Growth Mindset

In our Mind Lab session this evening, we spent the evening exploring growth mindset. Our challenge was to create a Stop Motion video that summarised some of the main issues related to growth mindset.

Video by Lorna, Pip, and Vicky

 

Using Scratch to Code Shapes

Computational thinking in action

How We Recognise and Celebrate the Development of Key Competencies and 21st Century Learning Skills in Students and Teachers at Wainuioru School

Students:

🌠  Student of the week (although this isn't always specifically related to the key competencies and           21st century skills). 

🌠  Praise postcards (sent home to families to acknowledge students' personal successes - however           big or small, and at the time that they are noticed). We could probably do with increasing the               frequency of our communications on this front!

🌠  Principal's Award (weekly)

🌠  Wonderful Wainuioruian awards (termly). these are specifically related to consistently students           demonstrate the school values, which are very closely linked to the key competencies

🌠  Mums and daughters/sons breakfast and Dads and sons/daughters breakfast (annually on a                   rotating basis). the students have an opportunity to share their work with their families.

🌠  Pets day and the school duathlon (both annual events) also provide students with the opportunity         to share their learning with their families.

🌠  Sharing assemblies (fortnightly) afford students another opportunity to share their learning with           an audience.

🌠  Other sources of sharing include class Facebook pages, Twitter, Skype sessions with our buddy           classes in the California and Prague

🌠  The school newsletter

Teachers:

Identifying specific examples of how we celebrate our colleagues' success and developing use of 21st century learning skills has proved to be quite challenging. 

Clearly we don't really have a system for this, however it is one that we should definitely focus on addressing. 

How do you celebrate staff success in your school? Please feel free to leave a comment below.

How We Recognise and Celebrate the Development of Key Competencies and 21st Century Learning Skills in Students and Teachers at Wainuioru School

Students:

🌠  Student of the week (although this isn't always specifically related to the key competencies and           21st century skills). 

🌠  Praise postcards (sent home to families to acknowledge students' personal successes - however           big or small, and at the time that they are noticed). We could probably do with increasing the               frequency of our communications on this front!

🌠  Principal's Award (weekly)

🌠  Wonderful Wainuioruian awards (termly). these are specifically related to consistently students           demonstrate the school values, which are very closely linked to the key competencies

🌠  Mums and daughters/sons breakfast and Dads and sons/daughters breakfast (annually on a                   rotating basis). the students have an opportunity to share their work with their families.

🌠  Pets day and the school duathlon (both annual events) also provide students with the opportunity         to share their learning with their families.

🌠  Sharing assemblies (fortnightly) afford students another opportunity to share their learning with           an audience.

🌠  Other sources of sharing include class Facebook pages, Twitter, Skype sessions with our buddy           classes in the California and Prague

🌠  The school newsletter

Teachers:

Identifying specific examples of how we celebrate our colleagues' success and developing use of 21st century learning skills has proved to be quite challenging. 

Clearly we don't really have a system for this, however it is one that we should definitely focus on addressing. 

How do you celebrate staff success in your school? Please feel free to leave a comment below.

A reflection on how my use 21st century learning skills stacks up against the ITL learning activities rubrics

In preparation for week 3's session at the Mind Lab, we were challenged to reflect on some examples of learning activities that we provide for our colleagues or students that promote the development of 21st century learning skills. 

Here is a short film about our current classroom project, and how well it stacks up against the ITL 21CLD Learning Activities rubrics for Knowledge Creation and Collaboration.

21st Century Skills in the Classroom

In preparation for week 3's session at the Mind Lab, we were challenged to reflect on some examples of learning activities that we provide for our colleagues or students that promote the development of 21st century learning skills. 

Here is a short film about our current classroom project, and how well it stacks up against the ITL 21CLD Learning Activities rubrics for Knowledge Creation and Collaboration.

Innovative Teaching and 21st Century Skills

Week 2 at The Mind Lab 

This week our in class task was to work collaboratively to create a short film about 21st century learning skills.

We chose to create a iMovie trailer that demonstrated how ICT could be used to enhance student learning.

According to the ITL 21CLD Learning Activities Rubrics (Microsoft Partners in Learning, 2015), use of ICT for learning should enable students to engage in knowledge construction activities that would otherwise be impossible or extremely challenging to complete without the use of ICT.

We used the Use of ICT for Learning rubric to plan a theoretical learning sequence that involved collaboration between a New Zealand school and a Japanese school. The aim of the collaboration was to promote knowledge construction around greetings and basic language skills; and the development of a shared understanding of the similarities between our two cultures. The students from each country would practise their language skills by engaging in real-time interactions via Skype or Facetime. They would then have an opportunity to use these skills to interact with people during the completion of a school exchange program.

How did we do against the rubrics? 

Please feel free to leave some constructive feedback 😊

 

21st Century Learning Skills - What Do My Students Think We Should Tackle First?

In preparation for my first Mind Lab Digital and Collaborative Learning assignment, I was prompted to consider if my students shared my opinion on the 21st century learning skill and key competency that we need to work on. On Monday morning we held an impromptu exploration of how our learning experiences help us to develop the skills and attitudes of a 21st century learner.

The students worked in small groups of 3-4 and brainstormed all of the ways in which we practise and develop each of the key competency. One of their first observations was that many of the key competencies overlap, for example it is difficult to participate and contribute without having a clear understanding of how to relate to others.

Interestingly enough, my students felt that it was the key competency of relating to others that is in need of most attention in our class. They felt that when given a choice between working with others and working alone, most people tended to choose to work alone, and thus were not developing the skills necessary for collaborating with others. Furthermore, they identified that those students who did choose to work in groups always tended to work with the same people and assume the same roles within those groups.

The insights gained from this discussion were invaluable. We came to a shared understanding that knowledge creation only occurs through discussions that challenge our thinking, and thus the two 21st century learning skills and associated key competencies that we identified complement each other perfectly.

My next step is to plan an innovative practice to address these issues. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

21st Century Learning Skills - What To Tackle First?

The 21^st Century learning skill and associated key competency that I would most like to address in my own practise is KNOWLEDGE CREATION and THINKING.

My rationales for wanting to address KNOWLEDGE CREATION and THINKING are as follows:

1. ·        I would love to actively engage my students in learning experiences that promote the application of interdisciplinary problem solving skills and 21^st Century learning skills. After my initial examination of the ITL Learning Activities Rubrics, I feel that many of the learning activities that I plan often only score a 2 or 3 on the rubrics. I need to put greater effort into ensuring that the students’ learning experiences allow them to have an active presence in the world, and that they have an opportunity to share their ideas and creations with an authentic audience beyond the confines of our school gates.
2. ·        To develop parental confidence in the application of new pedagogies and technologies. In my experience, parents are generally sceptical of new teaching approaches. They want to know that their child is on track to achieve the national standard, and they believe that this is best achieved through traditional approaches to the core curriculum subjects. I would love to be able to show parents tangible evidence of the depth of learning and development of key competencies that comes with genuinely engaging in 21^st century learning. This is going to be one of the most challenging barriers to overcome which – in turn - makes it one of the most significant barriers our school community needs to tackle.  
3. ·        To promote a greater understanding and appreciation (amongst staff, students, parents, and the wider community) for what it means to be a 21^st century teacher and learner. The element of practice within my school setting that I would most like to challenge is around the planning and implementation of extension for gifted and talented students. Recent professional discussions have made me more aware of people’s beliefs that extension programs are something separate to one’s regular classroom program – they are delivered by outside sources such as Learn Now, One Day Centre, or the Correspondence School. This goes against everything that I believe to be true about the extension of gifted and talented students, however it has highlighted a potential opportunity for developing this 21^st century learning skill and key competency in the context of planning and implementing effective extension programs with my colleagues.
4. ·        To lead by example within my school setting by taking risks and trialing new ideas, and then openly and honestly reflecting on the positive and negative aspects of these processes. This opens up an opportunity for working collaboratively with other staff members which will enable us to become more effective and efficient knowledge creators.
5. ·        After an honest reflection on some of the learning experiences that I have planned for my students using the Innovative Teaching and Learning 21^st Century Learning Design Learning Activity Rubrics (Microsoft Partners in Learning. (n.d.). 21CLD Learning Activities Rubrics. Retrieved from http://fcl.eun.org/documents/10180/14691/5.3x+-+21cld+learning+activity+rubrics+2012.pdf/e240da11-07c2-4633-a86e-06c12f00d8ad?version=1.0), I can now identify a strong disconnect between how students might use information for knowledge construction as opposed to simply recalling, reorganising, and identifying the opinions of others.
6. ·        Although I have always asserted a strong belief in knowledge construction being at the heart of education, the rubrics have highlighted the need to put greater thought into how to plan meaningful and productive learning experiences that target knowledge construction.
7. ·        Examination of my lesson plans has enabled me to identify that the learning experiences which fail to meet the requirements for knowledge construction the most are those that have been done in a hurry, and those that have followed a traditional school timetable structure in which I have aimed to ensure curriculum coverage, i.e. reading, writing, and maths, over the course of a school day.
8. ·        I am often torn between wanting to maintain the appearance of being a good teacher in the eyes of my students and their parents (by ensuring that when parents ask their children about the core curriculum subjects, the students can clearly identify what it is that they have learnt in those areas); and wanting to be the best educator that I can be – something that can only be achieved by letting go of the traditional industrial age approach to education (Tedx Talks.  2013, May 20^th. What 60 schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21^st Century Skills: Grant Lichtman at TedxDenverTeachers. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZEZTyxSl3g&t=191s)

How My Understanding of the Purpose of Education Manifests Itself in my Classroom

1. Learning Environment:

• Within the confines of the school, we make use of every available space. There are times when teachers and teacher aides have conducted small group learning sessions in the staff room, school library, or other classrooms that weren't being used. This was a significant first step in dismantling the traditional teacher ownership over space. No longer are classrooms referred to as a teacher's space, they are available to be used for the benefit of the learners (both students and teachers alike). These changes have provided us with an authentic context in which to explore the values of respect; community; equity; and integrity, and the key competencies of relating to others; managing self; and participating and contributing.
• Our classroom has a variety of seats and tables. We have worked on developing a culture of shared ownership and responsibility - we are all the kaitiaki (caretakers) of our learning environment.
• One of our school's strategic goals is to continue to develop and strengthen our connection with the local community. In order to achieve our goal we are conscious of creating opportunities for the students to share their work with an authentic audience. Some of the strategies that we use to do this are class Facebook pages; a school Facebook page; Twitter; a senior class blog; participating in community events such as the Breadcraft Art Exhibition; Pre and post interventions sharing sessions (Accelerated Learning in Maths and Accelerated Literacy Learning) in which students have an opportunity to share their most significant learning and achievements; school assemblies; and praise postcards to name but a few.

      2. Pedagogy:

• As a school, we are working on developing a planning system that will ensure the key competencies become a greater focus for teaching and learning. We acknowledge the importance of the key competencies and want to do them justice, however we are aware of how easy it is to slip back into old habits. Regular reflection and ongoing professional discussions are helping us to keep the key competencies to the fore of our teaching and learning. 
• Our school values are very closely linked to the New Zealand curriculum values and key competencies. Every term we choose one value to focus on and reinforce through explicit teaching. 
• Within the context of my own classroom, I have embraced the use of varied information sources such as YouTube, Wikipedia, online journals, and other teachers' and students' blogs. I use these information sources with my class as they are the sources of information that my students choose to use when working on independent inquiry projects. The focus of my lessons is very rarely about where to find information, but rather how to use reading strategies such as skimming, scanning, synthesising, and evaluating the quality of the information contained in these sources. 
• Before, during, and after planning learning experiences I always make sure that I can justify the why. Why do my students need to know this? How will this help them in the future. This helps to ensure that most of my lessons have a connection to real world experiences. 
• I make time to reflect on lessons and inquiry projects with my students, and I'm careful to ensure that these reflections aren't only completed at the end of a unit. One of the most valuable lessons that I have learned over the course of my teaching career is that students are very honest and astute in their observations and reflections. It is my firm belief that student-teacher relationships are strongest and most productive when teachers are willing to relinquish power to their students and let go of their ego. Many teachers (often of the older generation) have commented on my bravery at allowing my students to give me feedback. They have also gone on to assert that this is something they would never do as they fear what their students would say. But isn't that the point? We need to model how to give and receive feedback, and to prepare students to be productive citizens of the world. And fortunately for us (or unfortunately - depending on which side of the fence you're on) we are in the real world right now - students don't have to complete thirteen years of formal education before we allow them to be active and productive citizens in the 'real' world!
• I am a risk-taker. Student outcomes and achievement are important, but I believe in looking at the bigger picture. And fortunately, experimenting with new ideas and innovating on old ones has not led to any major backward steps for my students. I believe that change and exploration are the very things that have helped to enhance student agency and keep my students engaged in the learning process.

      3. Tools for Learning:

• I strongly believe in allowing students the freedom to select the best tools for the job. My students enjoy making decisions for themselves about how best to complete a task. It has created an authentic opportunity for practicing: problem-solving; time management; creativity; communication; peer tutoring; and collaboration. The students love the encouragement and celebration that comes from sharing their unique interpretations and creations, and through these sharing sessions students are motivated to strive for bigger and better things - something they would be deprived of were I to show them an exemplar and ask them to replicate it.  
• Through self-managing their learning tool choices, I have found that my students are becoming more confident at expressing their ideas and opinions. They are less worried about getting the 'right answer', or completing creative projects in the 'right way'. The quality of their work and the depth of their thinking is far greater than ever before as they have been liberated from the shackles of trying to read the teacher's mind. These are perhaps the most important 21st century learning skills for students to master - critical thinking; the ability to justify one's opinion with sound logic and understanding; and to accept and celebrate diversity.

Knowledge and the Purpose of Education 

21st Century Learning...Key Competencies...Student Agency...Ubiquity...

These are just some of the many buzz words being bandied around in education at the moment. 

The problem is that professional discourse about the changes needed to meet the demands of 21st century learning are often crammed in between leadership meetings, performance reviews, and extracurricular activities, thus leaving very little time for teachers to be able to ponder the ideas that have been discussed, let alone affording them the time and opportunity to fully explore them. 

We are living in an era where information is freely and readily available. Almost everyone in the developed world has the means to access information. Once a person has read/watch/listened to the information and understood it, the information then becomes knowledge. For example, I know that the capital city of Kazakhstan is Astana. But what use is this knowledge to me unless the question comes up at a quiz night or I, for some reason, need to visit the city? Recently I read a fabulous book Catching the Knowledge Wave: The Knowledge Society and the Future of Education by Jane Gilbert. In this book, the author identifies how access to information has actually changed the meaning of knowledge in the 21st century.

During the industrial age, knowledge was something that was taught in schools. In this instance the teacher was the expert, and the students' role was to listen and learn from the expert. With the advent of digital technology, the world is now more connected than ever and teachers are no longer the experts in the classroom. Students - as a direct result of their interactions with digital technologies - have a heightened sense of awareness that they are more knowledgeable than their teachers in some areas. So how has this changed the definition of knowledge?

These days in not what you know that gets you ahead, it what you can do with that knowledge. Jane Gilbert explains that the benefits of knowledge are most obvious when when knowledge manifests itself in the form a verb as opposed to a noun, and this is certainly evident from the success of the 9 young entrepreneurs mentioned in the article 9 Amazing (Very) Young Entrepreneurs   http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5051-young-entrepreneurs.html

So how does a change in the definition of knowledge impact on the purpose of education? For me, the most obvious change has to be in the relationship between the teacher and the students. If the teacher is no longer the definitive expert on everything that the students are expected to learn, then the teacher has permission to be a learner alongside the students. For all intents and purpose this should be the key to creating time, space, and opportunity for teachers to explore some of the pedagogy and ideas uncovered during the course of their professional learning conversations. It is, however, perhaps the greatest barrier to overcome as we seek to transform ourselves into more robust future-focused teaching and learning institutions. The industrial age was based on a top down managerial structure, whereas some of today's most successful businesses work within a collaborative, flat management structure. It is imperative that teachers are encouraged and supported to transition from being 'the sage on the stage' to working in collaboration with their students.

The second most significant change has to be in content that students are taught. The most important question that should precede any teacher's planning is Why do my students need to know this? How is this going to help them in the future? Countless experts on 21st century learning, including Mark Treeadwell, Jane Gilbert, and Dr. Tony Wagner, have reiterated this message. Asking these questions ahead of lesson planning is a useful means of ensuring that teachers are making the most of their classroom contact time. The New Zealand Curriculum document outlines a clear vision for future-focused teaching and learning in which the key competencies are of the utmost importance. We need to ensure that the key competencies are the main focus of targeted teaching efforts as these are what will help our students to thrive in the 21st century, where problem solving, creativity, and ingenuity are the keys to success.

As a fellow educator trying to get to grips with the changes and demands in education, I urge teachers to lead by example. Be brave. Be risk takers. Be innovative. And most importantly of all, make time to celebrate the small steps and successes along the way. We don't have to change overnight, but we do have to change.