2014 – My Year Of Change & Growth

The start of a new adventure!

This reflection will be framed in a different format than my usual posts. This is just how I feel I can accurately reflect on the year that has passed as it contained such force and fundamental change that I have compartmentalized most of it by time frames.

January – February 2014

I felt it…that feeling in the pit of your stomach that digs away at you. It whispers quietly at first, but it quickly becomes so loud that you have to listen: “Dana, you need a change.” I loved my school, my co-workers, my district and most of all my incredible group of students who had been my little family for three consecutive years. I remember first meeting them in January of 2012 as they were told they would have a new teacher and a brand new classroom. They had been in a combined grade one-two and extra funding had come up enough to hire a full time teacher for them. There I stood in their old room and watched as each one came up to me, introduced themselves by name and told me their favourite colour. I still remember their anxious faces and their half-smiles as I walked with them down the hall to what would become our new room. “THIS IS OURS??” they exclaimed with joy and squeals as the doors to their new home opened. I nodded yes and in that exhilarating moment, I knew in my heart that I also had found my home.

So when that whispering feeling of change started coming around, I panicked. Ignorance is bliss as they say and so I ignored it.

March – April 2014

I knew that no matter what was to come in the future, my students and I were to be separated at the end of this school year as they moved on up to grade five. I went into full “make the most of every moment” mode and these months brought us so much innovation, creativity, inquiry and excitement in learning. I did my absolute best to ignore that feeling to the point where I wasn’t doing much beyond working. I planned, I connected, I shared, I communicated, I read, I tweeted, I moderated, I presented, I travelled to conferences, I blogged and I taught and learned with my all of my heart for and with my students. These were the most exhilarating moments of teaching I have experienced (all of which have been documented in my blog and our Twitter account Miss Ariss’ Class). I poured my entire being into teaching and making every minute count. However, that feeling of change didn’t go away and it was wearing me down as the days went on. I learned that no matter how hard you want to run from the feelings that scare you, it is often those that need to be felt and addressed. I finally stopped and really evaluated what I wanted and needed:  Leadership mentors, group collaborations, constructive feedback loops for growth, opportunities for larger impacts on educational change, learning PD for my own growth and a more permanent home-base both professionally and personally

Change was happening and that feeling became so loud within that I finally started listening. Sometimes in life, things happen for reasons beyond our control but when we look back upon them, we often see the real meaning and the learning that can occur from them if we have the right attitude. As much as I loved everything about my career, I knew in my heart that my time in my little community, where I felt the safest and happiest I have ever felt, was ending. I could continue to ignore my personal and professional needs for growth and stay in my comfort zone or embrace that feeling and move forward into uncharted change. Those who know me well….know how this story will end.

May – July 2014

I can only describe these months as an absolute blur. Somewhere between full-time teaching, numerous educational conferences, presentations and travelling….I found the courage to listen to my heart. I took a huge leap of faith and accepted a new position at an incredible middle school a few hours away. Many would call me crazy for leaving a permanent teaching position, but they would not know who I am and what teaching truly means to me. Its not about positions, status, rank or authority; for me, teaching is about continuous growth and learning. To truly be an effective educator, I needed to continually embrace the difficult situations and decisions in my life and learn from them in order to grow and develop into who I am as a person which has a direct affect on my teaching, because I teach from my heart. I cannot remain in my zones of comfort and expect my levels of teaching to grow. I needed to widen my experiences in order to become the educator I need to be for every student that I have the privilege of working with.

I make this sound as if it was easy when in reality, this truly was the single most difficult decision of my life. I had built a safety net and it was never harder to accept the truth that nothing in life ever stays the same. I became almost paralyzed with fear; I was so afraid of losing the only family I had come to known, so afraid of moving away from everything that I had built and created, so afraid of what was to come, that I completely became focused on the impact failure could have on me by making this decision. I forgot how much I would champion making mistakes and learning from them to my students, but the difference was that we had built a safe environment for failing. I didn’t feel so safe as my entire life depended on succeeding with this decision I had made. I turned to the safety of my closest friends and family, who rallied alongside me and supported me in every way imaginable. By July 1st, I was living in a new home, in a new city and preparing for a new school, new colleagues and my first group of “new” students in three years. That is a lot of NEW and it happened within a span of barely two months. This was that feeling in the pit of my stomach realized: Change.

August 2014

Questions, questions, questions swirling in my mind all the time!

Where is our room?

Who do I contact for this?

Where can I find?

Will I connect with a new group of students?

Will I make an impact on their lives?

Will my colleagues accept and welcome me?

Can I really do this? Oh wait… I AM DOING THIS!

September 2014 – December 2014

When I first started this reflection I didn’t fully grasp or realize the amount of learning accomplished during the final half of 2014 until I started looking at the photos I had taken. I have grown immensely both personally and professionally in these past few months by being active in my new community and surroundings, by embracing the uncomfortable, by being honest and open about my strengths, strong passions and areas of growth but most of all in my own self-confidence as an educator.

I found myself surrounded by communities of support, expertise and varied experiences in an environment prime for growth. This is what I had hoped for and I knew it wouldn’t be an easy journey, but I have never been one for easy. I have come from close to 5 years of independent teaching in small rural schools. I have always planned, coordinated and constructed all of my own materials, units, and assessments based on my own student needs and most recently, students with whom I had looped with for three years and knew like family. I now was in a team of six grade five educators collaborating together on the learning for our students, in a school almost seven times the size of my previous.

A few of my fun-loving colleauges!

Reflecting on the start of the school year, I see now that underestimated the transition into this. It has been years since I needed to share who I was, my true self, with other educators, as when working within a small district everyone knows everyone. My other collaborations have been with educators who follow me on Twitter or read my blog and have a strong sense of who I am. The individuals within my comfort zone, who are my rocks, all know my deep passion for learning, know how excited I get at the thought of planning a unit with my students and finding those connections for them, know that I am honest, genuine and will ask a lot of questions because I have a need to know the why behind everything I bring into my classroom, but that mostly I care…about everything and everyone all the time.

I learned that when working within a large group, fostering a relationship beyond work is essential for the dynamics because once everyone truly knows one another a foundation of trust and an environment where vulnerability is welcomed can be built, however that this also takes time. Effective collaboration doesn’t happen overnight, it needs to be built step by step by each individual party. My sheer optimism and strong will to ensuring meaningful things happen despite obstacles, is who I am however this is something that is shown over time through sincerity and action. I am learning how to communicate my passions, thoughts and ideas outside of my comfort zone and am pushing myself to hear (not just listen) and understand more and more.

Our LC5B!

These few months also taught me about the power of student connection and relationships. I had worried whether I would be able to connect with a brand new group, but as the weeks went on I started receiving hugs, drawings, jokes, stories from home, open discussions about their lives and genuine interest in mine, shared laughter and that feeling of knowing these are the amazing kids I am so lucky to know and work with every day. I love the community we have built and will continue to grow.

We are a family and their words mean so much to me!

Just a few weeks ago, I decided to surprise my previous students by attending their Christmas Concert at my old school. I snuck into the dark auditorium hoping to grab a seat when one of them noticed me from behind the stage. Within a few seconds, they all popped out from behind the stage and began furiously waving to me. I can’t begin to describe that moment, but a lot of tears were involved. The kids I am honoured to meet and work with throughout my career are what make being an educator the most  meaningful to me.

Learning and sharing…always!

This term also brought forth a lot of Professional Development and new projects which I am so honoured to have been a part of. Collaborating with other PSD70 educators on the first ever #EdCampPSD70 and co-keynoting the opening with Kelli Holden in the presence of so many incredible colleagues was truly humbling. Kelli and I reconnected again in November to present at ATLE on the use of SKYPE in the classroom.

I was also honoured to be asked to present an IGNITE session by Dean Shareski, who ever so kindly arranged the presentations to start alphabetically which in turn had me presenting first. This required me to dig deep into who I truly am as an educator and helped build my confidence in sharing that with the larger community of educators. Despite the nerves, it was an absolutely thrilling experience where in five minutes I shared my passion for education and spent the evening learning about the passions of others.

I was introduced this term to many new forms of PD focused on #MakerSpaces and #MakerEd, which I had implemented in my previous teachings but never had the opportunity to dig deeper into. From a Saturday road trip to Calgary with my AP and three other teaching colleagues to attend a one day MakerFaire to an ERLC hosted MakerSpace session where I connected with local librarians on the new creation of Innovation Labs in our city. I am so excited to share these experiences with the kids as they completed their first Innovation Week projects in December and will be visiting the labs in January. Not to mention continued collaborations and discussions surrounding Alberta’s Curriculum Redesign which I am currently a part of the committee for my new district in working on the competencies in learning.

In remaining true to myself and constantly having a need to learn and absorb, I along with my #Cdnedchat team continued our weekly collaborations continued and our chat is livelier than ever on Monday evenings! I also jumped in to three separate book clubs with Google Hangout reflections with various educators within my school and across the world to expand my learning and push my mind further. One of the book clubs focused on Leadership through being a part of my district’s Exploring Leadership committee.

Present – 2015 and beyond

My biggest take aways from 2014 have been to always listen to your heart, no matter how scared you are, and that how change is viewed depends solely on how you approach it. Is it an adventure filled with learning opportunities or will you view it as something horrible and choose comfort?

I learned how to truly be vulnerable and to rely on others when I need to. To not be afraid to say I need help or I don’t understand this can you show me. Reach out to others and in doing so, you open the lines of communication and make your connections just that much stronger.

I was reminded by my own inner fear and worries that we all face insecurities, hardships and stress. Our job isn’t to add to that, but to lift it off of one another. Be kind to all, especially the ones who may seem to have a hard exterior because somewhere down their path of life their experiences helped to shape that. Our students may come to school with brave faces, but they are looking to us to create the safety of an environment conducive to learning, just as we need in our own professional lives.

So what does 2015 have in store for me? I won’t even venture a guess, but I certainly hope my years continue to provide me with continued learning opportunities, strong supportive networks and a deeper understanding of my purpose as an educator.

Happy Holidays From LC5B!

We decided to get into the festive spirit on our last day before break!

Igniting Innovation Week 5

Drafting her proposal for coding a Science-based video game for kids.

Innovation Week 5 planning at Greystone Centennial Middle School (GCMS) began Friday morning for all students in our school (grade 5 – 9)  interested in inquiry, project-based, problem-solving and the innovative creation process. We have a unique opportunity at GCMS to implement this incredible week-long program that challenges students to question, investigate, process, create and share in teams on areas of deep interest.

This video created by our Assistant Principal Jesse McLean from previous Innovation Weeks held at GCMS showcases the incredible things that can happen when students are provided with the opportunity to explore their curiosity for the world around them:

The theme for Innovation Week 5  is “How Do I Learn?”. Innovation Week allows students to take away a greater understanding of themselves as learners and how sharing their learning while being open to receiving and providing feedback will allow for growth. It ties directly with Alberta’s Cross Curricular Competencies. Innovation Week provides our students with opportunities to experience one or more of the following competencies:

• Know how to learn
• Think critically
• Identify and solve complex problems
• Manage information
• Innovate
• Create opportunities
• Demonstrate good communication skills and the ability to work cooperatively with others

Knowing just how powerful of a learning experience this would be for our students, we worked together as a team to learn. Students who wanted to work in groups split themselves up amongst their peers’ classrooms and teachers worked with individual groups.

Teachers then guided them through the Design Thinking process to create a proposal based on the following criteria created by our Educational Design Team at GCMS starting with our Inquiry Process:

The Inquiry Process Wheel

• What is your guiding question?
• What is your plan for the project?
• What will you do to prepare for your project? What research or preparation will you need to do? What resources will you access?
• Will you connect with an outside expert? If yes, who will your expert be? How will your expert assist you? How and when will you connect with your expert?
• What will you need to move from the preparation to the action phase for your project? How will you move from research to actually creating your project?
• Materials you will provide
• What will you create as a final product?
• Who is your audience and how will you present your learning?

Working on their proposals!

This may seem like a straightforward task, however it was quite a challenging prospect for students to think outside of the box and in most cases to think like the box doesn’t exist. Some knew what they wanted to explore, create or learn more about but found it difficult to explain the why and how.

To assist them with this process, upon completion of their proposal, students were guided by teachers through the Ideation and Prototyping stages. They used the guiding question they developed and were challenged to come up with 100 ideas to help answer it in a constrained set of time.

This is what happens when time constraint is used in a manner in which to fuel learning and processing for the first time:

So much intense pressure to push our brains!

Challenging enough for the students to remain engaged and enjoy it!

The ideation process was so intense to watch that I knew I had to take some video to demonstrate just how powerful the right amount of pressure to generate as many ideas and solutions can be:

At the time we had about 15 students in the room and the grand total of ideas geared towards their projects in 10 minutes of ideation was an outstanding 852!

The number of ideas generated in 10 minutes of Ideation.

The power in this was that it allowed the students to tap into their brain processes. They focused on generating more and more ideas with a guiding frame of “Yes, and… ” instead of “No, but…”. I found that the time constraint helped to break through the barriers. Some used strategies of movement, others spoke out loud while partners furiously wrote, others wore headphones and tapped into their own minds.

We then went back and reflected on the ideas. We knew that some were going to be silly or not very applicable, but there were many that would be useful. They then drafted a prototype of their project, which along with their circled top ideas, lists of ideas generated and proposal, was submitted for approval.

I am so excited to see this process go into action as Innovation week officially begins the last week before our holiday break from Dec. 15-19th. All participating students will spend that entire week working in teams with teacher and expert guides on their projects. Students will be blogging reflections on their learning process and our theme of “How Do I Learn” daily to share with the world and on Friday Dec. 19th, we will host an open Gallery Walk to showcase their projects to family, school and community members.

If you’d like more information or want to see previous student projects and learning from Innovation Week, please visit Jesse McLean’s Blog – http://jessepmclean.com/tag/innovation-week .

Reading In Our Classroom

I just wanted to share just how deeply we are engaged in reading in LC5B. I am so proud of the independence shown by the students in updating and managing their GoodReads accounts. I am always so delighted when I log in in the evenings to see them rating books they’ve read, updating page numbers on books they are reading, recommending books and reviewing them.

We are learning that reading is FUN and it can take us anywhere we want to go!

Keep up the great reading and sharing LC5B!

Classroom Learning – October 27 – October 31, 2014

Here is a brief overview of the learning and events happening in our classroom this upcoming week:

Mathematics

There will be continued review in the three estimation strategies, as well as place value. Students will also be working on their real estate projects.

Language Arts

Students will be working on creating ideas with juicy details in their writing. They will integrate observation skills learned in Science to observe objects around them and create writing pieces to reflect this learning on their blog. We are also still reading The Fourteenth Goldfish together and generating predictions and conversations around our ideas. Students will also be writing a piece integrating their understanding of ideas while also connecting it to our reading.

Science

We have reviewed the information pieces regarding what an electrical circuit is and what are its components. Students will be working in groups to conduct experiments focused on creating circuits using acidic fruits as well as experiments using vinegar, nails and copper wire to light up an LED bulb.

Social Studies

Social Studies interviews were due on Friday, however I was away and so students were given this weekend in addition to the past two weeks to conduct interviews with family members about their heritage and bring back their findings. We will be gathering the data created and reviewing our collective social histories and backgrounds. Please ensure interviews are brought back in any form.

Art

Students were working on lines and patterns to create optical illusion art pieces. These will be displayed this week and we have moved on to looking at positive and negative space. As a spin on Halloween and to add some fun hands-on creation, we are attempting to create paper mache pumpkins….stay tuned!

Events

Halloween – Students may come to school dressed in their Halloween costumes, however as Halloween falls on a Friday this year, we have Phys.Ed. first block of the day. Students will need to have a change of clothes. Following lunch recess, there will be multiple fun activities and events planned around the school for students to engage in based on their own interests, which we call Spookapalooza! Students may bring in treats to share, but please note that we have a severe peanut allergy in our classroom and anything brought in, must be peanut-free.

Classroom Learning – September 15, 2014

Today was International Dot Day! A day to celebrate creativity, courage, collaboration and individuality with a focus on making your mark on the world. We celebrated by reading the book The Dot and then letting our creative minds free through a large collaborative group art project.

Mrs. Cameron joined us to celebrate creativity on Dot Day!

This was so important as it allowed students to connect with one another and also to let their imaginations be their guides. It was really amazing to see how students started with just one dot or circle and then expanded their ideas. Our final project showcased abstract art, Kandanski circles, chocolate chip cookies, beach balls, 3-D images, jersey numbers using pointillism and finger painted dots. It is a beautiful reflection of all of our creative thoughts and ideas.

Our final project! It will be hung up in the Purple Pod.

We also had a guest speaker connect with us and all of the LC 5 community to talk about the importance of Digital Citizenship. Constable Lucas of the Edmonton Police Services face timed us and answered our many questions about using the internet and our technology in positive and appropriate ways. This was an extension to the many daily conversations we have in our classroom about the power of being connected and the best use of social media.

We then reflected and shared our learning with other students on Twitter.

Reflecting on the use of social media and the internet.

More Questions Than Answers

CC0 1.0 Universal

I used to believe that professional development meant finding answers. That as an educator, I was meant to attend professional development conferences to gather ideas, however the more professional development I attend, the more I realize that for me, it’s about the questions, not the answers.

This weekend I am attending Innovate West, a conference that gathers networks of innovative educators from across western Canada and the US hosted by the Connect Charter School.  I was introduced to Innovate West last year on Twitter and was amazed by the learning that was happening and so made it my mission to attend this year. Now, not only am I attending, but I am honoured to also be facilitating a session.

Today was a whirlwind of activity that has left me full of questions. Questions that I do not have answers for yet. Questions that I know will fuel my passion for education and guide me in growing my teaching for the betterment of my students. Questions that are swirling in my mind with no intention of going away until I find a way to answer them.

The day started with a student-guided hands-on tour of the active learning happening at the Connect Charter School. We were able to walk into classrooms to not only witness learning but to engage with students and learn directly from them. I met with an incredible group of  sixth grade students who were programming an educational video game using Scratch based on Ancient Athens in Social Studies. They had divided themselves into working collaborative groups with each member contributing to the project based on their own personal skills and passions. There was a programmer, story boarder, music composer, story writer, artist and leader. This was incredibly powerful to watch as each student owned his role and because it was centred around their individual strengths, the group dynamic produced an equal and distributed sharing of knowledge. This was when the first of my questions began:

• What if we were able to tap into each student’s individual strengths and highlight them in such a way so that everyone succeeds, learns and grows?
• How can we combine student passions and interests with current curriculum in fun, innovative and engaging ways but also ensuring it is relevant to skills they require in the real world?
• If this can be created in this way in Humanities, how can this be implemented for other subjects?

We continued on with our tour and entered a grade four classroom. I was immediately drawn to the large four-table-long display of what looked like plaster. The amazing student I spoke to explained that they were studying Canada’s ecology layer and building a model of it using a combination of drywall compound, flour, toilet paper and water. They had researched the layer and elevations using the ArcGIS program and were moulding and sculpting it by hand to present it at city hall later this month. More questions:

• How can we make abstract concepts more concrete in such a way so that students connect to them?
• How can we collaboratively create something that benefits our community and grows our learning at the same time?

Our tour then took us to what is called the Collaboratorium which is a room for thinking, sharing, reflection and learning. I am a huge advocate for alternative learning spaces which allow students to be comfortable in an environment conducive to their learning needs. My favourite part of this room is that it had Idea Paint or whiteboard paint on the walls so students were free to reflect. Even more questions:

• Why aren’t all classrooms “Collaboratoriums”?
• What are the ways in which I can assist my students to create a culture of collaboration and reflection in our classroom?
• Is our room set-up conducive and reflective of this?

The day led to evening where we had the opportunity to learn from three amazing keynote speakers: Michelle Baldwin, Joshua Hill and Brad Ovenell-Carter. Following their presentations, I was left feeling inspired and hopeful for the amazing learning and opportunities our students can have, but once again I was also left with questions:

• If curiosity is what drives students to learn, how can we foster their natural desire to question and allow those questions to guide their learning?
• Is our learning environment one where struggle is not only ok, but a growing and learning opportunity?
• Do we provide enough time for our students to truly reflect on what they have learned and more importantly what they think they need to learn more of?
• Are our students cognizant of how they learn best? How can we provide them with these skills?
• How can we provide our students with more opportunities to experience learning first hand rather than reading about someone else’s experiences?
• “What if we let our students do work that they care about and want to create because of it’s potential contribution and effect on the world?” – a question from Will Richardson used in Joshua Hill’s presentation.
• Are we as educators reaching out to our students to find out how effective we have been in teaching them things they can’t find online?
• We can teach our students to curate information they find, but are we teaching them how to create it? Are we providing them with the tools to be contributors and creators of knowledge instead of just consumers?

As the evening ended, I’ve realized that these questions have been building within me for the past year as I grow in my teaching and being in this learning environment today just propelled them to the forefront of my mind and practice. These are my guiding questions.

Professional development isn’t about finding answers, but about learning to find the questions from which you will grow.