Prompted to Make Connections

While writing effectively is a skill that has long been emphasized in schools, having students learn how to learn is something that features more prominently in the set of 21st century skills.

Teachers at Greenwood use writing as part of the process of learning at various points in a lesson. English teacher Connor McFarlane likes to have his students start each class by responding to a writing prompt. These prompts connect with one of the big ideas of the course and allow students the opportunity to focus, make connections and get ready to learn.

Using their laptops, students write for 10 minutes with an emphasis on making as many connections as possible.

After the 10 minutes are up, students have an opportunity to share their work with a few peers. The thinking expressed in their writing enables students to then focus on the larger topic of the day, which in this case is an exploration of how anomie or social disorder is developed in the novel Perks of Being a Wallflower.

By engaging in an activity at the outset of the class, class time is used effectively and learning is enhanced.

Collaborating to Learn

Historically, teachers often worked in isolation. When offered, professional development took place outside of the school on ‘PD days’ and at conferences. Since its inception, Greenwood has adopted a progressive approach to teacher development and has focused on job embedded PD that happens within the school on a weekly basis every Wednesday morning.

Research supports the belief that teacher collaboration is a powerful component of teacher growth. Rather than working in isolation, our teachers gather regularly to share their expertise or work on school-wide initiatives. By working in this manner, we have developed a professional culture in which learning together is a fundamental value.

Here is an example of our teachers working on the implementation of our new age and stage framework. Teachers first meet in grade level groups to determine how to incorporate elements of the framework into their classes and then re-group to share their thinking with the larger group so that all teachers have a sense of the overall framework.

Conflict, Characterization, and Co-Teaching

After a full year in our expanded facilities, teachers are accustomed to the different uses of their Learning Communities. Here is one example of how co-teaching is enhanced by the resources available in the space. 

Co-teaching in our learning community rooms offers numerous ways for teachers to engage students. In this example, Grade 10 English teachers Johanna Liburd and Laura Vhalos have the students explore the intersection of conflict and characterization.

To energize students, the activity begins with students out of their chairs and on their feet.

Students collaborate, share their ideas, ask interesting questions and record their thinking on movable white boards.

After working in small groups, students come together as a class to share and refine their thinking about character and conflict. Organizing classes in this way enables all students to participate and develop important communication and teamwork skills.