Hindsight is twenty-twenty

I had planned to write this post for some time now. I wanted to celebrate students' work and had even put together some paragraphs, but my ideas didn't feel genuine enough.  I felt as if I was trying too hard to promote what we do in class instead of digging deeper. This weekend, I read An Ethic of Excellence by Ron Berger, and my thoughts all fell into place.   

Before I delve any deeper, I ought to provide a context first.  My students' culminating work from the Grade 9 Revolutions unit was the creation of a crash course. As discussed in Keeping it Real, we had looked closely at the stages of the Egyptian revolution as a case study and then students researched a revolution of their choice that spanned from political to cultural and technological revolutions.

Even though students possessed a conceptual understanding of the stages of a revolution, this simply wouldn't suffice in the creation of a video crash course.  Students were presented with many challenges such as the choice of suitable video clips and background music, the use of humour and the editing of the final project, just to mention a few.  They did not use any professional equipment; most of them were armed with their iPhones, laptops and tons of ingenuity. As we were in the thick of the design and creation stages, I felt confident that the unit was structured well enough for students to achieve the best successful outcomes. After all, we had learned explicit skills and also looked at sample crash courses.  However, I hadn't thought about promoting a culture of excellence. 

In Ethic of Excellence, Ron Berger tells us about the importance of critiquing in creating work of value. Teachers need to display student work and have a genuine conversation with the students about its strengths and the areas that need improvement. Students need to display their work and receive purposeful feedback from their peers, so that they can improve their drafts. This has made me reflect on my own teaching. Too often in Humanities we've done meaningful projects but we've rushed through them and haven't taken the time to make the work beautiful. Like any other skill, this needs to be taught explicitly and modelled by the teacher. I had clearly dropped the ball on this one. 

As I watch my students' crash courses, I'm haunted by "what if's". What if we had taken the time to critique various drafts of the script? What if I had set time aside for students to show initial versions of their footage to receive constructive feedback. What if we had discussed in more detail the qualities of effective crash courses? What if instead of hiding the crash courses from the previous year because of my silly fear of stifling creativity, we had, instead, unpacked them together comparing the strong ones with the less engaging ones?  

The truth is that had we delved more into the process, I would not be displaying only some of the students' work on this post. Had I promoted a culture of excellence in my class where students are held accountable to critique one another's work and taught them how to pay attention to those subtle details that can refine the final product, then the outcomes would have been different. Like any other product that requires a good dose of creativity one, it is unrealistic to expect students to get it right on their first draft. 

Having said that, I cannot but feel a sense of admiration towards my students because considering all the aforementioned shortcomings, they were still able to create products of value. Some of them are posted below:     

What tests don't measure

Some days ago, the College Board announced that it aims to revamp the SAT's to make them more 21st century-friendly. Outdated components of the test would be replaced by more focused ones. So, for instance, rather than learning obsolete vocabulary, the redesigned SAT would "focus on relevant words, the meanings of which depend on how they’re used."(College Board). Yet one has to question whether this measure addresses the real problem at hand. 


There seems to be a stigma around the role of testing in education as they are seen by the general populace as a gauge of rigorous learning. In fact, students are told as from a young age that they have to be successful test-takers to get into a good university.  So in this culture of testing, the search for alternatives, is usually portrayed as a foolish hippie quest to lower standards rather than a genuine effort to define deeper learning. 

But what is deeper learning? Will Richardson's insightful representation of the immeasurables of learning sheds some light on this:  

The Immeasurables. Diagram by Will Richardson

This diagram articulates the challenges of gauging higher level learning. Deep learning is indeed complex, amorphous and dynamic. So, instead of acknowledging this, we try to wrap our head around the complexity by watering it down to a number that falls somewhere within a bell curve. Testing can be a useful tool to assess critical analysis and synthesis, but it does not measure anything beyond that. If anything, it usually measures redundant skills such as content knowledge and memorization. As a result, the fallacious notion that testing assesses deeper learning, leads to the design of curriculums that teach to a test and ignores the rigour that truly matters.

Unfortunately, such a huge emphasis on testing helps propagate misconceptions that shape paradigms. In her book, Mindset: How You Can Fulfill Your Potential, Carol Dweck explains how people who have a fixed mindset believe that their intelligence is static and you either have it or you don't. These people are more likely to falter when exposed to unfamiliar challenges because they are lacking flexibility. If students are told from an early age that tests are essential to get to a good university, they will start to view test scores as an unequivocal pronouncement that defines their very being.   

Contrastingly, people who have a growth mindset understand that learning is an ongoing process which isn't defined by the IQ or by test scores. The people who are successful know how to overcome obstacles by being persistent, identifying problems and creating solutions. Will Richardson's immeasurables, play a central role in students preparedness for an unfamiliar world, which will require them to be creative problem-solvers. Bearing this in mind, it is our responsibility as educators to expose our students to this kind of rigour or else we will be doing them a great disservice.

Finally, we need to ask ourselves: What are the best practices that promote and foster a growth mindset in education? Hint. Testing is not one of them. 













   

It All Boils Down To Purpose

The courses that I took for my masters degree were not the most innovative. Yet there was one idea that stuck with me: When reflecting on their practice, teachers should always take into consideration two systems: their system in the classroom and the school-wide system. Back then, I knew that the system in my classroom played a central role in my students learning, yet I disregarded the second system, my rationale being that good teachers can always close their classroom door and make the magic happen irrespectively of the nature of the school they're in. I can now see how presumptuous and naive I was. 

The last years have taught me an important lesson. No matter what I do in the classroom I'm always dependent on the system in which I work. 

This was indeed the rationale behind the creation of my blog. Like the astronomers who had spent fruitless hours trying to wrap their heads around the constellations relying on a flawed theory, geocentrism, I feared that I was missing the right paradigm.  And the more I reflected, the more insecure I felt about my own practice. I started asking existential questions about my role in education and what was the best system that would allow students to learn purposefully.  It was at this time that I started to read more literature about innovation in education and it all seemed to point into one direction: High Tech High. 

Literature portrays HTH as a utopia, the promised land of project-based learning and innovation. The place that, while maintaining an nearly spotless rate of college acceptances amongst its demographically-diverse student body, it has managed to stick to its roots and not teach to a test.  

Last week my colleague and I had the opportunity to visit HTH and see with our own eyes. I genuinely did not know what to expect but I was certainly thrilled to learn about their transdisciplinary projects. I've taught the IB Middle Years Programme for several years and even though interdisciplinary learning is at the heart of the programme, its implementation seemed to be elusive, a holy grail so to speak. I've tried to implement interdisciplinary units in the past but have always been forced and contrived. In fact this has been one of the leitmotifs of this blog.   

Click here to read about the difference between interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary learning.

As the director of HTH Media Arts, Robert Kuhl explained, HTH aims to instil in students a growth mindset and there lies the purpose of the school: HTH strives to awaken in students an eagerness towards learning through the creation of real-world transdisciplinary projects that push them to develop their intangibles such as collaboration and perseverance which are conducive to success both at college and in the real world.  

Bearing this purpose in mind, the founders of the school have set up a schedule that is simpler and more malleable. 

Sample Grade 11 Bell Schedule 

The purpose of schedules is to serve; however, we often become slaves to our own schedule our needs because of its complex and inflexible design. As a result, schedules are often an obstacle rather than a catalyst for learning. Traditional school systems often offer a wide variety of subjects in their timetable. They want students to maximize from learning by exposing them to a wide variety of content. Sadly, the subjects become isolated in an ambiguous collage courses, so transdisciplinary learning becomes an impossible feat. 

At HTH, however, schedules are simple. Students usually take Humanities, a Science or Engineering class and a Math class apart from homeroom and one period of exploratory class. Teachers are therefore able to move time slots around to make them fit students' learning needs. This allows teachers to collaborate more with one another, organize field trips, and allocate enough time for projects. 

At one point the Science teacher referred to his Humanities colleague as his planning buddy. And here lies one of the greatest differences between HTH and traditional secondary schools.  In traditional secondary schools he would have been referring to his fellow Science colleagues not a Humanities teacher. This goes to highlight teacher modus operandi  at HTH. Indeed, by creating a simple and malleable schedule the founders set into motion a virtuous cycle.  

Having less "subjects" allows for more in depth work and students are not overwhelmed by multiple deadlines.  Moreover, the transdisciplinary nature of the projects breaks down all boundaries between subjects so it's hard to tell one course from the other. At times, students will be working on the artistic portion of their project during their Math class. This is priceless because as the focus shifts from the individual subjects to the project, students can truly delve into their work without having to juggle seven projects at a time. 

During the first day of our visit, something clearly stood out: the teachers and students did not seem stressed. While students looked engaged they were not particularly overwhelmed. Yet every wall displayed student work every ranging from works of art to engineering feats. One would think that students would have a sense of urgency to create complex products, but instead they enjoy each different stage  because they have the time to let the experience sink in.  

Moreover, teachers at HTH focus on the process. Students are given several deadlines within the various stages of a project to reflect on and critique each other's drafts and blue prints.  Like any other skill, this skill needs a lot of practice and teachers do a great job at promoting it by holding students accountable for the critiques that they provide. As we talked to students, it was clear that they are fully cognizant of the purpose for critiquing and seem to take it very seriously. Once again, they have the time to do this well.  

Having flexible schedules and a good chunk of time to complete projects isn't what makes HTH noteworthy, however. HTH is outstanding because it has a clear purpose. Simon Sinek states that many businesses usually know what to they do and how they do it, but they lack a clear purpose. Schools are no different. Many schools foolishly believe that their purpose is for students to get high test scores, but this is merely an outcome. The founders of HTH made a clear distinction between these two. In fact their school is based on four principles: personalization, adult world connection, and common intellectual mission, teacher as designer.

The school is in no way perfect. It still needs to work on creating a clear framework for its subjects and like many other schools it has teachers that work harder than others. Yet one thing stands out: With a clear purpose you are going to have teachers and students who know your mission and will embrace it. 

From my side, I feel bolstered by this experience and look forward to the next step that lies ahead. As of July, I will be teaching in the Innovation Academy at Colegio Roosevelt. I've chosen to take on this unfamiliar challenge because I believe it will provide the best system to ofoster real world, relevant outcomes.  I think I've found my heliocentric model at last.    

Rewind. Play. Stop. Reflect

28 Millimetres: Portrait of a Generation by JR

JR's provocative image epitomizes my sense of uneasiness when aimed at with a video camera. JR obviously wanted to convey a strong social message that goes beyond what I'm trying to describe in this post; however, this image sends a clear message: video cameras can be indeed intimidating when aimed at you!

Video Cameras are unforgiving; nothing will slip past them. The notion that every single hand gesture I make (I am after all Mediterranean), every slight movement and every word I say in my funny accent will be captured on tape is to say the least daunting.  

Watching myself on camera has allowed me to appreciate how dizzying my lunatic hand movement can be, but it has also given me a great reality check on my teaching. Micro-teaching can indeed be agonizing! There again, this is the whole idea behind it.

The notion of micro-teaching or videotaping yourself while you teach and then watching the post-mortem (I stole that one from Wikipedia) has been around for quite some time, yet I had never been exposed to the idea. In fact, I only decided to video tape one of my lessons after reading about it on the Global Achievement Gap.

The lesson that I videotaped was an introduction to the new investigation assessment for the Grade 8 Humanities class. Watching the tape allowed me to see my self... teach. I know, I have a knack for stating the obvious, but this lesson was indeed a monologue! Even though students seemed attentive, there was no clear evidence that learning was happening. Once again, I certainly did not feel flattered by what I saw on the screen, but the feedback I got was priceless as I was able to see the lesson from the students' perspective.

So, following the High Tech High's Collegial Protocol, I asked my assistant principal, Cynthia Wissman to be my critical friend. After having watched the lesson, Cynthia sat down with me and we did a video taped "post-mortem". The conversation we had was flowing and frank. After all, I had already seen myself on tape prior to the meeting and now, with Cynthia's help, I was able to clearly identify the areas that needed improvement. In a nutshell, instead of providing students with a 30-minute introductory monologue, I should have facilitated a group activity where students could unpack a sample investigation and recognize the steps required to obtain successful outcomes.

The videos were then shared with the other members of my department and we were able to have a meaningful discussion. Moreover, another teacher wanted to try this out and I played the critical friend role. Once again, this led to some fruitful reflection.

These were the benefits that I could draw from these exercises:

*Unlike classroom observations this experience is more genuine. In my case, Cynthia was not the evaluator who pointed out the strengths and the weaknesses. Instead seeing myself on tape allowed me to come up with a more honest analysis on the lesson. Cynthia's role was non-threatening and as a result I felt more comfortable bouncing off ideas

*When I started teaching ten years ago it seemed that classroom observations had to be a dog and pony show. Those observations were a missed opportunity for self-improvement. And that is what makes micro-teaching relevant. When lessons that videotaped at random, there is a bigger chance of recognizing the areas that you need to work on.

*The tone of this exercise was lighter than formal observations. If videotaping became a regular protocol at our school, I believe that the process would be more formative and less evaluative.

*Most importantly, there were some concrete take-aways from this exercise. By empathizing more with my students (I made myself watch my whole 30-minute monologue....twice) I was able to make modifications to my other lessons.

Still not convinced about micro-teaching?

Website: Visible Learning 

In his extensive 15-year research, Hattie looked at difference practices and their degree of influence on student learning. Needless to say, micro-teaching ranked fourth. I rest my case.

Ask and you shall Recieve

Planning curriculum is by far the most inspiring aspect of teaching. It is the autonomy and mastery in curriculum planning that gives us teachers an identity and is the central piece of the elaborate mosaic.   After all, my years in education have taught me that when learning is purposeful, all the other aspects of teaching (that we sometimes invest too much time and energy on like classroom management) do fall into place. However, we should make no mistake; units that are purposeful and relevant don't come easy. Like chemists we find ourselves mixing together the ingredients: the student autonomy and choice,  teacher- directed instruction and delivery, the identification of a real problem,  and the creating of a real authentic product. All these elements have to blend together and their dosage differs from one unit to another and is subject to various trials and errors.

For instance, for these last two years I've been seeking the magic formula for a unit about water scarcity for my Grade 9 Humanities class. Lima is the second largest city in a desert after Cairo and its water resources are quickly dwindling. In fact, in the last thirty years the Peruvian mountain glaciers alone have experienced a 21% shrinkage. On top of this, 40% of the freshwater supplies that reach Lima are wasted either due to leaking pipes or water mismanagement. Moreover, fresh water in the Rimac has been contaminated with mining residue. All these issue added up to the rapid population growth resulting from a high influx of migrants from the poorer regions in Peru, make this complex.

When I planned this unit, last year, I felt that is was way too contrived since the lessons were mostly teacher-driven and discussed a wide range of topics related to water scarcity. With all my good intentions, I realized that I needed to give up control.

So this year, in an attempt to revamp this unit, I reached out to my colleagues and Sonja Bleeker who works for a local NGO, Aguafondo. Together we devised a skeleton for a unit that would require students to address Lima's water scarcity by:

          *Identifying one specific contributor factor to water scarcity in Lima
          *Identifying and evaluating a solution that can address the problem

Solutions brainstormed by students

For their summative assessment, students would write an online article that raises awareness about the difference causes of water scarcity in Lima and sheds light on the viability of their chosen solution. The best articles would be published on Peru This Week.

Obviously, one of the biggest challenges was finding data. Unfortunately, the community in Lima seems to be quite unaware of the magnitude of this problem and there is not so much information out there. So students would be required to use their inference skills by looking at different data from other countries and applying that knowledge to Lima. However, it was clear that in order to get a good grasp of the real costs and the benefits of complex solutions we would need the help from experts.

So we reached out for help and sure enough the experts came to our rescue. Sonja and her colleague, Oscar Nunez from Aquafondo came to school and provided essential data to help us articulate the problems that students had identified.

Moreover, students evaluating complex solutions had the possibility to Skype with Julien Noel, one of the creators of the water billboard and meet with Eduardo Gold, the award winning inventor of glacier painting. We also had parents lend a helping hand: Ernesto Cordova who works in a private desalination plant helped students make estimates on the cost of the implementation and the maintenance of such on a local scale.

Most of these interactions took place last week and I was glad to witness a high level of engagement from the student's side. After all, they are trying to tackle complex issues, the same issues that the experts who visited them are trying to address. Hence, it's relevant.

Yesterday, after the meeting with Jaime Del Solar, Fernando, one of my students, said something that resonated with me. "Both costs and benefits are very valid. This is stressful because I don't which side to take. This is really complicated." Indeed, Fernando, came to the realization that when dealing with complexity there are a lot of gray areas. The answers cannot be found on a textbook and the best thing one can do is to use his/her ingenuity to best address the problem at hand with all its implications.

It is this type of experiential learning that breaks down the barriers between the classroom and the real world...and real world problems require real world experts.

"You can't do that if you're standing all Alone" (Lee Ving)

Problem-solving, collaboration and creativity are ubiquitous in 21st century educational lingo. These skills have by no means become important only now; they have been essential ever since the time of hunters and gatherers. Unfortunately, we educators don't always do a great job in championing such qualities. 

This year, I attended a workshop let by my colleague and buddy Corey Topf. In his presentation, Corey was explaining how, very often in the IB Diploma, teachers focus on grades at the expense of process. This approach inevitably stifles creativity. The teachers attending seemed to nod in agreement. Midway into his workshop, Corey separated us in groups of four and asked us to prepare a 3 minute video explaining how the IB fosters creativity and what can be done to implement more creative tasks in the programme. 

The purpose of this 45 minute exercise was to model authentic assessments and have teachers creating engaging videos using the 3 skills. It was at this point that the atmosphere in the room took a shocking downturn. While some teachers seemed pumped about the activity, others were visibly perplexed. The same participants who only a few minutes before seemed radiant, all of a sudden started to emanate a somber vibe. And I was left in a quandary; had I missed anything?

It did turn out that some teachers did not feel comfortable appearing on camera while they "criticized" the IB Diploma. Fair enough. However, that did not seem to be the full story.  As my group was working on the video, one of the members said that she did not feel comfortable doing this activity because she thought "that we were only going to have a discussion" implying that she did not expect to have to do any work. This comment was an eye-opener: this teacher was seriously expecting to merely attend a workshop and not be required to produce any product. Unfortunately she was not the only one who had deserted the workshop. One could easily sense a certain uneasiness of some teachers to create videos.

Apart, from highlighting the low expectations some have of professional development, this example sadly emphasizes the discomfort some teachers have (I also find myself guilty of this at times) collaborating with peers especially when the task includes a certain amount of unfamiliarity. Indeed, the task had some important challenges such as having to work collaboratively with strangers under a time constraint and talking in front of a video camera. Many were not experts at this, but isn't that the point? Would these same teachers accept such kind of working ethic from their students?

I believe that we teachers are way too self-conscious about making mistakes. We can get so scared of failing that we shut down and resist learning new things just because the fear freezes us. As a result we just close the doors and do our thing hoping for the best.

Yesterday, I watched an inspiring documentary called Sound City. I always wondered what made rock music seem so hip. Yes, the leather pants, the long hair and the electric guitars certainly help create an appeal, but there's more behind the myth. As I watched this documentary, I couldn't help but be in awe at how organic songwriting is . Creating music usually happens collaboratively and it's intensely genuine. There's the notion of a group of individuals coming together to create something from scratch.  

The Sound Board From Sound City

Sound City, used to be a hip recording studio that has witnessed the creation of some stellar albums such as Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Nevermind by Nirvana, just to mention a couple.  In the last part of this documentary some of the biggest names in music come together to record Real to Reel using the legendary console from the recording studio that had been used to create many masterpieces in the past. And this is when the documentary hit a chord. These musicians were deeply immersed creating works of art collaboratively. Their eyes were lit up as they took pride in doing something that they believe in, that they are passionate about.  (On a side note, it is interesting how when creating works of art musicians are not separated according to the different instruments or disciplines. They come together to create one unique sound. People are not wondering if it is possible to blend the sound of a cello with that of an electric guitar, they just make it happen. This is yet another important argument for transdisciplinarity in education) 

I wonder what would happen if you threw a bunch of passionate educators (ad not) to "jam" together strumming learning experiences. There is something that is so rock n'roll about curriculum design. Like artists, we are required to create something from scratch. Designing learning experiences, as Corey calls it,  should be a matter of deepest pride for us teachers because it transforms the students' educational journey. We spend way too much time worrying about classroom management, lesson delivery, and student motivation. Those aspects would all fall into place with a kick ass learning experience. (In my first years of teaching I wasted my days focusing on obedience because I failed to see the big picture). 

Time is indeed a factor and we often find ourselves running running short of it. But sometimes we use this as an excuse and we settle for less. We should not limit ourselves to create cover versions and delve more into "jamming". 

At one point as Dave and Paul jammed together,  there was an intense flow of energy. They were totally absorbed doing what they loved most and knew very well that they were up to something. No matter how hard I try, my writing cannot do any justice to the solemnity of this scene. As they discovered sounds and melodies, it was clear that there was a feel, which as Lars Ulrich from Metallica defines is "a chemistry, something that happens between people. And in this exact moment of chemistry Dave Grohl turns towards takes a sigh and asks "why can it always be this easy?" to which Paul Mc Cartney promptly replies "It is." Priceless!

Finally, this quote by Mick Fleetwood epitomizes the notion behind collaboration:

"I think the downside, these days, is thinking that "I can do this all on my own." Yes you can do this on your own, but you will be a much happier human being to do it with other human beings, and I can guarantee you that."

Clueless

Last week, one of the stories that hit the social media was the iPad debacle encountered in California. The iPads that had been handed out to students had to be recalled because they had managed to hack their devices to play games and access social networking sites. This has led many to question the effectiveness of this programme.  People, however, seem to be questioning more the hasty distribution of these iPads rather than the imposed  restrictions. I believe the latter is the one that ought to be questioned.

Imposing filters on gadgets that had been distributed to meet the needs of 21st century education is indeed counterintuitive. I do agree that students struggle to find a balance healthy balance between leisure and duty, but the imposition of filters will only send mixed messages to students. On one hand students are being given a majestic tool that could be used for different purposes yet they are not being allowed to use it in a "real world" context.  In the real world people iPads are multipurpose; they are used to access Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and games sites. Students have to be trained to be disciplined and responsible for their learning while taking advantage of such tools. Filtering websites does not address this issue at all, if anything it continues to alienate kids from education.  This is yet another example of how the people who should be driving education are usually the ones who are the most oblivious to it.

Implementation of technology in education is a must; however, this has to come with a vision.  Last year, during the national elections in my beloved Malta, the two competing political parties pledged that they'd give out iPads to primary school students if elected. Indeed, the implementation of technology that transforms learning should be celebrated irrespective of the political motive behind it. Nevertheless, if Maltese students end up doing repetitive Math problems and answering comprehension questions on online textbooks, then all that investment would have been one pathetic blunder.

Many people who are in education unwittingly mistake the use of innovative technology in the classroom as THE innovation in education. Little do they understand that technology without a sound pedagogy is a car without a driver. If we truly believe that the use of technology alone will solve all the issues in education then we are setting our children up for failure.  As a result, when big undertakings fall flat due to their shortsightedness, they fuel the noxious skepticism of those who are  still stuck in the 20th century and refute a much needed change in education.

In his SAMR model, Dr. Puentedura makes a clear distinction of the different purposes of technology in education, the most effective one being for the redefinition of learning. iPads can be used for students to contact experts using Skype and Twitter, they can upload videos using Youtube, and create websites and blogs. These tools would indeed transform and contextualize learning making it applicable to the real world.  Ironically, these same tools are deemed as a hindrance and are being filtered from children.