Coding in the Genius Hour Classroom: Discovering a New Passion

At Millwood Junior School, our JK-Grade 5 students participate in Genius Hour once per week.  For many students this is an opportunity to further explore existing passions and learn valuable technology, inquiry, communication and collaboration skills along the way.  For many students, however, Genius Hour has become a place where they discover passions for things they never knew about before.  Part of the Genius Hour process is for students to share the learning with one another.  Students are exposed to a wide variety of topics in this manner and when one piques their interest, they are able to chose that topic for their next inquiry.

Genius Hour is all about choice, but from time to time, students are given a little extra encouragement to try specific new things to see how they feel about them. Coding (computer programming) is such an important skill to have in the workforce today and it is expected that the need for people with an understanding of coding is going to continue to grow into the foreseeable future, so some time is devoted in our Genius Hour program to exposing our students to Hour of Code activities on websites like https://lightbot.com/ and https://code.org/ .  On these sites, students can learn the logic of coding with age appropriate tasks using block code.  Then, should they discover that coding is their new passion, they can choose to use Genius Hour time to go beyond the Hour of Code to explore various enrichment activities on these and other learn-to-code sites throughout the year.

Kindergarten Students learning to code with Lightbot

Closing the Math and Science Gender Gap

This was the final week of my summer course, and as I worked on my leadership project, which was to use technology to support at-risk students in math, the issue of the gender gap in Math and Science kept resurfacing at every turn.  Yes, girls are more represented in math and sciences than they once were, but things do not yet seem as balanced as they should be.  In the article Math + Culture = Gender Gap,  by the American Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/07-08/gender-gap.aspx) this problem is discussed in great detail.  I found the following information especially relevant when I read it:

According to University of Wisconsin psychologist Janet Hyde, PhD., "Even when girls are getting better grades, boys are more confident in math..."

Hyde et al found that, "the more gender equity a country had -- measured by school enrollment, women's share of research jobs and women's parliamentary representation -- the smaller its gender gap."  

Hyde concluded that, "When girls see opportunities for themselves in science, technology, engineering and math, they're more likely to pursue those careers." 

This made me wonder what I could do in terms of using technology to help my female students see opportunities.  How could I help to make them aware of female math and science trailblazers?  I feel that the best examples for girls to emulate would be those female mathematicians, scientists and computer scientists who were able to be phenomenally successful at a time when there were next to no women in their field.  When I look at such successful women, I think to myself, how incredibly skilled in math and science and also how wonderfully resilient they must have learned to be to make it against such odds.  If our girls have these examples in mind, they will be able to succeed in the environment we have in our society today, which though not perfect, is already much improved.   To this end, I've added a page to my Millwood Math Zone website all about women in science and math.  https://sites.google.com/a/tdsb.on.ca/millwood-math-zone/female-role-models  

P.S. This post  is dedicated to my two daughters and all the female math students I have ever taught or will teach.  I hope that I always communicated to you that I believe in you.  You can absolutely excell in math and science!

Doing Away With Some Double Standards

It is interesting, how professional development so often differs from the approaches that are recommended for the classroom.  Collaboration and inquiry are stressed as essential for developing an innovator's mindset in our students, yet when I attend professional development opportunities we often sit and listen to a presenter convey information to us.  This past week I enjoyed reading the following monograph from the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat and it has inspired me to talk less and facilitate inquiry among the teachers who attend any professional learning experiences I plan:  http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_CollaborativeInquiry.pdf

I have also been thinking a lot about the third teacher.  On this topic I enjoyed reading http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_ThirdTeacher.pdf

The third teacher between the parent, the teacher and the child is the learning environment.  It has occurred to me that we need to keep this idea in mind when we design professional learning experiences for teachers also.  I teach in an elementary school and the third teacher is present in most classrooms.  Teachers spend time decorating the class, posting learning goals and success criteria and posting student work.  However, as a parent of high school and university students, I have noticed tat as my daughters go up in the grades the third teacher becomes quieter and quieter until it is silenced..  I see some signs of the third teacher in our high schools but many university lecture halls are pretty bare.  Maybe it is because there is a new presenter and completely new audience each hour so no one feels ownership of the space. Professional development often takes place in even more temporary settings, so this poses an extra challenge.  Still, we need to reintroduce the third teacher in higher education and professional learning experiences.  We need to be creative and use welcoming online environments so that everyone can access them with their devices and make these digital environments an extension of the classroom.

Fostering Human Connections with Technology

Children in our classrooms today do not remember a world before the internet and this has affected their world view.  Many people are worried about this.  They worry today's youth interact more easily with technology than with people.  At least that is one stereotype that is out there...

However, lately I have seen many examples of technology actually enhancing, not hindering contact between individuals.  Students can converse with students from other parts of the planet via video conference.  Students who can not get together after school can collaborate on projects using a Google Docs or Slides.  Time and again over the past two weeks I have noticed examples of technology building human connections.

So, if students are so proficient with these tools, often well ahead of their teachers in knowing how to make devices work, what role if any do educators play in the student's learning about technology.  In other subject areas, teachers tend to be ahead of the learning curve but not in this area.  Our responsibility isn't to be the tech experts, but rather, it is to provide leadership in how to use technology to foster human connections.  It is through human connections that we learn and grow best.  Our students need leadership to use these tools, especially those with built in collaboration like Google Apps for Education to interact with one another and learn from one another.  Yes they know how to Google, but do they know how to evaluate sources?  Do they know how to avoid dangers on the internet?  A new kind of leadership is needed from teachers in schools today.  We need to be open to letting students show us the cool features of whatever program they are exploring but we also need to show them a few things as well.  Teachers are the ones in the best position to show students how those cool features can be used in a safe way, to make learning better by bringing people together.

The Dance

As the first week of summer holidays draws to a close, so does the first Learning Experience in the online summer course I am taking.  We've been learning all about taking on a leadership role in our school with respect to the integration of technology.  One of the earliest tasks was to watch a video called, The First Follower. The narrator in this video spoke about the role of the leader as well as the often hugely important role of the first followers in making a movement happen. The video shows a lone shirtless man in the middle of a field, doing an unusual dance.  Others are just watching him, probably not so sure what to make of him, until first one person, then a few others join in.  After that, everyone around the shirtless man and his first followers join the dance.  This, the narrator explains, is how  movements are begun.  If one compares a movement to a fire, the leader is the flint and the first followers are the sparks that ignite the movement.

As I have gone through this week, completed various activities, learned from my instructor and learned from my peers, this example stayed in the back of my mind at all times.  I came to realize, that movements and people's roles in them are more complex than a simple structure of leader, first followers and later followers.  Throughout the week, leadership roles keep switching from one person in our course to another.  Each time someone posts an idea that hasn't been mentioned previously, they, like the dancer in the video, take center stage for a while.  Then once the first classmates read and respond to the post, they, like the first followers in the video who affected the direction of the dance, become important to the direction of the online discussion.

No one can lead all the time.  Truly effective leaders often take a step back to learn from others and then in another setting apply what they have learned, but put their own spin on things.  Thus a first follower or even later follower in one context may become a leader in another context.  Leaders, it seems are not born, they are made.  In fact they are made and re-made with every new dance.

Proactive Visionaries (EdTech Leadership)

This term, I have been greatly enjoying participating in the second in a three-part series of additional qualification courses through the Elementary Teachers' Federation called Integrating Information and Computer Technology (Part 2).  As the course draws to a close and I reflect on which aspects made the greatest impact on my teaching, one learning experience stands out in my mind.  During the second half of the course our focus has been on staff development and EdTech leadership.  One of the Articles we read, which has had a significant impact on helping me to refine my thinking was the article by Lisa Mills, entitled Qualities of a Good Leader.  The article lists many important qualities and I agree with them all, but we were asked to identify which two we thought were most important.  I chose being proactive and being a visionary as being the two most important qualities in an EdTech Leader.  It really is essential to have both of these qualities to lead anyone anywhere but especially in this field.  Having one or the other won't be effective.  What good is having a vision of the direction of education technology if you aren't proactive about implementing anything?  Even worse would be to be proactive without a vision.  That means you're an early adopter of technology but haven't thought through what the educational benefits might be if any.  That is just busywork not leadership!  By the time we were given the task of developing a three-year strategic plan, I felt that I had a much clearer focus.  To complete my plan, I would just need to get in touch with my vision and think about what proactive steps I could take right now in the role I currently have in the school where I currently work to help achieve that vision.  That's what I did and the ideas just flowed.

I am not a principal, vice principal, chairperson in my school or digital lead learner for my area, however the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession  states that, "Members are to promote and participate in the creation of collaborative, safe and supportive learning communities. They should recognize their shared responsibilities and their leadership roles in order to facilitate student success."   So that says to me that even without an assigned role or title I have a mandate.  ANY teacher has the authority to be an EdTech leader in their school and ANY teacher can collaborate with colleagues to achieve their vision.  I may not have control of the purse strings, but working with the technology available to me and by putting together numerous small learning communities at my school around common interests, there actually is a lot I can do to make my vision a reality.

The great thing about taking this course is that I already have a learning community within that course of like-minded individuals.  I love how we bounce ideas off of one another in our online discussion forum.  One of the things we also do frequently in this course, is post our assignments for peer review and feedback.  I have benefited greatly from input of my classmates and before sharing my plan with anyone at my school, I posted it in our D2L virtual classroom, As always, there were helpful hints and insights.  Then, after that, I shared with my principal, using Google Forms and Docs of course!  He is super supportive about teachers using technology to enhance learning so I know that he'll encourage me to form learning communities to pursue some of the things I am keen on doing such as going paperless to help our environment, redefining how we deliver feedback and take anecdotal notes with Google Forms and DocAppender, as a well as connecting classrooms across divisions via Google Classrooms.  

The learning doesn't end here for me.  I'm looking forward to taking the third course in the series this summer so I'll be ready to hit the ground running with new educational technology skills and leadership abilities.  I don't know what the future holds, what roles I may play in the future, but I know one thing, for the rest of my teaching career I want to be an early adopter. of many new educational technologies, some of which I can't even imagine right now...a very reflective early adopter.  In brief, I want to be a proactive visionary!

These are a few of my favourite things! (EdTech blogs)

 I don't mean raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens.  In this post I would like to share my favourite EdTech blogs.  

Here for your reading pleasure are a few of my favourite things!

Inspire / Try / Share:  Learning with Each Other in a Connected World

I love this post by Julie Millan. Sometimes, when we go to a conference or a workshop we can feel so overwhelmed by all the new learning that we don't know where to begin.  This post reminds us that the important thing is to begin somewhere.  Just try one thing!    

http://juliemillan.ca/2016/03/tryonething/

HackTheClassroom:  Adventures in Transforming Education

Below are two great posts from Michelle Cordy's blog Hack the Classroom.  I got the chance to listen to her speak at the Kitchener #gafesummit and was so impressed by the creative ways she uses educational technology.  I have her to thank for showing me a great many ways to use Google Apps for Education to be more organized in my teaching.  If you ever get a chance to attend one of her presentations do!  I particularly like  these two blogs in which she reflects on inquiry based learning:

6 Ideas to get going with Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) and Problem …

Making Sense of Inquiry-Based Learning: An Ontario Perspective

MapleSyrupEdu.ca

Here's a post by TDSB's own Sandra Chow.  You'll find many great posts on MapleSyrupEdu.ca , a blog "by educators, for educators."  I've had several chances to learn from Sandra Chow as she is a Digital Lead Learner in TDSB and presenter at #gafesummits.  I love that she doesn't just show what an EdTech tool can do but that she always says why we should use it.  Her presentations are hands-on and lots of fun yet jam packed with great information.

http://www.maplesyrupedu.ca/blog/reflecting-on-milestones

Sylvia Duckworth:  Connect, Collaborate, Create!

I've watched Sylvia Duckworth win the Ilast 2 demo slams in a 4 in a row winning streak.  What's a demo slam.  Well the second time I saw her present I had just done one myself and was shaking like a leaf.  A demo slam is the scariest most exhilarating 3 minutes when conference presenters "demo" (show live) how to use their favourite EdTech tool in front of pretty much the entire conference.  I did it once.  I feel lucky to have survived it unharmed given that my knees were actually knocking as I descended the stairs from the stage and I had a very real fear of falling off.  I don't know how Sylvia Duckworth does it or all the other amazing EdTech things she does, seemingly with such ease, but if you ever get a chance to watch her present one it's a real treat!

https://sylviaduckworth.com/2016/04/22/how-to-win-a-demo-slam/

A.J. Juliani, Intentional Innovation

Last but not least, I must recommend A.J. Juliani's blog.  He is the author of  Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom, Using 20% Time, Genius Hour and PBL to Drive Student Success. , a book which has been a great reference tool for me as a Genius Hour teacher this year. Here's a post he wrote about inquiry and that it is not a new idea.

http://ajjuliani.com/inquiry-its-not-a-new-idea-launchbook/

Today is a Great Day for Learning

I like this post by Dr. Hugh McDonald on the best Genius Hour videos to inspire "resiliency, grit and hope."

https://hughtheteacher.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/23-videos-that-sparked-genius-hour-thinking-collaboration-and-actions/

Using Google Docs to Facilitate 21st Century Collaboration

Judith Bilinger, Washington State Superintendent said “Children are the Priority. Change is the reality.  Collaboration is the strategy.”  I think this quote could be seen as a call to respond to the challenges and changes of the 21^st century by collaborating with other educators and also as a call to foster collaboration among our students.  For the past two weeks this has been on my mind and seems to have cropped up as a theme at every turn. 

In the Additional Qualification course I am taking through the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario I’ve been enjoying using Google Docs to collaborate with two colleagues who live far apart on a list of Language, Math, Coding and Integration resources for the Junior Level.  It has been an overly busy two weeks.  I had my coursework, my teaching, lots of assessment to do in preparation for report cards, E.Q.A.O. and in the middle a whole weekend at the EdTech Team’s London #gafesummit.  My members were equally busy and our individual schedules were totally at odds with one another.  Despite the challenges of time and distance we were able to work together in a truly collaborative manner.  We began by contacting one another through email, but once a Google doc had been opened and shared, we were able to communicate exclusively in the comments section at the side of our assignment.  It was absolutely seamless.

More and more 21^st Century workplaces do their projects this way.  Team members can be found at all corners of the globe in all different time zones and languages.  Collaborative platforms like Google Docs with Google Translate can make such teamwork possible.  Given this new workplace reality, this model must be extended to the classroom to ensure that students will be adequately prepared to work as effective members of a multinational team.  As a teacher I have often used cooperative learning up to the point of summative assessment, when I felt it necessary to switch to an individual task.  How else could I judge individual performance?  Well, that shift is no longer needed.  I can simply look at the history of the Google Doc to see exactly what each student contributed.  So, now students can work collaboratively at each stage of learning and I can still assess their individual contributions.  

Universal Design applied to Assistive Technology

A few years ago I had  chance to work for the TDSB SEA department.  It is a department that supports students and teachers with the use of assistive technology throughout our board.  This week, through the AQ course I am taking, I was reminded that no matter what we are teaching, we are all special education teachers.  I was reminded also of the principal of universal design and specifically how it applies to the use of Assistive Technology.  When we work with children, we never really know whether they are working up to their potential until we put absolutely everything we can put in place to ensure their success.  If we take a universal design approach to using Assistive technology it levels the playing field for the children who have identified special needs and more importantly for those who have unidentified special needs.  

Another thing became very clear to me as I was working through this topic.  A few years ago when I was at the SEA department, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of what Assistive Technology options were available but in a few short years, the number of excellent options has increased and continues to increase exponentially!  That is why I have really come to value the Professional Learning Network in my course.  Everyone had experience with a different type of software and shared about  it's features and how to apply it in the classroom. I feel that this type of professional learning - sharing of useful tips between colleagues and reflecting on the merits of different Assistive Technology tools - is very much what is meant in our Standards of Practice for the Teaching profession, when it says that, members should "refine their professional practice through ongoing ...dialogue."  Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession

Three programs I really want to try as a result of this professional dialogue are Preposit and Storybird.  All three are apparently free.  Thank you Heather Webb Makin for teaching me about these.  Preposit is useful for making interactive video lessons.  Storybird is for making visual storiess.  As I work on improving Millwood's #Geniushour program I would like to integrate these.  Stay tuned for updates on our progress with using these programs.

Assistive Technology 'Necessary for some, good for all'.

Whether teaching a homeroom class or rotary class, there are always some students who really need Assistive Technology to access the curriculum.  Sometimes they may have a SEA computer that they bring to class in order to do their work, but if the other students aren't using the same tools, they can be reluctant.  Over the years I've found that if I teach the whole class how to use Assistive Technology and treat it just like any other tool we use for learning in our classroom, it removes the stigma and the children who really need it aren't embarrassed to use it.

There has been another silver lining to this practice.  Other students who were NOT identified as having special needs benefitted from it also.  That's how universal design works.  When you build a wheelchair ramp, people on rollerblades or people pushing strollers also benefit.  Well when the whole class knows how to use Google Voice typing, students with spelling difficulties or graphomotor difficulties benefit, but so do students who have more ideas in their head than they could type in the time available.  If you use online mind-mapping tools for students with executive function issues, their work is more organized, but so is the work of any student in the class who uses it.  It is also a really attractive and effective way of communicating ideas and any student may prefer this alternative sometimes.  If you use text-to-speech with students who can't read, students who are just a bit tired to read on a given day or whose eyes are bothering them due to seasonal allergies will also benefit.  When I was trained in Read and Write Gold I learned that students who look at the screen while a program like Read and Write gold reads to them and highlights each word as it is read, will improve their sight word vocabulary and reading fluency.  What student wouldn't benefit from that?  That is why using Assistive Technology with the whole class is a good idea.

Embracing the Idea of Web 2.0

I've been thinking about the term "Web 2.0" and how to shift what we do in our classroom from being consumers to producers on the internet.  When I asked myself why we were so slow to share our projects, and realized at there was really only one thing standing in our way.  The biggest barrier was the idea that our work needed to be totally perfected and refined before sharing.  A paradigm shift was needed here if we were ever going to feel ready.  Since we are supposed to celebrate the journey more than the destination, then why not open up our journey so others can follow along?  At first, students posted their projects that were "under construction" on Google Classroom where only their classmates could see them and give them feedback.  This went so well that, as long as their work was mostly done, many have chosen to post on our class website.  Now, once a child feels their project is ready "enough", they post so their parents and other supporters can follow along as students complete their journey during these last six weeks of school.  The response has been overwhelmingly positive.  Our students feel motivated and encouraged by having others react and respond to their work.

Redefining Genius Hour at Millwood with Google Apps

The SAMR model that was designed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura as a framework for understanding stages of technology integration.  The infographic below outlines nicely how Google Apps can be used to augment, modify and ultimately redefine learning.  That is exactly what has happened to our Genius Hour program at Millwood.  Before we used GAFE, we did use some technology in Genius hour but we were very much at the substitution and augmentation stages of the SAMR model.  Instead of researching a topic at the library in books some students augmented their book research with Google searches.  Instead of writing by hand, they typed up a report that they would print, glue to a project board and present to the class.  GAFE has completely changed the inquiry and sharing aspects of Genius Hour.  Students are now able to access the information they need without ever leaving Google slides by using the research tools.  They are able to create rich multimedia Google Slide decks by simply pulling images with the link attached into their slides and simply clicking insert to embed videos.  They are making their slide decks interactive by adding animations, and by using linking to other pages within their Google Slides.  They are obtaining primary data by using Google Form surveys.  The talk in front of the class is still an option for sharing the learning, but students can also use the share button to have seamless collaboration with classmates on projects.  They could share by then posting their work Google Classroom or on our class Google Site. This year our projects have been 100% paperless thanks to Google Apps.  The work that many students have done is so far beyond anything students were able t create last year.  Millwood's Genius Hour has truly been redefined due to our shift to using the GAFE suite of tools.

George Kouros: Reflection is part of your work!

George Couros  -- principal, consultant, author and innovator in the field of education-- was a keynote speaker at TDSB Google Camp this year.  During his talk as well as in his blog he encourages educators to reflect.  Many people counter that is that there is no time, but his response has been that, "reflection is part of your work. It is important that you make it part of your day, as it should be a part of your student’s day.(http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/3531) I agree with this statement and the sentiment that without reflection, we would be at the whim of every new fad in education.  In my previous post I wrote about embracing change, especially when teaching with technology, but there are so many tools and programs to choose from and we have finite time and resources.  Time spent reflecting on which ones might best support student learning is time well spent.  We need to reflect on what we believe, what we have experienced, the ideas and opinions of others and only when we have a clear picture of where we've been can we develop a vision for the future.
  

"Resistance is Futile"

This past week I had the privilege of addressing TDSB Beginning Teachers at the 21st Century Teaching and Learning Symposium.  I was invited to present about using Google Apps for Education to support kindergarten to grade 5 students in a Genius Hour Program.  I had my slide deck from TDSB Google Camp to show them, but the introduction just wasn't right for an audience of all new teachers.  I knew this was a group who had grown up very differently than I had.  They were a group who wouldn't dream of teaching without integrating technology throughout their program.  What would my opening remarks be?

 I thought for a very long time, about what had brought me to the place in my teaching where I am now.  I am teaching a program that is inquiry based, individualized and uses so much technology that it is nearly paperless.  Because of the rapid development of teaching related technology, I have experienced more change in the past two years of my career than in the past twenty! I have found, over the years, that the only constant in education is change. Indeed, the only constant in life is change! While change can be difficult and does not always make things better, I can honestly say that the best, most transformative things that have happened in my classroom have been as a result of embracing change, rather than resisting it.  

When our students graduate, we are sending them out into a world in which they must be highly adaptable.  As teachers, therefore, we must model how to be adaptable.  This does not mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater, as some people fear.  There are tried and true strategies that we know are essential to helping students learn. We should, however, ask ourselves whether we can continue to apply these strategies in more efficient ways, with the new tools that are available to us.  While staying true to our core beliefs about what students need, we must experiment and explore with new technology and methodologies that we think have the potential to increase our students' understanding of the world, increase their access to information, and enhance their ability to innovate. We must also stay abreast of the latest research into what helps students be successful. We must constantly rethink our practices in response to the research. 

It can be overwhelming at times.  There have been times in my career when I have thought that I had too much to do at work -- too much curriculum to teach and too many assignments to mark -- to take the time to learn all these new things in order to be able to show them to my students.  Teachers are very responsible and organized people.  The idea of bringing something into our class that we do not fully understand can be a very scary thought.  Change is happening so rapidly, however, that we must get used to learning alongside our students.  Yes, this will be an uncomfortable dynamic.  It means loosening our grip on the reins a little.  I have found that whenever I have done this, especially with respect to teaching with technology, it has even been a little embarrassing at times.  There has always been at least one of my students who was able to learn how to use a tech tool quicker and more fully than I was, and ended up teaching me!   I have, however, gotten used to my new role, which I now believe is to help my students launch, and then to watch them fly higher than I ever thought possible.  

As my thoughts came together for this Beginning Teachers presentation, I realized that if we want to prepare our students to be self directed learners who know how to set lofty goals, and who are able to creatively select the technology and tools they need to achieve those goals, I needed to give them some chances to act this way in school. As I looked out at my audience, I advised them that when it comes to facing change, they should remember the words of the Borg: