You’ve Got to Be Flipping Joking

It’s time to give up teaching and contemplate a career change... to the circus. With ‘flipped learning’, you can teach and join the circus. All you need to do is simply flip learning on its head.

It’s time to allow our many learners who have their own mobile devices to access a range of online teaching tools independently. This negates the need for all of the explicit teaching to come from the mouth of one teacher out-the-front of the classroom. Suddenly, there is no ‘front of the classroom’ nor is there one teacher. The world becomes the classroom and experts become the teachers. Students become apprentices.

It’s time to make learning richer. Learning is so much more relevant when students (AKA apprentices) have already encountered and digested the explicit teaching (as many times as they decide they require) before class. Then class-time becomes an in-depth discussion and thoughtful consolidation. Sometimes this discussion begins organically outside of class through forums... no teacher required.

It’s time to look into ‘The Flipped Classroom’. Perhaps you have heard of this phenomena attributed to Carl Fish, Aaron Sams (and many others) and the Khan Academy. Brian Bennett has said  "the Flipped Classroom isn't a methodology. It's an ideology." This means that learners are no longer overindulged with dependency, rather they are given far more opportunities to take responsibility for consolidating their own learning. Whatever your thoughts on ‘The Flipped Classroom’, the beauty of flipping learning is that it can be fluid and adaptable; changing to the requirements of your class.
At NBCS, we've taken ‘The Flipped Classroom’ (AKA Pre-learning) into other paradigms, allowing our “apprentices” to drive their learning through a vast range of tools and expectations that break with the conventional notion of what a “classroom” looks like and how a “teacher” functions within it.

Chantelle Morisson and I are taking this session to ISTE 2013. It has been developed with particular thought to mobile educational communities or those ‘going mobile’. In this presentation, you will find out how to start flipping learning immediately using a range of resource banks and the infamous, Edmodo. There’s really nothing that can’t be flipped and it’s amazing how different everything looks when you’re upside down! It’s time for your teaching to never be the same again.

 Image recently created by one of our 11 year old learners.

Skating to write........

Using kinaesthetic stimuli to get people writing from the heart.

Our regular meeting was replaced by the opportunity to learn to skateboard and then write about it.

Our goal: to capture the hearts of our teenagers for writing and literacy.

The results : teachers remembered that they were also writers and that they could use their fear, the fun or the challenge of putting themselves out there to stimulate GREAT writing.

A by-product : relationships strengthened by the need to trust each other with our fears and vulnerability making the team richer, stronger, more prepared to make the changes we need to make to our practice.

And so to our writing......

"The board seemed to stare at me as I tentatively approached, placing one foot gently on the front end. It was do or die. With spectators seeming to breath as one with this first,  hopefully epic attempt, there was no going back.

I launched my other foot onto the rear, hoping it would not slide right off in a fit of disaster.  Knees wobbling, not a pretty sight and grim determination mouring the photo at my experience that was later revealed to me, the board beneath me set off on a course of its own.

The thought of my Year 12 boys thinking I was “Super Cool Teacher”as I relegated the event to them, obviously building it to a somewhat more spectacular level, motivated my feet to cling furiously to the thin deck that separated me from the harsh surface at the quad.  Crossing the finish line I am sure I heard the strains of chariots of fire in the distance swell gently.  I had not disgraced myself.                                 Jen

Bring Sneakers and Open-mind

Dangerous combo, she thought to herself.  It would have to wait until tomorrow though because she’d just packed her bags and was heading home after an exhausting teaching day.

The meeting would take place at 3.15 the following afternoon, plenty of time to think of an excuse.

That night, the upcoming meeting came to mind again.  Her initial hesitation was turning into palpable fear.  Her voice trembled, ever so slightly as she told her husband about her day.

He recognised her anxiety.  He’s heard that nervousness in her voice before.  He asked her about it.

‘Nothing really’ came the slow reply.  ‘But...we’ve got a meeting tomorrow afternoon’

Óh yeah’ he replied, disinterested, turning his attention back to the TV.

‘The brief said to bring joggers and an open-mind’ she continued, shifting herself so she blocked his view of the TV.  It was clear, something was troubling her but he was distracted.  ‘Pretty weird.  Don’t you think?’

He shrugged in response.

Ít better not be a bush walk..’ her voice trailed off as the ads finished and they both turned their attention back to the news.

2:57am

A sound from the kitchen woke her from her already restless sleep.

The thought of the meeting tomorrow - particularly the unknown quantity was deeply unsettling.  It haunted her.  Even in her sleep she couldn’t shake the feeling of dread.

She staggered out of bed.  Opened the cupboard, fossicking around in the cupboard pulling out a jogger.  Desperately searching for it’s pair she burrowed into the cupboard again.  Putting them in her bag, she thought to herself Át least I’d have the shoes....hopefully I can find the open mind tomorrow..’    Hannah

To ride or not to ride?  Rest for 24 hours.  I shall hear the doctors voice as I am about to get on the board.  One step at a time.  I have to have a go.  Who listens to doctors anyway?

Too many good memories.  As soon as I take off I feel it again.  The wind is blowing through my hair as I race across the school yard.  Do I look cool enough?  I feel pretty cool.  What is everybody else thinking?  Should I try that new move?  Is this my time to shine?

Today however, I don’t need to impress anyone.  I get off the board and step back into the present.

The afternoon humidity accentuated the perspiring.  A cocktail of excitement and nerves swelled in my stomach as the group of eager and not so eager participants gathered round.  the very thing I love about surfing and skating is that there are no referees, nobody to tell you how you should or shouldn't do it but now here I was trying to explain a process I saw as more instinctual than taught.  A good exercise it turns out.  I was challenged the other day with the question, ‘When was the last time you did something for the first time?’  I didn't have a great answer.  At least half the people in this group would have a good  response now.  Holding Lou's hand my mind flashes back to when I was in Lou’s position, perched on the precipice of a ramp twice my size.  ‘Just lean forward, my friend yelled at, partly sincere, partly mocking.  In this case the body was willing but the mind was weak, scared to commit, desperate to pull back.                                                                                                 Stu

Opportunity Lost

Ripe

Peeled

Summered

Sealed

Safe

Dark

Waiting

The gift delayed

The moment

Past

Compost                                                           Mark

Boundaries, boredom and bad days disappear in stress, sadness and strain extinguished in a buzz of laughter.  A nestalgia for the freedom of youth, and a release from the shackle of responsibility.  Salt, sand and sun, the sobering scents of re-awakening.

Laugh.  Loudly.

I have avoided skateboarding my entire life - but you know what? In the company of friends it was awesome.

Perhaps I’ll try to stand on a board again (in the water).  Well if I did it would make 1.5 attempts in 5 decades.

There is nothing quit like a physical experience, a bit of laughter, a goal - whatever, to clear the mind, feel young.

I think next time we do it we should all wear baggy trousers halfway down our backsides.  That would add to the experience.

To really respond, I should give it a go down an incline and then compare it to me freedom of doing the same on a bike, or in a billycart.  All equally dangerous, stupid - but fun.

You know, I liked the smile on Stu’s face, the grin with Mark.  David’s smirk.  Hannah’s asking Jenny’s cool approach and Lou “I’m up for anything” approach and then Nico the master.

Just hop on bike a 6 year old and sail away into the distant corners off the quadrangle.  No problems.

Time to laugh.  Time to relate.  Time to write.  Time to reflect.  Time.          Stephen

Grazed knees, scabby palms, sweat amassing as I await my turn.

An unknown quantity, a new skill....

‘At your age?’ ‘ How ridiculous!’

Heat and companionship; anxiety and trust; leaning on the air of encouragement.

He meets me where I’m at without judgement or agenda wanting only me to meet the challenge in my place, in my space.

And there is a tiny moment which gets tinier at each try where time is suspended, breathing stops & all hope encouraging voices became the soundtrack to the split second in which I lift my foot..........

without falling.                                                          Lou

Share the fun of spontaneous moments

For the last few weeks, my Kindergarten colleagues and I have been "surprising" the students with a strange and wonderful selection of visitors. Their task has been to deliver or introduce each new sound.

These visits are met with squeals of delight, even though they know that it is really "Mrs Deibe" beneath the silly costume. They are all prepared to suspend their disbelief for the pure joy of being engaged in this spontaneous moment.

So, this gave me an idea. Why limit this to Kindergarten?

I had observed the looks from even our most senior students as I crossed the school in the latest dress up and noted that even the coolest student would crack a smile. This could be a game changer - a moment of pure fun for no other reason than to life the spirits and make people smile or it could me more than this.

What if any teacher in the school could book my "spontaneous" team for a visit. Unbeknownst to the students, any lesson could be rudely interrupted by a random character or by something intrinsically related to the context of the lesson - a character from history, a challenging situation which provokes discussion, an interpretation of a text to then compare to the one being studied.....

To take this one step further and engage the services of our Yr9/10 Drama students in the task has double impact. Not only will it heighten the expectation of our school culture to expect the unexpected but it will give these drama students  a very real context and audience for their art.

So, watch out NBCS. Disruptive, spontaneous moments are coming your way. If no-one is brave enough to book one, expect them anyway :)

Lifesavers arrive to save the letter "l" from drowning in the sink

Reflections from an observer

For 600 hours, Pippa Yeoman| Learner amongst the learning     http://pippayeoman.wordpress.com/   sat and watched what happened in our learning space. I have been encouraging her to write about what she saw. Here is her first blog.

BUILDING OUR ENVIRONMENT WITH THE WORDS WE USE

Arriving in the Zone as a researcher, fascinated by the relationship between physical space and learning activity, I expected to be watching. Instead, I found myself listening, and as I tried to figure things out I became aware of how the teachers were effectively building the space and more particularly the shape of that day with their words. Looking back through my field notes, my entry on Day 2 in the Zone starts with “what is the subtext of the language?” I spent that day, and many after it, listing the ways in which teachers used words to build a space in which learning happened.

I listened to how they used tone and intonation to attract attention when it was time to transition from one thing to the next. Lis-ten-up following a pattern of high-low-high meant that teachers collected the attention of all, without shouting. The sing-song intonation of the words strung together was sufficiently different to the general sounds of work in progress to be a marker for activity to stop, before further instructions were given.

Instructions were always delivered with confidence, confidence in the student’s ability to follow them. They were delivered calmly, repeated and very often written on a wall, whiteboard or screen. Having done this, further questions from students were met with questions like “have a think, did I use the word ‘or’, or did I say ‘and’ – do you think you should do one or both?” These questions weren’t phrased to belittle, they carried with them the underlying message that the student was being actively taught to listen and interpret the information around him or her.

Words were used to mark the passage of time and plan tasks. As teachers made their way through the working students, they would respond to trends they saw developing. Where students were falling behind they’d respond by asking the whole group a question highlighting the problem and calling for a solution, “If it takes longer – what should you do?”

My final note for that day was that words were used to point students towards what was valued in that space: problem solving, ownership and risk taking in learning. From “good job, I like that technique” to a child drawing columns before writing down the data to be plotted on a graph, to “hand in both” to the child who had done a task twice “that way your teacher can see you stopped and thought and had another go.”

Bidding Wars and the Black Market

The excitement in the room was palpable...energy levels peaked and there was an audible buzz as business partners (Stage 3 students) realised what was happening.  To sell, to buy, to bid ; that was the question. Whether it was time to take a risk and buy all the cardboard in the hope of selling it on tomorrow at a profit as stocks are reduced; to buy now in case prices rise as the supplies of cardboard are depleted ; to spend those hard-earnt B4M dollars on something they may or may not need to complete the task ahead....; to take a chance on a "Chance Card" which, by its very nature, could go either way.

For some students , the final hour of school on Thursday was one of the best yet! "It was SO much fun. Thank you so much Mrs Deibe!" For others, it was an opportunity to become fully engaged in the learning task of this term, which involves all students creating a business partnership , a product, an environmental statement, a mission statement and presenting all of this to a board of directors (think Dragon's Den) in the hope of being granted permission to go ahead, make the product and sell it at a Market Day. Behind the auction, some entrepreneurial students were already reselling their cardboard on the black market for a profit.

I have been teaching for a long time; I think I deliver interesting and exciting learning experiences; but I could never have planned or programmed for some of the learning that occurred this afternoon. Are you making room for this kind of spontaneous learning? Are you "playing"? 

I had so much fun today. Like a student, I couldn't wait to tell my husband about what a great day I had had. As a teacher, I want my students to be bursting with that level of excitement and enthusiasm EVERY day. Do you?

Taking Risks

Last term we ran our version of the 1960's Blue eye / Brown eye simulation.

It was HARD, really HARD!

But, as we emphasised in the reflection process, HARD does not equal BAD. Working with this generation of young students born and raised on Sydney's affluent Northern Beaches, the assumption is often that hard is indeed bad. So much so, that we now write and develop programs that teach resilience because these young people don't get to learn to be resilient through the normal ups and downs of life. 

Yesterday, too late to do anything with it this year, I stumbled across this. A really relevant 21st c version of the blue eye / brown eye experience. Did you know that yesterday was the first International Girls Day? Well, now you do!

So next year, students in our Stage 3 classes can expect to be challenged with something like this:

Hard ? YES! Valuable? OF COURSE! Real learning that will change the future? ABSOLUTELY!

The land of a Thousand Rainbows

What a privilege to launch Challenge Based Learning in Stage 1 with such a bang.

The premise :

The Land of a Thousand Rainbows has approached our organisation, "Imagination Transportation" , to submit a proposal to supply their transport needs. Until now, the inhabitants of  this land have only walked; today they asked for our help to keep up with the rest of the world.

The Land of a Thousand Rainbows has some very unusual transport needs; getting butterflies from "Here Be Butterflies" to the Sparkling City across the Blue Sky Sea (which is inhabited by magical sea-monsters); picking and transporting the candy from the candy trees to market; designing business cards, print and video advertising for our range of tailor-made transport..........you get the idea.

As always, the students far exceeded our expectations. If only I could have recorded the myriad of conversations that I overhead as they collaborated, crtitcally appraised, problem solved and created  The best teacher in the world could never programme for the outcomes we witnessed today. The best teacher could not manufacture activities that kept ALL students highly engaged for 6 hours. Or perhaps it is that we, the ones who have been to uni and have a qualification, are not the best teachers - the students are. Even when they are 6 years old.!

NBCS learning spaces described as heaven!

As we prepared for an annual "Showcase" - an opportunity for students and teachers to share our learning journeys and vision, Thursday 23rd August brought the usual stream of visitors through our spaces. As always, we are thrilled to share what we do because we believe in it. We often form relationships with visitors and partner with them as they embark on similar journeys of change in their own schools. Feedback is always very welcome.

Follow this link for feedback from yesterday.

http://tommarch.com/blog/2012/08/23/nbcs/

One student shares their learning journey through the concept of sustainability.

Are we seeing the "end of school as we know it?"

Interesting debate at ELH 2012

11 chose to speak for the affirmative

1 for the negative

3 on the fence

We three on the fence believe that the argument is flawed from the start. 

Who is "we"? How many of us share an identical experience of what we know to be school?

What is "school"?

Do we really mean the building or are we talking about teaching and learning?

If learning is socially constructed and this is facilitated by "schools",  then will / has anything really changed? Can anywhere. anyplace learning be a reality yet? 

The babysitting factor won' t go away. There are universals which will not go away and need learning collectively ; it's the co-construction of those universals which are important to us.

It is time for nothing that we now do to be sacred. There is nothing that we are doing that is so precious that we cannot be prepared to let it go. 

What is stopping you?

"Lord of the Flies" meets "Survivor" in the most audacious classroom.

Day 2 of 2012 has been described as the most audacious classroom ever seen. No teachers, clues and hidden QR codes, Twitter feeds and a Voice from above. It set in motion the creation of the DNA we require to live and learn in the Stage 3 learning space we call "The Zone".

Passion Projects 2012

Letting your students choose the way they demonstrate learning outcomes is a somewhat radical idea, especially hen students are only 10 years old.

That's what we did, using a modified design process that looked like this in our virtual space and turned teachers into instant mentors as we could not possibly have expertise in the 183 different projects that our students picked up.

A personalised design process.

A personal response

How flexible can you be?

As I review with colleagues where we have come from and how much has already been achieved, FLEXIBILITY is once more a key word.

We need flexible people, flexible pedagogy, flexible space, flexible furniture………..and then, as we model this flexibility, we help to grow students who can also demonstrate flexibility and adaptability.

Last night I read a reflection by one of my most academically challenged students. He wrote about his learning pathway in the most insightful way ;

” My greatest strength is my sense of responsibility. I like to finish what I start. I believe my weakness is a lack of confidence in myself. I can improve this through practising and working with my teacher when I am ready.”

What a privilege it is to take this journey with our students. Our approach allows them to grow in all aspects of their learning and never ceases to bring a sense of wonder to the ever-changing craft of teaching.

Do you need to work on your flexibility?

Changing Learning Culture

It is not as simple as giving them a beautiful space to learn in. In a generation that can seemingly “have it all and have it now”, what do we need to offer that will be the drive to swim against the tide of inertia?

In Stage 3, this is not a problem we have to deal with as often as our high school colleagues but occasionally there is a child that just doesn’t seem to care.
It is my belief that the key to turning this around is their believeing that we actually care. Not about our results, or what people think, but about them as individuals.
When did you last take time out of a crowded curriculum to really talk to a student, to uncover what their story is, to ask them how they feel, what they love, who they care about?
Camp is always a refreshing break from our daily routines, but it is also an invaluable opportunity to get to know these young people in a way that cannot be matched at school, however radical our buildings and our approach to learning.
Remember the thrill of seeing the timid, bepectacled Autistic boy be the first to make it down the abseiling wall, or the girl who has never taken off the training wheels ride a BMX?
What a privilege it is to share in the lives of our students.

What a privilege it is to be called “teacher”.

Where and how will I learn today?

Let them choose.

Do you remember how grown up you felt when you were first allowed to start making choices for yourself? It is our experience in the e-Zone that allowing students to choose has an enormous impact in their journey towards owning their own learning. Not only can they choose where they learn but they can also choose what and how. Would you like a learning space where behavioural issues don’t exist? Then consider giving your students choice.

And then they start school!

I believe that when babies are born they are life long learners 

From the moment they are born, the mixture of nature and nurture informs and grows them. They learn from the sounds, colours, movements and relationships that surround them. We play them music before they know what a musical instrument is, we read them stories before they can speak a word, we push them on swings, take them to the beach, into the ocean or the pool long before they can swim, float, swing themselves or build a sandcastle.

Their learning is experiential, immersive, natural and engaging. They choose how, where, when and then,

then they start school! And at some point during their primary years or perhaps if they are lucky, when they reach high school it stops! We remove their comfort, their choices, their freedom to explore and ultimately their desire to be a life long learner. Suddenly their learning holds no meaning for them for it is driven by us. We remove its context and render it irrelevant.

We describe the same experiences that fuelled their early development as distractions, we stop letting them play!

At no other time in their lives will their voice be seen as being so insignificant as now, when they have so much to say. At no other time in their lives will their ideas be viewed as being so unwelcome as now, when they are unhampered by harsh realities.

As teachers, we are all aware of the considerations which cannot be ignored but have you let these considerations become excuses? We should never make excuses for delivering a curriculum driven by considerations rather than by heart and passion. Let them be there as indeed they must be, but in their rightful place, at the bottom of the list, not in the driving seat.

What drives your programs and lessons? Are you still operating under the conceited notion that the best way to deliver mandated content is by "telling it"? Stop saying that there is no time by using the time you will save when you are not dealing with recalcitrant students, disengaged students, trying to maintain the status quo or a quiet classroom.

Innovation is inevitable. It will not stop and we cannot slow it down. Ignore it and the gap between you and your students simply continues to widen.

We all know that the best teachers are the best teachers because they invest deeply in relationship. Are you really deeply invested in relationship with your students if you are refusing to speak their language?

Sharing our vision

Currently involved in taking the vision we have here for our model of the Learning Matrix to other schools.So energising to share things I am excited about with like-minded colleagues. A great reminder too that we need to keep that level of pasion and enthusiasm amongst our own teams, especially in wk 8 of a long term.

Time to stop and take stock of all that we and our amazing Yr 5 and 6 students have achieved already this year. We are well on our way to exceeding all expectations!

Too busy teaching to blog!

Can't believe it's been so long. Thanks to Stephen Harris for keeping you all in the loop through his blog.What a difference a space makes. We moved into our newly renovated teaching and learning Zone in January and all the work of the last three years, changing pedagogies, writing resources, re-educating parents paid off. It was such gift to finally be able to really practise what we were preaching.

Early days felt a bit like camping but as furniture and technology arrived, it was swiftly and seamlessly integrated into our existing program.

The team of 6 + teachers, 180 students inhabit the one large flexible space and move from camp fires to watering holes, caves to workshops in a truly individual program me of their own choosing. Their enormous range of very personal needs are met through a highly differentiated program and an integrated learning matrix that we call The Journey.

With a focus on flexibility and developing independent learners, we challenge all to exceed expectations on a minute by minute basis.

Come and visit by contacting SCIL.

Watching, watching........

Sitting in our SCIL building amongst the 60 Stage 3 students we bring here every Tuesday. Not to mention the High School Maths and English classes that are also going on.

What a delight!

There are ALL on task.

They are all engaged.

They are all quiet.

Teachers are free to help where they are really needed ( although even the students who might normally need a lot of help are so excited by the Matrix and settled by this beautiful space that they are also self managing most of the time).

Inspiring colleagues make a world of difference.

After a day delivering a PD on our Learning Matrix with teaching colleagues, came out to find another bunch of inspiring teachers busy tweeting, Second Life-ing, creating virtual versions of themselves which, as exciting as they may be as a teaching and learning tool, can never equal the real thing. It would seem that the options and possibilities of new learning opportunities are only limited by our lack of time.

Would love to know how others make the time to keep their jobs whist investigating all these new possibilities.

Just one day....

How energising can just one day be? A day spent with Steve Collis has re-energised me and my passion to keep on moving with my teaching and thinking. Check out www.theejourney.wordpress.com to follow the journey of a team that is seeking to bring our absolute best to our students through our pedagogy, our programming and our learning space.

Our team takes the leap into the unknown......together!"