I am in my third, and final, year as a Faculty Associate at SFU. During this time 20% of my year has been teaching at the elementary level and 80% of my time has been working with Student Teachers on campus or in their practicum classrooms. It has been an amazing experience and one I would recommend to my fellow Classroom Teachers who enjoy mentoring.  I have learned a lot by taking the time to step back and reflect on my own practice and pedagogical beliefs and one thing that I have really come to value is the power of the 1 on 1 conference.

As a Faculty Associate, we have pre and post conferences with our Student Teachers before and after we observe them teaching in their practicum classrooms. We also try to have a few 1 on 1 conferences during our time on campus.  This time is incredibly valuable and is when I am able to ask my students deep questions that have to do with their specific learning journey. It is when I get to personalize my feedback for them and ask them questions that I hope will move them forward in their learning.  Really meaningful formative feedback.

I used to do a bit of this as a classroom teacher but not nearly enough. But as I reflect on my years as an FA and as I think about my upcoming full time return to the classroom, I know it is something I will need to make more time for because it may be the best type of formative assessment strategy that I know.

1 on 1 conferences--not just for Writer's Workshop and Genius Hour anymore! I am planning to make it a part of my assessment plan in all subject areas!

Any advice?

The other day my good friend, Joy Kirr, wrote a blog post called "We have to stop pretending..." in response to a blog post-challenge by Scott McLeod.  You can read the original post by Scott McLeod here.  She got me thinking when she posed the following questions:

At first I didn't think that I would have anything to say, I think I am a fairly realistic person and so my initial reaction, was "I don't pretend...I keep it real..." but then I thought some more and I started scribbling down my ideas on notepaper and before I knew it I had generated a long list...but here are the 5 that I think need the most attention right now:

1. We have to stop pretending that differentiation is easy.  We throw the term around like it is no big deal, but I think that it is hard work and we need to really put effort into ensuring our teaching is differentiated and then reflect on its effectiveness, make improvements and try again. It is an on-going cycle really.

2. We have to stop pretending that reflection is only for beginning teachers in a Teacher Education Program. I think that we all need to continue to reflect deeply on our teaching (in writing or some other method).  

3.  We have to stop pretending that learning only happens within the 4 walls of our classroom.  I have always encouraged my teacher candidates to think outside of the box (the classroom being a literal box) but I am not sure that I really do a great job at modelling this myself. I want to get better at finding meaningful ways to bring the learning outdoors.

4.  We have to stop pretending that students that misbehave are doing so on purpose. I don't think that any child wants to misbehave.  Every student has a different story when they walk into our classroom. We need to find ways to bring them in closer and help them learn about how they learn best. 

5.  We have to stop pretending that the content is so important.  Sure we need to know stuff...but instead of using learning methods and thinking strategies to get to the content, how about using content to learn the learning methods and thinking strategies?  Good news--I feel like we are starting to move in that direction as begin to talk more about the core competencies and things like Genius Hour.

Thank you Joy for encouraging me to think about this! 

Do you have something to add to this list?  I look forward to reading the comments! Or you can post your thoughts on twitter using the hashtag: #makeschooldifferent

For the past two semesters I have been on leave from my school district and working as a Faculty Associate for the Teacher Education program, PDP, at Simon Fraser University.  It has been an exciting experience so far and I have learned so much!  

Recently my Student Teachers completed their finals in the form of a self reflection based on the goals of the program.  This is one of their final assignments for their first semester of PDP.  At the end of their final they are asked to attach an Action Plan--this is where they reflect on the things that they know they still need to improve upon, they come up with a plan, and describe what they are going to do over the next 2 semesters to help them improve in that area.  It was such a great process and they came up with so many unique and fantastic plans to improve their teaching!  I was so impressed with the process that I started to do one for myself...which got me thinking: do we all need to be on an action plan?

Wouldn't this be a great practice for all of us to adopt?  What if we all ended every term with an action plan for how we were going to improve in a certain area next term?  An action plan, where just like in PDP, we all wrote out specific areas for improvement and then strategies we were going to try so that we could grow in those areas?  

Even master teachers have aspects of their teaching to work on.  We all do.  Brookfield (1995) talks about the 4 lenses for critical reflection in Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher and the first lens is self-reflection.  And although I think the other three are also important (the student lens, peer lens and looking at the literature) I wonder if we are doing all we could with that first lens-our own.  I believe that I have always been a reflective teacher, but it is only in the last 3 years (since I began my journey in graduate school) that I began to formally and regularly write down my reflections.  There is something to this writing down of the reflections.  I have noticed a difference in the quality of my reflections, and I have also realized that I tend to learn more about myself while I am writing.  Through the process of journaling, I am writing and then reading my own reflections and just as Hobson (2001) describes, it is because of this process that I am able to really notice certain aspects of my practice.  

In other words, I think I was reflective before I came back to journaling, but I have certainly found that writing has helped me organize my reflections, find patterns and then set goals.  My very own Action Plan.  Just like my Student Teachers.  

I have returned to the reflective practices that I left behind once I completed my Bachelor of Education, and I am so happy that I have because I know it is making me more aware of what I need to change in my current practice--I have a better awareness of what is working and what needs to be shifted.  

I know that it is more time consuming to journal as a means of reflection, but I think it is worth it.  It can help us come up with an Action Plan for ourselves.  Something to help us continue to grow as professionals. 

What do you think?  How do you reflect and set goals for your professional (or personal) development?

Bibliography

Brookfield, Stephen. Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San-Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 1995.

Hobson, D. "Action and reflection: Narrative and journaling in teacher research" in Burnaford, G., Fischer, J., & Hobson, D. (Eds.).  Teachers Doing Research: The Power of Action Through Inquiry.  US: Routhledge, 2001.  

On February 2-5th, I was lucky enough to attend the edtech teacher iPad Summit in San Diego. 
Conferences are always so great--I love learning with new people and meeting some of my tweeps face-to-face!  I had a wonderful time and learned a lot.  My biggest take-away though, and one that I can see myself using with my students in order for them to authentically explain their learning, was on the concept of Appsmashing!  Check out the video below--it is my appsmash on appsmashing!

Thank you to the all the presenters, especially Shawn McCusker, Greg Kulowiec and Samantha Morra who helped me wrap my head around appsmashing! 

Recently I have read a lot about critical friends, especially in articles and books by Stephen Brookfield, Arthur Kosta, Bena Kallick,Tom Russell, Sandy Schuck.  And I love the idea--someone who you agree to sit down with on a regular basis so that you are able to examine your practice through another lens.  Great idea!

But it had me thinking about the people with whom I do this anyway.  They aren't formal critical friends, per se, as we have not made any formal agreement or set any rules/expectations/time frame from which to operate. However, I would like to suggest that these informal critical friends are just as important as the formal critical friend relationship.  

Who are these informal critical friends?  They are the people that we talk to about education on a regular basis.  We may not have regular meeting times but we get together for coffee or dinner and talk about what is new and exciting in our classrooms and in education in general.  It's the teacher down the hall who you go and visit after school to celebrate with because you are bursting with excitement about a successful lesson.  Or, for many of us, the teacher down that virtual hallway (twitter).

Being a connected educator has enabled me to experience the perks of a critical friend without even really knowing it.   As I move forward I would like to explore the benefits of a more formal critical friend relationship (anyone with experience in teacher education want to sign up for that?), but I already know that that will never replace the energy I get from all of you, my friends and colleagues with whom I discuss learning, education, passion, and life.  

Thank you.  All of you.

Some of my critical friends: Tia Henriksen (@Tiahenriksen), DIana Williams (@teacherdiana1) and Robyn Thiessen (@robynthiessen).

We get together regularly to discuss education.  

Another critical friend, Antonio Vendramin (@vendram1n).

He is my former principal and has pushed my thinking and learning further than anyone else I can think of. I became a different kind of learner and teacher because of him and his mentorship.  

Thank you Antonio.

Here he is pushing me out of my comfort zone again.

Another place where I feel like I have a group of critical friends is on twitter.  On twitter, I have met so many people that help push my thinking forward.  Like Denise Krebs (@mrsdkrebs). Denise inspires me all of time!  More than she knows. 

Here we are together in person.  Denise drove up to Surrey, BC in the Spring of '13 and it was so wonderful meeting her and her wonderful family in person!  I love twitter, but there is something really special about talking to a person face to face!

And of course, I cannot leave out Hugh McDonald (@hughtheteacher), probably my closest critical friend!   I have learned so much from, and with this guy!  I miss teaching with you, buddy.


I could go on and on listing people who have taught me so much and who are such important informal critical friends, because there are so many!  But I will stop here as it is time for me to check out who is presenting next at #RSCON4 (http://www.futureofeducation.com/).  Check out the link to find another way to get connected!

And again, thank you all for being my critical friends.

How do you get feedback on your teaching/practice/thoughts/ideas?  Do you have a critical friend?  Is it a formal relationship, with arranged meeting times? Or more informal, like the ones I have described?  I would love to hear about them!  And again, if there is anyone working in teacher education who wants to arrange some sort of formal critical friendship, please let me know!

Hugh McDonald and I were having a conversation the other day.  After two school years of doing Genius Hour with our students, we realized that the positive affects of this type of learning reached far beyond that one hour each week that we devoted to it.  So, I brought it up during our last #GeniusHour chat to see if others were feeling the same way.  Check it out:

So many of us agreed that by giving students that time to persue their wonders and passions, students began to wonder about everything!  They became curious learners that asked meaningful questions!  

On Genius Hour days, and even on other days, students began to be more excited about coming to school!  We had students start coming in early to get a head start on their projects, and many would work right through recess or lunch because they were so excited about what they were doing. Kids excited about learning! It really doesn't get any better than that!

I love the above comment by Joel Pardalis.  Students taking risks and thinking outside of the box.  Perfect.
More great tweets:

And finally, teachers talked about how Genius Hour changed them as teachers too!  This is powerful stuff!

And then the conversation even turned to how Genius Hour does indeed support curriculum and many of the prescribed learning outcomes.   

I have one more tweet to share!  This one was shared by Joy Kirr, a teacher that I admire so very much! her words are perfect and I think they truly summarize how a lot of us feel.  Genius Hour doesn't just give students an hour (or 20% or however you break it down) to inquire into their passions and wonders...

...It changes EVERYTHING.  

I have change a lot as a teacher over the past few years thanks to my school district's support, graduate classes at SFU and mostly because of the support and brilliant ideas from my PLN.  Thank you all for learning and growing with me!  I am so excited to continue this journey with all of YOU. 

On the first Wednesday of each month a bunch of fantastic educators get together on twitter for a chat about Genius Hour. The past two chats have been amazing!  We had a lot of experienced #geniushour teachers and a lot of newbies too!  It was a great mix! We had great conversations, but it was moving so fast that I thought I would summarize some it.

We talked about assessment and giving feedback.  Most agreed that they did not grade Genius Hour projects, but instead provided formative assessment only.  After re-reading over 50 pages of archived tweets, here are some highlights:

• 1.  Hugh McDonald reminded us of the wonderful creativity rubric that Denise Krebs made a couple of years ago.  Hugh and I both use it with our students so that they have something to self-assess with and also as a jumping off point for their blog-refections.  We love it! 

• 2.  Many teachers talked about blogging as a way for students to reflect on their projects, the experience and what went right/wrong.  It also provides, as Greg Miller reminded us, the opportunity for peer feedback as well. 

• 3.  A lot of teachers, Joy Kirr included, also mentioned the importance of informal conversations with students during Genius Hour.  She has meaningful, one-on-one chats while students are learning!

• 4.  John Stevens talked about using google docs as a method for giving feedback.  He also uses google forms for students to submit project ideas.  Check that out here.

• 5.  Jas Kooner and some others mentioned that they like to give written feedback to their students.  She also spoke about the importance of peer-feedback.  Many chimed in and agreed.  I would love to see any documents/links regarding the way in which people do this.  In my class, we comment on each others' blogs as a way of giving peer-to-peer feedback.  Any other ideas?  Comment below!

• 6.  My students also reflect on their Genius Hour projects on their ePortfolios (in the same way that they reflect on every subject). Some students have done great step by step reflections! This way you can track their progress and chat about it with students whenever you have time.

• 7.  Lindsey Bingley explained that she gives students "oral feedback, through short conferences during Genius Hour".  Sitting down with students for a few minutes to quickly conference is also something that Hugh and I do with our students.  This is probably the easiest way for me to touch base with all my students.

• 8.  Julie Jee talked about doing monthly journal entries with her high school students.

• 9.  Rory Newcomb talked about framing her feedback in a  5-4-3-2-1 format.  She blogs about it here.

• 10.  Robyn Thiessen told us that her students fill out an action plan each week where they write about what they plan to do and then they self-assess afterwards.  She also reminded us of the Global Genius Hour Project and that it can be used for students in other classes to give feedback to each other. Great idea!

There you have it!  10 ways to give feedback.  Do you have any others?  Comment below!

A lot of us shared that we struggled to find the time to connect with every single student.  I liked Angela Maiers' advice: "Commit to 5 min a day - make a schedule five learners in five minutes everyday, non-negotiable".  This was echoed by Kevin Ashworth when he said that he will often quickly conference with students about Genius Hour, during non-genius hour time!  Chris Kesler suggested having students reflect from home, if time is an issue in your classroom!

Another interesting point of discussion, brought up by Troy Cockrum, was that of bringing in mentors; parents or community members who could assist students with their projects and provide insight. This is something I am definitely going to look into!  This year, Hugh and I had students with skype with some experts for Health and Career class.  Why not have them join for Genius Hour too?  I love it!

We also talked about ways in which students can share their projects.  Some common responses:

• Ted Talk style speech about what they did/learned
  
• iMovies and other videos documenting their journey
• Show their model/creation/invention and talk about it
• Powerpoint, Keynote and other slide shows
• Create a website or page on their existing website
• Picture collage/photo journal

Thank you all for participating in the chat and for giving us some things to think about when we implement our next round of Genius Hour.  

PLN, did I miss anything?  Please comment below!  Would love to hear from you!

A few days ago I attended a district dinner for teacher-bloggers and those interested in blogging.  Let me start with a thank you to the school district for putting on events like this.  I feel so fortunate to work in SD36, a place where innovation and sharing is encouraged!

So, over the course of the evening we heard 2 speakers.  Jordan Tinney, deputy superintendent, and George Couros, a visiting administrator from Edmonton and dear friend of the SD36 community.  It was a pleasure listening to these 2 educators as they shared their stories of engaging in social media and blogging, mentioning both the dangers and benefits of both.  George ended the evening with 2 questions: Why did you become an educator?  And what legacy do you want to leave?

The first one seems pretty straight forward to me...I know why I went into teaching.  But the 2nd one was surprising to me...never before had I considered the notion of leaving a legacy.  And I still am not sure about this question.  So let me start with the first question:

I had an amazing Grade 2 teacher, Ms. Mary MacDonald.  Honestly, it was so long ago that I am not clear on all the ways in which she was inspiring, but I do know that throughout my elementary years, I always looked up to her.  I think she was one of the few teachers that made me feel special and made me feel like she truly cared for me.  We made a connection.  And so I always had this idea in my head that I wanted to be just like her.  

Later, in Grade 7, I had another amazing teacher, Ms. Colette Leisen.  I didn't get to spend that much time with her as she was our Art teacher (so we probably only had her 2 times each week, I am not exactly sure).  Anyway, she, too, made her students feel special.  And when I was devastated about my first term report card, it was her that comforted me while I cried.  Interestingly, my husband (who went to the same elementary school) also cites Leisen as his favourite teacher whom he remembers as the one who opened up his eyes to the world around him.  He didn't just learn about math and art from her, he also learned about life.

So, I knew I wanted to be like these 2 women in some capacity.  And I knew that I loved working with children (I was a camp counsellor, babysitter and birthday party planner in high school).

But I think the biggest motivator to become a teacher hit me when I was in Grade 12.  My classmates all started talking about future plans: college, travelling, work, etc.  And I had no idea what I was going to do!  And I don't think my family did either.  Being the child of immigrants, they weren't exactly sure how all that worked over here.  And so it was up to me to figure it out for myself.

I finished grade 12, got a job and started college shortly afterwards.  It was during that time I realized I wanted to be a teacher so that I could help kids like me.  I had good parents, but ones that didn't really know how to guide me because they didn't have the same experience here themselves.  So I realized that I wanted to become a teacher and help high school students find their passion and figure out what they wanted to do with their lives.  And then help guide them in the direction of their dreams.

Well, it turns out I ended up teaching elementary school and not secondary, but I think my why is still the same. I help children figure things out about themselves, I share my story and I encourage them to follow their passion.

As for what legacy do I want to leave...I don't know if I have an answer to this question.  I hope my students remember their experience with me as a time that they felt loved and cared for (as I did with Mary McDonald) and also a time when they learned about themselves and about life (as my husband did with Colette Leisen). And I hope that they are less confused about their future options than when I was a kid.  I hope they learn that we are all learners and that it is just a matter of finding your passion.  I want Genius Hour to spread so that students have the opportunity to explore their passions at school.  And I want to leave them believing in themselves, their abilities, and their futures.  

What legacy do you want to leave?

The question that The Openspokes Fellowship is tackling this week is: How do you learn best?

I loved watching everyone's videos.  It was a wonderful reminder of the fact that everyone learns differently and we have to honour that, and be mindful of the diverse ways in which we all learn when we plan for our students.  

You can subsribe to the Fellowship and join in on the conversation here.

My weekly vlog:

So, how do you learn best?  I'd love to from you!

So, it is the last week of #ETMOOC and we have been talking about digital citizenship.  
How do we teach it? Model it?  etc...

And here is what I have been thinking about...I know we have to discuss what not to do with our students.  I do feel obliged to do that, I know I should say no online bullying, be careful, watch what you share, etc.  But, honestly, I don't really want to do that.  

I am not a negative person and I don't like focussing on life's don't lists.  I would much rather focus on the happier side of things.  I'd rather talk about the wonderful things we can do with social media, with our blogs and with the power of the internet.  And I want to focus on the positive behaviours and focus on what my students can do, should do, and will do! That is the discussion I want to have!  That is what I want them to brainstorm and share with the rest of the class, that is what I really think we ought to be focussed on!

Mother Theresa once said, "I will never attend an anti-war rally; if you have a peace rally, invite me".

I feel that same attitude can be applied to digital citizenship...I don't want to focus on the anti side of anything, I would rather focus on positive digital citizenship and gets students thinking and talking about the meaningful things we can do online...that gets me so much more excited than rambling on about what not to do.

What do you think?  Do we need to go through the consequences of negative behaviour?  Can we spend a little time on it and then focus more of our attention on the being good citizens.  

I would love to hear from you all about this!