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.