Learning How to Change

Over the Christmas break, while visiting friends and family I have not seen in a while,  I was asked questions like "where did you come from?" "why are you so different?" "were you switched at birth?" I am not fazed by these because I know I am different. It has always been a goal of mine to not be like those around me and push my own boundaries. To answer these questions, I thought I would share an article in the belief that what makes me different is listed here. In the start of this new year, I would ask that you do not make resolutions that might be broken come March, but instead, just do something different to push your own boundaries. Just one time. If that sounds good, then please read on. This list applies to both life inside and outside of the classroom. So if you are like me, and you have lost the battle of keeping the front line in the classroom once or twice, take back control and don't give up. If there are times when you feel you ju...

In the spirit of cultural sensitivity, I thought I would share an article from the Economist published on Apr 9th 2016. I have made no edits to this article, but  I have bolded some phrases below for you to consider and concluded this post with some comments. The advantages of working in your own language are obvious. Those of working in a foreign one are subtle. More and more of the world is working in English. Multinational companies (even those based in places such as Switzerland or Japan) are making it their corporate language. And international bodies like the European Union and the United Nations are doing an ever-greater share of business in the world’s new default language. At the office, it’s English’s world, and every other language is just living in it. Is this to the English-speaker’s advantage? Working in a foreign language is certainly hard. It is easier to argue fluently or to make a point subtly when not trying to call up rarely used vocabulary or const...

I have been working on some new Professional Development Lessons for teachers these past few weeks, which I hope to base some future workshops on. I thought I would share the infographic I have created based on the Government of Alberta's ATESL Adult ESL Curriculum Framework. This infographic highlights 5 essential elements for building communicative competence, which include discourse,strategic, functional, linguistic, and sociocultural competencies. The infographic represents this taxonomy and shows how these elements are interconnected and how each helps build communicative knowledge and skills when integrated into curriculum and practice in intentional ways. The full curriculum guide can be found here:  ATESL Documents

My PIDP journey is coming to an end, but the life-long learning journey is sure to continue. To sum up what I have learned from my Professional Practice course, here is an infographic/poster I created. If there is only one thing you take away from reading my posts, I hope it is this: "No matter how experienced or educated you are,  there is always more to learn about what you teach others." Hang it on your wall! Share it! Sharing is caring!

The Big Think presented a video of the Global Education and Skills Forum in 2014. At this meeting, Bill Clinton was asked “what is the most important thing you have ever learned?” His answer was... “the most important thing I’ve ever learned is there’s more to learn.” One of my top ten TED Talks is by Adora Svitak and is entitled What Adults can Learn from Kids.  She states, “for better or worse, we kids aren't hampered as much when it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do things. Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking.” She then asks a question that resonates with me, and makes me feel truly inspired even still. Her question was “how many of you [adults] still dream like that, and believe in the possibilities?” I had to ask myself, “do I?” The truth is that when I first watched this video, about 5 years ago, I did not. Well, I dreamed. I am a creative writer, so I am always dreaming about something. But, what was I dreaming about a...

For my digital project assignment in my Professional Practice course, I have created an animated video on Peer Coaching through observation using the website www.powtoon.com .  I selected this strategy because it is important to me to attempt to change people’s misconceptions about peer coaching. I am hoping to convince teachers that the purpose of the observation is not to make the teacher look bad or to place blame, but to help. There are many benefits that go unnoticed because they are overshadowed by fear. I learned that Peer Coaching, as mentioned by the Center for Professional Development at Peak to Peak Charter School, can: improve teaching practices and student performance, enhance sense of professional skill, increase ability to analyze lessons, help teachers understand best practices in teaching and learning, provide teachers a wider range of instructional strategies/resources, and improve teaching performance. As a program manager, I hope to use this p...

In this post, I would like to highlight a couple of blogs written by my classmates. Judging the titles of their blogs alone, I think you can understand why I am showcasing them here. You can read the specific posts that inspired what I am writing about today here: Does the Learning Ever End Instructor Under Construction I thought I would comment on this topic as well by telling you a story. These posts made me think about an unforgettable experience I had with one of my English for Academic Purposes (EAP) University prep classes. I had been teaching this this level of the program for only a year, and it was a tough year. I felt lost, like I was an impostor, and I was faking it every single day. I had a deep appreciation for this particular group of students though because they were interested in learning English just as much as they were interested in growing as people. I had assigned a presentation, and let them choose any format and any topic. They did not take me seriousl...

Inspired by my Professional Practice course, here are my thoughts on my career and my future. For the last 7 years that I have lived in Vancouver, I have been talking about my 10 year plan. This plan includes owning a winery, having chickens, and my own stairs. As I am now about 5 years into that plan and don't make wine, but drink it, and don't have chickens, but buy eggs, and don't have my own stairs, but have the stairs in my building, I thought it was about time to re-evaluate my life. Currently, my job is quite demanding, chaotic, and fast-paced, but I like it that way. I am, and always have been,  a "fixer" and this is what I spend time doing everyday. I develop programs and ensure the organization is compliant with the standards set out by the regulators. I develop materials, and train people how to use them. I manage programs and I teach them. I graduated with a degree in education, and all this "fixing" was not part of my original career pla...

After a few weeks, I am back to the books. I have just begun my last class in VCC's Provincial Instructor Diploma  Program called Professional Practice. Over the next few weeks, I will reflect on my practices as a teacher and as a leader in the school I work for. I hope to inspire all you teachers out there to reflect with me. Steven D. Brookfield quotes Myles Horton as saying "I believed then and still believe that you learn from your experience of doing something and from your analysis of the experience (The Skillful Teacher, 2006, p. 14). He then goes on to explain that simply having experiences does not mean that they are understood. In my opinion, it takes reflection and critical analysis of what happen in our lives, and in our lives as teachers to truly understand. I think what sets me apart is the fact that I do reflect, and at times, too much. I am always trying to learn new things about myself and my craft; hence my need for a 12-step program. In the arena of co...

This was the concept that planted the seed for this blog. I asked myself what does this mean?  I am sure it means something different to everyone. I have participated in discussion forums and listened to teachers ask Have you ever wondered why some students are much quicker to understand and apply concepts from class with success, while others seem to struggle? If you have found yourself wondering this, why not teach students the skill "how to learn"?  According to Terry Doyle, a professor and educational consultant at Ferris State University, learning how to learn   includes all of the following areas: 1. Ways of organizing information 2. Ways of comprehending information/ finding what's important 3. Ways of studying information 4. Ways of recalling information 5. Ways of finding information 6. Ways of thinking about information When designing lessons, a simple strategy for a teacher could be to transform these areas into a set of questio...

Teaching English for specific purposes like tests uses different teaching strategies and approaches than a typical language class. Students are under quite a bit of pressure and are motivated by results. If teachers spend time getting students to think about their performance, I will call this metacognitive awareness, students will notice their own improvement rather than ask the teacher whether they are improving. Metacognitive Skills Based on an article by Connie Malamed, here are some metacognitive skills that are highly relevant and necessary in a test-prep class: Choosing to skim subheadings of unimportant information to get to the information you need.  Repeatedly rehearsing a skill in order to gain proficiency.  Periodically doing self-tests to see how well you learned something.  Metacognitive Strategies To help your students learn how to learn, and notice their own improvement, teachers can incorporate these strategies into their lessons. Then, encour...

“Students who reflect of their learning are better learners than those who do not” (Barkley, p. 30). Reflection, in my opinion, inspires change. To make change, you have to identify what needs to be changed. We don’t just wake up and decide to change. This is a process that comes from seeing, doing, or learning something new, which is what I can the spark that ignites change. Cross, 1993, p 30-31 compares the process of integrating new knowledge into existing knowledge to clothes in a closet. He says that it is rather easy to hang clothes in a well-organized closet and retrieve them ready-to-wear. The point he makes here is that this process is easy when you understand and implement the principles of organization for the closet. For example, shoes go on the floor, knits are folded on shelves, suits have special hangers, etc. He also says that if, on the other hand, you just throw things into the closet and close the door, it will be a challenge to find the shirt you are looking ...