contemplating a brave new classroom
Written by Celeste Kirsh
I happen to be one of the lucky few who has happened to find herself teaching at a school whose ideologies regularly match her own. I am nurtured and nourished by the idea of reading juicy, provocative, and challenging texts over the summer to push forward my practice as a teacher. I even, dare I … Continue reading ““Quiet” by Susan Cain (a book review)”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
I think Ruth said it perfectly when she reflected at the end of the final F2F session that happened this past Friday, that it seemed like we were all just getting to know each other and then this Cohort thing is over. Perhaps it was because we all just went through something challenging together or … Continue reading “We were just getting to know each other…”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
[youtube]http://youtu.be/0ERX3g7dYLw[/youtube] Initially, at the start of the year, I thought that I would focus on a “21st century novel study”. This is what I tweeted out on the 24th of January: And then I started to consider where the areas of strength and challenges were with my class’s study of The Book Thief: some aspects of … Continue reading “2014 Final Reflection”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
This article, about the assessment of deeper learning, helps to put a few key ideas into context that connect to my action plan. Namely… – Students benefit from having a say in how they are assessed – The right feedback at the right time is essential – Reflecting at the end of a learning experience … Continue reading “Other people are saying it too”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
Authentic audiences, student voice / choice, SAMR friendly uses of technology, academic mindsets, thoughtful exhibition of student work, big ideas, essential questions, cross-curricular connections, and critical thinking…it’s enough to make my brain burst! In many ways I feel like going deeper into deeper learning and 21st century pedagogy through the DLmooc and Cohort 21 has … Continue reading “Making assessment planning as yummy as cookies”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
I have to admit that I have enjoyed the messiness of my journey this year to uncover and articulate my action plan. I knew that I wanted to explore something related to personalized learning and my English teaching specifically, but it really took me some murky moments to understand what I need to improve and … Continue reading “Revised Action Plan”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
What I Saw The Students Actually “Do”: I am a (new) big fan of the “know, do, reflect” model of assessment that came up during the Assessment panel discussion in the Deeper Learning MOOC. Bob Lenz’s model, I think, could be a new way for me to understand how I can structure my assessment tasks … Continue reading “The Great Debates of Grade 7 (part two)”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
Background: Be it resolved that teaching students how to make deep connections between disciplines, in a limited amount of time, is a ridiculously challenging experience. Thank goodness for March break (and the warm sun of Florida) to digest and make sense of this learning experience. A few weeks ago, I posted about one of the … Continue reading “The Great Debates of Grade 7 (part one)”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
Tagging on to my reflections about mindsets from the DLMooc work, I wanted to share an experience I had as a teacher this past week. Every winter, the Grade 7 class spends three days north of Toronto in the forest, making peace with winter. This was my first time on this particular trip and … Continue reading “Growth Mindset in Action (literally)”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
This week, the DLMOOC was focusing on mindsets. While I have read Carol Dwek’s book and have experimented modestly with incorporating the idea of growth mindsets into how my projects are designed, I really appreciated the honest grapplings during the lens into the classroom dilemma. Matt Biller and Kevin Denton from Polaris Expeditionary Learning School. … Continue reading “Reflections on Feb. 27th Lens into the Classroom: Mindsets”
