Just two week into the new term and the job once again seems to feel like a big clunking bit of machinery that is depart need of a service. What a sorry state of affairs… And one I am not going to settle for.
As I walked our tired old dog around the block, full moon, clear skies, 24-25 degrees… I reflected on a video I had just watched from a twitter link about redesigning your classroom. The video simply showed how the use of creative design consultants helped transform a overwhelmed, but brilliant, science teacher’s classroom into a bright and dynamic learning space.
What I took from the video, apart from the obvious good classroom design ideas, was how fresh eyes, open minds and positive idea sharing will result in new exciting teaching experiences. GREAT TEACHING.
I want to talk to my school about designing a teacher collaboration network… Teachmeet, twitter fueled, positive idea and technique sharing… SO I have been kicking around ideas for what I want to say…
A Prezi seems a must… maybe a teddy bear to be thrown at me… however what appears necessary to explain it an extra turbo boost to everyone’s careers and teaching the whole scheme will bring… it will bring GREAT opportunities…. and allow us all to work in a GREAT school.
During the last year we have tried to highlight the learning needs of Gifted and Talented students. Working in an international school means that we sometimes implement UK education strategies a few years behind you guys in Britain.
An important part of our work was to evaluate what we had been doing. We undertook some observations in February 2013 across our primary and secondary provision.
FEEDBACK:
Personal targets are very useful for all students, especially SEN and G&T students. Put simply differentiation.
Interesting to see how G&T students have various behaviours for learning and that the lesson outcomes; either always fulfill the teachers expectations and will go beyond if there is an open, creative, challenging and competitive element.
Questioning technique matters – a range of pre-planned questions can help stretch G&T students.
Asking the students to explain their thinking behind their work, reveals an astonishing range of reference points often drawing upon an accumulation of knowledge that they have found easy to remember and cross reference.
DEVELOPMENT TARGETS:
1. Identification Process to be reviewed and policy written.
2. Differentiation for G&T students along the lines of open ended outcomes, challenge and friendly competition.
3. Learning and Classroom tasks that allow the creative use of media, materials and presentation outcomes, really benefit all students, but especially G&T students. It allows independence, motivation and high level communication.
4. Specific projects could enhance the curriculum provision for all students, but especially G&T.
I am sitting in my classroom, 15 minutes until I walk into the headmasters office. Why I am I waiting? Why am I going to see him? The usual… I want to be promoted. I want to be given status. I want a bit more money. However, the reality is that teaching is a career where I feel you can set your own targets… I just happen to be someone who always wants to do more… BUT NOT MORE OF THE SAME!
My teaching career has been absolutely wonderful. I love the variety of experiences it has brought. The multitude of interactions, ideas, communications, innovations, stresses and strains… it really is the most demanding of professions and the most rewarding.
I love the way I have been able to have a different year, every year, which at the end of, I can always look back and say I achieved x,y,z and a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,u,v and w. You’re always moving forwards… sometimes so much that you can loose the perspective of exactly how far to have come!
This time I looking to become KS3 coordinator. An important role. Leader of pastoral care. Principle disciplinarian. Standard setting. However, I also see it a the chief celebrator. The opportunity to interact with all students, parents and teachers. If you’re clever, you make it a fun and rewarding celebration of young people’s multiple achievements. If you’re not… it can become a burden of punishments, moans, groans and failure!
So… I will attend today’s interview. I hope I will be able to express myself. I hope I can answer the questions… and if I can’t… well I will ask to come back to it at the end of the interview.
The last few weeks have been some of the most interesting of my time working out here in Spain. My classes and I have been having fun with Quadblogging http://www.stgeorgesschoolmalaga.wordpress.com and my school group have become interested in the ideas behind Teachmeets.
It’s the school’s interest in Teachmeets that has really got me buzzing and pondering what we can do. Some background to the story first as I think it shows the power of being a Twitter Teacher on developing our practice and ideas.
I have always been interested in using technology in my teaching; I have been making student films for years, but last year I started to explore the potential of the Web with my students. I started with a 12 week website design project http://www.ilearnatstgeorges.tumblr.com I lifted the idea from an ICT teacher (Soren Hawes @tallislab ) at Thomas Tallis school in London www.tallislab.com . His online tutorials allowed me to learn how to use programmes like http://www.Weebly.com and http://www.Tumblr.com He also introduced me to a fun animation website called Xtranormal. My students did some great work and I was hooked into the concept of Web based teaching.
One significant development from the project, was my desire to use Blogging as a teaching tool for me to organise my course. During the website project, I began to use Tumblr to publish lesson plans, attempt some flipped classroom ideas, show off student work etc… I saw potential.
Since the start of this academic year my use of Web based teaching tools has significantly expanded. Most significantly I started to use the Twitter account I set-up 2 years previous. I started to follow education blogs and to my surprise I found some interesting things. I felt inspired to link my blogging to Twitter and started to Tweet myself. I hooked into Hashtags like #ukedchat and #edchat and found the flow of teaching philosophy inspiring… addictive!
In December 2012 I attended an InSET in Malaga with Peter Ford @peterford (www.notosh.com) He led us through an really interesting and dynamic day of Design Based Thinking combined with the well reasoned ideas for the use of ICT in our teaching. I got his message and went into overdrive. Twitter became even more important. This InSET also brought me into contact with another teacher from our school group – Mike Henderson @hendersonm_ict (Sevilla) He seemed to get the message as well and we set off to start a minor revolution within our schools. Could two teachers inspire others to up their ante and begin to share their teaching ideas.
Mike and I starting Tweeting away. We got a few colleagues to join…but we couldn’t quite make the rapid progress we wanted… that was until mid February and another InSET in Malaga, where neither Mike or I attended, but a certain Darren Gibbs @mrgibbenglish from Madrid did!
Darren is an inspiring and super enthusiastic individual. He is passionate about his subject, English, and he is using Web based programmes with incredible success and imagination, in his classroom. He is also someone who had got into the Teachmeet scene in Britain before he relocated to Spain. I got wind of his presence from a colleague who had attended the InSET. She said the day wasn’t that good apart from the bit at the end where Darren took over and started showing everyone what he was doing with computers in his classroom!
From that InSET Darren decided that he wanted to act upon the energy he had inspired and told everyone that they could all start sharing ideas via a Wiki-page… he instantly set one up and invited everyone he had met. Once I heard of this move, I was onto him like a flash…
“Hi Darren,” read the email, “I am Dave Fletcher from Malaga. I am an SEN Teacher here. I hear you are setting up a Wikipage. Can I join? Also, can I introduce you to Mike in Sevilla…”
Thankfully Darren was a true gent and immediately engaged Mike and I. Us three then set off on building the Wiki-page with some resources. Mike added reams of web-links and ideas and it was going very well… but still interest wasn’t hotting up.
In April 2013 Phil Whitehead @PhilWhitehead5 came to Spain to give an InSET session. Phil is head of the CPD/InSET programme with our school group. Before he arrived I decided to tip him off about our little wiki-page and Twitter work #stgeorgescpd – Luckily, Mike was also attending the training and he worked his magic on Phil… by the end of the one day course, Mike had published all the CPD notes on the Wiki website… and suddenly, there was interest… suddenly, teachers wanted to know about the wiki because their was something they need to see.
In May 2013, Darren Gibb pulled another masterstroke… he suggested the idea of Teachmeets to our Director our here in Spain. I think, much to his surprise, the idea was welcomed with open arms… infact it has been welcomed, celebrated and totally given 100% support. Mike, Darren and I met face-2-face for the first time last week… and we developed some excellent ideas on how we could take the teachmeet ideas forward. Our proposals have been welcomed once again with enthusiasm and we are due to meet again in the next few weeks.
We have a real sense that something special is happening, something alternative, something fresh… and do you know what… Twitter has played a significant part in bringing energy and belief to my work. There is a sense of nothing should stop this revolution… if you can call it that! In addition to this, it is obvious to me that Twitter has fuelled many other teachers to be inspired by Teachmeets, web based teaching and a load more things!
Very often I’m asked for advice from teachers applying for jobs, either colleagues or friends. Each person’s context is unique to them but the messages are usually the same so I thought I would share them. As a Headteacher, getting the right people into the right roles within my school is one of the most important things I do. Over the years I’ve conducted hundreds of interviews and probably read thousands of application forms. In my career I’ve also applied for plenty of jobs myself, both as an external and an internal candidate…with only partial success. I’ve had my share of rejections, been ‘pipped to the post’ a few times (so they said) and these knock-backs have always taught me something. So, taking what I’ve learned from both sides of the interview table, here is my guide to getting a job that you really want.
This is really a collection of ideas that I have stolen and borrowed to help me develop my questioning techniques. At the moment, apart from my initial lesson question, my questioning is unplanned and on the spot; more of a discussion tool, not a thinking and learning strategy.
I have used the no No Hands Up technique, but my use is sporadic and inconsistent. This video shows how one teacher used it in combination with well researched class profiling, so that he was able to target and tailor questions to push his student’s learning.
The next video offers advice on Extended Abstract Questioning – Some superb advice.
This blog post is intended to highlight the urgent need for education to start teaching young people about responsible and critical use of social media, especially twitter. It is also reflection upon a PSHE lesson I led in which I posed the following question to a group of Year 9 students:
Should Twitter be censored? Discuss – Case Study – The Boston Bomb
As I watched the events of the Boston Bombing unfold on Twitter, I felt a strange awe at the immediacy of the updates. What appeared on my Tweetdeck or Flipboard would emerge on the radio or tv 10-15 minutes later. The immensity of a terrorist attack in the USA, coupled with the thousands of Smartphone users at the Marathon finish line, led to a quantity of uploads that I would guess, had never been seen before. The images and film clips that were being uploaded were in the most, arriving unedited; their rawness at times shocking; their reality intense.
The strongest examples of this have to the awful photo of severely injured man, whose legs had been blown off, being wheeled off in a wheelchair, and a two minute film posted by the Boston Globe, that took you directly into the disaster zone; provided a haunting soundtrack of silent shock, interspersed with shouts from rescue services; security barriers being dragged across the road to allow access; the cameraman repeating the words “Oh my God… Oh my God…” .
These images and films received thousands of retweets, and were joined by numerous others… and I finally realised that our World had changed… we were able to watch events unfold unedited by news media and we were now in a front row (our noses pressed against the screen) position to observe and interact with a images, sound and testimonies.
Although I looked at these images and videos I began to realise that I was being given access to images and film that didn’t have any respect or thought of the victims and their families. The moral codes of privacy for those suffering were totally removed. In general, the mainstream media has become the same, that said, I did notice mainstream media outlets not reposting the images in their original form.
Amatur photographers or, equipped with Smartphones are not like professional photographers… and their choices of what to publicise and what not to publicise are different.
The following days witness many more uploads and all sorts of amatur theories about who could be the bombers… much of these theories were derived from photos and crowd sourced onto websites like Redit… They were amateurish but seemed to have aspects that made sense. In some cases they were stereotypically xenophobic targeting anyone in the crowd shot who appeared to be of an arabic islamic heritage. In one such case, The New York Post published the photos of two men who had been highlighted on Twitter as been super suspicious… 24 hours later this massive media paper was issuing apologies because the FBI had finally gone public with who they felt were the prime suspects!!!
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PSHE Class
It was on this morning, the Friday morning, that I presented my Twitter debate lesson to my class. I wanted to see what these young minds felt about the free publishing of material onto Twitter. I started the class with a vote.
“Stand on that side of the classroom if you think Twitter should be censored… and that side if you think it shouldn’t.”
19 of the 20 students agreed with freedom of speech and expression…
I then presented to the class the timeline of images and film that I had witnessed in the preceding days. I showed the blood pictures (edited) and haunting film…. I showed the Who Dun It theories… I showed them the mistaken identity photo of a victim who could not have possibly been involved in the incident because she had been tragically killed months previous!
To my students credit, they watched and responding with maturity and intelligence. They were moved as I was. Half way through my class I questioned the wisdom of risk I was taking – there was something crazy about seeing the images so big on a whiteboard. That said we continued and brought the class to an end by showing them the live twitter feed coming out of Boston… the feed that included the madness of the city lock-down.
We finished with a repeat vote…
“Stand on that side of the room if you….”
Things had changed…
5 students felt Twitter needed some control… they suggested a referral button where you could ask for images to be reviewed for their appropriateness…
2 students couldn’t decide
13 students wanted to keep it free… BUT they stressed the responsibility of users to think before they post, to question what they saw and to be selective… finally, do not look if you do not want to see.
The opinions of the children were excellent. I feel I had got them to be questioning users of Twitter and the internet.
At my school we get 10 days holiday for Easter, not the wonderful 2 weeks you get back in the UK – that said, the school year ends in June… so 2 months for summer is a significant compensation! We also miss out on half terms, with the occasional long weekend as substitution. Actually, the whole system of holidays out here is a confusion; there are special Saint’s Days, Constitution Days, 3 Kings Days, Local Fiestas…
The Throne carried by at least 60 – 70 men.
Living through Easter here is something special. The festival has much greater significance for society and the streets are full of life as local churches show their respect to Christ and his mother The Virgin Mary via the community show of faith through late night Processionsof Thrones. In each Procession there are normally two thrones. The Thrones are huge wooden platforms that carry ornate statues depicting the story of Jesus’ crucifixion or a representation of the Virgin Mary. Under the platform, large beams of wood are placed so that the local men can carry and parade the heavy sculptures around their town and back to their church.
Accompanying the thrones, are a pageant of local dignitaries, women dressed elegantly in black, children carrying candles, priests swinging incense, the local brass band and procession guides wearing long pointed, full face covering hats and robes… In all, a feast of theater enhanced by the devotion and respect of the local people, including some who feel inspired to sing a haunting and passionate saeta to the Virgin, or walk barefooted behind the Thrones.
Easter here, is not a festival of chocolate. It is a week long celebration of Christian Catholic faith that culminates in a Good Friday (Vienes Santo) funeral where silence and mourning replace the the musical processions of the previous days. Sunday morning sees the grief replaced with hope, as the processions celebrate the rebirth, reincarnation of Christ.
All in all, the week is a cathartic expression of community, long lost from the cities, towns and villages of the UK. Here young and old join the remembrance. I will never forget watching one local band that accompanied a procession. They all had the appearance of the local chavs… eyes were bloodshot… hair styles more gangster rap… their uniforms, smart, but accompanied by Burberry Scarves… AND still they played the most beautiful and appropriate music. They showed dedication to their families, their faith and their community.
Semana Santa rocks here. If you ever have the chance, book a cheep flight down to Malaga and see the street processions. Your jaws will drop and you will feel invigorated by beauty and wonder of Spain.
Labels! Acronyms! The blight of education! Seriously… a colleague of mine once wrote his retirement speech about the epidemic of acronyms that he had encountered in his final years.. ironic that he was head of an A.C.E. Department!
Ready to Canoe
Now the knack with acronyms is know what they mean! So:
A.C.E. – Alternative Curriculum Experience
N.E.E.T – Not in Education, Employment or Training
B.E.S.D – Behavoural, Emotional and Social Difficulties
Labeling young people with SEN (Special Educational Needs) categorizations of BESD or ADHD immediately changes how people perceive the individual. The label can obscure the individual; it can limit the expectations of staff and the student; it can dis-empower. On the other hand, there are occasions when the identification of SEN can offer an empowering answer to a perplexing problem that had destroyed the confidence of the child and his/her family. For example, an ADHD identifiction can change lives when a family begins to understand that their son ‘misbehaves’ for reasons beyond his will-powers control.
During this blog it’s enough for you to know, that I going to show you some of the activities I used to reengage students who were at risk of exclusion from school, and were on the SEN Register predominantly for BESD. Some were ADHD and others NEET!
Anyway, enough of these ‘Health Warnings’, lets get on with the Teaching and Learning (T&L!) 🙂
HIGH ROPES witha big dollop of EMOTIONAL LITERACY
This video was taken during a High Ropes outdoor adventure activity. It forms one activity of 12 weekly half day challenges. It shows a group of six 15 year old boys; all under achieving; all having too many behavioural problems at school; on the way to permanent exclusion and ‘NEETdom’.
High Ropes takes people out of their comfort zone. It is very safe (everyone has crash helmets, harnesses, ropes… etc) and a qualified instructor is present. There are a variety of challenges for the boys… each slightly more demanding than the other. When working with heights (like climbing or abseiling) you have to aware that each person has a different threshold of fear.
The fear is useful as a teacher, because it gives you something to focus everyone on. It allows everyone to recognised a shared feeling; to empathise. It allows you behind the tough facades of the teenage boys, and straight to the raw emotion of coping when stress levels are high. The normal reaction for the boys when stressed, is to get aggressive, or run away (slamming doors and telling the World to F**k Off) . In the context of High Ropes, their reactions are totally different. No false bravado here. Genuine emotion.
It is vital that you create an atmosphere of support and mutual respect within the group. This is easily done, by getting individuals to encourage each other whilst they are in the middle of activity. You see in the video, a teacher telling a student to this. I make a point of getting the students to reflect upon their emotions and actions in this activity. They learn a great deal about expressing emotion and empathy… they just need reminding that this is what their learning.
The final super, mega, positive outcome from this session, is seeing individuals overcome real fear; doing things their mind was screaming they couldn’t do. In the film you see a boy called Ashley at the top of a tree full of fear because psychologically the thought of leaping for a trapeze bar 1 meter away, is too over-whelming. The whole group knew what he was feeling and were desperate for him to successfully jump. When he finally lept, and easily made the trapeze, his whole personality changed. He had faced the fear and done it anyway. Everyone recognised his achievement and appreciated its significance to Ashley… and the group.
Back in school, Ashley’s behaviour changed. He learnt a great deal about himself. He witnessed others taking an interest in his well being and success. He united with our project work and we were able to use the memories of the trapeze to get him to overcome other challenges. The film was show to parents and teachers in an end of course show… Ashley said a few words about his day. You could see him grow from within as the audience applauded him and his comrades. 🙂
OUTDOOR ADVENTUROUS ACTIVITIES (OAA)
The High Ropes was one of 12 sessions with this group. The model of working with 6 students for a period of a term works very well and provides the maximum impact. Below are examples of the weekly sessions. We did them in different orders, but I always liked the walk, and low ropes early on. Having a wide range of problem solving activities up your sleeve helps a lot. Walking for walkins sake is fine… but take a few blindfolds with you, and then you have a team building trust session.
The programme:
Introduction – Initial self-evaluation and ice breaker activities.
Indoor Climbing
Adventure Walk
Low Ropes Team Challenge
Canadian Canoeing
Pool Canoeing
Orienteering
Mountain Biking
Raft Building
Rock Climbing
Orienteering
High Ropes
Abseiling
Numerous Problem Solving Activities
Final self-evaluation
Formal Presentation to parents and invited guests.
All sessions include a reflective diary and personal target setting. Photographs and films are very important to get. They allow you transport the learning from the venues, back into school and into the young people’s lives.
It has been a couple of years since I ran Adventure Education… in my day the use of a film with a PowerPoint was considered state of the art. If I was doing this project now, I would have the students blogging throughout the project. They would have the skills to create webpages, upload edited film, embed slideshows of pictures… etc…
ALN Teaching - iLearning 