Learning begins with a good question. Preferably one you have absolutely no answer for.
In Connections-based Learning, the process starts with a desire for students to seek out meaningful connections. The first action is to ask a question that opens the door for those connections. I wanted my students to learn about re-world electricity use, so I asked this:
Basically I asked: "With whom can you connect to learn or do something about electricity?" I was shocked at how far my students would take this. . .all the way to Poland.
Experts
A Skype chat with an employee in a Polish electrical company where
we learned that 80% of Poland's electricity comes from fossil fuels
One group had a connection with someone who worked in the power industry in Poland. A Skype chat was set up and the class not only learned about Poland's electricity situation but about Poland itself. The real-world connection brings an understanding of what is going on currently, not what was happening at the time the information was written. CBL also gives the students a chance to speak into another's situation. Questions were posed as to what Poland's future plans were to get them to move to more renewable energy sources. Our students got to share there concern about the environment and encourage the seeking out of better ways to produce electricity.
Organizations
A depiction of a real-life BCHydro interview produced using IMovie
Connecting with experts is just one avenue students can take in their Connections-based Learning. Another possibility is to work together to strive for real-world change. In this particular activity we had students trying to hook up generator companies with homeless shelters. We had students contacting Me to We and Clean Energy BC, hoping to have an influence on the building of more wind farms.
I love the creativity students use to share the story of their experience. One group interviewed our own BCHydro producers of electricity. They put together a mock up of the interview in an IMovie that they put on their blogs. Another group shared their interview with a BCHydro employee in the context of developing a Power Outage Safety Kit. In CBL, it is great to see what type of angle the students use to communicate their learning. Not every organization responds, but the requirement is to tell the story around the connection. What was learned through the process?
Community
An interview with our principal on our school's
power conservation actions and hopes for the future
We also had students looking to our own school, wanting to ask what we were doing to steward our energy use and what the future holds for better school-based conservation. These students interviewed our principal and shared school priorities for energy use, plus dreams for the future, including device charging stations hooked up to stationary bikes.
Connections-based learning is about sharing out our experiences. This is often done through our digital portfolios. One really cool thing that came from this #CBL was that one of the students wrote an article for the school newspaper on her #CBL experience. You can find the article here.
Connections-based Learning prizes re-world connections. Open the door wide to leverage those connections for learning.
We are all looking for something to base learning on. We
see it in the contemporary educational titles: project-based learning, passion-based
learning, competency-based learning, inquiry-based learning. These titles may seem like buzz words but
they are important; they set the tone for teacher conduct, curriculum foci, and
student actions. Should we base our
learning on projects? Passions? Competencies? Student inquiry?
Each of these educational titles is a way to guide the
priorities of our pedagogy. “Blank”-based
learning methods, in particular, are an attempt to describe a learning process
that is meaningful to students. With
project-based learning, genuine reality-based projects become the vehicle for
learning. With passion-based learning, students’ passions are leveraged for
learning. In competency-based learning, learners
focus on progressively mastering smaller elements of a greater learning
objective. And with inquiry-based
learning, students form skills around developing great questions that can’t
simply be “Googled”.
With all these methods of structuring learning, it begs the
question: do we really need another ‘blank’-based learning?
Ponder how these meaningful learning approaches include interpersonal
connection. In project-based learning,
we see collaboration as an important element.
Students often work together as part of a group while completing projects. Imagine how better the process might be if the
focus of student activity includes fostering effective collaboration among team
members, building relationships with community partners and topical experts,
and sharing learning with the world. It would
take project-based learning to the next level.
We also see connection in passion-based learning. An environment where students feel connected
to one another provides the safety to reveal passions. Is it possible to take this further? As student
passions are discovered, embraced and leveraged during the school year, could groups
with common passions work together with outside organizations to achieve common
goals?
The mastery focus of competency-based learning requires a
good teacher-student connection.
Understanding where students need to work is a key component. Students who have mastered a certain concept shouldn’t
be inundated with its lessons. Students
need to work on concepts that are tailored to their needs, not a one-size-fits-all
shotgun approach. Without a great
teacher-student connection, these needs can go undiscovered. Imagine the effect of a teacher focused on
making a strong connection with each student and supporting students as they
discover their own target zones for learning.
And connection is also found in the tenets of inquiry-based learning. A sense of community and connection is
crucial as students develop and share their genuine questions. Could the students build a connection with
others outside the school who are also working on finding the answers? Could
students partner with those around the world who have the same concerns, the
same wonderings, the same dreams?
The idea of connection is weaved throughout these four approaches
and the many others that are popping up.
In some cases interpersonal connection is already a part of the process
but could be developed further. In other
cases, adding a focus on connection changes the whole dynamic of the
learning. Could it be said that what
underlies the meaningfulness of these approaches is the human connection? Connecting with the teacher. Connecting with the class. Connecting with the community. Connecting with experts. Could there be a method of educating that is
based on these connections?
What is Connections-based
Learning?
Connections-based Learning is a not a new way of doing
education. It’s a new way of seeing
education. It celebrates the way
connections are formed and leveraged through education. It reminds us to seek ways of learning that facilitate
the building of relationships. It
declares that significant learning requires a significant relationship. Connections-based Learning makes it a
priority to leverage interpersonal connection at each step of the learning
process. Whether it is the
teacher-student connection, the connection with members of the class, school,
and community, or the connection with experts in the field of study, thought is
given to maximizing these relationships.
Teacher-student
Connection
Fundamental to learning is the teacher-student
relationship. Good teacher-student
connections help students learn. It has
been found to be true time and time again.
In her NYU Steinhardt article, “The Effects of Teacher-Student
Relationships: Social and Academic Outcomes of Low-Income Middle and High
School Students”, Emily Gallagher gives a plethora of studies that support this
idea:
Aligned with attachment theory (Ainsworth, 1982; Bowlby, 1969),
positive teacher-student relationships enable students to feel safe and secure in
their learning environments and provide scaffolding for important social and
academic skills (Baker et al., 2008; O’Connor, Dearing, & Collins, 2011;
Silver, Measelle, Armstron, & Essex, 2005). Teachers who support students
in the learning environment can positively impact their social and academic
outcomes, which is important for the long-term trajectory of school and
eventually employment (Baker et al., 2008; O’Connor et al., 2011; Silver et
al., 2005). - Gallagher (2013)
While working with inner city schools, James Comer found
that the strong social bonds that help students develop the proficiencies to
learn were missing. He created the
School Development Program in 1968 to help schools recreate those social bonds. It worked.
The students he worked with began to thrive. Students flourish in a positive
teacher-student relationship. Asking
questions, seeking to understand, treating students as individuals, and making
time to build relationships are crucial to building that connection with a
class. As James P. Comer says: "No significant learning occurs without a
significant relationship". Robinson,
S. (2015)
Connections within
the Class, School, and Community
But learning through connections doesn’t stop there. Why does the student, who never writes more
than a few sentences, write pages to the buddy or the pen-pal? It is the human connection. Why does the learning seem to become
galvanized for the student who tutors another?
It is the human connection. Why
is the whole of a group working together greater than the sum of its parts. Human connection.
Picture a class studying Aboriginal Education. The class looks at culture, customs, and artwork. They draw pictures. They hear stories. And they never once talk to an aboriginal
person. That is a missed opportunity to
get firsthand information, to build a relationship, to honour another.
Now picture a Home Economics class developing cooking
skills. The teacher has made a
connection with a local homeless shelter and once a week, the students cook
there. Picture how that one connection
will impact the students. Picture how it
might affect those at the shelter.
Connections add meaning and they provide opportunities to make a
difference.
Connections with Experts
As Lee Crocket, Ian Jukes, and Andrew Churches state in Literacy is not enough: 21st-century fluencies for the
digital age:
Electronic technology in wired, and wireless communications has quite
literally meant the death of distance.
There has never been a time in which distance has meant less than it
does today. Students learning about
civil war could be talking directly with kids in Serbia or Afghanistan. Kids trying to understand the impact of oil
spills could talk with students in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Florida. Students want to understand the impact of
natural disasters such as earthquakes or tsunamis could talk to students in
Japan or New Zealand. – Crockett, L. (2011) p. 69
Learning in the 21st Century must take advantage
of the connected world we live in. We are
no longer confined to study other countries from afar. They are only an email, text, tweet,
Skype-chat, Google Hangout away. And whether
it is space, politics, animal behavior, or dinosaurs, there are numerous
experts to contact. All the students
need to do is ask; they might be surprised who responds.
Human connection leads to well-being. In Kelly McGonigal’s TEDtalk on "How to make stress
your friend", she states:
And the cool thing is that all of these
physical benefitsof oxytocin are enhanced by social contact
and social support.So when you reach out to others under
stress,either to seek support or to help someone
else,you release more of this hormone,your stress response becomes healthier,and you actually recover faster from
stress.I find this amazing,that your stress response has a built-in
mechanismfor stress resilience,and that mechanism is human connection. –
McGonigal, K. (2013)
If we were to base our teaching on anything, I believe it
should be developing connections. The
classroom becomes a thriving environment of learning. We make local or global contributions that
can in turn teach others. We become
healthier people. With a focus on
developing relationships, there is no need to teach good citizenship. As they work on these connections, students
are being good citizens.
Connections are accessible to all. Anyone can get an email address. Anyone can ask a question. As I have been having my students make
connections, I have found the reception to be excellent. Researchers, academics, agency leaders have responded
to a simple question: “Could you help us learn?” And what a difference it makes when students
are asking real people questions. They
are engaged. They bring their best. They feel important. They become part of a global process to
advance understanding. And they learn.
References
Crockett, L., Jukes, I., &
Churches, A. (2011). Literacy is not enough: 21st-century fluencies for
the digital age. Kelowna, B.C.: 21st Century Fluency Project.
Gallagher, Emily. (2013).
"The Effects of Teacher-Student Relationships: Social and Academic
Outcomes of Low-Income Middle and High School Students" Applied Psychology
Opus. Fall issue. Accessed July 2, 2015 on the World Wide Web:
This is the long awaited third and final part in a series on digital portfolio first steps. In this series, I have been sharing what I call keys to starting digital portfolios. In Digital Portfolios: Where to Start Part #1, I share that teachers need to have a digital portfolio themselves to have any credibility when asking students to develop theirs. In Digital Portfolios: Where to Start Part #2, I share that the second key is to take a look what others are doing with digital portfolios. I shine a light on portfolio platforms such as Freshgrade, Weebly.com, Bulbapp.com, Edublogs.org, and Kidblog.org and the teachers who are using them.
The final key to starting digital portfolios will maximize the potential of the portfolio. It is the real game-changer. Through this key you will realize that the portfolios are going to ask as much from you as they ask from your students. Student work is now on display and that work has to be individual, meaningful, and show growth over time. It's not business as usual.
Key #3: Teach differently: Ask yourself how digital portfolios will change your teaching.
The digital portfolio is not just a place where students can display their work. They can also demonstrate their understanding of an idea or their proficiency in a skill. They not only can give answers, but explain reasoning. And they now have to defend their ideas as others comment on them. This is no static summative display board. This is a dynamic learning and growing space.
How does that change my teaching? - now that I know that parents are looking at this, how does that change what I do in the classroom? - now that I know prospective employers are looking at this, how does that change what our projects look like? - now that I know that these are student portfolios (not teacher hand in boxes) how does that open the door for choice?
Let's think about that for a second. Would a completed integers worksheet be the best to demonstrate competency in a certain area, or would a video of the student explaining their understanding of integers be better? Furthermore, could that video in turn help a younger buddy class with their understanding?
And again, would a completed lab where students have followed the instructions to a tee be the best activity to show that students understand the scientific method or would students' own inquiry into their own question, creating their own experiment and data, best demonstrate understanding?
I saw this play out today as I looked at the Edublogs.org reader that updates every time a student in our school posts. Here are two of the posts that came up from Bree Mireau's Science 10 class (although I could have picked any number of excellent posts flowing through the reader).
Kinga and Mona: "Magic Science"
Matty and Jaron: "Science is Magic"
These student videos show so much more than a lab handout with all the parts filled in. The students got to choose an experiment that interests them. They got to show their competency in carrying out the experiment. They were able to explain what happened. There is no question that they know what happened during the experiment; they are teaching it! These videos are now a permanent part of their digital portfolios. If you were interested in hiring a lab assistant, would seeing something like this have an impact on your choice? I think it would. But portfolio content like this can only happen if the teacher opens the door for it. What will you open the door for with your digital portfolios?
This bookends Digital Portfolios: where to start? Thank you for walking
through this with me. More than providing a step by step method to
starting digital portfolios, I hope that you found something here to cause
you to think, that you will move ahead in your digital portfolio journey--possibly
not in the way you thought but maybe in the way you hoped, and that these posts
have inspired you. And where our inspiration leads, our feet follow.
In Digital Portfolios: Where to Start Part #1, I shared that the most important way to motivate students to embrace their digital portfolio is for their teachers to have a digital portfolio themselves. In fact, I make the case that the one requiring students to maintain a digital portfolio must not only have a place that they share their learning online, but be able to give stories of how it has made a difference. This allows teachers to not only model the process of keeping a portfolio, but illustrate reasons why keeping a digital portfolio matters.
While, the first thing to do is take a long hard consideration about managing your own digital portfolio, the second also requires some reflection. As with the first, it is not always self-evident, but when you take part in this key, you'll see why it really matters: Key #2: Get inspired: take a look at what others are doing
Jumping into a portfolio system without looking at what other educators are doing ignores the tremendous resources out there. All too often, the cart is loaded before one takes a look at the paddock of horses. It is crucial to take a look at what students are sharing and how they are sharing it. Here I will show just a few examples. There is no order to these links and it is definitely not an exhaustive list: simply a place to start. Click on the titles to see these portfolios in action.
Dan Boyle, a Humanities teacher at Triton Regional High School, decided to have his students build web pages over blogs. He shared this with me on Who needs a digital portfolio?:
I love how he uses a padlet to display student avatars that lead to the students' twitter feeds and web sites. The students' sites have a running blog plus multiple classroom links to a variety of shares utilizing a plethora of apps. Videos, Pixton comic strips, spiderscribe.net mind maps are just a few of the ways students show their learning. A look at Dan Boyle's students' portfolios will definitely expand your mind as to the possibilities out there.
Here I am using Freshgrade to capture a student's project
As a teacher interested in giving students opportunities to share learning and make connections, I have kept a connection with Freshgrade since 2012. Freshgrade is a platform that helps teachers capture evidence of learning in the moment. Whether it is text, pictures, audio, or video, the captured evidence is uploaded to a student's portfolio where students and parents can easily access it at any moment. The platform has been evolving over time. Now with parent and student apps available, I have been able to use Freshgrade as as Learning Management System, keeping a connection with students, sharing assignments with them, and giving feedback. For those looking for a way to share class activity in moment of learning, Freshgrade is definitely something to check out.
The Padlet that leads visitors to the Paul Solarz's student portfolios
When you visit Paul Solarz's Weebly page (Weebly.com), you find connections to all his students' portfolios over several years. Once again, a padlet is used to make getting to each portfolio easy. What a great idea to use a class picture to share the links to each portfolio. Here we find student created speaking avatars called Vokis, field trip and science fair Youtube and GoAnimate videos, podcasts and more. Paul has been called a digital portfolio guru and is definitely one to follow when embarking on portfolios.
Jodie Deinhammer shared with me her students' portfolios from 2014-2015 year as I made a call out over twitter. She uses a Google blogspot platform to lead to students' Bulbapp.com sites. Once again, these portfolios share a bevvy of different online technologies that students can use to share learning. As I looked through them I was drawn in by the excellent use of picture links to share post content. As I clicked on Ariel's, I was inspired by her Smore flyer sharing learning about healthy brains, her analysis of the white and gold dress, and her piktochart infographics. As one goes deeper into this portal, you can see thoughtful posts, effective use of media, and excellent citations.
Immediately, it is obvious that High Tech High's Media Arts ePortfolios seem completely integrated into the fabric of learning. Not only do you see easy access to the student portfolios from this portal, but you can see the teacher portfolios right there. You can feel the importance placed on digital portfolios right from the get go. This Google site is a portal to students' sites (Weebly.com again) that allow the students to embed downloadable documents, powerpoints, videos and pictures in each post. Navigating through the portfolios felt like travelling through a Wiki as project challenges and students projects all seem connected. It feels like teacher and student alike work at developing this learning portal together sharing their learning alongside each other.
Karen Lirenman on blogging in the early primary classroom
Karen Lirenman has been a longtime proponent of student blogging and shares her student's public portfolios using the kidblog.org platform. She tells how her students' digital portfolios help her students connect with the world in this video. What I love about Karen's students' blogs is that I can see the conversation taking place between student and teacher as she comments on the students' thoughts. If you thought that primary students were too young to maintain digital portfolios, think again.
At Riverside, we use an Edublogs.org platform for our students' digital portfolios. The above link is a flipboard magazine of some of my students' Science and Technology 11 blogs. While you won't find many online technologies used (our Canadian privacy laws keep me hesitant from having my students sign up for these), you might find that we work hard to encourage students to personalize their portfolio, share honest reflections and visit and comment on each others' posts.
And the list of excellent student portfolios could go on. . .
In putting together this post, my horizons were definitely broadened. It was wonderful to see how students embrace their portfolios, making them their storehouse of learning. I was impressed with the endeavours to have teacher and student learning alongside each other. I was amazed at the number of educational apps out there to help students share and connect. I haven't even scratched the surface of sharing the possibilities out there so please comment and share more examples of the amazing things students can do with their digital portfolios.
#digitalportfolios : Key #1 for student motivation
In Who needs a Digital Portfolio, commenter Kristine Hodgins asked about first steps for creating a digital portfolio. A great question. I answered, but I thought the question merited more reflection. Where does a teacher start when inspired to have students build digital portfolios (ePortfolios)? What are the next steps once the passion hits? You might be expecting me to start with: choosing a platform, getting admin on board, or informing parents. These are early steps. But I think there are three things that really should come first. I'll call them keys.
You might be surprised. These keys may be steps that you hadn't really thought of. They are, however, crucial in answering the question: Where to start? In order to give each of these keys some focus, I will give each a post. This first one of the three, I believe, is the most important and often the most overlooked:
Key #1: Develop your own digital portfolio
From a student on eportfolios:
In terms of promotion the problem is the people trying to explain it have probably never used it so in a way they have no clue what they are talking about, basically. To put it frankly – after listening to them you would be like, Okay so you as an outsider who never even used it is telling us we should do this because it is the best thing since sliced bread but you have never used it – you can’t find someone who did use it – you don’t have enough information to tell us how to use it – and now you’re telling us use it and we’ll grade you on it – this kind of makes it hard for students to accept or appreciate it.
- Tosh D. et al. (2005)
David Tosh, Tracy Penny Light, Kele Fleming, and Jeff Haywood, from universities in both Canada and the UK, did a study called Engagement with Electronic Portfolios: Challenges from the Student Perspective as they introduced ePorfolios to university students. They mention that most studies on portfolios look at the effectiveness of the portfolio from the teacher's perspective. This was a unique study in that its focus was the students' experience. The results were extremely telling and should be read by anyone planning to introduce digital portfolios to their students.
One message that came through loud and clear in their study was that the students had a hard time embracing a digital portfolio when they felt their teachers hadn't. It was like students were saying: "if a digital portfolio is so important, then why don't you have one? It can't be that important if the person who is asking me to do it doesn't even need it." This screams hypocrisy to our students and has a huge impact on student acceptance. Tosh further comments:
If students do not accept the e-portfolio as a holistic means with which to document their learning in different contexts and, more importantly, agree or wish to use the e-portfolio as an integral part of their educational experience, then the potential impact the e-portfolio could have on learning will not be realised. - Tosh D. et al. (2005)
The Tosh D. et al. (2005) article covers a range of important ePortfolio elements: buy-in, motivation, assessment and e-portfolio technology but their "bottom line is that students need to know why their knowledge is important." Not only do we need to share our examples of digital portfolios, we need to share stories of how our portfolios made a difference for us. How are our digital portfolios important to us? How can a student's portfolio be important to them?
I learned about the Tosh study from Dwayne Harapniuk (It's about Learning: creating significant learning environments). He had used my blog as an example of an educator ePortfolio. This lead me to read his blog post. The post is full of ePortfolio examples including ones from Teachers and Principals. Mr. Harapniuk's ePortfolio is an excellent example of an educator modeling an online portfolio. This he has been doing since the late 90's. He also is a firm believer that the educator asking students to maintain a portfolio, should have one to share. This perspective is painfully clear in the title of his post: Show Me Yours and I Will Show You Mine - Eportfolio Examples
More than acceptance, the digital portfolio requires "embrace-ment". Motivation is the crux of the matter. I mention to educators in a post called PBL:Q and A that:
One's soul must be mined. Mining is dangerous; but how else can the gems be found. I like to think that the best learning is better caught than taught and this mining leads to a better person facilitating the learning. Added to that, the students need to see their teacher as a risk-taker. If teachers can put themselves out there, the students will be all the more willing to do the same. - Robinson S. (2013)
In this post, I was referring to teacher as chief risk taker in Project-based Learning. But even more-so, this applies to the digital portfolio.
- One's soul must be mined (see what I mean in Kim Ondrik's blog (here)
- Passion for the digital portfolio is better caught than taught.
- The teacher must be the chief risk-taker as we ask students to put themselves out there in this digital world
I came into our school library the other day and my principal Anthony Ciolfitto (whose wonderfully thoughtful educational blog is here by the way) came up to me with a smile and pitched me an idea.
"How about we make this corner area here in the library a collaboration zone. We paint this wall with whiteboard paint and add a digital projector facing this wall here."
"For teachers or students?" I asked.
"For both. What a great area for students to come to and work on group projects together. But also, what a great way to let our students see us teachers collaborating. We can model what we are asking our students to do right here."
Amazing. Imagine teachers in the school library working alongside the students--pitching ideas to each other, brainstorming, planning. Imagine students nearby--watching, listening, catching the idea that we are all learners.
We can model what we are asking our students to do right here.
It works with a collaboration area, with project-based learning, and with digital portfolios. The students need to see it in action, not from a distance, but from nearby. From their teacher.
References
Tosh, D., Light, T., Fleming, K., and Haywood, J. (2005). Engagement with Electronic Portfolios: Challenges from the Student Perspective. Canadian Journal Of Learning And Technology / La Revue Canadienne De L’Apprentissage Et De La Technologie, 31(3). Retrieved from http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/97 Aug. 3, 2015
Robinson, S. (2013) PBL: Q and A.On the side of technology. Retrieved from
http://seanrtech.blogspot.ca/2013/12/pblq.html Aug. 3, 2015
There has been a story brewing for some time that I am just now finding how to share. It happened when I was teaching grade 7 last year. I had challenged my students to "Address an Issue". I share a bit about the experience in The Problem with Project-based Learning. In "Addressing an Issue", the students were given the opportunity to choose an issue, either local or global, and decide on a way to address it.
After completing the challenge, I asked my students to reflect on how they felt about this kind of learning. I have been keeping their responses and wondering how I could work this into a post. I am now realizing that I don't need to work anything. All I needed to do was to let the students share their stories. What follows is what they came up with. This could be called a guest post of sorts as these are student reflections about their own work and their own experience. These are their own words and their own pictures: a view into the mind of a project-based learner.
Type 1 Diabetes
Our issue that we were working on is Type 1 Diabetes.
We are working on Type 1 diabetes because I have Type 1 diabetes. We made a PowerPoint to get people more aware about this terrible
disease and how many people are affected by it every year.
We both enjoyed this project as I got to teach my partner
about this disease and he got to learn a lot about what I have to go through
every day for the rest of my life
Orphans and Widows in Ethiopia
The
issue that we decided to address was the orphans and widows of Ethiopia. We
chose this issue because both orphans and widows cannot provide for themselves.
We partnered up with a local church to tackle this tough problem. To try and
help the orphans and widows we have had a couple of fundraisers. We hosted an
all ladies event at our church and we had a hot chocolate sale here at school.
We raised almost $4,000 dollars, and we still have donations coming in every
day. Also we have an anonymous donor who will double all the money we raise!
The money raised will go to help build an orphanage (we need to get supplies
and we will send missionaries there to build the orphanage).The money will also be given to the widows so
that they can start their own businesses and there by provide for their
families. This experience was amazing; it was a great insight into the lives of
orphans and widows. We were truly inspired by this project and hope to continue
to help the orphans and widows in Ethiopia.
We
really liked the problem-based learning. We think that it prepares us for real
life problems in a better way by challenging us to solve problems that we will
have to deal with when we are older. In our opinion it is a great way to learn
and we would recommend it to any school.
Our Niteo
Experience
Our issue that we decided to address
was something called the "Niteo" association project. Niteo is a
foundation that helps children in Uganda learn how to read for pleasure. We are
helping to solve this issue by coming up with a well thought out plan that was
pretty simple to follow. A short version of our plan was to raise some money at
a nearby church through a bake sale, then give half the money to Niteo,and half of the moneyfor buying prizes for a book drive that would
take place later on, then we would hold a book drive at our school. Once we had
the books and money, we would drop them off to the Niteo central office in
Kelowna.
We weren’t able to book an event at the
church, so instead after we told the pastor what the money would be for, he got
people to make some donations, and we got 45$ in total. We then went out and
bought prizes for the book drive and waited until the date came for the event.
Our plan was that every 10 books you donate you get one prize. After our book
drive, we got quite a few books, it was over 45 books, and we were very
satisfied! Now we must get the books to Kelowna, and our plan will be
completed!
What we think about the project based
learning is that we like it because instead of just doing one small assignment
and being over with it, it seems like we get to do a project for a while and
really get involved with it. We also like that with this project we got to take
some action towards what we wanted to help fix, and actually get the students
in the school and the people in our community involved. We also liked how not
every group had to their project on the exact same issue, and how we all got to
choose what we wanted to do.This entire
experience has been amazing for all four of us because we feel that this is
very important, we feel that we have helped one tiny bit of world’s problem’s,
and that makes us all feel very good! Now that this is almost all over, we are
happy to think that someday a child in Uganda will learn to read for pleasure
as we do! This has been truly an amazing experience!
The issue we are addressing is dog abuse. We chose this topic
because dog abuse is a very serious offence.People abuse dogs for no reason. There are many companies and
organizations that spend countless hours trying to stop dog abuse! We would like to help as well by spreading
the word through friends, family and our community.Our goal is that people will hear it
everywhere.Please call your local SPCA
or 911 if you see any dogs being hurt or mistreated by someone.It could be happening in your neighbourhood.If you see a neighbour hurting their dog,
please call 911 immediately! You could
save the dog’s life!
Why there should be hitting
in peewee hockey
We think there should be hitting in peewee
hockey because people are getting hurt from retaliation.For example slashing.Then to prevent that from happening you can properly hit
legally.
I like this
kind of learning because everything is a team thing and it's not all mine or
others work.
Building a new pool for our city
Our project was about our city needing a
new pool. The city needs a new pool because the old pool has
too many problems. The pool is so old it has been condemned. Without a new pool
our local swim team soon won’t have a place to practice and people in the
neighbourhood won’t have a pool to use. It was a great project because our
great creative plans showed a nice pool that would be safe, big and clean. It was
hard though because the mayor wasn't able to reply to our message. He was interested though and tweeting him was great. I think that the problem with this project is that
building a pool is such a huge project that it will take years to finish.
World Hunger
For our presentation for addressing
an issue we chose world hunger. We decided to have a bake sale to
raise money to give to a company that helps people all over the world not just
in Canada. After a while of searching for a company we found a company called The Global Food Banking Network.
This company was just what we were looking for.
Once we figured that out, we planned a date to have the bake sale. At first we thought we should do it on Sunday, but my mom thought that we should have it at school because who wants to sit outside in the cold and barely make $30 dollars! So we had the bake sale on November 18th. We thought the bake sale was going so well that we decided to have it the next day as well (the 19th). And that was a good idea because we got even more sales than the first day! Overall we got a total of $75 dollars! After we got all the money we mailed it to The Global Food Banking Network. Now more people can have food.
How can
you help? You can help by learning more about poverty and donating money to The Global Food Banking Network.
To learn more visit: http://www.foodbanking.org/
Thanks
for taking the time to listen and consider donating!
Leatherback Turtle
Our issue is that the
leatherback sea turtle is critically endangered which means it is very close to
becoming extinct and only 1% of baby Leatherbacks will grow to be an adult due
to the many threats that they have to face.
Although the Leatherback is
almost extinct there are a lot of organizations trying to save and get the public aware
of the Leatherback Turtle such as, Government agencies, Marine Conservation
Associations, the WWF (World Wide life Fund) and even some fishing companies
have installed TED Turtle Exclusion Devices, so turtles can
escape if they were to get caught in the net.
We chose this topic because we are interested
in learning about the Leatherback turtle and how we can help to make sure this
amazing creature doesn’t go extinct. We created a PowerPoint presentation and
presented to the class to try to get more people aware of this amazing creature
and what they can to do help to help the Leatherback. We think that we
accomplished our goal of getting the public aware of the turtle and now a lot
more people know of it and what they can do to help.
The picture that we have chosen is of a
jellyfish (since the chances of finding and getting a picture of a Leatherback
Turtle are very rare). The jellyfish is the Leatherback’s main source of food
as it can eat its weight in a day. This picture was taken at the Vancouver
Aquarium.
We found PBL interesting and a new good way
to Learn. We think that PBL (project based learning) should be taught more
around other schools as it is a very engaging and fun way to learn!!!
(Before and After)
How did we feel about this addressing an issue project. We thought this project was very interesting because we got to change people’s point of view about the use of electronics. The only down side we found is that we think it would be nicer to not have a due date with this assignment so we could play around, experiment and raise more awareness on our topic. We like project based learning, because we get to work together, and it’s more efficient than learning out of a textbook.
Our addressing an issue project is on how students all around the world are spending too much time in front of an electronic device. We wanted to find out how much time kids in our class spend on a device each day. The results from this survey were 4-5 hours a day. We believe that kid’s imaginations are getting weaker throughout each year because their imaginations are already brought to life for them in a game. We also believe that kids are getting less social because electronics are taking over their free time.
Mr. Robinson allowed us to introduce two days with no electronics in class to our fellow students. Through the two days we found it harder than you would think to not use any electronics. The big question after those two days was if the experiment made a different in our classmate’s weekends, in terms of using electronics. The results we got back were that 7 kids said they had more time on a device, 4 kids said less and 8 kids said they had no difference in time.
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Thank you for letting my class share their projects with you. It is surprising to see how far students can go with three simple words "Address an Issue" and some leeway. This venture has helped my students strive for real world gains in future projects as well. One poignant comment to note is that several students mentioned that they wish they didn't have a due date. Interesting. Did I have to set a date for their presentations? Could I have simply had them present their ongoing work?
Opening the door to project-based learning has been a turning point in my career. It has been a great foundation as I develop Connections-based Learning. Through it all, I have learned to never underestimate what a student can do.
When William Heard Kilpatrick first began using the term project in regards to education back in 1918, he used it the same way that project-based learning teachers use it today: purposeful acts. These genuine projects allow for students to work together to plan, create, and present "a wholehearted purposeful activity proceeding in a social environment" (Kilpatrick, 1918). I share about it in Teach Old-School: Try Project-based Learning.
Now I love project-based learning. I love how the BIE has emphasized that projects need real world relevance, that they include critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, that they emphasize teacher and student working together to connect with experts and resources available to them from around the globe.
But I would like to take a moment to reflect on the connected nature of learning.
Learning in the 21st century must take advantage of the connected world we live in. Putting the focus on connections makes for the type of learning that zeros in on relationships, Kilpatrick's "social environment". Making a connection with the teacher is fundamental to learning. I share about it in: I Trust You; You Trust Me and The Unmaking of the Bully. But connections run throughout the learning in this day and age.
It's an idea that I have been working on for some time: focusing on the connections of learning. . .not simply the content nor the task. Thus: Connections-based Learning.
I have 6 connections that I want to expand on. This is not an exhaustive list. . .more so, a starting point: Serve the Community, Question Experts, Work as a Team, Help Organizations, Show the Class, Share with the World. For each, I ask some honest questions. Hopefully they spark further dialogue.
Serve the Community
Loading up a Christmas hamper to take to a local family
"Intuitively it makes sense.While we spend the 200 days together, we might as well make a difference.We might as well move beyond what if two trains leave their stations at such and such a time and into how could we improve the transit use in our community.We might as well shift from find outwhat a wetland is to how we can save the wetlands behind the school." from Projects that Change the World (Originally published in the Fall 2014 Edition of Living Education eMagazine)
There are so many opportunities in the neighbourhood around the school. What if we made a priority to utilize those opportunities, to help where help is needed?
Some questions for reflection: - what are the needs in the community? - what connections does the class and school already have with community partners? - what resources do we have as a class that can help meet community needs? - what are we learning as we help meet community needs?
It doesn't take much to get students thinking about the needs in their community. One of my students began a campaign to get a new pool for the community. Another group made a plea for more hitting in PeeWee hockey. I've had groups go around to neighbouring schools to plant flowers. Students simply need inspiration, permission and someone to say that they'll support them through it. The students win; the community wins.
Question the Experts
Interview with a childhood cancer survivor
When a group wanted to bring in a cancer survivor for their presentation on medical advancements, I was truly excited. It was a win-win-win. The students get first-hand information; the class gets to hear about the real deal; and the guest gets to tell his story. This presentation truly connected with my students.
I want to make a case for making connections with experts a priority. Think about it for a moment: a relationship with an expert is dynamic. Often experts have the most recent information. They have a personal investment in the info. And some are just biting at the bit to share it. Now consider having a connection with multiple experts: being able to compare and contrast their views, even getting involved in their community.
- When you connect with an expert, you get a current perspective.
- When you connect with an expert, you honour the work they do.
- When you connect with an expert, you raise the engagement level.
Some questions for reflection: - what learning outcomes do we have that could tap into an expert's understanding? - what means do we have of connecting with experts; can we expand on those means? - how can we facilitate our students using their own means to contact experts?
My current Science and Tech class is working to make connections with experts in the Canadian Space field. I am excited to see where it goes.
Work as a Team
A reflection on collaboration
At my school, we are working hard to reflect on what it means to collaborate successfully. It is not an easy concept. And if teachers struggle with what it looks like to squeeze every little bit of synergetic potential out of collaboration, think about how tough it might be for students. Connections-based Learning looks at what it really means to work as a team.
Students must have time to reflect on questions such as these: - what skills and strengths does each group member have to accomplish the task? - how is the workload going to be shared? - what rules do you want to have regarding your collaboration? - what will you do if the rules aren't followed?
Help Organizations
Raising money for cancer research
It happened again. During our Medical Advances Project in Science and Tech 11, a student came up to me and asked: "So. . .for this assignment. . .you're not asking us to really do something, are you?" Yup.
I love that question, though. I get to see the light go on right then and there. And the light shines: I can really make a difference.
Some questions for reflection: - how can we open the doors for students to make connections with outside groups and keep them safe? - how can we support students in making connections with organizations? - how do we deal with the disappointments that can go along with stepping out and taking risks? - what about the students who don't want to get involved?
Show the class
A student's Youtube teaching video
I love watching students share their learning with the rest of the class. But I want to emphasize here that it can happen in many different ways. For Math 10, each student, in pairs or by themselves, studied a certain Math concept that we would be learning this term. Their task was to create a teaching video. I share about this is Flipclass 2.0: it's not about you or your videos.
To teach something is to really learn it. Once again: win, win. The presenters get to work through the concept. The listeners get to be exposed to it.
Some questions for reflection: - what limits have we been putting on what is possible in the classroom? - do we know our students' expertise; what can we encourage our students to share? - do we open the doors for alternate means of sharing? - how can we use student learning to promote more student learning?
Share with the world
A student's blog post on digital footprints
I remember sitting in a community circle as a staff during a Pro D Day as we shared one word about our hopes for our students. Words like reflective, compassionate, brave, and curious were all spoken as we went around the circle. When it came to my turn, I blurted out: blogger. Many had a hard time computing this. Was Sean making a mockery of the activity? I didn't think so. I did have some explaining to do, though.
My thought was that if I could get my students truly blogging, I would achieve a lot of what the other teachers were saying. My students would have to reflect. They would be encouraged to observe another's viewpoint as they read and commented on each other, possibly sparking some compassion. They would have to be brave as they shared. And their curiosities could be revealed? Blogging isn't the end all be all, but it certainly helps accomplish a lot of what we are trying to do as teachers.
That is what I am getting at when I say: share with the world. Blog about it, comment about it, tweet about it, vlog about it--but share it beyond handing it to the teacher.
Some questions for reflection: - what safeguards need to be in place as we share with the world? - what platform helps accomplish our goals? - what should be done publically, what should be kept private? - how do we showcase accomplishments, curate learning, and communicate feedback? Will this require multiple platforms?
I am firm believer in Kilpatrick's purposeful acts of teaching. And I believe that these acts can be seen in terms of genuine connections between and within the classroom and the world beyond. I hope to live out these ideas and add clarity to what I see as Connections-based Learning. I would love to hear your thoughts.
