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Today I had an “ah ha” moment.
It was the period after lunch and my Grade 8s sat down to complete a free-writing task that will be used to inspire a student written show they will present in an exhibition of their learning called “Looking Out | Looking In”. Students began writing and the taps and clicks of keyboards echoed throughout the room.
THE TASK: “Write for 15 minutes about your favourite memory of being in Middle School. Ensure that you paint a picture of the moment using sensory language to put your audience in your moment.
As I look to the corner of the room, I see a very bright student who is clearly struggling to put pen to paper…literally…she forgot her IPad and had so much on her mind returning to school after a week of being off sick that she simply couldn’t write a thing. Instead she wrote “I don’t know anymore”. When I asked her what she meant, she said, “I just can’t think of something good enough to write- I don’t even know what I did last week, let alone my favourite memory of Middle School.” 
I explain to her that I’m not judging her writing but that I want to to consider a moment that is special to her in her time over the last two years. She said that she wanted to do the task but she wasn’t prepared to take the risk in the time that I gave her in class and could she complete the task on her own time? She warned me that it might look different from her peers responses. I encouraged her to take the risk and write what she felt she could.
I feel a bit like that student as I come to the end of my Cohort 21 experience. I’ve been unsure if I accomplished what I set out to in my action plan at the beginning of the year and I’m reminded that while my plan has evolved and morphed into something else, it’s a risk I needed to take and couldn’t have accomplished alone.
While writing this blog tonight watching the Penguins/Islanders Game 1 of the playoffs (Go Pens Go!) a great quote from Barry Trotz, coach of the New York Islanders flashed on my screen, “If you want go somewhere quick, go by yourself. If you want to go somewhere far, you have to go as a group”. I’ve appreciated the opportunity to obtain feedback and exchange ideas with other like-minded people with a drive to collaborate and innovate. It’s made me reflect on the kind of teacher I am and the kind of teacher I strive to be. What I realize now is that those two things are not mutually exclusive. So I leave this experience with new friends, ideas, and a renewed commitment to give the best of myself when I walk into the classroom each morning.
Thanks to: @ceby @amaingot @jgravel @tjagdeo @amacrae @acampbellrogers @swelbourn @jmedved @gnichols @lmcbeth @tfaucher
So here’s where I am…
OVERVIEW OF MY ACTION PLAN
“How might we foster student self-awareness by developing communication skills geared at group work?”
Towards the end of term 1 and throughout term 2, I used similar protocols, self-assessment methods and feedback cycles when examining communication skills in both my Grade 7 and 8 classes. In third term, I have evolved my practice to filming students when they are rehearsing for a 2 minute period of time at the beginning of the task and then showing them the two minutes and have them make 1 oral reflection on how they were using their time in relation to the skill they were asked to work on. I then give them another chance to see if they could use their time more effectively and then show them that moment to compare. Students discuss the difference between the two blocks of time and determine how much time they will need to productively achieve the success criteria they co-constructed at the beginning of the lesson. I’ve noticed much better engagement, particularly from my Grade 7s and they expressed that it feels like they are competing against themselves. They also indicated that they can use the skills used in drama to support them in other classes and in the real world and that they are becoming more aware of how they learn to set and reach their goals.
As the 2018-19 school year comes to an end I have shifted the focus of my action plan to my Grade 8 show, “Looking Out | Looking In”. The are in process of writing and creating a show demonstrating their self-awareness by reflection on their time in Middle School. This is an authentic and interdisciplinary authentic project with the Grade 8 Visual Arts class.
CREATING A SAFE SPACE
In a drama classroom, creating a safe space is integral to the success of the program. Students need to feel safe in order to take performance risks and to push themselves. I used NSRF protocols such as the Creating Norms and Agreements, Compass Points, and the Zone of Comfort to initiate conversations with the students around their risk taking ability, what they need to create a safe space, and how they think of themselves as a learner. Using protocols to create equity in the voices and ideas being shared and heard during group work was important because it empowered students who may otherwise be voiceless. Students always had the right to pass and submit their answer in an online format as an alternative.
LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY
I leveraged technology using apps like Flipgrid, Google Photos, and Google Classroom to have students share their thoughts orally and improve their metacognition by frequently watching themselves to revise what they said and how they physically behaved. I particularly used Flipgrid so students could practice the structure of language to effectively communicate. They were encouraged to refer to a classroom poster I made when in whole group discussion and were given prompt cards to support how they offered feedback one on one in person or on Flipgrid.
I also drew on previous TRIBES training to end my classes returning to a whole group structure in a circle where students were given an exit question related to the lesson rooted in creating a positive and safe environment in the drama classroom. I asked the following questions:
- What did you appreciate?
- What surprised you?
- What did you need in today’s lesson to improve your success?
As students physically exited my classroom, I also asked a Question of the Day which was unrelated to the lessons with a goal of building peer relationships. Questions ranged from “either/or” questions to “if you could have any super hero power, what might it be?”. The question of the day has become a staple in all my classes and now students are generating their own.
In assessments in both Grade 7 and 8 drama, students co-constructed criteria for success for Assessment as and of learning. We worked together to devise the language on student rubrics and I had input from the students about what they needed on a rubric to be a useful learning tool. The feedback from students which was in line with my professional development was a three point rubric where the criteria could be used as a checklist. On one side of the rubric, they wanted to be able to make themselves and have my mark on the other side so they could easily compare. If student marks were very different from what I had given them, it initiated a conversation with the student around their understanding of the criteria and next steps for success.
Students self- assessed, reflected, and marked themselves on their rehearsal, performance, and learning skills after each Assessment of Learning.
WHAT DID I LEARN?
I learned to trust my students and let them take the wheel to drive their learning. I also learned that they have a strong sense of themselves when asked. They were quite honest with themselves, me and their parents on parent teacher interviews to own the deficits in their learning and to set achievable goals for success. Something else I learned is that my Grade 7s can be more successful when giving very small chunks of time (5 mins) to practice, demonstrate, and revise their understanding. My Grade 8s as a group, prefer to work in 10 minute chunks of time to achieve the same learning cycle
THE END OF THE BEGINNING…
This year my pillar goal of self-awareness through the competencies of critical thinking, communication and collaboration has made me think about what will be next for my students. I realize that my “How Might We” question may have been overly focussed for a first attempt at this work and what I was really working on was developing student self-awareness which is simply developing student’s metacognition.
In my first blog post I reflected that “ It’s a journey and we are all walking at different paces and arriving at different locations but that’s what makes this so exciting.” What I realize as I arrive at the end of one path is I’m at a fork in the road deciding on what my next step will be and all signs are pointing towards “student agency”. In drama I use a convention called yes and.. The convention is meant to elicit an open response, build on an idea and take it further. So I guess I’m at the point in the journey where I ask myself yes and…Onto my next action plan…
Agency by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images