Category Archives: personalized learning

My Top 3 for 2015 (with apologies to Chris Kennedy)

Posted on December 30, 2015 by innovativelearningdesigns | 1 comment

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The best work that anybody ever writes is the work that is on the verge of embarrassing him, always.

Arthur Miller

I tried not to do it but I couldn’t resist. I have parodied Superintendent Chris Kennedy on two previous occasions, taking his masterful Top Three List and brutalizing it a bit with my own satirical Top Three. I did this in 2012, and 2013. In 2014 I wrote a half-baked caricature but did not have the nerve to publish it. Now we are in 2015 and he has published his Top Three again (see here and read his first). I was waiting for it. I cannot keep my cheek in check. Even in this form, please note, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” (Charles Colton).

My Top Three Blog Posts

Here are most read posts for 2015, as gleaned from my followers.

But, I have to tell you the stats are absolutely pathetic. It is a wonder I post anything at all. The social media honeymoon just might be over. I note that the second most read post this year (2. A Window into Learning) was even published last year, in December 2014. At that, the post Treasure Wild Ducks: The Flight of Innovation continues to be the most popular piece and that was published way back in November, 2013.

Top Three Blog Posts I Would Like to be Writing

Chris seems disappointed more people are not blogging. He gives no explanation for why there is less blogging but leaves us hanging for a “next post” (unintended irony) on that topic. With no excuses–I expect to find him unpacking it for us in the New Year. And I would like to point out, I, at least, have excuses. I have not even started the blog posts that I would really like to finish. I would if I had time. I would if I could think clearly. I would if I didn’t have an inbox full of email. I would if I didn’t have four children underfoot (even Chris could have used that one). Posts that keep swirling in my head:

Scaling Up: Chasing the Unholy Grail of Transformation
Research Results from a District-Wide Learning Commons Implementation
Passion, Purpose and People: The Interlocking Keys to Excellence

The Top Three Regularly Used Education words (that show we still don’t really know what we are talking about)

Transformation
Innovation
Personalization

See also “scaling up” referred to above. Pardon my cynicism.

Top Three Videos I Have Watched

First of all, I would like to know when people have time to watch all these TEDx videos? I am still relishing the same animated movies from previous years.

How to Train a Dragon
How to Train a Dragon 2
Despicable Me

I feel better AND I am inspired by the sheer art and beauty of them. Sometime I will find a list of the Top 10 videos for Educators, make some popcorn (or melt some butter and sprinkle it with popcorn) and then watch them all.

The Top Three¹ Stories People will be talking about in BC in 2016 (see also above category regularly used education words)

Reporting (aka Communicating Student Learning).
Transformation.
Innovation.
Personalization.
Scaling Up.

The Top Three² Things I Learned This Year

Hard Work Isn’t Always Enough
Excellence is in the Eye of the Beholder
Timing is Everything
Professional Learning is Never Done
Sometimes You Need to Let it Go

Top Three People/Things That Inspire Me

Good Friends: They help me to “let it go”
My Staff: They are amazing at what they do
The Quiet: Silence in the swirl of work & home is treasured

The Top Three Books I Am Still Working On

The Genius Hour Guidebook by Denise Krebs & Gallit Zvi
The Innovators Mindset by George Couros
Accelerate (XCR8) by John Kotter

Top Three Professional Highlights for 2015:

New Staff Members: Karen Fadum (@mrsfadum) and Joe Tong (@teachertong), both Communicating Student Learning Helping Teachers, Shauna Nero (@MmeNero), Modern Languages Helping Teacher and Maryanne Kempthorne (@Maryakem), new Manager of Learning Resources. You should follow them all on twitter–they are great additions to an already amazing #sd36learn Education Services Team!
A Window into My Child’s Learning: Having my own son get a digital portfolio (via @freshgrade) was an unexpected surprise. I’ve been working on this partnership for three years and when it reaches my own child who attends school in another district–that’s personally and professionally rewarding. I get my own parent view!
Learning from Others: Finding out how other leaders do their work in other districts in B.C. and across Canada, inspires me.

Leaders I Admire:

Dean Shareski (because I won a coveted #deanie award and he is a most gracious and giving man)
Chris Kennedy (I continue to be inspired and learn from his work)
Many Woman Leaders (some identified in this provocative post)

To sum up the 2015 year can be a daunting task. To follow the high bar set by Chris Kennedy in his blog Culture of Yes is impossible. I have blogged, though, at last.

And a big thank you to those of you that take the time to read my posts. Thanks for your patience with me as I continue to learn what it means to push the boundaries of innovation, attempt to transform education, personalize learning for both students and teachers, communicate that learning to wider audiences and scale up these changes across our district and beyond.³

I will be, forever, a dreamer.

Footnotes:
¹Did I mention I have a Numeracy problem?
²Numeracy continues to be a challenge.
³Guilty, I am.

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Posted in celebration, Communicating Student Learning, Education, innovation, Making Learning Visible, personalized learning, Reporting, Transformation

Tagged chris kennedy, The Top Three for 2015

Producing Quality Assessment in Digital Portfolios

Posted on December 13, 2015 by innovativelearningdesigns | 3 comments

“The point is not to define quality but to produce it.”

The digital portfolio embraces the challenge of making learning visible and mirrors quality assessment where the learning and student choice, voice and ownership are central and core. How does one capture quality assessment evidence and produce an ongoing digital portfolio for every student? The point is not to regulate but to re-orientate what we know about quality assessment practice and to systematically uncover and capture what is essential in communicating student learning. It is no longer about standardization of reporting but about the personalization of the learning journey. Where are students now? Where are they going? And how are they going to get there?

Digital Portfolio: Fit for Purpose
A central purpose of all assessment is to understand where learners are in their learning at the time of assessment with the objective of improving their learning. https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/assessment. The digital portfolio is an ideal “fit” for this purpose. At its best it is formative, relevant and accessible. The crafting of the digital portfolio provides meaningful, collaborative learning and feedback and invites active involvement and engagement for both student and parent. (Karen Fadum, 2015. FRAME https://mrsfadum.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/where-is-the-learning-guidelines-for-using-digital-portfolios-to-communicate-student-learning/)

Guiding Principles for What Teachers and Students Include
Throughout the learning process, teachers and students intentionally focus on gathering evidence of learning that demonstrates student growth and helps to guide both instruction and learning moving forward. “What is captured and shared should show students’ learning over time, changes and growth in their ability to communicate, think and build their capacities of self as a learner.” http://abvendramin.com/2015/07/09/digital-portfolios-moving-beyond-the-glorified-scrapbook/

In collecting evidence the teacher role is thoughtful observer, listener, and designer. Quality documentation reflects the design of teaching/learning tasks which are well constructed, process-centered and open-ended inviting students to think, question, reflect and assess their own learning. Together teachers and students engage in setting criteria and uploading exemplars which allow for ongoing, timely, descriptive feedback for students and parents. The carefully shared decisions about WHAT to make visible not only helps students assess their growth but also helps them understand how to improve and move forward toward their learning intentions and goals.

Three important guiding principles should be considered when selecting documentation, artifacts and evidence (http://kellivogstad.com/2015/08/31/digital-portfolios-making-the-learning-visible/). It is important that what is made visible links with quality assessment practices and demonstrates student growth and learning. Vogstad recommends: (1) Documentation which shows growth over time through revisited curriculum tasks or experiences, demonstrates concrete change in abilities, skills, behaviours, attitudes, and understanding; (2) Artifacts which invite student reflection and analysis of student learning incorporating the thinking operations of observing, comparing, contrasting, analyzing, hypothesizing, imagining, and making conclusions; and (3) Evidence that demonstrates student behaviour and growth in the three core competency areas: thinking, communicating ideas, and personal/social development, reflects meaningful and relevant learning across all curriculum areas and provides opportunities for students to show their learning in a variety of ways.

There are four practical ways for teachers to categorize and organize
documentation (see Vogstad above). Two of the Same – Student completes two of the same tasks which are documented over a period of time. For example, an impromptu write completed in October, and one completed in January; the two similar artifacts invite observations and comparisons, demonstrating student’s growth and learning. Showing the Knowing – Demonstrations/process-based sharing: student presents or “walks” through an activity, task, or process, explaining thinking, strategies, connections, decision making, problem solving skills, and understandings. Celebrating the Learning – Documented student artifacts show skill and ability reflecting criteria of success. May include performance standard descriptors or task generated criteria; comments are made based on observed evidence that meets criteria. Communicating the How and Whys – The fourth component documented by the teacher provides parents accessing the documentation a lens through which they can understand and support their children’s learning. Descriptions and explanations about the curriculum activities are documented which inform, instruct, and communicate the big ideas, learning intentions, purpose, and goals behind the artifact.

Dissonance and Hard Work
The exploration of communicating student learning using the digital portfolio is not without its challenges and has created some uncomfortable feelings of dissonance. At this stage there are probably more questions than answers and yet, educators are attracted to the opportunity to develop better and more meaningful ways to motivate students and communicate with parents using the digital platform.

The “hard work” is to continue the search for learning which is visual, fresh and aligned to elements of quality assessment. This forces teachers to think deeply about the design of activities and the ways they document, assess and share what they see. As designers, teachers are key to transforming the learning.

The Search for Delight
As teachers and students become more comfortable with using digital portfolios, students learn to search for their own evidence of their learning, upload artifacts and provide their own reflections on their growth–signalling the opportunity for them to have choice, voice and ownership and to produce their own brand of creativity.

The personalized learning journey depicted by visible artifacts and essential documentation produces quality moments which quite frankly register delight. On the part of the student, parent and teacher there has been powerful recognition of the influence of the well-crafted digital assessment. The evidence is formative, relevant, accessible, meaningful, and engages students in live, authentic action. And, the personalized learning journey has only begun.

~ ~ ~ ~ • ~ ~ ~ ~

Research Note ~ Elements of Quality Assessment Pertaining to Digital Portfolios.

It is no longer about standardization of reporting but about the personalization of the learning journey. Where are students now? Where are they going? And how are they going to get there?
• “What is captured and shared should show students’ learning over time, changes and growth in their ability to communicate, think and build their capacities of self as a learner.”
• Communicating student learning to students and parents is for the most part formative and demonstrates student growth and learning.
• Effective feedback is timely, ongoing, specific, descriptive, relevant, accessible and engaging.
• The student role is an active one. Students assess and celebrate their own learning and understand steps toward improvement. Student choice, voice and ownership are central and core.
• Assessment has a profound impact on motivation and well-being of student.
Results of assessment are used to monitor and adjust teaching and learning.

Note: Special thanks to Dr. Donna VanSant (@vansantd) for assisting in the consolidation of the thinking and contributions of myself and the others identified in this post. Thank you to the many #sd36learn teachers who have been embracing this learning journey and contributing to our understanding as an organization.

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Posted in Communicating Student Learning, Education, innovation, Making Learning Visible, personalized learning, Reporting, technology, Uncategorized

Tagged Digital Portfolios, Quality Assessment

Anticipating the Future

Posted on April 26, 2015 by innovativelearningdesigns | Leave a comment

The future depends on what we do in the present.

Mahatma Ghandi

Our district is exploring our vision of Learning by Design. We are examining how manipulating the variables of traditional structures, simple & complex tools, and learning strategies can deepen the learning experience for students.We create these important conversations through the Engaging the Digital Learner Series. The event is designed to expose our educators to different ideas, new frames for thinking, practical applications of innovative practice and inspirational speakers.

This past week our evening was punctuated with inspiring stories from four teachers who shared the ways they are experimenting with their practice. From “trying on” new teaching strategies, such as SOLES or Maker Spaces, to believing that anything is possible and preparing students for a future in physical education, each of these teachers shared their thinking and their challenge for us as individuals. Our keynote presenters, George Couros (District Principal of Innovation from Parkland SD) and Superintendent Jordan Tinney, had us anticipate the future as they examined new ways of learning and leading.

The educators in the room represent teams of three from some of our schools. They sit at tables with other teams and engage in structured conversation in response to the presentations. Table seating remains constant each evening so relationships can develop, informal networks can be established and community can be built. When you have over 5,000 teachers in your district, creating opportunities for connecting allows us to humanize and personalize the organization.

Each evening is live streamed (we had a teacher from Singapore following along and tweeting into our #sd36learn stream) and the videos are included here. Our purpose is to share our learning with not just our own community but with educators across the world so we can all learn from each other. There are no district borders to separate our commitment and passion to make schooling for our students the best it can be.

Laura Mayer, grade 6 teacher from North Ridge Elementary School, shares her story of her experimentation with Self Organized Learning Environments. Sugata Mitra’s research Hole in the Wall formed the original ideas behind SOLES. You can find his TED talk here. Laura takes a deeper dive into wonder and inquiry with her students using the SOLE framework.

Glenn Young, District PE Helping Teacher and District Athletic Coordinator speaks on Motivating the Future Learner in Physical Education. Glenn explores the power of motivating young learners through the integrated use of instructional technology in the PE context.

Marilyn Carr, grade 5 teacher from Harold Bishop Elementary, shares her belief that Anything is Possible. Based on the book by the same name, Marilyn urges us to encourage our students. This would be the first time we have an Ignite presenter conclude her story by actually singing a song!

Jeff Unruh, grade 7 teacher from Pacific Heights Elementary tells his story of Learning to Share: A Twitter Discovery. You can also learn more about Jeff in this guest post, Guess What? That’s us, authored by George Couros.

What does great leadership look like to you? What are the implications for future change? These are just some of the questions posed by keynote presenters George Couros and Superintendent Jordan Tinney as they talk about Anticipating the Future and “going elbows deep into learning.”

Learning by Design, our district’s vision, happens when we take the time to listen to the stories of others who inspire us to be intentional architects and designers of deep learning experiences for the students in our classrooms.

Note: Thanks to all our presenters for sharing your hearts and minds with us.

The Sharing Continues

Posted on March 26, 2015 by innovativelearningdesigns | Leave a comment

Our Engaging the Digital Learner: Learning by Design series continues to be a motivational, inspirational and informative event for the 280 educators that join us each evening. The sessions are designed so we hear learning stories through four Ignite presentations, with table talk in-between, dinner for more continued conversation and then an opportunity to hear a keynote address. The seating arrangement typically includes three representatives from each school, three schools at a table and up to 10 in total. The teams are committed to all sessions with the intention that they take back their learning, share it with others, and experiment with new ideas around teaching and learning. What happens, however, is that the learning doesn’t take place just there in that room each evening. We have it livestreamed so others can watch it at home and even those that aren’t watching the livestream are following along our #sd36learn hashtag. Apparently we were so active in sharing our learning that night that our hashtag was trending during the session. It is fascinating to see how professional learning, in an era of technology, is now spilling out of its traditional boxes and spreading across organizations through the power of the internet and social media.

Nathan Horne is a PE teacher from Singapore that was on his spring break to visit relatives in White Rock. Our PE Helping Teacher Glenn Young reached out and asked if Nathan would be willing to do an Ignite for us. We were not disappointed! Here is his Ignite: Giving our Students a Physical Education for the Future.

Alyssa Becker, a Science teacher from Sullivan Heights Secondary shares with us her passion about travelling to new places with her students, Student Travel:

Curtis Weibe, a Teacher-Librarian from Strawberry Hill Elementary challenges us to Think Differently.

Each night I try to keep something that we are doing a bit of a surprise for the attendees. Bringing in young people, as young as grade 2, to present at Ignite was a wonderful and refreshing opportunity for us as educators to learn right from students. Jaslehna and Mya, two seven year olds from Woodward Hill Elementary School, share their message: You Are Never Too Young.

Our keynote presenter, Jan Unwin, works as the Superintendent of Grad Transitions for the B.C. Ministry of Education. Her presentation was outstanding and she encouraged us not to wait for the Ministry to make changes to legislation or curriculum but to do what we know is right for our students. In her own words, “We can’t wait for the Ministry of Education to clear all the brush. It has to come from you.”

I hope you find the opportunity to enjoy these stories and perhaps even show a clip to your colleagues or use one as a conversation starter at a meeting. We have so much we can learn from each other, let’s continue the sharing.

Note: Special thanks to Sarah Garr for her ongoing assistance with the Ignites each evening. Thank you to Karen Lirenman for providing us with her grade 2 students.

Innovation in Action: Learning by Design

Posted on January 18, 2015 by innovativelearningdesigns | Leave a comment

Not only should we encourage kids to daydream, but also to jump-in and build those dreams. Dreaming is largely lost among adults drowning in self-imposed realities. Ryan Lilly

If you can imagine a solution, you can make it happen.

Jay Samit

Part of what we need to do to get students more deeply involved in school, is to involve their hands directly in service to learning.

Doug Stowe

The energy and excitement in the school was palpable and contagious. The school was so busy with guests, parents, people from Simon Fraser University and lots and lots of children from local elementary schools that one needed to be quite focused to see the many great things hidden in the little gym, the big gym and openly displayed in the school cafeteria. Students were sharing their learning with others and observers were intrigued, asking questions and just having fun seeing all the creative projects on display.

Banana Ducks I had missed the school’s Innovation Week last year so I was pretty determined to make sure I visited this time. These grade 8 & 9 students did not disappoint and I was truly fascinated by some of their original ideas. I thought I would just share a few of these pleasures.

The Food Art table was fun. I was impressed because this student had taken the time to sculpt unique products using food. The banana ducks were entertaining as were many other creatively carved fruits.

The toe socks were just too funny. I think I found them intriguing because I always have cold feet. Her product was hand designed and sewn. She has even been careful to create a design that includes the option of being able to wear the socks with flip-flops.

Daniel has created a Lopter prototype. No more do parents have to worry about toddlers accidently locking themselves behind closed doors. With The Lopter, the door can be accidently shut by the child but this small insert prevents it from being locked with the child trapped inside. Clearly, this is a useful device for parents with young children. You have to love his short promotional video:

Daniel is also now one of the main photographers of the Surrey International Film Festival and has a winning short film he completed for the Surrey Homelessness Society.

Daniel’s friend, Jasper designed a fascinating project to dry out wet umbrellas. His powerpoint walks you through the steps he completed in creating his umbrella prototype.

This is a good idea for those of us that live here on what we affectionately refer to as the “wet” coast. I marvel at his ingenuity. Does it work? Perhaps not too much. Does that matter? Not really. Jasper has engaged in a thoughtful, systematic process to design, iterate, redesign and test his prototype. That’s real learning in action.

This is just a small, small sample that I experienced and found inspiring. I didn’t get a chance to see (and touch) Mohamed’s Arduino iTouch invention. He was just too busy explaining it and letting other’s test it out. I would have had to wait in line! His project was called “italk.” I think he created a device to assist special needs people in communicating. He u

sed Arduino and even contacted Australia to get the small little interface he needed. As school principal Sheila Morissette indicated, ” it was quite impressive.”

I wonder if we would have seen all this brilliance if there hadn’t been this structure to redesign the opportunities for students to choose their own topic, explore a problem, ask their own questions, and design solutions? They had chosen and even, in some cases, created their own tools to communicate solutions or express their creativity.

Kudos to all the staff and students at Fraser Heights for designing new ways of learning that allow students to pursue their passions, solve real problems and share their solutions with the world. Truly, this is a place of Learning by Design.

A Window into Learning

Posted on December 14, 2014 by innovativelearningdesigns | 1 comment

“We’re trying to boil it down to what do parents really want and need to know about a child’s progress in school? How can we give parents a window into class?…We believe traditional report cards are highly ineffective in communicating to parents where their children are in learning. If we can communicate this learning routinely to parents, then we see the need for report cards and the stamp of letter grade going way down.”

Dr. Jordan Tinney, Superintendent, CNN

Surrey Schools has initiated a project – Communicating Student Learning (CSL) – to evolve its student assessment practice and tools reflective of emerging educational philosophy and the Ministry of Education’s direction. Two district explorations have been launched – paper and electronic – to assess various potential assessment approaches, tools and implementation strategies that will ultimately become district best practice. This post is focused on our electronic trial—Making Learning Visible.

Background

For over a decade, Surrey’s elementary schools have been using a standard report card, designed by several school principals using Filemaker Pro. The report card is a list of grade specific Prescribed Learning Outcomes where student progress is indicated using a rating scale[1] and/or letter grades. Limited room on the report card exists for teachers to provide a summary of a student’s learning, often noting what the student has been doing well, in addition to potential areas for improvement. These report cards are distributed three times throughout the school year. Our practice represents a significant misalignment with what we know about Assessment and with the Ministry of Education’s new direction.

The Ministry of Education’s new Curriculum Transformation and Assessment,[2] Communicating Student Learning (Reporting) document states:

“Aligning curriculum, assessment, evaluation and communicating student learning approaches will be key in these transformation efforts. To date, consultations regarding communicating student learning have resulted in the following recommendations:

Shift from ‘reporting’ to ‘communicating student learning.’
Support meaningful communication between teachers, parents and learners.
Report on core competencies and key areas of learning.
Focus on learning standards (curricular competencies and content/concepts) in areas of learning (subjects).
Enable ongoing communication (with provincial guidelines and supports).
Maintain formal, written summative reports at key times in the year.
Use clear performance standards-based language.
Move toward meaningful descriptions/collections/demonstrations of student learning.”

The Ministry recommendations provide a foundation and guiding principles for our new direction.

In the spring of 2013, Surrey Schools officially initiated its exploration of evolving its practices and tools related to communicating student learning. The project is being guided by a District team of Learning Partners[3], with support from District Senior Leadership. Unofficially, the district had already been exploring other ways of documenting student learning electronically with a small group of teachers from across the district as we began to formulate a new vision for reporting practice. As we felt there was a serious disconnect between our current reporting practices and the Ministry’s new direction, we wanted to align our practice with a new vision.

Surrey School’s Vision

Our vision for long-term change resulting from this project is captured in this simple vision statement:

Making Learning Visible: Transforming learning through assessment.

Surrey School’s Electronic Assessment Goal

Our goal is to provide parents with a 24/7 virtual window into their child’s learning to encourage more active parent understanding and involvement as well as ensuring timely responses and intervention in order to maximize student learning.

Provide teachers with a better reporting process to communicate student learning.
Provide an opportunity to collect authentic snapshots of learning (audio, video and published blogs), to provide descriptive feedback and to enrich the parent communication experience.
Provide an electronic space for a three-way conversation (students, teachers and parents) about learning intentions, achievement and next steps in a child’s learning journey.
Students are actively involved in their learning through their own capacity to choose, share and reflect on the most important artifacts that illustrate their learning.
Provide an electronic option for teachers to collect evidence on a child’s progress and demonstrate growth over time.
Capitalize on the analytic capacity of technology to curate information and resources to provide timely learning support for students, teachers and parents.
Provide leadership in setting direction for the future implementation of the MOE curriculum transformation as it pertains to Communicating Student Learning (formerly referred to as Reporting).

The Project Plan

Integral to this process is the invitation to explore the use of formative assessment using an inquiry approach in the context of digital documentation. We asked teachers to commit to working as a collaborative team to explore inquiry questions on “reporting:” How can digital documentation and digital tools impact teachers and student learning? How can formative assessment and the continuous growth of students be communicated in a digital format that provides authentic examples? The investigation represents small teams of teachers across the district in both elementary and secondary schools committed to this action research. The project is ongoing.

Regardless of the tool or template, teachers are asked to communicate on key areas addressing literacy, numeracy, and social responsibility reflected through the lens of the core competencies (Thinking, Communicating, Personal & Social Responsibility) and including the content areas (eg. critical thinking in Social Studies).

About the Tool

The software selected for the Making Learning Visible pilot is FreshGrade, developed by a BC-based company. FreshGrade is a Web 2.0 tool that supports teachers (and students) in capturing student learning, creating a digital portfolio, providing feedback to students and communicating student learning to parents.

The tool can also assist in supporting personalized learning by analyzing student activity and achievement. The tool can potentially access curated resources and can prompt teachers on the next steps, based on an analysis of student data and recommend learning resources matched to individual student needs. Not all of these features are turned on in the program but are included as part of the roadmap. The program is designed to change the way assessment is understood and practiced, save teacher time in data collection and provide a much more robust window into a child’s learning. The FreshGrade tool provides a digital platform that takes advantage of technology to collect, assess, share and communicate student learning. In our partnership arrangement, the use of this tool allows the district to “own” the student data and ensure we can have some measure of control over the information. Teachers have been working with the company providing feedback for over two years now.

Outside of the project, there are teachers who have independently started using FreshGrade. This simple act of engaging with the platform, investigating and “playing” with the tool, is an important part of the innovation movement and confirming teacher interest and support of the tool’s application. We fundamentally believe that if the experience and product is effective that teachers will be drawn to its use.

Our findings our guided by the experience of actual practitioners—our teachers—the professional experts in the field. As they explore, we learn. As Antonio Vendramin, Principal of Cambridge Elementary describes, “More and more as I hear teachers reflect on MLV, the more I hear that this is beginning a transformation in assessment and pedagogy. Teachers are asking critical questions regarding learning evidence that is collected, what it reveals, and how it connects with learning intentions. Fundamentally, teachers are beginning to look at collected evidence and asking, ‘Where is the learning?’”

Looking Forward

Elements by Lindsey Sterling: Used with permission, educational purposes only.

The district, as part of this CSL project, is undertaking this inquiry – Making Learning Visible – to explore whether digital documentation of student learning could become a new standard. Our teachers are at the front edge of transforming education through their practice. They are the champions. These teachers believe there is a better way to communicate student learning that aligns with our understanding and research. The district is taking steps to explore what is possible. In the words of Buckminster Fuller, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” We are creating a new model, because, truly, now is the time.

Note: This post is adapted from an Executive Briefing Report prepared last spring for Senior Team and co-authored by Dan Turner (@dj_turner), Director of Information Management Services, and Elisa Carlson (@emscarlson), Director of Instruction with the assistance of Marilyn Marchment of big think communications (www.bigthink.ca). Excerpts and videos are from the most recent presentation at the B.C. School Superintendent’s Conference (2014). For a complete view of the original Elements video, see here. This article is also cross-posted at wickedproblems.ca.

[1] Approaching Expectations, Minimally Meeting Expectations, Meeting Expectations, Exceeding Expectations.

[2] Ministry of Education: Curriculum Transformation and Assessment (curriculum.gov.bc.ca/assessment).

[3] Pat Horstead, Karen Steffensen and Elisa Carlson.

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Posted in Education, innovation, Making Learning Visible, personalized learning, technology, Transformation, Uncategorized

Tagged 21st century, communicating student learning, innovation, Making Learning Visible, pilot, transformation

The Best & The Worst of Times

Posted on October 26, 2014 by innovativelearningdesigns | 6 comments

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…

Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities

I left on a Wednesday morning flight and it wasn’t until I landed on the tarmac in Ottawa that I received a text message from my oldest saying, “I guess you’ve heard the news.” I hadn’t heard anything as my cellphone was off during the flight. My first thoughts were those of a mother, fearing there had been an accident to someone in the family at home. I quickly searched the news on my phone and found a gunman was in Ottawa. There was more than an accident; a young guard at the National Monument had been shot down. And yes, he had a mother. It was she who had lost her son in a a tragic and senseless shooting. “There is a man who would give his life to keep a life you love beside you,” says Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities.

It was a very surreal and eerie trip. As the chauffeur drove three of us from the airport to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier (right across, and I mean right across, from the War Memorial Monument where the murder had taken place), we noticed that although the city lamps were brightly shining there was hardly anyone on the deserted streets. Stores and restaurants were completely closed and darkened, their neon signs off. The city was in lockdown.

Our hotel was also in lockdown. The doors everywhere were locked, the street taped off with red police tape, police vehicles blocking off streets that were closed, reporters with cameras and microphones staged behind the red tape cordoning the hotel. We could not go in the front or side entrance but police directed us through a back door. Inside the lobby of the hotel and even boarding the elevators were police in bullet proof vests, guns tucked in holsters. At that point there was still rumor of a second gunman. The letter under the hotel door from the manager advised us of the circumstances and asked us to remain inside the hotel. From my room I heard sirens wailing and could see the lights from police cars through my window. The whole situation didn’t seem very Canadian; events like this don’t seem to take place in our quiet and reserved backyard. And for me, locked in the hotel, Ottawa was my backyard.

The next day lockdown was lifted and so we went on the scheduled school tours arranged by those organizing the Canadian Academic Leadership Summit. There were hardly any attendees, however, as almost all of the registrants from the remaining provinces cancelled their flights when the city went into lockdown. Those of us from BC and California had already left on flights and so we did not have the opportunity to cancel. Our gracious hosts, despite the national trauma the day before, continued to open their school doors, classrooms and hearts to us. There is something so normal about being in a school and about having children all in their places.

“It was the best of Welcome. Turn on your devices. times, it was the worst of times…” In between all that oddness, visiting the schools was more than a pleasant distraction. We spent our morning at Mother Theresa High School and were greeted by student ambassadors that guided us through the school to the Learning Commons. It was there that we joined some staff and students for a First Nations Talking Circle. Led by the school secretary we each had the opportunity to hold the “talking feather” and provide an introduction of ourselves. The talking feather was then rotated to the students immersed in our circle where they each described their personal story of learning at the school.

Upon completion of the storytelling, the staff guided us through classrooms to ask teachers and students about the learning. In the English class, some students were studying Of Mice and Men and every student was engaged in exploring and learning about the novel in different ways. One student was studying the music of the era and then applying her understanding of the lyrics to explain the cultural background for the story. Another student was creating a movie trailer while a different student was writing an alternate ending. There wasn’t a student in the room completing the same task. Devices were everywhere because at this particular school all students bring a mobile device (iPad) with them. The school has back up devices for those that don’t have their own but basically everyone has a device on their desk. In many rooms, students were using them but in other classes students were engaged in group work or whole class work without accessing technology. The devices didn’t seem really noticeable as students and teachers were simply engaged in the learning process. The school purchases the licenses for the apps that students may want to use and some of the apps have also been created in-house. They also use Google Apps for Education. I did learn that the school does have “sticks” that students can sign out should they require wireless access at home to complete assignments. Overall, there is minimal district tech support provided and trained students are there to give a hand to students and staff.

The Senior Staff at the Ottawa Catholic School Board Office hosted us for lunch and a conversation about their journey moving their district into the 21^st century. It was here that we had a chance to learn more about the district’s priorities and strategic plan, their organizational structure and departmental functions and their mode of both independent and interdepartmental governance. The district had made some pretty significant budget decisions that impacted all departments as they looked across their systems to find ways to funnel monies to newly determined priorities, many directly associated with technology.

On our afternoon visit we landed at St. Cecelia Elementary School, nicknamed the “School of the Jetsons.” This newly designed school appeared spacious, open and inviting. The Learning Commons had a completely exposed wall along the central foyer. The only separation was the curved bar with stools where chrome books lay out on counters and tables as options for incoming students. Glancing down the hall you could see groups of students working in “caves,” small alcoves with assorted furniture—comfy chair A corner in the Learning Commons. s, benches, tables—where students were spread out working on different tasks. Classrooms were structured in pods with a shared central area for students together in groups or for independent work. While the school has opportunities for whole group and direct instruction, we had arrived at a time of day when most were involved in individual or group work of their choosing and related to their personal interests. What were students doing? Some were reading in corners together, others were in a group watching a science-related video, others were using math tiles to explore patterns to extend their learning, some were standin A bucket of chrome books in each portable. g and manipulating shapes across a projected Smart board and others playing games, puzzles, or huddled together engrossed in learning conversations. There were chrome books, netbooks, desktops and iPads being used seamlessly throughout the building. They weren’t really noticeable as what was more evident was simply students engrossed in learning.

On Friday it was an intimate crowd of about a dozen of us. I was one of the speakers but it is significantly different when you are only speaking to a small room of people. I guess because it was such a small crowd we had opportunities for great dialogue with some pretty amazing and humorous people. I love learning and I particularly appreciate the opportunity to have a window into the ways and thinking of other districts. I found the goals, direction and plans of the district future-oriented, declarative and provocative. I found the flexible learning of the students inspiring. In between the visits, the lunches and sessions, however, it was the opportunity to engage in a rich dialogue with those from the school and district. The shared stories of their journey to a new future, their ongoing plans and challenges as they pursue creating great environments for learning was encouraging and kindled hope for our future.

“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out…” Charles Dickens.

We flew home late that afternoon as the lights began to shine across the city.

Surreal.

_______________________________________________________

Note: Specia Exploring Google Glasses l thanks to our gracious and flexible Ottawa guide, Denise Andre (@deniseandreOCSB), Deputy Director of the Ottawa Catholic School Board, and the inspiring and amazing hosts from Discovery Education who organized the event. Author tries out Googles Glasses compliments of Summit Keynote Hall Davidson (@halldavidson).

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Posted in Education, innovation, Inquiry, ipads, personalized learning, technology, Transformation, Uncategorized

Tagged 21st century learning, Mother Theresa High School, Ottawa Catholic School Board, St. Cecelia Elementary School

I still want the revolution

Posted on September 21, 2014 by innovativelearningdesigns | 2 comments

“I still want the revolution. I want things to be different.”

Sharon Jeroski, Horizons Research, MOE Curriculum Transformation Lead

The change and transformation is really not about curriculum. It is actually about how we engage students in learning & what we do in classrooms with our students.

A B.C. Teacher’s feedback on MOE Curriculum Transformation

The opportunity to learn directly from those engaged in the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) curriculum change process is helpful in setting direction for future priorities. Over the past month I have had the opportunity to learn from several of those playing a lead role in the development of the framework, the curriculum and the assessment components. I share here some of their thinking along with a few of their slide decks.

At the request of the MOE, Pat Horstead, Assistant Superintendent for Surrey gave a workshop on the Curriculum Transformation. Pat has been an integral part of the development of the new curriculum, shepherding advisory groups and providing advice throughout its development. Last fall she completed a partial secondment to work directly on the MOE curriculum framework. She provided participants with an update on where we are today and where to next (see slidedeck below). Pat highlighted the positive feedback from stakeholder groups and the current status of subject-specific curriculum currently in development. She emphasized the need to focus on Formative Assessment and noted that the MOE Assessment Framework was still a work-in-progress. She encouraged districts to develop new structures for learning, to support and create networks of innovation and to encourage curriculum teacher-leaders to create exemplars of transformation in their classrooms. The Ministry is looking for examples of classrooms where teachers are putting the new curriculum into action. The MOE hopes to include video vignettes on their website so others can see how this transformation changes learning and teaching. One of the most significant comments from Pat, and as a teacher noted in the quote at the top of this post, was the reminder that, “this change is not about implementation but about transformation.”

Jan Unwin, Superintendent of Graduation and Transitions, and Larry Espe, Superintendent of Trades and Transitions, both working for the MOE, provided an overview of the direction of the new Graduation program. Jan spoke to the ongoing commitment to quality teaching and learning that is a pillar of what we do as educators. The notion of flexibility and choice has received a renewed emphasis as a reflection of the feedback that came from students themselves. Their three big words: Passion, Purpose and Personalized. Jan was also explicit in identifying the “new game in town—the whole power of technology.” She identified learning empowered by technology as still viewed as one of the key pillars from the BCED Plan.

How will we know how we are doing? A large group of stakeholders (AGPA) is looking at a way to provide provincial assessments that serve schools and districts with useful information. Ultimately the goal is for these assessments to serve teachers and students. Jan spoke to the notion of a renewed role for assessment where it reflects real life and on-going learning rather than an autopsy of findings. She was also clear that “one of the biggest things that needs to change is around reporting.” What was perhaps most encouraging was their reference to a capstone project and the possibilities of a digital portfolio that can provide actual examples of student work to post-secondary institutions and future employers. The slide on a student’s potential Capstone Project, and Jan’s demonstration of how the buttons click to take you to samples of student work in their portfolios, was very impressive (see slides 50-58 specifically). Please remember, though, this is just a draft of possibilities. The MOE remains committed to getting ongoing feedback to help shape this plan.

Larry Espe shared with us this wonderful and inspiring video as part of their joint presentation.

Sharon Jeroski, of Horizon Research, focused on the core competencies. “All of the competency work is happening somewhere in B.C. We need to talk about it a lot. We need to share, share, share.” She described the new B.C. Curriculum Framework as focused on three essential components: Literacy & Numeracy Foundations, Core Competencies, and Essential Concepts & Content for Deeper Learning. It was the core competencies—Thinking, Communicating, Personal & Social Competence, she emphasized as “the glue that holds the whole system together.” Her slide presentation from her recent Surrey visit is included below:

Her central challenge to us all was the question, “What kind of neighbour do you want?” She encouraged us to give our learners the opportunities to develop the competencies that make a good neighbour. We then might be able to join in with Mr. Roger’s and say, “Won’t you be my neighbour?”

Note: Special thanks to Pat Horstead, Jan Unwin, Larry Espe and Sharon Jeroski for sharing their thinking with us and encouraging us on the road to transformation.

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Posted in Education, innovation, personalized learning, Transformation, Uncategorized

Tagged B.C. Curriculum Transformation & Assessment, Jan Unwin, Larry Espe, Pat Horstead, Sharon Jeroski

Innovative Learning Designs: MakerSpaces Project

Posted on April 27, 2014 by innovativelearningdesigns | 4 comments

Photo Credit: fotologic via Compfight cc

Changes in educational possibility arise as new media alter the ways of knowing and the opportunities for participating in the creation of knowledge.
Robbie McClintock

The Invitation to Maker Space

One key to transformation in education is helping students reimagine what is possible. Students who imagine printing structures they designed are participating in the same learning as Boeing engineers who design and print commercial airline parts. Hugh Herr, who lost both of his legs in an accident, has worked with MIT to design and produce bionic legs that can run, climb and dance. We live in a time where almost anything is possible.

The MakerSpace movement recaptures the concept of “experimental play.” The central thesis is that students should engage in tinkering and ‘Making’ because these are powerful ways to participate, share and learn. MakerSpaces are not limited to physical space but share the ideals of making, tinkering, collaborating and inventing. In our district we seeded the opportunity (via a grant process) for students and educators to grow ‘Maker’ mindsets and integrate those mindsets into learning, both within and outside the school environment.

We invited teachers on a journey to make, invent, create, imagine, share, collaborate, investigate, explore, wonder, inquire, iterate, inspire and learn. These new literacies set the context for our challenge. How do we move forward to equip our students with ‘Maker’ mindsets; to support their development of the skills, fluencies and understandings that will influence their futures?

Bringing Maker Spaces to the School Community

Photo Credit: Marco Buonvino via Compfight cc

Using an inquiry approach, we asked school teams (triads) to design an instructional plan that is built upon foundational elements that best support student learning. The team’s inquiry would falls under the umbrella of “How does ‘Making’ impact student learning of specific learning intentions?” or “How does ‘Making’ impact students as learners?”

Adopting new ways to explore and learn takes time so we invited educators to envision ‘Making’ as part of ongoing learning. To reduce the impact of the “one-more-project syndrome,” these teams were asked to consider three questions:
• What can we do differently to meet the current learning outcomes?
• What are we doing that we can drop or stop doing to explore the potential to meet other learning outcomes?
• How does making / tinkering impact students overall learning experiences?

Important Note: The process of ‘Making’ and the celebration of the resulting end products are exciting in themselves; however, the core mindset of the ‘Maker’ movement is ongoing investigation and discovery. Gary Stager recommends a pedagogical strategy of “…and then?” to view ‘finished projects’ as part of a continuum of interesting ideas, and as iterations, not discrete end products.

What is included in our Maker Spaces Grant?

School teams applied for one of the three age appropriate kits provided by our department, Education Services. Each kit provided has been researched and developed by the IML team with recommendations from the field. We advised schools that they may wish to supplement their learning journey with additional, school-based resources.

Our sample kits look as follows:
Kit 1 (Recommended K-3): Squishy Circuits (Basic Electronics), Resource Books, Construction / Building Kits, Basic Tools
Kit 2 (Recommended grades 3-5): Little Bits (Electronics), Resource Books, Construction / Building Kits, Makey Makey (interactive software / electronics), Hand Tools
Kit 3 (Recommended grades 5 – 8): Little Bits (Electronics), Resource Books, Construction / Building Kits, Makey Makey (interactive software / electronics), Hand Tools, Arduino (Intermediate programming computer components)
Kit 4 (Recommended grades 8 – 10): Resource Books, Construction / Building Kits, Makey Makey (interactive software / electronics), Hand Tools, Arduino (Intermediate programming computer components), Raspberry Pi (Micro computer programming)

Teams were invited to discuss their students’ needs, and to identify the preferred kit on their application.

What else at schools can be used to support ‘Making’?

Making activities can be done virtually as well as in the physical. While our grant includes specific devices, tools, and resources, there are many existing devices, tools and resources within schools which support additional ‘Maker’ activities:
• 3D creation – TinkerCAD, Google SketchUp, 123D Sculp
• Movie Making – iMovie, Explain Everything
• Construction – Lego, Blocks
• Programming – Scratch, Dreamweaver, Wikispaces

Instructional Design:

What did we ask the school team to commit to?
• Plan and implement a variety of differentiated, student-centered, learning activities which integrate “Making”;
• Use ongoing formative assessment of student needs to drive inquiry;
• Demonstrate that Maker projects – process, product, reflection – directly connect to the Core Competencies (thinking, communicating, personal and social responsibility).

In addition to our Innovative Learning Designs Makerspace grant opportunity, we are also providing Mini-Maker kits to all interested Teacher-Librarians and Information Media Contacts in each of our schools. We want to ensure that we had champions that were willing and interested in exploring the Makerspaces concept. We also recognized that teachers need time to play and investigate concepts with their colleagues alongside their students. We see these teacher-leaders as facilitating that process in their school community.

In our district, we have called the month of May #makermay as we look at ways of learning more about inventing, tinkering, playing, designing, creating and more. As we learn, so do our students.

Post Notes: This project was conceived and this post written by a team of Helping Teachers, including: @amboe_k, @shelagh09, @kowalyshyn, @librarymall, @ipadtestkitchen and Sarah Guilmant-Smith. Thanks to @chris_gauvin for providing field-based advice as well. These people are worth following. Thanks to Sylvia Libow Martinez (guest presenter at our Igniting the Passion dinner series) for inspiring our learning.

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Posted in innovation, Inquiry, makerspaces, personalized learning, Problem Based Learning, technology, Transformation, Uncategorized

Tagged #makermay, arduino, innovative learning designs, maker faire, makerspaces

Igniting the Passion: Celebrating Our Learning

Posted on April 10, 2014 by innovativelearningdesigns | 6 comments

“People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation.”
Joshua Heschel

Celebration is a choice: we choose to appreciate and value something that we feel is significant. It is an opportunity we create to acknowledge, appreciate and extend gratitude for the good things that are being done in schools–by both students and teachers. We are fortunate to be in a district where we can engage in new learning and transform education to better meet the needs of our learners. A collective of 300 educators gathered together to mark the occasion.

What is it that we are doing well? How do others see us? We asked some people both inside and outside our district this question. How might they describe our district or what does meant to be part of our district? Their responses can be found here:

During the evening we had several presenters share with us their passion through the form of five minute Ignite presentations. Participants were limited to 20 slides that automatically moved every 15 seconds . The purpose is expressed in the motto, “Enlighten us, but make it quick!” We had the opportunity to learn from our peers and to engage in thoughtful conversations about our learning. Facilitators guided table groups around key questions that examined both our thinking on the presentation as well as how the topic might affect our future behaviour and teaching practice. Thanks you to Robynn Thiessen, Sally Song, Shauna Nero, Antonio Vendramin, Karen Steffensen, and Jordan Tinney for sharing their passion. You can enjoy their live-streamed stories here.

We ended the evening with a video montage of students, teachers, administrators and out-of-district guests to help us with our celebration.

Author’s Note: Thank you to Helping Teachers @amboe_k, @shelagh09, @librarymall, @kowalyshyn, @ipadtestkitchen and Sarah Guilmant-Smith for planning and organizing the evening and supporting our projects. Thank you to Donna VanSant and Forrest Smith for their assistance with the videos.