#sparKtalK5 Solutions Sought

What-so-what-now-what...Indeed. After an especially productive pro-d session with my Principal, Sean McCartney, I reflected on the amazingly positive impact a collaborative partner can have on my own attempts to problem solve. Unfortunately, he's a busy guy and not always available. My program is a pilot: a multi age group of learners (7-13 years) in the annex of an elementary school, focusing on inquiry and hands-on learning opportunities in a highly personalized learning environment, sees me with a "schedule" that is different than that of the school we are situated at. As a result, we are almost always on our own; we have recess breaks on our own and lunch on our own and the peer group is very small. My school-based peer group is even smaller.

Following my pro-d morning where Sean and I tackled Learning Plans and reporting options, I am all the more aware of my lack of readily available collaborative opportunities. Unfortunately, I've got more than my fair share of new-program-problems to solve and am feeling a little desperate for collaboration opportunities. I've been sharing out through my #sparKtalK vlog posts trying to build a network with which to collaborate, but the momentum continues to be...non-existent. I am pushing through however, and am committed to my vlog through to the end of June with the hope that things pick up. As well, I will continue to pursue interactions with my PLN on Twitter and consult with professional and community contacts as that network continues to grow.

This week's "What"...Technology and limited resources. Have a watch (it's brief! honest!!) and please comment, questions, critique, chat, collaborate, or contribute in any way shape or form in the space below, via Twitter (@spedlearner) or via email: tross@sd61learn.

#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

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.