Group 2

Blog Post 1

Richard Roberts Group 2, Participant Post ,

I left the first session wondering how we could add one more task to our already overflowing plates. I was discouraged and frustrated and I chose to deal with these feelings by ignoring the task. As our follow-up session neared I knew that I would have to submit a blog post and have it posted for my colleagues and a network of other professionals to read and I was once again confronted with more stress and pressure of a deadline.
As I sat in front of my computer I typed and retyped possible responses and reflections and discovered this… innovation is not just Twitter or technology. Innovation is thinking in new ways or differently and let’s be honest, isn’t that what teaching is about?! School is not the same as when I went and it definitely is not the same as when my parents did. We change with the times; we become relevant and adapt to meet the needs of our students. We may not call ourselves innovators but that is exactly what we do on a daily basis.

Think back to your time in school, the teachers we remember are those that did things differently. We recall the ones that took the time to show interest in what we were interested in; the teachers that gave us choices and input and freedom. It’s the way you felt. The freedom you had in the class and the ownership you had in your learning. That is innovation.

I now think of this as an opportunity to showcase what we constantly do in our classrooms. To build a professional network of colleagues who can share in the passion we have behind our doors and encourage us to be creative.

We are not changing what we do; we are celebrating and sharing what we do.

Alyssia Silverberg-Kaufmann,

AMVC, 1871

ITLL Blog Post

Richard Roberts Group 2, Participant Post ,

I think that using technology really lends itself to finding this “Innovation” or “Inspiration” I keep hearing about. Listening to some of the stories during our workshop, I’m finding that we have these happy accident moments where using technology ends up giving us these special moments that give us a sense of well-being. Moments that give us a chance to reflect and learn about who we are. These moments that weren’t planned for, but were made possible by the inherent nature of how technology can remember, rehash and share the experiences we have.

I recently came across a video online that illustrates my thinking. I think it’s important that we realize that technology is really just a medium for us to express and experience the lives we already have. Sharing these moments speaks to what humans are. Social creatures who thrive off each other and find motivation in building a community and connecting with each other. Take a look at the video link I’ve included, anyone who thinks video games are rotting the minds of our youth might be surprised.

Patrick Tytgat

Andrew Mynarski VC

Cluster: 1871

Using an Innovators Mindset to Facilitate Positive Mental Health in our Students

Richard Roberts Group 2, Participant Post ,

After the first session with George Couros, I learned about how powerful and useful technology can be with regard to innovation. I was also excited to open my own Twitter account and have been using it regularly to connect with educators around our division as well as the world. I have made a few comments but I am mostly just doing a lot of “retweeting”. As someone who has never communicated with others on social media, I am finding it exciting when people message me or comment that they appreciated my “like”. I am also amazed at how much I am able to learn from other colleagues in the mental health field with just a few clicks on my phone. I now feel inspired to find different ways to use technology and innovative practices with the students I support that are dealing with a variety of mental health disorders.
On page 21 of his book The Innovator’s Mindset George comments that it is important to create a teaching environment that is “best for this learner”. I agree that we have to think about the future of each of our students and what type of education is going to serve them the best to achieve their goals and be successful even when there are difficult obstacles to overcome. We need to develop as many of the positive characteristics he suggests of an Innovator’s Mindset in order to create new and exciting learning environments for all of our students.
The comments below from the families I work with describe the challenges that some students face every day going into a building where they don’t feel connected to staff or able to succeed in the classroom.
“She wants to leave school and stay in her bed all the time”
“She doesn’t feel like she belongs at school”
“He has gotten into a rut about not attending school”
“She wants the teachers to understand the accommodations she requires to succeed at school”
“Sometimes she is just too much and tiring for them to handle at the school”
An empathetic and observant teacher recognizes the individual needs of all his/her students and strives to find ways for them to feel connected to their learning. This is not an easy process but the educators that are able to do this are responsible for some of the positive comments I hear from families and schools.
“He smiles more and seems more engaged”
“She is going to school every day and doing well”
“Right now he is firing on a lot of good cylinders”
“Many of the teachers are understanding of her situation”
“She is flourishing in the Technology Program”
I look forward to the upcoming sessions where I can continue my journey of learning and develop an “innovator’s mindset” with the hopes that it will help me empower the students and families on my caseload.

Laura Ateah, ISS Support Teacher, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, HSC.
Cluster Group 1871

Reflection on Innovative Practices

Richard Roberts Group 2, Participant Post ,

Prior to this school year, I had not heard a lot of talk about innovation in the classroom. To be fair, this is technically my first year of teaching full time since having children and I haven’t been in the loop as much as I probably should have been. What amazes me is how quickly things can change, even when it has been said that change in our educational system is rather slow here in Manitoba. Since I have been back though, I have been really excited about these new approaches to learning.
At École Garden Grove School, we have been lucky to have Jaymie McLure do some great, innovative work with our students. From Destination Imagination Instant Challenges to Story Starters using Lego, I have certainly learned a lot. Not only are we thinking outside the box and moving away from the incessant worksheets that are available to us, we are providing our students with new, creative and collaborative ways of learning.

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Although at times it is hard to imagine how different our world will be in twenty years from now, I know that this shift into different and more innovative ways of teaching is only going to help better prepare our students for their futures. If we can have open minds and learn with and from one another, I think that we as educators will benefit along with our students.
I know that I have already altered my way of thinking about this whole process and having an open mind has definitely been helpful. I look forward to what we have yet to learn in our next sessions!
Nicole Lavallee
École Garden Grove School
Cluster 1871

Focus

Richard Roberts Group 2, Participant Post ,

I am glad to see that so many educators had the same feelings about our day with George Couros. I had no idea what to expect on our first session. Twitter? Google Docs? Storify? All of these were new to me.
I was a computer/LWICT facilitator for 20 years and was comfortable integrating technology with all areas of curricula. Word processing, morphing, audio recording, animation, green screening, video editing and more, were used to show student understanding. I collaborated with teachers to plan “computer” projects. Students would come to the lab, complete their projects (hopefully), and move on. Now, after 20 years, my role has changed. I am a grade 5/6 classroom teacher and am loving having my own students to work with!
I have seen many changes with technology over the years and all have been innovative. Our first session with George was about Twitter and using it with our students. What? Social Media in the classroom? How can that be? Sites that were previously locked and blocked? Wow!
I teach my students about their digital footprint by creating Twitter posts that are displayed on our bulletin board outside the room, create “Fakebook” pages and video our Book Talks. All of these are contained within our school, but now students may share their work with the world through Twitter.
I came out of that session with many ideas. So many that I became frustrated with myself about where to start, and getting nowhere fast. Focus girl!
I made a personal and classroom Twitter account but have not made any tweets. I get inspired by all the creative things I see educators doing with their students. Focus girl and make that tweet! I introduced my class to Learn 360 to collaborate on an informational article. I also created a survey in Google Forms and bit.do for our grade 6 students to answer questions about ideas for their Farewell. The outcome was fantastic! I showed the students the site and they went with it. I still have many ideas but it is a start. I just need to focus!
Wendy Groot
Tyndall Park School
Cluster 1871
Participant

Innovation in Collaboration

Richard Roberts Group 2, Participant Post ,

There are three grade 1 classrooms in our school. At the beginning of each unit and throughout the unit, we meet to exchange ideas, resources and materials. This ensures that our units don’t become static. We are making changes and adding something new and interesting each year.

We recently completed a unit on Canadian Bears. The children worked in groups and came up with questions about bears and what they wanted to learn. We also frontloaded a few questions of our own that may have been missed. The children listened to informational books about bears and read their own books looking for answers to their questions.
We found some short You Tube videos of bears in their natural habitat so that the children could see what a grizzly bear, black bear and polar bear’s den looked like and where they built it. The children had an opportunity to roleplay and pretend they were a bear building a den and hibernating. We watched short You Tube videos of actual wild bears looking for food and learned how climate change affects their ability to find food. Again groups of children had an opportunity to roleplay being a bear and looking for food, while the rest of the class had to guess what type of bear they were depicting. We printed pictures of the different types of food bears eat and had the children sort the food using a Venn diagram. This year, one of our colleagues borrowed an actual bear fur pelt from the Living Prairie Museum and each class had an opportunity to examine it up close. Once most of our research was complete, and the children had their information recorded on their rough copy sheets, they transferred this information onto a publisher template on computers. They typed their information, drew their bear’s habitat and added the clip art to support their writing. The children printed their work and created folders from their projects. See photos below.
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I don’t think our unit on bears would be as interesting and dynamic for the children, if it weren’t for how well all three classrooms collaborated with each other. When everyone is working together to share ideas and support one another great things are achieved.

Francesca Bova
Meadows West School
Cluster Group 1871

Innovation and asking why

Richard Roberts Group 2, Participant Post ,

As I process our discussions, from the first workshop with George, read The Innovator’s Mindset, read tweets, seek out contributors, and generally reflect on my practice as a teacher, a learner, and a member of a learning community, I have been thinking more and more about what innovation is, what it looks like, where to find it, and how I can get there.
For the last year or so, I have been trying to dig a little deeper into what I do as a teacher and learner, and question myself. I ask “why am I doing this thing, in this way?” When the answer is that it’s working and meeting my needs, I am happy. But, if I’m thinking of more innovating, I need to ask what can I do to make it better? When this answer is “because I have always done it this way”, I get worried. I think that this idea is the biggest jumping point and stumbling block for innovation. A practice/routine/system existing simply because it always has isn’t a good enough answer anymore.
I am challenging myself to look at what I do as a teacher and learner, and ask myself why. I am challenging myself to find those things that are no longer working for me and change them up. Maybe that makes me an innovator. Maybe not. But I do know, that doing things the way I always have because that’s the way I always have just isn’t good enough anymore.

More to come. . .

Michelle Wolfe
Lord Nelson School
Cluster 1871

Old School to New School

Richard Roberts Group 2, Participant Post ,

After listening to George Couros speak it became ever so clear to my work colleague and I that the students are evolving faster than we give them credit for. After school hours there is a tremendous amount of learning going on through the internet, games, and applications to only name a few. As a technological world we are extremely fortunate to have inclusive applications that can bring learning to life for all types of learners. No longer are we only communicating with peers in our class but learners from all over the world are just a click away.
Mr. Couros is a prime example of how learning can be extended from not only classroom to classroom but from schools and scholars around the world. Learning is no longer stagnant to the community and environment in which we live but it is dynamic in the sense that it never stops moving forward.
If we fail to modify our learning goals as educators we will be stuck in the “old school” generation; without adaptation our “new school” students may be stuck teaching us more than learning from us!

Scott Smoke
Prairie Rose Elementary Team
Clulster 1871

Empowerment – The Missing Piece of the Learning Puzzle

Richard Roberts Group 2, Participant Post ,

Walking into the March session with George Couros, I really didn’t have a clear idea of what innovative practice meant.  Throughout the day, I began to understand this concept and realize how innovation in the classroom (and school wide) allows students to feel empowered in learning.  As educators, we focus strongly on engaging students.  I still believe this remains a crucial part of the learning puzzle, but empowerment seems to be the missing piece.  Students need to become more invested in their education through practice and to effectively transfer new knowledge outside of the classroom in real life situations.
 
To help students further explore concepts introduced within the classroom, we need to provide them with the means to think critically, ask questions and seek answers.  Communication is key – allowing opportunities for students to converse with their peers and teachers promotes a safe environment where they feel comfortable taking charge of learning.  Conversations may even begin via social media sites.  Students can be resourceful by sending their questions out to the virtual world as learning happens everywhere.  Students can gain independence and build connections through doing so.
 
I think introducing the use of Twitter in the classroom is a cool way to safely expose students to the benefits of social media sites for educational purposes.  Being new to Twitter, I am looking forward to discovering ways to make use of the tool in the classroom.  I am willing to take on a ‘growth mindset’ as we continue forward with the sessions in this professional learning series.

Jillian Chaykowski
École Lansdowne
Cluster 1971