Testing Agile in Education
I am in the midst of a new school year...to say that it is hard is an understatement, there are so many moving pieces with COVID that is hard to keep afloat at times!
What has been one of the silver linings of all this, is that I have been able to share ideas and talk to more people than ever before regarding Agile in school. I know that my own Agile journey has not been always on the up and right now...Agile hasn't really begun yet in my classes. I am waiting for the right time, to get to know my students and figure out when I can ease off on the reigns a bit. I see them all for such short periods, it is hard to get a good rapport and understanding of the class dynamic. With that being said, we are starting 'teacherless observations' this week as an experiment to see what students would do if their regular teacher was not there and their 'sub' did not give them any instruction. We tried this a few years back and back then my class were ready...this year no where even close but I am willing to use this to see where exactly what I need to work on and how, maybe seeing it this way round will give me more of a purpose with Agile instead of introducing everything because I can or want to. We shall see...On verra!
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Back at school for a few weeks now and really trying to get Agile back on the agenda. Some students are really finding it hard. Just this week, one expressed concerns because in P.E he expects to just 'come and play games' and sees the class as one where he/she doesn't have to think. I tried to justify my reasons as to why we don't just feed information but he/she was very upset about how the lesson was going. I asked that student to come up with a plan for next class, one that would incorporate a fusion of my own plans and then his/hers. We will see what comes up!
I guess you can't win them all! This week I am getting ready to present at ELMLE Middle School Conference in Budapest. My first time presenting to a little nervous but confident in what I am going to be delivering. If you want more information please let me know. Enjoy the start to the new year. I have been really busy since my last post, I really need to update this more often but I will work on that for the new year!
I have a lot of interesting projects past, present and ongoing. *Bret Thayer just came to visit which was great to connect and meet another fellow Agiler! * Made connections with Eduscrum USA which has helped me re-focus a bit on my own teaching. *Mentoring a new teacher- so refreshing to have someone else to bounce ideas off of and make you re-think ways in which you do things. *Building up a new publication in school 'Spotlight'. *Working on another publication to help fellow teachers who wish to use Agile in their classes. An addition and after many iterations will become the Agile Toolkit or something along those lines? *NEASC work- visiting schools and learning about the new ACE protocol. LOTS! Back soon! ![]() Yes! Spring break is almost here! We are trying to wind down or at least survive until the end! It does get me thinking, how can we get to this point and feel like we have to almost 'survive' to keep going? Many factors come into play here, sleep, wellbeing and just generally looking after yourself. However, a lot of it is to do with how hard we are working. Should I really be working so hard, even though it is the end of the unit or period of work? NO! So, what do I need to do? What is the secret? There is really no quick fix here, but I do believe that as teachers, we can make our lives easier in the long term but putting in hard work at the start, to pay off with minimal but more meaningful work at the end. I have been digging deeper this week into how we can really make big changes in school but starting with the small ones first. I came across Ted Dintersmith and have been looking into his website. I was amazed how he had organised ways in which to make changes into a 'playlist' with big goals and then how to get there with supporting ideas. See image above to see what I am currently looking at. I plan to get through most of the playlists and the supporting evidence and ideas AND read his book over the break....well hopefully! My students deserve that kind of enthusiasm, and future students I haven't even met yet. Visit Ted's site below... teddintersmith.com Today in our weekly meetings, we were discussing assessment. Assessment is such a big topic and there are many pieces to it. On one hand it is big, but on the other it is just another piece to the puzzle that we call school.
Welcome to my new site! I am still in the process of updating it as much as possible, so please bear with me. Technology is not my strongest of tools so my apologies if it isn't everything and more.
I have been really pushing this new site and videos in the last week. Hopefully you like them and any comments are welcome! It is the snowy season here in the alps and skiing, snowboarding and just getting out there is much needed! I am still working hard on this journey to becoming Agile and to be honest, I don't think the journey ever stops. You are always developing, changing and evolving with your students so there really is no 'one size fits all' I will be the best teacher kind of packet. If you are expecting the complete package to help you become this ideal then stop reading now. My blog and site offer bitesize pieces you can sink your teeth into and use as you wish. They may not look like much, but it is how you use them that will make all of the difference. Only you know your students and to be able to use resources for the benefit of your students, trial and test and model that behaviour, is far better than being an all singing, all dancing teacher. It's not the tools, it's how you use them. |