Motivation, Innovation and teaching the "Basics"

What does it look like when teachers plan with motivation and innovation in mind? How do teachers teach the curriculum and engage students at the same time? This week I was at PD with George Couros, where he spoke about innovation in schools.  Afterward I started a conversation with Richard Roberts about innovation and what it looks like in the classroom. I expressed concern about basic skills being overlooked in the "rush" to be innovative. Richard kept reminding me that it isn't about technology or content but rather how  all content can be taught in innovative ways. I think we both agree that innovation is about learning and improving how we teach. We are just talking about innovation in different ways. I was trying to make the point that sometimes in our excitement to be innovative the purpose of a lesson gets lost.

So what can innovation look like in the classroom? First we need to ask ourselves how is student voice included in our teaching? Are we allowing students choice in how they learn and share their learning? What does it look like if we do that? Enid Lee tells us to be mindful of how much teacher talk there is. Research shows that collaborative learning is where rich learning happens, in her math PD sessions Meagan Mutchmor reminds teachers of the importance of student conversation as they problem solve.

Teaching students how to collaborate, what it looks like when they work in a group needs to be done before students can have those rich conversations.  Is creating protocols and practicing group behaviours or turn and talk behaviour innovative? I would say no it isn't innovative it is good teaching. How do we teach those behaviours? That might be innovative, but sometimes it is routine as it depends on how a teacher already does business in their classroom. For teachers wondering how to teach behaviours using the procedures set out in The Daily 5 by Gail Bushey and Joan Moser will walk them through the how. All you need to do afterward is create similar anchor charts with your students for other procedures you need in your classroom.

Inquiry requires students knowing expectations of behaviour, how to use a computer or tablet to research a topic, and how to recognize a good website among other skills. Some of the skills need to be explicitly taught before they begin a project, while other skills students will learn as they need them. How we teach those skills might be innovative, maybe in the past our teaching was mostly teacher directed so now we are trying to have students develop the skills in a more student directed way, that would be innovative. However, if I already teach such skills in a more student directed way it isn't innovative.

Will I abandon that way of teaching because it isn't innovative? As a reflective learner, I will think about the students in front of me and ask myself several questions. First, are the students getting those prerequisite skills the way I am currently teaching them? Is the learning happening quickly so we can get into the meat of the lesson where the academic learning will happen? Are my students engaged in the learning? The last question - engagement is almost the same as question 1 because without engagement the students won't learn the necessary skills. Finally I will ask if there is a better way to teach those skills? For prerequisite skills better would also mean faster, or it might mean that 100% of students learn the skills quickly. If I feel that the way I teach those skills works well already then why would I change what I am doing?

Will I change other parts of my lesson? If the students in front of me are showing I need to change then I would hope I would change. How do students tell me I need to change my practice? Engagement is a big piece of how students tell their teacher change is needed or not needed? If my students are not engaged I will need to change how I do things. Once a need for change is determined innovation will happen.

I wrote this two years ago and I find it is still relevant for me. What is relevant about this piece is that I want to be mindful of content and how I am engaging students in the content. Since I wrote this unpublished blog I have learned about the work of Peter Liljedahl and vertical surfaces. Again, the focus is student engagement and voice. Without technology Liljedahl engages learners by creating a climate of collaboration and sharing of thinking. It is amazing what happens when students realize they are in the "drivers seat" and can learn without the teacher. Suddenly students who were beginning to disengage and easily frustrated are sticking with problems and saying things like "we can figure it out."