Behaviour Management as a CRT in Special Development classrooms.

Special development is unlike mainstream classrooms when it comes to behaviour management.  It is a lot more intricate and detailed needing far more knowledge to plan for and around.  No matter how much you hope for it rarely is there ever going to be a "one size fits all" strategy in any classroom.  You are working in an environment where any number of things can trigger challenging behaviour and it's often on a student by student basis.

While as a CRT we are a naturally disruptive element to our classrooms, special development education is an arena where you can initiate challenging behaviour with very little you can do about it.  All it takes is one student that does not respond well to strangers and they will do their darndest all day just to get out of the room and away from this new and worrying person invading their safe environment.

It can be a tough gig!

The benefits though are astounding.  Working in a Special Development classroom for a length of time is most likely to be one of the richest behaviour management learning opportunities you are ever going to encounter as a teacher.  It is such a huge part of Spec Ed education that you are going to learn about things like patterns of behaviour, behavioural triggers, the use of visual resources in behaviour management and many other things.

The first thing to come to grips with is that as a CRT in Spec Ed you are a lot less likely to be using your own behaviour management tools.  Any reward systems or other methods you use are very likely to take a back seat to a pre-prepared plan that has already been put into place by the school.  This is going the be a plan prepared by all involved staff from heirarchy, teachers ES staff and, almost always, parents as well.  These plans have been designed for many students after having a serious look at the particular student through a wide range of input and with a desired outcome at the end of it.

That desired outcome is something you are going to really have to understand.  Behaviour management in Spec Ed isn't just about getting the students to behave and do their work.  These students have many issues that create impediments to them enjoying their life with school, work and home issues all rolled up into a tangled ball.  The goal is to work towards patterns of behaviour that will make them able to hold down a job, engage in social interactions or simply not drive their parents towards a breakdown in the long term.

While we do this as teachers for all of our students, in Spec Ed it is a far more hands on and complicated process and a very high number of students need a unique approach to overcome these things.  Class sizes in Spec Ed are not as small as they are for no reason, nor is it an accident that the classes almost always have one or more ES staff in them.

So, we come to the part where I harp on about ES staff again.

In some respects you need to be working towards being a master of behaviour management.  Not so you can institute control but so you can look at the walls and instantly sum up what's already going on.  When ES staff explain the strategies in use to you for various students you will then know exactly what they are on about and can step right on and provide the consistency that these students need in their school lives.

Flexibity is also a good trait to have.  As mentioned above, different classrooms have different strategies and techniques in place for individual students.  You will not find two classrooms the same.  Neither will the ES staff in different rooms operate the same way.

Stepping into the Spec Ed classroom, and I understand that I go on about this but it is VERY important, you are not always the expert.  You will frequently be completely out of your depth when you're first starting out.  The ES staff you work with know these students like the back of their hands.  They will be able to give you the heads up on everything from toilet schedules to likely triggers and forecast meltdowns.

Working with ES staff in a preventative way is one of the surest ways to keep challenging behaviour to a minimum. 

Keep your connumication open with ES staff at all times.  Talk through situations and debrief about your day or time in the room.  Don't always look at the negatives but always look at the postivies.  It is easy to bog yourself down on what didn't work and stress out about it.  Remember to always to build on the postive things as well.
Quite often, if I am in the school taking a class, I will try to catch up with different staff members and ask about the students they work with, how they are going and special events that have happened.  This helps for if you are booked to take the class again as you are able to talk with the students about what has been happening in their lives while you have not been there.

This contact is also a "team building" exercise.  In Spec Dev you are rarely alone and having a functional ":team" in as many rooms as possible is not only going to make your career far more enjoyable, it is also going to boost the outcomes of the students.  All being on the same page just results in a more rewarding day for you, ES staff and the students.

Engagement and behaviour management.

This is a tricky area with working in Spec Dev.  Not only does each activitiy need to be suitable, age appriatriate but also connected to the skills these students will need when they leave school.

Some students' have attention spans that will not allow them to concentrate on anything for more than 3 minutes before needing something else to keep their attention.  A junior I taught last week has this condition and if he is not re-directed immediately, he will engage in inappropriate behaviours.  Having a couple of plans up you sleeve for ideas is very helpful in this instance.  More than anywhere else in education, this is where knowing how to engage students in an off-the-cuff way will serve you particularly well.

The student mention is mostly non-verbal but understands spoken language very well and this last lesson with him bears mentioning.  

Each week when he comes into the art room his attention span grows.  Understanding the boundaries and what he needs to complete is something that has helped his engagement with an activity grow.  He also knows what is availiable in the room as choices for alternate (productive) activities after the art activity and will indicate his preference. 

Recently he completed the art activity and re-directed himself to the drawing table.  This has not happened before without an adult stepping in.  He selected his own pencil colour and went about drawing on a piece of paper left out for this very reason.

Students in Spec Ed environments are no different to those in main stream settings.  They will take ownership of their own learning when they have some choice.  Unlike most mainstream classrooms however, it's not a matter of just being authoritative and/or instituting a reward system.  It is a process that takes time and this is an important realisation.  You won't hook them all your first day no matter how good you are.

The ES staff, again, are going to be the experts in your teaching team.  They understand that you won't get it right the first time, every time and you need to be able to defer to their advice and knowledge until you have your own.

A bit of a story...

In the art lessons I implement I provide the resources and the theme or topic.  For example,  i have uppercase letter cut out on cardboard for student to trace around.  I have students find and trace around the letter that their name starts with.  Then students can pick a coloured piece of paper to rip up and paste over the top of the letter, covering the letter.  Students love finding the letter their name starts with and it makes them feel special.  They love being allowed to choose the colour they are going to rip and paste to their name. 

In this one class, however, all one student wanted to do was trace around as many of the letters as possible.  The ES staff member asked me if I wanted her to move this student along to the next step of the activity.  Tracing within itself is a skill that is not easy for little fingers so I said, no, let them have at it.  This student was engaged and happy and practising the skill of tracing.  I think she traced around every letter she could get her hands on and as the session went on, the better her tracing got. 

I certainly didn't do this just because it kept her happy and out of everyone's hair.  Ownership and choice (with boundaries) leads to engagement and active learning.  These children often live such regimented lives that a modicum of choice is engaging in itself.  The rest of the activity was ripping paper and gluing it to the letters and ripping and gluing is something that happens frequently for them.  This student would not miss out on any learning and had expressed an interest in mastering a certain skill.     

This student remained engaged and self motivated for the entire lesson.

The lessons to be learned?  While rules, boundaries and reward systems all work and/or are are necessary, they are extrinsic rewards.  They provide a carrot on a stick to get a student to complete their work.  Engagement is an intrinsic 'reward' and by far the harder side of behaviour management to master.  A student who is self motivated and engaged will not seek out alternative activities. 

Further, allowing a student to explore a certain topic in a deeper or different way shouldn't be discouraged as long as they learn the intended lessons.  We allow this almost every day as teachers, our heads are racing as students ask questions and pick out the relevant and interesting ones to follow.  We do this on a class basis and this is really just doing the same thing but on an individual basis.  No, this should not be overused but it is certainly an excellent engagement/teaching tool.

Challenging behaviour is often the result of wanting to "get out of" whatever they are doing and move to a more preferred activity.  This goes with ALL classrooms, mainstream and Spec Dev alike.  IF they don't want to get out of it?  Things will go a whole lot more smoothly.

Last one, make a point to become familiar to the students.
I try to touch base with as many students as possible while in the school.  This is not easy.  But all it needs to be is a hello or hi in passing, catching up with them while on duty in the yard, or a goodbye at the end of the day.  These students often don't handle change very well so if you are able to be in their lives while you are around the school, you won't be an unknown quantity anymore.  You will, instead, become a 'safe' person and making it easier to step into their classroom if you are booked to work.

Stick with the students you already know or the ones that talk to you first, don't force yourself on new students, just become that familiar face when possible.

Regards,

Mel.

Spec Ed Art Activity: Coloured mosaic on black paper.

I found a bucketful of little cardboard mosaic squares in my art room supplies and heaps of black A3 paper.  Popping the items on the tables, each student got their own squares and glue stick, we were ready to go.  After they settled I told them they were able to make any picture they wished using the mosaic coloured squares. 

Art/craft activities like this are great IMO because they allow students to have ownership over their work through the creative and often unstructured nature of the picture to be completed.  Design/picture choice, the colours they use and so on.  It's also a very hands-on class and allowing some freedom is often engaging those that struggle against the rules and boundaries if I had set a theme.  

While completing this art piece, lots of skills were being used.

• eye/hand co-ordination
• fine motor skills - pinch technique
• spatial awareness in the placement and orientation of mosaic coloured squares
• colour choice/selection
• using the glue stick as the "drawing medium"
• not using too much glue
• understanding that some of the squares were different colours on each side

I could go on but you get the idea.

Here are some of the pictures/artwork students completed from this group.

As you can see it's a fairly simple thing to set up and do but the variety of patterns and pictures that emerge are wonderful and unique.  Some are quite structured, some quite unstructured and some are a mix of the two.  Some just did interesting patterns and some drew pictures.  Although they share a similarity of medium, each student could make something unique that they found visually pleasing, allowing them a sense of pride in their work no matter what the result.
 

There's an interesting story attached to this lesson too!

For one of the boys in this group it was their first time to the new art room (not an uncommon occurrence because it was a brand new school at the start of the week).  Being a new space, most students enjoy going for a wander and have a look around and being in special development it's usually best to let them explore new surroundings.  This boy followed the rest of the group on their exploration, sat at the table as instructed and got started on their art work with the rest of the group.  He is non-verbal but communicates through facial expressions.  The ES staff member came to me straight away, a little frazzled and said this non-verbal student's attention span is short and  he would need to be redirected to another activity.  The alternative was that he would search the room for anything plastic and proceed to put holes in the item.  He enjoys the sensory input of this activity and will seek out plastic is his attention is not held by the activities he is offered.

I asked what would keep him engaged or what he liked.  The ES staff member seemed surprised by the question.  Took a second to respond with an answer.  He likes to paint using dots.  Rightio, so I pulled out some paint from the last class and started adding different items for him to dot with.  The ES staff member looked on, surprised at my actions.  I set up another station where he was able to sit on his own and explore these items without disrupting the rest of the class (who were all settled and enjoying their art activity of making mosaic squares pictures).

With only 1/3 of the lesson over, as predicted, this student got up from his chair and started to explore the room again, looking for something plastic.  Taking him gently by the arm, the ES staff member guided him to the paint station, setting him up with an art smock and offered him a seat.  He looked over the table in front of him and the biggest smile came over his face!  He sat and started exploring the items, and starting to dot.

In the background, I was still running around trying to find one more item.  But for the life of me, I couldn't find it anywhere.  I was looking for a clothes peg to use as a handle on a pompom for a makeshift dotting tool, an idea I got from here: 

Flower Pom Pom painting - kids craft.

Giving up on the peg, I remembered I had some small bull clips that would do the same job.  I handed the bull clips and a couple of pompoms balls to the ES.  She had the bull clip attached and had jumped in to show the student how to use it.

She then stopped and asked me about where I got all my ideas from.  Essentially I had just been researching art activities all weekend, building up a mental file of off the cuff activities in case I needed them. Being in Spec Dev it's always handy to have backup ideas in case what you are doing isn't working for one or more of the students. Some of the students just won't engage with something you choose no matter how good everyone else thinks it is.

In the end this boy ended up with the pompoms, a cotton bud and a stick of chalk.  I gave him black paper like the rest of the students and a range of colours and he was encouraged to experiment.  It was interesting watching him work his way through the colours to find out what worked well, and didn't work so well, on black paper.

 

Resourcefulness is a very positive trait for a CRT in Special Development.  No matter what you plan or what plan is left for you, there's always that chance that one of the students just won't be engaged by it and wander off to engage in some challenging behaviour instead.  A positive handle on engagement techniques and a bank of ideas to be used at a moment's notice is a very handy thing to have.  The picture above shows that the student was re-engaged with learning and moved on to create some work he could be proud of.

It allows you to differentiate the current activity based on student needs or even put something different but also productive into place quickly when required, keeping all of your students engaged and learning even if it doesn't precisely line up with what you've planned. 

Regards

Mel.

CRT Graduates - photographs and looking for work.

This one gets a little contentious sometimes because "it shouldn't matter what I look like" is quite true.  This, though, is a very literal outlook to have and a photograph is about a lot more than if you are photogenic or not.   

While initial thoughts are quite right and it doesn't really matter "how you look" on a physical level, a picture is still worth 1000 words.  As a graduate you don't have a long list of the places you've worked and so on.  You're just starting out and your CV can be a little "thin" which is perfectly understandable!  The problem here is that much of what you will be able to put into it says "I'm a qualified teacher", you've only just graduated after all, and not "I'm ready to be a professional".

 A CV with a head/shoulder shot of you dressed in professional attire with your hair done neatly etc can be a good way to signal "I'm ready to be a professional" in the absence of a work history.  You've gone to the effort to get a photo that is appropriate which is, in itself, a professional thing to do.  Don't dress up to the nines, and ladies don't feel the need to slather on the makeup.  The idea is not to look "good" but to look like a professional!  Appropriate dress for the schools in your area is pretty much what you want.

High schools, for example, tend to like their teachers a little more "formally dressed" than primary schools.  Regional schools are often looking for a more casual "rural" feel (perhaps outside) while Metro schools tend to appreciate indoor shots of you at a computer and so on.  If you are a PE teacher they will be looking for pictures of you dressed appropriately for PE, possibly holding a piece of sporting equipment, and so on.  These aren't "hard and fast" rules by any means and of course it's not an all inclusive list but it should put you in the right frame of mind.  These are the kinds of things you'll want to be considering when sorting the photos that make you look "the most professional".

Another thing that sometimes takes graduates a little bit of time understand is that often schools will look up potential staff on Facebook as well as other social and professional networking sites, especially if you are applying for contract or permanent positions (though it is far less common for CRT work).  Make sure the photos you use there are also "profession appropriate" as are any comments visible to the public.  It can be a good idea to lock down your profiles on these social networks as prospective employers and students alike WILL look you up sooner or later.

One thing that was a "craze" while Harry Potter was big was a lot of uni students were putting "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" in their occupation on facebook.  It's a fun and happy kind of thing to do while you are at Uni and all is well.  Unfortunately it can also lead some schools to consider perhaps that you are a bit immature in certain aspects and become a little wary.

Also consider a profile on a professional networking site such as LinkedIn to serve as an addendum to your CV and provide a link to your profile. When using multiple ports of call, it's a good idea to "mix up" the photos.  Have one in your CV, a different one on FB, a 3rd on LinkedIn and so on.  Graduation photos etc all do well for graduates.

If a prospective employer goes looking, you now have one in your CV in professional attire, facebook has a graduation picture and on LinkedIn there's another of you in professional attire.  This will show prospective employers that you are serious about teaching even though you may lack experience.  Again, it's not about how you look, it's all about showing yourself as a dedicated professional.

Over time, of course, you can change these up.  A picture of yourself in a classroom and so on (make sure no students are identifiable in the photos and make sure you are aware of the school's policies if they are more strict than this).

What to steer away from;

• "Selfies"
• Anything sexually provocative (even in fun).
• Pictures of you on a night out or dressed for a night out.
• Holiday snaps (unless you've taken care to take some that are appropriate for this purpose).
• Fuzzy pictures.
• Dark or unclear pictures.

In the end, by no means is it mandatory to include a photo in your CV and they certainly don't need to be from a professional photo shoot or anything.  You shouldn't feel forced into doing it, it's definitely a choice, but it can be a really good idea on a many fronts.

Choose wisely!

Regards,

Mel.

PD Announcement: Financial Literacy - MoneySmart Teaching.

Hello everyone,

We are pelased to announce that we have organised a PD workshop to be held locally through the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

This will include content on Financial Literacy via the MoneySmart teaching program - a cross curriculuar program including literacy, numeracy and other subject areas.

Cost:  FREE.
Date:  13 Sept 2014 - Bookings open 29 July 2014 - 9.00am
Sign-in:  9.45am
Duration:  10.00am - 1.00pm (3 hours) - certificates supplied via post after presentation.
Venue:  Elgins - 51-53 Elgin's Boulevard Wodonga.

Full details can be found here:

http://wodongacrtsupportnetworkpd.blogspot.com.au/p/moneysmart-teaching-professional.html

Regards,

Mel.

Working in Special Development education as a CRT - What you're in for.

In many States and Territories of Australia you don't need a spec Ed qualification to work in Spec Ed schools.  CRT work in a Spec Ed school can also be a gateway to getting the required experience to take on a full time position in one of these schools.  What follows is all based around my personal experiences in Special Development Education and it should be noted that the schools are not all the same.  The school I work for caters to many types of education from Therapy through to VCAL while some in more populated areas will streamline what they provide and may not supply the full range of educational opportunity the one that I work in does. 

Like many CRTs, working in Special Development education wasn't something I initially aimed for.  I sort of just "ended up there"...  

I had worked in other schools for a couple of the teachers that moved into special development and they were asking me to come see the school so I could replace them when they were away.  It wasn't something I'd ever really thought about at that time and it did take them a while to convince me to give it a go.  Now the local Special Development school is one of the main schools I work at (it accounts for over 2/3 of my daily hire and all of my contract work each year).

It is a daunting thing to begin working in Spec Ed and one of the main things that made me balk at the opportunity I was being offered was that I lacked any Spec Ed qualifications.  As a CRT in Victoria you don't have to be spec ed trained to work in a special development school as a CRT, although the schools certainly prefer it, but it still makes a difference to your personal outlook.  Don't let it!  Special development is certainly rewarding as a Teacher but it's not for everyone by any means.

Of course I've done some excellent PD for working in Spec Dev and got a lot of on the job training in the intervening years but in the end it wasn't a lack of specialised training that was the biggest hurdle to overcome.  The mindset is quite different as is the focus of what you do as a teacher.  Initially I had to accept that in certain rooms I was pretty much there to fulfil legal requirements and it was really the ES staff who were in charge until I found my footing and got up to speed.

Not to say that as a CRT you won't be doing anything in these rooms, far from it, but thank you to the dedicated and understanding ES staff who prevented me from making so many easily preventable mistakes in those early times!  There were there to guide me through my learning, help me understand and build strategies for dealing with the students and so on.

Provided you listen to the ES staff in your room the actual "learning to work in special development" part isn't so hard.

The difficult part for most is how different they are in ideology and atmosphere from a mainstream classroom.  They are high-stress environments which means there's often a fair bit of work on offer as stress contributes to illness and so on but it also means you're going to be working in a higher stress environment than is typical in mainstream schools.

It can be a tough job both physically and emotionally.

This is something CRTs need to be aware of.  I don't want to be scaring anyone off but forewarned is forearmed.  What I am about to describe is not a universal truth, some classes will not have these issues and new CRTs to the school are usually put in the "safer" rooms.  In some rooms, however, without heightened awareness and very good classroom management skills, violence can become a daily occurrence.

During a meeting with some of the members of the AEU CRT Association recently a few things came up regarding working in special development classrooms.  Namely the violence that can occur.  On my last contract alone I was hit, scratched, bitten, kicked and dragged to the ground on numerous occasions and it also happens for daily work.  Another teacher got a concussion from being head butted by a student.  In another local school, in the same week, an aide was dragged to the ground and sprained her wrist.

While in an ideal world this wouldn't be happening, the simple fact is that these things are part of the job.  In the meeting the word "assault" was used but it must be remembered that you are working with students without the mental capacity to understand the danger they are putting someone, or themselves, in when they do these kinds of things.  They are unable to regulate their own behaviour and it will be up to you and the Aides to do it for them.

This means that when something goes wrong, the student is not necessarily "the one to blame".  Their behaviours happen for a reason and we often have to ask ourselves what warning signs we missed and what we should have done at that time to prevent the escalation.

Of course this not only goes for situations that can become violent but other challenging behaviours as well.  The students may just melt down, try to "escape" or use other behaviours as a means to an end.  Working in special development is a lot more hands-on in teaching behaviour regulation to these students than in mainstream schools.

http://www.autismtraining.com.au/public/index.cfm?action=showPublicContent&assetCategoryId=1029

This is a good short read with a couple of videos to back it up.  As a CRT it is likely that you won't be doing this yourself on a daily hire basis but it's a good thing to understand.  Something that is very important here is that you are not going to be the expert when it comes to these matters.  Unlike Mainstream schools, you will often be working with one or more ES staff who are far more familiar with the class and students than you are.  It is they who are going to recognise the warning signs and you should be looking to them for direction in this area.

Unlike Mainstream, this will not be an arena for you to be bringing your own behaviour management resources.  It is important that these students will have plans in place and it is very important to follow those plans.  It is a VERY good idea to have a word with the ES staff at the start of the day and let them know that you plan on bowing to their expertise on this one.  Let them know that you don't need to fall flat on your face to learn to work with them as a team.

Then make sure you follow their direction or advice.  Like you they are education professionals and a little bit of respect will go a LONG way.  These are the people you are going to be learning 90% of what you need to know to work in special development schools from.  A positive team dynamic is 100% essential to your survival in Special Development education.  A vast array of my personal knowledge and skills in this area have been taught to me by ES staff!

Don't underestimate their importance in accelerating your trajectory up the learning curve.

Now;  the hardest part.  I'm also teaching a couple of students that are quite rewarding to work with but heart breaking at the same time. 

One of them in particular has a condition that means that he should have passed away by now but he's met each milestone so far, beating the odds at each turn.  He's a wonderful boy and I enjoy having him in my class but, sooner or later, he won't beat the next milestone.  Attending his funeral is a likelihood that sometimes keeps me up at night and if you choose to work in Spec Dev these are realities you will possibly end up having to deal with sooner or later.

Working in Spec Dev can take an unusual level of resilience that some just don't have or a level of professional detachment that many cannot maintain.  It has a way of cracking even the toughest shell from time to time.  I have seen some CRTs leave the Spec Dev after only a relatively short time because they lack the ability to deal with the above on an ongoing basis.  They come to realise that over time the situation will take it's toll and simply burn them out, they have to get out just to preserve their longevity in the teaching profession.

I have seen both teachers and CRTs who are Spec Dev trained not make it despite doing an absolutely outstanding job in their classrooms. 

Just to recap, don't let this put you off!  I've been working as a CRT in special development for over 5 years and, although I've come home sore on occasion, I've never sustained a major injury and never had to attend a funeral (knock on wood).  They are, however, things you need to be aware of and accept if you wish to move your career into these kinds of schools as  they aren't the kinds of issues that will go away through lobbying or discussion. 

Even if you're an experienced CRT and master of mainstream classrooms, moving into Spec Dev education will put you back on the learning curve.  Most people who keep that in mind and remain open to gaining the knowledge they need to do the job will find themselves becoming capable over time and even learn many tricks to carry back into their mainstream classrooms.

Regards,

Mel.

VIT Full Rego - some honest advice for CRT graduates.

I've had some experiences lately that made me want to write this post but at the same time this is a very contentious issue for some that made me not want to write it. It's not something that everyone will see as positive but... Over the last month or so there's been some things nagging me to do it. A comment on a Facebook page, discussions I had at the recent VIT CRT Provisionally Registered Teacher seminar and then the most recent.

I've taken on an art class in Special Development school for a couple of weeks and the Art teacher has moved into a classroom. One of the students asked me where she was and when I explained it he got a big smile on his face, genuinely happy for her, and said "She's a real teacher now!"

The straw that broke the camel's back so here I am, typing away and reflecting on the conversations I've had about this over the last how many years. conversations about full registration and what it means, when and why you should seek it out and so on. Over the years I've seen more than one CRT rush head long at full registration, only to risk their registration while doing so and with the recent changes it's gotten a little worse for some.

This worries me.  People risking their life long dream of being a Teacher when it's simply not necessary.

Generally speaking one of the issues for Graduates is holding onto the "University Mentality". By that I mean that for many many years a graduate has been required to obtain certain goals to a timetable in order to progress to the next achievement. This leads many graduates to set their sights on Full Registration as the next goal.  When it comes to full registration it's often seen as a rite of passage where they become a "real teacher" because it's the next step in the chain.  I come across that term "real teacher" fairly regularly when discussing this particular issue.

There is a trap in this.  It's not implemented in Victoria yet but there's 2 levels that come after "fully registered".  "Highly accomplished" and "leadership", both containing certification procedures similar to (but more intensive than) the full registration process.  Do you put off feeling like a "real teacher" until you are certified as highly accomplished?  Lead?

Or is it perhaps a lot more simple than which certificate you have attained?

A few simply facts about becoming fully registered;

• If you are a graduate and get your full rego you will still be considered a graduate.
• If you are a novice teacher, getting your full registration will not mean you are now considered an expereinced teacher, you are still considered a novice.
• Whatever your pay rate is today, becoming fully registered will not make it go up for tomorrow.

As a mentor there are two things I try to explain to those looking to undertake their full registration.  The first is that you shouldn't feel pressured into it.  If you aren't ready for it then feel free to take your time about it.  The second is that you should be sure that you will be able to fullfil the requirements to maintain your registration on an ongoing basis.  Again, if you don't feel confident in your ability to maintain your registration then don't undertake the full registration process.

Provisional registration is granted for 2 years in Victoria for a reason and can also be extended should the teacher feel it necessary.  There is also no current "time limit" but it will most likely be allowable to spend 6 years on provisional registration when the time frame emerges.  This is essentially VIT saying "it's perfectly acceptable to be provisionally registered for 6 years".  Which is a bit of a coincidence....

I don't do this often but I think it's perhaps time to talk a little about myself in an in-depth way that I often avoid.

I was provisionally registered for just over 6 years myself. I think I was asked twice (in an official capacity) whether I was fully registered and I got both of those contracts in spite of answering "no".  Otherwise it usually came up by people asking "when did you get your full registration Mel?" when I was in the middle of doing something kind of official dealing with registration and it kind of shocked people when the answer was "I haven't yet".  The way I conducted myself led everyone to believe that I was fully registered.  I just didn't need full registration to be considered a "real teacher" by everyone around me.

In those 6 (and a bit) years I was provisionally registered I was a sought after CRT in multiple schools and a VIT CRT Network Coordinator.  As a CRT I worked daily hire, term contracts and also a full year as a Literacy specialist in a Special development school.  As a CRT Network Coordinator I performed in a leadership role and led collegial meetings as well as liaising with VIT, the DEECD and other organizations.  I also talked with CRTs and schools about what was important learning for local CRTs, sought out relevant presenters and organised PD workshops.

The final time I put off my Full Registration was when I developed my own PD workshop:  "Literacy Games" which I presented a number of times before I became fully registered.  The feedback from which has always been unanimously positive.  The most rewarding moments are when I've got reading recovery trained teachers among the participants excited by the things I'm sharing with them.

I even mentored many CRTs and one or two full-timers through the full registration process while being "only provisionally registered" myself.  It's not that I couldn't have dome my full rego successfully, it just always seemed like there was something more important to do.

Being "only provisionally registered" has never stopped me from doing anything I ever set my sights on; the way in which I approach being a Teacher is what got me where I am. I never personally invested in full registration as being the point where I became a "real teacher", being a "real teacher" was about the decisions I made and the way I conducted myself in the profession.  It's probably one of the reasons I have managed to get as far as I have.

My honest advice is not to obsess about it and just find your footing as a Teacher. By all means work towards it but don't worry if becoming fully registered takes you a while.  It's just one more worry to get in the way of you enjoying your new profession. One more procedural set of paperwork that takes up time you could be enjoying your teaching instead.

Being fully registered is rarely going to make a tangible difference in how much work we get as CRTs and makes absolutely no difference to our pay whether we are casual, part time or full time.  And... 6 years.  Maybe you can't get a contract or block of work in the first year or 2 of your career as a CRT but you have 6 YEARS to get yourself to that point.  It's not urgent.

Your actions in the classroom and the positive effect you have on your students will be the yardstick by which you are measured, not what type of registration your VIT card says.  Many CRTs come to this understanding while thinking back on the stressful time that they undertook their full registration.  They question whether it was worth the stress considering how rarely it actually proved an advantage for them, coming to the conclusion that they probably should have put it off.

Stop, take a breath and concentrate on your professional identity for a while. 

The message I hope people take away here is that the "University Mentality" doesn't really apply anymore, you've graduated from that arena and are now a professional teacher.  Full registration is not the next goal or logical progression for your career.  It's something you will have to do sooner or later but it should be at the logical time and you shouldn't feel you are somehow a lesser teacher without it.  You can certainly do just about anything you set your mind to without it and I'm living proof that you can both enjoy your career and excel at it without becoming fully registered.

Regards,

Mel.

July Meeting Details

Hello everyone and welcome to term 3!

Our July meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 23rd July in at Wodonga South Primary School Library.

Full details about the meeting can be found here:
http://wodongacrtsupportnetwork.blogspot.com.au/p/hi-everyone-next-wodonga-crt-support.html

Regards,

Mel

VIT CRT PRT conference - Rydges Melbourne.

Mel is off in Melbourne today for the first of VIT's CRT Provisionally Registered Teacher conference at the Rydges in Melbourne.  Her day started at abut 3am, getting ready to catch the 4am XPT from Albury to Melbourne (and she gets back into town on the 10.30pm train!).  The joy's of regional life!

She had originally planned to document the day through Facebook and at 8am everything was going according to plan with her traditional "Good morning Melbourne" photos.



The day has proved busier than she expected putting an end to her adventures being posted to Facebook so she's left it to me to pass on the info she would like to share in quick phone calls.

First of all, "wow"!  

Being regional we at the Wodonga Network normally deal with between 20-40 CRTs when we put on our PD workshops and Mel has absolutely LOVED being in a room with 120 other CRTs!  She thanks each of you in attendance for the way you have welcomed her to the group.

Mel's level of involvement in the day was a bit unexpected, being higher than she had anticipated, with one of the VIT staff was unable to attend due to illness (get well soon Rhonda!).  She hopes she's hit the ground running in a way that's proved helpful to all involved and regrets that she didn't have as much time as she would have liked to "just chat" instead of dealing so much with the business end of things.

Understandably anxiety is high among Provisionally Registered CRTs about the current full registration method and the requirement for a block of work to successfully complete the process.  In spite of some of the anger and frustration that was there today it's a good thing that this has come out.  

One thing Mel commented on regarding this is that in spite of the anxiety in the air there was also a tangible sense of the dedication of the CRTs in the room to their chosen profession.  That resilience is one of the traits of those who go on to become expert teachers and it's something that's going to give you positive results for your careers into the future.  Keep up the great work!

Part of the day is also a Professional Development presentation by Daryl Brooks which was underway the last I spoke to Mel (which gave her the breathing space to call me!).

I imagine Mel will give more detail about this part when she gets home and has time to post herself.

Marino D'Ortenzio from the AEU was also present as were a couple of members from the AEU CRT Association Facebook group.  Krystyna Edwards, one of the members of the AEU FB group, is also (and please forgive me if I get this wrong, "teachery stuff" is Mel's department) Secretary for the Werribee VIT CRT Network (with Ann Threlfell being the Coordinator).  Mel's Project Manager from the VCAA, Shane O'Connor, also dropped in tor a bit of networking and to experience a room full of CRTs, something that is rare for many in the greater education community as a whole.

All in all Mel seems pretty positive about the day despite the inherent issues with CRTs and full registration at the moment. 

We'd like to thank VIT for running this CRT specific seminar where they able to get targeted advice about the Full Rego process.  For those of you who have missed out on this one, VIT will be running at least one more CRT PRT seminar due to the high demand.  When we find out a date we'll be sure to update everyone and, until then, we recommend keeping an eye on the News and Events section of the VIT website if you would like to attend.

Cheers.

Paul Lichnovsky
Network 2IC/IT monkey

CRT reregistration in Victoria - what's a "day of practice"?

I have just been in contact with VIT and this topic just became a very very complicated one.

This post was NOT correct and we will update it as soon as possible to reflect the current conditions.
** Please Remember!  The 20 day requirement does NOT apply to you if you are a provisionally registered teacher!  This requirement is for fully registered teachers only.


Regards,

Mel.

Positive Partnerships Online Autism PD has been updated!

The Positive Partnerships online Learning Portal (free - Autism) has been recently updated!

http://www.positivepartnerships.com.au/public/index.cfm?action=showPublicContent&assetCategoryId=1016




If you're looking at working in Special Development schools, or dealing with Integration students on the Autism spectrum in your mainstream classrooms, this can be a valuable addition to your professional knowledge. Seeing as it's been recently updated it might be worth treating the update as a sign that it's time for a "refresher course"

Regards,

Mel.