons as to why people want to incorporate smartphones into classrooms. Smartphones can be used as cameras and they can also take video, and there are many apps that could be useful in the classroom. The various social media tools offer many possibilities for learning, and smartphones allow internet access when laptops or other computers may not be in the budget. (Have I missed any major points?)

You can also find many arguments against the use of smartphones in the classroom. Some say that they enable cheating and that they allow another form of bullying to go in schools. Others say that they end up creating inequities in the classroom, as not everyone has a smartphone and not everyone’s smartphone has the same capabilities. People are worried about long term exposure to radio waves, and others are worried about using up data plans in the classroom.

Nothing that I have read, though, directly highlights my concern.

I cannot agree with those that say it is okay for students to quickly check text messages or various other communications in the classroom, as long as it does not monopolize their time. I don’t believe that is what we should be teaching our students.

We live in a society that is dependent on smartphones. I get that. If I were asked to give mine up, then you would certainly have a fight on your hands. But as soon as I walk into my classroom my smartphone gets put away, and it does not come out again until I am on my own time. I am not worried about people not being able to reach me, because they know that I am teaching. If a true emergency occurs, then they know the phone number to the school, and the office will find me wherever I am. When I am in the classroom I am focused on the people in my room, and not on the flashing red light on my smartphone. That also holds true when I am with friends and family.

I believe that we must teach students that same social etiquette. They need to learn that when they are with a group of people, that those are the people that matter. We need them to understand that not everything needs to be answered immediately. I don’t want my children living in a society where they are the least important people in the room, and their competition isn’t even in the same building. I think that we can do better than that.

The irony is that they the students of today are immersed in social networking, but they are losing their social skills in the process. Some may call me archaic and that I am not able to move with the times. Perhaps I just don’t believe that all trends of the future are in our best interest.

I welcome your thoughts.

Oct

2011

Let the labs begin….

After completing my first lab with my grade 7 and 8 classes, the following thoughts have filled my mind:

It is hard for students to have a triple beam balances in front of them, and not play with them. After the labs this week, we went from having 7 working triple beam balances to four. I am not quite sure what happened, and it is quite possible that they were on the brink of doom before the labs, but still…

To help students learn proper use, I will be posting the following websites on my school science page:
(This will, of course, be followed with more in-class practise. In my class, the more hands-on activities, the better. )

WISC Online – Reading a Triple Beam Balance

Triple Beam Balance use and tutorials from OHAUS

But there is also the thought that using triple beam balances may not be the only way to go. We have now begun to consider the use of digital scales. I was on a tour of the science labs at another IB school in Toronto, as we are looking at design considerations for a new science lab. The school that I visited had a slew of digital scales out on the counter. The cost is greater, and so we must consider whether or not cheaper digital scales will be as effective. But they have to be more effective than non-functional triple beam balances, don’t they? There is also the skill factor. Students should be learning to use various lab tools. I don’t think that we should abandon the balances, but perhaps find a way to incorporate both.

Then we come to graduated cylinders. With my grade 7 class, it came to the point where I was doing the measuring for them. Not the way I would normally go, but there were other considerations that were more important at the time. Over the next few weeks I need to make sure that I properly teach students how to read a graduated cylinder. I will be posting these sites to help them review the process, and then will follow up with an in-class activity:

WISC Online – Measuring Volume using a Graduated Cylinder

ChemPages Laboratory Resources – Reading the Volume from a Graduated Cylinder (Update – link no longer active)

This week my grade 7 and 8 classes will be handing in their first lab reports as a follow up to the in-class labs. In past years, the marking of lab reports has been all-consuming. I welcome any strategies that you can share so that I do not have to enter hibernation as I mark.

Have a great week.

Sep

2011

This week, in math class……

So what did my students do in math this week? Lots.

In grade 7 math we solidified understanding of factors and multiples and then moved on to divisibility. I also introduced some great challenges to them this week that they had fun exploring.

Courtesy of @Mathnasium, they tried this problem:

If two monkeys can eat three bananas in two minutes, how many monkeys will it take to eat 18 bananas in six minutes?

I gave them a few minutes in class to attempt it. Some students figured it out quickly, while others thought they had the answer, only to be disappointed when I told them it wasn’t correct. Their homework for the evening was to continue to work on the challenge, and to clearly write out the strategy that they used. The next day everyone came back to class with the answer. I am not saying that they all figured it out independently, but they left class more curious and enthused than I ever could have hoped for. What is important, too, is that they all came back with strategies. So even if they had received help, they got to a point where they could explain the reasoning behind the solution.

From the nRich website, on Friday they tackled Take Three from Five. For the weekend, I left them thinking about why this challenge always works. I don’t expect them to come up with the solution provided by nRich, but I am curious to see what they discover.

In grade 8 math we have been working on prime factorization and I also introduced scientific notation. The students are slowly working their way through the Power Mad challenge from nRich, which is a great follow up for the concepts that we have been covering. I find that even in grade 8, the most common mistake students make with powers is multiplying the base by the exponent. If anyone has any tricks that help students avoid this, I am all ears.

I love all of these challenges that I can directly incorporate into the curriculum, but I also know that students have other interests, as well. So I brought out about ten to fifteen different resource books of math puzzles, logic, and games, and had students put sticky notes with their names on the books with the puzzles that interest them. Next week I will go through their choices and personalize some extra challenge booklets for each student. I haven’t quite figured out when that is happening, as it seems like a daunting task, but I know that the reward of having engaged students will make it all worthwhile.

Sep

2011

A Great Beginning

I had a fantastic first week of school. I incorporated some great resources into my repertoire, both internet resources and resources shared through twitter.

For my grade 7 and 8 science classes, I used the Subversive Lab Grouping Game, courtesy of Frank Noschese. His version uses American states and American presidents as two of the categories, which were not as relevant for my students. Instead, I added in chocolate bars (Twix, Aero, Milky Way, and Kit Kat). My largest class is under 20 students (yes, be jealous), and so there was no need to come up with a 6^th category. I anticipated the questions regarding Mars – is it a planet or a chocolate bar? Technically, the chocolate bar is called a Mars Bar, but I was going to be lenient with this. As it turned out, that conversation came up, and the students knew that it is correctly called a Mars Bar. I also anticipated some discussion around Milky Way, as it could be grouped with planet names under a “space” category, but the students kept it in the chocolate bar grouping and just grouped the planets together.

For my grade 8 classes, I also conducted an activity on observations vs. inferences. Using this Powerpoint (original source unknown, but greatly appreciated), we talked about the differences between what we know and what we think. Students looked at a series of tracks on the first slide, and shared what they observed on the slide. At first it was difficult for them, as they immediately began making assumptions about the scenario being portrayed. After we shared every possible observation, they then had the opportunity to infer what they thought was happening. We then went to the second slide and third slides, which showed a continuation of the tracks, and went through the same procedure. As a final wrap up, we discussed how these skills are important in the science classroom.

In grade 7 math, the students completed the Fish Dish rich task from Bowland Maths. This activity required the students to help a chef determine the correct order to cook a meal, in the shortest possible time. Many students came up with the correct order, but soon realized that they had not determined the most efficient time. We compared everyone’s answers, and they helped each other determine how they could improve upon their methods.

In grade 8 math we conducted an investigation of the game of Tic Tac Toe, courtesy of Jim Noble from InThinking. The first investigation asked all students to determine the number of ways one could win with the basic 3 x 3 game of Tic Tac Toe. They were then asked to determine the number of possible ways to win in a 4 x 4 grid where four-in-a row wins, and in a 5 x 5 grid where five-in-a row wins. They then looked for the algebraic expression that determines the number of ways to win from the grid size. This immediately had them recall learning from the previous school year. The students then had a choice between two further investigations. They needed to attempt one, but were free to attempt both. One investigation had them determine the number of possible ways to win with three-in-a row, given a 4 x4 grid, a 5 x5 grid, and a 6 x 6 grid. Again, they searched for the algebraic expression, which was definitely harder this time. The other investigation had them determine the number of possible ways to win with three-in-a row, given 3D grids (3 x 3 x3 and 4 x 4 x 4). I had only a few students attempt this investigation.

I spent many hours this summer researching rich math tasks and assigning them to specific units for grades 7 and 8 that I will incorporate throughout the year. The success of this first week of school has shown me that the time taken to search out these tasks was time well spent.

Have a great week.

Sep

2011

Not the beginning

A new school year begins tomorrow…for the students. My school year has already begun.

It began last June, when I started making decisions as to how I would change and adapt for the following year. It encompassed both the finer details, such as unit questions, and also the bigger picture, such as how to better differentiate my lessons for all learners.

It continued throughout the summer, as I spent many hours researching rich tasks that would allow students to apply their learning to the world around them. I revised planners, made new long range documents, and I read about theories, strategies, and best practices.

It further continued throughout the past two weeks, as I began the physical preparations in the building. By Thursday my rooms were ready. I had met with individual teachers and participated in team meetings, and I had prepared my lessons for the first week of school.

By Sunday I was already revising my first day lessons. I came across a great resource through twitter, and quickly decided that I was going to make a lesson switch for one of my classes. I took the original lesson and modified and differentiated it for my students, and I am much happier with the new plan.

So far all of you who are welcoming new students tomorrow, I wish you a great day. If you are anything like me, then it is not a new beginning. Rather it is just the next day in this wonderful world of education.

Aug

2011

More Rich Math Tasks

I have just spent time looking through the Rich Maths Task resources on the East Midlands Maths Network, and have found some great tasks to incorporate. They are organized by strand, and some of the tasks are taken from the nRich site, which I have also spent many hours perusing.

Thanks to @ColleenYoung for this sharing this resource with me. This site is listed on her blog under Diigo Rich Tasks List, and the site is labelled Rich Maths Task. There are many other sites to visit on her list, and if they are all as helpful as this one, then I know I will spend many hours exploring.

Aug

2011

The NEED Project

I came across this website quite a long time ago, but I still love it. It is the site for the National Energy Education Development Project, or NEED. The project began over 30 years ago in order to enhance energy education in schools in the United States.

Click on the Educators tab and you will find a variety of curriculum guides with lesson plans on energy education, organized by title, subject, or grade level. There are also activity suggestions, games, and more. In the Students tab you will find ‘Infobooks’ with fact sheets on a many topics, organized by curriculum level, as well as ideas for science fair projects. The Multimedia tab has a selection of presentations, complete with colourful images, on different energy sources. The Links tab speaks for itself, providing many alternate websites for exploring energy education.

It is a great resource for energy education, and worth checking out.
Have a great week.

Aug

2011

Blogging with Students

I took part in a great #scichat tonight about student blogging. I say it was great because there were many ideas shared by both new and experienced educators, all eager to discuss ways to enhance their students’ learning. It was also great because it opened my eyes to ways to blog with students.

Currently, in my school we use private wikis and class homework websites. I have posted some student work on my class website, but have not yet begun letting the students take ownership for a blog of their own. I think I am ready to change that, and I have my twitter PLN to thank.

From tonight’s #scichat I came up with a useful list of ways to blog with students:

end of unit summarization of learning
reflections from labs
sharing of digital work
writing from the perspective of scientists being studied
recap of the day’s learning (a different student each day)
microblogging – for my use I can see incorporation of twitter streams into the class blog
post pictures from field trips
discussion starter before diving into a new unit to share current beliefs and understandings

And a few of my own additions:

real-world applications of labs and classroom learning
highlighting current events in the science world (through student-written articles or videos)
student-created science cartoons based on current classroom topics
post videos of students presenting design-build projects

In the #scichat discussion there was also mention of using blogging as an opportunity to enhance written skills. Students should learn to make their posts concise, thoughtful and enriching and they also need to learn about responsible and respectful commenting. Perhaps this is an excellent opportunity to collaborate with language teachers.

I am not sure how many teachers give their students free reign, but I agree with @whiteley in that I, too, would have to be the “gatekeeper to their comments going public”.

A lot of great ideas – now the hard part….putting them into action.

Aug

2011

Play some games

A while back I came across physicsgames.net – a collection of physics-based games. The downfall? You need to watch a short commercial clip before accessing the game, which may be enough to turn away some people. My favourite on this site is Fantastic Contraption, which I have used in the classroom for a few years, and my students love it.

I have not explored all of the games, but I have played quite a few of them. Given the chance, I could probably play Colour World for a few hours (whether that is good or bad, I am not quite sure….). I seemed very ineffective as a truck driver transporting animals in Zoo Transport, but I feel that I need to improve, as I have done harm to too many monkeys and turtles in this game. I also enjoy testing my abilities in the Magic Pen game, and I think I will introduce this one to my students this year.

If you have some good links for fun games such as these, I would love to hear about them.
Have a great week.

Reflections from my first edcamp

Are smartphones smart for the classroom?

Let the labs begin….

This week, in math class……

A Great Beginning

Not the beginning

More Rich Math Tasks

The NEED Project

Blogging with Students

Play some games

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