SUMMIT: Science, Entertainment, and Education - Sir Ken Robinson

Summit on Science, Entertainment, and Education - Sir Ken Robinson from The Science and Entertainment Ex on Vimeo.

On February 4, 2011, a carefully selected group of individuals met in Los Angeles to help us discover how film, television programming, video games, and other entertainment media can be systematically adopted to enhance student learning at the middle school and high school level. For more information visit Summit

Life isn't a production line

"If you are not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything at all."
Sir Ken Robinson, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation. He is also one of the world’s leading speakers with a profound impact on audiences everywhere. The videos of his famous 2006 and 2010 talks to the prestigious TED Conference have been seen by an estimated 200 million people in over 150 countries.

Open 6 doors: one lesson at a time

If we are serious about improving teaching, then we need to begin to open the doors to one another’s classes. This article is not suggesting that the system is broken, but rather it is about giving suggestions on how we might begin to see improvement in the school one lesson at a time.

Anticipate improvement to be continual, gradual, and incremental
If we believe that we can wave a magic wand and expect that improvement in our classes overnight, we are living in a dream. Learning takes time. In spite of the new reforms, initiatives or creativities; change may be thrown on us quickly, but it is really a slow and incremental process. Continue to invent small changes in the system and keep track in order that they may be shared.

Focus on student learning
The point of teaching is student learning. If we forget this point, then measuring success of students will be an impossible task. We need to begin asking one another how these changes are improving students learning in order that we might stay on track and not get lost in excitement of change.

Focus on the teaching
Teachers come and go. Teaching on the other hand focuses on the methods and the tools. Collaboration is key to scripting our approach. Our script is looking at what we value, what we want to improve, what tools we are going to use, what benchmarks we are going to use. Once we begin examine our methods and tools, and then improvement will begin to emerge.

Improve with context
Improvements in teaching do not begin at the University, at the Ministry nor at the Board Office. They begin and end in the classrooms where our students learn and our teachers teach. Teachers have known forever what works in one classroom might not work in another. On Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs we see innovation being spread like wild fire. Innovation needs to be tried out over and over again with adjustments as we encounter different classrooms. Traditional methods of weekend workshops and the like do not always allow for improvement to take place in the classroom as they are far too often disconnected to your context in the classroom. Make the innovation real and in context and begin to see improvements emerge continually, gradually, and incrementally.

Take responsibility
Improvement doesn’t happen on its own. It is developed in context and engages the learners though working with other highly qualified professionals to entrust change. If we, as teachers, are the only ones who can entrust change, then we need to seek out the tools, the research, and the best solution to the problem of improving our teaching.

Learn from experience
Each new teacher that enters a classroom starts from scratch. They are capable of solving problems, trying new approaches, and developing their own knowledge base for teaching. But what is missing is their experience. So the team of teachers who have been working together for the long run, incrementally changing and storing professional knowledge might be effective, but that knowledge and experience needs to be shared. New teachers to the profession need to find a mentor, while experienced teachers need to provide a means to share their insights. How else can we get better over time?

Once we begin opening the doors to one another’s classrooms, we might begin to see what we have learned about teaching. The fruits of this learning, might emerge in school improvement over time.

Evernote

Great tool for students. My question is who owns the copyright?

Digital Storytelling: Body, Mind, Machine

Digital storytelling is the application of technology to the age-old experience of sharing personal narratives. It is a process or a vehicle for studying themes, structures, concepts, and contents of any curriculum. The structures in digital storytelling establish character and place, rising action, climax and dénouement. Finally through digital storytelling students create the content in these structures which provide and imply an imposed discipline.

A digital story typically begins with a script. The storyteller then assembles rich media to support the ideas and emotions in that script, including music or other audio effects, personal or public-domain images, animations or video, and other electronic ele¬ments. The storyteller pieces together and edits the digital story, creating a short movie, usually about two to four minutes long, in one of various file formats. (7 things you should know about digital storytelling)

Digital storytelling weaves together body, mind and machine.
The following is a list of possible criteria:
• Serious purpose?
• Risk or experiment?
• Use of space?
• Use of people?
• Use of time?
• Improvement?
• Control of media and expression?
• Media translation?
• Communication?
• Self-confidence?
• Use of symbols?
• In role?
• Shape?
• Text interpretation?
• Adequate preparation?
• Effective speech and movement?

Benefits:
1) It allows the student to make contact with his environment and record her findings.
2) It creates a bridge between a student’s consciousness and emotional experience.
3) It represents to the student the externalized experience if her emotional life.
4) It serves the student as engagement, as amusement, and as authentic.

The teacher by being knowledgeable, flexible, inspiring, approachable, enthusiastic, organized; should be able to help students strike the balance between the use of the medium and the message.
Below, I have linked some student work as starting points-
Commercial -Girl shares her experience and riding
Newscast - the debate over the ethical dilemma of cloning.
Renee's Blog Girl shares work and thoughts of the process

What’s your story?

Photo credit Juliette Richie

You can't give what you don't got...

even if …
i pads or i phones or
moodle or google or
blogs or gadgets or bing…
That you use is the very best one,
Teaching SMART is so much fun.

If you are “new” to the world of teaching with technology, remember you can’t give what you don’t got. Keep in mind that every teacher and every team has a hand in the school improvement plan. Generally, all plans are designed to increase student achievement. If you want to add technology into the plan you have to identify and pursue SMART goals. Otherwise technology for the sake of technology is the ideology of the cancer cell.

Key Questions:
1) What knowledge and skills should each student acquire from the use of the technology?
2) How do we know if the student has mastered the intended outcomes?
3) How will we respond when a student has initial difficulty achieving the established standards you set?

An ounce of planning:
Once the above questions are asked and answered, we are able to align our time, money, and energy in a way that would give us the biggest return on investment of our scarce resources. This leads to celebrations. No matter how big or how small, we look for celebrations and the use of technology with our students in their inevitable achievement.

I encourage you to keep tweeting, moodling, googling, blogging – SHARING … with the goal toward student achievement and engagement. I look forward to learning from each other, only then will I be able to give what I got.

What's your story?

photo credit flickr

Technology: Time, Perspective, Priorities

I read a tweet recently that, I must admit, annoyed me a little. It suggested that teachers are the reason that technology is not advancing as quickly as it ought in the public school system. I would like to submit a different point of view.

In a previous article “Gone Fishing”, I spoke of students having greater equality access to knowledge and more opportunities to be challenged to their highest potential with the use of technology [despite the teacher]. Also, in my article “I don’t have the time” I highlighted that everything we do is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, grading periods, semesters, or academic years to name a few. Put the two ideas together and it occurs to me it comes down to time, perspective, and priorities.



Time
Teachers are concerned with “engaged time”; inviting students to participate in learning activities; technological or otherwise. If this is true, then how can a teacher be expected to find the time to finish all the “have to’s” participate in board initiated professional development, take additional qualifications, raise a young family, …

even if …
i pads or i phones or
moogle or google or
blogs or gadgets or bing…
That you use is the very best one,
Learning without time is just no fun.


Perspective
Perspective is a powerful tool. Perhaps we need to put aside the “have to’s” and change perspective in the way we define our jobs. Consider Dufour’s story about a young woman who observed three tradesmen at work. Each tradesman was doing the same activity. She went to the first tradesmen and asked what he was doing; he replied “I’m just laying brick”. She went to the second tradesmen and asked what he was doing; he replied “I’m building a wall”. She went to the third tradesmen and asked what he was doing; he replied “I’m building a Cathedral”. Each one had the same task to complete, but three very different perspectives on what he was accomplishing.

Instead of “laying a brick” focus on “building a Cathedral”…

even if …
i pads or i phones or
moogle or google or
blogs or gadgets or bing…
That you use is the very best one,
Learning without perspective is just no fun.



Priorities
Once you have decided to “build a Cathedral” then anything is possible. The Savvy Duck suggests a number of factors when choosing to use hardware or software. Here is his quick list:
• Does it really solve the problem or do I just want to use it?
• How long will it take to integrate and build from?
• Does anyone in the building have any experience using it?
• How much does it cost and are support agreements available?
• What is the licensing scheme?
• How big is the internet community?
• What are the posts like in the support forum (if there is one)?
• How long has it been available?

If you decide in the end that it does meet the criteria to assist your students in their learning, then time no longer becomes an issue. You cannot choose to create more time, but you can choose your focus…

even if …
i pads or i phones or
moogle or google or
blogs or gadgets or bing…
That you use is the very best one,
Learning with priorities is so much fun.

Search and Google

I want to increase the probability of learning in my students, so I assist them to develop skills they need in order to be self-directed / independent learners. I use a search strategy to assist them in the preparation and planning stage before googling. My research projects usually focus on a question to be answered rather than a general topic.

With the use of a problematic situation I heighten students’ curiosity and engage them to want to do more. As the students begin the task that is set before them, I assist the students to make connections and monitor their understanding. Finally, when it comes near the end of the task for the summative report, I engage the students in a reflection.

Specifically students:

1) Select a specific topic of interest to study
2) Establish what students know, think they know, and want to know about the topic. I usually have them think-pair-share to stimulate ideas. Then they record their ideas into categories. Students soon discover they know more than they realize and boost their confidence.
3) Ask questions to raise curiosity and challenge students by asking for more specific information when they share about their topic.
4) Read resource material, including google searches, to verify what they know and think they know, to answer questions, and raise new questions.
5) Come together like scholars; to review their findings.
6) Have large group discussion to share their findings, and to identify unanswered questions as well as new questions for further research.

When students feel overwhelmed I use this search and google technique.

What’s your story?

photo credit CBC

Gone fishing...

Teaching information in a variety of contexts gives students greater equality in access to knowledge and more opportunities to be challenged to their highest potential. The old adage holds true: “Give a student a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." We already know education gives children the most critical building blocks to adulthood and self-sufficiency. In this scenario the student gets to be in the moment, HEAR the water slap against the boat; SMELL the water and the natural odours of the out-of doors; FEEL the tug of the fish on the line, the splash of the fish in the boat; SEE the size of the fish as it tries to flop back in the water; and finally TASTE the delicious fish as it is cooked over a camp fire.

Lessons incorporating cross-curricular studies , discovery science, role play, games, physical activity, art, music, or drama have the advantage of stimulating the brain (Thesen, Jonas, Calvert, and Ostenbauer 2004). Naturally a teacher is not expected to simulate every sense simultaneously. Rather teachers should engage all learning styles, thus drawing all students into the topic; whatever the subject.

If teaching a student to fish is multisensory, by all accounts would suggest an increased number of synapses and dendrites stimulated during the activity and would support the theory of multisensory input and the effect on the brain. Therefore, if greater brain stimulation promotes the growth of synapses and dendrites, and more areas are stimulated when information is passed through multiple senses, then multisensory presentation of lesson material could stimulate the growth of more brain connections and lead to better information storage.

So what? Since multisensory inputs more than one specific sensory receptor of the brain, then multisensory strategies may increase subsequent access of the cross-referenced memories for use on tests and build future relational memories.

Now if I could just teach the fish to bite…

What’s your story?

photo by spottedsparrow (Julia)

References: Thesen,T, Jonas, V., Calvert, G., & Osterbauer, R. (2004). Neoroimaging of multisensory processing in vision, audition, touch, and olfaction. Cognitive Processing

Creating student portfolios

What should be included in a student portfolio? Ask the student and let her help decide.

Portfolio assessment provides a variety of means to document and assess student work. A student portfolio is similar to one of an artist. An artist carries a portfolio to show prospective clients examples of her best work.

In student portfolios students might choose to add
a) peer observation and evaluation;
b) evidence of self reflection, self knowledge, self evaluation;
c) items that tell a story of the journey of the year;
d) teacher observations;
e) things that show growth and change (eg extra-curricular, interests, attitudes);
f) items that demonstrate "my best work done to date";
g) information from parents;
h) items that indicate transfer of learning;
i) evidence of progress toward year's goal;
j) ...

Portfolios are performance based assessments that match assessments in the "real world". Students receive immediate feedback, gain confidence by acknowledgements of their strengths, and gain insight into how to improvement.

Why not ask students to be present for parent-teacher conferences and have them conference with their parents about their portfolios?

What's your story?

Photo credit Rick Harrison

My way or the highway

With the students that I have worked with over my career, I have come across students who misbehave. In my experience, misbehaviour comes from a student’s feelings of inadequacies. Feeling inadequate can lead to anger which can lead to bullying, and feelings of arrogance can lead to attention seeking behaviour.

Where we often find an impasse and escalate a situation is when we take a stand as teachers and say “it’s my way or the highway”. Listening and open communication are the best policies, as they allow us to identify feelings to begin to help students. Blocking the two-way street of communication and paving a highway your way leads to devastation.

Simply respond to students as good citizens and know that they are usually harder on themselves then we could ever be. Let’s begin to look at the rules in our classrooms as structure that gives safety and freedom to every student, including you!

What's your story?

Kick start motivation

I often speak about motivating students. But, teachers are the greatest “givers” of time, knowledge, and experience. But you can’t give what you don’s got. Foremost, to motivate students we must be motivated to improving ourselves. Without this desire, it is like the Toronto Maple Leafs wanting to win the Stanley Cup at the beginning of the season; then can’t find the will, the time, or the energy to work at that goal. The bottom line: we must push ourselves to get better. No one else can work at our motivation.

So how do I feed this desire? What if I don’t have the inclination? I would argue that you have to put yourself in situations to view excellence greater than your own. There is nothing like watching the Wayne Gretzky’s of the world to instil in you the desire to be a better hockey player. The same is true for teaching. Look down in the classrooms of your school, read or view articles from some of the well-known authors like Sir Ken Robinson, Michael Fullan, Robert Marzano, Richard Dufour or Damian Cooper to name a few.

Second, find an area that you want focus on what you want to explore and bring into focus. Blog, journal, pen and reflect your accomplishments in the classroom. This includes the highs and the lows. The feelings that you attach to your own experiences represent new learning and the fuel to kick start your motivation.
Take a closer look at what your skilled colleagues are doing. What makes your colleagues so successful? What are her techniques? What are her skills? Invite a trusted colleague to visit your classroom and give you feedback. With permission, videotape your “performance” in front of a class. This allows us to see very clearly our behaviours, our procedures, and our strategies close up and personal. Review your evaluation reports. Seek out one or two concrete suggestions for improvement.

Third prioritize your areas of improvement and measure your progress. Brainstorm your top 10 areas of improvement. Establish a timeline and measure your success. For example, you might want to explore strategies to increase student engagement. Research it, read about it, talk about it, watch it and finally set a deadline for incorporating these strategies.

Most importantly celebrate your success. I believe we often overlook the opportunity to celebrate our growth and achievement. Savouring that success fuels us to keep motivated. Focus on progressing steadily rather than leaping to the next goal. Maintain a belief that nothing in education is beyond your reach!

What is your story?

Coachable, engaged students

I am sure that I would not get much debate that high achievement, regular attendance, appropriate behaviour and graduation rates begin in a classroom. Not just any classroom, but a classroom of students who are coachable, engaged, and have an interest in learning. Yet many remain disengaged.

Currently I am the Coordinator of Fanshawe College’s Fast Forward Program and am working with a handful of students who are committed to changing their condition and making a difference in their own lives. I am charged with the task of assisting them with their situations and helping give them the tools to navigate their own life issues, re-enter the school system and have a respectful voice to advocate for their own needs toward achievement, graduation and pathways to success.

In general, I have learned to motivate my students by exploring one question with them: what one or two changes could we make to improve your achievement in school toward graduation and pathways to success? Then I listen carefully to their responses. My answer: I tweak my modules to meet their needs.

The key is that the students do not adapt to me or my curriculum, but I adapt the learning opportunities and the curriculum to them. I have learned that it is vital that to motivate my students I adjust the curriculum from their point of view. I am responsible to know what makes students tick. To move students to a higher level of achievement, to get them to graduate and on the pathway to success is an adventure.
What’s your story?