Stepping Back to Watch

Today is World Teachers' Day. I'm not really sure what that means elsewhere in the world, but in my school we wear badge for the day and some of the kids and parents say thank you. It doesn't really take up any of the teaching time or have any other impact on the day.

Today we also had our Walkathon. This last week I've been very busy trying to get all the notes sorted - permission slips, sausage sizzle notes, sponsor forms, medical information... I was frustrated trying to chase it all - not that I blame the parents, it was just A LOT of notes. On top of that, the notes were supposed to be collected in all different places by all different people, and then they put a ban on printing more of the medical forms, so I had to email them out! Aaaahhhh!

So, today, it was nice to have that all sorted and to be able to head off to the park for the day.

The walkathon went well. The kids enjoyed being out walking in the park and the scenery was truly beautiful. Every now and then a couple of kids whinged about how they'd like a break, but isn't that just what you do on a walkathon? A few of my boys decided to run it and got 8km done instead of the 4 that everyone else did. We had a sausage sizzle lunch and then had one of those: "So what's next?" moments. I don't think we had been told what was supposed to happen, and I don't remember reading it anywhere, so we took the kids for a play under a couple of really big trees.

At first the kids didn't know what to do. They looked a little lost and confused - how do you play without equipment or balls? After a few false starts: "No! We're not climbing trees!...Or swinging on trees!...Or hitting trees with sticks!" they seemed to get the hang of it. And, before long, they were completely absorbed in their own little nature games. It was fascinating to step back and watch what they were doing and observe how their play progressed without any direction from teachers. I saw some really great learning taking place - the sort of learning that you couldn't plan for!

It began with some boys discovering that you could hit sticks into the ground with another bigger stick...

They started digging holes and ditches as well...

The girls caught on and made some stick structures of their own...

Of course, not all of the Year 1 kids got involved. There were other games happening as well. Some kids started a game of 'families' or 'house' or whatever they call it these days. Some kids did clapping games, or walked around singing the 'schnappy' song. Some determined how high they could kick their leg up on a tree. And some built a home for a moth they found (until it blew away). There were a few who struggled to think of anything at all to do, and spent the time feeling bored. It was REALLY fascinating to watch how they amused themselves.

When we got back to school I continued with some sense of the 'free play' idea. We had a quick story and then I gave the kids big sheets of chart paper. I suggested that they could use these sheets to make a huge picture with a small group. I also suggested they could make an amusement park - or something. The cooperative work was great and the kids really enjoyed what they were doing. It was fun and I enjoyed seeing what they created together.

So, point of the story? I used World Teachers' Day 2008 to step back and watch what my students can do without me!

The Future of the Mind - Part 1

Today I had the luxury of attending professional development on The Future of The Mind and Innovative Schools. If you have been reading my posts (I hope) you will know that this is something that I am passionate about. I am really fortunate to have a supportive principal who went out of his way to make sure I was able to attend. The day was divided into two main sessions. I will address the second session in a later post.

The first session was directed by Professor Martin Westwell from Flinders University. He has a well-developed understanding of neuroscience research and is familiar with how this research has been 'applied' in the classroom. The 'teaser' for this session was:

Within today's technology rich world, the environments that we create have the capacity to change the way that young people think, behave and learn in ways that were never before possible.

One idea that I took away from this session is that research findings from neuroscience do not, cannot and should not tell teachers how to teach. This research can 'inform' our teaching pedagogy, but should not take over from our professional judgements based on our relationship with, and knowledge of our students. Martin Westwell talked about the 'Neuro Myths' that people have adopted as they base their teaching on the 'scientific evidence'.

Neuroscience shows that different parts of the brain are active when students learn through visual, aural, and kinaestheic means. This does NOT mean that students should be labeled by their preference and taught only according to this label. Neuroscience may also show that people respond better to material when presented with humour, but we do not label these people as 'humourous learners'! Instead of forcing us to classify our students and teach to each specific learning preference, this information can simply remind us to vary the way that we present information to keep our students' minds active.

Another key idea was that there are no magic answers that are one-size-fits-all. We cannot generalise and say that any one specific strategy or technique will lead to better learning outcomes. Again, it comes down to the professional judgement of the teacher, who knows the intricate details of the needs of his/her students. We need to be creating an environment that will best meet these needs - taking from a range of strategies that are relevant to this group of children at this point in time.

Martin Westwell spoke about an experiment done on some mice. There were three groups of mice: A control group with no Huntington's disease, a group with Huntington's disease in a basic cage, and a group with Huntington's disease with an enriched environment (lots of cool playthings for mice!). Huntington's disease is a genetic disease - if you have the gene, you get the disease. HOWEVER, only 20% of the mice in the enriched environment showed symptoms of Huntington's disease, as opposed to 70-100% (can't remember, sorry!) for the ones in the basic cage. Their brain cells developed more interconnectivity than the brain cells of the mice in the basic cage. The point of all of this was the impact of the environment. By providing the right kind of environment, we can overcome all sorts of evils...

So, what does an Enriched Environment for children look like?
Martin Westwell suggested that it is:

• multi-sensory
• relevant
• contains emotional content
• involves interpersonal interaction (interdependent learning and parental engagement)
• provides for exercise
• considers nutrition/hydration
• makes use of blue light

I am interested in ideas from your experiences. What do you think are the key features for an Enriched Environment for children?

The Challenge of Assessment

While teachers are continually assessing students throughout the year - marking books, observing students at work, monitoring through quizzes - there are key times when student progress needs to be reported on and teachers are met by the challenge of providing tasks that will accurately determine student learning and performance.

When facing this challenge, there are many things to take into consideration. Below are some of the things that I work through when planning this type of assessment.

Timing
It can be difficult to get the timing right with assessment. I want my students to have the best chance of achieving the material, but also need to prepare the reports by about mid-term. This means that most of the final assessment needs to take place early in the term - before I get a chance to review the material with my students one last time. I develop an assessment schedule to help me plan out how I will gather the appropriate information in the remaining time.

Differentiation
In part due to the timing, but mostly due to the differences in learning styles, it is helpful to give students opportunities to show their learning through different means. Some children may like to complete a written test, others would prefer to demonstrate their learning, or present it orally.

More than one sample
This next consideration is related to the last. As much as possible, it is useful to have more than one sample that is used to determine a grade. For example: A handwriting textbook is great for showing how a student performs in formal handwriting lessons, however it is worthwhile to also consider how this translates to their writing in other curriculum areas as well.

Scope of Assessment Items

When developing a piece of assessment it is important to provide scope for students of differing abilities. My assessment task cannot only test for the outcomes that I taught toward. I need to include parts for students of lower ability and parts that will challenge students with greater ability.

For example, when testing for year 1 Maths outcomes, I use questions relating to Kindergarten outcomes, Year 1 outcomes and Year 2 outcomes. If students can only answer the Kindergarten outcomes, they are performing at an E level. If they can answer K and 1 outcomes, they are performing at a C level. If they can answer all questions, they are performing at an A level. Students who achieve a C level have been successful at meeting the grade standards.

Sometimes I find a test will be too easy and won't give an accurate spread of students. When this happens, I use other work samples or assessment items to assist my decision.

Rubrics
Developing rubrics may be time consuming as I prepare my assessment schedule, however it saves me time in the long run and helps me to become more objective when comparing students across the class or grade level. When I am moderating with other teachers, a rubric will help with consistency in marking.

Moderation
Communication is important when preparing assessment and reports. Teachers of the same grade level can talk about their opinions of grades and discuss what they see when they look at a piece of work. I often find that one teacher will notice something valuable about a piece that I may have overlooked. The insight of others helps me to make more thorough judgements.

Acceptance!
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges I find with assessment and reporting is acceptance. At the end of the year I feel confronted by my failures. Despite all the work that I've put into my teaching throughout the year, I never feel that I've quite done enough. During moderation I will see that some students in another teacher's class have achieved a higher standard in some areas of the curriculum and I'll begin to second guess my own methods. I'll be frustrated, particularly when I realise that there is so little time left in the year to 'fix things'.
I think that somehow (stupidly) I feel that I am the last chance for this child - that if they haven't learnt everything by the end of the year, they will never learn it - which of course is false. As I head into this time, I need to accept that I have done my best for my class. I need to accept that I cannot control everything in my classroom all of the time. (Some of it comes down to the kids' personalities, interests and abilities as well!!!) And, I need to honestly reflect on my achievements through the year. There will be things that I can try to do differently next year - there always is - but there are also some great things that were done in this year.

Let me know what you see as the biggest challenges with assessment.

Thoughts on Homework

I am sick today. I have laryngitis so there is no point being at work. If I can't talk, I can't teach. If I can't teach, the kids play up. If the kids play up, I can't tell them not to. If I can't tell them not to, I find myself yelling hoarsely. If I yell hoarsely, I can't talk. If I can't talk...
So, I'm having a day off talking - hoping that my voice will heal miraculously with juice, vegemite on toast, water, fruit and lozengers.

Whilst lying in bed this morning, I caught up on what has been going on in my computer world. Loonyhiker from Successful Teaching had 'tweeted' about a Conversations Show at EdTechTalk, so I lay and listened to the show. It was all about pros and cons of homework - why we do it, what we expect, what we could do instead. I was really happy as I listened because I feel that my school is actually doing pretty well with this.

When I was in New York, the curriculum I taught had set homework for students every night - usually two sheets of Math homework. On top of this, I sent home a book for the children to read to their parents. And this was in KINDERGARTEN! Here in Australia, that is unheard of.

Homework is generally more relaxed here. In my current year 1 class, students are encouraged to change their readers daily. And that's it. However, we provide other opportunities for children to explore their learning further at home.

As part of our Jackie French Author Study, we started sending home a stuffed wombat with a diary. Students take turns to take the wombat home and write about what he got up to. They see this as a reward - not homework.

During our units of work, we encourage kids to think more about the topic at home. For example, at the moment I have children who bring in artifacts from the past and interview their grandparents for our The Way We Were unit. It's not 'set' homework that parents sign off on - just motivated students taking it further at home.

This week my class has been learning about postcards, so one girl asked her dad to send a postcard from the place he is visiting with business. Another boy went away for a week's holiday, and may send us a postcard while there.

Our P&C raised enough money to provide membership to Mathletics for all the students. It is an online Maths program with questions the students answer, levels they progress through, and live mental arithmetic competitions against other kids. This is one way that students can practice relevant maths at home at their own pace and level of difficulty. Teachers can monitor student activity and set tasks for students to complete. I often use examples from Mathletics during maths lessons, so students are familiar with them and can practice them more at home.

I'm really enjoying doing homework this way, and see benefits for the children's learning. The kids are taking responsibility for their learning, and are really motivated by the whole process. For me, there is no marking to have to do, but I can still see what the children are doing and achieving.

What are your thoughts on homework? Leave a comment below.

Valuing Diversity Activities

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the school was involved in "Valuing Diversity" Activities. Our school is very multicultural given it's proximity to all the embassies. It is really exciting to see the children exploring various cultures through a selection of activities. The hard thing with events like this is that what you present is only a snap-shot of an impression of a country and it's culture - not completely accurate, but still valuable.

On the first day, we divided the students into mixed grade groups (K-6) and in these groups they visited different 'countries' (one per classroom). Each teacher was responsible for organising 3 or 4 activities related to a country, that students could complete as a group without teacher assistance. The groups arrived, chose an activity, did the activity, packed up the materials, and were given a score for how well they did these things. Teachers were able to determine how many groups to have in their room at any one time. As each group had about 12 children, it was suggested that 2 groups would be manageable, 3 would be maximum. For most of the day, I had 2 groups.

The teachers did a great job of selecting a variety of activities for the children to experience - these included food tastings, games, art & craft, dancing, listening to songs/stories, and races. All the kids were really engaged and it was great to see the big kids helping the little ones.

In the afternoon we had a big assembly where the points were announced and the top three teams were given prizes.

On the second day, students wore traditional costumes from around the world. We met together to parade the costumes, and then shared a lunch of foods from around the world. Parents had kindly donated foods for the children to taste. One of the teachers played the didgeridoo and some of the kindy kids mimed the appropriate animals - kangaroos, dingoes and kookaburras.
Some Balinese dancers also visited from the Indonesian Embassy to show us some of their dance style.

Both days were really enjoyable, and the kids learnt a lot from the experience. It was well planned and organised and came together really well.