Every once in a while, we get tired of the routine in class and feel the need for a little spontaneity. Last week, we were feeling like we needed to shake things up. At the beginning of class, I moved kids into groups of four. I told them that they would be writing a group story and would have to have it ready for reading ten minutes before the end of the class period. Kids had about 35 minutes to work and then we used the last ten minutes to read these creations. "You can write about anything you want, but your story must include some form of treachery!" "Ooooooh," many of the kids yelled. They were ON it.
Immediately they got to work talking about different situations that would work for their story, brainstorming various degrees of treachery and adding details to the ideas to really punch them up. As I roamed the room, I saw some groups using one student as a scribe and others using a shared Google doc to which all could contribute. They were energized and excited. This was just what we needed last week! As the class period went on, I noticed that the level of engagement increased. As the plot lines got more complex, the kids became more and more involved in the creation. Good ideas were built from other good ideas. This learning was interesting and relevant to the kids.
It is amazing what motivated kids can accomplish in a half hour. The stories were creative, complex, well written, littered with details and well thought-out. The kids were a great audience when it came time to read the stories because the stories were so good. It was at that moment that I decided to use this as a weekly writing activity in class. Each week, we will have another topic/theme around which the kids will write. Part of the challenge is to weave the theme or topic into the story the kids want to write. It is through this limitation that such creativity is born. By stumbling upon this cool activity, we struck gold.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Monday, April 11, 2016
Crayon Art
A couple of weeks ago, the kids were all asking to use the hot glue gun. Of course, the materials and equipment in the room are theirs to use so I said, "Sure." When I checked in on them, they were not gluing anything. Apparently, they were creating art from melting crayons against the hot tip of the gun. We have a bucket of crayons in the room and, holding the glue gun over paper, the kids pressed a crayon of a particular color against the hot tip and created art from the drippings.
One of the things that I like about this type of activity is that it was totally driven by students. They discovered it, they shared what they discovered and they began creating their art. I had nothing to do with it; I just provided the materials and watched the magic happen. To this day, kids are using the glue gun and crayons to put their own spin on crayon art. Below is a video of Ian creating with crayons.
Here is a picture of Ian's finished product.
One of the things that I like about this type of activity is that it was totally driven by students. They discovered it, they shared what they discovered and they began creating their art. I had nothing to do with it; I just provided the materials and watched the magic happen. To this day, kids are using the glue gun and crayons to put their own spin on crayon art. Below is a video of Ian creating with crayons.
Here is a picture of Ian's finished product.
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
The Next Level of Classroom Collaboration
Recently, I had the opportunity to have an exchange with Ameir Abouelela about the role of collaboration in learning. I have always been a big believer in collaboration in classrooms and additional time for students to reflect, alone, on the fruits of that collaborative process. Often times, the act of bouncing ideas off of each other can generate lots of ideas but it is the quiet time afterwards that allows the students to process and use the results of the collaboration. The entire piece can be found at this link: The Next Level of Classroom Collaboration.
Friday, April 1, 2016
Excuse Notes
Kids are great at making excuses. They make excuses about why they were late, why they didn't do their work and why they got in trouble. They are experts at coming up with excuses. About this time every year, we harness this power to write "excuse notes" as a writing assignment. On Monday, we talked about all of the excuses kids have made in the past to their teachers and parents. We get a good laugh out of many of them and the kids appreciate the creativity of each excuse that is described in the conversation. Then, I tell them about our new assignment: the excuse note. I ask the kids to write a few paragraphs about why they couldn't do something or why they were late somewhere or why they didn't turn in something. While the kids get a charge out of the assignment idea, we talk a bit about the elements of a good story. I tell the kids that they can use something that actually happened to them or make up something completely fictional. After all, there are elements of truth in even the best fiction.
I ask kids to write a 2-3 paragraph excuse note. The note can be from them, a letter from their parents or any other manifestation of an excuse they'd like to create. We go over some of the finer points of good, descriptive writing and talk about believability. I stress to the kids that the best excuse notes are ones that can pass as truthful, whether they are or not. We want readers to ask at the end, "Hmm, I wonder if that really happened." I ask for no aliens, monsters, etc. I want real drama from the kids.
As an added challenge, I told the kids that they would get some bonus points if they wrote the entire excuse note without using the letter "o". I was surprised at the number of kids who decided to try the challenge. There are always the kids who want to push themselves harder to see if they can achieve something. We have many of those kids on team this year.
Well, the kiddos did a great job on their notes. Many of the kids had elaborate scenarios as to why they were late to class, didn't turn in work or failed badly in a different situation. I read all of the notes to the class and the kids listened intently to each note, trying to guess which student wrote each note. It was a fun assignment that brought out some creativity in the students and stressed the importance of clear writing.
I ask kids to write a 2-3 paragraph excuse note. The note can be from them, a letter from their parents or any other manifestation of an excuse they'd like to create. We go over some of the finer points of good, descriptive writing and talk about believability. I stress to the kids that the best excuse notes are ones that can pass as truthful, whether they are or not. We want readers to ask at the end, "Hmm, I wonder if that really happened." I ask for no aliens, monsters, etc. I want real drama from the kids.
As an added challenge, I told the kids that they would get some bonus points if they wrote the entire excuse note without using the letter "o". I was surprised at the number of kids who decided to try the challenge. There are always the kids who want to push themselves harder to see if they can achieve something. We have many of those kids on team this year.
Well, the kiddos did a great job on their notes. Many of the kids had elaborate scenarios as to why they were late to class, didn't turn in work or failed badly in a different situation. I read all of the notes to the class and the kids listened intently to each note, trying to guess which student wrote each note. It was a fun assignment that brought out some creativity in the students and stressed the importance of clear writing.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Cultivating Genius: The Book
When Melissa Hellwig and I give presentations and professional development sessions about 20% Time, Genius Hour and Project/Problem Based Learning, we usually have a curious and receptive crowd. We try to be thorough about WHY schools need to change to incorporate personalized learning and also show the template of our own program. Toward the end of our talk, we get questions about incorporating this philosophy into other situations and a call for more information on the subject. Most of the school districts where these teachers work do not provide any PD on 20% Time or PBL so these teachers are on their own to find relevant information. Teachers often want to be secure in what they are doing before taking that first step.
Because of the constant call for more information, I wrote Cultivating Genius: The Why and How of Creating a 20% Time Learning Environment. Last summer, I assembled all of the material that Melissa and I created and wrote the book in two parts. The first part is the "why" of 20% Time. It explores what schools have traditionally been and why we need to change education. The second part of the book is the "how" of 20% Time. It represents a step-by-step template of our own program that teachers can use as a model. I included the forms that we created and use and I also explained how everything works during the course of the year. Melissa contributed to the book as well. I included a powerful blog post that she wrote and she also created many of the documents that appear in the book. It is our hope that this book can be a springboard for more teachers to embrace the 20% Time model and ignite the passion for learning in their students. You can find the book here.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Student Ingenuity and Project Based Learning
Every once in a while, a student will do something that makes you shake your head while at the same time remind you about why things must change in classrooms. Recently one our our teachers sent an e-mail to the rest of our social studies department. It read:
Just a heads up some one named bigchuck_427 created a quizlet with our answers on our study guides. Another student name (name deleted) used it as well.
This e-mail was instructive to me for many reasons. First, like most study guides, if you fill it out correctly, it comprises the actual test. Second, the student mentioned in the e-mail, though it is not what we may want from our kids from an honesty perspective, displayed ingenuity by using technology to allow others to access the completed study guide. Third, the traditional assessment model lends itself to this cat-and-mouse game that prizes information over problem-solving and creativity.
Since assessments are information-based, then there is a "body" of information that is regarded as important. It is this valued information that kids must write on a test in order to be judged proficient. Of course, when so much value is placed on a body of information, then some students will do whatever it takes to make sure they have the right information, even filling out a study guide and making it available on an app that all of the kids can access.
In our PBL classrooms, our assessments look different. They are not paper/pencil affairs that value certain information. These assessments, if done correctly, demand that the kids use the information that they have learned to solve a problem, take a stand, or make a judgment. The kids have a great deal of latitude in the project assessment because they create it in order to satisfy the learning goals. For example, our assessment for the Greek section of our social studies class was comprised of one question: We have looked at many aspects of Classical Greece: art/architecture, government, warfare, philosophy, and culture. Your charge is to decide which of these things was the most important one that we have taken from Greece and incorporated into our own American society. You must analyze what you have learned, research more information about your chosen topic, and create a presentation (paper, video, slideshow, etc) that demonstrates that your decision is the correct one.
For a project like this, there is no study guide. Each project will be different. Each child will have a different judgment and will have to build a case in order to back up their judgment. A project like this incorporates research, analyzing information and building a creative way to communicate the ideas. It is a qualitatively higher-level assessment that includes various secondary skills that a paper-pencil, information-based assessment does not. Let's face it, kids are going to have careers that are based on problem-solving. The more problem-solving experience and training we can give them, the better we prepare them for the future.
Just a heads up some one named bigchuck_427 created a quizlet with our answers on our study guides. Another student name (name deleted) used it as well.
This e-mail was instructive to me for many reasons. First, like most study guides, if you fill it out correctly, it comprises the actual test. Second, the student mentioned in the e-mail, though it is not what we may want from our kids from an honesty perspective, displayed ingenuity by using technology to allow others to access the completed study guide. Third, the traditional assessment model lends itself to this cat-and-mouse game that prizes information over problem-solving and creativity.
Since assessments are information-based, then there is a "body" of information that is regarded as important. It is this valued information that kids must write on a test in order to be judged proficient. Of course, when so much value is placed on a body of information, then some students will do whatever it takes to make sure they have the right information, even filling out a study guide and making it available on an app that all of the kids can access.
In our PBL classrooms, our assessments look different. They are not paper/pencil affairs that value certain information. These assessments, if done correctly, demand that the kids use the information that they have learned to solve a problem, take a stand, or make a judgment. The kids have a great deal of latitude in the project assessment because they create it in order to satisfy the learning goals. For example, our assessment for the Greek section of our social studies class was comprised of one question: We have looked at many aspects of Classical Greece: art/architecture, government, warfare, philosophy, and culture. Your charge is to decide which of these things was the most important one that we have taken from Greece and incorporated into our own American society. You must analyze what you have learned, research more information about your chosen topic, and create a presentation (paper, video, slideshow, etc) that demonstrates that your decision is the correct one.
For a project like this, there is no study guide. Each project will be different. Each child will have a different judgment and will have to build a case in order to back up their judgment. A project like this incorporates research, analyzing information and building a creative way to communicate the ideas. It is a qualitatively higher-level assessment that includes various secondary skills that a paper-pencil, information-based assessment does not. Let's face it, kids are going to have careers that are based on problem-solving. The more problem-solving experience and training we can give them, the better we prepare them for the future.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Student-Led Conferences
Each spring, our parent conferences take the form of student-led conferences. As kids get more and more used to taking responsibility for their own learning, student-led conferences become a natural extension of that responsibility. Kids are in charge of their learning and now have an opportunity to share that learning with their parents. The structure of student-led conferences is vastly different than traditional parent-teacher conferences and the preparation for students is much greater as well.
At the beginning of second semester, just after winter break, we introduce the subject of student-led conferences. Kids are now looking for learning artifacts and performance events that they'd like to share with their parents. In the middle of February, we begin building the kids' portfolios, which make up the bulk of the discussion during the conference. This year, we decided to create websites as portfolios. Most of the kids used Wix.com and some used Google Sites. A few even used Weebly.com. As kids built their sites, we asked them to create pages for English, social studies, math, science, 20% Time and "forms". Each page will have two projects linked. One of the projects must be one that the teacher required and the other project can be one that the student feels shows their best work. The "forms" page houses all of the forms we ask the kids to fill out, from "My Goals for Second Semester" to "How I See Myself as a Learner". The folder of forms is linked here. The week before conferences begin, we make sure that each student has their website created with all of the appropriate pages, links and materials.
The evening of conferences usually runs quite smoothly. We schedule four student-led conferences simultaneously and each conference lasts a half hour. In our four-hour conference period each evening, we can get 32 conferences done. We coach the kids on proper etiquette and have a script of bullet points taped to each conference table in case the kids get lost during the conference. The script just highlights things the kids should talk about. At some point during the conference, Melissa and I visit each conference to see if there are any questions that the parents have for us. For the most part, the parents have had all of their questions answered by their child. We have an exit sheet for each of the parents to rate how their child performed during the conference and we ask each parent to write their child a note telling them some positives about their conference. All in all, it is a great experience that allows the kids to present themselves as learners in charge of their education and allows the parents to see their children in that light.
At the beginning of second semester, just after winter break, we introduce the subject of student-led conferences. Kids are now looking for learning artifacts and performance events that they'd like to share with their parents. In the middle of February, we begin building the kids' portfolios, which make up the bulk of the discussion during the conference. This year, we decided to create websites as portfolios. Most of the kids used Wix.com and some used Google Sites. A few even used Weebly.com. As kids built their sites, we asked them to create pages for English, social studies, math, science, 20% Time and "forms". Each page will have two projects linked. One of the projects must be one that the teacher required and the other project can be one that the student feels shows their best work. The "forms" page houses all of the forms we ask the kids to fill out, from "My Goals for Second Semester" to "How I See Myself as a Learner". The folder of forms is linked here. The week before conferences begin, we make sure that each student has their website created with all of the appropriate pages, links and materials.
The evening of conferences usually runs quite smoothly. We schedule four student-led conferences simultaneously and each conference lasts a half hour. In our four-hour conference period each evening, we can get 32 conferences done. We coach the kids on proper etiquette and have a script of bullet points taped to each conference table in case the kids get lost during the conference. The script just highlights things the kids should talk about. At some point during the conference, Melissa and I visit each conference to see if there are any questions that the parents have for us. For the most part, the parents have had all of their questions answered by their child. We have an exit sheet for each of the parents to rate how their child performed during the conference and we ask each parent to write their child a note telling them some positives about their conference. All in all, it is a great experience that allows the kids to present themselves as learners in charge of their education and allows the parents to see their children in that light.
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