Why you want 3 F's in School

Why You Want 3 F's in School

    An "F" in school? Really??? 3 of them? That sounds absurd! Why would we want ALL of our students to receive 3 "F's" in school? I'm so glad that you asked! A letter only gains value, or lack of value, when something has been assigned to it. Experiences are the same way. In teaching, we can reclaim and redeem the letter "F" by reassigning its meaning to something that makes a difference instead of something that demolishes a student's identity. 

    The 3 "F's" do not have an order or particular weight of importance. Rather, all 3 are needed interchangeably for maximum impact. With that in mind, I'll start in that place that I started, Australia.  When teaching in Australia, I noticed a stark difference from American education, particularly the laid back, on-going feedback dialogue between students and teachers. Now that I've been thrust into the land of virtual learning and teaching, I am more convinced that feedback is the oil that keeps the learning machine rolling. That is why:

F is for Feedback

    Feedback can be quick or lengthy, formal or informal, and can be given and received by both students and teachers alike. The point of the feedback is much like that of a thermometer well-check in Covid.  It's to gain a quick glimpse of the health, and growth, of our learners. While we might be familiar with formative and summative checks for understanding, there are several ways to give and get feedback. Here are just a few:

• Have students write, draw, build, create, construct, and contribute to your presentations, their own documents, and the documents of others.
• Ask questions (and be ready to receive the truth) about how students are feeling about the lessons in whole or small groups.
• Send a survey for an anonymous quick-check and honest feedback that may not be given in front of others. 

  

(Created by Mrs. Males Masterpieces)

F is for Follow-Up

    While Feedback is one part of the equation, Follow-Up is equally as essential to student growth. You can receive all the feedback in the world, but if it is not USED IN A TIMELY MANNER to change the instruction delivery or content, then it's not much more than a written version of Charlie Brown's teacher in an a tactile "Wah-wah-wah-wah-wah." Can I just be vulnerable for a moment to say that this is the area that I have to continually refine and grow in? My virtual colleagues are EXPERTS with this point, and I learn from them weekly! (Shout-Out to the 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, and WRE Virtual Teachers). In any case, Follow-Up could look or sound like:

• Keeping digital learning fresh by asking the students what app they would like to use to show what they know.  They can always screenshot and upload in various places.
• TPR-  Using Total Physical Response (movements and motions to tie to content concepts) to keep students moving every 2-5 minutes of screen engagement. (Shout-Out to Rene Caldwell for teaching me this one: TPR Extraordinaire). 👍👎
• Listening to what is working and building on that.
• Listening to what is NOT working and finding a different way to hit the same concept.
• Using "novelty within reason" to keep the interest high while making the digital learning curve manageable (I try to add a new digital tool to respond to learning once per month).

Because Students Wanted to Write:  

Because Focus was Struggling:                 

Because Independent Practice Wasn't Working:

  Because Students Shared They Didn't Know How To Talk About Their Thinking:

   (Sidenote: Students can annotate directly over slides if you are sharing your screen with a zoom setting; Also Notability is a tool I'll never be without again for students and teaching).

    While there is no "one-way" that follow-up can be done, it's important to try new things to keep learning interesting and engaging. When we are open to possibilities, anything can happen. Students often become the teacher, and we learn along the way ourselves. This brings us to the last, and only constant thing in life, change, and with change comes the need to be flexible. That is why:

F is for Flexibility

    The last "F" stands for Flexibility. Even the best laid plans fail sometimes, and failure is not a bad thing! Failing is evidence of what is not working and opportunity to try something new. In my classes, we are relabeling the word, FAIL. Instead of FAIL = Falling short of the goal, we now say that we:

F-ind 

A-lternatives

I-n

L-earning

    Giving ourselves permission to linger, as professionals, in a student's work until we see a need, a growth, or a stopping point is essential to virtual learning engagement. While the temptation to add self-inflicted pressure to achieve something "showable daily" knocks on the teachers' doors, it is important to remember that students will ONLY enjoy learning as long as we do! When the excitement, connectivity, and aha-moments get sucked out of education, then we produce nothing more than compliant computers who "show-up" but don't "grow-up". That's why FLEXIBILITY to allow a Growth Culture to develop honors us, the teachers, as well as the learners! 

    So, what does flexibility look like and sound like?  Well, for a control-freak like me, it looks like:

• Reminding myself that doing my best with adjusting to what the students say and do IS GOOD ENOUGH
• Having an intentional plan and a note-taking document for when it doesn't go as planned
• Reflecting Daily
• Being okay with modifying what I hoped for to allow natural growth in what actually is
• Being present in the moment, day-by-day
• Celebrating when the plan works and highlighting when students exceed my expectations with their effort, creativity, and problem-solving

    Learners of ALL kinds grow and change at various speeds and in various ways, and we are no exception to that. When we relax into a "can't wait to see what we can problem-solve and learn today" mentality, the students get comfortable with being vulnerable with areas of need, brave with sharing knowledge, and excited to try on new challenges. Evidence of growth-in-learning is a necessity for the students's next steps, as well as evaluating our own effectiveness. Having "Practice-Reflect- Practice-Reflect- Preform-Reflect" cycles lead to true collaborative learning environments that create individuals who become all that can uniquely be.  

    So, next time you feel like you, or your students are FAILING, remind yourselves that you are Finding Alternatives In Learning (or Life). Create a culture of celebrating feedback, follow-up, and flexibility. We certainly couldn't have seen life, as it is, coming a year ago. And, we certainly cannot see, nor control, the future. Together, WE CAN reclaim the beautiful letter "F" and make it Fantastically Fabulous!  

Thanks for Reading!  Go and CONQUER your own "F's" this week! 

Sincerely,