Poetry that Moves

Guest post by University of Calgary student teacher, Lisa Nguyen

I cultivated a love for poetry at a young age, but for many people it is an inaccessible genre that is tedious to read, nonetheless teach. Although it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I’m convinced poetry appreciation and creation relies on effective communication. If a person clearly conveys something meaningful through a form as fluid and pithy as a poem, they have engaged in an artistic process that places them in the company of great writers.

When my partner teacher Rick and I conceptualized this poetry unit, our goals were to improve student communication skills, add an undeniably engaging element, and have the class authentically experience creative writing. It seemed fitting that today’s highly visual and technologically savvy generation would transform the concept of a concrete poem and digitally bring it to life.

Our Grade 6 Humanities classes completed a three step writing method that culminated in a kinetic poem. Each phase required students to delve deeply into their thoughts and wonders, broaden their knowledge of poetry and powerful writing, become familiar with different computer programs and websites, and tap into their creativity.

Students documented their work using the online notebook program Evernote which was synced and shared so we could monitor progress instantaneously. We placed emphasis on the process rather than the product and assessed students by giving them formative feedback on their written reflections completed after each phase. The student’s ability to communicate their understanding and experiences was our evidence that meaningful learning took place.

To bring their poems to life, students used Keynote to create text animation. I was amazed how quickly they mastered the program and how they naturally collaborated to share their knowledge. Watching the finished products proves that richer language was used to communicate deeper messages and this makes these poems worth producing.

Here's a link to all the teaching materials for this project.

Here are three student examples of 'Poetry That Moves":

Student Comments about our School

Like many schools in the province, we participate in the "Tell Them From Me" survey designed to get a sense of student engagement.

As part of the survey our grade 7-9 students are asked to answer a few open-ended questions about their school. This is a sampling of the types of comments that we received - which were overall very positive and confirming:

• I love my school! It has enhanced my personality and my understanding of topics. They do an amazing program that is fun and educational. I don't think I would change anything in my school.

• I think that our school really challenges us to do our best our strive to be the greatest that we can.

• I like that you get an opportunity to learn by yourself through inquiry and experiments and hands on activities.

• They let us learn for ourselves instead of just giving us the answer. We have group discussions so we can learn from each others ideas. And there are lots of fun projects that we do.

• My teachers make the most unique projects that I have never heard before!

• All my teachers motivate me to become a better person.

• They usually make us excited to learn, and provide us with projects that allow us much freedom and ability to use our strengths. They are encouraging and assist you when you need help. They make you excited, and know your personality very well.

• Our school gives us a chance to have second chances, the inquiry based learning is very effective.

• They act excited themselves, which is nice.

• They demonstrate ideas through use of models and allowing the students to try things themselves instead of constantly telling us everything.

• They create fun projects and ones that challenge us. They also make a positive environment for us to learn.

• They interest me with different projects and activities

• Let us work it out on our own.

• Keep pushing us to try and go beyond what were capable of.

• I really like our inquiry based learning within the Calgary Science School which really makes us think deeper within various concepts applied within various applications in the real world.

• My teachers are engaged in our learning. When we have discussions, they take all our opinions in and never say that you are wrong. It really makes you want to participate knowing everyone will respect your thoughts and opinions.

• They give us assignments that we probably would like more than doing other things such as taking notes. Instead we can research by ourselves or in groups and do our own project. It makes is more independent than relying on the teacher for information.

• They are funny and engaged in the topic. We have to work and find the answer for ourselves, we don't sit there any they tell us what is right and what is wrong.

Augmented Reality in the Wood Shop

by Dan McWilliam

This year I am trying a new elective where students use their creativity and engineering skills to create anything they want from two 2x4 pieces of wood. While the final product is up to the students, the goal of the elective is to have students go through the process of planning, drafting, revising and creating a final product.

One of the first steps of the elective was for students to create a model of their woodworking piece using Google Sketchup. They did this back in September when the elective started.

Recently I have been experimenting with Augmented Reality and in particular the Sightspace3D application for the iPad. This app also the user to project any 3D object created in Google SketchUp (on a laptop or desktop) into real life using Augmented Reality. This means that students can virtually 'walk around' a design and examine it from all sides in the real, physical world.

The process is as follows:

Once they have created their 3D model to scale in Sketchup, they export the file as a .kmz file which is then sent to the device with the app. By opening the attachment from an email, Sightspace 3D will open and the model is viewable. Select AR mode and the model will be placed near the device. The app uses the camera to view the Augmented layer of the student project in the real life space. You can then walk around the object to get a full 3D view.

What I have found so far is that the smaller the object the tougher it has been to navigate around, though you are able to make size and position adjustments with your finger. The app includes a camera icon to capture the Sketchup object in the Real World.

The example below shows iPad screenshots of a 3D-designed image that a student created in Google Sketch two months ago placed in the real world beside an their final object created out of wood. Using their iPads, students can now walk around and examine both objects together.

I'm excited about the possibilities...

First Attempts In Learning

by Deirdre Bailey

I used to think exclusively in black and white.

I have a sincere appreciation for the clear-cut, precise and absolute and have argued that those who are not 100% sure of their accuracy should not be entitled to an opinion. I have spent most of my life infuriated by indecisiveness and I cringe to acknowledge that I have stormed off in irritation at people who would answer questions with questions instead of concrete opinions. I have been an equally harsh critic of my own confusion and have been guilty of rushing a process in order to arrive at a conclusion I could stand behind.

Recently, my thinking has changed.

At a conference last week, when I was asked to choose an object to represent myself, I chose colored crayons. "Black and white are too singular, there just isn't enough room for progression in them," I reasoned, "you've got to have room for the process when you're learning. You've got to be able to make use of all those colors and their ability to blend, to mask and to complement." What I am recognizing is that absolutes are finite where learning is infinite and if you are open to it, then you can never be finished with it.

What this means for learners is that the process of moving ever closer to your goal will, at some point, necessitate feedback which might recognize and identify that you are not yet "there." That is the hard part. Inquiry is an elastic framework within which you have room to expand, to reach out and explore. But that elastic will recoil if you push too quickly or forcefully in one direction. The question will keep bringing you back, sometimes harshly if you run with an idea too "absolutely."

I have recognized for a while now that feedback is necessary to the learning process. What I have recognized recently is that it can be a tough reality check when you are at your most excited; it is difficult to believe you have perfected a drawing, only to discover that your red needs to deepen to purple.

The lesson however, is not that the excitement should be tapered because recoil hurts. Neither is it that you should always expect a recoil. The lesson is that you should always be grateful for the added beauty of the re-direction, change in perspective or supplementary color. The challenge, as Maya Angelou so beautifully puts it, is that:

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."

As a society, we so rarely celebrate those moments in which we realize that our learning has hit a roadblock, that we are at risk of avoiding them entirely as we do not effectively value their worth. My first reaction to critical feedback is to defend myself. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe because I have been conditioned to see this feedback as critique of my ability and self worth? After all, traditional education has effectively perpetuated a grading system in which academic standards are an implement with which we are encouraged to measure ourselves.

Perhaps shockingly, it is only recently that I have come to realize that no one has it all figured out, especially not the people who are acting like they do. Part of the inquiry process has to be understanding that you can never have all the answers. Part of never having all the answers has to mean that sometimes, you just might not be able to conclude a conversation with an absolute that blows all criticism to pieces and puts the argument to rest forever. Terry Pratchett has a great quote that states:

"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."

The beauty of inquiry is that this trouble becomes an advantage as it adds to, conflicts with, redirects or refocuses what you already know and you, ultimately, become more colorful for it.

F.A.I.L.; First Attempt In Learning

The Curricular Potential of Integrated Digital Inquiry Resources

by Dave Scott, Grade 8 Humanities

Recently I have been working on developing a series of integrated digital inquiry resources to support and enhance my grade 8 social studies and language arts programs.

Here is my first attempt at a resource like this:

My vision for this resources was to bring together several innovations that digital publishing now makes possible. I think that developing digital inquiry resources would make use of three powerful ideas that have a significant impact on how students learn a topic such as the Italian Renaissance.

1. Links to documentaries and other video clips can bring to life the often boring facts and ideas presented in a textbook.

"Youth need images for their imaginations and for the formation of their memories." (Jardine, 2006)

For example, in our study of the Renaissance, hyperlinks now allow us to move beyond the limits of a text based book and imbed into the resource exceptionally well done documentaries such as Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance.

This PBS documentary can do what a purely text based resource has difficulty achieving, namely bringing students into the lived reality of Florence, Italy circa the mid 1400's. Often student's relationship with a social studies textbook involves confronting a wall of deadened facts that reduce the learning of history to memorizing a series of events and developments that occurred during a particular historical period.

Documentaries such as these can bring to life what is meant, for example, when we say the Renaissance involved a rebirth of ancient Roman thought and styles. In the video this is achieved by showing Brunelleschi wandering the ruins of Rome with his patron Cosomo Medici in an attempt to divine the secrets of the Pantheon so they could complete the Florentine Cathedral and as a result build the first free standing dome that Europe had seen for a thousand years.

Throughout the resource, accompanying text based explanations of events and developments occurring at this time, I have included links from the History Channel and other sources to show the lived world of such concepts as The Crusades or the Black Death.

2. Digital resources provide an opportunity to move beyond the often trivial information recall questions asked in textbooks.

I believe that teachers can craft tasks that develop deeper and more meaningful understandings than textbooks seem to accomplish. For example, after learning about the idea that Humanism rejected the Medieval obsession with the afterlife at the expense of this life and placed man and his potential at the centre of things, using two superb video clips to bring students deeper tinto this notion, I asked my students the following question:

Drawing on this History Channel video Humanism Triggers the Renaissance, after watching this Clamation version of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, how do you think Humanist thinkers would have interpreted the symbols in this story?

Although some teachers may resist the idea that grade 8 students are capable of having such a 'high level' conversation, I believe, as evidenced by this video of a class discussion I facilitated last year, that they certainly are able to engage in deep and meaningful conversations that sources like these make possible.

3. Khan Academy type mini-lectures imbedded in the resource make it possible to show students how to provide quality responses to the inquiry tasks.

Since Bill Gates dedicated a multi-million dollar injection of funding to help the Khan Academy broaden the number of tutorials they offer, the idea of the flipped classroom has gained significant traction within discussions concerning how digital technologies could significantly support and enhance traditional approaches to instruction.

Taken from this blog, the Flipped Classroom as described by Jonathan Martin is:

Flip your instruction so that students watch and listen to your lectures for homework, and then use your precious class-time for what previously, often, was done in homework: tackling difficult problems, working in groups, researching, collaborating, crafting and creating. Classrooms become laboratories or studios, and yet content delivery is preserved.

For more information, A compiled resource page on the idea of the Flipped Classroom (with videos and links) can be found here.

Some educators have criticized the Khan Academy and flipped classroom approach that video tutorials allow, arguing that it leaves intact the factory model of education where skills and processes are treated as isolated and discrete entities. The critique here is that unless these skills and processes live somewhere, like within a meaningful project or task that ideally has real world implications, then we are still left with an approach to learning that has no greater purpose beyond mastery of isolated skills and processes for their own sake. This approach assumes that later on down the road these skills will be transferable to real world problems and tasks.

Although I agree with this critique of the Khan Academy, I do believe this approach offers significant potential to offer support and aid to students when they need it, who may struggle in, for example, providing a sophisticated, developed, and well supported response to the inquiry question on Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

What I am trying to accomplish with this digital resource is to make use of the positive possibilities of the flipped classroom by giving students multiple entry points into the content - while embedding the resources into a larger, more meaningful set of inquiry questions and problems.

I welcome feedback and suggestion about these ideas and my first inquiry resource...

Jardine, D. (2006). "Youth need images for their imaginations and for the formation of their memories." Journal of Curriculum Theorizing. 22(4), 3-12.

Edmodo: Social Networking Reinvented!

By Ivy Waite

Social networking has revolutionized the way that we interact with those around us, and educational networking is here to revolutionize our classrooms. Rather than networking focused on sharing personal photos and the latest scoop, educational networks provides teachers with a new way to facilitate collaboration among their students, and share in their learning experiences.

Enter: Edmodo - Facebook created by teachers for twenty first century classrooms.

I first used Edmodo as a student teacher, and researched it's potential as a classroom tool. The results of reading can be found at this website: Educational Networking - Towards The 21st Century Classroom.

This year, Jaime and I decided to use Edmodo as a platform upon which to build our current events assignment for the first term. We wanted students to share one article and analysis each week, and to comment on other students work regularly as well. Edmodo provided us with the perfect, private, controlled space.

Our students were immediately hooked on Edmodo once they signed up. "This looks just like Facebook!" and "check out my cool avatar!" were only a couple of the positive comments that we received.

Throughout the course of the first term, I was blown away by the calibre of posts and conversations that resulted from them. Students were having in depth conversations about current events, outside of the classroom! Occasionally the site would crash and not allow anyone to login, but I find it easy to understand how 50+ students logging in at once can crash a server.

While we are not using Edmodo for current events in the second term, I feel that it's worth as an educational tool is enormous! Teachers can post assignments, share grades, message students individually or in groups, and more. Students are able to sign up to receive text message notifications when you post information, and have said that the service really helps them to stay on top of things going on in class.

If you have not yet visited Edmodo, do not wait! Your students are ready and waiting!

Making Learning Visible: Art

I was walking down our art hallway today and saw our art teacher, Lorrie Emin, putting up these great pieces of student work.

What struck me about these pieces of grade 7 student artwork (beyond the amazing quality) was how the focus was on the student learning - not just on the final product. Each piece demonstrated incredible growth and skill development - made public to the rest of the school.

This was done in a simple - yet effective way. Each of the samples had three components: a first draft, a final draft and a short blurb from the student explaining what they have learned about sketching and the challenges they faced.

One of the blurbs from the sample above reads:

Identity Comes Alive With Issuu

By Ivy Waite

When my teaching partner Jaime Groeller suggested that we culminate our study ofidentity with a poetry anthology I may have been a little skeptical. I had asked grade 9 students to create and analyze poetry in the past with mixed results, but loved the idea of trying to engage them in some creative writing. We forged ahead with the idea, inspired by Jaime's own poetry anthologies from high school.

We figured, if Jaime could create such amazing work with limited technology, what could our students do armed with their background knowledge and a healthy serving of creativity?

I had made a note about Issuu Online Publishing long before Jaime and I sat down to plan our unit together. It was pure coincidence that CSS was already using Issuu to publish our monthly newsletter, The Spectrum. Jaime and I saw that Issuu could help us to ensure that the anthology assignment was both authentic and meaningful.

Students experienced the writing process in it's entirety, from conception to publication of their work; and were given a real audience for their writing. The anthology stopped being something that was 'just for marks', and became a real channel for self expression.

Our unit began with an in depth look into the nature of our names, and forged ahead through a consideration of our unique political ideologies, and other various aspects of individual and collective identities. I was thrilled to team teach for the first time, and was amazed at what we could accomplish together. We combined our classes and Humanities was moved to the library.

With two groups of fifty students we were able to capture their attention with a lyric analysis activity that showed them poetry they were already exposed to through music; quickly cover content (in a way that the students perceived as different, special and fun); go through the assignment expectations; and set the students loose finding and writing their own poetry. Students were free to find and analyze poems of any form, from any source.

We provided them with links to get them started (check out the assignment handout below), and gathered books from our school library with the help of our teacher-librarian Donna. Students learned about various poetic forms:

• Japanese haiku: with kigo and kireji
• Shakespearean sonnet: 4 stanzas with abab rhyme scheme, and a rhyming couplet complete with turn
• Concrete: allow us to see the meaning
• Free form: free to be inspired

and were challenged to create five original poems, one of each form (plus a free-choice).



In order to help all students find success in this project, Jaime created the following worksheet where they could easily manage all of the information that they were required to find and create: poems with full MLA citations, analyses, images to support meaning, and their own poems with analyses.

I was absolutely amazed with the work that students' created.

The majority put an incredible amount of time, thought, and passion into their anthologies. The feedback from students after they had published their anthologies was incredibly positive, with almost everyone admitting that their initial skepticism was unwarranted. They had fun with poetry!

The examples below were incredibly hard to choose. All 100 anthologies that our grade nines created are worth viewing - and thanks to Issuu, they are available for all to enjoy! Visit us atIvy Waite or Jaime Groeller on Issuu to view our entire collections.

It is worth noting that having the anthologies available online enabled us to utilize QRCodes as a way to share this work throughout the school. Jaime printed single pages from various anthologies, and posted them with a QRCode that takes the viewer to the entire anthology online. This is such a great way to share work that I never knew about until this year at CSS!!! Another reason why collaboration rocks!

Open publication - Free publishing - More identity

The one downside of this project was the assessment of it. While the rubric that we created did address multiple aspects of the anthology, and focused on the key areas of the project, it took forever to mark each piece.

We are still considering how to address this issue in the future, and ideas are welcome..

The Seeds of Collaboration...

By Ivy Waite

Walking around CSS today was much like the other days that I have been fortunate enough to spend at this school. As a teacher new to both the profession and the school, I seem to see things through a different lens... Teaching partners working together during their regular, scheduled planning periods; teachers team teaching in the library with 50 students; a lesson study involving teachers from multiple schools; this is incredible stuff! The real power in these events is the impact that they have on student learning. In all instances of collaboration at CSS it is evident that authentic student engagement and success are the main focus.

Through my different lens, an appreciation for and curiosity about the power of collaboration has begun. Working with my teaching partner, grade, and subject team members has been challenging me daily to reflect upon my own practice. What is the real difference that collaboration can make in transforming teaching and learning? What does it really mean to collaborate? What are the most effective ways to take advantage of the amazing opportunities that a spirit of collaboration can present? How do students and teachers collaborate among themselves, and among each other?

I find myself reflecting on how this all began, and what we all did when presented with the seeds of collaboration upon coming to CSS...

When I was told that I would have time to work with my teaching partner Jaime Groeller almost daily to plan collaboratively, I wondered how we would possibly make this work. What if we had different pedagogies? What if we didn't get along? What if??? Soon enough though, my worries were extinguished when I saw that she put as many exclamation points in her email to me as I did in mine to her. I was very excited by this first glimpse into our partnership.

Once Jaime and I began working together, we quickly realized that this is a match made in heaven.

This glimpse of our massive, eleven page year plan is illustrative of what happens when two brains combine their resources. Compared to past plans, this year's is incredibly detailed and expansive in it's scope and sequence. Naturally, it is a GoogleDoc that we both add to and change when inspiration or motivation sets in. What would have normally taken me endless hours and limitless stress was created casually over a period of weeks (that soon turned into months) by the two of us. I can confidently say that I can sleep easier at night knowing that we have the next seven months mapped out. There is no doubt about the direction that we are headed in, or what we have chosen to do with the seeds of collaboration that were presented to us.

I can honestly say that I have been continually amazed at what can happen when teachers work together openly in the spirit of true collaboration. This is more than just sharing ideas, but the process of working together to achieve a common goal. True collaboration is a process in which two or more people co-conceive, design, execute and reflect upon teaching and learning.

It is this process that ensures our students are engaged in meaningful, authentic, engaging, inquiry based learning.

Great Literature Inspires Great Writing: The House on Mango Street & My Name

By Ivy Waite

As a student teacher one of my mentor teachers gave me the book The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. I have since used this short, incredible piece innumerable times in my humanities classroom with students from grades seven to twelve. This book found it's way into grade nine humanities classrooms this year when I introduced it to my teaching partner Jaime...

We decided to begin our Identity unit with a lesson involving Mango Street that I have used multiple times, with great success. In the lesson My Name, students read Sandra Cisneros' exemplary vignette exploring her name from Mango Street to inspire them to consider the nature of their own names, and write their own vignettes. In the past I have simply read the story and then set students loose to "go research" their own names. This year, Jaime suggested that we use this assignment as an opportunity to review the inquiry process and have students write 10 strong inquiry questions to guide their explorations. I must admit that this step made a HUGE difference in terms of the depth that the students went to...

Listen to Sandra Cisneros tell the story behind her incredible piece, and pick up the 25th Anniversary edition with a new introduction from the author. (Hard to believe it is already nearing it's 28th anniversary!)

If you have not read "The House on Mango Street", run and read it today! The rich description, figurative language, attention to detail, and strong emotions make it an invaluable work in any humanities classroom...

Introduction to Inquiry Based Learning

At the Calgary Science School we focus on inquiry-based learning, technology-intergration and outdoor/environmental education. We believe these three pillars come together to provide students with opportunities for authentic, meaningful and relevant learning.

At the core of our program is inquiry - an approach to learning and teaching (including teacher learning) that is the foundation of all we do. Our thinking around inquiry is that it is more than just 'doing projects' but is rather nurturing a dispostion toward critical thinking, reflection and idea improvement in all learners in our building. In creating and sharing these projects, we are thankful to the Galileo Educational Network for their role in shaping much of our thinking about inquiry.

On this blog you'll find a growing collection of inquiry-based projects. You can use the tag list on the right side of the blog to find ideas on specific topics, grades or subjects.

Recently we have created an 'introduction to inquiry' guide structured around a modified version of the Inquiry Rubric developed by the Galileo Educational Network

This document is currently in a text-only format and our next goal is to embed illustrative video throughout the document.

We'd love to hear your thoughts and comments on the document. What resonates with you? What stands out to you? How might the document and the Galileo rubric be useful for you?

We share the first version of the document here with you:

Engaging Math: The Candy Problem

by Deirdre Bailey

I mentioned the Candy Problem in a previous post in which I alluded to having provided the kids with a challenging math problem that even teachers had been taking a significant chunk of time to solve. The Candy Problem was brought to us by the Galileo Educational Network as part of a longitudinal "lesson study" approach to math PD our math teachers are participating in.

We presented the problem as part of an end-of-semester formative assessment. We had had many conversations previous to presenting them with this problem about multiples, factors, common factors, number patterns and multiplicative relationships.

Our goal was not to evaluate the kids based on whether or not they could complete the problem but to provide them with a means of generating conjectures and demonstrating their thinking process.

Having started the year with a diverse group from very different mathematical backgrounds, we were inspired by their concentration, perseverance, and the unique strategies they developed in order to solve the problem. What most impressed us was the number of students that approached us to share tentative solutions at the end of the period. They each had individual interpretations of how the problem should be solved and were eager to share the conjectures that had led them to their solutions.

Since first introducing the problem, we have taken it up more in depth as a larger group. Kids have been working in teams based on original ideas they had in common for how a solution might be reached. They are excited, motivated, and eager for our next math class so that they can continue to develop and connect their understanding. Our Grade 7 and Grade 9 students have also since taken up the problem, inspired by the mathematical reasoning skills of their younger peers.

If there was ever any doubt about the power of inquiry in a math classroom, these last few weeks have put it to rest for our team. Check out our video!!

We'd love your feedback...

You can also see more math and inquiry problems here.

Community of Practice

by Amy Park

As the school year began, I was excited not only to be teaching at CSS again and teaching a new grade, but to wear the moniker "mentor." I thought, albeit naively, that I had a great deal to offer my new teaching partner, who with just one year under her belt was considered a newcomer to the profession. After nine years in the classroom, I assumed I would share all that I know about teaching and in return, she would learn. I have never made a worse assumption in all of my career. My belief about "mentoring" and what my role would be was completely outdated. From various academic journals and through countless discussions, I quickly realized how wrong I was.

The "old school" mentorship model partners an experienced teacher, me, with a ‘protégé’ teacher, Deirdre. It places all knowledge and expertise in the hands of the mentor, while discounting any expertise the protégé may have to offer. This relationship is based solely on a passing of knowledge, which means new strategies and approaches are not being developed, discovered, or explored. After our first couple of days of planning, I began to recognize the many faults in my assumptions about mentorship. Deirdre has a wealth of knowledge, a plethora of ideas, and an enthusiasm for teaching that is nothing short of contagious. Combined, in partnership, as equals - we have so much more to offer. This is when I began reading and researching more on the concept of "communities of practice".

A community of practice, according to Crafton and Kaiser (2011), occurs when teachers interact with each other on a regular basis; they participate in something that matters and because of this, their practice improves and often changes. It also requires teachers’ willingness to share, develop and adapt in the company of others. Examining the relationship between teacher practice and student learning is essential. Especially if teachers want to develop and have an even greater impact on the students who show up in classrooms every day. Establishing collaborative, learning cultures for teachers is necessary in order to meet the ever-changing needs of students.

Deirdre and I, as a team, have created a community of practice where together, we are far more effective than we would be alone.

“When teachers participate as knowledgeable professionals, capable of engaging in reflective practice and collaborative inquiry, that is who they become” (Crafton and Kaiser, 2011, p. 212). This, in and of itself, is the essence of the model and it accurately describes our professional relationship. If more first year teachers had the opportunity to engage in this form of quality professional development, I think the result would be far reaching; in that fewer teachers would feel isolated, the attrition rate would be significantly reduced, and teachers would have increased job satisfaction (both experienced and beginning). In my opinion, the practicality, strengths and benefits of communities of practice, if done properly, are endless.

I have been in the classroom for nine years, yet this is one of the first times where I have felt competent and confident of having a positive and significant impact on other teachers’ practices, while simultaneously improving my own practice. Through team-teaching, collaborative planning and ongoing, reflective conversations with Deirdre, I am - correction - WE are learning and growing as educators. Through digitally documenting the process of learning (for both our students and ourselves), I am confident we will gain a great deal, both personally and professionally and additionally, we will be able to share the process with others. Communities of practice are clearly a critical component to sustaining a collaborative culture at my school or at any school for that matter. The journey we are on is one that is hard to describe.

It is why I became a teacher and why I wake up every morning excited and happy to be going to "work."

References
Crafton, L. & Kaiser, E. (2011). The language of collaboration: Dialogue and identity in teacher professional development. Improving Schools, 14(2), p. 104-116. DOI: 10.1177/1365480211410437

Inspired Photo - http://www.brucebucks.com/2011/07/inspired-living/

This Is How Its Supposed To Feel...

by Deirdre Bailey

The start to my day today was hectic at best.

Snowy roads, a forgotten laptop and a first class full of glue and tissue paper. I asked the kids if they could do their best to be purposeful and respectful as they shredded piles of paper and painted white glue onto massive provincial cardboard cut outs. I handed a few of them some cameras and asked them to interview each other on the artistic process as I rushed around gathering materials. They generated their own questions, found their own space, and got to work. Twenty minutes before the end of class it was a disaster area. Ten minutes later it was spotless. Eight of them stayed back at recess to help wash glue cups. I hadn't asked.

In our classes after recess, we finished with an incredibly challenging math problem that they were tackling on their own in order to develop unique conjectures to contribute to a class discussion the following week. It was a really hard problem. We had worked through it as teachers earlier in the year and were averaging 45 minutes to arrive at solutions. We encouraged them to take their time and reminded them that partial solutions and questions were what we were really looking for. Their persistence and perceptiveness blew me away. We had 5 kids solve the problem.

I am away from school all next week. As I planned for my absence at the end of the day, all I could think about was how I really just didn't want to miss any of their moments... Where the light goes on and their faces light up. Where they walk out to recess mumbling about math because they're genuinely excited about being on the verge of a discovery...

Then it occurred to me, that this is what it's supposed to feel like.. When you figure out what you're supposed to do with your life and how to live it. When your 'work' is the only place you really want to be on a Monday morning. Ask me about 'how finding your passion changes everything.'

I just figured it out.

"They ask me why I teach and I reply, 'Where could I find such splendid company?' There sits a statesman, strong, unbiased, wise; another Daniel Webster, silver-tongued. A doctor sits beside him, whose quick steady hand may mend a bone, or stem the life-blood's flow. And there a builder... And all about a gathering of teachers, farmers, merchants, laborers: those who work and vote and build and plan and pray into a great tomorrow. And I may say, I may not see the church, or hear the word or eat the food their hands may grow. But yet again I may. And later I may say, I knew him once, and he was weak, or strong, or bold or proud or gay. I knew him once, but then he was a boy. They ask me why I teach and I reply, 'Where could I find such splendid company?'"

John Wooden's TED Talk on 'True Success'

Read more posts from Deirdre Bailey here.

Focusing on Outdoor and Environmental Education

On Nov 7-10, the Calgary Science School sent a team to the ACEE Environmental Leadership Clinic, funded by Cenovus Energy and Environment Canada's Eco-Action Community Fund. This Clinic provided our team with an opportunity to network with other Environmental Educators and stakeholders in Alberta.

As a CSS team, we focused on developing a plan to enhance and enrich the third pillar of our Charter - outdoor and environmental education. We've noticed that this blog is full of innovative and meaningful work that provides evidence of two of the three pillars of our Charter (technology and inquiry based practice) but we recognize that a greater emphasis must be placed on embedding outdoor and environmental education resources in our learning to further our Charter goals.

Prior to attending this clinic, our plan was to develop a scope and sequence outlining environmental and outdoor education activities and experiences for each grade level. It became quickly evident that a focus on sequence was not the most effective way to achieve our intended outcome of increased school-wide environmental awareness.

Day 1 of the clinic saw us adapt our planning to a staff-focused orientation. The next 2 and a half days were spent creating a comprehensive logic model and evaluation plan. Our strategy is to focus on building teacher capacity to cultivate an appreciation for, understanding of, and generate tools for, broadening student outdoor experiences and environmental conceptual awareness. As a team, we have structured a short-term plan designed to provide a much clearer picture of our school's current practices, attitudes and behaviours around environmental education. The opportunity to work uninterrupted for a full three and a half days has allowed the time, space and direction to accomplish work that would have taken many months if attempted along with our regular workload.

Our plan includes connecting with other environmental educators in Alberta in order to develop and share resources, as well as providing increased opportunities for teachers to reconnect with the natural world. We know we will have achieved our goal when we have developed a culture of environmental stewardship and an action orientation around sustainable practices for both students and staff that becomes an integral part of how we learn at the Calgary Science School.

Engaging Math: Ice Melt Problem

As part of the math lesson study we are currently hosting, one of our grade 9 math teachers (Jon Hoyt-Hallet) recently shared his classroom with 10 teachers while students were working on the 'ice melt' problem.

Both this math problem, as well as the framework of Lesson Study we are using come to use from our PD with the Galileo Educational Network.

This math problem is a simple one: before class starts the teacher puts a handful of ice in a funnel dripping into a graduated cylinder. The cylinders are on tables before the students enter. A simple question is on the board:

"When did the ice start melting?"

Students can use a variety of approaches to solve the problem - eventually working back to time zero when the ice was placed into the funnel.

One of the nice elements of this problem is how it gets students directly into the problem - without relying on text for explanation.

Watch the students work through the problem and then share their ideas for critique:

You can also see more math and inquiry problems here.

Ice Melt Problem:

Adapted by Martina Metz from Wise, D.U. (1990). Using melting ice to teach radiometric dating. In Journal of Geological Education (38), 38-40, 69.

Hands on with Grade 6 Flight!

by Erin Couillard

The last time I taught grade 6, my colleague Lisa Nelson and I decided to try something different with the flight unit. After a collaborative planning session with another colleague with expertise in this area, we developed a project in which students would design and test ‘objects that fly’ in a wind tunnel.

The wind tunnel was quite easy to build – it simply involves a fan and plastic tunnel sitting upon a scale. This tunnel allows student to calculate the change in weight of their designs during the testing process.

The ultimate goal for the students was to create the greatest amount of lift they could with the knowledge and engineering skills they had. While we experienced success with that project (high student engagement, creative building projects), we were unsatisfied with the way in which students communicated their progress and ‘ah ha’ moments. The original project had them keeping a daily logbook. This became an unwieldy document that was difficult to assess.



I have cycled back to grade 6 this year and was excited to tackle this project again. This time, I kept the building expectations the same, but tweaked the logbook requirement. This year they are required to keep a photo journal of their progress. Every day that the project is worked on, students must take a picture of their ‘object’ and comment below on what worked, what challenges they had, and where they are going next. With the students, a simple rubric was created so they had a framework in which to begin their project.

Because this is less of a written component and more of a visual component, I am observing students being far more excited and involved in their documenting of their learning. It gives them a very simple way to reflect upon their progress.

Due to the limitations of only having one wind tunnel in which to test, students are also working on two other building/testing projects which account for the rest of the learning outcomes for the Flight unit. One of these projects is a parachute testing project (identifying controlled, manipulated and responding variables), the other is working with paper gliders to achieve a set number of tasks (ie: can you make your glider dive? Pitch up? Bank Left/Right?).

It has been great to have the other projects on the go at the same time, as in the past, it has been rushed to achieve the remaining learning expectations for the unit, as the wind tunnel project takes a substantial amount of time. Having projects running alongside has minimized the amount of wasted time students spent waiting in line for the wind tunnel to do their testing.

Here is the project outline, rubric and parachute assignment:

Here is an example of one of the student flight journals:

Forging Connections between Science and Art

On October 5th and 6th, 2011, the Calgary Science School hosted the Forging Connections Conference.

This conference was a collaboration between teachers, art and science experts and parents with the goal of integrating art and science more authentically into the students’ learning.

This exciting two day event consisted of six, 105 minute sessions. Each was structured around a “show/tell/do” format where an artist (visual, drama/dance and music) showed a finished product; a scientist will explained the magic (science) behind it and then the students were able to make meaning of the knowledge through hands-on creation and exploration.

Create, Explore, Discover.

You can learn more about the event and access the plans for the 6 workshop over at the Forging Connections website.

Forging Connections between Science and Art at the Calgary Science School from Calgary Science School on Vimeo.

Sustained and Reflective PD

Last Saturday we kicked off an exciting professional development experience that's being hosted here at the Calgary Science School.

Over the last few years our math team has participated in a type of PD known as lesson study. Basically lesson study is a way to approach PD where teachers slowly examine and improve students' understanding by designing and working through rich problems together, collecting evidence of student thinking and then designing next steps together. The lesson study approach was most famously discussed in The Teaching Gap, an examination of math teaching practices in different countries.

This lesson study is facilitated by the Galileo Educational Network who have created the framework for the discussions as well as the various math problems we are using.

Our math team is now into their third year of thinking about math this way - and there is great momentum building amongst the team. One of the things that has really impacted our teachers' experience of lesson study came at the end of last year when we began providing time for teaching partners to get together and actually 'do' math, in addition to just thinking of how to teach it.

You can learn more about our journey with lesson study, including some examples of mathematical thinking in a classroom setting here:

With that in mind, the Calgary Regional Consortium has very generously provided the funding for us to host 22 junior high math teachers from various jurisdictions across the city in a similar form of lesson study - being hosted by two of our teachers, Jon Hoyt-Hallet and Erin Couillard.

This last Saturday was the kick off event. The 24 math teacher gathered together to spend the day 'doing' math. In groups they worked through two problems and then shared their process with the rest of the group.

Having working through the problems themselves, the teachers will now return to their own math classes and have their students tackle the same problems. The teachers have been asked to document the learning in their own classes and then bring back evidence of student learning.

When they come back to CSS they will see the same problem a third time - this time as an observer in one of our CSS math classes. This process of teachers doing a problem, teaching a problem and observing a problem being tackled by students will be repeated three more times- all directed toward examining students' mathematical thinking.

The first day was kicked off by a keynote from Paulino Preciado, a post-doc in math currently working with the Galileo Educational Network. You can watch Paulino's keynote here: