I'm worried.

I came across this great quote the other day and it got me thinking about our classroom practice.  I feat that we are so bogged down with the WHAT of teaching that we are neglecting the most important part of the practice - the HOW.
Many teachers spend valuable time creating wonderful lessons on paper, only to have them not be as wonderful in practice.  Why is this?  Mostly, I'd argue, it's because the teacher is concerned only with the acquisition of content.  We spend little time facilitating true learning because we are spoon feeding our students.

Classroom management issues and lack of confidence is driving our teachers to a default position of them as sage on the stage - this is something we need to move away from rapidly.  

For true learning to occur, the learning should be a two way street, with the teacher merely being on the edge shepherding the learning.

Teachers should make good use of resources that are provided via a nationalised curriculum and not worry about reinventing the wheel, instead look at the resources and imagine how these can be massaged and bashed into a shape that will serve well in their classroom.

Music to learn by

I'm doing something I never thought I would do.

Today in my lesson I had some background music playing, and I must admit, I've been surprised by the effect it's had on the class.

First, some background on the class.  This is a great class.  They are year 10 and are very independent learners.  They're not all bright, but they give the lesson a good go, and almost always try their best.

The students are working through some module based lessons that will culminate with them achieving a Certificate 1 in Business and IDMT.  The lessons are self paced and easy to follow.  While I usually actively teach them, today I thought I'd give this a go, and observe the effects.

The students were given quite explicit instructions around my expectations at the start of the lesson.  Then I put the music on.  No horrified faces, instead they went about their business completing the lesson tasks.

I explained that I did not expect them to work in silence, but at all times I wanted to be able to hear the music above the hum of their voices.  I did not want to hear any one particular voice.  The music essentially became like white noise.

I've liked a number of tracks that I thought were suitable, and attached them to my library in YouTube.  It's now just a matter of putting the music on in the background of the lessons.Music for learning

Memory retention: Music for studying, learning and remembering

SAMR and Ipads

Whenever I look around a classroom I see students just itching to get their ipad/ipod/phone/device out and start to play and explore the functions it may provide.  Often the classroom teacher is reticent to allow these out because it might directly contravene the local school policy.
I wish that this could be lightened up a little.  I think often of how I taught my kids to cross the road.  We held hands - tightly, and then as time went by, and I was comfortable with their level of competence, they were able to cross the road by themselves. - Quite safely.
I wish we could apply that analogy to students use of devices in the classroom.  We need to be teaching responsible thinking and use of, instead of worrying about the perils of inappropriate use.

I discovered a great visual representation of how to apply the SAMR principles to iPad use. You can find the link at http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/02/a-wonderful-visual-on-how-to-use-samr.html

Teaching standards

How do we maintain consistency in practice across this vast country.  It's becoming more difficult each year to attend professional learning activities face to face, so there becomes a greater reliance on online opportunities.  These are actually my preferred option because I can engage with the learninng from the comfort of my own surroundings at a time and place that is agreeable.
There's a wealth of online opportunities to ensure that you remain current and at the cutting edge of developments in our line of work.
Recently I participated in some great PD around how we support and mentor beginning teachers as they transition to full registration.  This PD gave me the opportunity to explore in depth the resources offered by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.  AITSL. 

The AITSL website is a treasure trove of resources and tools that can go a long way to helping any self starting teacher.  Regular readings are suggested, there's video snippets to support good prcatice and much more.

The web site is the one stop for a variety of professional resources. http://www.aitsl.edu.au/

Engaging students in the classroom

The age old issue of engaging students in the classroom is raised yet again. How do we keep students in our classes and learning?
Recently I saw a quote that really got me thinking about student behaviour and reflecting on my practice.  It went something along the lines of ' a happy student is a good student, but a good student may not be a happy student' This was in an article about relationship building.  How can our students learn if the teacher fails to reach out and make a connection with them?
Teachers who foster good relationships with their students create learning settings that promote great learning.

What do positive student-teacher relationships look like in the classroom?

• Teachers show their pleasure and enjoyment of students. 
  
• Teachers interact in a responsive and respectful manner. 
  
• Teachers offer students help (e.g., answering questions in timely manner, offering support that matches the children's needs) in achieving academic and social objectives.
  
• Teachers help students reflect on their thinking and learning skills. 
  
• Teachers know and demonstrate knowledge about individual students' backgrounds, interests, emotional strengths and academic levels. 
  
• Teachers seldom show irritability or aggravation toward students.
                    http://www.apa.org/education/k12/relationships.aspx
  
  

 

Using a wiki in the school setting

A wiki presents some challenges in terms of pedagogy.  Because of the nature of a wiki content can be changed or even deleted very easily.  I'd like to think that if you were to give a student some editorial rights they might act responsibly - but you can never be sure.  If you are working in an EQschool it is easy to set up a wiki in a virtual classroom so that the teacher can have some control over the content.
As far as classroom use goes, a wiki is a great way to democratically create knowledge.  Students should be aware of the content and the technology that allows this collaborative tool to be useful.
There are many innovative ways to use a wiki in the classroom.  What makes them especially appealing in terms of creating content, is that there's the capacity to add links, graphics and images.
A couple of starters may include making a classroom reference document, creating a collaborative notebook.  Using posts as story starters and of course professional collaboration.  There's also the addition of an online message board.
Perhaps the biggest and best know wiki is Wikipedia -an open source encyclopedia that has been constructed by users of the internet.