#IMMOOC Finale - but just the beginning...

My shoutouts:

Why I don’t laminate anymore

@BeTheChnge

A cracking hook line which reinforced the necessity to capture people’s attention early! But the main reason this resonated with me was the notion of  ‘on purpose’. Only doing things that you have a made a positive decision about doing.

I also enjoyed the description of forcing oneself to reflect on whether they are actually doing things the best way they can, or just the way they are used to doing it.

Seeds in the sounds of silence

@KerriZitar

Time alone. I love making connections, and this one did it for me. Kerri Zitar’s post resonated with a podcast I had listen to recently, which was all about the importance of rest and recuperation in being the most efficient and effective that you can and another which promoted being bored to truly unleash your creative talents. One of the struggles I have is not being constantly busy (This course actually doesn’t help in that regard!) That quiet time of reflection is gold dust, and essential, don’t miss it!

Teachers leave school less curious

Kristin Freed Houston

To be honest, it was the title that resonated with me most here. I love working with the youngest students, they really do just learn because they want to. However, the title made me think. And it’s sad, that on reflection, I came to the conclusion that so many teachers seem to have lost their love for learning. It was probably beaten out of them by their own schooling experience to some extent. But in the main, it’s because they are too busy.

What can we do to ensure that teachers have time to follow their own curiosities?

What I am going to do differently….

Firstly, I will spend more time with people, being present. Naturally, I am not a social extrovert. I like being in people’s company, but it is not how I rejuvenate myself. But, I ‘The Innovator’s Mindset’ clearly points out, empathy and relationships is where the journey to improvement and change begins. relationships are key. So I will go to where the people are. These places around school where groups gather, and people talk. And I will listen, be present, and build my understanding of what their situations are.

Next, I will spend more time learning. Choice paralysis is a real thing. And as a learning technology coach I face a lot of choice. So many new technologies, with new possibilities rear their heads on a daily basis. So, how can I be more effective? I’m going to make some purposeful choices to learn. To choose something and learn about that.

Finally, I am going to share. I will share my learning using our school hashtag #BSJBbytes. But I will also be the voice for others in our school. I will be sharing their successes and their experiences in the aim of promoting that acceleration of progress in our community.

With these three (manageable) changes, I think I can begin to make a difference, this is my challenge!

Innovation / Consistency Connundrum

“Have you seen what teacher Y does with (insert name of APP/ technique here)?

It's amazing, they have started using it in a way I would never have thought possible. And teacher X has thrown out doing (insert name of mandatory school-wide protocol) because they thought they would try a different way.” said not very many people ever, probably.

missionfitonline.co.uk

It is a constant balancing act between innovation and consistency that I see regularly in schools and teams within those schools. The community and administration (not necessarily always ‘The Administration’ though) require predictability and consistency. People need to know where they stand, where to get information and how communication will work. As part of a community it is respectful and necessary to be predictable in the way you go about your work. It enables others to make decisions knowing they can depend on you to manage the part you play with a particular methodology.

But what if these routines and protocols are holding back effective working practices? What if the solution is not clear and easily implemented change? What if they are not actually bad methods, but there are opportunities to improve?

If we accept that innovation is the application of a better solution to meet a need, whether articulated, new or unarticulated, we can consider the two main ways that can happen: Evolutionary type innovation where incremental improvements are made.

Revolutionary innovations, which are disruptive and new.

www.theconnectedclinician.com

The key question when looking at how practice can change to more effective methods is; what capacity does an organisation have for these kind of innovations?

The limits on capacity can come from any part of the community, and are many. It takes a brave individual to ignore the discontent that can emanate from trying something new. Particualrly of the revolutionary type of innovation.

As I read back through what I have written so far, I’m wondering where this train of thought is taking me. I guess really, I want to be innovative. I want the freedom to try out any idea that looks like there is some merit in it. Some communities have taken an overt and explicit approach to innovating in their community (check out SIS Hack) and I can’t remember where I heard it, but the phrase ‘The sacred cow, makes the tastiest burgers’ resonates when this kind of approach is taken.

As amazing and inspiring that kind of leading is, this isn’t happening for me. I need to find another way to innovate without disrupting the consistency in my context so much, that I get shut down. So I suppose it falls to me to be ‘innovative in innovating’. We’ll see how that goes.

The experience of learning

What is the experience of learning?

I went to a small country school until I was nine years old. There were three teachers including Mr. Ella, who took the oldest class. He was also the head of the school. My time at this school was a happy one, and I have many memories of things that happened. However, almost none of them are about the learning. Amongst recollections of Mr. Ella with his blue tracksuit during Friday afternoon football, being made to sit in the cloakroom as a punishment, snow days when the boiler broke and the look on Mr. Ella's face when he contemplated my back to front left handed handwriting, there is only one specific learning event that marks a prominent place in my memory; standing on a chair, that was on top of a table, wearing a hat made out of sugar paper, holding a kitchen roll tube to my eye and shouting 'land ahoy' as we recreated Captain Cook's arrival at the southern islands. I distinctly remember the taste of sauerkraut, the path the Endeavour took, naming the bay he landed in as Botany Bay and plenty more. Ask me what else I learnt at that school, and I can assume I learnt to write, although I don't remember it, I must have learnt some Maths too, but I don't remember it actually happening either. 

http://www.2gb.com/article/captain-james-cooks-endeavour-mystery

I presume there are all sort of reasons for this, mostly that writing and Maths are ongoing skills developments that I am still consolidating and improving now. Whereas the Captain Cook topic was a one off event, learning was not usually conducted like this in Mr. Ella's class, he must have just been on a course.

So, what about now?

As educators, what kind of importance do we place on the experience of learning, in relation to the process of learning?  It must be impractical that we attempt to make all learning memorable events like my Captain Cook episode, and are memorable events even the best way to learn? How many times have I needed to draw on the knowledge I gained from that learning experience? I think I may have got my team a point in a pub quiz once, and of course it was useful for this piece too. But that’s about it. Perhaps the functions of my brain were improved by the process of gaining and sorting that knowledge, otherwise, what was the point?

So I look to my own class now and how our curriculum is organised with special events marking the beginning and ends of topic units. Are we trying to do a ‘Captain Cook’ for every topic? Should we? Is the only reason I remember it, the fact that it was so different to the rest of my school experience? If so, doing ‘Captain Cooks’ all the time will lose impact surely?

The recent introduction of iPads on a 1 to 1 basis has enabled a huge sea change in the way my class operates. Independence, autonomy and responsibility have grown within my students, and it’s pretty incredible to experience. I would love to know how they will view this experience in 10 years time. Will it be something that stands out in their schooling memory, or will these current activities just merge into day by day drudgery of ‘Death by Explain Everything’? I guess ensuring that doesn't happen, is my job now. 

I suppose what I am really skirting around here is how we harness the process of learning. What kind of emphasis do we put on big events and how often do we have them, without them becoming mundane? What role does consolidation, through repeated practice, play in our classes? How is what I call ‘On the Edge’ learning (brand new learning) balanced with the consolidation work, and how do we ensure mastery of this learning?

For our topic work, I try to ensure an authentic reason for the work and opportunity for the students to decide for themselves what they need to do. Then I aim to facilitate and guide them to the best possible outcomes. This is my ‘Captain Cook’ time.

Trying to shoehorn something like multiplication practice into topic work doesn't work easily and this is where a different approach has to be used. Practice to consolidate, can be livened up using games and various other novel ways of practising. But the authentic motivation for this must be intrinsic to the student. They have to understand the relevance of this knowledge and skills to their own lives. This is the key to the 'mundane' learning.