Just Start... Dump the Whole Class Novel Study. A Risk Worth Taking

Since creating my first blog post several weeks ago, I've been reflecting on how to use Robin Sharma's message to just start in my classroom.  I've been contemplating whether or not to dump a traditional whole-class novel study in my English class and explore 'Book Clubs' as an alternative.  This seems like an incredibly uncomfortable risk when we are bound by the time constraints of a semester and we grimace at the potential lack of control this process proposes.

Our curiosities about tragedy
.

I am blessed with a group of open-minded students who have joined me on a renewed teaching journey this year... 

So I've scrapped all my old materials and changed up my teaching style dramatically with this class to allow room for greater risk-taking. It's a messy venture at times, though the results are promising.

Many of my students entered my classroom with self-deprecating thoughts and beliefs, especially about their academic abilities. 

I have seen every single one of my students shine in some way or another this term - reluctant readers have found books to love, anxious nerves have been overcome to complete oral presentations, shy thinkers have openly shared their beliefs during class and struggling writers have found their voice through greater organization and development. 

We started the unit by examining two key inquiry questions - What is love? (cue video:  Haddaway) and What is tragedy? 

I'm inspired by the variety of beliefs and experiences that these students were able to share on these topics. Love and tragedy seem to be so central to teen experience (and really, aren't they central to experience regardless of age?).

Because of these successes, we are entering the realm of book clubs. Our focus is 'tragic love' and as such we've chosen four high interest texts to examine this concept, including a graphic, plain-text novelization of 'Romeo and Juliet'!

.

Our curiosities about love.  Hmmm... interesting.

At any rate - we have started - and I am nervous and excited  and very uncomfortable. Will my students be able to maintain focus? Will they carry on academic discourse or get lost in distraction? Will they hold themselves accountable to ensure they're contributing to their novel study groups? Will this whole thing end in a gigantic mess full of tears, stress and a burned out teacher feeling like this was the worst idea EVER? 

I'm hopeful that all will end well - and at the very least, no matter how messy it gets - I know that the greatest risk is to not take any risks at all. Regardless of the outcome, this feels like a risk worth taking.

Thank you to guest blogger: Jordan Matteis Chatham Secondary English teacher/Student Achievement Teacher.  Mr.  Matteis @JordanMatteis blogs at The Eclectic Collection: techlecticcollection.blogspot.ca

Blogging Classrooms Explore Social Literacy: One Student's View

This summer, I took the time to send my teacher an email,(see below) thanking him for the opportunities he gave me, one of which, would be (writing) this very blog.

Hello!

I wanted to thank you for my blog, or the opportunity of having a blog. I understand that I could've started a blog either way,  but you helped in a way that I didn't know I needed. When starting my own blog, I was uncomfortable and embarrassed. 

You, or your way of learning eased me into it. Now I am comfortable posting various blogs, whether it's reviews, letters, rants or anything else. You have so much freedom in what you share. Posting blogs can be an outlet for teens, because it allows us to have a voice.

During my life I've had trouble expressing my opinion in a way that was respecting to others, and still allows me to actually share. I'd much rather not even say anything. Blogging, however is great for that, especially when taught how to properly.

I have to admit, I have taken a bit of a hiatus, and I don't post every week. Now that I'm getting back to it, I remember why I wanted to start blogging. I recently posted one that I'm super proud of, which kind of helps with my becoming a better human. It's called "A Letter To My Younger Self". And that's basically what it is, a letter to my younger self.  

So yeah, thanks again.   May new opportunities bring new knowledge... 'Cause knowing stuff is pretty cool.

People might be asking themselves some questions right now. Why would I be thankful about a silly little blog? A pile of pixels isn’t going to help me have a future in a successful career, is it?

Actually, it might.

Knowing how to verbalize your opinion in a respectful manner is extremely beneficial, especially in careers that involve public speaking, a lawyer for example. In a serious work environment, you can’t speak to your co-workers, let alone boss, using slang or derogatory terms. Blogging helps you practice planning sentences, so that no matter what the topic is, you can converse to your audience without offending them, or sounding like you have no idea what you’re talking about.

Blogging also helps teens have a voice in a world that gives teenagers a reputation of being lazy, arrogant and immature. People expect us teens to act like adults, when they treat us as they treat children. It's quite an oxymoron. 

Reality is, teens have some amazing ideas which often go unheard. If people with power took the time to hear our opinions, they could further in their career, and target their audience in a more effective way.

At least based on my experience, teachers in blogging classrooms often allow their students to voice how/what they want to blog. When writing essays and reports, you are constantly (collecting) factual content, and you never share what you think about your topic. 

Almost all of the teenagers that I know will jump at an opportunity to talk about what they are passionate about, and have some pretty awesome opinions. They aren’t going to try half as much on an essay about something their teacher chose, as they would on a project that they choose or have experience in.

Not to mention, parents and teachers constantly nag about young adults being on our cell phones, and digital blogging isn’t much different. You couldn’t count how many times I’ve been told that texting is ruining my grammar and spelling, with all the emoticons and abbreviations.

Well actually, blogging has improved my writing skills, by quite a bit. When blogging, people are more cautious about spelling, because the audience is much more broad. After I write my blogs, I have learned to take the time to look over them, and ensure that there aren’t any grammar or spelling errors. Where before, I would hardly ever read over and edit my work, because the audience is limited to just my teacher.

Blogging has many positive aspects, and when taken into account, I find it takes a bit of a new name.  To me, it's more like Social Literacy and I genuinely encourage you to take part in it.

This guest blog was written by one of our SCCDSB students, Madelaine B. She was a member of @TeachermanHT's class in Sarnia, ON and currently blogs at http://sonicminds.weebly.com/

ITs About Learning Project

I.T.'s About Learning-Teachers Collaborating and Learning out Loud!  

In the spring and summer of 2014, forty two teachers from our school board met to explore 21st Century learning and  discuss how to effectively share our knowledge. Our learning was heavily infuluened by Simon Sinek's "The Golden Circle", Michael Fullen's Alive in the Swamp and Rich Seam, Putenedura's SAMR model and TPACK , among other resources. .  We set to work over six working days at out Catholic Education Centre (and quite a few hours at home) and produced 14 modules by educators for educators by on the following topics.

We rolled out our program. After agreeing to a pre-survey/post-survey and to completing eight modules with a twelve month timeframe, teachers signed up and got down to the hard work of doing the learning and trying out new things they learned.  Each module has in it sharing of ideas, trials, successes and questions.  

Upon completion teachers received a Chromebook for their efforts for professional use both at home and in their classrooms.  So far we have over 100 of our teachers signed up and 35 have gotten their Chromebook. (They look pretty happy, don't they?)  The project continues through the next school year.

Have any questions for us?

We would love to hear how your district is helping teachers learn!

Writing with Impact

Twenty six students, aged 10-12, reached out to the local community to persuade them to donate to multiple charities.  This is what happened...

This year, my grade ⅚ class has been looking for ways to have an impact with their writing.  The intention was for the impact to go well beyond our classroom and have a real-life effect on others.  With this in mind, we created a collaborative writing project using persuasive writing techniques to persuade people to donate to a charity.  My role as their teacher was to guide them through the process.  

Our first step was to discuss the parties that would need to be contacted.  Students felt comfortable choosing charities from their prior knowledge and experience.  

Gathering information on their charity choices was an important first step.  Before students could persuade people to donate, they had to understand why that charity deserves donations.  

After enough information was developed, students were responsible to contact the charity and receive permission to create a letter and donation box in that

charity’s name.  To raise money, students then contacted a local business to leave the donation box and letter for a period of two weeks.  

Throughout this process, my students were able to show professionalism and responsibility.  The importance of written communication had direct impacts on this task.  Charities and business had to trust students when being contacted and feel comfortable with the responsibilities of the task, also.  

The results were fantastic!!  Students were engaged, and left with an overall feeling of success!  The charities have been overwhelmed and have asked to feature students in newsletters, on social media and in local newspapers.    

“Overall I thought this assignment was very fun and interesting!  I thought it was a great idea.  I was very interested and excited that I could be part of raising money for a charity.  It was a good lesson about responsibility because it gave me a chance to actually be able to communicate with people from different charities and businesses!  Also, I really liked how hands on it was.  I was able to get very creative with the donation box and letter.  I really enjoyed this assignment and I loved the experience!” - Grade 6 student - Ella, 2015

“I really liked the Charity Persuasive task because it was really fun to do!  I thought it was really cool that we could contact a charity and raise money for that charity by making a donation box and letter, then putting in a local business for 2 weeks.  It was an interesting and super cool task to do!”  - Grade 5 student - Charlie, 2015

Post by guest blogger:Mr. Jeff Cardy, @mistercardy, elementary teacher in Forest, Ontario

Learning Out Loud! Welcome to SCCDSB's IT's About Learning Blog.

This blog is  a collection of learning from our St. Clair Catholic family: our students, teachers, administration, parishes, parents  and community partners.  We are hoping to share our successes and celebrations, struggles and challenges, wonderings and inquiries in order to learn out loud with our colleagues and with the world.

At SCCDSB we are walking together in Christ’s light with parish and family and are called to build a safe and inclusive Catholic learning community and to serve as partners in the formation of life-long learners by: 

• Living our faith; 

• Promoting educational achievement and innovation; 

• Fostering stewardship, leadership and social justice.

We are working to make our students’ learning experiences 21st-Century: reflective of the global and digital age in which we live, rich in critical thinking, creativity and citizenship and enhanced by technology.

Share what you or your teacher/colleague/student/classroom/child/family are learning.  It could be how someone demonstrates being a discerning believer, an effective communicator, a reflective & creative thinker, a self-directed, responsible, life long learner, a collaborative contributor, a caring family member or a responsible citizen by blogging, doing a service project, using Google Docs, using BYOD, making a difference in the world, etc. 

We welcome submissions that are less than 250 words with optional pictures and YouTube video as well - please share!  (Be sure to respect privacy by having permission to put student images on a public website before submitting!)

Contact @mrsj1001 or @MrMGiroux

 tamara.johnson@sccdsb.net or michael.giroux@sccdsb.net for further information.