What do you love about teaching?

Recently we coaches spent a day with our new staff (a wonderful combination of both beginning teachers and teachers new to our school division) at our orientation call-back day. We asked them: what do you love about teaching? We think what they said is good inspiration for all teachers. 

• I love the dynamic atmosphere of the classroom, things aren’t the same from one class to another or even one day to another in the same class.
• The student process from “I have no idea what I am doing” to “I got it!”
• Building relationships with students.
• I learn a lot in the process of teaching.
• I love meeting new people.
• I love creating relationships and seeing the light in a student’s eyes when they come to an understanding!  (epiphany)
• Seeing “the lightbulb” come on for students.  This moment is WHY I teach.
• The moment when everything clicks!
• I love smiling faces you encounter every day :)
• I love being creative - I get paid to be creative!
• AHA moment, I get it, Yes!
• I love interacting with the students; being able to hear and respond to what gets the students questioning.
• I love seeing the students learn and apply what they have learned outside the class.
• I love meeting students years later and they have a “remember when we…” story.
• The contact with the students.
• Having an impact on children’s lives and having connections with students.
• I love the schedule, always doing something new, working indoors during winter, the amount of resources for professional development.
• The enthusiasm some kids have for the material.
• Being able to share my faith everyday and celebrating our “God moments” together as a class.
• Being with children.
• I love going to work each day and finding I learn something new.

But first, seek strengths.

Surviving the Polar Bear Plunge

As teachers, we all experience students who challenge us: our patience, our thinking, our beliefs, our routines. Buttons DO get pushed.

These sorts of experiences can be very difficult yet also incredibly formative and no matter the outcome, they help prepare us for future challenges. It may seem impossible at the time but sometimes these sorts of conflicts can even result in surprising outcomes where students return one day and say, "Thanks for not giving up on me."

But in the middle of it when it seems like there's simply no patience left, how do we foster positive change? There's a saying: "You don't drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there." Challenges require action for change to occur especially when we feel overwhelmed. So what next?

Don't face this alone. Seek support. Then seek strategies. But first, seek strengths.

Strengths? Really? In his book Hanging In, veteran educator Jeffrey Benson recommends beginning with a total shift in thinking: identify the student's every possible strength.

Think about that.

It's easy to see what a student can't do but what can a student do? Start there. Start there with any student. When we begin with strengths we can create a relationship and with a relationship we can have influence.

What do learners pay attention to?

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This past July, SHIFT published their 10 most effective engagement strategies for e-learners. However, they seem quite applicable to any type of classroom.

Based on our teaching experience, our top five favourite go-to engagement strategies were
1. stories
2. visuals
3. emotions
4. controversy
5. contrast

Which ones are your favourites? And to switch things up, what would you like to try next?

For more information and resources linked to each strategy, click here.

What's neuroplasticity and how do I get some?

One of the most difficult things we teachers face every day in the classroom is a fixed mindset and some of the byproducts of that thinking: anxiety, low motivation, attendance issues, apathy,  powerlessness, avoidance, negativity, and so on. But where does this mindset come from because we certainly don't start out that way, do we...?




Students need to understand that the goal is not to be the so-called best; the goal is to grow. Their mistakes are simply learning opportunities. Researchers like Carol Dweck have proven that the brain is like a muscle: the more you use it, the more it grows. In other words, it does us better to focus more on the growth necessary to achieve rather than the achievement itself. Why? A technical term for this is neuroplasticity:


Our intelligence is not fixed. Neural connections form and deepen most when we make mistakes doing difficult tasks rather than repeatedly having success with easy ones.  Science has proven we can grow the brains we need to accomplish the tasks we hope to accomplish if we are willing to face our challenges with an open mind. Challenges like learning guitar, or Shakespeare, or dance, or tennis, or economics, or math problem-solving or even relearning how to walk. Maybe we just can't do those things YET.

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That kind of thinking inspires, that kind of thinking empowers. So maybe it's time to talk to your students about this? Maybe it's time to share stories with them about people with growth mindsets? Maybe it's time to model how we do it. 

Remember books?

Need a laugh? This video might help with that. For junior/senior high teachers this video might also engage your students' critical thinking skills and open a good conversation about technology or literacy. And if you teach irony or satire or debate, this video asks a great question about our modern society: what are we forgetting how to do? Maybe even have your students create a how-to parody video of their own. What would be the topic?

A Terrific New Word for Learning!

BIG IDEA: Iteration is the act of repeating a process with the aim of approaching a desired goal, target or result. Each repetition of the process is also called an "iteration," and the results of one iteration are used as the starting point for the next iteration.

Think about that: what a great to summarize teaching and learning. Wouldn't this be a better way to shift student mindsets about the concept of failure? It certainly underlines the notion that "a mistake is an opportunity to learn." Plus, if you consider fractals, it's a rather beautiful thought too:

 What role might iteration play in your classroom this year? 

Time for Words?

In her book Active Literacy, Heidi Hayes Jacobs cites research that "35% of all test errors are reading errors." She specifically links that research to gaps in vocabulary.

To prep for final projects and exams, many teachers are using some time in June for summarization and reflection. Consider focusing on vocabulary. For example, Robert Marzano recommends this simple strategy called "Connect 2." 

1. Develop a list of subject-specific vocabulary.
2. Place students in pairs or small groups.
3. Engage students to choose two vocabulary words from the list and discuss how those two terms are related, then write about those words using a format such as this:  _____________ and ____________ are connected because _____________________.
5. Repeat this process with two more words and so on.

It's a simple strategy, isn't it? Yet, if you've ever tried this, it truly requires thinking and absolutely encourages deeper understanding of words and concepts.

There's a joke about words that goes "at least taste your words before you spit them out." No matter the subject or grade level, students need time to taste, savour, and internalize words. The research says that taking time for this totally pays off.

How do I know I'm making a difference?

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Every day, thousands and thousands of teachers influence students. Yet because we teachers are in the midst of the busy day-to-day aspects of learning, we sometimes don't recognize or even realize the signs that show we are truly making a difference in the education and lives of our students. Stop and think about that. It's true, isn't it? This idea inspired our list of 15 ways to know YOU ARE making a difference: 


1. Students talk to you umprompted (or give you a fist bump or a high five).
2. You’ve tried new things (and some even worked!)
3. People directly tell you. (Don't dismiss it; let those compliments soak in!)
4. You are less nervous when your admin or colleagues visit your room.
5. You mentor other teachers. People want your opinion.
6. Students raise their hands to share rather than always to ask for help.
7. Your students miss you after a day with a sub.
8. Your students can verbalize what they’re learning.
9. You notice students using words like "criteria" and other vocabulary you've taught them.
10. A student models your thinking or behaviour to other students.
11. You're tired but energized too. You smile at the beginning of the day (not just the end).
12. You are marking less but assessing more.
13. Your staffroom conversations are more about sharing strategies and collaborating.
14. A parent or guardian or former student or adminstrator takes a moment to thank you.
15. Students are reading and writing and creating and thinking and questioning and laughing and learning!

Got Test Anxiety?

Many of our students experience test-anxiety or lack confidence when faced with any type of assessment. These issues speak to the need for students to learn about perseverance and problem-solving and develop personal strategies around them. One such strategy might be a brain purge (sometimes called a brain dump) Despite the odd name, it could really be quite helpful.

 

So how does it work?

After learning new material over a period of time, have students do a "brain purge" on a blank page. Essentially, they dump everything they know about what they've learned. This has many uses:
1. It helps students articulate their learning.
2. It allows teachers to see "gaps" in learning.
3. It allows for teacher/peer feedback.
4. It creates a study guide before tests.
5. If done for a few minutes immediately before a test, it becomes the study guide during the test.

All of these approaches may be quite useful in removing anxiety and developing confidence in learning and assessment. What do you think?

Find out more information here at Edutopia.

Poem in your Pocket?

This video underlines the fact that there are so many wonderful things to experience, exciting places to explore, and compelling things to learn. Learning should be fun and it should be shared.

April is National Poetry Month in a variety of countries. What if your school held a "Poem in Your Pocket" Day sometime this month? It is certainly an opportunity to help instill a love of poetry but it could also be an authentic engaging learning experience in writing, social skills, speaking, listening, building community and more. What if your students shared just a few descriptive words (maybe in the classic haiku form) about what they're learning and why it's exciting? Find info here.

Asphalt whizzes by

Spokes sparkling in the sunlight

View from handlebars

~H.P. Clamann