First Blog Post
Question 1:
I joined Cohort 21 to gain insight into other teaching practices that may be beneficial to me and my students. I work with a number of fantastic teachers who have been a part of Cohort 21, and they commented on how much they enjoyed the experience, so I wanted to try as well.
Sometimes I find that everything seems to feel urgent at school. I have a constant ‘to do’ list that glares at me each day, and as I cross out the most urgent items, I end up adding more. The balance between choosing which things are urgent and which are important becomes important as we navigate through the year.
I am struggling this year with the balance between helping my Grade 12s adjust to a slightly more normal year and getting them ready for university. The last two years have been a struggle in many different ways, and because our students were adjusting to life in the pandemic, assignments and workload were reduced to help with wellness. This year, we are returning to a more normal workload… and the students are struggling. The amount of extensions for assignments that have been requested is far greater than any other year. Students seem to be more overwhelmed, and because of this, it makes preparing them for university a challenge.
In terms of an important, but not quite urgent, goal, I would like to collaborate with students to create rubrics that are specific to the assessment, address the curriculum, and is written student-friendy language. I have tried this out, only once, with my Grade12 English class. We had a modified Harkness discussion, and prior to the assessment, I asked them to help build the rubric. We talked about addressing specific categories within the curriculum expectations (knowledge, inquiry, communication, and application) and for each,we discussed what they should be assessed on. We looked at the curriculum language already present, and they offered their ideas as to what I should be looking for. For example, under inquiry/thinking, I told them that I will be looking for students that give evidence of listening to others in the group (both verbal and non-verbal). I asked, “how will you know if you have effectively done this? What should I be looking for?” They decided on the following for a student who is at Level 4:
Student proves to be an excellent listener who provides feedback and support to peers.
Excellent non-verbal skills. Engaged body language is apparent; eye contact consistent. They expand on the ideas of others and can transition when presenting new ideas.
This is something that I would like to continue trying, and would love some feedback on this!
Question 2:
I chose Pedagogy and Wellbeing (7-12) for my Season 10 Strand. I think the other strands are equally as important, but with the concerns about preparing students for university while balancing their own wellbeing, I felt that Pedagogy and Wellbeing was the best fit.
I feel that addressing the well-being of students is urgent as many are struggling as they have never before. Some students who were home for the last two years were in unstable environments, which affected their mental health greatly, and the effects of this are being seen within the classroom.
As mentioned above in Question 1, students not only have to adjust to a ‘normal’ school year, but the seniors need to prepare for post-secondary. Students who were high flyers are struggling to maintain balance with their workload and their mental health is at an all time low. I want to be understanding and supportive to these students, but I also need to give them realistic expectations that they will be held to in university. I find myself constantly discussing this with my colleagues, and unfortunately, non of us have answers. If I reduce workload or expectations, it may help the overwhelmed student manage their wellness better but it does not give them realist expectations for university. If I try to prepare them for university by giving them 30 pages of reading a class and assignments with a scaffolding schedule that is similar to years previous to Covid, I feel as though I am overwhelming them (not just one, but all of them) and causing stress that they cannot manage.
Hoping that through discussion and the sharing of ideas, our Cohort 21 team can help me address this matter.
LB
So glad you joined Cohort 21! Looking forward to your posts.
Thanks so much for this great post and this: “I feel that addressing the well-being of students is urgent as many are struggling as they have never before. Some students who were home for the last two years were in unstable environments, which affected their mental health greatly, and the effects of this are being seen within the classroom.” and then combining / layering this with your concerns about transitions (either from JS to MS to SS, and also to post-secondary).
You are definitely in the right place to learn through discussion. One of the key activities that we do here is supporting you getting in front of the right question – a question that will allow you to have a springboard into research into your current school’s conditions, supports and challenges.
I think that @jmedved and @gvogt might shed some light on this as well.
Cheers,
Garth.
Great! Thank you so much!
Hi Laura,
I love the co-constructed rubrics – although I teach much younger students than you, when I have taken the time (the key part of all of this as it takes much more time than making it yourself) I’ve had great results. The students bought in and seemed to have a much better understanding of what I was looking for and HOW to demonstrate it. I love the question, “how will you know if you have effectively done this?” as I think this is really the important part.
This part also stuck out for me, “I want to be understanding and supportive to these students, but I also need to give them realistic expectations that they will be held to in university. I find myself constantly discussing this with my colleagues, and unfortunately, none of us have answers. ” These comments are happening in EVERY school at EVERY grade level right now, it is disheartening and challenging, to say the least. I am in the midst of writing a blog post about this… Maybe you will find this self-compassion meditation helpful, it was provided to us during a PD session by our school psychologist.
This is a difficult year. The fallout from Covid has impacted students socially, emotionally and academically. Parents are feeling stress too. I accept that there are times when I will feel frustrated and defeated. It is not my fault. I am not in charge of fixing this. I am not responsible for changing this on my own. I will meet my students where they are at and do the best that I can without judging myself or falling into a negative thought cycle.
Take care and I look forward to hearing more during your journey,
L.
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for sharing that with me. I think keeping this (I accept that there are times when I will feel frustrated and defeated. It is not my fault. I am not responsible for changing this on my own. I will meet my students where they are at and do the best that I can without judging myself or falling into a negative thought cycle.) in mind will be so important as we move forward.
I love that you have also looked at building rubrics with your students as well. It definitely does take time, which we all have very little of, but if it can be scheduled in, I think it is a fantastic exercise.
Thank you for sharing,
LB