Saturday, October 8, 2011

Badges to help tell our stories...

flickr photo via PinkMoose

I didn't spend much time involved with scouting as a child, but I do remember those badges. I still have some of my handy work from a long time ago... a birdhouse I built for my construction badge; a sardine can first-aid kit I put together for my survival badge and a velvet-covered piece of plywood with my beautiful string art creation nailed and strung to it for my creative art badge. Why have I kept these items for all these years? I think it's because they remind me of a simpler time when people noticed the effort I put into these things, and took the time to engage and acknowledge me with a badge.

On the surface I feel kind of silly admitting that these badges I received mean something to me, but they do. My Twitter tribe and I have been taking a deeper dive into the badge concept as of late. The conversation has me re-thinking the process of badging. Typically badges are awarded to display some degree of competence or effort in a particular domain, but in an educational context I see a slightly different purpose for badging in schools.

I maintain that students need to be engaged in writing their own learning stories. What if badges were used to highlight interesting and engaging elements of each of our learning stories? Further to this, what if badges could be awarded by any member of the school family who notices something interesting and engaging about another's learning story? Administrators, teachers, para-professionals, parents, community members and the students themselves... all of these people could be badge givers- all they would have to do is notice something about another; a specific talent (realized or not by the person possessing it,) a exemplary act; a feat of kindness... anything that allows us to say "good on ya!" to members of the school family that we notice and want to engage by complementing them with a badge.

Consider the possibilities that may emerge within this culture of badging... talents would be noticed with intent by badge givers and realized by the badge recipient. Every member of the school family would become a "badge scout," constantly on the look-out for others in the school nemisphere worth noticing... we'd all be displaying our relative skills and aptitudes, sharing them with each other, and growing our self-esteem in the process, but most of all as we collect our badges we'd be chronicling our learning journeys in a unique and interesting way.

Think of those bumper stickers folks place on their vehicles displaying that they've been to new and exciting places. I am fascinated to notice the places people have gone on their vacation travels as I follow them down the road. The badges we receive in school would be like those bumper stickers... visual snapshots of the places we've been on the learning journey that nobody can take away from us. Our badges would tell the story of our learning purpose and experience. They would become acknowledgments of our learning efforts, not rewards for making them. Students could use them to help tell their learning stories when others see their collections and ask questions about why they received them. I'v decided to introduce a badge project in my class this week.

Here's what I'm thinking. I already have a well-established developmental model within my class that I call the Hope Wheel. Everyone in my class is on the Hope Wheel path. It centers around the concept of hope as an action word and includes four elemental domains: respect in the east; understanding in the south; relationships in the west, and responsibility in the north. I'm going to explain to my students how a badge can be earned for having explored these domains to the point where competency is visible and lessons have been learned. This will be my introduction.

After this introduction I'm going to suggest to my students that they can acknowledge each other too by creating a badge for anything they deem to be worth noticing along the learning paths they travel with their classmates. They will use art class to design their badges, and I'll scan and print them on sticker paper so they can be peeled off and applied to a badge plate, (just a piece of paper they will adorn in a personalized way,) that will be displayed on the wall in class. My guess is that displaying these plates will create many opportunities for my students to talk about where they've been on their learning journeys with anyone who shows interest.

I'm excited to see how this project will evolve, especially as a result of the students taking control of the process.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Living in the world of possibilities- becoming powerful beyond measure.

I've been looking for inspiration as a new school year begins.  Every year my school district holds its annual kick-off event, and this year along with about a thousand other people, I had the tremendous fortune of listening to the story of Ben McConnell.

Ben spoke about the power every teacher possesses to positively affect the lives of their students, and he knows of what he speaks. Ben has dealt with a litany of health issues that have made his life so much more challenging than most, but he hasn't complained. The journey he has taken, and the attitude he possesses are nothing short of remarkable. Ben provides a humbling example of resilience and strength; primary elements that inclusive teaching and learning environments should be designed to nurture. Ben described teachers who found ways to access his unique motivation to be involved in school beyond measure.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

If it is to be, it's up to we...

flickr photo via fdecomite

As I seek clarity and inspiration for another new school year, a recent conversation with my fellow nemeticists has once again got me thinking. As teachers work hard to prepare for the new year, and their levels of anticipation reach a fever pitch this September, it's vitally important to stay grounded and focused on our fundamental purpose. But to do this we have to know what our fundamental purpose is. I believe that, more than anything else, teachers are in the story-writing business. The world we all share is one big story written by history. When teachers teach, whether it be good, bad or indifferent, they become part of this story.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Humans Being...

The path this post travels may seem a little random... that's OK. It's a reflection of how my mind has been working over the last few days as snapshots of insight entered my nemisphere, and what may have seemed unrelated at first, all of a sudden became related.

If you were old enough in the 1960s to be aware of the '60s, you probably know who Barry McGuire is, and even if you don't, if you listen to music at all, you probably have heard this song...



I wasn't old enough to get the 60's, but I am old enough now to reflect on what was going on back then, and music like this helps me do that. I was listening to The Roy Green Show yesterday while driving around, and Barry McGuire was one of his guests. I added him to my list of people I would most want to sit down and have coffee with... a very interesting guy. As he was telling some of his stories he mentioned that a spiritual awakening saved his life back in the day. It was interesting to hear him explain that he was glad to have had Eve of Destruction as his only #1 single because another one would have killed him. The zeitgeist of # 1 singles during that tumultuous time was deadly I guess.

Engaging Classrooms II

Rule of Engagement #2: Listen to students... if you want them to listen to you. Engaging groups of learners teach each other.

flickr photo via denise carbonell

Some time ago I wrote a post called Engaging Classrooms Manage Themselves. At the time I committed to more on the topic. In a Twitter dialog at #speakchat last week I was reminded of my commitment hence this second installment. By the way, if you're a teacher and you haven't visited #speakchat, it's a fantastic weekly chat to pick up creative tips from others who predominantly speak to audiences of adults; a challenging adventure. (If you've provided professional development for other teachers you know how difficult it can be speaking engagingly to adults.)

As the #speakchat exchange centered around speaking in engaging ways, I began thinking that the quickest way to lose an audience is to focus the conversation on one speaker... I have yet to participate in a successful dialog, with one or many, where participants remain engaged without the opportunity to contribute. Then Todd Whitaker tweeted this point...


Todd
     Todd 


Sean Grainger
 Sean Grainger 
@ToddWhitaker Totally agree... speakers do that by appreciating audience's input/valuing their knowledge and respecting their experience. 

There is nothing worse than an arrogant speaker who approaches dialog as if he was the only one who had anything worthwhile to say. I have attended these lectures before and it is not fun, or engaging. Speakers who suffer from Humility Deficit Disorder have a hard time engaging their audience.

On the other hand, speakers who look to their audience as a group of people with knowledge and expertise that will enhance the conversation more often than not grab the lion's share of their attention. Truly skilled speakers are those who understand they just might come up against an audience member someday who can make them look pretty silly as they project an arrogant tone like "I am the one who knows here, so sit back, listen and learn from me as I blow you mind with my vast knowledge and expertise." That quiet person who knows more and has done more than the speaker will occasionally feel compelled to speak up, and at that point, the sage on the stage is out there, vulnerable and searching for his next move. That's a tight bind to stick-handle out of. Humble pie anyone?

So why not view your audience as an asset as opposed to a liability? Why not view it as a resource providing knowledge and experience instead of just a receiver of your knowledge and experience? 

The best way to speak engagingly is to temper how much you speak... let the audience in on the show.
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