Teaching middle and high school

The big flight

2008-07-05T09:02:00.001+09:30

Today is my last day in Adelaide for three weeks.
First, a week stop off in Melbourne to watch some volleyball and then off to the US for a conference on the brain. The trip will be a drag because of it's length and it's 'lag but the conference will be good I am sure.
Leaving behind some controversy at school because of the jealousy of going on a fully-paid trip but that's their problem.
Hope to develop a full package of teaching methods that are brain-friendly and will hope to use them with my Year 9 students in particular after their review of my teaching.
I can see I have a few things to work on.
BTW, this was done using scribefire within Firefox...just for something completely different.

Last weeks for 9 ICT

2008-06-22T10:08:00.002+09:30

What a class. It was a pleasure to teach and they taught ME a lot.
Next year (if I get it again) it will be different.
I will still incorporate both blogs (which have been very successful) and wikis (less interactive but I think I can improve on it) but will focus on podcasts (nearly all students successfully produced a podcast) and Game Maker.
Game Maker has been the surprise packet. It was something I allowed them to do as free choice and they took to it like ducks to water. They produced more in 3 weeks than my Year 11 class did in a term!
So it will be something like:
Weeks 1-3 Introduction to blogs and the wiki. Safe use of the internet.
Weeks 4-7 Social Networking assignment.
Weeks 8-12 Podcasting - introduction, main features, making their own podcast.
Weeks 12-19 Game Maker - introduction, building and modifying a simple game, building your own game. Will need to introduce the Design process for these students otherwise they will just sit and create without any documentation. Will also give them the opportunity to podcast or screencast their documentation if they want or create a website (the blog site can do this) to do this.
Week 20 Trialling and feedback.

Sent off my Summer School Application

2008-03-16T18:26:00.001+10:30

Finally sent off my application for post Summer School money.
I am not sure it will get through but I hope I am given the chance to spend some time with the Science teachers building a wiki and showing them the power of the blog.
The costs might be slightly derailed if we set up a Moodle which apparently has both blogging and wiki facilities.

The Year 9ICT course is going well. At least 6 of the class are getting the idea that they can add to the knowledge the class has. It is a bit tricky to know how to edit their information - too much and they might lose confidence, not enough and they might not think it is worthwhile. The blogs are going well and give me a real insight into how they are going. Again, I need to give them feedback. But at least I can do it in my own good time.

Finally, I am setting up a 9 Maths wiki to use with students. Given the static nature of Maths, this could be an ideal set up for students who are struggling with Maths. The trick is to structure it so that there is enough information but not too much clutter.
Interesting times.

Year 9 ICT - a brand new approach to teaching

2008-02-24T11:26:00.002+10:30

Well - new for me.
The emphasis in this whole unit will be on collaboration. We will focus on four units - blogging, wikis, podcasts and social networking.
Already we have covered blogging and I can see the benefits. Students have to make at least one blog entry per week and comment on someone else's blog each week. It has been terrific because

I get some idea how much they are taking in
I can see who is doing the work
It is much easier to give feedback (in the form of comments)
It is much easier to assess (as long as you have developed the criteria beforehand)

We are now starting on wikis - the students get to modify the course's wiki - which they have initially been very excited by but also very intimidated. Students actually have a say in what they learn - revolutionary! At the moment I am confining them to changes to the content part of the course ie what is a blog, how can they be used etc.
Eventually I want them to have a say in the assessment of the course - very empowering. Also I want them to use what we have learnt in other subjects.
More to come....

First Blog for 2008 - Proposal for Professional Learning

2008-02-24T11:25:00.001+10:30

Here is a proposal I am submitting to obtain a grant for $2000 for Professional Learning basically on using wikis:

This project is based on the research done by Dr Debra Panizzon, (Deputy Director, Flinders Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century). Her research suggested that outstanding outcomes in Science can (in part) be achieved by Science teachers where there is a culture of collegiality, shared assessment practices, communal teaching resources and shared goal-setting and class expectations.

I will work with a group of Science teachers (middle school focus) and I will:

· Introduce the idea of using a commonly-accessed web site (called a wiki) to write curriculum documents for the Science course.

· We would cover

o The main science concepts and skills

o Teaching and learning resources

o Common and/or shared assessment tasks

· Emphasis is on working on the website collaboratively. Wikis allow anybody to edit, add, delete or in some way modify the contents. This wiki will be a private one so only invited teachers can submit content.

· It also allows discussion of topics and this should allow teachers to clarify ideas, discuss the meaning of key concepts and give feedback on what has been uploaded

· If it continues beyond this year, it will evolve into a useful, up-to-date yet dynamic working document.

The Professional Learning program that I will run will have the wiki as it’s focus. However, to break up any sessions I also propose to give some short input on some of the key ideas presented at the Summer School. Here the focus is on how this information or research might impact on their science teaching.

These sessions will include:

· The survey of Year 10 Science students by Terry Lyons (Choosing Science Project for 2007)

· Neuroscience and Learning by Professor Ian Fitzgibbons (South Australian Neuroscience Institute)

· Learning Capital by Mike Lawson and Helen Askell-Williams (Flinders University, School of Education)

· Hands-on Science practical and tutorial sessions (by various members of the Science and Engineering faculties at Flinders University)

The sessions would run in the following manner:

A short introductory session – Introduction to Wikis (what are they, how they work, how to get into our wiki and use it).
A full-day session to write the curriculum documents (creating the framework, research, sharing information, reflection)
Follow-up sessions (clarify any issues, continue to share experiences, discuss how other teachers [e.g. student teachers, new teachers] might use the resource)

Ulimately, I would envisage that this group of teachers would develop wikis with other teachers and possibly even with students!

The end is nigh

2007-12-06T21:48:00.000+10:30

It's been a pretty amazing year in many respects.
Beside the fact that I turned 50, have been married 25 years and been teaching at my current school for 15 years, I feel that all the things I have been working on in the last three years are coming together.
I have been to Canberra for the Standards meeting - more the development of advanced teacher capabilities. It was a heavy meeting but I am inspired by the end result and pretty amazed about the group of teachers that I worked with. Can't say too much now, but the final document is still being worked on and should be out by around March next year.
Amanda and I are about to present our ideas from the AGQTP project to our staff along with some suggestions for how to run meetings more efficiently. I hope this goes well as it looks pretty heavy.
We also presented to some of our System leaders on behalf of the Project and that seemed to go down well.
Finally, I got into the Science Summer School in January. I am looking forward to the content but am somewhat bemused with how they are going to run the rest of the show - i.e. accommodation, meals etc., and how they will treat the participants. Should be amusing. I ran into the guy helping to work out the Mathematics Summer School in Canberra and even he was a little unsure about that side of things.
Keep you posted dudes.

Standards - more useful than for assessment

2007-11-18T13:10:00.000+10:30

In my last post I made my position clear on how standards should be used. If they are aimed at creating an elite group of teachers whose only role is to get more money then I am not interested. I have received some reading from Teaching Australia which suggests that they are thinking the same way.
They have used some pretty inspirational standards (e.g from Language and Literacy teachers, and the Maths group) which have as it's focus the improvements in learning that should result if a teacher is exemplary.
I think during the meeting that as long as I have this as a focus I should be right. Otherwise what is the point of having standards unless it is to meet some sort of goal. What higher goal could there be than the improvement of student learning.
Teaching Australia also sent out a set of guidelines about the organising categories [broad headings that capture the critical elements of teaching] and capabilities [the discrete elements of knowledge, skills and dispositions expected of teachers operating appropriately and effectively at a high level of expertise]. They include:

Professional Knowledge

Knowledge of content
Knowledge of students
Knowledge of teaching and learning (pedagogy)

Professional Practice

Planning for learning
Creating a learning environment
Assessment and evaluation of learning

Professional Engagement

Self-motivated professional learners
Reflective practitioners
Active members of professional learning communities (in schools and beyond).

I will have a look at the Gleeson 10 and see if they cover everything mentioned above (and vice versa)

What you need to teach effectively (a personal reflection)

2007-11-12T21:04:00.000+10:30

Here are my thoughts after having read the material on teaching standards. I think all teachers need:

a love of children and a belief that all children are capable of learning
a very good understanding of the subject matter that you are teaching. This would include a love of the subject to an extent that you are interested in finding out more about it. This would be further enhanced when you know the anecdotes and stories associated with the subject.
an effective method of planning a teaching and learning unit using a structure that actually results in improved student learning.
a range of teaching and learning techniques to help students understand the content and develop the skills to be a successful learner.
a willingness to work and share resources with other teachers, students and parents.
a willingness to reflect on your teaching on your own or with some sort of support group.
an ability to involve yourself in useful professional development opportunities that come.
a willingness to get to know children, their interests, strengths, weaknesses to be able to know how to effectively help their learning.

More to come as I think about the upcoming writing session on Teaching standards.

Teaching Standards in Australia

2007-11-12T20:47:00.001+10:30

As a part of this writing group, I have been doing a lot of reading about standards in Australia and around the world. Some of the documents I have downloaded have been fantastic to read and will be very useful in my job as Professional Learning Coordinator.
For example:
From "Professional teaching associations and professional standards: embedding standards in the discourse of the profession" by Terry Hayes, he says:

There is a tension between using standards for accreditation and using them as a goal for all teachers to aspire to.
He further articulates this potential problems with

comparability versus creativity in presenting evidence of accomplishment
meaningful versus manageable amounts of evidence to present
personal goals versus what the school/system wants
value of assessment versus ongoing critical inquiry.

He also states that the context of where teachers work is of critical importance when assessing attainment of the standards. Some others feel that standards can be context free.
There is another issue. It is a conflict of interest that arises when the people setting/governing the standards may have different priorities than those who are being assessed by them. Often peak bodies have the capacity to offer PD associated with helping people achieve the standards. Then a conflict develops because the body has a vested interest in keeping the current standards and assessing it in ways that THEY have already developed.
Also a very important point about the idea of isolated teachers being assessed as achieving the standards or not. Surely we want to encourage cooperation between teachers so should individual teachers be assessed in isolation?

My personal opinion is that standards should not be used to pump up a small group of teachers to say how great they are and give them more money. It should be used inspire ALL teachers to become better teachers and should promote a cooperative and collegial approach to reaching these standards. I also feel that the assessors should not be the PD providers otherwise there will be too much of a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

Last Learning Team Meetings Part 2

2007-11-12T20:34:00.000+10:30

Last Thursday was the last Learning Team Meetings for the Year 8 groups for the year.
I found the English/SOSE/RE people a little subdued. It was almost like this group had very little to offer such capable people. The group itself will be very different next year - two are going on long service, one is pregnant and the another has the year off to stay at home to look after his child.
I thought Tricia came up with a good way of structuring some scaffolding for significant writing in Year 8. She separated the task into distinct parts and then for each part, created a page of instructions and then a blank section for students to write bibliographic details and then notes. The rest was discussion of a presentation from one of the teachers.
The Science/Maths people were a little more lively with an animated discussion about Self-Paced Maths. Some people were hesitating about the process feeling as though they had lost some control over the class and feeling that they were not working as hard as they should - and that this would reflect on them as teachers.
Danielle brought up the importance of teaching students how to use the resources - i.e. how to use the text book to get the most out of it. She also has experimented with success with students marking their own tests. This takes a great load off her, but gives the students immediate feedback - no just with a score, but also with an idea of where they went wrong and why.
Craig talked about using re-tests as a learning opportunity and the need to have more opened-ended investigations that students could do along side of the textbook work. This will encourage problem solving skills.
I discuss the struggle I had with allowing students to fall behind. How sometimes it's important to let that happen because they need to struggle with some things at some stages in their life and then be thankful when they actually succeed.
The Leadership group and I will meet next week to see where we go from here.

Last Learning Team Meetings Part 1

2007-11-06T19:29:00.000+10:30

Today the Year 9 Learning Teams met as a Learning Team Meeting for the year.
The SOSE/English/RE people met first and we did another success protocol. Graeme spoke about an integrated task on Antarctica that he and Emily did. It was a series of activities designed to prepare and research a trip to Antarctica as well as study the wildlife and minerals found on the continent. He reflected on the fact that a number of students did very well - but many did not do as well and was surprised by the lack of organisation that they showed.
It was great to hear some of the feedback from the other teachers. For example, there was a lot of discussion about the need to build independent learning skills in Year 9 students so that they are ready for when they need it in the senior years. They suggested things like checklists, verification forms like in Year 12, making mini due dates for each part of the task, giving choice i.e. do any 2 out of 3 tasks in this section and offering alternative ways of presenting work to those who struggle with writing.
Interestingly, the main presentation in the Science/Maths/ITC meeting was from Emily, Graeme's partner. She was pretty happy with what they had done and also received mostly positive feedback. It was suggested that perhaps students could make a learning plan for what they are going to achieve in each lesson/homework.
We also discussed the use of rubrics for our classes. We felt that we were at such a point that we could hone them a little and offer them for use by all Science and Maths teachers. Because of their generic nature, they could be used across the board with little modification. We decided to present them at the next Science meeting for other staff to use.
A review of these meetings suggested that they had been worthwhile and they would like them to go longer so more people can share their successes. Some other comments were baffling - let's leave it at that.

Further interesting events

2007-11-02T22:44:00.001+10:30

Firstly I found out what the Drafting group has to do:
It includes

settle on the common organising catagories. Still finding out what they mean by categories.
draft the capabilites for advanced teaching and school leadership.
This is the bit I am interested in. I have some ideas already from the ASCD magazine. They called such teachers, Teacher Leaders and have surveyed some them to determine their characteristics. Four things stood out. Such teachers have done presentations to their staff; have lead significant groups or committees; have mentored new or student teachers; have written significant curriculum documents.
propose guidelines and criteria for professional associations to use in drafting descriptors for their specialisations.

Then I found out that Amanda and I need to give a 20 minute presentation to other AGQTP groups nationally.
I'm getting rather giddy. Must keep that swollen head under control.

Developing a set of school values

2007-10-31T21:43:00.000+10:30

The principal at our school recently asked all staff members to contribute what they saw as the values of our school. It was an interesting task and they came up with a vast list. Here it is:

Service

· To others

· To charity

· Have compassion for others in need

· Community minded and not ‘self-serving’

· Show care and compassion

Lifelong Learning

· Are committed to the value e.g. lifelong learning

· Instilling a desire for lifelong learning

· Lifelong education of the whole person

· Value the process of learning and the opportunities to do so

Achieving full potential/excellence

· Make the most of our talents and opportunities

· Achieve your potential

· Maximise potential

· Education of the whole person

· Commitment to development of talents and use of talents – staff, students and parents

· Striving to reach an individual’s potential

Respect

· For individual differences

· The learning styles / needs of individuals in our community

· Of individuals and for the environment

· Everyone and their property

· Beliefs and values of others

· For self and others

· Love

· Acceptance and tolerance of individual difference

· Safety

· Respect for staff, others and environment

Faith

· Live out our faith in the light of the example of Jesus Christ

· Catholic tradition central

· Being a disciple of Jesus in action

· Christian values taught and upheld

· Grace

· Promotion of faith

· Faithful (to College and God)

· Faith filled community

· Spirituality of faith

Celebrate diversity

· Live as part of a global community (contribute to the global community)

· Responsible citizen

· Celebrate the diversity

· Culturally diverse

· Community

· Welcoming

· Providing a caring and welcoming community for all

· Inclusively

· Unified and inclusive as a community

· Acceptance

· Safe and welcoming community (and supportive)

· Value others opinions

· Value diversity

Working Together

· Work together / in partnership

· Provide a safe and supportive community / environment

· Work together towards common goals

· Parents, staff and students sharing the same ideals and working together to the same ends

· Supportive environment

· Support and provide opportunities

· Supportive

· Collaboration

· Cooperation

· Communication – do it nicely!

· Communication

· Equity

· Sense of community

· Forgiving and restorative practices – promotion of choice with responsibility

· Empathy

Wholeness: including

o Striving for Excellence

o Honesty and Respect

o Resilience

o Trust

o Truth / trust

o Wellness

o Optimism / hope

o Forgiveness/Reconciliation

o Commitment

o Integrity

o Loyalty

o Compassion

o Hope

o Optimistic

o Responsive

o Morals

o Leadership

o Just

o Pride in personal appearance

o Having a ‘go’!

o Care for environment

Others:

· Provision of quality teaching (and learning)

· Providing appropriate educational pathways for students

· Build the resilience that we need to take on the challenges in our lives

· Modelling – role models, students and staff

· Support

· Value for money

Some good stuff. Now I think Amanda and I will be involved in honing it down using one of the protocols later in the year. I might have a go at summarising the gist of what is being said in each heading and offering that up as a basis for the Gleeson Ten.

Well, what do you know!

2007-10-31T21:35:00.000+10:30

I recently applied to be a member of a National group looking at Teaching Standards in Australia.
This was my application:

I was recently exposed to the draft of the Charter for the Teaching Profession at a recent AGQTP session on Constructive Pedagogies. We were examining the document whilst using the ANSN teaching protocols – in this case we use the Consultancy Protocol. Whilst examining the document I was intrigued by the possibilities for my own school and for the profession in general.

We did not come up with any significant changes to the document – that was not our purpose. The five areas outlined in the document immediately suggested to me a guide for helping to create a Professional Learning Policy for teachers at our school.

I have been a teacher for nearly 24 years and have taught in High Schools for all of that time. In my time I have had many positions of responsibility including Coordinator of Science, Year Level Coordinator and my current position Professional Learning Coordinator. However, time and again, I have been drawn back to teaching in the classroom. I have set myself the goal to improve my teaching methodology each year. Each time I have felt that this personal goal (personal improvement of my teaching methodology) was enough. This document has shown me that it can be much more than this.

During my teaching career I have undertaken further study – I have completed a Masters in Science Education through Curtin University in 2002, for example. I have been a member of the AGQTP group looking at Constructive Pedagogies over the last two years and have been asked to join a leadership group amongst our system to help other teachers develop their teaching strategies.

In the last three years (thanks to a visionary principal) I have had a position in the school where I have the opportunity to work intimately with members of the teaching profession. This has included work as a mentor (to both new and student teachers), a leader of teachers during the implementation of the Middle School structure in our school and as a leader of small groups of teachers meeting in Learning Teams.

My reflection is that teaching has become incredibly complex in the last 10 years. More is expected of teachers from Governments, leadership, parents and students themselves. It is no longer enough simply to teach what we taught last year in the same way we taught it last year. Teachers can get lost in this complexity and this is where a charter can help clarify the role of those of us in the teaching profession.

We are reminded again and again of how important the job is theoretically, but the almost constant sniping at teaching standards from both sides of the political divide is weakening the confidence that members of the public have in teachers. A well-implemented charter is something that we can hold up and say, “No, you are wrong. This is what we are on about. Now let us get on with this very important work”.

I would like an opportunity to join the Drafting Group for the reasons I have outlined above. I believe I have significant experience in teaching and working with teachers to make a worthwhile contribution to the Group. I very much pride myself on my ability to work with others in a team. I do this constantly with my own teachers, working with teachers of the same subject or in the same year level, exchanging ideas and resources and discussing strategies and expectations.

I would see many advantages in developing national professional standards. Not only do they become a statement for all teachers to present to the wider community, they become a framework for teacher improvement and a clear guide for new teachers coming into the profession.

I am new to the area of writing professional standards but I would bring a new perspective and plenty of useful ideas to the Drafting Group. I am willing to learn. My talents include an ability to apply deep analysis of such documents but also an ability to show how things are connected.

If this application is not successful, I would appreciate if you could keep in contact with me in my capacity as the Professional Learning Coordinator. As stated earlier I can see such standards as being directly useful in my work as the Professional Learning Coordinator.

And guess what...I got in!
Late November I get to go to Canberra to work with the group for four days. Pretty amazing and exciting. To top it off, I will be in Canberra on the day of the election! I might even get to go to the Tally Room and meet the new Prime Minister! Magic.

Further movement in the CAR committe

2007-10-27T11:56:00.000+09:30

I suggested that I design some sort of framework for the committee highlighting the work it does and the decisions that have been made and the principles decided upon in the past by the committee.
A quick scan of the minutes suggests that the committee looks at number of different areas: Open days, information nights, reporting, curriculum for senior and middle schools, student teachers, teaching plans and course outlines are just some of the areas that the committee looks into.
I will try to summarise these for the future meetings.
This hopefully will be the start of clarifying the purpose of the committee and helping with decision making in future.

Working with Student Teachers

2007-10-27T11:45:00.000+09:30

Interesting times working with student teachers at this point. It's here you see how far you have come over the years and how many skills you have that you just naturally do without thinking.
Timing the lesson, peripheral vision, student management and even content knowledge.
One trick I showed my colleague was that when you are asking students to do something use the 5W as a guide to what you should tell them.

For example, when asking students to fill in a sheet:
Who (discuss this in pairs);
What (complete questions 2-5);
When (You have 10 minutes);
Where (put the answers in your exercise book);
Why (we will use this information in the practical we will do later).

By doing this the teacher will ensure that just about all the important bits of information are given to the students but using the simple check list.
This came up naturally in conversation with the student teacher - another sign that I am beginning to assimilate the productive pedagogies into my teaching.

Useful site for developing individualised graphic organisers.

2007-10-25T21:29:00.000+09:30

This site (in beta version) could be useful in creating graphic organisers modified for your particular subject.

Check it out!

Movement on the Protocols

2007-10-25T21:17:00.000+09:30

Big movement on decision making in the school.
I chaired a meeting of the CAR group and it became clear that the discussion was ill-directed and often fatuous.
At the end, it was suggested that a decision making process be adopted by the committee to help direct discussion in a more fruitful or at least, efficient direction. This was agreed to.
Also I "kited" the idea that the CAR needs a framework of principles of operation - eg "all long reports are submitted first to allow for extensive proofreading". I might suggest that i get the minutes of the CAR meeting to help flesh out this framework. Accompanying this should be a vision statement for the group. More of this later when it starts to gel.
Also we got the go ahead to use some sort of refining protocol to help with the development of the basic beleif statement for the school. This process was started by teachers who listed down their top 10 beliefs about education. This will be added to by the Board, P&F and by the SRC of the school.
We will then use our time at the end of the year to discuss, probably using the tuning protocol, the summarised version of all of this. I now need to sit down with Amanda to discuss how we might do this.

Summary of Learning Team Meetings

2007-10-20T22:42:00.001+09:30

This summary was sent out to all the Year 8 and 9 teacher to prepare them for the next meeting:

8 LT1 – Last Meeting: Tricia shared her unit on comparing two civilisations. Included ideas of student choice (e.g. essay topic), variety of presentations, gender balance, scaffolding, feedback sheets; Helen shared her “faith in action” review of charitable organisations unit in RE. Included random groups (sometimes a good option for short term activities) and “lucky dips” for the charity i.e. little choice. Students had to champion their charity. They were assessed on cooperative skills and their presentation.

It was suggest that two others shared a success in their teaching, using the “success” protocol.

8LT2 – Craig shared his “Revision/Test/Revision/Test” methodology to help develop revision skills. This helped give students feedback on their revision techniques. Jason shared the cross – curriculum “Pedal Prix” unit developed with Tricia. We furthered discussed test preparation techniques such as: Look, Cover, Write, Check, Flash cards, asking questions of a partner (sometimes called “See Saw”), active reading, students creating almost daily revision sheets. We decided that we would trial test preparation and get data to compare how students went. So bring samples folks.

9LT1 – Discussion of what “X” factor in student work makes for an “A” standard. Jess shared her work on developing “sophisticated” poetry. Sophisticated skills included: appropriate technique and terms, abstract language, complex vocabulary. Use of metaphor, simile, alliteration, onomatopoeia and ? (There was a fifth technique). Reading is important in helping develop sophistication. Suggested that “every Year 8 and 9 carry a novel with them to all lessons” [where possible]. Also, keep sophisticated work to show other students. Students need to do the unpredictable/original/unique to improve their standard of responses.

[On Reflection: This only needs a little bit of work to become a useful document for all teachers to help improve the sophistication of student answers].

It was suggest that two others shared a success in their teaching, using the “success” protocol.

9LT2 – Looked at the use of Rubrics for assessment. Paula presented one’s she had used for practicals and tests. The test rubric had been used twice and was useful to see if students had improved in their skills. Lengthy discussion of individual assessment during group tasks. Use of the ePortfolio. We will work further on the Rubrics (Test/Research – Gerald, Orals –Paula, Practicals – Emily, Clint – Movies. Aim was to trial a Rubric and bring back feedback to the next meeting.

Presentation day at AGQTP

2007-10-20T22:06:00.000+09:30

Last meeting for the year was presentation day for all involved. A culmination of the work done in the third term on our projects.
Here is a brief summary of most of them:
All Saints - Reviewed the schools Personal Responsibility Policy using Cognitive and Cooperative strategies and the tuning protocol. Then used the same protocol so that we could review their policy. Very successful at their school.
St Gabriels - Focussed on working with targeted teachers in their school to model the strategies. Picked up a unit of work (on Creation) and showed how it could be taught over five lessons. Other teachers looked on and took notes. They were enthusiastic and will now model them to other teachers.
Our School - decision making processes in our school. Clear that this needs refining to be able to manage some of the decisions that need to made in the future e.g. future SACE.
St Francis X - wanted to make P.L. more relevant and individualised. Used PMI - a good tool to model and use to review. [Could lead into using a protocol to examine the results]. As a result of the review, there is more continuity, they include more energisers from other people, incorporate cognitive and cooperative strategies, time for sharing and professional reading time. Learning teams have formed and a member of each team is part of the Lead Learning Team. Teams include Higher Order Thinking, Brain Based Learning, Choice Theory, Cooperative/Cognitive Strategies, Questioning, and Student Engagement.
Mary Mount - does student directed learning improve engagement? They worked in teams on a topic of their choice on energy. [Have asked her to send me a copy of what she did]
St Josephs ? - Used protocols to share the learning that they and others had experience in the various AGQTP activities.
Sacred Heart Middle School - Authentic assessment. Class did study on what chips are best. Need to use statistical tools to work this out and then write it up justifying their decision. [Again, have asked him to send me the documentation]
St Josephs Tranmere - whole school engaged in a project on Antarctica which focussed on all four Productive Pedagogy elements. Huge project.
St Francis A - using pp based activities to raise student engagement.
My reflection on the process is the enormous range of talent in the room and the different roads people appear to be taking whilst introducing these pedagogies. The discussion after the presentation reflected this with a general feeling that many people were prepared to go the next step and willing to lead others through the productive pedagogies pathways.
I felt that we needed to document the way in which people have grown and developed in this area and what was necessary for this to happen ie. time to review, try, evaluate, listen to others then try again. Also we need to indicate what conditions are necessary to help the process in our schools: principal on board (especially in financial terms), some teachers in the school willing to tackle new ideas, a long term commitment to change.
Should be an interesting year next year.

Really getting the hang of this...

2007-10-20T21:53:00.000+09:30

I just noticed that when planning two units of work, how easy it was to introduce Constructive Pedagogies into the planning.
For example, in a new unit in Psychology, I wanted to explore student definitions of emotion - so we did a Y chart - very suitable for this unit. Then when trying to understand what the books definition of emotion was, we used a concept map.
Further, in a Year 9 Science unit on Light, I wanted to explore what students knew about light. So I did a Think, Pair, Share on 3 different questions: How can we see trees? What can't blind people see trees and what is colour. They all complained about doing each of these activities but when they reported after the Share section, it was quite clear that some ideas were spot on and others were way off.
Would like to do more of them where appropriate but my biggest hurdle is how to decide which is appropriate for each situation.

I found this site, which summarises them according to function. Could be useful.

future SACE and its impact on the middle School

2007-10-02T21:48:00.000+09:30

This could be great. The structures in future SACE include:

personal learning plans - we could begin this in Year 8 particularly at the end of the first term when we meet with students and parents to discuss how they are going. Very strongly linked to the reports done in Term 1. Review at least once a term after each report. Plans written down and submitted on-line for access by students and parents, as well as teachers and coordinators.
extended learning initiatives - currently done in Year 12 but we could do a cut-down version in Year 9. Basically students study a subject area of their own choice based on personal interests. Presented to the wider community (somehow) towards the end of Year 9 - maybe at a presentation night?
Numeracy and Literacy requirements (not sure what they are) which must be met sometime in Year 8 or 9. Need to decide what basic numeracy and literacy skills are needed by the time they finish Year 9. These skills would be taught across the curriculum so much so that people would need to indicate in their teaching outlines explicitly where they will teach these skills.
Capabilities - if we use the Gleeson 10 as a guide, these could be developed in these two years.
Must achieve at least a "B" in five core (Science, Maths, SOSE, English, Italian) subjects or a "C" in choice subjects. If not, they repeat the subject in the following year. Alternatively, each KLA could identify key units of work that students must receive a “B” in whilst they are doing Year 8 and 9.

The Gleeson 10 might include:

Life-long, independent, skilled learners.
Creative, critical, self-evaluating thinkers.
Empathetic and collaborative workers.
Self-aware citizens of the world.
Confident problem solvers.
Responsible and resilient individuals
Effective communicators
Socially and environmentally responsible individuals.
Spiritually-aware, faith-filled members of the church and community.
A producer of quality work.

If we use these as a guide to the sort of "capabilities" we want our students to have by the time they reach Year 9, then that changes what we teach and how we teach.
This would radically overhaul what we do in the middle school and really get them prepared for senior school.
It could be that each KLA decides to focus on one particular aspect in each of Year 8 and 9. For example, maths could look at “confident problem solvers”, English – “effective communicators”, RE – “spiritually aware, faith-filled members of the church and community” etc.
This would radically overhaul what we do in the middle school and really get them prepared for senior school. I realise this is only “pie in the sky” stuff and would need to have full agreement from the teachers involved but not only does it achieve a lot of what we want to see in the Middle School (I think) but it also prepares our students for the future SACE.

Professional Learning Review

2007-10-02T21:40:00.000+09:30

It could be that Professsional Learning at our school may take a decided turn for the better.
After an abortive pd session for the majority of our KLACs and YLCs, I plan to put forward the idea of developing a professional Learning plan for all teachers, PART of which might be organising speakers from outside the school, but most of which will be sessions run by teachers in small groups or groups of individuals meeting together to discuss matters of import (e.g. Learning Pairs or Learning Teams).
Apparently the Flinders Maths and Science school run it this way and have done so right from the start. However, they have an afternoon off a week and don't have to share a campus with two other schools. This could be a sticking point because we won't have the flexibility in the timetable if we go it alone and say take Tuesday afternoon off.
I am thinking of coming up with a professional learning policy which includes:

professional learning plans made by each teacher with their teacher mentors
regular professional learning in groups or individually
professional development sessions
lead learning team made up of myself the Principal and deputy and three others who have responsibility for overseeing the structure and running of these teams.

The survey results: a summary

2007-09-13T22:23:00.000+09:30

AGQTP Appreciative Enquiry – Decision Making.

Results

KLA Areas Covered: (number indicates numbers of returns per faculty)

Arts	RE	H & PE	Lang	SOSE	Maths	Sci	D & T	Eng	ESO
3	7	8	0	10	2	3	3	5	4

Q1 What impact do you have on decision making at the whole school level?

	None	Very Little	Don’t Know	Some	Significant	Total returns
All	0	14	1	7	5	28
POR	0	2	1	6	5	14
Not POR	0	12	0	1	0	14

Notes: Although clearly the proportion of “very little” impact (50%) and “some” or “significant” impact (43%) is about the same overall, when you break it down to POR/Not POR, most PORs (79%) feel they have at least some impact, most Non-POR staff (86%) feel they have very little impact. I guess to change this they should apply to become PORs.

Q 2 Words to describe perspective on decision making at whole school level:

Manufactured	3	Easy	1	Efficient	5	Frustrating	7	Affirming	4
Pre-disposed	1	Consultative	15	Fair	11	Well-informed	6	Explicit	1
Logical	10	Contrived	1	Collective	4	Impulsive	3	Agonising	2
Rational	4	Intuitive	2	Constructive	8	Procedural	11	Shared	13
Ad hoc	3	Autocratic	1	Delayed	3

Top 5 (School Overall):

Description	Number	Percentage overall of returns (Tot = 28)
Consultative	15	54
Shared	13	46
Fair	11	39
Procedural	11	39
Logical	10	36

Notes: All very positive.

Q 3 Impact on Decision making in KLA

KLA	None	Very Little	Don’t Know	Some	Significant	Total
All	0	8	2	20	7	37
Percent	0	22	5	54	19	100

Notes: this means that most staff (73%) felt that had at least some impact in some faculties although a significant proportion (22%) felt they did not have much impact on some faculties.

Q4 Words describing decision making in KLA Area

Manufactured	2	Easy	2	Efficient	8	Frustrating	5	Affirming	4
Pre-disposed	0	Consultative	9	Fair	9	Well-informed	7	Explicit	1
Logical	8	Contrived	1	Collective	9	Impulsive	4	Agonising	2
Rational	3	Intuitive	2	Constructive	9	Procedural	5	Shared	16
Ad hoc	1	Autocratic	1	Delayed	5

Top 5 (KLA):

Description	Number	Percentage overall of returns (Tot = 28)
Shared	16	57
Consultative	9	22
Fair	9	22
Constructive	9	22
Collective	9	22

Notes: Again, all very positive.

Q 5 Impact on decision making at Class Level (some ESOs did not comment)

	None	Very Little	Don’t Know	Some	Significant
Number	0	1	1	4	19
Percentage	0	4	4	14	68

Notes: As you would expect, most teachers (82%) have some or significant impact on decision making in their class rooms.

Q6 Words describing decision making in the Classroom

Manufactured	0	Easy	8	Efficient	7	Frustrating	1	Affirming	7
Pre-disposed	0	Consultative	9	Fair	8	Well-informed	7	Explicit	2
Logical	8	Contrived	0	Collective	7	Impulsive	1	Agonising	1
Rational	5	Intuitive	1	Constructive	9	Procedural	8	Shared	8
Ad hoc	1	Autocratic	3	Delayed	0

Top 6 (Classroom):

Description	Number	Percentage overall of returns (Tot = 28)
Consultative	9	32
Constructive	9	32
Fair	8	29
Logical	8	29
Procedural	8	29
Shared	8	29

Notes: An interestingly even spread of very positive comments. I wonder what students would say?

Q 6 Student Impact on decision making at Class Level

	None	Very Little	Don’t Know	Some	Significant
Numbers	0	5	0	16	2
Percentage	0	18	0	57	7

Notes: Again, most teachers (64%) feel that students have at least some impact.

Q 7/8 Decision Making Groups (Number that are effective in brackets)

CAR	2	PPAR	2	Liturgy	1	Sports Com	2	Uniform
Café	1	Music Ministry	1	PE	5	YLC	3	Leadership Team	2
Learning team	4	SRC	1	English	2	GCFFL	2	SOSE	1
Consultative Committee	1	RE	1	Staff Association	1	Celebrations committee	1	None	4

Q 10 Preferred Decision Making Style

	Auto I	Auto II	Consult I	Consult II	Group II
Points	30	44	72	90	119
Percentage	8	12	20	26	34

Notes: a reasonably clear preference for at least consultation (80%), with at least one third of staff wishing that it would go further in that the group should make the decisions rather than leadership.

N.B: Points were allocated as: 5 was worth one point, 4 – two points, 3 – three points, 2 – four points, and 1 – five points.

Overall comment: Much more positive than I expected. Some individuals had some significant gripes about how decisions were made and how little say they had. Most staff (68%) came up with some sort of decision making process that they thought was effective.

Collection of Responses to Survey

2007-09-11T20:31:00.000+09:30

So far, so good. We have collected about 20 surveys from a range of staff and faculties. The responses are mixed in most areas but clearly most people think that they have little say in the decision making process of the school as a whole.
I have been intrigued by the feedback by both the KLA coordinators and people in their factulty. I will use RE as an example. The coordinator feels like everybody gets a go and decision making is shared. However, the (albeit few) two responses from the faculty suggest otherwise.
What has been excellent is that most people have given examples of worthwhile decision making processes.
On reflection the best process I have been involved in has been with the Fantasy Football association that I am involved in. We are about to have an AGM and the process for changing the constitution is as fair and clear cut as I have seen. This usually involves sending out a proposal sheet, getting proposals in by a due date, printing them off in a very well set out booklet with all the options available, getting this out before the day and encouraging discussion before the meeting. Finally, all people come to the meeting with an idea of how they are going to vote. Some people reasons for/against and then we vote.
We will do a final appeal for surveys tomorrow and then collate them on the weekend - if I can fit in all the reports I have to write!
A friend of mine suggested that the school's PC might help developing the processes involved in developing worthwhile decision making structures. Will contact him with the results to see what he thinks.