Saturday, October 29, 2016

Developing a positive climate in the classroom

by: Mery Tellez 

  There are many aspects that need to be considered in order to ensure a positive experience for our students in the classroom. Having a positive climate in your classroom is only on of them, but certainly a crucial one for many different reasons.

As educators, this is more than a requirement or good practice, I believe it is our obligation towards our students to offer them a space where they will be set for success, a physical space and a community environment in which they can feel valued, respected, and motivated to participate and to grow.

 Research demonstrates the positive impact in student learning gained from a positive environment and a positive student-teacher relationship, both extremely linked to each other.  Students who are valued, and who have a voice, are students who can concentrate on what is important.  Coming to school everyday, actually feeling an positive interest on being there, can certainly make the difference in a learning experience.

There is also the preventive aspect of a positive climate.  Classrooms in which the relationships are healthy, positive, and in which the spaces and attitudes have been purposefully set for students to participate and have a voice, are naturally safe spaces in which bullying situations and challenging behaviours, are significantly less frequent, and more efficiently resolved when they present themselves.
The end goal is to turn our classroom into communities, in which we all should be taken care of each other.  We cannot forget this is one of the most powerful ways to deal with bullying, setting the responsibility in the hands of everybody, and empowering the bystander to take action.  Trust, and a feeling of being respected is fundamental in bullying prevention.

But these are not the only reasons. We spend an average of 8 hours with our students every day. We all share more time together at school that we often do with our own families. With this in mind, how would you like the space you will spend the majority of your day look like?, and what kind of environment would you like to be in day after day? Certainly, a positive one sounds much better, if only, for your own peace of mind.

This brings us to one of the aspects that we should consider when designing and planning for a positive learning space, you!.  We are as well a key component of our classrooms, and evaluating and being conscious of who we are, our strengths and aspects to improve, will as well make a big different in how our classroom will be setup.  Throughout my 11 years as a teacher, I have been blessed with the opportunity to teach in very interesting classrooms. I have had several classes in which I have had almost as many nationalities as students in the classroom. I myself am an expat, and the mother of what is known as a third culture kid. All of these aspects are fundamental to the definition and the actions that I need to take in order to build the positive space I want for my students.

I am currently teaching in Beijing, China, in a private international school with English as the first language of instruction.  The student population is composed in its majority by ELL students.  I am Colombian, which means that the language in which I teach, is also my second language. Additionally, I am currently making the effort of learning Chinese as my third language.  I have found this to be an advantage in my classroom, because I feel that being an English language learner myself, I am aware and able to understand the process and the struggles my students go through.

This is just an example, but I hope it illustrates my point.  Understanding your own cultural background, the unique combinations of circumstances that makes you who you are, should probably be the starting point to later be able to understand those same unique, varied circumstances that make up each one of your students.  And knowing, understanding, and more importantly, embracing that uniqueness is a key component of a healthy, positive community within your classroom.  There is no way your students will be respectful and open to each other, if you are not constantly modelling that behaviour yourself.

But what are those actions or those behaviours that I should be modelling to my students?  How exactly do I show them respect for their cultural backgrounds, and how can I help them to build a positive environment for all of us?  The following are a series of strategies that I have used or plan to use in my own classroom.


  • Value student’s identity:  This is normally done with the little things you do everyday, like asking them for help to pronounce their names correctly.  Showing them how to pronounce yours, allowing yourself to be a learner as well and learn from them, from their languages and traditions and cultures.  There’s a school in Beijing that offers Chinese lessons for foreign teachers in the afternoon.  The incredible powerful part of this story, is that those lessons are taught by the same MS and HS students.  It is programs like this, easily implementable, the ones that build positive school culture and positive teacher-student relationships.
  • Make the physical space their own:  Organising and decorating my classroom is one of my teacher nightmares.  This is one of the strategies I will certainly implement in my next school year.  Having students help you on the decision making process, locating resources and classroom displays in places that make sense to them.  Students should have a voice in the space they will be sharing with you, that sends the immediate message that the space will be ours, not mine.
  • Building a culture of dialogue:  We need to be willing to listen more than we talk, and this simple statement is challenging for teachers everywhere.  When we open ourselves to listen, when we accept the possibility for our students to teach us from their own knowledge and experiences, we are teaching them to do the same with others, to share and to be humble, and open to listen to others as well.
  • Set behaviour issues as opportunities for learning: Behaviour management is a delicate process of finding harmony between structure, and empathy.  Students should be encouraged to help since the beginning in the definition of what they want their class to be like, by helping structure what those common agreements between us as a community should be.  After that, each behaviour issue that arises should be address in a way that show students companion and understanding, and that helps them see opportunities for growth from them.
  • Speaking Up: Another very important behaviour we should model to students is that of a up stander, who does not stay quiet in the face of injustice, or when stereotypes or bias behaviour is observed.  We are also responsible for not allowing this kind of behaviour from anyone, not even or specially from other adults.

Continued growth as professionals, keeping ourselves updated, building a community ourselves with our colleges and the society around us, are some of the other strategies we can implement and that will be example for our students.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Future of Education


by: Mery Tellez

The following audio post describe some of my estimations and impressions about the future of education based on current and predicted advances in the technology industry.

How do you envision education in 10 years for now?  Leave your comments below!


Play Audio Blog



Sources:

AITSL (Producer). (2012, May 7). 21st Century Education [Video file]. In Youtube.com. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA1Aqp0sPQo
A. (Producer). (2015, September 16). 5 Technologies That Will Change Classroom Education [Video file]. In Youttube. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loFL5gT_m8I
Hu-Au, E. (2016). Virtual Reality for Education. Retrieved October 25, 2016, from http://virtualrealityforeducation.com/about-us
Jugaru, G. (2016, June). 5 Top Augmented Reality Apps for Education. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/augmented-reality-apps-for-education/
Poh, M. (2016, September 30). 8 Technologies That Will Shape Future Classrooms. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/future-classroom-technologies/


Sunday, October 23, 2016

A case for Mobile Devices for Learning

by: Mery Tellez

I have always been an advocate of technology as a tool for learning, in the current job market, technology skills and computational literacy is more and more becoming a must in almost every industry, and a work reality like this is the one for which we should be preparing our students for.

Mobile technology has transformed the way we communicate radically, and as with any other technology, mobile devices should be seen as an additional tool available in your classroom to enhance your students experience instead of being seen as an impediment or an obstacle in your teaching.

Teachers have been traditionally known for being reluctant to change, if you have a functional classroom, students that are learning, and all seems ok, then why to change it.  If is not broken why to fix it right? Well, the issue is that it is broken, if our students are not currently learning in your classroom how to use the tools, and the communication means they will be required to use for the rest of their lives, then something definitively needs to be changed.

This should be enough motivation for us. As teachers, it is our responsibility to educate our students to be able to be productive, positive members of the society. And how can they possibly be if they are not being prepared for what they will be facing. 
Some will argue that the least our students need, is us teaching them how to use technology, but I feel we are forgetting that is not only about using it.  Is about understanding how, when and why to use it, and more importantly, how to use it responsibly and in positive ways.
To me, teaching technology in the classroom is the same as teaching manners, we cannot assume they will just have them, we need to show them, with our example, and we also need to explicitly give them opportunities to learn about them, and be there when they make mistakes, and help them understand why it was a mistake and how to make it better.  We need to show them what is appropriate and what is not.

On the other hand, why wouldn’t we use mobile devices in the classroom? For those who have been enthusiastic about the use of technology in the classroom before, or even for those who haven’t, this is a unique opportunity in our hands.  Everyone will agree that as teachers, everything we do is an effort to improve the learning possibilities of our students.  Why would we deprive them from an opportunity to learn, that in many cases is right there, literally at their fingertips?  Mobile devices are not available for us all, that is a reality.  Hopefully eventually that will change, and the possibilities will be the same for all.  But right now, we do have a vast group of students and schools with access to laptops, online courses, IPads, chrome books, cellphones, or any combination of possibilities for us to provide a mobile learning experience for our students.  We have it right there, sitting in their pockets or backpacks, or hidden away in their lockers because of the fear we feel of loosing control, and we are not using them. 

If by this far you are convinced and you want to give it a chance, then the following guidelines or recommendations based mostly in my experience will hopefully help you to have a positive outcome with mobile learning: 
  1. Learning comes first:  The very first step when planning a mobile learning activity, should always be your learning objective.  Start by deciding what is the objective or objectives that you want to address, what is it that you want your students to concentrate on.  If you start your planning with this in mind, then it will be more difficult to turn your mobile learning experience into a busy time with IPads activity. 
  2. Plan ahead:  Planning is not limited to having a lesson plan downloaded sitting on your desk, but it implies for you to test the activities yourself, to have backup plans, devices, materials, etc. The success of your students during the lesson will depend mostly on your ability to be prepared. Additionally, their attitude towards the activity will also be more positive if they can tell how much effort and time you have put into this.
  3. Reuse: No need to re-invent the wheel to begin with.  If this is your first time using mobile devices, and you feel unsecure about what to do, remember that someone has done it already, and it is perfectly valid to search, and recreate or redesign what others have done.
  4. Is not about the device:  Be careful with the technology gap.  There will be students in your classroom that don’t have the same access to internet, or last generation devices, or even the skills to complete the task.  You need to prepare for everybody and do not assume they will have what you need them to have.  This is a delicate topic that is not discussed enough, and we do left kids outside when they have a different device, or no internet at home, or lack of tech skills compared to their classmates.
  5. Get the tech team on your side:  Ask for help! Make sure that your technology coach, or tech guy if your school doesn’t have a coach is aware of what you are planning to do. Simply because they might have suggestions that could make your life easier, and they could also offer to help you to setup whatever is needed to setup.  They will also have the knowledge about your school connection limitations or requirements that could help you warranty a successful experience.


These are by no means the only considerations you need to make, it will be challenging, it will require hard work, but, all in all, the engagement from the kids, the connections they will make, and the learning opportunities that you will offer them will be the best reward for your hard work.

Sources:
Daccord, T. (2012, September 27). 5 Critical Mistakes Schools Make With iPads - edudemic.com. Retrieved October 24, 2016, from http://www.edudemic.com/5-critical-mistakes-schools-ipads-and-correct-them/

Prensky, M. (2005, December 2). Shaping Tech for the Classroom | Edutopia. Retrieved October 24, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt-shaping-tech-for-classroom


Roggenkamp, D. (2010). Gathering Authentic Language Snippets with Mobile Devices. Retrieved October 24, 2016 from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_4BhgdIQcnXV21FdUxlTGxRb2M/view

Friday, October 7, 2016

The “Flow” Experience

by: Mery Tellez

Flow, or the mental state in which a person is completely immersed in a task, fully engaged, energised and motivated exclusively by the process of completing said task, is that same state that colloquially we refer to as being in “the zone”, and is actually a psychological term first compiled by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and defined in the world of education as one of the 8 mental states that can happen during a learning experience.


We have all experienced flow at some point in our lives, doing different activities both academically, artistic or simply for leisure.  For me, the easiest way to get in flow state is by reading a book. More specifically, fiction novels.  This is my favorite leisure activity, precisely because It makes me enter in flow state, it allow me to disconnect, it makes me lose track of time, it makes me happy, it makes me feel accomplished, while at the same time challenges me, makes me analyze and reflect on different situations and realities.  The moments in which I can read, are my happy moments, I feel like the book disappears in front of me and I find myself immersed in the story, I feel what the characters are feeling, cry, laugh, and merge with them.

I want my students to be able to experience this same state as well, I am sure they have, in different ways and under different circumstances. But what if, I can make my classroom and my lessons, into a space and a moment in which I facilitate this to my students?
Going back to reading, how important is it for our students to enjoy reading? What would be the trick, what can we do to help our students to get to a flow state over a book?

After watching the Ted talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and looking at the literature regarding flow, one aspect comes to attention.  I mentioned before that flow is just one of the 8 mental states of a learner.  These 8 states are the different variations that have been identified based in two very important components of every learning activity:  Challenge and Skills.  As it is illustrated on the picture to the left, the flow state is generated with the perfect combination of the highest challenge and skill level, that is, if we want to help our students to get into the flow with a book, one way to achieving it, is by helping them find the perfect book that provides them with the right amount of challenge and usage of their skills.  
With this in mind, here are a couple of resources I found in this field:



Besides reading, there's another passion of mine that I feel important to mention in this post.  As a technology teacher, I have been able to witness students in state of flow in different occasions, one of the activities that I've seen takes them easily to this state is programming.  The nature of this activity is one that facilitates the awakening of creativity, it is challenging and engaging, but at the same time is an activity that everybody can perform (with proper training), one in which the goal is normally clear and therefore achievable.  
This relates to what is stated by Jamie Suttie (Suttie, 2012) in her article about fostering flow in the classroom.  Some of the components she identified and that have also been identified by psychologist in their study of the flow state, are easily achievable by a programming exercise.   Particularly, 6 out of the 8 tips are directly implementable by a programming exercise as follows:

Challenge: With programming an entire class can work in a complete variety of projects or exercises that could have different levels of difficulty for every level of skills.  This means simply that every student can be challenged by a programming activity, as you can make any of them, as simple or as complex as you want them to be.  Programming is open to be modified, to grow, to change, and therefore is an easy challenge to everybody.

Relevance to real life: Programming is one of those in class activities that gives students a skill that they could later easily translate to a work environment.  Students can be solving a small problem but with a clear understanding that the skills they are developing will build up and easily translated to real life situations.

Choice: Again, flexibility, the opportunity to develop whatever you want, and solve a problem in the most creative way.  Even limited to one problem for all, every member of the class could be doing something completely different and resolving the same problem in a very unique way, tied to each individual preferences and experience.

Clear goals: An expected result draws a path that help you walk towards that goal.  Nothing is more clear in programming that your expected goal.  To resolve a set problem, is clear, measurable and achievable. 

Hand-on activities: Students will be there, protagonist of their own learning, exploring their own skills, and developing them.  Nothing says hangs-on like solve a problem!

A very important part of my personal learning network is devoted to resources for implementing programming courses or activities in the classroom. These resources can guide any teacher interested in providing this opportunity to their students.  From platforms such Scratch in which student get to create and explore as much as they want, to more structured curriculum resources such as the ones you can find in the CSTA website.

In conclusion, a very fascinating topic indeed.  Helping your students feel the joy of a flow moment should be every teacher goal.  And most likely it is, we want our students to learn and to be happy, by turning our classroom into a "flow" possibility, we are helping them find an opportunity to develop a passion and to maximize their learning experience at school.

Sources:

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2004, February). Flow, the secret to happiness. Retrieved October 07, 2016, from http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow

Flow (Csíkszentmihályi) - Learning Theories. (2016, February 27). Retrieved October 07, 2016, from https://www.learning-theories.com/flow-csikszentmihalyi.html
Suttie, B. J. (2012, April). Eight Tips for Fostering Flow in the Classroom. Retrieved October 07, 2016, from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/eight_tips_for_fostering_flow_in_the_classroom