Comparing Ancient Greece with Modern Australia (Part 1)

I’m a little bit early with my CGLearner and LbD post, but I’ve been working really hard to write the unit up as we’ve started teaching it. I began the unit on Wednesday and both classea have had a really interesting reaction to the beginning of the unit. The unit begins with engaging students by asking them to think about how the government controls them. This leads to a giant list of laws that exist in our society.

Students then look at how these laws are made in Australia.

This diagram was made by Linda Palin with help from the following documents:

Parliament: An Overview

A Multi-Tiered System: Governing Australia

Students are then given scenarios where they discuss what Australia would be like if there weren’t laws. Both classes have had some really interesting discussions in table groups. All groups were able to express their ideas, commenting on positives and negatives. Now for some classes this might not seem difficult, but I teach 2 very beautiful but interesting classes. Both classes are (still) very broken up into small groups. They are such different and diverse groups that it can often be difficult to get them to discuss without their being arguments. Today however they were able to express their ideas really clearly to each other. And they listened and respected each others ideas.

We then moved into a circle and used the circle time strategy to allow all students to discuss and share their ideas. Students expressed some really interesting ideas. Once again we did seem to go a little off task in the red class and begin discussing what we would do if we were in a prison for life …. Anywho!

Students quickly completed a PMI outlining their ideas about government.

Students were then made accountable for their learning and discussion and had to write a PEC paragraph outlining their ideas and thoughts. Below are some examples of their PEC paragraph responses. Please note that these were written in the last ten minutes of class from 2:50 – 3pm.

Peta

I think it is important to have some laws but not as many. What we need is more freedom in Australia. We need laws to control people so they don’t go murder people etc and not get punished. We would have less people in Australia. I think is we had less rules people wouldn’t be as bad because some crazy people feel the need to break them. In my opinion my resolution would be to have less rules to make Australia a better place.

Jack

I think today’s discussion was good because we talked about laws that I think we should have and some I didn’t want. My tables scenario was what id we didn’t have to wear seatbelts? And I thought it would be a bad thing because lots of people would die but it would be better for the economy because window people would get more business and less pollution. The main question was what if the world had no laws? I reckon it would be good because I wouldn’t have to go to school and I could drive and steal and be rich and it wouldn’t have any consequences.

Kristy

I think we need laws. It is important to have laws because lots of people could die from speeding and stabbings, because you wouldn’t go to jail for it. So people would do it. Laws are also important because children need an education for you future. Without laws there would be deaths and you could do anything you wanted. I think we need laws for a safe and nice environment.

I think the students are going to continue to really enjoy this unit.

Using CGLearner to write this learning element has been ever easier than ever before. After having an epiphany an wowowoooo (the sound of my head and angels) moment …

I realised that I could use screen capture to take a picture of the retrieval charts taht we were using in the element save them in paint as a jpeg and upload them to www.photobucket.com . From here I was able to grab the URL for the picture and add it to the learning element. This has made me really happy! Because it means I can be even more explicit when writing.

Writing this learning element is different to the ones I have written before. It is the first unit I have written for year 7, while I have updated units for year 7 this was the first one I had done from scratch. It is also the first team I have worked with that hasn’t really just been Rachael and myself. I found it interesting to write the learning element with different people. My only frustration probably lies with peoples lack of faith (for lack of a better word) to use new technologies like CGLearner. It isn’t difficult to just login (sorry it’s term 4 tolerance levels are low!) But other than that I have really enjoyed writing this element. And I think that the students have really enjoyed it and will continue to do so!

Below is the URL to learning element, this should automatically update as I go along …. (fingers crossed)

YESTERDAY AND TODAY

The competition continues …

With the competition becoming more and more competitive, I left todays session determined to read and do the post tonight.

And  … here it is.

In my PBWiki post I discussed the iPhone. I think the iPhone (or any other smart phone) has the potential to be an educational tool. While this week was about multimodaility and multimodal texts, I think that smart phones are the new way of accessing and using these texts in the classroom. Many people will jump on this idea, spouting negatives surrounding students and technology. I am not happy to just teach the ‘old’ way because my students are not living in a world that runs the ‘old’ way. We’ve all seen the youtube clip that talks about teaching students skills for jobs that don’t exist. So what do we do? Do we sit back and hand over the paper and pencil, or do we embrace it?

Homework is fun on an iPod touch

In Victoria students were given free iPod touches to use in class. They used them in multiple ways, to remind them of assignments, to create/write assignments and to submit them. This school was from a middle to low socio economic area, the students were excitied to use the iPods for many reasons:

1. Because it was a novelty making it exciting and different to use

2. It made doing homework easier, sitting on a bus, in front of the tv (even in the bath)

3. It encourage students to do home-work (using the exciting and novelty as a tool of engagement)

4. Students were all on an even playing field

Using the iPod touches also increased attendance!

Using this technology might not be for everyone but it is something that I would love to embrace and have in my classroom. I think that it is really important to go with the our students and work with new technologies as they come. If this means fiddling, making mistakes and learning I am okay with that!

As the above newspaper article acknowledges our students are not all tech savvy but then many couldn’t write till they were taught. I think it is important to have an open mind and embrace these technologies. I don’t agree that they should be used to match ‘old school’ teaching but to enhance ‘new’ styles of teaching.

Students getting creative with iPod touch at North Rowan High

P.S. Sorry for the awful writing – once again had to be written fast to beat Rachael! Now time for dinner and then I’ll edit!

Beating Rachael

I think the whole purpose of this blog is to beat Rachael. To be perfectly honest Psychology stole a lot of my energy and now Rachael and I are making it a competition! We do actually enjoy learning but sometimes after school after the million meetings, emails and phone calls all you want is a sleep. However, posting late this week made me really angry! I’m a nerd but I don’t like making life hard for myself or letting myself down! So … We’re back!

So I began straight after the session by reading Understanding Writing Contexts for English Language Learners by McCarthey, S. J., Garcia, G. E., López-Velásquez, A., Lin, S., & Guo, Y. (2004). Understanding writing contexts for English Language Learners. Research in the Teaching of English, 38, 351-394.

It was a good one to start with as the ideas were really interesting and I found it ‘easy’ to read, but I also found it really confronting. Teaching ESL student, or students with low-literacy skills we can become inclined to think that they’re not smart or able to think. The authors make a really valid point at the start of the paper students from diverse language backgrounds are tending to lag behind on indices of literary achievement. The authors continue on to say that many of these students receive watered-down instruction emphasizing drill and practice, and offering few opportunities to be involved in their own learning, speak their native language, read challenging texts, or write about their personal experiences (page 351). It is important to acknowledge that all students (including ESL students) need to be challenged academically. I believe that we can’t just teach writing out of context, we need to be giving our students strong material to work with and from this we can help them improve their writing.

Rachael, Rita, Christian, Jess, Anne and myself were all recently involved in writing a learning element for a presentation we were giving at a Conference. Rita has since worked more on the learning element and it is the one that she will be working with Capstone What scares you the most? This learning element focussed on writing a narrative, by analyzing a short story. The element really focuses on ‘good’ writing, without any skill or drill. At Lanyon we really focus on trying to improve writing, using the Learning by Design framework, first steps and learning intentions (assessment for learning). This involves teaching writing in context, teaching writing explicitly, teaching writing through reading, making achievable goals, and working individually with students to improve their writing. It also makes teaching enjoyable, I don’t think I could do this job if I was doing drill and skill type work, I’d only end up trying to deal with the behavioural problems from my bored students!

While teaching narrative is important, I also think it is important to teach different text types. There is so much focus on narrative and yet we’re never asked to write a narrative in our real lives! I understand that having a knowledge about creative writing can help improve your writing in other areas, but do my students? I think we need to be explicit about what we’re teaching and why! I think it is important to read and write different text types. My students recently wrote an information text, they created their own A3 page that was modelled to look like a text book. The students had to really think about what went into it, where to place it and how they should write. They’ve also written a speech, a story, poetry,  a play, text transformations, paragraphs, a letter and they’re going to write an information text. As well as journal writing (cooperative reading) and reflections. I make it really explicit that we need to transfer the skills to each task, and also what skills they don’t need in this task.

I think the one thing that I really picked up in the reading is that it is really important not to pigeon hole students, whether they are ESL or students who have low literacy, it does not mean they are dumb nor should they be treated this way.

Writing it right!

To write

Writing
Guest Presenter: Sarah McCartheyReading:

* Dyson, A. H. (2006). On saying it right (write): “Fix-its” in the foundations of learning to write. Research in the Teaching of English, 41(1).
* McCarthey, S. J. (2008). The impact of No Child Left Behind on teachers’ writing instruction. Written Communication, 25, 462-505.
* National Writing Project & Nagin, C. (2003). Because Writing Matters. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
* Whitney, A. (2008). Teacher transformation in the National Writing Project. Research in the Teaching of English, 43(2), 144-187.
* Yancey, K. (2009). Writing in the 21st Century. National Council of Teachers of English.

Bored.com

I come home from work, put my bag down say hi to Nat. Have a look in the fridge. Talk about who will cook dinner and turn on my computer. Check my facebook, hmmm anything interesting? Check my emails, reply to emails. Check the tv guide, anything on tonight?  Check Nat’s email while he looks over my back, not much going on there. Hmm might just check my facebook again. Check Sydney Morning Herald, whats going on in the world? After dinner, avoiding marking and cleaning I put on a game. Anything from The Sims, to more basic games like solitare. I don’t think it is because I am generation Y but because I have that personality types that can’t just watch tv, I need to be doing something else as well. While I was trawlling the internet this week I came across a newspaper article that talked about teens become addicted to the internet and how this is affecting their mental health. Down the bottom there were two links to two more articles.

Teen net addicts at risk of mental health problems by Conrad Walters (www.smh.com.au)

This article links to two more both about WoW.

World of Warcrazy addicts to get in-game shrinks by Asher Moses (www.smh.com.au)

Net addicts get clean with hard labour, psychotherapy and baby goats (www.smh.com.au)

I guess that they really annoyed me.

I don’t doubt that people get addicted to online and video games.

I know I do!

But I get addicted to many things, I go through phases of games, lollies, websites, coca-cola, books, chocolate and tv shows.

I think that newspaper articles like this are scare tactics. I wonder if ‘people’ (dare I say the straight laced in my day people) are scared because they can’t make it to level two? I think that articles like this are used to scare parents away from letting their child play video games. There is still this stigma that if you play video games you’re a nerd and that because you kill people online, you will do it in real life. I’m not saying people can’t get addicted but how is this addiction worse than shutting yourself in a room and watching tv or reading a book for hours and hours a day. Some people might claim that well you know reading what can be wrong with that? I think people need to consider what happens in these games and what they encourage.

As Rita mentioned in her blog (I’m too busy to date your avatar) video games give students a sense of belonging to a group/world.

In WoW players make friends by joining a raid and then working collaboratively with even more players in a big quest called an ‘instance’. They set up guilds to support raids and higher level (more experienced payers) support lower level players.

Teachers aspire to make students in schools feel that they belong to a community of learners. So I believe the principles of the world of gaming are worth considering in school learning.

Rachael also makes some really important points about narrative strucutre and problem solving in video games in her blog (video games and learning).

There is a lot that educators can learn from video games.  The narrative structure of the games, incremental increases in difficulty, demand for active participation, and development of the players’ problem solving approaches all contributes to their wide appeal and capacity to engage and motivate players.

And then there is Ryan’s list (Video games – a dynamic experience)

• Hand-eye coordination and other physical skills.
• Multi-tasking skills for the future workplace.
• Effects of risks and rewards.
• Cooperation and communicating effectively.
• Developing strategies for success.
• Deciphering how, what, why, where, and whether in new situations.
• Creativity, imagination, behavior, and character development.

Education needs an upgrade!

Whoop! Whoop!

In my previous post Reflection I talked about how my home group had done a lot of work to support the AIDs Action Council of Australia. The idea for my home group to volunteer and work with a charity came from the idea of Global Citizenship (The changing face of Citizenship) which we discussed early this year.

Today I found out that my home group had won an award for their work with HIV/AIDs. What I think is amazing about this, is that my home group is one of 8 home groups in year 9. Each home group worked together to think about how they could give back to the community. It could have been in a small way, picking up paper, or in a large way – which is what my adventurous home group did.

I am not the reason my students were successful, the students have really run the project I am merely another body in the classroom. I think that this task has really allowed the students to take control of their learning.  It has given them agency. They were not graded on, nor where they required to really do it. However I think doing projects like this can impact on students attitudes towards school.

One students who has a fairly bad attitude towards school and teachers, likes to truant a lot, was desperate to help with the fundraiser. He spent the morning collecting money. Unfortunately he was unable to help with the BBQ because he decided to truant another class and was eventually found and then got in trouble. Afterwards he came up and was disapointed, asking if we could run another sausage sizzle because he really wanted to help out. While he did the wrong thing, I was really proud of his ability to see past himself. He was upset he got in trouble, he was upset he got caught, but he was more upset that he wasn’t able to contribute to the project. This project has been going all year long, aside the learning in the classroom.

This project has not only helped me improve my relationships with the students in the class, but it has also helped the group come together and make direct links with learning and their life worlds. And it’s seems a bit superficial, but getting an award is an amazing thing! What they did was awesome and so un-selfish! But by giving them credit I think will make them want to do more!

Reflection …

If you’d asked me this time last year if I would be doing my masters I would have laughed in your face. When I finished uni at the end of 2007 I felt like I could write everything I know on an A4 sheet. I learnt more in my first term than in my four year degree.

So when I began the masters in New Learning and New Literacies in October 2008 I was surprised about how applicable it really was. During the first subject New Learning I really began to question why I was doing this and what I wanted to get out of it. It was more than a pretty certificate and a line of my resume. It was about creating a better learning environment in my classroom. New Learning really opened my eyes to the types of teaching and we found wikis and blogs. Watching Cherie incorporate them into the classroom we were all pretty quick to follow in 2009.

One subject down and it wasn’t to hard, than Historical and Social Barriers to Education began. I became determined to make my home group really think about what sort of citizens they were and this stemmed from the readings about citizenship (The Changing Face of Citizenship). My home group really took off with the idea, they began working with Aid’s action council, they’ve begun fundrasing money, they’ve volunteered at the International Aid’s candlelight memorial and their attitudes have begun to change. I didn’t set out to give year nine a social conscience, my idea stemmed from the concept of giving back to the community. It was the students who took it to the next level. To be honest, it is the students who organise the guest speakers, the fundraising,

 the volunteering, I just sign the note. I think because the student were able to control their learning and their level of involvement they’ve really engaged with it. I think what amazed me most was the way my boys reacted, they made some silly comments at the beginning, then as we’ve moved through different units their attitudes towards people’s sexuality has really changed. Meeting a man with HIV really impacted on them, it made them realise that HIV and Aids was everyone’s responsibility and it didn’t matter who you loved as long as you were happy. For that sort of reaction to happen was amazing. Without the readings and my learning I don’t think I would have tackled such a large project, nor do I think my students would be such a cohesive group. What has amazed me most about the masters program is the way it has implicated on the classroom relationships and the students behaviour. Learning really is the main focus because they are engaged, because they want to learn and because we are working together to create the learning, the students are focussed and it’s fun! 

 

People ask me how I handle the extra load of assignments on top of my normal workload and life … When to comes to doing extra work I’m happy when I see such positive results! Completing the assignment every week, a wiki post and a blog, I actually think the extra work is worth it. I am learning so much more than I ever thought. The wiki’s are really helpful because they help you get an even better understanding of the readings, we’re able to see think about the readings in different ways. The blog is really a blending of ideas and practice for me. How am I applying this week’s reading in my teaching?! I really enjoy reading other people’s ideas and thoughts, and I think it is important to share and discuss.

Subject two down, and Knowledge, Learning and Pedagogy came. I really love my classes, I know that sounds strange but I have three classes who I work really well with and they work with me really well. I’ve loved being able to come to class every Monday and discuss this week’s reading, talking about how they learn, the different learning styles and the brain. I think they’ve appreciated it, they laugh at my nerdieness (but most people laugh at my nerdieness). But being able to understand how you learn and why you learn in a certain way is a really hard concept but one that can really help you. I think what both my year seven and year nine students have appreciated is being treated as adults, not babies in an adults clothing, but intelligent people!

 The brain discussions were amazing, talking about what I had learnt,you could have heard a pin drop. The students were really interested, and why shouldn’t they be! And why shouldn’t they know?! As well as my masters I have begun working with the Assessment for Learning team, and it is really about being clear about what you want students to know. What I’ve learnt is that student need to know explicitly what they have to do and what they’re learning. It is more than just not guessing what is in the teachers head. But rather links to having a learning intention, telling the student the aim of todays lesson or activity. Why shouldn’t they know what they’re going to learn about? And I think our school is really positive with this and it’s links to out portfolio interviews.

I don’t think I was a bad teacher before, but doing my masters is helping me become a better teacher. And it isn’t because I am doing my masters, but rather what I am learning in the New Learning and New Literacies program. The other students in the course and Bill have really been a valuable source of information. It’s been excellent to work together to discuss education. I think that education shouldn’t about guessing and Bill makes it really clear what we need to do and we’re able to do it. The online learning environment is really practical and I’ve enjoyed not drowning in paper!

I think what I’ve learnt most is that yes this is all obvious, but we caught up in the grind, in the politics, in the behavioural problems, in issues that take over in our classrooms and you can forget that our students are there to learn. All students can learn it is up to us to create the right environment. So next time Rita asks if anyone want’s to do their masters I think I’d take another change and jump for it!

 

 

Schools kill creativity

 

I have to admit I laughed out loud for about 15 minutes, I had to drag Nat away from his studying for an exam tomorrow to listen and I even forwarded it to my mum aaah Frank sent this.

 On a more serious side Robinson had some really valid points. Children are not afraid of being wrong and they love having a go, they love to create. I worked in a childcare for two years and had I not been given a job the day I did at Lanyon, I would still be working in Childcare. It was definitly not my second choice but rather I felt like I’d studied for four years and felt I should give it a go. My boss told me if it didn’t work out to come back. What I loved about working with children was the unpredicitablity and yet at the same time the predictability. Boys will be boys and they will dress up as girls. Painting with sand, rocks, paint, glitter. It didn’t matter what it looked like, it was the experiment in between. Working with year sevens now (age 12 – 13) I’ve found that my students are still in this experiemental stage, they’re still children. Having worked with year ten’s (age 15 – 16) previously, I think Robinson is right when he says they have become frightened of being wrong. While I don’t agree that it is schools, I do agree that something (during hormone development) students become scared to take chances. 

As teachers we are all aware that it seems that most education systems like Robinson says have the same hierarchy of subjects. … At the top are mathematics and languages, then humanities, and the bottom are the arts. … there’s a hierarchy within the arts. Art and music are normally given a higher status in schools than drama and dance. And while we will continue to argue that they are all important, it is the parents who seem to place subjects into a hierarchy based on their own ideas and beliefs. As teachers we often think of ways to teach things that are not conventional, however it seems that the media and governments skew people’s beliefs. 

 

Final copy …

Attached is my final copy of my learning element of Digital Stories. To read more about the learning element please refer back to previous post:

Reflections on my learning element 

Thanks

Turn the movie off! Let me learn!!

Engage me

Challenge me

Ask me questions

Talk to me

Believe in me

Let me learn

Reading Knowledge relativism (New Learning: Chapter seven, page 176) the last paragraph really stuck into my mind. To what extent do all our efforts to provide varied sites of learning and modes of engagement put a deceptively democratic gloss on what sometimes turn out to be pathways to inequality? When does our ostensible sensitivity to differences do differences injustice? 

I think that one of the hard things about teaching is the balancing act we have to do each day … lesson … minute … Engagement is key to a successful class, but an engaged class may not always be learning something new or stretching their minds. I think that statement made in the New Learning book is really interesting because it really highlights the problems that just engaging students can disadvantage them.

At the very basic level I am reminded of a teacher who kept her students very engaged! They loved attending her class because they knew they’d be watching a video. The video was mostly interesting and vaguely on topic. However it made it very difficult for teachers who attempted to teach the same subject (and even other subjects) and engage the students. It also meant that the next year when they did a follow on subject their knowledge was lacking, they could recall movies, but very rarely recall what had happened in the movie. By the end of year ten some students (of varying degrees of abilty) were openly over it because they were sick of movies.

On a higher level a teacher can be engaging by using interesting modes and techniques but lack the intellectual quality. You really have to attempt to get the mix right! I think the hardest thing, is that often a teacher can care and be trying and still miss the intellectual quality – something just doesn’t add up, and if you can’t acknowledge that or work it out, you can eventually lose them. Engagement only takes students so far. 

I think this is something we need to be really careful about, we can easily fall into the trap of entertaining and keeping our students happy – because it makes our life easier. Or worse, we can think we are teaching but rather there is no learning. But ultimately even the students reach a level where they know they’re not learning anything. And as a teacher we have to decide how far we are willing to go. I think I am lucky to work at a school where teachers push, pull, stretch and expand the adolescent mind. And while it is hard work, at the end of the day … I think it is worth it.

It’s like Rachael’s salad analogy Redesigning the menu  … they fail if the cook lacks the necessary skills and equipment.  To make matters worse, service is compromised by poor organisation, lack of training and failure to understand the patron’s needs. The miracle menu may not be so easy to put in place.  Engagement is the key to the door, but it doesn’t open the deadlock.