Finding Lessons in Photos and Stories

On short notice, I was invited to speak with a dozen student-teachers who are spending the next few weeks at my school. While I've held court on the topic of 'student success' a few times before, I decided to try reaching this group in a new way.

In the past year, I've been consistent in getting audience members to share personal stories at the outset of workshops and presentations. For this group, the prompt I provided led students to introduce themselves by sharing stories of how they 'overcame or succumbed to key educational challenges'. Through a discussion that ranged both across and around the table, teacher candidates spoke of very personal academic struggles and without intending to, addressed many of topics I was going to introduce.

In addition to introducing topics related to student success, the activity modeled for all, that personal stories are compelling; that getting to know your students is important; that each of us faces up to unanticipated challenges; that remarkable wisdom of learners lies waiting to be uncovered. Rich unanticipated lessons were shared at the outset, because I chose to invite conversation, before launching into a monologue.

The remainder of my Student Success story was told through photos I'd tagged the night before. Instead of using a slidedeck or a handout, my presentation consisted of simply clicking through pre-selected Flickr photos. My lesson was instantly personal, because the images I chose to make my points, were those I had taken myself. Each image had a back-story, followed by a point of information. As a result, the students were learning about me, in addition to attending to a philosophy of education focused on the student experience.

Maybe I'm on a Photo Kick?
There was a time when I first entered 9th grade, that I very badly wanted to join the photography club. As a multi-sport athlete living a 90 minute bus ride from school I was unable to join in. I've loved photography from the time I was a 10 year old playing with what I found to be a truly magical polaroid camera. And now, some 35 years later, I find myself caught up in ny first photo club of sorts. In my second connection to the iPhone Photo Project , I'm reconnecting with Andy Forgrave and others to create and share. Join us if you like.

Student Success: Surviving vs Thriving

As a teacher responsible for Student Success in my high school, I've grown fatigued with dealing from the fallout from one-size-fits-all educational approaches. Specifically, I find myself sharing the frustration of my students as they make every effort to avoid completing work they see as irrelevant.

In the past year, I've spent most of my time at school in supporting students who don't do homework; who are disengaged from school; who don't like to write; and who are too challenged with distractions of the day, to demonstrate an interest in lessons designed by their teachers.

This year, I've been more proactive in working with teachers to develop learning experiences that are more closely tailored to the interests and abilities of my clients. Here are a few examples of the work I'll be doing in coming days and weeks, that I hope will lead students to become active participants in their own learning.

Case 1: "I don't do writing..."
For a student who needs one more language credit, but who finds it painful to put pencil to paper, we're pursuing an independent project. In the next few weeks, I hope to scaffold the work of 'Trevor' who is designing a high school to meet the needs of unique students.

Using Smart Ideas concept mapping software to scaffold the writing, 'Trevor' will be designing a whole new high school experience. This work grew out of a small writing assignment, and although it's been a struggle to get rolling, I've promised to share this student's work with a real world audience. If the project gains traction, you're likely to hear and see more about it in this space.

Case 2: "I can't sit in a desk..."
Like many teens, 'Jake' needs to be physically active in order to survive the school day. While our board's alternative education focuses on career skills and co-op, the remote site that hosts the program is inaccessible to this student. In order to develop a unique program to suit his needs, I'll be hosting a meeting of the special education department, the guidance department, the co-op department, and our school administration, to design a pilot learning experience that may one day be made available to other students at our school.

The plan is to cluster a few accessible courses, and to design rich cross-curricular projects that will lead 'Jake' to demonstrate the achievement of the interdisciplinary course expectations. Ideally, we'll twin this project work with a co-op experience, and will provide access to multimedia tools and training so that 'Jake' can document his experience.

Case 3: "This class is a challenge..."
One of our grade 10 language classes has a disproportionate number of special needs students who chafe at the rigors of reading and writing. In completing the course and in preparating for the provincial literacy test, students are required to respond to a wide variety of 'media texts', so why not engage students in creating their own media texts?

After consulting with the teacher and department head about movie-making and podcasting, we've settled on a few performance tasks that will allow students to play the roles of advertising executives, multimedia engineers, and movie-makers. What's more, students will have choice in the roles they'll play, and the best of their work will be seen by an online audience.

While many of my Student Success colleagues around the province may find themselves working in triage, I'm trying to be proactive in helping teachers to create academic challenges that are compelling and relevant. I'm hopeful that my job will gradually become one of enriching the high school experience, rather than surviving it.

Photo credits: br1dotcom, vancouverfilmschool, Proctor Archives

TEDxOntarioEd: Tim the Student

Listen.
As educators, we sometimes need to be reminded, that our charges have voices too. And if we take the time to listen, we might learn as much about ourselves, as we do about our students.

Although it's rare for a student to get an opportunity to speak in front of an audience of teachers, we considered it the most sensible choice to have Tim Ludwig as the final formal speaker at TEDxOntarioEd. Identified as "Tim the Student" in the weeks leading up to the event, we were confident that a student closer would put a nice lid on our evening.

Little did we realize that Tim's talk would lead to ongoing discussion and reflection. After giving a listen to Tim's talk, I think you'll find yourself, like me, wondering how we can lead students to further inspire educators and students alike through TEDxYouthDay?



Consider these links as evidence of the impact that "Tim the Student" has had:
TEDxOntarioEd: Moments of Adversity that Empower
TEDxOntarioEd: reflections on being there, but not being there
Making Connections at TEDxOntarioEd
When Worlds Collide
Student Voice and TEDxOntarioEd
Inquiry Based Learning - A TEDxOntario Theme
"Speed Dating" My Way Through TEDxOntarioEd
Experience TEDxOntarioEd via a short Animoto video

The video of Tim's talk is now available on the TEDx YouTube Channel. Images of the evening are available on the TEDxOntarioEd photo pool.


Photo Credit: windsordi

Taking Risks in Media Creation

When I first began teaching in the late 1980's, I used to use video production as a tool to engage the creative minds of my students. At the time, the equipment was bulky, expensive, and difficult to access. Today in contrast, far more powerful tools for media creation and editing are available in the homes and on the desktops of our students.

This brief podcast introduces a film production project that will put 'at risk' students into the roles of writer; director; properties manager; video-editor; producer; actor...



Do you know of an 'expert' in the field of professional media who can help us out by acting as a mentor and live 'Skype-in' guest?

Photo Credit: pt

New Year: New Challenges: New Opportunities

For the first time in 10 years, I'll be focusing my working attention on a single school community. My experiences in the past decade creating and leading programs for all the schools in my district school board; and most recently serving the e-learning needs of school boards across southwestern Ontario, I'm looking forward to focusing my energies at Regina Mundi College in London, Ontario.

The role I'll be playing, is that of Student Success Teacher. It's a role that was created by the Ontario Ministry of Education, to assist schools in meeting the 2010-2011 target of graduating 85% of high schoolers. It's a lofty goal, one that challenges schools to offer unique opportunities for credit accumulation in lieu of pegging students into traditional courses .

With my experience in teaching others about e-learning; in developing rich performance-based learning activities; and in leveraging social media to build relationships, I'm very much looking forward to engaging my interests and abilities to ensure students, staff and parents learn in relationship.

While the position is formally focused on meeting the needs of the at risk student, my goals are more challenging: I'm working to build an environment of Learning Immersion... for students, staff and parents.

Photo Credit: SnaPsi