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Generative A.I. in Schools (Part 1)

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In 2023 a colleague of mine, Simon Worley, and I starting writing what we hoped would be a short guide on AI in Education.  Chat GPT had exploded on to the scene and it seemed like the time was ripe to dive in as folks in the education sphere were hungrier than ever to explore the benefits and risks of this new tool.  Unfortunately, we discovered that with every re-edit, every iteration, every additional chapter, it became obvious to us that anything we would release would inevitably be dated by the time it came out.  And so we were left with pages and pages of effort that have sat for a year in a shared file, never having seen the light of day.  So if for no other reason than to feel like our efforts can be usefully shared, I thought I’d grab a few excerpts from what we wrote and put them into a few blog posts instead.  So for the handful of people that read this, please enjoy!  And try not to hold it against us how likely out of date the information is by the time you read it.

Note that images included in this post have been generated by ChatGPT’s Image Generator.

Generative A.I. in Schools (Part 1)

Whether you like it or not, Artificial Intelligence is here and it’s here to stay. While this may sound or feel disturbing, be comforted in knowing that you’ve been likely using AI for the better half of the 21st century. Ok, that may not be THAT comforting, but the truth is that AI has been making our lives easier in the background for years. From the moment we wake up to the time we lay our heads down at night, AI is quietly working behind the scenes, reshaping our world and influencing how we interact with it.

The goal of this writing is to dispel some of the myths or fears you may have about AI and, with our help, learn to harness this powerful tool to create richer, more dynamic learning experiences. The technological revolution is upon us, and we are already starting to see the profound impact AI will have on education and our lives more broadly. The fact that you are reading this means that you don’t want to end up like a Luddite and are open to expanding your world and your students’ learning potential. We are on the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution, and while AI can be a scary thought, we would like to take you on a journey and help you discover new and interesting ways to incorporate AI into your classrooms. 

Let’s kick this off with the story of schoolteacher Maya. Her day may seem very similar to yours and might just highlight some of the many ways AI can help, rather than hinder.

In your city in a not-too-distant future, where the digital world seamlessly intertwines with the physical, lives Maya. Maya is 31 and has been an educator since graduating teachers’ college when she was 24. Her day begins with a familiar sound – her iPhone alarm, gently rousing her from slumber. After getting up and brushing her teeth, Maya asks Siri what the weather will be like today. Siri politely replies, “Good morning, Maya. The weather outside is partly cloudy with a low of 14 degrees Celsius and a high of 25.”  With a yawn and a nod, Maya asks Siri a few more questions about the latest news updates that occurred while she slept and what is on her day planner.

As she gets dressed, Maya browses through her favourite online shopping platform, Amazon. With each click and scroll, AI algorithms analyze her previous purchases, identifying her preferences and suggesting products that are likely to align with her tastes. “Here are some recommendations for you, Maya.”  The app presents a curated list, displaying an array of stylish clothing, accessories, and materials for her classroom. Maya selects a few items, marveling at the accuracy with which the AI seems to understand her style.

Breakfast in hand, Maya sits down with her tablet to catch up on the latest news. Her Instagram and TikTok feeds are populated with videos and posts tailored precisely to her interests, courtesy of AI’s content curation. Yet her eyes linger instead on a headline about AI-generated deep fake videos infiltrating the media landscape. She shakes her head in disbelief, contemplating the growing challenges posed by such technology.

Maya is glad to leave behind the world of deep fakes as she heads out on her morning commute. Using her Waze GPS app, she navigates the city’s labyrinthine streets with ease. The app analyzes real-time traffic data, suggesting alternate routes to avoid congested areas. As she walks, Maya listens to The EdTech Podcast, suggested to her by an AI-driven content recommendation system.

Maya reaches work, a local high school where she teaches English, excited for the day’s lessons. The classroom is equipped with interactive whiteboards that respond to touch, creating an engaging environment for students. Maya’s teaching is also enhanced by AI-powered tools that adapt learning materials to individual student needs, ensuring that each student can excel at their own pace. She has students working with AI tutors such as Khanmigo, predictive text models like ChatGPT, and AI website builders to accomplish their tasks. 

During lunch break, Maya receives an email from a colleague suggesting she try the Duolingo chatbot, a language learning app that uses AI to teach new languages. Intrigued, she downloads the app, finding its speech recognition technology impressive as it provides instant feedback on her pronunciation.

The afternoon is a flurry of activity, and Maya relies on her AI-powered to-do list to keep track of her tasks. As the day winds down, she reflects on the incredible ways AI had woven itself into her life. From planning her day to assisting her teaching, AI has become an indispensable ally.

On her way home, Maya ponders the delicate balance between the promise of AI and its potential pitfalls. The deep fake issue continued to gnaw at her thoughts. As an educator, she knows it is essential to equip her students with the critical thinking skills to distinguish truth from fiction, especially in an age where reality can be manipulated so convincingly.

Back in her apartment, Maya adjusts the smart lighting system with a voice command, setting the ambiance for an evening yoga session. She decides to end the day by reading a book… an ACTUAL book – a realm still untouched by AI-generated content. As she immerses herself in the pages, she takes some solace in the written word, appreciating the irreplaceable essence of human creativity.

In the interconnected tapestry of Maya’s day, AI is both a silent companion and a formidable force, shaping her experiences and interactions; a reminder that while AI holds tremendous potential, it is the human touch that still grounds our world in authenticity and integrity.

As you can see, Maya has interacted and engaged with AI systems during every major part of her day. We hope that you saw a little bit of yourself in that story and you can see how Artificial Intelligence is all around us; we just may not have recognized it. 

Before we move on, we would like to circle back and reference the alarming detail of deep fakes that was peppered throughout the story. One of the reasons AI is getting a bad rap is because we fear the unknown and we still don’t know its true potential.  Mention the name ‘Skynet’ and anyone who’s seen Terminator Two: Judgement Day will get a cold chill down their spine. Like any new technology, AI has the power to change the world, for the better, or for the worse. 

AI-generated deep fakes are manipulated digital media, often videos or audio recordings, that convincingly depict individuals saying or doing things they never actually said or did. You may have seen these in the news or on YouTube. 


                  A fictional, yet convincing debate, between President Biden and Trump. 


                

  A Tom Cruise video where his face is superimposed onto the body of an actor in a scene from a movie to TV show that he wasn’t actually in. 


A recreation of historical figures. Making it seem as if they are speaking about contemporary issues. This can blur the lines between the past and present, potentially distorting historical context and making Honest Abe Lincoln not so honest. 

So far, these deep fakes have been mainly used for entertainment and parody, devised for comedic purposes placing well-known individuals in absurd or fictional situations. But it doesn’t take a big leap in logic to see how worrying these deep fakes can be. Deep fakes have been used to create news reports or interviews that appear authentic but are entirely fabricated. This can lead to the spread of false information and contribute to misinformation campaigns. There has been much debate about their involvement in the 2016 and 2020 American elections. AI-powered voice cloning can replicate a person’s voice with remarkable accuracy. Deep fake audio clips have been created to mimic the voices of individuals for deceptive purposes, such as fraud or spreading misinformation. AI will continue to evolve and develop at rapid speeds, and we, as an educated society, have to understand the pitfalls and uses of this uncharted new technology. 

Starting with Why?

Over the past year, the term AI has been ubiquitous. Every major publication has covered it extensively, and thousands of new content creators have sprung up, promising to fill you in on ‘The Most Powerful AI tool on the Market!’ You can’t go onto social media without being bombarded with new AI products and side hustles. With all this publicity comes new and often confusing terminology. Generative AI, predictive text, deep learning, image recognition, emergence, large language models, the list goes on and on.

The goal here is to get you up to speed with the basics on how these programs work, what each program does, and how they could evolve in the near future.

Let’s start with ChatGPT, the most popular AI application as of this writing. ChatGPT uses a generative AI model to operate. Generative AI works by using a large dataset to learn patterns and relationships in the data, and then generates new content based on that learned information. As we go through each step in the generative process, we will add easy to understand examples to help illustrate the idea being presented. Our example will concern our protagonist from the prologue, Maya. She is preparing a lesson on volcanoes and is using ChatGPT to learn more about them. She is also using it to get lesson, activity, and major assignment ideas.

Training Data: Generative AI models are trained on massive amounts of data, which can include text, images, or other types of information. For text-based models like GPT-3, this training data consists of a wide variety of text from books, articles, websites, and more. GPT-3 was trained using a dataset called WebText2, a library of over 45 terabytes of text based data. Maya types ‘What is lava made of?’ ChatGPT provides her with a detailed response. This response is generated by scouring its mass amounts of data for the most popular answer.

Learning Patterns: During the training process, the AI model learns to recognize patterns, relationships, and structures present in the training data. It learns how words and phrases are used in different contexts, which allows it to understand grammar, syntax, and semantics. This is how ChatGPT can come up with answers so quickly to prompts made by the user. Maya is impressed at the speed and accuracy of the AI tool as it only takes about four seconds to start generating an answer to her question of ‘What is the largest active volcano in the world’.

Neural Networks: Generative AI models typically use neural networks, which are computational structures inspired by the human brain. These networks consist of layers of interconnected nodes (also called neurons) that process and transform data.  Neural networks are paths created to create associations with various data sets. After a few hours of Maya researching volcanoes, she has developed neural networks that allow her brain to access various pieces of information on volcanoes and create links that make it easier for her to remember.

Fine-Tuning: After an initial phase of pre-training on the general dataset, the model can undergo fine-tuning on more specific tasks or domains. This helps the model adapt its general knowledge to more specialized tasks. After Maya has gone down the volcano rabbit-hole, she has a great foundation and can now dive deeper into specific topics of interest.

Generating Content: Once the model is trained, it can generate content by predicting the next word or sequence of words based on the input it receives. For example, if Maya gave a prompt like “What makes a volcano dormant is…” the model can generate a coherent and contextually relevant story continuation.

Contextual Understanding: One of the strengths of generative AI is its ability to maintain context over longer pieces of text. It can refer back to earlier parts of the text to ensure that the generated content remains coherent and relevant. Maya is impressed that as long as she remains in the current conversation thread, she can refer back to questions and answers from 60 minutes ago and the chat will be able to follow her line of questioning and build on its answers. She experiments with this when she asks “please create a lesson plan addressing the earlier facts about the geography and history of the volcano that you answered.”  Generative AI works by training a neural network on large datasets to learn patterns in the data, which enables it to generate new content based on the learned knowledge. The success of the generated content depends on the quality of the training data, the architecture of the model, and the parameters used during the generation process.

LIMITATIONS TO GENERATIVE AI

There are some obvious and not-so-obvious limitations with generative AI models. As it generates content by predicting the logical next word in an answer based on the dataset it possesses, it can sometimes produce incorrect or nonsensical information if your prompt is phrased in a confusing or unusual way.

For example, in the early days of the AI tool, if Maya asked it “What’s heavier, a pound of bricks or two pounds of feathers?” the chatbot would answer “They both weigh the same, which is one pound. This is because a pound is a unit of measurement for weight and it is a constant value. So, whether you have a pound of bricks or two pounds of feathers they both weigh one pound in total.”

Obviously, the correct answer is that two pounds of feathers weighs more than a pound of bricks. Now why would a sophisticated AI tool make such a silly error? It’s because when going through its dataset, the most common and likely time that bricks and feathers are used is to challenge someone with the classic riddle, ‘what is heavier, ONE pound of bricks or ONE pound of feathers.’ In that case, the answer is that they are the same weight! By using predictive text based on its dataset, the chat will answer the riddle, not the actual question asked. While this is a playful example of the AI tool getting something wrong, inaccurate information could be a serious issue. This is why, when using ChatGPT and other generative AI, always verify and confirm answers that it provides.  

I hope you enjoyed this first excerpt from Generative A.I. in Schools.  How have you seen A.I. being used in schools in your context?  Share your thoughts in a comment below.

Generative A.I. in Schools (Part 1)

PBIS Leadership Forum

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This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the National PBIS Conference in Chicago with a team of school leaders from North Vancouver. PBIS stands for Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports is an evidence-based framework used in schools to help improve student behaviour. It uses a data-driven, tiered approach to proactive interventions that help support a safe and inclusive school environment.

In additional to the typical keynote speakers, the conference had a wide variety of breakout sessions. These sessions were organized into themes, and the members of our group separated out to try and see as many of them as possible to be able to report back to each other on the varied learnings. The sessions that I attended were identified as part of the Equity Strand, and accordingly equity was a common theme between all the presentations.

Some of the titles of the sessions I attended included, ‘Using Data to Assess & Reduce Disproportionality in School Discipline’, ‘Culturally Responsive Practice to Support Each Learner’, and ‘Teaming to Increase Meaningful Participation of Students & Families’. A lot of what was discussed revolved around the disproportionate representation of black students in discipline and behavioural data, and the systems and structures in school that perpetuated inequities for non-white students. I found myself constantly having to calibrate what I was hearing for my context in Vancouver, and to consciously work to include a broader definition in my mental application of what I was hearing to encompass a greater number of misrepresented student demographics. While our proportion of black and Latin students is far fewer than the US, they are still represented in our schools along with students of Indigenous ancestry, Asian, South Asian, etc. It was interesting to hear the extent to which school leaders in the US were able to disaggregate student data on ethnicity in ways that we cannot. For example, they could see what proportion of black students had been sent to the office, versus white students. We don’t collect data on ethnicity like that in B.C. But not collecting the data certainly doesn’t mean there aren’t equity problems in our Canadian schools.

One of the focuses of PBIS I really appreciated was its heavy emphasis on data-driven decision making. One of the key reflective questions was, “are your interventions evidence based?” It helped me reflect on what evidence we are actually using. In North Vancouver schools we’re able to pull data from our YDI and MDI surveys, as well other more informal and anecdotal evidence that is no less valuable. All the different forms of student voice are also evidence that contribute to the rich tapestry of data. It’s important to consider the many different ways we can meaningfully engage student voice. One of the diagrams I appreciated most from the weekend was titled, ‘The Ladder of Participation’, which illustrated the degrees to which student voice is authentically incorporated. At one end of the spectrum, are students simply standing next to you for photo ops, or are they being leaders and initiators in decision making at your school? What opportunities are they given to do this?

Sometimes stepping out of your context to see how things are done in other places makes you appreciate the good things you’re already doing. There was some really nice alignment between the systems, structures and language used in PBIS, and things we do in North Van. The multi-tiered systems of support model where interventions are separated into 3 levels was akin to the ‘universal’, ‘targeted’ and ‘intensive’ models of support in North Van. One easy example of this is our Choices Program, that supports students’ social-emotional wellness. At Sutherland it was nice to recognize that our school-wide intervention of no cell phones during class time was a perfect example of a PBIS intervention in a high school setting. PBIS is often seen more commonly as an elementary framework, but there are certainly great examples, such as Choices and cell phone interventions, that exemplify elements of it being used successfully in secondary settings as well.

One of the more controversial aspects of PBIS was its use, in some instances, of rewards. These could be something as simple as a sticker, or an extended or second recess break for students who accrue enough points through whatever tracking system the school or classes use – potentially like this one. Some critics would say that motivation to change behaviour should be intrinsic, and not motivated by external or material forces. Defenders will tell you that rewards, like all elements of PBIS, are supported by data and that using them statistically helps to improve student behaviour. And that there’s room, particularly with younger students, to have what starts as an external motivation in early grades, to migrate to more intrinsic as they grow. I would count myself more in the skeptic’s camp when it comes to rewards, especially in terms of what values we’re trying to instill in students. Do we want them doing the right thing because there’s a prize, or because it aligns with the morals we aspire for students to develop?

As school leaders we need to keep in mind that all behaviour is communication. Many students may not be able to articulate the challenges they are facing, and their way of asking for assistance may be to act in ways that demand our attention. Maintaining a culture of expectations for students that aligns with an established co-created code of conduct is important, but traditional discipline may not always the best response. We need to listen to the needs of our students and families to know how best to support and encourage positive behaviour.

Lastly, the conference was a great opportunity, of course, to energetically connect with colleagues on a fun experience. We worked hard, collectively reflected, and took time to enjoy the good company of friends by doing group activities like a Bulls basketball game, team dinners and a Chicago River cruise. It was an exceptionally valuable experience I was grateful to be a part of!

PBIS Leadership Forum

Building Together: The New Handsworth School

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If you’ve ever completed a renovation, or been fortunate enough to construct a home from conception to move-in, you know what an all-consuming labour of love it can be; the orientation of every space, every fixture, the allocation of square footage – all of it painstakingly considered and weighed against other aspects or features.  This has been our journey for the last 4 years, beginning on January 15th, 2018 when former Education Minister Rob Fleming announced that our well-loved, 60-year-old Handsworth School, would be replaced.

Flash-forward to February 7th, 2022, and opening day of the new school.  It’s the first day of Semester 2 of the new school year and, somehow, we’ve actually managed to have our project completed over 7 months ahead of schedule!  Instead of moving in, in September of 2022, we were able to start moving and setting up in January – a remarkable feat in of itself.

The past 4 years we’ve had to wear many hats (both literally and figuratively!) as we were able to provide significant input into how the building would be constructed.  The Handsworth Design and Input Committee allowed our faculty, staff, students and PAC to have their voices heard.  Elements like end-of-trip showers and storage for staff who commute on bikes, to staff prep areas, to purpose-built millwork, storage and technology in classrooms all had significant stakeholder input.  We were able to learn much as well from visits to recently constructed schools in the area, including Salish Secondary in Surrey, New West Secondary, and our neighbouring Argyle Secondary here in North Van, as well as post-secondary institutions like BCIT’s Burnaby and Downtown campuses.  Thoughtful details like vented, oversized athletics lockers for field-hockey sticks and football equipment, and covered outdoor instructional areas were ideas born out of our consultative process with all our stakeholder groups.  We are also so proud to be the first school in the North Vancouver School district to have the local Indigenous rights-holders with their language in the school.  Much of the signage in our school has Sḵwx̱wú7mesh language first, followed by English and French.

Guests are welcomed in 3 languages: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, English and French
Guests are welcomed in 3 languages: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, English and French
Outdoor learning spaces
Outdoor learning spaces
Oversized, vented lockers for athletic equipment
Oversized, vented lockers for athletic equipment
Signage in 3 languages: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, English and French
Signage in 3 languages: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, English and French
Our Grand Commons main entrance
Our Grand Commons main entrance
Home of the Royals
Home of the Royals

Handsworth has a proud tradition of excelling not only in academics, but in extra-curricular areas as well, including the performing arts and athletics.  Our 300-seat theatre is one of the spaces we’re most proud of, and we continue to work towards outfitting it without compromise with lighting, drapery and seats as part of our widely advertised ‘Take Your Seat’ fundraising campaign.  Our band room and dance studio are impressive and modern upgrades on what we had in our old building.  Our championship gymnasium was also enhanced to include no less than 12 basketball hoops, allowing games to happen in every conceivable direction, and the strength & conditioning room which supports our PHE classes and extra-curricular athletics, has been furnished with beautiful new fitness equipment.  

Our school community has made meaningful strides in recent years to enhance and build out an Inclusive Education department that welcomes students of diverse and exceptional abilities to Handsworth.  Throughout the process of the build, our department grew so greatly that we needed to adjust and expand, doubling the size of space allocated to its programs.  The result is a wonderfully significant investment in functional spaces for all our students that makes our school even more inclusive and supportive of all learners.

While all of this construction was happening, the day-to-day business of running the school continued unabated.  Many weeks would have some days in jeans, safety vests and hard hats, while others it was back to blazers and slacks to take care of the traditional administration of the existing school.  There were times it really felt like I had 2 distinctly different jobs!  And while I’m certainly not a designer or architect, I got to feel like one along the way as we selected furnishings and re-imagined some of the spaces.

As a school community, we also had to manage, and continue to manage, the absence of a school field or really any outdoor facility for both our PHE classes and athletics teams.  Although phase 1 is now finished, we continue to work and learn next to a construction site that is actively decommissioning and demolishing the old school.  Our hope in this next phase is to also augment all the great work done in the building with equally impressive exterior amenities like EV charging stations for vehicles, and to work with our community to advocate with the District of North Vancouver to support our aspirations for a turf field for the benefit of our PHE classes and athletics that are both school and community-based. 

Like a renovation or building a house, having new is nice.  But what makes a house a home is the people.  At the heart of everything we’ve done is a focus on making visible everything great that our students and staff do every day, and to forge an even greater sense of identity, built on strong traditions that honour the past but are also looking forward.  Light, glass, and collaborative spaces all speak to how we hope students will thrive, collaborate and grow in their new surroundings. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t also acknowledge many of the adult people behind the scenes as well who have helped this project along.  We’ve been so fortunate to have a Project Superintendent, Russ, who also happens to be a 2006 Handsworth alumnus.  Throughout the project it was really apparent the personal pride he took in the construction.  He was incredibly generous with the access he provided us to the site, which was completely above and beyond what typically would have been granted to a project of this size and scope.  Our wider Handsworth community rallied around in support as well, from parent involvement in our theatre seat fundraiser, to Len Horvath whose time and expertise has been integral to bringing industry-leading lightening technology to our theatre, to Carol Anne Parkhill who quietly assisted in the background with some of the amazing furniture in the building.  Other people who were indispensable along the way were Project Manager Mark Thomson, our Purchasing Officer Annmarie Sharman who helped us procure all our furnishings, and of course our Principal, Rupi Samra-Gynane, who came with a clear vision on how to make this house a home.  It’s been such a positive team of professionals to work with.

We hope this new space will offer some fresh inspiration for our students – an opportunity to be excited again about re-connecting and finding a sense of place and belonging, especially as we emerge from the Covid pandemic.  We’re able to feel now that our building is a proud reflection of the quality of our school community.  And if you haven’t had the opportunity yet, we’re certainly looking forward to welcoming you to our new home!

Rupi and I on opening day
Rupi and I on opening day
Building Together: The New Handsworth School

Standards Based Grading: Performance VS Proficiency

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With the recent introduction of BC’s Numeracy Assessment, and the upcoming release of the Literacy Assessments, there’s been renewed attention given to the Proficiency Scale used to assess student performance.  Occasionally I get some confused questions about the differences and similarities between Performance Scale and Proficiency Scale, so I thought it worth providing some clarity.

What is Performance Scale?

Performance Scale, or Performance Standards, focuses on assessment of student performance where students are asked to apply the concepts and skills they have acquired to complete complex tasks. This type of assessment supports criterion-referenced evaluation by enabling the comparison of student performance to established standards.  The BC Performance Standards have established the following four levels of student performance.  They are:

  1. Not Yet Within Expectations
  2. Minimally Meets Expectations / Approaching Expectations
  3. Fully Meets Expectations / Meeting Expectations
  4. Exceeds Expectations

At Handsworth, you’ve likely seen Performance Standards on your son or daughter’s report card in Grade 8 or 9 perhaps in their Careers course, their ADST rotation, band class, or even Science.  The graphic below shows an approximate comparison between each of the standards, but I think this can be misleading.  As I’ll discuss below, the purpose of using Performance Standards is really to get away from letter grades, so tables like this that draw a direct line from one to the other are really counterproductive.

In North Vancouver, we’ve also been experimenting with our Student Information System, MyED’s, capability to run a ‘Standards Based Gradebook” where we can identify the curricular competencies we hope students are developing and evaluate their relative mastery in each of them using the Performance Standards.

What is Proficiency Scale?

While it is not new, a sound understanding of Proficiency Scale grading moving forward is vitally important in BC, as the latest Student Reporting Policies from the Ministry of Education outline that this will be integral for reporting student progress.  Similar to Performance Standards, Proficiency Scale divides student demonstration of understanding into 4 categories.  They are defined as:

  1. Emerging
  2. Developing
  3. Proficient
  4. Extending

Elementary Students who complete the Foundation Skills Assessment’s in grades 4 and 7 have their work assessed using Proficiency Scale.  Secondary students across the province will see their Numeracy Assessments, and soon their Literacy Assessments, also graded using Proficiency Scale.

Why don’t we just use percentages or letter grades for all assessment?

While percentages and letter grades continue to be used for classes at the senior grades, there is now an established shift in K-9 assessment practices as standards based grading better support the aims of B.C.’s new curriculum.  This emphasis on criterion based assessment is really part of a broader moved shifting the emphasis of education in BC to a culture of learning over a culture of grading.  Encouraging student’s curiosity for its intrinsic value, rather than simply to ‘get an A’ is the ultimate hope.  Moreover, the introduction of BC’s new curriculum makes this realignment of assessment practices a necessity, and is well-grounded in research.  For those interested in reading more about how educational assessment has evolved, I encourage you to read up on Bloom’s Taxonomy VS Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DoK) to see how new assessment practices are aligned with the DoK model.

Standards Based Grading: Performance VS Proficiency

The Leader’s Discipline

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This month I had the privilege of participating in a professional development opportunity with a coaching and leadership organization called The Roy Group (http://www.roygroup.net)  Twenty-one participants, including teachers and administrators, from Handsworth and Carson Graham Secondary gathered over an immersive 3 days to engage an experience called The Leader’s Discipline.  This work was facilitated by Roy Group founder, Ian Chisholm as well as Carson Graham Principal, Ian Kennedy.  Much of what we were to discover later was shrouded in a bit of mystery, but a few instructions we did receive beforehand included to clear our calendar for the event, to plan to leave our cell phone off and emails unattended, and finally to make sure we came prepared to discuss a professional problem of practice.  Oh, and to dress for activity!

We began with a Wednesday evening dinner that brought the groups from both schools to break bread and build relationships in anticipation of Thursday and Friday.  Each participant introduced themselves and talked a little bit about their learning intentions for the experience.  Ian Chisholm, or ‘Chis’ as we called him, spoke a bit about his professional journey as well, and how it brought him to work with us today.  A few of the aforementioned instructions were provided and we all left looking forward to the next day.

On Thursday morning we met at the North Shore Tennis Club on Lloyd Ave in North Vancouver.  Although having lived in North Van for most of my life, I’d never actually been inside the facility, so it was neat to see.  To begin the day we were each given a notebook, pen, and a series of custom stickers that included quotes, concepts and key ideas we would be working with throughout the day.

The first idea we played with was what it means to be a ‘mentor’; that a mentor is name you don’t give yourself – it needs to be given to you.  We also discovered that the word ‘mentor’ is actually the name of the person Odysseus left his son, Telemachus, with before leaving for the Trojan war.

Our first activity, without giving away the details, was designed to illustrate how being an engaged and attentive listener is such an important skill.  And that way we conduct ourselves has real effect on those we interact with.

It was from this activity that I knew what we were learning was going to be absolutely applicable to my daily work.  Much of my day is comprised of brief 5 minute interactions with colleagues, parents and students.  And my ability to be ‘dialed-in’ for each of those conversations has a significant impact on my effectiveness as support in my school.  How you conduct yourself is so important.  We learned that ‘conduct’ is where everything inside of you, meets everything outside of you, and the way I conduct myself creates an ‘atmosphere’ in others.

With colleagues in the school, it’s important that the atmosphere I’m creating is one of safety… but not comfort.  Particularly with all the changes happening in education, it’s more important than ever that educational leaders are encouraging movement from comfort through discomfort – but from a place of safety.  High performance professionals who are heavily engaged in their work are not comfortable.

Through our second activity we started to explore what meaningful feedback looks like.  We were partnered up to complete a task which involved tossing tennis balls from a seated position, and through multiple iterations discovered the relative value of encouragement versus detailed information as feedback.  This is where we also began to examine coaching as a vehicle for feedback, mentorship and, ultimately, leadership.

In the afternoon this understanding was further refined as we hit the tennis court to start using a coaching model for providing feedback.  Chis kicked off the session with an intro to tennis pro turned philosopher Tim Gallwey.  Gallwey is the author of The Inner Game of Tennis, a psychological examination of sport performance phenomenon.  In it, he describes two selves: Self 1, which is analytical, ego-driven and gets in the way of Self 2, which is more unconscious, intuitive and physical.  When an athlete is ‘in the zone’, they are fully realizing their Self 2 potential.  The secret to the Inner Game is really to find how to get Self 1 out of the way of Self 2.

For the purposes of this activity, we participants were arranged in trios, with a coachee (player), coach, and super coach who would provide feedback to the coach on their performance.  Coaches used something called The Question Funnel with their players; a series of questions designed to increase awareness and focus attention.  Meanwhile, the super coaches who were observing the work of the coaches with the coachees followed The Feedback Model.  This model employs three simple, but powerful questions: 1. What went well?  2. What was tricky?, and 3. What would you do differently next time?  Once the coach had the opportunity to provide reflections of their own, then the supercoach was able to offer their thoughts.  The ideas we had established earlier about quality feedback needing to be more informative than encouraging were also reinforced through this activity.  We each had an opportunity to try all 3 roles, and from this activity I learned that as a coach/mentor it’s important to be highly attentive, to allow the student to define their own goals, and to remember that learning is a reflective process that works best when people feel safe.

To wrap up a very full Thursday, Chis introduced us to ‘Henderson’s Disciplines’ – 4 ideas, that when combined together provide a powerful framework for decision making.  They are: Reflect, Inquire, Pause and Act.  Chis reminded us that reflection cannot be superficial – it must be rigorous to be useful.  And that pausing really is important, despite how difficult many of us find it to do.  And so for homework, we were challenged to carve out an authentic and meaningful pause;  to take a break from the day, and to make a conscious effort to relax at some point between when we ended our Thursday and began our Friday.  Unfortunately for the Handsworth participants this also happened to be our Parent-Teacher Interview evening.  But needless to say, we did our best!

On Friday we moved locations from the tennis courts to a seminar room at a local rec centre.  The focus for Friday was to take the theory and concepts we had learned, and bring them to bear on a real problem of practice we were dealing with.  Essentially it was to bridge the theory with the real world and to make it explicitly applicable. 

Our first activity was to form new trios of coachee, coach, and super-coach, but this time we weren’t refining tennis skills, but rather coaching our colleagues through real work issues.  Ian and Chis provided us with an exemplar to start, and then we broke out in to different spaces to work.  It was a wonderful opportunity to practice using these new tools we had just been equipped with, in a real world situation.

Another tool which was added to our belt to work through these issues was the GROW Model.  GROW stands for Goal, Reality, Options and Will, and each category includes a series of questions to be used to drill down into a problem and help work towards a possible resolution.

As a coachee, it was insightful to have a coach who could take my issue in unanticipated directions with their questions.  It forced me to examine it from a new perspective.  I also noted that I didn’t need my coach to have all the answers – the coach is not going to be the source of the solution; they are just there to facilitate my own reflection and to take it in different directions.

Our culminating activity for the day was an outdoor competitive group challenge.  We were divided into 4 teams, each with a coach to help guide using the Question Funnel, and supercoach to employ The Feedback Model with the coach.  Our team challenge was a timed obstacle course, and brought together many of the concepts we had already learned, including having the coachees (the team) determine their own goals.  We were encouraged to practice our questioning techniques, rather than telling people what to do, and were reminded that leaders are able to check their emotions by grasping themselves, grasping their team, and finally grasping the task at hand.

As we wound down the experience and debriefed some of our takeaways, we discussed how leaders don’t create followers, they create other leaders.  And that good coaching is really having the right conversation before, and having the right conversation after.

We were challenged to identify 10 topics we hope to be coached on, and by whom, and to write them down.  Lastly, we set some tangible goals for ourselves, moving forward, and committed to practicing our new coaching and leadership skills in some way.  For me, I’m pleased to say I’ve already brought these lessons to bear on my own practice by using The Feedback Model in conducting performance reviews.  I also feel better equipped than ever to navigate some of the complex relationships and difficult conversations I regularly encounter in my role.

This was a wonderful professional development experience, and I would highly recommend it for anyone in a position of leadership, or who works in a highly relational industry.  It was great to have the chance to work with the team from Carson Graham as well.  I’m looking forward to integrating these skills even more into my daily work, as I know they’ll serve me well.  Thanks to Ian Chisholm, Ian Kennedy and the Handsworth and Carson Graham teams.

The Leader’s Discipline

BCPVPA Short Course I

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This month I had the privilege of attending the BCPVPA Short Course I, held at UBC from July 3 – 7.  This week-long intensive course is designed to provide new and early-career school leaders with the opportunity to refine their leadership skills and connect and network with other like-minded professionals at similar stages in their profession.  I’m sometimes asked by budding school leaders, or those who are in the role, but never took the opportunity what Short Course I is all about.  So here it is.

For the 41st edition of Short Course I, we had assembled the largest group educational leaders ever to attend this program.  This year’s theme was “Leading Learning: Thriving in a Time of Innovation and Change”.  Each day, the course focused on a different domain from the Leadership Standards for Principals & Vice-Principals in British Columbia.  In the following I break down just some of the highlights of what was covered each day.

Short Course Day 1

Day 1 revolved around Moral Stewardship.

Sweet 16!

830AM  We met in our pre-determined ‘family’ groups, each chaired by a veteran facilitator who had been to Short Course before.  I was at table 16 and my facilitator, Anne Smith, was a Principal from Ecole Lac des Bois in Prince George.  Anne had already played this role a number of time previously and I could tell from her enthusiasm and confidence that she was going to be a wonderful facilitator!  Our team had to come up with a team name, and I whimsically suggested “Sweet 16” because Anne had brought a bunch of candy for our table, and it stuck.  Team Sweet 16 was formed!

915AM After some table talk, we were given a formal welcome to UBC by Blye Frank, the Dean of Education.  Mr. Frank reminded us that when doing traditional acknowledgements at our schools, that we are not in a position to welcome our staff and students to traditional territories, that was are only permitted to acknowledge where we work, play and live.  An important distinction, to be sure.

Our Co-Directors for the conference, Liz Bell and Jessica Antosz, as well as Kim Maxwell, the BCPVPA Professional Learning Senior Assistant, were introduced.  I was fortunate to already know Liz from her great work previously in the North Vancouver School District.  They set us up with what the structure would be for the week, and discussed some of what we’d need to know – everything from the philosophy and vision of the short course to tech access and where our break out rooms would be located.

945AM The Superintendent of Schools in Vancouver, Suzanne Hoffman, spoke to us about Passion For Leadership.  A few highlights I took from this talk revolved around modeling leadership – ‘show, don’t tell’, and to lead humbly which is something I try to emulate in servant leadership.  One of her most quotable questions was about, “what is your flagship?”, meaning what is the one thing you’re known for around your school community.  She gave the group a moment to reflect when asking if we could name off all of our students who are in care, or who are indigenous.  And finally she reminded me of a book I’ve meaning to read – Carol Dwecks, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”, where she discusses having a ‘growth mindset’.

11:20AM  Our family groups engaged in a team building exercise called a ‘Goose Chase’.  This was essentially a scavenger hunt around UBC where we had to take photos of our group doing funny poses in different areas after figuring out clues.  Teams were finishing the challenges so quickly, that more had to be added while we were playing.  Our team ended up finishing 3rd out of 25 teams!  It was fun to see the other team’s photos posted on the activity feed in the app throughout.  I’m contemplating doing it with our staff around Handsworth during the first week back in September.

Completing a Goose Chase challenge

Scott MacDonald speaks about student success

12:00PM  Lunch each day was provided by UBC catering and was outstanding!

12:45PM BC’s Assistant Deputy Minister of Education, Scott Macdonald, spoke with us about data driven decision making in BC’s education system.  He highlighted that high performing schools have high performing administrators, but also recognized that energies are not limitless and when we’re considering where to apply them to think about some measurables like graduation rates.  He also had some interesting statistical comments about students who are December babies, versus students who are January babies and what some strategies might be to mitigate the differences between birth months in the same grade.

1:30PM Liz Bell and Kevin Fadum facilitated a session on ‘Decision Making’, giving us a process by which we could reflect on how we make our decisions, and what values those decisions are grounded in.  Kohlberg’s pyramid of stages was referenced in discussion what motivates people, particularly when interests are competing.  We discussed values, morals and ethics and look at analyzing ‘Right VS Right’ dilemmas where clear-cut answers were not always obvious.

3:45PM Our afternoons were spent each day unpacking with our family groups reflections from the day.  Around 4:30 we broke for the day, save for the large number of folks who stuck around for the evening Ignite session in the UBC Nest patio.

Speaking at the Ignite event

5:00PM  In the evening, New Westminster Principal John Tyler organized an Ignite session.  Ignite talks are similar to Ted Talks in that they are structured talks delivered by presenters with accompanying visuals.  An Ignite, specifically, is exactly 5 minutes long consisting of 20 slides timed to run at 15 second each.  I was one of 5 presenters to speak during the Ignite session, talking about my first year as a Vice Principal.  Much of the content of what I spoke about was taken from my blog entry, ‘My First 100 Days’.  A big thanks to my colleagues from North Van, Jeeniece, Jillian and Brigette, who were also at Short Course and stayed to support me.

Day 2’s theme was Instructional Leadership

Bruce Beairsto discusses leadership

9:00 Our first speaker of the day was the former Superintendent of Richmond Schools, Bruce Beairsto.  His topic, broadly, was instructional leadership, but specifically how do we lead learning.  His use of the male / female archetype when discussing leadership styles and the accompanying images of Napoleon and Mother Theresa gave the group pause for thought and fodder for discussion later in the day.  Mr. Beairsto compared influence versus authority, commitment versus compliance and inspiration versus instruction when discussing influential leadership against management authority.  He also defined professional autonomy for us, emphasizing what ‘professional’ really means – a voluntary adherence to a high ethical standard of expectations.

11:00 – 12:30 / 1:30 – 3:00  The majority of our day today was dominated by two different breakout sessions.  Each session focused on a different aspect of Instructional Leadership.  The intent was to have a different member from each family grouping attending a different session so that all would be covered and the learnings could be reported back to the group for mutual benefit.  The only drawback to this was that I found myself in the same sessions as some of my North Vancouver colleagues, and we had intended on similarly distributing our time across the sessions for mutual benefit, but it didn’t end up working that way due to our family group obligations.  We also didn’t get the chance to support our North Van colleague, Rob Smyth, at his session on Understanding the Why: Leading and Learning in Aboriginal Education.

The first session I attended in the morning was called Working in a Unionized Work Place and was led by Kevin Fadum, and Debbie Craig.  After all the attendees introduced themselves and their work context, Kevin and Debbie walked us through understanding collective agreements – both provincial and local language.  We talked about management rights and responsibilities.  Unfortunately we ran out of time before getting through all the content that was prepared for us, but what we did cover was extremely informative.

Aaron Davis speaks about Templeton STEM

The second session I attended in the afternoon was in the Kingsmill Forum, a fancy round seminar room that looked sort of like a city hall chamber.  Here I listened to a panel of speakers talk about Leading the Redesigned Curriculum.  After an overview discussion about how to effectively lead change, we delved deep into 4 different examples – 2 from elementary and 2 from secondary – of school leaders examples of employing new curriculum.  The secondary examples, which were most relevant to me were 1) Aaron Davis, VSB Director of Instruction, speaking about Templeton’s STEM Program, and 2) Pedro Da Silva, also a VSB Director of Instruction, sharing the certificate program used at John Oliver Secondary.  During this session I also had a great chat with one of my family group members, Mike Moloney, VP at Panorama Ridge Secondary, about using of course outlines as one way to gauge successful implementation of new curriculum.  If teachers are successfully using the new curriculum, it should be evident in what they’re assessing, which would ideally also be described in their outlines.

Day 3 was all about Relational Leadership.

My fellow North Van Short Coursers!

We began the day with a unique welcome from a Tibetan horn.  One of the major pieces of today was all about First People’s perspectives – ways of knowing and learning.  We were welcomed by Elder Roberta Price of the Coast Salish People, who shared some personal stories with us.

9:00 – 10:30  Our first session on Aboriginal Education was titled Understanding the Why: Leading and Learning in Aboriginal Education and was led by Brandon Curr, District Principal for Indigenous Education in Burnaby, and our own Rob Smyth, Norgate Elementary Principal, from North Vancouver.  The speakers encouraged us, especially, to make sure we were connecting with our local aboriginal groups to ensure their voices were being heard.  To describe our fluency, appreciation and use of First People’s principles in education, a metaphor of piloting a canoe was used.  Some of us are just at the stage where we are carrying the canoe to water, while others are fully immersed, piloting in deep waters.  Three questions that help guide our discussion included: 1. What are your experiences with aboriginal worldviews and experiences? 2. What reservations or doubts do you have about journeying into deeper waters with aboriginal worldviews and perspectives? 3. What commitment can you make to journey into deeper water with aboriginal worldviews and perspectives?  During this session, there was also mention made of a North Van canoe and kayak tour operator named Takaya Tours.  I know other schools in our district, as well as our school board, have taken staff on such an experience, and it occurred to me that this might be a great idea for our staff some time in the next year.

Calls to Action Panel Discussion

11:00 – 12:30 After break, Terry Beaudry, Deputy Superintendent of Schools in the Central Okanagan, facilitated a panel discussion on Our Calls to Action – Truth and Reconciliation.  I really liked Rob Smyth’s open question, asking us to look beyond our professional work and to contemplate what is our personal call to action when it comes to reconciliation.  As I’ve been working on our school plan the last couple of years, I was reflecting during this discussion about ways I could more meaningfully incorporate aboriginal perspectives into the plan.  We’re also in the midst of planning a rebuild of Handsworth, and I like the idea that signage, such as bathrooms, could be posted in local aboriginal language.  Our school theme for next year is going to be “Building Connections” and everything I heard during the panel discussion certainly spoke to that theme.  The best quote to summarize the discussion would probably be, “Watch, listen, & show respect.”

1:15 – 2:45  In the afternoon, Maeve Buckley, a retired principal and leadership coach from the Central Okanagan, ran a session on leadership with us.  She kicked off her session with an energic round of group sing to the song RESPECT, and carried this theme through her presentation as she used the same word, respect, as an acronym for leadership elements.  We looked at different types of leadership styles, and watched an interesting clip on ‘Presence & The Drama Triangle’.

Maeve commented on the importance of self-awareness and self-reflection as a factor that predicates success as a leader, and it gave me a heightened appreciation for the reflective blogging I do!  She also reminded us to speak positively, and that the absence of negative talk is only neutral, not positive.  The main activity we participated in was a 4 corners activity where we were asked to consider which type of boat represented how was navigated change – a speed boat, sail boat, kayak or cruise ship.  As we went around the room justifying our choices, there were some very interesting rationale; everything from how easy or difficult altering course was, to how many people could be brought along successfully with the change, or to what motivate or powered the boat’s change in direction.  The boat was certainly an apt metaphor!

Enjoying refreshments at Cecil Green House

We wrapped the formal portion of the day a debrief with our family groups and facilitator before heading home or to our hotel to prep for the evening social.  Today’s social was a wine and cheese event sponsored by the BCPVPA legal team and hosted by UBC / BCPVPA staff at Cecil Green House.

Day 4’s theme was Organizational Leadership and we began the day organized a little differently – this time in our ‘affinity groups’.  These groups better represented the context we worked in – elementary or secondary, size of school, French immersion, alternate school, etc.  The idea was to work today with folks who we were more likely to share a similar context with so we could, perhaps, relate better on the issues discussed throughout the day.  During this morning, I got to meet another fellow VP from Sea to Sky, Jenelle Kresak.

Legal and Contract Services Panel Discussion

Today was a lot of ‘legal stuff’ and understand roles, responsibilities, and what guides our practice as administrators.   Our BCPVPA Legal and Contract services team was on hand to deliver a presentation, and supporting them was Allen Soltan of DLA Piper, LLP.  Some of the topics covered included:

  • How the Law views the role of the Principal & Vice Principal
  • Guiding frameworks for practice (School Act, District Policy, TRB Standards, etc, etc)
  • Duties / Responsibilities of Principals & Vice Principals
  • Case Studies around social media use, duty to supervise
  • Use of force / restraint
  • Privacy / Access to Information
  • Workplace Bullying / Harassment & Discrimination
  • Elements of a personal services contract & benefits
  • Negotiation Agency of the BCPVPA

It was great to have bona fide legal advice on hand for the session to answer questions from our group.  If I had a tip for next year’s group I’d say have all your burning legal questions ready to fire for this day.

Because we were organized in our Affinity Groups this day, we also had some great table talk with people in similar contexts.  We also got a first peek at a phenomenal new resources for Principals and Vice Principals called the BCPVPA Start Smart Planning Guide.

Start Smart Planning Guide

While there’s no ‘how to’ manual for how to be an administrator, this new resource covers a lot of topics for new admin who may not even know what questions to ask or where to start.  It’s being polished up and will be shared more widely soon, so keep your eyes out for it.

Kelowna claims their prize

Friday, Day 4 was also the day of our evening banquet held at Sage Bistro.  We had a few speeches from guests, spent time and took photos with our family groups and even had a dance competition.  And despite a strong showing from Prince George, and an unnamed city who pre-emptively put their names on the trophy, it was Kelowna who ended up winning the dance competition by being the town with the last members standing on the dance floor at the end of the night.  It was also nice during this evening to reconnect with my colleagues from North Van to check in and see how their experience at short course had been going so far.

Sweet 16 at Sage Bistro

To finish out the week, Saturday’s theme was “Inspiration to Lead”.  We started a bit earlier as breakfast was provided this morning.  Our family groups gathered once more to start to the day, and we began once more with reflections on yesterday’s learnings.

9:00 – 10:00 Our first speaker for Saturday was Pat Duncan, Superintendent of Learning with the Ministry of Education.  Pat had given brief words of welcome at the previous night’s dinner, but today we really got to hear some detailed information from him on behalf of the ministry.  He introduced himself first and foremost proudly as a teacher, and in doing so reminded us never to forget that’s what we are.  His main purpose was to talk about the new BC curriculum and the WHY behind it all.  He took us through the origins of its creation and some of the guiding questions that drove the process, including “What is worth learning?”  He encouraged us to imagine teachers as coaches, mentors and activators, not the keepers of knowledge.  And that being good at work sheets and memorization are not top skills for students entering the workforce.  To demonstrate the difference between knowledge and understanding, Pat showed us a great clip about the Backwards Bicycle.

11:00 – 11:20 David DeRosa, the new President of the BCPVPA gave a brief talk on leadership, focusing on health, wellness and balance, giving a background of the BCPVPA and encouraging members to be involved in committees like chapter council and the issues forum.  Something to consider in the future for sure!

Kevin Reimer speaking about leadership potential

11:20 – 11:40 Our final formal presentation of the week came from Kevin Reimer, our outgoing President of the BCPVPA as well as the incoming Executive Director.  Kevin’s talk was titled ‘Learning, Leading and Laughing’, with the tongue-in-cheek subtitle ‘Learning from Kevin’s Many Leadership Mistakes’.  He told us a wonderful story about a school he worked with in Comox who made their theme for the year “We Can”, and picked a theme song by a relatively unknown artist named Jesse Ruben.  Jesse ended up coming to visit the school to shoot a music video with the school, and his work supporting students through the ‘We Can’ project spread from there!  Kevin also talked about the importance of credibility, and the need to re-establish it at every new school you work at, and contrasted the difference between deep influential power versus authoritative, ‘cheap’ power.  His final piece of inspiration was a quote he keeps on a post-it note on his computer monitor, to “Increase the Life Chances of Every Child” – and this should be our focus every day!

A thank you for our facilitator, Anne Smith

Short Course I was an inspiring, engaging (and exhausting!) full week experience of professional development.  In the end, I would highly recommend it for any administrators who are early in their career.  I think it was definitely valuable to have experiences to draw on, particularly during discussion times, so with that in mind I’d suggest that if you’ve never actually worked as a VP or P, it would be a conference better attended after you’ve spend a year in the role.  The conference runs much longer than a typical day, so be prepared to spend your evenings out as well.  I know many of the participants, particularly those from out of town, ended up staying at UBC in some of the rental housing, which is a great idea.  Beyond the learnings and tools for the toolbelt, I just really enjoyed networking with a large group of people who were at a similar stage in their roles as administrators.  You can never have a large enough support network for a role like this, and having people in other districts with a detached, informed and unique perspective on issues you may handle in the role is such an asset.  A big thank you to organizers Liz, Jessica and Kim, and to our fabulous Group 16 facilitator, Anne! If you’ve attended a Short Course and have some perspective to add, please feel free to add your comments in the space below.

BCPVPA Short Course I

Fair is Not Equal

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Fairness and equality are not the same thing, and at times really represent opposing value systems.  I’ve found myself having often to weigh fairness and equality in the context of education, and in most instances fairness has won out.  Allow me to provide three examples from athletics, student discipline and supporting complex student needs.

At Handsworth, our basketball program has tried to encourage as many students as possible to participate in grades 8 and 9.  At the bantam level in particular, equality of opportunity is prized most, and is even included in the rules of play across the North Shore.  During the first three quarters of games in grade 8, players are rotated in and out every 4 minutes.  This gives every player an equal opportunity to participate during the first three quarters and to develop their skills in a game situation.  Once players hit grade 10 our program focus moves from participation to competition.  At the junior and senior levels we try and field the most competitive team possible.  Playing time is no longer necessarily equitable, but rather determined by attendance & effort at practice, maintaining an acceptable academic standing, demonstrating sportsmanship, adherence to the student code of conduct and, ultimately, skill.  Competitiveness and fairness for all become the modus operandi of the team.  Students who do not attend practice regularly are not given the playing time that those who do attend are.  That’s fair.  Students who have dedicated more time and effort to developing themselves as players are given a greater opportunity to perform, because it’s fair.  Students at any level who are unable to demonstrate good student citizenship may have their extra-curricular privileges curtailed, which is also fair.

A big part of being fair as a coach is providing transparency.  There’s nothing more frustrating as a player than not being given an opportunity, but also not understanding why.  Student – teacher, and coach – player relationships work best when there’s a mutual understanding of fairness. Providing clear instruction at the beginning of a season or school year about expectations can help provide a sense of fairness for all.

Student discipline has taken up a greater portion of my time than I had hoped or anticipated this year.  And the conversation around discipline has, in many instances, turned to a conversation about what is perceived as fair or equitable.  In almost every instance of student discipline I end up referring back to our school’s Student Code of Conduct.  This is a document created and revised regularly with input from not only staff, but also parents and students themselves in order to enhance its quality of fairness.  One section of the code that is particularly relevant for this discussion goes as follows:

“Disciplinary action, whenever possible, will be preventative and restorative, rather than merely punitive. The administration will take into account factors such as the severity and frequency of the offence(s), as well as the age, maturity, and ability of the student in question.”

By factoring in these variables, we can see that that spirit of the Student Code of Conduct is really to provide discipline that is fair before it is equal.  Expectations for student behaviour and decorum increase as students (hopefully!) mature in the later grades.  And students who repeatedly break the code of conduct should be dealt with using progressive discipline.  A first time offender is typically not treated with the same level of discipline as someone who makes a habit of poor decision making.

We should always endeavour to treat students fairly, to support them, and assist them in making good decisions for themselves.  A similar, yet different, system that comes to mind with thinking of equality vs fairness is the justice system.  This system, despite providing progressive consequences for repeat offenders, I would argue, prizes equality before the law above fairness.

A final example of equality versus fairness in the education system is the way we support our complex learners.  Many of our students have unique learning challenges that require additional support.  If we were to prize equality for all, then the supports offered to all students would be the same.  But this is not the case.  The value we place on fairness is seen in the additional supports in terms of personnel, and adaptations or modifications provided to students that help them to find success at school.  While not equal, this is certainly what is fair.  In a just and democratic society, we should endeavour to see that all our students find success, not just some of them.  Our communities will certainly be stronger for it.  The support we offer our learners with unique challenges is a prime example of the education system demonstrating the value it places foremost on fairness.

Fairness and equality are two very different things.  In education, I think fairness more accurately represents the value system we want to prize.  Equality, while ostensibly a noble virtue, doesn’t always provide our students with the support they need to excel in extra-curricular areas, promote positive decision making, and support their academic success.

Fair is Not Equal

The Innovator’s Mindset

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This past month I read George Couros’ The Innovator’s Mindset. It was a book that came a good juncture in my professional growth as I move from teaching to administration. The book walked a nice line between both a teacher and administrator’s perspective on how to foster a culture of innovation in classrooms and a school as a whole. As with any book on education, I try to see if what I read simply reinforces my existing beliefs, or if it challenges me to see things differently. While much of what Couros writes was already in line with my beliefs, there was a lot of food for thought in the book and moments where I paused to reflect on my own experience and ways I could try to reframe some of the work we’re doing at Handsworth. I thought I might share a few notes and highlights from the book that really resonated with me.

This year our overarching goal at Handsworth has been deeper student engagement, inspired by our work the previous year with Design Thinking. In The Innovator’s Mindset, Couros says that engagement is good, but empowerment is better. I have had a confluence of inspirations between my experiences at High Tech High with exhibitions of student learning, the self-assessment piece coming with BCs New Curriculum and now reading Couros’ comments of moving beyond engagement. I’m excited to see how we can move towards real student empowerment next year. One idea we are working with is to possibly restructure our twice-yearly parent-teacher interviews to have them be, rather, led by students who will share what they’ve been learning, perhaps with a portfolio of work.

One of the quotes Couros cited early in the book was from American educator and author, Stephen Covey, who talks about the speed of trust. As someone who subscribes completely to the idea that any organization is only as strong as its people and the relationships between them I agree wholeheartedly with the notion that things just get done, and get done faster, where there is an established culture of trust. This culture is developed, as Couros says, “by the expectations, interactions, and, ultimately, the relationships of the entire learning community.” But, even more importantly, relationships are built first on a one-to-one basis. I like Couros’ suggestion that as an administrator it is important to work with smaller staff groups of 2 to 4 people to create an intimacy that is lacking with larger assembly style groups. I have been fortunate to work with some great district administrators in North Vancouver who have also worked hard to create relationships with other staff in those types of smaller working groups. Networking is so important, because, as is mentioned in the book, “alone we are smart, together we are brilliant.” Strong relationships create an environment for innovation.

I had to laugh when the example of Blockbuster was brought up when illustrating the notion that organizations must “innovate or die”. I actually worked for Blockbuster all through my high school and university years. I was an employee there in the year 2000 when a small, little known company named Netflix began its mail order DVD program.

In what is now a fairly well known monumental business blunder, Blockbuster’s CEO had the opportunity to buy Netflix but decided to pass on it because he considered video streaming to be a niche market. Education is also a “business” that is experiencing a rapid transformation. Our students, as “clients”, have higher expectations than ever for how they will be served. It’s on us, collectively, to make sure we aren’t delivering a VHS experience where a digital one is required.

So how do we foster this innovative change we are so earnestly pursuing? Couros says that to inspire change, we must make a connection to the heart first before making a connection to the mind. And again, this really speaks to the importance of relationships – both between staff, and also staff and students. Inspiration comes from embracing possibilities. And as an educational leader, it is going to be incumbent upon me to help create those conditions where creative risk taking and positive change is more likely to occur. A culture of compliance is anathema to fostering innovation. Moreover, it’s important to realize that the improvement of our practice will never really have a finish line. We’re in education after all. If, as a discipline, we’re not constantly adapting and improving, then we aren’t truly living what it means to embrace that culture of learning.

Today, more than ever before, there seems to be this pronounced push and pull between innovative, personalized, big idea learning practices, and the forces of testing, compliance and traditional learning. Thankfully it seems that new thinking is beginning to win the day. School shouldn’t be about “what’s on the test”. It should be a safe and welcoming place where students have permission to make mistakes; to fail quickly and fail often so they learn to find success, not just in the classroom, but also in life. In reading The Innovators Mindset I was reminded of a John Green quote I love. To paraphrase, it goes, “About the test… The test will measure whether you are an informed, engaged, and productive citizen of the world, and it will last your entire life, and it will be comprised of the millions of decisions that, when taken together, will make your life yours. And everything, everything, will be on it.” Whether or not we prepare our students to be productive, happy and engaged citizen is the real measurement, I believe, of quality of the learning happening in our schools.

There was, however, one assertion Couros made that I wanted to challenge. He asks what is a student more likely to need to know how to write: an essay or a blog post, suggesting that the latter was more important. I understand the irony of questioning this within a blog post, but I have to say that any good piece of persuasive writing, be it an op-ed piece, a blog post or even an online review requires some understanding of ethos, pathos and logos – elements of persuasion that are the foundation of a good essay. This is in addition to understanding the importance of quality evidence and establishing a good structure. This is not to say the essay is the be all and end all, but it gives young writers a great foundation; a platform from which they can propel to all other forms of writing, including blog posts. But maybe that’s just the English teacher in me. Blogging is certainly important. Couros discusses what a fantastic professional development tool it can be, and I have to agree. While I know what I write is read by very few people, it encourages me to refine my thinking on topics in education – something I will increasingly be challenged to do as I navigate the world of administration.

As a budding administrator, Couros reminds me that the higher up any one person is in an organization, the more people they serve. I’m looking forward to serving more people than ever, and hopefully in the process being a force for innovation and change that can affect even more students. One of the most profound questions that came up frequently in The Innovators Mindset was, “Would I want to be a learner in my own classroom?” I will be serving many classrooms now; albeit in a different capacity, so I feel there is an enhanced responsibility to ensure that all classrooms in the school are safe and caring spaces for learning. But beyond that, I think for me, it’s also going to be important for me to ask, “Would I want to be a staff member in my own school?” The Innovator’s Mindset has given me some good inspiration in helping me make that a positive reality.

You can find The Innovator’s Mindset online at Amazon.ca.

The Innovator’s Mindset

My First Slice of Raspberry Pi

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My First Slice of Pi: Discovering Raspberry Pi with my Class

Raspberry Pi is an exceptionally small, inexpensive and simple computer used to help teach students about hardware and programming. My former principal first introduced it to me, suggesting that Pi might be a neat activity to try with one of my computer classes. Not knowing anything about, I started researching what it was all about.

What is Raspberry Pi?rpi2b

To quote Wikipedia, The Raspberry Pi is a series of credit card–sized single-board computers developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation with the intent to promote the teaching of basic computer science in schools and developing countries. 

How I Got Started

I decided that the curriculum of my Business Communications course, a precursor to senior programming classes, best fit the intent of Pi. Funds to purchase 16 Raspberry Pi 2, Ultimate Starter Edition, were generously provided through my school PAC, and my school administration.  I got 16 of them so I would have at least 1 for every 2 students, as well as one Pi as a teacher demo model. Not knowing anything about Raspberry Pi I began by watching a number of different YouTube videos on how to get started. There are countless videos out there, but here’s an example of one I watched:

Growing Pains

I took the opportunity on one of our professional development days to figure out how exactly to have my students dive into Pi. Here’s a summary of what I learned:

Screen Shot 2016-05-02 at 10.33.18 PM

Despite purchasing the “Ultimate Starter Kit” for my Pis, I didn’t have the proper adaptor to enable the Pi to be plugged into our Dell monitors. The Pi has a built in HDMI port, and an HDMI cable was included, but I had to also purchase HDMI to VGA converters so we could use our monitors. It also only came with only male-to-male breadboard jumper wires. A few of the projects students found online later required the use of male-to-female wires that we didn’t have. My first lesson was to never assume all the hardware needed will be included! There are always additional costs to consider.

I spent a considerable about of time learning about how to format the SD card and download the NOOBs (New Out Of the Box operating System). Because I don’t have the proper administrative privileges on our school computers, I had to request that our district IT team install special formatting software on a few of the computers. I only realized later that because I had ordered the Ultimate Starter Kit that the SD cards included already have NOOBs on them.

My first time turning the Pi on was anticlimactic. I had the monitor, USB mouse and keyboard, Ethernet cable, and power plugged in, but nothing appeared to be working. I realized after that I had to have the power cord plugged in last, not first. I unplugged everything and plugged it all in again, attaching the power last, and it finally fired up!

Starting with Students

First Lesson

My first “lesson” with the students was spent looking at the different components of the Pi. After all, one of the great educational aspects of the Pi is the opportunity to identify different hardware pieces. Next we had to insert the mini SD card and install the operating system Raspbian and Scratch. In order to do this we had to start attaching some peripheral hardware to interact with the Pi. This involved taking all the mice, keyboards and monitors from our classroom computers and plugging them into the Pi. This was tough because everything is tied together so securely for fear of theft that some of the cables were difficult to access. Installing the operating system took about 25 minutes, but because the students were in pairs I could have them shift to another computer to continue working on another class project. At the same time we were also working our way through Codecademy, so I had them work on that. Providing sufficient time at the end of each class was important as it took some time to plug all the mice, keyboards and monitors in again and ensure they were working properly for the next class.

Second Lesson

When in doubt, read the instructions. The students and myself were both a little mystified when we were asked for a username and password during the next book up, even though we had never previously set one up. Thankfully in the accompanying instruction manual we found that the username was ‘pi’ and the password ‘raspberry’.

During the second lesson we made sure everyone had installed the operating system properly. It took some time to set up the devices again with the monitors and other peripherals but once we were all booted up the students finally had a chance to start interacting with the device. From the main menu there are basically 2 options – you can go to the command line Raspbian or to a program called Scratch, which is a free visual programming language. If you go to the command line and type in “startx” the Pi launges a graphic user interface which has a few other programs you can easily access, including a version of the popular game Minecraft.

During this class, students familiarized themselves with the boot up process, and how to access some of the different programs both through scratch and the GUI. Students who were comfortable with the interface could go and try out the Scratch website also, which has a great tutorial.

Third Lesson

During lesson three we began looking at Raspberry Pi projects that the students could try out. Raspberrypi.org has a bunch of neat simple projects as options, but there are many other more sophisticated ones to be found on the web.

Because we had a breadboard included in the kit, I printed off instructions for students to do some simple breadboard – LED activities. As previously mentioned, all the wires we were given were male-to-male, so I had to also order a bundle of male to female wires off amazon for $10. Students were encouraged to do a more ambitious project if they wanted.

IMG_0032A friend of mine had taken a Raspberry Pi and turned it into a Super Nintendo simulator. I brought that into the class and plugged it in for the kids to see. It’s one thing to tell them what they can do, but being able to show them a finished product was even cooler. This inspired some students to research how to make one themselves. Because some projects that were larger may have needed students to buy other peripheral hardware like controllers, I provided an added incentive saying that if anyone came up with a substantial project that required some personal investment on their part, that they could take the Raspberry Pi home permanently when they were done their project.

Work on their projects consumed our third and fourth lessons.

Assessment

One of the biggest questions I got was “How are we going to be marked on this?” Lesson 5 was spent addressing assessment. Although the formative assessment that was ongoing throughout the project classes was also remarkably evident. Students with a more proficient skill set had the opportunity throughout the lessons to provide peer support… and I even noticed some scaffolding of their classmates learning!

Screen Shot 2016-05-02 at 10.41.34 PMDuring lesson 5, students were required to do a reflection and discuss to what extent were they successful in completing the project they set out to do. They were asked what they learned and what they’d do differently.

My Own Reflection

As a type A teacher, a complete lack of instructional structure was a bit terrifying, but with the recent push for more personalized and project based learning, I thought this experience represented an excellent opportunity to loosen the reins a bit.

The next time I do this project, I’d like to have more self-paced mini-projects to provide the students, so those with few ideas can at least feel like they did something substantial with it. I feel like some students viewed the Raspberrypi.org projects daunting despite their apparent ease. I’d have more wires etc. so the class would be less limited by the hardware constraints.

Providing a working example of a successful video game emulator really captured the students’ attention. If I have access to the same system next time, I’ll certainly be sure to make use of it again.

The administrative privileges on our computers make it incredibly difficult or impossible to download or install anything. We needed to download and install different card images on the SD cards depending on the project the students wanted to do, but couldn’t because we didn’t have the necessary permissions. There was a program we needed to use to reimage the cards, but we weren’t able to download it. I tried to download it onto my school laptop, but the same restrictions were in place. That was probably the most frustrating part of the experience and one that is common to many projects we try and do with technology.

I think it’s important to always try new things. Failure is okay. Some of the students I know have been inspired to try and do bigger and better things with the Pi on their own time / during lunch hours, which I think is great and has to be considered a success. 5 lessons as an introduction were perfect for this year and I hope to be able to build on this ‘first slice of Pi’ with my new understanding of the device in the years to come.

My First Slice of Raspberry Pi