Why should students experience the real creation process?

Lat year my students enjoyed curiosity blocks and  I was to continue exploring this year and learn more about how students apply their skills to tasks of their own choice.  

This year with my English partner Carolyn Brambles and I decided to dedicate a block of 100 minutes a week not tied into the curriculum or teacher lead, only students lead curiosity of their choice on Fridays.

Students were in situations where they had to make decisions, problem solve and judge on what and how to create in any format, based on their own curiosity. The students and us struggled at the beginning into making sense of the process and how could this accountability becomes a reflective learning situation for all of us. 

Students ideas form the first curiosity camp. 

We used the same method as Educamp where students would write what they would like to learn, explore and what they could offer. We also provoked students' interest by watching Caine's arcade and Be more dog video- open to take risks. 

Through regular reflections the students and us improved.

First reflection form that lead to more understanding of the process. 

Who would think having students to decide to create was a large task!  We thought that students would tackle it easily. At the first camp, students could not make up their mind as to what they wanted to pursue as they were busy constantly checking what others were doing and changing their mind as they walked around the room.Once they decided what they would like to pursue and started formulating a plan monitoring the next steps and putting the plan into action, they started generating possibilities. They were formulating plans and the ideas were connecting and students were being strategic by conversing,reflecting and problem solving with each other.

The first attempts were not a failure rather a learning experience. By our third camp  the skills and strategies fell into place with their planning. Students pursued in accomplishing their desired task with a partner or individually. Students were experiencing many skills like; self regulation, creating, planning, conversing, reflecting, problem solving, integrating technology for researching as well as explaining or just recording the process online on a Google Doc or in a notebook. .

In the true sense of real learning experiences and full ownership of the learning process that they have explored and that they were immersed in.  Some students were programming games with Scratch , some students were playing and designing with Minecrat. Others were knitting, some designing origami and rainbow loom bracelets or key chains, headbands and animals. Some students were exploring Vietnamese style of painting as well. The amazing part of the whole block was the thinking and the reflective conversations during the tasks. 

Students among themselves were defining the importance of creation by proceeding with the skills and the strategies while completing the tasks of their creations.  

The second reflective form that students' completed focused on skills and strategies.


We need to give students a chance to experience and apply the skills and the strategies that they explore in class and be able to connect them to their choice of curiosity. Through this exploration students could create their own curriculum of their choice. You could call it genius hour or the 20% project like Google employee, giving students the freedom to pursue and be responsible for their curiosity with their own purpose of learning. How can we continue to spark students' passion?


Some  pictures and vine videos of their experiences.

Vine #1  Vine #2  Vine#3  Vine #4

Updated reflections after March Break: Students voices about the importance of skills to accomplish plans: So much learning from Students' reflections about giving them ownership of independent curiosity. 

Planning from the previous camps was important because then you will manage everything better.

J'ai appris que avant Curiosity Camp avoir un activite pour les autres peuvent apprendre. Ne pense pas que quelques va apporter un chose que tu veux d'apprendre, apporte ton activite.

I have learned that planning before Curiosity Camp helps with getting organized on the day of the camp, and it moves things along.

I think if you manage your time wisely, you can get ALOT more work done, so you wouldn't have to worry about it last minute.

I learned that if you manage time well then you will know when your game is great and you don't have to rush.

Organizing is important because you have things in right order and you know what'll happen next and what to DO next.

If your not organized you can't find your stuff that you need and everything is messy you need to be prepared. So then you know what to do.

I learned that taking/demonstrating initiative is important because that shows leadership.

By demonstrating initiative you can come up with great ideas and keep others on task. Also by taking initiative you and your team with feel like you got alot of work done.

i have learned that you should not change your goal even if it is hard try to do it.

That if you set goals you will achieve them and a good goal should be measurable. Goals need to have associated behaviors. There is a word for a goal without an associated behavior. It’s called a wish. For example I want to hold a handstand for 60 seconds. That is what I learned about goal setting.

I've learned that if you set a goal, you can achieve it by working hard and never giving up so you can reach the goal, you'll be happy at the end :)

Goal setting is so important during curiosity camp, and everywhere else because you won't know what you've accomplished unless you set a goal, and be proud when you accomplish it.

You have to be specific on what your goal is and you have to improve yourself to accomplish your goal.


I learned that if you have a plan it is easy to take initiative because you already know your goal and you don't need to be told what to do. Also if you take initiative then you can achieve your task.

Some vines of the Play4change Day

https://vine.co/v/MMAxUDALi1q

https://vine.co/v/MMAdurWiOqO

https://vine.co/v/MMAI2lVdzFg

https://vine.co/v/MMAFE0V2Z0W

https://vine.co/v/MMAVmL7n1tY

https://vine.co/v/MMqBdxmr7dV

https://vine.co/v/MMAxUDALi1q

From Today's Learning to Tomorrow's Learning Goals!

As mentioned in every post my learning is based on the pedagogic reflections  from my students. If I am expecting the students to reflect and determine their next steps: then I should be too!

We have used Google calendars for the past three years as our reflective learning journal. These journals determine today's learning to tomorrow's learning goal.

I will be sharing an example of the process that I find effective in bridging students' reflections for setting our daily learning goals. This alignment provides insights of where we are and where we would need to go next; students are also aware of the end of the journey and the expectations. I find this process crucial in giving students responsibility and ownership in having them determine what needs to be accomplished and any adjustments that we would need to establish along the way. It aligns content, purpose, goals and skills required to get to the end of the task. This process also provides ideas on students' insight and confirming what needs to be accomplished and how.  It is also a way for checking on students' achievements and capabilities of rethinking about what they have learned and how.

 By sharing these reflections students also clarify any content misconceptions during group discussions; as students speak to evidence from the web or real world issues to clarify their reflective learning. The reflections turn into team discussions by reviewing their individual goals that trickles into more thinking when reflecting together about tasks and confirming or revisiting the process before pursuing the tasks. This process also highlights the learner's thinking  and pursues to develop required skills during tasks .

I will be sharing a recent project that students completed about Bangladesh and problems of employment  in the textiles industries. The task was based on Social Studies and the focus was to explain causes and effects in the industries and  employment in developing countries, analyzing and applying the learning through imrpov. Many skills and concepts were to be developed by the students to complete the task.

Google Calendars are a journal of reflections on students' eportfolios about their learning.

 Task #1 Kevin's reflection after a high school presentation from All Saints about imrpov. In his reflections he describes what is improv on what he observed.

 #1 "Bridging students' reflections for setting our daily learning goals."

Through Kevin's details and other students' reflections, students began co-constructing the criteria of an improv:
An example of the first attempt on the criteria of improv:

Students build their background knowledge through listening to a report on CBC Banglades -affrontements-travailleurs-textile.  and  reading an article relating to Social Studies about the impact of global social, economic and political issues (Social studies B2 overall expectations). Students apply annotations during reading for determining main ideas of causes and effects to the problem. Expectation are clear and application of French oral language as well as passé composé  .

       

         

This is a sample of our consolidation about the process and purpose of the improv. 

"Where we are and where we would need to go next; students are also aware of the end of the journey and the expectations."

Haley's reflection speak to what has been completed after reading and first attempt of the improv. 

Another example of :

#2 "Bridging students' reflections for setting our daily learning goals."

Bridging the reflection of the reading and past tense into actions for the task. 

Through Cedric's reflections about the past tense he is also explaining the application of his learning with his classmates. Full ownership of learning!

Emma's reflections explain the imrpov and the French oral application.

#3  "Bridging students' reflections for setting our daily learning goals."

The process continued as students video taped the first improv and reflected on next steps and added the next steps to the criteria. 

    Task #4 "Bridging students' reflections for setting our daily learning goals."

This learning reflection is about the first attempt on improv and team sharing their next steps on a shared Google doc 

This next reflection speaks to: "I find this process crucial in giving students responsibility and ownership in having them determine what needs to be accomplished, any adjustments that we would need to establish along the way. It aligns content, purpose, goals and skills required to get to the end of the task. "

This reflection is from Isabelle, in which she shares links from CBC about the textile economy and reports about the fire and collapsing of factories.

Evidence of the process on a students' eporfolio: 

If we need to focus on a process of ownership of learning and responsibility then we would have to embrace a process that is student centered based students' learning experiences to inform instructions and plans for next steps. The learning process is a system of interdependence embracing many learning opportunities in a learning environment that embraces reflective daily implementations that centers on students' growth. 

Overdue Reflection ... 2014

Ideas, concepts, processes, curriculum, conversations, assessment as and for learning, ownership of learning, criteria, goal setting, technology, reflection, inquiry, curiosity, collaboration, portfolios,  community, motivation, skills, strategies,responsibility and evidence. Yes learning is a rainbow of colored evidence that change and mix while exploring, thinking and reflecting. Yes, all colors get messy and it is fun to have this opportunity to explore with the students in order to achieve, reflect and share such evidence of how learning continues to evolve.

My students and I enjoy exploring many learning opportunities together, from the #hourofcode, curiosity camps, ownership of leaning through inquiry.  We continue learning by making all learning experiences transparent and reflecting on the process by applying technology for capturing learning.

Transparency with the students is very important, as a teacher I need to share where we are heading and the purpose of the process with them. By sharing, the students have a voice as they become part of the decision making about the learning and take ownership by providing evidence of the process.

We always start with the curriculum and relate real world scenarios in our community and the world and how they connect to the curriculum. This way the students will have more passion and eagerness at pursuing their inquiries.

I need to improve documenting (my resolution 20 min a day writing my reflections) and speak to the evidence that I collect on a daily basis.

Hoping to continue sharing my learning opportunities online. Many thanks to Canadian Education Association for inviting me to share my experience with international leaders in education and connect to many learners with whom I continue sharing and learning from them.

Having to share my passion with all colleagues must improve via blogging. I need to be more social on "Social Media" as I did not pursue the edu- bloggers revealing about their personnel connections and themselves. A great intention to give the readers another look at the writers. There is nothing wrong with that, I have been tagged and did not respond, I feel bad!

My personal posts are about education and I hope to pursue my resolution the importance of sharing the learning.  I enjoy so much reading all posts online as I learn and apply it with my students. I would like again to thank all colleagues who always seek and respect my learning from my students.

Voices...Ownership... reflections...

I was very fortunate to be able to take part in 1:1 International Computing Conference in Atalanta Dec 2nd &3rd. international11computingcon2013  (please visit conference schedule for presentations).  I would like to thank the Canadian Educational Association  http://www.cea-ace.ca/ an amazing team who speaks to learning and thinking for accepting my proposal to take part in the conference. I am proud to have had this opportunity to meet many educators from around the world who put students voice and thinking first.

Jane Hill my principal at St. Gabriel School also presented with me. She set the tone as how principals need to trust their teachers and support their learning and students' learning.  Every student,

• should feel he or she belongs, feel safe, be a valuable contributor and have the opportunity to succeed

1-Yes students need to own their learning as teachers, we need to step back and have a classroom without a front podium.
2-Students need take risks, have clear expectations that they have deconstructed from the curriculum. Students need to  have a purpose for learning with rich tasks that allows  ownership of learning.
3- Many tools could amplify students' thinking like Google Apps, IOS Apps. Teacher need to weave these tools with a purpose for thinking and for students to speak to their thinking. (metacognition)
4- Learning is visible though consolidations and pausing for reflections in order for students to learn from each others and  build a community of trust and ownership.

I am also fortunate to have a large PLN online support through twitter from educators who I have also  learned and reflected from their experiences. @shareski @KristinZiemke @gcouros @KleinErin @permillripp @HeidiSiwak @soxnevad @kathyschrock @tombarrett  and so many more including all Learning Connection Team from Ontario my colleagues at school and at the board office who listen and appreciate students' thinking.  I would also like to thank my colleagues from the board office who invite me for many opportunities and ministry initiatives projects throughout Ontario. I owe my learning to my students who engage me in thinking and learning from them. My students who open up their hearts and minds to learning and enjoy our time together in the classroom. I am trying to keep up to my professional reflections, and time is speeding and hoping to catch up. I am focusing on the classroom blog on a weekly and sometimes daily basis than daily tweets this year. The blog is by the students, their voices on learning and how we learn.  http://ensemble-together.blogspot.ca/

My thinking that I shared at 1:1 computing conference that I will also share on this blog.  My learning is like a working document that requires updating and enhancing on a regular basis. Today I am following many colleagues in Montreal at #gafesummit who are confirming my experiences in the classroom. This presentation is a summary of my learning with my students. 

International11computingcon2013 

What amazes me is when you invite students to interact they do take ownership in planing, decision making and even voicing in class "I love school"!

Examples of students communicating and planning. Google presentations are attached to the classroom calender that becomes part of the daily plans. 

Comments on the presentation become reflections to our daily plans. 

Students also reflect on a daily basis what I have learned, I have accomplished and what to improve on. 

I continue to explore and learn on a daily basis and I almost wish I had Google Glasses to capture all my learning. I need to take notes as I observe my learning from my students and update my blog. Thank you to all colleagues and educators who share their learning online. 

Why Students Should Not Raise their Hands?

As we focus on students' engagement and verbalization, mentioned in previous posts, I am sharing an example of how effective conversations are for learning and as learning . Of course a purposeful conversation provokes thinking and engagement. Our conversations are designed on the co-constructed criteria of listening and speaking that were established at the beginning of the year. 

Our conversations are provoked through pictures, newspaper articles, videos ... and questions or any authentic experiences. This activity was based on the following question: 

If biodiversity is the balance of all living things in ecosystems, what will happen if the balance is threatened? 

Si la biodiversité est l’équilibre des êtres vivants dans des écosystèmes. Qu’est ce qui arrive si l’équilibre est menacé?

Before answering, students on their own in their teams started questioning and clarifying what is a balance, what is an ecosystem-all curriculum based expectations. Once they clarified, each student took time at writing their own thinking and making connections to their own background knowledge and experiences from our field trip to a local protective endangered community Beaver Pond.  In teams they shared added new learning took the responsibility of  team thinking and new learning from one another. Students were dependent on each other to explore and learn through conversations-giving students a chance to explore learning together in order to  increase their responsibility of thinking, sharing and risk taking. Lastly I shared with them a short French paragraph to confirm what they have learned in teams and apply annotations when reading. for confirming, for new information and for clarifications. (check sample in the second pi-collage).

I could have given them the text without the steps of conversations. Instead I wanted students to explore the authentic collaborative thinking experience for learning, for responsibility of thinking, making connections, risk taking in speaking French and adding new learning from each other. That is why I introduced the text at the last stage of the conversation. In their group students wrote their new understanding by applying the new learning in French. A longer process for learning that leads to more engaged learning.

Once the Classroom blog is updated students will share how technology amplified their thinking. During their conversations I used Reflector for sharing teams audios of conversations and proof of teams' thinking orally and in writing. I will have students update the blog. http://ensemble-together.blogspot.ca/

It Does Take Time!

I always have to remind myself  that building the classroom community always takes time!  I am trying to always put myself in my students' shoes and be a reflective learner from their conversations during tasks and their feedback about the learning process. I am trying to keep up and share my reflections regularly. From the beginning of the year in September up to October 14th.  Here is what I have learned!

• Building a relationship with students, where students feel that you are more like a friend in order to feel free to share any thoughts and life experiences. Students wanting to stay at recess and come in early to have more time to visit and talk. Building a relationship of trust and value for learning and expressing voices. 
• Remembering to give time for reflections through out the learning  process not just at the end of the day.  
• Scaffolding throughout the process by constantly sharing new learning and augmenting thinking for students to curate learning from each other that would encourage more conversations and thinking.
• Encouraging students to take control and ownership of learning using many tools to design learning. Taking time to learn to facilitate this independence. Many scenarios and skills are still being applied and reflected upon this learning process. Many classroom management experiences are still being developed.  
• To see the teacher as a mentor than the expert. It is a good shift that is taking time to explore. I sometimes still have to facilitate the explorations of strategies and skills by focusing on scenarios and hoping full ownership by the end of Octobre.  

This is the infograpic that I designed for my approach with the students for the beginning of the year.

easel.ly


Building a classroom community and one of the activities is setting up Human Treasure Hunt:

Best way is starting with projects for deconstructing collaborative skills. By building a team structure students discovered what is listening? what is speaking? what are components of collaboration?  We worked on collaborative ideas for 3 days and we continue to reflect on the co-constructed criteria.

                                          

  

Scenarios of a good and bad example around the classroom and the school. 

Tellagami was used to demonstrate scenarios.

Scenario in the Hallway

Scenario changing classrooms and during group work

Scenario during group work

Scenario during home-time

Scenario during snack time

Scenario in the cloak room

I requested from students for suggestions of what would they like to keep or change in class after few weeks of designing and establishing classroom culture. Involving students' and making sure that their opinion matters in our classroom culture. 

We are just beginning our curriculum inquiries. Provoking students' questioning and curiosity: Grade 6 students exploring Beaver Pond Nature walk to explore  Biodiversity in our community and assessing the human impact on nature. Grade 5 students exploring organs from a butcher shop and videos on diseases to provoke their curiosity on the functions of the human body.

I enjoy learning and changing my pedagogy for students' purpose of  learning and letting go to give them ownership.  Throughout the process technology amplifies students' thinking and new learning. to be able to share and reflect.  Students  build their confidence by amplifying their thinking as it is an open process and a concept of critical views and ideas that need to be meshed together with the team in order to create innovation.

We also focus on conversations, agreeing, disagreeing with purposes. Students need to verbalize before they internalize not only in a French learning environment also in all learning environments. I will soon be posting examples of our academic conversations through the inquiry process.

I will be sharing on the next posts students' inquiry process, ownership of learning and capturing the thinking and managing the assessment process through eporfolios.