Voluntary Homework

This year, I've started a new weekly routine in my English Language Arts classes. I call it "Would You Rather Wednesday", and my students are very invested in it. It often comes up as something they're looking forward to in our morning circle on Wednesdays, and the conversation frequently extends past the end of our scheduled class time. It's quite a simple activity, but so far it has paid enormous dividends. 

I choose a "would you rather" statement, then we sit in a large circle and talk about it. It's that simple. So far this year we've discussed the merits of traveling in time to visit distant ancestors vs future descendants, having a pause or a rewind button on life, being bored contrasted with being too busy, and preferred position in sibling order (oldest or youngest). The last two have prompted the voluntary homework after which this post is titled.

During our conversation last week about boredom vs being over scheduled, one of my students said the magic words... "Well, research shows that being bored can actually increase your creativity." To which statement another student responded, "There's research that shows that there are benefits to being busy." Ding ding ding! Voluntary homework was born. I told both of them that they couldn't just throw statements about research around without following up with documentation to support their claims. Each of them was tasked with finding one article to support their argument. This was completely voluntary. There would be no effect on their grade in my class, and there would be no penalty for not completing the task. By 7pm that night, one of the students had already provided me with an excerpt and a link to a full article about the benefits of boredom. I shared it with the class the next day, and awarded the student 500 XP in our Classcraft game.

This week, our question seemed fairly mundane : "Would you rather be the oldest or the youngest sibling?" The conversation went as might be expected in a grade 8 classroom with some students expressing dissatisfaction with their place in the pecking order of their family and wishing for a change, while others were content to uphold the status quo as they felt the privilege of being oldest/youngest/middlest. And then, in an attempt to keep the conversation going, a student asked about being a twin. Or a triplet. Or a... dectuplet? A whole basketball team made up of identical "me"s! That's when the magic words were uttered. "Has a woman ever had ten babies at once?" "Voluntary homework!" I exclaimed. She reached into her pencil case, pulled out a Post-It note, and proceeded to write herself a reminder while everyone looked on. Six more hands flew into the air, and each question began with the words, "I'm pretty sure I'm going to get voluntary homework for asking this, but I really want to know..." In all, seven students were "assigned" voluntary research homework on a range of topics involving twins, birth weight, rates of conjoined births, births of boys vs girls. By evening, I had 5 emails with various documents attached, and I created a post on our Google Classroom to share the results of the voluntary homework done by those students who took the time to complete it. One of my students has even coined a phrase for this action : Searchez uup! (We are a French Immersion class, and we looooove franglais)

A few of the students who received voluntary homework haven't done it, but the percentage of those who are choosing to research something on their own time and then report back to the class is very gratifying. They are seeing a connection between the classroom and their interests, and taking ownership of their learning. I foresee some very strong Passion Projects later this year.

Next steps, I will do some explicit teaching on how to find scholarly articles to support claims, and how to effectively search using keywords. Creating a culture of excitement around research seems like a great way to encourage lifelong learning. Searchez uup, tout le monde!

Professional Goal Setting

Setting goals is something we ask our student to do all the time. In fact, right now my grade 7 students are working on crafting a short-term goal for themselves. We have talked about what an appropriate goal looks like: it has to be attainable through efforts by the goal-setter, it has to be personally important or motivating, it has to include a clear action plan, and there have to be ways of measuring progress towards the goal.

Something I have been saying to my students since Day 1 this year is, "I don't ask you to do anything I wouldn't do myself." Each year, I am asked by my administration to set a goal for professional growth. Each year, I do so. I write up a goal, an action plan, and make a list of possible supports. And then I hand it in to my principal. During class visits, my goal might come up. And I might revisit it on my own from time to time. But I haven't ever shared my professional goal with my students, the parents of my students, or the broader world of education.

I am working hard to embrace a culture of openness and personal accountability within my classroom, and it's time for me to more explicitly practice what I teach.

So. My two goals for professional growth this year are :

1. To use blogging as a self-reflective strategy, and to have my students do the same. I have always used this blog as a tool for reflecting on my own practice, but my action plan is to blog at a reasonable interval (to be determined), and to be more deliberate about seeking out feedback (both on my blog posts and on my teaching)

2. To improve on my record-keeping for conversations. I am required to report on students' speaking and listening skills, and I would like to base this reporting on informal conversations in addition to formal presentations. This will require me to develop some strategies for keeping track of my observations.

I am sure that these goals will grow and change as the year progresses. I am excited to share them publicly, and to hold myself accountable for keeping them at the forefront of my mind.

Open Classroom

As a new teacher, the most challenging thing was setting up for the beginning of the school year. How should the furniture be arranged? Was it important to have beautiful bulletin boards? And, most intimidating of all, what kind of routines needed to be established from Day 1? Ok, there were many other challenges, but starting the year off on the right foot is very important. This year, I was asked to share my thoughts on those questions in the form of an Open House for teachers. Here are the highlights of that presentation.

Physical Space

My "deconstructed" classroom 

First off, the physical space. This year, I am turning over the disposition of furniture to my students. Before school ended in June, they worked on a project detailing their ideal classroom, and in September they will have an opportunity to put their ideas into action. Therefore, my classroom is in a deconstructed state at the moment in order to give ownership of the physical space to my students from Day 1. In addition to that, I am exploring options for flexible seating. At the moment, we have some interlocking foam mats, a couple of exercise balls, a bench and a stationary bicycle, along with standard desks and chairs. My students have big plans for more options though! 

My self serve stations have all the things a student might need - paper, pencils, pens, rules, scissors, glue... For those of you wondering if this takes the onus off students to bring their supplies to class, I give you this poem that has been making the rounds :

Routines

Classroom routines

I always start the year by establishing certain routines that help things run smoothly. Over the years, these have evolved, but the driving force behind them remains the same : responsibility and autonomy. I am taking a proactive approach to incomplete work with my students this year. Rather than having them submit a page on the day something is due, these pages are meant to be used as a "heads up" from students that they may not have their work in on time. My hope is that this will help them to plan ahead, and to take responsibility for communicating with me prior to the due date. I have always encouraged students to do this, but I'd like to take a more formal approach this year. 

I have a hanging file at the back of my room where work is placed for students who are absent. It is their responsibility to check that file when they return. One of my classroom jobs is the Secretary, who is in charge of collecting any handouts and placing them in the folder with students' names on them.

My students engage in Sacred Writing Time at the beginning of each Language Arts period. They know to pick up their journal and begin writing immediately, no need for instructions. If you are a Language Arts teacher, I highly recommend you check out Corbett Harrison's resources!

I'm done! What do I do now?

Every day in my class, we start with a sharing circle. We pass around a small, smooth stone into which is etched the word Courage. Students talk about events going on in their lives, or how they are feeling, or simply share a "Good Morning" with one another. I find this practice centres us for the day, and gives me a quick check-in with every student. Sometimes, just their posture in the circle lets me know if they need some one-on-one attention.

When students complete work, there are many things they can do. I have a large selection of brain games to choose from (all of which can be played individually), as well as challenge cards. If students want to check in with me, they take a conference number and wait to be called (this allows them to continue working on something, rather than standing at my desk waiting their turn). I use a variety of physical brain breaks with students as well. 

Blogs, Twitter, and Tech Tools

I follow a lot of education blogs, as well as many Twitter users. Here is a small sampling of my current favourites :

Blogs

Project 180 - Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Alice Keeler - Teacher Tech

Robert Kaplinsky (#ObserveMe)

Control Alt Achieve

Twitter

@SylviaDuckworth
@OnEducationPod
@Choose2Matter
@TeacherGaming
@iste
@MisterMinor

My Twitter handle : @MadameGaudet

Tech Tools

Classcraft

Flipgrid

Nearpod

Parent Email Add-On

#YouMatter

I've been thinking a lot this summer about how much of teaching is relationship building. Knowing our students, understanding them as people, as learners, as individuals is so important. If they don't feel that we are interested in them, that we respect them, why would they believe they have anything to learn from us?

I'm working on some plans for classroom design, flexible seating, more inquiry based learning, passion projects... and what it keeps coming down to for me is having a relationship with my students that is built on trust and care.

Inspired by a tweet from Todd Nesloney (@TechNinjaTodd), I wrote my students a back to school letter that I will print and send to their homes the week before school starts. Although I taught most of the students who will be in my grade 8 class last year, we spent a very limited amount of time together. And after almost three months apart, I want to make sure they hear the message from me that they are important people, and that who they are matters.

Here is a copy of my letter, please feel free to copy/adapt any part of it if you plan on doing a similar thing. I used Bitmoji to create the image at the bottom (it looks more or less like me!), and the Magic Rainbow Unicorns add on for Google Docs to create the rainbow effect of the text.

Designing the Ideal Classroom

An idea that I have been toying with for a few years now is getting my students involved in designing the physical classroom space in which they spend so many of their daytime hours. It always seems like an insurmountable task during the beginning year, when we are working on developing routines, and then midway through the year has never felt like the "right" time to start something of this nature. The end of the year feels much more feasible, but then the students who are doing the design never get to benefit from the changes because they will have moved on to a new school the following September.

A sudden brainwave hit me this year though, and I have decided to embark on this project with my grade 7 ELA students. Being a French Immersion teacher in my school means that I teach a group of students in one subject during their grade 7 year, and then those same students become my homeroom class the following year. Sometimes I find that the grade 7 class is not quite ready for the organized chaos I employ with my homeroom class, but I decided to take the plunge this year and see what happens.

Inspired by the materials from this product by Rainbow City Learning on Teachers Pay Teachers, I created a workbook as well as an instructional website for my students. I introduced the project, and students have had just over two hours to work on their designs.

Their first reaction, when I told them I had been thinking of doing this and that they would be my guinea pigs was, "Wow! We're the first to do this? We're special!" Exactly what I was hoping!

Before the end of classes this year, I had each group or individual come and "pitch" one or two of what they considered to be their best ideas to me. These ranged from how to set up the desk (two lines down the middle, groups of 4 etc) to alternative seating options (bean bag chairs!) to a class pet (iguana, anyone?) to repainting the walls & installing a display case.

I've made it clear to the students that not all of their ideas will come to fruition right away (or maybe at all), but that we will work together as a class to make some of these changes. I am envisioning some work when we return in September on writing professional letters, writing grant proposals, and creating video pitches to submit to our administrator and the school board. So far, students have been highly engaged and I am hopeful that this will carry over into the start of the school year. I am also hopeful that they will have success in achieving some of their goals with this, so that it doesn't become discouraging for them. This will be an ongoing activity over the course of the year, and I want the momentum to continue!

Empowerment of students is so essential, if they are to learn to think creatively and critically, and if we want them to see themselves as agents of change in the world. For me, this is not a theoretical classroom design activity, the students and I will be actively designing the learning space for themselves next year. Student input needs to be valued and meaningful, rather than purely academic. I am excited for September!

Passion Projects 2018 - Year Two is Underway!

Last year, I introduced Passion Projects to my grade 8 students, and it was a huge success overall. Students were engaged in learning something they found personally motivating, organizing their time, reflecting on their progress, and problem solving throughout the whole process.

This year, I am excited to relaunch this project with a new group of students. We are on week 4, and there are some projects that I am really excited to follow. While there are some very strong plans in place, several students are definitely just "going through the motions" rather than really investing their time in something that they find personally rewarding. I am struggling with how to help them realize that their individual interests are valid and deserving of attention.

It's so sad to me that there are students who can't even identify something that makes them feel passionately - or if they have an idea, it is sad that they don't believe that it will be an acceptable one for this project. What is happening that students don't believe their interests and passions are valid? And how can we as teachers address this issue? It's not enough to give them artificial choices within the classroom, we have to help them to invest in learning in ways that will be sustainable outside of the school environment.

Every week, the day before we work on Passion Projects at school, students fill out a check-in page so that I have a sense of who will need support to move forward. Yesterday, four of these pages stood out to me.

This student got a "yellow light" last week because their peers did not think they had a solid enough plan. I'm glad to hear that he feels back on track this week! 

This student arrived this morning and told me they were unhappy with their previous choice of project (learning to play bass guitar) because it had become more of a chore rather than something they really enjoyed. They came prepared with a new plan, and seem very excited!

This student, in contrast to the one above, is stuck on choosing a new project. They have not come up with a new idea on their own, and they are one of the students I was referring to earlier who seems unable to articulate something they are passionate about.

This student received a "yellow light" from their peers last week and has really turned it around. They have come with an idea and a new sense of purpose after a conference with me last week.

I think I made a mistake this year during the roll-out of Passion Projects. Because I had already done a project last year, I had more materials to share with students than I did in Year 1. My project last year was to work at learning Spanish, and I shared that project with my students this year. I now have 4 students (out of 19) who are learning a language as their Passion Project. I'm not certain that it is because I presented them with my project from last year, but I am concerned that I may have inadvertently swayed them in a direction they might not otherwise have take. This is something that I need to consider for next year when I introduce the project again.


Random other thoughts :
We are currently undergoing a curriculum realignment for middle school that will be piloted next year in several schools in Nova Scotia. From what I'm hearing, one of the major components of the realignment is to integrate more project-based learning. Depending on the supports that are put in place, I think this could be a good direction for middle school education, and this model lines up well with what I have been doing in my classroom for years.

Modeling Mathematics With Flipgrid

One of the difficult parts of teaching the grade 8 math curriculum is the requirement for students to show their understanding of certain outcomes "concretely, pictorially, and symbolically." I am not arguing against the benefits of modeling mathematical concepts with concrete materials or manipulatives - however, trying to assess whether they can do so while simultaneously ensuring that the rest of the class is on track can be a challenge.

Today, my grade 8 students used Flipgrid to record a video showing that they could model their solution to an algebraic equation using manipulatives called Alge-Tiles. These are tiles that represent variables and whole numbers, and can be used to show why it is necessary to perform the same operation on both sides of an equation in order to arrive at the correct solution.

The Flipgrid website & app allow teachers to post a prompt, and for students to record a video response to the prompt. Students do not need an account - the teacher can either send them a link, or post a QR code that will take them directly to the prompt. It is extremely user-friendly, and free (with limited features - so far, these have been enough for my purposes) I created two video prompts (2x + 4 = 10 &  3x - 1 = 5) for students in which I modeled the use of Alge-Tiles. I wanted to make sure that students could review the steps, listen to the mathematical language, and access the example more than once. I have found this to be a valuable way of ensuring that all students hear the message as many times as they need to.

Students worked with a partner to practice modeling equations, and then when they were ready they chose one each to model in video form. Using iPads made it easy for students to scan the QR code and begin recording right away. And now that they have submitted their videos, I can assess them outside of class time - which means I can be more available to the class as a whole. I'm always excited when technology makes my teaching more manageable, and this particular app has a lot of potential to do just that.

Examples of student videos. This week, we worked on two-step equations with addition. Next week, I will have students create videos involving subtraction :