Through a Parent's Eyes

          In the midst of preparing an "Ignite" presentation on my passion of "Collaboration and Connectivity" for a district session in January, I began to think back on my earliest, most profound and inspiring professional development experiences. Interestingly, I quickly realized that it wasn't a conversation with a colleague, or an article by an educational leader that I identified as most impactful, it was the conversations and daily interactions with my 11 year old son, Ben.

My Inspiration!

           Apparently, it can be difficult having an English teacher as a mother, or so I've been told. Apparently, having someone proofread your Math homework can be annoying. One evening as I sat reading the paper at the dining room table while Ben was pushing through a particularly gruelling session of seemingly unending homework, I let out a frustrated sigh. Ben looked at me with scorn in his eyes and remarked,
          "Hey, I don't know what you're sighing about. It's me that has to do all of this homework!"
          And of course, he was right. But I was reminded of how intensely I wanted Ben to have a positive and enriching educational experience, and I felt strongly that completing hours of homework was in no way reinforcing the intrinsic love of learning that I had hoped to instil in my son.
          This, and numerous other experiences, is how my 11 year old son helped to shape my philosophy on education. On a daily basis, I remind myself when I look out at the sea of faces in my classroom, that these students are someone's son or daughter, and that their parents have the same hopes and aspirations for their child as I do for mine. This profound insight informs ever element of my teaching, from lesson planning, to assessment, to daily interactions in the hallways. However, I find that keeping this thought forefront in my mind is most important on those occasions when a discipline issue may arise. I consciously consider, how would I want Ben to be treated in a similar situation? How would I want him to be spoken to by his teacher? How would I want him to feel about himself at the end of the conversation?
           Don't get me wrong, this isn't always easy when a teenager is doing their very best to "push your buttons", but in those moments,  I believe it is even more important to remember, this is someone's child. Ultimately,
                                  I strive to be the kind of teacher that I want for my own child.

  I see my students not through a teacher's eyes, but through a parent's.

I want my students to know that I care.

          

          

Creating a Culture of Collaboration: Overcoming Teacher Isolation

          Teaching is difficult. Teaching in isolation is even more difficult. Strange to think that in a profession where one is constantly surrounded by hundreds of students and teachers, that isolation is even an issue. But after years of accommodating challenging and diverse learning needs, holding numerous meetings with parents, slogging through endless marking and adapting to shifting curriculum, many teachers choose to simply close their doors in an attempt to restore some semblance of order and control to their domain- their classroom. Unfortunately, behind those closed doors, teachers may become increasingly detached, dissatisfied and stagnant.
          In an attempt to decrease teacher isolation, one of the goals of Learning Partners, Sullivan Heights school based mentoring program, is to provide our colleagues, both new and experienced, with an opportunity to "open their doors". Even though Sullivan Heights is already an amazingly collaborative and friendly school, at a recent Pro D event, some teachers expressed a sense of frustration that within the constraints of our extended bell schedule, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find the time to meet with fellow teachers and to get a sense of what they were doing in their classrooms. After all, just as as we encourage our students to learn from each other, teachers can also gain inspiration, knowledge, and support from each other.

Sullivan Heights numerous "strengths"- but teacher isolation is still a factor.

          With this in mind, the Learning Partners program is in the process of facilitating a school wide "Teacher Drop in Day" on December 10th. On this day, through a combination of release and prep time, interested teachers will be able to "drop in" on various classrooms throughout the school. Likewise, host teachers have volunteered to "open their doors" to encourage their colleagues to visit and check out the many creative and innovative activities that are occurring in their classrooms. This is a unique opportunity as many of us haven't had the chance to see another teacher teach since our practicums. I must admit, I was somewhat hesitant as I sent out the initial email asking for the names of people who would be interested in hosting and/or visiting. But almost immediately, I began to receive multiple emails from teachers who were excited both by the prospect of being able to get a glimpse inside someone else's classrooms and also by the opportunity to share their teaching practices. My list of hosts and visitors continues to grow! As Learning Partners continues to plan and prepare for "Teacher Drop in Day", our hope is that even more teachers will volunteer to "open their doors", not just on this day, but throughout the school year, perhaps in some small way decreasing the overwhelming sense of isolation that can be so pervasive in the teaching profession.

Students as Teacher and the Reciprocal Nature of Learning

          It's 7:00pm and I just received an email from one of my grade 8 students. She is working at home on her e-portfolio, creating a digital artifact that demonstrates her understanding of the learning outcomes for our short story unit. This is something that I ask students to complete at the culmination of each unit, in addition to their other e-writing submissions. It is a challenging task. It requires that students review the various skills and content that we have covered throughout the unit, create an artifact that is an example of the components that they feel that they have mastered, and then complete a reflection that explains the connection between the artifact(s) and their learning, as well as identify which aspects they feel that they need to continue to work on in future units. I provide a few examples in an attempt to clarify the process, but stress that students are free to include any type of artifact, as long as they can make the connection to their learning.
          In her email, the student wanted to know if she could create and embed a slide show which incorporates a visual of Harry Potter as an example of protagonist, and a youtube video that demonstrates various types of conflict. Several fabulous things about this. One, she took the initiative to email me to clarify an activity. Two, she created something that demonstrates her learning in a creative and unique manner. When I think back to what I was like in grade 8, I'm fairly certain that I was not nearly as mature and involved in my learning.
          This email is yet another example of how much my students teach me on a daily basis. Today,  my students taught me that:
1. Taking a screen shot of an image on an iPad when using Book Creator is much more efficient than copying pictures.
2. Using head phones while recording voices on an iPad allows for greater sound clarity.
3. Some of the best stories are not written down. (One of my students wanted to know if he could use a story that he has been told by a family member as part of our "Adapted Fairy Tale, Myth or Legend" Book Creator activity. He was concerned because he wasn't sure that it was a "real" story if it wasn't from a book.)
4. When provided with some basis skills, teenagers can quite successfully resolve some challenging conflicts.

My focus recently, as team leader of the Sullivan Heights Learning Partners program, has been on how much we can learn from our colleagues. Today, I am taking a moment to marvel and celebrate how much I am constantly learning from my amazingly diverse, talented and sharing students.

English 8 students writing and recording adapted fairy tales, myths and legends using Book Creator App.

The Best Laid Plans: E-Portfolios and a Lesson in Perseverance

          About mid way through the 2012-13 school year, I resolved to integrate e-portfolios into my English classrooms the following year. This resolution was made after observing a grade 12 student lob their paper portfolio into the nearest recycling bin after five months of ongoing writing, revision and reflection. This wasn't the first time that I had witnessed this "end of the semester portfolio tossing"ritual. This bothered me on several levels. My environmentalist self bemoaned the loss of trees and paper. I have no desire to single handedly support the British Columbian forestry industry. My teacher self worried that I had not created a process that was valued by students, evidenced by the clear lack of sentimental attachment to the end product.
          Inspired by teachers who touted the benefits e-portfolios, I began to research various formats and methods. In June, I arranged to meet a colleague from another school who had been successfully using e-portfolios in his French Immersion classes for several years. He generously shared his resources and his time to provide me with an overview of the process. From that point, I began to scour twitter and various educational blogs and sites for resources and tips. Having used webnode for years for my teaching website, I decided to stick with a format that I was familiar with. Finally, I was given the encouraging news that a class set of PC laptops would be available to ensure that I could devote class time on a weekly basis to the creation and development of e-portfolios in the form of individual student websites. With all of the pieces of the puzzle in place, I was ready to integrate e-portfolios into all of my English classes. Or so I thought.
         Reality soon set in during the early weeks of September. Logistically, collecting over one hundred internet parent permission forms from students in the first week of school was challenging, to say the least. Amidst the usual chaos of school start up, I now had now added an extra level of stress and aggravation. Miraculously, I was able to collect the majority of the permission forms by the second week of school, prior to our first e-portfolio block. Only a handful of students needed some gentle reminders, and additional copies, before they too returned their permission forms.
          With parental approval in hand, and an introductory lesson in Digital Citizenship, I casually sauntered down the hall to fetch the newly acquired laptops, filled with confidence and anticipation. Challenge number two. The cart that stores the PC laptops weighs a million pounds (okay, hyperbole, but not far off) and I couldn't actually physically roll it up to the ramp that led to my room. No weakling, I had to quickly enlist the help of nearby students, who took pity on the "poor teacher" and helped me lug the beast of a cart up the ramp. Anticipating possible technical challenges, I had requested that  a couple of "techie" students meet me at my room to facilitate the distribution of computers with my first class, thirty English 8 students.
          Challenge number three. Many of the students had difficulty logging in despite being provided with their district usernames and emails. For several of those who were able to successfully log in, their laptops immediately began to cycle through numerous updates. About half way through the class, only three students had made their way to webnode.com to begin the relatively straight forward process of creating their website. Unfortunately, as more students began to access webnode.com they were unable to create their sites. Frustrated and disheartened, it was time to begin the rather arduous process of collecting and storing the bulky laptops and their cords in the cart. With assistance, this took about fifteen minutes of valuable class time.
          Later that day, after having repeated a similar process with two more of my classes, English 11 and 12,  I contacted webnode to determine the problem. Apparently, with numerous students accessing the site from the same server, we were perceived as "hackers" and locked out. The problem was quickly rectified by webnode "white listing" our district email address. Those few who still struggled with logging in created Weebly sites. What I couldn't fix, however, was the  physical challenge of maneuvering the gigantic cart. It wouldn't always be feasible to enlist the help of bystanders. And so, I determined that although there were fewer Mac laptops available in our second cart, at least I was able to transport them easily, and the students did not have to go through the additional step of logging in.
          Week three of e-portfolis and finally, the majority of my students had successfully created a personal website that would reflect their goals and learning journey in English. We were still juggling laptops between students to compensate for fewer Macs, but most were able to begin to personalize their websites, record their learning goals and complete their first few writing submissions. This past week I was able to record and hyperlink each student site in a Word document so that I can quickly and easily follow their progress throughout the semester. My intention is that students will share their e-portfolios with me during an interview at the end of the semester. During this interview, they will have an opportunity to reflect on their successes and challenges, and share why they included various digital artifacts along with their writing submissions. These artifacts are intended to demonstrate key learning outcomes from each unit.

English 12 students immersed in their writing. Success at last!

          So rather than a lesson on how to create e-porfolios, the real lesson for both my students and myself, was how to persevere despite numerous challenges and obstacles. I am under no misconception that it will be smoother sailing for the remainder of the year, but with the continued support of my colleagues (thanks for listening to all my gripes and moaning) and my amazingly patient students (thanks for not throwing in the towel after the first disastrous day), my hope is by integrating e-portfolios to supplement in-class writing, my students will have something that will extend and enhance their writing experience, that they can take pride in, and that they can share with friends and family for years to come.

And We're Off!

          How is it possible that we are entering the third week of September? Where did those first two weeks go? If you're anything like me, they flew by in hazy blur of class lists, new faces, seating charts, writing samples, library orientations, laptops, staff meetings, committee meetings, and if you're lucky, an opportunity to actually sit down with your colleagues once or twice to eat lunch and catch up.

          Amidst all of the chaos and excitement of school start up, I am very conscious of two things: Firstly, how are my students coping? Many times over the past two weeks, as I looked out at a sea of anxious grade 8 faces, or sleepy grade 11 and 12 faces, I marvelled at how well they were balancing the numerous demands and challenges of orienting themselves to a new schedule and a multitude of new rules and expectations. To me, my school and my classroom are like a second home, but to many of my students, especially those who are new arrivals, it must seem like a overwhelming wave of blank faces, mysterious rooms and undecipherable locker combinations. And yet somehow they cope. In fact by the end of week two, the air of sometimes overwhelming anxiety of those first few days had eased considerably. For my grade 8s, I felt a mini celebration of their new found ability to navigate crowded hallways of roughly 1400 students, was most definitely in order. 

Nothing says "Congratulations for surviving the first week of high school" like timbits!

          My second concern was, how are the teachers who are new to my school managing? If I was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, how were teachers who didn't know where to find paper for photocopying, who didn't know the names of the secretaries, or who didn't know know how to use a document reader, managing to keep up with the unending demands of a new school year? Fortunately, in the same way that my school is blessed with friendly and welcoming students, we also have an amazingly supportive and welcoming staff. From our office staff, to our administrators, I can't help but be proud of the way that new teachers and support staff are gradually oriented to our school. With the additional support of individual departments and our Learning Partners team members, my hope is that teachers who are new to our school, much like our students, have also been able to transition in the last two weeks from slightly anxious and befuddled, to increasingly more confident and calm. 

          With most of the paperwork and confusion of the first two weeks out of the way, I am able to start focussing more on the diverse learning needs of my students. That sea of anxious and tired faces has begun to take shape, with individual student personalities and abilities pushing to the forefront. At times, it can still be overwhelming. To get a sense of the range of abilities and learning needs of my students, it is important to collect and read through numerous writing samples and activities. That takes time. Time that I don't have during the school day!

Not a bad place to do a little marking!

As well, I must admit that attempting to facilitate the creation of e-portfolios for the first time with close to a hundred students with numerous technology challenges and sweltering heat certainly tested my patience a bit, but by week three,  my students are already demonstrating a wide range of new found skills and abilities.

English 8 "Wanted" posters for "The Monkey's Paw".

          My goals for the 2013-14 school year?

1. Integrate e-portfolios into all of my classes to supplement and enhance in class writing. 

2. Skype with authors to extend a love of books and reading beyond the walls of my classroom. 

3. Continue to evolve and integrate our new Learning Partners program into our school community. 

4. Apply for an Action Research Grant that supports an exploration of methods to encourage the participation of experienced teachers, in addition to new teachers, in our Learning Partners program and by extension, strive to support innovative teaching practices and increased collaboration and collegiality. 

5. Make my classroom a haven for those students who need a safe place to eat lunch and hang out.

6. Make time in my day to sit down and eat lunch with an amazing group of teachers.

          Will my school year be a sprint, a marathon, or an easy jog? Most likely, a combination of all three. But in any case, "we're off"!

"Back to School" Dreams and Other Teacher Quirks

          Ask any teacher around this time of year, and most will reveal that an interesting phenomena sets in during these dog days of summer -- the "Back to School" dream. In some cases, these manifest as somewhat bizarre, often disjointed visions of desks and textbooks, marking and highlighters. But in other instances, these night time reminders of what is to come, take the form of anxiety tinged, pulse racing, night terrors. Interestingly, through speaking to my colleagues, I have discovered that the occurrence of such dreams seem as common amongst veteran teachers as with those who may be embarking on their first teaching assignment.

          Why do these night time disturbances occur one may ask? I would suggest that it speaks to the enormous obligation that most teachers feel to provide the most fulfilling, the most rewarding educational experience to their students that they possibly can. I know for myself, having spent a good chunk of the summer engaging in professional development and following the numerous educational twitter feeds and hashtags, I am eager to implement new initiatives and practices into my classroom come September. Having visited my school yesterday to set up my classroom and to photocopy and organize materials, I discovered several of my colleagues who were engaged in similar activities. With only a week and a half until the start of the school year, it seems that our teacher brains are in full swing with a seemingly non-stop stream of questions, ideas and concerns. How can I ensure that my grade 8s feel comfortable and welcomed on the first day of school? What can I do to help my grade 12s prepare for graduation? It is really possible to successfully oversee e-portfolios and conduct exit interviews for close to one hundred students?

          In the same way that the first back to school commercial in mid July filled us with scorn, those same commercials towards the end of August now result in a growing sense of excitement and anticipation for the year ahead. Similar to our students, many teachers are out purchasing that special pen or back to school outfit. So whether your night time disturbances take the form of pleasant visions of stickers and smiling faces, or more disturbing images of looming grim faced students and towering stacks of marking, rest assured that they stem from the same place -- a desire to do our very best for our kids. I wish you all a rewarding and successful 2013-14 school year!

Using iBooks Author: Reflecting on the Evolution of the "Book"

          As part of my ongoing work creating an English 8 course for iTunes University, I began the process of constructing an e-book entitled, Literature Circles: Reigniting a Passion for Reading in the Secondary Classroom, that synthesizes the various activities, projects and rubrics that I have compiled over the years for a Literature Circles unit. This process has caused me to reflect on how the essential concept of the "book" has evolved exponentially with the advent of e-books and new digital mediums. Using the Mac App iBooks Author, I am able to compile a huge range of materials, from basic Word documents, to YouTube videos. Within iBooks Author, and through the complimentary service Bookry, there are seemingly endless interactive widgets available.

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of my  e-book on Literature Circles.

          Coincidentally, while I was in the midst of this process, the CBC radio show Ideas ran the episode, "Opening The Book" which examines the ongoing evolution of the book:

"The book has stayed pretty much the same for over 500 years: a bunch of paper pages between covers. It's been both finite and easily grasped. But our digitally-connected world is forcing us to re-imagine what books could be."
                         http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2013/07/19/opening-the-book-1/

          As I listened to this episode, I thought about my students, and how different their concept of a book might be from mine. I see myself as fairly traditional in that although I do read the occasional e-book, I still yearn for the old "pages between a cover" hard copy version. I love the look of books, I love the smell of books and I love to own books. My over flowing book shelves are a testament to this. But at the same time, both professionally and personally, I have been moving towards integrating digital modes of writing and reading. Inspired by my own foray into the world of blogging, I plan to implement e-portfolios and student websites into my English classes this September to supplement the more traditional "pen and paper" writing that continues to be a necessary component of the class, given that majority of my students are still required to write the paper version, rather than the e-version of the English 10 and 12 Provincial Exam.

Using iBooks Author, I am able to insert YouTube clips of my students' iMovie Trailers for their novels.

          Interestingly, as I compiled my e-book on Literature Circles, I included possible suggestions for high interest novels, and referenced ISBN numbers for hard copy versions. Only in hindsight did I see the irony. Despite immersing myself in new digital mediums, I am still clearly biased in my perception of what constitutes a book. My experience of reading still largely involves the concrete, tangible experience of holding a paperback or hard cover book in my hands, flipping over a page and folding over the edge to mark my spot. My students' experience of reading will be something quite different. It may involve the ability and indeed, the expectation, to be able interact with the text in ways that I am only beginning to understand.
          As I continue to create my iTunes U course for English 8, linking websites, videos, podcasts, blogs, ibooks and Apps, my own perception of what constitutes a learning resource must continue to evolve and expand in order to best serve my students. And so, the overflowing bookshelves in every room of my house and classroom, have now extended to the virtual bookshelf on my iPad.
                                        I may need to get more memory on my next device.

Excerpt from Chapter 3 of my e-book on Literature Circles.