Great to have a chat today and hear how well the Mantle has been going ... It's such a pleasure to see a teacher all excited and animated about their teaching as you were today Miguel - good on you! .... It's clear both you and the children are having a really great time. Fingers crossed those final few permission slips come in tomorrow as I'm dying to see / share the photos you've been taking along the way. What have been your personal highlights so far?
Personal highlights for me are: hearing the kids speaking positively about MOTE as a new and exciting thing they are doing; their willingness to take risks; the deep connection to the topic of identity that the kids are experiencing, especially through oral language. But most of all, the way some of the shy kids have come out of their shell since being swept away in the process...what a catalyst for change it has been for them. I have seen them blossom before my eyes. Worth it!
Our conversation about engagement reminded me of a few years ago when I was working with a team of researchers looking at 'indicators of engagement' in the classroom. We asked teachers what they saw as the indicators of engagement and I remember one of them replying "It's when kids go 'aaaaaaaaw' in a disappointed way when the bell goes for the end of class." They also talked about bringing work from home, taking work home, working through the lunchbreak and parents reporting them 'going on' about what they are learning at home. Heathcote describes this as the 'Obsession' stage of the engagement continuum. It sounds like you've had a bit of this going on...?
Lots! They constantly want to clap and egg on their peers. They literally beg me to be the first to share their FF's. The fervour that arises from moving the tables out of the way! They are engaged and they are open, I truly believe that it has been adding to the joyful and positive class climate.(I would like to mention here that this was NOT the same for my first MOTE, last term with my previous class. Possibly because they were doing it at the end of the year as opposed to the first term in a new school?).
We talked today about formalising the commission... Although the children are clear on what their company identity is and they know they are dealing with an Adze dug up in a local park, they haven't yet received a formal commission from a client. In the initial planning we had the idea that the client might be the local council but when we talked this through today we thought it might be better to go with the idea that the CEO of the building company might commission the museum to host the exhibit. Can you talk about this from your perspective Miguel - Why did that seem 'right' to you? I remember you had some ideas about how this might link to the theme of identity.
It felt right because the construction company wanted to project and enhance its identity by doing something good by protecting and celebrating the adze and its heritage. It also resonated with me because this (identity) is something that large companies are very concerned with in this day and age, thus giving this commission some credence.
We spent a couple of lessons establishing our company name and the company logo. In a class discussion, we dissected what the company does and what qualities our staff have. We spoke about our identity and what we wanted to say. They wanted something young and 'not-stuffy'. We voted on the top three names suggested. The consensus was for 'The History House'. Awesome! Then the motto. We spoke again about identity and Nike (Just do it), Macdonalds (I'm lovin' it) and KFC (Finger-lickin' good). What do these things mean when it comes to the identity of the company. Again we voted and they decided on 'Protectors of History'. Lastly they finish the lesson off by designing the logo. This is still ongoing but we have a chosen image.
<<< Company logo. They all created their own. the chosen one has the 'H'' made up of two adze's together and the logo sits within a museum like house motif.
Below you see the children's offerings for the name of the company, written by themselves on the WB.
Lastly we created a 'timeline' for the company. They decided that we are 30 years old, established in 1988. We cleared the room and the had to place themselves in the classroom at either end of that time spectrum (1998-2018) pertaining to their joining th company. Then I had them sit in silence whilst they thought about why they joined, why they were chosen and what special thing they had done to be noticed. Then they shared their story with a buddy. Next they took their place on the line and I went around 'randomly' choosing who to share their story by touching their shoulder a la 'spoken thoughts'.
The 'Timeline'
The 'Timeline"
'Spoken thoughts'. A chance for sharing of ideas, experience, imagination and for building belief.
BTW: All photos are taken by the students. The class photographer is chosen randomly at the start of each lesson.
We also talked about how the commission could be brought in. A letter is an obvious choice and I
agree this is useful as a document to return to and check again. It might be worth thinking about how you will make the text available to everyone - will reading it be enough or would it help to have multiple copies or projecting on a screen?) An opportunity here to divide the text up and get different groups to dissect and clarify it.
As we discussed ideas for how to bring the client in we reminded ourselves of Heathcote's list of 36 role conventions - each of which is essentially a different way to bring someone into the room. Any of the 36 can be used to evoke the client and deliver the commission. There are digital possibilities too. For example, the last couple of times I have taught a Mantle, I've made use of a free online tool called "voki" which allows you to create a talking animation. It sounds like you're pretty interested in trying this out with your group too, so I look forward to hearing how that goes!
I did try it out...it was so worth it! Check it out here:
http://tinyurl.com/yaxcy38l
I told the kids the 'Grace Smith' was coming to visit today. She was on the day's timetable on the WB. I didn't say anything more that she was coming to talk to us from a leading construction company. They were intrigued. After lunch, they came back to find her waiting on the full screen. I introduced her and she started talking. (It took me 45 minutes to write her script and sort out the phonetics so that she sounded human, read the text below accordingly!). The kids loved it. They didn't seem to care that she was not real and they were glued to her, all THREE times that we played her.
When she finished, I asked them to tell me what she had said, writing all the details on the WB. They extrapolated everything they needed from the 50 second video: the requirements, the venue, time schedule and venue, the reason for the commission and the instructions for the delivery and tone. I will use Grace again later as, even though she was corny, she was also a bit of fun and a refreshing way to deliver the commission. Here's the text:
"Hi, my name is Grace Smith. I Represent the Fletcher Construction company. One of our workers down at Pook eh kura Park, Jayke Key tay, recently discovered a, Maori, ceremonial, adds, and our Company owner, Jackson Manor, has decided to give your Museum a commission to honour the history of the adds.
The other thing we touched on was about writing and how to recognise those authentic opportunities for written work as they pop up. I think we came up with quite a few ideas for how writing could 'fall out' of the next few sessions. I'll leave you to share some of these ideas Miguel - and let us know which you managed to include.
Well, they have created some art for the logo design. They have been doing some reading and inquiry learning via the laptops whilst researching the types of adzes, the logo meanings, the maori carvings/patterns meanings, and the attributes of a Museum Curator. They will also be writing a story and script for the final part of our journey.
Personal highlights for me are: hearing the kids speaking positively about MOTE as a new and exciting thing they are doing; their willingness to take risks; the deep connection to the topic of identity that the kids are experiencing, especially through oral language. But most of all, the way some of the shy kids have come out of their shell since being swept away in the process...what a catalyst for change it has been for them. I have seen them blossom before my eyes. Worth it!
Our conversation about engagement reminded me of a few years ago when I was working with a team of researchers looking at 'indicators of engagement' in the classroom. We asked teachers what they saw as the indicators of engagement and I remember one of them replying "It's when kids go 'aaaaaaaaw' in a disappointed way when the bell goes for the end of class." They also talked about bringing work from home, taking work home, working through the lunchbreak and parents reporting them 'going on' about what they are learning at home. Heathcote describes this as the 'Obsession' stage of the engagement continuum. It sounds like you've had a bit of this going on...?
Lots! They constantly want to clap and egg on their peers. They literally beg me to be the first to share their FF's. The fervour that arises from moving the tables out of the way! They are engaged and they are open, I truly believe that it has been adding to the joyful and positive class climate.(I would like to mention here that this was NOT the same for my first MOTE, last term with my previous class. Possibly because they were doing it at the end of the year as opposed to the first term in a new school?).
We talked today about formalising the commission... Although the children are clear on what their company identity is and they know they are dealing with an Adze dug up in a local park, they haven't yet received a formal commission from a client. In the initial planning we had the idea that the client might be the local council but when we talked this through today we thought it might be better to go with the idea that the CEO of the building company might commission the museum to host the exhibit. Can you talk about this from your perspective Miguel - Why did that seem 'right' to you? I remember you had some ideas about how this might link to the theme of identity.
It felt right because the construction company wanted to project and enhance its identity by doing something good by protecting and celebrating the adze and its heritage. It also resonated with me because this (identity) is something that large companies are very concerned with in this day and age, thus giving this commission some credence.
We spent a couple of lessons establishing our company name and the company logo. In a class discussion, we dissected what the company does and what qualities our staff have. We spoke about our identity and what we wanted to say. They wanted something young and 'not-stuffy'. We voted on the top three names suggested. The consensus was for 'The History House'. Awesome! Then the motto. We spoke again about identity and Nike (Just do it), Macdonalds (I'm lovin' it) and KFC (Finger-lickin' good). What do these things mean when it comes to the identity of the company. Again we voted and they decided on 'Protectors of History'. Lastly they finish the lesson off by designing the logo. This is still ongoing but we have a chosen image.
Below you see the children's offerings for the name of the company, written by themselves on the WB.
The 'Timeline'
The 'Timeline"
'Spoken thoughts'. A chance for sharing of ideas, experience, imagination and for building belief.
BTW: All photos are taken by the students. The class photographer is chosen randomly at the start of each lesson.
We also talked about how the commission could be brought in. A letter is an obvious choice and I
agree this is useful as a document to return to and check again. It might be worth thinking about how you will make the text available to everyone - will reading it be enough or would it help to have multiple copies or projecting on a screen?) An opportunity here to divide the text up and get different groups to dissect and clarify it.
As we discussed ideas for how to bring the client in we reminded ourselves of Heathcote's list of 36 role conventions - each of which is essentially a different way to bring someone into the room. Any of the 36 can be used to evoke the client and deliver the commission. There are digital possibilities too. For example, the last couple of times I have taught a Mantle, I've made use of a free online tool called "voki" which allows you to create a talking animation. It sounds like you're pretty interested in trying this out with your group too, so I look forward to hearing how that goes!
I did try it out...it was so worth it! Check it out here:
http://tinyurl.com/yaxcy38l
I told the kids the 'Grace Smith' was coming to visit today. She was on the day's timetable on the WB. I didn't say anything more that she was coming to talk to us from a leading construction company. They were intrigued. After lunch, they came back to find her waiting on the full screen. I introduced her and she started talking. (It took me 45 minutes to write her script and sort out the phonetics so that she sounded human, read the text below accordingly!). The kids loved it. They didn't seem to care that she was not real and they were glued to her, all THREE times that we played her.
When she finished, I asked them to tell me what she had said, writing all the details on the WB. They extrapolated everything they needed from the 50 second video: the requirements, the venue, time schedule and venue, the reason for the commission and the instructions for the delivery and tone. I will use Grace again later as, even though she was corny, she was also a bit of fun and a refreshing way to deliver the commission. Here's the text:
"Hi, my name is Grace Smith. I Represent the Fletcher Construction company. One of our workers down at Pook eh kura Park, Jayke Key tay, recently discovered a, Maori, ceremonial, adds, and our Company owner, Jackson Manor, has decided to give your Museum a commission to honour the history of the adds.
It will be called: "If the adds could talk...". This presentation will be staged at the Museum in 3 weeks time. We really want to show the public that we care about the identity that is carried within the adds, so please be respectful to all of the people connected to its history. Jackson Manor will be there with a member of the local he wee for a private showing. Thanks so much, I look forward to seeing your presentation.
Have a great day, Bye!" (Remember, this was written phonetically)
The other thing we touched on was about writing and how to recognise those authentic opportunities for written work as they pop up. I think we came up with quite a few ideas for how writing could 'fall out' of the next few sessions. I'll leave you to share some of these ideas Miguel - and let us know which you managed to include.
Well, they have created some art for the logo design. They have been doing some reading and inquiry learning via the laptops whilst researching the types of adzes, the logo meanings, the maori carvings/patterns meanings, and the attributes of a Museum Curator. They will also be writing a story and script for the final part of our journey.
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