Creating a Critical Thinking environment.

1.    Students share in the responsibility for classroom environment

§  cooperative learning techniques

§  group or class discussion leaders

§  project-based learning

2.    Teachers model thinking and support students as they share their thinking strategies

§  Demonstrate by …

-    Approaching ideas tentatively

-    Using questioning techniques

-    Promoting respect for different points of view

§  Question conclusions and encourage student to do likewise

-    Not only … What? Where? When?

-    But also … Why? What if? Why not?

3.    The classroom has an atmosphere of inquiry and openness

§  Students make predictions, gather info, organize it, and question conclusions

§  Teachers provide corrective advice rather than criticism and evaluation

4.    Students are supported, but also challenged to think independently

§  Pay attention to HOW students are thinking

§  Encourage students to investigate and communicate as they go

5.    The classroom arrangement allows students to work together

§  Focus should be on the students, not the teacher

§  Arrange desks in horseshoe or grouped clusters

That WHIZ-BANG lesson.

After a lesson observation this week, I was talking to the teacher who I had observed and the conversation naturally shifted to the demands on teachers and their ability to produce quality lessons. Every teacher would admit time is their biggest barrier to creating the perfect lesson for every class.

With so much admin work to do each week, it seems that our lesson planning is not always our main priority. I can admit that there are some lessons that I could have done better, while, they weren't a disaster, they could have gone a little better.

During the discussion the teacher noted some advise he had been given a long time ago from a university lecturer. His advice was create a 'Whiz-Bang' lesson for every class just once a week. I loved this idea of balance.

So here is my challenge to you all. Create one lesson per class which has that Whiz-Bang effect!

Enjoy

Nigel and Craig

Tuesday Professional Development 13/5/2014

Here is the link to the full TED talk that we watched in today PD. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley/transcript

Also the link to the YouTube clip

http://youtu.be/Dd7FixvoKBw

Below is the transcript of the video:

Thank you very much.

0:16I moved to America 12 years ago with my wife Terry and our two kids. Actually, truthfully, we moved to Los Angeles -- (Laughter) -- thinking we were moving to America, but anyway, it's a short plane ride from Los Angeles to America.

0:37I got here 12 years ago, and when I got here, I was told various things, like, "Americans don't get irony." Have you come across this idea? It's not true. I've traveled the whole length and breadth of this country. I have found no evidence that Americans don't get irony. It's one of those cultural myths, like, "The British are reserved." I don't know why people think this. We've invaded every country we've encountered. (Laughter) But it's not true Americans don't get irony, but I just want you to know that that's what people are saying about you behind your back. You know, so when you leave living rooms in Europe, people say, thankfully, nobody was ironic in your presence.

1:27But I knew that Americans get irony when I came across that legislation No Child Left Behind. Because whoever thought of that title gets irony, don't they, because --(Laughter) (Applause) — because it's leaving millions of children behind. Now I can see that's not a very attractive name for legislation: Millions of Children Left Behind. I can see that. What's the plan? Well, we propose to leave millions of children behind, and here's how it's going to work.

2:04And it's working beautifully. In some parts of the country, 60 percent of kids drop out of high school. In the Native American communities, it's 80 percent of kids. If we halved that number, one estimate is it would create a net gain to the U.S. economy over 10 years of nearly a trillion dollars. From an economic point of view, this is good math, isn't it, that we should do this? It actually costs an enormous amount to mop up the damage from the dropout crisis.

2:41But the dropout crisis is just the tip of an iceberg. What it doesn't count are all the kids who are in school but being disengaged from it, who don't enjoy it, who don't get any real benefit from it.

2:54And the reason is not that we're not spending enough money. America spends more money on education than most other countries. Class sizes are smaller than in many countries. And there are hundreds of initiatives every year to try and improve education.The trouble is, it's all going in the wrong direction. There are three principles on which human life flourishes, and they are contradicted by the culture of education under which most teachers have to labor and most students have to endure.

3:27The first is this, that human beings are naturally different and diverse.

3:35Can I ask you, how many of you have got children of your own? Okay. Or grandchildren.How about two children or more? Right. And the rest of you have seen such children.(Laughter) Small people wandering about. I will make you a bet, and I am confident that I will win the bet. If you've got two children or more, I bet you they are completely different from each other. Aren't they? Aren't they? (Applause) You would never confuse them, would you? Like, "Which one are you? Remind me. Your mother and I are going to introduce some color-coding system, so we don't get confused."

4:20Education under No Child Left Behind is based on not diversity but conformity. What schools are encouraged to do is to find out what kids can do across a very narrow spectrum of achievement. One of the effects of No Child Left Behind has been to narrow the focus onto the so-called STEM disciplines. They're very important. I'm not here to argue against science and math. On the contrary, they're necessary but they're not sufficient. A real education has to give equal weight to the arts, the humanities, to physical education. An awful lot of kids, sorry, thank you — (Applause) — One estimate in America currently is that something like 10 percent of kids, getting on that way, are being diagnosed with various conditions under the broad title of attention deficit disorder. ADHD. I'm not saying there's no such thing. I just don't believe it's an epidemic like this. If you sit kids down, hour after hour, doing low-grade clerical work, don't be surprised if they start to fidget, you know? (Laughter) (Applause) Children are not, for the most part, suffering from a psychological condition. They're suffering from childhood. (Laughter) And I know this because I spent my early life as a child. I went through the whole thing. Kids prosper best with a broad curriculum that celebrates their various talents, not just a small range of them. And by the way, the arts aren't just importantbecause they improve math scores. They're important because they speak to parts of children's being which are otherwise untouched.

6:13The second, thank you — (Applause)

6:19The second principle that drives human life flourishing is curiosity. If you can light the spark of curiosity in a child, they will learn without any further assistance, very often.Children are natural learners. It's a real achievement to put that particular ability out, or to stifle it. Curiosity is the engine of achievement. Now the reason I say this is because one of the effects of the current culture here, if I can say so, has been to de-professionalize teachers. There is no system in the world or any school in the country that is better than its teachers. Teachers are the lifeblood of the success of schools. But teaching is a creative profession. Teaching, properly conceived, is not a delivery system. You know, you're not there just to pass on received information. Great teachers do that, but what great teachers also do is mentor, stimulate, provoke, engage. You see, in the end, education is about learning. If there's no learning going on, there's no education going on. And people can spend an awful lot of time discussing education without ever discussing learning. The whole point of education is to get people to learn.

7:40A friend of mine, an old friend -- actually very old, he's dead. (Laughter) That's as old as it gets, I'm afraid. But a wonderful guy he was, wonderful philosopher. He used to talk about the difference between the task and achievement senses of verbs. You know, you can be engaged in the activity of something, but not really be achieving it, like dieting. It's a very good example, you know. There he is. He's dieting. Is he losing any weight? Not really. Teaching is a word like that. You can say, "There's Deborah, she's in room 34, she's teaching." But if nobody's learning anything, she may be engaged in the task of teaching but not actually fulfilling it.

8:29The role of a teacher is to facilitate learning. That's it. And part of the problem is, I think,that the dominant culture of education has come to focus on not teaching and learning, but testing. Now, testing is important. Standardized tests have a place. But they should not be the dominant culture of education. They should be diagnostic. They should help.(Applause) If I go for a medical examination, I want some standardized tests. I do. You know, I want to know what my cholesterol level is compared to everybody else's on a standard scale. I don't want to be told on some scale my doctor invented in the car.

9:14"Your cholesterol is what I call Level Orange."

9:17"Really? Is that good?""We don't know."

9:23But all that should support learning. It shouldn't obstruct it, which of course it often does. So in place of curiosity, what we have is a culture of compliance. Our children and teachers are encouraged to follow routine algorithms rather than to excite that power of imagination and curiosity. And the third principle is this: that human life is inherently creative. It's why we all have different résumés. We create our lives, and we can recreate them as we go through them. It's the common currency of being a human being. It's why human culture is so interesting and diverse and dynamic. I mean, other animals may well have imaginations and creativity, but it's not so much in evidence, is it, as ours? I mean, you may have a dog. And your dog may get depressed. You know, but it doesn't listen to Radiohead, does it? (Laughter) And sit staring out the window with a bottle of Jack Daniels. (Laughter)

10:27And you say, "Would you like to come for a walk?"

10:29He says, "No, I'm fine. You go. I'll wait. But take pictures."

10:38We all create our own lives through this restless process of imagining alternatives and possibilities, and what one of the roles of education is to awaken and develop these powers of creativity. Instead, what we have is a culture of standardization.

10:53Now, it doesn't have to be that way. It really doesn't. Finland regularly comes out on topin math, science and reading. Now, we only know that's what they do well at because that's all that's being tested currently. That's one of the problems of the test. They don't look for other things that matter just as much. The thing about work in Finland is this:they don't obsess about those disciplines. They have a very broad approach to education which includes humanities, physical education, the arts.

11:23Second, there is no standardized testing in Finland. I mean, there's a bit, but it's not what gets people up in the morning. It's not what keeps them at their desks.

11:35And the third thing, and I was at a meeting recently with some people from Finland, actual Finnish people, and somebody from the American system was saying to the people in Finland, "What do you do about the dropout rate in Finland?"

11:48And they all looked a bit bemused, and said, "Well, we don't have one. Why would you drop out? If people are in trouble, we get to them quite quickly and help them and we support them."

11:59Now people always say, "Well, you know, you can't compare Finland to America."

12:04No. I think there's a population of around five million in Finland. But you can compare it to a state in America. Many states in America have fewer people in them than that. I mean, I've been to some states in America and I was the only person there. (Laughter)Really. Really. I was asked to lock up when I left. (Laughter)

12:29But what all the high-performing systems in the world do is currently what is not evident, sadly, across the systems in America -- I mean, as a whole. One is this: They individualize teaching and learning. They recognize that it's students who are learningand the system has to engage them, their curiosity, their individuality, and their creativity.That's how you get them to learn.

12:58The second is that they attribute a very high status to the teaching profession. They recognize that you can't improve education if you don't pick great people to teach and if you don't keep giving them constant support and professional development. Investing in professional development is not a cost. It's an investment, and every other country that's succeeding well knows that, whether it's Australia, Canada, South Korea, Singapore,Hong Kong or Shanghai. They know that to be the case.

13:28And the third is, they devolve responsibility to the school level for getting the job done.You see, there's a big difference here between going into a mode of command and control in education -- That's what happens in some systems. You know, central governments decide or state governments decide they know best and they're going to tell you what to do. The trouble is that education doesn't go on in the committee rooms of our legislative buildings. It happens in classrooms and schools, and the people who do it are the teachers and the students, and if you remove their discretion, it stops working. You have to put it back to the people. (Applause)

14:13There is wonderful work happening in this country. But I have to say it's happening in spite of the dominant culture of education, not because of it. It's like people are sailing into a headwind all the time. And the reason I think is this: that many of the current policies are based on mechanistic conceptions of education. It's like education is an industrial process that can be improved just by having better data, and somewhere in, I think, the back of the mind of some policy makers is this idea that if we fine-tune it well enough, if we just get it right, it will all hum along perfectly into the future. It won't, and it never did.

14:54The point is that education is not a mechanical system. It's a human system. It's about people, people who either do want to learn or don't want to learn. Every student who drops out of school has a reason for it which is rooted in their own biography. They may find it boring. They may find it irrelevant. They may find that it's at odds with the life they're living outside of school. There are trends, but the stories are always unique. I was at a meeting recently in Los Angeles of -- they're called alternative education programs.These are programs designed to get kids back into education. They have certain common features. They're very personalized. They have strong support for the teachers,close links with the community and a broad and diverse curriculum, and often programs which involve students outside school as well as inside school. And they work. What's interesting to me is, these are called "alternative education." You know? And all the evidence from around the world is, if we all did that, there'd be no need for the alternative. (Applause)

16:12So I think we have to embrace a different metaphor. We have to recognize that it's a human system, and there are conditions under which people thrive, and conditions under which they don't. We are after all organic creatures, and the culture of the school is absolutely essential. Culture is an organic term, isn't it?

16:34Not far from where I live is a place called Death Valley. Death Valley is the hottest, driest place in America, and nothing grows there. Nothing grows there because it doesn't rain.Hence, Death Valley. In the winter of 2004, it rained in Death Valley. Seven inches of rain fell over a very short period. And in the spring of 2005, there was a phenomenon. The whole floor of Death Valley was carpeted in flowers for a while. What it proved is this: that Death Valley isn't dead. It's dormant. Right beneath the surface are these seeds of possibility waiting for the right conditions to come about, and with organic systems, if the conditions are right, life is inevitable. It happens all the time. You take an area, a school, a district, you change the conditions, give people a different sense of possibility,a different set of expectations, a broader range of opportunities, you cherish and value the relationships between teachers and learners, you offer people the discretion to be creative and to innovate in what they do, and schools that were once bereft spring to life.

17:56Great leaders know that. The real role of leadership in education -- and I think it's true at the national level, the state level, at the school level -- is not and should not be command and control. The real role of leadership is climate control, creating a climate of possibility. And if you do that, people will rise to it and achieve things that you completely did not anticipate and couldn't have expected.

18:23There's a wonderful quote from Benjamin Franklin. "There are three sorts of people in the world: Those who are immovable, people who don't get, they don't want to get it, they're going to do anything about it. There are people who are movable, people who see the need for change and are prepared to listen to it. And there are people who move, people who make things happen." And if we can encourage more people, that will be a movement. And if the movement is strong enough, that's, in the best sense of the word, a revolution. And that's what we need.

18:55Thank you very much. (Applause) Thank you very much. (Applause)

 

Words worth thinking about., Thanks Phil Muir for this and credit to Andrew Patterson for this words.

GRADUATION ADDRESS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, Monday, 5 May 2014.

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“Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Members of Council, Members of the University, Graduands, families and friends...”

Kia ora and may I offer my sincere congratulations to those, graduating here today...

I’m honoured to be invited to speak to you and it’s appropriate that I begin by honouring the memory of my late grandmother who was a very influential educator in my own life. In fact, in 1916 - at the age of just 16 – she was a sole-charge teacher at a school in the small isolated town of Ross, south of Greymouth on the West Coast. Imagine that today. Sending untrained year 11 students to small rural schools and not only expecting them to teach unassisted but to run the school as well. In those days you were trialled as a teacher before you were sent to training college. Only the best got through...and she was definitely one of the best.

 

I read a great line recently about Gen Y increasingly switching their career focus from “success” to “significance.”

It’s an important insight into a trend I believe is now rapidly sweeping the world where meaning and purpose are much more highly valued than simply success...

The most popular course at Harvard Business School these days is no longer finance or investment baking, it’s now Social Entrepreneurship.

Consumers are increasingly seeking out products that are produced by ethical manufacturers.

Businesses are redefining their role in the societies in which they operate.

Disruption and innovation have become the two most important words in the business lexicon. Right now, they should also be the two important words in the education sector as well.

I want you to think of yourselves as disruptors because my sense is that education in the next decade is about to be disrupted on a scale few people truly appreciate.

This idea that we process students in batches through an industrial   style model is clearly outdated. And while we haven’t quite worked out what to replace it with I believe we are beginning to get a sense of what that change is going to involve.

In the time I have available I want to share with you three stories of disruptors I have covered in the course of my work who are already making their mark on education both in this country and overseas.

Last year when I was in the United States I had the opportunity to meet with and interview Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy which many of you will be familiar with. This former hedge fund manager earning a multi-million dollar salary discovered mid-career that he was in fact a gifted teacher. Today, he earns probably a quarter of what he was on previously but here’s the thing...he told me he has never been happier or more fulfilled. In just three years he has built the world’s largest online school where an estimated 10 million students every month are able to teach themselves a vast array of subjects including maths, physics, chemistry, biology, history, art history, economics and even computer coding....and all FREE of charge as a result of funding provided by the Gates Foundation.

But as he points out in his book - The One World Schoolhouse - a book I can highly recommend you read - the idea of Khan Academy is not to replace the teacher, but to support them with a technology platform that is truly outstanding.

I want to quote from an essay sent to me by a Year 13 student on the North Shore detailing his experience using Khan Academy after hearing my interview with Sal Khan on my RadioLIVE programme last year...

My realisation, we wrote, that things needed to change came at the end of 2013, when I was required to take full control of my own learning.  It was as though the traditional brick and mortar classroom model had failed me. After a year of attending classes and doing my homework I was still unable to score a passing mark in practice exams. I decided that drastic action was needed; so, with just six weeks to go until my external exams I turned to Khan Academy.

I used the website every day for hours on end – In fact, truth be told, I actually preferred it to my real classroom at school. After a few weeks of using Khan Academy I began to realise that, not only did I understand concepts I never had before, but I was also gaining a real passion for the content that I was being taught. After six weeks I completed my external exams and the results were absolutely amazing. Across my subjects I scored an ‘A’ average. In just six weeks Khan Academy had taken what a traditional school would have called a “sub-par” student and turned him into a high achiever.

 

Today that student is in his first year at this university undertaking a conjoint degree in engineering and commerce, an opportunity he would have been denied without the assistance of Khan Academy. It’s a reminder of the importance of blended learning options that now exist for students to literally take control of their own learning.

 

My second story is about a remarkable 12 year old student some of you may have heard about already. In fact, he featured in the NZ Herald just last week. I first met Tristan Pang last year when I was his speech coach for a TEDx Youth event I helped organise. What makes Tristan truly exceptional is that, despite being just 12, he has already passed Cambridge Year 13 maths gaining 96% in the final exam. In fact this year he is already studying stage one mathematics at this university and next year he will be a full time student.

 

Prior to speaking at TED he was perhaps your typical gifted child who would run a mile from being put on stage to speak to an audience of 500+ people. But with coaching and support I was able to provide him with; his awesome talent has been truly unleashed. Following an approach from his parents to be his mentor I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with Tristan which I have to say has been quite a remarkable experience.

 

Last year I organised for him to speak at a decile one school in Glen Innes where he had been invited to deliver his TED talk in person. The reaction from the more than 200 students who attended surprised everyone. Not only were they in complete awe of his achievements but the applause at the end of his talk went on for some minutes. One student even asked me if Tristan would consider becoming his new maths teacher while others told me his talk had inspired them to try harder with their own learning.

 

 

As a result of his visit, Tristan told me he wanted to do something to help the school - a challenge I encouraged him to pursue. He proceeded to spend his entire Christmas holidays building a website he has called Tristan’s Learning Hub. With no prior experience working with HTML or coding, he simply taught himself how to build the site, just as he’s been teaching himself maths for the last 11 years. He brought all the necessary equipment and now writes and delivers his own maths lessons in a series of five minute videos, much like Sal Khan, but importantly, he doesn’t differentiate between year levels.

 

Today Tristan is a confident speaker and an inspiring student who is able to share his talents and gifts with a wide audience. Just recently he received an email from Professor Amon O’Brien, in the Maths Department, praising him for his efforts developing his new website and thanking him for helping him do his job. In an email to me, Tristan expressed utter astonishment that he could actually help a professor with his work!

 

The other aspect of the story is about celebrating this remarkable new paradigm that now exists where it’s possible for an increasing number of gifted and talented students to also be teachers at the same time.

 

I know of one year 13 student who has established an after school academy teaching other students how to code. I believe this idea of peer-to-peer learning presents a whole new opportunity to reshape the way we look at education where the roles of student and teacher can be much more interchangeable; particularly when it comes to IT and technology.

 

My final disruptor is Frances Valentine, founder of the Mind Lab in Newmarket, a facility for 4-14 year olds that allows them to explore technology in a way that truly captivates students. In a converted warehouse, Frances has literally created an Aladdin’s Cave filled with technology allowing students to develop their skills in robotics, web design, computer coding, app development, animation and digital design with highly skilled tutors on hand to assist. Students can visit the Mind Lab either as part of their class or after school. Turn up there on any day and it’s like stepping into a classroom of the future.

 

There are plenty of other disruptors I could mention including the likes of Booktrack who have developed world class technology right here in NZ that allows student readers to hear an audio track of sound effects as they read significantly increasing engagement levels....or Terrance Wallace who has founded the In-Zone project in Epsom, a small whanau style hostel where 55 Maori & Pacifica boys from low income backgrounds get the opportunity to attend Auckland Grammar School or Pat Sneddon who was instrumental in establishing the Manaiakalani Trust which provides every student in one of the poorest parts of Auckland with a digital device of their own that forms an integral part of their learning.

 

What each of these disruptors, all of whom I might add have come from outside the education profession, have successfully achieved is taking a piece of the education model and completely reimagined it.

 

My challenge to you today is to think about how you can follow in their footsteps…

 

Two years ago I developed a Confidence Course for students at Manurewa Intermediate School after becoming aware that this was an issue that was preventing many of the students from being able to achieve their true potential.

 

Establishing the course allowed me to pass on a range of communication and presentation skills to the students that I had acquired from working in the media. Time doesn’t permit me to tell you the full story about the structure of the course itself, you can watch my recent TEDx talk for the backstory, but suffice to say I’ve always been interested in the role of confidence and ambition to unlock potential and the course has certainly proven that to be the case.

 

I want to share with you a letter written to me by one 13 year old student at the end of the first course I ran. Listen to the power of his words and the liberating tone he conveys...

 

Dear Mr Patterson,

I am writing to thank you for helping me with my confidence

I also want to thank you for taking time out of your hard and busy day to do something to help all of us.

You’re the man bro! I feel like I could talk in front of my class now without having to panic or freeze. I just don’t know what to do or say for all your hard work.

I had decided before I came to the course I wouldn’t answer any of the questions because I didn’t want to be judged for what I said.

I was nervous once, but now I believe what I want to believe. You taught me that.

 

I especially loved how you changed all the others who were just like me on the course.

They were all kind of nervous…but then BHAM! There they were, talking before my eyes with a lot of pride and self-confidence and I was watching them and I felt I was on the same journey with them.

It was just amazing how everyone had improved and learnt so much.

So I’d like to make you a promise. When I’m older I will get a great job and buy you a Lamborghini.

Yours sincerely,

Bailey Manga (13)

 

I told Bailey it was one of the most sincere thank you letters I had ever received and if ever a Lamborghini turned up on my doorstep at least I’d know who it was from !!

 

Bailey announced to his family recently that he now plans to go to university – something he had never considered or thought about previously.

 

I want to conclude with a few pieces of advice to take with you into your careers as educators.

 

Research says that most people only remember one thing from any speech and after six weeks even that one thing is usually forgotten. You’re educators, so I want you to remember five!

 

The key words to remember are connect, innovate, exceed, success and responsibility or CRIES if you prefer mnemonics to assist your recall....

 

Firstly, connect with the young people you are working with and stay connected. I realise as you progress your careers that will become more of a challenge but the ability to be that person who inspires, motivates, nurtures and empowers is such a powerful relationship. Never underestimate the impact you will have, and can continue to have, on lives both now and in the future. I’m still mentoring students I tutored more than 30 years ago!

 

Be innovative and disruptive in your approach. These days it’s no longer about thinking outside the box, it’s about thinking in whole new boxes.

 

 

Thirdly, don’t just help students achieve their potential. As John Hattie pointed out in a lecture he gave at the recent Festival of Education, the true measure of your success as an educator will be your ability to help students exceed their potential.

 

Show students what success looks like. Either bring that success into their world or take them to see it. Bring it to life for them and help create pathways that allow them to see their own success in the future.

 

Finally, get students to see themselves as their own teachers and to take responsibility for their own learning. That way you help them to learn one of life’s most valuable lessons; you only get out of life what you put into it.

 

 

When Holocaust survivor and renowned psychology academic Viktor Frankl, who wrote the bestselling book “Man’s Search for Meaning” – a book I might add everyone should read – was once asked to express in a single sentence the meaning of his own life he said this: “The meaning of your life, is to help others find the meaning of theirs.”

 

That’s a challenge we should all embrace….

 

DOFF MORTARBOARD