Cura Personlis in Unexpected Places

It’s state reporting season in Indiana these days.  As a private school offering the Indiana State diploma and accepting voucher funding, we are responsible to collect, format and report various data points regarding students, faculty and course offerings.  I have written before of my feelings about big data… my feelings haven’t changed.  The lesson in frustration of state data reports is still strongly in favor of “data is only as good as the human inputting it” … but this week, I have to admit, something rather remarkable occurred.

You all can read ad nauseam about the woes of the ISTEP exams in Indiana.  Last week, I was working on the TL report (or Testing Label report for those of you not in the know).  Data requested includes students with testing accommodations/special needs.  None of this is particularly interesting… but the data collection method turned a corner of cura personalis I did not expect or anticipate.  I called a meeting of Academic Counselors and Learning Center Faculty to fill out the spreadsheet.  We ended up talking about each individual student needing accommodations, updating one another with recent evaluations, checking in on student who may need additional care and generally enjoying one another as professional educators.  This process took all of 25 minutes – but the outcome was way beyond another spreadsheet. The conversation, dare I say colloquy, created in the group a companionship for the benefit of the young people in our care.  The conversation created a companionship for students as individuals, in light of care and consideration for their lived potential. 

In 2007, Fr. General Kolvenbach gave a speech on cura personalis (care of the person) where he calls the listener to “that which leads us ‘more’ to the end for which we are created”.   If as educators, we truly answer the call to develop men and women for and with others, shouldn’t we too find those moments for others in our daily roles in the trenches?  Times where we are surprisingly present for another – even in state data reporting.  The awe and wonder for once directed at moments of connection and not the spreadsheet on the screen.

The Information Commons: Our Mess is DONE (sort of...)

It’s been a busy time of remodeling, curriculum development and faculty formation!  And in all the kerfuffle of life, I never got around to following up on our Mess and Progress in creating our Information Commons.  So here goes…  

As of Friday, November 6^th, the last piece of lighting was installed and the Information Commons is officially complete.  Students, faculty, alumni and families have been enjoying the space since we opened in late August.  Rather than bore you readers with the details of incomplete cabinetry, back-ordered furniture and misspelled wall art… I thought I would frame this post in light of the happy surprises this project has created.

Zoning works!  We planned our space in light of retail design theory which calls for loud spaces up front with spaces becoming quieter and more personal as the user moves deeper into the space.  So our collaborative tables are near the door, small group tables are nestled within the shelving and personal seating is furthest back near the windows.  Adult presence is most dense in the front of the space – IT Helpdesk and 360 degree reference desk included.  Our surprise lies in the student understanding of zoning.  Our librarians were very intentional in explaining (during class visits, opening tours and continued supervision) the rationale for the zones, purposes and expectations.  Students immediate react with “Oh, that makes sense!” and use the zones appropriately.  Now our physical space reflects our academic learning objective that “students will assess their learning need – evaluate resources available – use the resources appropriately”. 

Sound proof glass to create the quiet study room works!  We chose to glass off the quietest section of the Information Commons.  This created a physical and mental transition from the chattier areas of the space.  Our surveys indicated 48% of the students still required a classic, quiet study space.  The happy surprise has been that students completely own this space.  No adult has yet to need to monitor the space… the students monitor and respect the purpose.  Personal ownership is key to our success. 

Students like to create their own spaces… and will move furniture around appropriately to create great spaces.  We put almost every piece of furniture on wheels.  As students live in the space, we all recognize what works and what doesn’t.  Students have great ideas on how to better create THEIR learning environment.  Having flexible furniture allows for the space to grow, meeting student needs.

Existing features are highlighted.  I can’t tell you how many times people ask me when we put in the skylights.  I have to answer “Ummmm 1986."  The windows and skylights have been in the space for over 30 years… yet prior physical layout, dark paint and walls obscured these features.  By opening the space and brightening the paint and carpet the existing features really pop.  As we enter the dark days of winter, the Information Commons is now the most popular space in the building in part because of its wonderful lighting.

So 2015 has been a great experience in terms of space… and the next step is really looking at the work flow.  Part of our Ignatian process is to reflect on experience.  We have experienced the Information Commons as a physical space for three months.  Now it is time to reflect on how we use the space, how work flow is impacted and how instruction can be modified.  In some ways, a new mess for new progress.  I am looking at Work Flow Analysis research and structures to help facilitate conversation and reflection.   I'll keep you all posted...

Oh - and recently JD and I presented at the Treasure Mountain Research Retreat at The Ohio State University. We talked a lot about allowing for student voice in design. If you are interested in seeing those slides just follow the hyperlink.

BYOT In the Classroom

One of the many hats I wear around here is Evaluating Administrator.  This year, we have introduced walkthrough evaluations based on Carolyn Downey's Three-Minute ClassroomWalk-Through model.  I must admit, I am having a marvelous time seeing what is going on in Brebeuf classrooms - especially all the innovative uses of technology (although Dr. Sperry rocked it out with a traditional lesson on diagramming sentences with her Teach-Learn method).  And if I am this excited about what I see and hear... well, good readers, I thought you might be too...

Guiding Student Time Management/Responsibility

Always helps to post clear directions as to what assignment is and expectations for delivery (how student is to get assignment to you).  Now that every student has a device - our learning management system (BlackBoard Engage) is a stronger tool.

Example from Ms Hathaway (Theatre) using Edline Calendar : Each assignment is linked to calendar.  Student clicks on day or assignment and is taken directly to Homework Hand-in.

This example is from Ms Haffley (English 12).  She uses outside sites but clearly notes where Calendar, Assignments, Class Blog is located and gives direct link…  

Blogging

This can be done as a “What We Did Today” in  Ms Annee does in BioTech with her class Edublog

 Or in truer journaling as reflection based on experiences with new material… as this photo from previous semester in Mr. Tague’s Genocide course illustrates.  Tool is Edmodo.com. 

Authentic Experiences

French 5 students with Ms Martin (in her words) “are getting more contact time with the language b/c of BYOT.  They are assigned and immersed in the “real language” through almost daily opportunities to engage in listening and speaking skills (they study excerpts from films, popular television shows, talk shows, daily news, radio programs, etc and then re-group to discuss what they learned) and reading and writing skills (they read newspapers, recipes, advertisements – almost anything you can think of that a native person is exposed to!) and then can correspond with each other or students in France about what they have read….”

US History Students in Mr. Lo's class were asked to created picto-notes (taking a concept and illustrating).  Most students used pencil, paper and markers to create artwork after researching online.  Some students animated their picto-notes in Photoshop.

And here's Computer Science (notice all those lonely desktops) with Ms Dugan... collaborative research project on history of computers.

Even the Administrators hanging out in my office get in on the action...(this is what my day looks like - and you all thought I just made up all that stuff on Twitter...)