TED Community » Tosca Killoran

More About Me

I'm passionate about

The power of ideas, the strength of collaboration, and the importance of providing youth a forum in which to share their ideas.

An idea worth spreading

ReBrand Teaching- more to come soon, as soon as I publish the website this weekend!

Talk to me about

Inquiry-based education, the IB, sustainable action, technology in the Early Years, Arts education, environmentally sustainable schools, service learning, ReBrand Teaching

My TED Story

I've been a TED member for many years and this year, with the help of my friend and colleague, Jeff Hoffart, I am planning my third event: TEDxYouth@BIS in May 2013!

Comments

• TEDCred score: +5301.20 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +5

  A comment on Conversation: What can we do and what do we do about bullying?

  Jul 2 2012: Hi Carlos,
  
  This year for TEDxYouth@BIS we focused on student generated Sustainable Action. Many of the grade 5 students at our school identified bullying and conflict resolution as an area in which they wanted to take action, and so, created a website full of programs, resources, websites etc.. for kids to take action against bullying http://actionhub.weebly.com/
  
  Many of the students spoke about their action at the TEDxYouth@BIS event such as Kaitlyn Fox, Laura Ruben, and Alejandro (Alex) Perez-Lucerga, you can watch their talks on the TEDx Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6AAF48379A09E839&feature=plcp
  
  It was refreshing, as an organizer and educator to see students journey from a superficial understanding of the problem to a researched, solution-based understanding of bullying within their own learning community. As their solutions were student-generated, owned and driven by kids they became sustainable. As the older grade 5 students modeled appropriate action, by creating and maintaining programs and inclusive games, younger students realized that it was cool to be inclusive.
  
  Kaitlyn has a TED profile- http://www.ted.com/profiles/1294495 and I am sure she would love to talk to you about her ideas for ending bullying in schools!
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Within learning communities, how do we educate youth about the ethos of TED and get them excited about contributing to the TEDx community?

  Jun 24 2012: Hi Fritzie, I really like your idea for focus groups. I agree that youth look at life through a different lens than adults and it is impossible to access that viewpoint without delving into their minds a bit. Mostly, the youth we work with are tech savvy and I can't help but wonder if there isn't something more we could do beyond Facebook, Twitter and other social media to hook young people? I think you have provided a great idea for organizers to work WITH students to have them part of the process via focus groups and thus become inherently invested in the outcome. But I wonder if any other TEDxers out there have actual resources they have used for the expressed purpose of spreading the ethos of TEDx to their communities...

• A comment on Conversation: Within learning communities, how do we educate youth about the ethos of TED and get them excited about contributing to the TEDx community?

  Jun 23 2012: One resource we created to help inspire others to take action and get involved with TED, TEDx, and TED Ed was an ebook for free download: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/ted-ucate-yourself/id526065224?ls=1&fb_source=message this helped encourage others who had no knowledge of TED to quickly get on board. However, I am interested how others around the world 'sell' the idea of TED and TEDx within their communities. I would love to hear and see the creative solutions the TED community has for this.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: If you could describe yourself with an object, what would you be?

  May 24 2012: A Star- but so are you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU
• +2

  A reply on Conversation: TEDxSDSU - What Have You Discovered? [And what have you done about it?]

  May 24 2012: Kaitlyn & John- We will have the videos up as soon as they are edited. Look for them under the TEDx Youtube Channel tagged for TEDxYouth@BIS and look for our photos on the TEDx Flicker account- soon. Kaitlyn sells herself a bit short in her comment as she designed a program to help combat exclusion and bulling at our school. She is a passionate and expressive speaker who has identified an issue and become a change agent within our community. Every day I learn something new from my students. And through our last TEDxYouth@BIS event, I have discovered that, if teachers provide a forum, scaffold for understanding and teach the necessary skills students will AMAZE us with their ideas, passions, and actions. They have the potential, we just need to help them actualize their dreams.

• A reply on Conversation: How do you promote, model and scaffold sustainable action within your classroom?

  May 12 2012: Rob and Fritzie,
  
  Yes!! These program ideas are great! I totally agree with you that start local- think global is important. I like that the schools/people you speak of are supporting the programs and that they are building community ties/empathy etc.. All super, and I am excited by your posts!
  
  Now, we take an additional step, I wonder how support the students' interests in order to sustain the action? For example there are a few websites that I frequent and they are: http://wearewhatwedo.org/ & http://www.actiontracker.org.uk/. These sites, are examples of action that is sustained. As a TEDXYouth organizer, I try to provide a forum for the students in my community to share their ideas and actions with the world. The students take local action, then the teachers help the students learn the skills to create ibooks, websites, published books, videos etc.. in order for others to share their passion and be inspired to take action themselves. This sustains the action beyond a one time occurrence for the student.
  
  You could also organize a TEDxYouth event in your community for the amazing kids you work with... http://www.ted.com/pages/organize_tedx_event
  
  The programs you speak of sound great, now how can we take that and make it part of a national curriculum? Something like Robert said, a Peace Corp for kids?
  Great posts, love the ideas!

• A reply on Conversation: How do you promote, model and scaffold sustainable action within your classroom?

  May 12 2012: WOW! I love the idea of, "How about a monthly meeting chaired by elected kids aimed at teachers with the sole goal of getting more out of their education? We have them for sports days or dances why not for an action plan for their education?"
  
  This is something that Reggio does in its early learning centers and the PYP attempts to do by allowing the kids to guide their inquiry. BUT I love that what you propose, is a school wide systemic overhaul. Really delving into the minds of the learners. I wonder if we could look at a particular model anywhere as an example?
  
  One of the critiques of the Reggio model for upper grades is that by allowing the learning to be student generated the students possibly will not cover content that they need in life, like place value or phonemic awareness. Thus, students would be left with gaps in their understanding. Indeed, I am not sure how many kids organically come up with the idea of studying stoichiometry. BUT I do value the idea of making learning more student directed, beyond just the classroom inquiry.
  
  I am going to do some research on this. A question it raises immediately:
  How do we meet phases, standards & benchmarks when students direct the learning?
  Anyone want to weigh in?
  Thanks for the post Jeff!!

• A reply on Conversation: How do you help engender a culture of thinking within your learning community?

  May 12 2012: Hi Mark,
  I love your posts!! Always challenging me to reflect on my practice.
  
  I do think that each child learns at where they are at, and no matter where that 'at' is, it is my job to differentiate for their specific needs. The thinking routines are not for exceptional children, nor for perfectly behaved children, they are for all children. The challenge of teaching as a profession is to find the right 'fit' for that particular learner for that particular task. It can be exhausting- but is why I love my job! I never just hope children benefit, I struggle to find ways that they will learn and excel. No excuses- ever. If they are not learning it is something about my teaching or the ways in which I need help supporting that learner.
  
  Engendering a culture of thinkers in the classroom requires reflection. This is really, especially in my grade level of 5 year olds, the way for students to measure their progress. It is not about a rubric or percentages but about building self efficacy and a love of learning. By assessing; What have I done? How did I do it? and How could I do it differently next time? enables students to take ownership of the process of learning.
  
  I would love to hear your wife's stories of being a teacher. I am always fascinated by how far we have come as a profession, and what we can learn from the experts around us!!
  Cheers!

• A reply on Conversation: How do you help engender a culture of thinking within your learning community?

  May 12 2012: Thanks Marie!
  It is interesting how we have the ability within the relative confines of curricula to expand or 'push' for what we find drives us in our practice.
  
  I wonder if we built thinking routines into our planning and inquiry cycle if we could better assess for deeper and more divergent thinking in our students? I would like the thinking routines that I use, not to become mere activities but tools my students use when faced with a challenge. However, like most tools, we need to learn how to use them properly. If we plan for the direct teaching of the skill, assess for understanding and then provide opportunities for the students to, as you said so well, "take up the reigns" of their own thinking, I think we have provided the perfect gradual release of responsibility for the thinking challenges students face in their educative journeys.
  
  How do you think we could better value thinking in our classrooms/schools and learning communities? I know teachers value it by the immediate feedback we give our students, but I wonder what the institution could do better to value thinking in its teaching and learning? I recently visited the International School of Amsterdam, and was impressed that students' thinking was displayed on the walls, teachers' brainstorm sessions were up in the staff room, and ways in which children had used their thinking to meet challenges were included in their portfolios... it was clear they had a culture of thinking that was part of the ethos of the school. I wonder how teachers can take from that model and advocate at their own schools to value thinking in more explicit ways?
  Thanks for your post- it is report writing time so I have stolen a few moments to write you back!
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: What guidelines would you give someone preparing a TEDx talk?

  May 7 2012: I am a TEDxYouth@BIS organizer and I give the speakers this:
  
  The ideal TEDxYouth@BIS speaker is...
  
  1. Engaging and Inspirational (Will the idea engage the audience? Would our audience be excited about hearing this talk? Does the idea generate conversation among the audience?)
  
  2. Original and Creative (Is the idea presented in a new way? Will it open people’s eyes to a new point of view?)
  
  3. Relevant (Is the idea relevant to our theme? Can our audience relate to the idea?)
  
  4. Logical (Did the speaker give a clear overview of their talk? Is this structure clear and logical?)
  
  5. Experienced (Will the speaker’s background appeal to the audience? Are they qualified to give this talk? Is their presentation style enthusiastic and entertaining?)
  
  6. Selfless (Is the idea free from branding? Does the speaker think about others and leave out any personal agenda?)
  
  As the young speakers develop their talk we ask them to reflect on if they embody the above qualities and if they are ready for the stage. We pair them with mentor teachers to help them define or refine what they want to say, and practice in English if they need to. We encourage them to think, "If people walked away with a headline of my talk, what would it be?" and most important we encourage them to think of this as a learning journey and remind them that they will get improve each time they take on the challenge!