OUR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY

The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education Discovering How Boys Learn Best

CCBEOUR PROFESSIONAL CCBE The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education Discovering How Boys Learn Best LEARNING COMMUNITY

The 2019-2020 school year saw the launch of a Research PLC. One opportunity had members write a brief reflection on a reading that changed their practice. This is one approach in a research culture that keeps us growing as learners.

Greg Ryerson reflects on Ambitious Science Teaching by Mark Windschitl, Jessica Thompson, and Melissa Braaten

This book was recommended during a webinar I attended on how to capture and visualize student thinking, particularly through the use and development of models. I then completed a National Geographic Education course on teaching global climate change, and 2 chapters from this book were included in the required readings. Embracing the Next Generation Science Standards and 21st Century learning skills, the book provides examples and strategies for how to incorporate these ideas into our classrooms.

Teaching through the use of a model allows for students to demonstrate the growth of their understanding of a topic by giving life to their initial ideas and then adjusting and developing those as they learn more. They are encouraged to explain their thinking, argue their ideas, and then recreate their model as their understanding grows. This process emulates the scientific method in the classroom.

In my teaching I like to incorporate ideas that allow for design thinking and experiential learning, and that provide structure for my students to generate their own ideas. I am planning to incorporate the use of these modelling techniques into my future teaching in order to better help the boys demonstrate their scientific literacy and engage in the scientific method. By doing so I hope that they will gain a better understanding of that process and be better able to formulate their own robust and qualified ideas.

https://ambitiousscienceteaching.org/

Natalie Vera reflects on Student Agency in the Classroom

I joined Twitter in 2015. My intention was not to tweet but to use Twitter as my playground for educational resources. Don’t get me wrong, I will occasionally tweet all the great things that we do here at Crescent, but my main use for Twitter is professional development. Over the years, I have followed likeminded educators and educational technology companies. I have figured out the fine art of trolling Twitter for useful resources for me and to share with my colleagues.

I came across an educator, Catlin Tucker, who shared many of my own values around education. I soon

The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education Discovering How Boys Learn Best

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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education Discovering How Boys Learn Best

realized that she had an amazing blog where she posted thought-provoking articles. The article, “3 Ways to Build Student Agency into Your Lessons” helped me build a more engaging learning environment. She discusses the what, how and why of a lesson or project.

Giving your student a voice and a choice allows for deeper learning and more engaged students. She speaks about teacher concern over losing control of their classroom when it comes to student agency. What I have found is the opposite. Students are more engaged, more reflective and open to feedback as they explore their learning. I have even found a shift from the boys asking

The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education Discovering How Boys Learn Best

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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education Discovering How Boys Learn Best

what their mark is to ask how they can improve their communication and make their thinking more visible.

Reading and following Catlin’s blog and being on Twitter allows me to self reflect on my own teaching practices and gives me the opportunity to engage my students in a way that makes their thinking visible and more importantly gives them their own voice!

Patricia Alviano reflects on Demystifying Generation Z

Tim Elmore’s Generation Z Unfiltered: Factng Nine Hidden Challenges of the Most Anxious Population encouraged me to think, reflect and imagine how to better support our current generation of adolescent students. In his book, Elmore clearly illustrates the differences between Generation Z and previous generations. Acknowledging the paradox as “Life for [Generation Z] is easier and quicker to navigate technically, but more difficult to navigate psychologically and emotionally” acted as a reminder of the importance in providing our students with coping skills necessary to help overcome stress and anxiety. I was able to connect my work as a Middle School Learning Support Specialist with each of the nine challenges presented in Elmore’s work. For example, the first paradox for Generation Z is listed as Empowerment without Wisdom. Elmore’s research notes, the best way to get buy-in from students is to invite them into the problem solving process. Motivated by this approach, I shifted my practice. Rather than creating a support model and introducing it to students using a prescriptive framework, I have adopted a descriptive framework, where students are empowered to create their own model for support. This change has made a significant impact. The buy-in amongst students has increased, and their motivation to work alongside me in solving problems or overcoming obstacles has become a proactive approach to their learning.

Inspired by Tim Elmore’s work, I look forward to receiving an email from his daily blog, Growing Leaders. His research continues to offer many practical strategies and tools for the critical need to equip our current generation of adolescent students with leadership skills, emotional intelligence and coping strategies in a unique way.