The big flight

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

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

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

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

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:

1. A short introductory session – Introduction to Wikis (what are they, how they work, how to get into our wiki and use it).
2. A full-day session to write the curriculum documents (creating the framework, research, sharing information, reflection)
3. 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

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

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)

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

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

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.