#sparKtalK5 Vlog: The Big Reveal

Ah, delayed reflection reaps the greatest reward, at least for me through this week's vlog post. I struggled with what to do with my learners’ apparent lack of ability in the area of making connections earlier this week. Of course, I was quick to interpret this as a problem of theirs that I would need to support them with. However, after taping my reflection, walking home from school, I considered this whole connecting thing further. What did I do wrong? Why, after watching a video they all seemed completely intrigued by, was it so difficult to draw out some connections? What role did I play in this struggle?

Watch this week’s vlog post, beginning with my embarrassingly early and quick resolve as I explain my “what”, followed by a later reflective post sharing my own more significant learning. The big reveal. Here it is!

Thanks for watching! As usual, I’d love to hear back from you! Questions, comments,  criticisms, cheers, or chit chat—all feedback is welcome and appreciated!

#sparKtalK5 Vlog - Make Me a Maker

So, hands-on-collaborate-create-make-and-maybe-even-bake, seems like one big undertaking to me. I've done some reading, some viewing, and some consulting to try to figure out this whole maker movement thing. Inspired last year by Sylvia Martinez's visit to our #tiegrad cohort (thank you to Alec Couros for setting that up), I made sure this year's class supplies included a MakeyMakey and a Raspberry Pi. I know very little about either, but it seems like a good starting point. We are barebones in terms of our SPARK Maker Space otherwise. Please view this week's #sparKtalK5 vlog to hear my what-so-what-now-what explanation!

Comments, criticisms, questions, contributions, and any other forms of collaborative efforts are GREATLY appreciated! Please add your two cents worth below.

sparKtalK5 Vlog - Flexibility on the Spot

This week, the learners I worked with pushed me to be more flexible. It really got me wondering if there are times/situations where we can't really afford the flexibility our learners need. I want to believe no, but I also know that logistically, I'm one person, trying to support a number of different learners at very different places in their learning. Please comment and share with me how you handle student tangents in learning, learners moving in a different direction, and other opportunities for practicing flexibility.
In the example I share, my goal was have learners create an artistic image that uses line and colour to communicate the mood and theme of fall. Pre-activity, we all looked at the same work sample, discussed the connection to our Autumn theme, and the creative process we would be exploring. Sharing the experience, we all sat around one big table together, and a natural evolution of creation occurred;  learners began to make suggestions to each other (leaf drawing strategies, ways to add texture through rubbing, and how to shade the leaf as opposed to "colouring" it, for example). One learner went in a completely different direction (see photo above).
I'm working really hard to support and respect learner differences (be that in their understanding of directions, their own desire to do something different, or simply where they are "at" in their learning) and a big part of that is being flexible. Reflecting also allows me to consider what my role might have been, if any, in influencing the learner's diverted path.

I am feeling a little lonely in my program and my attempts to pursue personalized learning and inquiry in a multi-age (7-13 years) environment. Any comments, questions, advice, constructive criticism, feedback, or words of wisdom are greatly appreciated!! (Does that sound too desperate??)

Thanks for watching and please subscribe!

#sparKtalK5 Tackling Overwhelm

An sparKtalK5 vlog post to share; I wish it was an update on Learning Plans, but alas, it is not. Just tackling my looming overwhelm this week. Really appreciate the support I've been getting both via this blog and via text/email from friends who are teachers. Please keep it coming as it really does help!

And, just to be clear, the tears were indeed my own and I did, in fact, recover before students arrived. Boo-hoo-ing at work is really not something that happens for me, so this was a big deal. Onward!

sparKtalK5

Incidental learning embraced me these last couple of weeks. At times, it's squeezed me so hard, it's taken my breath away. Or maybe that has just been my anxiety creeping in. This new venture has me overwhelmed.

First things first: my vlog has required a name change. I may have mentioned that certain tech doesn't like formatting the "<" symbol. I have learned that there are ways around this, but to keep it simple, I'm just going to re-brand. It's still early, right? So, out with the old ("talk<5") and in with the new... new name, new hashtag, but same location:

#sparKtalK5

I hope my vlog posts will spark your interest, start conversation, and help me to build a community of connected learners. I'm jumping in the deep end this fall, definitely feeling in WAY over my head, as I try to navigate, support, and nurture a personalized learning environment with the learners in my (new-to-me) multi-age classroom. All ideas, suggestions, questions, comments, feedback, and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

I have so many questions and it's been challenging to even prioritize them--how to set up our space, how to connect learners in 5 different grades to the curriculum, how to assess and track learning, and how to use the GAFE tools available to me. Then there's FreshGrade and Khan Academy. Our days have been full of hands-on, interactive and collaborative learning activities as we try to establish ourselves as a community of learners, build trust, and get to know one another. However, I know we need to start dipping our toes in to the pool of inquiry and personalization.  Where to even start??

Here is this weekend's post (video'd a week ago) outlining my "what-so what-now what" for the week.

Rediscovering Grace Under Pressure, with thanks to Dave Cormier

         What? No curriculum?  When Dave Cormier explained to our #tiegrad cohort that he teaches his university course(s) without a true curriculum my initial reaction was, “You can do that?!” In the days that followed the Cormier Session, I kept revisiting this detail. How does it work? How could it work? How would students react? What would their parents say? How would my peers respond? ¡Ay! Caramba!

         This particular blog post has been overwhelming for me to tackle, as there have been so many aspects and significant moments of the Cormier Session that resonated with me.  I've actually had to force myself to keep coming back to this post, as the overwhelm gradually began to evolve into avoidance. There were big ideas shared in this session, and by big, I’m talking transformative big, mover-shaker big, B-I-G Big.  Finally, after an encouraging post by Melody Watson and brief exchanges with Trevor MacKenzie, I decided my strategy would be to hang on to just one of Dave’s many inspiring comments, process it, reflect on it, and elaborate on my very many mullings and musings.

         Since our session, my thoughts have turned to the many times over the years that, as a parent, I would exclaim to my husband, “Don’t these teachers ever TALK to each other?!!”, as I watched one of our four kids crumple under the stress of multiple project and papers all with (fairly inflexible) due dates.  To make matters all the more frustrating, these projects and papers usually had widespread potential for overlap.  From the teacher perspective, I wonder why we are so reluctant, as a collective group, to encourage students to reuse, resubmit, or “double-dip” their efforts for different courses.  As an example, in his grade 11 year my own son had to write several  Social Studies papers, create a major project for his Integrated Studies course, and write multiple English essays.  This would seem a fantastic opportunity for the 3 teachers at the helm to work together, offer up one (or several) shared project(s) for the learners that could support meeting learning outcomes in all three courses. Why don’t we model working smarter, not harder and support, heck, require kids to do the same?

         As kids move through the different levels of school—elementary, middle/junior, and secondary—the lines between subject areas become more fast and firm;  the opportunities to develop their creative talents and their problem solving and communication skills become more prescribed (possibly even less valued if we consider shifts away from “play” and “making”).  There can be a lot of hoop jumping for kids in the middle and secondary years and they know this. What is the value of curriculum if we can’t deliver it without redundancy?  Recently, for example, I have been witness to a Gifted learner (not that that should even matter), basically avoiding or, perhaps refusing, to submit his Math homework packages, yet completing each unit test with sound results (90-95%-ish). Typically he would complete the homework packages just enough to “get it” and then cease working on them.  His teacher demanded that he go back and complete all of the packages, work that counts for “completion” marks only. Why?  The response:  “I can’t give him special treatment.”  This mentality has to change. Each learner is an individual, with distinct needs and strengths, unique circumstances, and a very personal learning profile. 

         We shouldn't be treating all students in any given class the same. Dave Cormier said, “What you can assess is how hard they are working and how far they have come.” A highly capable student, such as the gifted learner in the example above, would be considered to have made minimal effort and, quite possibly, demonstrated minimal growth, even though he has mastered the concepts and skills. Another student in the same class, for whom Math is very challenging, may have demonstrated significant learning and effort. Wouldn't it be awesome to offer all learners the opportunity to access learning at their instructional level so working hard was an authentic process and subsequent growth was inevitable?  

         I often tell my own children the rules in our family are potentially different for each of them. For example, a curfew of 11 pm may be needed for the one who never texts to tell us where he is or frequently misses the last bus home, while another may not need a curfew at all as a result of his “by the book” approach to most aspects of his life. The idea of integrating coursework and even subject areas in middle and high school is, of course, daunting to many educators who have never done it this way. Cormier encourages us to create opportunities for students to be creative, learners who can deal with an uncertain world and a capricious life. Why would we ask them to show us (in a homework package, for example) what they've already demonstrated (in a unit test)?  

       In her blog post on the Cormier Session, Melody Watson says, “Life is messy and full of uncertainty. Learning needs to be messy too…I think we need to get more comfortable with letting kids struggle.”  I would take this a step further to say that, as educators, we need to be personally modelling this willingness to get our hands dirty, make mistakes, and struggle to our learners.  GeorgeCouros, in his recent blog post, 3 Important Shifts in Education, says: “Listening to students is not enough; we must bring them into the change process”. Along these lines, Dave Cormier, shared his curriculum-free syllabus with us; in looking at this document, I am reminded of the importance and value in inviting encouraging, or requiring students to participate in their learning plan, to support their excitement, curiosity, interest and desire to learn. In thinking about a curriculum free approach, I have to tell myself, “You don’t need to throw out the entire curriculum today, but find a spot where you can break down the walls a little bit,” which helps the subtle anxiety to dissipate.

         In my years as a rower, one of my coaches relied on idiomatic language and cliches to carry many of his inspirational pre-race chats with our crew.  He regularly referred to the dangers of “reckless abandon”—so much energy spent and so little to show for it—and emphasized the importance of being able to go all out with control; he used the term, “grace under pressure”.  In my #tieyoga videos, one yogi refers to this same idea as “joyful discomfort”.  I often think of these phrases in the context of education and shifting teaching practices. We need to be able to support learners to be able to experience the messiness of learning, the pressure or discomfort of it, with support garnered from elements of structure and guidance, ultimately yielding the "grace" or joy we want for all learners, ourselves included.  Similar to my rowing experiences, part of mastering “grace under pressure” requires occasionally embracing “reckless abandon”. To be able to push ourselves and our boundaries as learners (teacher-learner or student-learner), we need to know where the edge is and occasionally fall off of it. If we want learners to find their “flow”, the sweet spot or spark, they need to know where their near misses take them. Confidence in our abilities is gained through these experiences and in knowing there are some parameters that will help us make our way back on course.

         My Cormier Session take-away is something that I actually already knew, but didn't fully recognize as relevant to education.  Dave reminded me to be brave and bold, the importance of letting go. I learned as an elite athlete that If I'm not able to let go, I won't ever reach my maximum potential; further, as we grow, our maximum potential continues to change and expand. Our #tiegrad session with Dave made me realize that "grace under pressure" holds true, regardless of the context. Even if it’s what feels like the smallest change to my practice, I need to keep pushing.  A prescribed curriculum leaves little room for getting messy, be it gracefully or recklessly. Ticking the boxes and jumping through hoops seems to be producing learners (and, perhaps, teachers) who are uncomfortable taking risks and who just want to be told what to do, if they haven’t already checked out altogether. The Cormier Session helped me to extend an aspect of my own value system to my approach to learning and teaching; I want to walk the talk, toe the line, and approach each day as an educator seeking joyful discomfort and exuding grace under pressure. I hope, through sharing my process and allowing peers and learners to observe me in the occasional state of reckless abandon, I can inspire others to do the same.

Expectation vs Reality or Product vs Process: My #tieyoga update

       A while back I made a Haiku Deck to document my #learningproject progress (or lack thereof) and changes to my plan in my #tieyoga practice.  Often in learning and teaching, we need to assess and reassess our progress  as we move through any given lesson, task, or project. I'm taking a bit of time today to reflect on this particular reassessment of my #tieyoga plan..

       The idea of dropping into a community or studio class once weekly is a great one. It allows me to access an environment that is more conducive to true yoga practice and mindfulness and provides access to the ever important yoga instructor, an expert, to monitor my postures and make corrections as necessary. This strategy has been difficult to implement due to the limitations of time in my life, largely due to my responsibilities as a mother, daughter, student, dog-owner, and full time teacher.

       Five at-home sessions each week is my ideal goal; it's a goal that will see observable results over a relatively short amount of time. Some weeks this has been achievable and other weeks it has not, for exactly the reasons noted above.

       I chose to focus on five key postures that directed my yoga attention to my "problem areas". Plagued by runner's hips and hamstrings (ie. tight), I included hip opening and hamstring stretching postures and feel that I've been successful in increasing my flexibility in these specific areas. I also wanted to target back bends because they are incorporated into many of the postures I am in awe of, such as standing bow and floor bow. Seeing a master yogi perform these postures is a beautiful thing and I wanted to feel the exhilaration of seeing the wall behind me during camel pose. In reality, however, I'm a little bit fearful. I would appreciate some help and guidance through the back bending postures and find them difficult to do at home on my own. Maybe I'm just not ready or maybe it's something that will be more achievable when I can actually practice 5 or more times per week. The other obstacle to my overall achievement of this goal has been the fact that I don't always know what is specifically covered in the yoga video I use (until I use it) and, while I have repeated my use of some videos, I have tried to really explore the different videos available to figure out what I like and don't like. This has been helpful in gaining insight to what's available, but it has slowed the general progress of my identified targeted areas.

       My expectation was to record my #tieyoga practice in my "Accountability Log". This is where expectation and reality actually met! I have been consistently committed to keeping a log of my practice, including time of day, video used, length of practice session, how I felt and goal(s) for next time.

       At times the fact that I have not been achieving my #tieyoga goals has caused me great stress, but I always go back to this script: My learning process is more important than my learning outcome. And, I have learned a lot. I've learned that life has limitations and distractions that are out of my control. I've learned that it's okay to change the game plan, adjust the route, or switch topics completely. I've learned what helps my practice and what doesn't. I've learned that I can do yoga at home, and I can do it enough that I actually notice the benefits. I've learned to have a sense of humour when the dog comes over and licks my face when I am in downward dog or when my kids are being so lovingly loud and fiercely physical with each other that I can't even hear the yogi's serene, rhythmic voice reminding me to breathe.  I've learned that I can reorganize my priorities to a great degree and that it's okay to sometimes just let things go--for awhile--even things I never thought I could, like social engagements and putting clean laundry away.  I've learned that logs and reflections do work and that my #tieyoga community is just me and, at the end of the day, that can be hard. Not impossible. But hard. 

       So, what does this all mean? How can I transfer this learning and insight to my own practice as a teacher? How can I use this information to enable me to better support my learners?  I can follow my own advice: My learning process is more important than my learning outcome and ask students, "But what have you learned? How has this decision or that mistake enlightened you? Explain your thinking."

Merriam-Webster's definition of "process"

       The learning process is what shapes us as learners and what influences our decision-making and skill development as we participate in future learning tasks.  The end, of course, can matter greatly, and as many of us have seen firsthand both in our classrooms and in our #learningprojects, it may or may not be reached by all learners. However, my #tieyoga #learningproject has stressed the importance of the journey for me and that's what I hope I can take to my students; I want them to understand that growth is not only possible, but likely, as an outcome, regardless of reaching a destination. Get on board, keep trekking on your path (as twisted and switchback as it can sometimes seem) and make the most of your journey.

Stretching My Practice #tieyoga

Okay, it’s off to the races. I’m trying a new strategy tonight: blogging in 45 minutes or less. Since my last #tieyoga post and revised plan for regular practice via Haiku Deck, I have had more success with my #learningproject.  I've been more regularly practicing yoga and trying to focus on poses that will support the 5 key postures I identified as targets to improve on. 

Several key factors have contributed positively to my improved yoga practice over the course of this last week.  First and foremost, my Accountability Log, the log of accountability, my #tieyoga journal; it allows for a concrete view of my success (or shortcomings). I leave the Accountability Log  open on my computer (it’s just a basic word document) and as I log out of my yoga site, I open the document and plug in the date, the name of the video I used, running time, yogi’s name, and how it went.  Bam.  Done. And I know it’s there waiting for me on days I’m not so inclined to practice, which often (not always) kicks me in the general direction of the yoga mat.

 My motivation for practicing yoga at home has climbed to a more positive place; I think it’s because I am actually noticing some improvement in my flexibility…What? WHAAAT??? Yes, that’s right, increased flexibility.  That’s a good hook for me. I noticed a similar phenomenon with my #tiefit participation (the #notmylearningproject fitbit thing).  I am feeling so incredibly good with all my #tiefit walking, that I am currently getting out every day. I don’t want to miss a single day. I have set personal goals, such as nothing less than 10 km a day, 12 000 steps minimum as a daily total and walking to/from work at least twice a week.  While the #tiefit community drew me in, it’s now my own progress and improvement that is propelling me forward. Bingo.

Photo Credit: Bikram Yoga Westshore

Lastly, I follow my local yoga studio, Bikram YogaWestshore, on Twitter and Facebook and recently they shared these 3 photos to emphasize the progress we can make with regular practice over a fairly short amount of time.

Photo Credit: Bikram Yoga Westshore

Photo Credit: Bikram Yoga Westshore

 These photos inspired me to use some of the photos I started my project with, along with some I've taken more recently, in a different way.  I plan to create similar “collage” pics as a way to compare my own growth in my 5 targeted postures. It’s one thing to feel you've improved, but it’s quite another to see you've improved.  I’m excited to see what my #tieyoga growth looks like as I move through these weeks and weeks of practice. It is inspiring to me to see the personal improvements in these pictures over the course of one, two or three months!








It turns out that #tieyoga is alive and well when, a week ago, I thought it might have crashed and burned altogether. It’s challenging to have to figure out my own obstacles to learning and problem solve ways around them without other learners who are working on a similar thing. Many of our #tiegrad group are working on #learningprojects, but the projects are all so different.  Seeking out support from  my peers can be helpful when I am simply looking for a new strategy for my own project or trying to overcome a specific obstacle, but sometimes just to get going you need a buddy who is working on the same thing. Being part of a team is a huge part of our #tiefit success. Being a lone yogi at home has been my greatest #tieyoga challenge. 

In light of my recent shift, I’m now wondering if pursuing this #learningproject on my own is going to make success taste all the sweeter. We shall see….but for now, Namaste.

PS:  30 minutes for the writing. Pics & video took a little longer though.

The Long Overdue Research Update

For whatever reason, overwhelm, lack of confidence, indecision, or, perhaps, sheer avoidance, I have been lacking in my research update posts. It isn't for lack of reading and thinking; goodness knows I've been doing a lot of that. So, here goes...the much anticipated update.

The positives: 

1. My #tiegrad reading group is an absolute god-send. While resources have been shared, I find that the greatest value gained from participation in the reading group is moral support. We seem to take turns encouraging and supporting each other from week to week, through periods of dead-ends or overwhelm, confusion about reference tools and theories, and balancing life between family, work, fitbits, research and blogposts. I am immeasurably grateful for my fellow #monkeyminds in #tieinquiry.
2. Finding appropriate research articles hasn’t been the problem I thought it might be. I’ve been using search terms such as

• educational reform
• inquiry learning
• personalized learning
• shifting teacher practice personalized
• shifting teacher practice 
• shifting teacher practice inquiry
• pedagogical reform
• obstacles reform practice teacher
• factors reform practice teacher
• teacher professional development inquiry
• shifting practice inquiry support(s)

     3. As I read through articles, certain themes have begun to emerge and have me thinking I need to narrow my focus.  Specifically, I am wondering if I should be looking at educational reform through professional development to encourage shifting of teacher practice towards the inquiry model focusing on collaborative inquiry as a means to professional development, or even more specifically, the use of purposeful and structured reflections, or access to peer mentors as ways to encourage a shift in practice.

The challenges:

1. While finding articles hasn't been a problem, finding the time to meaningfully scan, read and absorb their content has been more difficult.  
2. Determining my curation method and organization of information has been daunting. I still have not confirmed my referencing tool.
3. Figuring out the best way to incorporate or refer back to my theoretical frameworks is on the back burner. I'm hoping it will become more apparent as I work through my articles. Originally I was considering constructivism and social theory as my two main theories, but now I'm leaning more towards constructivism and connectivism as mypoints of reference.

I’m hopeful that, as I continue to read through the many articles, the themes that surface will help to guide me towards a logical outcome.Perhaps I should continue to look at the big picture, considering the whole idea of educational reform in the context of the BC Ed Plan—obstacles that impede and strategies/practices that support teachers shifting their practice.  Thanks to Jason Fisher, a member of our fab #tiegrad cohort, for encouraging me to map out my research ideas. My brainstorming so far, in the form of a coggle.it mindmap, looks like this:

 Looking at this mindmap overhwelms me, but it also helps me to recognize the importance of narrowing the scope of my research topic/question. I'm hoping to refer back to it as I work through my process. In the meantime, I will soldier on.

The Trials and Tribulations of Finding a Research Topic Focus

Narrowing down my focus on a single topic for my MEd research has been a STRUGGLE (yes I am yelling, virtually).  As a Special Education teacher in a Distributed Learning (DL) school, I wonder if it would have seemed easier to latch on to something if I worked in a more typical school environment. My areas of interest vary widely and, while I know I could have set myself up quite easily to have access to a classroom in a different school, I kept coming back to the fact that I’d prefer that my research topic be relevant to my own work environment. 

Over the last 3 years, I have seen a significant rise in students moving to our DL school as a response to personal challenges and obstacles to learning that they have not been able to overcome in their mainstream neighbourhood schools.  Many of the students who end up on my caseload are working hard to overcome anxiety and other mental health challenges while attempting to tackle grade level curriculum.  I find that the students on my case load require great flexibility in their learning plans and they benefit from a personalized approach. My first glance at BC's Ed Plan, specifically its description of “Personalized Learning for Every Student,” hooked me.  The explanation that educators will have “the flexibility to make sure each student is well served by their educational program,” the description of each learner as “unique”, and the commitment of our education system to “support each student’s interests and ways of learning” made me excited to be a teacher. The list of the 4 Action Steps that followed the explanation further inspired me; the talk of competencies, fewer but higher level outcomes and increased flexibility sealed the deal. While the document's proposed plan felt like a good fit for me upon first viewing, with its potential benefits for learners and flexibility with curriculum, others in our profession have been slower to warm up.  I have observed a good number of educators taking advantage of the opportunity, and encouragement, really, to shift their practice in the direction of personalized learning, while others prefer to stick with what they know and, in the context of their own classrooms, what they believe works. Risk taking is uncomfortable for many learners, the students I work with in particular, and I see a parallel that exists between my own peer group and the students we teach; just as we scaffold learning for our students, meet them where they are, I wonder if there are any specific supports or strategies that might better support shifts in practice among educators, as learners, navigating their way to a new approach.

My identified research topic is based in the adoption of personalized learning approaches in middle school. Curriculum/pedagogical change is needed to move ahead with personalized learning.  I am choosing to focus on middle school, as it seems to be a time when many students derail from the mainstream approach, some students’ families look for alternatives and while others simply stop attending. My identified Research Problem is to explore factors that prevent and/or support a pedagogical shift in practice even though recent curriculum documents encourage the move towards personalized learning as an instructional approach.I am looking at constructivism and Bandura’s Social Theory as theoretical frameworks for my research. 

My Research Questions:

•         If teachers and students had something to help map out their project, term or semester to support personalized learning, would that help them adopt that approach?
•         Would a “planner”, guide, or other structured template, that somehow linked to the learning outcomes, assist teachers and students in the successful adoption of personalized learning?
•         How can we ensure there is visibility of learning and learning outcomes?
•          Does learning transparency of the teacher, in the context of personalized learning, impact students? For example, does a teacher sharing out his/her own learning goals, risk-taking and reflections (as relevant) impact student learning? 

My questions are too many--I realize that--but I hope through readings and research I will be able to narrow my focus and peel back some of the layers to address a specific question.

On a positive note, I recently discovered the hashtag, #plchat, on Twitter, and I’ve taken to meandering through past links and posts put out by its users. I’m enjoying some good reads on @pernilleripp ‘s blog, Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension, with posts such as this one, titled,

“9 Barriers to Personalized learning and How We May Work Around Them”. My time right now is mostly focused on trying to hone the craft of “searching” and fine tuning my key terms, as well as choosing my preferred methods and structures for curating and referencing resources I find. I am in a continued state of overwhelm, but I have my first two journal articles started. The ball is, officially, rolling.

So here I am, ready to conclude this blogpost update on my research progress and, believe it or not, I still have doubts about my topic. I will soldier on, however, continue with my reading, perusing and blogging, and hope with all my might that I settle into my groove and find my flow really, really soon.