Challenging perceptions

There is no denying the fact that teachers have a powerful influence on their students. Teachers by and large operate with a great spirit of generosity towards their students and their colleagues. We are a profession that not only cares about the mind but the whole person. This notion was what attracted me to the profession in the first place and I have known many a good teacher who has lived up to these expectations.

Expectations are the things that can drive us but they can also hold us back. I was recently reminded of this when listening to a short talk by Dan Haesler at the Central Coast Teach Meet. The expectations we have of students can really influence their success. 

It is easy to get so distracted when you are in the business of lesson preparation and marking and slowly you slog through the massive amounts of information and content we need to get through in our lessons that we forget sometimes to take a shift in our minds and make sure our students are extended and challenged. Mixed ability classes in some ways are easier to do this because the stronger students in the class can help and model to those who are struggling. However the fact remains that just getting them through is not good enough. Each student is unique and different and because we are professionals and we need to continue to maintain individual learning outcomes to cater for all needs.

There has been much criticism off late of our profession however these stereotypes lack the full picture of the profession and the lives that have been changed because of the influence of one teacher who saw something in a student and dared to challenge a perception and in turn, changed a life.

I was so encouraged by all the presenters and those who attended the first Central Coast Teach Meet that I felt excited by the wonderful things that are happening in our schools and TAFE colleges on the Central Coast.

Perceptions can change and with time, one person can make a difference.

Until next week,
K

What is driving teacher quality?

There has been much research and chatter on social media about what it takes to be a quality teacher. We are a society that is driven by quantitative information and access to reliable data that may indicate the education standard of our children and young people. A study in 2011 by  team of researchers from the University of Western Sydney has spent more than two years finding out, as part of a study into how teachers can boost students' opportunities for success.

"The teachers they looked at were creative in the classroom. They saw no limits to what their students could learn or how much they could achieve, and believed teaching was most effective when it related to students' interests and experiences." (SMH, 14/06/11)

This particular study looked at students from disadvantaged backgrounds and the impact quality teaching had on these students. I don't think it really matters where a quality teacher is working the fundamentals remain the same. Creative, innovative, experienced and confident teachers that are able to connect and engage with students seems to be the qualities that stand out. There is no doubt that teachers have an enormous influence on young people and there influence will often be life long. 

Education lecturer Joanne Orlando also adds from the study that the teachers involved in the research worked hard to instill in their students a desire to learn and succeed, and ''were so passionate about learning, it was catching''.

The teachers were also flexible, offering variety in their lessons and tailoring lessons to suit the students' progress and abilities. Children might choose what materials they worked with, where they sat, or tackle hands-on lessons.

''The children in their classes told us how happy they were, how much they were learning, they showed lots of confidence in their problem solving and learning new things independently,'' Dr Orlando said.

Image by iqoncept @ bigstockphotos.com

What I find enormously encouraging from this statement is the passion and love of learning that is sparked by the teacher and flows onto the student. It is very easy in the business of life to lose site of the excitement and enjoyment we feel when we learn and it is so important that we model this to our students. On the last lesson of one of the courses I taught on last term we finished with some creative writing. We completed a number of activities and finished with a final creative writing piece. So moved we were by the range of interesting responses within the class we all were all silent for about 1 min as we took in the shared creative time we had just shared. It is these moments that helps drive my passion for learning when students rise above there own expectations and share in a moment of pure joy and expression of who they are and we could share in how far they have come on their learning journey. 

 I hope my own professional learning journey will continue for many years to come. I still get excited when I learn something new from colleagues, students, family, my kids, friends,  life or social media friends. I love reading and exploring new ideas and love to have conversation about many different topics in life. I get a buzz out of learning and I strive to help my students to also seek to find enjoyment and satisfaction from learning. 

Image by Raywoo @ Bigstock photos.com

So as part of my learning journey I want to meet up with other professionals who also share my passion. It's very easy to be insular and isolated when you are in your classroom and you just have your students and you flow in and out of the staff room and classroom each and every day. I have realised it is so important to be encouraged and connected with other teachers and professionals. I have enjoyed my teaching more because the sharing has been so rich. I do hope I can meet and connect with many teachers at Central Coast Teach Meet and continue to share with others the passion I hold so dearly.

It is an enormous privilege to be a teacher and I feel humbled by the many opportunities that have been granted to me during my life. If you are a Central Coast Teacher then please join us on the 26th July for Central Coast Teach Meet and share the wonderful things that have been happening in your classrooms. 

Favorite sites for the week:

iObservations

A Beginner’s Guide to Creating iPhone Videos for the Virtual Classroom

Online video tutorials & training

Until next week,

K

Can you keep up with technology?

Image by smikeymikey1 at Big Stock Photos

I don't know about you but there have been some days lately when I wish I had another 5 hours in the day. Whilst we all appear to be screaming down the fast lane of life there is no reason why we can't enjoy the ride. For some people technology is a drag and something that is time consuming and unimportant but I find it fun and refreshing because there is always something new. Today I attended a professional development course to learn how to use the video editing software Adobe Premier Elements 11 and I sat next to a teacher librarian from a rural public school. He has only three years to go until retirement and he is totally immersed in technology. He teaches and encourages his students to be creative and play with technology and to use it to laugh and have fun. He is enthusiastic about his students even after 37 years of teaching and I was totally inspired by his attitude. 

Having spoken with quite a lot of teachers over the past few years face to face and via social media there seems to be 3 common themes that seem to be emerging for me out of these conversations. 

1. You need to use the tools you learn. You build upon skills as each new technology comes out and you adapt and develop the skills. 

2. It's OK to make mistakes. The great thing about computers and apps is that it's very hard to break them. (Unless of course your 7 year old comes out of his room with his doona over his head pretending to be a ghost and knocks your laptop off the table and smashes the screen!!) It's really important to play with new technology. There have been times when I have had students try and use technology and it has been more of a hindrance rather than a help. You have to be flexible enough to know when to quit and try something else. Shared learning experiences between teachers and students is beneficial both ways.  

3. There is a desire to share that has arisen through access to technology and the internet and classrooms are no longer isolated and insular but are part of a greater more global education community.  There will always be someone who takes your ideas and try to claim them as their own. Unfortunately that is the world we live in. The wonderful thing with social media and Professional Learning Networks that has arisen from social media is that there is a lot of sharing and giving of ideas and resources that comes from a selfless attitude and desire to help all students. As a profession teachers have always been generous with their time, intellectual property and experience and this is why teachers in their thousands are joining social media at a fast and growing rate. 

Image by PixelsAway at Big Stock Photos

So the question begs, can you keep up with technology? I think you can. You don't to spend a lot of money on gadgets and things to stay abreast of what is happening with technology and education in Australia and around the world. There are so many free education sites and apps that you would be hard pressed to say it's too hard to find out what's going on with education. We may be a big island in the ocean but Australia is far from isolated in terms of pushing quality teaching and learning. 

Teachers have been getting a rather bad wrap lately but if you look at the wealth and success of the banking industry, mining and tourism industries to name a few we are leading the world in these sectors and driving change and innovation. Our education system has a large part to play in this as the majority of the work force is made up of Australians who have been educated in Australia. We are no dummies and we are hard workers and through dedicated teachers and their desire to engage students in learning we need to celebrate those who drive and strive to adapt and use technology in their classrooms to teach, learn and skill the next generation. 

Image by PixelsAway at Big Stock Photos

For thousands of years teachers have taught students how to instruct, persuade, engage, inform and entertain
those they are communicating with using a variety of methods and skills and this technology generation is no different. After today's post PD thinking I have come to realise that it doesn't matter how old you are but whether or not you have the right attitude to learn and adapt to new technology. Yet again I come home from a Professional Development day fired in the belly to be creative and give my students the tools they need to be life long learners. Technology changes are fast and ever changing and I try and keep up one app, one piece of software or hardware at a time. You don't have to use everything but it never hurts to give it a go. 

Until next week,
K

Time to be bold and courageous

After a few really hard few weeks I feel I have climbed a mountain and am sitting at the top enjoying a brief moment with the wind in my hair and the crisp air filling my lungs before I trek down the mountain again. I have been so thrilled this week with the standard of work that has been handed to me and I am filled with goosebumps and butterflies for my students as they hand in their final assessments for their courses. I love this time of term when you can see such growth in their learning and I love the new confidence many of them have as a result of studying at TAFE for 6 or 12 months. For some it has been a life changing event and I am so grateful to have shared in their journey. 

Image by ABC radio

On Wednesday night I had the pleasure of attending the Central Coast Friends Association mid year dinner with guest speaker Dr Michael Davey. He was one of the best speakers I have heard in a long time and I could have listened to him for hours. He had the audience in the palm of his hand and inspired us with stories about his life and his teaching experiences. He has written a wonderful book, Journey of Hope that I purchased on the night and hope to read in the coming weeks. It is his life story that highlights his harsh and horrible life in foster homes and then living in a violent family to his incredible life journey as an adult. I came away from the night truly inspired. 

It was during the night I was able to connect with some teachers and educators that were really excited and encouraged about my plans to organise Teach Meet. I was so encouraged and realised that in order to make it happen I need to bold and courageous. I need to make connections and build networks and share my love of learning with others who are like minded. I know there are many teachers out there who also share my love of teaching and passion for learning and I seek to connect and join with them. I have been crippled by the fear of failure in the past but in order to move forward I must be bold and courageous in my attempt to make it happen. 

In the last few weeks my work opportunities have opened up and I'll let you in on them in the coming weeks. A few weeks ago I was a guest presenter on an online course with the Western Institute of TAFE and it was my great pleasure to share with them how I use technology to engage my students in learning. I really enjoy presenting in an online capacity and would really like to do more of this. 

My cup is overflowing with the wonderful blessings God has passed my way and I am very grateful for the life I have. I thank all my wonderful colleagues and friends who encourage me to write on my blog and I hope many of them will come to Teach Meet or help promote it those who can make it. 

Favorite sites for the week:

Coach's Eye- annotate live video. Cool tool

Australia's Business Women Network

5 Awesome web tools to create awesome digital newspapers for your class

What a great week. Until next week,

K

Sharing, A spirit of generosity

There are many things that I love about teaching but one of them is this great spirit of generosity that many teachers possess and they feel they can share their experience and their resources with others. I am pleased to announce the inaugural Central Coast TeachMeet  that will take place on Friday night 26th July. 

Last year I blogged about the first Teach Meet I attended in Sydney. It was the first Teach Meet in Australia and it was amazing. There were many teachers who gave of their time to share what had been happening in their classrooms and schools and encourage other teachers to use their ideas and develop them further. There was not a sniff of snotty intellectualism that sometimes pervades our professional but a shared love of learning and encouraging students to develop in their creativity, confidence and skills. There was a great representation from both the private and the public sector. No wonder it has taken off throughout the rest of the country. I really hope this will be a wonderful night of sharing and celebration of Central Coast teachers and students. 

I am looking for teachers who would like to share a 2 min or 7 min presentation on a topic of their choice.It doesn't have to be how you are using technology in your classroom, it could be how a particular technique you used helped students or how do you help students cope with the fear of failure. You might like to tell us about an event that your school hosted or participated in.

 I am hoping to advertise this event widely but will need the help of all my social media friends and colleagues. I do hope this becomes a buzz event for the Central Coast as we seek to provide quality educational opportunities for the young people of the Central Coast. 

I am very excited about this night and I hope I won't be the only one there. Central Coast Teachers have a lot to give and share and I hope it will be a wonderful night. 

Please contact me if you would like to come or share something that is happening in your Tafe, uni or school classroom:

Kathryn.mcgilvray@tafensw.edu.au

Register for Central Coast Teach Meet

Until next week,
K

When learning becomes reciprocal

I have to admit over the last few weeks I have been a little down and flat. Which is not like me at all. I don't usually let the stress of work and life get to me but I think some busy stuff just caught up with me. Since Thursday I feel a return to my usual up beat normal self with fresh glasses on it's time to reflect upon what's been going on in the last few weeks.

I was so excited for my students last term when sat their major exam and they received some fantastic marks. I felt so pleased for them and considering this was the first time that I had taught on the course I was stoked that they did so well. Often when the students are stressed it is easy to to feel stressed to. It's sad that many students don't return after the Term 1 holidays and you feel a sense of failure but I have come to realise that people for many reasons can't cope with study and the stress of it or there are things that change in their lives  or have gained employment and may come back at another time. I can't let these things get me down for too long. It's the nature of the students at Tafe and adult learners. Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and your path is no longer straight and you have to get there another way.

Last term was a steep learning curve as I was course coordinator for the first time, teaching on three courses I had not taught on before and training and maintaining the Moodle site I built for the section. It was rich in experience and I am learning more about people and how to encourage and support adult learners from vast and varied backgrounds and ages. Each day is so different and I am often inspired by my students. Our students are not empty vessels and one student in my Cert IV course gave a me a great tip she came up with herself when writing a paragraph in an essay. She remembers:

Some students like concrete rules to help remember how to write different texts and I wanted to share this great idea in case you also might have students who like structure and rules. 

One of the great things about teaching for me is the generosity in sharing. I love it when I can learn something from my students and that in turn will help others. So many times they surprise us and I look to the wins when I feel down. 

A couple of week ago on #ozengchat on Twitter we had a fantastic chat with Jen Curwood-Scott about YA fiction. This genre is changing and challenging and I love the vibrancy that young people give to YA fiction and drive the genre because of their love of reading.

I am moving ahead with my plans for the first ever Central Coast TeachMeet and I think I have a venue. They are offering the centre free but will keep you posted until next week. Waiting on confirmation. Have also applied to do an Adobe Premier Elements course and am waiting to hear if I got in. Seems like a great elearning tool. My wonderful hubbie and kids gave my a Wacom Bamboo tablet for Mother's Day and I am having a lot of fun playing around with that. Have my L plates on and not ready to take it to the class room just yet. Another week or two and I'll give it a try. 

Another busy we ahead but one full of new and rich experiences. 

Until next week,

K

   

Money, money, money.. = success?

There has been a lot of hype, twitter chatter and many bloggers writing about the Gonski reforms and the impact they will have on students. There has been an explosion of commentating on the fact that universities are facing a $2 billion funding cut. There seems to be very little evidence on exactly what this money will practically look like. So how can we measure improvement apart from Naplan? If we throw bucket loads of money at childhood education will that mean they will be creating smarter and more capable adults that are able to contribute to society in a meaningful way? I'm not sure that the success of students now can be measured as they become adults and contributing members of society or should I say contributing future tax payers. It seems to me that highly skilled teachers will go a long way to helping students success and that cutting funding to higher education seems to be a kick in the knees in solve the problem.

Dan Haesler suggests,

"How do you suppose we train these better  teachers if we starve the universities of cash?

Maybe we could just put an instructional video up on YouTube. That should do it. That’s 21st Century teaching after all isn’t it?

We want better teachers! Pfft.

We need better politicians!"

Education should be viewed in a holistic way. There still needs to be affordable adult education for those students who fall through the cracks at school. Cutting Tafe funding was already going to make it difficult for the adult education industry but cutting university funding is also just as problematic. University fees also can't be so high that students will struggle to pay them back or be so high they can't afford to complete the degree they require to be part of the skilled workforce that we all aspire to.  This system seems so broken it's a wonder it can ever be fixed. With all the money that is being thrown around I really wonder if at a grass roots level that it will make a difference? Only time will tell. 

Blogs and conversations are important in the debate and silence on the issue doesn't help robust debate. If politicians want to hear what teachers think then we need to get out in social media and in the face of people who are making these decisions. There are many people in society who do support the work of teachers and it is important that we advocate for our students and our profession. 

So whether or not you support Gonski it remains to be seen if lots of money will fix a broken system and students really are better prepared to be contributing members of society when they reach adulthood.  

A mid week blog..

Until Saturday,

K