Round 2....

I started a blog a few years ago and "fell off the wagon" rather quickly. However, I recently received an email from a parent of a former student. The parent mentioned how they appreciated seeing what I was learning about and what interested me in the world of Education and that I was invested in learning about my students and how they learn. That was the first time (3 years later) anyone had every commented on or about my blog. The lack of interaction with my blog was part of the reason why I "fell off the wagon" in the first place. I have seen and read other blogs and love the conversation that occurs around their sharing. That was my goal when I started to blog. Although the conversation and comments around my blog would be great....sharing ideas (mine and others) and reflection can be very powerful and should be done. Whether a person chooses to share their reflection personally or publicly is ultimately up to them.

My first attempt at blogging was inspired by George Couros who was the keynote speaker at 21CTLS (21st Century Technology and Learning Symposium). Mr. Couros is a huge believer of blogging not just teachers for reflection and professional learning but also for students to reflect on their learning. The interesting part of this for myself, is that I never "found the time" for my students (or myself for that matter) to truly reflect on their learning (this thought has sparked a variety of other ideas that will likely become future posts). Why not? Well, in my infancy of a teacher my thought was...how does blogging fit in my Math and Science curriculum (those were the two subjects I taught at the time)? As I have grown as an educator, with my new role as a Learning Coach and as the focus on Literacy becomes more pervasive in Alberta Education...blogging to reflect in all subjects not only supports the ideas of reflection to make learning powerful but also gets students writing to an authentic audience. What more can we ask for in a classroom??

Zeros in School

With a lot of talk about the teacher in Edmonton teacher Lyndon Dorval who was suspended after not following the school's "no zero" policy. I've been reading a bit of the reactions through twitter and some of the newspapers. I've only been teaching for two years and I have never assessed using zeros so I don't have a previous comparison to the way I assess now. I do have a couple of thoughts about the whole thing. 

I teach Elementary School and I have other consequences I'm able to give my students if they choose not to do their homework. On the same note, as part of the same system I reward my students who do complete assignments on time and so far this system has been very successful. 

If I do have assignments or projects that a student or students don't hand in, or I am having a hard time getting them handed in, I don't think about how much that student is going to "fail in life" because I'm not giving them a zero. Instead I take a look at my assessment and see how I can change either the way I present the information or the way the students show me what they know to make it meaningful to them and thus encourage them to complete their assignments because they are excited to show me what they have done. 

Again, I understand that life is different in elementary school compared to the life of a high school Physics teacher but I don't think the mindset should be much different. I was at a cohort meeting for second year teacher's in my school division and a high school teacher who teaches at risk students or students who haven't been overly successful in school. He talked about the way he assesses and how he does project based assessments. He talked about he differentiates his assessments so students can show him what they know in the way that makes the most sense to them....not in the way he thought they should give them the information. 

I want my students to be successful, I want them to be excited to come to school every day and I want them to complete every assessment I give them. I want my students to be excited to show me what they know, to explore and learn everyday they come in. In order for this to occur I must reflect and be critical about how I teach and assess in order to make this happen.