Mindshift explained via a pencil

This popped up on the #ulearn15 Live Twitter Feed today. It resonated with me on many levels, particularly embracing the mindshift. I love the analogy and think it would be a great challenge in the context of a staff meeting, where individuals were prompted to honestly consider exactly which region of the pencil they aligned to.

The parallel can be drawn to our student dispositions and the amount of support they require to fulfil their learning potential.

The Wood need The Sharp Ones to be patient and on hand to step in on a frequent basis. Without The Leaders, The Sharp Ones (and The Wood) could not exist. 

I can't help but fell aligned to The Sharp Ones. While we are early at jumping on the digital train... and that jump often feels as though it was a leap, from the side of the tracks, as the train sped by... There are The Leaders who have paved the way before. I can't imagine where I'd be on my current journey, were it not for the amazing groundwork undertaken within the Manaiakalani Cluster. There willingness to share their tried and true methods... pot holes to avoid... and be on hand to answer any queries has been a Godsend.

Back to The Sharp Ones...

It can still be a tough place to be. The Sharp Ones are often interrupted, in their everyday teaching, to solve problems. While they may only take a few moments at a time, these can add up throughout the course of an ordinary day. It can be a tedious job. A thankless job. It can be exceedingly frustrating... Often the Sharp Ones don't get positive reinforcement for their efforts, but forge ahead in the knowledge that they are doing the best they can to prepare their learners for their own future in an unknown world. This is what gets The Sharp Ones through... Negativity will always exist where change is afoot... and sometimes it may be exceedingly difficult not to take offence or feel personally affronted... Change is afoot in education and it is exciting to be among The Sharp Ones.

The Golden Circle

A productive day of discussing and hashing out the "What" aspect of what learning will/should/could be visible in our classrooms. We focused primarily on the 'We value Learning' component today, after a lot of ground work around student dispositions. We are looking to support our learners in moving along a learning spectrum comprised of four prescribed levels. From Monitored Learners... Supported Learners... Self Managed Learners... to the end goal of developing Self Directed Learners.

During the day I managed to keep track of the Live Twitter feed for #ulearn15 and was inspired by many tweets and threads running along these lines. There appears to be a direct correlation between this student disposition model and the Learning Pit.