Christine Ho Younghusband

There were so many ‘good’ components to the day… the opening session… Starbucks Coffee… the key note speaker… lunch at the pub… an awesome first session… and not so awesome second session.  I met a lot of great people and I am totally wowed by the awesomeness of the conference center.  What captured my attention today was the opening session called the Opening Eucharistic Liturgy.  I am not sure of the terminology and Catholic rituals, but I much enjoyed listening to the words of wisdom of Archbishop J. Michael Miller, the harmony of the choir, the eloquence of the master of ceremonies, the empowering live gospel music by John Angotti, and the murmurs of the Catholic Educators all around me participating in the religious process.

The experience was amazing.  What struck me about the most was the COLLECTIVE EFFICACY.  I witnessed a collection of Catholic Educators from around the province united in one venue with one vision.  The collective understanding and support contributes to their practice as teachers, which in turn has a positive effect on student achievement.  “Teaching is a privilege” and “Teaching is a noble practice” was the mantra of this morning.  The event was very motivational and inspirational.  New teachers were acknowledged and welcomed to the collective and teachers with 25 years of service were honored amongst their peers.  Catholic Educators were ultimately celebrated.

Not to ramble on about today’s session, but there are certainly distinct similarities and differences between this conference and one’s I have previously attended as a practicing teacher.  Tomorrow is a double session of Damian Cooper talking about Assessment for Learning.  I am looking forward to that.  I am learning a tonne of what to do and what not to do as a public speaker, I am making connections between my thesis writing and what I’m observing, and I am excited about my own workshops to come.  I’ve also learned that my workshop coming up on March 3, 2011 with the CISVA secondary math teachers is full with 30 participants and people are currently being turned away.  All that I know is my sense of self-efficacy to teach has strengthened after today’s conference.

Last year, I was fortunate to be a part of the Pulling Together Journey 2010.  19 canoes paddled in the Salish Sea from Port Moody to Semiahmoo in 9 days.  There were over 200 participants.  I paddled with the s-yewen s-nexwilh Spirit Canoe crew.  I never paddled before, but I felt guided to do so.  I met so many fantastic people.  Our crew had 10 paddlers and one amazing skipper.  The canoe experience was life-changing for me.  I learned about community, trust, and interdependence.  I felt reconnected.

One of the things we learned as a crew is to dispel any negative thoughts before each paddle.  It seemed like a peculiar notion, but the claim is negative thoughts slows down the canoe.  I did not believe this until the third day when it took a lot of effort to propel the canoe.  It was like we were standing still.  When we met in a circle to reflect on our paddle, it was that someone had negative feelings prior to our paddle that day.  We had to release those thoughts to free the canoe.  Success.  We returned back to being one of the faster canoes in the fleet.  It was effortless.  We were a cohesive crew.

So, back to my curling game.  The opposing skip was saying unfriendly comments about my team under her breath to me during the game.  I got annoyed and tried to keep my distance.  In the end, I built up negative thoughts of my own.  No one was having fun on my team, including me.  I was a crabisaurus, we made very few shots, and we lost.  In hindsight, I should have told the skip not talk about my team in that way.  I said, “No one is trying to miss their shot.”  I should have said a lot more.

In my classroom, Assessment for Learning (AFL) provided my students with a learning environment that was “fear-free.” Students were not “marked” on everything they did.  Everything counted, but not everything was evaluated.  To evaluate is to judge.  No one wants to be judged continuously on how they are learning, but rather be judged on what they have learned.  AFL provides feedback to the learner and the teacher.  The teacher becomes the helper, not the policeman.  Grading should not be a mechanism for classroom management, but a means of measuring what percentage of learning outcomes the student understands.  When “everything counts,” such as assignments, attendance, participation, quizzes, or whatever else, what are students really learning?  Students learn more about the game of grading versus the actual course content.

Students fear judgment. Every student at one time or another has spent more time trying to calculate an upcoming grade rather than focusing on their learning.  When I taught math, I would get asked by students, “What mark do I need on the final exam to get a B?”  You can replace the word “final exam” with test or project, and replace the letter grade with F, A, or C+, it all means the same thing.  The outcome are more important than the process.  This conditioning has been instilled in our students since elementary school, when “grades mattered.”

In sport, if an athlete is focused only on winning, he or she is more likely to lose.  The attitudes developed would not be conducive to learning, but to winning.  The focus should not about winning, even though that is an important aspect of sport (much like grades), but it should be about making the right plays, using correct techniques and follow-through, and doing the best you can in that moment.  Focus on the right things, the win will come.  If we expect this in sport, then we should be expect this in schools.

In my fantasy world, there would be no grades, only formative feedback.  Reality says we need to “measure success” with standardized quantifiable evidence.  Somewhere in between, the teacher has the professional autonomy to create a working environment that promotes optimal student learning within the classroom to provoke student achievement and curiosity and, the administrator has the authority to ensure that the school working conditions are safe and suitable to support its teachers and students.

A good leader is not necessarily the institutional leader who is situated in a hierarchy assigned to make life-influencing decisions for others, although they might be.  I am talking about people who have inspired us to be the best people we can be.  What I am saying is, good leadership comes from everyone.  On the Pulling Together Journey 2010, that I was honored to be a part of, one of the youths said something profound.  He said, “To be a good leader is to be a good follower and let others take the lead.”  A powerful statement from a 17-year old boy from Prince George, and it has stuck with me.

Good leadership means being able to recognize people’s gifts, allowing them to thrive, and then follow.  In essence, good leadership breeds good leadership.  Similarly, fear also breeds fear.  There are two ways to view leadership.  It can be something we share with others to prosper or something that we keep from others to subordinate.  Self-doubt and lack of trust make it difficult to see another person’s leadership potential.

So, be thankful to your mom, dad, teacher, coach, tutor, friend, relative, student, employee, sibling, colleague, or whomever in your life who offered you good leadership.  How do you know?  They empowered you to be a good leader too.

Successful implementation requires complete understanding by the primary implementers: the teachers.  What does it look like?  How will this work in my class?  Why should I change?

I had started to question my assessment and evaluation practices more than five years ago, well before the province-wide initiative.  I met a teacher during a round table session at a MetroSeries regarding Understanding by Design (UbD).  As per usual, the best professional development is when you get a chance to talk with other teachers about your practice.  We chatted about marks and grades.  The question posed, “Why does everything count?” After a full-day of quality gab, I simmered with the question.

This person changed my practice and I am grateful.  I feel a deep connection with my assessment strategies, my instructional practices, and my students.  The three realms work in harmony.  There is a clear distinction between grades, work habits, and behaviour.  Although one area may influence the other, I could report out an “A,” a work habit of “S,” and a comment about attendance or attitude to best reflect the student’s learning experience.  Conversely,  I could give a student a “G” for work habits, “Happy Holidays” as a comment, but an “I” or an “F” with respect to the learning outcomes.

For more Edu-Gab about AFL in Secondary (Math) Classrooms, stay tuned to my blog…

One of my ‘beefs’ about education is TOKENIZED LEARNING.  My defining moment did not occur with a teacher, but with my father.  In high school, I was a competitive curler and my curling team was on our way to the provincials.  My dad baited me with a walkman (yes, I’m dating myself) to enhance my performance and motivate me to win.  We were runner-up and I walked away empty handed.  I wanted to win for the wrong reasons.  I wasn’t focused on playing well, I was focused on winning.

In education, learning is often tokenized.  Do this assignment, it’s worth marks.  Act in a particular way, that’s worth more marks.  The learning process becomes more about accruing marks versus learning for the sake of learning.  The drive is a pull, not a push.  Teachers take on this responsibility.  As a result, “learners” become more motivated by the extrinsic rewards and not by passion, genuine interest, or curiosity.  Life-long learning is not about acquiring “the token,” it’s about the love.