Wednesday 23 December 2015

Creating a Classroom Culture for Learning: Teach the students not the subject

Source: https://mark413.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/cartoon.jpg

A colleague (Sally T) once said: 'teachers should focus on teaching the students not the subject'.  A simple suggestion that eloquently sums up my belief about teaching.  Advice I have been passing down the ranks for the last 7 years in leadership, advice I recently ignored, and consequently a reminder of how life can take the piss.  Recently moving to Norway (the homeland of my wife) to take up the role of Deputy Principal at Asker International School has meant coming to grips with a different framework for education. Armed with my teaching timetable and my IB certificate (for completing an online course over a one month duration), I eagerly began planning my lessons for the first term.  I was happy with the lessons created, especially the ones focusing on inquiry based learning - after all,  inquiry is the name of the game in IB circles. During one of the teacher planning days (before the start of the school academic year), Mr B asked how my lesson planning was going.  I confidently replied that I had planned my lessons for the first month, this comment was swiftly followed by: "but I will probably have to scrap most of the lessons once I meet the students".  The moment the words left my lips I realised I had been a fool. I had foolishly spent time planning lessons a would never teach - time in my life I would never get back.  I hoped that I was wrong.  Of course this is the equivalent of hoping the temperature will not fall below minus 10 in Norway during the month of January. Not impossible but improbable.  It was only two lessons into the new academic year that I subsequently scrapped all my future lesson plans and began doing what I had always done; plan my lessons a week or even one day ahead.  What a classic school boy error.  I was reminded of my mistake last week when reading John Tomsett's book: This much I know about love over fear: Creating a culture for truly great teaching.  In it he states:

"How can you plan next weeks lessons before you know how this weeks lessons have panned out? The idea that you have a scheme of learning on the virtual learning environment which gives you lesson by lesson plans is nonsensical.  Using last years lesson plans when you have this year's students in front of you isn't logical."

The knowledge acquired by the teacher from previous lessons should be at the forefront of a teachers mind when planning future lessons.  According to my former colleague Michael R "Everything is data".  It is important to not fall into the trap of believing that the inner and outer workings of a student can be wrapped up neatly in a few numerical values on a spreadsheet, or even by the raiseonline terms of low, middle and high attainers.  When we talk of classroom data, we should not be restrictive in our thinking.  As teachers we need to observe, and interact with our students to know them better, to know what makes them tick.  So that we can plan lessons for the students in front of us, as opposed to planning lessons based on what we want to teach,  or what we think a student should be able to do.  We need to engage in Assessment for Learning as much as our students.  Teachers should know where their students are at, where they need to go, and strategies for helping them get there.  With this thinking in mind, rather than saying to oneself: what lesson am I teaching Grade 8 today. Instead say: what do Grade 8 need me to teach them today.

An easy way to reflect on how well you know your students is through the procedure of writing reports for parents. If you find it difficult to write anything positively personal about a student, ask yourself why? Instead, more often than not a quick solution is searched for, which usually means trawling through a student's book looking for something to comment on, or you copy and paste a report you wrote last year about another student, or you use some computer generated impersonal report generator.  The process of reflection is often missed.  I personally see report writing as a way of testing myself. Perhaps it's my masochistic nature bubbling to the surface.  This year I recognised I did not know enough about three students I teach when writing my reports. That is three students too many.

Strategies for knowing your students

Besides marking books, parental meetings,  setting tests, reflecting on students answers to teacher questions, considering prior data and previous teacher comments, and strategies for building positive relationships (See blog on Being Human) you may also wish to:

1) Listen to students non verbal voice.   One of my students walked past me two days in a row with her maths book during lunch break.   When I reflect on the situation I am reminded of a Will Smith Men in Black moment. In the shooting exercise, all the men draw guns and start firing on a cardboard simulation filled with monsters. The military men shot the monsters and Will Smith shot the little girl. His reasoning was the monsters were just working out or sneezing and so on, pointing to kleenex in their hand or whatever. The little girl was 8 years old in a ghetto full of monsters with quantum physics textbooks in her hand and was obviously about to start something nasty.  But just like the military men, I didn't think anything of it, instead I was making sure that the older boys were not trying to take the younger boys football, rather than recognise a picture that didn't fit in the playground. It was only when I received a parental email regarding their daughter's anxiety in maths that the fog cleared and I remembered the previous days playground conduct.  I knew she was able to understand the maths, and apply the maths in most contexts. But she found the work hard, and interpreted this as struggling at Maths, which then led to a quantum leap to being rubbish at Maths. As a consequence, I disregarded my intended lessons and instead focused the next two lessons on helping my students recognise the extent of their maths journey to date.  Had I not changed course and responded to the needs of a student/students then I was in danger of potentially having demotivated students and an additional barrier to learning, that I had made happen.  I am happy to report she attained a grade in the top band for her summative assessment.

2) Frequently create a mindmap for a class of students without any documentation to aid you. Possible information chunks could include
  • English Language
  • Subject knowledge
  • Character traits
  • Memorable moment
  • Allergy - What really annoys them?
  • IB Learner profile

3) Create lesson opportunities which allow personal opinions to be expressed.
I am a massive fan of the requirement for English schools to create opportunities for promoting SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural). I am also a fan of the IB learner profile as an area that must be considered when teaching lessons.  Yet I have witnessed so many missed opportunities during lesson observations, and when listening to collaborative planning sessions for engaging students in meaningful discussions that could possibly help teachers know their students better by actively planning SMSC or the learner profile philosophy into lessons.  For example, I see a history lesson on the Roaring 20s as an opportunity to engage in a discussion about attitudes towards women. I see an opportunity to have an open dialogue about what it means to be 'normal' when reading the first page of the novel: Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.  And I see creating Maths word problems as a means to open up discussions on social issues.  

The motivation behind this series (Creating a Classroom Culture for Learning) is about teachers developing a culture for learning in their own classroom, irrespective of the culture outside the classroom.  However, school leaders have a responsibility to ensure that substantial planning time is allocated to enable teachers to plan lessons based on students needs. The guardian secret teacher blog: Why our working hours just don't add up  is a sledgehammer reminder to any school leader regarding teacher workload.  I am very proud to work in a school that recognises the importance of dedicated planning time and a refusal to make teachers teach to the upper limit of their teaching load.  Teachers have to plan for 19 lessons out of a possible 28 per week. Collaborative planning occurs every Wednesday from 12.45pm to 3.30pm for all teaching staff, and we work on a budget that is 20% less than our rich state school neighbours.  Every school has a choice on how to allocate its resources. Creating a structure that enables the most important resource in the classroom to flourish should be a priority.

Sunday 22 November 2015

Creating a Classroom Culture For Learning: Being Human Part 1


Explosions
Scene 1, Part 1
Mr Mark
“Be warned, there is the potential threat of ridicule, embarrassment and resentment.  But the risk might just be worth it.”  
Teacher (hesitantly)
“What  do I need to do?”
Mr Mark
“Show that you’re human”.

As a matter of interest I recently asked my new grade 7 class of 20 students to brainstorm the word teacher.  The following comments were provided: Learning; Education; Class; Homework; Bossy; Fun; Difficult; Control; Help.  Just before I was about to launch my soap box tirade that we are much more than this, one student stated Human Being.  In response to this, I asked how many other students had thought of something similar; 19 students replied in the negative.  Whilst this is clearly not a statistically representative of the world’s student population or even the school population in which I now teach, it does add weight to my theory that perhaps in order to create a culture for learning the very concept of what it means to be a teacher (in the eyes of students) needs challenging, and in order to do this we need to show we are human.
It isn't difficult to deduce from some of our experiences that students sometimes perceive us as a walking textbook, or an extension of the bricks and mortar they call a school, or even as a weapon of mass destruction.  But how many of them see us as human beings. How many of our students feel they can relate to us? Someone they can form a relationship with who they recognise is intent on helping them acquire the knowledge and skills required to have the opportunity to do want they want in life.  And as such, trust us with their future. According to Didau (2015: 344) "Trust is a better predictor of teacher success than expertise. A teacher may know their subject inside out, but if their pupils don't trust them they won't feel very motivated"  It is therefore imperative that building strong relationships with students is at the core of creating a culture for learning in the classroom.  
one-way

David Didau offers some approaches that should be the basic expectation for all teachers as part of the process for building relationships:  know their names, tell them they are your favourite class, know the data, talk to parents, mark their books.  But this advice promotes a one way relationship. You know them, but do they know you.  

I am now embarking on my fourth school experience (over 15 years) as a teacher, myTwo-way_traffic_(Israel_road_sign) second as a senior leader, and my first overseas experience in an IB school. The recommendations that I advocate promote a two way relationship with students. Recommendations I have been employing over the past four months in my new school environment.  So that maybe, just maybe, my students will trust me with their future, and see me as a human being.
i) Don't Just Attend - Take Part
ASKER INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL HALLOWEEN PARTY 2015



ASKER INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ANTI BULLYING DANCE 2015

Teachers along back row 

Whether it is the School Disco, Halloween Party, School Prom, World Book Day, Christmas Jumper Day get involved. Don’t slink off to a corner somewhere, make an effort.  Students will appreciate that you danced rather than comment on how bad your dancing is. When you wear fancy dress for World Book Day, students will laugh (at you maybe) but this is often followed by a sincere smile and ‘I like it sir’. Be a risk-taker and let the students see you in a different context.
ii) Organise and attend residential trips
Become an overnight success that has been months or even years in the making:
  • You are the one who checks up on them in the evening.
  • You are the one who smiles and says good morning.
  • You are the one they turn to for help when attempting an activity but are scared.
  • You are the one who checks they have eaten. 
  • You are the one who they decided to talk to about things that bug them because they want their voice heard by an adult.
  • You are the one to motivate them when they are struggling on the hike.
  • You are the one they know stayed awake all night to keep them safe as they were sneaking around.
  • You are the one who took a chance and took them on their first trip outside of the city.
  • You are the one who organised their first sleep over.
  • You are the one who allowed them to see the seaside for the first time.
  • You are the one who organised their first sit down meal with friends outside of school.
  • You are the one who made a great few days happen.
Be that someone.  Show them you are human.
iii) Accept that you are sometimes wrong
Making mistakes is important in creating a culture for learning.  Remember to model this.

Part 2 coming soon...

Saturday 7 November 2015

Creating a Classroom Culture for Learning: Avoid the Autumn Rut


"The more often we see the things around us - even the beautiful and wonderful things - the more they become invisible to us. That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds - even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less."
The academic year begins with the best intentions: lessons are creative, engaging and purposeful.  The summer vacation has rested the brain, and teachers return to school with renewed vigor.  The energy and enthusiasm generated is infectious, and a culture for learning is being formed.  But looming on the horizon is the Autumn Rut. The Autumn Rut has many causes but the major culprit is complacency. When we begin to take our students for granted.  
It is easy to become complacent after months of effective pedagogy.  Students will, for a short while, be supportive of lessons that are below par.  Working their cotton socks off despite the lessons becoming stale and repetitive. But for how long?  And at what expense?  
It is therefore important to remind and prepare oneself of the potential threat that looms ahead, and self-regulate. Self-regulation is a term we often ascribe to the development of our students. It is often a key part of the Learning to Learn curriculum developed in many schools and the International Baccalaureate's Approaches to Learning framework. However, we must not forget to engage in this process ourselves, and manage our own motivation towards teaching.
With this in mind, below are some approaches I recommend you consider to avoid the Autumn Rut.
  1. Write a warning note in your diary at the start of the academic year, and at the same time follow this up by actively looking to attend inspirational CPD  around mid-October.   Hopefully the training will leave you inspired and eager to try out new ideas in the classroom, and share with colleagues.  
  2. Alternatively engage in self induced CPD, such as reading some blogs: coolcatteacher, learningspy, huntingenglish, headguruteacher, Bruce Ferrington.  
  3. Engage in some quick reads: The Creative Classroom (Sue Cowley), Teach now! English: Becoming a Great English teacher (Alex Quigley).  Amazon regularly reduce the price of books for a day only.  I managed to buy seven educational books for less than 30 NOK or 3 pounds each in September with the intention of reading them before January.  Two down, five to go.
  4. Watch some Ted Talks:
  • Finding the story inside the painting
  • What fear can teach us
  • Do schools kill creativity
  • Your body language shapes who you are
  • How great leaders inspire action
  1. Recommend to your subject leader to have a focus on sharing new ideas/taking a risk ideas at the next departmental meeting.
  2. Track the diet you are giving your students.  It is easy to overlook the diet being offered to individual classes when we reflect on the learning opportunities over the course of a day, week or even month, especially as a secondary/MYP practitioner.  Therefore, take some time to reflect on which classes are receiving the best of you and how do you know? You may wish to complete a self audit of the learning opportunities you are offering.

* I will share my audit once completed.  Draft audit at bottom of the blog.
Many teachers (myself included) do not wish to be faced with evidence that our teaching has become drab, uncreative and boring.  As such, updating this document may act as an incentive to maintain the standards set at the start of the term. The audit also acts as a refresher for teaching ideas that have been collecting cobwebs at the bottom of the teacher's toolkit.   
       7. What teacher reflection process would be complete without student voice? Use this to check the present satisfaction of your students with the learning opportunities.  Whilst, the feedback can sometimes be tough to handle, their opinion matters.               
To summarise,  “learn to appreciate what you have, before time makes you appreciate what you had.”  Don’t rest on your laurels, don’t take your initial success for granted.  Find a way to heed the Autumn Rut, and continue to develop the effective habits that ensure a culture for learning continues to grow in your classroom.

Grade 7 English (Language and Literature)
Activity
How many times
week 1?
How many times
week 2?
How many times
week 3?
Snowballing



See think wonder
/


Brainstorming
/


Emotions graph  - Character from a book
/


North, South, East, West



Youtube/media clip
/


Question and answer



Redraft Work



Cocktail party
/


Self assessment



Peer assessment



De Bono’s thinking hats



Comprehension exercise
/


Picture - what questions?



True or false



Do something with this….



Think pair share
/


Hot seating
/


Flipped Classroom



School library - Quiet Reading
/


One to one reading
/


Student voice - feedback
/


Comparison Alley
/


Padlet



Visible learning group task - no verbal language



Thunks



Drama



Social Media



Apps



Extended Writing/Creative Writing



Music Inspiration



Ted Talk
/