It`s All About Choice

I have read a fair bit into project based learning and other sorts of assessment alternatives in the last year or so, and I decided to implement my own program last semester. We had a PD session today about some of the ways that we can motivate some of our students to complete major assessments with more regularity. They are usually pretty good about completing tests, because all that is required of them is that they sit and write when the teacher tells them too. The trouble comes in when they are asked to complete a project of some kind. Often I never get the project in at all from these sorts of students. It can be maddening.

This year I decided to give them more control over the method in which they demonstrated their understanding of the content. We have a significant EAL population at our school, which translates into a host of issues one wouldn't necessarily have to deal with in a non-EAL school. I'm not keen to get into the issues, since I think the approach I've taken for projects will work in any classroom.

I'll give an example. We studied a graphic novel version of Macbeth (again, EAL) last semester, and at the end of the story I presented my Grade 10s with their final assessment. Using the projector I walked them through the rationale behind the entire program, gave them the rubric I would use to assess their learning, and presented the with the different methods they could demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. They could write a persuasive essay, write an alternative ending, write a short sequel, create a visual essay (presentation with a thesis), or they could film and edit a short movie with one or more essential scenes from the play.

Initially, many of the students gravitated toward the movie assessment (which could be done with a group of up to 5 students). However, many of the quickly realized the need to depend significantly on each other in order to achieve the success they wanted and that tended to deter them. I thought most students would choose the presentation, but only a few did (they could do it alone or in pairs). I received a final submission from each type of assessment in the end.

This sort of demonstration of learning was incredibly impactful for my students, because it was the first time for many of them where they could show me their understanding in their own way. Obviously, some leeway had to be given in terms of some of the technical issues that can crop up in each of the assessments, but, for the most part, they did a great job. Two of the standout projects were completely different in type and scope (one was a short film of 3 scenes and the other was an excellently written alternative ending) but they were both very good demonstrations of understanding.

Another great effect of this process was the enthusiasm I saw in many of my students. They were EXCITED to show me what they new about Macbeth. The process of showing me what they knew was as much a learning experience for them as was actually reading the play/graphic novel. It was great to see, and I know that I am going to try and implement this assessment model as often as I feasibly can.

Classroom Management

Reflection is a key component of an effective teacher.  This is a statement that has been bantered around for a while, and in my experience it is every bit the truth.  Moving to Kuwait last year, I had a difficult time always managing my students.  I struggled, but it wasn't a complete disaster.  Still, when I had some time over the summer I thought long and hard about it.  This year I have implemented many systems, but the systems are only as good as the person using them.  I had to enforce them and I had to get the kids behind them.

Hand signals is one of the best systems I have in place.  The older students have some difficulty getting behind this totally (I still have some rebels), but for the most part my students like this system.  In fact, I have had other teachers come to me and ask about it.  The students I teach had ask their other teachers to implement a similar system.  The signals themselves are pretty self explanatory.  The biggest hurdle involves practicing and reminding students about the expectations.  I have far fewer students yelling out in class, or wasting time while I am with another student.  If they need to use the washroom they will simply hold up their hand with two fingers crossed.  When I see their hand, I can give them a head shake for yes and off they go.  It is simple and effective.  You can download the PDF I made here and the header here.  The designs for the hands can be found on this site.

I also use an assertive discipline tactic where I write names on the white board for warnings and other actions. On the right you will see my white board.  Since we are a bilingual school, I have to get my students to use English as much as possible.  I will allow Arabic in certain cases, but usually when they come into my room they speak only in English.  This is easier said than done, but I strive to work on monitoring this everyday.  Under the Warnings header I write names of students who choose not to listen.  This is the key with this system: the students have auditory, proximity, and visual reminders for behaviour expectations.  The first warning is verbal, the second gets their name on the board, third a check and a time out, fourth another check and a lunch detention, and after that they get after school detentions and so on. 

This is a school policy at my school, but the key is following through with each step.  Kids are kids, and if they can convince you not to give them a lunch detention for their poor choices they will.  It is a system that allows some flexibility, though.  Students can earn back checks if their behaviour improves (if they haven't worked themselves to a detention).

Reflecting on the last semester, I can safely say that I feel a lot more comfortable with how my classroom works.  I can still improve, but I feel as though my students and I have a great environment where we can tackle the questions of the day in a safe, structured, and positive manner.

Dropbox - AKA The Keeper

I have finally made a full conversion to using Dropbox.  If you aren't familiar with the website, I'll give a brief synopses.  Dropbox is a storage service that allows you to digitally house files.  You can access and sync these files through your PC/Mac, iOS or other portable device, and from an internet browser.  You can share the files with others for easy collaboration, or you can lock everything up tight.  It is a cloud-based service, meaning that the files are stored somewhere...out there.  In the ether, so to speak. 

I have been using the service for a while now, but only for odds and ends.  I wanted an easy way to see my wedding photos despite the disc being at my mom's house and Amanda and I being in Kuwait.  My mom's partner uploaded them to dropbox and shared the link so that we could see the finished products.  It worked very well!

How is it useful for teaching?  I began the year using a USB thumb drive for all of my school files.  I dragged that sucker to and from school everyday, and I had more than my share of "WHERE IS IT?" moments.  Well, I finally lost it a while back.  I erroneously kept it on the half-wall between our kitchen and our living room, and I think it fell into the garbage at some point.  I was never able to find it.  After some swearing and panicking, I was able to find most of what I lost.  Anything that had been created in the previous couple of weeks was gone, but a lot of stuff was still on our home laptop. 

And that's how I quickly became a Dropbox afficiando.  I use it constantly now, and I will never look back.  Dropbox automatically syncs all of my files with all of my devices, and it is a painless process.   Over the holidays I wanted to mark some student presentations, so I threw them into my Dropbox folder.  I was able to open them up on the plane ride, back in Canada, or wherever and start marking away.  It is a must-have product for teachers, or, well, anyone.  Plus, it's free!

Back at it

I haven't posted in a while, because, well, I don't really have an excuse.  Busy?  Yes.  Too busy?  Probably not.  If Amanda can post consistently, I should be able to manage it too.  So, I'll try my best.

We are in the middle of exams here, but thankfully mine are almost all written.  I have been diligent in trying to get things done ahead of time.  I have started into some deep (as in a while away) planning.

This past semester has seen a lot of changes.  I started the year gung-ho with gamifying elements of my courses, but I soon realized I had bitten off more than I could chew.  I took on too much, really, and it was difficult to keep up with.  I have pared down that side of the program.  I realized that creating a classroom narrative was a lot of work, and, really, too much for the amount of planning time I have (including hours at home).  Some kids were very interested in that side of it, though, so hopefully a better mind than me can come up with a system in which that works.

Something many of my students loved: Crafting!  A lot of them are very interested in the idea of crafting. Crafting, as I mean it, is a program where kids who are finished early can continue developing skills for badges awarded on Edmodo. I generally make it related to a topic in grammar that we have studied previously. This gives the kids a chance to reinforce their skills, and it is completely optional. One of my most avid crafters has seen significant improvement this year!

A Teachable Moment for Them and One For Me.

Today (September 21) is my birthday.  This year I am lucky, because it falls on a weekend day (school week in Kuwait runs Sunday-Thursday).  Amanda has some things planned for the day, but, mostly, I just want to relax.  I still have some work I want to get to, or September 22 will be terribly busy.

Yesterday, I came outside to greet my grade eights as I do every day.  We are still practicing routines and fulfilling expectations.  One of my expectations is that before class begins they line up outside my door in a single-file line and they are quiet.  This helps to calm down the noise before the enter the room, and it helps to start the class on the right foot.  This group was a much talked about group last year, because of the many behaviour and discipline issues that came up.  I only had them for homeroom, so I never really saw much of that.  I'll be honest, before this year began I figured they would still be a tough group.

I was wrong.  They are great kids, and they crave structure and routine.  To that effect, we had to practice entering the classroom a couple of times yesterday.  In both instances one or more students were far too chatty.  I was getting in a huff by the time I had everyone seated.  I lectured them on the importance of our routines, and then I had them take out their books to start on the bell work.  Many stared at me dumbfounded, and I felt like I had accidently brought the wrong class inside.  I asked again, and they slowly started to take out their materials.

I turned to the Smart Board and I drew the screen shade down, so that they could read the instructions.  We were going to do a rapid writing assignment.  I turned around to explain this, and I was met with every single student standing and facing me.  It was like something from Children of the Corn.  And then they sang.  "Happy birthday," came at me in force.

I felt low.  I just berated them for not following rules and expectations, and now they are happily wishing me a happy birthday.  They are kids, they do get excited, and I need to remember that.  I even got a sweet card from one student, and a bottle of cologne from another.  Unfortunately, I don't wear cologne and it is a staple for teacher gifts in Kuwait.  I have five or so bottles stashed somewhere.

As an aside: My grade 8s love the crafting folders.  I already have one student who is a Master Noun Navigator, and several others who are close.  The image is the badge that they receive on Edmodo.

Levels, Not Grades

Towards the end of last year I began planning/thinking of this school year.  I had a pile of things that went well throughout the course of the year, a pile that went poorly and needed an overhaul, and a bunch of new things I wanted to try.  Levels instead of grades is one of those brand new items on my list.  I love the idea of students moving toward something rather than falling backward.  Traditional grading starts the students at the top (A+) and we watch as they tumble down.  Instituting a levelling system takes that free fall (in some students' cases) away.  My students will all start at Level 1 this year, and they will continue to move up in levels as long as they complete their assignments.  If a student rarely does any work than they don't move down; they simply don't move anywhere.

The levelling system gives the kids more ownership in the assignments they complete, the studying they do, and the classwork they attempt.  Students love to get achievements, badges, or any other kind of recognition, so using a levelling system falls in line with that philosophy.

This semester my students are able to reach a maximum of Level 100, which corresponds to 100%.  They can get there by doing assignments, acing tests, and generally getting as many eXperience Points as possible. I've talked previously about my method for giving out XP and how it corresponds to the levels here.

In order to track their levels, I have created a profile sheet that the students will fill out.  On the bottom are the numbers 1-100.  I will keep the sheets with me, and as the students gain XP I will move them up in levels.  I will conference with the students twice a month, and we can chat about their current level using the profile sheet instead of a spreadsheet.  If you want the level tracking profile sheet you can grab it here, and I have also thrown up the levelling information sheet I've posted in my class here.

An example of the profile sheet that the students will fill out.  As they gain levels I will colour in the level chart below.  I plan on taking student photos and having them printed, so I can include them on these sheets.  It will make everything a little more 'official'.

A look at the new classroom

The first day of school is tomorrow, and I already feel much farther ahead than I did at this time last year.  Amanda and I still hadn't arrived in Kuwait yet, and we wouldn't for another 6 hours or so.  The day before school started.  Eek.

My classroom is coming along nicely though, and I am really excited to get all of my plans started.  I've included a few pictures of the current set-up.  Let me know what you think! *The banquet chairs are not staying...our plastic chairs haven't arrived yet*

This is my "Crafting" centre.  The numbered and coloured folders tell the students which part they are on.  The folders contain the activities themselves. If they are just beginning the skill than they start with orange/one and move on from there.  The tree diagram on the shows the process.  Click here to see it up close.

Here is my missed work wall.  The days of the week are listed at the top, and the grades below.  If a student misses a day or more (up to a week) they will find all activities in the corresponding folder for the day(s) they missed.  It might seem like a lot of folders where 3 (for each grade) would do the trick, but I think this will be easy in the long run.  I won't have jumbled pages and the kids will know exactly where to go based on the day they missed.  After a week I will pull out all material, and the students will have to come directly to me for the information.  On the right you can see the words Powers, Galaxy, and Midgard. These are the names of the narratives we will be weaving in those grades.  Powers has a superhero theme, Galaxy has a space theme, and Midgard has a fantasy theme.

I have decided to implement a hand signal program in my classes.  It may seem a bit juvenile, but I taught these students last year and it was a constant struggle to keep them from blurting out whatever came to their mind.  I've seen the signals made with more gestures, but I feel that these four sum up the majority of the reasons a student needs to yell out.  I got the simple hand designs from IIT Bombay.

My desk and whiteboard.  I'm going to hang up some pictures in that corner in a week, so that it creates more of a "get to know Mr. Phillips" vibe.

These are located right beside the door in case students ever need a quick refresher.  I will talk about both of these programs in more detail later.

The view of the room as you enter.  It will be interesting to see how this has changed when June rolls around.

Great TED Video

I just stumbled on this great TED talk by Paul Anderson, and how he added gaming elements to his classroom.  I've already planned for some of his ideas (also some of Lee Sheldon's), so I'm excited to start the year and see how it all turns out.

The New Year

We just finished up our first week back in Kuwait.  We were flown in a week ahead of the start of school, so that we can get our classrooms ready for the new year.  Our school has grown by over 200 students this year and we have added several new classrooms.  I'm in one of the new ones, and, thankfully, it is quite big. There was a worry, see, our school is housed in an old government school building and we aren't really able to add to it at all.  Therefore, the classrooms tend to get smaller as we cram more and more inside the school compound.  Nevertheless, my classroom is starting to come together.  I'll be posting some pictures later, but I've got all my material up on the walls, the Smart Board is installed, and so is the whiteboard and cork board.  Unfortunately, our chairs haven't arrived yet so my kids will have to sit on banquet chairs for the first few days of classes.

My school

As I've mentioned before, our school week runs Sunday-Thursday.  My weekend starts tomorrow, when we will get some groceries, and then we will head back to the school on Saturday to prep for Sunday's first day mayhem.  This year I will be focusing on fostering respect and community thinking for the first few weeks, as that can be a problem here in Kuwait (in any school, I suppose).  To go along with that, I will be hammering home the routines and procedures I want to be followed.  Last year was my first real year in the classroom (I taught ESL communication in South Korea for a year, but I don't necessarily count that) and we arrived the day that school started.  That meant that the first few weeks were about survival, and not the proper establishment of routines and procedures.   I came out no worse for wear, but I began my summer vacation researching the procedures I wanted in place.  It is all pretty standard fare, but these are the things that will save me a lot of headaches later on.

I decided to laminate the procedures I have at the moment (I'm sure some more will eventually be added), and I have hung them at the front of the class next to the Smart Board.  We will discuss these ad nauseum for the first week, and I will consistently refer the students to the document if they forget the procedure for a particular action.  Similarly, I have created laminated posters for the levelling explanation and process (XP), as well as the Class Dojo behaviour management system (BP).  As I said, though, I will take some pictures this week of the classroom.

Also, I'm going to post the levelling profile chart I made and I'll go into more detail for the  levelling and behaviour systems I have in place.  It is an exciting time of year!

Jeff

P.S. I forgot a rather funny item.  I went to check on the books that were ordered for my students, and it turns out that somewhere along the line my grade 10 grammar textbook changed from an English with Arabic explanations one to an English with Thai explanations one.  Oops.

Crafting - Part Two

We've been back in Kuwait for a couple pf days now, and Amanda and I are already busy getting our classrooms and plans together.  I'm lucky enough to be teaching in a brand new room (albeit a portable), so it is a blank canvas.  They are still working on the room, though, so I'll have to wait a bit longer to get some of my things set up.

I am, however, preparing and laminating a lot of material for the first few days (and for the rest of the year, really).  I'm creating a "Crafting Corner" where students will be able to practice certain skills.  I will post a skill tree every few weeks, so the students can see all of the skills/steps they will be working on.  When they finish one step (worksheet, activity, etc) they can move on to the next.  The final step is a short written test that covers all areas of that skill (verb tenses for instance).  The students that complete all steps and get 80% or higher on the final test will be awarded a badge on Edmodo.  However, if the students get below 80% they will not be awarded a badge.  Instead, they are able to retake the test as many times as they want until they do.  I want this to be a positive experience, and I want to get them interested in accruing and practicing these skills.  The crafting will take place outside of regular lessons, and I will let them take the sheets home (not the test, though).  I know that a lot of my students love getting badges, stickers, or any other kind of recognition (yes even those moody 9s and 10s), so I foresee a lot of them getting behind this.  The ones that aren't interested will not be forced to do it, but I imagine they will consider it when they see the rewards and higher marks their friends get from practicing their skills.  I've thrown two examples of these skill crafting trees up on Google Documents, so click here if you are interested in using something like them.

Time to play a little Xbox before hitting the sack.

The Build-up

I've spent the last week, and I'll spend the next two, planning out more for the upcoming year.  I've been reading heavily into classroom procedures and management, as I struggled last year.  To be fair to myself, a lot of the new teachers (and some of the old) struggled with their students last year.  Kuwaiti kids are raised in a very different environment than we are used to in Canada.

That being said, they are still kids and I know that there are ways to manage their behaviour in my classroom. Amanda and I arrived in Kuwait the night before the first day of school last year, because of visa issues and a torn rotator cuff.  Amanda had her visa stamped and she was ready to go, but after a heated session of golf I tore the rotator cuff in my left shoulder.  I'm sure some of you are shaking your head right now and wondering how that is even possible.  Trust me when I tell you that if you swing hard and wild enough it is a very real possibility.  At any rate, we arrived quite late in the evening and had to get up and teach the next day.  It was a whirlwind.  As such, we have both spent considerable time looking back to last year and searching for ways to improve our classroom management out of the gate.

I've recently read a few books and articles that touch on the subject, and already feel like I have a better grasp on my non-existent classroom.  Hammering home and practicing procedures is going to be a huge focus during the first two weeks.  Similarly, we will work a lot on expected behaviour in the class, lunch room, and during transition .  We had a lot of transition issues with our middle and high school kids last year, so I want this to be a focus.  Add to that the gamification of certain elements of the classroom, and I will have a very hectic first month.  This is the life of a teacher, though.

This week will be spent packing, visiting with family and friends, and doing what planning I can get done.  Next week, Amanda and I get into our classrooms to set up and I am oddly excited.

Jeff

And the Planning Continues

We've been back from our glorious honeymoon for a few days now, and I'm already back at planning for the upcoming school year.  I kind of have to, I suppose, since our year starts on September 2!  Yes..our school week in Kuwait runs from Sunday - Thursday.  A bit odd, but I kind of like it.

Prior to the start of the summer, when I had some downtime at the end of last school year, I began planning out bits and bobs for the upcoming year.  Some things will stay the same and others have changed multiple times, but I'm trying to get the details right.  Best practices, I guess.

My units have been planned and now I am busy planning those first few weeks.  My wife and I have another week and a half here in Canada and then we fly back to the desert.  Once there, we will have a week or so to get our new classrooms set up, meet some of the new staff (including a new Principal for me), and prepare ourselves mentally for the craziness that is September.

I'm detailing some of the procedures and routines I want to cement with my students at the moment, and then I will move onto other aspects of my new classroom.  For instance, I still need to fine-tune my levelling system.  I haven't been working on it for a little while (busy getting married and all), so I mostly just need a refresher for myself.  I'm also busy planning out how I want my room (of which I have no concept of size or shape) to function.

I'm excited for the school year to begin, but I know that I still have a lot of work to get done before I even greet my first student.  Speaking of which, I should get back at 'er.

Behaviour Points Using Class Dojo

In a previous post, I wrote about how the students will be graded in my classroom next year.  I touched on the idea of XP, and how those experience points will essentially be their marks on assignments while the levels they achieve will be their grades.  In this post I am going to write about another point system I will be introducing next year: Behaviour Points.

In short, I'll call these points BPs.  Teachers all over the world use a behaviour management system that revolves around points and rewards.  I'm not reinventing the wheel by any means, but I will be integrating this management system into my class narrative and theme.

The Class Dojo homepage.

This past year I stumbled onto the classroom management system Class Dojo, and it was a stress-saver.  I implemented it into my grade 8 class in November, and they immediately loved it.  Their system is an avatar based reward and consequence system.  I can assign points based on defined actions (1 positive point for raising a hand or 1 negative point for coming in late).  During every class I would put the website up on the interactive whiteboard, so that students always knew where they were in terms of points.  I set up a system where if they got 10 points in a week they would get to choose a reward like sitting in the teacher's chair or eating in class.  If the entire class earned 75% positive in the course of a week we had a whole class reward like playing soccer for 20 minutes or having free personal activity time.  Only the kids with -1 or higher were allowed to participate in the whole class rewards.  This system worked wonders in my class, as I had kids invested in the game nature of the program.  They wanted to earn points, win the week.  Add to that the fact that kids can create their own avatars and I can e-mail parents beautiful behaviour reports. It is a fantastic free classroom management tool that I suggest every teacher try out.

I will be using Class Dojo next year, but I will be changing how I use it.  This year I reset the points each week, so that the students had a fresh start.  Next year I will use it more as a currency system.  Students will earn positive BPs for things like raising hands, completing homework, staying on task, helping others, etc.  They will earn negative BPs (and therefore lose points) for things like being late to class, not doing homework, speaking out, and using Arabic in class (a problem in a bilingual school, as the students have been caught saying some nasty things - also we are trying to promote their development of English skills).

An example of the point distribution for my grade eights.
Alaa has earned her reward!

At any time students will be able to spend their BPs on 'loot.'  For instance, 5BP would buy a student a pencil or pen, 10BP no homework for one night, 15BP a treat, 35BP 15 minutes of quiet free time, etc.  100BP would buy a student soccer for 25 minutes.  Obviously soccer costs a lot of points and an individual student would have to save for an entire semester to earn something like that.  However, I want to promote cooperation and group work.  Since the students will already be in guilds (groups) I will allow them to combine or donate points to each other in order to claim loot.  If Ahmed doesn't have a pencil and he has no BP left, he can ask Tom if he can spare 5BP from his cache of 30BP.  In order to get the soccer reward, my students will have to work together to combine their points.

As of right now, Class Dojo doesn't seem to allow for erasing a particular student's points (as in spending them on a reward), so I hope that they allow this in the future.  If not I'm sure I can figure out a work around to it.  I will be using Class Dojo simply because it is a clean and easy way to manage and track my students' behaviour.

Level Up!

Scene from Scott Pilgrim

I've spoken a bit about my plans for next year, and how I plan on using a narrative to thread all units, lessons, and assignments together, so now I would like to write a bit about my plans for assessment.

Over the past few months I have been reading more and more about the concept of levelling when it comes to assessment. I posted a thought about this on Facebook, and a friend replied by saying that we already do that...it just so happens that the levels are letters (A, B...). I agree that is essentially what our letter-grades are, but what I'm interested in is something a bit different.

I like idea of assessment that is motivating rather than demotivating. Sounds obvious, eh? The standard letter grade approach, though, is demotivating. As often as I can show my students their grades throughout the year, they are always left somewhat in the dark. Further, their grades are in flux at every point. One bad test and their B+ goes down to a B or B-. That is a lot of stress and confusion to put on a kid.

Instead of the typical approach I want to change things up next year and go with a levelling system. The concept is ripped-off of countless video and board games, but it is a tried and true system of motivation and reward. Next year I am going to institute a level system where everyone starts at level 1. In a typical classroom we imagine, the kids do too, starting off at an A+ and we have the rest of the year to try and maintain that goal. It is too difficult for many students, and it is demotivating for most. A system where everyone starts at the bottom gives each kid a fresh, clean slate, and they can only ever move up. Going up is always better than moving down. Talk about motivation!

In my version of this system I will have 100 levels, which corresponds to 100% in the course. The course assignments are broken up into chunks of eXperience Points (XP) totalling 1000. An example: a test worth 50 XP is worth 5% of their total mark or 5 levels. Every single assessment I do (homework, class work, assignments, tests) will have a corresponding point (XP) associated with it. The better a student does the more XP they earn and the more levels they move up. The assessments at my school carry a particular weight, which I would work in as well. Diagnostic assessments and daily work assignments are worth 10% of their mark, formative assessments are worth 45%, and summatives are also worth 45%. Stating that in terms of XP - daily work assignments = 100XP, formative = 450XP, and summative = 450XP. Every one of my assessments will need to add up to the total in their category.

With this sort of system in place, my students will always be aware of what level they are at and what each assignment actually means in relation to their overall mark. During the summer I am going to try and figure out a good way to display this information. I would like a progress bar of some kind, ideally a digital one that can be easily updated. If it could be worked in beside a profile picture of their character and their character's name that would be great. I wouldn't even have too much of a problem displaying all levels in the class, because it would be an added motivater for students. In that scenario there wouldn't be shame associated with having a "D" because the board would simply show a level.

I will likely add in achievements for reaching certain benchmark levels as well. Level 10 and you get an edmodo badge, level 25 and you get a special treat, or something like that. I will touch on some of the achievements I have planned in a later post along with my behaviour points system (still playing with some concepts). Also - when I figure out how I want to display the levels to the students, I'll explain or show an example. Sometimes this stuff can be hard to understand without a visual.

I'm planning a lot of changes for next year, and it will be tough to keep up on it so I am planning on doing a lot of work this summer (when not getting married, going on my honeymoon, and visiting with family and friends). Amanda and I leave Kuwait in a few days and fly back to Canada! Oh, Canada!

An empty space

Took a couple of pictures with our iPad today. My class is looking pretty barren now that there aren't any students left. My desk, on the other hand, is a disaster of paper.

Getting uninvolved parents involved

Is there a trick? My experiences are limited to Kuwaiti parents, and they, in general, can never be considered as invested in education, so how do I push the necessity of their involvement? I'm just about finished my reports (we have to have them done before the end of school, so we can fly back to Toronto on time) and I find it interesting to see which kids are high, which are low, and who has or has not made any improvement this year.

Generally speaking, my high kids have involved parents. Some more than others, but, generally speaking, I can have conversations with them about anything related to their kid(s). Often, though, my low kids or my behaviour problems have parents who are plain absent, and it is incredibly frustrating. I understand that these kids often act out, because they don't get the attention at home, but that doesn't make dealing with them in class any easier. I've tried all of the methods I can think of, and when I do call home I am told that their child will be a perfect student next class. Of course this doesn't happen, and I think I know why.

Now I am strictly speaking about the parents I deal with here in Kuwait. I need to mention this, because life here is just different. Kids are often raised by their nannies, and their parents are often out of the country. When the parents are around they want to spend time with family, and they often push their kid's homework to the side. They want their kids to learn, but they see it as a passive experience. Kids go to school, they sit while the teacher teaches, and then they go home to their real, active life. Parents expect their kids to learn by osmosis here, and they are shocked when they see their child's failing grade. Despite the teacher calling home and telling them. They don't seem to understand that their involvement and participation is necessary for their son or daughter to truly benefit from learning.

When I was in grade five, my teacher met with my mother and I at the beginning of the year. She had done some testing, and she told us that my spelling was very weak. Three to four grade levels below, in fact. My mother thanked my teacher and we went home. For the rest of the school year I had extra homework every week. My mom and my teacher worked together to help me improve. At the time I hated it. Extra spelling work all the time, when I could be out front playing road hockey. By the end of the year, though, I was spelling words a few grades above where I should have been. If it wasn't for the involvement of my teacher and my mother, I would still be a bad speller and I probably would never have went to university for English Literature.

I know first hand the difference that a parent's involvement can make, but I can't seem to get a lot of my parents to actually help their child. Next year I want to make it a priority to get parental involvement. I've used ClassDojo's behaviour reporting to send parents weekly behaviour records, but I want to do more next year. A lot of my students are smart, but unmotivated. They are shown by their parents that education is simply something to get through, and the way to get through it is by sitting passively and having a teacher bark at you.

My new classroom will be different. I want the students to be more actively engaged/involved, and I want the parents there beside them. One can hope.

Closing out...

Tomorrow is my last real day of teaching for the rest of this school year. We start our exams on Wednesday. I only have two exams this time around, one on Wednesday morning and one on Thursday morning. Our exams run until Tuesday next week, but school isn't officially done until June 12. We basically have a week where we can't assess anything and where students aren't likly to come anyhow.

Kuwait is an interesting place for a new teacher. The students tend to travel a lot and it isn't uncommon to have a reduced class size weeks before the end of the year. It isn't always a bad thing, but it is frustrating when you do want to see them learn. C'est la vie, I guess.

This post isn't really about much other than how excited I am to fly back to Canada for the summer. The days are starting to crawl now...

What's worked and what hasn't

The last year has proved educational in a variety of ways. I've been learning on the go since we arrived, and now, as the summer approaches, is the time to start reflecting on the year.

My students are a frustrating bunch. We have had to deal with a lot of behaviour problems this year at my school, and a lot of that is due to where we live. The kids that attend our school are a privileged lot that have nannies and drivers. They don't even pack their own books into their bags. This reliance on others to do things for them has meant that our students often lack motivation and many of them have no respect for the classroom. Of course, it is not all students, and it isn't really their fault. They are a product of their environments. It is my job to try and give them a formative and positive environment to develop in.

Behaviour management is a difficult thing to master, and I am nowhere close to doing that. However, I did discover some things this year. Mainly, my students are interested in being good students but they have trouble knowing how to do that. The best tool at my disposal this year has been Class Dojo. This site turns behaviour management in a visual point-based system. The kids loved it. I had students actively engaged in trying to be good. It helped loads this year.

However, I want to use it in a slightly different way next year. This year the kids would earn positive and negative points based on their classroom behaviour, and we would reset the count each week. If they reached 10 positive points in a week they got to choose a reward. If the class achieved a 75% positive rating at the end of the week the whole class earned a reward (usually soccer).

Next year, I want to make the points continue from week to week. The students will be able to redeem points for rewards or privileges. As of right now I'm not sure that I can reset individual points using Class Dojo, but I'll figure something out (even if it means creating a hard copy point system modelled on Class Dojo).

As I've mentioned before, I have a lot of big plans for the next school year. I'll be blogging more about them soon in a series I've yet to title. Stay tuned.

A New Classroom, A New Adventure

My name is Jeffrey Phillips. Welcome to my blog.

As we approach June, I've started to reflect on the last year in the classroom. My soon-to-be wife, Amanda, and I moved to Kuwait from Canada last September to start working at an Ontario curriculum based school. In the next few weeks our year will close out and we will fly back to Canada for the summer. We will be back again in August to start our second full years as teachers. This year has been a big learning experience, as I imagine the first year is for every teacher. Even as exams approach I am thinking of things I want to do differently next year, things I want to change slightly, and things I want to research over the summer.

Part of the reason I am starting this blog is to monitor my own professional progress and to reach out to like-minded professionals. I have survived my first year as an English and Art teacher for grades 6, 7, 8, and 9. Next year I will only teach English for our grade 8s, 9s, and 10s. I'm already formulating a plan of attack for next years curriculum, and the more research I do the more interested I become using a game concept based methodology. I'm not necessarily talking about using games in the classroom, rather I am interested in using the ideas and tropes found in most games in my year, unit, and lesson plans. I want to incorporate the interest that kids have in playing games into the lessons I teach them.  I want to change the way I'm doing assessment.

I have a lot of big ideas, and over the course of the summer I plan to develop them extensively. My progress, research, and insight will be blogged about consistently (I hope). Technology is changing the way we educate our kids; this is the new classroom.

That's all for now.