"We need to teach using the tools our students use"
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Mobile Phones…
Mar 3rd
Whilst I personally think that mobiles, especially the newer SmartPhones can be used effectively within the educational context, there are obvious problems. Some kids will simply not have the latest Web 2.0 capable phones whilst others will use them to text the girl sitting opposite rather than engage in that well known human activity, social interaction (or gossiping/chatting up). However so long as the Council rules are that mobiles are NOT to be used I will continue to persuade my students to keep them off and out of sight. I was wondering about a foolproof method of ensuring they can’t use phones. I often call up Bluetooth on the Airliner Slate/SmartBoard software and can show them the dozen phones and their codes. They cottoned on and changed the phones codes so the last time I had a projected display showing such interesting phone names as ‘Mr T FTW’, ‘Mr T rocks’ ‘Sexy Beast’ (which couldn’t possibly have been about me 
and ‘N**** E*** is a Sex God’. In the case of N.E. in my S* Class I would agree with this were I a drooling teenage girl….
Anyway the solution is at hand – I found this on Scott McLeod’s blog….
“Oh, For Crying-out-load. Just hang one of those shoe organisers next to the door and require each student to check in their phones on entering the classroom, then they can retrieve them after class. Just drop your phone in your slot and pick it up on the way out. Hey look, I solved the problem for less than $5.00″
I don’t know if this is a fantastic idea or not, but it sure made me laugh. Sometimes easy solutions to our problems are staring us in the face if only we have the courage to think creatively. As we head into the new school year, who thinks their local school has an effective solution for inappropriate student use of mobile phones?
Teachers to get MOTs – possibly checked every 5 years
Feb 26th
Now that the GTC (Scotland) (All Praise To Them) have gained their new status as an independent body, moves are afoot to check teacher competency every five years or so and either have them, supported as they retrain or review their teaching styles/practice or even remove them from teaching. TESS article here
As I said in my entry about TLCs I can’t understand why some people don’t want these regular checks. It stops people getting stale for a start and ensures they keep abreast of what’s going on and the latest ‘things’ in education. I spend hours every week reading educational theory, articles of interest and watching videos that will help me become better. Then again some would say I don’t have a life..
There are arguments against this new ‘teacher licence’ scheme not least that the GTC in England have had severe problems as Heads simply give good references to poor or under-performing teachers to get them out of their schools because the whole process to remove under-performing staff takes so long. Meanwhile another school then inherits the problem….article here
Or should we wait until the situation gets so bad that the entire staff (good and poor) in a school are sacked as happened in the US this week (link here).
Either way something needs to be done.
We ALL have off days, we ALL watch the kids leave and think ‘I should have done ‘X’ or ‘How did I run out of time for ‘Y’? Of course, good teachers immediately reflect after the lesson and work out what went wrong, how to improve things and ensure they constantly review, reflect and revise their lessons. Would the additional pressure of a check help or undermine morale?
Perhaps if the people at the top in Local Authorities stopped gibbering about teachers needing to do lots of CPD as demanded by HMIe et al then not letting us actually DO any due to budgets cuts it might help. You can’t have trained staff not being updated on teaching practices or assessment procedures etc and then have the cheek to demand they prove their competence. It’s like training a pilot, letting him fly for a decade without being able to upgrade his pilot’s licence for different aircraft and then demanding he prove he can fly a four engined jet instead of the twin turboprop he’s been flying until then!
The other point is WHO is going to do the checks? If they simply become a certification or paper exercise by headteachers then there are obvious problems of cronyism as some people get treated differently. If HMIe or the GTC(S) (All Praise To Them) are to do the tests then a whole new group of inspectors will be needed. Will English teachers be checked by English teachers? Will the checkers be checked themselves every five years? How do you check teachers if your own experience is ten years out of date ? All these and other questions will doubtless surface like the proverbial drowned body popping up to ruin peoples’ days.
Either way – we live in interesting times and they’re about to become extremely interesting.
A busy week…
Feb 15th
S5/6 are back after prelims to get their feedback, chewing out and settling down to some serious work. Why DO they not study during the holidays/study leave? Some schools keep them IN school during exams and have them do study in supervised rooms…tempting. What is so annoying is that the majority WILL pass Int 2, some with good grades yet just now they seem so…. unfocused. Mayhap we’d be better doing the real exams in January like I did for my old O Levels. Meant we could do two/three subjects in January and then having got them out of the way, concentrate on the main subjects for the June exam diet. Their reports are also due next week!
S4 are going to be VERY busy sorting and redrafting their folio pieces for the next three weeks. Then once the folios are sealed and dispatched we can start some real revising! S4 Parents’ Evening this Wednesday so a few home truths being laid out (again) and maybe this time the kids will take note and start working harder and justifying the ability and potential they have.
I’m also doing a GLOW Meet on Thursday, finishing a couple of other things off AND trying to get some exciting lessons sorted for my S1-S3s. Teaching – keeps you young or at least keeps you going. Some days I feel that if I stop, I’ll just keel over !
Are you going to finish strong?
Feb 14th
One of my all time favourite videos; inspiring and provocative for discussion groups
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QbgOGnbxDo]
Probably the most IT literate Director of Education in Scotland….
Oct 16th
Don Ledingham is the Director of education/Childrens’ Service for East Lothian and all round good guy who has pushed blogging and reflection online to great heights in his area.
Currently his blog includes such delights as assessment, CfE and “why can’t we sack the teachers who won’t learn” – all relevant in today’s changing educational system. Go on – have a look!
Self evaluation and reflection
Sep 20th
One of the main points regularly brought out by HMIe is the need for ALL teachers and students to self evaluate and reflect as a matter of course rather than on the odd occasion whence comes a moon that is blue.
Now many of us DO reflect after each lesson and make quick notes about what went well, what went horribly wrong and how to sort it. Reflection is, of course, no good unless we learn something from it. If we are ALL learners now then perhaps we should be teaching our kids how to reflect in greater detail? I want to think about reflection first. Self evaluation is something I do with end of year surveys with my kids and so on and will be expanded another time.
Currently I only really teach reflection as part of the W2 Personal Writing aspects of the Standard Grade folio writing and also in case they find a good question on the exam paper that asks them to write about ‘their thoughts and feelings’. The trouble is most teenagers are happy to write about their thoughts and feelings but on bebo or facebook and not at school! They discuss their problems but don’t want ‘the olds’ joining in. The Reflective Cycle below is one example of what we should be asking our students to do.
But is this a good model or should we be trying to get them to really get down and dirty (without going too far down!)
I am torn between setting up an online journal or offline diary such as (iDDairy). There are also sites such as Memiary where you can leave 5 thoughts for the day about what you’ve done and your feelings. I remember a teacher at Grangemouth High who has had success with journals which also cover writing notes and ideas that they can re-use in another essay for example. Or should we just use jotters? iPhones or other phone applications are available but not all students have them.
Decisions. Decisions. Any thoughts?
Change…
Jun 28th
Change is examined by Doug Belshaw on his blog here
Some good thoughts and I agree with his conclusion that decentralising the current ‘orders from above’ structure might work better, especially with Curriculum for Excellence. Go read the whole thing and leave comments!
Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century. ~Perelman
Learning….
Jun 28th
Quote from a learner:
“School is rather like air travel – trust the person at the front and switch off all electronic gadgets”
Via Russell Tarr,
Poetry clip
Jun 28th
Journey’s End
In western lands beneath the Sun
The flowers may rise in Spring,
The trees may bud, the waters run,
The merry finches sing.
Or there maybe ’tis cloudless night,
And swaying branches bear
The Elven-stars as jewels white
Amid their branching hair.
Though here at journey’s end I lie
In darkness buried deep,
Beyond all towers strong and high,
Beyond all mountains steep,
Above all shadows rides the Sun
And Stars for ever dwell:
I will not say the Day is done,
Nor bid the Stars farewell.
JRR Tolkien
What’s the point of Twitter?
Jun 21st
Mrs Walker has some good points which should be considered. She asks:
Why should educators get involved? What difference does using Twitter make?
Here are some answers (which I have chopped to the main point for each) that you might like to share.
1. Together we’re better
Teaching can be a lonely business. In a school where lessons are long and lunchtimes are short, not enough conversations between teachers I work with are about learning.
2. Global or local: you choose
Whilst some Twitter users will not tolerate many overtly egotistical self-publicisers (some celebrities have come under fire for using the service just to broadcast banalities to their flocks of fans), there is no doubt that Twitter users have the potential to reach very large international audiences.
3. Self-awareness and reflective practice
Excellent teachers reflect on what they are doing in their schools and look at what is going well in order to maintain and develop it, and what needs improvement in order to make it better. Teachers on Twitter share these reflections and both support and challenge each other.
4. Ideas workshop and sounding board
Twitter is a great medium for sharing ideas and getting instant feedback.
5. Newsroom and innovation showcase
Sitting down with a newspaper is not a luxury I have the time to enjoy every day. Twitter helps me stay up to date on news and current affairs, as well as on the latest developments in my areas of interest: school leadership, technology and languages.
6. Professional development and critical friends
One of the best things about training days is the break out time between sessions, when teachers can get together to talk about what they are working on or struggling with. Twitter enables me to have that kind of powerful networking capacity with me all the time. It’s just a matter of finding the right people to follow. As @melaniemcbride said:
“Following smart people on Twitter is like a mental shot of expresso”
7. Quality-assured searching
I trust the people I follow. I hone and develop the list of people whose insights I value.
8. Communicate, communicate, communicate
Expressing yourself in 140 characters is a great discipline.
9. Getting with the times has never been so easy!
There is no good reason why teachers shouldn’t stick with the times, engage with the technology and keep up with the kids.
Taken from Mrs Walker where you should go and read the whole thing.
