Show What You Know- The Brain (Grade 4/5)

With our school-wide focus this year being Social Emotional Learning (SEL), our staff has committed to using the program "Mind Up". This program was chosen because of its application across the grade levels K-5 as well as its ability to teach kids specific SEL skills such as self-management, self-awareness and social awareness. The first part of the MindUp program entails teaching students about 3 main parts of the physical brain and the job each part does. Students learn that the Prefrontal Cortex (wise old owl) is responsible for planning and organization, the Hippocampus (filing cabinet) stores facts and memories and the Amygdala (watch dog) controls their emotions. One of the major learnings we want students to come away with is that in order for your PFC and Hippocampus to be available to its user, we need to keep our Amygdala in a calm state of being. After spending a few sessions learning about our physical brain, I gave the students a task of choosing between 3 formats in order to "Show What They Know" about the brain, its

different parts and each parts' purpose. Students were able to choose between demonstrating this

knowledge through the use of play-dough, window writers or auto-rap. Students were given the choice to complete this assignment individually or in partners. I specifically chose to appeal to the students' various learning styles and learning preferences. Offering these choices also offers a need-fulfilling way to approach each student's individual need for freedom, power, fun and belonging (Glasser's Internal Needs Model). It was interesting that there was a diverse mix of who chose to use which format although most students chose to work in partners. After going over the project's criteria with the class as a whole, I gave the students a 45 minute period to complete it. This turned out to be more than enough time. We then took another 30 minute period to have groups present. The class as a group decided if each group had met the expected criteria and students were given their mark on the spot based on this assessment. All students met the criteria with ease and were pleased with  both their presentation and their final product. The photos shown are from the students' "Show What You Know: The Brain" presentations.

Post courtesy of Heather Rose

Not giving up… the results get better

Sometimes when I have tried to get students to "Show Me What They Know" - and I give them the freedom to use their own strengths or interests, I have been disappointed with the results.  Perhaps it's the fact that the samples we all show each other are those which we are proudest of and then when the results of my students don't measure up I think that somehow my approach isn't working...and that niggling thought in the back of my mind drags me back to considering marking the 'Presentation' or 'Creativity' to up the results.

However this year I am beginning to receive much better results and I think it is because:

a) I'm doing a better job
b) I've got better students or...
c) Examples that are from my own classes have given the students a chance to see the possibilities...
d) They had Russ last year and are used to taking risks

Well it's c (as you all know because it is always C and because it is the longest explanation - thanks UBC Assessment class)...and of course D but I didn't want to grow that ego any more.

It has simply taken time for me to gather up and have different examples (some big and extensive and others simple but brilliant) that have sparked my students into finding ways to show me their knowledge.  Thus my nerves have been somewhat eased and my belief in allowing students to use their own interests reinforced.

Keeping my students' work from previous years - and saving samples in files on my computer - has begun to pay off and it is great to see.

Realizing this I have asked students to record (with their cell phones) even some simple white board work - Recently I asked my students to show me the difference between a laissez-faire (1930's Canada) government and a welfare state (today) without using words.  My favorite is below.  I'm hoping that by showing it to future classes when I ask them to try the same assignment that it will lead them to think of different ways to show the difference between the two concepts.


 

(The students used the idea that some suggest those who are out of work (down and out) are told to pull themselves up by their bootstraps - while others think they don't have the skills necessary and could use a hand up)…

Post courtesy of Dave Searcy

Connections

In an effort to build relationships and increase relevance in my courses I've been focusing on building connections. 

I want my classes to be places where students feel comfortable to share ideas and to try new things. I've worked on building connections between everyone in the class. I've designated time on Mondays to classroom discussions (we focus on current events in Social Studies, but will often talk about the weekend and what the students are doing in their lives). I haven't implemented the 2 x 10 strategy yet this year, but I consciously make an effort to check in with students (especially the ones that struggle academically or socially in my classes). Another strategy that has been very successful this year has been the use of name cards and designating the seats that students sit in each class. Students made name cards on one of the first days of class which I put in a different seat everyday so that students have the opportunity to work with everyone in the class. We do a fair amount of partner work so I'm hoping that by working with everyone in the class the students will slowly feel more comfortable sharing ideas with everyone - I think it's working (some students that were really reluctant to speak in class are starting to be more open). The cards also break up the cliques that can form when allowing students to choose their seats which really helps classroom dynamics by integrating the shier students into the class and prevents the more confident groups of friends from intimidating others. 

In an effort to make subject matter more relevant and provide students with an opportunity to create connections with the material I am now teaching Social Studies thematically instead of the more common Chapter by Chapter approach. It makes for more work when preparing my classes, but it allows students to understand why we talk about historical events that happened hundreds of years ago. Being able to learn about what's happening in Syria or changes in social media give students a chance to personalize the subject matter during our Revolutions Unit. I'm hoping that students will finish the course with a better understanding of some major themes as well as being more aware of what's happening in the world (and why it's happening) than if we focused on memorizing facts and figures about the English Revolution. If I do continue to teach English in the future I'd like to try to move towards teaching a theme-based English course as well.

Post courtesy of Marcus Krieger

Attendance... or lack of it

Last year was an interesting year for some of the secondary teachers in the project.  When it came to thinking about a student that they wanted to really work with -- they were often students who did not attend regularly.  When you choose these students who desperately need you to focus on them, it is more difficult because the students are not there to build a relationship with, and when they do attend, the teacher often feels like they have to spend that time 'catching them up'.

We know there are lots of reasons students stop attending regularly, or never begin to attend regularly.  At secondary some of the students have just given up.  They want to get through school but until now it has not been a very positive experience, so they lack hope that attending will help them.  For others it is the chaos in their lives. Perhaps they are hungry, or drinking too much; perhaps they are easily swayed by peers to stay away or are just not in any type of environment that makes getting to school a priority.  For others it is the anxiety of actually attending school that keeps them away.

Whatever the reasons, some of the secondary staff started to try to draw some of their kids back to school.  Gordon Neufeld, in his book "Hold onto Your Kids" says "... what fundamentally empowers a teacher to teach is the student's attachment to her.  Children learn best when they like their teacher and they think their teacher likes them.  The way to children's minds has always been through their hearts"  (p. 212).  He goes on to talk about 'wooing' children, or 'collecting them'.  He gives this advice to both parents and teachers: the need to keep up the relationship, be involved, and be in their face or space in positive ways.

What we observed last year was a group of teachers doing exactly that.  Teachers who decided that in some way they were going to convince their students that they wanted them in the class, that they missed them when they were not there, that they believed in them, and needed them for the class to be complete.  In some of these cases, their classrooms for sure were more peaceful when the student was absent - but they didn't let that stop them!

Through social media, phone calls, emails, walks to the smoke pit, or walks that took them even further away, teachers attempted to give their students a positive message of 'I miss you' or "I hope to see you in class today' as well as often a second or third message - "here is a heads up on what is coming up tomorrow so you are ready" or "remember that this is due, if you need help come in before school", or a message that connected with something they knew about the student such as the following message a teacher sent a student who loved Justin Bieber:

Creativity and humour seemed to go along way!   A personal connection showing the student that the teacher cared made a difference.

When students are at-risk of not completing school, attendance issues are huge.   We can throw up our hands and say "If they aren't going to attend there is nothing I can do -- it is their problem".  Or we can do what these teachers did: attempt to look from the student’s point of view at their anxiety, at their feelings of not belonging at school, at their lack of hope, and then make that extra effort to convince them to come back.

by Judith King

Puppet Power: The Teachable Moment

Earlier this week we had a guest performer present a puppet show to the whole school in the gym.  What an unexpected and awe inspiring treat!  The performer was a world class talent and his show was without any "flash" just him and his puppets, some as simple as just his hands and a cloth.  The whole school was engrossed in his unique creative storytelling; it was incredible.

We saw this before recess so I quickly scrapped the original day plan and gathered materials for making puppets from the art room.  I'd seen in a magazine a kids craft for spoon puppets that I remembered after having seen the puppet show.  So a handful of plastic spoons, some felt scraps, cotton balls, pipe cleaners, felts.. and we were off.  I showed the kids some examples from the magazine picture.  That's all they needed! They were thrilled to be making puppets and wanted to make more and have fun with them.  Some of them are so creative, and it really was impressive to see what they came up with.

The next day we finished making our puppets and got into groups to write a short play to be performed with their puppets.  We had a class discussion about our target audience to consider while we were writing our scripts, (the grade ones) and what that might mean for how we structured our writing.  We then discussed the goal of the story: to teach a positive lesson to the grade ones.  We brainstormed a list of about 10 ideas, things like: include don't exclude, sharing, name calling/kindness, etc and wrote these on the board to refer to.  They were then given time to write their scripts together.  There was total engagement, and they were happy to be working on this project.  They practiced the show when they were done.

The students performed their show for the class and then we invited the grade ones to come join us and watch the positive lessons the big kids had to teach them. The show went well and we performed for both grade one classes.

It was an unexpected teachable moment that led to several really good classes for our students.

Post courtesy of Kent Percevault

Community Teaching

This is my favourite teaching tool.   It can be used in so many different ways.  Here is one example:

Step 1: Students are taught a concept (in this case it was chores at home for FSL 12)
Step 2: Students are told to create a lesson plan...they need to teach the concept to people in the community.
Step 3: Students go on main street in different locations in their groups...they each take a large whiteboard and markers....

Task:
They have to survey 10 people.
- they first need to teach the people what the phrase "qu'est-ce que vous n'aimez pas faire" means
- they then need to teach the people (with visuals) 8 or so french vocab words (chores)
- they then teach the people how to respond by saying, "i don't like to....+ word"

**They ask the people if they can take their picture for proof to show me, or collect a signature

I also have had students go onto main st. with their group and teach people how to conjugate irregular verbs.  They use their whiteboards to demonstrate, and then have the people try it themselves!

Post courtesy of Lindsay Anderson

Math on the Move (Math 9)

After a lesson on determining the height of objects using similar triangles and shadows I decided it was time to venture forth into the wilderness (or more exactly, the school field).  After a review and some confused questions from a couple of my students we set forth.  Armed with a tape measure, paper and pencil students were asked to determine the height of the flag pole, the height of the north-west corner of the fence around the tennis court, and the height of the statue in front of the school.

Luckily it was sunny so finding our shadows was successful, although for some reason some groups got a more accurate idea of their height when they laid down!  Every group appeared engaged in the lesson and every student was able to turn in their own copy of the results.  A short discussion regarding similar units helped to clarify some of the confusion regarding different answers between groups.

It was interesting to see who took control of the tape measures, who recorded the information and which students were confident in their computation skills and took control of the calculator.  Also, interesting was the speed in which some groups asked for help and the reluctance on the part of some groups that were having some problems in wanting to ask for help (and no, they were not all males!).

All in all, a successful lesson that I felt showed the relevance of the math in an enjoyable way.

Post courtesy of Dave Killick

Effective Strategies for Secondary Students At-Risk (Part I)

Last  year, teachers in the different lens project followed and completed case studies for 37 students at the secondary level.  While of course all students are different and not every strategy applies to every situation, here are 3 successful strategies that appeared over and over again throughout the teacher reflections.

1.  Establishing Positive Relationships:  Establishing a positive relationship with the student was reported to be the most important strategy in working with students at risk socially or academically.  Teachers did this in multiple ways:  meeting and greeting the student, attending sporting events that the student was participating in, and making personal connections by talking about the student's interest. Teachers also tried sending students reminders through texting, facebook, or phone calls, advocating for them in meetings where the student could hear the teacher talk about them in positive ways and offer support, building trust with them, encouraging them to attend, and encouraging them to try something a different way, building a team of teachers around the student so the student knew there were a number of them supporting him/her, showing tolerance for unusual behaviour, and following up on issues and concerns.

• I always used him as an example in analogies – it gave him the attention he needed.  (gr. 9)
•I advocated a lot for her – I sat in on admin meetings, counselor meetings etc., made a tremendous amount of accommodation in partnership with the alternate teacher.  (gr. 11)
•I made a point of talking to him each day he was in class at the start.  Nothing even school related… we started to develop a good relationship that helped in the classroom. (gr. 12)
•I had informal interactions in the hallway and before/after class.  I felt he liked/respected me – he brought me a novel of his own because he thought I would enjoy it.  (gr. 10)
•The more I talked with him, the better his behaviour became. (gr. 9)
•For one month we had success as she linked to a short term peer tutor that had a link to her socially in the community. (gr 11)
•After he returned to class with his leg injury, I made a point of asking him about his leg, his rehab, physio etc. every day I saw him.  I think that connection was huge in our relationship development.  He became much more pleasant, and more focused on getting his work completed and handed in. (gr 12)
•I made an effort to check in with her to find out how she was doing.  I made sure she was aware of timelines, schedules and important due dates.  I strongly believe that the simple conversations about her daughter increased the relationship between her and I.  We realized that our children were in the same daycare facility which opened up dialogue between us.  (gr 12)

2.  Giving Choice and Creative Options that build on student strengths / interests and passions:

Many teachers reported that part of the success with their students was due to either teaching in different ways, or allowing students to respond in a variety of ways.  Teachers gave choice on assignments and students responded by making films, building projects, or using music or art or verbal skills to show their knowledge.  Students appreciated choice in assessments, projects and being able to link curriculum with their passions such as skateboarding, music, or hockey.

• When we did the first project he chose to work on a project on his own.  He handed it in on time and it was totally complete.  When we did a cartoon where I gave them the pictures and he had to write a story, he did not complete it.  When he was told to do the same type of assignment again where they could find their own pictures and had less guidelines he did it on time and it was complete.  For the final project he chose to write a visual dictionary style assignment.  He handed it in on the day it was due and presented to the class what he had done.  The choice of assignment and freedom to do what he wanted seemed to make all the difference.  (gr. 10)
• He loves poetry – he wrote a poem to present 10-12 facts about the unit we were studying.  It was unique and well received by the class. (gr. 10)
• Giving choices was definitely a great option for him.  We were creating magazine covers in the computer lab for a unit and the students were to pick any theme they wanted, and focus on what they were interested in.   He of course chose a skateboarding theme for his cover.  He was focused, actively participating, not looking for answers from other students and actually producing great work!  He finished the project on time, handed it in and was genuinely proud of his work!  (gr 12)
• He responded well to challenges that he was given. He also appreciated choice in the class and the ability to use music to show his understanding. Overall I think the class just really worked well with his abilities.  (gr. 12)

3.  Partnering thoughtfully:  Teachers consciously worked with groups in their classroom to support those students who had more difficulty working with others or students who needed someone to explain tasks or read material.

• It was always important to place him with the right partner(s) to keep him focused.  An odd combo is the friendship he formed with a straight A perfectionist student. (gr. 10)

• The initial partnering of a pre-determined student really worked well. The other student was very good with him, and it took the pressure off me to integrate him into regular activities right away. Once he got more accustomed to the other people in the class and the general pace of things, I believe it was much easier to get him to work with others than it would have been if I had just randomly thrown him in with different partners. By the end of the course he would work with everyone. It is always my goal by the last month to be able to randomly draw names from a hat and have the students comfortably participate with any group members and I was able to do this with no fear about his group members. (gr 12)