open letter PD

Open Letter to SD57 Trustees and Senior Learning Team:

Recently I learned that Senior Admin has recommended a cut in funding for the Pro-D Fund Administrator (PDFA) position in SD57. Trustees need to be aware that this cut will come at significant cost to teacher growth and work with students. For starters, without coordination the Teacher Pro-D Fund will require a new dispersal model that does not pool funding or allow the extensive organization and leadership currently taking place -- an unravelling of years of PGDTA Pro-D policy and a cooperative relationship between teachers and the school district.

This relationship has been positive in the past because each group that contributes to the "suite" of Pro-D in SD57 does their part well. District In-service and professional learning initiatives are focused on implementation of district goals and provincial curriculum -- that's what C&I is for and it does it well. Teacher-led Pro-D is something different -- it is the professional learning that each teacher chooses for themselves to affect learning in their classrooms -- every district in the province recognizes this, and also respects the difference between in-service (implementation of requirements, a board responsibility) and professional development (teachers have autonomy over their Pro-D, their Pro-D Fund, and their Pro-D Days; this is in contract). This also works well in our district, perhaps better than most in the province, because the Board has funded a coordinator position for the last 18 years and this insures accountable and purposeful use of the Pro-D Fund and provides leadership and organization for teacher-led Pro-D. Teacher-directed Pro-D will not go away (this is in contract), but it can certainly become ineffective and less accountable without coordination. Our set-up is the envy of the province not because of the budget (as you'll see below, teacher-led Pro-D is poorly funded in SD57 regardless of whether there is a PDFA position attached to it), but because it works.

Here are some of the main items that will be lost if the PDFA position is not funded:

1. Application process for Conference Travel (approximately 100 teachers travel each year for Pro-D they can't get in the North) 
2. Rural School Travel Subsidies (Mackenzie, McBride, and Valemount would not otherwise be able to access Pro-D events in PG and beyond) 
3. Involvement in Mentorship Programs (including two new programs co-funded and co-created for next year) 
4. Year-long Pro-D Facilitation (e.g. Robson Valley Mini-Conference last Fall, a Northern BC New Teachers conference next Fall) 
5. Communication on Pro-D and Collaboration on Shared Projects (teachers, administrators, C&I, DLC, AbEd, SetBC, CUPE EAs, etc.) 
6. Spring Fling Educational Conference (the organization and aftermath of this multi-district event is a 6-month process that flows from one desk) 

I can expand on these if you wish, but I will assume for now that you have a sense of what each of these involve. You can also learn more about how Teacher Pro-D is structured in our district at http://pgdta.ca/pro-d.

The district spends over $1 million in Pro-D and Travel each year, but only a small portion of this is directed (by contract) towards the Teacher Pro-D Fund.

The current district investment in Teacher Pro-D is around $150,000 -- $107,000 in the Fund and about $43,000 to buy out three blocks of time for a teacher leadership position. This PDFA position is responsible for the careful administration of a fund but beyond that has the "justification of time" to be fully engaged in the professional growth of teachers and their work with students, as evidenced in the weblink provided above. Like other part-time, half-time, and full-time non-enrolling positions in the district, the PDFA supports student learning and building capacity among educators, and in fact reaches and affects more teachers and their practices over the course of the year than most district-released positions. Through shared projects and the Spring Fling, the work of the PDFA also affects other employee groups. This work used to be 0.75 FTE and is now 0.5 FTE but there really has been no reduction of roles or work with teachers.

$150,000 is a small amount for a district our size and a shoe-string budget for the amount of professional development we support. It is a lower investment per teacher than virtually every district outside of the Lower Mainland and Southern Vancouver Island -- they typically pay less because travel costs for conference are very low. For comparison SD27 (Cariboo-Chilcotin), with less than half as many teachers as SD57, has a Teacher Pro-D Fund valued at $172,000 (budget, TTOC time, and 0.4 FTE position for a coordinator). Incidentally, this is the only other district in the province with a similar level of PD Coordinator release paid for with district funds -- they use their district-supplied Funds to release 2 days per week for their Teacher PD person. Some districts have smaller release arrangements (but do not attempt the roles that we see in our district such as conference travel approval and conference organization) and some large districts have attached a "Pro-D portfolio" to union-released table officers. SD57 is somewhat unique, and as a result we have a better Pro-D set-up than most other districts in the province -- it is a recognized drawing card for new teachers despite the low overall investment from the district.

Cutting a third of this investment in teacher professional development will have lasting harm on the positive relationship and momentum for professional learning that has developed in our school district. Our district may have its challenges, but one thing we do well is professional development. This cut would also send a chilling message to teachers from senior admin and the board about the value they placed on teacher-led professional development.

I have very much enjoyed the experience of working with teachers this year on their designs for professional growth and improving student success. I have also enjoyed working with others in the school district on shared projects, including plans for next year that are now in limbo: organization of a Northern BC New Teachers' Conference, funding and support for a Math Conference, and involvement in two new programs for mid-career teacher mentorship ("Learning Alongside" to address areas of challenge, and "Fresh Air Days" to allow teachers to observe and collaborate with teachers working on similar problems).

Within the "suite" of Pro-D in SD57 we have diverse and complex district, school, cross-school, and group/individual teacher-directed goals for professional development. Each is different -- by contract they have to be different -- e.g. the difference between BC Edplan implementation (in-service on paid time, board responsibility) and teacher Pro-D (autonomous, can take place on PD Days and teachers' own time). The first three are very well funded in our district, and have in fact grown substantially in each of the last four years (e.g. C&I is now up to 23 members at various levels of release). The last area, teacher-directed pro-d, has done very well on a limited budget for many years, and could soon be cut by a third with the loss of the PDFA position. A very minor shift in the way Pro-D is funded among these four areas is all it would take to keep the PDFA position. I encourage the trustees to include a recommendation to make this shift as part of their budget amendment directives that result from ECOW (Budget Consulation).

Feel free to get in touch or respond with questions. This should not be a decision that is made without discussing "what next" with the affected partner group. In the very least I urge you to fund the position for another year in order to allow time for discussion on "what next." If the position does disappear, there are layers of policy to unwind and many actions to consider. Disengaging from district involvements or shared projects, and transitioning to any new form of Pro-D Fund dispersion, record management, and travel application, etc. will take time. This needs to be done respectfully and carefully as will the explanation to teachers, conference presenters & vendors, and other contacts from our educational community and elsewhere who have become accustomed to the excellent Pro-D relationships and opportunities over the years.

Best regards,
Glen Thielmann

Dresden Codak

I've been following Aaron Diaz (@dresdencodak) on twitter for a while. It was one of those follows that results when you read a few witty or eccentric tweets and think that you need something different in your feed. My twitter stream is composed almost entirely of educators, centred on my province, educational technology, social studies, and public education advocacy. This is awesome as a professional development tool but it sometimes makes for way-too-serious reading and often raises my blood pressure. I'm trying to add some colour and humour to my feed, at the same time trying to avoid anything connected to celebrity or sports.

As it goes sometimes with twitter, it took me while to realize that Aaron Diaz was a graphic artist (and author, illustrator, and internet curator of comics lore based in Portland, OR), and it took me even longer to realize that he had an interest in illustrating the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, something dear to my heart and the theme of course I just started teaching called Middle Earth 12. I came across his Silmarillion Project a few weeks ago and was blown away by his renditions of characters that are known by the select few who have been Inducted. I find that his sketches and art go right to the profound thoughts I have about key characters and skip past the mental images I have about what they might look like. This is a big deal for me because I don't want these characters to be fixed down (the way they become after you've seen a book turned into a movie), I want them to remain fluid and possessed of the ability to inhabit new interior landscapes depending on where I'm at.

Today I emailed Aaron Diaz and asked if I could use his images with my course on handouts etc. and for comparison and study. He said "sure thing... kids need Tolkien." So, I'm thrilled to share his unique art with my students and help make the connection for them that the passions and interests kids have in high school can translate to satisfying lifelong pursuits and even paid work!

This image above shows Fëanor, a troubled elven prince in Tolkien's world, who created great gems called the Silmarils and set in motion a chain of events that altered the history of Middle Earth. The story of Fëanor has haunted me for 30 years, and is never far from my thoughts. I'm not sure if this was wise (given his tragic fate), but my wife and I named our son Fëanor. We gave ourselves a backdoor, though, in the moniker Finn.

___________________________

Image credit: http://silmarillionproject.tumblr.com/, Dresden Codak (Aaron Diaz) artist, author, and illustrator. Used by permission. Check out his main page at http://dresdencodak.com/ and more visual musings at http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/.

Tapestry Workshops

Hello Victoria, Sooke, Sanich and Gulf Islands Teachers!

The organizers for the Tapestry Conference tell me that my workshops need some more souls or they might have to cancel. I'm really hoping to make the trip down there (from Prince George) for your Feb 21 Conference, so if you can help recommend a few people (or yourself) to attend one or both of these sessions I would be very grateful.  Tapestry Registration here.

Morning Session:

Heritage Inquiry: Connecting Land, People, and Narrative

Target audience: Secondary Humanities especially Social Studies, History, Geography, and English

Project-based learning using heritage research as the basis of cross-curricular inquiry and application of critical thinking skills. Case studies from Social Studies 10 and 11, Geography 12, and suggestions for adapting this work to other contexts. These projects have grabbed students and provided relevance, a basis for empathy, and really great presentations. You'll be amazed at the artifacts that students find in their basements.  Examples of Heritage projects.

Afternoon Session:

When Educators Co-create: Experimental Course Design for Secondary Schools

Target audience: Secondary teachers

Listen to some ideas from a Northern BC Professional Learning Network about course combinations, blended learning, simulations, and cross-curricular projects, including Middle Earth 12 and the Language and Landscape program (combination of English 11 and Geography 12).  Other courses and combinations we've tried or are trying "up here" include Yoga, Peer Mentorship, History of Social Justice Through Music, Geography combined with Digital Media Arts, History combined with "Cultures in Conflict" (another local course), and Genocide.

Then, the conversation can move to match the audience:

• engage in a “critical friends” activity that will tune your own curriculum/instruction ideas or designs for project-based learning
• look at what it takes to build your own locally developed course or adapt an existing one to new curriculum structures, including Board approval process and incorporating team teaching
• discuss how blended learning (mix of in-class, online, and community-based settings) can be used with new and existing courses, including use of digital portfolios

So.... sign up for one or both, and bring a friend with you!

Cheers,

Glen Thielmann

http://thielmann.ca

GeoNarrative Paula

This year's cohort in the "Language and Landscape Program" recently presented their GeoNarratives -- a historical/geographical study of a specific place, time, person/s, and/or event.  This "project-based learning" was meant to roll many English 11 and Geography 12 learning outcomes together for our blended learning, course combination approach.  The students had time in and out of class over a few months to put this together.

One of my students "P.C." built her project and presentation around what life was like for a woman coming of age in the 1930s and living a life of some privilege in the Vancouver of the 1940s-1960s.  The focus was her great-aunt Paula, a larger-than-life personality in the personal narrative of P.C.'s family who, with her husband, travelled extensively and left an impression on those around them.  Paula. among other things, was one of the first women to join the Vancouver Yacht Club, and was a careful recorder of life around her.

P.C.'s project involved designing inquiry, conducting personal research, curating evidence from a variety of sources (mainly primary documents), building a scrapbook to summarize her inquiry, and writing a short story from the perspective of Paula on he honeymoon. P.C.'s narrative for us (her audience) tried to capture both the extraordinary qualities of Paula, but also the more general characteristics of a time and place (Vancouver, 1930-1960).  Alongside this "evolving landscape" were descriptions of the many clubs, theatres, and restaurants that Paula visited.

One of the many artifacts that P.C. used to structure her presentation were the menus from some of these restaurants, saved by Paula as mementos and kept in the family after her passing.  I found this one intriguing, love the inclusion of cow's tongue and rarebits:

do your homework

O.K. I'll bite. A digitally dynamic educator from Penticton, Naryn Searcy (@ncearcy17) dropped a "getting to know you" meme-thingy on me and a few others:

• 11 Random facts about yourself
• 11 questions asked by another
• 11 questions that you ask to another 11 people in your PLN (professional learning network)

11 Random Facts about me:

1. I can exhale through my right eye. Busted tear duct valve or something -- makes a sound like letting air out of a balloon.
2. Although I consider myself outgoing, humorous, loud, and prominent in a crowd (big guy, after all), I consistently place in the Introvert camp when I do a Myers Briggs test.
3. Huge Tolkien fan, have a big bookshelf just for JRR. Named my kids after Tolkien characters... Luthien (Lu) and Fëanor (Finn).
4. Snapped my ACL while boxing with oversized gloves in a bouncy castle in the gym with hundreds of students watching... too much pain to be embarrassed.
5. Met my wife while treeplanting in 1991... at the time she was the camp cook and I knew it was love when she served me a up a whole chicken. Still, took us 6 years before our first date.
6. During my teacher training studies at SFU, I lived in a tent in the woods near where I parked my car. Both G-lot and those woods are now developed into something called UniverCity (how original is that?).
7. For my final project in my Masters of Ed degree, I wrote about the Epic of Gilgamesh, explored ecosystem theory in education, and made a film about a Sasquatch where I got to strip down, get covered in mud, and run madly through the woods.
8. My first real job, and one I almost carried through to a career, was that of forest ecosystem geographer. While I loved the wilderness, map-making, and the study of plants, I grew weary of isolation and being chased by bears.
9. I've had three concussions, had stitches 7 times, and been struck by lightning once. The latter happened in the woods of northern Alberta -- didn't really hurt, but the crackling waves of blue made me wretch.
10. My favorite go-to lesson involves a spatial history of the English language, one I borrowed from a beloved prof (now deceased) from UBC... Fred Bowers
11. I sometimes embark on endless bizarre undertakings because someone dares me to in a round-about way... intensive study of anarchism, massive genealogy project, building a web empire, challenging local school district decisions, creating a "Middle Earth 12 course," etc.

Answering Naryn Searcy's questions:

1. How do you balance time spent on face to face relationships in your own district vs online relationships? My online "PLN" is really just a list of tweeps that amuse and/or challenge me... I'm not sure I would call them "relationships" although I do learn from them. I send/receive a hecka lotta emails, but am making headway trying to squeeze my screen time into smaller and smaller daily windows. I reserve as much of my professional face time as I can for get-togethers with teacher friends -- fellow Social Studies teachers aka @pacificslope.
2. Where do you want to go in the world that you haven't been yet? Pretty much anywhere in Great Britain... I've started a list of things to do and see, and it already looks like more than can happen in one trip.
3. Are you a morning or night person? Usually morning, although if there is some stress or pressure I often put in late nights, too. I'm usually awake by 5:30, and have slept in past 9:30 only a handful of times in my life.
4. What was the last book you read/movie you watched or song you listened to? Reading: Fall of Arthur by Tolkien (posthumous publication), listening to Graceland today (introduced the album to my daughter), saw The Hobbit DOS a couple of weeks ago.
5. In what school/position do you think you "grew up" as an educator? My current school.  In keeping with William Blake, my Innocence as an educator was College Heights (1996-2003) and my Experience is D.P. Todd (2004-present)
6. What is one thing you would miss if you had to leave the community you currently live in? Friends, family, my street, the Knowing that comes from living in a place for 40ish years.
7. What is the source you rely on most for news about what's going on in the world? CBC web/radio, twitter articles, some alternate media.
8. What is your favourite movie and why? Groundhog Day, for reasons I don't fully understand.
9. Who will win the SuperBowl and Stanley Cup this year? I don't watch sports so I have no idea about NFL or NHL... it would be nice for the Canucks to win once, but only if they don't get drunk, tip cars, loot and burn.
10. If your son/daughter wanted to enter the field of education right now, would you encourage them? BC K-12??? Probably not, unless wages, respect for teachers, and relationship with management improved drastically. There are parts of the job that are unrivalled, absoutely fulfilling, but there are also parts that are mind-numbing and unduly stressful.  If my kid is going to be poor and misunderstood, I'd rather they be an artist or musician!
11. What is a good moment from 2013? Watching my kids at a recent swim club meet -- progress and confidence. Taking a moment recently to be in awe over my wife as she holds 2 part-time jobs (including elected school trustee) plus amazing mom and potter. For me, having the local university recognize a "Tolkien-themed" course I developed as an academic credit for admissions.

My questions for 11 others in my PLN:

1. If you morphed into an all-round Olympic athlete, what would be your Winter Sport and your Summer Sport?
2. What was the most interesting book or written work you read in 2013 (and was it paper or digital)?
3. What is a major change you would make to the BC Education system?
4. What is a work of art (any genre or form) that inspires or challenges you?
5. Considering the wealth of oil in northern Alberta that we seem anxious to liquidate in a single generation, are you in favour of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline?
6. What is a food experience that you wish on your children (or nieces/nephews)?
7. If your house was burning, but insurance would cover the obvious expensive items and your family & pets were safe, what meaningful artifact would you rescue from your home?
8. If you had to pick a different career than the one you're in, what would it be?
9. If you were to ever publish a book, what would you like it to be about?
10. What was a great event or experience in your work life from 2013 (e.g. teacher experience for many of you)?
11. What was a great family moment from 2013?

Here are the 11 people I'm inviting to do their homework, in alphabetical order... there are others in my "PLN" but they seem to have done this thing already, or they don't blog so they will find this activity frustrating. Some of these folks I just want to hear more from, others I have included because it will annoy them (Rob, Kate) and if they do this they can totally skip the last step of passing this on... but all of them excellent folks to follow on twitter for a variety of reasons:

• Andrew Campbell @acampbell99
• Steve Chase @Chase_Steve
• Kate Cooke @TrusteeCooke
• Kelley Inden @ksinden
• Bryan Jackson @bryanjack
• Andrew Kurjata @akurjata
• Rob Lewis @Lewy007
• Kathy Rice @Kathy_Rice
• Tobey Steeves @symphily
• Chris Wejr @ChrisWejr
• Rhea Woolgar @mizwooly

Added challenge... optional: if you post your response on a blog or such, include a random childhood pic of yourself. The one I placed at the top shows my first bike in 1973 -- 4th birthday.

The Crying Tree

A gnarled tolkien-like box elder (or manitoba maple) used to live on our front lawn right beside the curb. It was a delight to our children - the perfect climbing tree, filled with dozens of burls and natural places to sit or stand, half sheltered from the street below. When one of our kids was really upset or angry, and we had used up our meagre bag of parenting tricks, we would take them out to sit up in the tree until they had calmed down. As they got older, we could sometimes just send them out to the Crying Tree when they needed a break from whatever was brewing inside the house.

Lu was just a baby when we first used the tree for Comfort. I set her down, wrapped in a blanket and screaming, on the first burl-ledge and stood there thinking about why I got so upset she got upset. The twilight and fresh air, the play of fall leaves above her, seemed to work almost instantly, and when we came inside we had a name for the tree.

The last formal visit to the tree belonged to Kate and Finn, who climbed up to the big fork to have a deep conversation about something, now forgotten, that was very important at the time. In between these mileposts, it was a fort, hiding spot, guardpost, cat-perch, and tower in a castle. In addition to children, it was host to many woodpeckers, especially in the last few years, and was part of the squirrel highway that allowed safe passage along the street, out of reach by cats.

The tree has been dying for few years, a victim of whatever had caused the teeming burls, and it became clear that we had to do something with it before the rot set in. The City of Prince George made our decision for us, and came with chainsaws and a woodchipper to take it down last summer. We salvaged as many burls as we could, and handed them over to a local woodturner (Greg Clarke) to dry the wood and work them into something we could keep. He fashioned 20 or more objects from the tree, most of which we received today.

The Crying Tree bore witness to our laughter and tears, to our street barbecues, to our comings and goings, and our attempts to make a Hobbit-home out of our house. It had the power to calm, and was a source of fascination for neighbours and strangers alike. They gave it names like the Booby Tree, the Gnarly Tree, and the Schmoo Tree. On account of the low growths and step-like architecture, many of the kids nearby had their first solo tree-climbing experience here. I can remember at least three conversations when we were all talking out on the street and some kid asks a parent "can I climb this tree?" and the parent looks at it for a bit and says "yeah, of course, why wouldn't you."

The Crying Tree was a staging area for many games and role-plays that I was never privy to, a source of secrets and schemes, but it was the Comfort it gave to my kids when they were sad that makes me most thankful. The tree will have to continue this important work now as the Crying Bowls; maybe there is still some role they will play in the emotional health of our family.

Domination of Black

My class is having a Week of Poetry right now, and I've asked them to both find, share, and explain some poetry with us for our Friday Seminar. This is our weekly conversation where half the class circles around some core ideas from recent lessons for an hour, the other half works on independent projects, then we switch for the second hour. I'm not sure I'll have time to present "my poem" so I've flipped it over here for the students, and also as an exercise for myself.

Here's a reading of the poem I put together a couple of years ago:

I came across the poem Domination of Black by Wallace Stevens in two ways. First, it was in a book of poems that belonged to my dad (the book now belongs to me!).  My dad connected with a number of poets while in university in the 1960s, including Stevens, T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, William Carlos Williams, and the Romantics.  Books of these poets dwelt in our house when I as young, at first collecting dust in the basement, but slowly making their way onto my bookshelf. Thought the lens of these books, the smell and sparse artwork on the book, the poems and marginalia inside, I developed a sense that they were keys to unlock a portrait of my dad as a young man. And, as this kind of work goes, they were small signs of what I might be, pointing towards questions that I might ask about life, faith, love, purpose, and truth.  That's what poems should do... kick you in the existential ass and beg questions. I also prefer that they tell some kind of story. I can't remember if Domination of Black was one of the poems I stumbled across during this time of discovery, but other poems from Wallace Stevens stand out in my memory, particularly "The Man With The Blue Guitar." I wish I would have known more about jazz back then... the poetry would have made much more sense.

My second, more deliberate introduction to the poem occurred in university. My good friend Derk had heard his prof, Grove Powell, recite the poem in class and was particularly stirred by the experience. I planned to take Dr. Powell's class one day, but in the mean time we read the poem together and talked about a central idea: proliferation of resemblances, the notion that under examination, under poetic scrutiny, many things in life come together as one and it is possible to derive similar meaning from any subject if it is turned the right way. This was so important to us in our early 20s -- what did the world want from us, what did it all mean? Our close and intense observations of nature -- what was this telling us, what were we to believe if everything could be made into anything? The poem was a touchstone for memorable conversations over a number of years. Eventually the use of the word "turn" and the title itself became keys to the questions we were asking. The "turning" that occurs was a comment on poetic craft, on the act of using language to carefully consider separate images, like turning them over in one's hand, but also turning them into something, into each other, or something new (like a woodturner makes a bowl out of a burl).  Of course this led me back to the original dilemma, if "this" is like "that," and "that" is like" this," what has meaning?  Is the grand connection of all things, the ecology of meanings, the point of life? Or is the act of turning, of crafting images, or making poetic leaps, a necessary step for an "aware" person to make sense of the world?  This is where the title helped.  If all things can be made to seem like all others (through a proliferation of resemblances), what stands out?  In art, this would be the negative space, sometimes called the black space. Imagine a swirling jazz song, at times simple and melodious, at times raucous and doubling back on itself. How do we make sense of something complex. It is the small breaks in the music, or the line turns in poetry, or the background on an artwork, the things left out, the ideas we have yet to encounter or recoil from, the domination of black, that give shape and meaning to the main subject or set of images, to the part of life that is currently in focus. This still leaves me with many questions about the poem and also the topic of "resemblances," but that's where my thinking left off last time I delved into it.

I have deliberately avoided much on the topic of Domination of Black, i,e, literary criticism and interpretations.  I have such clear and meaningful connections with this poem and its meaning that I don't want to cloud it with what the experts have to say.  Not forever, mind you... I don't think my understanding of this poem is complete, nor am I satisfied with what I know now.

So that's the long way of saying that this poem has left a mark on my identity. To be a person that takes things seriously, that brings everything they know to almost everything that happens, is to be a person that is haunted by unturned stones from the past, present, and future, a person who is dominated by black.  I find respite in a poem that allows me to know this about myself, and at the same time gives me a sense of calm in making lyrically, emotionally, and intellectually elegant connections between the phenomena in my life.

I did end up taking Grosvenor Powell's English class in 1990 or 1991, but he did not read Domination of Black. He read a great deal many other things, though, and I think I still lean back on my chair and speak slowly with a deep register when reading poetry largely because he did. O to be that impressionable again!

Here's the text of the poem:

Uphill Battle

After a few professional conversations in the last while, I've come to the conclusion that we face many uphill battles when it comes to student-centered learning and other tenets behind what dominates the Ed Reform Circuit (e.g. the BC Edplan). I do believe these are battles worth fighting, but it is not without casualties.

I'd like to visit of few of these battles... let's start with Active Learning/Student Ownership:

Why we do it: we've come to associate passive learning with "the old ways" of doing school, receiving learning rather than constructing meaning, and we've spent a lot of time talking and trying to introduce more active learning. This takes many forms, but usually starts with students getting their own grasp of learning intentions, and designing many of the ways by which they will meet these intentions, with a focus on participation at each step, no sitting back and simply taking it in. This effort is often associated with critical thinking, constructivist learning, self-regulation, and authentic inquiry. It is done to combat apathy and increase relevance.

Casualties: it is hard work for students to be "on" all the time at school. This doesn't necessarily mean they are apathetic, it usually means they have enough on their plates (their interests, concerns, drama, problems, dreams, goals), that they are not willing to invest all of their "presence" and energy to your creative exploration of grammar, your innovative math lesson, or your backstory on John A. Macdonald. They are polite, though, so passive learning often seems a reasonable compromise. "We'll sit here and do most of what you ask as long as you don't push us too hard." I see this same sentiment among adults in the meetings, PD sessions, and public lectures I attend. Few have the capacity to sustain full engagement and active participation; we are simply not used to it and need to have breaks, sometimes just to listen for a bit, watch a video, doodle in the margins, get lost in our thoughts. As we raise the bar (e.g. expect and facilitate more self-direction and engagement), many of our students will jump higher, push themselves more, but it is also clear that those not reaching the bar find despair. This is the fundamental reason why so many teachers design banal, completion-based assessment for students -- it provides an easy way out for disengaged students. Easy to mark, students rarely complain, only the most truant and reluctant learners ever need to know course failure. If we truly expect students to own their learning, and are willing to back this up with interventions, support systems, etc. in exchange for high standards (e.g. the kinds of performance or evidence or learning that comes from engaged students), we need to be ready for the mess when students give up. School can indeed be a place of wonderment, discovery -- entertaining and engaging -- but it is also a place of work, some of it hard and uncomfortable, and a place of deferred rewards, requiring grit and patience. This second part is missing from most ed reformers lingo when they describe the magic of 21st Century Learning -- it is assumed that student-centered learning automatically engages students and leverages their passion. This is why it is an uphill battle -- students will often default to their comfort zone, and are more than happy to drift along without being challenged by their teacher or others. Maybe the years of compulsory schooling have done this to them, maybe it a basic human trait to seek comfort and safety (and boredom). We should also recognize that disengagement and perceived apathy does not have to be the fault of schools -- we live in a messed-up society rife with nature deficit, idiotic role models, corrupt rulers, corporate cynicism, engineered class divisions, sexualized media, digital addiction, and enablement of many kinds. That's for mainstream kids, for all. Add the lingering (and ongoing) impacts of colonialism, drugs, and abusive scenarios and it is no wonder that so many of our vulnerable students suffer from toxic stress and mental illness. Disconnect in all its forms happens long before they get to my class. Nonetheless, one must do what one can, and we can laugh at ourselves a little bit, acknowledge that the road ahead is steep, and carry out the idea that one of the best tickets for a better future is to get the most out of high school and emerge with both a diploma and a skill set for life, study, and work. Of course, it would help if they just showed up (ok, attendance is an uphill battle all on it's own).

Needed to win: persistence. Teachers need the license (permission from themselves, support from their community & employer, time to do it) to experiment with their designs for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. For example, I think we need something intermediate between failing a course and simply shunting kids through who are "close enough" (had some ideas about this last year) -- this would take some real time and collaboration to figure out, though, and this is hard to squeeze into a teacher's schedule (and too few administrators take on these challenges). In most schools, it is one or the other for reluctant and disengaged learners -- fail or squeak out a close pass -- often with indistinguishable effort. The fear of making kids sad or engaging their parents means that the quick pass is pushed as the default. We need to get over the widespread use of cursory interventions designed to push kids through to "minimally meets expectations" -- it sends all the wrong messages and does not lead to engagement. It teaches students that a little more or less than their mediocre effort is all it take to get by, just put in some time, complete whatever "work" you have with you, and we'll pretend that you've mastered some learning outcomes. We need to patiently persist, drop our own mediocre lessons and disengaging activities one by one, and collect our own data about the projects, trajectories, and assessments that build understanding for discouraged learners and also challenge our top performers. More than that, if we value critical thinking, constructivist learning, self-regulation, and authentic inquiry, then we need to build our assessments to measure these things. Along with other members of the Pacific Slope Consortium, this has been almost the sole focus of my PD over the last 3 years (e.g. Time for a New Exam). I'm sure others have more succinct ideas for how to navigate the challenges of engagement, the seemingly natural tendency of students to expect passivity in their school experience. Love to hear them. UPDATE: I came across this awesome blog while thinking about how teachers can shift the focus in their class to active student engagement --  a frank account of one teacher trying to unlearn bad habits and try on some new ones http://relearningtoteach.blogspot.ca. I think we need more of this kind of honest self-reflection and willingness to experiment.

Other "battles" I'd like to visit: AFL, Digital Learning, "depth vs breadth" curriculum change, personalized learning, PBL, and flipped classrooms.

Image source: http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/offside-rewind-uphill-battle.html

Peace and Remembrance 2013

The photo shows my grandpa Johann Heinrich Enns who served in the Russian Forestry and Non-combatant Medical Service during WWI. As a conscientious objector, this was the alternative duty afforded to German-speaking Mennonite colonists who refused to bear arms against other human beings. The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution ended the war and sent my grandfather home to his family in Neu-Samara, Central Russia (southwest of the Ural Mountains). It was then that the real terror began for the Mennonites in Russia. Between the frequent thieving raids from the Red Army (and sometimes White Army), wanton murder and molestation from gangs of bandits, they faced starvation, drought and crop failure, outbreaks of typhus, cholera, and malaria.

In the midst of this chaos, my grandfather married my grandmother Anna Loewen in 1921; their first home was a sod house on her father's farm. The first two children born to them on the cold Russian Steppe lived 18 months and 6 months respectively before succumbing to typhus and pneumonia. In the growing national fear and acts of state-sponsored terror against all who opposed communism (or held land, or spoke German, or withheld crops, or even their wives and children), many Russian Mennonites fled to Canada. My grandparents left in 1925, not long before this exodus became impossible. They arrived in Quebec on the SS Minnedosa, and (as my aunt writes in a family history book) "must have looked like a real show piece standing there on the dock in their plain dress with 'Schemadaun' in hand, not knowing a single word of English between them." By the time they had established a farm of their own in southern Saskatchewan, they managed to get one good crop yield in 1928 before the Great Depression made life difficult once more. Still, they raised 10 children in the Canadian prairies and never saw the ravages of war up close again.

War and service means different things to different people. For my, grandfather, during WWI, it meant hard work in the forests at Tossna near Petersburg, followed by two decades of hardships. I knew him as a happy, gentle man, and realize that he had it pretty good compared to others in his family and others who lived and served in WWI.

Thoughts on Peace and Remembrance 2010 and 2011 and 2012.

Open Letter on the State of Technology

Open letter regarding the motions from the last board meeting, the ones about:

• A) reporting to the SD57 Management & Finance Committee about cost-savings associated with single-platform decision in 2010, and 
• B) reporting to the SD57 Education Programs Committee about student learning initiatives using district technology 

Dear Trustees and SD57 Senior Learning Team,

First off, I appreciate your efforts to restart a long overdue conversation. When I attended an open segment of a Management and Finance meeting in April 2010, the audience was assured by the chair that a technology plan would be forthcoming and the topic of district-level leadership and support (for the kind of work with technology that existed at the time) would not be lost. Again in March 2011 a presentation by district staff at Van Bien T&D Centre called "Enhancing Learning using Technology" looked at where innovation was going in the wider world and hinted at directions for 1-1 student access, a BYOD policy, complimentary purchase strategy, improved consultation with schools, cloud computing, the need for planning, and better wifi. Six of these seven topics have stalled; the only tangible result is the availability of wifi in more schools, though not without issues including a reduced level of access and functionality for teachers compared to the wireless systems that were in place prior to 2011. We've been waiting many years for a real tech plan and for a return to a district-level conversation. Perhaps now is the time to see some movement on these goals.

Regarding Motion B), my suggestion would be to ask a number of teachers about this topic (about what is going well and what is not) in addition to the "good news" stories that will be supplied by administration. I, or any former members of the District Tech Team,  can supply an extensive list of teachers who use technology for teaching & learning if this is helpful. Another source of public information is the substantial district input given on the 2011 "Enhancing Learning" presentation. Morris Scarpino collected this information and I have kept an archive if the data is hard to find. The feedback from the PGSS Tech Committee was particularly lucid (see link below).

Regarding Motion A), my suggestion would be to ask a more relevant set of questions about the state of technology in our district. I am puzzled as to why the board would choose a question about cost-savings in order to start a conversation about how "learning empowered by technology" (aka BC Edplan) can remove roadblocks in SD57. The financial result of technology decisions and directions is fairly clear -- there has been a substantial cost-savings associated with educational technology since 2010 as a result of many factors:

• single-platform consolidation 
• non-replacement of key features, software, and services that were provided prior to 2010 
• adjustments to "greening" schedules (computer lab replacements) 
• elimination of the District Principal of Technology position (formerly a District Resource Teacher position) 
• elimination of the District Technology Team and associated release time for DTT members and "Key Tech Contacts" 
• rejection or deferral of technology innovation requests and project proposals at multiple sites 
• reduction of school technology allocations (e.g. schools are spending less on technology budgets) 

No doubt there are other factors at play, and perhaps the district budget picture will indicate that total expenditure on technology remains high despite the cutbacks since 2010. Having a leaner technology presence at the district level may be positive in a decentralized model, but this has not translated to more independence for schools to make technology decisions. The point is that we spend less now, and face more restrictions than we did four years ago, for key aspects of technology that support learning and the work of teachers with a vision for how learning can be enhanced through technology. The vibrancy sparked by leadership and district-level collaboration, the engagement of teachers, and impact on students as a result of technology is simply not where it was a few years ago, in part due to financial decisions and in part due to approach. While most districts in BC are increasingly hardware-agnostic, and have embraced mobile technology as integral part of school technology planning, our district is still silent on basic questions about where we are going with educational technology. On a classroom by classroom basis, no doubt you will find amazing, creative, and powerful uses of educational technology by teachers and students; this happens as much in spite of, rather than because of district policy and direction.

I'm sure my thoughts on the topic of reviving a rich culture of technology innovation are not new to you; I have spoken and written extensively about this topic and and would be happy to provide case studies and references to support the arguments I have made. I can also share some very positive examples of how educational technology is being used and how this relates to budget priorities.

Finally, last year I invited those of you who had attended the BCED Leadership Fall Conference to think about and respond to three challenges that face our school district. The second one was the most relevant to technology in SD57 -- I've reposted these challenges here: http://thielmann.blogspot.ca/2013/11/bced-leadership-conference-year-later.html

Additional references:

• How a school district got past hardware debates and simply supported technology as one aspect of great teaching & learning: http://cultureofyes.ca/2013/10/15/when-teachers-have-devices/
• Why a complimentary purchase strategy is necessary for districts with BYOD programs (same author): http://cultureofyes.ca/2012/01/26/bring-your-own-technology-and-thinking-about-equity/
• Follow the thoughts of a former SD57 administrator in a new environment where the tech conversation results in less not more barriers: http://members.shaw.ca/technolandy/web/Technologization.html
• Two previous posts on this topic: http://www.thielmann.blogspot.ca/2012/10/the-forbidden-ipad.html and http://thielmann.blogspot.ca/2011/09/mind-gap.html
• April 2011 feedback by PGSS Technology Committee on the "Enhancing Learning" district presentation: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gmqp5si66zm8c9q/PGSSTechFeedback.pdf

Best regards,
Glen Thielmann
http://thielmann.ca

BCED Leadership Conference a Year Later

Last year, I wrote about my experiences as a participant and presenter at the BC Superintendent's Association BCED Leadership Conference. I had hoped that other SD57 participants would offer their own perspective, but I am still left wondering how our district staff and trustees felt about the relative progress of our school district in light of the stunning exemplars from around the province. I would suggest that we have three major challenges that stuck out in comparison with other school districts:

1. Need to pursue more creative and meaningful experiments in collaboration, both formal and informal. The idea of a regulated collaboration system with prescribed topics sits on the ridiculous end of the spectrum -- there were a few districts doing this -- do any of our school still do this? We need "co-creative" habits modeled at all levels, and active support for any group that embarks on a promising path moving from "sharing of practice" to "joint practice development." For example, the practice shared by David Hargreaves of one school staff visiting another school’s staff at work (and vice versa) led to diverse collaborations. Not suggesting we try this, but asking the question about what culture and design would need to be in place for this sort of thing to happen in our district? The need exists from the classroom to the boardroom. Simply acknowledging that we interact with partner groups is not enough; we should move into an interdependent relationship where we actually meet each other's ambitious goals. What actions would result if we asked powerful questions about the strengths of and challenges to our collaboration across the organization?
2. Need for more thoughtful planning on technology. Our narrow focus on managing systems, maintaining network integrity, controlling platforms, reducing costs, and banning devices to comply with backroom purchasing decisions are holding us back. We need free-wheeling, inclusive, formal discussions on integrating technology into learning (to compliment the informal professional learning on the topic that already happens), and a support plan that begins with pedagogy. One the elephants in our room is the inexplicable and hushed decision to ban ipad purchase requests (and other devices and technologies) from principals and teachers for student use. Another elephant is the collapse of district-wide educator teamwork on tech philosophy and implementation -- the platform or devices is not the issue, it is the avoidance of a pedagogical discussion that leverages technology. The once-vibrant culture for collaboration on technology in our district died a few years ago and we are now left with an appalling lack of interaction between teachers and district leaders on technology. The examples across the province showed how good tech blends into the background of solid teaching and learning, but nonetheless requires district-wide dialogue, planning, training, support and shared decision-making. Every district that told me they had a BYOD (bring your own device) philosophy also had a complimentary purchasing strategy based on the expressed needs of educators. Our "prime directive" with tech needs to shift from network security & standardization to teaching & learning, creating & collaborating. These are not incompatible but the priority is important. To be blunt, the longer our school district sits on these issues, the more we losing technology capacity, educator excitement, and student interest.
3. Need for improved communication and celebration of success. We certainly saw amazing provincial evidence from blended learning programs, attachment strategies, environmental and community connections, innovation with technology, collaborative practice, and students showing leadership. What’s happening in SD57? For educator examples, we have had some success with the mentorship program and learning team grants, but they are for the most part well-kept secrets. For student examples, each school I'm sure is doing uplifting work with kids -- but the success is often hidden. Adding more leadership structures or responsibilities is not necessary, we just need to "release the hounds" and benefit from the energy that is already at work (and often at odds with dominant thinking). We need to keep working on developing social media, website, news media and conversational connections to share our good work with the larger stakeholder community that supports us, as well as for our own professional learning and work with students.

In short, if we want to talk about 21st century skills we have to plan for them and model them ourselves. Our province is pervaded with high quality examples, no need to look very far to see high bars for collaboration, tech planning, and communication. We have a long way to go here, but we also have lots of positive examples in our midst, thought often hidden among the underbrush. I was, nonetheless, proud to represent our district because the people I work and learn with place a high priority on the development of all children and generally have a good sense of humour... they put up with my blog posts, for example. It would be awesome, though, to get even a single response from any one of the folks who attended the leadership conference. Sending a dozen or so delegates to this conference cost our school district about $18000, and while there is no formal duty for senior admin and trustees to publicly share what they learned or respond to a fellow delegate, I am puzzled as to why they would not. This is not "holding your feet to the fire" this is a genuine invitation to dialogue... teachers, principals, parents, even students are interested to know what educational leaders get from a professional learning experience, especially one that centered around how schools and districts are implementing personalized learning and the BC Education Plan.

Ancient Forest

A couple Fridays ago I took my Language & Landscape group out on a bus to the Ancient Forest, a local hiking trail about 110 km east of Prince George. The paths lead through a unique ecosystem found almost nowhere else on earth -- an inland temperate rainforest. This particular patch is the most northern expression of this wetbelt ecosystem, part old-growth cedar forest but also part of the great boreal forest that stretches across most of Canada. Adding to the ecological story is the fact that the forest has "antique" qualities; very old trees with snags, openings, and diverse structure. Some of the enormous Western Redcedars (Thuja Plicata) are as old as 2000 years and may be one of the first to inhabit the region -- pollen samples from local lake bottoms reveal that Thuja only comes on the scene about 2500 years ago. There are also species of lichens in the canopy that are found in only a few locations in the world, none of which are even close to the northern interior of British Columbia. The Ancient Forest is a biodiversity capsule that holds stories from the time of Alexander the Great.

With a few students absent, it was a merry gang of 20 that climbed out of the bus into a dense fog that filled the entire valley of the Upper Fraser. I had a few questions in my head, learning intentions that I hoped could be fulfilled in the 2 or 3 hours we had in this place, but I also had enough experience to know that whatever happened would probably be fine, for there were 19 others that had their own ideas about fun and field trips. Here is what I wondered, and here is how it turned out:

1. What is the nature of this place? What themes or thoughts or actions make sense in this place?

• Traditional Ecological Knowledge - the cedars are foundational to Aboriginal culture in BC (building material, ceremonial purposes etc.); the dominant understory shrub here is Devil's Club (Oplopanax horribilis), also an important plant for First Peoples, primarily  for powerful medicine as I understand it. There is a lot of potential for both the study and, with some respectful protocol, the practice of ethobotany.  We saw wild ginger on our walk (delicacy), but we also saw a highly poisonous hellabore.
• Ecosystem Relationships - as mentioned above this place is unique and it is possible to see variety of biogeoclimatic processes at work.  For example, understanding soil moisture on this slope position anf within the local subclimate is key to understanding why these forests contain giant redcedars instead of the usual spruce, pine, and fir.  This forest offers many opportunities to examine the nurtrient cycle and the stages of forest renewal.  Beneath the rootwheels thrown up by trees blown over in winter storms there are natural soil pits that allowed us to see and touch the "till" (parent material) and clay loam (surface soil). We also happened across Dave King, a famous hiker and trail-maker in our region who was repairing a section of board walk.  He gave our group short talk and lent me his shovel and pulaski so I could did a little soil pit to show why these soils were part of the reason why the redcedars thrived. Digging through the first bit of humus was the opening to talk about biodiversity. Boreal and sub-boreal forests (like this rainforest) owe much of their vitality to biological action in the soil, whereas in tropical rainforests most of the action is in the canopy.

2. How much can or should I wrangle students; is it important for me to convey what I find valuable about this forest?

• In the end, I think it is important to throw out some "teacher wisdom" when the scene is right, but there is only so much control that can be expected when you have teens running around in a forest. 
• Maybe the key is to have a few places to stop with something specific in mind, rather than trying to create running commentary. This feels much more like being "present" which in the case of the Ancient Forest is not hard. Lots of "presence" in there to attend to.

3. What does nature/place-based learning look like? What can we learn about ourselves from this specific place?

• For me this came down to senses. The sweet forest debris, the wash of scented needles born down on the mist, the noise of water (trickles here and there, a substantial waterfall at the top), the sounds of twigs breaking and students calling out and laughing. There was a warm and cool about the day, a chance to get dirt on one's hands and to feel something sharp in the form of a rock or branch stub. This simply does not happen in a classroom.
• I tried to do two things to get students out of their urban armour. First, I led about half of them off the path into some blowdown and brush -- by led I mean I simply ran off towards a fallen tree and half of them followed me. Second, I egged almost all of them to climb up to the base of Treebeard Falls and play around in the rocks and water for a while. In the closed-in space (rock walls on three sides, clothed in moss and ferns, glittering stones about our feet), I asked them to close their eyes and listen for 30 seconds, just breath and listen. I have no idea what they got out of that but I sense it was a little magic moment. I felt that way, anyways.
• Some students stuck in a big pack, others wandered around in 2s or 3s, and some were anxious to move on (e.g. pitstops to talk about lichens did not appeal) or did not want to catch up (having fund taking photos or looking at stuff). Learning in nature takes on intense differentiation -- I'm realizing that unusual settings can amplify the identity-rich markers that are often difficult to see when the kids are stuck in the melting pot of a high school. For example, it was easier to see who was a leader, who was a helper, who needed affirmation, who wanted to share stories, and who wanted to experience the perceived learning intentions on their own terms.  This concept was pointed out to me many times by an early mentor, Norm Booth -- we never really know what students learn. We assess student output using our up-to-date tools, and they sometimes tell us what they've learned, but the actual stuff that takes place in their brains is not easily defined; it is abstract and profound, perhaps even sacred.

4. What should I do next time, next semester when I take a group of Grade 12s out here?

• I think a bit more pre-reading is in order, so that the forest denizens (the trees, the devil's club, the valley itself) have more a of backstory for the students.
• I loved that we brought sandwich fixings and made our own lunch. Repeat that.

Thanks to my student DB for the pics... here's three more:

GeoNarratives

For educators and others: this post is intended as a beginning, a draft for a Gr. 11 student project design. Your feedback is welcome, particularly about communicating these lofty ideas to students so they can understand it, managing steps in the project so they don't get lost, assessment suggestions, and weblinks to examples of similar projects appreciated. I'll also be seeking "critical friends" feedback at Mumbleypeg 2013, an annual meeting of the Pacific Slope Consortium. Virtually all of the students at my school have conducted Heritage Projects or Echo Projects of one flavour or another in Social Studies 9, 10, or 11. This means that they have spent considerable time gathering evidence and stories about past cultures and locations, mainly ones within their own family. For my current group taking Geography 12 and English 11 together in the Language and Landscape Program, I want to provoke them to examine the role that geography played in those stories, and to engage in writing and other creative expression to deconstruct these narratives. We will be assigning a significant number of our learning outcomes to this project, and working through it off and on for about two months.

Enough preamble; here it is:

GeoNarratives: Cross-curricular Project-based Learning about People and Places

Each of us has rich stories in our past, stories that woven together with places. For some, it is the tale of our ancestors as they endured challenges that we can only imagine. For others, the people, places and stories are more immediate, still present within our lives. In all cases there is direct and indirect evidence hiding in language, food, and song, and written into physical and cultural landscapes. 

This project will require building a “geography” and creating a “narrative” -- specifically:

• heritage inquiry: taking the stories from your personal and cultural background and examining patterns, geographic relationships, and significance -- applying critical geographic thinking to an authentic context 
• creative non-fiction: writing and creating narratives based on research -- perhaps there is some short cross-over into historical fiction and personal myth-making, but at its heart is the telling of a story that connects to your heritage 
• embodiment: putting your senses, your artistic side, your physical presence into your research and presentation -- creative expressions of the parts of your research that you find most compelling 

 Aside from the critical thinking and creativity involved, some specific skills will be developed:

• careful use of technology: placing a digital stamp on this project -- use of an online portfolio, use of technology for research and/or expression, experimenting with something new 
• literature review and wordtake: surveying the reading and media that relates to your inquiry and using some of it to explore Self and Other, or global issues that impacted your own backstory

This is a broad framework created by your teacher, but it is important that you design the questions that will allow this to be meaningful to you. As your teacher, I can provide as much structure as you think you need to be successful with this project, including narrowing down your topics, suggesting courses of action, and helping you embed “benchmarks of geographic inquiry.” With all this in mind you are free to take this project in new directions, as long as we consider certain learning outcomes that are basic to English Language Arts and Geography, including a high standard for writing.

GeoNarratives at a glance -- considering the impact of geography on the stories from one’s past

The final presentation of your GeoNarrative will take in four parts:

1. sharing the part of your portfolio that shows your heritage research, literature review, and critical analysis (the conclusions you have made about both the topic and your learning)
2. sharing some or all of the creative non-fiction (or historical fiction) that you have built around your research 
3. sharing a performative piece that you made to express or symbolize the deep part of your learning during this project 
4. use of at least one effective of digital technology in the process of project creation or presentation 

Project Steps (not always in this sequence):

1. look at and assess example of creative non-fiction, heritage inquiry, and “geographies” 
2. develop questions and designs for your project 
3. accumulate primary and secondary evidence and conduct a variety of research 
4. co-develop aspects of your project and evaluation criteria with student groups and the teacher 
5. create the pieces that make up your project 
6. prepare the pieces for sharing, including presentation 
7. share and present your project 
8. reflection, celebration, and evaluation 

Examples of stories that would work well as GeoNarratives:

• immigration experiences, so different depending on location and time period 
• wartime from civilian or a soldier’s perspective 
• grandma’s garden, grandpa’s workshop; practicing bygone skills and trades 
• working on the land; pioneering and homesteading 
• outdoor lifestyles, a tradition of hunting or fishing 
• managing a farm and family, homemaking in the past 

Examples of global issues that could be examined within your project:

• a study of racism/tolerance, language acquisition, or labour market among new immigrants 
• evolving role and treatment of women in various places, cultures, and time periods 
• aboriginal ways of knowing and relationship between First Nations and the broader society 
• the power of wealth: studies of “class” and differences between rich and poor 
• citizenship, rights and democracy: how much freedom or “agency” did historic groups really have 
• the idea of sustainability and the relationship that different peoples have with the environment 
• grief and hope: how did historic groups cope with challenges (could tie in to religious studies) 

Examples of evidence that would support a GeoNarrative:

• non-fiction, documentaries, history books and websites, academic studies 
• novels, short stories, works of fiction and poetry from the time period and place that you are examining 
• artwork or crafts such as paintings, architecture, sketches, sculptures, carvings, jewelry, tools, heirlooms 
• primary evidence, journals, memoirs, recollections, artifacts, photographs, recipes, travelogues, interviews 
• genealogical websites, graveyards, government records, family history books 
• existing “human geography” connected to your topics (studies that parallel your inquiry), historical atlases

Examples of a performative piece:

• musical creation (e.g. write a song), interpretive dance, historical re-enactment, water colour painting, original poetry, food creation, a model or diorama, puppet show, simulation, class activity, video reflection, narrated slideshow, interactive display, build something

Examples of a digital stamp:

• use of QR codes to link to key evidence, like a reader’s guide for someone to understand your work 
• creating an attractive space in your digital portfolio to display some of your work (lots of applications to try for this one) 
• using video or computer animation for part of your project 
• conducting interviews via Skype and archiving part of it as portfolio evidence 
• use of social media for “curating” (assessing and organizing) research or telling/sharing a story

Examples of a projects that put together many strands of inquiry:

• Cigar-Box Project http://www.thinkinginmind.com/cigar-box-project/
• Seven Geography-themed projects from High Tech High http://www.hightechhigh.org/pbl/
• Learning Geography in the 21st Century http://mahara.umeedu.maine.edu/view/view.php?t=ymiKptgDcakl5JUIeJ1k
• Zombie-based learning - Geography curriculum http://www.zombiebased.com/

Note on the image at the top: this is a map of the Molotchna colony -- home to Mennonites who left Prussia to settle in this part of South Russia from the 1780s onwards.  After WWI and the Russian Revolution, many of these Mennonites fled to North America, including all four of my grandparents. One of my own GeoNarratives is very much connected to this time, place, and people.

Professional Development has changed

Professional Development (PD) has changed in the last 15 years. For those of you who taught in the 80s and 90s, think back to a time before pervasive email, a comprehensive internet, and widespread social media. PD happened in trickles throughout the year and with singular emphasis on designated days — these were one of the few times when teachers “received” PD in the form of a workshop, presentation, or group conversation. They tended to be high-stakes in the sense that there were few other formal opportunities for teachers to orient themselves to the new ideas that circulated in the education world. My first few years of teaching was like this: hit-and-miss presenters, and random professional conversations around shared subject areas. The boundary between that and the outside world was pretty narrow and virtually unexplored. Other colleagues tell me this was a "golden age" --lots of organized PD (in the form of guest presenters) and he rest was quiet and unassuming. Now, for better or worse, we are saturated in educational ideas, competing paradigms, "must-read" professional articles, layers of jargon (each one "scaffolding" the next), intriguing links, and cures for what ails us in education — professional learning materials, ideas, and networks are available 24/7. In short, we are connected.

Much of the "ubiquitous PD" buzz has been facilitated by technology and the mobile devices that few of us are far from. For example, a brief foray into educational hashtags on Twitter reveals a river of PD that teachers can draw from sparingly or jump into with both feet. More than one teacher-tweeter has referred to twitter as a "firehose of PD." Thousands of BC educators contribute daily; it is hard not to be humbled by the sheer volume of earnest inquiry.

The buzz extends past social media. In many of our schools we have built in collaborative time or similar structures and release grants to continue the learning that used to take place in hallways between class. The last few years has also seen the rise of EdCamps, Open Space, and Unconferencing — all of which are recognition that teachers want to compare notes and challenge or support each other far more than they want to be passive recipients of expert conclusions, no matter how brilliant. These trends also speak to the power of informal learning. This is accompanied by a growing reluctance to spend our PD time alone — we get enough isolation from adults in our daily teaching, and social media leaves us craving something more embodied.

As we adjust to the ubiquitous nature of PD, it becomes more important that official PD days offer these opportunities to unpack or take stock of recent learning, to mull over and reflect on what this means for coming months, and to fuse or synthesize the ideas in the room into something useful or inspirational for ourselves and our students. For many, professional learning is a life-long habit, particularly for those who have made the digital PD leap and are rarely unconnected from other educators. Among the "connected" there is an awareness that formal PD time isn't about taking in new information or having PD “done to you.” Whether our handful of PD days each school year are spent as individual teacher inquiry or a co-creative process among colleagues, the customs are undergoing a significant shift and our administrative leaders, teacher leaders and associations need to change the way we frame, organize, and seek accountability for our PD time. Meetings of any kind — PD, staff, committee, boards — need to realize that assembling simply to hear information is no longer necessary (even offensive in some ways). Just as we're learning to shift our classrooms from content delivery to more dynamic, interactive practice, so to our meetings need to shift to acknowledge that solid communication is more than just passing on information; it requires conversation.

I have been very fortunate to have spent much of my PD time in the last few years with members of my personal learning network — they have challenged me to examine the ultimate implications of my actions on the social and intellectual development of my students, and we have kept each other accountable for high standards as educators. Most of this is done face-to-face, but we've left some space in our collective inquiry for social media — subtle, ongoing infusion of new ideas into our own conversations, all of us richer for the experience. We have come as close as we can to a common understanding that PD days are the teachers' assessment time for the professional learning that happens all year — a chance to unpack, to mull, and to fuse.

How do you spend your PD time?