A whole new world - and not the Aladdin kind.

If you're Australian, its more than likely you've just finished the hard slog that is the first 3 weeks of Term 1.

3 down, 7 to go!

It's tough. They don't know you, you don't know them. You can't help but compare them to last year's bunch and reflect on just how much work you have to do. It's a balance of highs and lows, and you slide into home at the end of the week in a crashing heap ready to do it all over again on Monday.

In my case, I'm balancing this with a feeling of absolute bewilderment.

You see, being a cocky 3rd year out teacher, this is a summary of my thought process in Term 4 last year:

Oh yeah. I'm pretty decent at this whole Stage 3 thing. I've got some great learning happening, we've got this mutual respect thing going on and I can manage challenging behaviour. Teaching Year 1 and Year 2 will be a breeze!

You said it Jean-Luc.

I know.

I KNOW.

WHAT THE #@!* WAS I THINKING?!

I've entered Stage 1 - a mythical magical land of phonemic awareness (what's that again?), 8 minute attention spans (on a good day) and a whole lot more bodily fluids and touching.

Seriously, little X. Hands out of your nose/mouth/pants. And don't touch me. Please.

We sing songs without being sarcastic. We dance without being ashamed of our lack of rhythm. EVERYTHING IS FUN. 

HEY GUYS. WE'RE ABOUT TO DO SOME HANDWRITING!

My class:

Pretty much every kid in my class is Buddy the Elf. All the time.

I'm in a whole new world. It's a very happy place, but also one that really REALLY tests your patience. And your voice box. AND your gag reflex.

So, for your amusement and a big dose of schadenfreude, here's a list of 10 things I have learnt so far:

1. Never tie a child's shoelaces. Especially a boy's. Aiming is not a talent for them.
2. Hand sanitiser is a handy investment. You'll use it multiple times a day.
3. Don't try to get your bottom reading group to read independently for 20 minutes. They'll have a pillow fight after 2 minutes and subsequently disturb the whole Guided Reading session.
4. Wobbly teeth are a constant occurrence, and I had no idea how truly creepy Ifound them until I had six kids showing me their teeth at once. *shudders*
5. You will find sandwiches/discarded fruit everywhere, and they won't pick it up, subsequently leaving grapes permanently cemented into your carpet.
6. CHILDREN EAT THEIR OWN BOOGERS.
7. AND ANYTHING THEY FIND LYING ON THE FLOOR. Seriously, X, get the masking tape marking my floor area out of your mouth. I've already asked you twice today.
8. Don't get annoyed when they tell you they forgot how to spell 'the'. You're going to be asked 5 more times in the next 10 minutes.
9. You will get random gifts. Some of which (food, tissues, things from their bags) should go straight into that 'special box for later' (aka the bin).
10. But....little kids love you. Wholeheartedly. Nothing you do will change that. Even if you get frustrated and keep them in half of lunch because they can't stand in two lines, they still come running back with big smiles. 

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or comment below!

That 'thinking' stuff

"My students are too young/too low/too busy. There is no way they can do this 'thinking' stuff"

In my class we have a rule when faced with a problem - RTQ x 2 (Read the Question Twice). So go on, read that above statement again.

Now, cut off the first part of that statement and focus on the second part.

"There is no way they can do this 'thinking' stuff"

Taken in isolation, that statement is a little bit ridiculous. Unless you're teaching a class of rocks, every single one of them is doing this 'thinking' stuff every minute of every day. ( Although, I'm sure your rock class might be doing it too - maybe you have the G&T rocks).

I'm the first to admit that when I came in contact with Visible Thinking, I saw the Thinking Routines as an activity that I could easily slide into my program, and then VOILA my students would be visible thinkers. I think this is an experience that is commonly shared by those first bitten by the VT bug. It's new, it's exciting, and we think it will be a bandaid that will cover all the 'thinking stuff' in our classroom.

If there's one thing (or one seashell) that I took away from Project Zero Classroom, it's that there is absolutely no point 'doing' Thinking Routines and then saying "Look! My student's thinking is visible, now let's move on." The process of Making Thinking Visible in learning is not something that  can be easily changed overnight, or just done once then moved on from. 

Making Thinking Visible in your classroom requires a mindset shift from you too.

Lev Vygotsky, advocate for constructivist-based pedagogy, is often quoted as saying:

 "Children grow into the intellectual life of those around them". 

In other words, the intellectual world we model for our students is what shapes their own perceptions of the value of thinking. If you don't value deep thinking, then your students won't either!

So, how do we start showing students that developing more than a surface understanding of concepts is vital to nurturing intellectual development? By creating a Culture of Thinking in our classrooms.

A concept coined by Ron Ritchhart, key researcher of the Making Thinking Visible project at Project Zero (Click here to learn more about Ron and MTV), a Culture of Thinking is a place where thinking is visible, valued and actively promoted for all members.

Let's break that down further.

In order to create a Culture of Thinking - an environment where children understand the importance of deep understanding and intellectual fluency, we need to consider the three concepts in isolation.

Thinking is Visible - Assessing understanding of abstract concepts, or things that can't be measured through a test score is tricky. So how the %$!* do we assess thinking? By making thinking visible, the process of developing understanding is made accessible to both teacher and students, as well as parties outside the classroom. Teachers are able to garner the thinking process students are undergoing (which is great for formative assessment!) and students are able to reflect on their process of understanding.  Most importantly, all parties get insight into how the learning is occurring.

Thinking is Valued - Why do your students not put up their hands when you know they have a pretty good idea of the  answer? Well, number one, you might be asking the wrong kind of question, but, in addition, is students do not feel their thinking is valued, they aren't going to put their necks out to risk humiliation. A Culture of Thinking in a classroom values the process and effort of developing understanding, and encourages students to share their thinking practices with others, even if their thinking is not yet fully developed. It encourages students to share their steps towards developing a full understanding, and encourages the idea that mistakes are just stepping stones in thinking.

Thinking is Actively Promoted - There is no such thing as no time for thinking. Every interaction, every discussion, every question is an opportunity to promote and encourage  students to share their thinking. Talking about thinking, sharing thinking, reflecting on thinking - we encourage this naturally through our teaching, but we need to do it consciously and purposefully and, more importantly, we need to make it visible to our students.

I know right. It makes a lot of sense. It's ok. Take a second to push those brains back inside your skull and regroup. I know I needed too when the VT bus first hit me. Head on collision. Brains everywhere.

So the next big question is how. How do we create a Culture of Thinking in our learning environments? (whether it be classrooms, schools, districts, homes or other educational settings) Lucky, Ron hasn't left us in the lurch. He and his partner in crime Mark Church have teamed up to give us a whole lot of resources to help us make thinking visible, which I'll run through over my next few posts.

Now, as all great members of my class do, RTQ x 2. Go back and read that again so you can start thinking about your thinking, and how valued, visible and actively promoted thinking is in your learning environment. 

As always, feel free to comment, email me (missswain24@gmail.com) or tweet me (@bswain1) with questions, queries or comments. :)

A little unhinged

No, this is not a hilarious reference to my mental state at the moment. I'm more like this:

Actually, I'm lucky to be participating in a Teacher Learning Community (TLC) this year - a group of teachers all reflecting upon our pedagogy and researching current trends associated with formative assessment (or Assessment for Learning).

A TLC is based in the research of the wonderful Dylan Wiliam, who maintains that formative assessment and feedback are tools for learning that have a massive impact on student achievement; a sentiment supported by John Hattie, who notes a 0.72 effect size on achievement. 

(For those not in the know, thats MASSIVE. An effect size of 0.4 is equal to 1 years academic growth. Feedback has an effect size of almost double that!)

Hattie's Barometer of effect sizes

In our TLC, we share success and failures, celebrate achievement and are constantly looking to improve our practice so to engage students in their learning. We bravely go where no teacher (at our school) has gone before - trying out new techniques and working collaboratively on seamless integration of content into previous programming.

My area of focus at the moment? Hinge questions!

Hinge questions are a tool that can be used about halfway through a lesson to gauge student understanding. Usually presented in a multiple choice format, they act as a reflection point for students, but also a pedagogical road map for the teacher to direct future learning.

BUT....these are no regular questions!

Hinge questions not only assist in determining whether students understand the content, but also allow a teacher to consider a student's cognitive decision making process, and the thought patterns behind selecting a certain response. It's not about getting the only answer, its about determining which answer is most correct, and justifying why.

Awesome, right?

Taylor Swift really loves a good hinge question.

So as I began my hinge question quest, I started by doing some research into what makes a real cracker of a hinge question - because if I was going to do this, I wanted to do it right.

I found they were a little more complicated that I initially thought - in fact the 'hinge' questions I had been posing to my students were a little unhinged - they weren't really giving me the feedback I needed for my teaching.

I stumbled across this post by Sally Heldsinger on Assessment Community that really broke down what a great hinge question should entail. She notes that hinge questions should show a student's developing understanding of a concept, so by considering their answers, we can see the depth of understanding the student has about a given topic.

She also had this lovely quote from Margaret Heritage (2010), that I really think encapsulates the importance of feedback:

'...Assessment is not unidirectional, but rather involves both teachers and students in a reciprocal activity to move learning forward within a community of practice. This reciprocal activity is characterised by teachers and students engaged in responding to evidence about learning, minute-by-minute, day-by-day, through the provision of scaffolding, self-monitoring, and self regulation on the part of the students'

I love the idea of assessment being a symbiotic relationship - it is an activity that benefits both parties, and enriches our understanding of the other's purpose in the teaching-learning relationship. Unfortunately, I think this ideal is somewhat lost  in the typical 'assessment for assessment's sake' ideology that is all too present in schools currently. 

I know it sounds all butterflies and unicorn farts - too idealistic, overly optimistic for your everyday school - but if we can do it in classes we've fondly nicknamed 'The Behaviour Unit', then I think it's possible anywhere.

I'm still on a journey of discovery with hinge questions, so if you have any insights, discoveries or burning questions, share below!

Apples don't fall far from the tree

Prepare for a short rant.

Last Sunday, there was a violent altercation between two men who are considered very prominent in Australian society. These men were not under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, and in fact, this conflict occurred on a sunny afternoon in plain sight.

Sydney has just undergone a complete overhaul of laws and punishments for 'one-punch' violence in areas of the city. If this fight had gone differently - if one of those punches had landed in the wrong place, one of these men could have been seriously injured or killed. 

Yet, plastered across the front of every newspaper, featured prominently on news webpages, mercilessly mocked by radio presenters and in drawn out segments in the nightly news, these two men have been made cannon fodder, with this violent and pointless disagreement dissected minutely by every media outlet in the country.

What is our fascination with the downfall of others? This need to pull others down, cruelly mock them when they misstep, 'tear them a new one' if you will.  The Germans have a word for it. Schadenfreude - taking enjoyment out of other's pain. We feed on it - the hungry masses devouring this news of the mighty that have fallen.

And we wonder why kids are so cruel.

On a daily basis, we break up punch ups in the playground, chastise children for insulting each other's mothers, and listen to language used by 10 year olds that would make a sailor blush.

'Where do they get it from?!' we moan. 'Why do they solve everything with violence?!'

Well, perhaps its because Australian media THRIVES on it. We love violence. It's a no-no, so therefore it's cool and it's sexy. We smell blood and scream for more - why else would the media so readily cover any violent altercation over perhaps more meaningful and vital news?

I'm tuning out this week. I don't want to see two neanderthals in track pants solving an issue in a primitive and immature matter. There is so many more important things happening out there. Such as the 300 young Nigerian women who were kidnapped for seeking an education. Or perhaps that there was a large earthquake off the coast of PNG causing a tsunami warning. Or that this young man was murdered in Argentina in a botched robbery.

I want my students to be critical thinkers, who question what they see and read,  who think beyond the byline and see the real motive behind a story. Apples don't fall from the tree, so this week I'm going to lead by example. 

I urge you to do the same - question what our media considers 'news' this week.

How do you measure success?

Today was a day in which I felt successful.
Everything went well - students were well behaved regardless of wet weather (unlike previously, as described here), they were focused and they LEARNT SOMETHING.
In fact, it is the first time I have felt successful with my class this year - we've had a fairly eventful and rocky start.

Success is a word we throw around a lot in education. Success of our education system, success as a school, teacher success, student success. We are always brainstorming and reinventing our definition of success as a staff, a stage, as individuals. We ask ourselves What does it look like? Feel like? Sound like?

That's right Ladies and Gentlemen, get out your Y charts.

Richard St. John, in his 2005 TED talk 8 Secrets of Success takes years of research and attempts to define what makes a person successful.

If you're a visual learner like myself, this screenshot will help you consolidate that speedy presentation:

So, basically, St. John says we need to work hard and love what you do. So, by that definition I must be DROWNING in success.

Truth be known, in its own abstract nature, success is a concept that manifests uniquely for each individual. The 'face' of success has a different look and a different feel for everyone. There's no overarching imagery we can use paint a picture of success - in fact, this is as about as close as we get:

Clichéd, I know. But look at his little face!

Success is something that we as humans strive for - that feeling of satisfaction from achieving something that we have worked our sweet little tushes off for. In fact, success is something that our individualistic western society has come to expect of us - if we're not striving for success, then what the hell are we doing?

So, with its individual 'face' that looks, feels and sounds different to all of us - how can we measure the abstract concept of success in our students?

We, as teachers, attempt to measure success in a multitude of ways - from achieving 'expected' academic growth in the long term; down to getting them to JUST SIT STILL FOR FIVE MINUTES, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD in the short term.

Our students measure success by achieving their learning goals, by accomplishing success criteria and seeing an improvement in their report marks. Maybe. We hope.

But what about teacher success? When do we get a chance to measure how successful we are? When do we stop to focus on our own accomplishments and achievements? Do our students have to achieve 'success' for us to feel successful?

Judy Halbert and Linda Klaser, the geniuses behind Spirals of Inquiry, have developed four key questions that allow students to reflect on their own learning and understanding.

• Can you name two people in this school/setting who believe that you can be a success in life?
• Where are you going with your learning?
• How are you going with your learning?
• Where are you going next with your learning?

Our staff ask these questions routinely of our students to act as insight upon our own pedagogy. And it is insightful - we use these comments to realign our practice and really refocus on what our students need to feel success in their learning. (To read more about this, you can read their full paper here)

But, perhaps, we should be asking these questions routinely of ourselves. Our feelings of accomplishment should not always be directly correlated with student achievement. Considering Richard St. John's perspective, even if our students are not 'successful', we are - because we persevere even when they don't get it, we are passionate about developing student understanding and we are incredibly dedicated, even when it's really hard.

Hell, somedays, just getting out of bed after one alarm is a success.

So, ask yourself those 4 key questions:

• Can you name two people in your world who believe that you can be a success as a teacher?
• Where are you going with your teaching?
• How are you going with your teaching? (and what makes you say that?)
• Where are you going next with your teaching? 

What does the 'face' of success look and feel like for you, and how do you measure success in your pedagogy?

Formatively Fantastic

Before I get into the intelligent smarty pants stuff, on a side note - 

WHAT IS IT WITH KIDS AND WEATHER??

The temperature drops a couple of degrees = DRAMA

It's windy = CHAOS

It's raining = CABIN FEVER

Here is an short informative clip that demonstrates my classroom during wet weather:

Anddddddd we return to our scheduled programming.

I have mentioned before here that our school is a bit nuts for formative assessment. We very rarely use summative assessment, as the way I interpret it, the students don't really need end of unit/term/year assessments because we are constantly assessing them, and they are constantly assessing themselves (Don't quote me on that - it's just my interpretation).

I knew all about formative assessment in university, but it wasn't until I started teaching that I really picked up some great strategies to feed up, back and forward to my students. Our students can articulate what they're learning, why its important and where to next - real metacognition in action!

So here they are, my top 5 formative assessment strategies for a cross stage classroom: (or any classroom for that matter, but mine is cross stage and it sounds fancy, so there.)

1. Mini whiteboards
Using a mini whiteboard is a great tool, because not only does it get students directly involved with any modelling you are doing, but it also allows you to find out, on the spot, whether students understand what you are talking about and allows you to change your practice accordingly. 
Example? Today when teaching rounding in maths, I asked students to round a 3 digit number to the nearest 10. about 50% of students got it right. I remodelled in a slightly different way, and all students were then able to get it right and justify their response (linking in with our success criteria).

Disclaimer: This is not my class. I thought I had pictures of kids using whiteboards on my phone but I was oh so wrong. Please enjoy this image of some class somewhere using formative assessment.

There's deep thoughts on them. BEWARE!

2. Exit Slips
Exit slips are a form of summative-formative assessment in a way, as they are usually completed at the end of a lesson as a form of reflection upon learning, or as a chance to ask further questions. I like to get kids to post them on my door as they literally 'exit' the classroom.  It's fantastic to see whether students have grasped a concept, or if they need help in certain areas. They can be anonymous, or have names, depending on the task. I usually either give students a deep thinking question or a visible thinking routine (more on these later) to really challenge their thinking.








3. Bump it Up
Bump it up walls are BRILLIANT. They get students to reflect on their learning in a particular activity - in this case independent reading - and rate themselves against criteria that they have created! It reinforces the concept of 'where to next' - what kids need to do next to become better readers. This is actually my wall from last year, as again, I didn't have a photo of this year's, but you get the picture.
If students are consistently achieving the top level, I like to get them to create the next level up so they have something to work towards as well.










4. Individual Goals
Individual Goals, whether set by the teacher or by the students, are a great way for students to work towards a specific criteria that they need to focus on. These  goals are worded in kid-speak, but still use any relevant metalanguage to develop student vocab. I check the reading goals during guided reading groups and remind students of them constantly. Writing goals, however, are monitored by a student's thinking partner - their buddy for a fortnight who they share their thinking and learning with.









5. And last but not least...LISC
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria are absolutely essential to any lesson. It tells the students what we are learning about, why and what they need to do to achieve it. They're simple, taken straight from the syllabus, and give students a focal point for learning.
WILF = What I'm looking for - your expectations
TIB = This is because - real life connection for learning
WALT/WALA = We are learning to/we are learning about

There obviously are many others that are absolutely fantastic - this is not an all inclusive list of what I use in my classroom, I also show much love for thumbs up/down, paddle pop sticks, wait time, reflection statements, Think-Pair-Share etc.... but we would be here all day and you would find it as boring as batpoop. 

(nice simile, huh? Wouldn't mind seeing that in some student writing...)

Do you use formative assessment in your classroom? What's your go to strategy?

Archaically Artistic

In my spare time (what little I do have of it!) I draw. I wouldn't call myself an artist, as I do it only for myself, but drawing is just something I do. Its my creative outlet.

I found out that I could draw when I decided to take Visual Arts in Year 11. Having not done any art theory since Year 8, I thought I'd be in way over my head. Turns out, not only did I love it, I was alright at it too.

It was through school that I found my creativity - not just in visual arts but in my style of writing, my sense of humour and the way I present myself.

Perhaps this is because I went to school overseas, living in a unique expatriate environment during my formative teenage years. My primary schooling, however, was all completed in Australian public schools - where there were many more restrictions and pressures upon teachers at the time to teach certain content and 'tick off' syllabus dot points.

(That being said, the way I was taught to study for my HSC in 2008 was to go through the syllabus and study content related to each outcome - very telling of the way students are assessed in senior school.)

Sir Ken Robinson has long made the argument that 'schools kill creativity'. He known for his opinions on the unfortunate habit of schools to squash the creativity out of students through a 'production line' mentality that has existed since the industrial age.

I love watching these RSA Animate versions of speeches - much easier to concentrate!

Robinson argues that today's students are getting attention from every possible platform, and then we punish them for getting distracted. He states that schooling should be an aesthetic experience, an opportunity for creativity, yet we 'get them through it' rather than allowing them to experience it.

Robinson states that we 'manufacture' children rather that celebrating their uniqueness.

As much as we might like to think its all pherphies, that Sir Ken is full of it and we're doing fine,  take a look at the students in your class (or a child you know). Aren't the 'good' ones those who follow the rules, hand things in on time, put their hand up to be called upon and always have the right answer?

I'm sure many of us would give our A3 laminators to have a class full of these kids...but isn't that a bit boring?

Robinson talks about divergent thinking as a means of creativity - being able to consider an idea from multiple viewpoints. Isn't this a characteristic we like to encourage in all kids? (But only if they rule a margin in red pen first and write the date at the top of the page).

I think that one of the greatest ways for kids to express their ability to think outside the box is through art.

And when I say art, I don't mean colouring in.

I mean using artworks for the study of visual literacy. I mean creating an invention to help society. I mean something that cannot be finished in one afternoon session - something that requires research, practice and time to create.

When did art go from being a dedicated subject with a budget and specialist staff to 'something we just fit in, but only if we have time?'

Are we as schools stopping kids from realising their creative potential, unless they take art in secondary school?

Are we killing creativity?

(Share your ideas by commenting below)

The Power of Collegial Support

Friday is a great time to look back on a week and really reflect both on your professional practice and personal life. Today, I'm looking back on a mixture of both.

My school is not the toughest school in the world, but it is far from the easiest. We have kids from a range of cultural backgrounds, a range of socio-economic backgrounds and a range of educational backgrounds. We have kids that want for nothing, and kids that have nothing. 

But some days, it is not the kids that keep me coming back to work.

It is my amazing, supportive, hilarious and caring colleagues.

The people I work with are like our kids - we come from a whole range of places, have a whole range of life experiences and have a whole lot of different teaching philosophies. 
But, unlike our kids, our staff get on like a house on fire.

There is not a day where laughter cannot be heard from the staffroom, whether it be at the expense of ourselves or our kids. There is not a day where you cannot find a shoulder to cry on, or someone to give you a hug when you feel you're at your wit's end.

The power of collegiality is very evident at our school. We are a team, a force to be reckoned with, an army, if you will - armed with formative assessment tools up the wahzoo, and a wicked sense of humour that whizzes straight over our kids heads, but will have each other laughing so hard we need to do a wiggly wee dance.

Maybe its the emotional nature of our profession - one in which we are so involved in the lives of our students that their pain is our own -  and it is this shared experience which brings our staff together so closely. 

Perhaps its our pedagogical standpoint - that we all share similar goals and views on current educational theory - that allows us to team up so easily and work collaboratively.

Possibly, its our Exec team - our experienced teacher mentors who are ready to share knowledge, support our crazy ideas and help us develop professionally and personally. (A special thank you execs for supporting me in this blogtastic venture).

Or perhaps its just that we're really really ridiculously good looking.

If you don't get the reference, then get out of my office, like right now!

Either way - as teachers, its absolutely vital that we recognise the power of collegial support in our professional lives. 

Think about it - have you recognised the incredible influence of the support of your colleagues this week?

It is these colleagues - the ones we sit brain dead with on a Monday morning,  simultaneously trying to finish off that Notebook file while stopping each other from drowning in our coffee - that help us keep it together.

It is these colleagues - the ones we sit with around the staffroom table on a Friday afternoon sharing war stories from the week - that help keep us sane.

It is these colleagues - the ones we sit on the couch with on the weekend eating scones and drinking copious amounts of tea - that keep us doing what we do best: educating little monsters wonderful children.

So colleagues - I raise my tea mug very full wine glass to you. Thank you for being the ones who keep me, me.