Proud to be Canadian

Over the holiday I have been lucky enough to travel.  Even though I am not sitting at my desk prepping for lessons, I am still constantly thinking about the classroom. 

Today was one of those relatable moments.  As I was walking around Copahagen, attempting to find the Hop On Hop Off Bus, I noticed someone waving their hand at me while I walked by.  The first thought was this is not for me, who would know me in Denmark, but then it clicked.  

She was waving with a 2013 Red Canadian Mitten.  I was wearing my 2012 Red Mittens and this is how she picked out I was also from Canada!  What a lovely surprise.  We had our moment, while crossing the street to let each other know we were not alone and had friends all over that big world we live in.  I didn't have a chance to speak with the 2013 Red Mitten lady but after our encounter, I had a bit more bounce to my step. 

This continued throughout the day.  As I was walking, I started to notice more about the people that surrounded me.  I was noticing all of the different country hats and scarves and even jerseys (yes I even saw a Toronto Maple Leafs!!).  I saw and interacted, however briefly, with people so easily just knowing we were all from Canada. 

Now, how does this relate to school?  It is our sense of community.  It's the feeling that I get when I am at the Sobeys and have students come up to say hi.  It is that smile you get on your face when you turn the corner in the street and see a coworker or a parent of one of your students and stop to chat/wave. 

It's the sense of family our schools foster and nurture.  The comfort level that we teach our students in acknowledging people that you know and saying hi.  It's helping them build the confidence to go out and say 'hi' to your teacher, when you finally get your head around that the teacher actually leaves the school. 

This is what we as teachers foster, and it is truly a part of being Canadian - always feeling like you are close to home.  

We All Learn at Different Paces

As my class is testing out our half-flipped classroom, we are truly focusing on the idea that each person learns at their own pace. 

Today, was the first day that the quiz was available for the students to complete.  Ideally, I would have liked them to come into class and be ready to write it, but with everyone working at their own pace, this was not possible.  I had the opportunity to conference with students and talk about where they are with the content, what they are worried about and what their next steps/goals were.  What an amazing feeling to be able to do this in a classroom of 20 students!   

I try to touch base with all of my students throughout the period, but some days, especially days with longer "lessons," it is sometimes just not possible.  With all of the students working at their own pace and independently, I had the chance to talk with each student today.  The chat was at the pace that the student wanted it to be, not at a pace that I needed to set to get through all of the conferences in a short period of time.  If the student had a lot of questions, then we were able to answer them and have that 1-1 time.  If the student was OK with everything and wanted to get right back to work, that was able to happen as well.

Back to the quiz writing ... after conferencing with a student, we set a plan together on what they will accomplish in class, over the weekend and when they will feel the most confident in writing the quiz.  The students get to pick when they are learning, how long they must stay on a topic for and when they show me their own knowledge.   The students were really appreciative and excited that they were able to pick when they wrote the quiz.  If they were struggling with remembering all of the material, then they had the chance to write the quiz in sections (a couple questions each time, throughout a single class or multiple classes).  It was up to the student when they were ready to demonstrate their knowledge.

Now I can already hear a bunch of educators reminding me that I have a limited amount of time to cover all of the topics and that I need to make sure that the class is progressing, and we are.  All of the students know that they must write the final unit test on Wednesday.  If they find that they need more time to learn or process the material, then they need to put in time outside of class.  If they are confident earlier than Wednesday, then they have the opportunity to take "break" classes or use the time to review further.  It is up to them; but all test must be done by 3:05pm Wednesday. 

From the quizzes that have been accomplished (we also did a quiz like this the previous week), the scores have been outstanding.  Many of the student's have improved the level that they are currently working out; it will be interesting to see if this continues throughout the unit test! 

How do you allow student pace in your classroom?  How do you let the students demonstrate their knowledge when they finally "get it"? 

Proud to be a Coach

Today the Sr. Girls Volleyball team travelled to a full day of matches within our District.  In all, we played 6 games (best 2 out of 3) and had a chance to watch the other teams practice, warm-up and play.  As the day was quite fast-paced, we did not have the opportunity to practice serving and hitting before each match and warm-up time was limited.  The gym was cold, so it was important to stay warm when having a "break" in between matches. 

Not to talk about the logistics of the day, or the benefits of staying warm and ready to play, I want to use this post as a shout out to the team.  

Today I saw a group of young ladies really turn into a team.  In our previous games, we were all over the place, losing points for being out of rotation and having quite a few holes in the court.  Today I saw a different team.  I saw a team dedicated to helping out one another, a team that knew each other's strengths and weaknesses and was willing to work with both.  A team that corrected their mistakes and encouraged excellent skill.  A team that wasn't individually driven, but driven as a team to achieve a common goal. 

Overall, we had a very successful day.  We won 5 of the 6 matches, and the match that we did not earn the title of "win" for, we did take to three sets with many great rallies and amazing hits and digs from both teams. 

Was I a proud coach! 

What was one of your most memorable moments as a coach or a supervisor of an extra-curricular activity?

Growing Pains

As my class and I continue to grow and develop our independent learning skills, we have made some great successes in the past three days.  

Our class has gone through growing pains of frustration and anger when D2L did not work or our ChromeBooks didn't do exactly what we wanted them too.  I have had students share their frustrations out loud and others take it personally and emotionally.  I have also seen these students persevere and overcome these challenges. These students are beginning to strengthen their time management and their team work skills.  I have also seen these student gain a better understanding of what they do know and what they don't and, even more importantly, how to ask the right questions to gain deeper understanding.  

I have really enjoyed seeing the students overcome their challenges.  Most of the class is enjoying the use of computers to help foster their independence in their learning but some are still hesitant to have that "messy part" of learning.  I am hoping as they develop confidence with the program and see their peers be successful they will give it a go.  

To continue the idea of learning at your own pace, the students we're asked to complete a quiz today. Instead of us writing it all together, the students go to pick when and where they wrote.  They knew they needed to get it done by the end of the lesson but they got to pick when they were ready.  Haven't marked it yet, but I think this helped boost the confidence (and grades) of those who wrote it. 

How do you help your students in becoming independent learners? 

Learning Together

Today I tried my almost flipped classroom.  It did not go how I imagined.  It was not a smooth transition from our regular classroom to a mixed online classroom, and looking back, I don't know why I assumed it would be. 

I learned a lot from the experience.  Firstly, I learned that Chromebooks do not open PowerPoints or OpenOffice documents.  This was a large cause if the students frustrations with the change.  I also learned that I am learning just as much as they are.  And that they need to know that without their input, this endeavour will not be successful.  

Many of the students felt frustration and started to give up before really trying.  This concerned me.  In life, these students are going to attempt new tasks that are not always easy or straight forward.  This was a great teaching moment! 

As a class we had a discussion that I was learning just as much as they can take away from this experience.  We talked about their ability to use this experience in job interviews or college applications, how this will help them overcome frustration and finally gaining skills in using D2L for future use.  

I also ask for them to come in tomorrow with an open mind; to give this another try.  When I asked who was willing to do this, the majority of them put up their hands. It was very encouraging. 

Tomorrow is another day and we will hope for success! 

What are your biggest challenges in bringing technology into your classroom?

An Almost Flipped Class

Tomorrow my 3C class and I are starting on an adventure together.  We are starting to flip our math class. 

Now it is not what you are exactly thinking; we are not 100% flipped yet, but we are moving in that direction. 

In talking to the students, they do not feel comfortable with going out and learning and material on their own and bringing their knowledge back to the classroom and talk and think deeper about it.  They told me that they would now know how to approach it and with finals just around the corner (and Christmas vacation), they do not want to jump into too much that they cannot handle. 

So we compromised.  Tomorrow the students will be using Chromebooks in our math classroom and using D2L to access all of their learning materials.  There are 8 activities for them to complete which will allow them to discover and learn about the world of trigonometry.  The students will complete the online activities and discussions to help strengthen their understanding.  They will be completing this in the classroom, so if anything goes wrong, or if they are stuck, they have the teacher there to help them right away.  

Although we are still not having the time for those deeper discussions, we will have "check-in" discussions scheduled throughout our classes (known in advance) when I will be able to formatively assess their understanding of the material they are independently learning. 

The benefits I hope to see from this method of instruction: 
1) Greater self-confidence
One of the biggest struggles I see with 3C students is their lack of confidence in their math work.  I am hoping by giving them the opportunity to control their learning, the students will see that they can understand it themselves and they are "smart" when it comes to math.  

2) Instruction based on student needs 
Now that the students can focus on what they understand and what they do not understand, I can help with more individualized instruction.  Instead of the entire class going over review topics, or a specific concept within a lesson, I can individually help each student with "that specific part" they are stuck on.  I can also see who is "ahead" in the class and provide them with additional learning opportunities to develop that deeper understanding. 

3) Skills for the Future 
Many Colleges and Universities are embracing the "online learning environment" so giving the students an opportunity to get their feet wet is a great skill development opportunity for them.  I am hoping that from this, the students will be less timid about learning new concepts on their own and start to foster that lifelong learner in each student. 

I am really excited to try this.  I have heard many success stories, and I am hoping that my mix of "flipped" and "regular" classroom will provide the students with their ultimate learning experience.

What have your successes and challenges be with the idea of "online learning"?