Daniel Orlikow & Nicole Jablonowski
William Whyte
Participant Post
Old School to New School
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
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
Social Responsibility With Social Media
Upon reflection of the George Couros “Innovation and Technology” professional development day, one main theme permeated throughout the learning experience. In one word, responsibility! We learned about and discussed several innovative aspects of technology and the day culminated in our group setting up individual Twitter accounts.
We learned the “what to”, “how to” and “why to” regarding social media. All of this is simply useful and relevant to our technological needs. However, what was most prevalent in my mind as the day progressed was the responsibility of it all. When contemplating all the various types of technology our students use throughout their days for various reasons, I kept wondering, “Are we being responsible for teaching social media responsibility first before we provide our students with pretty, shiny tech toys and accounts?” For all of the fabulously innovative and educational things we can accomplish with technology, the first and most important thing we can do is be responsible. Big toys require big responsibility. Clearly, issues such as cyberbullying have necessitated us to take a good look at what our students and children are using social media for. I am most pleased that George is addressing this and asking us to ask ourselves, “What should come first, our Smarts or the Smart Board?”
Ann Melnyk
Fort Rouge School
Cluster Group 1971
Sticking with The Life of Fred
I left our first session with George Couros feeling energized and inspired. While I have to admit that most of the technologies he shared were not new to me (except for bit.do which I have already used to help our school secretaries create a short link and QR code to our school supplies list for next year), it was refreshing to hear George and other teachers share some of the ways that they have made learning innovative and creative in their own classrooms.
As a high school math teacher, I try to find ways of replacing worksheets and “drill & kill” lessons with real life scenarios. One of my mentors describes the best math lessons as ones that are active, interactive, thoughtful, meaningful, personal, and practical. Keeping this in mind, I decided to teach Grade 12 Calculus using a storybook (The Life of Fred by Stan Schmidt) instead of a traditional calculus textbook. Rather than learning calculus the traditional (university) way of:
- Definition
- Theorem
- Proof
- Corollary
- Definition
- Lemma
- Theorem
- Proof
- Definition
- …
- Final Exam
with such a lack of excitement that even a rock would be bored, my students learn about functions, limits, derivatives, related rates, maximums/minimums, etc. through the adventures of a boy who discovers the topics of calculus naturally during his own life experiences.
When I chose The Life of Fred before the start of the semester, I thought to myself “This is perfect! No more worksheets, no more lectures, no more definitions… lots of creativity, lots of understanding, lots of thinking outside of the box, and lots of real life applications!” It seemed perfect, and I was sure that my students would appreciate such a creative approach to teaching and learning calculus. And then it happened… one week into the course, one of my students said what no student has ever said before “Can we please do notes and worksheets tomorrow?” Others in the class agreed. It turns out that after 14 years of learning mathematics and pre-calculus from worksheets and textbooks, learning calculus from a story of life experiences is very hard.
I went home that night with a tough decision to make. I could take the easy route and start to give traditional lectures (using my old notes from when I took CALC 1500 at the University of Manitoba), assign worksheets and make my students happy, or we could tough out the innovative approach a bit longer and see what happened.
I stuck with The Life of Fred. While lectures and worksheets would have been easier, I had no good reason for going back to them other than that was the way that calculus has always been taught. Two months later, the largest benefit of creativity in a mathematics classroom is very clear – there is a large increase in student understanding. Not only can my students calculate the first and second derivatives of a function, they also know the meaning of a derivative and when it would be useful to calculate one.
The world doesn’t need human calculators. Technology has given us the power to compute calculations in a fraction of a second that would take a person minutes (or hours) to complete. Instead, what we need are people who have a deep understanding of mathematical concepts and know how to use them when solving a problem.
Thomas Locke
Churchill High School
Cluster 1971
Being Connected
I think that the whole idea of “being connected” is so important for us as teachers in education today. The demands of our job continue to increase but the amount of time in a day remains constant. Connecting with other teachers and educators allows for the sharing of ideas, so that you, alone, are not having to plan and develop every lesson in isolation! The world of twitter is very new to me and it is work for me to understand it and use it. I do, however, see the benefit to me and eventually my students. The connections I can make will only strengthen and develop my existing skill set. Having said this, I do feel a bit like my students – when they are learning something brand new – going through this process. I understand that I need to learn this and want to learn it, but the process of getting there will put me out of my comfort zone. It is always challenging to learn something new, but…in my experiences… also rewarding. I look forward to the journey these workshops take me on… challenging me both personally and professionally.
Lindsay Blamey
Lord Roberts
Cluster 1971
A Hash Tag Away…
Innovation. To me, it’s about thinking outside the box to ensure that we are reaching all learners in the classroom. As we know, students don’t all learn the same way, or the same day. Innovation gives us permission to interpret curriculum as we see fit… to empower our students with purposeful learning that is student driven. I equate innovation with connection. This can be achieved through a variety of means, it truly is, as George Couros writes, a mindset. Innovation is crucial to student engagement- keeping them curious, means keeping current and trying things that may be out of our teaching comfort zone. Teaching is truly the best way to learn!
George Couros gave me a lot to think about after our PD session. While I’ve always embraced using technology in the classroom, I was a little apprehensive about the social media aspect; especially since we’ve all been forewarned about the potential ill effects for teachers and students alike. So when we started to talk about twitter… let’s just say I didn’t have a “tweet” to say! A friend once told me that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit, and thus my twitter journey began.
I can see the value Twitter has for networking, collaboration and instant communication. It’s amazing to know that we can network with teachers across the hall and across the world… at the same time. I have read numerous articles, feeds and participated in some discussion as a result of my 21 day (+) Twitter challenge. I have shared Twitter sourced information with colleagues and friends. I can attest that Twitter has merit if used in a responsible manner. I have yet to try Twitter with my grade two students, namely because I’m still at the novice stage myself and I’m unsure how to even start with early years students. Global classrooms are the wave of the future, and we must be prepared for it. Today’s world is literally at our finger tips, a mere hash tag away!
Cluster 2010- Jenny Bui- Greenway School
Change
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”—Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin was the innovator of his time in the field of biology. Today, modern biology would cease to exist without the Theory of Natural Selection and Evolution. However, when Darwin created this Theory, he was ridiculed and rejected by his community and fellow colleagues. I begin with this because the processes of evolution can also be used to explain the transmission of ideas, also known as the meme. Furthermore, we cannot resist “change” because it may be difficult or uncomfortable.
A meme can be treated like an organism in gene pool (population). That organism must survive by adapting to its surrounding environment and passing along its genetic information to each successive generation. In order to survive, a variety of variables (changes) in the environment may occur and those organisms who have the “tools” to adapt to these changes will flourish and pass these “tools” on to their offspring. In order for a meme to survive in the meme pool (eg: culture), the idea must be able to be transmitted understandably to other individuals and survive the process of “imitation”. In order for the meme to flourish, it must thrive and be accepted in the meme pool or risk being lost forever. (1)
The culture surrounding education is changing whether we accept that or not. That change may be technology, social media or knowledge acquisition. Regardless of what change we see, or which one effects us the most profoundly, it is our duty to teach our students how to foster these changes. We need to provide our students with the appropriate “tools” that they require to succeed in their next challenges. Let us start first with a meme, educational innovation. With the support of colleagues, we can successfully propagate this meme (however it may look to us individually) and prevent it from dwindling away because of the fear of change. Let us end the culture of complacency and begin the culture of innovation. We owe that to our students.
Thank you to George Couros for inspiring me to change and innovate.
Kristin Melnyk
Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute
Cluster 2010
Inner City Art Critics
I’m sure this activity isn’t a groundbreaking innovation, but I thought it’s worthwhile sharing something that’s worked with Winnipeg inner city junior high students who are sometimes resistant to trying new things.
This term I’ve used ‘ASmarthistory Gallery’in ‘Google Art Project’to teach grade 8 ELA students that art can be a powerful way to both depict/record/describe one’s culture as well as pass on beliefs/ideas/values to future generations. The gallery contains 119 high definition photos of famous and/or influential art pieces, as well as accompanying videos of 2 art historians who explain the techniques and, more importantly, the meaning behind each piece.
My students made a 2 column chart in their notebooks in order to record their responses and questions for the paintings we studied. I assured them that the art historians would be using some vocabulary they won’t be familiar with, but that they shouldn’t let that dissuade them from gleaning the overall message of the painting. For the above painting (“The Proverbs” by Bruegel), students were not only interested in the many strange scenes but also in how many of the proverbs/idioms they were familiar with (to bang one’s head against a brick wall, to be armed to the teeth, to crap on the world, don’t cry over spilled milk, etc.).
Students will next choose 1 of the 8 pieces we’ve studied and do some individual research into the painting and the artist behind it, then create an expository essay that includes their initial reaction to the painting, their immediate questions after watching the video, and a link to a modern day equivalent art/music piece. My short term goal here was to develop students’ questioning and writing skills, but my long term goal is to expose students to the idea that the world is infinitely interesting and can largely be understood if they are observant and take healthy risks.
Warren du Plooy
Hugh John Macdonald School
Cluster 2010
Blog Post 1
After our first session I really started to think about how I could use different technology to engage my students. I like the idea of having a classroom Twitter account and perhaps other social media like Instagram, in the future. But right now I’m just exploring Twitter. We mainly used Twitter to look at the accounts relating to the Manitoba election and NASA’s account. We are going to Tweet questions to the candidates involved in the current provincial election. In a class that isn’t really interested in politics, this should help the students to engage. They now have an opportunity to ask the candidates questions that would pertain to their life rather than listening to jargon filled debates or speeches.
I watched the TedTalk by Will Richardson. Many of his points are akin to George’s. I agree that schools are archaic in many of their approaches to learning and I do agree that often what we believe as teachers with regard to best learning in the class, is not applied in our practice. Will Richardson stated that it’s a great time to be a learner because of our access to information and I also agree with that. I do question how students and the general public are using their technology for information, or if they are at all. He gave the examples of his children exploring basketball and kale via different technology. I wonder if most students use technology for learning, or is it predominantly for entertainment? Perhaps this is where we need to guide them.
I also wonder what parameters are needed in schools. Will Richardson seems to be against schools with one sized curriculums, age grouped co-learners, time constraints in the classroom and lack of choice (among other things.) I wonder how many of these parameters or restrictions are needed in the classroom. As an elementary teacher I do feel like there are some key concepts and skills that kids do need which are curriculum related.
Russell Miller
Gr. 6 Teacher
GREENWAY SCHOOL
Cluster 2010