9 Elephants In The Classroom

By Will Richardson


FUTURE DIRECTIONS - BIG QUESTIONS 

OUTSTANDING ARTICLE

One of the best articles I have read on these issues outlined below:
 Posted April 10/16,  by Zoe Branigan Pipe Facebook Enrichment Page.

I wonder if there is a ministry of education, anywhere around the world, that has addressed these elephants in the classroom.

I worked at a school in the 90's that due to the principal leadership did address these issues. But when he left the elephants returned.

Educational leaders and philosophers have been talking about these changes for decades. (Fullan, Kohn, Freire, Sir Ken Robinson, ) .

Ministers of Education, Directors of program at the Ministry, Directors of Education in Boards, (along with you Zoe, and George Couros and forward thinking educators) need to develop an Inquiry to change what we are doing or we are always going to get what we have gotten in the past.

Factory model classrooms, and curriculum are not the way of the future. Zoe Branigan-Pipe, the classroom environment you are developing should be in every classroom in Ontario.

Why isn't it? What do we do about it?

Mark

THE NINE ELEPHANTS: 
1.  Most knowledge we teach is forgotten after the test. What really needs to be taught?

2. How do we make schools engaging? Handing a student an iPad is not good enough.

3. How do we structure the physical environment of factory model schools for 21st Century teaching and learning?....and universities and colleges ?

4. We need to assess what matters. What actually matters? We need to stop training students for exams that computers can pass.

5.  Learning is being destroyed by administering grades.  Look at Kohn's research on what Grades do to learning.  See my Blogs Assessment Tab above.

6.  What should the 21st Century Curriculum look like?  We are not there yet.

7.  We know that separating learning into discrete subjects and time blocks is not the best way to prepare kids for the real world.Why are we doing it?  Even age groupings are not wise.  I had a grade 2 student who could beat every intermediate student in chess. What do we learn from that?

8.   We know the system of education as currently constructed is not adequately preparing kids for what follows if and when they graduate.  Look at Ontario's Math scores.  We better look at what we are doing to remedy that beyond add 20 minutes a day to that old fashioned Math block!

9. And finally, we know that learning that sticks is usually learned informally, that explicit knowledge accounts for very little of our success in most professions.


Click Here for Article:  http://willrichardson.com/9-elephants-classroom-unsettle-us/ http://willrichardson.com/9-elephants-classroom-unsettle-us/

This article is also visible under this Web Pages Blog tab.

ONTARIO CONNECTED EDUCATORS

Ontario School and System Leaders Edtech MOOC

This is an incredibly informative site where you can check blogs of many educators through Ontario.
It is a massive resource for Edtech learning.

Developed by Donna Fry
Provincial Lead for Leading Technology Enabled Learning & Teaching

Scroll down the right side of her web page for 50 educator blog sites.

Click Here: Ontario Connected Educators  

This is also posted under my favourites on this web page and under blogs that inspire

Donna Says:

So with #OSSEMOOC, we are trying to build capacity and promote connections.

We need to create a sustainable learning environment in Ontario that promotes self-directed learning for education leaders, and...

• considers all learning preferences
• allows for all levels of readiness
• provides numerous entry points
• is flexible
• allows choice
• respects limitations of time
• supports a variety of learner interests
• promotes the development of connections and connected learning

Check out her site!

You will come back to it time and time again!

Mark

Multiple Intelligence and Learning Styles 

A great article on Howard Gardner's work on Multiple Intelligence and the difference between that and Learning styles.  

 Check out this great article
Click here: Multiple Intelligences: What Does the Research Say?
eduTopia: April 4/16 

Marks and Grades

How useful are they anyway?
Here is an article by Alfie Kohn who indicates his research shows marks and percentage grades do not promote learning.

There are other ways to assess work, provide feedback and promote learning in the 21st Century.
Read and reflect on his message. 

Kohn, A., (2011, November). The case against grades. Educational Leadership. Retrieved

from http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/case-grades/

 

Chimamanda Adichie and Leila Janah

Chimamanda Adichie and Leila Janah are two of my favourite leaders and speakers. 

Listen to two great speakers of this decade. 

Links below:

Chimamanda Adichie at the Wesley College Commencement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcehZ3CjedU


Leila Janah on End Poverty and Give Work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i2ddkCHqZY

HALTON SPECIAL ATHLETE TRACK MEET VIDEO  2015. 

We started with 12 athletes' in 1987. This week we had 350 registrations. 

It was a magical day of Physically Challenged Athletes showing everyone what they can do! 

Thanks to all of the Organizational Team, EA's, Teachers, Parents, Volunteers and the Athletes doing an amazing job. 

Thanks to Susan Pritchard for leading the event this year and for organizing the Halton Spec. Ed. Department to support and run the event and for Senior Admin and Trustees who took time out to start races and cheer on staff and athletes. Thanks to Ward 1 Trustee, Leah Reynolds for being the official starter. 

Thanks to the Milton Optimist club for providing everyone an amazing hotdog and hamburg lunch followed by drinks and freezes!

Thanks to Complete Rent-Alls on Heritage Rd. for providing the generator FREE OF CHARGE AGAIN and for Long and McQuade for organizing our sound systems. 

Thanks to Barry Koepke and all of his Anne MacArthur and Glenview student officials who were stellar. 

Thanks to Alison Pabst, Corinne Stratford, Leslie Davis for all you have done for 15 years or more to make this event a success. 

We always thank Ethel Gardiner for looking down on us and arranging perfect weather.

Thanks to folks have left their mark in a number of ways...retired Coordinators Deb Wood and Sue Amos, parent Linda Leppek and retired Superintendent Brenda Kearney.

Thanks to Jason Misner, Halton's Communication Officer, for putting together this photo essay of some of the track events on Halton's web page. 

Respectfully

Mark Wickens
Event Original Staff 

Click the Picture or Link below for the Video.

All enjoy today's Special Athletes' Track Meet

HDSB.CA

Spirit of Brock Medal Presentation

Congratulations to Bill Morgan. 
Bill is a wonderful candidate in my Methods classes, at the Faculty of Eduction, Brock University.  

He is a visually impaired candidate that worked tirelessly to complete all of the expectations of the Teacher Education program, and achieved stellar results. 

Proud of this great guy!

Click Here for Presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnMbcWJcc1I&list=PLISoSpDHh3OcHh0pQiM5YqttZKL6IiU0N&index=12

FACULTY OF EDUCATION, BROCK UNIVERSITY 

CONVOCATION SPEECH 2015

My colleague, Dr. Peter Vietgen, Professor of Art Education delivered our convocation address in June, 2015! 

Listen to his top 10 countdown of priorities for our new Grads! 
Awesome job to send off our new Graduating class! 

Keep the Arts in focus! 
Great countries do!

CLICK HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx7iWC_RooI&feature=youtu.be

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION

Rex Murphy is a Rhodes Scholar who very succinctly, makes key points on current events.

Below he presents his view on the amazing opportunity we have in Canada to follow through on the 94 Recommendations made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

I hope as he points out, that this is not just going to be another flare that goes up with a bang and quickly passes.

As educators, we have an amazing opportunity now to acknowledge this unfortunate historical event and put a monitored, cyclic action plan in place to ensure our students, parents, teachers, administrators and support staffs, move toward a diverse and inclusive school community that engages the indigenous populations and make them a part of moving forward.

Recommendations 6 to 12 focus the next steps necessary, to improve the aboriginal education experience.

Click here for Rex Murphy's Presentation: http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/content/abouttheshow/correspondents/rex_murphy.html


Click here for the Commission's 94 Recommendations:
http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf

PISA and OECD Results Are Damaging Education

The letter below outlines how PISA and OECD are damaging the morale of Ministries of Education world wide, Boards of Education, educators, and students. It's systems for assessment are outdated.

This letter to the PISA administration is signed by a number of International Academics that say PISA testing results are not the standard to which we should aspire. It is an incompetent measuring tool and does not take the whole child into account or the real purpose of education. Isn't education at the elementary and secondary level, meant to prepare students for participation in democratic self-government, with a well developed moral compass, ready for a life of personal development, growth and wellbeing, and to ready oneself for further education or career choices? Isn't about developing the skills necessary for the 21st century, and resilience for a world of rapid growth and change?

If you want to improve the standards of education world wide, and improve teaching pedagogies and best practices, then a collaborative, teacher performance appraisal framework, by highly trained administrators that are focussed on improving educators as role models of the Standards of Practice, is most effective.

Look at the top education systems in the world. They use personal performance appraisal systems at the school level. They don't need international testing devices to plan their next steps.

Read this short assessment of PISA and the impact it is unfortunately having.
How do we better assess our international performance in education if that is necessary.
It surely can be done without ruining student self images and the morale of hard working teachers.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/06/oecd-pisa-tests-damaging-education-academics