See How We Grow, See Where We Go

 On Friday, I had the great pleasure of watching a former student perform in a musical. It was an incredible performance. The singing and orchestral music were top-notch. The costumes and make-up were professional-level. The sets were astounding and all the performers (to mix metaphors) gave A+ effort and scored big. Nine of his former elementary school teachers gathered to enjoy the show, and enjoy it we did. (Thank you Ms. Wadia for coordinating this venture!) We couldn't take any photos or videos of the action - I turned off my phone completely as requested by the directors - but take my word for it, it was a great performance by all, but especially by Tyler.

Tyler has always been an incredible actor. Drama has been his "thing" ever since he was in grade school. I got permission from him and from his wonderful mom to share this photo of him when he was in our elementary school musical, "Musicians of the Sun", in 2018, when he was in Grade 6. (He played the Raven.)

I love watching Tyler on stage. 

Tyler has demonstrated talent for the performing arts for years, but that doesn't mean a) that he hasn't had to work hard or b) that he hasn't improved since the early days. On the contrary to both counts. The teen actor that my fellow educators and I saw on stage on Friday night has developed so many skills and abilities. In the show, he WAS his character, through and through. It took a lot of time, energy, and effort to learn the choreography, memorize the lines, rehearse the songs, all while still attending to his other subjects. 

I grabbed Tyler's autograph after the show, because I see this amazing individual going places and I want to be able to say "I knew Tyler when just a youngster ...". 

It is often said that "teachers plant seeds that grow forever" and that teachers might not always get to see the end results, but sometimes we are witness to progress. It's not without great effort, but when it happens, it's wonderful. 

These second and third examples may not be as visual or powerful as watching a gifted, hard-working singer/actor/dancer on stage, but the results can be just as rewarding ... regardless of age.

I finished marking the Inquiry Learning Projects by the Part 1, Part 2, and Specialist Candidates for the Teacher-Librarianship AQ courses with York University. I've also been working on an inquiry project with Connie Chan's Grade 6 students for Social Studies (on Canadian Identity). Doug Peterson mentioned in on This Week In Ontario Edublogs post and the TWIOE podcast. Let me tell you that the process is remarkably similar. Connie and I keep track of our consultation conversations with the students and I compared them to the notes I kept for my last in-person blended-model AQ, and they are strikingly similar. (I do keep notes on the online ILPs, but they are spread over several spreadsheets depending on the Learning Block.) 

The Grade 6s and the AQ candidates both spend a lot of time working on the question. It doesn't always come easy. Both groups wonder if they are on the right track. They worry about finding those "just right resources" that will help them answer their questions.

Francis Ngo (who co-taught the Part 1 group with me) and I spent a solid few days immersing ourselves in the final projects. Some projects were satisfactory. Some projects showed great growth in the individuals and their understanding of school librarianship. Some projects absolutely blew us away as instructors. I don't want to break any instructor-student confidentiality by sharing some of the topics, but I hope those individuals that might perchance happen to read this post reflect on some of the comments and feedback we gave and can nod knowingly, realizing that they really dug deep and made it more than "just a project for marks". It's always a delight to see former AQ candidates at the GTA Resource Fair as teacher-librarians at other schools, doing their best to serve their students, staff and community, and knowing that you played a tiny role in their learning and growth is a true gift.