The SHIFT Blog

In March, staff learning at our school looks a little different.  Rather than having one full school staff meeting, various teachers offer up afternoon drop in sessions for learning.  Each week there are different options for teachers to choose from, with the expectation that every teacher attends one session.  We call it “March Madness”. One of the topics I sat in on was a presentation and discussion on the “Responsible use of Technology in Classrooms”.  With the use of technology fiercely debated in the news , this is a bit of a “hot button” issue.  Some believe that cell phones in class is simply a vehicle for “Note Passing 2.0”, making it easier to get distracted from the lesson.  They aren’t wrong about this either, you only need to look around any staff meeting, university class or even city street intersection , to realize this is sometimes the case, and not just for teenagers.   To give a bit of context, I am in a school that ful...

Matt and I dove headfirst into this pilot project.  We had goals; highlight innovative practices in education; get more people sharing what they do; publish our observations.  We had a vision on how to share; blogging, videos, podcasts.  We knew these things would take time to establish. What we didn’t have was a clear idea about what innovation is.  Thankfully, we had experts we could rely on.  Cindy Cosentino, IPL of Science for the Halton District School Board, provided us with a great foundation of what it means to be an innovative person.  Add to that our participation in the Innovator's Mindset online course and we were ready to roll! So here is what we’ve come to understand about Innovation: 1) Innovation is a process that improves something Innovation is a process Let’s be clear on this, if something is labelled “Innovation” but it isn’t improving something, it isn’t innovative.  Innovation is needed to improve products...

First of all, some required reading before you dive into this post.   The #Observeme challenge was issued at the beginning of this school year by Robert Kaplinsky , an educator in the United States who was inspired by some images he saw on twitter.  Several teachers and administrators in the Halton District School Board took up the challenge.   Not familiar with #Observeme ?  The challenge is easy and anyone can do it.  Simply put a sign on the door to your classroom or office inviting anyone into your space to observe what you do.  Point out some things a visitor should look for, ask for feedback, be inviting.  The great thing about the #Observeme challenge is that it isn’t about being judged, or showing off.  Rather, it is about being open to sharing what happens in your classroom with others.  Educators should be modelling good behaviours to their students and sharing is certainly one of those behaviours.  By being op...

Every time I learn something new, whether it is something related to teaching, or how to fix the drain of a washing machine, I reconnect and empathize all over again with how our students feel about learning and what they go through on a daily basis.  It’s often a slower process than you think it will be.  It can be frustrating when things don’t go as planned and satisfying when you are successful at a new task.  We have spent the week fumbling our way through more learning on computers, learning software, video editing and audio editing.  It is a steep learning curve on Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro; which are what we are using to edit our first “Case For...” video.  We are making our way through it and we have had a fun, challenging day, each and every day. So while we had hoped to have published our first video, “The Case for Innovation” a while ago now, we realize this process is like a  like a home renovation, it always takes longer than you expect. ...

This past Sunday many of us participated in session two of the Innovator’s Mindset Massively Open Online Course ( #IMMOOC ).  It is thrilling, honestly, to be participating in a community of educators who will give up their Sunday evening to learn.  Clearly there is a desire from those of us in education to receive Professional Development differently.  Lots of the conversation in the back channel revolved around alternative ways to deliver messages to staff.   One of the the ways of delivering staff learning that Matt and I have experience with is a “March Madness” approach.   Not that March Madness... We can’t claim credit for this particular format, as there are many schools who dabble in this type of staff learning.  In a nutshell, various topics of learning are offered throughout the month.  Each staff member is expected to sign up and attend at least one learning session however nothing stops someone from participating in all of the sessi...

Matt and I listen to a lot of podcasts.  I’ve recently gotten into a podcast called Gen Pop - A Pop Culture Podcast and I really enjoy the podcasts created by Bald Move around the television and movies I like to consume.  Matt’s go to podcasts are 99% Invisible , a podcast about design and The Art of Education , which is a podcast about art education (of all things). No judgement on this next statement please, but I’ve recently started playing Dungeons and Dragons with a small group of friends.  I enjoy playing board games and I try to use this passion as much as I can in my teaching.  Dungeons and Dragons was something I’ve always wanted to do in my youth but I could never find a group of others to play with.  Plus, when I was younger there was always a sort of stigma attached to certain types of games.  Now that I’m older...well, game on! Jamie on the weekends... So obviously I fell down the rabbit hole, as one does when they pick up a new h...

Halton Goes Back to Class As we mentioned in a previous post, this year the Halton District School Board has gone to the movies.  Keeping with this theme, last Monday the board went back to class.  Two hundred staff from the board spent their Monday evening watching a video discussion on the first chapter of the Innovator’s Mindset and participating in a live chat as part of a massively open online course.  It was fun seeing so many colleagues participating in professional development outside of the normal working day.  It was especially great for us because the conversations revolved around innovation and how it applies to the classroom. In addition to some reading and thinking, participants in this MOOC have been asked to respond to the video chat with a blog post.  Well, here is what we thought about the discussion on Monday night. 1. What do you see as the purpose of education?  Why might innovation be crucial in education? Man, George, talk a...