Asimov's First Rule of ... Teaching? Do No Harm

"I and others like me are being harmed by the uncritical adoption of ideas and norms."

"School was and is f****** horrible."

Powerful words. 

They were written by someone I respect immensely, who cannot help but be forthright when expressing  thoughts on education. Someone who is working to change things, not because h/she has studied pedagogy (which h/she has) or feels that school needs to change, but because h/she has experienced first-hand the soul-destroying  aspects of school. Someone who, instead of thriving in a rich and stimulating learning environment that met his/her needs wasn't just disengaged,  but suffered under the expectations and norms of school. 

This person is not the only one I know who has experienced and continues to experience school in this way.

"I would try so hard to sit still at my desk and listen. This pressure would build up in me. It felt like my head was going to explode. I couldn't help it - I would have to disrupt. I would have to get up". 

How many more like them are in our classrooms? How many are we not just failing to serve well, but are through our actions,  inactions  and "uncritical adoption of ideas and norms" actually causing harm? 

It makes me think of Asimov's First Rule of Robotics.

A robot must not injure a human being, or through inaction allow a human being to be harmed. 

A teacher must not injure a human being or through inaction allow a human being to be harmed.

An administrator must not injure a human being or through inaction allow a human being to be harmed.

A system must not injure a human being or through inaction allow a human being to be harmed.

So much discussion about education through the medium of social media over the past year has centered on "student voice".  Are we really listening though?  More importantly, once we've heard are we taking action?  Even more importantly, are we asking to hear from those who most need to be heard?

As more and more of those voices find the courage to speak up and say, "You are causing me harm," what will we do? 

And finally, what is it that we do that  is causing you harm and what do we need to change that so that school can be a place of learning for you and those like you? 

Please tell us.

Skyping with Dr. Gary Bone

Today, on the last day before the holidays Class 71 had the pleasure of Skyping with Dr. Gary Bone from the department of mechanical engineering at McMaster University. Our topic? Robots. Finally students had the opportunity to pose their questions to someone who works in the field of robotics. From our many questions we narrowed down the list to those below.

1. From your research, what do you think the most amazing thing robots will be able to do 25 years from now.

2. Will robots ever have human qualities such as free will or will they be like slaves?  

3. If robots have feelings, will they be able to control them?

4. How will robots affect employment and traditional workers?

5. How will robots react to humans and things like horseplay? Will they be able to tell the difference between play and an actual attack?

6. What kind of decisions will robots be able to make in the future?

7. Will robots ever be built with weapons like those in Robocop? How will these robot weapons be controlled?

9. Will robots or some of the kinds of robotic technology ever be banned in some countries?

10. Do you think kids will be allowed to use robots such as the Google Car?

12.   How trustworthy is robotic technology? What happens if the technology malfunctions? Will robots ever turn on humans?

Dr. Bone attempted to answer them in ways that the students could understand and mentioned more than once that these were good questions to be asking.

In summary:

Robots should be designed to enhance human life and to do no harm.
Robots will displace jobs, but new jobs will arise.
Robots will be governed by laws.
Robots will, in the future have decision-making capabilities and will have some human-like qualities.
Robots will be controlled by humans, but may have capacity for freewill.
25 years is not a long time when it comes to the evolution of technology. Probably not much will change in 25 years.
Children will most likely not be allowed to have their own robotic cars. Just as there is a driving age today, there will be driving ages even in robotic cars. (This was disappointing).
Developers spend time thinking how to avoid problems and injury.
Robots will have a role as companions in the future.
Robots will be able to do things better than humans - their vision, for example, will be superior.
Dr Bone was of the opinion that robots should not be designed to look like humans. Robots are robots. Humans are humans.


While many of their questions were answered, some of the answers were unsettling and left students with more questions, which is as it should be when engaging in inquiry.

Dr. Bone also emphasized the importance of studying math and science.

Towards the end of the session we had time for questions not on the list. One student asked how Dr. Bone got into the field of robotics. He explained that his interest began as a child. Whenever he got a new toy, he would take it apart to see how it worked.

Noah, asked my favourite question. We had wondered earlier in the week if a visit to the robotics lab was possible and Noah took it upon himself to find out. Dr. Bone didn't say no! He mentioned that there are 1 week sessions for high school students during the summer and that maybe it would be possible to come for a day. He wanted to discuss this with me. Whether we are able to visit or not is not really the point here - having confident students who are willing to take a risk and ask, is!

I realize that we didn't ask the one question we are most curious about. With the Google car example, who would Dr. Bone choose to survive, the passenger or the busload of school children?

So what are your students doing when they're reading?

This week I wanted to get a better sense of the thinking that my students do when reading. I also wanted to know if they are aware of their strategies and thinking processes when reading.  I began by asking them to think about teacher assigned reading. When a teacher gives them something to read what do they do?

The student responses were revealing.  We have spent so much time in Ontario developing critical thinking skills, reading strategies and meta-cognitive awareness.  To see so many students comfortably using the terminology of reading was rewarding.  This kind of activity is also a quick way to discover which students do not have a repertoire of strategies for reading.  They become the target group for guided reading.

We took some time to share responses and I went over a variety of reading strategies.  The tricky part with reading in middle school, though,  is to ensure that students are using strategies to improve their comprehension and thinking skills.  This requires practice.  Just as a hockey player practices drills to improve specific skills, readers must practice.

Students were asked to document their thinking as they read.  They were also asked to read the article three times, each time annotating the text in a different colour and to then reflect on how their understanding of the text changed with different readings.

Students are part way through this activity. Tomorrow they will finish marking their texts and reflect on their reading.

Lego Robotics and School Design

After our many explorations and discussions of robotics, Class 71 had the opportunity today for hands on learning with Lego Robotics. Fun!  They spent the morning in Mr. Bell's room, while I took Mr. Bell's grade 5 students for movie making with the iPads.   Both classes were fully engaged in their learning which made me wonder why we structure school the way we do.  What if school was organized on a workshop model where students spent several weeks focused on 1 in-depth project? What if they rotated through teachers over the course of a school year, each time experiencing the richness of that particular teacher's specialty.  Imagine what a middle school science teacher could do with learners if she had 1 class everyday for three weeks?  Imagine how relieved students would be to know that their learning blocks were temporary and that if they ended up in a classroom or project that they did not find particularly compelling, they would not be there for the full year.  It is good to remember that nothing is set in stone. Experimentation with scheduling is perhaps one of the innovations we need to push forward if we are to create more engaging learning environments.

Waiting for the Trigger Point of Inquiry

It has been an exceptional two weeks in Class 71.  The new layout is working and it came just in time for an inquiry that I was not expecting at all.  @pomeranian99 shared an article on twitter from The New Yorker written by @garymarcus on the subject of moral machines. The premise (that at some point robots will be able to make life and death decisions on behalf of humans) provoked intense reactions from my students and has led to some of the most exceptional conversations, reflections, insights and questioning that I have witnessed from grade 7 students. It has also sent us on a journey of inquiry. What pleases me most about this is that given that work I have done professionally over the past two years, I am able to facilitate this process with greater expertise.  I have left the trial and error phase of inquiry and now understand that if I structure activities in certain ways magic will happen. This is a nice feeling to have. I haven't had time to blog daily, which is a pity because of what I am witnessing in my students.

Below is a record of 1 collaborative task.  After our initial two-day discussion, I realized that much of my students' reactions to the idea of robots was fear-based and that they needed to learn more.  I gave groups the task of identifying what they actually knew about robots and then asked them to discuss and record their questions.

This was followed by a virtual visit to MIT Media Lab's Personal Robot Projects to begin learning more. Students were enthralled by what they saw and learned and are now engaged in a larger inquiry than I had originally anticipated.  That is it: the beauty of learning when one is not occupied with standards-based education where the outcomes have been pre-determined.

Breaking Ground With Senator Pamela Wallin

It has been a busy time for Class 71.  They've finally opened a twitter account -  @Class71DC,  and the class blog is up and running, hosted on the HWDSB Commons. It will be made public soon.  This fall students have been exploring biography and the art of asking questions during an interview that lead to story.

Today we had the pleasure of interviewing Senator Pamela Wallin.  Senator Wallin was a perfect subject for us to interview. Not only has she led an extremely interesting life, but she was Canada's first female news anchor for a national broadcaster and has interviewed some very famous people. How does someone score an interview with such a prominent Canadian? Ask!  I contacted Ms. Wallin's office. Her executive assistant, Renee Montpellier forwarded our request to Ms. Wallin who was delighted to be asked. This was new territory for Senator Wallin and her staff, so it was a learning experience for those in Ottawa and us. Because the communication was with a high profile member of the government, we couldn't use Skype. A secure line was required and Peter Feltham set this up for us from Ottawa using WebX.

Students, many of whom had never heard of Ms. Wallin, spent time learning about her many, many accomplishments. They were quite impressed.  They then prepared a range of questions which were subsequently narrowed down to nine.  (I'll post these later).  Ms Wallin agreed to give as half an hour of her time, squeezed into a very busy schedule.

What an outstanding experience. The students' questions were excellent! They got her story. I was proud of them.  Ms. Wallin was generous and gracious in response. Throughout the interview students rose to the occasion and demonstrated impeccable behaviour as they listened and took in what she had to say.

Ms. Wallin gave them excellent advice for interviewing. Do your homework on the subject. Find out as much as you can about them, make them feel comfortable and remember they are people with a story.  She shared stories about how interviews can go wrong - she once had a subject show up drunk to a live interview. We learned that she had become a journalist by accident - having begun her career as a social worker.

Ms. Wallin spoke very movingly of her time in New York City as Canada's representative at the UN post 911.

 With all that Senator Wallin has accomplished, students were curious about  which achievement she was most proud of.   She identified her role in Afghanistan as her greatest achievement.  When she visited Afghanistan she realized that Canadian soldiers were poorly equipped for IEDs. Upon her return home, she spoke with the Prime Minister about the need for better equipment for Canadian soldiers and ensured that this was acted upon.  She also spoke very touchingly of what it meant to have the people who know her best, those from her small hometown in Saskatchewan,  recognize her achievements by naming a street after her.

There is much more that was discussed which I will leave for another time. The session ended with students asking what advice she had for them about achieving their dreams. Ms Wallin advised them to take risks and that when someone offers them an opportunity, "Say yes!"  She also passed on words that she and her sister had been given by their parents:  "character trumps genius".

The students were quiet and attentive throughout the interview which ran well past our agreed upon time.  I wasn't sure though, what impact this session was having on them. As soon as we disconnected it became obvious.

"That was amazing!"
"I learned so much."
"I can't believe we got to speak with someone so high up."
"That was so interesting."
"When can we do this again."

One student expressed pleasure that Ms. Wallin had made them feel so comfortable, "It was just like a regular conversation.  She didn't hold herself high up because she's someone so important."  Another observed how incredible it is that a chance happening could lead to someone's life going in a completely different direction.  Two responses to this session stand out for me. One was written in a thank you letter to Ms Wallin, "This experience was life-changing."  and the other from one of my reluctant writers who is not a fan of school, "Can I get down to the lab to write my thank you letter? I have so much to say."

My Decentralized Classroom

So much technology has come into my classroom this past year and we are on an enormous learning curve as we figure out how to use it effectively.  One thing I have struggled with is classroom layout and flow for collaborative learning.  This week I came across two excellent videos that demonstrate how layout works to enhance collaborative, low risk, high-engagement learning.

Steelcase Labs used design theory to reinvent learning spaces

Fielding Nair International, a school in the USA looked at how to reinvent a school affordably.

I then reworked the layout of my classroom so that it has flow and is decentralized.

Beautiful Learning

I am still on a learning curve when it comes to using iPads effectively with my students; the biggest challenge I have is creating learning situations so compelling that students are not tempted to wander off to readily available more satisfying activities (games). Today, I met with success.

Part of the grade 6 Social Studies curriculum involves learning about Canada's links to the world.  One of the articles we read during this unit tells the tale of Ryan's Wells. Ryan was a young Canadian boy who raised enough money so that a village in Uganda that had no access to clean drinking water could build a well. It is an inspiring tale that students enjoy reading.  It is also, now that we have the iPads, a problematic tale, the reasons for which will have to wait until the end of this post.

I organized 9 student desks into a u-shape with my chair at the top of the U.  This is a larger groups size than recommended for guided reading, but oh well.  We began with a discussion of Uganda. Who had heard of it? What did they know about it?  All had heard of it. None knew where it was located. Some thought it was small and poor, somewhat like Haiti.


I then distributed the iPads with a "Let's find out about more." And then the magic happened. For 40 minutes students were fully engaged, even those with severe learning challenges. Each child went in a different direction. One landed on the story of Uganda's Little League baseball team, another on wild animals, another on flag and facts. One hit a tourism site and saw, "Uganda, the Pearl of Africa". It detailed the many exciting things one could do in Uganda. The Kony connection was discovered, as was the current Anti-Gay laws that are being passed which prompted one learner to seek more information on Ugandan laws. Two boys found pictures of guns being destroyed which led them to learn more about wars that had taken place in Uganda. Another learner saw a picture of children locked behind a gate which led to "Why?" and the discovery that 40 000 children work in the tea fields of Uganda. The children discovered beautiful homes, grass huts, scenic views, areas of poverty and areas of immense wealth. We listened to a You Tube video where a teacher explained Speech Pathology programs, but what captivated the students was her accent. The music of Uganda was found by another and we all enjoyed listening. At certain points some students moved away from the group so they could hear better what was coming from their iPads.

Eventually I had to draw the session to a close, but none of the students wanted to stop. "I LOVE THIS," said one girl. "This was so interesting."  As we shared our discoveries, the children recognized that Uganda is a complex country with many problems, but much to offer. Every child but one (who hates airplanes) wanted to visit Uganda. All had more questions about Uganda that they wanted answered. I promised we would return to the iPads tomorrow to continue our exploration.

Which brings me back to Ryan's Wells.  In the past when I introduced this article, we also had discussions about Uganda. Then, as now, most students had heard of it but couldn't locate it.  The large map would come down; the students would say, "Oh, it's in Africa".  We'd share our brief knowledge and then begin to read.  What were the children left with at the end of the article? A picture of Uganda as a poor country with dirty drinking water that needs our help. Did any want to visit Uganda? Not really.

I realized today that in our desire to use Social Justice as our lens for instructing students about empathy and helping others, we are misguided. So many people see Africa as a place that needs help, rather than the place that my students saw in Uganda:  a country of complexities, just like our own. A country of beauty and ugly. Just like our own. A place with people, people we'd like to get to know.

It was beautiful learning, but I think the person who learned the most today was me.

Biography Inquiry: The Interview - What Did We Learn?

Today we took some time to reflect on what we've learned so far during this inquiry. The specific activities are explained in a previous post.

We went back to the beginning of the inquiry and I reminded them that we learned how to develop questions that lead to story.

We then discussed our interviews with teachers and what we had to think about in preparing, conducting and then reflecting on the interview. This was followed by a discussion on what they had actually learned from this process. As always, I know what I wanted them to learn, but what did they take away from this whole process? That's what's important.

 This has all been in preparation for interviewing a subject outside of school. Students are to select a grand-parent, great-grandparent, aunt, uncle, parent or family friend to interview and then create a biography.

We considered some essential questions in preparation.

What can we learn from ordinary lives?
What do our elders have to teach us?
How has my past shaped my present?
How does knowing about where I come from make my life better or worse?

Biography: Iconic Photographs

As part of our inquiry into biography, this morning we explored telling someone's story through a different medium - the iconic photograph.   We searched for iconic photographs and discussed why the images are powerful as well as placed them in historical context. It is wonderful having ipads in the classroom, because as questions came up, students could search for additional information. We discussed iconic photographs and images students were already familiar with including The Tank Man, The Falling Man, Raising the Flag at Jima, Uncle Sam, Rosie and several others. Students noticed the video link for The Tank Man which we watched.  Learning becomes fluid with access to wireless and devices in hand.

The task now is for students to create an iconic photograph of themselves.

 They have two weeks to complete this task.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qs4PNJHFKAefVX9QQKpuZoSULOquLMn4PPD6j-zS5ZM/edit

What Makes a Good Question? Biography Inquiry

Our work on biography began with an oral activity. Students were assigned a partner - someone from the class that they did not know well - and asked to interview them using the following questions:

Creating Interview Questions

Interviewer: _______________________________
Subject: __________________________________

Interview etiquette:

1. Pretend you are meeting this person for the first time.
   a) Introduce yourself and shake hands.
   
b) Thank them for taking the time to see you.
        (I really appreciate you taking time to see me)

c) If you are using a recording device you must let your subject know.
   Do you mind if I record this interview?

1. What is your full name?

2. Where were you born?

3. Who are your parents?

4. What’s your favourite colour?

5. Where do you go to school?

6. Where do you live?

7. What’s your favourite activity?

8. What’s your favourite season?

They set about interviewing their partners and recording notes.

Once everyone had finished we regrouped to reflect. I asked a few students to share various answers and then asked students what was wrong with the questions. None could come up with an answer so I selected a student to demonstrate the problem.

It went something like this:

Watch what happens when I change the first question from "What is your name?" to "How did you get your name?"

and question 2 to "What happened on the day you were born?"

Those questions prompted an outpouring from the class of stories. Everyone wanted to share their stories. They got it. The key to an interesting interview is creating questions that lead to story.

Students then had to work with their partners to reframe the questions so they would lead to story.

ex: Who are you parents? became How did your parents meet?

Where do you go to school? became What's the worst trouble you've ever gotten into at school?

Students were then given the task of selecting a teacher to interview and creating 10 questions that would lead to story. Included in this was a discussion on the ethics of interviewing, recording and sharing personal information.

Tasks included:

1. Develop the questions

2. Create a release form.

3. Book a time with the subject.

4. Interview, record, make notes immediately after the interview.

5. Self-assess - how did the interview go? What did you learn about interviewing?

6. Give feedback to the class on what was learned during the process

They visited this site to find examples of suitable questions.

Students are now writing 1 page articles about their subject or the interview itself.

This is preliminary work for our inquiry.

Learning 2030: The Future of Education

This year, Ontario's publicly funded broadcaster, TVO, is exploring education and more importantly where education is headed. I was invited to write a blog post for them. Here it is.

How Do I Use Technology?

Suffer the Young Engineers

Dinner with geeks.

Last night my husband (#reallygeekyspouse) and I  got together with some friends we hadn't seen in a long time. Eventually, the conversation rolled around to childhood risk-taking and experiences unique, I would say, to boys who grew up in a pre-911 world.

Remember those days?

Chemicals where easy to purchase from hardware and drug stores. Childhoods were highly unsupervised. Cities were smaller and children had access to space - not just parks with play structures designed for safety - but open fields, undeveloped expanses that were well out of the way of nosy adults.

It was a world that allowed problem-solving and risk-taking. Two of  the dinner guests' teen years were dedicated to the task of perfecting explosive devices:  homemade fireworks that sparkled with colour, canons, rockets and rocket launchers.

It was a world of experimentation, design, failure and redesign, problem -solving, close calls, trips by bicycle across the US border to acquire materials not available in Canada, and immense satisfaction when something finally worked.

All acknowledged the debt they owe to those experiences for their understanding of physics, chemistry and learning through trial and error. And all mourned the world we now live in where those kinds of opportunities are no longer available to young engineers in training.

November 18 Update:
The Young Engineers now have a place where they can use blowtorches and circular saws for their own purposes! Maker Kids

Teach Kids the "Game" of University Early

I will be sending a daughter off to university soon and have been  visiting universities to learn more about post-secondary education.  All universities and colleges hold open houses in the fall for prospective students and their parents. When we sent our first daughter off to university, we attended no open houses. She had done her own investigating, selected her program and then informed us of her decision - as she has done since grade 2 with all other major decisions. Her world revolves around horses and veterinary school has always been the end goal. No discussion needed!

My second daughter has broader interests and is more open to shared investigation. She wanted to explore her options, so last weekend she attended the Ottawa University open house and then I joined her in Montreal for McGill University's.

Times have certainly changed since I attended university. Back then, there were no day long events that afforded students the possibility of making informed choices. You simply filled in an application with the 3 permitted post secondary choices and off  you went. I don't know anyone who actually visited campuses ahead of time - and I don't think any of my peers discussed with their parents post-secondary options. We made our choices and we went. Most of my friends' parents had not gone to university, so their insights would have been pointless, other than to insist that we attend university.

I have to say I was impressed by how things have changed.  Prior to the open houses, my daughter did attend information sessions at her high school where representatives from various institutions gave overviews of their schools, but these sessions in no way compared with what she learned by attending the open houses.  She now has a much clearer understanding of how the game of university works and what needs to be done in high school in order to set herself up on her path of choice.

We also learned some things that surprised us. IB programs which are spreading across Ontario are not taken into consideration when evaluating potential students. Marks are compared mark for mark whether the mark comes from a student in a traditional high school program, an IB program, a French Immersion program or ... .  Acceptance into a program still comes down to marks.  Students who begin IB programs with the intent of making themselves more eligible for their Canadian university of choice should carefully consider whether the demands of the program are worth the effort. One poor student at the McGill session was shocked to hear that his lower mark in an IB program might prevent him from being accepted into McGill.

We gazed with envy at he fees Quebec students pay to attend McGill: $2 300 per year compared to what the rest of Canada pays to attend university. $5-$10 000 per year.

At the end of the weekend the girls felt informed and better prepared for what lies ahead, but they commented on the gap between what they learned in those sessions and the information they are receiving at school.

Both felt that not enough useful information about post-secondary is being communicated to students in high school early enough. Both wished that they had had information sessions about post-secondary starting in grade 11 rather than waiting until grade 12 so that they could be more strategic in their course selections. Both felt that grade 11 students should be strongly encouraged to attend university open houses in grade 11 - that waiting until the fall of grade 12 is in some ways too late. Students can better prepare themselves if they know what the end goal is. Given that grade 11 marks are looked at, they felt that more students would take school more seriously if they had a better understanding of where they were headed and first-hand information about various institutions.  University campuses are exciting and both thought that by attending an open house and experiencing university life even for a day, students would become motivated to do well. Both thought that teachers in high school providing advice on universities should be obliged to attend a few open houses so that their knowledge of how the game of university is played today is more up to date,  particularly their understanding of the options and flexible pathways for students in university. Of, course the questions remain, do students entering grade 11 have the maturity to make these assessments? Is post-secondary still too distant a prospect to make such visits useful? We won't know unless we begin the process.

One final uncomfortable thought. The girls commented on the range of quality teaching that they've experienced in high school. Some teachers have been outstanding, others weak in their program delivery and ability to communicate effectively with students. Some teachers are better than others, yet all teachers hold the future of students in their hands because of their control over marks. Unsettling indeed.

The Importance of Story

This slideshare comes from Siobhan O'Flynn and shows the evolution of story in our digital world.
http://www.slideshare.net/sioflynn/cwc-social-story-business-you-web-20-14998789

Success Criteria: Retell with Smart Technology

I'm back at it!

The technology that we received through the Mind Share Learning Award and the Ken Spencer Award are being put to good use. Our Smart Board is now up and running and I've acquired a handy device called a Genius Mouse Pen which acts as a mouse and a smart board pen that can be used remotely. I can now be anywhere in the class and fully control the board.

We are just becoming comfortable with the tools. Below are video notes from a lesson I did on how to write a retell. Retell is the lowest skill level on The Thinking Matrix, but the foundation for all other levels.

The lesson was done with the whole class. I then saved the notes and when I got home added voice over.
The lesson has been filed in our Edmodo account so all students can access it. As a start, I am thrilled with the results

Alexander Siwak

Alexander Siwak
February 6, 1937 - October 7, 2012



It was a privilege to know you Dad, an honour to share in your end of life journey.

 

One of My Great Teachers is Reaching the End of The Line

"There are only two ways to do something ... the Siwak way and the wrong way."

Needless to say this is a man with whom I've butted heads a few times. My dad. And now he has reached the end of the line. He's decided that his battle has gone on long enough. He's done with dialysis and pain, and falling and incontinence, and pain and itching and pain. "I've lived a full life, I'll miss Ronnie (my mom) and the kids (my sister, myself our spouses and our children). But I'm done. Give me the big pill NOW!"

And so, this weekend we moved him into palliative care.

Growing up, I used to think that my father did things on purpose - just to piss me off. And then, I had a daughter just like him and I began to understand. It is really in my adult years that I've come to truly appreciate the man who is my father.

He is a child of Polish immigrants. His father a gypsy carpenter who came because of the promise of land and his mother an indentured servant who was maltreated by her "owners" and had to be rescued.  My grandparents were Saskatchewan homesteaders and he grew up in an era where people were not afraid of hard (and I mean hard) work. An era where nothing was wasted. An era where you got on with the job and didn't concern yourself too much with how someone "felt" at any particular moment in time. Cows had to be milked. Crops had to be planted.  Bread had to be baked. Babies were born, but the work didn't stop. He is one of 12 twelve children; nine made it to adulthood. At the age of 15, he and his second eldest sister ran the family farm while the rest of the family wintered in town. He is a man who knows how to build or fix anything - and do it right the first time. Because that is how Siwak's do things. And make sure your work site is tidy at the end of the day and all tools put away. (Yes, I know, I missed out on that organizational gene). He is a self-taught man who developed a love for classical music and photography and theatre and mathematics and travel and anything tech.

He worked on oil rigs and built railway tracks before making his way to Toronto where he became a computer programmer during the early days. I remember visiting his work and watching with fascination as the data cards flew through an enormous machine that filled an entire room and was incredibly noisy. Even then my dad knew what was important in life.  He was frequently approached by headhunters with handsome job offers. He always said, "No thank you."  He wasn't prepared to sacrifice his greatest asset for prestige and income.  He earned a good living. He worked 10 minutes from home. He enjoyed his job. Why give away his time when life was already good? And so he chose to have time to indulge hobbies, to go dancing and have parties and build a life of worth. From him I learned that time is precious and not to be wasted on the unimportant things in life.

He taught me many other things. His tool shop is a thing of beauty and every tool has its place (which he knows ... heaven help anyone who puts something back in the wrong place). He is a man who paid cash for everything and knew not to spend more than he earned. His mortgage was paid off quickly.

He and my mom built a home that was and continues to be a welcoming place. This past spring my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary which, to be honest, none of us thought would come to pass given the state of his health.  I was astounded by the number of people who came to honour their commitment. (including several nuns in full habits on bicycles). The years of welcoming and reaching out to others was now being reflected back. On that day I saw yet again the value of sticking it out through the ups and downs of marriage and child raising. My father, dressed in a new suit, managed to get up and dance one more time with my mom and everyone cried.

His generosity and love for his grandchildren is well-noted. There is nothing he won't do for his family, including giving my eldest daughter money to buy a replacement car when hers was ruined in a car accident. Give, give, give to others. Why hold on to things? If you have it, share it.

He has endless stories to tell and laughter to share. His tales of growing up on the prairies, of planting and harvests and the wild risks they took. I'm still trying to imagine what it must have been like for the teacher in the schoolhouse to face a class in which every child was a sibling or cousin.

I've learned so much from him. Things that aren't taught in school but are so worth knowing.

And now he is reaching the end of the line.

For those who've noted the absence of blogposts and tweets, this is what has been keeping me busy since the summer.

I can't say I don't value what I am learning about this stage of life.

Nurses are amazing people. That's one thing I've learned.
Health care is worth protecting and fighting for; that's something I've learned.
Eat right and exercise. I've witnessed the suffering of the dialysis ward and a world of type two diabetes.
I've learned that personal support workers don't have cars and have to take public transit to provide care, which steals hours of time that could be given to care.
I've learned that there is no end to the number of prescriptions a patient might be given in hopes of  providing ... not sure  what all those bottles were for exactly.

I've witnessed countless poignant moments of love and care between spouses and family members and medical staff and complete strangers, who reach out to others. I've learned that in the end, all that we leave behind is how we've touched other's lives. That's it.

Critical Thinking: Teaching Students to Recognize Their Assumptions - Follow-Up

This is a follow-up to a previous post.

Yesterday when my grade 7's were asked what assumptions they might make about their Digital Citizenship projects that could lead to problems, most could easily identify problems they might encounter, but few could articulate the assumptions that could lead to problems. Today we worked on this skill.

I conducted a brief whole class lesson where the first two examples below were shown and then students were partnered off to identify the rest. This is such a crucial element for learning.  Students need the opportunity to talk and practise their thinking out loud. Most were still unable to articulate the assumptions. Many simply listed additional problems.  It was only when pulled into small flexible discussion groups that students were able to grasp and then identify the assumptions. I encouraged their thinking by saying, "This is the problem, what might they have assumed that would lead to this problem.?"  It took lots of discussion, several examples and much modeling of language use to get them to use the terminology and phrase their thinking correctly. By the end of class most students "got it".

"They must have assumed ..."
"They might have assumed ..."
"They could have assumed ..."

Beyond The Thinking Matrix: Elements of Thought

Most of my grade 7 students have  had experience with The Thinking Matrix and so my job as an educator is to move them beyond its limitations. My tool of choice for intermediate students has become: http://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm

We began the school year by learning about assumptions. This is not a term that students use with confidence nor adeptness, yet the assumptions they make can lead them astray in their thinking. I am encouraging them to recognize how making certain assumptions leads them to sometimes draw erroneous conclusions, but to also recognize that sometimes it is expedient and productive to make assumptions. This is high level thinking indeed and they need practice!

In our introductory activity, I read them a series of statements about a person and they were to discuss their thoughts about this person as each statement was revealed.

The Thief

(I included a picture from the internet of someone with a questionable appearance)

Paul is 19.

He is covered in tattoos.

He is a high school dropout.

He smokes and drinks.

He is unemployed.

He has just been arrested.

He was arrested for stealing.

He stole diapers and formula.

He has a girlfriend and a 1 year old child.

Paul has been working for the past 3 years for the same company.

He was laid off from his job when the company moved to another country.

The economy is bad and he has been unable to find other work.

Paul has never previously been in trouble with the police.

This, of course, led to a rich discussions about the assumptions we make about others that are so often based on insufficient information. 

On a bulletin board we have begun building our "Elements of Thought" wheel. If you were to see my classroom at the beginning of the year, it is empty. Nothing goes up that hasn't been used directly with my students. It seems rather barren at the moment but as the year moves forward, the walls will reflect our learning.

This week we have been working on Digital Citizenship - I have many posts about this topic, so will not go into detail about the lessons. What I'm more interested in is encouraging learners to think about how they approach their learning and what they are thinking as they go.

In the past, I would have designed a very nice task with clear instructions for students to follow. With the introduction of inquiry and project-based learning, this of course, has shifted and my students have engaged in some very interesting inquiries. I realize, however, that an area of weakness for many are planning skills and more importantly awareness.  How do we get students to become aware of their thinking as they approach learning?  How do we get them to be very clear on their purpose?  Below is an attempt to make them think more during the initial stages of a project. Instead of me creating or us co-creating the task, I have asked them to describe their understanding of the task.

This reflection was assigned after a text-based slideshow, discussion and some independent exploration of the topic.

The one question most students had trouble with centered on assumptions. Tomorrow we will practice articulating the assumptions they might make during this task that could cause problems. For this student, we will rephrase her statement to: "I might assume that all the information I read is correct and then include that in my presentation."  This will be done in flexible groups while others continue working on their projects.

Setting a Collaborative Foundation

The school year has begun and in the lead up to September I have been thinking about what I've learned over the past two years and how I might more deliberately build a collaborative thinking classroom.

 I am working with three premises.

1. Students need many opportunities to practise critical thinking skills.

2. Students need many opportunities to develop oral communication skills where they can fully develop, articulate and clarify their thoughts before writing.

3 Collaborative skills need to be taught and practised.

My focus for the beginning of this year then is to lay the foundation for learning in a way that I haven't done previously. I am taking my time to carefully set the stage so that when we begin PBL certain habits are in place.

With my grade 7's we began our first foundation lesson to develop collaborative skills.

1. We generated a list of what typically goes wrong in groups. Things such as:

-one person doing all the work
-one person dominating
-off-task
-arguing

2. I then created random groups of 3 or 4 and asked these groups to anticipate 3 things that might go wrong and how they would deal with them.

     1. What will you do to ensure that every person has a turn to speak?
     2. What will you do if someone begins to dominate the discussion?
     3. What will you do if you get off-task?

I also pointed out that their groups needed to look like groups. Physical placement is part of successful collaborative work. A few groups shuffled to new spots or adjusted their seating to be more inclusive.

Once the groups had determined their "Rules of Engagement", I gave them a discussion topic:

Is it ever right to do the wrong thing?

As I wandered the class, I was very pleased with the level of discussion.

One group finished a little early, but had only touched upon minor issues. I threw them the most serious one I could think of: murder. That caused them to enter into a much deeper and more passionate level of discussion.

We came together as a class and a few students shared what they had discussed.  I then asked them to think about what they had learned from this exercise.  Some responses related to group skills; some to moral choices.

Finally, they responded to the question in writing. One thing I've learned: if you give students the opportunity to discuss a meaty topic, when it comes time to write, they have something substantial to say. I was not disappointed.