Collaborative Adventures in Australia

This summer I spent two weeks working with the staff of MLC in Sydney, Australia. MLC invited three teachers from High Tech High (where I teach) to facilitate collegial dialogues and consult on projects at their school. The experience was rewarding both professionally and personally. The following is a journal of my time at the school.

Feeling right at home with MLC's  junior school staff

Throughout my time at the Junior School, I worked closely with each grade level to discuss, tune and plan their Collaborative Learning Projects (CLPs). These CLPs took one of two forms:

• Thematic units supported by work, related to those themes, in each subject
• Integrated projects with a single product supported by learning in each class

For the most part, I played the role of facilitator. My goal was to guide conversations between teachers in order to find authentic and purposeful ways of integrating their classes for the purpose of unifying projects. I used project tuning protocols and created hybrid protocols (based on ideas from High Tech High) to provide structure for our conversations – always being mindful of these norms:

• Be hard on content, soft on people
• Share the air
• Be kind, specific and helpful

A project-tuning session with Pre-K

Since we were working in groups of up to 5 teachers, it was important to hear everyone’s voice and create a safe space for bringing up dreams, questions and concerns. I found it helpful to establish these additional norms for our discussions:

• Equity – We’re striving for equity in our conversation in terms of sharing ideas and sharing our airtime. Is there an opportunity for everyone to shine?
• Consensus – Ultimately, everyone needs to be on board with the group’s idea.
  
• Compromise – However, we know that some level of compromise will be necessary to attain this. We’ll need to make some compromises with our ideas.

I enjoyed my time with the Junior School teachers and heads. The opportunity to sit down and engage in collegial discussion with teachers is unparalleled to any experience in my 7 years of teaching. Two weeks of critical and academic meetings not only honed my skills as a facilitator, but exposed me to a multitude of refreshing ideas and approaches to teaching. The Reggio Emilia Approach can be seen in almost everything the teachers do at the junior school. This approach, drawn from the work of Loris Malaguzzi, an Italian educator, is based on four powerful principles (which connect strongly with High Tech High’s design principles). Teachers at the junior school strive for children to have the following (and I saw evidence of this when I observed classes):

Jane Lancaster and her world of art

• Some control over the direction of their learning
• The opportunity to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing
• A  relationship with other children and material items in the world which can be explored
• Endless avenues and opportunities to express themselves

My time at MLC gave me a first hand glimpse into the education system of Australia and I received a real introduction to all things Aussie. Yes, our conversations naturally veered from collegial to congenial! And so I learned “heaps” about the Aussie style of English. You can abbreviate and add a “y” or “ies” to just about anything: brekky, kindy, sunnies, bikies. Everyday I came into contact with unknown idiomatic expressions that I quickly tried to implement into my own vernacular. How ya going? Great! It’s cold in the Blue Mountains, you better rug up! O.k. Bigger than Ben Hur. Throw a spanner in the works. It's all hairy fairy. My journal is packed with great expressions like this. I also learned a great deal about the history of Oz – especially its gold mining chapter (thanks to the junior school’s resident historian, Doug Finlay). And let’s not forget tea time. I learned that Milo is enjoyed most when partially stirred into chilled milk and pumpkin soup is best with a dab of pesto (Thanks to Nicole Ginnane and Jane Lancaster).

Overall, the staff of the Junior School was accepting of my role as an outside facilitator. Throughout each step of the process I was treated with respect – yet always honestly and critically. I was invited into the conversation like a true member of the staff. The Pre-K through Year 5 teachers are a passionate, creative crew who relished the opportunity to reflect on their approach to projects and take next steps towards deeper collaboration.

Here is a summary of my experiences and the project ideas that were brainstormed, tuned and planned throughout my time at the Junior School:

Pre-K explores a world of imagination

Pre-K – Imagination

The Pre-K teachers, Terri-Anne and Rachel, blew everyone away at a project tuning attended by junior and senior school staff. Their project about imagination pushed the limits of most teachers’ conceptions of what can be accomplished with such young learners. In this class, students brainstormed ideas for fantasy worlds they could create in their classroom and fantasy characters. The end product will be a comic book in which their fantasy characters will enter these worlds. When I observed this classroom I saw boundless creativity and energy shared by the students and teachers alike. It was inspiring to see how both teachers channeled their students’ ideas into the work they were producing. The classroom was alive with inquiry and creativity!

Pre-K Photo Gallery - Click Here

Sophie facilitates water play

Kindergarten – Outdoor Space

The big idea in this CLP is for students to design the Pre-K/Kindy outdoor play space. Susan, Sophie, Sheli and Jane began with an immersion experience that gave their students the opportunity to explore the outdoor space. Students rotated through four stations based on their ideas and interests. Each station gave the students a different experience meant to further their thinking:

·      Drama/dance

·      Physical activity/sports

·      Quiet activities (puzzles and books)

·      Art

The teachers followed up the experience with small group conversations. These debriefs helped the teachers further develop options for designing the outdoor space. I was struck by how the teachers always considered the voices of the kids in their next steps. Everything was built upon their interests and questions. I love the democratic approach that teachers took with students as young as kindergartners. Their consideration for the developing decision-making and critical thinking skills of these young girls is admirable.

Kindergarten Photo Gallery - Click Here

Year 1 students build their own toys

Year 1 – Toys

Year 1 had an interesting concept for a project. Students explored the idea of play and why it's important for human development. When I observed the class, students were engaged in learning stations where they constructed various toys from an assortment of materials. After constructing and playing with the toys, teachers asked them to define what made the toy engaging or fun. The idea was for them to construct knowledge about play. The essential question of this CLP was "Do we need to play? How? Why?" I had a lot of fun discussing this project's design with the Year 1 teachers. After a project-tuning and planning session, it was decided that the students would design a toy for a younger student using recycled materials gathered at a local organization, Reverse Garbage. Students would explore the history of toys, interview other students, write an accompanying story for the toy and explore accompanying literature like The Nutcracker and Heart of the Tiger. Ultimately, students will discover the varying purposes of toys and the value of recycled materials. I was struck by the teachers' commitment to letting the students experiment and make their own discoveries throughout the project. Very student-centered! I have a feeling that this is going to be a really fun project with great products to share with an audience.

Year 1 Photo Gallery - Click Here

Year 2 students brainstorm questions about robotics

Year 2 – Robotics

During my time in the Year 2 class, teachers and students were immersed in a brainstorming activity around two concepts: robotics and transport. Teachers wanted to see if the girls could find a natural connection between the two topics and encouraged them to write down their questions. After rotating through different stations (where students generated posters representing their ideas and questions),  the girls shared out the ideas that struck them in a circular discussion, facilitated by Mrs. Zanapalis & classmates who wrote the ideas on the front board. In the end, teachers discovered that students had many more authentic questions about robots/robotics than transport (which was the original topic of the CLP). Using this information, the Year 2 teachers decided to design a project that concentrated on robots/robotics, but addressed transport. The project will focus on kinetic energy, push and pull, gravity and fiction through the use of Lego Mindstorms (buildable and programmable robots). Additionally, students will explore the history of transport in order to solve a problem with their own design for a robot. The results should be very exciting!

Year 2 Photo Gallery - Click Here

Notes from our project planning session with Year 3

Year 3 – Faith & Soul

I spent a great deal of time getting to know the Year 3 teachers and helped guide their planning for the Faith & Soul project (whose name had not been decided during my visit). Their project explored the questions: What is faith? What is a soul? I attended their immersion day event which really set a reflective and spiritual tone for the project. Mrs. Falls, Mrs. Roden, Mrs. Gold and Mrs. Lancaster prepared an experience in which students entered a candle-lit room with incense and meditative music. Once seated, students were led through yoga breathing and stretching exercises by Mrs. Gold. The teachers then read a book called “The Soul Bird,” a poetic story full of metaphor and spiritual musings. Students were then asked to draw a picture of their soul bird (a creature that lives within them that has thoughts, feelings, and dreams). The drawings produced by students were creative, original and powerful. Unfortunately, I didn’t snap any shots of them. The immersion experience was designed to get students authentically wondering about their soul and the concept of faith.

After many rounds of tuning and planning, the Year 5 teachers developed a plan for a final, cohesive project that would encompass the learning throughout HSIE, drama and art. The final idea that emerged was a soul box, designed by the students and containing artifacts of their learning about different faiths and exploration of the soul concept. Throughout my time with the Year 3 teachers I was impressed by their respect for the students’ varying perspectives and faiths. Additionally, they strove to design a project that catered to the authentic interests and inquiries of their students. Their final celebration of learning (exhibition of student work) should be fascinating!

Year 3 Photo Gallery - Click Here

Year 4 – Colonization Museum Box

Students search for information about explorers

During my time with Year 4 I learned a great deal about the colonization of Australia. It was so interesting to find parallels with that of the United States. As a teacher, I love it when I have a genuine interest in a topic and can seek the tutelage of students who are learning about it. I spent an hour in Mrs. Carr, Mrs. Goodwill and Mrs. Campbell’s classroom learning about the early European exploration of Australia through conversations with their students. The experience was enlightening! I had no idea that the Portuguese were involved long before the English. The Year 4 project focused on colonization as seen through the eyes of aborigines, convicts, decision-makers in England and the Year 4 students.

This group of teachers gave great consideration to the idea of honoring multiple perspectives and has gone to great strides to provide abundant resources to their girls. Mrs. Campbell worked hard to integrate technology and rich media opportunities into the project. During my classroom observation, the three teachers integrated their classes seamlessly and worked collaboratively to guide the students on a webquest for information about early colonization. They used various web tools to engage students (Schoology & Museum Box – both worth Googling). Through project tunings and planning sessions, the Year 4 teachers agreed that their project would culminate with one product – a

A Year 4 planning session

museum box (a artifact containing 6-sided cubes wrapped in images, text and video). Students will choose a perspective (aborigine, convict or decision-maker) and  team up with students exploring different perspectives. Together they will design a museum box containing cubes of varying perspectives, including their own. It’s hard to explain without looking at the software (I encourage you to have a look: http://museumbox.e2bn.org/). However, I can imagine that the exhibition of this work will be highly engaging. The teachers are planning on creating a scavenger hunt in which visitors/parents will seek information/knowledge as they visit each group and their museum box. I look forward to seeing the students work and learning more about this pivotal time in Australian history.

Year 4 Photo Gallery - Click Here

Year 5 – Gold

The Year 5 crew brainstorms ideas for a gold project

Again, it was so interesting to learn about Australia’s own gold rush which was connected to the gold rush of my home state, California, in the U.S.A.  I enjoyed conversing with the Year 5 teachers and brainstorming ideas for a collaborative project about gold. Throughout project tuning and planning sessions, various ideas were developed and honed. One idea that really struck me was a movie project – The Life of A Gold Nugget. This idea integrated HSIE, science, math, drama, technology and art. Teachers would break students into groups of interest:

·      Science

·      Ancient civilizations

·      Australian gold rush

·      Impacts and modern influences of gold

Each group would learn about their area and develop a chapter in the

The collegial discussion continues! - Jane, Kim & Sheli

movie – revolving around an animated gold nugget that would be the audience’s guide.

Ultimately, the team decided to break into smaller collaborative pairs (rather than a group of 4 teachers) and produce two projects. These conversations took place after my departure and I don’t know the exact details of their plans. I look forward to seeing these projects evolve. The Year 5 teachers were full of really innovative ideas and will undoubtedly produce something engaging and unique work with their students.

Year 5 Photo Gallery - Click Here

Teacher Take Aways

Collaboration and designing projects is tough work, but it’s totally worth it. Throughout my time at MLC’s junior school I saw the power of protocols and the strength of incorporating multiple perspectives in dialogues around project design. The project-tuning protocol proved invaluable in allowing teachers to safely present ideas to their colleagues and receive constructive, yet critical, feedback and validation of their work. In the beginning, integrating ideas in the CLPs and strengthening collaboration sometimes seemed challenging. However, over those two weeks, the meetings helped teachers see the strength that lies in pooling resources and seeking the expertise of colleagues through a structured, solution-oriented process. The junior school teachers attested to this multiple times during my visit.

The students award me with a merit certificate

Throughout my time using project-tuning and planning protocols with MLC teachers, I gained a deeper respect for the norms and structure of protocol. I look forward to bringing this newfound understanding back to my own staff at High Tech Middle in order to fine tune our process.

I also look forward to bringing the idea of an immersion experience back to my school. The idea of immersing the students in an experience to stimulate questions and thoughts, plus activate prior knowledge, is powerful. I really saw it working at the junior school. I think this approach could really enhance some of the projects we do at High Tech.