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Sunday 27 October 2013

Are there lessons to be learned from the "Hole in the Wall" project?


After you watch this video you will have learned the natural curiosity in children will support them in learning just about anything if something engages them to try.

The children in the "Hole in the Wall" project did not have the necessary school readiness skills educators feel are so vital to early success. They were children from the slums in India and they had never been to school. They didn't have a teacher breaking tasks down into little bits, prompting reflection at each stage of their learning. The natural curiosity and collaboration skills the children possessed guided them in tackling the computer they found in the wall and they made it work. Is there a lesson for us here??

My instructional leaders, along with myself, are burning up lots of brain cells trying to figure out how we can help our students to be more successful in Math. Most of our students, for a variety of reasons, don't come to school with the necessary school readiness skills either and Full Day Kindergarten isn't proving to be enough of an equalizer. When I was reflecting on this problem last week I wondered what would happen if we replicated a "hole in the wall" type experience for our kids. Would their natural curiosity, and the draw of technology, help our students to make gains in math that currently they do not seem to be making? I don't know the answer to that question but I am going to take a risk and try. The plan is this:

1.  Using a Math Games site, something like Sumdog, that has some incentives built in, I am going to pair students up to solve math problems. My hope is the engaging and challenging format of gaming will intrigue the students and promote the grit necessary to help them persevere.

2.  As the pairs solve the math problems, they will be asked to explain their strategy to the rest of the class orally. The teacher will scribe their explanations using google docs or some other format, posting the explanations so the rest of the class can see as well as hear.

3.  The other students in the class will be coached to give the pairs one complement on their strategy and then ask a probing question.

4.  After a few months, pairs will scribe their strategies on chart paper, post for the other students to see and then explain their strategy orally as well.

Target group - grade one

My hope, hypothesis, belief - this strategy will make the introduction to Math and numbers fun, engaging and will build the childrens' abilities to explain their thinking for an audience.

I know there is an If/Then statement here so: If we introduce grade ones in pairs to math problems using computer games, then their engagement and natural curiosity will build a love of math at a very early age.

Comments??

Friday 11 October 2013

Today was a Professional Development Day

Today many of our schools demonstrated the power of Twitter as a public relations tool. Parents have often wondered just what teachers do on those mysterious PD days but through the use of Twitter they will wonder no more. Central Peel has been tweeting all day about their mental health focus this morning and their literacy focus in the afternoon. Gordon Graydon is doing a session on bullying with the Red Cross. Brampton Centennial P.S. has a student teaching some staff about a new tech program and Rick Hansen had a wonderful restorative practices workshop with the Board's climate team. All of this I know because of Twitter and parents will know too.

Many folks ask me why I go on Twitter and how I find the time. Twitter is the best 20 to 30 minutes of PD that I do for myself each day. I don't go online for 30 minutes straight but rather off and on throughout the day. I find links, ideas and leadership advice that all help to expand my practice and challenge my thinking. This morning I Tweeted out to see if any of my followers could suggest some good links that would help my Superintendency with some creative ways to teach math to our students. Within 30 minutes I had several replies.

So to the folks in my Superintendency who are still not on Twitter, let me ask you why? Through your connections and contacts you will get ideas and suggestions that will inspire you to try new things. When you have run out of ways to solve an instructional issue, someone on Twitter will Tweet out an idea that you never would have come up with on your own. It is time to get connected, to enter the new world of professional development and make joining Twitter part of your 30 day challenge.

And by the way..........check out this hashtag, #mathchat, you will come across all kinds of innovative ways to teach math supported by technology.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope you have a great weekend.

Sunday 6 October 2013

So my Principals and Vice Principals threw it down!!

I need to set a context for this blog. I have always said to my Principals, Vice Principals and Resource Staff that if we are going to lead it then we also need to do it. Change comes so quickly in education as in other industries and vocations. It is important that those leading the change understand what they are asking others to do and work along side them to make it happen.

In my previous blog I explained that we had adopted a theory of action this year and that we were working to develop If/Then statements to help guide instructional improvement to enhance student success. I insisted that all of us, myself included, participate in the goal setting and we had to be transparent and share our If/Then statements with our staff. Using a "ready, fire, aim" approach encouraged by Michael Fullen, we decided to use the 30 day challenge concept to frame our work. Every thirty days we would share our action statements, talk about our successes and our challenges, and then with feedback from our colleagues, refine our statements in an effort to make them more precise and effective. So far, so good.

My first action statement was, If I send out a bulletin every Friday with ideas, inspirational videos and Ted talks, then the Principals and Vice Principals will continue to be focussed and motivated. Following my own guidelines, I asked my group how they were finding my bulletins and if they were helpful. Many nodded yes and then one Principal shot up her hand and said, " But I want to see more creativity and innovation. I want to see the bulletin in a blog including the videos and Tedtalks, and I want it delivered in a Tweet. Now you may be thinking to yourself, "No big deal. She is already blogging," but it is a big deal!!! I haven't learned how to insert things yet. So, If I want to lead it, Then I have to do it. I am going to give it a go :)


The focus of our Board Improvement plan this year is Numeracy. We have made huge strides in the areas of reading and writing but Numeracy continues to be a challenge. As a collective group we are determined to make a difference in our students' understanding of Numeracy but I think we are all struggling to determine the difference that is going to make the difference. Dan Meyer has done several Tedtalks on the topic and he focusses on the importance of student engaged and using an inquiry based approach. I am attaching one of his talks for folks to listen to and think about. I would also encourage my instructional leaders to think about the role that technology can play in the kinds of learning experiences that Dan describes. I am looking forward to getting some Tweets with your thoughts on the talk. (Okay, here goes!!)

VICTORY!!!