November
15
November
13
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Yesterday, I wrote a post about EQAO testing. To continue with the theme of standardization, let’s take a look at PISA.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international survey that is administered every 3 years. PISA aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. PISA discusses what makes them different on their website:
PISA is unique because it develops tests which are not directly linked to the school curriculum. The tests are designed to assess to what extent students at the end of compulsory education, can apply their knowledge to real-life situations and be equipped for full participation in society.
Just like the EQAO standardized test, PISA has created large debates within countries around the world regarding where they rank in comparison to the other countries. Here is a televised discussion regarding Canada’s PISA ranking:
What are your thoughts on standardization, either within Ontario (EQAO) or in relation to countries worldwide (PISA)?
November
12
Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO)
Standardized testing is a very controversial subject within the education system. The goal of standardized tests are to outline the achievements and shortcomings of schools within a specific subjects, as compared to other schools within a similar area. EQAO (Education Quality and Accountability Office) is an example of a standardized test within Ontario. EQAO seeks to measure Ontario students’ achievement in reading, writing and math at key stages of their education, such as grade 3 and 6. Here is a video outlining more about this process and mass amount of work that goes into creating these tests:
https://vimeo.com/96207765
However, there are many opposing views to standardized testing. Tests perhaps aren’t the best representation of a student’s understanding of a particular subject. Questions are also raised surrounding the idea that Mathematics and Language are being placed at a higher importance than the other subjects simply because they are the only subjects represented in the EQAO tests. There is also a lot of money that is put into these tests that could be put elsewhere in the education system.
The EQAO test has also created some controversy by publishing the results of every school on their website. For example, here are the results for the school that I am completing my Community Service Learning and practicum at:
Alternatively, here are the results from the school that I attended elementary school:
The differences between these two schools are significant to say the least. Does this mean that my elementary school provided a better education than the other school? Perhaps. But also, perhaps not. Standardized tests provide a very narrow view of whether or not students are capable of achieving a high grade on a written test for a specific subject. There are many variables that go into the EQAO scores, yet these results are displayed at face value on an open forum. This could lead to the formation of a negative impression of a school, discouraging families from sending their students to that school or even living close to it.
Should standardized tests be administrated? Should their results be available to the public or used specifically for internal knowledge and making the schools better?
November
11
The Absolutely True Diary
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian tells the story of a fourteen-year old boy named Junior that lives on an Indian reserve in Washington. After getting in trouble at school for acting out over the age of the textbooks he was being given, he transferred to a school that is off the reserve. With the new schools comes a large culture shock; the students all seem to have money, their families ties are different than this own, and the way others behave does not always align with how he was raised. The story continues to share the story of his year at this new school and how it affects not only Junior, but his relationship with the reserve he came from.
Two strong themes were apparent in the novel: self-identity and alcoholism. Self-identity is how we define ourselves, referencing such themes as gender, academic performance, socio-economic status, and sexuality, among other factors. In Junior’s case, there were additional factors that played into his formation of an identity. Firstly, he had a number of medical deficiencies resulting from being born with hydrocephalus. Secondly, he was the only Indian student in a predominately white school. This caused him to internally battle with the juxtaposition of his two different personas: Indian at home and white at school.
Forming a solid self-identity is difficult for any young adolescent, nonetheless a teen in Junior’s position. As teachers, we must ensure that we serve as a pivotal role model to our students during this period in their lives. We must ensure that we create an emotionally safe environment for all students. Themes of respect and inclusion will help to diminish hateful acts, which will allow the students to feel safe in their exploration of creating a self-identity.
The second theme that stood out to me in this novel is that of alcoholism. Junior loses many family members to the effects of alcohol, which is a serious issue on Indian reserves:
There are a variety of reasons why alcoholism is heavily present on Indian reserves (poverty, history, etc.). No matter what the reason might be, it is important that this issue be addressed, even at young ages. Although alcohol and substance abuse education is one thing that can be done, there is a lot that can be done in the field of positive psychology and coping methods to reduce these statistics. By teaching students that there are ways other than alcohol to solve their problems, we can work towards creating a safer and better prepared generation on the reserves.
November
10
Lessons Learned from LOCUS
I wanted to speak a little more about my experience through the LOCUS program, with hopes that you might be able to see yourself in many of the lesson’s I’ve learned.
The first thing I’ve learned through the LOCUS program and how to step out of my comfort zone. Believe it or not, facepaint and teal rainsuits wasn’t always my regular attire. This program provided me with an opportunity to get involved on campus, making Laurier feel more like a home than a school. Through the committee events, I was exposed to so many different opportunities, including outreach initiatives, which most students our age fail to fill their time with. But the most important thing stepping out of my comfort zone taught me is that it feels natural when you have a supportive, accepting, and passionate group of people surrounding you.
The second lesson I learned was how to ask for help. Through the academic support this program offers and the willingness of its staff to help, I’ve become more comfortable with talking to professors and asking for academic help. I’ve also been provided with an amazing group of friends that I could not thank enough for the advice and support they’ve given me throughout the years. They’ve all kept me motivated and positive during the wild times of university. Lastly, I’ve become comfortable seeking help for personal matters as well. Whether it was acknowledging that I needed help or the fact that I actually followed through and received the help I needed, I owe it all to the confidence and support that the LOCUS program has provided me with.
Lastly, I’ve learned how to love. In the past, I was always the type of person to take friendships for granted, but I’ve honestly come to love each and every person I’ve encountered through the LOCUS program. As a LOCUS student, I’ve lived at home the last 4 years with my parents. I am so grateful for all of their support and guidance, and I love them more and more each day. Funny enough, I’ve meet my life partner through the LOCUS program. We share the same passion for the program and I couldn’t thank her enough for the LOCUS love and legit love that we share. Lastly, I’ve experienced the true feeling of LOCUS love. Whether it’s a smile between two LOCUS students as they walk past each other on campus, a group of students going full out doing a cheer during Hawk Weekend, or a new lifelong friendship being formed, we’ve all felt how amazing LOCUS love truly is.
LOCUS LOVE!
November
9
LOCUS
LOCUS was one of the best experiences I had while attending Wilfrid Laurier University. LOCUS (Laurier Off-Campus University Students) is a program designed to aid the transition into university for first year students living off-campus and attending Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus. The program provides first year students with academic, social, and personal support to ensure that off-campus students do not miss out on the on-campus experience if they decide not to live in residence.
I held four different roles while being involved with the LOCUS program:
- Vice-President of Finances and Administration on LOCUS House Council (2011-2012)
- Off-Campus Advisor for a community of 27 students (2012-2013)
- Community Advisor of LOCUS’ House Council (2013-2014)
- LOCUS Coordinator (2014-2015)
Being the LOCUS Coordinator for the 2014-2015 academic year was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I had the opportunity to instill and develop leadership skills into my staff team, as well as lead them in a direction that best meets the needs of the first year off-campus student population. This position taught me so much about myself; about my own leadership capabilities, my ability to lead a group, and my passion for teaching others. There is no better feeling than helping first year students with their transition into life at Laurier, and the LOCUS Coordinator position really opened my eyes to how amazing it is to be a Laurier Goldenhawk!
November
8
Aviva Community Fund Submission
A few weeks ago, I started my Bachelor of Education placement at Pinecrest Elementary School in Ottawa. Two years ago, grade one students wrote a letter to the principal to persuade her to look at the primary yard and consider their dreams to replace the old play structure. The following September, the same students and all their primary friends were shocked to come back and discover that the condemned play structure and the beloved monkey bars had been removed over the summer and they were left with only sand. It was a very sad day for Pinecrest primary students. Since then, the primary students have had nothing but some wooden “soccer” posts and a giant area of sand.
A large number of Pinecrest families are not able to participate in extracurricular fundraisers, as many of the families live in apartments or public housing surrounding the school. They rely on the safe space at school to play and explore.
When I first heard about this issue, I knew I had to get involved in some way. I worked with the staff at Pinecrest by taking some photos and creating a video that we have submitted for the Aviva Community Fund. This was all in an attempt to receive a grant that we could use to provide these young students with the play yard that they deserve. Here is the video that I created for the submission:
What’s even more incredible is that my video was featured in the Ottawa Metro! Check out the screenshot below:
Unfortunately, Pinecrest Public School was not chosen as one of the finalists for the Aviva Community Fund. However, it was incredible to see the school and the surrounding communities really come together to support this project. We also learned a lot about this grant process and hopefully we can use this knowledge in future submissions so that we can achieve our goal of building a safe and fun playground for the deserving primary students.
November
7
Safe Classroom Management
YouTube search: “Teacher gets in fight with student”
Results: “About 1,140,000 videos”
What is happening to our education system? How is this happening? Perhaps more importantly, why is this happening?
In the summer of 2015, I received my certification in Safe Management, which is a crisis intervention training program. This training help me immensely in my role of working with individuals that have varying disabilities, but little did I know just how relevant it could be to my future profession of teaching. More than anything, this training exposed me to the reality that at one point or another, we all can get agitated and act out, despite how we typically act on a regular basis. What is important about this is recognizing what is happening, why it is happening, and how to deescalate the situation.
This idea of recognizing what is happening is outlined in Safe Management’s Aggression Escalation Continuum (displayed below). There are four levels of aggression presented: subtle, escalating, imminent, and physical. At each of the four levels of aggression, appropriate responses are presented as an indicator of how best to deescalate the situation. While teachers may never experience being the target of physical aggression, it is important to understand what to do in those situations, especially since we are responsible for the safety of every other student in the classroom.
The Safe Management training further defined each of the aggression behaviours by providing examples of the verbal, psychological, and gross motor indicators associated with each stage of the aggression. And they didn’t stop there. They also provided the appropriate staff response to each of those behaviours.
However, there is more to creating a safe classroom environment than just preventing aggression. The training covered many important topics other than aggression; risk management, relationship management, behaviour management, and physical intervention concepts were discussed as well. The chart below addresses topics relating to relationship management, while presenting strategies and techniques to successfully achieve the outlined principles:
There are so many different approaches that teachers can take to addressing a student acting out, and it doesn’t always have to lead to a power struggle. While some teachers choose the humiliation method of addressing student behaviour, there are a number of reasons why this method is damaging to students. There is a great article on Edutopia that discusses student humiliation. Through further research on the topic of classroom management, I came across a number of useful resources. Edutopia had an entire database designated to classroom management resources.
I must say, the best resource I came across was from the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI). CPI has a program that is very similar to Safe Management entitled Non-Violent Crisis Intervention. They constructed a manual especially for teachers called “Remain Calm & Respond Right When A Student Challenges!“. I strongly recommend that teachers and Bachelor of Education students should check it out!
Ideally, students will enter our classrooms each and every day with a positive attitude and an eagerness to learn. However, if it means that I get to keep myself safe while also keeping my students safe, then I will learn about as much classroom management as possible.
November
6
Re: Learning is Subjective
November
5
Learning is Subjective
Bold statement, isn’t it?
Perhaps standardized tests wouldn’t like that statement, or even the curriculum for that matter. Nonetheless it’s true. Think about students in university: they are learning a variety of topics and taking from them what they will need to apply themselves in the real world. If an artist reads a picture book, is he going to focus on the literary devices present in the story, or the drawings that accompany them? Yes, there is subliminal learning that will occur during any lesson, but it is important to acknowledge what our students are interested in and what they will choose to take away from the lesson.
Once we open ourselves to the idea that students take away things that they are interested in from class, then we are able to adopt a student-centred approach to teaching and learning. How do we ensure that a lesson has something that every student will be interested in? Multi-modality in our approach to education is our best option. As Trent (2009) defines in Re-Placing the Arts in Elementary School Curricula: An Interdisciplinary, Collaborative Action Research Project:
“Multi-modality refers to the increasing combination of multiple modes of meaning – linguistic, visual, and auditory” (page 15).
Trent provides this definition to defend his claim that lessons in various subject areas can, and should, be integrated with the arts. As a subject that unfortunately gets overlooked by teachers, art is an important component of almost every subject area; not to mention it sparks interest for students that are not fond of the concept matter at hand. Abt-Perkins (1993), contributor to The Astonishing Curriculum, provides an exceptional example of how student success was fostered and achieved in a science class by allowing students to adopt a multi-modal approach to their education. While reading research reports:
“Our students resisted our framework and replaced reports of research processes with story plots, scientists with narrators, and scientific subjects with characters. They seemed interested in knowing the story of how the information came to be, not just the information itself” (page 100-101)
Does this mean that the students didn’t fully comprehend the research report because they were reframing it to be a literary story? On the contrary! This example goes to show how learning far beyond the teacher’s expectations can be achieved by framing the subject matter in a way that students enjoy and relate better to.
During each of these readings, the idea of subjective learning and incorporating art kept bringing be back to the same scene of the same movie. In Mona Lisa Smile, Julia Roberts shows her students that learning doesn’t have to be taught from a textbook and that it is encouraged to form your own opinions and guide your own learning. The following scene depicts this concept:
Just as the interpretation of art can be subjective, so can the learning that occurs within our classroom walls. By challenging our students to reframe the concepts being taught into relatable and enjoyable themes, as achieved through multi-modality, they will be more engaged in their education and learn far more than what we can provide to them.