#IMMOOC and Math - Part 2 of Many (and not always directly math related)

Through this, I hope to discuss some of the questions that perhaps other "Innovative" educators tend to struggle with as we try to continue to create wonderful meaningful experiences for our learners.

In my case, I don't consider students the only learners, that seems too limited to me. It makes me think of the word "environment" differently as well. It's not just the classroom, or even the school itself. Rather, I think of anyone that I work with to help in the betterment of education, of learning. Those that I work with also include parents, fellow teaching staff, administrators, members of the community, and of course students. The word environment to me is also considered more of an ECOSYSTEM, an organically evolving group of living beings.... With each group, there are indeed risks that have to be considered, in terms of pushing too far, or maybe not pushing enough to ensure that those involved in the process are getting as much as they can in return.

I've tried to be more flexible in terms of what my classroom does and how it operates. The math is too easy for you? Work on some of these problems independently (they're from resources made available to students 2 grades ahead of you, is what I normally say). Want to work up on the whiteboard to break down problems? Be my guest! (Just don't use permanent markers, please!)

Feeling bored in class and not willing to work? What deeper issues need to be addressed first? Get anxious when the teacher tries to help? Why not one of your mates that tends to know what's going on right now. What about just not doing homework? Alice Keeler, another Ace math teacher, gets rid of this notion by just naming it something else. Personally, I don't care when students do "homework" as long as they are independently. I guess that's why I always give them time in class to do things on their own.

In terms of sharing ideas, I like to throw as much as possible at fellow educators (thanks in part to Twitter and/or Facebook and/or Amazon and/or Youtube!), regardless of what they're teaching. This past week for example, I've helped teaching staff learn more about flipped classroom techniques. I've shared videos with new teachers that are undertaking G11 and G12 classes for the first time who are still finding their feet. I've given over one resource to the Humanities Dept (Global Oneness Project) to help give more current real life stories a chance.

I also have some new Math teachers in my Dept. who have been determining goals for themselves this year. One just wanted ideas for resources. I spent 20 mins going through as many things as I could think of, asked them to just try a few out that they wish, and report back (sit and talk in our workspace) on what worked and what didn't.

One of my pride and joys outside of teaching Mathematics is this: I've also been running the MakerSpace at my school since its inception, and am now encouraging students to make things that they can use for their classes!!! Watch out Humanities, some home made Google Cardboards are invading your classroom soon (with a lot of hot glue, water bottles, and cardboard).

This concept of risk taking, and being a risk taker, is not just one that is one of the 8 characteristics of the Innovator's Mindset, or one of the 10 IB Learner Profile attributes. Being a risk taker means sharing what you think is important, what you think is valuable, and potentially using it as a vehicle to create a strong vision for whatever it is you're championing. Imagine if more people did this in schools, what would that look like?