Reflecting on Milestones and
Celebrating Successes
Over the last few weeks I've had a number of
occasions to reflect on "the first time…" If you're a parent like me
than you are probably well versed in the concept of "firsts" ---
steps, words, etc.
This summer I went camping on my own for the
first time with my boys. It was also my first time leaving my camera at home
and only taking pictures with my smartphone. Recently I finally put together a
photo album of the best pictures and sat with my boys to reflect on our trip.
Looking at the album we reflected on my eldest son's first time cooking a hot
dog, first time camping without mommy, and first time taking a picture with
daddy's smartphone!
Approval
vs. Affirmation
With our boys in a Montessori program, I've
learned that when a child excitedly informs their guide (teacher) that they've
completed a task (a characteristic of first time experiences), they are not
told "Good Job" or "Well Done", but rather "You did
it!" or "Congratulations".
Instead of training children to depend on a subjective note of approval from an external source, this is designed to ensure that the children are
affirmed in their own recognition of
an objective sense of
self-satisfaction. It's the difference between tentatively asking the
teacher "did I do it right?" vs. confidently
informing the teacher "I did it right!"
To this end, I had some of my own FIRSTs that I'd like to share. Not for your approval, but simply because I
see myself as that Montessori child recognizing my own milestone and running up
to the guide (my Twitter PLC) to proudly exclaim "look what I've
done!"
Cooking
Class
Due to our school's reorganization at the end
of September, I now have the challenge (and privilege) of adding a grade 7
Family Studies class to my teaching assignment. This is a huge addition for me.
I am already responsible for teaching Science and Technology in our DT lab
(including responsibility of the major areas of Safety, Tool Maintenance and
Material Inventory), as well as teaching Information Technology, and generally
being "the computer guy" in the school. Between all the classes I
teach in IT and DT, I have 23 classes across 3 grades and multiple levels
(regular, gifted, MID, Behaviour, LD/HSP). Family Studies makes 24. As such I
have been reticent to really get into the cooking side of things, preferring to
stay in the theoretical (nutrition labels, healthy body image) and the
technological (designing cookie cutters to print out on our 3D printer) as
these things are more within my comfort zone.
On Friday December 14th however, I
took the plunge and did my first cooking class. Recognizing the significance of
this "first" experience I took time during the class to
"live-tweet" what was happening, since ongoing documentation is an
important part of self-evaluation. Of course with technology comes problems,
and I couldn't get reception for some reason so I've had to post these tweets
after-the-fact. You can see my tweets organized here on Storify -
a program I am also using for the first time!
Self-Evaluation
As a result of this “First Time Focus” I am
pondering how to be more diligent at this practice in my own classroom. Report Cards are supposed to reflect the
reaching of milestones, but how often do milestones coincide with a board
determined report card date? Why should celebrations be limited to these
structured times without reflecting the fluidity of individual learners! I'm
wondering if I can use BYOD to get students to document their DT projects at
the end of each class, and then compile a photo album at the end to assist them
in preparing a self-evaluation.
Too often we have trained students that
self-evaluation is the lowest kind, and that the evaluation that reflects real
learning and leads to good grades comes from the teacher alone. The pendulum
needs to swing back a bit I think.
TeacherHann
February 23, 2013
(SIDE
NOTE: as a result of writing this blog I've decided to try changing my teaching
a little bit… yeah for professional reflection! ATTACHED HERE are my notes on
ideas I might try with my next set of classes in Semester 2. If you have feedback
that might help me tweak these ideas, practically or theoretically, please send
me a note on Twitter or in the comments section)
