First year of international Life

As my family and I finish our first vacation of our first year living abroad, It feels proper now to reflect on what have we faced, accomplished and how did we get transformed by the whole experience, as a family and as individuals.

Our first year in Shanghai was quite surprising. I was not creating any expectations rather than embarking in a new professional phase of my life, feeling already transformed by the chance of working and living in another country. But it all turned out to be extremely positive.

 

First thing, is to call our new apartment home. That was quite difficult in the first few months, as we adapted and tried to find the best way to cope with the changes. My wife and children took a while to start to naturally cal it home, myself as well. But with the help pf many friends, school staff, and of course, Wechat groups and TaoBao we found ourselves very comfortably settled in less time than we thought.

Our routine during this time had many ups and downs, another element in our adaptation that was not so good in the beginning but ended up being extremely positive. Days begun at 5:45am, which was not our regular time back in Brazil, and honestly even me being a morning person found a little harsh in a few moments.

On top of that was the new School, quite different from what our girls had before, becoming motive of some resistance and arguing, discussions about uniforms and shoes, and time for breakfast and taking the bus and other perks that comes with our choices. But even those moments at the end were not so bad, and after finding positive aspects and cherishing the good side of life and good perspectives, we found ourselves laughing and enjoying everything.

                         

Life was after almost 10 months, turned out to be better, and full of great moments.

To complete our family happiness, my oldest son graduated from High School with many accomplishments, recognitions and a place at the University he so much wanted to join, in NY. We love him, his sisters look up to him and I hope he keeps positive as he faces his first adult life challenges. There is so much to discover and live, and I hope that my fatherhood skills pay off and he makes more good decisions than bad but most of all that he owns every one of them.

                                


We end now our first vacation as expats, coming back to our city fully recharged, with great memories stories to share and new ideas to start a great new year. Guangzhou (Thanks Ricardo for hosting us!), Macau, Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Thailand, great places, food, people. I can't say enough how grateful I am for the experiences, the people that I met along the way and how lucky to have a family like mine I am.

  

 Looking forward to live the next school year in full bliss, valuing every moment, relationship and lesson that life bring up to me.

Article - The Maker Culture Takes Over Education

Hello Everyone,

Here is my article published in The Shanghai Daily, last December 25th 2018.

Link to the original here: https://www.shine.cn/education/1812257238/
 

---------

Maker Spaces: the present and future of schools

The concept of a Maker Space as a place in schools to promote creativity with a creation approach has never been so much in evidence.  International schools around the world have adopted this concept and introduced students to several different creative processes, using a variety of tools and approaches to arouse pupils’ imaginations to look for the next “what if” question?

With a broad spectrum of materials and elements to explore, from cardboard boxes and Lego blocks, wood work and foam, all the way to 3D printers and programmable robots, the pedagogical potential of these spaces is literally limitless. Students of all ages can explore creativity and execute cross-subject projects using and developing design and critical thinking and problem-solving skills, collaborating and sharing knowledge about meaningful topics, while using cutting-edge technology.

Some institutions might state that it comes with a high cost to embrace this culture and embracing the Maker adventure takes a gigantic effort to adapt curriculum, train teachers and bring parents onboard, but all transformative approaches and concepts do so.

The culture of creativity spaces in schools goes along the UNESCO 21st century skills report, incentivizing better practices for education around the world. Many institutions have tried to follow and foster this as educational best practices, placing the student in the center of its learning experience. Maker Spaces are a perfect vehicle in this sense and at the same time students have another way to find their natural skills and abilities.

I believe Maker Spaces are the present and future of schools, everywhere just because there is a model for every budget. Creative and design thinking can be developed with very basic materials, from recyclable paper and plastic to expensive laser-cutters. It might take several hours of work, planning and convincing. But as educators we know that when the students are happy, all the effort was valid.

First semester in Shanghai in the books!

Yesterday, as the end of the year celebrations approach, I caught myself thinking and reflecting on how big of a change it was for our family, leaving behind relatives and comfort zones and embarking into a new adventure across the globe.

It was a very blessed and fast five months. Since August 3rd, there were so many experiences we went through, some peculiarly interesting but others not so much, but all very enriching and always with something new to learn. 

We lived in a Hotel room for the first two weeks, while seeking for an apartment. Trying to learn the basic of the language and negotiating rent with Chinese landlords (with the help of our HR of course) was not an easy task, but for sure it was fun for those watching. At the end we got ourselves a good deal, and we finally had a home in the city where East meets West.

Neighborhood is great, moving around is easy, with bus and subway nearby, so the weekends went with lots of exploration, visits to different supermarkets (people from São Paulo, you know we love grocery stores) trying to find what we are used to and exploring all alternatives. Okay, not every one, I let go the hundred day eggs. 

 Our School is great. We were warmly welcomed and felt at home right on day one, with many other new families from around the world, from Uganda to Ukraine. Even two of the current teachers spoke portuguese! A great start for a first time abroad family, and crucial to put everything in good perspective.

Tatiana, my wife, also did another great job finding and talking to the local Brazilian community, putting away a premature home-sickness for our kids, and helping us to adapt and find the best tips on Tao Bao, the major gift to humanity the Chinese technology could have ever given. OK, combined with WeChat. 

 

Anyway, we feel very blessed to be here, and happy to share our life experiences with so many different people, and also strengthening our family bonds. Next week everything will be even better, when my son Guilherme is coming to visit us for a while. We can't wait to see him!

Thanks to everyone that somehow was involved and made this possible, and as this is time to feel grateful and give appreciation to our friends, family, life and its journeys, we wish everyone near and far a Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year. May life be gentle to everyone, filled with love and care.

Feliz Natal!

Best Works of the year with Tech-Now

Hello Everyone, this year has been of great changes and full of accomplishments. Living in Shanghai so far has been great, and as the end of my teaching graduation course approaches, I want to list here the best of my work developed so far, as a reference for the future and to whom it may help.

Mobile learning project - Reduce reuse recycle - PBL

Link Here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eQ9iBaTvUXm-8DsHdm5AdvyhhqUFQ9brPl6uSlzSnSI

Wiki link: http://teachnowapril.pbworks.com/w/page/126592604/PBL-LuizZicarelli#view=page

Very proud of this project developed to collaborate with science teachers, totally infused with technology in many levels. Designed for 6th grade, cold be adapted for 5th or 7th grades depending on the technology resources and science concepts to be explored. First link is a presentation and the second link id the Wiki page with the description and rubric for evaluation of the project.

Student Centered Learning - Wiki Page

Link Here : http://teachnowapril.pbworks.com/w/page/126316646/Group%20Work%20-%20Activity%202%20-%20Claudia%2C%20Karen%20and%20Luiz

This was a group work, with Claudia Morales, and it was one of the best researches we have done during our collaboration. Detailed, well illustrated and it is of great use for me and hopefully for other teachers too!

Game-based learning - Math Class with drone!

Link to description here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g_zT4IQ8nPiANEuQ-YkQcMZJn-9vBvUhb0oPD4UlaCU/edit

This was originally an idea from my former IT director Jack Kriss, that I helped execute and enhanced one year later, in collaboration with Ms. Murray 7th grade math teacher. Uses a Drone to teach Pythagoras theorem. Really cool!

Pre-Assessing to Differentiate

According to a number or research papers and articles, differentiation starts with pre-assessment. I couldn't agree more, as this tool identifies a number of characteristics from the students, regarding their existing knowledge, difficulties, even learning challenges they might have. 

Pre-assessments are also important due the fact that they can drive the teachers direction in that specific topic of the unit or subject, as well as to become important verification data for the post-assessment, after content is delivered and differentiation is implemented. 

Keeping the data organized in a format that you can insert more data and easily visualize the progress of your students is crucial (Gallavam, 2016), and provide grounds for us to implement all differentiation necessary for our classes, grouping students, applying different activities and bringing every student to minimal distance in knowledge (Pendergrass, 2014).

The graphic below shows how pre-assessment for differentiation can be used and implemented:

As I use this strategy, let's say that during my student's assessment there were 3 distinct groups identified. Here are examples of differentiated activities for my students:

Group 1 - 9 or 10 correct answers out of 10 questions; This group would receive a more challenging activity, covering the current topic being studied (e.g. Introduction to Excel, but adding the concept of formulas).

Group 2 - 6 to 8 correct answers out of 10 questions; This group would receive an extra time to execute the original activity described (e.g. Intro to excel, with cells concept, number formatting) and a glimpse of what is coming next, to keep their interest high.  

Group 3 - 5 or less correct answers out of 10 questions; This group would start with a fresh explanation on the concepts above, and the exercises would be executed in the I do, we do you do together, you o alone strategy. These students would be given more time as well, but if not enough, a homework or after school assignment will be given. 

At the end of the class, the same exit ticket on this topic will be given to all, and results will be compared and will serve as basis for the next class. This way I would see the progress and apply more resources and time to those in need, without leaving anyone behind. 

The main goal as always, is to keep the difference of knowledge and achievement among the students to the minimum, keep their interest to the subject high as well as their confidence and self esteem.

Assessing Project-Based Learning

Hey Everyone, this week I explored ways to assess students individual projects, so I developed this ICT MS project in HTML coding, that I intend to use with my students. The details are below, and feel free to ask any questions!

--

Project-Based Learning Rubric - Creating a Webpage using HTML language

Project Description

Goals:

-To create a webpage using HTML language code learned during class;

-To demonstrate the ability to use the HTML code correctly;

-To demonstrate the ability to add visual elements to the HTML code that will be visible in the webpage.


Activities:

Each student will fill in a digital project form, to be delivered at the end of the project, with the following information:

Relevant theme;

Main characteristics of webpage;

External media elements used (files, pictures, videos, sounds, etc.);

Sources, references and copyright checks;

Weekly follow -up, with what was done, items added. Teacher will fill in feedback;

End of Project three questions:

What was easy to learn or do during this project?
What was hard to learn or do during this project?
What would I change?

Code Development - Use the online HTML code editor (http://htmlcodeeditor.com/) to construct and automatically preview your webpage results. The use of our class manual as reference for commands and how to use it is permitted, as well as collaboration (sharing ideas) between students, as long as work is developed and delivered individually.

Media elements Choice - Search online or use school´s available media library to use in your project. Remember, you can use images, videos, sounds, or any other elements mentioned in class, as long as you add the reference and/or source and it is allowed to use. Be digitally responsible.

Copy the final code to a text file, and then save under your network folder.

Change the file extension from “txt” to “html”, then test it, opening the file with a browser (Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox or Safari). There could be differences displaying the webpage in different browsers, that´s normal and it is OK. Choose the one that suits you best.

Present your work, with an introduction about your theme, and what your webpage shows. Demonstrate your work, finishing with your reflection answers. Choose your technology to present.


Duration of the project: 4 weeks - 2 Classes of 50 minutes a week. Last class reserved for presentations.


Tools and resources involved: html editor, html class manual, online file repository, internet for research.

Assessment Rubric

The file with the complete rubric is here: 

Full Rubric


Monitoring and Feedback Strategies:

Observation - while students are developing their projects in the classroom, check their behavior and interaction and take notes.

Keep rubric visible for students during the project development.

Q & A - After each class, promote a discussion so students can ask questions to the teacher and each other. This can serve as a thermometer for the teacher and source of information for feedback.

Feedback - every week, give them feedback on their project sheets, with guiding questions and praising their efforts.

Presentation and Grade feedback - The last class of the project will be for presentations. After all those presentations the teacher gives a final feedback on their forms, with reference to their grades based on rubric. Final grade goes into the LMS.

Formative Assessments - Using, Changing and Modifying Strategies

This week we are exploring formative assessments and how we can design, implement, collect data and modify our strategies to improve learning experiences for our students.

As there are many strategies used by teachers around the world, for all student levels, and thanks to my cohort colleagues sharp opinions and practices shared in our discussion forum, I had a rich material to explore and conclude that every teacher could use at least one strategy to assess their class and students to improve learning.

Two of the most used strategies, the pre-assessment and the exit ticket are widely used among teachers in many schools that use formative assessment strategies to evaluate student's progress. These tools are as easy to find examples as to use, and as you get used to it you can improve your methods and add more formative tools to your daily routine, and finally becoming part of your evaluation process.

There are some arguments about whether using formative assessment is part of the process of the curriculum building or if curriculum must incorporate formative assessment. In my opinion, both situations occur considering a learning environment as a dynamic ecosystem.

The more teachers apply formative assessments, the better will be the next version of the curriculum mapping, even the current one can be enhanced. Also, the more teachers collaborate on sharing their results with the teaching community, in their school, district, city or world-wide, the better their practice will be and the all in favor of the students.



Also, keeping track of our students responses and practices change plays a big role in this method of evaluation, and this part only has so many important elements and outcomes that I will mention below only the three most important to me:

1 - It's important to have a consistent tool/database to keep track of your student data and teaching changes, either Google Docs, integrated or not to a Learning Management System, Webassign, GoFormative or any other tool, but keep your data accurate and updated, it will be useful for you, your students and your school.

2 - Ask for professional development. If you need to learn one of those techniques or learn about a new tech tool that will help to implement formative assessment, get trained. Make it a personal goal if your school cannot provide guidance or funds. It throws light in the corners and then you can see the whole picture.

3 - Collaborate and share with your peers. The most valuable lesson of all times, from my teaching training cohort and school colleagues is how brilliant they are and how better we can all be, if each one of us collaborate and contribute to each other's success. Priceless.

Finally, I say that to myself and everyone: don't be afraid of change. Teaching is one of the most beautiful professions in the world, but it needs evolution as society evolves and new skills are needed. Therefore teachers like us need to be on the verge of innovation, with technology, encouraging critical thinking, curiosity and creativity.



----

References:
Black, P. J. and Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education, 5(1): 7–73.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]
Bennett, R.E. (January 25 2011). Formative assessment: a critical review. Retrieved July 20 2018 from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0969594X.2010.513678?scroll=top&needAccess=true
Wisconsin Department of Public Education (January 2017). The Formative Assessment Process. Retrieved July 20 2018 from https://dpi.wi.gov/strategic-assessment/cycles-assessment/formative/-resources-professional-development