As a vice principal, I have the wonderful opportunity to spend time in many different classes over the school year and I always find it so exciting to see what folks are doing with their students!  Of course I get especially excited when teachers invite me into their classrooms to participate during Genius Hour.  Last year (the 2016-17 school year) I had several different teachers ask me to join in during Genius Hour and it was great to see how they all approached it in slightly different ways.  The overall structure was similar in each room: students were given time to brainstorm lists of things they were interested in, passionate about, cared about, etc and then students designed a project around one of these topics starting with an inquiry question that they would pursue.  Students were then given the opportunity to share their learning in a way that they chose–a fairly typical Genius Hour structure. Good stuff!

However, one teacher structured it a bit differently. Before introducing the concept of Genius Hour to her class, she noticed that students really wanted the opportunity to become the teacher and teach the class themselves. And so, in order to be responsive to this authentic enthusiasm in her class, she introduced Genius Hour and asked them to prepare a lesson at the end. She told them they would all get to be teacher! This is what they had been begging for!

So, we introduced Genius Hour in the same way as the other classes (following these steps). But she added that at the end they would have the opportunity to teach something to the rest of the class as part of their project.  Students in her grade 4/5 class were very excited about this presentation format.  They were thrilled to plan lessons and teach their peers a new skill, some new information, etc.

So, why am I writing about this now? I was recently perusing an article by Parker Palmer and was struck again by one of his famous quotes, “good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher”, and was reminded once again, how there cannot be one prescribed way to do Genius Hour. Like Denise Krebs and I state in our book, you have to make it your own and do what works for you.  I love that this teacher was in tune with what her students wanted to do and made that connection to what she wanted to do–Genius Hour.

It was a win-win for everyone. And I was thrilled to be able to support the learning in her classroom-so a win for me too.
​

Pro: 
Spending time with like-minded educators around the world. A while ago I blogged about how I love twitter because instead of just being able to collaborate with the teachers in my hallway, I was now able to collaborate with amazing teachers everywhere! The whole world became my hallway! Similarly, ISTE is like a face to face twitter feed! I am able to connect with all those same amazing teachers in person--we literally get into the same hallway finally! 
 
Con:
The hallway is super crowded!!! You have to become a professional person-dodger (new word: it works, right?) to make it from one end of the convention centre to the other!
 
Pro:
You find yourself nodding along with all of the presenters.  You have found your people.

Con:
But it is hard to find the time to chat with your people.  Most folks are in a rush because there is so much going on. How do we ensure more real conversations are happening? With the people you know...and maybe even with someone new!

Pro:
Choices! Choices! Choices!
I had dozens of workshops starred on the ISTE app (oh! there is another pro-the app). There were so many amazing workshops being offered and I wanted to go them all. I mean, when else do you get to attend workshops put on by inspiring educators from around the world?

​Con:
You go to the sessions. BUT...now what?  I need a now what component!  I know what the issues are...let's talk solutions.  Maybe we need to have a discussion area for people who want to continue 'nerding out' post-presentation and discuss.  I felt like a lot of what I heard at ISTE was preaching to the choir…and…I already believe! I am with you! Now let's talk about what we are going to do next...Please! 

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?

A little while ago by friend Oliver Schiinkten sent me a tweet asking: 

I responded with a quick tweet back:

And I said that I would probably have to write a blog post to actually explain what I really think. In the mean time, my fantastic friends (and super fast bloggers) Denise Krebs and Joy Kirr responded with their ideas here and here. So now it is finally time for me to sit down and properly reflect on my answer to this question:

What is the purpose of school?

I think school has many purposes--a place for us to learn new things, a place for us to practice new methods of learning, a place for us to ask questions and share our thoughts. A place to play and socialize with others. A place to become more literate, develop a strong number sense and get elbow deep in paint and paper mache once in a while as we test out new ways to express ourselves. A place to be creative thinkers.  School has so many purposes. It is really a complicated thing--because it isn't completely clear and it isn't just one or two things. We get SO much out of school.  

But if I had to zoom in on one aspect that I think is of KEY importance it would be: thinking.

School is where we learn:
how to think. 
how we think. 
how others think. 
what ways of thinking work best for us. 
how to share our thinking.
and what we like to think about. 

It is about learning and learning is about thinking. And there are so many fantastic ways to do this. And the better we plan for opportunities for our students to think & learn the more engaged they will be and the more they will love learning and thinking. And that is really what I want out of all of this whole school thing for them: for them to continue wanting to learn. wanting to think. being curious. AND being life-long learners who LOVE this. 

That is what I think today anyway. What do you think?

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.