06/11/2012 – sonya terborg

Last week, my sister emailed me asking if I knew about a school in Christchurch, New Zealand (where we are from) that she was in the process of checking out for her son. She said that the school “sounded just like me” and my ‘dream school’ from Imagine a School.

Intrigued, I began to investigate and I think I have fallen in love! Talk about make school different!

The physical space that the school is located in has been badly damaged by the recent earthquakes so the school has relocated to a different part of the city for the time being. Prior to the relocation, the site was designed by Imagine – an architectural firm focusing on inspirational school design. From there, it just gets better!

The name of the school is Discovery 1. It is a state-funded , public school that operates under the auspices of having a ‘special character’ and as such, the way in which they approach learning (the what, how and why of what they do) looks different to more traditional schools. The ‘special character’ is defined by the following points:

that students direct and manage their own learning based on their passions, interests and needs

that we ask students first what they need in order to learn

that we create and uphold a community where families are an integral part of the learning process, sharing responsibility for learning with students and staff

that we are involved in learning wherever it naturally occurs in the community without the restrictions of curriculum, place, time, style or subject

that students come together in a learning community without barriers, learning at their own level

that we create and uphold a community where everyone is a learner and everyone is a teacher

Discovery 1 goes on to define the role of the stakeholders:

Students are expected to:

….take advantage of the opportunities available to them and commit to the learning intentions they have co-created. Learners at Discovery will be successful if they strive to be self motivated, self directed and self managing.

Parents/Caregivers are expected to:

…commit to the special character of the school and work in partnership with staff and students to set appropriate learning intentions for their child and support them through the challenges of achieving these intentions. Work alongside staff and students both within school hours and outside hours.

Learning Advisors are committed to:

…make Discovery 1 a place of learning that students enjoy, where their learning and personal development will flourish, provide challenge and new and varied learning opportunities.

The core values of Discovery 1 are:

Respect

Trust

Caring

Relationships

Community

Collaboration

Innovation.

Amongst their documentation, is a ‘glossary of terms’ that explains some of the terminology you will hear being used at Discovery 1:

There is so much here that I just really connected with!

students grouped across grade levels
the use of the local community
the role of the ‘teacher’ as learner and advisor
the commitment required of the parents to particpate in the education of the child
the inquiry based stance
the idea that the learning does not have to occur in the classroom
the option for students to learn from home
the option for group or individual inquires

And this is free (a donation to the school of less than NZ$150 is asked for by the school as a school fee – a practice in place by most New Zealand public schools).

Ultimately, this begs the question “If this is my ‘dream school’, what can I do now, where I am at, to make school different?”

I think this goes a long way in answering that question:

A lot of this reminds me of how our class operated during our recent PYP Exhibition. You can read more about that here. We worked really hard on developing an environment based on passion and inquiry, incorporating collaborative and group work, requiring the showcasing of well-established skills and the development of new skills, interactions with the community, and the idea of connecting to the community and taking action.

At the end of the process, we surveyed our parents and then collated, reflected upon and shared their combined feedback, indicating how we would use their insights to shape the program next year. That document is available here: PYP Exhibition Feedback. When I look this over, with the Discovery1 lens permeating everything I see, I am both pleased with how we did and able to see loads of places for improvement. I am also pondering the question:

“Why only the last unit, the last 8 weeks of the year, in the last grade before Middle School?”.

As much as I love the graphic above and am so inspired by the work of its creator, I think I would tweak this poster to more accurately represent the ethos of my classroom next year, all year, as inspired by Discovery1:

Creativity, Innovation, Writing

Invent Yourself As A Writer

06/11/201206/11/2012 Sonya terBorg

A few days ago, I posted about reading. Today, writing. I was reminded of wanting to post about writing when I saw this, three minutes ago:

An adaptation of his own work “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon

I read this post by a teacher named Jenn, who shared her struggles with teaching writing and I felt like I could have written it (the first part anyway) about myself as a teacher of writing. What hit me was when she described her routine:

I gave a writing assignment and expected my students to complete it. They would complete it, sure, but with errors galore. I would instruct students to proofread their rough draft, and they would read through it, say, “It’s good!” and turn it in. Then (just like my teachers had done for me) I would spend hours correcting all of their mistakes, which they would then copy for their final draft. It was exhausting doing their work for them, and my students weren’t becoming better writers.

Exactly!

I was fortunate this year to have a teaching partner who has many strengths – one of which is teaching writing. By watching him and by doing in my own classroom, I felt like I was beginning to morph from the teacher described above to one more able to evoke a love of writing. But I still have a long ways to go! I know that I need to:

write when my kids write
be more explicit in talking about writing
share my own struggles, frustrations and triumphs in writing
make sure I am providing authentic audiences for their writing
draw upon real life experiences for writing

One of my biggest ‘breakthrough’ moments as a teacher was with a student who is a really good writer. She was ‘well-schooled’ in how writing works: She writes, the teacher approves her writing, she moves on to write something else. I felt a little stifled by this routine and wanted to break it – but didn’t know how. After almost a year of slowly working away at the idea that revising work is not a punishment, that the feedback from others can improve the work and that success as a writer isn’t determined by wether or not I, as the teacher, “like” your work, we made a breakthrough. One day, out of the blue, I noticed that our conversations about her writing had become a real conversation. She would share her work, ask for ideas, and when I gave suggestions, she would weigh in, ultimately making edits that suited her artistic inclinations.

My other writing epiphany came as I watch the writing of another student go from good to amazing in a really short period of time. I have been with some of my kids for two years having followed them from fourth to fifth grade and when I saw the change in this student’s writing, I was blown away. How did it happen? There were a number of factors and none of them had anything to do with me! Firstly, she read – a lot. Different genre, current books, all the time. Secondly, she was not at school, she was on a 77 day sabbatical in Barcelona. She wrote without pressure of the hamster wheel pace of school life and with the experience of a reader, traveler and explorer and it showed. Big time.

My question to myself is

“How do I make sure I help all children get to the same place these girls arrived at without leaving it to chance? ”

I did some research and came across a great post titled How Do Kids Really Learn To Write, 2.0 by Patricia Zaballos. It is an excellent read. I am highlighting points from it below but do yourself a huge favor and go read it in it’s entirety. It begins by outlining:

What Kids DON’T Need In Order To Become Writers:

Kids don’t need to master the mechanical skills of writing before developing voices as writers.
Kids don’t need daily, or even weekly writing practice.
Kids don’t need to practice writing in various formats.
Kids don’t need to write to develop as writers.

All these points would describe 99% of what goes on in a regular, grade-school writing class. But if this is being touted as what kids don’t need, what do they need? The blog post goes on to describe what you can do:

How Can You Help Kids Develop Into Writers:

Raise them in a literature-rich, word-loving home.
Talk about what interests them.
Make the distinction between getting-words-on-the-paper skills and written expression.
Let them write about what interests them, and in genres that they enjoy.
Explore intriguing nonfiction
Help them find meaningful, authentic reasons to write.

Although not explicitly said, my thinking is that if you focus on how you can help kids develop into writers, they naturally may start to do some of the things that they “don’t need”. They will want to learn to type or write faster/more neatly in order to be heard as an author. They will want to know the mechanics of spelling, punctuation and grammer in order to develop their writers voice. They will write daily or weekly without prompting because they have something to say. They will write in a variety of formats because they will realize that writing is everywhere and writing is for a purpose and those purposes are endless! They will develop as writers with each piece that they write, but also by each experience, discussion, reading, discovery, encounter and adventure that they undertake.

In reading the comments of other readers of this post, there is discussion of the use of dictation tools to facilitate the writing process. I hadn’t thought of doing this but I have previously allowed the kids to make audio or video recordings as reflections on their work. Doing this has meant I have gotten a much richer picture of their true thoughts on the topic. Kids are naturally going to be more fluent as speakers rather than writers and what better way to build confidence as a writer than by dictating your work? No longer does it have to be about how fast you can type or how quickly you can write, the focus can be on the richness of the content of your work. And isn’t that the real point?

Take another look at Austin Kleon’s 10 Ways to Steal Like A Writer:

I don’t know exactly what he was thinking when he wrote this, but here is my interpretation:

Slap things together from all parts of your life, moving things around, rearranging them and ultimately piecing it all together.
Be prepared to write anytime, anyplace, low-tech.
READ!!!
When you see something you consider “killer writing” copy it, rip it out, photograph it, keep it. Read it again and again. And again.
Write first, think later. Just do it – then refine, or not.
Experience 3D life so that you will have something to write about.
Do something each day to further your role as a writer: read, write, discuss, explore, create, do…
Entertain yourself with your writing – you will always be your number one fan.
Make people laugh/cry/give you stuff/root for you/want more.
Share your art.

Notice the correlation between Kleon’s list and Zaballos’ second set of bullet points? What does this tell me? This is just another reason why we need to keep explaining to the parents of the kids we teach, the WHY behind why we do what we do.

I am also reminded that Kleon’s message in Steal Like An Artist – and therefore presumably Steal Like A Writer – is not ‘be yourself’ and all will be fine. According to Kleon, this is the “last advice” he would give anyone. The idea is to invent yourself as an artist, a writer. Consciously move yourself forward in your quest to better yourself artistically, linguistically. This is great advice and implies a call to action on the part of the artist, the writer. It is this advice that I want to carry into the new school year as I actively guide my kids as they invent themselves as writers.

Creativity

Rolling Around on the Grass: Harnessing the Power of WHY Creativity is Essential

06/11/201206/11/2012 Sonya terBorg

Yesterday I spent the better part of my Sunday afternoon with actors and supporters of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival in a book club discussing Jonah Lehrer’s Imagine. It was not only inspiring to be in a theatre with a group of people who are passionate about the arts, but it helped me to hear people from outside of the teaching profession share their thoughts on creativity and imagination.

We began with a quote from Ray Bradbury’s obituary in the NY Times in which Bradbury was describing his childhood in which he had a “hungry imagination”:

“It was one frenzy after one elation after one enthusiasm after one hysteria after another,” he wrote, noting, “You rarely have such fevers later in life that fill your entire day with emotion.”

Immediately, I thought of the children I teach and the frenzied, elated, enthusiastic, hysterical way they live their lives. And then I wondered, “How am I tapping into that natural energy, that emotion and using it for good?” So much of what is ‘expected’ – sitting at desks, following instructions, meeting teacher-set expectations – is counterproductive to everything that is inherently natural in children. Why are we so focused on compliance instead of creativity?

People began to share their thoughts and the one thing that kept resonating with me was that in order to get more ‘buy in’ we need to be clear in our articulation of why we are doing what we are doing. With the emphasis being on explaining the why. In this morning’s daily email, Simon Sinek (timely as ever) summarizes this by saying:

In Lehrer’s book, he describes the behaviors of creative types and businesses such as 3M that are grounded in innovation. He outlines some of the ways in which individuals and company employees have come around to breakthrough ideas and creative epiphanies. These include:

sitting on a park bench in a busy location and people watching
taking a walk or going for a jog outside
changing up your physical environment
travelling
meeting people outside of your field of expertise
purposeful, planned daydreaming
failing and trying and failing and trying…

We talked about education and how the rigidity of the system would respond to the idea of incorporating some of these activities into a child’s school day. Some of the actors in the group described college classes they took in which they regularly practiced rolling on the floor or blindfolding each other and going outside to feel the grass. We laughed over phoning home as excited college students to parents who were bearing the financial burden of a college education to share that “I did more rolling on the floor today, mom, and I’m getting really good at it!” While this sounds laughable (and we did laugh) it was the point of the conversation in which I realized just how important sharing the WHY was going to be in order to get more buy-in from parents – or people in general – when sharing stories about teaching the art of being creative.

I have spoken a lot about the importance in my mind of process over product and we agreed that if we believe that there is value in sitting on a bench, rolling on the floor or feeling up the grass, then we need to unapologetically share the reasons behind why we are doing the things we are doing. Think of the child that constantly asks “Why?” to every thing you say. When did we kill that urge to question things and when did we decide that explaining why was no longer important?

Imagine offers two, somewhat conflicting but equally valid, ways of being creative. In a very simplified nutshell, they are:

Actively pursue creative ideas
Sit and let creative ideas come to you

The first method is about convergent thinking: analysis and attention to specific ideas. This is the kind of thinking when the idea is right there but just needs that last minute burn of the midnight oil to come to fruition. Lehrer describes this kind of thinking as “chiseling away at our own errors” calling the process “a struggle, a labor of attention” but adding that “this is the point – it takes time to find the perfect line.”

The second method is about divergent thinking: trusting all those spontaneous epiphanies. This is the kind of thinking when you are trying to invent something new, make opposing ideas connect or radically restructure the way things are done. Lehrer believes this type of unexpected thinking is needed when you have “hit the wall” and “logic won’t help”.

Should We TEACH Creativity in Schools?

I have seen this question a lot. I used to think “Impossible! – TEACH creativity? Creativity is something you are born with, or not.” How wrong could I be? If you were to look at the two points raised by Lehrer – actively pursue creative ideas and let creative ideas come to you, I think we have the answer to that question. As a teacher, I need to consciously plan for creativity in my classroom. I need to make sure I am setting up an environment that embraces creative thought. If you are wondering, “Great, but how do I start?” I would encourage you to read Dancing About Architecture by Phil Beadle. Not only does it shine a light on James Webb Young’s 1939 Technique for Producing Ideas, it also gives practical examples of what this can look like along with this buoyant encouragement for those brave enough to embark on the journey:

If we are prepared to experiment, to focus on process and let ‘outcome’ float around on the breeze waiting to be discovered, something different happens. We either fall flat on our behinds, or we discover new lands; and you cannot discover new lands by keeping one foot in the old country. So jump, happily, knowing that the process of learning to be brilliant involves risk.

Risk. This is something IB Schools require of their students – to be risktakers. Did you read that last line: The process of learning to be brilliant involves risk. This may seem daunting to some, so Beadle encourages us some more:

As a teacher, it is always worth taking a risk. Your audience will forgive you if it doesn’t work. They will also feel the thrill of the high wire along with you when you walk it.

As one of the members of the group reminded us, Louis Pasteur once said that “Chance favors the prepared“. You are more likely to get creative ideas if you plan for and prepare for creative ideas. What is reassuring is that no where did I read or did anyone say that YOU have to have all of the creative ideas. You may not understand the logic puzzles or the connections between obscure, unrelated objects – it doesn’t matter. What matters is that as teachers, we are:

actively seeking ways to bring creativity into our classrooms
explaining the ‘why’ behind our practice in order to educate others
taking risks in what we bring to the classroom
trying it out alongside our children (you know they are going to remember the day their teacher rolled on the grass blindfolded!)

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Day: June 11, 2012

Discovery 1 – Make School Different So That “We Will Fly”

that students direct and manage their own learning based on their passions, interests and needs

that we ask students first what they need in order to learn

that we create and uphold a community where families are an integral part of the learning process, sharing responsibility for learning with students and staff

that we are involved in learning wherever it naturally occurs in the community without the restrictions of curriculum, place, time, style or subject

that students come together in a learning community without barriers, learning at their own level

that we create and uphold a community where everyone is a learner and everyone is a teacher

Students are expected to:

Parents/Caregivers are expected to:

Learning Advisors are committed to:

Respect

Trust

Caring

Relationships

Community

Collaboration

Innovation.

Invent Yourself As A Writer

What Kids DON’T Need In Order To Become Writers:

How Can You Help Kids Develop Into Writers:

Rolling Around on the Grass: Harnessing the Power of WHY Creativity is Essential

Actively pursue creative ideas

Sit and let creative ideas come to you

Should We TEACH Creativity in Schools?

What will you do to prepare for creativity in your classroom?

that students direct and manage their own learning based on their passions, interests and needs

that we ask students first what they need in order to learn

that we create and uphold a community where families are an integral part of the learning process, sharing responsibility for learning with students and staff

that we are involved in learning wherever it naturally occurs in the community without the restrictions of curriculum, place, time, style or subject

that students come together in a learning community without barriers, learning at their own level

that we create and uphold a community where everyone is a learner and everyone is a teacher

Students are expected to:

Parents/Caregivers are expected to:

Learning Advisors are committed to:

Respect

Trust

Caring

Relationships

Community

Collaboration

Innovation.

Spread the word:

Like this:

What Kids DON’T Need In Order To Become Writers:

How Can You Help Kids Develop Into Writers:

Spread the word:

Like this:

Actively pursue creative ideas

Sit and let creative ideas come to you

Should We TEACH Creativity in Schools?

What will you do to prepare for creativity in your classroom?

Spread the word:

Like this: