Cluster 1971

Sticking with The Life of Fred

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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

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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

I’m Just Going to Say It…

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…I am not a fan of technology.

Now, I do recognize the absurdity of this comment. I am surrounded by technology, and rely upon technology every moment of my life. I ride a bike. I use a computer. I use tools to garden. I use tools to build things. I play an electric guitar. To survive a Winnipeg winter I utterly depend on technology. The list goes on.

So, more to the point, I am not a fan of handheld doodads with glowing screens and I am not a fan of social media, because given all the possible ways one might waste vast tracts of precious life, these in particular seem the most tragically pointless to me. So, I have chosen to keep the time I engage with such technologies to a minimum.

It’s about choice, and recognizing when and how technology can be used in positive and productive ways in one’s life. What this looks like is different for everyone, of course, and requires information and critical thinking to weigh the information. This latter point is crucial. Otherwise, we risk becoming slaves to technology – especially in this day and age when the conveniences and opportunities for endless entertainment offered by these handheld doodads can be difficult to resist.

So, even though I hold a general aversion to these new technologies in my personal life, I believe I owe it to my students to help them develop the skills and attitudes necessary to choose if and/or when these technologies can serve a positive function in their lives, just as I choose. It is also imperative they learn how to use them ethically and responsibly.

More than this, if I surrender to my aversion of these technologies, I am shutting the door to many rich learning opportunities. Einstein once said something to the effect of, “When you stop learning you die.” I agree, though less morbidly. I believe learning is integral to truly living – to thriving. So, what kind of role model am I for my students if I choose not to live, and thus learn, in their world?  Their world of glowing personal doodads and online socializing might seem strange and new to me, but refusing to engage with them would do nothing but deprive these students of an effective teacher—not to mention deprive myself of opportunities to learn and grow.

Thus, I am excited by the learning opportunities presented by the ITLL sessions. I am starting to network with other teachers on Twitter, and am planning ways to use Google Forms in the classroom. Small steps, but, I think, important ones. The last thing I want to be is some old fuddy-duddy who dismisses what the “kids” are into simply because it is unfamiliar or outside my comfort zone. This is a fearful attitude. What is learning, after all, if not the courage to leave our comfort zones and enter the unknown?

I am still not a fan of technology, though…

David Guillas

Fort Rouge School

Cluster 1971

Taming the Beast

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I have thought about what to write for many days, weeks in fact! Innovation in the classroom is an interesting “beast” one moment the beast shines and purrs with clarity only to turn cloudy and hiss with the passing of a breath. What specifically does innovation mean? When we look up a definition of innovation, the dictionary tells us that it means to make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products. Can we as teachers simply put some iPad or computers out on the student’s tables; direct them to a specific website or app and say that we are being innovative? Can simply infusing technology into our classroom while still using the same foundational framework be deemed innovative, it cannot.

The fundamental idea George Couros has postulated is not really all that ground breaking if thought about in a global sphere. It is however, advanced when it comes to using new thoughts/approaches within the constricted hallways of the education system. We function within a fairly narrow window of what is considered appropriate and not appropriate for student consumption…this “appropriateness” has been established over decades of knee jerk decrees from those charged with the governance of our education system.  It has been refreshing to see that the window has recently opened somewhat with the lifting of many previously banned internet sites. This will undoubtedly pave the way for a younger generation, through rigorous guidance and educating, to harness the full power and immense knowledge contained within it.

Our primary task as educators moving forward is to not continue to distribute iPads or computers and direct our students to websites we have “pre-approved”. Rather, our ultimate task, if we are to truly embrace the concept of becoming innovative educators, is to empower our students to craft questions that interest them specifically and give them the franchise to answer those questions. We must teach our students how to properly execute google searches, how to properly post on social media, not for their own attention or to sensationalize a topic, but to glean the collective wisdom of the masses to further their own knowledge base.

Bringing innovative philosophies to our classroom cannot happen overnight, it cannot be the flavour of the week that is supported today but then abandoned when the next interesting idea comes along. Many tenured teachers are from a generation of dot matrix printers and pong. What is needed is a paradigm shift and change management support moving forward for innovative teaching philosophies to take root. Without the concept being widely embraced from kindergarten up, success will not be realized. Fear of children stumbling upon “inappropriate” material must be seen as a teachable moment, not as fodder for those who think the internet is tantamount to the wild west.

Scott Chudley

Ralph Brown School

Cluster 1971

Diving In

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I don’t know about the rest of you, but this is the first time I have ever written something that other educators will read. This makes me nervous and thankful that Dove makes an anti-perspirant with a “Clinical” tag. Writing is not my forte. It doesn’t come naturally for me. Sports, technology, eating cinnamon buns…those are easy.

I am a worrier. I write and re-write and spend a lot of time worrying that if I don’t use smart words, or say insightful things, that people will think I don’t know anything. Why I do that? No idea. If I could stop it, I would. To have an assignment like this that puts me out of my comfort zone, makes me very uncomfortable.

Incorporating technology and innovation into my classroom is something that I love to do. My passion is searching out and learning new ways to get my students engaged and excited to learn. I spend my weekends learning how to code, going through online courses, watching and trying to plan ways to integrate what I have learned into my practice. I joined Twitter, and began co-managing a team for Destination Imagination at my school. This experience has shown me the true potential of my students. I have brought the “Instant Challenge” component of DI into the classroom and the students continuously crave more. I can honestly say I have bought twice as many straws this school year as I have in my entire life.

Our class has pen pals from Rankin Inlet, and we are currently setting up a Skype connection with a classroom from Kansas. These can be seen as innovation. What I have never had the courage to do is write something for my peers. I ask my students to take risks all the time, yet here I am, sweat dripping on my laptop, because I am doing exactly what I ask and expect them to do on an everyday basis.

A good friend and mentor of mine started her own blog this year. She has encouraged me to think about doing the same. I don’t think that will happen…well at least not this year.  William GT Shedd wrote, “A ship is safe in harbour, but that’s not what a ship is for.” This quote first off, makes me think of my home in the east coast (Shout out to my fellow Nova Scotians). Then it makes me think there is no sense of being innovative in your own classroom if no one can see it. I feel honoured to be part of this learning experience and I look forward to collaborating with everyone to see where it will take me.

Marcel Laroche

Ralph Brown School

1971 Proud

 

Skype in the Classroom is More My Style

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I was really inspired after the George Couros’ presentation. It filled me with hope for the future of my students and really made me feel empowered as a technologically savvy teacher. I use technology in my classroom to differentiate learning, to include all types of learning styles and to add variety. I want my students to express themselves and to be able to use technology if they wish. Technology adds a new dimension to the classroom and for myself, it’s important that I stay up to date with technology. Technology allows us to have the capacity to extend communication from beyond the borders of the classroom, it opens up different ways of communication, and it can introduce our students to a wealth of excellent resources.

Twitter? Although Mr. Couros highly recommended that we sign up for Twitter to connect with other teaching staff from around the World, I am still very hesitant. I have never been one to really enjoy social media and, in fact, I find myself too busy to check my phone for tweets. Teaching is a busy career, and I often find myself surfing the web for innovative ideas to bring to my classroom. In the future, I’d really like to explore things such as Skype in the classroom. I would love for my classroom to connect with another classroom from a different province or even city. I’ve also come across Skype sessions called “Mystery Chats” where a classroom connects with another classroom to solve a problem together. This type of innovation is more of my style as a classroom teacher. I’m not entirely ruling out the future potential of Tweeting with others, however, at this time I am not quite convinced. It may be “scary” for some or feel “unsafe” for others, however for myself, I feel like there are so many more types of innovations that I want to explore. The internet is constantly changing and before we know it, Twitter may be obsolete.

Has anyone explored Edmodo for their classroom?

Micheline Lesk

École Sir William Osler

cluster 1971

Innovation Reflection

kstrachan Group 1, Participant Post ,

Taking part in the ITLL PD with George Couros was a very eye-opening experience. One thing that stood out and resonated with me was with regards to various forms of social media. He mentioned how not being familiar with them and how they work could result in me being illiterate in today’s society and falling behind with the times. That was a “wow” moment for me because I never thought about it that way. I viewed social media as a tool for causing more harm than good, but seeing how George utilized it as a tool for learning was really cool and inspired me to join Twitter, something that I never thought I would ever join in my life.

Another moment that stood out was when George said what student has ever uttered the words “That was a great worksheet?” That may be one of the truest statements that I have ever heard. I thought back to when I was a student and the assignments that I remember and enjoyed working on. At no point did one single worksheet come to mind.  I remember the assignments where my teachers allowed me to use my creativity. They empowered me to show my understanding in unconventional ways and in doing so; those assignments have stayed with me to this day. That statement had me thinking about assignments I have done with my students and which ones will they remember in ten to fifteen years?

Since our session ended, I have been thinking about creative assignments to incorporate this year and beyond.  A great idea for me came from an article from the Eyes on Innovation newsletter that was released in February.  A middle years teacher posted an activity entitled “Case Files”.  This is an inquiry project where students research mysterious creatures or happenings around the world and they can present their findings in various forms, not just a word document.  I thought it was such a cool and innovative activity that I am incorporating that as my final unit to end off the year with a memorable note for my students.

This PD I honestly believe has changed my outlook on how I will plan out assignments in the future and I look forward to the next session!

Randy Medeiros

Churchill High School

Cluster 1971

Math Innovation

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My grade seven students have been working really hard on seeing, exploring and building relationships between multiplication and division, fractions, decimals and percentages, rates and ratios.  The kids chose partners from both groups (a great way to get Late and Early French Immersion together) and decided on a product to be tested.  We had everything from hair elastics to marshmallows and everything in between.  As teams they decided on criteria to be judged and came up with their own way of recording their findings (many chose tick sheets).  Kickin`it old school but it worked!

On the day of the testing, I invited the members of our grade 12 Leadership class to partake in the experiments as well (free food and another opportunity to mentor Grade 7s in French).  We had had a prior discussion about questions they could pose to students (about estimation, hypotheses as well as some conversion of early results) as well as links they could make to more advanced Math courses (As one student said “No way is this the last time you will see fractions.  You better know fractions for “le cercle unitaire in Pré-Cal 12”).  Students moved around and tested most, if not all of the projects.  Yep!  To the naked eye there was a wee bit of chaos but out of chaos comes order and understanding.  Though a wee bit louder, they were all on task and finished 12 stations in one hour.  They even offered to do the dishes!

When we saw each other again after the break the students analysed their findings using what they knew about fractions, decimals and percentages.  With the briefest of lessons showing the absolute minimum of Excel and Publisher (perhaps 5 minutes) I just let them loose in the computer lab.  My only request was that I wanted a graph – a good one.  That’s it. Over the next half an hour students made rudimentary bar graphs.  When they said “Madame fini” I would ask them to chat with colleagues on either side for feedback about the look and the layout of their graph. Then they started to manipulate the graphs – change colours, backgrounds, graphs types, font etc. etc.  Within a half an hour they had all helped each other out to make publishable graphs.  Those students who I identified as “experts” readily helped out some of the struggling students and were thanked by their friends and myself.  All their work was saved in their own file on our T-drive to be manipulated again this week when we explore circle graphs.  It should go well as we have all of the data already in Excel spreadsheets.  Some images were sent home on Remind.

The crazy cool thing about this is that I did not have to do any of the work. Every student just started messing around, experimenting.  I asked questions when I saw joy or heard “Ah so that’s how I change colours of an individual bar.”  I am no Excel expert by any means so I learned quite a few shortcuts along the way as well.  These amazing students are exceedingly kind and patient to me and others in the class and I feel so lucky to be able to guide them.

Leanne Anderstedt

Collège Churchill

Cluster 1971

Innovation

kstrachan Group 1, Participant Post ,

I have been thinking about this write-up and the term ‘innovation’ since our first ITLL meet and greet. What it looks like, and what it means for the classroom. Innovation can look like almost anything, and be found anywhere in our day to day lives. Social media, self-checkouts, and Uber are all forms of innovation – and don’t forget about the bracelet that can tell you how many calories you’ve consumed in a day!

However, when it comes to the classroom, innovation looks like progression and it feels like passion. A drive to know more, do more and create more. It is a forward momentum to meet the growth and expectations of our students’ needs and capabilities. As educators we all want our students’ to excel and continue the positive progression of our ever changing society. Meeting those demands requires education to progress and change to allow for more support for innovated practices. By implementing open-ended questions, high expectations’, imagination and creativity, we will allow our students’ thirst for knowledge to thrive and move forward. Innovation isn’t a straight line, or easily definable. So what I am hoping to gain from this workshop is not to define innovation, but instead learn skills and perspectives that will drive my practices and motivate my students towards wanting more and exceeding their own expectations! I am excited to jump in and get a dialogue started about practices already in place and ideas waiting to become actualized.

 

Brittany Ariss-Ferris

King Edward Community School

Cluster 1971

Trying To Think More Like A Dog A Little Bit More Each Day

kstrachan Group 1, Participant Post ,

Our first Innovative Leader’s session took me back to a technology conference I attended a few years ago. At that conference I saw and met many talented educators who were using social media in very innovative ways in the classroom. There was quite a buzz of energy at that two day conference. One classroom teacher who particularly stood out for me as being an exceptional leader and mentor in this field is an elementary teacher in Saskatchewan, Kathy Cassidy. Being a teacher from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan where I first started my teacher career intrigued me even further. My administrator gave me permission to purchase Kathy’s ebook, “Connected From the Start: Global Learning in the Primary Grades.” I pondered that if Kathy could introduce and connect her students to this vast world of learning beyond the four walls of her classroom, activate and engage their minds, spark curiosity, then couldn’t I do that here in my classroom in Winnipeg.

I’m always telling my students to, “think outside the box”, and “try something new”, so I decided to jump on board. It looked easy enough and our school had some iPads ready to use.  So I signed up for Twitter and Instagram, downloaded Kidblog and Edublog apps, Biblionasium with good intentions to have students participate in an online book club forum with my students and I even created a SKYPE account. I was ready to seize these opportunities. I had all the tools. Ready, set go. Nothing happened! I followed a few but “SAFE” people but I was too nervous to tweet. I stayed in “Cat” mode. It is easier to stay with what is comfortable.

It was around this time our school had PD from the MTS society about using Social Media. I started to worry about the negative social media implications. The “what if” mental obstacle course started in my brain. What if I followed the wrong person? What if a parent followed me and they had links to something inappropriate? How could I control those things? Unfortunately that’s where I stalled. I idled for a while poking around at different websites and trying out different applications but continued to put Social Media and the unique learning experiences I could create and infuse in my regular teaching practice on hold. I had witnessed from Kathy’s presentation the possibilities and continued to be fascinated with the learning experiences she was facilitating for her students. If I were a student in her school I’d want to be in her classroom. I became disappointed in myself that I hadn’t moved beyond these initial steps which I had taken.

George Couros’s presentation on “The Myths of Technology and Learning” has renewed this interest, but I found myself relieved that other people around me had some of the same sentiments and needed some support and help to figure out how to get started. With some additional help from Keith Strachan to wrap my mind around some of these challenges I feel that I might be ready to have another go at this and leap into this new abyss. Keith reminds me that it is ok to be a beginner and that there are other people in the same boat alongside and networking with me as I begin this journey. I’m trying to think more like a dog a little bit more each day.

 

Catherine Tattersall

Earl Grey School

Cluster 1971