If I was Queen of the Universe...

In my last post, I wrote about the need for culture of creativity throughout a school's community, not just within classrooms. It was bothering me, and I hoped that writing about it would get it out of my system. It didn't - I'm stuck on the idea of developing schools as creative communities, as opposed to institutions that inspire kids to be creative. I want an action plan.

A quick definition to explain what I mean by 'schools as creative communities' and 'schools as institutions'. A creative community is composed of students, teachers, non-teaching staff, parents and other stakeholders who are inspired and inspiring. The institution is an hierarchical organisation with the purpose of spitting out creative kids.

My big question: How can we develop schools that are creative communities in which all members inspire and are inspired? More practically - what can I do?

To inspire kids to think outside of the box, I need to be an out of the box thinker myself. I need to be inspired.
So what inspires me?
My list:
An inspirational environment - aesthetics, culture, people, resources. Collaboration. Playfulness. Flexibility. Energy. Connection. Communication. Empowerment. Feedback. Risk Taking. Boldness. Openness. Encouragement and Opportunities to lead. Reflection.

And what kills my inspiration?
Rigidity. Canned curricula. Timidity. Hidden agendas and resource-hoarding. Fear of failure. Bullying.

What do I already do about all this? What more can I do?
Concerning my own day-to-day practice, I have a fair amount of freedom. So in that sphere, it's pretty straightforward.

• share things that inspire me with my students, colleagues and their families, and inspire them to share with others
• be bold
• use a variety of technologies for learning, teaching, connecting
• collaborate - within my school's community and beyond
• invite community members in, in a variety of formal and informal contexts
• engage in open dialogue with students, colleagues, parents, other community members
• create inspirational spaces, and space for inspiration
• be positive, encouraging, give things a go
• invite a variety of outcomes when trying something new 
• persevere!

Ok, so now for the Queen of the Universe part.
Somewhere in my travels around the internet, I found this sentence and wrote it down to think about.
'The School provides the freedom for our teachers to be creative and bold in their practice, to collaborate with colleagues and to challenge themselves to try new methodologies.'
I really like it. Really. Especially 'bold'. We definitely need to be bold.
But.
Is it enough just to 'provide the freedom'?

I think that, to be inspirational, 'providing freedom' is the bare minimum any organisation can do. Here are a few ideas for scaffolding inspiration.

• redesign spaces for learning and community activities
• provide a variety of opportunities and media for community participation
• develop an inclusive and inspirational culture
• de-institutionalise - is it necessary for children to always walk in straight lines, call their teacher 'Mr' or 'Ms', have regular meeting times, do it because that's how it's always been done?
• designate time and space for community members (not just teachers and students!) to share things they've been doing, things that have inspired them
• designate time and space for collaboration with community members
• develop a culture of participation for all community members - everyone is responsible for creating an inspiring and inspirational community

Creativity

Creative - you've gotta be it to thrive in the 21st century. You've got to be flexible, think on your feet, embrace change, think critically, consider issues from a range of perspectives and draw on a variety of strategies for solving problems. As a teacher, one of my responsibilities is to inspire students to think outside the box. I need to provide opportunities for kids to take risks and try things out in a supportive environment.

Ken Robinson's hugely popular speech on this topic (worth a look if you've not seen it already):

This is clearly really important. But it's nothing new - unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard it already.

What is interesting is that while we are all talking about blended learning, inquiry learning, problem based learning, student-centred classrooms etc etc, we forget about revitalising all the other parts that make up school. Learning's not just about pedagogy - it's about the culture and the institution. To create an environment that nurtures students' creativity, we need also to rethink the the work and relationships that are not with students. Grownups' creativity needs some nurturing, too.

A bit of background to catch you up with where I'm coming from:
A non-educator friend invited me into his workplace to see and talk about a recent office refit, and generally about the company he works for. It was pretty cool - lots of open plan spaces, light, plants and space for light-heartedness. It's really clear that this company wants its staff to be motivated, comfortable, inspired, happy, part of a community. There's a cafe area (with good coffee!) on the first floor, complete with patio and garden. Conference rooms are themed - from a Mad Men-esque kind of executive suite to country and western to black booths with disco-light wallpaper (still a bit disappointed about the lack of lava lamps in that one..). Areas for desk work are open plan - no designated seating! One of the conference rooms is set up as a friendly place for mothers on maternity leave to meet up. And there's a slide. For grownups. And yes, I'm really peeved that I didn't go on it - stupid floaty skirt fabric. The space itself is really cool.

Also cool was the underlying culture. There's no dress code - wear jeans, suits, shorts, pyjamas, whatever. Work from wherever you want. There's no expectation that you'll be in the office every day. You do your best work on the beach with a cocktail? Go hard. There's no clocking in or out - you work as many hours as you need to, to meet your goals. And of course there's all the tech that you need for real time collaboration - video conferencing, screen sharing, an in-house network for online chats, emails, voice and video messaging etc etc. All kinds of fun and games.

The community-building stuff I really liked. I've already mentioned the meeting space for mothers, the cafe area and the slide. As well, there are projects for staff to work collaboratively to raise money for charities, space in the mail room to store bikes, a 'Bring your Daughter to Work Day' and, of course, opportunities for members of the public to come in and see how it works. I'm sure, like any workplace, it has its ups and downs, but you could see that a lot of thought and planning goes into making the staff's experience a good one.

In and outside of schools, there is a lot of thinking going into how we can facilitate students' creativity. What puzzles me is why we so rarely put time and effort into creating the conditions for adults to work creatively in the school community. It just seems to make more sense - if we want to inspire children to learn through play, be creative, engage with the community, shouldn't the adults in their lives also be inspired?

Some cool teaching moments. Thanks, iPad trial :).

I have already posted about it, but I just want to celebrate the awesomeness that is teaching with tablets. I know everyone's preaching it and I'm sure there is a bunch of you out there rolling your eyes at this 'latest trend', but having 1:1 iPads has transformed teaching and learning in our classroom.

My students are Minecraft crazy. I wouldn't have know that if we hadn't taken a gamble and put it on the kids' iPads. We haven't even gotten around to using Minecraft in class yet, but it has already provided the fodder for our best discussion in class this year. Yesterday morning in class, one of my students asked if he could present his passion project. 'It'll take like, 10 minutes, Miss Kemp', he said. 45 minutes later, the children were still going strong, discussing the ins and outs - the best materials for building various kinds of buildings, the best strategies for vanquishing baddies, etc, etc. How's that about learning?
Well.
Most of my students are not native English speakers, so this discussion gave them the opportunity to use subject specific technical vocabulary in an authentic context. The child who presented managed questions and guided the discussion without adult interference. Nobody needed prompting. The children practised appropriate etiquette for participating in a large discussion.
Thank you, iPads, and thank you, home learning.

Blended learning. It's really happening. At the beginning of the school day, we talk through the various projects/tasks that the children can work on. At the moment, there's an extended Maths PBL task, and a narrative writing task, as well as preparation for their Student Led Conferences next week. Incorporated into the mix are also shared and independent reading times, small group instruction (Maths and Language mini-lessons) with me and any other smaller tasks that come up. Keeping in mind the necessity of balancing screen time with other activities, the children manage these tasks on their own. The quality of the work the children are producing is high - they're engaged, they're interested and they have the control (most of the time). I feel like I am teaching much more effectively, because I'm not stuck out the front with my whiteboard markers - I'm sitting down with the kids, working with them side-by-side. For specific skills and content that have to be 'covered', I pull out small groups throughout the day and we talk through it in mini-lessons. So much more time-effective, so much more enjoyable and so much easier to do with iPads on hand.

Roguishness

Spring here in Europe is awesome. A return to colour, smiles on people's faces and an end to the collective Winter grumps. The days get longer and there's time to do things in daylight before and after school. Things become a bit more lighthearted, the way they're supposed to be.

Spring is also a great time at work. By this time of the school year, my kids and I know each other well and we have built a strong rapport. We know each others' limits and expectations and generally, the classroom is a pretty comfortable place to be. The cool part of this is that by this time of year I also know the things that make individuals in the class really excited; I have a much better idea of how to tap in to what it is that the children are passionate about, or more likely to be passionate about.

For whatever reason, Spring is when I'm at my most creative. I'm feeling good and wherever I look, there's inspiration for something to write, make, think or talk about. Spring is when I want to try fun new things, play, make big messes and go where our questions take us.

The killer is that this is also the time of year that we teachers are hurriedly reviewing the curriculum to make sure that we have 'covered' all the stuff, and are on track to 'cover' all the rest of the stuff before the Summer. A small part of me dies every time I think 'outcomes'. And 'data'! Conversations about
data make me want to stick a fork in my eye.

Yes, data is valuable. It's useful. It helps to inform my teaching. I gather it every day, in various forms. But I did not become a teacher because I had a passion for data. Nor do I think that a data-obsessed culture is going to produce critical, creative, passionate lifelong learners. And it ain't a recipe for inquiry learning.

All these are perfect ingredients for my 'Argh! I'm doing something awesome' soup. I'm going rogue. And I'm taking the iPads with me.

(...and yes, I'll get the report writing done as well...) Sigh.

Update and the lowdown on using Skitch to give your teacher a 'stache.

It's been a long time between posts.

So, an update...

I am really pleased to write that our Home Learning experiment seems to be over its initial hump and is now definitely on the improve. Children in my class are inquiring into baking Sacher Torte, 'doing the splits', creating their own video games, the life of Anne Frank, skydiving and so many more cool things. Just for me, their teacher, it is so much more interesting than the old 'standard' homework. It is really exciting to see their faces light up when they talk about the progress they've made and what they want to work on or find out more about next. They are keen and excited and want to share. This is what learning should be. I love it.

My students are definitely a lot more comfortable using computers for learning now. They have developed some skills and now get excited (instead of nervous!) about trying out new apps and programs. We spent a blissful couple of periods last week learning to use Google Draw and Skitch and I am looking forward to having the children use them in context.

For those not in the know, Skitch is a photo/image annotation app (great for iPads and laptops) that I'm hoping will be very useful for our digital portfolios this year. It was very much worth the couple of lessons we spent in just experimenting with how these apps work - the children learned so much more when they were free to explore on their own than I could ever have 'taught' them. Can you imagine? 'Right then, click here, and then click there and then - no! Stop that! No drawing boogers hanging out of someone's nose!'

As a very wise and respected colleague once told me - the very best way to make sure that children learn how to use technology is to give them time to play with it on their own. 9 and 10-year-olds have a much more intuitive understanding of 21st century tech than I do. It is inevitable that in the course of these 'play' lessons, at least one of my students will discover and teach me how to do something that I wasn't able to before. It is exciting to have the locus of control shift from me to the students.

To end on a high note:
Here is my own piece of Skitch awesomeness, for your viewing pleasure.
This is the quick demo I did to introduce Skitch to my students. And yes, the teeth and moustache were at their request. Ah, the sacrifices we make for learning.

Redefining Awesome

We are almost halfway through week 2 of the school year and I can tell you already what my greatest challenge this year is going to be: helping my kids to redefine Awesome.

Inspired by Kid President, I decided that this year should be an 'Awesome Year' for my class. We watched and laughed along with the video.

Then we brainstormed.
'What could we do in class this year to make sure that Grade 4 is an awesome year? What kinds of things would you like to try?' I asked.
In planning, I knew this was a great hook activity. Inspired by Kid President's energy, enthusiasm, humour and ideas, and because we all know that all nine-year-olds are bursting with exciting and creative ideas, my kids were going to lay the foundations for a learning-packed, student-driven year of amazingness.

I didn't have the heart to take a photo of it at the time, but here are a few ideas from our first brainstorm, entitled 'Our Ideas for an Awesome Year':

• reading
• writing stories
• maths games
• free time

There is definitely potential for fun and enjoyment here, but... Honestly, does your inner 9-year-old scream 'Awesome!' at this list? Why are these the limits of their expectations?

Don't get me wrong - I value that they love to read and write and do maths. 

But what about inquiry learning? And 21st century skills and tools? As well as the myriad other tools and resources for inquiring and creating and presenting we are so lucky to have at our school?

On our second try, this is what we came up with:

Created with Padlet

Reading and writing and maths games are still there, but so are baking, listening to music, programming, building and creating new games.

Obviously, I learned from this exercise. Kids DO have exciting and creative ideas. Sometimes (often?) it takes a bit of work and ingenuity for grown-ups to access them, is all. Next time, I will plan for this :).