Hi everyone,
Our April meeting is not far away now. You can find all the details here;
http://wodongacrtsupportnetwork.blogspot.com.au/p/hi-everyone-next-wodonga-crt-support.html
Regards,
Mel
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
My resource challenge project.
The choice: A family event.
So last Christmas break (Summer here in Australia) we went to my in-laws and helped them make apple juice. They do it every year and fill their freezer We videoed it to make a holiday DVD for the kids and I just thought "hey, that would be nice base for my challenge project".
Talking it over with my husband it seems like I'm about to learn an awful lot about exactly how much preparation goes into a resource like this! At this point I had the thought that it might be a good idea to share my learning experience. So here we go!
The basic idea.
Do you remember the Sesame Street videos where they filmed someone doing their job, a group of children in an activity or a family activity and then had the children narrate over the top? If not,
That's sort of where I want to go with this one (although I have decided to narrate myself rather than one of our kids) so the first decision has been made. Many of these videos concentrate on sequence so of course it leads right into what I wanted to do with the video once it's done. The first decision made it was time to start sorting through the video we took and.... Wow...
The first steps.
I never realised what really went into a short documentary/instructional video before. This cut is very rough and I thought we'd be aiming to "get it right" at this point. Not so... My husband asked me the question; if we get it "perfect" now and I want to add something later, how much more work is it going to be to add it in and get it "perfect" all over again? Along with that comes the second question; how many times will you have to get it "perfect" before you're done?
So here's the rough cut sequence (low quality).
Even this was more work than I realised. We had about 3 hours of video and cutting it back to 5-6 minutes, comparing different videos of the same step to see which one was the best and so on, was a lot more intensive that I thought... I've seen in movies about making movies where they're all talking about 34 takes and 33 of them will end up on the "cutting room floor" but sort of didn't realise exactly what that meant until now.
I also realised after "finishing" this part that there's not actually any video of anyone turning the handle... Oops! To which my husband replied "yes, that's what story-boarding is for"... With the lesson soundly learnt, adding in that piece of video has been put onto the "to do" list.
Being the resource challenge and I'm trying to put as many activities with it as possible it's not just the process of making the juice that I needed to consider. What else did I have that I could put in that would allow other lessons to stem from it. As you can see in the video I've included the bursting bottle so I can include some science (water expands as it freezes) as well as composting the left-over apple afterwards (sustainability).
It's all a little more in-depth than I thought it would be, even with my husband helping to edit the video! I thought this would be the quickest part and I think I may have been mistaken...
From now on the progress on this one can be found on my personal blog; 40 Weeks, 40 Classrooms! More will be coming in the chronicle of my journey with a focus on what I'm learning by through the CRT Resource Challenge.
Regards,
Mel.
So last Christmas break (Summer here in Australia) we went to my in-laws and helped them make apple juice. They do it every year and fill their freezer We videoed it to make a holiday DVD for the kids and I just thought "hey, that would be nice base for my challenge project".
Talking it over with my husband it seems like I'm about to learn an awful lot about exactly how much preparation goes into a resource like this! At this point I had the thought that it might be a good idea to share my learning experience. So here we go!
The basic idea.
Have a look at some of these kinds of Video on the Sesame Street YouTube Channel.
That's sort of where I want to go with this one (although I have decided to narrate myself rather than one of our kids) so the first decision has been made. Many of these videos concentrate on sequence so of course it leads right into what I wanted to do with the video once it's done. The first decision made it was time to start sorting through the video we took and.... Wow...
The first steps.
I never realised what really went into a short documentary/instructional video before. This cut is very rough and I thought we'd be aiming to "get it right" at this point. Not so... My husband asked me the question; if we get it "perfect" now and I want to add something later, how much more work is it going to be to add it in and get it "perfect" all over again? Along with that comes the second question; how many times will you have to get it "perfect" before you're done?
So here's the rough cut sequence (low quality).
Even this was more work than I realised. We had about 3 hours of video and cutting it back to 5-6 minutes, comparing different videos of the same step to see which one was the best and so on, was a lot more intensive that I thought... I've seen in movies about making movies where they're all talking about 34 takes and 33 of them will end up on the "cutting room floor" but sort of didn't realise exactly what that meant until now.
I also realised after "finishing" this part that there's not actually any video of anyone turning the handle... Oops! To which my husband replied "yes, that's what story-boarding is for"... With the lesson soundly learnt, adding in that piece of video has been put onto the "to do" list.
Being the resource challenge and I'm trying to put as many activities with it as possible it's not just the process of making the juice that I needed to consider. What else did I have that I could put in that would allow other lessons to stem from it. As you can see in the video I've included the bursting bottle so I can include some science (water expands as it freezes) as well as composting the left-over apple afterwards (sustainability).
It's all a little more in-depth than I thought it would be, even with my husband helping to edit the video! I thought this would be the quickest part and I think I may have been mistaken...
From now on the progress on this one can be found on my personal blog; 40 Weeks, 40 Classrooms! More will be coming in the chronicle of my journey with a focus on what I'm learning by through the CRT Resource Challenge.
Regards,
Mel.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Blog updates.
Added some links to the Resources list in the sidebar.
Added new blogs to the Blog list.
Added a new gadget: Facebook groups.
Added a new gadget: Current Network Event.
This may include events such as the Desirable CRT booklet, CRT Resource Challenge, upcoming PD or meetings with guest speakers.
Cleaned up some older and/or dead links (ongoing process).
Updated the wording on a few pages to keep them current (ongoing process).
Resized a few pictures to clean up the sidebar a little.
This is an ongoing process and the blog (and some of it's pages) may look a little odd for the next week or so as part of the updates. We'll try to keep all visible shenanigans to a minimum!
Regards,
Mel.
- Funbrain
- abcteach
- Scholastic website:- Teachers section.
- ABC; Behind The News.
Added new blogs to the Blog list.
- Inspired Education for Charity.
Added a new gadget: Facebook groups.
- CRT Network Members.
- Relief Teaching Ideas.
- AEU CRT Association (AEU membership not currently required)
- Casual Relief Teachers
- What a great teaching idea.
Added a new gadget: Current Network Event.
This may include events such as the Desirable CRT booklet, CRT Resource Challenge, upcoming PD or meetings with guest speakers.
Cleaned up some older and/or dead links (ongoing process).
Updated the wording on a few pages to keep them current (ongoing process).
Resized a few pictures to clean up the sidebar a little.
This is an ongoing process and the blog (and some of it's pages) may look a little odd for the next week or so as part of the updates. We'll try to keep all visible shenanigans to a minimum!
Regards,
Mel.
Friday, March 21, 2014
What do we hope you get out of the CRT Resource Challenge?
Last year, being the first year that we ran this one, I did get a head
start on this one so I could provide some examples of the sort of things
the challenge was about.
My personal goal last year was pretty simple; to use the challenge to get better at making my own worksheets. It's not something I was very good at (as my samples show) and it's an area of my teaching I really wanted to work on. Sometimes I just couldn't find exactly what I wanted for a lesson and found myself having to make the sheets up myself. I was always unhappy with the product and didn't really feel like I was helping in any way to make my students enthusiastic about their learning. They were bare and minimal and not overly exciting to look at.
This surprised many of my CRT friends because, as a general rule, I preach non-reliance on worksheets. I still do, as a matter of fact, for a whole bunch of reasons. Still, sometimes work sheets are the best way to approach something and if you're going to use them they should be the best they can possibly be. This made creating worksheets (and printable activities) something I truly wanted to get better at.
The challenge gave me a motivational tool to stick with it and get better. Overcoming that initial hurdle has allowed me to progress quite a lot in the intervening months too...
I started here:
https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=0d641ad8750d17a5#cid=0D641AD8750D17A5&id=D641AD8750D17A5!1757
and 11 months or so later I'm here:
I feel like I've come a fair way ;).
So what am I going to use the challenge to tackle this year? Working basic ICT into some of my lessons so I can take a little more advantage of the technology out there.
This is the sort of thing we want you to get out of it professionally. The opportunity to shed the normal parameters of what we do when planning and just wander into other areas. To take a journey where you can learn new things and discover what you are capable of that you never really considered before. When I want to wander into a room with worksheets now, if I can't find exactly what I want online to buy, I can make it myself. When this year's challenge is done? I'm going to be able to walk in with this lesson in my Bag of Tricks and know that it's going to be unique to me as a CRT and I will be able to do it again when the opportunity presents itself.
A year ago where was I? I couldn't even make work sheets that you could call much more than "functional". Where am I now? In a happy place!
Regards,
Mel.
My personal goal last year was pretty simple; to use the challenge to get better at making my own worksheets. It's not something I was very good at (as my samples show) and it's an area of my teaching I really wanted to work on. Sometimes I just couldn't find exactly what I wanted for a lesson and found myself having to make the sheets up myself. I was always unhappy with the product and didn't really feel like I was helping in any way to make my students enthusiastic about their learning. They were bare and minimal and not overly exciting to look at.
This surprised many of my CRT friends because, as a general rule, I preach non-reliance on worksheets. I still do, as a matter of fact, for a whole bunch of reasons. Still, sometimes work sheets are the best way to approach something and if you're going to use them they should be the best they can possibly be. This made creating worksheets (and printable activities) something I truly wanted to get better at.
The challenge gave me a motivational tool to stick with it and get better. Overcoming that initial hurdle has allowed me to progress quite a lot in the intervening months too...
I started here:
https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=0d641ad8750d17a5#cid=0D641AD8750D17A5&id=D641AD8750D17A5!1757
and 11 months or so later I'm here:
I feel like I've come a fair way ;).
So what am I going to use the challenge to tackle this year? Working basic ICT into some of my lessons so I can take a little more advantage of the technology out there.
This is the sort of thing we want you to get out of it professionally. The opportunity to shed the normal parameters of what we do when planning and just wander into other areas. To take a journey where you can learn new things and discover what you are capable of that you never really considered before. When I want to wander into a room with worksheets now, if I can't find exactly what I want online to buy, I can make it myself. When this year's challenge is done? I'm going to be able to walk in with this lesson in my Bag of Tricks and know that it's going to be unique to me as a CRT and I will be able to do it again when the opportunity presents itself.
A year ago where was I? I couldn't even make work sheets that you could call much more than "functional". Where am I now? In a happy place!
Regards,
Mel.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
It's that time of year again!
The CRT Resource Challenge is on for 2014! This isn't a competition, there are no judges and there are NO losers! We always try our best to put on events where everyone can win just by participating. It's all about challenging ourselves to strut our stuff and finding out what we're really made of!
You are invited to run yourself through the challenge whether you are a member of the Wodonga CRT Support Network or not.
The idea behind this one is to get our creative juices flowing and explore ourselves as teachers. What exactly are we capable of, what are our strengths and what areas should we seek out some further learning on in order to turn our weaker areas into stronger ones. To this end; at the closing of the challenge we will also supply some reflection activities to help you sort out your creations and see what it says about you as a Teacher.
In our ever-present quest to kill 2 birds with one stone, this learning experience also builds resources and learning plans in order to populate our CRT Toolkit, Box of Tricks or whatever else you know it by. This is vital to our role as CRTs and making it stronger also strengthens our classroom performance.
In our ever-present quest to kill 2 birds with one stone, this learning experience also builds resources and learning plans in order to populate our CRT Toolkit, Box of Tricks or whatever else you know it by. This is vital to our role as CRTs and making it stronger also strengthens our classroom performance.
You can find out all you need to know about the challenge on it's page on this blog.
Want to make your stuff look slick but can't afford Microsoft Office or similar commercial software? OpenOffice, a free and powerful open-source office suite, is a good alterantive for most of MS Office components. If you have a .edu email account Prezi is an excellent free substitute for PowerPoint and, in our opinion, is better in more than one way. Not having money to spend on software doesn't mean you can't make your own professional looking resources!
Regards,
Mel.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Rubbing shoulders with giants.
Recently I've been exploring online forums like Facebook groups and other places where CRTs gather online to discuss the trials and tribulations of their role in Education. One of the things that will come out of this in the long run is a list of these groups in the sidebar for you to choose from but for now I've noticed a trend that is worth commenting about.
With the current oversupply of teachers in Victoria, some CRTs aren't able to get as much work as they used to. This has obvious implications in obtaining the 20 days of Teaching and/or Equivalent Practice necessary to renew Full Registration with VIT. It's also creating a financial situation where many CRTs aren't able to afford PD workshops and seminars.
A quick look at our sidebar shows that we certainly recommend exploring many forms of online resources in your search for PD that's relevant to your needs as a Teacher. Our worry about this new climate is that these may become necessary rather than just being valid options. PD workshops can often cost hundreds of dollars and regional CRTs frequently have to add travel and accommodation costs on top of this. The same amount of work with more teachers simply means that work is being spread around more thinly for many of us and it's just getting harder for many to afford going to PD workshops.
Combine this with schools being reluctant to invite any but their core CRTs to in-school PD and the erratic nature of the DEECD's CRT PLSI over the last year and a bit and it's easy to see why it's a lot harder for CRTs to get seats in relevant and valuable PD workshops. Sharing online PD is becoming "the next big thing" in many groups of primarily CRTs. The current climate is not only making it hard for us to stay in the profession, it's making it hard for us to seek adequate learning opportunities to make ourselves the best we can be.
It's getting easier and easier to use online resources and online PD seminars, which are often free, as the "standard". The current education climate is just funneling so many of us towards these digital options that before too long it's going to be entrenched in our psyche as "the best option". So it's time for me to say again, loud and clear, the BEST option is a well-rounded approach to PD. While before I found myself focusing on this as a way to show how something besides workshops and seminars are valid PD in Victoria, the current situation gives me reason to pause and reflect on the increasing difficulty to attend workshops and seminars could start to become just as big of an issue.
While for now it may be a necessity for some I found myself considering whether, if this goes on for long enough, it will start to become the "preferred" way to access professional development or even "the best" way. I honestly believe that this would do long term damage to the ability of CRTs and the education received by the students they teach. So I thought I'd say something about this one just for us all to keep in mind for the future.
I would like you to watch this video at least up until the music starts back up.
At one point there's 36 CRTs around a table with one of the best presenters available leading by example. This is putting you in your student's shoes, right there and then, so you can see the effect of these sorts of strategies from a first-hand perspective.
Webinars of course have question and answer sessions but it's not quite the same. It's more of a "Uni Lecture" and lacks that personal interaction. This, of course, isn't inherently bad but if this is ALL you use as PD... What are you missing out on?
Again we see it, 20 CRTs all put into the student's perspective. Making instruments and performing "in front of the class" with the teacher. Placing you in the student's shoes so you not only get the pedagogy delivered in an interactive way but also gain a much deeper understanding of exactly why these sorts of things engage students in their learning; because you've lived it just like your students will.
This is something you just can't get from a video or webinar and this sort of activity is totally foreign to the digital medium.
While we understand completely that some of us just can't afford these experiences and have to rely on other forms of professional development, there is a danger in letting that digital search move past "normal" and into "the best way". You will be missing out on important aspects of what a well-rounded search for PD can provide.
You will be able to "hear from the best" but you won't be able to interact with them on anywhere near as deep a level. You will be able to learn why these things engage students but you won't get to experience that engagement yourself.
I urge all of you to keep this one in mind; while limiting yourself to the digital may be necessary it's certainly not exposing yourselves to all that can be gained from the PD experience. Don't limit yourself to the digital unless it's absolutely necessary.
When the opportunity presents itself... Go out and rub shoulders with Giants!
Regards,
Mel.
With the current oversupply of teachers in Victoria, some CRTs aren't able to get as much work as they used to. This has obvious implications in obtaining the 20 days of Teaching and/or Equivalent Practice necessary to renew Full Registration with VIT. It's also creating a financial situation where many CRTs aren't able to afford PD workshops and seminars.
A quick look at our sidebar shows that we certainly recommend exploring many forms of online resources in your search for PD that's relevant to your needs as a Teacher. Our worry about this new climate is that these may become necessary rather than just being valid options. PD workshops can often cost hundreds of dollars and regional CRTs frequently have to add travel and accommodation costs on top of this. The same amount of work with more teachers simply means that work is being spread around more thinly for many of us and it's just getting harder for many to afford going to PD workshops.
Combine this with schools being reluctant to invite any but their core CRTs to in-school PD and the erratic nature of the DEECD's CRT PLSI over the last year and a bit and it's easy to see why it's a lot harder for CRTs to get seats in relevant and valuable PD workshops. Sharing online PD is becoming "the next big thing" in many groups of primarily CRTs. The current climate is not only making it hard for us to stay in the profession, it's making it hard for us to seek adequate learning opportunities to make ourselves the best we can be.
It's getting easier and easier to use online resources and online PD seminars, which are often free, as the "standard". The current education climate is just funneling so many of us towards these digital options that before too long it's going to be entrenched in our psyche as "the best option". So it's time for me to say again, loud and clear, the BEST option is a well-rounded approach to PD. While before I found myself focusing on this as a way to show how something besides workshops and seminars are valid PD in Victoria, the current situation gives me reason to pause and reflect on the increasing difficulty to attend workshops and seminars could start to become just as big of an issue.
While for now it may be a necessity for some I found myself considering whether, if this goes on for long enough, it will start to become the "preferred" way to access professional development or even "the best" way. I honestly believe that this would do long term damage to the ability of CRTs and the education received by the students they teach. So I thought I'd say something about this one just for us all to keep in mind for the future.
Attending PD workshops in person is YOUR chance to interact directly with the best and most knowledgeable presenters on offer, the giants of educational communities.
I would like you to watch this video at least up until the music starts back up.
At one point there's 36 CRTs around a table with one of the best presenters available leading by example. This is putting you in your student's shoes, right there and then, so you can see the effect of these sorts of strategies from a first-hand perspective.
Webinars of course have question and answer sessions but it's not quite the same. It's more of a "Uni Lecture" and lacks that personal interaction. This, of course, isn't inherently bad but if this is ALL you use as PD... What are you missing out on?
Again we see it, 20 CRTs all put into the student's perspective. Making instruments and performing "in front of the class" with the teacher. Placing you in the student's shoes so you not only get the pedagogy delivered in an interactive way but also gain a much deeper understanding of exactly why these sorts of things engage students in their learning; because you've lived it just like your students will.
This is something you just can't get from a video or webinar and this sort of activity is totally foreign to the digital medium.
While we understand completely that some of us just can't afford these experiences and have to rely on other forms of professional development, there is a danger in letting that digital search move past "normal" and into "the best way". You will be missing out on important aspects of what a well-rounded search for PD can provide.
You will be able to "hear from the best" but you won't be able to interact with them on anywhere near as deep a level. You will be able to learn why these things engage students but you won't get to experience that engagement yourself.
I urge all of you to keep this one in mind; while limiting yourself to the digital may be necessary it's certainly not exposing yourselves to all that can be gained from the PD experience. Don't limit yourself to the digital unless it's absolutely necessary.
When the opportunity presents itself... Go out and rub shoulders with Giants!
Regards,
Mel.
Validating PD Proforma updated.
As many of you know, our Validating PD proforma is a handy little form to help Victorian teachers sort their thoughts when writing PD reflections before submitting to VIT.
For those of you who haven't had a look at it yet, it's a form to help guide you through your reflections which is just an expanded version of the "Validating professional development activities with reference to the standards" fact sheet sheet published by VIT (also in the online folder linked below). We originally created it in order to help speed up the reflection process at the end of meetings so we could squeeze more content in each month. Our members then started asking for extra copies to use outside of meetings so we put it on our online storage so they could print their own at home instead of holding one back to photocopy.
I don't collect the reflections but we often discuss them and the "what further learning does this prompt" box at the end has been invaluable for me as a CRT Network Coordinator. It's helped guide me towards what PD to organize, deciding on future meeting topics, which guest speakers to look for and even what to chase down for blog posts or the sorts of things to populate the sidebar with.
It's now been updated to reflect the new Standards of Professional Practice;
You can download this form using the file menu at the bottom right and can also download, view and/or print it from our OneDrive online storage (as well as the 2 VIT documents it was created from):
https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=0d641ad8750d17a5#cid=0D641AD8750D17A5&id=D641AD8750D17A5!127
Regards,
Mel.
For those of you who haven't had a look at it yet, it's a form to help guide you through your reflections which is just an expanded version of the "Validating professional development activities with reference to the standards" fact sheet sheet published by VIT (also in the online folder linked below). We originally created it in order to help speed up the reflection process at the end of meetings so we could squeeze more content in each month. Our members then started asking for extra copies to use outside of meetings so we put it on our online storage so they could print their own at home instead of holding one back to photocopy.
I don't collect the reflections but we often discuss them and the "what further learning does this prompt" box at the end has been invaluable for me as a CRT Network Coordinator. It's helped guide me towards what PD to organize, deciding on future meeting topics, which guest speakers to look for and even what to chase down for blog posts or the sorts of things to populate the sidebar with.
It's now been updated to reflect the new Standards of Professional Practice;
You can download this form using the file menu at the bottom right and can also download, view and/or print it from our OneDrive online storage (as well as the 2 VIT documents it was created from):
https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=0d641ad8750d17a5#cid=0D641AD8750D17A5&id=D641AD8750D17A5!127
Regards,
Mel.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Using IWB's with your own laptops.
As CRTs many of us don't get to use the IWBs that inhabit our classrooms. Many do for sure but many don't too . As we have previously discussed, the GOOD news is that as long as you have a laptop of your own there is a way around this.
Different brands of IWBs use different software and drivers. The drivers are usually free and sometimes so is the software. Sometimes though the software is either "30 day trial" or "you must buy it". This is getting more and more common all of the time. Here's how to go about hooking your own laptop up and using the IWB's full functionality instead of just using it as a projector.
When next in school, take note of the brand and model of the IWB and google it using another two terms:
*IWB brand/model* "drivers" *operating system*. So for Smartboard on my laptop I used "smartboard drivers windows 7" which gave me the link for here:
http://smarttech.com/au/Support/Browse+Support/Download+Software
The software for this one is now all on a 30 day trial :(. You'll still be able to use free IWB apps etc as long as you have the drivers installed that allows your laptop to comminicate with it. I've been told that the drivers don't deactivate meaning you still have access to some of the apps that use the interactivity.
If the IWB vendor is letting you download their software for free, use that! It keeps consistency in the classroom between you and the regular teacher which is less disruptive for the students. Otherwise, try this one out;
http://open-sankore.org/en
This is available for Mac, Linux and Windows. I am a little unclear on whether the drivers need to be installed to use this software... Someone else set it all up for me.
It's a little different than most but I've had a quick play and once you work out the differences it's pretty good. Being open source, it's also improving all the time so check back occasionally for "new and improved" versions ;).
Regards,
Mel.
Different brands of IWBs use different software and drivers. The drivers are usually free and sometimes so is the software. Sometimes though the software is either "30 day trial" or "you must buy it". This is getting more and more common all of the time. Here's how to go about hooking your own laptop up and using the IWB's full functionality instead of just using it as a projector.
When next in school, take note of the brand and model of the IWB and google it using another two terms:
*IWB brand/model* "drivers" *operating system*. So for Smartboard on my laptop I used "smartboard drivers windows 7" which gave me the link for here:
http://smarttech.com/au/Support/Browse+Support/Download+Software
The software for this one is now all on a 30 day trial :(. You'll still be able to use free IWB apps etc as long as you have the drivers installed that allows your laptop to comminicate with it. I've been told that the drivers don't deactivate meaning you still have access to some of the apps that use the interactivity.
If the IWB vendor is letting you download their software for free, use that! It keeps consistency in the classroom between you and the regular teacher which is less disruptive for the students. Otherwise, try this one out;
http://open-sankore.org/en
This is available for Mac, Linux and Windows. I am a little unclear on whether the drivers need to be installed to use this software... Someone else set it all up for me.
It's a little different than most but I've had a quick play and once you work out the differences it's pretty good. Being open source, it's also improving all the time so check back occasionally for "new and improved" versions ;).
Regards,
Mel.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Fun lego facts from the National Geographic website.
Some fun Lego facts to carry into your primary classrooms;
http://natgeotv.com.au/tv/megafactories/lego-facts.aspx
And an interesting video:
http://natgeotv.com.au/videos/megafactories/lego-027045CA.aspx
We still have my husbands Lego from when he was a child so I tried it out... our son's new Lego from a week ago fits the 1970's Lego perfectly!
Regards,
Mel.
http://natgeotv.com.au/tv/megafactories/lego-facts.aspx
And an interesting video:
http://natgeotv.com.au/videos/megafactories/lego-027045CA.aspx
We still have my husbands Lego from when he was a child so I tried it out... our son's new Lego from a week ago fits the 1970's Lego perfectly!
Regards,
Mel.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Online PD: Megan Dredge.
http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=b098e8220ec5ff13652be1c05&id=6c06c1c3f0&e=e8ddf43eae
Hmm... Sounds like that booklet thingy that those network CRTs just released ... They must really have their finger on the pulse!
In all seriousness though, this might be something many of you Graduate/PRTs in particular will find really advantageous and it sounds like it includes content areas we didn't. I haven't checked this one out specifically but:
Date: Thursday March 20, 2014.
Time: 7.00pm - 8.00pm AEST.
Content: 1 hour webinar + 1 hour reflection questions.
A second perspective on the same issues can't be a bad thing so don't let having our Desirable CRT booklet douse your interest.
Regards,
Mel.
Hmm... Sounds like that booklet thingy that those network CRTs just released ... They must really have their finger on the pulse!
In all seriousness though, this might be something many of you Graduate/PRTs in particular will find really advantageous and it sounds like it includes content areas we didn't. I haven't checked this one out specifically but:
Date: Thursday March 20, 2014.
Time: 7.00pm - 8.00pm AEST.
Content: 1 hour webinar + 1 hour reflection questions.
- How do I get more teaching days?
- What do I include in my resume?
- How do I get to work in the schools I want to work in?
- How do I get invited back?
A second perspective on the same issues can't be a bad thing so don't let having our Desirable CRT booklet douse your interest.
Regards,
Mel.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
A funny look at a very serious issue.
Is having a University degree just something we get to follow our dreams/chosen career or is it becoming seen as more and more "necessary" just to get a job of any kind? Is showing the dedication and work ethic behind obtaining a degree being used by employers to gauge their future value of their employees?
"University graduates making coffee for the baby boomers" I saw it put as recently, but is the university degree the factor that saw them having the scales tipped in their favour over someone just as capable of making coffee but didn't have one? What happens if we take this theory and apply it in another way?
Is the current system encouraging people who don't really want to work in those fields to do it anyway? Is "Hey, I can't get a job in my chosen field so I'll be a barista" synonymous with "Hey, it's not what I want to do but it's better than being a barista"? I view this question as a vitally important one for Education.
Part of our job as teachers is to be enthusiastic about being teachers so that enthusiasm is passed on to our students. It's not all academic ability by any stretch of the imagination, we have a hands-on job where an enthusiastic delivery and genuine dedication can have astronimical impacts on the outcomes for our students. So if we think about it are some of the powers that be, in fact, encouraging apathy in our schools?
Will raising minimum ATAR scores really have the positive effect that's being hoped for? Should an apathetic teacher take precedence over someone with the drive to continue down the path to becoming a great Teacher just because they had a higher ATAR score? Logically extending this, will this result in a higher turnover of Teachers through the system as a higher percentage are only using Stepping Stones to other professions? Can someone who got into a Teaching course as their 3rd preference really be considered any better a candidate to become a Teacher than someone who really really wanted to be a Teacher but had an ATAR score of less than 70?
Our registration structure shows us that continued learning is a key ingredient for making good teachers. Everyone is saying that good teachers are a key part of any education. Surely then we need those who are MOTIVATED to continue studying and grow as teachers above those who just want to "pass through" onto some other goal? How is this factor expected to be adequately reflected by a higher ATAR requirement?
I am not trying to imply that there doesn't need to be reasonable minimum requirements in order to qualify to get into courses to become a Teacher. I'm not even pretending I have any answers here, all I've done is ask questions after all.
What I do notice though is an unhealthy focus on the academic ability of teachers while pushing all of the other factors it takes to be a great teacher into the background. Shouldn't those things be discussed with the same intensity?
Just something to think on.
Regards,
Mel.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
March Meeting
Hello everyone,
The March meeting details are now up. You can find them here:
http://wodongacrtsupportnetwork.blogspot.com.au/p/hi-everyone-next-wodonga-crt-support.html
Regards,
Mel
The March meeting details are now up. You can find them here:
http://wodongacrtsupportnetwork.blogspot.com.au/p/hi-everyone-next-wodonga-crt-support.html
Regards,
Mel
Friday, March 7, 2014
Why did we make a booklet for CRTs?
So. Why would we embark on a project like the guidebook to becoming a desirable CRT? Well first, of course, is that these are things that every CRT deserves to know. When you get a lengthy contract in a school they sit you down and go through all the things that are expected of you, give you advice about how to achieve these things and then usually assign a mentor to provide ongoing support.
CRTs often just get a list of "dos and don'ts", told which programs the school uses and that they should follow them and then just get thrown in the deep end. Sink or swim. That, in my opinion, is neither fair nor the best way to go about things with regards to school community and student outcomes.
The second is tied up with the following document and EVERY CRT should read the first paragraph:
http://www.vit.vic.edu.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/SPLC_AARE_The%20Professional%20Identity%20of%20Relief%20Teachers.pdf
Dawn Colcott is my personal hero for writing those words and if you ever run across her you should introduce yourself to her and thank her from the bottom of your heart for saying it (and say hi from Mel in Wodonga!). We are NOT lesser teachers, we deserve to be respected and we shouldn't have to feel isolated just because of the way our work moves us around. In fact I often refer to us CRTs as "Specialist Teachers" and I have plenty of evidence to prove it.
That is just the tip of the iceberg and yet there's not anything much out there that actually tells us what our job actually is. Even many CRT agencies lack anything specific and it's their job (and in their best interests) to make sure you know exactly what your job is. Those agencies that DO have these sorts of resources jealously guard their documents because they are a business that relies on having "better CRTs than anyone else". While some most certainly "are in the know" many others just assume that, because we are "lesser teachers", it should be simple to just instinctively know what our job is. Well, most of us figure out within our first couple of days worth of work that it's sort of not that simple. The information is so bare and/or exclusive that I felt moved to make a video for Network members (and anyone else who stumbles across it) to describe it.
Yes, I get flustered in front of the camera and that's one of the reasons we moved along to a booklet ;). The booklet, however, is the natural progression of that video in both content and purpose. Content is obvious, we put more stuff in, but what about purpose? To start to blow the doors off of the insular and restrictive practices that contribute to the professional isolation Dawn Colcott is telling us about in the first paragraph of that paper.
It's also to target this notion of us as "lesser teachers". We aren't "lesser" anything, let alone teachers. Although outside people have been given a look at this document it is almost 100% the product of CRT knowledge and skill (I made my husband do some of the typing when work got busy :P). Companies pay professionals thousands upon thousands of dollars to produce booklets of this type. Researchers, specialists, surveys, writers, editors and so on.
We did it under our own steam with all the stuff we already knew.
This booklet is the work of CRTs spread across the now defunct Hume educational region of Victoria (which is now mostly part of the NEVR educational region). A stretch of geography that amounts to about 1/5th the area of Victoria. It shows what can be achieved despite the perpetuation of the isolationist ideals still dominating CRT work in the Victorian education system. Imagine if the barriers in our way were removed... What could we achieve?
We wanted to produce something that would show the world that CRTs are a collective that are willing and capable agents of positive change for the Victorian education system. Despite the handicaps of being considered "lesser teachers", despite the isolation, despite the graduate pay, despite a whole lot of things... Just look at what we have achieved.
It might seem like a small thing to some until you consider that it's by CRTs, for CRTs, for no other reason than to benefit fellow CRTs.
The motto for the Wodonga CRT Support Network is "Individually Unique, Together Amazing!" I believe that is true with every ounce of my heart and every shred of my soul. In my five and a half years as a CRT Network coordinator, interacting with literally hundreds of Victorian CRTs, I have never seen anything that shakes my faith in that motto.
CRTs are deserving of a higher level of support from our governing bodies and we just added one more piece of solid evidence to the growing pile that shows everyone that it's in their own best interests to give it to us.
Congratulations each and every one of you.
Mel.
CRTs often just get a list of "dos and don'ts", told which programs the school uses and that they should follow them and then just get thrown in the deep end. Sink or swim. That, in my opinion, is neither fair nor the best way to go about things with regards to school community and student outcomes.
The second is tied up with the following document and EVERY CRT should read the first paragraph:
http://www.vit.vic.edu.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/SPLC_AARE_The%20Professional%20Identity%20of%20Relief%20Teachers.pdf
Dawn Colcott is my personal hero for writing those words and if you ever run across her you should introduce yourself to her and thank her from the bottom of your heart for saying it (and say hi from Mel in Wodonga!). We are NOT lesser teachers, we deserve to be respected and we shouldn't have to feel isolated just because of the way our work moves us around. In fact I often refer to us CRTs as "Specialist Teachers" and I have plenty of evidence to prove it.
That is just the tip of the iceberg and yet there's not anything much out there that actually tells us what our job actually is. Even many CRT agencies lack anything specific and it's their job (and in their best interests) to make sure you know exactly what your job is. Those agencies that DO have these sorts of resources jealously guard their documents because they are a business that relies on having "better CRTs than anyone else". While some most certainly "are in the know" many others just assume that, because we are "lesser teachers", it should be simple to just instinctively know what our job is. Well, most of us figure out within our first couple of days worth of work that it's sort of not that simple. The information is so bare and/or exclusive that I felt moved to make a video for Network members (and anyone else who stumbles across it) to describe it.
Yes, I get flustered in front of the camera and that's one of the reasons we moved along to a booklet ;). The booklet, however, is the natural progression of that video in both content and purpose. Content is obvious, we put more stuff in, but what about purpose? To start to blow the doors off of the insular and restrictive practices that contribute to the professional isolation Dawn Colcott is telling us about in the first paragraph of that paper.
It's also to target this notion of us as "lesser teachers". We aren't "lesser" anything, let alone teachers. Although outside people have been given a look at this document it is almost 100% the product of CRT knowledge and skill (I made my husband do some of the typing when work got busy :P). Companies pay professionals thousands upon thousands of dollars to produce booklets of this type. Researchers, specialists, surveys, writers, editors and so on.
We did it under our own steam with all the stuff we already knew.
This booklet is the work of CRTs spread across the now defunct Hume educational region of Victoria (which is now mostly part of the NEVR educational region). A stretch of geography that amounts to about 1/5th the area of Victoria. It shows what can be achieved despite the perpetuation of the isolationist ideals still dominating CRT work in the Victorian education system. Imagine if the barriers in our way were removed... What could we achieve?
We wanted to produce something that would show the world that CRTs are a collective that are willing and capable agents of positive change for the Victorian education system. Despite the handicaps of being considered "lesser teachers", despite the isolation, despite the graduate pay, despite a whole lot of things... Just look at what we have achieved.
It might seem like a small thing to some until you consider that it's by CRTs, for CRTs, for no other reason than to benefit fellow CRTs.
The motto for the Wodonga CRT Support Network is "Individually Unique, Together Amazing!" I believe that is true with every ounce of my heart and every shred of my soul. In my five and a half years as a CRT Network coordinator, interacting with literally hundreds of Victorian CRTs, I have never seen anything that shakes my faith in that motto.
CRTs are deserving of a higher level of support from our governing bodies and we just added one more piece of solid evidence to the growing pile that shows everyone that it's in their own best interests to give it to us.
Congratulations each and every one of you.
Mel.
CRTs don't get perks.
I've been spending some time in Facebook groups lately while I've been a bit under the weather. I forget which group it was in but someone was saying that CRTs don't get perks. Well, having had time to process that with a clear head, I am inclined to disagree. This harks back to this video which I tend to return to from time to time:
It takes great teachers to make great teachers. This is something i agree with and why I so passionately pursue making the Wodonga CRT Support Network firmly centered on collegial opportunity. To provide everyone access to Great teachers. Now I'm not so black and white about it as Bill because I believe every Teacher has something they do that's great and everyone will benefit if they share. So while you don't have to be one of the giants of education to be worthy of sharing, I do believe that greatness in one can breed greatness in others.
So, back to the perk thing. We get paid as graduates, with loading instead of sick pay and holiday pay, we could be working just about anywhere, we sometimes don't know until the last minute and we can go a long time between days. Where the hell, you might ask, are the perks? Well, it's in the "we never know where we're working part".
It's only a matter of time before we replace a teacher that's got some absolutely great things that they do or who you could legitimately call "truly great". It's time to remember that classrooms are not only a reflection of students but also the teachers that work in them. We get an insider peek at some of the best classroom practice on offer combined into a working whole by some of the most talented Teachers in the profession.
When you step into a classroom, look at it. Don't just scan the walls looking for what behaviour strategies you're going to be using today or look at work on the walls so you know what level to expect. At the end of a particularly successful day, look at the walls again. What's there that has allowed the teacher to set a classroom atmosphere where a stranger, or at least someone far less familiar, can walk in and the students still have a great day? Take notes from their lesson plan or even photocopy it. Have a good look and see precisely what's in there that allowed a complete stranger to still give the class a great day.
These days aren't just a stress free day where you also made some money. They are special and valuable learning experiences that give you a clear view of many things that a lot of others simply never get the opportunity to come into contact with. Relish the opportunity to see how someone else has linked strategies together into an engaging and effective whole. Adopt some of those practices as your own and take a firm step towards being "truly great".
Classroom teachers get this on a FAR less frequent basis than we do and it's in a different way. Getting a job in a good school is not just a big deal because of the programs it offers but who you get to work with and learn from. Usually schools are a little insular in the way they do things and classroom teachers are pretty much restricted in what they have the opportunity to learn collegially by the fence that separates the school grounds from the rest of the world.
We aren't restricted by that fence line. Not only do we get to learn from them, we get to immerse ourselves 100% in their methods because we're expected to be them while we're there. Other teachers can look in through the window but we're smack dab in the middle of it all, not looking but experiencing.
If that's not a perk? Then I don't know what is.
Regards,
Mel.
It takes great teachers to make great teachers. This is something i agree with and why I so passionately pursue making the Wodonga CRT Support Network firmly centered on collegial opportunity. To provide everyone access to Great teachers. Now I'm not so black and white about it as Bill because I believe every Teacher has something they do that's great and everyone will benefit if they share. So while you don't have to be one of the giants of education to be worthy of sharing, I do believe that greatness in one can breed greatness in others.
So, back to the perk thing. We get paid as graduates, with loading instead of sick pay and holiday pay, we could be working just about anywhere, we sometimes don't know until the last minute and we can go a long time between days. Where the hell, you might ask, are the perks? Well, it's in the "we never know where we're working part".
It's only a matter of time before we replace a teacher that's got some absolutely great things that they do or who you could legitimately call "truly great". It's time to remember that classrooms are not only a reflection of students but also the teachers that work in them. We get an insider peek at some of the best classroom practice on offer combined into a working whole by some of the most talented Teachers in the profession.
When you step into a classroom, look at it. Don't just scan the walls looking for what behaviour strategies you're going to be using today or look at work on the walls so you know what level to expect. At the end of a particularly successful day, look at the walls again. What's there that has allowed the teacher to set a classroom atmosphere where a stranger, or at least someone far less familiar, can walk in and the students still have a great day? Take notes from their lesson plan or even photocopy it. Have a good look and see precisely what's in there that allowed a complete stranger to still give the class a great day.
These days aren't just a stress free day where you also made some money. They are special and valuable learning experiences that give you a clear view of many things that a lot of others simply never get the opportunity to come into contact with. Relish the opportunity to see how someone else has linked strategies together into an engaging and effective whole. Adopt some of those practices as your own and take a firm step towards being "truly great".
Classroom teachers get this on a FAR less frequent basis than we do and it's in a different way. Getting a job in a good school is not just a big deal because of the programs it offers but who you get to work with and learn from. Usually schools are a little insular in the way they do things and classroom teachers are pretty much restricted in what they have the opportunity to learn collegially by the fence that separates the school grounds from the rest of the world.
We aren't restricted by that fence line. Not only do we get to learn from them, we get to immerse ourselves 100% in their methods because we're expected to be them while we're there. Other teachers can look in through the window but we're smack dab in the middle of it all, not looking but experiencing.
If that's not a perk? Then I don't know what is.
Regards,
Mel.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Reward systems in a classroom setting.
This is another look at this video used in a recent post:
It shows that physical rewards are an efficient motivator for "mechanical" tasks. In classrooms, rather than economies which this video is really about, this can equate to seating in an orderly fashion, getting books out when asked and so on. The logistical aspects of running an orderly classroom.
However when we step into the arena of even rudimentary cognitive tasks, doing the actual work, they can lead to poorer performance. Other studies basically set out the reasons for this and they include things such as rushing to finish work which is where the reward is, cognitive process being devoted to the reward generates indecision or procrastination and many other "thought pattern" related causes.
In short, we are promoting an orderly classroom but are we promoting higher quality work? Are we perhaps concentrating a little too heavily on the "behaviour management" end of the scale when factoring reward systems into our classrooms? Have we adequately considered that it might very well result in lower quality work as students rush to get to the "reward" part? This does not mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that these reward-based tools should be discarded. An orderly classroom (or at the very least controlled chaos) is very important to the learning environment. At the same time, we shouldn't ignore these negative factors either. Can we positively combat them and how should we approach it?
The video shows us that there are rewards that are inherent to our psyche as a species.
Of course you would never give a student complete reign over their own education and there is a curriculum to follow but understanding why these things work, that they are based on inherent reward systems, helps us make better and wider use of these theories through a more solid understanding.
Still, it's well worth thinking and learning about these sorts of motivations in classrooms and the effective ways to apply them. Generally speaking it leads to more engaging, productive and enthusiastic classrooms.
Regards,
Mel.
It shows that physical rewards are an efficient motivator for "mechanical" tasks. In classrooms, rather than economies which this video is really about, this can equate to seating in an orderly fashion, getting books out when asked and so on. The logistical aspects of running an orderly classroom.
However when we step into the arena of even rudimentary cognitive tasks, doing the actual work, they can lead to poorer performance. Other studies basically set out the reasons for this and they include things such as rushing to finish work which is where the reward is, cognitive process being devoted to the reward generates indecision or procrastination and many other "thought pattern" related causes.
In short, we are promoting an orderly classroom but are we promoting higher quality work? Are we perhaps concentrating a little too heavily on the "behaviour management" end of the scale when factoring reward systems into our classrooms? Have we adequately considered that it might very well result in lower quality work as students rush to get to the "reward" part? This does not mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that these reward-based tools should be discarded. An orderly classroom (or at the very least controlled chaos) is very important to the learning environment. At the same time, we shouldn't ignore these negative factors either. Can we positively combat them and how should we approach it?
The video shows us that there are rewards that are inherent to our psyche as a species.
"You probably want to do something interesting.... Let me get outta your way".This has already been taken on board by education systems around the world under the guide of "Student Directed Learning" and these are the types of studies that are giving birth to these new educational ideals. We've all come into contact with rubrics that allow a degree of student choice as well as other tools along the same vein.
Of course you would never give a student complete reign over their own education and there is a curriculum to follow but understanding why these things work, that they are based on inherent reward systems, helps us make better and wider use of these theories through a more solid understanding.
Still, it's well worth thinking and learning about these sorts of motivations in classrooms and the effective ways to apply them. Generally speaking it leads to more engaging, productive and enthusiastic classrooms.
Regards,
Mel.
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