Week 6: October 17

Hello Everybody!

Katic, K. (Fall, 2016). Reading Week Adventures! Barrie, Balsam Lake, Lindsay, Peterborough. 

Well, this is it, this is the final post for our session this year! I can't believe it's already here, it feels like the semester just started! As this is the last week of classes, the pressure is on for culminating tasks, unit plans, and all of the other things that are "due". This is where I'll come back to the one thing that I have been emphasizing continuously for the entire duration of these posts, that we must remember the small joys in our lives that make us happy. I was fortunate enough over the past week - reading week - to be able to reconnect with those things that make me so happy; family, loved ones, being outside, and reconnecting to my roots. I have included above a compilation of some of the adventures I had during Reading Week, and I honestly believe this time with my loved ones helped me to refocus and connect with myself before culminating tasks are due.

In Class Discussion 
Speaking of which, we had an appropriate discussion in math class this week in regards to assessment in our classrooms, we must feel calm about assessment and evaluation, and we must know what this looks like. The purpose of assessment is to improve student learning, and when students can succeed, we must solidify what they've learned based on what we've given them. Now, when you think of typical school experiences with assessment, those big red letter and level grades may come rushing back to your memory. Importantly, we challenged this this past week; comments are much more helpful than student's grades. This is so important to introduce before and during the middle school years, when students can get stuck in this trap of expecting letter and number grades instead of internalizing the comments and making room for improvement. 

Assessment FOR learning: when teachers use assessment to be able to understand what it is that our students are thinking so you're able to decide what you'll do next instructionally. As they're working in pairs, groups, presenting, you're understanding how they're learning & helps you plan.

Garchitorena, Marisse. (Feb. 6, 2013). 

Assessment AS learning: Sub-set of FOR learning; ultimately what you want is children to self-assess, NOT self-mark, it's that they become self-reflective, self-monitoring thinkers in the way that any of us write. If you write a report or paper, you read it & think, that's not really what I wanted to say, we want our students to become good self-monitors so they can see where they can go next or go for help.

Assessment OF learning: what we typically do in classrooms, assessment for decision making, when we say, we'll do a report for the parents, decision about placement, promotion, we need evidence to make those judgements well. Assessment with the purpose of reporting.

To the right you'll see that these three types of assessments are configured in a pyramid. Traditionally, the base for assessment is assessment OF learning, then FOR, and on top AS. Recently, this has been reconfigured to have assessment AS learning on the bottom and OF on top. This is huge when we are assessing our students, we must ensure that we are assessing them while they're learning, but we must also teach them to become self-monitoring thinkers where they are able to go through the process of learning assertively and with awareness. Instead of them focusing on their letter or number grades, which happens in assessment OF learning, we must aim to shift the focus to them taking initiative for their learning, which is when assessment AS learning happens.

The 7 Fundamental Principles of Assessment 
To ensure that assessment, evaluation and reporting are valid and reliable, and that they lead to the improvement of learning for all students, teachers use practices & procedures that:

1. Are fair, transparent and equitable for all students; 
2. Support all students, including those with special education needs, those who are learning the language of instruction (English or French) and those who are First Nation, Metis or Inuit 
3. Carefully planned to relate to the curriculum expectations and learning goals and, as much as possible, to the interests, learning styles and preferences, needs and experiences of all students 
4. Are communicated clearly to students and parents at the beginning of the school year or course and at other appropriate points throughout the school year or course; 
5. Ongoing, varied in nature, and administered over a period of time to provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate the full range of their learning; 
6. Provide ongoing descriptive feedback that's clear, specific, meaningful and timely to support improved learning and achievement 
7. Develop students' self-assessment skills to enable them to assess their own learning, set specific goals, and plan next steps for their learning 

In our math classrooms, Pat brought up an interesting suggestion: provide students with oral feedback to a certain point and then stop; at first students may be confused, however, they will discuss with their elbow partners what they need to change in their work. "Math talk becomes more important and powerful to them, when the teacher doesn't tell them the answers they have to rely on each other. It's magical" Pat, Oct. 17. For me, this is a suggestion that I will take with me into my future teaching career as I do believe that this will promote our students to become more engaged learners and become better at Assessment AS Learning.

Videos 
Next, I will discuss the videos that we viewed this week. Lesson 6a: Math in Life. This video, along with Lesson 6b and Lesson 6c, above all others that we have viewed in class, had me hooked! Math is about finding patterns, abstract patterns, and the Fibonacci Sequence is truly everywhere!

Screenshots. (Oct. 21, 2016). All Videos Viewed This Week.

When I think of examples of math in the world, I immediately think of yoga: in relation to math, yoga is about being able to understand how to correctly balance and understand how to control the momentum of your body, the angles that are required to have proper form in poses, being able to understand parallels and the weight distribution of your body (especially in partner yoga), and for arm balance postures, being able to understand where the centre of gravity is and how to adjust your body accordingly. This type of example can also be applied to weight lifting, where numeracy skills are required to calculate the number plates and weight you can work with, understanding angles to apply proper form, the examples are endless. 

There are three important ideas I took away this week: 

1. Math is Everywhere in our Lives!: when we look around us, we can see math everywhere! By being able to convey this to our students, they'll be able to understand the importance of the Big Ideas in math, as they see it as a living, breathing subject that is in everything we do! Applying real life examples in the classroom is a great way to have them begin thinking this way. 

2. The Importance of Good Math Games: when students are able to explore fun math games without being pressured to perform math tasks in these games according to time limits, they are able to visually explore math in new and exciting ways! As we know, being able to see math visually is extremely important to being able to have a holistic understanding of math.

3. The Importance of Technology: the ability to bring math concepts to life through technology is an amazing! Especially in math, when students understand how these concepts can come to life through technology, they are able to perform a lot better in our classrooms and have an idea of how math transcends into our daily lives. 

So, after reading this final blog post, I hope that there has been something that you have taken away from it that will be useful in your classrooms and your lives. Thank you so much for reading!

Katic, K. (Oct. 13, 2016). Find What Empowers You! Sunnidale Park, Barrie. 

References 
HTLMCourse (June 12, 2014). Lesson 6a. YouTube Video. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z2G2KzFImY&feature=youtu.be
HTLMCourse (June 12, 2014). Lesson 6b. YouTube Video. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnpx_DMTtd8&feature=youtu.be 
HTLMCourse (June 12, 2014). Lesson 6c. YouTube Video. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUxAv09B-bg&feature=youtu.be  

HTLMCourse (June 12, 2014). Lesson 6h. YouTube Video. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY7poNmNk4o&feature=youtu.be

Images 
Garchitorena, Marisse. (Feb. 6, 2013). Classroom Assessment: Getting the Balance Right. Teacher Blog. Retrieved From https://mgarchitorena.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/classroom-assessment-getting-the-balance-right/ 
Katic, K. (Fall, 2016). Reading Week Adventures!© Barrie, Balsam Lake, Lindsay, Peterborough. 
Katic, K. (Oct. 13, 2016). Find What Empowers You!© Sunnidale Park, Barrie. 

Week 5: October 3

Hey Everyone! 

Katic, K. (October 1, 2, 2016).
Left to Right: Engagement Party in Rosedale, Old Mill Park in Lindsay, Tent Cabin at Lock 35. 

October is already here! When I walk outside, I can smell autumn in the air, the leaves beginning to change into their brilliant oranges, fiery reds and warm yellows, pumpkins and apples in abundance, the cool air perfect to sleep and snuggle into the covers, there is much to be thankful for, which we should all acknowledge going into Thanksgiving Weekend this coming weekend. We must also enjoy those simple pleasures that we all have in our lives, and this past weekend was a time for me to get away from technology and simply enjoy the great North and this time of year. For me, this included taking the time to celebrate with my loved ones at an engagement party, spending the weekend in a tent-cabin, and exploring. As I have constantly been reiterating in my posts, I encourage you to think about these simple joys and how they can truly help ground you and give you a sense of calm when our lives are so stressful.

Katic, K. (Oct. 3, 2016). Blended Learning Sheet.
Brock University, Hamilton.

In terms of math this week, we're already at Week 5! Time seems to be flying! This week, we discussed the importance of blended learning in our classrooms and how this can lead to the success of our students. To the right you'll see a very detailed photo of the workshop sheet we completed, and it goes into great length explaining blended learning and the SAMR model. If you're interested in getting an introduction to blended learning, check out this link here and this great YouTube video summarizes this topic beautifully! Essentially, blended learning combines classroom and online learning. With the online component, student are able to work at their own pace (partially). 

Further, there are four models within Blended Learning: 

1. Rotation Model: Station/Lap/Flip/Individual. Students rotate between learning modalities, where there is at least one online learning component. 
2. Flex Model: Online learning backbone of student learning, based on an individual schedule. 
3. A La Carte Model: Students take the entire course online with an online instructor, referred to as the "Brick and Mortar Experience". 
4. Enriched Model: Within each course students attend campus and also experience online components and courses. The main difference is this is a whole school experience. 

Katic, K. (Oct. 4, 2016). Various Screenshots of Online Modules.
See Below for Reference.

To learn more, visit this link! 

Additionally, the online modules that were explored this week were fantastic!  The first one, Lesson 5a, discusses how math is truly an intuitive subject, and we must ask questions in order to make sense of math; we must get rid of the idea that we can only work with comfortable formulas, must take the time to try to understand math and be able to form an emotional relationship with what's happening. The end of this section asks us a question that allowed me to use visual representations of math in order to solve. The question is: 

A man is on a diet and goes into a shop to buy some turkey slices. He is given 3 slices which together weigh 1/3 of a pound, but his diet specifies that he is only allowed to eat 1/4 of a pound. How many of the 3 slices he bought can he eat while staying true to his diet? 

I'll let you try to solve this problem without revealing the answer! 

The second video, Lesson 5b, discusses the importance of drawing and visual representations in math! By being able to represent math problems using visuals, it helps to deepen our understanding of the way in which we understand math. Personally, I have an easier time understanding concepts and problems when visuals are included, and importantly, there are always multiple ways to represent math visually that really do help deepen our understanding of what's occurring in math equations, formulas and other operational methods. For our students, we must encourage them to use visuals in order for them to deepen their understanding with math to understand holistically. 

Kelly, E. (Oct. 2, 2016).
Old Mill Park, Lindsay.

Finally, the last video, Lesson 5f, discusses that when teaching math, there must be an emphasis on the "Big Ideas", and many students get lost in the small details and small ideas of math. However, it's important that they understand that math is a subject with really only a few small details to remember but massive key ideas to understand. By being able to understand how to use drawing, representing, using intuition and focusing on key ideas, this will lead to success. Immediately after viewing this video, I began to think about how this can be applied to real-life application, and to the left I have included a picture that was taken this weekend: we could ask our students to estimate the size of the wall I was sitting on top of in relation to the wall in the background and include a historical element to this question as well. It's so important for them to realize that math is everywhere around us, and they must focus on the Big Ideas in order to gain a deeper understanding of math. 

In summation, there are three important things that we must take away from the modules this week: 

1. Encourage the use of Intuition: often people are afraid to use their intuition to solve math problems because they are afraid and intimidated, however, this is a key skill to develop in order to be able to think about what makes sense in math and how we can go about solving problems. 

2. Encourage the use of Visuals: by being able to represent math visually, this allows for a deeper understanding of what is occurring in math problems. Often formulas and numbers on their own can become convoluted, however by incorporating visuals it allows for another way to look at the math and perhaps a clearer understanding for students immediately. 

3. Encourage the Understanding of Big Ideas: we must focus on the Big Ideas in math as it's easy to get lost in the details of math. By encouraging the understanding of the Big Ideas, there will be a more holistic understanding. 

You can see that these resources are excellent in explaining how everyone can do math, it's just a matter of breaking down the subject matter and having a growth mindset. I hope you've learned something from this post today, and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them below! Once again, I'll remind you to think of the small things that make you happy in life, and let's all acknowledge these things and be thankful this Thanksgiving Weekend. 

Kelly, K. (Oct. 2, 2016). Relaxing with Warm Cider.
Old Mill Park, Lindsay.

References 
edurevolution. (July 24, 2013). Blended Learning: 4 Blended Learning Models. YouTube Video. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF8ODHN6Os8&feature=youtu.be
HTLMCourse. (July 12, 2014). Lesson 5a: Making Sense & Intuition. YouTube Video. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RjWud-Zcfc&feature=youtu.be
HTLMCourse. (July 12, 2014). Lesson 5b: Drawing & Representing. YouTube Video. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNT7W9pO6QI&feature=youtu.be
HTLMCourse. (July 12, 2014). Lesson 5f: Ideas vs Memorization. YouTube Video. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXeeYj4vxmE&feature=youtu.be
Jen Jonson. (Jan. 20, 2014). Blended Learning and Technology Integration. YouTube Video. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD8AUfGsCKg

Photos 
Katic, K. (October 1, 2, 2016). Left to Right: Engagement Party in Rosedale, Old Mill Park in Lindsay, Tent Cabin at Lock 35©. 
Katic, K. (Oct. 3, 2016). Blended Learning Sheet©. Brock University, Hamilton.
Katic, K. (Oct. 4, 2016). Various Screenshots of Online Modules [See Above]. 
Kelly, K. (Oct. 2, 2016). Relaxing with Warm Cider©. Old Mill Park, Lindsay. 
Kelly, E. (Oct. 2, 2016)©. Old Mill Park, Lindsay.