Recently I've been discussing Professional Development with members just to refresh my view and make sure we are on the right track. An interesting story emerged.
A member went to a PD workshop run by another organization, offering 4 presenters over the course of the day. Out of the 4? She could only really remember anything that came out of one of the 4 presenters beyond generalities. What she attributed the failure to retain the information was pretty standard to start with until discussion opened up.
Another told a story of sitting in a room full of people that didn't really want to be there. People were surfing the web or playing Angry Birds on smart phones. Staring out of the windows or lazily day-dreaming in some other fashion. The room was simply full of apathy. It's not the first time I've heard this story and I sometimes find myself wondering how Teachers, a group of people specializing in connecting students with their their education, have become so disconnected with their own.
Graduates seem to be full of confidence and are still in that "I've just been to school for 4 years, I want to teach" stage. Schools often dictate the PD that their teachers are sent to, based on school needs rather than the desires or motivations of their staff. Poor venues and poor catering are also often mentioned. The Workshop might be good but as soon as lunch comes?
The food is cheap and heavy. It is standard fare that sits in the stomach, promoting weariness and a lack of an ability to pay attention. The grounds are drab and uninteresting making it all that much easier just to drift off with the fairies and just lose all motivation to come back again. There's nowhere to take a walk and liven yourself up a little either.
And the big one. "I just need my hours for registration".
I've had my say before that "Highly Qualified" presenters do not necessarily make "High Quality" presenters. Presenters need to be just as engaging and motivational as we are for our students if we are to get the most out of them. Yes, the theory is that we are professionals and will pay attention to a piece of cardboard if it's telling us the right things but cardboard is still cardboard. Flat and lifeless and unlikely to inspire us to take the offered concepts on board and run with them. Choose your presenter wisely.
Pick workshops offering quality catering and ask about it when you book.
Pick Workshop style presentations that keep you active if possible instead of Seminar style PD events.
Of course organizing PD myself this is how I think. I pick presenters, supply catering and choose venues based on these principles. I keep everything we do voluntary just to ensure as many people as possible are there to learn. Of course I can only go so far from my end.
Then, last night in our collegial meeting, one of our members said something that hit me from out of nowhere and that I find truly amazing;
"From now on I'm going to go up to a table and ask those seated at it "Why are you here?" If the answer is "my school sent me" or "I need my hours" I'm going to walk away and ask at another table until I get "I'm here to learn" as an answer."
Thank you so much for that advice Rachel. Top class thinking!
And do you know what? I'm going to start recommending that to every Teacher I know!
Regards,
Mel.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Who do you want to be as a CRT?
I sometimes run into people who don't understand how important that question is.
Everyone needs something to aspire to. Otherwise, no matter how much you love your job, you go through disheartening periods where you feel like you are stuck in a rut. Life's just like that without change and evolution. Have you ever been stuck in a rut? In any aspect of your life? Think back on it and critically examine whether your performance in any area was up to your usual quality in everything you did.
That's right, being disappointed with one aspect of your life can have detrimental effects on others. A bad day at work sees you go home and snap at your loved ones or friends. Or perhaps just lead to general lethargy where motivation becomes hard to come by and you just do what you need to in order to "go through the motions".
It is important for every aspect of your life that you have what you consider to be a good professional identity! How do you go about building yourself one though?
Your own personal desires are quite often the best motivator and understanding who you want to be as a CRT is a good look into what those desires are. This will help drive your search for the right mentors and role models, the appropriate PD opportunities, the most relevant online reading and so much more. Knowing who you want to be as a CRT provides direction. Your own personal road map to career satisfaction and a happy life.
The other part of this is outside recognition of your professional identity. The indicators that the direction you are going in is the right one. Feeling valued by others. Do you feel valued at work when schools treat you as a "lesser" teacher? Or worse, a glorified babysitter? Of course you don't. All too often we are caught up in delivering what a school wants in order to keep ourselves in work because, let's face it, our pay check is sometimes the only encouragement we get for doing our job well. The more we work, the bigger the paycheque, the bigger the reward for doing our job well.
Money is important, granted, however I work in another currencies too. A settled classroom. Smiles from students. A greater volume of work from reluctant learners. Right through to when students see me and say "do we have you today Mrs L?" with a hopeful look in their eye. The last being the most priceless. These are all things that tell me that who I am as a CRT is valuable without having to rely on educational institutions handing me a dollar or saying a word.
The students are telling me I'm getting closer to who I want to be as a CRT. Their smiles and their work and their hopes are what make me smile, make me work harder and never lose hope!
I feel that I've done a good job. My students feel that I've done a good job. The schools pays me for doing that good job. I am happier. My family is happier.
Every day I can wake up loving my life.
Regards,
Mel.
Everyone needs something to aspire to. Otherwise, no matter how much you love your job, you go through disheartening periods where you feel like you are stuck in a rut. Life's just like that without change and evolution. Have you ever been stuck in a rut? In any aspect of your life? Think back on it and critically examine whether your performance in any area was up to your usual quality in everything you did.
That's right, being disappointed with one aspect of your life can have detrimental effects on others. A bad day at work sees you go home and snap at your loved ones or friends. Or perhaps just lead to general lethargy where motivation becomes hard to come by and you just do what you need to in order to "go through the motions".
It is important for every aspect of your life that you have what you consider to be a good professional identity! How do you go about building yourself one though?
Your own personal desires are quite often the best motivator and understanding who you want to be as a CRT is a good look into what those desires are. This will help drive your search for the right mentors and role models, the appropriate PD opportunities, the most relevant online reading and so much more. Knowing who you want to be as a CRT provides direction. Your own personal road map to career satisfaction and a happy life.
The other part of this is outside recognition of your professional identity. The indicators that the direction you are going in is the right one. Feeling valued by others. Do you feel valued at work when schools treat you as a "lesser" teacher? Or worse, a glorified babysitter? Of course you don't. All too often we are caught up in delivering what a school wants in order to keep ourselves in work because, let's face it, our pay check is sometimes the only encouragement we get for doing our job well. The more we work, the bigger the paycheque, the bigger the reward for doing our job well.
Money is important, granted, however I work in another currencies too. A settled classroom. Smiles from students. A greater volume of work from reluctant learners. Right through to when students see me and say "do we have you today Mrs L?" with a hopeful look in their eye. The last being the most priceless. These are all things that tell me that who I am as a CRT is valuable without having to rely on educational institutions handing me a dollar or saying a word.
The students are telling me I'm getting closer to who I want to be as a CRT. Their smiles and their work and their hopes are what make me smile, make me work harder and never lose hope!
I feel that I've done a good job. My students feel that I've done a good job. The schools pays me for doing that good job. I am happier. My family is happier.
Every day I can wake up loving my life.
Regards,
Mel.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
I never noticed before...
I have a project in the pipeline that has turned out to be a very interesting journey!
One of the ways I recieve extra work in schools is by specializing in Special Development and intervention level literacy. Over the years I've developed my own set of activities, systems and ethics about approaching the students and their education. It's been a very interesting journey to put it down on paper! My husband just keeps telling me "You're just a natural born teacher, stop thinking about it because all that makes you do is stress out. Just walk in and do it and you'll get it right, you always have". And he's kind of right because I've always taken the CRT approach, used my CRT skillset and modified my methods on the fly to suit particular students. Of course he looks at me through rose coloured glasses and sort of ignores all those times I come home complaining that I think i made a mess of things and could have done better. I knew there was a reason I married him ;).
It's actually where many of my activities come from. When I get stuck, and I do, I scan the room for simple stuff I can grab without the classroom's regular teacher getting upset with me. Then I have the student help me quickly make something out of the stuff I found that does what the student needs it to do in order to come to grips with the concept at hand. Then I refine and add to it over time until it works for just about all of my students (nothing works for everyone is one lesson I've learned over the years!)
This is where I'm comfortable, when I've been thrown in the deep end. Analyzing it or writing it all down? Not so much.
I've never studied my methods or tried to figure out why they work so well. They just do and in the end working out why was always kind of like just making more work for myself. Recently comments have turned from "I don't know what you're doing but just keep on doing it!" to more in-depth questions on the how and why. Suddenly there's a point to knowing those things.
So these holidays I set about putting it all down on paper and... I'm kind of astonished.
It reads like it's from someone who has a much larger pool of knowledge and experience than I cognitively realize I have. I've always known the knowledge was there, under the surface, ready to be thrown at me by my subconscious when my students need it. I've been content up until now to let it work that way too. Now though I'm forced to take a real look at exactly what's locked up in that little vault and also forced to realize that vault isn't as small as I thought it was.
It still surprises me sometimes how a learning experience meant for someone else, a student or a colleague, still winds up being a learning experience for me too.
You know what?
I just love being a teacher and I love the fact that being a CRT allows me the time to do the things I do and brings me the opportunities to feel like I do right now!
Regards,
Mel.
One of the ways I recieve extra work in schools is by specializing in Special Development and intervention level literacy. Over the years I've developed my own set of activities, systems and ethics about approaching the students and their education. It's been a very interesting journey to put it down on paper! My husband just keeps telling me "You're just a natural born teacher, stop thinking about it because all that makes you do is stress out. Just walk in and do it and you'll get it right, you always have". And he's kind of right because I've always taken the CRT approach, used my CRT skillset and modified my methods on the fly to suit particular students. Of course he looks at me through rose coloured glasses and sort of ignores all those times I come home complaining that I think i made a mess of things and could have done better. I knew there was a reason I married him ;).
It's actually where many of my activities come from. When I get stuck, and I do, I scan the room for simple stuff I can grab without the classroom's regular teacher getting upset with me. Then I have the student help me quickly make something out of the stuff I found that does what the student needs it to do in order to come to grips with the concept at hand. Then I refine and add to it over time until it works for just about all of my students (nothing works for everyone is one lesson I've learned over the years!)
This is where I'm comfortable, when I've been thrown in the deep end. Analyzing it or writing it all down? Not so much.
I've never studied my methods or tried to figure out why they work so well. They just do and in the end working out why was always kind of like just making more work for myself. Recently comments have turned from "I don't know what you're doing but just keep on doing it!" to more in-depth questions on the how and why. Suddenly there's a point to knowing those things.
So these holidays I set about putting it all down on paper and... I'm kind of astonished.
It reads like it's from someone who has a much larger pool of knowledge and experience than I cognitively realize I have. I've always known the knowledge was there, under the surface, ready to be thrown at me by my subconscious when my students need it. I've been content up until now to let it work that way too. Now though I'm forced to take a real look at exactly what's locked up in that little vault and also forced to realize that vault isn't as small as I thought it was.
It still surprises me sometimes how a learning experience meant for someone else, a student or a colleague, still winds up being a learning experience for me too.
You know what?
I just love being a teacher and I love the fact that being a CRT allows me the time to do the things I do and brings me the opportunities to feel like I do right now!
Regards,
Mel.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
PD Announcement - The Singing Classroom with Sue Arney.
Hello everyone,
We have just recieved our first approval for PD workshops in Term 2; The Singing Classroom with Sue Arney.
In line with out promise to expand and provide PD out of our centralized Wodonga location, This PD will be held in Wangaratta on Sat 11 May 2013 (full day). As usual it will be a catered workshop with a booking fee of $10 for CRTs and $30 for other teaching professionals. Bookings will be opened first to CRTs and to other teaching professionals at a later date.
This will be a Pdi approved workshop with an maximum attendance of 40.
Full details will be released soon including venue, times and booking details.
Notes:
The booking period will be shorter than the usual 6 weeks which is why you are getting an early "heads up". Please keep an eye out for the full announcement!
Other PD is currently being arranged. Although this is the first to be approved, it may not be the first to run! Please keep an eye out for these announcements too!
Regards,
Mel.
We have just recieved our first approval for PD workshops in Term 2; The Singing Classroom with Sue Arney.
"A Professional Learning program for generalist primary classroom teachers offering them support, confidence, skills and resources to sing more regularly with their students."
“Music education uniquely contributes to the emotional, physical, social and cognitive growth of all students.”
National Review of School Music Education, Australia, 2005
Imagine a school day where singing is an integral part of the program – not an add-on or an extra activity, but integrated into the existing daily program. aMuse is pleased to launch this exciting new program in 2012 aimedat providing generalist primary teachers with the skills and resources to build the confidence needed to singregularly with their students!
“The key with meaningful music learning, is that it has to be ‘continuous, sequential and developmental’ for studentsto benefit. We know, for example, that as few as 23% of government schools are able to offer their students a musiceducation which fits that bill - they would like to, but they lack the resources. In private schools, the numberleaps up to 88%.”
In line with out promise to expand and provide PD out of our centralized Wodonga location, This PD will be held in Wangaratta on Sat 11 May 2013 (full day). As usual it will be a catered workshop with a booking fee of $10 for CRTs and $30 for other teaching professionals. Bookings will be opened first to CRTs and to other teaching professionals at a later date.
This will be a Pdi approved workshop with an maximum attendance of 40.
Full details will be released soon including venue, times and booking details.
Notes:
The booking period will be shorter than the usual 6 weeks which is why you are getting an early "heads up". Please keep an eye out for the full announcement!
Other PD is currently being arranged. Although this is the first to be approved, it may not be the first to run! Please keep an eye out for these announcements too!
Regards,
Mel.
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