Wednesday 16 December 2015

Teach Like a Pirate Part 2

It has been a great first half to the school year and we have explored lots of great educational practices. This will be the last post for a few weeks as we go on winter vacation for two weeks.
In the last post, we discussed the traits of Passion, Immersion and Rapport. Here we discuss Ask and Analyze, Transformation and Enthusiasm.

4. Ask and Analyze

As Albert Einstein said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

Burgess makes an important point in the chapter where he discusses the myth of the blind flashing light. This means that most people think that there are two types of teachers (or people) in the world: those that are creative and those that are not. So when he is asked by people how to make their lessons more creative and his responses often have people responding to him, “but I am not a creative person.” Burgess argues that this premise is faulty. He says that for starters, having that attitude will keep many people from creating engaging lessons. Secondly, he says it is an insult to the people who are considered creative to suggest that these creative gems just flow from them like a river. They have to work hard to bring creative ideas to their lessons and classrooms.

A teacher has to engage a creative process. This means asking the right questions because the type of questions we ask ourselves dictate the types of answers we receive. If you consistently ask questions that lead to creative and outside-the-box thinking, your mind will provide you with creative and outside-the-box answers. Burgess compares asking the right questions to turning the radio to the correct frequency. Most people go through life listening to static, not realizing they have the ability to be creative and tune to the creative channels. One good example of this is where Burgess gave a presentation to teachers and mentioned some ideas of lessons he conducts outside of the classroom. Afterwards he was approached by a teacher who said that he himself was not creative enough to think of those ideas. Burgess responded, “When you are designing your lessons, do you ask yourself ‘Is there a way I can get my class outside of the room for this lesson?’ Or have you asked, ‘Where is the best place on campus to deliver this lesson?” If you ask the latter, you might find that the best place for a lesson is not in the classroom. But you will never know if you don’t ask. Burgess explains this with a great analogy. As his family grew, they needed to purchase a minivan. Until that point, he did not know a thing about minivans. After doing some research and buying a Honda Odyssey, he started noticing thousands of minivans all around him on the streets. Did magic happen and in one day thousands of minivans were purchased that were never there before? Of course not; but until now, he never cared about them and so he didn't notice them. Now that he cared about them, he began noticing them everywhere. So too, with creative ideas. They are all around us, all of the time. Creative inspiration is constantly at our disposal, but we will never see it unless we actively and consistently attempt to create.

Never say the six words: “It is easy for you. You’re creative.” Don’t think people just have it or don’t - you have to work on in and that starts with asking the right questions. Don’t ask “how can I make this lesson bearable for my students today and keep them awake.” Rather, ask “how can I make this lesson outrageously entertaining, engaging and powerful so that my students will never forget it and will be desperate to come back for more?”

Finally, do not be afraid of failure; failure is how we grow. As T.S. Eliot says, “only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” Similarly, Robert F. Kennedy said, “only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

5. Transformation

The idea in this chapter is that too many students go through a school experience that is boring, monotonous and painful. Teachers lecture too much, focus only on content and miss the opportunity of having an audience that has to be there. Burgess argues that every teacher should aim to remarkable. Aim to be teacher that all the students talk about and want to learn from. The role of an effective teacher is an actor and entertainer. Obviously, we are not looking to entertain, but if we entertain then we can teach.

There are two questions that we should ask ourselves to raise the bar of our teaching:

If your students didn’t have to be there, would you be teaching an empty room?

We have all been to colleges where no attendance is required and no consequences for missing class. All that you need to do is take the tests. If that was your classroom, would your students come anyway? Is there something about your experience that would draw them in? Do you have students who are constantly leaving to go to the bathroom because they are too bored to stay in class?

2. Do you have any lessons you could sell tickets for?

This is a high standard, but it means do you have lessons that are so engaging that you could sell admission tickets? Realistically, no teacher will have these kind of lessons every day, but the best teachers have lots of these types of lessons. The argument here is that our kids have access to so much information, so much technology, so much more of everything external than we had as kids that we have to work harder and harder to draw them in. We need to attract them to learning. This is the transformation that Teach Like a Pirate is trying to accomplish.

6. Enthusiasm

Excellence in the classroom starts with having a passion for what you do in life and is driven home with your enthusiasm. Burgess makes the baseball analogy that enthusiasm is the closer that comes into the game in the 9th inning and finishes the game off. You will have days where students are tired or not as interested in the subject matter, but it will be your passion and enthusiasm that engages them and pushes them through the lesson. If you want engaged students who will want to learn from you, there is one rule to follow: Be enthusiastic every day, no matter what else is going on and your students will be engaged. “Bring it” with you every day. Unlike passion, enthusiasm can be faked; make sure your students see your enthusiasm every day!

Links to Interesting Articles:

1. How to Spark the Curiosity in Children Through Embracing Curiosity

2. ADHD May Have Different Effects on the Brains of Boys and Girls

3. Who Are the Gifted? What Do They Need?

4. Study: Middle School Students Want Recognition, Not Money

Links to Interesting Web Tools:

1. Create Interactive Videos to Review the Year

2. STEAM it Up with the 8 C's and 50+ Ideas and Resources
3. The Power of Google Books

Quote of the Day:

1. If You Don't First Secure Students Hearts...
2. Every Child You Pass in the Hall...
3. My Teacher Thought...

Tuesday 8 December 2015

Teach Like a Pirate - Part 1

For those of you who have been following my blog, I spent quite a bit of time in the early part of this school year reviewing the book, “Learn Like a Pirate,” authored by Paul Solarz. I now turn to a partnering book that came out a few years earlier called, “Teach Like a Pirate,” authored by Dave Burgess. The focus of this book is strategies and concepts to help increase student engagement, boost teacher creativity and transform your life as an educator. The next few blog posts will focus on this excellent book.

What is the connection to pirates? Burgess explains that teaching like a pirate has nothing to do with the definition of a pirate, but rather with the spirit of a pirate. Pirates are daring, adventurous and willing to set forth into uncharted territories with no guarantees of success. They refuse to conform to societal norms that might stifle their creativity and independence. They are entrepreneurs who take risks and are willing to travel long and far to find what they value. This is the type of attitude Burgess says we need in education.

The book is divided into three sections: 1. Teach Like a Pirate, 2. Crafting Engaging Lessons, 3. Building a Better Pirate. The next few posts will focus on Part 1 - Teach Like a Pirate, which is divided into six areas: Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Ask and Analyze, Transformation, and Enthusiasm.

1. Passion

Burgess starts with the need for us all to realize that we are not passionate about everything we teach. We know we are supposed to be passionate about teaching, but we have to be realistic that we are not naturally going to be passionate about every subject or lesson we teach and we will also have hard days when we are not passionate about anything. The key is what to do then? What do we do to make ourselves passionate? That is the key. Burgess discusses three types of passion: Content passion, Professional Passion and Personal Passion. If we focus on these three types of passion, we can be passionate in the classroom every day. Even if we don’t feel the passion for the content, we can be passionate about our professional calling or other personal passions. To accomplish this, ask yourself the following questions:

Within your subject matter, what are you passionate about teaching? In other words, which parts of your curriculum do you enjoy teaching most?
Within your profession, but not specific to your subject matter, what are you passionate about? What drives you as an educator? Consider why you became a teacher?

The point here is that one those days when you don’t have passion for your content, you must consciously make the decision to focus on your professional passion. This won’t come naturally; you need to work on it.

c. Completely outside of your profession, what are your passionate about? Everyone has personal passions. Burgess is passionate about magic, basketball, coaching, family, marketing and self-improvement. The goal should be to incorporate your personal passions into your teaching as much as possible.

2. Immersion

The secret to being a great teacher is total immersion.This is the ability to completely give yourself up to the moment and fully “be” with your students. You want your students to be able to say about you, “When she is teaching, she isn’t doing anything else.” On the flip side, your students will know it the minute you are distracted and not totally into your lesson.

Burgess contrasts a lifeguard and a swimmer. The lifeguard focuses and watches over the pool carefully. However, a swimmer is totally immersed and one with the water. When you walk into a classroom, one can observe the teacher who is sitting above the action, supervising the pool deck; he is like the lifeguard. Other teachers act like swimmers, actively part of the lesson and part of the action.

3. Rapport

In the ancient Chinese military book called “The Art of War,” Sun Tzu writes, “one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful. Subduing the other’s military without battle is the most skillful.” Teachers can learn a lot from this quote in that ultimately we don’t want to develop techniques to win behaviour management battles with our students, we want to develop techniques that allow us to avoid the battles altogether.

Burgess discusses why some of the biggest trouble makers in school could also be the best students in his class. Thee key is engagement; engaged students are rarely a behaviour problem. Misbehaviour usually indicates boredom, overwhelmed or lack of connection to the material being covered. The second half of this book will discuss strategies to increase student engagement, but we first have to build up a rapport with the students. You need to find out what the students find engaging. One of the biggest secrets for teachers is to spend less time trying to get students interested in what you are presenting and more time making connections betters what you are presenting and what they are already interested in.

We need to find out what hobbies our students have? What music do they listen to? What movies or TV shows do they watch? What sports they play and follow. This kind of information can be used as great hooks to bring the students into the learning.

Burgess also suggests spending informal time with your students. Use the time between classes, before and after school, lunch and recess to connect with your students. Stop and talk to your students in the hallway. Try to attend their extra curricular activities and sports games. Building rapport is all about interacting with your students as fellow human beings, not just as subordinates. Kids can tell the difference between teachers who only seem to care about them when they are sitting in the classroom, and those whoa see past the “student” to the unique person who resides inside.

Links to Interesting Articles:

1. What Type of Teacher Are You?

2. Five Practices that Provoke Misbehavior

3. 5 Strategies for Recovering After Your Worst Teaching Day

4. 6 Characteristics of Effective Praise

Links to Interesting Web Tools:

1. Teaching Students to Self-Assess

2. Teacher Recommended: 50 Favorite Classroom Apps

Quote of the Day:
1. A Key to Growing as a Teacher...
2. The Essence of Teaching is...
3. The Dream Begins...

Thursday 26 November 2015

Best Practices for Parent Teacher Conferences - Message to Parents

As our teachers prepare for Parent Teacher Interviews this week, I thought it would be a good idea to share some of my thoughts with you about how parents can get the most out of the interviews. Should you be interested in how I direct the teachers to approach the interviews, you can CLICK HERE to read my recent blog post aimed at teachers.

Listed below are my thoughts for how you can contribute to a successful interview with your child's teacher:

Before the Teacher Conference

1. Talk to your child. Ask your child what his/her strongest and weakest subjects are, and which subjects he/she likes most and least. Ask your child if he/she would like you to speak about anything particular with the teacher. You want to find out both the positive and negative. Make sure that your child understands that you and the teacher are meeting to help him, so that he doesn't worry about the conference.

2. Look at recent projects and assessments. This will help you be prepared for what the teacher is going to discuss with you.

3. Prepare a list of notes. Make a list of topics that you want to discuss with the teacher and that you think the teacher should know, such as your concerns about the school, the child's home life, any major changes in your family, habits, hobbies, or anything that is worrying your child. Be sure to ask for input from your spouse or other adults that are caring for your child as well.

4. Prepare a list of questions. Preparing a list of questions will help you have a productive conversation with your child's teacher. Prioritize the questions because you won't have time to ask all of these in one 7 minute conference.

The following questions are examples that will help you learn more about your child's progress in school:

What is my child expected to learn this year?
How will this be evaluated?
What are my child's strongest and weakest subjects?
What are some examples of these strengths and weaknesses?
Does my child hand homework in on time?
What types of tests and evaluations will my child have to take this year?
How are my child's test-taking skills?
Is my child participating in class discussions and activities?
How are my child's social skills?
Does my child seem happy at school?
Have you noticed any unusual behaviors?
Has my child missed any classes other than his/her excused absences?
Do you think my child is reaching his/her potential?
What can I do at home to help support his/her academic progress?

During the Teacher Conference

1. Arrive early. With only a few precious minutes to spend, you don't want to be late. It will shorten your time with your child's teacher and affect her day's entire schedule. Remember: We only have 7 minutes per interview.

2. Enter with the right attitude and an open mind. The goal of both the teacher and the parent should be the success of the student, but sometimes parents have a hard time discussing tough issues. Rather than put the teacher on the defensive, arrive with a compliment to start the conference off on the right foot. ("My son is really enjoying the unit on multiplication" or "he had a great time at the Shabbat party.") Then address any concerns in a respectful way.

3. Teachers Want Your Input

Teachers are just as interested in your input as you are in theirs. There are many things about your child the teacher doesn't know. Teachers want to be apprised of any changes your child is facing in his personal or family life, and how he behaves at home in comparison to how he acts at school.

4. Tell the teacher what your child loves to do at home. Talk about non-academic skills your child has, unusual hobbies, or passions that lie outside the classroom. When the teacher knows these things, he/she can work to connect them to what they teach, making school more interesting for students and helping them feel like they are essential people in the classroom.

5. Be yourself. Relax and be yourself. Remember that you and the teacher both the want the same thing: the very best for your child.

6. Stay calm: Stay calm during the conference. Respectful communication will be the most effective way to work together with your child's teacher. Getting angry or upset during the conference will make it very difficult to have a positive conversation.

7. Respectfully discuss differences of opinion. If you disagree with the teacher, respectfully explain why you disagree. If you don't let the teacher know about your differences of opinion, the teacher may think that you agree and will move on to the next topic. Discussing your differences with the teacher may help both of you find a more effective way to help your child

8. Create an action plan: Ask your child's teacher for specific suggestions of ways that you can help your child at home with homework, reading, organization, routines, behavioral issues, etc. This list of suggestions will become the action plan. Establish a way to keep track of the child's progress, as well as the best way to stay in touch with your child's teacher - through phone calls, emails, notes, or meetings. Review the action plan with the teacher as you end the conference to make sure that you both have the same expectations.

9. Confirm the regularity of communication. Don't let this be the only time you talk to your child's teacher. Discuss how often you need to be in touch about your child's progress.

10. Thank the teacher for meeting with you. Thank the teacher for her time and support of your child, as well as for anything specific that she has done to help your child.

After the Teacher Conference

1. Talk with your child. Talk about the conference with your child. Emphasize the positive points, and be direct about problems that were discussed. If you and the teacher created an action plan, explain it to your child. Make sure that your child understands that you and the teacher created this plan to help him/her.

2. Start working on the action plan. Set the action plan in motion. If the teacher brings something to your attention that needs to be addressed with your child, take steps to put the plan in motion, whether it's helping with organizational skills, getting extra help, or addressing a social issue. To ensure that it is working, check your child's behavior and schoolwork on a regular basis. Ask your child how he feels about school and his schoolwork.

3. Keep in touch with the teacher. Stay in touch with your child's teachers. This will help you strengthen the parent-teacher partnership, and will be an important part of the child's success in school. When a child sees that parents and teachers are working together, the child will understand that his/her education is a top priority at school and at home.

We only have parent teacher interviews twice a year. I hope you will all maximize the experience so we can partner to improve the education of your child.

Wednesday 25 November 2015

Best Practices for Parent Teacher Conferences - Message to Teachers

It is the time of year where many schools are having Parent-Teacher Conferences (in Canada we call them Interviews). As I began preparing some important best practices to share with my teaching staff, I realized there was a long list to share with them. For fear of overwhelming everyone, I chose to make two lists that I culled from other sources:

I. Vital guidelines that every teacher has to keep in mind

II. Best practices that we should all aspire to

I. Listed below are the vital guidelines:

It is important that you arrive on time and begin each appointment promptly.

A bell will ring every 7 minutes. This is a signal for both you and parents that the meeting is over. Even if the interview has not yet finished, you must explain that the day runs by appointments, and you must meet with your next appointment on time. and we must adhere to strict timing. and their appointment is up! You may find it helpful to stand up at the end of the meeting - subtle body language can make the difference. Regardless, no one set of parents can upset the sequence of appointments for the day. If parents need more time, please arrange an alternate time to talk with them.

Should a parent be late and an unscheduled parent be waiting in hopes of meeting with you, - do NOT meet with the "unscheduled" parent, as the "late" parent will likely probably show up and they do have the right to that time slot. Experience has shown that parents may be a minute or two late and then get frustrated that you've already started another conference. The "unscheduled parents" can meet you during a hole in your schedule.

Always begin with the positive and make certain there is a balance between the positive and the “next steps”. Think of two or three positive descriptors for each student (e.g., "Michelle is so eager to help" or "David seems well liked by his classmates").

Remember to: prepare the following items:

Know in advance what you want to say. Prepare thoughts and materials. Create an agenda or list of key issues you want to discuss about each student’s progress and growth. CLICK HERE for some planning templates.

Always have evidence to support what you have to say. Use examples. Walk parents through the assignments and assessments that are particularly demonstrative of the student’s progress and abilities.

Limit the number of concerns to no more than three.

Describe what you have done to remedy the situation

Always work towards a collaborative solution.

For those students who received a “Progressing with Difficulty” or “Emerging” in the Gan, make sure you are prepared to explain this to the parents. Similarly, be sure to explain to parents why their child received a Needs Improvement or Unsatisfactory for Middot skills. BE SPECIFIC: Excessive talking, inability to focus, too much clowning around, disrespectful, etc. Be sure to explain that their child's’ unsatisfactory behavior negatively affects the classroom environment demeanor and takes time away from your teaching your class teaching time. (No one child has the right to limit the learning of other students.)

It is important that you not project your opinion about a child’s diagnosis or dosage for medication. You should describe observable behaviours, but not medical information that is the purview of a doctor.

Some traps to avoid: discussing family problems, discussing other teachers' classroom treatment of the student, comparing the student to their siblings, arguing with the parent, attempting to psychoanalyze the student, blaming the parent for the student's misbehavior.

It is also very important to pay attention to the bulletin boards inside and outside your classroom. Please ensure that there is a write- up, explaining what went into the work being displayed. A description of your lesson goals and your success criteria can be very helpful. If you have photographs of the process in action, they too can be displayed.

Be sure to bring your laptop so you can access your grades and comments. We will be printing the children’s report cards for teachers in Gan through Grade 5.

It is important that we all support the new DDC initiative that the school has undertaken. Please do not allow parents to speak negatively about the new system. You can tell them that the administration would be happy to hear their feedback. It goes without saying that teachers should not project any negativity towards the new system.

Schedule a way to follow- up on your conference in the next few weeks and months. If you tell parents you will follow- up with them, be sure to do that in accordance with the timeline that you agreed upon.

Be sure to call back those who requested a call back!

II. Listed below are the best practices:

Create a welcoming environment. Make your classroom comfortable for families by displaying student work, arranging seating in circles (with adult chairs, if possible), and making a private space for the conferences. Don't hide behind your desk. It can be a barrier to developing a working relationship. If possible, sit beside the parent at a table. Also avoid seating parents in small children's chairs.

Arrange the room setting to minimize potential distractions or interruptions during the conference.

Even the parents of bright, strong students want details. They do not want to hear only “he is an ideal student”, Add your goals, what he can still work on, or his special abilities.

It is a good idea to have work available for parents to peruse. I would also have an example of a really good piece of work (you should take out the student’s name) for parents to see. Sometimes an example of a “three” is also a good idea. It is also a good idea to have examples of work from the beginning of the year so that you can show growth.

Ask questions and listen actively. Solicit family input into student strengths and needs, learning styles, and non-school learning opportunities. Ask parents about their hopes and dreams for their child.

Actively listen to the parent. Respond empathically to feelings expressed by the parent (e.g., "You are disappointed Sarah isn't getting more individual attention in class"). This communicates that you really are trying to understand the parents' perspective; it does not imply you necessarily agree with their view. Such active listening is an especially effective way to handle the angry parent.

Share ideas for supporting learning. Provide suggestions for activities and strategies families can use at home to help their child learn and grow.

Seek solutions collaboratively. Avoid judgments about what “they” should do and instead emphasize how “we” can work together to resolve any problems. Make an action plan. Spend the last few minutes discussing how you and the family will support the student. Be specific about the kinds of things you will do, for how long you will do them, and how you will check in with one another about progress.

Don't dwell on any student's attributes that are unlikely to change or over which the parents have little control.

Practice the very best of manners, treating each parent with full respect and dignity.

Address all parents by their last names preceded by the appropriate Mr., Mrs., or Ms. until you are invited by them to use their first name.

When you are delivering news about an academic or behavioral problem, author Susan Swap and others suggest these strategies:

Focus your comments and efforts only on things that can be changed.

Limit the number of suggestions for improvements so that parents are not overwhelmed.

Speak plainly and avoid jargon and euphemistic language.

Be tactful, but not so tactful that you don't adequately communicate the problem.

Ask for and listen to parents' reactions.

Be specific when discussing difficulties the student is experiencing. It is generally better to be candid, yet non-blaming. It is unwise to mislead the parent into thinking all is well if there is a problem with their child. Stick to the facts, giving concrete examples, rather than broad generalities.

It is best to avoid getting emotional in discussing problems you may be having with the student. Remember, your goal is to enlist the parent's cooperation in resolving any difficulties the student may be experiencing in your class.

Inquire about home routines (responsibilities, homework habits, play, etc.). Seek information that might help you gain a better understanding of the student's talents, interests, and challenges.

Try to offer two or three specific suggestions for the parent to implement at home that might help the student. Offer them not as commands, but as ideas that have worked with other students.

Invite the parents to contact you with any future concerns about their child's classroom progress.

End the conference with a hopeful tone. Summarize the main points discussed and any steps to be taken to resolve identified problems. Again commend them for coming to the conference.

Do follow up with notes or a phone call, especially if a particular problem has been identified for attention.

Here are some links I share with parents about how to make the most of the parent teacher interview:

Make the Most of Your Teacher Conference

Tips for Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences at Your Child's School

Tuesday 17 November 2015

Flipped Classroom Part 2 - Challenges, Solutions, Books and Great Resources

In my last post, I outlined many of the good reasons to consider flipping your classroom. The main objective would be to remove some of the rote lecture from the classroom and allow students to experience that at home at their own pace, leaving class time for more one on one interaction and differentiated instruction. But is there any downside to flipping? Personally, I do not believe there is and I would like to discuss the arguments against flipping and then perhaps rebut those arguments.

#1 - Does Flipping Increase Homework Time? - If every teacher were to assign a 5-7 minute video every night, that would be a problem no matter where you fall on the homework spectrum. I am not advocating that everyone flip all the time. But it would be great if we were to each flip our classroom once or twice a week. Doing this would give the students a 10 minute homework assignment, which would not add any extra homework burden. It is simply reshaping the homework from classical pen and paper questions to watching a video to prepare for the next lesson.

#2 - Flipping Assumes Every Student Has Internet at Home - thankfully, in our school setting, this is an assumption we can make. However, in some low income neighbourhoods, this could potentially be a roadblock to flipping. However, many teachers have found ways around this by creating the screencasts and downloading them onto a cd to send home with the students. In other schools, students are given the chance to watch the videos first thing in the morning before going to class.

#3 - Videos Are One Size Fits All - will my videos attract all kinds of learners? In my experience, great teachers can make great screencasts. If you are effective at differentiating the learning in your classroom, you can create videos that are straight forward enough that all learners can learn the basic elements of the lesson.

#4 - Will the student have the motivation to work through the material? Most research says yes. The combination of students going at their own pace combined with the student being able to rewind the teacher has led to amazing results.

#5 - Will the student have engaged with the material deeply, or superficially? Again, this will depend on the student and the teacher's presentation. Typically, keeping a video down to 5-8 minutes will allow many more of us to upload at one time.

In closing, If you are intimidated to flip, then learn screencasting to create a review of a lesson. Take your time to be convinced of the methodology, but in the meantime start creating screencasts. In my last blog, I showed from your PC, here are screencasts that show you how to create them from an iPad and a Chromebook.

Creating a Screencast on an iPad