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.
Friday, March 14, 2014
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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