Whatever Happened to Joy?

Dean Shareski Convergence 2015 Raleigh, NC April 8, 2015

Whatever Happened to

Joy?

26Years as an educator

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Whatever Happened to

Joy?

Moment # 1

Who’s the big kid in the suspenders?

Why Doesn’t Christina Ever smile?

Moment # 2

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lewiselementary/8683388187

Moment # 3

With regards to creating a video like that do you:

With regards to creating a video like that do you:

A. Do it because it's not only fun but likely does address some standards but you might have to look them up later. Fingers crossed.

With regards to creating a video like that do you:

A. Do it because it's not only fun but likely does address some standards but you might have to look them up later. Fingers crossed.

B. Do it and to heck with the standards, doing joyful things with students is important.

With regards to creating a video like that do you:

A. Do it because it's not only fun but likely does address some standards but you might have to look them up later. Fingers crossed.

B. Do it and to heck with the standards, doing joyful things with students is important.

C. Do it but perhaps as an extra-curricular activity because you're not sure where it fits with a robust curriculum but still think it's important.

With regards to creating a video like that do you:

A. Do it because it's not only fun but likely does address some standards but you might have to look them up later. Fingers crossed.

B. Do it and to heck with the standards, doing joyful things with students is important.

C. Do it but perhaps as an extra-curricular activity because you're not sure where it fits with a robust curriculum but still think it's important.

D. Not do it at all because it’s a waste of time.

Moment # 4

http://ideasandthoughts.org/2011/09/05/why-joy-matters/

“Is anyone measuring for joy? A joyful learning environment might be the most important thing you create for a child. If indeed the much used phrase “life long

learner” is a major goal for schools could joy be an ingredient for that?”

http://ideasandthoughts.org/2011/09/05/why-joy-matters/

Language Matters

Do you Believe Learning is Like Buckley’s?

Do you Believe Learning is Like Buckley’s?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/7170098685

test scoresconformity

mind your own business

compliancehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/7170098685

test scoresconformity

mind your own business

compliancehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/7170098685

test scoresconformity

mind your own business

compliance

creativity

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/7170098685

life long learning

engagement

collaboration

Not everyone is on board

Not everyone is on board

And what do you mean by “student achievement?”

April 25, 2014 !

Dear Kindergarten Parents and Guardians, !

We hope this letter serves to help you better understand how the demands of the 21st century are changing schools, and,

more specifically, to clarify, misperceptions about the Kindergarten show…. Although the movement toward more rigorous learning standards has been in the national news for more than a decade, the changing face of education is

beginning to feel unsettling for some people. What and how we teach is changing to meet the demands of a changing

world. !

The reason for eliminating the Kindergarten show is simple. We are responsible for preparing children for college and

career .…

Every Mission Statement on the Planet

“...rigorous and relevant education to all students in a learning environment that fosters high expectations and data.”

Every Mission Statement on the Planet

http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/2333068171/

Feel-Bad Education The Cult of Rigor and the Loss of Joy by: Alfie Kohn !

http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/feelbad.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/2333068171/

"Why are our schools not places of joy?"

Feel-Bad Education The Cult of Rigor and the Loss of Joy by: Alfie Kohn !

http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/feelbad.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/2333068171/

"Why are our schools not places of joy?"

Feel-Bad Education The Cult of Rigor and the Loss of Joy by: Alfie Kohn !

http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/feelbad.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/2333068171/

Feel-Bad Education The Cult of Rigor and the Loss of Joy by: Alfie Kohn !

http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/feelbad.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/2333068171/

Feel-Bad Education The Cult of Rigor and the Loss of Joy by: Alfie Kohn !

I’m appearing to accept an odious premise—namely, that joy must be justified as a means to the end of better academic performance. Not so: It’s an end in itself.

http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/feelbad.htm

“If you can crack the problem of

engagement – not just ‘are you paying attention?’, but ‘are

you fascinated by this?’ – if you can

crack engagement in deep learning then you’ve cracked 21st century schooling.”

Mike Berrill Executive Principal, Biddenham International School

joy

/joi/ !!

Noun

!

joy

/joi/ !!

Noun

!1.the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires

You know it when you See it

You know it when you See it

Planning and Designing For Joy

Be Interesting

What is your “unfair” advantage?or

“one of the best things you can do for your students is to be an interesting adult”

Gary Stager

“We needed to deliver something more, give the viewers another reason to tune in.”

“We needed to deliver something more, give the viewers another reason to tune in.”

“We needed to deliver something more, give the viewers another reason to tune in.”

“...it was a show about people who loved what they were doing, who were informed, but who were also trying to bring a smile and a laugh to their audience.”

...And this is all we know so far

...And this is all we know so far

...And this is all we know so far

...And this is all we know so far

...And this is all we know so far

...And this is all we know so far

...And this is all we know so far

...And this is all we know so far

...And this is all we know so far

...And this is all we know so far

SAGE ON THE STAGE

SAGE ON THE STAGE

GUIDE ONTHE SIDE

GUIDE ONTHE SIDE

MEDDLER IN THE MIDDLE

https://www.flickr.com/photos/floridabirds/6882304904

If I asked your students, “How Does Your Teacher Learn?” what would they say?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/floridabirds/6882304904

Wonder

What fascinates you? https://www.flickr.com/photos/turbojoe/1096159720

“Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Stryrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.” Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

“We Have Responsibility to Awe”

2651

https://www.flickr.com/photos/verybadlady/6130770001

How often do your students get to wonder? What if we valued questions more than answers?

!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/verybadlady/6130770001

Play

What if we thought of play as research?

“The highest form of research is essentially play.”

http://pixabay.com/en/beach-children-girl-watts-514842/

N. V. Scarfe

“...the pattern has been that as children grow up and become more proficient at making sense of the environment in which they live, their world seems to become more stable. Thus, as a child grows and becomes accustomed to the world, the perceived need for play.”

“As we watch the world move to a state of near-constant

change and flux, we believe that connecting play and imagination may be the single most important step in unleashing the new culture of learning.”

“...the pattern has been that as children grow up and become more proficient at making sense of the environment in which they live, their world seems to become more stable. Thus, as a child grows and becomes accustomed to the world, the perceived need for play.”

“Failure is free, high-quality research, offering direct evidence of what works and what doesn’t.

Cheap failure, valuable as it is on its own, is also a key part of a more complex advantage: the exploration

of multiple possibilities.”Clay Shirky

Why evidence-based teaching methods are a bad idea.

Why evidence-based teaching methods are a bad idea.

“My argument is not with educational research but with the imperative of evidence-based education policy. At its best, educational research can provide important insights into the relationship between various social and cultural variables and pedagogic outcomes.”

Why evidence-based teaching methods are a bad idea.

But the principal problem educators face today is not the dearth of educational research or a lack of evidence about ‘what works’, but

rather the increasing absence of any opportunity for them to exercise professional judgment and to learn the value of what Aristotle call phronesis – the virtue of judgment.

Experimentation in education should be part of a teacher’s everyday life.

http://blog.kylewebb.ca/2015/01/11/dont-just-consume-things-create-things-hour-of-code-2014/

http://blog.kylewebb.ca/2015/01/11/dont-just-consume-things-create-things-hour-of-code-2014/

“Until that point in the year, I had not seen such a high level of engagement and interest from every student in my classroom. This was differentiation

and engaging learning at it’s best (for me anyways!). Students that have a tough time getting excited

about anything at school were ecstatically sharing their games and apps with classmates.

Collaboration and the desire to share and work with one another quickly emerged as each student learned something “cool” that they needed to share

with everyone, so they could use it.”

“What can I do with “these” cellphones?”

“What can I do with “these” cellphones?”

https://www.flickr.com/photos/verybadlady/6130770001

How often do you and your students get to play? !

https://www.flickr.com/photos/verybadlady/6130770001

Just Do It

What are you waiting for?https://www.flickr.com/photos/orcaman/4318034861/

"There is a direct correlation between the level of happiness in one's life and the amount of silliness they allow into it." She said, "I know. I've done studies."

Be Grateful

The secret ingredient to success

https://www.flickr.com/photos/light_seeker/6395773087

So to Mrs. H, I tell you you matter, I tell you that you are making a difference, but I will never be able to tell you how much. You have made my daughter believe that she can, that she has a home. You have not told her she needs to be perfect, nor that she will do everything right the first time, but you have made her feel that she can try, that she can think, that she can dream.!!From one teacher to another; you are someone who makes me proud to be a teacher.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marynbtol/8389654544

How are you showing gratitude to your students? parents? colleagues?

Text, tweet, message someone right now and say thank you.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marynbtol/8389654544

It’s an End in itself

It’s an End in itself

It’s an End in itselfThank you @shareskishareski.ca