Keynote: Jeff Duncan-Andrade
Duncan-Andrade spoke at the conference and left the room wowed, inspired, and speechless. Please watch. This one is short and he has updated his speech with more information, but it holds the basics and stand true nonetheless.
Session 1: "Getting Started with PBL"
This workshop was all about the basics of project based learning.
Notes:
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Session 2: "The Power of Student Reflection"
This session focused on the importance of reflection as part of the learning process.
AltSchools is the name of the company that presented.
AltSchools stands for:
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AltSchool learning cycle:
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We were asked to think of a time when we reflected about an experience.
Years back, I found myself reflecting on my relationships and how they influenced the relationship I have with my husband. Thinking back, I analyzed how those relationships affected my current one. I realized x and y are because of z. I thought of ideas on how to improve my marriage based on experiences of the past. I reflected on what mattered to me most in my marriage. Although not an experience about education, it was an experience nonetheless. And this is what we need to teach students... reflection allows to realize, analyze, think of change.
Years back, I found myself reflecting on my relationships and how they influenced the relationship I have with my husband. Thinking back, I analyzed how those relationships affected my current one. I realized x and y are because of z. I thought of ideas on how to improve my marriage based on experiences of the past. I reflected on what mattered to me most in my marriage. Although not an experience about education, it was an experience nonetheless. And this is what we need to teach students... reflection allows to realize, analyze, think of change.
Things to ponder:
Black font= important.
Black font= important.
- We give students x-time to reflect. When we are given x-time, we struggle to find the words. Can we rethink how we assign reflections?
- Developing a culture of metacognition in the classroom—where students are encouraged to develop this kind of awareness--begins with making the purpose of learning activities and the goals for performance clear to students. Most of us would not leave for a trip without having some sense of our destination. Our destination affects how we prepare, what we pack, and the kind of experience we want to have. However, in schools, it is often more apparent to the teacher than to her students why they are learning something.
- An emphasis on self-assessment helps students to develop the ability to monitor their own understanding and to find resources to deepen it when necessary .... Learners get opportunities to test their mettle, to see how they are doing and to revise their learning process as necessary. Without these assessment opportunities, the quality of learning can be disappointing--yet, [too often] this is not discovered until the end of the project when it is too late to change and revise the process (Barron, Schwartz, Vye, Moore, Petrosino, Zech, & Bransford, 1998, p. 284).
- Classroom activities that call on these metacognitive strategies take many forms and vary depending on the topic. Generally, however, activities like journaling (where students keep a journal in which they reflect on what they understand, what they are learning, and what they do not understand); process reflection (where students reflect on their process of learning, including what worked and what did not work for them); or self-assessment (where students assess their own work against standards or criteria for quality) are all ways of activating metacognitive skills.
- Reflection is a critical component of self-regulation. Self-regulated learners are aware of the strategies they can use to learn and understand when, how, and why these strategies operate. They can monitor their own performance and evaluate their progress against specific criteria. They can recognize improvement and identify strategies for dealing with challenging situations. They know how to choose appropriate goals, can develop and implement reasonable plans, and can make appropriate adjustments if unforeseen circumstances occur. In short, self-regulated learners are strategic.
- We reflect naturally based on the decisions we make. Students will reflect naturally if the lesson has choices for them to make. It is harder to reflect when you are told to do x and y; when you have no choices. Allow students to make choices.
- Don't expect students to reflect when you yourself don't know the WHAT, WHY, and WAY.
Ideas to Reflect:
- Confession Booth > students go in to reflect!
- Visual Reflection > students take photos of items they can reflect on.
Provide systems, structure, and language:
- We need to give students the "what", the "why", and the "way".
- Confession Booth > students go in to reflect!
- Visual Reflection > students take photos of items they can reflect on.
Provide systems, structure, and language:
- We need to give students the "what", the "why", and the "way".
Session 3: "Beyond Instruction: The Power of Video"
This session focused on using video to encourage students to think creatively and critically.
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It is not what is shared, but the act of sharing itself. Click on "FILMING HANDBOOK" to view this chart and more!
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Click on "FILMING HANDBOOK" to view this chart and more!
Session 4: "Story Works"
This session was fantastic, as it focused on student voices and expressing them through stories in the classroom in a way to encourage community. It steps away from the typical essay and instead focuses on stories told orally.
"Welcome to True Stories. Youth Voices. A workshop introducing participants to stories and resources from the students, teachers, and volunteers of Story Works Alaska."
Notes:
- How did we get to the story?
- Mission: To support youth voices.
- Students share stories aloud in class; no notes, no essays!
- The 3 Agreements: Be Brave. Be Honest. Be Kind.
- Write-Talk Prompts: 2-minutes to write, 1-minute talk.
- "Rejection, like death, is inevitable." Words from a student performance/story.
- Question was asked to student speakers in the session: What are some of your take-aways from Story Works? Student X mentioned starting off as viewing the program as a way to grow in public speaking, but in fact, she learned to use her voice to make a change. Student Y mentioned growing from the vulnerability and publicly sharing your story. Student Z shared the connections that she made to her peers as an audience member; laughing with them, not at them.
Notes:
- How did we get to the story?
- Mission: To support youth voices.
- Students share stories aloud in class; no notes, no essays!
- The 3 Agreements: Be Brave. Be Honest. Be Kind.
- Write-Talk Prompts: 2-minutes to write, 1-minute talk.
- "Rejection, like death, is inevitable." Words from a student performance/story.
- Question was asked to student speakers in the session: What are some of your take-aways from Story Works? Student X mentioned starting off as viewing the program as a way to grow in public speaking, but in fact, she learned to use her voice to make a change. Student Y mentioned growing from the vulnerability and publicly sharing your story. Student Z shared the connections that she made to her peers as an audience member; laughing with them, not at them.
My Personal Keynote Speech:
We were tasked to write a speech if we were given the stage at DL. Here's my speech if I had time on a soapbox.
If I had the stage, I would speak to others like me:
I would speak to the teacher whose district is starting off, who came with a handful of other likeminded teachers in a district that has been around for more than 100 years, who has teachers that started their teaching career there and will retire there and who view this new world in education as a fad. I would speak to the educator who is the first-- the first in their district who wants to dive in to deeper learning, who has no resources, who needs to search high and low for a collaboration group, who is on the hunt for like-minded individuals to form a family in order to fight and bring deeper learning into their classroom, their school, their district, their community.
And this is what I would say to myself, and those like me:
I can imagine it will take work. And dedication. And perseverance. And knowledge. And ganas-- the will-power, the want, the drive-- to transform the classroom into a space where our students are heard... where our students create... where our students can imagine... where our students are prepared to go out into the world and do "beautiful work" in our communities or communities beyond. I can no longer bare the bored faces of students on our campus. I can no longer stand to hear "but how can I use this in the real world?" I want to start my transforming my classroom next school year. Or better yet, I want to start by transforming my classroom NOW.
I had a guest speaker on Friday who presented to my students about her career. And her advice was wonderful. She inspired my students by telling them that change starts now. They do not have to wait until next school year to "be a better you," afterall, they are only sophomores and have two years remaining. Rather, she told them to start now. And that is what I will leave here with: how can I start transforming my classroom NOW? How can I pursue equity in my classroom NOW? How can I create a space for student voices NOW? How can I begin deeper learning NOW?
I would tell those educators... we need to start: NOW. And even now, we're starting late.
I would speak to the teacher whose district is starting off, who came with a handful of other likeminded teachers in a district that has been around for more than 100 years, who has teachers that started their teaching career there and will retire there and who view this new world in education as a fad. I would speak to the educator who is the first-- the first in their district who wants to dive in to deeper learning, who has no resources, who needs to search high and low for a collaboration group, who is on the hunt for like-minded individuals to form a family in order to fight and bring deeper learning into their classroom, their school, their district, their community.
And this is what I would say to myself, and those like me:
I can imagine it will take work. And dedication. And perseverance. And knowledge. And ganas-- the will-power, the want, the drive-- to transform the classroom into a space where our students are heard... where our students create... where our students can imagine... where our students are prepared to go out into the world and do "beautiful work" in our communities or communities beyond. I can no longer bare the bored faces of students on our campus. I can no longer stand to hear "but how can I use this in the real world?" I want to start my transforming my classroom next school year. Or better yet, I want to start by transforming my classroom NOW.
I had a guest speaker on Friday who presented to my students about her career. And her advice was wonderful. She inspired my students by telling them that change starts now. They do not have to wait until next school year to "be a better you," afterall, they are only sophomores and have two years remaining. Rather, she told them to start now. And that is what I will leave here with: how can I start transforming my classroom NOW? How can I pursue equity in my classroom NOW? How can I create a space for student voices NOW? How can I begin deeper learning NOW?
I would tell those educators... we need to start: NOW. And even now, we're starting late.