How do journos really feel about Aussie teachers?

A journalist’s take on why teachers are all incompetent, whinging drop-outs that are ruining kids’ lives…

This article claims that, despite increased spending on education in Australia, standards continue to slip. Fortunately for the future of Australia, the article also has the answers! The ‘those that can, do, and those that can’t, teach’ saying is true of Australian teachers: A group of “academic failures… coming from a substandard poor of graduates who themselves struggled at school”. Perhaps “uninterested, incompetent or jaded”, “teachers pass on their own academic deficiencies to their students” and believe they’re “somehow above scrutiny and assessment”. With their “persistent whinging and striking”, teachers can be “a destructive force who can inflict significant damage to a child’s long-term learning outcomes”.

I feel the title “Teaching Should Not Be A Last Resort As A Career Choice”, for Rita Panahi’s column in the Herald Sun this week (yes, I read the Herald Sun now and then over coffee at my local café – don’t judge me!), is a tad misleading and didn’t accurately capture the tone of the article. Perhaps “Why Teachers Are All Incompetent, Whinging Drop-Outs That Are Ruining Kids’ Lives” was Panahi’s first choice but was deemed too polarising by her editors?

Teachers receive a lot of criticism. But hey, scrutiny is fine. Being held accountable is fine. We are entrusted with an extremely important task – Improving the life-chances of children, by facilitating their academic, social, emotional and behavioural development. Yep, pretty important, and of course, we only want the very best for that task! However, there do seem to be awful lot of teacher-haters out there. From politicians, journalists, parents and the wider community, teachers cop a hiding. We do need thick skins, particularly when hearing or reading unnecessarily spiteful and thoroughly ill-informed opinions. Remember, Rita Panahi, teachers are people too… Unlike journalists J

While I agree with Panahi’s suggestion of “weeding out the chronic underperformers” and that “teaching should be a profession that is held in the highest esteem, not a last resort option for those who can’t gain entry into any other course”, I can’t help but feel a bit knocked around by her article. Did any other teachers feel attacked?

Teachling<Wordpress> < Twitter>

More from Teachling:A primary teacher's take on education blogs...A teacher's take on parent-teacher relationships...A teacher's take on respecting teachers, pt2...A teacher's take on respecting teachers, pt1... 

White Men Can’t Jump and Primary Teachers Can’t Blog… About Anything Important, At Least!

A Primary teacher’s take on education blogs…

“Like many primary bloggers, I am unable to engage in grown-up discussions about education because my brain is full of glitter, toy bears and gingerbread” - TruthfulClassroom

I once heard, those that can, do… Those that can’t, teach… Those that can’t teach, teach primary! We primary teachers, at the bottom of the food chain, don’t have much to offer the world of ‘professional dialogue’. Where secondary and tertiary teachers are able to talk policies and such, as MissHorsfall  acknowledges, we primary teachers are better suited to topics such as:

-Why the hell do the red felt tip pens run out so quickly?

-Why do I either have 5 red pens and no black when it comes time to do the register, or vice versa?

-How exactly do 7 year olds get through so many glue sticks?

TruthfulClassroom and MissHorsfall are joking of course (I would actually, however, like some of those questions answered, to be honest!).

They write in response to this post in which Michael1979 pondered the lack of primary teacher bloggers. Specifically, the lack of primary teachers that blog about ‘real’ education issues. Hence, wh the above tongue-in-cheek comments came about. He asks, why don’t primary bloggers write about topics such as:

-Will ‘scaled scores’ provide useful information at end-of-key-stage tests?

-How will we assess English and Maths once levels are scrapped?

-Is primary schooling becoming all core and no breadth?

-Will the new grammar requirements in the National Curriculum raise standards of reading/writing?

-Is the current level 4b a viable expectation for 85% of students?

-How is the newly-enhanced Pupil Premium going to have an impact in primary?

-What impact are small cohorts or small sub-groups having on Ofsted inspection outcomes?

-What is the professional view on baseline assessments for children on entry to YR?

Did that list put you to sleep, as it did for me? You can see TruthfulClassroom’s counter-list here, which includes topics from the very *a-hem* important, such as:

-Literally, where the f*** do all the children stash the red felt tip pens?

-Which facial cues alert you to the fact that a child is about to projectile vomit all over their workbooks?
-Do any other teachers feel nauseous when they see Comic Sans?

To the more *literally* important topics, such as:

-How can we expose children to texts that they can relate to, but which also challenge them?
-How can we educate to equip children to challenge the rampant inequalities that face them?

-How can you teach climate change to 6 year olds in a way that scares them enough to care and empowers them enough to acts?

-Do all young male teachers get rapidly promoted out of the classroom, or just most?

All people are different and bloggers are all looking for something different. Some might get a kick out of dry post about education policy, whereas others enjoy posts that help them, as teachers, make a difference in the day-to-day. Both, of course, have their place. If we don’t get more of the ‘right people’ making big policy decisions at the top, our future generations will be worse off. Similarly, if we don’t have the ‘right people’ at the classroom level, potentially great policies will make no difference.

Jokes aside, I enjoy blogging because it gives me a chance to read and write about education-related topics that interest me, as I work to facilitate the academic, social, behavioural and emotional development of young children. If it relates to kids and improving their futures, I’ll read it… if I have time! Similarly, I don’t try to limit myself to writing about any one topic in particular. I’ve written on topics such as why parents need to get their kids to school on time, why 'grades' should be scrapped in favour of real feedback,

why I think schools are becoming overly 'academic' , lots about the importance of ‘relationships’ in education here, here, here and here, and the importance of 'play'.

I’m always keen to give my 2 cents, or ‘a teacher’s take’ on all sorts of topics that will help children to have the best possible start to life, particularly during their primary school years. So as always, please do let me know if there’s anything in particular that you want me to write about!

Teachling <Wordpress> < Twitter>

Image source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8MThzVdfBNZiXCSUw5sq_wmjdfO-hcy4lSXig5an5ZsiWM-ha6C4u6VhGd4VwzvsF20GWppVZOPPpya-ZIv4Yxg9puSDI9Mue-2fp_DUBww9cbyemyCPH_EzYDaUF4iPFLFTHil4w6vxm/s1600/shakespeare.jpg

What does 6x4 mean?

A teacher’s take on visualising multiplication…

I saw this blog post a while ago on reflectivemaths and after commenting, put it aside. However, recently working on some early multiplication concepts with my own students has brought it back to mind.

So, does 6×4 mean 6 lots of 4 or 4 lots of 6?

The reply by the above-mentioned blogger was “bearing in mind the answers the same of course. I’d say you start with 6 and then multiply by 4. So 4 lots of 6”

That makes a lot of sense. Though, my initial response is that I visualise 6×4  as “6 fours”. “x” essentially meaning “lots of”, rather than “times”. As in, 6×4 is 6 lots of 4, or 6 times 4 things (6 packets of 4 pens) rather than 6 things times 4 (4 packets of 6 pens). But yes, regardless, we still get 24 pens either way!

My school has been working with a Maths coach on childrens’ misconceptions, and multiplication is always a confusing topic. To try and stop confusing our students, we talk multiplication in terms of “6 fours” rather than “6 times 4” or “6 lots of 4”. This aims to take the confusion out of the “x”. Further, “6 fours” acknowledges 4 as it’s own whole. Whereas, the 4 in “6 times 4” means children are seeing it as “4 ones”. Basically, why can’t 4 be it’s own being (first version)? Why should 4 only ever be seen as a quantity of ones (second version)? In saying that though, the 4 pens I mentioned above still labels poor 4 as 4 ones.

Again though, the answer is still 24, no matter which way you look at it.

Thinking in terms of ‘repeat addition’ – the concept I was working on with my 7 year olds – do you see 6×4 as essentially 4+4+4+4+4+4 or 6+6+6+6?

What about those good old “times tables”? Going through the 2s, for example, do you start with “1×2=2, 2×2 =4, 3×2=6, 4×2=8”? Or “2×1=2, 2×2=4, 2×3=6, 2×4=8”? Again, even though the answers are of course the same, I think the way you say it makes a huge difference to how the concept is visualised. Hence why, again to try and stop misconceptions, we do 2s as doubles now. That is, “double 1 is 2, double 2 is 4, double 3 is 6, double 4 is 8”.

Maybe the best solution is just to present young children with all possibilities, so that at the end of the day, they can ‘connect’ with whichever way they prefer. 6×4 might be “6 times 4”, “6 lots of 4”, “6 fours”, “6+6+6+6”, “4+4+4+4+4+4”, arrays, maybe even “double double 6”. If the answer is the same, does it matter how we get there?

Teachling<WordPress> < Twitter>

Ding, Ding, Ding - Why are half my students still not here?

 

A teacher’s take on getting your kids to school on time… And why it’s the least you can do.

 

A couple of weeks into the new school year here in Australia and one thing is frustrating me more than assessments, meetings and a new bunch of rascals combined. PARENTS! Specifically, why is it so darn hard to get your kid to school on time? Seriously?! 9am can’t be that hard, considering we teachers are there before 8am every day (That may come as a surprise to those that think we work 9-3:30, hehe).

 

Before I rant, let me chuck in some quotes, to prove it’s not just me… Michael Grose’s Parenting Ideas website is fantastic if you haven’t explored it already. He says here that “School absenteeism is a huge problem in Australia – and much of it is parent-condoned”. Shockingly, the average student misses 12-15 days of school each year (doesn’t sound like that much really, however…), which equates to a full school year lost over the span of their education. Yikes!

 

Grose continues that “Australian kids spend only 15% of their total time at school. They spend more time asleep than they do at school. So we need to maximise every day to get full value. That means turning up to school every day, on time”. There are always a few stragglers, coming into class late, whose parents bring them to the door after the bell has gone, give them their cuddles, say their goodbyes, holding up the start of the school day for the whole class. One day last week, we didn’t actually start the school day until 9:07 (Even then, one boy didn’t arrive until 9:45!). When the bell rang at 9am (following a ‘warning bell’ at 8:57) only half of my class were present! Let’s say though, very conservatively, that the beginning of my class’s school day is held up for just 2 minutes each day. That’s almost 7 hours missed across the year; more than a full school day.

 

Last year I had a perpetually late mother get stroppy with me for, and I quote, “You don’t acknowledge me in the mornings when I bring _ into the class!” For real? You bring your son into class late every day and you want me to engage you in conversation, despite that fact that you’re contributing to the whole class losing more than a full day of school this year?

Punctuality isn’t just about teachers griping about a lost couple of minutes. It affects all students in a class and is a problem all around the world, with some UK schools beginning to issue fines to parents of tardy students!

 

Parents, get your kids to school on time. Better yet, get them to school 5 or 10 minutes early. That will give them a chance to have a chat to their buddies, maybe have a quick run-around outside, unpack their bags and come into class to get settled. They’re ready to start the school day when the bell rings.

 

The alternative is to rush around in the morning, get them to school late, give them no time to socialise and get settled, and come into class late, embarrassed and ashamed that the whole class is waiting on them and that they haven’t had time to organise their belongings.

 

Why it’s the least [many parents] could do:
No doubt ‘Parent’ is becoming fewer and fewer peoples’ full-time job.  Most parents now are so-called ‘working parents’. Of course this means you’re going to be busy, busy, busy. Not only are you thinking about your child constantly and caring for them; organising play-dates, planning dinner, getting the kids to their sport games, music lessons, trying to get on top of the house-work. You’re also holding down your own job, rushing around to meetings and so on. As a result, more and more parents are taking a hands-off approach to their child’s formal education. With less time in your day, you might not be able to get to school during the day to help in the classroom or attend excursions. With nights a blur, parents are often telling me there’s no time for homework (if you’ve read my post about homework you’ll know that I’m not too fussed about that, anyway!), and are often too busy or tired to get to school for parent-teacher meetings and information nights. If you’re one of these parents – and rest assured I am by no means ‘having a dig’ at you – then, at the very least, the extend of your involvement with your child’s schooling is making sure they’re at school every day, and that they’re there on time.

 

Teachers are there to support you and help you give your child the best possible start to their life. Sometimes, you need to help us to help them. Get your kids to school on time.

 

Teachling <Wordpress> <Tumblr> < Twitter>

 

More from Teachling:

A teacher's take on why schools should scrap 'grades', and give kids real 'feedback'...

A teacher's take on letting kids play...

A teacher's take on parent-teacher relationships...

 

Further reading:

Heidi Scrimgeour’s “Late for school again: But does it really matter?”

Livia McCoy’s “Student absences: They hurt more than you might think”

DEECD’s “Every day counts: The importance of full-time attendence”

Michael Grose’s “It's not ok to be away... Or to be late to school”

 

Image credit:
http://www.parentdish.co.uk/back-to-school/late-for-school-again-but-does-it-matter/

Let Kids Be Kids pt.2

A teacher’s take on letting kids play…

“Play is what children do, when afforded the independence, opportunity, time and space to determine their own behaviour.” (Play For Life)

I almost called this post “A teacher’s take our ‘nanny society’, and why we seem so bent on destroying childhoods”, but then I thought it sounded too ‘preachy’. Anyway…

Everyone loves to reminisce on their time spent as a kid, riding bikes around the suburbs, playing impromptu sport championships in the streets, daydream of building an insanely cool tree-house and having a good hard crack at turning that dream into a reality, failing miserably but still loving it, having hobbies that we chose for ourselves, coming home after dark and fearing the wrath of your parents, making friends with anyone and everyone, always being able to find something to do on the weekend; loving every second of our freedom!

Let’s fast forward 20 years and see our current kids reflect on, um, rushing home from school and sitting on the couch and swiping away at their iPhones. We can’t blame them, though. Afterall, who is it that buys them their gadgets, restricts their freedom, schedules their lives to the minute, chooses their hobbies for them, ‘nanny’ them, ‘helicopter’? I’ve blogged previously about helicopter parenting and taking away freedom with over-scheduling, but what about taking away play?

Play is actually disappearing at a horrifying rate from childrens’ lives. Just think geographically for a moment. 40 years ago, children would stray far and wide from their home. Go to the beach or to a movie with a few friends and shock horror, no adults. Miles from home, building and crashing billy-carts and getting up to who-knows-what. 20 years ago, kids couldn’t get away with quite so much mischief, but could still hop on their bikes and feel free and safe to roam their local streets, meet up with pals and make sure they we home by dark. Now many children would not even be allowed outside of their own fence without their parent! Parents of young children, would you allow you child to get away with the far-reaching play that you spent your childhood doing? Certainly, you wouldn’t let them get up to the kind of play that your parents got up to. Gee, now that would just be downright bonkers, right? But honestly, why not?

The reduced role of play in childhoods is becoming such as epidemic in today’s nanny society that organisitions such as Play For Life are trying to actively get kids playing again. You know, real playing!  Using their imaginations, innovating, designing and making, cooperative play, socialising, experimenting and making mistakes, creating, physical play, outdoors play – the kind of play that is essential to learning.

As adults, what can we do?

We can provide children with the time to play. That is, don’t over-schedule kids. Even allow them to get bored as that will force them to truly direct their own play.
We can provide children with the space and freedom to play. Obviously this is dependent on where you live and safety must be a priority, but maybe we could loosen the harness.
We can provide children with the resources to play. For example, construction materials, balls, scooters, sketch pads, rather than iPhones or DVDs.
Leave the rest to them! Don’t assume we know what’s best. Let children make friends with the kids that they want and play the games that they want.
At the school I teach at, children aren’t allowed to bring swap cards to school in case they get upset over a ‘bad swap’. In other words, the kids aren’t resilient and we’re not doing them any favours by pandering to them. Kids aren’t allowed to play with sticks in case they use them as a weapon. In other words, the kids aren’t accustomed to physical play, but instead of teaching them how to play, we’re banning them from any rough-and-tumble in case someone gets hurt. No running is allowed on the quad in case someone falls over and scrapes their knees on the bitumen. In other words, we’re wrapping them in cotton wool instead of allowing them to discover their own limits. Yes, the list of things that children are allowed to do is getting smaller and in doing that, we’re taking away vital opportunities for them to learn, grow, be happy and make memories.

Let’s see non-adult-directed play re-enter childrens’ lives. Let’s give children the time, space, freedom and resources to play.

Still not convinced?  >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt7DoWmahu0 <<< (Language warning!)

Teachling <Wordpress> <Tumblr>

Do Primary Schools Do It Better?

A teacher’s take on positive teacher-student relationships…

Not many teachers (or students!) would argue against a happy classroom. A learning environment in which students are engaged and feel supported. A positive environment that leads to higher academic achievement. A friendly classroom. Quality student-teacher relationships that improve not only learning, but the whole education experience.

So, after reading Kath Murdoch’s post “Do you know me well enough to teach me?” I had the thought, perhaps Primary Schools do the whole ‘relationships thing’ better than High Schools do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticising High School teachers; actually I think there might be a few things that stop them from developing the same quality, positive relationships with their students as their Primary counterparts…

 1.       Not enough contact time… Aka. “I only see them a few times a week!”Primary School teachers see their students almost all day, every day. Primary School teachers have all the time in the world to ‘start the year slowly’. We could give up a whole month to building relationships, developing a class culture, developing norms and protocols and getting to know our students. Some High School teachers might see their students for just a couple of hours a week. When, then, is all this ‘relationship building’ supposed to occur? Besides, wouldn’t a teenager’s parents be outraged if they found out their child has spent all that time on the warm and fuzzies, rather than actual learning?! Also, we can’t forget the fact that High School teachers have many students in many classes, whereas the average Primary teacher has just 25.

 2.        The importance of relationships is taken for granted… Aka. “They’re teenagers. They shouldn’t need that warm and fuzzy crap!”This follows on from point 1 I suppose. By the time kids are High School students, the onus is placed firmly on them to be engaged with their learning, their peers, their teachers. When kids are little we actually teach them explicitly how to make friends and teachers spend an awful lot of time getting to know each child personally, as people, not just learners. We do this so that we’re invested in their development and that they know this. We do this so that we can personalise the learning experience for them. Teenagers should just got on with their work, shouldn’t they?

 3.       The students are over it… Aka. “Teenagers hate everyone and everything!”Yep, teenagers are surly zombies! The only thing they like about school is their friends, if they’re lucky enough o have some. They hate learning. They hate homework. They hate adults -  their teachers and heck, they hate their parents most of all! How on Earth is some daggy teacher meant to get through to these grumpy beings?

 4.       Teachers aren’t there to be their students’ best friend… Aka. “I need to maintain the power”
We all experienced a Miss Trunchbull-type teacher at some time during our own schooling. There’s a growing body of research that says the way to get through to students is through building positive relationships, featuring a few key ingredients. Care. Warmth. Empathy. Respect. Trust. This is at loggerheads with the traditional description of a teacher. Dare I say, if a teacher has quality relationships with their students comprising such ingredients, it does away with the need for ‘power’.

Anyway, High School teachers, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Like I said, it certainly isn’t an attack. What barriers stand in your way, building relationships with your students? If you’ve broken the mould and do have great relationships with your students, how have you done it?

There’s a whole lot of articles, blog posts and research to read on the topic of Teacher-Student Relationships. Click here, here, here, here, here or here to read more!

Teachling <WordPress> <Tumblr>

More on ‘relationships’ from Teachling: A teacher’s take on parent-teacher relationships…
A teacher’s take on respecting teachers, pt2…
A teacher’s take on respecting teachers, pt1…
A teacher’s take on earning respect from students… 

Just A Lowly Teacher

A teacher’s take on respecting teachers, pt.2…

So, when I was starting out at uni I thought I was entering a highly respected and noble field. Now, I feel as though society barely views teaching as a ‘profession’. My nephew is currently finishing high school and when telling his Dad (my brother) that he wanted to study Education, his Dad said, “Why would you want to be just a lowly teacher?”

Here I am wondering if society respects my work; If my own family doesn’t, what hope do I have that the rest of the world does?

(Image source, link)

Well, I’m clearly biased, but I believe that teachers can change the world. We shape lives and make a goddamn difference.  Teaching is a profession.

We hear criticisms of education systems and educations in the media constantly, and closer to home, the contempt with which some (certainly not all) of my student’s parents interact with me always astounds me. Shockingly though, it doesn’t upset me, because teachers have come to accept that there are many people in this world that do not treat us the honour, respect or dignity that we deserve.

-TeachlingTeachling’s Wordpress, Teachling's Tumblr

More on this from Teachling:

A teacher's take on respecting teacher, pt1...
A teacher's take on earning respect from students...
More about respecting teachers:
What Teachers Make (Taylor Mali, TED Talk)
Supporting Our Teachers (Government of South Australia)
Do Teachers Get Enough Respect From Society? (voxxi.com)
Why Do Some Countries Respect Their Teachers More Than Others? (theguardian.com)
No Society Can Succeed Without Respecting Teachers (thefrontierpost.com)

Teachers Make A Goddamn Difference

A teacher’s take on respecting teachers, pt.1…

So, during my usual TED Talk browsing (if you don’t know what a TED Talk is, look it up and prepare to lose lots of time, but expand your mind more than you ever thought possible!), I came across this poem titled “What do teachers make?” by Taylor Mali.

I wonder; How do you think society views teachers? On par with doctors? Lawyers? Librarians? Baby-sitters? Burger-flippers? Criminals? Homeless? Check-out chicks? Politicians?

Teachers got a very good wrap on World Teachers Day, October 5, in Australia when The Project hosts visited their own past teachers and Charlie Pickering stated, “Teachers are the most important people in our society”.

Thanks Taylor and Charlie, for sticking up for us.

-Teachling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Image source link)  

Read more about respecting teachers:
What Teachers Make (Taylor Mali, TED Talk)
Supporting Our Teachers (Government of South Australia)
Do Teachers Get Enough Respect From Society? (voxxi.com)
Why Do Some Countries Respect Their Teachers More Than Others? (theguardian.com)
No Society Can Succeed Without Respecting Teachers (thefrontierpost.com)

More from Teachling:

A teacher's take on earning respect from students...
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Teachling’s Wordpress, Teachling's Tumblr