During my MEd at OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), I took a course called Consulting Skills. In it, I learned a lot about listening and the consultation process, but one thing that really stuck in my mind was the idea of a "quick win". In consulting, a quick win usually means something with a short turn-around that yields positive results. It validates a consultant's ability to make an impact and helps to support more long term projects. This approach provides the client with immediate and tangible results that increase their confidence in their consultant of choice and helps to further the relationship. This also works very well in the classroom.
Students need to feel successful. So many approaches to assessment are more evaluative than formative, using rubrics to show snapshots of learning that put students into compartments of achievement, levels or grades. Unless the students are given next steps that they internalize and towards which they are actionable, the task is one that is end-focused instead of as a means to an end. When students feel successful, not just in number but inside themselves, they are more likely to repeat the actions that got them there. That's one reason why BOB is a high yielding strategy and BOBs (Building Outside the Blocks projects) are powerful learning tools.
At that point, I was only committed to this teaching scenario for a few weeks, so I set out to create something with a short turn around. Since the students were being asked to develop a sense of the genre, I thought that it would be best if they deduced their understanding through a shared experience. I created what I called It's No Joke. The students had to prepare to tell a joke to the class on their chosen date over a very short timeline. After all the presenters got a good laugh through the process, we created a collaborative definition of humour. The students understood that humour involves perspective, what some find funny can not always be generalized. They also concluded that its goal is to provoke laughter or elicit a joyful response. This was the first week-long BOB project I had ever created, and I really enjoyed it. More importantly, the kids really enjoyed it saying things like how amazing it was to choose their own date or how they would have made improvements if given another chance. They even renamed it LOL. It was a quick win.
I learned a lot about my new students through this project. I learned their kind of humour, how prepared they were, their presentation style and how well they listened. I also learned that they really enjoyed being permitted to give each other feedback. That is a key component of the BOB approach and something the students really value. In the form of questions, comments and critiques, students coach each other, own the success criteria and develop their skills through their role as active audience members. This gave me the idea to try another BOB with them.
Like any creator, I love all of my work mostly eqaully. Each Building Outside the Blocks project was created to help my students build skill, autonomy and community in minimal class time (even before I came to define them that way). Due to the time constraint, I had to choose from the One-Off BOBs or try 1/3rd of a Tri-BOB . I chose the What's In a Name because of the skills I wanted to teach the students and the sense of themselves I wanted to help them develop, among other things.
Introducing the W.I.N., as I fondly refer to it, the students were eager to begin investigating. This is an example of a BOB where I always give one period of class time to guide students through the research of their name origin and different ways to approach the task. Like all BOBs, that was the only class time students had to prepare for the project. They signed up for their presentation date over the first two weeks of December, and the rest was up to them. As always, the students were deeply engaged.
The first presenters really set the tone. Each of these two risk-takers shared the story of their names in distinctly different ways, and you could see that they learned a lot about themselves and their family history. Names are very powerful ways to bring cultural literacy into a classroom. Whether through the etymology, country of origin, choice of name or famous people who share that name, the task it rich, and the students learn so much about themselves and each other. I love the additional aspect of having the students evaluate to what degree their names reflects who they are. It adds a critical and creative component that really empowers students.
Here's a screenshot from one presentation:
Today, we came to the end of the WIN presentations. As always, the student reflections are key to the process. They help me look back and improve my work. Communicating their thoughts also helps the students consolidate different aspects of their learning from the assignment. I was elated when they shared:
I’m really happy that I got to teach everyone about my name, especially my teacher because it’s her name, too. -Noa
I was so happy to learn about my name. It was so fun to do all of that researching. I really learned a lot about what my name is and means. It felt pretty good speaking to the class. Now I know that my classmates know me better. I got to know lots more people, and really like that some people brought in props. It was a very well-done project. - Joey
What I found interesting is that I could relate to a few people. I found out that a few people shared the experience of having their last names changed at the border. We all “won” by learning about your names- we were learning about ourselves, prepared to present and showed what we could do. - Jordyn
Now we all know each other a lot more. We are a different version of ourselves because people know more about what we're about and where we come from. I was very engaged. I feel like anew version of myself because I go to tell everyone the backstory of my name. I loved learning that everyone's name has a different meaning. Everyone is different and comes from backgrounds of different religions from different places, but we all have a lot in common and I’m glad we got to share. -Ethan
I was really surprised when I found out the facts about my middle and last name. I’ve always known what my first name meant and why parents gave it to me. I never knew anything about my middle and last name until now. - Mazal
At the beginning, everybody was shy to do it. It brought out good things from everybody and everyone did a really good job. - Jonah
People from different generations liked my name. I liked sharing the different meanings of our names and telling people that my last name means rooster in Russian. - Anna
I interviewed my parents and found out that my name was related to the god we believe in. My name comes up in the songs we sing to show gratitude in the Hindu faith. Now that I know more about my name, I wouldn’t want to change it. It makes me feel proud to be me and introduce myself. - Riddhi
I was really into the WIN. I like how it’s called W.I.N. and it stand for What’s in a Name. It’s like you're winning by learning what your name is. You’re experiencing your classmates in new ways by understanding what their names really mean. -Sadie
Seems like everyone has a few quick wins!