Posted in R.I.S.E.

R.I.S.E. and Woodroffe HS SHSM ICE program

Posted on by Rebecca Chambers

Last week we had the opportunity to work with another amazing group of youth during our Social Change Maker ICE training. This time we were at Woodroffe HS in Ottawa, ON. We had amazing community partners join us and the youth all took action to help them out. We had one student work with Parkdale Food Centre to share suggestions on how to get more youth to their program. He also wrote a wonderful blog post about them. Check it out below.

Written By Alden Thompson

This morning, I was given the opportunity to talk with Karin Freeman, an Ottawa resident who volunteers with the Parkdale Food Centre—specifically, a branch of the PFC known as Growing Futures. Upon being asked her motivations for joining this cause, Karin described how her extensive experience working on farms, and the creation of Growing Futures, acted as a sort of of “Eureka moment” which convinced her to get involved. 

Over the last several years, the Parkdale Food Centre—located on 30 Rosemount Avenue—has evolved into one of Ottawa’s most unique organizations; and redesigned what it means to be a food bank. Comprised largely of volunteers, the goal of the PFC as a whole is to support those affected by food insecurity through organizing a wide variety of programs (cooking classes and entrepreneurship opportunities are both examples), emphasizing positive neighbourly relations, and attempting to discover the root causes of what is truly a multi-faceted issue. Growing Futures offers a fascinating, and essential perspective, in this complex discussion of food security. The objective of the organization is to work with youth on all aspects of the issue:  supporting youth in their discovery of systemic causes, connecting young people with community members, and helping them pursue collective action are defined as the major pillars in achieving this.

 Food security is, by all accounts, a major problem within society and it is because of this fact that the Parkdale Food Centre’s cause is so essential. Unfortunately, many people who are struggling are either unaware of the PFC’s existence or may feel a sense of stigma in going to a food bank; therefore preventing those individuals from getting the support that is essential for their wellbeing. The Parkdale Food Centre does certainly have the capacity to help, both by giving a wide range of fresh food ro people in need and through its many fascinating programs. Additionally, Karin repeatedly cited a struggle to get youth involved with Parkdale’s mission—the unique input of youth is a valuable step in the PFC’s mission— though difficulties in pursuing this have arisen due to factors like young people not being as directly affected by food insecurity.  

To support the Parkdale Food Centre’s cause, all members of the community are encouraged to attend their outdoor event; expected to be hosted at Hintonburg Park which is only a short walk away from the main building. This event aims to create a sense of camaraderie between those attending through organizing collaborative events, providing free food (though donations are greatly appreciated), and offering volunteer hours for anyone who helps out with the activities. By the end of the event, participants will hopefully leave with a better understanding of the PFC’s goals, know where to find the community fridge, and discover their own ways to aid those affected by the issue. 

Further information about the mission of these two organizations can be found at their Instagram: @parkdalefood and @_growingfutures. 

Posted in Uncategorized

R.I.S.E. and South Carleton HS Social Change Maker ICE program.

Posted on by Rebecca Chambers

This week Rebecca and Emma from R.I.S.E. delivered our first ever SHSM (Specialist High Skills Major) Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship training for Ms Kelly’s Health and Wellness SHSM. Each youth was partnered with a community organization that fit their passions. They met with them virtually, learned about them and the issues that they are solving, were given ideas on what they could do to help their organization. Below is Rebecca’s actionable piece. She got to learn about Osgoode Youth Association and write about what she learned. Read below!!

Have you Heard of OYA? By Rebecca Cocchetto

I had the opportunity today to learn about the Osgoode Youth Association, and what they do to help rural teenagers and kids. They provide many different services for their community and help to give youth a place to feel comfortable and safe.

It is often difficult for rural youth to find fun things to do, as many businesses and services are too far away to easily access. The Osgoode Youth Association offers a place for youth to do organized activities, and even just a hangout spot for teenagers throughout the week. There are before and after school programs for kids in grades 2-6, with structured and unstructured time to do a variety of activities. Before school, OYA will help them get ready for the day, with brushing their teeth and getting dressed. Their school bus will actually pick them up at the OYA centre, making the process easy and stress-free for parents. After school is for homework and play, with delicious snacks and some personal health education (how to handle bullying, learning yoga, and more). They also offer camps during the summer, winter break, PA days, and March break, essentially whenever school is not in session. 

Teens are given different, but equally as entertaining options at OYA. Currently there are teen drop-in nights on Thursday and Fridays, not to mention the many other activities that they frequently run. There are video game competitions, cooking and baking in OYA’s kitchen, classes to expand personal skills, and much more. Teenagers can have a safe space to do their homework and hangout with their friends, and enjoy the different activities that OYA offers. 

OYA also has the opportunity for youth-led counselling. It is a private area, youth can enter at the side of the building so that they do not have to walk past programs in the front. Youth can book their own appointments and it is completely free of charge. It is easily accessible to kids aged 12-17, providing support and help that might not otherwise be available. 

OYA is an excellent resource for rural youth, and provides a safe space for youth of many ages. Their events and regular care of youth provide a caring community for those who might need it. They can be found on Instagram and Facebook with the handle @oyacentre.

Posted in Uncategorized

Amplifying Youth Voice

Posted on by Rebecca Chambers

By Aldine Emerimana, R.I.S.E. Intern

A showcase is an occasion or celebration at R.I.S.E Academy that takes place at the end of each semester. In comparison, in traditional school exams are provided before the conclusion of the semester, whereas at R.I.S.E Academy, students are given the chance to showcase their work (passion projects) to their family, friends, R.I.S.E. employees, and community members. For roughly 5-10 minutes, students are divided into breakout rooms where they can explain their projects and guests are able to ask questions and learn more about their projects. This gives students a sense of empowerment and is an alternative, less stressful way of evaluating success when compared to the stress of succeeding or failing tests. For example; one student is currently working on creating a new course for R.I.S.E. The modules he created are about different topics Another student was interested in the effects that covid has had on individuals physical/mental wellbeing. That being said, this encouraged her to pursue a career path in sports psychology. These showcase events allow students to share what they are passionate about and how they have incorporated this into their courses with R.I.S.E.

Another benefit of these showcase events is that doing so teaches them how to communicate in front of a crowd, which is a valuable career skill. They prepare content for public presentations and develop their communication skills via practice. Furthermore, students are asked questions throughout the showcase which helps them develop critical thinking skills. 

Ultimately, the showcase is empowering and gives guests the opportunity to learn more about the difference between traditional school and R.I.S.E Academy. In addition, they learn about topics that they don’t teach in school such as; mental health, socializing & networking. In fact, at R.I.S.E Academy, students get the chance to do some research about those topics, learn more about them, and teach it to others. R.I.S.E Academy’s mission is to level the field for historically underprivileged students by reducing and eliminating the discriminatory structures that are built within the standard school education concept. This showcase event is helping with this.

Posted in Uncategorized

Penpal North

Posted on by Rebecca Chambers

By Aldine Emerimana. R.I.S.E. Academy Intern

Reynah is a grade 12 student at Woodroffe High School, who has launched a passion project in hopes of connecting students with Indigenious youth. She began her journey with R.I.S.E Academy as a student in the summer and continued in the fall. As part of R.I.S.E. Academy, she had to complete a passion project, which is when she chose to assist Indigenous youth living in the North, which is very meaningful to her and is a population of people she wants to continue working with in the future. Her project is titled “Compel North”, and it is for non-Indigenous and Indigenous youth to develop a bond through emails and photos, and it is an incredible way to get to know more youth in Canada, relate, and learn about their differences and resemblances. Through Reynah’s research, she became connected with a teacher in the North, Miss Connell. Reynah learned that many students in the North do not have access to proper hygiene products and clothes, which is unfortunate and saddening. She mentions that clothes and hygiene products should be a necessity not a luxury. For example, young women often struggle to afford feminine hygiene products (ie. pads and tampons). She was drawn to this idea and she decided to start a gofundme page to raise money for this school to help young women access these necessary items. 

Furthermore, Reynah is helping people understand the difference between necessities and luxuries. Relating back to our feminine hygiene products example, tampons are a necessity; thus, feminine hygiene is a crucial issue that must be prioritized. If neglected, feminine hygiene can lead to the discovery of a host of diseases. Both health and social considerations necessitate good personal cleanliness. It comprises keeping hands, head, and body clean to prevent germs and illness from spreading. What constitutes a decent personal hygiene routine? Rinsing, dental hygiene, showering, sanitary clothing, and so on… which is why they need access to these proper hygiene products such as; soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, and toilet paper.

  The funds Reynah is collecting also go towards clothes that can help provide insulation from the cold or heat, as well as act as a hygienic shield, keeping contagious and hazardous items away from the body. Due to the extreme cold weather that Northern Canada experiences, it is crucial that these youth have access to adequate warm, winter clothing. Clothing also protects them from the sun’s harmful rays. Therefore, the students in the north need to have access to the proper clothing that ultimately protects them from extreme weather conditions. 

If you would like to support Reynah’s GoFundme click here to donate!

Check out Reynah’s CTV appearance below!

Posted in R.I.S.E.

REACH INSPIRE SOAR EMPOWER

Posted on by Rebecca Chambers

Well it has been quite some time since I last posted, I have been a little busy. Between May 19, 2020 (my last post) and now a lot has changed. In a nutshell, I took a leave without pay from my job and opened up a Not-for-Profit, virtual, alternative high school called R.I.S.E. (Reach Inspire Soar Empower) Academy and it has been quite the ride. Between September 2020 and today we moved from a very small team of me a student teacher a few part time staff and some volunteers to a team of Board of Directors, a Principal / Facilitator (me), two full time facilitators, one math / science specialist, two Social Work students, Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Manager, three student teachers, 5 + volunteers and soon to be 10 + student interns. Last year were were able to have youth accumulate 95 credits between September and July and this year we are projected to have youth accumulate 200 credits by the end of July.

The goal of R.I.S.E. is to provide students a learning experience that compliments their public school or homeschooling experience. We want to find ways to take the “system” out of learning and recognize, celebrate and utilize their individual passions, strengths and motivators. Below is a breakdown on how the program works.

Partnerships

Last year we partnered with Multifaith Housing Initiative (MHI) and received our very first grant from the Ottawa Community Foundation. MHI exists to build affordable housing that helps fix Ottawa’s housing crisis and gets at-risk people into secure, safe homes. This first grant allowed us us to provide free programming to 18 youth in their neighbourhoods. Next we partnered with Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre where we received a grant from Ontario Teacher Insurance Plan, here we created a summer pilot Entrepreneurship program where we had 7 youth start businesses and work on a credit. Our partnership with MHI and RRCRC continued into this year where we once again received funding from Ottawa Community Foundation and more recently a grant from the Rideau Hall Foundation. In total we will be able to provide free programming to 100 youth between September 2021 and June 2023.

We are always working on new partnerships, stay tuned for our latest connections!!

Youth Services Bureau Interns

In the fall we connected with Youth Service Bureau where we were able to support at-risk youth by hiring young people to give them meaningful employment and learning experiences. We hired our first group of 4 interns in January and it has been amazing. These youth not only have meaningful employment at R.I.S.E., but those who are high school aged are also working on credits that go towards their O.S.S.D. So far we have a Video Editors, Social Media and Community Outreach workers and Blog writer.

Our blog writer intern has been working hard over the last few months to learn the ins and outs of blog writing and what R.I.S.E. is all about. Please stay tuned for some updates from her, she will be chronicling what has been going on.

Give us a follow on instagram to follow along with us.

Thanks for continuing to Unlearn With Us 🙂

Thank you to all our amazing partners below!!

Posted in unlearn academy

SCM 1.0 Virtual Summer Program

Posted on by Rebecca Chambers

social change makers1.0 banner

We are excited to announce that we will be offering the Social Change Makers program 1.0  summer program for youth ages 8-9, 10-12, 13-15 and 16+.  I will be hosting a short information webinar this Thursday May 21 @ 4:00 pm EST.  If you would like to join us please fill out this form here and you will be sent a zoom link. Learn more about the program below.

Last summer I started to plan for an extra curricular program called Social Change Makers for youth in grade 6 – 8 here in Osgoode, ON Canada.  I had arranged to have a face to face program start in February 2020.  The goal was to engage youth in a learning opportunity where they work on important skills required for life in the fourth industrial revolution.  These skills include: Creativity, Critical Thinking, Emotional Intelligence, Global Awareness, Active Learning with a growth mindset, Judgement and Decision Making, Interpersonal Communication Skills, Leadership Skills, Diversity and Cultural Intelligence, Embracing Change, Mindfulness and Self Care, Resilience

Example of a project completed in the Social Change Makers Program.  Small acts that can make a huge difference.

The program was going to include a focus on connecting with community and social entrepreneurship. Unfortunately due to some health issues I decided to put it on hold and run it at a later date.  Little did I know that we would be quarantined in March of 2020 and I would be looking for things for my kiddos to do.  So, I decided to find a way to put the program into virtual form and the birth of Social Change Makers 1.0 came about.

After a few emails and phone calls to friends and family the program began on April 6th.  We have 21 youth from all around Ontario, Quebec, England and Scotland.  We meet virtually once a day for approximately 30 minutes to an hour either as a full group, in small groups or a one on one with myself for check ins.  On Thursdays we do a live podcast broadcast on our Social Change Makers podcast via Voiced Radio.  The idea of the “virtual” program is not to be online for very long, but to socialize and interact with youth, have discussions and then leave with meaningful activities that the youth have helped to co-create.  And with everyone being at home right now it has been helpful for some parents who are trying to work and homeschool all at the same time.

The first few weeks were spent getting to know one another, discussing different ways to learn, working on a project where the youth taught themselves a skill, they looked at their strengths and weaknesses as well as figured out what motivates them.  They also made lists of all the things they love to do.  We then moved on to have a look at the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, we looked at what they are and what we can do to support them.  We had a few guests from the youths specific communities and learned about what these organizations were doing to help with the sustainable development goals.  We learned about period poverty, climate change, homelessness, affordable housing, the importance of intergenerational relationships and mental health and well being.

“I simply wanted to email and say thank you – what an amazing job you are doing. I literally am so excited for my son and the week ahead you have planned for him. It is amazing how easily it all seems to be working; I am sure you have put in so much work. Well done. It is fantastic.”  J. Sweetland, UK

Next we looked at the following questions; what am I passionate about?  What UN SDG’s speak to me?  Was there a specific not for profit that really resonated with me?  From here the youth picked an issue to dive deeper into, learn more about it and see if they felt they could become an ambassador for this issue.  

“He seems to be really loving it and always has a smile when he comes down from the zoom chats.” R. Rendall-Jones UK

Next up it was time to figure out how to take everything that we had learned in the program prior to this; importance of relationships, learning to learn, passion and motivation and pair those things to find a way to make a positive impact on the youths community, country and the world by coming up with solutions. This is where we are now.  We are currently in the planning stages of amazing projects.  It has been so amazing to watch the youth get super excited about these projects, co-plan them and get started.  Below is a list of some of the cool projects that are being spearheaded by youth between the ages of 11 – 14.

  • Upcycling clothes to prevent waste and help the environment.
  • Virtual Art Campaign / Show to look at climate change and the injustices in the foster care system.
  • Minecraft Charity Stream for many different issues (Accessible Water, Change in Education and Climate Change).
  • Online Settlers of Catan Tournament to support Children’s Rights in Canada.
  • Team Challenges to support Climate Action.
  • Writing of a Children’s picture book to discuss climate change.
  • Spreading awareness about period poverty and collecting donations to create period packs.
  • Collecting food and donations to support the homeless.

“LOOOOOVE that my daughter is doing this! If I didn’t have my own work to do I’d be sitting in- so maybe it’s a good thing I can’t!  Thank you for all you’re doing x” N. Harris, UK

We are all very excited about these projects and are hoping for success, however if by chance any of these projects fail that is ok too.  We are busy learning skills on how to be successful, but we are also learning to learn from our failures, how to be ok with it and how to pick ourselves up when things don’t go our way.  No matter what happens both the youth and I are learning valuable skills through every step we take and I know for a fact that I am loving it.

“Today is the first day in the history of my daughter’s formal learning that she has woken up early,  washed her face, eaten breakfast and said: ok what do I have to do today? She dove into the work plan and has already made her first contact with a potential mentor. What a wonderful thing to witness. Thank you.” B Atkinson, QC

Please come and join the youth as they embark on their projects on any of the social media platforms below. If you would like to join us on the webinar this Thursday please fill out this form here and you will be sent a zoom link.

Facebook  Social Change Makers

Instagram @youth_socialcm

Twitter  @youth_socialcm

Tik Tok @socialchangemakers

Posted in Classroom Examples, Why Unlearn?

My Twitter feed doesn’t give the full story

Posted on by Rebecca Chambers

Screenshot 2019-11-28 at 7.58.52 PM

On my way home from work today I listened to my students recent Twisted System podcast episode # 8.  In it, they talked about mental health and social media. They had a great conversation about how social media impacts their lives.  If you would like a look into the teenage world and social media you should have a listen, I heard about apps and things that I had never heard of.  In the episode they talk about how people only post the good on social media, how we often compare ourselves to others and what social media is doing to our mental health.  This got me thinking about my own Twitter feed. If you follow me, you will know that I love showcasing what we are doing in our classroom. If I go back and look at my feed, things look like they are going great.  There is no doubt that my students are doing amazing things. But our classroom is far from perfect. I started this blog two years ago to chronicle mine and my students unlearning journey, all of it, not just the good, I wanted to share the good, the bad and the ugly.  So, I will let you in on a secret, my twitter feed does not represent the whole story.  

Recently I have been feeling anxious, overwhelmed and exhausted.  Sometimes I doubt myself and what I am doing with my students. Sometimes I feel like quitting and finding a different job completely.  I struggle daily trying to manage this new way of “teaching”. I am innovating inside the box and sometimes that is really hard.  Amongst the good, and there is so much of it, here is what we are dealing with.  Here is the reality of innovating inside a box.

Students

I work with amazing students who are super on board with trying out a new way of learning.  They have embraced it and are working hard on their passion projects. But they are teenagers.  They all come with their different abilities. I want to learn about each and every one of them so that I can help them be successful.  I want to give them my undivided attention to help them with their individual projects, but it is not always possible. These things are hard to do when you have 30 students in a class.  (Can you imagine if we end up with 40, don’t get me started on that). Sometimes I feel like a complete failure. I feel like I am letting them down, that I am not doing enough and then I realize that I just don’t have anymore to give.  I’m exhausted.

Accountability

My students are all working on different passion projects.  They have between two or three 75 minute periods a week to work on their projects.  For some they are in two of my classes so that means they have between 4 – 6 periods a week to work on their projects.  My students are learning time management skills, they set their schedule for the week and are supposed to stick by it. Every Monday they set these goals for themselves.  My students are teenagers and regular human beings. They don’t always follow through when they say they are going to, some times they are having a bad day and need a break and other days they work like mad men and women. On the days that they are not working it is hard to watch. On any given day I have students who are working diligently and then on another day they are off task and not working on their projects.  This makes me really uncomfortable, however, what I have to remember is that this is how life works. I don’t know about you, but I rarely work diligently every single minute of the day. I often have to motivate myself to get work done. I have options to take a break or work and sometimes I take the option of procrastinating. If I tell my students what to do, how to do it and when to do then I am not allowing them the freedom to learn from their mistakes.  But this is hard to watch. I am often there to help keep them motivated, but again I am only one person and so I have to leave it in their hands. Again, this is a constant struggle for me.

So many projects

Between three classes of approximately 25 – 30 students there are a ton of projects going on.  In an ideal world I would have the opportunity to sit with each student / group of students and help them plan out their projects every week.  I try to touch base with all students at some point throughout the week to see if they need help. I watch their weekly updates and provide suggestions to them every weekend but often I feel like a failure in doing this.  The reality is that this model of teaching can happen in this environment, but a lot of onus has to be left on the students. Managing over 30 projects in really hard…period.

The Naysayers

As with any new or out of the box model of thinking there are going to be supporters, those who are curious and the naysayers.  I know I have people rooting for me, I know that what I am doing is right for the students, but I often focus on the naysayers. I am super lucky to have admin and a whole experiential learning department and Director who  supports what I am doing. I also have some amazing colleagues who have joined the crusade to change the way we educate our youth. It is awesome being able to chat with them about the things that they are trying out in their classrooms and to talk about the future of experiential learning. I have cheerleaders that I have met on Twitter and amazing community members and parents who support me.  But I am human and unfortunately I often focus on those who just don’t get it. This is counterproductive and destructive, but sometimes I just can’t stop myself.

Mental Health

I struggle with anxiety and all of the above makes it worse.  As mentioned already I often second guess what I am doing, I often feel out of control and I struggle with so many things that go on behind the scenes of my classroom.  

It’s definitely not perfect but we will power through because we are rocking our projects, we are making so many community connections, we are learning our curriculum by doing, we are working on time management, we are making a difference, the students are empowered and we are learning from our failures.

We will be resilient and continue to:

  1. Do good deeds and podcast about them. (Stay tuned for their first episode)
  2. Create a prototype of an app to help fight antibiotic resistance.
  3. Pack birthday boxes for a young indigenous girl in the north.
  4. Create a podcast called Human 2.0 about AI awareness.
  5. Connect with mental health partners, fundraise and put together packages for teens who suffer from mental health.
  6. Work with and support students with intellectual disabilities.
  7. Run a kindness program in a middle school.
  8. Give lessons to classes about shark finning.
  9. Collect and donate clothing to the Salvation Army.
  10. Detail teachers cars to raise money for Miracle League.
  11. Rake lawns and collect sports equipment to raise money for Waupoos Family farm.
  12. Collect e-waste as a social enterprise.
  13. Create doggy care packages for the homeless who have pets.
  14. Create a cooking show and health and nutrition podcast.
  15. Run a DIFD hockey game to raise money and awareness for Mental Health.
  16. Support the local Santa Claus parade.
  17. Fundraise to support a family in need at Christmas.
  18. Create a social enterprise called STAIN. (start talking about it now period) to end stigma around women and their periods.
  19. Learn to sew with retired ladies from the community and work with Days for Girls to sew reusable feminine hygiene products for girls who stay home from school because of their periods.
  20. Podcast live on Voiced radio on the Twisted System Podcast.
  21. Take part in an anti anxiety yoga therapy program.
  22. Put on a fun day to raise money and awareness for Leukemia.
  23. Volunteer in elementary classrooms.
  24. Learn to grow an inside garden.
  25. Start a vegetarian blog with yummy recipes for everyone.
  26. Ride 200 kms to raise money and awareness for pancreatic cancer.
  27. Run a sports program for preschoolers weekly for free for parents who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it.
  28. Organize a blood donor clinic and get swabbed campaign.
  29. Volunteer at a retirement home and organize a prom for them.
  30. Interview Veterans and local politicians to help share the veterans concerns.
  31. Interview people and write songs about their stories.
  32. Organize a fundraiser for local housing community.
  33. Become climate change warriors by joining POW.

If you are in the midst of making a change, it is definitely not easy, but don’t give up – as you can see from the list above, it is so worth all the struggles.

Thanks for unlearning with us 🙂

R

 

 

Posted in Why Unlearn?

What do we need to let go of?

Posted on by Rebecca Chambers

letting go

With a new school year comes another year of professional learning.  I am super lucky to be a part of a group of teachers at my school who are embarking on a second year of unlearning together.  Last year my Principal, myself and four other teachers met almost every three weeks to talk about school and the need for change.  We had some really great discussion, some disagreements and some aha moments. It was amazing to have a safe place to share ideas and not feel judged.  Amazing things happened in classrooms as a result of our time together. If you are interested in seeing / reading about some of the other teachers experiences / unlearning journeys you can check out The Stoppels Show blog or Jess Packer-Quinnel on Twitter and Liz Coolen on Instagram.  

This year I am privileged to continue working with the group above, but am also lucky to get to work with a new group of teachers who are interested in learning more about community based learning.  There has been a huge push in our board to make learning more experiential so this year our professional learning teams are called the XLPLT (experiential professional learning team).  

We had our first meeting a week ago to talk about what the XLPLT was all about.  My Principal went over what we did last year and what we hope to do this year. He asked me and the others from last year’s team to talk a little bit about what we are doing in my classes.  We also spoke about the journey that the teachers in our PLT took to get to where they are today. It really made me reflect on my past PD experiences and what is necessary to let go of in order to completely change up your practice.

I have done a lot of PD over the past 17 years.  I worked on a PLT that focused on critical thinking, I worked on a PLT that looked at engagement of at risk students, I participated in lesson studies and I attended numerous workshops on how to make my lessons better.  All of these have been very important in my growth as a teacher. I learned a lot by working with my colleagues and found great ways to change up lessons and to embed critical thinking and engagement into my practice. However, what they didn’t really look at was the structure of the traditional education system and how it is outdated, systemically racist, focused on preparing students for a work world that doesn’t exist anymore and not preparing our students for their future.  

In this years XLPLT we are obviously interested in finding ways to have our students become critical thinkers and engaged, but more importantly we are more excited about how to change up our classrooms so that they reflect the modern world.  So, what are the things that a teacher needs to do in order to make this happen? Below is what I have come up with.

  1. Understand why this change needs to happen – more specifically understanding your WHY for doing it.
  2. Let go of control.  
  3. See students as partners.  Give them a say in what and how they learn.
  4. Realize that learning can happen differently than what we know school to be – and value that learning just as much.
  5. Let go of hierarchy and grades – see the brilliance in everyone.
  6. Embrace failures, reflect and learn from them.
  7. Connect learning to community.
  8. Focus on teaching / using 21st century technology.
  9. Have students become creators rather than consumers.

This is not an easy task, but by looking at the work that they are doing at Beaver County Day School in Massachusetts, it is possible.  Check it out here Why ‘Unlearning’ Old Habits Is An Essential Step For Innovation  However, closer to home it is evident that it is possible too.  After about 8 months of working together on our Unlearning PLT I interviewed the team on what unlearning meant to them.  Here are their answers.  

So, what will it take for you to make the change, what is your WHY?

Thanks for unlearning with us 🙂

R

Posted in Classroom Examples

Another Year and The Unlearning Continues

Posted on by Rebecca Chambers

Image result for unlearn

We are now a month into school and I am feeling like I need to write.  It has been a busy three months since I last posted. Two months of summer and a month of start up.  This summer I took a stab at trying to be an entrepreneur. I offered an online course to teachers who were interested in learning to unlearn.  We had a very small cohort, but overall I think it went well. I really enjoyed working with the teachers and I really hope they got something out of it.  I hope to continue with these courses – there will be a few tweaks to this summer’s course but I am hoping to relaunch later in the fall. Stay tuned if you are interested.  

Now that we are back at school we are full on into a passion project based classroom.  I am currently teaching grade 11 Intro to Anthro, Psych and Soc, grade 12 Human Growth and Development and grade 12 World Issues.  We spent the first two – three weeks learning about the course material, getting ourselves organized with all the tools / housekeeping items we will need (twitter, research skills, google classroom, excursion forms etc) and we listened to guests talk about their passions, about different not for profit organizations and about what it means to be a social entrepreneur.   Now the students are in the process of creating their passion projects for the semester, it is chaos and I love it.  

Throughout every semester I keep a running document of things to change for the next year.  Before this years start up I went back to those documents, looked at what went well last year and what needed to change and made some tweaks to this years structure.  After teaching the dual credit course I realized that having specific days for specific tasks brought back some of the structure into the classroom that I seemed to be missing.  Therefore this year this is what our day to day looks like.

Mondays – Get Organized

  • Twitter Time – prompt to help them stay on top of tweeting
  • Fill out weekly planners
  • Create a weekly update via a vlog, blog or podcast
  • Class announcements and sharing

Tuesdays – Content Day 

  • These days are reserved for lessons and guest related to the curriculum
  • Research Days – work on research for their issue that relates to the curriculum
  • Tweet about what you learned

Wednesdays – Community Outreach

  • Twitter Time – prompt to help them stay on top of tweeting
  • For my grade 11s we are working with a group of students in the General Learning Program who are going to visit us every other Wednesday for the semester.
  • For my grade 12s students can go out into the community and do a placement that is related to our course.
  • Grade 12s class podcast – run by students.

Thursdays & Fridays – Passion Project Days

  • Twitter Time – prompt to help them stay on top of tweeting
  • These two days are to be scheduled by the students.  Many of them are out working in the community, having meetings and phone calls.

Since I have about 95% of the same students in my grade 12 classes that I had last year, it has been an adjustment for them.  They were used to a little more freedom, but are learning to follow the day to day. My grade 11s don’t know any different and seem to have settled just fine into it.  Overall I am super excited for the semester – there are some really cool projects that the students are working on already. Follow us @MrsRChambers and  #jmsshpa11 & #jmsshpa12 if you want to see what they are all up to.

Thanks for unlearning with us 🙂

Rebecca

Posted in Why Unlearn?

Introduction to Unlearning June 23 – August 17.

Posted on by Rebecca Chambers

Screenshot 2019-06-18 at 4.27.43 PM

Over the past 5 years, as an educator,  I have been on an unlearning journey. I have gradually transitioned from a traditional classroom to a more modernized classroom that reflects our ever changing world.  In the last year I have had the opportunity to share this experience at a few conferences via workshops, through my blog and twitter. I have been fortunate to be contacted by people who are interested in what I am doing. The most consistent comment / question that I get is, I love what you are doing, but where do I even start?

Everyday I challenge my students to seek out problems and find solutions. Therefore, I am going to walk the walk and will be taking the leap into the edupreneur world.

I am excited and nervous to announce that I will to be offering an online course / workshop for teachers who are interested in modernizing their classroom but just don’t know where to start.  The course will run for 8 weeks and will include the following:

  1. Why we need to unlearn.

  2. The importance of a Professional Learning Network in our unlearning journey.

  3. The gradual steps taken to let go of a traditional model to a more modernized approach to the classroom. (5 Steps to leaving the traditional model)

Each of the Step modules will include:

  • A video overview of what change was made to my traditional classroom.

  • Student Voice / examples

  • Links to the people / educators / resources that influenced the change.

  • Changes in assessment from traditional to reflective / gradeless.

  • Discussions: networking / brainstorming with other participants and myself.

  • 30 min one on one consultation with me / module.

You can check out a promo video here if you would like a little more information.

The course will be $299 CND / $249 USD.

The first session will run from June 23, 2019 – Aug 17, 2019.

Come and unlearn with me, register today here !!

Any questions please feel free to ask. Please share with anyone else who might be interested.

Cheers, Rebecca