What exactly is "Enough Instruction"?

I recently received a comment on this blog in an earlier post. I greatly appreciated this comment and it got me thinking about it for days. Here's the first part of the comment:

"Hi Alex, 
I am interested to know how you balance instruction and the flipped classroom format. Do you encounter students who feel that they are not receiving enough instruction? If so, how do you address this?"
Here's how I address this.

Let me illustrate with the stories of two separate students in my math class.

First, let me give a brief synopsis of what a student does in my math class.

They get a document, like this, which lists all the videos and assignments. They begin by watching a video. Then they complete the assignment. Then they check their work with the answer key to see if they go it right. This cycle represents a single lesson. The repeat the cycle for each lesson. Every 1-4 lessons I have them complete what I call an exit slip. It is a quiz that I mark, but does not count on the report card. I also review all their work and check to see that they have been completing things correctly. At any time in this process they can ask for my help and work with me one on one.

Let's call the first student Bill. Bill sits down and gets to work. 2 days later he brings me an exit slip. I check the exit slip. It's perfect. I look through all the work he's done and notes he's taken. They are exactly like I've asked for him to do in the videos. I sign off and he is allowed to move on to the next lesson. 30 second have passed. In 2 days I spend 30 seconds with him one on one. Probably once a week he'll ask a question, or I'll notice a problem with his work. In total during a single week I might spend 5 minutes with him. In and entire week! He easily earns an A+ in math, finishes the entire curriculum 2 months early and starts the next grade's curriculum ahead of time.

Let's call the second student Elliot. Elliot finds math to be a struggle. Actually he finds school to be a struggle. He looses his books and papers regularly, is often in the principal's office, never does homework, you get the picture. He attempts to follow the same process, but he has so many gaps in what he's learned over the years that he needs constant help. Every time I check his work, there's a mistake and something I need to teach him. He often forgets what we did the day before. I spend at least 15 minutes with him every single day, teaching him one on one. Every. Single. Day. All. Year. Long. But at the end of the year he is able to solve an Algebra question.

I would argue that both of those students had "Enough" instruction.

But this requires that we re-think what "Enough" is.

The death of a Teacher

After a recent presentation where I received some negative feedback I've been thinking about change.

One of the thoughts I've had is that some of the changes I'm suggesting are hard because they strike directly at a persons sense of who and what they are.

A year or two ago I had a student in my math class who's dad was a high school math teacher. He did not like my teaching method with the flipped classroom format. He made it pretty clear.

What struck me though was his fear. My teaching method attacked his sense of who and what he was. He described himself as a "Chalk and Talk" teacher. He stood at the front of the room with a blackboard and a piece of chalk and talked. And he was good at it. In this style he was a successful, competent, teacher who did his work well.

My method completely undermined his idea of what a teacher was and made his highly developed skills irrelevant.

I'm not surprised in the slightest by his opposition. I was attacking his very sense of self.

So many of the changes that education needs will do the same thing to many other teachers.

My Flipped Classroom Failure

A few months ago I was leading a workshop at a teacher's convention. I was presenting the work I've been doing in my classroom as I explore the power of video in teaching.

Recently I received the feedback from the participants and while it was mostly positive, some of it was very negative. I fact I was struck by two of the comments I received.

It was pretty clear to me that I must have done a poor job of presenting. Math happens to be the place I've started and the place where I have made the most changes to the way I teach, but it's not the only place. 

If you're curious about how I teach math I created a video for students and parents that explain it.

This is just the beginning:

When the students at my school were using their digital devices poorly I had my class create a video about how they shouldn't be used. 

I'm very particular about how students colour maps for current events and geography assignments so I created a video about how to colour them correctly. 

In history I used a video in order to introduce the research project where I had students creating video to teach their fellow classmates. 

In Bible class I use video to introduce assignments.

In Science I create a lot of videos to show students how to use their tools properly. Every single lab has multiple videos teaching the students how to use things well and I like to do lots of labs.

I find it very powerful in Art class. I'm not particularly good at art, but the videos let me teach so much better. Here's an example of one of my art lessons. Even more powerfully I'm using other people's videos. My students created amazing eyes after watching and following along with this video.

I've even made use of it in PE class. My PE class are so short that I hate spending so much time explaining things so I made this video in order for them to play Frisbee Golf. This was one of my least successful ideas though, not because the video didn't work, but because students couldn't handle the idea of PE Homework! 

Quite frankly, I'd like to go back and redo my entire presentation. I don't think I did a particularly good job this time.

Video is so powerful. I think it's a game changer in education.

But change in education is always difficult.

Harebrained Idea #2

Why do we insist on students being with the same group all year long? Or for that matter all day long?

What if we had more flexible groupings? 

Assuming we followed the idea I posted in Harebrained Idea #1 what if we re-evaluated each student every 3 months or so, and if they had significant progress they moved to a new grouping?

What if we were even more flexible and were constantly assessing and ready to have a student move at any time?

What if the groupings changed depending on the subjects? In math you'd be in one group, and in PE you'd be in another group?

I recognize that the logistics of this would be quite challenging. But let's use an example.

Let's imagine a series of math and PE classes. Scheduling around available gym time is always a struggle. Have the Math and PE classes overlap in time.

Teach math using the Flipped or Blended model of teaching math using online tools. Then you could have every student working at their own pace in math class. 

Create PE classes based on skill level. And these could change depending on the topic being taught in PE. If you have someone who plays on a high level basketball team they could be in the advanced basketball class, but perhaps be in the beginner badminton class later in the same year.

Students leave their math classes whenever their PE class is, but it's not the same students leaving all the time. Math classes continue while PE is going on. Since each student will be moving at their own pace in math class they can just pick up where they left off when they return.

And this is only one example. What about Art, science, music, and more. It wouldn't be easy to figure out how to do it, but it is possible!

More in this series:
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth is
Harebrained Idea #1
Harebrained Idea #2

Harebrained Idea #1

And where would I start?

With the fact that we choose to organize schools around a child's "Date of Manufacture", to steal an idea from Sir Ken's presentation. That the year of birth is the most important thing about our children and so many decisions about our kids are based on the year they were born.

So, I would start by choosing a new metric by which we should decide which student goes where. (I have more ideas about the need to divide students and how we divide them for later posts.)

I think the primary metric we should use for deciding how to divide up students is their reading level. So much of learning is dependent upon the ability to read, and this skill is necessary in many subject areas. (Please note that I said "primary", I think there can also be a role for secondary metrics as well. A topic for a later post.)

If the group of students you are teaching all have a similar reading level it has a significant impact on what you are able to do as a teacher. In our current model the classes I teach can have a reading range that varies from grade 2 to grade 12. This enourmous range makes it very difficult to ensure that the lessons I teach reach every student.

How would we go about determining reading level? I think that one test or assessment tool would be entirely inadequate. I think we should use at least three different tools and that we should spend significant time on it. Something this important shouldn't be determined quickly, which is what we do now.

Here are three suggested components that I believe would be important for determining reading level:

• Use a computerized test perhaps one like this one. (I am not an expert there may very well be better ones.)
• A paper and pencil based test, perhaps multiple choice, but perhaps not.
• An assessment by an expert teacher, to be done last and which will have the most importance.

What's more, I would suggest that the reading level be re-tested frequently and that this decision about where a student is placed not be set in stone. (A topic for another blog post.) We believe that students brains can grow and our school system should reflect that belief.

More in this series:
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth is
Harebrained Idea #1
Harebrained Idea #2

Put your money where your mouth is.

It's easy enough to point fingers and condemn things. I certainly have. I've written here on this blog about how much I want to change the existing structure of our schooling system. I've been heavily influenced by people like Sir Ken Robinson and Seth Godin.

So, I'd like to start putting my money where my mouth is. How would I change school? What would I do differently if I were in charge?

I don't pretend to have all the answers, because I certainly don't. In fact, some of the ideas that I start writing here will undoubtedly be harebrained. But, I think we need to start somewhere.

So, in a series of posts I'm going to call "My Harebrained Ideas" I will suggest some thoughts I have. I certainly welcome your comments and criticism.

More in this series:
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth is
Harebrained Idea #1
Harebrained Idea #2

More to come.

The First Day of School

This morning is my 16th first day of school as a teacher. If I count my years as a student it's the 35th. In about 2 hours my students will walk into my room.

The classroom is ready. Desks, baskets, lockers, books, duotangs, Chromebooks, and more prepared. Lesson plans for every conceivable option. (But of course, there will be options I haven't conceived of!)

All of the years of experience, all the tools and resources, they all boil down to one thing.

Love your students.

An Uncomfortable Car Ride

More than a decade ago I spent a summer working in the NorthWest Territories in Fort McPherson at a swimming pool. The pay was very good and the experience even better. I learned an enormous amount while there and have fond memories of my time there. But it's the car ride home that I remember the most.

Fort McPherson is quite far from the airport so my boss took me for a few hours drive before I flew back to big city life in Ontario.

I remember the drive very clearly, I can still see the dashboard, the feel of the gravel road, and my anger at my boss. You see, he took the time, while I was trapped in the car with him for hours, to explain to me how self-centred I was. How, whenever I was in a conversation, I had to talk about me. He explained in detail how I was too focused on me, how it showed, and what it did to those around me.

How dare he! How dare he say such horrible things to me! I was a nice, kind, good person. Hard-working and diligent. I was not any of those horrible things he said.

When he stopped at the airport I stomped off with as little contact with him as I could. I fumed the whole way home.

I've thought about that conversation for years. Torn it apart. Analyzed it. Shredded it. Rebuilt it. It has stuck with me constantly, not a month, or even a week goes by without me thinking about it.

You see. He was right.

I was, and still am, far too self-centred.

But, if he hadn't spoken up, and spoken clearly, directly, perhaps even brutally, I would never have woken up.

His words have opened up the world for me.

You see, up to that point I desperately wanted to get married, but every relationship fell through.

I wanted to find a job that was more than a job, but every one I tried just didn't work out.

I wanted to be a Dad, but that sort of required being married first.

I had some friends, but I was lonely.

I was a Christian, but it didn't really show much.


It wasn't until after that uncomfortable car ride that things changed.

I became a teacher, a job that requires you to focus on others. Which led me to my wife and any good marriage requires you to pay attention to your spouse. Which led to children, and you can't be self-centred and be a good Dad. I've got more friends and connections that I possibly have time for. My faith shows far more than it ever did.

Not that I'm perfect, I still struggle with this challenge every day. But when I do, I think of that uncomfortable car ride.

Thanks Terry. Thanks for being bold and saying what needed to be said. It has made all the difference.

To Google or Not to Google

I've come across the phrase "If you can Google it, why teach it?" One example of this can be found here.

I agree with this idea. After all, everyone has a phone in their pocket and can pull Google out at any time. I even find myself doing it at the supper table when one of my kids asks a question that I don't know the answer to.

So we should start changing what we teach, how we run our classrooms, and how we run our schools in light of the existence of Google.

And yet...

One can only create a good Google search if you have enough background knowledge to formulate the right kind of question. For example, in finding the link above I had to try three different Google searches before I found what I was looking for. I had to know such a topic existed, I needed to know proper English (especially since my first search contained a spelling error), and more.

So while we do need to change what we do in schools, we also can't throw everything away.

I agree that we need more Project Based Learning, more student voice and choice, a greater ethic of excellence, and an understanding the technology is disrupting education, we also need to continue with building a solid foundation of skills for our students. There is still a place for rote memorization, drill, practice, and even lectures.

Let me give you an example from my own teaching experience.

When I first started teaching math I insisted that students memorize all of the formulas for our measurement and geometry unit. That was what was expected in high school and I wanted my students ready.

I don't do that any more. I have my students complete careful notes during the lessons and they may bring their notes to the test. In fact, I won't even let them take the test unless they have a complete set of notes that they've created themselves. (Almost always handwritten, but that's a story for another day.) 

The reality is that memorizing all the formulas isn't necessary any more. If someone really needs a formula they can just Google it. That's what I do when I need one.

However, the formulas are useless unless you understand Order of Operations. (BEDMAS, or PEDMAS, or PODMAS, or however else you learned it.) If you don't understand the proper usage of a formula they're useless. So I still require my students to memorize this process and I reinforce it with plenty of drill and kill. Then we practice it in context with question after question and formula after formula. 

I figure that I am a successful math teacher if my students can walk out of my classroom and handle any formula that Google can throw at them. 

So, yes, my teaching practice has changed because of Google and probably will continue to do so, but memorization and repetition remain useful parts of education.

Leading a workshop for teachers

Tomorrow I am leading a 2 day workshop for teachers along with 2 of my colleagues.

We're going to spend two days learning about Google Apps for Education (GAFE).

We've spent plenty of effort preparing. Hours on Google Hangouts planning together, more hours writing docs, creating slideshows, preparing Google Classroom, etc...

But in all of that we have to remember why we do this. As a geek who loves his tech tools it is easy to get lost in the fun of playing with cool new toys.

In the end the tools and toys are irrelevant. It's the students who walk in our door, that God has given us the privilege of teaching and leading that matter.

As long as the tools and toys help us to accomplish this task then these two days should be worthwhile.