Thoughtful material

As with any material that makes you think, information was provided at yesterday's PD session that has the mind racing. In particular was the advice (not directive) to not publish anything online that might criticise your employer.

This was of particular interest to me as this blog forms an important part of my teacher reflection and I do comment on public figures from time to time (Julia et al.) who is my indirect employer (being a part of government) and DET who is my immediate employer. Much of it is tongue in cheek - but hopefully constructive criticism and investigation of topical issues.

I strongly agree with the presenter that information needs to be anonymised and any reference to an individual student on this blog is an idealised representation of students gained through day to day interaction (no student mentioned on here actually exists, although the situations may have occurred in some form)... and that has always been on purpose.. similarly there are no direct quotes from named individual staff... nor is my school disclosed (although if you know me, you could probably figure it out - which is ok - as you would know where I work anyway).

Although information suppression was not the intent of the PD yesterday, the inferred blanket ban on comments from teachers about schooling is a problem as it suppresses idea development and gives the impression to the public that teachers are not inclusive and won't interact with the community to better serve. This ivory tower where schooling is only discussed in the school is not right. It is interesting to see the public encouragement of involvement with the community yet the blanket that is put around what appropriate involvement is.

Teachers are professionals and have a responsibility to develop the concept of schooling with the community. It is interesting to see schools responses to Web 2.0 technologies like Facebook and mySpace. As stated in earlier articles, I believe direct communication between teachers and student via this mechanism (at present) is inappropriate, fraught with danger and misadventure, but to distance ourselves from it is to create another disconnect with our students in addition to the emotional and physical disconnects that currently exist. To ignore it is to limit our ability to monitor cyber-bullying and create situations where students are put at risk (as students quickly recognise unmonitored resources that can be abused).

With open internet based resources available, teaching has an opportunity to widen it's ability to communicate and interact more with parents, past students and community organisations to improve the behaviour and intellectual output of students.

I think this is one of those issues that needs further investigation.

PfD day

The first Pupil Free Day worth going to. No PD of limited value, just an information session, an examination of needs of the school, some solution sessions and some planning time. Someone did a lot of work to make it come together. Yay!

Games for educators website

Came across this link in my travels - a site about games for educators. Also has a regular podcast.

Though not specifically for educators, this one by Tom Vasel isn't too bad either.

Updated 18/10/09: Fixed link!

Board game tragic

Ok, I admit it.. I'm a board game tragic.  During the week I bought Space Hulk, a game I remember from my youth.. It was a game I could never afford, so when it was re-released I picked up a copy.  Reliving your youth.. that's kinda cool....

Then I started playing and became addicted.

Then I bought paint, brushes, turps, primer and then started painting all of the miniatures... and the worst thing is that I've been enjoying it.  What the hell is wrong with me????  Is it curable?

Anyhow, here are some links that lead towards the hobby:
Games Workshop
Board Game Geek
Painting Guide

It leads me to think, if I'm enjoying it (and I'm just a big kid).. could students enjoy it too.  I've been looking at creating after school programmes that could teach students (particularly boys) collaboration, return for effort, work ethic, respect.. Get kids to enjoy school and gain some leverage to encourage them to perform.. These are what I've come up with so far..

Yr 11 mathematics summer school (very successful 5 days during 2008/9 school holidays)
Yr 9 games design workshop (2008 board game/computer programming club for boys)
Yr 8-10 computer game programming in Java (still to run)
Yr 8-10 Warhammer 40k club (miniatures gaming, still to run)

Importance of community support in teaching

It's easy to become jaded in teaching. You see it everyday. Yet there are those that stay fresh year in year out. I believe I'm discovering their secret.

About two weeks ago, I said a short piece at the local parish about my teaching experiences during mass. Since then I have had about a dozen people come up and say how much they enjoyed the discussion. The talk focused on the successes in my teaching career. There was an aspect of respect in their voices when I discussed how we sought to improve the lives of the kids. It's been energising.

Today, some friends came back from Jakarta and we discussed again some of my teaching experiences this time with a more cynical tone. This time the discussion was more about the practical and self preservation aspect of teaching. The compromises that get made to ensure that teachers make it to the end of term. The times where you made practical decisions rather than the idealistic ones that I'm more known for. In this instance I felt deflated and the teaching profession looked more like a defeated organisation.

I realised afterwards that practicality be damned, I prefer seeking the idealistic path, as taking the practical path means that I accept the compromises that it requires. So, it takes an extra couple of hours out of each day to teach the way I like to teach. To compromise is to denigrate the profession we seek to promote and ultimately to lose face in the public's eye when we fail students (even if they don't appreciate/want/are resistant to the attention and effort that promotes their successes).

..and that's the need for public recognition of contributions by teachers - if nobody values or cares for the effort of our teachers, teachers don't know that the effort we put into students is recognised (or even required), whether the outcomes are worth seeking and the perseverance of improvement worth pursuing.

Interference in Teaching

University 4 year degree, WACOT, WWC, Federal police clearance, Curriculum Council and NCOS, National curriculum, ACARA & league tables, Scope and Sequence documents, moderation, compulsory PD, A-E exemplars, Independent schools, union politics,  DET's squillion policies on everything and now a national teacher standards body (Gees thanks Julia!).

Can we possibly put more bureaucracy and BS between teachers and students?

Yes we can!

Happiness and the mall.

Today I was walking down the mall, baby and wife in tow.  It was a lovely day, baby was gurgling and we had just had a nice lunch in DJ's.  The counterpoint to all this sappy contentedness was the hordes of unhappy people bustling around.  Frowns, heads down, generally needing to be somewhere else.

Sometimes I think we all need to take a look around and enjoy life a bit.  I suppose I have always been lucky, I have fallen into jobs that were fulfilling and challenging or alternatively sought ones that were - but they tended to be all consuming.  Things can change quickly - I had a discussion with the man who was installing something at our house and in discussion he said his daughter died of cancer at age 17.

That would be life stopping. I can't imagine thinking how I would be if that happened to Mackenzie.  It reminds you that we should try and enjoy every moment with our loved ones and seek to find ways of making best of what we have. 

The good times need to be cherished.

Race for the galaxy

If you're a fan of this game and haven't seen the free AI written by Keldon Jones - go and grab it, it's fantastic.

If you're not a fan - don't bother, free or not you won't understand the appeal until you've played the card game (which will do your head in until you get the game mechanic, then you'll obsess over it and wonder why you found it so hard at first).

The most impressive thing (besides the AI) is the UI, it's neat, functional and fast.  Yay!