Ideas for group work in the high school classroom: Wāhanga Rua

Part Two:

I am ready to roll out my groups tomorrow! I feel I know the students well enough and have enough data to group them appropriately. I have decided I will need to review these groups over the rest of the term. I will be satisfied if they are fully established by the start of Term 2.Here is the written instruction I will provide students tomorrow, after I have told them their groups.

Groups groups groups!

Your first project as a group!

1. Choose an abstract noun that will be a goal for your group to work on. You need to find out the English, Maori and any other relevant translations of the word. I will discuss this with your group over the coming week and will help you decide. Think of this as your core value, like Trident's core values of manaakitanga, kia manawa nui and whaia te iti kahurangi. Once you have made your selections Ohinemataroa [our hapu] will potentially have TWENTY core values to strive to fulfill!!

Then either:

2. Suggest a 'patron' of your group. Think Harry Potter and patronuses except different. They must be: a New Zealander and creating the kind of thing we might study in English. So they could be a lyricist, director, author, actor, illustrator... Again, I will help you choose. Our hapu's patron will be Lorde.

OR:

3. Design a flag or sigil for you whanau. Remember that your whanau has up to 30 members across four different classes. How can you best represent those 30 people? Hint: perhaps you could ask me what your other group members have chosen as their core value.

I will be there to help with all of this - it's not a test!

I have also created a poster that will be on my door and probably on the whiteboard. And duh, on my computer's desktop! So the kids will now see this whenever there's no Power Point, video, etc on my projector screen. I'm a genius.

I can take no credit for the creation of the poster. I used the website Canva, literally didn't choose the fonts, found the image on Google Image Search and that's about it. The only thing I came up with was splitting into five. So I'm hoping one of my more artistic students decides to create a more snazzy poster for our hapu. Visual and verbal text credits? Yes please!

I'm sure you can gather from the poster that I have chosen my hapu name as well as the five whanau. Ohinemataroa is the proper Maori name for Whakatane River, and the other five are the surrounding rivers from this region. Some words are supposed to have macrons but unfortunately this font wouldn't recognise the macron-ed symbols.

I'm a little nervous about how the roll out will go, but I think I'll have enough buy in to make it work.

You may have seen my creative writing starters posts and be wondering what that's all about. I plan to talk about them in my next post or so. Suffice to say, my participation in the writing starters seems to be increasing student participation - yay for bribery!

Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei

Pursue excellence – should you stumble, let it be to a lofty mountain

Survival of the fittest

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” 

― Leon C. Megginson, Professor of Management and Marketing at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge

With such a broad horizon and seemingly limitless possibilities it is important to establish your non-negotiables in the classroom. For me, this means making my expectations around organisation of work and also my availability very clear from the out-set.

Naming work and taking responsibility for backing work up

I have never named students work. If a student hands me a piece of paper with an amazing essay on it and no name, it will not get marked. I also place the responsibility for naming work squarely on the students' shoulders. The same goes for 'backing up' your work. Students in my classes are frequently reminded not to hand me a piece of hand-written work if they don't want it to get lost. I am organised and I have my systems but there are days when my desk will end up looking like a pigsty and, shock horror, I have lost work.

And this philosophy is still in practice in my classroom. If students share their work with me through Google Drive I expect them to do the following:

1. Select the correct folder so I actually see it when I'm marking work
2. Name it as follows: Hamilton, Polly: The Hunger Games Essay or Hamilton, Polly: Research notes
3. Take responsibility for creating a back up at regular intervals

With Year 9s you should probably back up work to your laptop every so often (just don’t tell them about it!) until they are used to this process.

Establishing boundaries and how to maintain them

Student-student interaction

I am fairly ruthless about maintaining a professional environment on our Edmodo page: if the comment or question isn't about our learning in English, I press delete. It doesn't matter where you draw the line, as long as you maintain it. You may not think this matters very much, but I have found that deleting the 'lols' and 'rude!' comments mean there is no slippery slope into disrespectful or inappropriate comments.

Parent-student-teacher interaction

Because I established clear expectations with my students, I was able to deal with the one occasion I have had a student over-step the mark (and then parent...) quite painlessly. The parent 'element' is an important one to consider. When interacting with your students on Edmodo their parents are able to see all of the comments you write. This is further incentive to keep the conversation focused and appropriate. You are modelling positive digital citizenry to students and parents.

Student-teacher interaction

Further to this, it is important to remember that you can just ignore messages from students that are inappropriate or inconvenient. Creating an online learning environment does lend itself to students blurring the lines and suddenly they will message you with inane questions through whatever mode of communication is most handy. I have a 'teacher' Facebook profile that I use very occasionally and students do use it to try and ask me about school work. I just don't respond. Edmodo, email and Google Drive/Docs are the way that I will interact with my students online and they do not get to dictate the terms of our interactions. Prepare yourselves for the following 'questions':

1. i dont get it
2. can u tel me wat to do next?
3. I'm stuck!

When they sit down and type to you, they are forgetting that what they are typing has no context and makes no sense. They are used to sitting with you one-on-one and often having the question teased out of them. What might take one minute of concentrated 'teasing' time in the classroom could be an exchange that takes place over 48 hours online - who has the patience for that! So you may want to consider teaching your students how to formulate effective questions.

Well, what is the point of all of this? As the title suggests, you need to avoid spreading yourself too thin. It can be tempting to just take five minutes and re-name their documents so they're organised, or just reply to that student's question on Facebook, or just check to see if Johnny has uploaded his document before you go to bed. Just because you can be available 24/7 doesn't mean you should.

Our role is not to baby students through this process at the expense of our own sanity, but to manage the change in order to maximise its benefit for all involved.

 Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei

Pursue excellence – should you stumble, let it be to a lofty mountain

Apps for the classroom

When I first got my iPad last year I was inundated with advice about which apps I should download. This information was coming from recommended lists online, professional development and colleagues who were also new to BYOD teaching. 
I have since discovered that teaching with BYOD is not about the apps, just like teaching with paper is not about the felts and coloured card. The number of apps you use in your teaching will be minimal compared to the number of apps students use. Moreover, they will be much more adept at teaching themselves how to use them. So don't re-invent the wheel!
In terms of apps that teach skills or content, you will probably discover what works for you along the way. Having said this, I have found that skills & content apps are largely geared toward pre- and primary-school learners. In the secondary classroom it's not about using apps to rote learn through game-based learning. It's about enabling students to present their learning in any way they wish, which is exactly what the SAMR model encourages.
Here are a couple of apps that I recommend you get yourself familiar with as they will help you be a more organised teacher. 

Edmodo

Edmodo is marketed as 'the Facebook for teachers and schools' but it is so much more than that. I use it as a way to disseminate information to my students through links to websites and documents as well as a way to share tasks and set deadlines.

Sharing a video with students

I really like the ease with which I can start a conversation among the students.

Starting a conversation about research topics

You can create classes and sub-groups and your students join up. Parents can also create an account and see what students are doing across all of their classes. I am yet to find out how many parents use this and how valuable they find it but I aim to ask parents at our next parent-teacher interviews.
There are apps within Edmodo that you can use to support your BYOD teaching, but I have found it does not work smoothly enough on the iPad to use it in this way so I recommend at looking into this on your computer. Either way, this is something for individuals to explore and find out about for themselves.

Of course, Edmodo is not the only student management site out there. Here is a list of alternatives and Hapara is a paid-for student management site that works directly with Google apps. I can't speak to any of these, but I think it is important that each teacher be able to choose what works best for them. Some schools are moving towards have all teachers and students on the same site to make it easier for administration and for the students. It is important to remember that you can only lead a horse to water and if a teacher (or student) is not comfortable with the use of a particular platform they just won't end up using it. If a school is going to push for the use of a particular site or tool, they need to provide not only professional development but non-contact time so that teachers can explore these tools without pressure.

Google Drive & Docs

The second tool I use is Google Docs & Drive. This has revolutionised the way I provide feedback for students and in a very small space of time. Just bear in mind the Drive and Docs are two separate apps and you do need both. It's like a folder in your computer, then opening the document in Word.

Providing suggestions of texts to view alongside The Hunger Games

Modelling how to discuss cinematic techniques

I always hated giving written feedback as I find it time consuming, it leaves with me with poor posture and a sore hand and shoulder. But now that I can type my feedback and provide links to sources on the internet, I am writing the feedback I have always wanted to write! All of a sudden I am...
1. praising much more, even for the smallest thing like correct punctuation or a nicely used word
2. able to connect the student with all sorts of information on the internet. I haven't done the following yet, but I bet I can connect students to a specific video I have made that can help them work through a problem
3. much more willing to model to the students what I would like them to do (see the second image)
4. challenging students more and finding it easier to extend those who need it. Typing these comments makes it so much easier to challenge students' assumptions and question their points of view

Organizationally the process has further benefits.
1. Under 'general feedback' I can see the progress the student has made over time, instead of this being spread over several different drafts on refill
2. All the students' work is in one folder (per piece of work), alphabetised. It's so beautiful! I would take a screen-shot but then I'd have to blur out all the students' names so it seems a bit pointless.
3. I know exactly who has done what and when. Talk about accountability! Well, more on that later...

Docs & Drive are just one of the options for managing and marking students' work. There are a range of options out there; see here, here and here. My suspicion is that none of those alternatives will be able to do everything that Docs does, and that's because Google is definitely trying to woo teachers. While I'm wary of companies like Apple, Google and now Facebook (well, Mark Zuckerberg anyway) getting so involved in education, but part of me thinks we should all milk it while it's there. It's not like my teaching will come to rely on Docs and Docs alone, but it does allow me to do what I want at this point in time. Adaptability is the name of the game.

iBooks

Speaking of giant companies getting involved in education, iBooks is a damn good app. Not only can I read a book, I (and my students!) can also...
1. Highlight and define or search a word

Defining a word

Searching the frequency of a word in the text

 2. Highlight and write a note (for me, comprehension questions, for them, comprehension answers!)

Writing comprehension questions to myself as I read the text

3. Highlight and search a quote. For example:

Searching a block of text

Search results from block of text

iBooks connects students to a whole world of information. Suddenly, when they are unsure, they can access help in a discrete and efficient way.

All the notes you accumulate can be accessed in chronological order, connected to the quote you have highlighted, and can be shared if a student has missed any lessons.

The beginning of all my notes on Juno of Taris. This is where students' notes would also be stored when they go through the book answering questions.

Once again, if you are anti-monopolies, I'm sure there are many perfectly good book reading apps out there but iBooks does what I want it to do so I'm satisfied for now.

So these are the three apps that I use which help me organise my teaching. I'll talk to apps I use for content and skills next time. One thing that it is important to make very clear about Edmodo and Docs & Drive is that, even though I am recommending them for use with a BYOD class, I almost exclusively use them on my laptop. That these three apps are also browser based is an obvious strength.
All of this might seem counter-intuitive - why have an iPad if you aren't going to use it? When teaching, a question we ask ourselves everyday is "What learning outcome to I want to achieve right now?" And that learning outcome almost never has anything to do with me and in my BYOD class always everything to do with the student using their iPad to modify or redefine their learning.

I would love to see your comments and questions below, especially if you use alternatives to any of these apps. I've been having a little trouble with comments showing up due to 'captcha' (the random letters and numbers to make sure you're not a robot) so please make sure your comment actually appears!

Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei

Pursue excellence – should you stumble, let it be to a lofty mountain

Bring Your Own Device

Around the same time I started to learning about flipping the classroom I also began to learn about the Bring Your Own Device or BYOD approach to education. This is a concept that many schools across New Zealand are putting into practice with varying degrees of buy in and success.

I am one of the first 'round' of BYOD teachers at my school. We have a pilot program of two form-classes (50 students) who stay together for social studies, maths, science and English (and PE, but two periods of PE a week does not lend itself to BYOD). I am one of the eight teachers of these two classes and have had my iPad since Term 2 of last year in order to prepare myself. During 2013 I attended a huge amount of BYOD professional development in Auckland, Tauranga and at Trident itself. While I didn't have an official BYOD classes last year I did use my iPad in class occassionally. It was especially useful for students who needed to watch a video in order to catch up. I was beginning to flip some of my lessons and a student might use my iPad to watch a video if they didn't have a smart-phone or tablet of their own. Over the year I did learn a lot, but ultimately you have to dive in to find out what works for you.

And it wasn't until I had 25 students in front of me with their own iPads that I could really begin to teach using the concept of BYOD. Before I talk about how I use this technology to improve the learning outcomes of my students, I think it is important to put rest to concerns about devices just being used as another fad or a way to engage students. iPads won't engage students any more than Smartboards will, it is still the strategies you use in your teaching that matters. And someone has come up with a lovely acronym to explain just this concept.

This link has some very detailed suggestions on what redefinition might look like in other subjects.

So you can see there is an acknowledgement that tech can be under-utilised if it is just seen as a replacement to pen and paper. At Trident we are finding the SAMR concept encourages us to review what it is we are really assessing at any given point and therefore how flexible the task can be. Sometimes it comes back to practicality and you may have to place limits on students to make your workload manageable. But ultimately, having 1:1 technology in your classroom can open up a whole new world. 

Next time I will write about how I have actually used this tech in my classrooms this year and what I have have learned. It would be great to see your questions below so I can use them to inform what I write about! Have you got a BYOD approach at your school? Do you have any concerns? Have you had any successes?

Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei

Pursue excellence – should you stumble, let it be to a lofty mountain

Who is flipping what now?

The inimitable Grace Helbig became famous through her YouTube channel My Damn Channel. Last year I learned all about flipping my classroom and as a result started a channel of my own. It seemed only natural, and incredibly clever, to call my channel My Flipping Channel and the email to go along with it myflippingclassroom. And so the puns begin!

Flipping is a reasonably new approach to teaching that harnesses the use of technology to use teaching and learning time more efficiently. I'm sure there's not much I could say to add to the discussion around the benefits of flipped learning, but here are some links to people and places that provide guidance and inspiration on how and why to flip your classroom. 

This first video is adorable and from the Flipped Institute.

This article tells you what Flipped Learning is and isn't. The videos below were created by one of the authors of the aforementioned article.

Both of these gentlemen are on the board of this organisation. And finally, here is the obligatory Wikipedia page. 

These are the few pearls of wisdom I can offer that might have helped me when I started this process:

1. This approach can lead some kids to be quite demanding of your time. You will need to work at having clear boundaries around your availability, especially if you have a 1:1 BYOD class.

2. You will have to teach students how to make the most of all of this. Start small.

3. Try to make videos that can be used for at least of couple of your classes. Start with skills videos first. These are easier to make brief and specific so students can work out for themselves exactly where to go when they get stuck. Content videos will take longer to create and be very specific to one class and one unit which is not the best use of your time.

4. Quality, not quantity. Don't try to make videos for all your classes all at once. Just focus on one class until you are comfortable with this style of teaching.

5. Flipping does not just equal making a video. Students might be asked to read an article at home or watch someone else's video. Challenge yourself to work smarter, not harder. How can you flip without going to the effort of making a new video every time?

6. Keep videos as short as possible, 5 minutes max, 3 minutes is even better. In one video you may only teach students how to write one specific kind of sentence, or how to choose the best essay topic.

7. Make them rewarding: insert silly photos or a link to an entertaining video as a reward.

8. Flipped learning won't suit all students, especially if they don't have access to the internet at home.

I'd love to hear your thoughts below - do you flip already? If not, is there anything holding you back?
Get out there and start flipping learning!