NGO - Giving Student's Choice

My Grade 6s were asked to design a NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) proposal. Students used the inquiry process along with the design thinking model to create an NGO to help combat a global issue of they were passionate about. 

Logo was designed by student who created an NGO proposal to fight for the rights of the LGBTQ community.

Using the design thinking process, students were able to really reflect on the solutions and responses they were posing. They were able to see what at the surface might seem like a great solution, needed some more reflecting and digging deeper. 

One particular student created an NGO on the helping the LGBTQ community fight for their rights in marriage in all States of America. I was very touched by the proposal, as the student purposed the possible responses to be education in schools on the topic and funding money for lawyers to help fight for discriminatory laws. 

We haven't spoken directly to the topic of LGBTQ, but the student educated the class about her passion on the topic with great sensitivity. This showed me how sometimes you need to give the reigns to youth to talk about what they already know and how they can really inspire their peers.  This was the moment I knew how allowing students to choose their own global issue and digging deep with design thinking model, allowed for real-authentic learning. 

To top it all off, students were asked to vote for the NGO who they thought deserves funding from "the United Nations" to help fund their idea (i.e., this was a make belief scenario) and the class chose the NGO fighting for the rights of LGBTQ community as the winner!! 

Do you SEE Math?

I recently had the pleasure of attending a parent engagement session with Dr. Cathy Fosnot on parent engagement and numeracy. Dr. Cathy Fosnot's work in the area of Math is infamous and she raised really good points that has made me think about how I engage students in Mathematics with my math program.

Fosnot made an argument for engaging students in Mathematics by solving problems creatively and seeing the creativity in math. Reflecting on my practice, I have seen how effective it is to connect math with creativity and the Arts. For example, this year I students design a skyline of their choice and of any city of their choice; using shapes, polygons, irregular polygons and attributes we learned in Geometry. This activity allowed students to design a skyline and find beauty (in Math) within their architectural piece. The hands-on learning piece that comes with finding creativity in Math, also allows students to gain a deeper first hand experience of th
e math concepts.

Her connections about creativity and Math also reminded me on the recent focus on Spatial Sense as a predictor of success in Math. If we are able to foster students to think critically and visualize the creativity in Math, especially they are being spatial aware of math concepts.

Fosnot also made an excellent argument about teaching students to think deeply about numeracy and numbers so that they are able to apply a variety of mental math strategies in their real life. The deeper understanding of numeracy does not lie in plugging in the numbers in a calculator or even finding the answer.

A resource that popped into my mind is Jo Boaler's "Mathematical Mindsets" ; she too, makes an argument for seeing Math in creative and visual ways an important way for students to think and feel about Math.

"Do you SEE Math?" As an educator, I think it's a difficult question to answer, but one that I think I will pose more often when looking at the curriculum and mathematical concepts.... "How can we foster a love for math through a creative lens?"

Mindful Breaks - Collaborative Colouring / Colour Therapy

Taking mindful breaks throughout the school day is an important part of well-being. This year, I added a new station to my classroom. On the shelves, I placed "colour therapy colouring sheets" for students to use when they feel they need a break. Students love the station and have been using it often! 

I decided to have a few options on the shelf, students can take which ever colouring page they would like at that brea. We set the norm that the colouring pages are collaborative and we add onto each other's colouring; this has also created a respectful and collaborative culture. Consider adding a colouring station to your classroom :) 

Materials you will need to create a colouring station: 

- bristol board so that the pages stand up 

- foldback clips to clip the colouring pages

- colouring pages ( I bought a book that contained detachable sheets that have designs on the front and back) 

Growth Mindset Inspiration

Great video for Growth Mindset! ....First thing that came to mind when I saw the commercial on TV this summer break.

The Evolution of the Hardcopy Text?

It has been a great start to a new school year (Grade 6 has been awesome so far :) ) and as always, my resolution is to keep blogging as often as possible! :)

Over the summer break, I began delving into Mathematical Mindsets by Jo Boaler. It is an insightful read indeed! As I was reading my hard copy, I realized I needed many tools. Not only did I want stickies, highlighters, pens to jot down and mark down my thoughts and important information, but I was also gravitating towards my laptop! This was an AHA moment for myself, I realized that I couldn't bring Mathematical Mindsets to the beach easily due to the amount of tools I felt I needed to lug with me! The nature of professional reading has changed.

There is a high need for technology use while interacting with hardcopy text. Boaler refers to many MANY wonderful links and online resource in their book. As I was reading, I felt a constant need to bookmark a page and also bookmark a web resource on my browser. There was a high level of interaction with the hardcopy text; no passive reading was happening here!

The 21st century hardcopy text is no longer just the information printed on the physical paper; but it is evolving to a physical space where the need to access online resources is increasingly becoming the norm. Therefore, students need to be taught the skills to decode the information in the black and white text in front of them, but also the online texts found in the hyperlinks as well. Students need to be able to interact with printed and online text simultaneously.

Some things I am wondering...... What tools do students need to help organize their information and for them to sift through the most important information from the wealth of information presented to them (print and online)? What are some effective strategies to help students develop these skills needed to interact with this "new 21st century hardcopy text"?

Poetry & Inquiry - How would you define/describe Canadian Identity?

Grade 6 students were asked to analyze and extract phrases/words from Shane Koyczan's poem "We are More" which was famously performed at the 2010 Winter Olympics. We watched the excerpt from the clip below: (Poem comes in at around 2:15:56)

Big Idea: Canadian Identity has many fundamental elements. Past and present communities have
shaped the development of Canada.

Inquiry question: How do we define Canadian Identity?

Highlighting and extracting phrases...

Students were asked to sort their extraction of ideas into categories....

Students were then to ask to graffiti how they would describe Canadian identity...

Students worked in groups to fill in sentence prompts/ create metaphors to describe Canadian Identity using their own ideas and taking inspiration from Shane Koyczan's poem.


Result.... creative class poem presented that allowed students to see what being Canadian means to us!

It was an engaging lesson where students were able to be creative and express some fundamental elements of Canadian Identity. The goal is to have students revisit our class poem at the end of the unit and see how their learning of Canada's past and present communities have shaped their perspective of Canadian Identity.

Lesson was inspired by TC2 resource

My Classroom Blog Links

Grade 6 (2016- present) - Grade 6 Homeroom Teacher Role
http://grade6chungstars.blogspot.ca/

Grade 6 (2015-2016) - Grade 6 Social Studies/ Science Teacher Role
http://grade6chungstarslearningspace.blogspot.ca/

Grade 4 (2014-2015) - Grade 4 Homeroom Teacher Role
http://mschungclassbulletin.blogspot.ca/