Silent Reading

Reading outside 2

As the end of practicum draws near I am beginning to appreciate a particular type of silence. The silence where work is being accomplished and it seems like everyone is in “the zone”. I took my class outside today for silent reading and something happened that almost never happens inside, despite the amazing classroom in which I work, everyone was reading. All the children were throughly engaged in their books and not a single one was gazing off into LaLa Land.

reading outside

One would think that because there is so much more stimulation outside that they would have been distracted and off task. Even though they were sitting, hanging, and gently rocking on all kinds of playground equipment every single student was focused on their book. I tried to figure out what strange magic was going on here.

I thought back to my own childhood and realized Ioved to read outside. I spent many long afternoon leaning against a tree reading about worlds far away fork my isolated, island home. The outdoors weren’t over stimulating. They calmed me down and increased my focus. I realized the tranquility of Annieville Park was the magic ingredient.

reading outside 3

Afterwards the students and I had a discussion about how it was for them. More than half said they read more than they did inside. One boy exclaimed “I read thirty pages! I never do that.” I asked them why they thought they were so focused. Most of them said it was the quiet. One girl expressed what I was thinking, “It’s just so peaceful out here.”

A few students asked if we could do this everyday. I completely wish it was possible to do it everyday, but unfortunately the time it takes to line up and get outside would eat up half of the silent reading time. Perhaps because

Earth Day

The highlight of this week was having my students write about Earth Day. First, I played them them a YouTube video by on my of favourite poets, Prince Eas.

We then had a discussion and created an idea web about what the main message of the video was. I then had the students discuss, with a shoulder partner, the scenario “You are on an island, with everything to you need to survive, but you can’t leave. How do you take care of your island?”

The students came up with amazing ideas. For example, we need to take only what we need and we should only use what can grow back. Another idea was around composting to create soil to grow food. Also, we need to put all of our waste in one place and create very little of it. This idea was challenged by the question, what do you do when the place is full? This was such an engaging discussion and they basically listed principals of sustainability. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go but I was really pleased with their answers.

Next, in very dramatic fashion, I told them a “secret”. I told them “We live on an island we can’t leave.” They all looked at me like I was nutts. I finished with “It’s called Earth.” Immediately, five or six hands shot in the air. Because I know my class pretty well at this point, I follwed up with “The Martian is not real. We do not have another planet to go to, right now.” Three hands went down. I fielded a few more questions.

I then set them a writing assignment called Earth the Island. They were to write about how we should take care of our island without any limits on their ability to create change.

I really didn’t know what I would end up with but they turned out great. I’m including a few highlights from their writing that made me laugh and feel incredibly proud of my students.

Third Week

This week I taught a variety of lessons in different subjects. I am currently teaching lessons on writing with the students. I’m finding it incredibly boring. If I’m bored how can I expect students to be engaged. I love writing but teaching grammar is mind numbing.

Okay, that’s a bit dramatic but I feel stuck. Maybe, it’s because the program I’m using isn’t exactly inspirational. I don’t know. I’m going to play around with topics and lesson structures and activities and see what I can do.

A highlight from this week was the art lesson I taught outside. I had the students create Andy Goldsworthy inspired sculptures. The students worked in groups and were so engaged and the pieces looked amazing. Overall, it was a great lesson. However, towards the end of the lesson we were doing a gallery walk of their sculptures and some of the students were goofing around and not paying attention. I started to loose my patience and used a sharp tone with the students. I was reflecting on this that night and realized that I wasn’t being my highest self. In our classroom we often ask the students to be their highest selves.

So, I thought how can I turn this into a learning opportunity. I decided to make a little restitution and model owning our mistakes. So in my next art lesson I said “Towards the end of our last lesson I wasn’t my highest self. I wanted to apologize and honour the hard work you guys put in.” The students were blown away and later that day someone even said “Sorry Ms. Brown, I wasn’t being my highest self.”

Angie, Anushka, Madison

It was a good third week overall.

Questions

Five or six hands shoot in the air whenever I ask a question with an expected answer. I usually give it a bit of time and soon there are more hands in the air. The students have the information I want, either from their own funds of knowledge or because I’ve given it to them.

When I ask questions that require thinking or an opinion, two or three hands shoot up. These people usually are just saying the first thing that pops into the air. The others are more perplexed. Sometimes I don’t know how long to wait and begin to give some answers myself or call on the automatic responders. Other times I ask the students to stand when they have a guess/answer/idea. Then I have them talk with a shoulder partner about their idea. Finally, I’ll take their answers. Of course the second option involves more learning and is the obviously better choice.

However, timing is an area I am working to improve. This means that for the sake of time I just fill in the blanks instead of allowing the students the they need to formulate their answers. Being aware of this allows me let go of “things” we are supposed to get to and let the students think. I often use follow up questions, rephrase, or change key words to help the students think about the topic in a deeper way. Basically, I’m learning how to give more time and support to get the students to extend their thinking about a topic – not just feeding them the answers to get through the material.

This topic also made me think about how student questions often move the class discussion deeper into a topic. I had a student ask “What’s wrong with regular sentences? Why don’t you want us to use them?” during a Language Arts lesson. I responded “There’s nothing wrong with regular sentences. We’re learning these sentence openers and dress-ups to make our writing interesting and engaging to read. We’re practicing these to build our writing muscles. By the end of this unit we’re all going to have huge writing muscles. These skills will help you all through high school and university.” I realized I didn’t explain why we were doing these activities. If the students didn’t even know the reasons behind the lessons why would they buy into it. I believe common goals are important to commitment to learning, otherwise it’s just busy work.

The Hawthorne Effect

According to Wikipedia the Hawthrone effect is “a type of reactivity in which individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behaviour in response to their awareness of being observed.” Basically this is exactly what happened to me as I was observed.

My first observed lesson was another Language Arts lesson on theme. I was particularly proud of lesson. Previous to this observed lesson I had taught a lesson on plot. Some of the students really got plot and were ready to move onto to themes. Others had not finished their plot charts and another group had completed the plot charts back had key events in the wrong places. So I gave a lesson on theme and worked through the example of Finding Nemo with the class.

List of topic generated by the class during lesson

I had students orally create theme statements by pulling names from our list of topics.

Then I assigned the colour groups. The green group (the group who demonstrated clear understanding of plot) worked together to using the process demonstrated in the lesson to generate a list of 11 theme statements for Finding Nemo. The yellow group (the group who had trouble placing key events) worked on a plot chart for Finding Nemo together but had to come to consensus on the conflict, climax, and resolution. Then work on theme statements. The blue group (non-finishers) from a list of supplied events had to cut and paste a plot chart together.

Splitting the groups up and having them work on similar activities concerning plot and theme but differing difficulty worked really well in this class. Having all thirty students work on the same learning activity doesn’t always work well because students often become bored or frustrated.

When my FA came to observe I agonized about which examples to use in my Language Arts lesson. I thought seriously about including SEL examples. I knew SEL examples would impress my FA. I then thought about using climate change examples. I care a lot about environmental sustainability and will be tackling this with the students. I flipflopped back and forth for a while. Then in a moment of exhaustion I decided to select examples having to do with the Aquavan writing piece the students had written a few days before.

This wasn’t the best choice. Not everyone was paying equal attention during the Aquavan experience and some of them were confused about the information in the examples. Further more prepositions are confusing. The students were engaged and asking great questions during this lesson. They clearly wanted to understand. I would give myself a 7.5 out of 10 on this lesson.

Recommendation: A Coyote Columbus Story

This week I taught a lesson on writing a recommendation about a book for a book report. The students write 3 or 4 book reports a term, on award winning novels of different genres. The students reports showed that very few of them understood how to write a recommendation. Many simply wrote: “I do not have one.”

I started a lesson by giving them a simple formula for writing a recommendation. It must include two things: your personal opinion and specific examples from the book to support criticism or praise. I shared a few examples with them. I told them to use elements of story that stood out to them. I told them try writing about the strengths and weakness of the novel.

We then practiced writing recommendations. I had the students create a T chart with the titles: positive and negative. I read them A Coyote Columbus Story by Thomas King. While I was reading they had to write down things they liked and didn’t like using specific examples on their T chart. Afterwards each student wrote a positive and negative recommendation.

I have to admit that I selected this book for a secondary reason. I am planning on teaching a unit on Ancient Civilizations of the North America. I used this book as a thermometer of sorts to gage the students reactions to the content of the book. The book uses many Indigenous storytelling methods from oral traditions and presents an Indigenous worldview of the Columbus encounter. All but five of the students were completely baffled by the story. Many were uncomfortable with the ideas presented but most were downright confused. Which is a very good thing for me to know about the class. It gives me an entry point for my unit.

Practicum Application

What I have learned through this inquiry process is there are no easy answers or solutions. The gaps and waste of human potential will continue for years to come. It is only through deliberate, hard word that things will get better. Both settlers and Indigenous people have things to bring to the table. Decolonization is about the advancement of Indigenous interests and rights not some metaphor for social justice in general. I’ve learned it is important to carve out space for the unique needs Indigenous learners because of the unique injustices they face.

Articles like this one from the CBC give me hope that people are aware of the issues and are working towards doing something to change the current pattern.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-february-18-2016-1.3453054/b-c-moves-to-address-racism-of-low-expectations-for-indigenous-students-1.3453069

In my practicum, I will try and bring Indigenous worldviews into the classroom. I will attempt to help my students understand the truthful history of this country. I will attempt to help my students understand the roles and settlers and Indigenous people in moving forward. However, I have no faith I will be successful at this.

Annotated Bibliography

Brendtro, L. K., Brokenleg, M., & Bockern, S. V. (2002). Reclaiming youth at risk: Our hope for the future. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.

This book lays out the circle of courage, a framework of raising children according to Native American principals and values. The circle of courage framework is important to my inquiry project because it comes from Indigenous philosophy and worldview. While there is significant overlap between the CASEL SEL wheel and other ways of supporting young people, it was important to explore a framework that was informed by decolonized thinking. The circle of courage may hold some of the answers about how to bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners.

2. Hermes, M. (2000) The scientific method, Nintendo, and Eagle feathers: Rethinking the meaning of “culture-based” curriculum at an Ojibwe tribal school, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 13:4, 387-400, DOI: 10.1080/095183900413340

This article explores the dichotomy that is created between academics and culture when both have separate goals in First Nations education. When we separate academics and culture into two distinct areas of achievement we reduce the value of both. The author suggests a merging of the two. While not a decolonized approach it is a plausible solution to some of the current gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners.

3. Joseph, P. B. (2000). Cultures of curriculum. Mahwah, N.J: L. Erlbaum Associates.

This textbook lays out six goals of education from a western view point. It was important to explore what the goals of the Western education system are in order to compare them to an Indigenous worldview. I believe that the difference between Western and Indigenous goals for education is a key part of the puzzle when trying to figure out why there is so little progress toward addressing the current gaps. The two sides want different things from the system and view the system very differently.

4. Kinew, W. (2015) The Reason You Walk. Penguin Canada

This book is a work of creative non-fiction that explores what reconciliation means on a personal level. It talks about the hard work that reconciliation takes on both the parts of Indigenous individuals and settlers. It explores the motivations behind the hard work. It really taught me that if Canadians want to make this work they have to work together until the job is done.

5. Giles, W. & Travis, T. [Button Poetry]. (2015, Dec 23) Oral Traditions. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3pslYJjpDo

This is a spoken-word piece that explores the loss of language and the complicated process of reclaiming oral traditions. Decolonization is about reclaiming Indigenous spaces and knowledge. This piece explores the emotions of decolonization. I tried to take a wholistic approach to this inquiry and it was important for me to explore the art and emotionality of this topic.

6. Rasmussen, D (2011). Some Honest Talk about Non-Indigenous Education. Our Schools/Our Selves, 20(2), 19-33

This article discusses the very different concepts of education of Euro-Canadians and Indigenous peoples. This was important to my inquiry question because the difference between how education is conceptualized informs what each party wants from the system. The disconnect leads to different goals and a lack of progress towards addressing the current gaps that exist. There needs to be some kind of understanding between the groups to allow for the hard work to begin.

7. Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 1-40. Retrieved January 15, 2016, from http://decolonization.org/index.php/des/article/view/18630/15554

This article speaks about how decolonization is the deliberate working towards Indigenous rights and interests. It is not a synonym for social justice. This is an important understanding to have when addressing decolonization. Sometimes we get caught up in working towards general social justice and forget about the specific injustices that Indigenous people face.

Living Inquiry

In the second group I joined we talked about active learning, play and outdoor learning. I was really inspired by the diversity of views on the topic.

The group had a great conversation around being outdoors and incorporating technology. We ended up talking about what technology actually is. We started out with GPS and ipads and quickly reframed to older technology. We discussed using compasses and older forms of way finding (natural markers, the sun).

In the beginning, the PLTECH cohort members felt limited by having to incorporate technology into outdoor play based learning. After we reframed what technology is we had a deeper conversation.

Everyone in the group had a memory of active outdoor learning that happened in their school experience. We all agreed these were memorable lessons and that we wanted more of this learning to happen in our teaching. I walked away inspired to explore geocaching and placed based learning with my Grade 7’s.

What is educational success?

What is the goal of education?

This questions has been answered may times over by scholars, institutions, and philosophers. According to the textbook Cultures of Curriculum edited by Pamela Bolotin Joseph there are six purposes “training for work and survival”, “connecting to the canon”, “developing self and spirit”, “constructing understading”, “deliberating democracy”, and “confronting the dominant order” (2001). This seems to be a fairly comprehensive list of the many goals of Western education. Of course the many interest groups in society would all prefer that education did a little bit more of one than the others.

When I attempt to answer this question I go back to what is the goal of raising a child. This is as close to the same questions as I can get, as my ancestors did not have a formal education system. Of course we had/have cultural transmission systems that fulfilled the same functions as education does for Euro-Canadains. These are simply embedded in our culture.

The answer is pretty simple. My Elders taught me that the goal of raising a child is that one day they might be an Elder. An Elder is a person who holds a meaningful role within my community as a holder of wisdom and experience. They are loved and cared for by the community because they are invaluable to its functioning.

Rasmussen explores the restaurant model of education. How Euro-Canadians assume every culture had some form of education. That we start to look for evidence of education within cultures. Cultural knowledge transmission happens in every culture but this does not mean that it happens within the narrow confines of what settlers would call education (formal schooling). The analogy is drawn between every culture has food but we do not go looking for evidence of restaurants in every culture.

Measurement/Benchmarks:

In the Western world, educational success could be said to be measured by the highest level you achieve in the formal schooling system. It could be argued that a PhD is the highest level to be achieved. This is a hierarchy and relies on more knowledgable strangers, on the written word, and a complex system to achieve.

If the goal of raising a child is for that child to one day become an Elder of the community, how do measure this? How do you know they are living a well lived life? Contributing? Making mistakes and learning from them? Living according to traditional values and teaching?

With the large gap between understandings of success how can we reconcile these? What becomes more important? Should Indigenous learners be measured according to the levelled system or on their progress toward being an Elder?

A dichotomy is often created in First Nations schools between academic and cultural goals and achievements. Mary Hermes explores this complex relationship in her article. She suggests that bringing academics and culture together in measurement is better than separate goals. I believe this is the path forward. We need to bring these two very different idea of education together without loosing either. Not a small task. It will take years of dedication and hard work, but hopefully in a few generations there will be some change.

References.

Joseph, P. B. (2000). Cultures of curriculum. Mahwah, N.J: L. Erlbaum Associates.

Rasmussen, Derek (2011). Some Honest Talk about Non-Indigenous Education. Our Schools/Our Selves, 20(2), 19-33

Mary Hermes (2000) The scientific method, Nintendo, and Eagle feathers: Rethinking the meaning of “culture-based” curriculum at an Ojibwe tribal school, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 13:4, 387-400, DOI: 10.1080/095183900413340