Day 9: Report Cards are done! (aka I'm baaack!)

"Man, it's been a long day

Stuck thinking 'bout it driving on the freeway
Wondering if I really tried everything I could

Not knowing if I should try a little harder

Oh, but I'm scared to death

That there may not be another one like this

And I confess that I'm only holding on by a thin thin thread

I'm kicking the curb cause you never heard

The words that you needed so bad

And I'm kicking the dirt cause I never gave you

The things that you needed to have"

OK, so I'm being a little over-dramatic with the whole Maroon 5 intro here, but I gotta tell you it was a long couple weeks leading up to the finishing of my report cards this term. Not that they were bad either. The Faction (the name my Grade 7 colleagues and I have given ourselves) decided to attempt creating our own report card system this year. So, with the blessing of a very supportive administration, we've spend the last few weeks making our vision a reality. However, I'll save the details of this development for another time. Instead I want to spend this post reflecting on my goals and learning so far this year.

1. Growth Mind Set - So far this goal has been one of my stronger areas. I feel pretty proud about the way that I've maintained the mindset that I have the ability to improve my teaching this year more than ever before. I've been working to pass this on to my students and, with the help of the Faction, have been able to lead them through some pretty authentic lessons so far.

2. Organization - As always this one is my sore spot. It's funny because I think that I'm actually doing better with this than I ever have before (hurrah for those proactive ideas that I put in place quickly this year!). Still, I notice that my natural tendency to hoard and stack papers instead of dealing with them leads to a lot of clutter in my room. That being said, I'm trying to celebrate the small steps and keep with it.

3. Finish strong* - This one is interesting. I just now realized that if I'm not successful with this goal, I can probably write off the other two! I think I'm doing pretty well here. I do need to remind myself that I (and the Faction) started this year with an almost boundless energy and that maintaining that pace would lead to a breakdown sooner rather than later. So, instead of trying to finish the year with the same level of production and creativity that I started, I'm going focus on making sure that my pedagogy stays forefront in my planning and assessments. Less is more when done well.

4. Healthy living - This one's been tricky. In achieving those earlier goals (and keeping my closest relationships healthy), I've been spotty at best with healthy living. I did make the gym a few times, but have yet to get the rhythm. I have maintained my weight though, so  I'm feeling good about that. Definitely hoping that as I find a better rhythm at school, I can increase my focus in this area.

*I fully appreciate that the one area that I really haven't had success with this goal is in my blogging. Staying in the growth mindset does allow me to accept that reality and move forward. Trying not to beat myself up over this too much! :)

Day 8: What a Day!

*This post is actually based on an experience at the end of September. Sorry it took so long to post!

I teach Grade 7. I teach it because I want to. I teach it even though it can be frustrating, daunting and draining. Yesterday I was reminded of the rewards that come from this choice.

My school is experimenting with Flex Time this year. What this looks like on paper is every Wednesday afternoon is blocked off for this opportunity for the students to pursue Learning that inspires them. What it looks like in reality is my colleagues and I working frantically after school Monday and Tuesday trying to plan out and prepare for this time.

One of the struggles we have being a brand new school is that so many of our spaces are still not ready to invite learning. What makes teaching grade 7 so amazing is that our students allowed us to turn this struggle into something awesome.

By using Google Forms and quickly cramming some intense online collaboration into the lunch hour, my colleagues and I were able to organize close to 100 grade 7's into groups that made our school a better place for everyone. We had teams of students:

• cleaning the field that has yet to receive any garbage cans
• collecting & organizing recycling from around the school (a huge job when you consider how many boxes and other packing materials a new school can produce)
• rearranging furniture and reorganizing recess balls
• compiling data on our unique spaces (generated by every class in the first few weeks, but still awaiting retrieval)
• unpacking and organizing the Science Prep Room
• unpacking and organizing the Foods Lab
• researching basic pantry necessities and pricing out a shopping list
• assembling Ikea tables and storage units

I'm not going to sugar-coat it. It was an exhausting day for me. We had only 5 adults (4 teachers plus an EA) to supervise all of these groups.* We gave every student who filled out the Google Form (88 out of 93), an activity of their own choosing. We had to direct, assist and then move on to the next group quickly. Some teams needed a permanent supervisor, while others were spread across the school and could only be supervised in intervals. 

At the end of the day all of the teams had achieved something. They had tangible results to prove it. Truth be told, there is still recycling to be done, only 1 piece of furniture make it all the way to completion and we still don't know where all the balls for recess are, but this is easily outweighed by the feelings of success, the spirit of community and the understanding of how small actions can have a large impact.

So, why did it work? TRUST. We trusted the students to choose wisely; they trusted us to honour their choice. They trusted us give them tasks that they could handle to assist when they were stuck; we trusted them to work hard, to struggle when they encountered challenge and to be on task. The school trusted our students had a purpose and were out in the hallways to make the building better.

* In actuality this turned into a few more. Our day-custodian dropped his regular duties to help the recycling team create a better system. Both our Principal and Vice-Principal were very visible in the school and interacted with the teams and supervisors regularly. Our amazing secretaries answered questions and helped direct everyone to supplies and organisation systems. A huge thanks to all of these people who increased our success tremendously.

   

This book __(blanked)__ my life.

Literacy has an amazing impact on people. I believe that working to increase students' levels of literacy is the most valuable learning I can assist with. While reading is not the only aspect of literacy, I also believe that people love to read have an easier time improving all of the other aspects of literacy.

   With this in mind, a few colleagues and I have made it our mission to help students learn to love reading. This means removing restrictions that force students to read books that hold no interest for them personally and providing opportunities for students to see the impact that a good book can have on a person's life. The former we are doing in our classrooms, but the latter we can't do alone.

That is why we are asking for help from you. Whoever you are, we want to hear your story. How has a book impacted your life. You can write, you can tweet, you can make a video. Whatever fits your story and style. Just rememeber to tell us the title and author of the book and what kind of impact this book had on your life.

Here's some examples:

Day 7: Mentorship

Last Thursday, I got a call from a college student who will be joining my class during her first semester of the Education Program. She will be observing, helping with and, hopefully, even planning lessons for my classes every Tuesday until December. I will be her mentor teacher and help her to see what education is like - the ups and the downs.

A good mentor is an amazing person to have in your life. As an English teacher I can tell you that meeting a mentor is so important to all humans that it is a critical part of many great stories. As a nerdy, movie-quoting man I can tell you that I've memorised some favourite mentorship lines and use them regularly with my kids and friends. As a teacher and learner, I can tell you that I would not be the same person I am today with the mentors that I have had.

The mentors I was blessed with early on in my career are the ones who helped provide me with practical tips to survive those first difficult years and, more importantly, provided me with "food for thought" that helped shape my pedagogy and thinking. I believe that every person I meet helps to shape my thinking, but those who I would consider mentors have made a lasting impact. They challenged me to examine my values and beliefs leading me towards change or stronger resolve. They asked for my advice with their own problems (or at least venting their frustrations to me), empowering me to become a producer of ideas as well as a consumer. They bounced ideas off me and let me bounce ideas off them. I am the teach I am today, because of the influence of those early mentors.

The people I consider mentors today act more like colleagues and friends than the mentors from the Hero's Journey. They are the people who are still doing what those early mentors in my career did. Helping me to survive the day-to-day and pushing me to be more tomorrow. More firm in my principles. More adaptable to the world around me. More empathetic to the needs of my students. We still bounce ideas off each other (in person and over social media) and I hope that my influence means as much to them and their influence means to me.

I hope that I am able to be a good mentor to this initiate to the profession. Teaching has never been easy, but it is filled with rewards. Sometimes, it can be hard, in the formal role, as a mentor to make sure that a student teacher experiences both. It is my goal to achieve this. To support what is strong. To suggest ways to strengthen areas that are weak. To be vulnerable with my own issues. To bounce ideas back and forth in order to grow - together.

Day 6: Reflections on a Classroom

A view from the doorway of Room 211

I have a room in our school where I hang my coat and where organization is my responsibility, but I am trying hard not to narrow my thinking on this topic. I don't want to let myself get caught up in the idea that learning is limited to a single space and I definitely don't want students to feel that the only space they will learn is in my classroom.

My habits of spreading out
even in a limited area.

That being said, I am also not going to ignore the impact that environment can have on learning. As stated in earlier posts, organization is a challenging area for me. One of the goals I set for myself as I moved into a new classroom this year, was to limit the amount of space that my clutter took up in the room. I want the room to be a space where students feel safe learning, and I know from first hand experience (my wife and kids are often my guinea pigs!) that my habit of "spreading" instead of organizing can be both frustrating and stressful. My first strategy to reduce the impact of my poor habits is to limit the amount of space I'm allowed in the room. On the advice of a wise, experienced teacher I've pushed my desk right against the wall. This limited space has already led me to organizing my desk top in the first 2 weeks of the school year. I also want the room to reflect the students that bring it to life and the learning that they are doing this year. That means taking the time to display their learning in the room. I've started this, but it will be the mid-year blitz that really tests this goal.

As I said earlier, I really don't want to limit the learning environment to one classroom. My school is graced with all kinds of amazing spaces that were designed from the outset to be learning areas. To this end, my colleages and I have have worked hard to show the students how they can learn in a variety of areas includng large gathering areas, small break-out areas and other teachers' classrooms. We are working hard to make sure students don't feel like it's a holiday every time they leave their homeroom. We have team-taught and had students collaborate with students outside their homerooms to encourage this mindset and culture.

Finally, pictures really can say more than words, so here a few of the spaces we've been using so far:

My colleague's room after our joint "Book Frenzy" lesson.
Students started in my room and then moved into
her room to "feed" on some great books.
Wish I had a picture of the energy the kids had.

Our Break-Out Space. Waiting for students
spill out of classes while still learning.

Our "Gathering Space" where students
play "Review Bingo" together.

A break-out space acting like a min-library
until our Learning Commons is ready.

Day 5: Reflections on the 1st Week

The first week of school is done and this marks my 5th blog post of the 30 day challenge. Time to reflect.

First blogging. Finding the time to blog can be a struggle. It means making my writing a priority. It means giving up some of the other things I do in my spare time. Taking the time to write has been rewarding. I find myself reflecting deeply on my pedagogy and my practice. I find myself filling quiet moments refining my thoughts in order to write them, giving me a stronger grasp on what I am thinking and feeling. I have to remember the growth mind set. I don't need to be riveting. I don't need to be funny. I just need to keep writing. (In case you didn't notice, one of the first rules I decided for myself was to relieve the pressure of writing a blog-a-day. So much better!)

Now school. School has been amazing! I didn't realize just how much a change in environment could rejuvenate my love of teaching. Even as I came home last night completely wiped out by the week, my wife commented on the sparkle in my eye when I spoke about the day. She said that was missing last year. I didn't realize it until now.

What's different? The complete and total uncertainty of a brand new school is definitely a large part of it. It's crazy to think, but the lack of established structures and patterns has been liberating in a way that is hard to explain. We had very few formal structures in place this week (recess/break and lunch was pretty much it). That meant that as a staff we were almost forced to come together in order to provide the type of first week that we wanted. As grade 7 teachers, we met nightly to debrief on the day and plan the next. We decided that we wanted to establish more than a homeroom community, we wanted a Grade 7 Community. So we planned times to team teach with each other and culminated by bringing all 100 of Grade 7's together in one large group lesson on Friday. All of it was absolutely amazing!

As I look ahead, a part of me is relieved by promise of a timetable next week. At the same time, a part of me gets sad. I think I will miss the intimacy and community that came from planning together so closely.

But there is hope. One of the major foundations of our school is the permission to try. The permission to change. The permission to reflect on it, alter it and try it again. I think there was something special about last week and I believe that my school community will allow me (and my colleagues if they feel the same) to take what was beautiful about last week and incorporate it into our future. That, I believe, is what leaves me with the twinkle in eye.

Day 4: What I love about teaching

Variety

Kids

Great colleagues

Learning

Moments that bring together my efforts to plan and their efforts to learn

Moments when I can step back and watch the learning happening without my guidance or interference

Moments when I learn something important because of my students