All posts by graham hiebert

A Glimpse Into Competition

Inquiry Reflections, Practicum Reflections, , One Comment

Through observation of my students in the past and present, I find it interesting how students approach different subject areas with differing levels of enjoyment, interest, and enthusiasm. This is to be expected as students, or most people for that matter, gravitate towards their interests. However, in the classroom they are exposed to a wide variety of subjects, topics, and themes, and not all of them may be to a particular student’s taste. Therefore they are exposed to the educational smorgasbord and are expected to take their favourites together with their less preferred subjects. As an educator it is our task, a seemingly daunting one, to make these less desirable topics (whatever they may be) palatable to your entire class, to those who adore the subject and to those who detest it. Therefore, it is a neat experience to see when you get to engage with students in extra curricular activities. This is (or should be) something they enjoy and that enthusiasm is contagious.

I had the privilege to take part in a basketball practice this week and it was wonderful to see a group of kids, who not always are so cohesive in their favourite subject, connect with the sport and as a team. Team building is an obviously a key component of this and when they are literally grouped as a team, they develop a connection that carries them beyond the court and into their personal lives. As the practice was in the morning and I got to see the students that were in my own class interact with each other for the rest of the day. Something I noticed was how the students who were on the basketball team together, and had practiced in the morning, worked well as a team in group activities, communicated effectively, and demonstrated a cohesive attitude. The team had game after school in the gym towards the end of the day something interesting happened. Not only were the students who were on the basketball team demonstrating teamwork, but as the day winded down, the entire class began to come together and were cheering on, giving praise and support to the team, and there was a contagious positive attitude throughout the class.

So what was the catalyst for such a dramatic outpouring of teamwork? Group cohesion and competition. The team was going to compete against another school and together, my students, were a team that represented the whole. If it was simply another practice or intra-school game, I don’t think that level of teamwork through the entire class wouldn’t have been present. A competition, against others, can work towards creating teamwork and a positive presence, and if it wasn’t for that prospect of competition, I doubt this would’ve occurred.

Does Assessment Kill Student Creativity? – A Reflection

Inquiry Reflections One Comment

Pre Reading

When I first look at the title “Does Assessment Kill Student Creativity”, my initial reaction is that it sure was a bold statement. With the, what I will call interesting, word choice of “kill” in the title, the author, Ronald A. Beghetto, seemingly pits the noble and chaste notion of creativity against the evil and soul-crushing concept of assessment. However, this is simply a personal opinion and initial reaction from the article’s title. But what do I think? Personally I agree. I do think building in assessment into every aspect of school would kill a student’s creativity. Yet I am not quite ready to storm the fortress of the educational establishment, demanding that assessment be thrown from the highest tower and banished for all eternity. I still have questions about whether there indeed a place for assessment. A place that does not necessarily destroy a student’s creativity and could in fact, be a motivating factor for creativity. However, this is something I do not know so I approach the article with an open mind.

 

During Reading

The following is a list of quote or thoughts I had when reading Ronald A. Beghetto’s 2005 article Does Assessment Kill Student Creativity?.

  • On he opening paragraph Beghetto refers to the marginalization of student creativity by putting an emphasis on assessment for teacher’s instructional time. He credits such a priority to the No Child Left behind Act in the United States in 2001. However, with this being an American example, is there a connection to such a policy in Canada, and an increased focus on assessment?
  • “Which assessment practices diminish creativity?” pg.255
  • “Creativity is the interaction among aptitude, process, and environment by which an individual or group produces a perceptible product that is both novel and useful as defined within a social context.” pg.255
  • The importance of context when looking at creativity
    • Social influences
    • Creativity is dependent on what is novel AND useful for each given student
  • Assessment activities that diminish creativity: best work” displays, performance goals that focus on avoiding mistakes.
  • Could a great emphasis on mastery goal structures lead to a new system of assessment that wouldn’t diminish creativity?
  • Protecting creativity depends on moving away from social comparisons, take away pressure, and take away the importance of such assessment (aka a move towards formative)

 

Post Reading

After finishing this article, some of my previous considerations were confirmed, but I am left thinking of my inquiry proposal and the connection assessment has to competition. When we are competing, is it essentially a system of assessing our skills? Additionally, if we took away all pressure to perform, would the quality of creative work be the same? Does creativity wilt under pressure and does creativity exist on a separate plane of existence from the rest of the educational universe, void of assumptions, pressure, and expectations?

 

With these ideas in minds, and with the recommendations Beghetto has for fostering creativity in our classrooms, I have begun to see parallels between this mindset and current policy. The move towards formative assessment (practical and informational) is already in place in many schools and one that I do think allows for more personal growth by our students. If it can be successfully directed towards build skills such a creativity, then I do hope that our students who are graduating are better suited to face and solve the future’s problems.

 

References

Beghetto, R. (2005). Does Assessment Kill Student Creativity?. The Educational Forum, 69(3), 254-263.

Upcoming Inquiry Proposal and Resources

Inquiry Proposal One Comment

Throughout my search for resource to inform my upcoming inquiry project, I stumbled across a wonderful article pertaining to my inquiry question. The article is titled From duels to classroom competition: Social competition and learning in educational videogames within different group sizes. The topic I am delving into with my inquiry proposal is “how to implement positive competition in an intermediate classroom” and the article touches on a couple key issues related to the nature of developing competitive students in your classroom. The article itself views this through the lens of competition through educational videogames, however the nature is the same. Whether it is through videogames or sports, developing the competitive spirit in your students in a safe, positive, and experiential manner is the overarching goal. So where do we even begin with such a seemingly daunting task? Almost everyone could search their memory banks and dig up an instance in the past where competition went awry. Therefore, it is essential to keep this in mind moving forward with this question. Competition can manifest in many different ways, all of which I plan to explore, but remaining always mindful of ensuring it is POSITIVE is going to be vital.

 

Additionally, I plan on using RSA Style Animation to present my inquiry proposal and have been looking at various examples of this to gain a better understanding of how to organize it. To refer back to a previous blog post on the CUEBC Conference I attended in October, “RSA style is where you record a birds-eye view of you drawing something while doing a voiceover of the content you are drawing about”. I still feel one of the best examples of this is of the TED Talk from Sir Ken Robinson and is one I will be looking to for inspiration for the upcoming project.

 

  • Nebel, S., Schneider, S., & Rey, G. (2016). From duels to classroom competition: Social competition and learning in educational videogames within different group sizes. Computers In Human Behavior, 55, 384-398. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.035
  • RSA for Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk:
    https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms

 

Adapt or Cry

Practicum Reflections, One Comment

Within the day-to-day flow of a classroom, it is great feeling to fall into a nice, consistent rhythm with your class. Students come in, journals, Math class, supervise recess, Social Studies, lunch, afternoon work, dismissal, home-time. Rinse and repeat.

Your class knows what the next move is and flows from one activity to the next. Seamlessly and without effort. BAM! A wrench is thrown in the mix. Assemblies, guest speakers, TOCs, students sick, Pro-D days, and a handful of other unexpecteds suddenly jam up the gears and cogs of the well-oiled machine that is your classroom. The consistency and reliability that your student have come to expect is thrown out the window and they’re plunged into chaos and anarchy. There is only one thing that is going to save this ship from sinking to the bottom of the Pacific with all hands lost: your ability to adapt.

Stuff happens. It is the nature of this profession that change is inevitable and more likely than not, it is right around the corner. This can come in many forms: schedule changes, curriculum alterations, a change in class dynamic, etc. Adaptability is a skill that combats these sudden and often unannounced shifts in your daily routine. Changes like these are frustrating but it is part of the career. Remaining adaptable and flexible is essential in maintaining a safe and comfortable classroom environment. The task lies in transfiguring this chaos into an organized chaos and making order out of the unexpected (or at least making it seem that way), so your students can feel as if the ship is headed on its intended course.

Last Friday, I had the privilege to teach a full-day of classes as my SA was out sick and the TOC was unsure of the plan in place for the day. Only 5 days into my short-practicum, a storm had hit but I had little choice but to take the class by by the helm and steer us to what I hoped was dry land. Throughout this voyage, I relied on the greatest resource I had at my disposal: the students. If I was unsure of a procedure; the students knew. If the schedule was wrong; the students knew what to do next. They were a tremendous aid to me and by 3:00 we had made it ashore. Quizzes done, handball played, projects started, agendas signed. However, without adapting, recognizing how we could achieve our objectives given the circumstances, and organizing a potentially chaotic situation, the class and myself would’ve been lost.

Something that has also become apparent to me over the past few weeks is how the ability to adapt is so vital in being able to handle the varying needs of your students. If you’re not able to perceive and then alter your practice to fit the learning styles of your students, then your doing them a great disservice. You are going to have a smorgasbord of issues, difficulties, styles, and approaches your students are bringing to the classroom Creating an interactive, engaging, and functional approach to a school year is a great feat, but adapting and re-applying it in future years is what will make such a plan stand the test of time. In my current classroom, around 50% students on adapted or modified programs and that right there shows how diverse the learning needs of your students are. Going into each year with the same mindset, same programs, or same approaches isn’t sufficient. Each student and each new class deserves the best and that best isn’t a copy and paste.

I like analogies and quotes that belong on Pinterest so I will end with the following:

“If a ship is approaching a reef and the captain refuses to change course, what do you think will happen?”

Retroactive Post: CUEBC Conference

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What?
RSA Animate Style or Common Craft. Out of all the resources I was introduced to in the Computer Using Educators of British Colombia conference, RSA style animation is one I immediately saw the use of. Something that stood out to me with this resource is how it could be used as an excellent presentations tool in the classroom. In brief, RSA style is where you record a birds-eye view of you drawing something while doing a voiceover of the content you are drawing about. An excellent example is the RSA for Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk that can be found at the link at the end of this page. In the session, the instructor went over various examples of RSA style presentations as well as instructions as to how you can produce such a video in the classroom. Finally, she introduced the Common Craft style of video which employs the same concept of filming pictures to coincide with a voiceover dialogue, however it uses cut-outs from magazines or pre-drawn pictures. This allows the students to not worry about actually drawing the picture son camera and could be more suited for lower grades.

So What?
The reason that this method is so effective as a presentation tool for students is that it allows the creative, artist type of student in your classroom to shine. They are still explaining what they’ve learned and their understanding of the subjects, but they are able to use their strengths to present the content. In fact, it deepens the student’s understanding of the concept they are presenting on as it forces them to make further connection from the content to what they are actually going to draw to represent it (aka. high level thinking).

Now What?
Something that stood out to me was how this could be used not only in my future practice, but in my current practicum classroom. On my practicum, my SA is having the students present their knowledge in the form of PowerPoint, Prezi, Powtoons, or other styles to show that they UNDERSTAND the content. This RSA style could be another tool the students could use to present their knowledge and could be attractive to the students who like the design and fun nature of a program such as Powtoons. I will discuss this with my SA next week and hopefully, we can include it in our arsenal of presentation tools.

RSA for Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk:

Retroactive Post: A Brave New World…Parents!

Practicum Reflections, One Comment

What?
A new experience I had the privilege of experiencing today was the opportunity to observe a parent-teacher-student conference. The way in which these conferences were conducted was that they were primarily student led; with the first 10 minutes devoted to the students, independently from the teacher, showing their parents what they had been doing over the past few weeks. Projects, assignments, and online materials were showcased to the parents in great detail by the students, who seemingly relished the opportunity to “show off” to their parents or guardians. Something that was unique about these conferences was the enthusiasm the students showed coming into the meeting. They were proud of their work and happy to show what they had done and learned. When the students were finished, my SA sat down with the parents and did something I thought was a wonderful way of structuring a conference: ask questions. How are you feeling about the workload? How are you feeling about so-and-so’s progress? What are you looking for this year with their goals? And from these questions, my SA was able to not only answer the parent’s questions themselves but also get them to reflect on their own child’s progress, as well as inserting suggestions for improvement. He also directed many of the questions posed by parent back to the student, having them answer in their own capacity to their parent’s inquiry into their learning.

So What?
This style of conference was excellent to witness as it allowed it essentially to be a conversation between child and parent. This kind of a casual run through off the work and then question asking to the parent, made it feel very relaxed, comfortable, and yet covered the areas of concern the teacher had. This may not always work for all parents, but the atmosphere created it made the conference extremely positive. The students felt, in a possibly very stressful situation, quite relaxed and even happy to be there. Creating such a safe environment and comfortable discourse made this event, which again can be stressful for all parties, one of progress and focused on the student.

Now What?
Something I am going to take forward with me is two-fold. First I would like to implement the style of “asking questions” more in my personal practice. It is something I feel benefits everyone when implemented, as it allows everyone to reflect and actually think about the situation at hand. With parents, students, and colleagues, I feel like questioning is a tool I can better use to gauge the temperature in my classroom. Secondly, making the conference student led was something I will take with me it my future classrooms. It allows the students to present what they’ve learned. They may have done it in class, but now it allows them the opportunity to break down the wall between school and home and actually demonstrate their learning to their parents. This is something that is lacking more often then not and makes the content of the classroom feel more “real-world” applicable to both the students and the parents.

Retroactive Post: Another Fine Day

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What?
I learned something today. Well all be told, I learned many things but I was directly taught something this morning by one of my students. Last week, when the students were doing review for their upcoming social studies portfolios, I had the question posed to me, “Mr. Hiebert, when did the Spanish Flue Epidemic end?”. Truth be told, I had no idea. I knew it was sometime around the end of the 1920s but I wasn’t sure. I inquired of why the were wondering about the end of Spanish Flu and was informed they must prepare for epidemic like that one in their upcoming social studies project where they create their own country. I asked if they needed that information right now and they replied that it wasn’t crucial and were just simply curious.! I took a step away planning on simply looking up the information when I had one of those “ah-ha” moments. Curiosity! The first sign of a good teachable moment! I returned to the group and confessed that I unfortunately did not know when Spanish Flu ended but never fear, I had a plan. They were going to tell me. I would be back in a week and on that day they would have researched the information they would need and teach me! They jumped at the opportunity and seemed very enthusiastic to teach their teacher.
Today, as the students filtered into their seats, this particular group rushed up to me and rambled off not only the date of the end of Spanish Flu, but several other facts that I was unaware of. They were excited, engaged, and now had the information. I asked if this would help them on their project and they said they had some more information about how to protect their country against epidemics like Spanish Flu, information they wouldn’t have if I had simply told them the answer. Taking advantage of this teachable moment certainly paid off.

So What?
Upon reflection, finding enthusiasm can sometimes be difficult in the classroom. The fact that these students were excited to be my little research project was probably more due to the good nature of these particular students, however I do believe that providing the students with opportunity to take their learning (or in this case learning of others) into their own hands gives them a new sense of autonomy. Autonomy = Passion. And Passion = Knowledge Acquisition.

Now What?
These are concepts I am putting labels on now that I am in a post secondary class learning about them, but are pretty obvious when thought about. However, obvious as they may be, they are often passed over for the sake of ease. It is easier to just tell them the information but it will not have the impact of having them research it and then, most importantly, teach it to me. I am reminded of that quote ““We Learn . . .10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear, 70% of what we discuss, 80% of what we experience, and 95% of what we teach others.” I want to take that philosophy forward with me and keep my eyes open for situations such as this to continue putting the student in the driver’s seat of their own education.

Retroactive Post: Day 1 – Morale Is High

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What?
My main thought when walking to my car today after a day of interacting with students, teachers, and finding my way around a brand new school was how great it felt to be back in the classroom. It’s been a long absence but being able to begin to put my skills and the critical new knowledge I have learned over the past month, into practice made for a wonderful day! There are many key events through this first day that stood out (meeting all the teachers, sitting in on one of the principal’s lessons, getting to know all the new students in my class), but a moment that stands out in my mind is when I go the opportunity to work with a struggling student one-on-one regarding his essay introduction. My SA asked me if I would mind giving this struggling student a little extra support on structuring his essay introduction. Even though he was given a model example outline in point form, he really was struggling to make the connect of what went where and coming up with his own transitions and connectors. I was able to sit down and scaffold for him individually where each piece went and worked. Additionally, it allowed me to show him example of how transitions work and different way he could introduce a topic while making it exciting. The student was able to finish the assignment as a result of scaffolding and with the framework in place, move on the the next stage of making it more complex.

So What?
This was my first connection with a student one-on-one for the year and even though I was able to help the student complete the assignment with a more personalized approach, the importance of the interaction was making this connection and getting to know that student better. As my SA has informed me, this particular student struggles with challenging himself and seeing the “bigger picture”, therefore this opportunity gave him the opportunity to bounce ideas off of me and have me help him in scaffolding the answer. The assignment aside, I do believe that this kind of early relationship building, with a student who will in the future require more of a personalized approach, allowed me to better understand his learning style. Furthermore, in a later lesson during the day, that student who was initially shy and reserved, was more outgoing and ready to engage in a discussion about what he was studying and whether he comprehended the material.

Now What?
Over the next few weeks, I have a plan to check in with this student everyday for two reasons: to follow-up on the assignment I helped scaffold for him, and to maintain this positive relationship I built on this first day. As a TC, in these first few weeks of observation, I am given a very unique opportunity to work with the students in this class in a more individualized manner and through this, get to understand their learning styles, background, and their strengths. This will be knowledge that will be immensely beneficial for when I am conducting the class on my own and to help tailor my lesson plan to fit the style and strengths of my future class.