Lessons from a Cardboard Challenge

Maze Prototype - this group went on to time students and track record on the big day!

Bowling Prototype - this group went on to craft a bowling game large enough for one person to sit inside and return bowling balls

Ring Toss Prototype - This group went on to build a very large ring toss game. It was great to see the way the worked through deciding the best tossing distance for their primary and intermediate peers. 

Ball Toss Protoype - In their arcade model this group fashioned a ball catch/ return shoot in behind their game. Fanstastic work!

Global...Cardboard...Challenge! It's amazing the excitement that can be generated by three words on your class calendar. The excitement only grew as the day approached. Its now been about two weeks since the event, and the lessons learned are still fresh on our minds. The excitement over its success has not faded*.

I've really enjoyed hearing the way students reflected the build up: the launch, meeting Caine (through his YouTube videos), the ideation process, prototyping, these aspects of the process have been cited again and again by students as significant points in their learning journey. One student even described the commotion at the cardboard pile as something from "The Hunger Games". I smiled and cringed all at the same time!

Teamwork. It's truly a pleasure hearing students describe the joy they found in working with a classmate - and they didn't even get to choose which one ;) One group that stands out in my

mind too is a pair that struggled to see eye to eye. We weren't sure the duo would last until the main event, but in our last afternoon of building, when the pressure was really on, they made it happen. Decisions were made, tasks were accomplished, and laughs were shared as they tested their final product!

Craftsmanship. I think the lessons learned are evident in student's ideas about where they could go next. Many students discussed strength and stability as lacking in their initial structures, but they weren't at all defeated by these challenges. Repairs on the day of our event were minor - almost every group had accurately gauged the strength that would be required to sustain hours of play; and furthermore, students finished wanting to take on bigger more elaborate building challenges. Fantastic!

*I am still being approached by parents who speak of what this challenge inspired in their kids. The number of cardboard creations in our community has risen exponentially ;)

Our #cardboardchallenge was a huge success! http://t.co/RNNqGS0lPZ Thx again @Em_Swenson @mwmedvinsky @terrieichholz @imagination #sd57
— Steve Chase (@Chase_Steve) November 1, 2014

Year End Presentation of Learning

Its the end of the 2013/2014 school year and our students are excited to be putting together "Presentations of Learning". We've asked that they use the three "Core Competencies" in BCs draft curriculum to anchor their presentations and tell stories of their learning with respect to these three competencies. Here's my own Presentation of Learning.


Artifacts and Examples Shared:

• Synergy in Inquiry Blog Post
• Curiosity, Connection, and Creation Blog Post
• PBL Why, What, How Presentation 
• Chemistry Demonstration Project Outline

Last Year's POL

Curiosity, Connection, and Creation

It's been exciting to have had the chance to partner with other Teachers this year as they explore Project Based Learning and Inquiry Learning. The enthusiasm around these approaches is growing locally and globally, and BC is poised to realize their benefit more fully in the near future with a draft curriculum currently being unveiled. One of the biggest hurdles I find Teachers up against, though, is the impression that new curriculum and new techniques are in opposition to current practice. I disagree. I see deeper learning as the best of our current best practice, and want to embrace PBL, IBL, and a "big idea" driven curriculum as a means to get there.

As I chat with other Educators about Student Learning it's my goal to celebrate the best aspects of the way we do Teaching and Learning. In terms of attitude I like to focus on that of curiosity. In terms of the process of learning I think we can sum it up as making connections.  As the result of learning, in my mind, we want some form of creation. I feel these themes, and variations of then are the cornerstones of Project Based Learning (PBL), Inquiry Based Learning, Problem Based Learning (PrBL) and Passion Based Learning initiatives like Genius Hour.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3591/3789200908_9dbf327800_z.jpg?zz=1

I see curiosity as the attitude of learning. What I really appreciate about the question driven nature of approaches like PBL, PrBL and IBL is the use of a question both to focus a project or unit of study, and to keep the learner in a state of curiosity. I believe if we can teach students to ask good questions they will be better equip to think critically and find good answers. We will also set learners up to run with "big ideas" and conduct deep inquiry to fully explore them. So how do we cultivate curiosity?

pixabay.com CC image http://pixabay.com/p-316638/?no_redirect#

Learning gains momentum as connections are made. Connections to experience, to self, to others, to community, to cultures, to points of view, the connections we make as learners keep us engaged and pull us deeper into our learning experiences. We all make connections all the time. But, do we make enough connections in our daily learning with out students? Do we use a connection as an initial hook, or as a driver? Personally I want to be able to anchor all student learning on ideas my students can relate to. Our students should be asking "when are we going to use this?". We should have answers we feel good about. Big ideas should support us all by setting up connections that are real and relevant. PBL and IBL wrap units of study on an idea or a group of interconnected ideas, encouraging connections throughout the process. 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5213/5523800294_80f0687af7.jpg

Don't we all love looking back on our accomplishments? Don't we all love it when we can see our learning by what we've produced? Seeing the way students conduct themselves when sharing their learning is one of the things I enjoy most about PBL. Students feel good about their learning when they have something to show for it, and especially when they have something they have created that has value. How can we leverage culminating products to deepen the learning experience? Doesn't it make sense to do so?

Curiousity, connection, and creation - that's my big idea nutshell. What's yours? How have you embraced "big ideas", or how do you plan on doing so?

  

Synergy in Inquiry - a sharing of Experiences and Resources for Inquiry Education in BC

How do we get students owning their learning? Doesn't that question burn on the minds and hearts of all Educators?

Through my work in a Project Based Learning (PBL) program and as a PBL and Student Inquiry Resource Teacher I have come to put a high value on Inquiry as a vehicle by which to get students owning their learning. I have also come to see more clearly the work that it takes to cultivate Inquiry skills. Students need opportunity to explore, to ask, and to create in a risk free classroom environment. Students and Teachers also need a common language for Inquiry learning that reflects the messy, organic nature of learning. The language we use to describe learning becomes powerful when students begin to better understand themselves as learners through it. I want to be able to use a learning language with my students that reflects the way they learn through their life interests and passions, not just academics.

Recently I've had the opportunity to get a close look at a couple emerging resources for BC Educators: the draft curriculum, and the Smarter Science inquiry framework. What I'm seeing is a beautiful pairing of tools to support classroom teachers in getting students owning their learning. The smarter science framework aims to use science inquiry to teach inquiry skills - a skill set analogous to the competencies BC is drafting in its new curriculum. I'm curious to see where the overlap is with the two as well, and have begun that work in an open doc here (http://bit.ly/bcinquiryframework).



Personally I have also seen the interconnectedness of quality learning and quality relationships in the classroom. In order to gain comfort and efficacy in new ways of learning we as Educators need to be able to explore the risks and benefits with the learners we're working with. The environment needs to be one of trust; an environment that embraces mistakes as part of the learning process, and an environment that embraces the iterative nature of learning. While this framework illustrates a Kindergarten to Grade 9 progression in Inquiry skills I believe its crucial that we scaffold the Inquiry experience for each new group of learners we work with to ensure that we create a common language and experience together.

And flip...

I've progressed into flipping all my Math classes, and I'm loving it. Yesterday was roll out with a group of Grade 8's and it was slick. Students were learning comfortably and in a way that suited them individually - some in groups, some in pairs, some in desks, some sitting on the floor. There were groups asking lots of questions throughout the lesson, there were groups cruising quite comfortably on their own with a few check ins, and there were groups pushing through the lesson, practice, and into deeper learning. One goal is for more to get to the deep learning - today one group was investigating the mathematical relationship between the height a ball is dropped from and the height of its first bounce. I was freed up to roam, chat, probe, and guide, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The day wasn't hiccup free - I did pull a few students into the hall for casual conversations, but I felt the freedom to do so knowing the rest of the class was engaged in their own learning. In addition, our hallway conversation was about how we can learn together better - a conversation I am glad to have with learners any day of the week.

This recent flip was not the beginning of my journey, and it has not been a solo effort at all. I think my first forays into flipped lessons were in the context of teaching process skills in digital media applications. I found screen capture videos so much more effective then a one-size-fits-all demo for these purposes. Slowly the tool crept into my Math as I started using it with applications like GeoGebra (which I'd love to do more of). Next I started flipping whole lessons for Teaching partners to deliver in an Island modeling project that involved ratio, rate, and scale. It was around this time I started really digging into the ways members of my PLN we're flipping their classrooms (most noteably Jerry Bleecker @Mr_Bleecker and Graham Johnson @Math_Johnson). This was followed by flipped lessons for a split class of Math 9 and Math 9 B students. This venture has been really enjoyable in that its pushed me to access and make available tools to help students visualize and experience the Math online. When I have time my lesson prep includes searches with like "interactive", "applet" or "manipulative" to see how I can make the math more real for students. Sometimes its with an online example, or resource.

I'm feeling very positive about the change in the way I'm teaching Math, and I look forward to improving the effectiveness with which I leverage video lessons in class. I have seen already the way it enables me to guide my students more. I've also seen the efficiency we gain in class, and am hoping to use that to slowly introduce more and more problems, applied tasks, and deeper learning opportunities in Math.

What's your experience with flipped lessons? What do you see as the potential benefits and pitfalls for your students?

Learning Together: Feedback and Critique

As I grow and learn with PBL my assessment practices evolve too. I was excited to share my learning at a recent regional Professional Development conference. Here are the slides from that presentation:

Learning Together: Feedback for Students and Teachers from Steve Chase

For me one of the biggest take-aways as I've pushed to blend good assessment practices with PBL as that strong peer assessment allows us to really "activate learners as resources for one another" (an idea Dylan Wiliam really got me thinking about). If students are getting deep with their questions to their peers then they can really push one another's thinking. How powerful is that!

The second big lesson in PBL based assessment, and really throughout classroom teaching, is that structure and routine are so important. The assessment based application of that in my classroom is critique protocols like this one from BIE. We actually distinguish between "clarifying" and "probing" questions in that clarifying is for us the audience, and probing is to push the thinking of the presenter. Questions first, before giving feedback is so key here in that it forces us to really consider the presenter and their dilemma and try our best to help them on their way with our feedback. Our tendency is to want to jump in with feedback and comments, but its so much more valuable to listen, clarify, and probe before we get thinking about feedback.

Its been great learning about feedback and critique with my students, and its helping our learning very step of the way. What forms of assessment are you using in your classroom? How do you vary your assessment practices with different tasks? What does assessment look like when there are different products being created by different groups or individuals?

We've been given a common language, now let's create unique experiences

Text from the Creative Thinking Profiles

Text from the Communication Profiles

Text from the Positive Personal and Cultural Identity Profiles

What do we want our learners to be? What do we want out learners to be able to do? Is that your definition of 21st Century Skills? Is there more?

The BC ministry of education recently posted competency profiles describing and illustrating growing capacity for communication, creative thinking, and positive personal and cultural identity. In my mind this is the beginning of a formal definition of 21st Century skills in BC. Does it fit what we want for our learners? Will it be of use in our classrooms, and how? It's up to us to answer these questions together, and it's up to us to leverage this common language to enrich core experiences and shape new experiences for the learners we work with. 

What will this look like for you?

What we learned from Collaboration with Grade 3 students

Photo by Midiman: https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/midiman/1058720405/

"Maybe they are the role models" said one of our Grade 9 students about the Grade 3 students he had met, and he wasn't kidding. We collaborated with a grade 3 class recently to share our inquiry into space and space exploration. Their passionate engagement in their learning left a significant impression on our grade 9 students.

When our teens were asked what they liked about their time with the younger students they said again and again they were impressed by the depth of their knowledge on the planets they'd been studying. All the students were excited to share facts about their planets, and many we're making effective comparisons to put their knowledge in context. The grade 9's also really liked how eager the younger students were to share their learning. The primary class approached their learning with a sincere curiosity, a genuine interest, a readiness to learn and a deep sense of pride in their work. The effects were tangible. We work hard to create learning opportunities for our students that are full of wonder and engagement, but somehow with age and experience we become more selective about our preferred conditions for learning. Who better to remind us to let go and enjoy the ride then a young group of expert learners! Thanks for the lesson young ones, don't let anything get in the way of that curiousity and wonder. 

Reflections on the Google Summit -with a focus on Collaboration

http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/url3-e1309971764582.jpg

Google, Google, Google. I keep coming back to this post and there really is so much to talk about. I've thoroughly enjoyed my ongoing exploration of the Google environment both personally and with my students. I recently had the privilege of attending a Google Summit in February which was the real motivation to try to summarize and share my learning with respect to Google. The summit was a very cool experience. Our two days there were packed full of workshops (I'd totally recommend checking out these copies of crowdsourced notes [link] [link] they include notes on almost all the sessions at the conference), The days were also bracketed with keynote speakers and rapid-fire 3 minute "demo slam" style presentation series (a concept I'd love to see become part of District ProD). The number of tools and tricks being presented was incredible. Initially I found myself asking for more why. Why use these tools? Why change? I didn't see a big focus on this question. What we did see was a major emphasis on the SAMR model. Now, as I look at the tools I've integrated into my practice and the tool I'm interested in exploring its starting to make more sense. Its really only once Technology becomes embedded into our practice that we realize its full potential. Once technology is embedded we begin to realize just how much its enriching our learning and the learning of those we're working with. The SAMR model forces us to question the benefit of technology in our practice. 

I've experienced the enrichment that comes from the Google environment in profound ways recently. As students have moved to Google Docs and Google Drive they have stopped loosing assignments. Imagine that - all of a student's work accessible all the time. That's a game changer. Documents have become collaborative and living. No longer do I share files, I share links. Not only can we all see the same document at the same time, or see the most recent version of a document all the time, but we can now begin to have a running dialog about the work in the work. The document itself has embedded within it a story of sharing, commenting, feedback, revision, collaboration, and learning. Search has also become the best way to find everything, and not just in a search engine. I used to pride myself on sweet file organization, but that whole way of thinking is quickly being replaced by search. Talk of keywords is commonplace in my classroom, and in some cases advanced searches are becoming the norm and not the exception - CC image searches come to mind. 

I could go on, but I think we'll agree its a rich experience to reach grow with a tool to the point of redefining the way you do learning. I want to share some of the tools and features that I've been using or would like to use more that I wanted to highlight. I'd love to hear about some of the tools you are using and enjoying too! I'll also recommend checking out the reflections of one of my colleagues, Nicole Emmerton here on her blog. 

Google Docs - a collaborative office suite (https://www.google.com/drive/?authuser=0)

So much I could say about Google Docs, here are some of the things I've really begun to appreciate:

• 3 layers of privacy for docs - private (only visible to people whose email addresses have been entered), anyone with the link can access, public; and within each layer there are options as to whether individuals other then the owner can view, comment on, or edit the doc. (https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2494822?hl=en)
• revision history as a way to keep teams accountable - see who made what changes and when (revision history overview: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/190843?hl=en)
• simultaneous participation in classroom discussion 
• More and more features added in: research and citation tools within the doc, image searches within the doc (http://youtu.be/NGtWyifMX_k), add-ins for publisher type formatting, add-ins for smart art type graphics, build in dictionary, and optional extensions for text to speech within a chrome browser
• Commenting feature in Docs
• Personally I would consider the comments I make and dialogue I have about student work to be the most valuable part of my assessment practice - at least as far as Teacher assessment goes. Its even better when students give feedback and have conversation with their peers - a practice I`ve been working to tune this year too. 
• voice comments (for example Kaizena explained in this article)

Google plus - Google's answer to Facebook

There are lots of cool features of Google plus, and its growing rapidly as a result. Here are some of my interests:

• Google handouts - a Skype-style video conference with the key difference being that you can have a conference with multiple participants for free, and Hangouts give you the ability to: stream the hangout online, save the hangout to a YouTube channel, share your desktop, share docs within the hangout, and share YouTube playlists within the hangout. Not to mention the creation of an "event" is pretty slick in that it will automatically send reminder emails to everyone involved.
• Blogger has an option to post blog posts to G+
• MOOCs - I've not lurked and participated in a few Massive Open Online Courses offered through Google plus, and there are many being offered (for example the Deeper Learning MOOC)
• Google Virtual Field Trips - using Google Hangouts

Personal Learning Networks and back channel conversations

Throughout the conference I throughout enjoyed the ongoing dialog with other educators through social media tools

• Twitter continues to be my favorite source of ongoing ProD and I can't recommend it enough. A personal highlight at conferences has become meeting colleagues whom I have go to know over Twitter. 
• Today's meet is a free, easy to set up tool that allows a user to set up a public chat. Guests are given a link, asked to greet the chat with their name, and then allowed to chat away 140 characters at a time. It was used in many of the workshops I attended and was an excellent way to engage a large audience - especially those that may not share publicly otherwise

Google Chrome Browser

To start off I now feel lost when I can't log into a Chrome Browser get that at-home feeling of having my browser set up for me. I'm a fan of Chrome and here are a few reasons why. One of the workshops highlighted a bunch of Chrome features if you're interested check out the notes.

• goo.gl shortener - an extension to shorten links
• text expander - saves keystrokes for gmail users
• drag and drop tabs - pull a tab out to set it apart in its own window
• bookmark all tabs - save a group of tabs under one name (I now do this with a class set of assignments so I can easily pull them all up again)
• clipboard sync - allow you to share those copied items from device to device
• search features within a Google Search or the omnibox (the Google url bar) can be used as a:
• calculator
• timer
• search by image
• dictionary - type Define: _____
• cloud print - acts as a server to network your printer so you can print to it from any browser
• Sign into Chrome and save settings

YouTube Tricks and Tips

And lastly, some of things worth exploring on YouTube

• Privacy Settings on Videos you post
• Tube Chop - share a section of a clip
• Turn out the lights - everything except the YouTube window fads to black
• Adblock Plus - remove sidebar adds
• capture Video to YouTube from webcam
• screencast-o-matic - free screen capture software
• YouTube editor - a free editing tool with libraries of CC music
• Create a channel - start your own video publishing space, and then follow other channels - get content you are interested in to your feed

Whew, thanks for taking a look. What are some Google Tools you've really enjoyed in your class? In your own practice?

Comments are always welcome!

What is "Personalized" Learning?

I'll admit there's a lot of Educational jargon I'm comfortable throwing around, but "personalized" is not a term I am at all comfortable using. Its really interesting seeing its use here too, in the article below describing new schools in Montgomery County. 

I appreciate their description of the flipped classroom, and I really appreciate the benefits they speak of - the Teacher introduces concepts to the class with video lessons, creating time for more precise, targeted instruction and interaction to meet the needs of his or her learners while they work to understand and apply the knowledge. I feel this shift is huge, and is certainly a necesary personalization of classroom instruction. 

The notion I wrestle more with is of students choosing the ways in which they will demonstrate their learning. I feel this statement needs to be qualified to really be understood. This is one of the areas of Project Based Learning I see Teachers wrestling with constantly - how much choice can and should we give students. The answer, in my mind, really depends on the individual. I've had the privilege in the last few years of by Teaching to focus my time on students in Grades 8 and 9. In my kind most of these students are still developing ways of demonstrating learning, and are not yet ready to make strategic choices as to how they go about demonstrating new learning. Instead, I feel it's far more beneficial helping then broaden their repertoire by exploring together when it comes to ways of demonstrating learning. I feel student choice is much more effective when it comes to the questions they are asking, and the ways they go about finding information. 

In Math I've come to place tremendous value on student choice when it comes to the kinds of practice questions students are doing. We work together to make sure students are doing practice questions that are appropriate for their skill and ability, but that's more a judgement that I want them to be making, rather then one I want to make myself, and definitely now one I wish to make and apply to the whole class. I feel it needs to be said too that there is great value in students learning from one another, and I think we need to weigh that into the choice we give students in the mediums they use in presenting learning. 

http://www.gazette.net/article/20140312/NEWS/140319776/1261/montgomery-county-schools-to-look-at-personalized-learning&template=gazette

PBL and Inquiry Resources

We've had a few requests for Resources, so we wanted to share a few we've come across and find particularly useful. My question for you is - what are your favorite resources?

Books:

• PBL Starter Kit by John Larmar et al
• PBL in the Elementary Years by Sara Hallermann et al
• Project Based Learning Design and Coaching Guide by Thom Markham
• Thinking Through Project-Based Learning: Guiding Deeper Inquiry by Jane Krauss and Suzie Boss

Free Online Reading:

• Inovation Unit: A Teacher's Guide to Project-Based Learning
• BCTLA Points of Inquiry: A Framework for Information Literacy and the 21st Century Learner
• The National Academy Foundation and Pearson Foundation's Guide to PBL
• Focus on Inquiry: A Teacher's Guide to Implementing Inquiry-Based Learning by Alberta Learning 
• Project-Based Learning Research: Annotated Bibliography

Websites:

• Buck Institute of Education
• This is the site I frequent most often. With a free account you can download a number of valuable tools, and they even have a PBL DIY tutorial you can walk through on your own. 
• Edutopia
• Galileo Educational Network 
• High Tech High 
• Projects
• Seven Successful PBL Projects - an in depth look examples

Blogs:

• Experts and NewBIEs: Bloggers on PBL
• Edutopia Blog - Posts on PBL
• Mind/ Shift Blog - Posts on PBL
• Teach Thought Blog - Posts on PBL

Content Curated by Steve

• YouTube Video Playlist
• Project Based Learning Pinboard
• Inquiry Pinboard

So, what are your favorite resources? See something missing? Please comment below?

Cross posted to sd57learning.blogspot.ca

Final Meeting of Communication Competency Workgroup

In late November we finished a series of meetings as a Communication Competency Workgroup. It was a rich experience and the collaboration was organic. Our time was focused on sharing samples of student work and sharing ideas to help define and create a Communication Competency Continua as part of BC's new draft curriculum. It was exciting to be a part of a mix of teachers representing a huge mix of students at various points and on various paths in their learning. It was clear as we met and shared our work that competencies are nothing new. What will be new is the continua, a tool for BC and by BC to help each student grow in the core competencies. The group was one of nine in the province meeting to work on continua for the new competencies. The three competency continua being drafted at this time were Creative Thinking, Positive and Personal Cultural Identity, and Communication Competency. Our group was one of three working on Communication Competency. 

Sharon Joerski, the Researcher working with the Ministry, reported on the work in December and we expect more to be published about the three competencies shortly. The ministry website summarizes our work prior to the November meetings. Unfortunately what has not yet been made public is the collection of samples of student work on which the continua has been built. We've been told that these will be available as resources to us develop our understanding of the continua and find ways to tie our work to it. 

Sharon shared with us some of the attributes of the continua as they are being discussed. Its agreed that the competencies are:

• inclusive: everyone is included in the competencies
• strength-based: they are additive and progressive
• student-centred
• holistic
• interconnected (3 with sub parts are all connected)
• about bringing coherence
• everyone’s responsibility
• BC Classroom Based
• continuous and longitudinal
• authentic

In wrapping up our time together we were asked four questions. I've summarized some of our thoughts here. Hopefully this provides some food for thought as we provide additional feedback to the Ministry on the draft curriculum.  

1. How do we see the continua being used?
• assessment (feedback, planning)
• communicating with parents
2. What would be a good starting place?
• build a collection of examples
• open discussion and collaboration on communication
3. What tips do we have in presenting the continua?
• interactive
• user friendly (Teacher, Student, and Parent)
• accessible language
• lots of examples
4. What implementation advice do we have?
• provide time and resources to staff
• slow roll out (perhaps with optional years, pilot years?)
• address questions of Why?

I'm looking forward to the SD57 "Exploring Draft Curriculum" workshops as a forum for discussing the competencies, the continua, and the new curriculum as a whole. I've also enjoyed participating in conversations via the #bccurric hashtag on Twitter. 

How would you see yourself using a continua to supplement your instruction and assessment in the Core Competencies?

Comments, as always, are welcome and encouraged.