4 Moms - 1 Dream Attend Edcamp Vancouver

Wow! 4 Moms – 1 Dream has been blogging and tweeting for less than a month and already we have found an amazing group of like minded individuals. Through these connections we got an invitation to attend edcamp Vancouver on April 16^th at John Oliver Secondary School in Vancouver BC. Not only was it an opportunity for open and honest discussions on education now and in the future, but it also allowed us to meet the faces behind the great blog and tweets we have been following.

There were over 100 participants including a small handful of parents who joined educators from BC, Ontario and the US in conversation and learning.  What made this event so different from the traditional conference/workshops that normally take place was that it was the participants who proposed discussion topics for the day and who then chose which top 16 they would discuss. This format allowed the individual participants to share their knowledge, experiences and take the lead on what would be their personal learning for the day.  To read more about what the experience was like visit Chris Wejr’s blog posting – Reflections of an Edcamper

We can’t say enough about how much we enjoyed edcamp Vancouver.  The whole day left us feeling positive and optimistic about the possibilities that personalized learning can have for all students. There are amazing educational opportunities for students already happening in our schools and classrooms and this is just the beginning. .

One main trend that we picked up on throughout the discussions of the day that seemed to be supported by the other participants was the need to find ways to encourage and support more parent education and discussion around these topics.  Parents need to understand on the importance of making changes in our education system to better support children for the unknowns of the future. They need to be included in the conversations currently taking place in schools and districts.

This day was so amazing, and we hope to take part in more edcamps in the future. There is an urgency to engage parents and family members about the importance of personalized learning for our children.  We will do our part to encourage more families to get engaged in their child’s education and to attend these types of events, but sometimes a personal invite from an educator goes a long way. If you’re an educator, please invite a parent or a child’s family member to attend the next edcamp, district event, public forum, or online discussion happening in the future.

And finally, thanks to David Wees and his organizing team for such a successful event.

Can our schools be the villages that raise a child?

We all have an important role to play in our children’s lives, whether it is our own children or the children in our neighbourhoods and communities.  The proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” is more important today as we raise and prepare our children for an ever changing future: a future where jobs and technology will exist that currently do not exist today. Our world is changing rapidly: from countries and communities, to business and industry and onward to families and individuals.  However, we still educate within a system that is based on the needs of people in a different time – the industrial revolution.   

We recently read and discussed a blog posting by David Wees: People Change (PS. Kids are People) The four of us are very much aware of the changes that life brings us all. Along with the schools parents should be supporting all children to learn and grow through each and every change that come across their path as they move through the education system. Adults often speak and make decisions on behalf of children without ever asking for the child’s input and feedback. We need to start listening and working with children to help them make changes in their own lives instead of doing it all for them. We are trying to raise children to become contributing members of society in a world that is changing way too fast. It is our obligation to ensure they can deal with these changes and move forward. David asked a very thought provoking question at the end of his blog – “What opportunities exist in your school to help kids change their own lives?” Great question! Our answer just brought forth more questions. Yes, the system may need to change their polices, programs and delivery to provide such opportunities, However, we have to ask ourselves, will the individuals, be they educators or family/community, be open to change themselves? Will they be open to doing things differently with respect to how education is delivered? Will they be open to finding new ways to support the individual learner by taking into account their learning styles, skills and interests? And will they be open to systemic change, recognizing that the education system of today may no longer meet the needs of tomorrow’s society?

We would like to share another story with you all. It is a story that supports our belief that opportunities are out there that support children to change their own lives:

Once upon a time there was a family who was on a journey through the kingdom in search of a school that would meet and support the learning needs of their daughter. It was so important to find such a school for their daughter as she needed to feel positive about herself as an individual and to allow her be successful in her learning. Her first three schools were not meeting or supporting her educational or social needs and she soon began to hate school. After much searching and encountering many disappointments along the way, the family finally found “the school.” This was a school that was way ahead of the times. This school was full of educators and support staff who believed in the success of each individual learner. They encouraged and supported family engagement as a means to achieve the best outcomes for all their students. The school philosophy was that with a team approach that included knowledge of both the family and the educators, along with student input, they could support the best outcomes for each student by incorporating personalized learning to support each student’s success. They didn’t just talk the talk about it taking a village to raise a child, the modelled it every day.

Her new school helped her to be successful and achieve her best. They did this by listening to what the parents shared with them about their daughter and family.  They listened to the student directly to find out what she knew and was passionate about. They took all this information into account and used their professional knowledge and skills to adapt her learning to work best for her so she could be successful. This team approach to educating and supporting their daughter was extremely successful. She went from a student in Grade 4 who could not read or write at grade level to a successful high school graduate who not only obtained her Dogwood but also maintained honour role grades from grade 8-12 and received district and provincial scholarships. Everyone was happy....The End.

This is in fact a true story. In 1999 the family found a school of educators who believed strongly in personalized learning: A school full of educators, staff and family members who supported the individuality of all students, allowing them not only to succeed in the education system, but to succeed in ways that supported their learning styles and individual personalities.  This was a school that allowed the square peg to fit and be successful within the round hole.

You may be happy to know that the student in this story will soon be entering university to obtain a professional degree.  Her degree will be in a field of study that she is absolutely passionate about. The passion and skills for this field of study appeared in her elementary school years and she has been very lucky to be supported by her teachers and family members from grade 4 through to graduation.

Each of us can all recall those teachers who really made a difference in our kid’s education and lives. We are sure each of you can recall such teachers as well. We know that the key for our children’s success was that, with the support and encouragement of their teacher, they found a personal connection to their learning, and felt respected and supported by their teachers and family members.  We have all personally experienced the difference it makes to student success when educators and families work together. But we are also aware of the many students who have not achieved this success with their learning. There are many times where the success of a student is connected directly to the family working with educators who are open to explore and find ways to help the child achieve, rather than simply trying to make the child fit into the box and learn the same way as the other children.  Parents need to be truly engaged in the decision making process around their children’s educational outcomes. 

4Moms1Dream believe in the dream that every child can and will be educated in a school where educators and parents work side by side to support their learning.  We are enjoying the conversations taking place online with like minded people who are ready to take our education system into the 21^st Century by providing personalized learning and supporting authentic family engagement.  We also realize that change such as this takes time. But how much time do we really have? How many children will move through an education system that is not meeting their needs?  Will you take an active role to help move our education system from where it is now to where it needs to be in order to ensure all children are successful in their future?

We are in! Are you? Together as a village, we can make it happen

Lord of the Flies and Personalized Learning

As we are sitting around the table chatting about the buzz taking place in classrooms, staff rooms and schools across BC we can’t help but wonder what the education experience would have been like for our children (and let’s be honest, us as involved parents) had their experiences with learning been tailored to their specific learning needs and interests.  Each one of us can clearly reflect back to many difficult struggles and challenges our children had at one time or another in school and we wonder how different it could have been.

Between the 4 of us, we have 9 children who have or will soon graduate from the public school system. We have seen some wonderful learning take place, but we have also had to deal with the challenges of an education system that has tried to put all of our children into a square box – a box in which each child is expected to learn the same way, at the same time and about the same thing.

So I guess you are wondering what “Lord of the Flies” has to do with Personalized Learning. We moms, spend a lot of time comparing our education experience with that of our children. The other night our conversation took us back 25-30 years to our high school English classes and what was the first thing we each remembered? Having to read “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding written and published in 1954. Now we were told at the time that this book was a classic (although what made it a “classic” we are not sure), but was it an interesting book to read? None of us remember students stampeding to the school library to be the first to check out this book. In fact quite the opposite reaction was taking place - kids were trying to figure out how to complete the novel study, get a good mark, all without finishing the book...all because they did not like it. It did not engage us. Just because someone (and we still don’t know who that someone was) determined that this book was a classic, it did not make it interesting enough for the majority of kids to want to read it.  Fast forward to now... As each of our kids takes the English 11 class guess what is one of the novels they all have had to read? You got it – Lord of the Flies. Each of us can remember our kids complaining about having to read this book and not understanding why, when there are so many other, more interesting novels available today for kids to read and enjoy. Part of education is to instil a love of reading and a desire to be life-long learners. So why does today’s education system continue to require students to read/study books that have little or no interest or relevance to them...books that more often than not begin to turn them off of reading for enjoyment? If the education system is going to move towards a system of teaching/learning that provides students with an education tailored to his or her specific learning needs and interest, much of the old way of delivering education needs to change. As our grandmothers would say “out with the old and in with the new.” In our opinion it’s time to throw out Lord of the Flies and get students reading and studying novels that are current, relevant and exciting to kids today. There is so much out there for kids to choose from today. We are sure the curriculum outcomes can be met even if kids do not read some of the older pieces of literature.  And let’s not stop with the English 11 “classics”...it is time to tap into the uniqueness that each and every child has and allow their learning to reflect this. Find out what interests and excites them, how they learn best and what their learning challenges might be. And what better way to do that than to engage each child’s family in the planning? Parents want the best for their children and want to be part of the journey their children will take.

Now to be fair, we know that the conversations around Personalized Learning are still in the early stages in BC and at this point some educators are still trying to get a grasp of what Personalized Learning is, how it will work in their classrooms and schools and how it will be implemented. But now is the time to bring parents into the conversations around personalized learning. You need parents support to ensure that this process is successful so don’t exclude them. Don’t wait to include them until after all the decisions have been made.  Now is the time - parents are waiting to be invited to the conversation.

How are you involving parents and families in these conversations?

They Had a Dream

Once upon a time there were 4 moms. The 4 moms had developed a friendship over the years based on their mutual love of parent involvement, education and learning. As these moms lived in different parts of BC it was not always possible to meet in person so Facebook and Skype became their communication tools of choice. They loved to get together and chat about their children and education as well as their own educational experiences both as a student of public education and as an involved parent in their own kids’ education. They talked about the happy times where sunny meadows filled with many coloured flowers, vibrant butterflies flitting around, and pretty blue birds singing existed.  But they also spoke of the bad times filled with deep, dark forests full of huge creepy trees, scary shadows and a very narrow path winding through it all. But all felt that their children would all live happily ever.

One day one of the moms looked into the technology’s crystal ball – You Tube. Could the vision she saw, become the future for her children? She quickly contacted the other moms to share what she saw: a video titled “Did You Know”. Was this to be the future their children would live in? What could they, as parents, do to make sure their children would be prepared for this new future? Would their kids live happily ever after?  Over the next few months the technology lines were buzzing with conversations between the 4 moms as they pondered a future as seen through the You Tube Crystal Ball. As in every good fairytale, there is dream for the future. The moms began to dream of what they wanted for their kids’ education so they would be prepared for the world ahead. In their dream each child who entered the doors of school was valued and respected for their individuality. Children were nurtured and encouraged to grow and flourish. All the adults involved, parents and educators, were working together to ensure a happy experience for all children in schools. All children would discover the joy of learning. But while they knew that there were great things happening in many classrooms and schools across the kingdom there were others where this was not the case. But the moms continued to dream because they still believed in happily ever after.

One day, just before Christmas one of the moms watched the documentary “We are the People We’ve Been Waiting For”. The message was that the status quo of educating and preparing children for adulthood could not continue if society wanted to see the happily-ever-afters for each and every child. The other moms soon watched it as well. The message in the documentary gave the moms hope...Could the message be the hero the fairytale was looking for? The moms needed a hero because everyone knows the hero will make the dreams come true. But the 4 moms could not do it alone. They knew that there were like minded people throughout the land who could help make change. The moms needed to get their dream out to all parts of the kingdom so that it could come true.  They started a blog called 4 Moms-1 Dream so they could share their dream for change:  A place where others could join the conversation and share their ideas. Everyone coming together with one goal – to change how education is delivered and learning is supported so all children succeed.

In the documentary “We are the People We’ve Been Waiting for” there is a young lady who speaks at the end and she shares with the audience:  “I always tell people it is like a greenhouse, because you have all these different plants in this greenhouse and then when you plant them outside they still grow, but they have to be nurtured a certain way, with other plants, and then when they send you out into the cold cruel world you still grow and you still flourish and you might even change the world.” The 4 moms want all those greenhouse flowers to move out into the meadow full of light, butterflies and birds where they can live happily ever after....THE END.

We hope you enjoyed our story. However, in all seriousness we believe that it will take everyone – parents, family, educators, and community working together to ensure that all children grow and reach their fullest potential. No individual or one group will be able to accomplish this alone – our children need all of us. Our dream for education is that each and every child in every school is seen as a beautiful, special and unique plant that needs all of us to grow to his/her fullest potential. Just imagine how the world will change.

We continue to wonder and dream about what student learning will look like in 2016 or even 2021. How will educators, family and the community be involved? What does an elementary or secondary school look like when each student has a support team of adults (educators and community) to guide them on their learning journey through their formal years of education? Do you have a dream about education? What does it look like?