I don’t want to read another thing about how successful the education system is in Finland . I congratulate Finland for their fine education system, but I don’t want my school in Mississauga to be compared to schools in Finland because doing that is like comparing apples to oranges. Mississauga is not the same as Finland. Finland has 2.5 % foreign citizens. Mississauga has many more. 46.62% of residents in Mississauga (almost 700 oo0 ) were not born in Canada.  Apples to oranges. Apples to oranges for Pete’s sake.

Mississauga has one of the largest, if not the largest, cluster of ethnic groups in Canada. At my school, the student body speaks over 60 languages.  All this diversity is what makes Mississauga so great. I love it. But, all this diversity brings with it challenges that a more homogeneous country like Finland doesn’t experience.

I don’t want to write a post outlining all the challenges new immigrants face that can affect the them as they enter our schools. But, some students who are immigrants come to grade 9 illiterate in their mother tongue, and we are expected to teach them so they will pass and earn 16 credits by the time they are 16 years old. Some parents are struggling to learn English themselves and can’t support their kids and help with homework or assignments. Some parents work at two jobs to put a roof over their children’s heads and food on the table and aren’t there for there for their kids after school.

O.K., O.K. I’m going to stop now because I’m starting to write a post about the challenges of being an immigrant living in Mississauga and that’s just what I didn’t want to do.  I just don’t want apples to be compared to oranges.

photo thanks to Dano

Don’t tell me anything more about students in Finland and how great the education system is there. originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on July 19, 2011.

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Sometimes we can get the wrong idea about what it takes to successfully teach kids who are academically at-risk.  You don’t have to be a superhero like Erin Gruwell in Freedom Writers. You just have to be “good enough”. I’ll explain what I mean by “good enough” in a minute.

For those of you who have seen the movie Freedom Writers, you’ll know what I mean when I say Erin, the teacher in the movie, is a superhero.   For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, I’ve embedded a trailer here so you can have a better idea of what I’m talking about.

I mean no disrespect to Erin Gruwell, the teacher Freedom Writers is based on. What she did with her students was truly extraordinary. I’m in awe of her. But I think because she’s a superhero, teachers who watch the movie might get the mistaken notion you have to have super-teacher powers to teach students who are academically at-risk. You don’t. You don’t have to be a super-teacher. You only have to be “good enough”.

When I say teachers of students who are academically at-risk don’t have to be superheros they only have to be “good enough”, I don’t mean they can be mediocre. Far from it.  Let me explain what  I  mean by “good enough” teachers.  ”Good enough” teachers

• • have good  emotional intelligence
  • establish inviting student centered classrooms;
  • have excellent listening skills;
  • willingly treat their students with respect and demand the same from their students ;
  • have expertise in the teaching subject;
  • can differentiate teaching, assessment and evaluation strategies to suit students;
  • help students be successful using the students’ strengths;
  • are firm but fair;
  • are creative;
  • are life-long learners;
  • are flexible;
  • are skilled at teaching and assessment;
  • realize and accept they’re not perfect;
  • realize tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to get it right.

 

“Good enough” teachers realize it’s not their job to “fix” students who are academically at-risk; it’s their  job to help students realize better choices will lead to better outcomes and help them develop their critical thinking skills so they can make better choices.

Erin Gruwell did all this and more. She is a superhero who teaches, but we can be just “good enough” and still be successful at teaching students who are academically at-risk. We don’t need to be superheros ; we can just be humans who teach. I want teachers to realize that.

If you’ve been teaching academically at-risk students, what do you think it takes. How would you define “good enough”?

You don’t have to be a superhero to teach kids who are academically at-risk originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on July 8, 2011.

Lindsey Wright is fascinated with the potential of emerging educational technologies, particularly the online school, to transform the landscape of learning. She writes about web-based learning, electronic and mobile learning, and the possible future of education.

Some educators specialize in teaching at-risk youth, while others may have only a few members of a particular class who they would deem at risk. How is an at-risk student identified? The most obvious criterion for at-risk students is their grades. If they begin a new school year or term with low grades, this may be a sign of a child whose focus is not on education. A sudden drop in grades can be another indicator that a child’s focus has shifted away from education to make way for other matters that may seem more pressing to the student. Consistent tardiness or absenteeism are also common indicators.

If you teach at an online school you are in luck, as this is an issue that you probably only rarely encounter, if at all. However, if you teach in a tough school, many of these signs are likely all too familiar. In fact, all, or the majority, of your students may exhibit these behaviors. Students whose main focus is not on education during school hours are notoriously difficult to teach. Their minds wander, they pass notes, they act out inappropriately, and generally disrupt the learning process. In these situations it is easy to quickly become frustrated. Despite your best intentions, on some days it may just seem as though it is impossible for the class to make any progress.

However all is not lost. There are actually a variety of ways you can minimize in-class interruptions when working with at-risk students. For instance, many such students are living in poverty. Sometimes they act out at school or find it difficult to concentrate simply because they are hungry. If you can ascertain that a student cannot concentrate in the morning because they haven’t had breakfast, you might consider checking into getting the child enrolled in a breakfast program so they can start the day off right. Alternatively, keep a few healthy, nutritious snacks on hand if there is a particular child you know will be coming to school hungry. You might slip an apple or a granola bar into their desk before the day begins, giving them a chance to fuel up and be ready to learn.

If there are hungry students in your classroom, and it is causing disruptive behavior, take the opportunity to teach the children about proper nutrition and how it can affect their overall health and energy level. Many students bring home what they learn and lessons about proper nutrition may start up a dialog in a student’s home that results in better dietary habits for the whole family.

Another useful technique for redirecting inappropriate behavior is to relate your lesson plans to something that the children you are teaching will find familiar and interesting. You might teach a lesson about physics by using dirt bikes as an example, or explore the connections between a social movement and a popular television show. However you decide to bring it about, showing your students there is a connection between what they are learning in school and the world that surrounds them outside of the classroom can be a valuable way to redirect their focus and keep them concentrating on the subject at hand.

You can also change disruptive, off-task behavior by catching a typically misbehaving student doing something right. If you notice that a child who generally has difficulty focusing in class pays attention well during a particular class segment, recognize that achievement, while overlooking a minor infraction of the classroom rules. The positive reinforcement will often be very powerful for at-risk youth who frequently do not receive any kind of positive feedback from anyone in their lives. A few kind words from you can help change that child’s pattern of behavior, perhaps even outside of the classroom.

Teaching at-risk youth is always a challenge. Their focus tends to wander because they may have other, more pressing matters on their minds. However, you can take this off-task behavior as an opportunity both to get to know the student better and to help turn their distraction to collaborative learning effort. By setting aside a little class time for fun, making certain that the child’s basic needs are being met, using positive reinforcement and relating lessons to real life experiences, you can help at-risk students succeed in school and in life.

Teachers Can Transform Off-Task Behaviors into Powerful Learning Tool originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on June 28, 2011.

Image via CrunchBase

I’ve had to think about student YouTube-use management strategies in my class ever since the Board unblocked YouTube. From the moment my students discovered YouTube was unblocked, they kept sneaking onto it instead of focusing on the online assignment I’d given them. (I’ve written about my frustrating experiences here , here and  here.) Notice, I said my students “kept sneaking” onto YouTube. I can use the past tense because now my students don’t do that anymore- well almost not anymore.

What made the difference? I now give my students independent time on the computer for the first 15 minutes of the class to explore any topic that interests them. Students are free to access any site they wish during that time. My thinking here is that my students can meet their emotional needs (the need for undue attention, the need to feel important, the need for fun and the need for freedom) at the beginning of the class using their free time on the computer and then settled down and do the work I assigned to meet the needs of the curriculum for the last 60 minutes of class.

I can imagine that some of you at this point might be thinking that taking 15 minutes of class time to let my students explore what they will online is wasting time. Well, it actually isn’t. Let me explain. I teach struggling, reluctant students. Many of them are “at-risk” academically and find school offers them little. Usually my students will trickle into class for the first 15 minutes. I have to be pleased they come to class at all. I make my classroom as inviting as possible so students will come to class on their own accord. Mostly, it works. I don’t have many skips at all. Honestly, I’d rather they come to class a bit late than not at all. Since I’ve started letting my students explore their interests online at the beginning of class, they are coming to class earlier and earlier. They don’t want to miss out on the fun. Yes, the fun for most of them is YouTube. However, some students do choose other sites such as Wikipedia or coolmath games. We usually do have class discussions around what they choose to see. Mostly the discussion starts with me asking why they find the particular video they’ve chosen so interesting. I don’t ask this question to criticize their choices of videos, but to help me better understand my students. Believe me, I’m learning a lot about the culture of 14 and 15 year olds, and to think I have YouTube to thank for that. Who knew.

The other classroom management strategy I use to help my students focus on the assignment I give them is to block YouTube after the 15 minutes of free time. A large padlock appears on the screen indicating time is up. Students aren’t resentful that I do this. They get it. They know our tacit or perhaps not so tacit agreement. First I give them freedom and fun, then they settle down and do their work and give me completed assignments. We’re both happy. Our needs are met.

I’d like to thank Liz, teachermom, Sam and Melanie for leaving comments about their classroom experiences with students using computers as learning tools.   I appreciate their suggestions and  insights on the topic.  I do appreciate all the help I can get.

Independent time on the computer at beginning of class is helping my students stay focused for the rest of class originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on June 7, 2011.

Ages ago, I learned about Glasser’s Behaviour Choice theory.  The idea is that students act certain ways to try to meet certain basic needs.  Sometimes these students try to meet their needs by inappropriate behaviour. These needs are are

• Survival- the need for for, shelter, clothing
• Power- the need to feel important
• Love/Belonging- the need to feel accepted and loved by others
• Freedom- the need to choose what we want to do with our lives
• Fun- the need to find enjoyment in life by learning and playing

For example, a child might try to meet his need to feel important by getting undue attention.  When my students are off task and go to other sites online and turn up the volume so that everyone crowds around them, they’re getting undue attention from other students and from me.  They might be thinking they’re only important when they  keeping me busy and keep getting the attention of other students.   That scenario seems to fit a couple of kids in my class.

Students could try to meet their need for power by going off task repeatedly and promising me when I try to redirect them that they will stop going off task and stay focussed but don’t, and I have to continually refocus them.  They may think that they only belongs if  they can be boss and prove I can’t make them do anything. I see that explaining some of the behaviour I see in my class.

Some of my students have profound learning disabilities that makes school difficult for them, and they don’t do as well as some of the other students.  They often feel stupid even though they have average or above intelligence. Since they have difficulty learning or demonstrating their learning,  learning isn’t much fun and they meet their need for fun by amusing  themselves by going to other sites like YouTube which they find entertaining.  When I ask my students why they go to other sites, they  tell me the other sites are fun. I can see why they think that  that because these fun alternative sites don’t expect anything from them like the sites I assign that support the curriculum. For at least one student,  learning how to take tests or write a strong paragraph can’t compete with  the fun of listening to various body sounds (farting sounds)  on www.soundboard.com. No, I’m not kidding.  A student, a grade 9 student, went  to that site and played back farting sounds to amuse himself while while other kids worked quietly on task- quietly, that is, until they heard the farting sounds.

Students could meet their need to chose what they want to do with their lives by refusing to do the assignments in class because they don’t want to be in a special education class. They want the freedom to choose what to do, and they don’t have it. They don’t want to be in my class so they choose not to do the work.  I’ve  heard students tell their friends my class is another English class even though it isn’t.  Students will even ask to keep the door shut because they don’t want their friends to see them in the learning strategies class because it’s a special education class.

When I think about some of the behaviour  goíng on in my class ín light of  Glasser’s theory, the behaviour makes sense to me. I now understand why some of my students act the way they do when they are completing assignments online.

Since I use computers  in my class, students are not sitting in the usual classroom configurations of rows or  tables.  They’re  sitting at computers facing the outside walls of the classroom. They don’t have the opportunity to  interact with me or their classmates in the same way as before I had computers in the classroom, so they have to figure out how to meet their emotional needs in the new context of a classroom with computers.  Students are trying to meet their needs in this new context  in inappropriate ways and this leads to a less than a positive learning environment.  The challenge for me is to help students  meet their needs in positive ways using appropriate behaviour in this new context. .

Any ideas?

photo thanks to sanjoselibrary

New classroom management issues arise when students who use computers in the classroom try to meet basic emotional needs through inappropriate behaviour. originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on June 5, 2011.

All school libraries are being closed by the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board. What a novel way to promote reading < sarcasm >. What a novel way to improve literary <more sarcasm>. The EQAO scores are going to soar <still more sarcasm>.

A school in Sudbury which no longer has a library takes its students to the public library twice a month. Bravo! <sarcasm>

Cathy Geml, an associate director of the Windsor Catholic School Board, argues that the act of walking to the school library, choosing books to read and returning to class wastes instructional time. No, I’m not kidding. Geml actually said that. The provinces  literacy and numeracy secretariat  maintains  every elementary classroom should have 1000-1500 books. Geml argues that is impossible,  but with the libraries closed one school has 200 – 250 books per classroom.  Teachers can help students choose books. Helping students choose books isn’t going to cut into instructional time. Keeping track of who had what book isn’t going to cut into instructional time?

Geml also says that after making a few calls to school libraries, she discovered that at one school a single book had been signed out. One book indeed <sarcasm>. Geml argues we need to be teaching 21st century learning skills, and the library space will be used for music, arts or drama. But, music, arts and drama programs are being cut too, so they don’t need space.

Small wonder the Ontario School Library Association called an emergency meeting.

Are kids going to be able to read books on their banned cell phones now?

You can read more about this in today’s front page of the Toronto Star or here and weep about the logic.

Is this happening where you are?

Ontario school boards are trying to improve EQAO test scores and at the same time boards are closing school libraries. originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on May 16, 2011.

I believe parents and teachers need to work together to support students so they can do their best and achieve their potential. As a special education behaviour specialist, I support students who are troubled, troubling and troublesome. Sometimes parents will ask me for parenting advice because they don’t know what to do with their out-of-control children. I’m reluctant to give parenting advice.  My training as a behaviour specialist has been how to help students control their behaviour at school, not at home.

In the past when parents have asked me for parenting advice, I’ve  usually suggested  they seek help  from a therapist for parenting their out-of-control kids. Often, though,  parents were reluctant to go that route and didn’t seek help.  I’m not sure why. I know that some parents, especially sole parent families can’t afford the therapy. Therapy can be very expensive and some families just don’t have the money for therapy.  Some parents asking for parenting advice have told me  they have gone the therapist route but have found it didn’t really help much. I didn’t know what to say to them and always felt frustrated because I believed there must be a way to help parents develop effective parenting skills.  It’s amazing that we get such little training about how to be an effective parent when being a parent is such an important job.

Happily, now when parents ask me for parenting advice I can  recommend a parent training program that’s effective and affordable- Dr. Andrew Gibson’s Parenting Angry Children and Teens (P.A.C.T.) Training Program”.  After speaking with Dr. Gibson, reading his book Got An Angry Kid?, reviewing his program and his newsletter,  I believe that  parents of families who  live in conflict and have kids who have psychiatric labels like

• ADHD,
• oppositional defiance,
• conduct disorder,
• bi-polar disorder.

can learn effective parenting skills. Over 500 families have gone through Dr. Gibson’s program, and the success rate has been high.

I’ve never been excited enough about a parent training program to endorse it, but I’m excited about the P.A.C.T.  parent training program. What Dr. Gibson says makes so much sense to me as a behaviour specialist, special education teacher and parent.  Dr. Gibson has agreed to offer my readers a special free one month trial membership, a month free trial membership in Spike Club as well as  his book  ” Got An Angry Kid? Parenting Spike: A Seriously Difficult Child”. You only need to pay a $7.95  shipping and handling fee for his  book.

You can see and hear  Dr. Gibson tell you about his program in more detail, and the 8  benefits you will get from the program. I’m know you’ll be as impressed as I am about the level of support his program gives parents.  If you know anyone who might find the  the P.A.C.T. program useful, please tell them about it.

Parenting angry children and teens training program originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on May 9, 2011.

Bitstrips which is a user- friendly, online comic strip maker is an excellent teaching tool and learning tool. I’m presently using it to have my students demonstrate their learning.

I’ve asked my grade nine students to use Bitstrips to create a graphic-non-fiction booklet about the teenage brain based on the PBS video Inside the Teenage Brain. The the  booklet  would be for grade seven students to read so they could understand  how changes in the teenage brain might affect them as they enter their teen years.

I teach my grade nine students  about the teenage brain, and how it  is responsible for the characteristics we associate with teenagers- sullenness, difficulty going to sleep, difficulty getting up, engaging in risky behaviour, just to mention a few behaviours.  Students enjoy learning how their brain affects their behaviour because they finally can understand why they behave the way they do, and why adults react to them the way they do.

I planned the unit on the teenage brain  mindful of two things.  First,  my students enjoy spending  lots and lots of their free time online watching videos of one sort or another and little time reading, and second my students enjoy novelty. When I introduced the teenage brain assignment, my students  were quite keen on learning why they  behave as they do, and when I asked them to demonstrate their learning by creating a graphic-non-fiction booklet, they seemed to relish the idea.  If someone had complained about creating the booklet using Bitstrips, I would have entertained other options.  But, no one did, so we were good to go. I suspect  my students would  rather create a graphic-non-fiction booklet than write an essay to demonstrate their learning.

I introduced the teenage brain unit by asking them to do a placemat activity to generate the characteristics of  teenage behaviour.  After we talked about teenage behaviour, I asked them why teens acted the way they do.  Hormones is the answer I got.  I told them it was more than hormones that caused teenage behaviour.  It  was the teenage brain itself that caused teenage behaviour.  The teenage brain is different from the child’s brain and different from the adult’s  brain.  The teenage brain is unique, and they were going to find out why and how. I had their interest!

After our introductory discussion, I outlined what they would be doing during the unit. They would be learning about the teenage brain and how and why it affects teenage behaviour. They would be

• watching the  PBS video  Inside the Teenage Brain;
• taking notes from the video and a transcript of the video using the note-taking  graphic organizer;
• using the note-taking rubric to be mindful of  note-taking expectations;
• using the story board to plan the graphic-non-fiction-booklet;
• using the rubric for the story board to be mindful of the storyboard expectations;
• using the Bitstrips application to create the graphic-non-fiction booklet;
• using the rubric for creating the booklet to be mindful of booklet expectations.

I asked my students  to take notes during the video using the  Inside the Teenage Brain note organizer I created just for this assignment. I’ve  noticed  my grade nine students take notes better if they aren’t faced with an empty 8.5 x 11 in.  lined page. I think they’re intimidated by an entire empty 8.5 x 11 in.  lined page, so I  create graphic organizers to help them.  I’m hoping that given more practice note taking and more confidence, my students won’t need these graphic organizers or if they do, they can learn to create their own using Word.

I’m using this kid friendly  note taking rubric I created for the note-taking assignment.

Since many of my students have difficulty taking good notes while watching a video, I provided a link to the  the transcript of the video so they could read what was said during the video  and add to their notes.  Then I met with my students and we evaluated their notes using  the note-taking rubric to discuss strengths and next steps.

My students have almost  completed their note-taking activity and are ready to go on to planning their graphic-non-fiction booklet using the Inside the Teenage Brain Story Board legal size .

I haven’t had my students complete a graphic-non-fiction booklet before, so I’m not quite sure yet how many frames or pages would be reasonable to expect from my students. I’ll discuss this with my class,  and once we’ve decided on a range of possibilities, we’ll create a rubric to use as a guide for the booklet.  I’ll share all this in my next post.

If anyone has any hints about creating graphic-non-fiction booklets, I’d sure appreciate hearing them.  Creating a graphic-non-fiction booklet is all new to me.

Students demonstrate learning by creating a graphic-non-fiction book using Bitstrips originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on April 28, 2011.

Most of my students tell me that they like using the timer during activities because

• they  know exactly how much longer they have before the activity ends;
• they won’t spend more time on the activity than they are supposed to because I forget about the time;
• they like the different sounds the timer can make at the end of the activity.

I’ve had one student tell me she didn’t particularly  like the timer because she felt pressured to do more during the activity.

I like using the timer because it signals the beginning and the end of the activity.  For example, I have some students who would gladly not read at all and have difficulty starting the daily reading activity and others who would love to read for the entire 75 minutes of class and have difficulty stopping the reading activity.  When I use the timer, I don’t have to keep nagging and telling my students it’s time to start or time to stop reading.  The timer does that for me.  I love it!

I used to use a mechanical timer I bought at the dollar store, but it was small and difficult for student to see.  It did the job, though. Sometimes it would “disappear”  for a day or two. I guess some students just can’t resist.  Now, I use a timer I found online and display it on a large screen for all to easily see. Students assume the responsibility for setting the timer, and the class develops a consensus as to what sound the timer will make at the end of the time period.  Amazingly, this just takes a few minutes at the beginning of class and provides an opportunity for students to practice coming to a consensus respectfully.

There are a number of timers available online, I use this one because it counts the time down and give students choice of timer formats and sounds the timer makes when time it up. My students have great fun auditioning different timer formats and sounds.  I’m O.K. with that because the fun my students have  choosing the timer and the sound it will make at the end of the activity rubs off on the activity itself so that it becomes more fun.  My more reluctant, struggling students are more likely to complete an activity if there’s a bit of fun attached to the activity. Come to think of it, so will I.

Years ago, I started using a timer to time the silent reading activity at the beginning of the class and the journal writing activity that followed the reading activity. When I saw how well students focused on the task when I used a timer, I extended using the timer to other activities.  I think I’m going to start to use it in my grade 9 math class as well.  There are some reluctant, struggling students who have difficulty getting organized at the beginning of the class. I’m always waiting and nagging them to get their books and other materials out so we can start the class. I think I’ll have the timer displayed on the white screen as a reminder that class is going to start in 3 minutes, and they need to be ready.  I’m hoping the timer will refocus everyone, and we can start the class on a more positive note.  I hate nagging. It takes too much energy.

I’d love to hear about your  ideas for time management and motivational during activities in your classroom.  I definitely could use more strategies in my tool-kit.  Using the same strategies all the time loses its effectiveness.

Helping to motivate and focus students using a timer originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on April 25, 2011.

I decided to have a class meeting to establish a class YouTube policy. We had the meeting next class where I raised my concerns about the inappropriate use of YouTube, and the class reached a consensus that they wouldn’t access YouTube unless it was part of an assignment or until they  had completed all their work. One student suggested that we skip the daily reading and go to YouTube instead. He has such a sense of humour, that one!

I wish I could say that our student generated policy for using YouTube in class was working well, but I can’t. The lure of YouTube and what it has to offer is too much for most, if not all, of my students. So, it was back to the drawing board today to come up with another solution. I decided this time to ask my colleagues for help. I didn’t want to ban kids from using the computer because they need to use the online information computer technology to complete assignments. Getting banned from the computer could be another excuse for not completing assignments.

At lunch, I shared my dilemma about managing the use of YouTube in my classroom and got some wonderful suggestions.  I am so grateful.  Thanks.   I’m going to start by using some of S’s  suggestions and next class and for subsequent classes I intend to do the  following:

• have students know there are certain expectations around computer use in a classroom just like there are in a place of business that are different from the ones at home;
• help students understand  the YouTube videos they choose to watch should add value to what they are doing in class;
• encourage  students to think critically when watching YouTube videos to determine if the videos have the potential to add value to the task at hand;
• have students practice thinking critically about the videos they are watching and evaluating them.

I’m going to create a chart type graphic organizer for students to use while they practice evaluating the YouTube videos they watch. The headings across the top of the chart , at least the first draft, will include :

• Name of Video
• Short Description of video
• Score  for Adding  Value   ( 1,2,3,4)
• Why it doesn’t add value or how it can add value.

We’ll talk about this of course.  They’ll have 15-20  minutes for this activity. I’m not sure how long the activity should be, but since the activity is helping kids develop critical thinking skills  I think 15-20 minutes is worthwhile. I have my students  read for that long each day and do a metacognitive reflection on what they’ve read, so they’re  familiar with thinking critically about what they read. I don’t think its much of a stretch for them to think critically about what they have seen.  They’ll be expected to complete an entry for each video they choose to watch during this activity.  I’m not sure how many classes I’ll have them do this activity either. I guess I’ll just have to play it by ear.

Any suggestions or comments about what I’m doing or trying to do here?  I’d appreciate the feedback.

Continuing to develop a viable YouTube policy for my classroom. originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on April 4, 2011.