Sunday, February 6, 2022
Programmes are not prescriptive
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
The true superheroes
Today we have Marvel leading the way in what it takes to be a person that does the right thing. The message is that you need special powers to do something that is not full of self interest or narcicism. It is not normal to participate in something that you don't gain material benefit from. After all, capitalism is the American way. Philanthropy is what you do when you can't possibly spend it all and cynically could be seen as "a look at me" event or publicity exercise, rather than actually doing good in the community.
Our culture is dominated by "the look at me" ideal, but it wasn't always so. The idea of giving as a pathway to fulfilment and happiness is known by the older generation. Looking at organisations such as Lions and Rotary, putting internal politics aside, both organisations have people in them that genuinely get pleasure from doing good in the community in which they live. I would put forward that these people are the real superheroes as they assist where there is no reason to assist, other than it is the right thing to do. There is no material benefit other than gratitude and a thank you.
Current generations have faced hardships: bushfires, high interest rates, climate change and now covid but have not faced war, high unemployment, famine - issues about safety, security, extreme poverty and basic needs in the way past generations have. Bringing together of a whole community has not been required in the same way as past generations.
There are some members of our community that have faced a loss of basic needs. These are some of the nicest people in our communities as they know what it is like to have very little and still see the good in the world.
It is important that our youth are encouraged to experience that community service is a path to a fulfilling adulthood and have authentic ways to engage with it. I do not in any way propose compulsory community service, but giving them access to those that are willing to serve, when they are ready to serve (through the armed forces or through local community organisations) is important to their growth - having opportunities and positive experiences that they can access when they are ready and continue into adulthood.
Without these positive role models, they may believe the hype that only those with super powers can do good. And it is simply not true at all.
Friday, January 21, 2022
MathFest 2022
MathFest 2022 is rapidly coming to an end. It's been quite a ride. My feet are hurting, my voice is gone, I might need some time to recuperate over the weekend. But.. has it been a success? I'll know for sure after surveys are in.
Initial signs are good. Four schools, sixty Methods students, anecdotal student responses is that they have loved it, even though it is five days during the holidays, in 40C heat with evap airconditioning, no internet due to a network upgrade, surrounded by building works, presenters dropping like flies due to covid fears, zero budget; yet there has been no student dropoff in attendance during the week. Developing together a concept aimed to increase engagement, retention and achievement of high level mathematics students in the northern corridor has had its challenges.
Comments like "this is awesome" and "thank you sir for this" from students mean a lot. Teachers commenting that students will "remember this" and "we'll be back next year with more" confirm that the idea is sound.
The volunteers that presented for the week are the pinnacle of what teaching is. People giving up their time, for highly engaged kids. No sign of the entitled youth we encounter during the year, engagement hasn't been extinguished through explicit instruction. We're doing it like it should be done.
Two 'big ideas' came out of MathFest 2022, "infotainment" and "unstruction". Infotainment was a mode of delivery that allowed presenters to ignore syllabus requirements during MathFest and travel with the interests of students. This freed presenters from assessment/course outlines and allowed them to flavour the course with topics, questions and interest areas such as historical elements, associated mathematics, delving deeper into key concepts than time would usually allow. Unstruction was freedom to work with students to enjoy learning rather than be instructed explicitly from a syllabus led schedule that needs to be taught.
Delving into the meta of learning helped students see the difference in learning vs instruction and empowered students to adapt and develop agility to shift thinking, rather than be fixed in their expectation (and engage in the blame game), when teaching style does not align directly with a student.
Presenters have been subject to getting WWC, vaccination records, medical issues, childcare for their own children, caring for sick family members, competing demands at the start of the school year, broken cars, covid fears, without funding for resources we take for granted during term. All with a smile.
Teachers have been designing investigations together, doing them with students, discussing resources, pedagogy, impediments to success, finding things that work.
We need to think beyond chalk and talk if we want to engage this generation and define what teaching needs to be. We need to embrace our responsibility that teaching goes beyond subject knowledge and into the realms of values education and what was parenting. We need to think laterally beyond the 40 week term.
The themes of consolidation, concept investigation and self development have permeated through the sessions. Community involvement through past students, volunteer teachers from across Perth, the local Duncraig Lions club volunteering time and resources, Curtin University involvement all have provided the example required to get students to think beyond themselves and know that they are valued and belong.
Students now have a responsibility to not only believe in themselves, achieve but also to inspire younger students, their teachers and the local community. They will do great things.
It's nice to be a part of it.
Monday, December 27, 2021
'Merit based' in DOE, permanency and retirement
Sunday, December 19, 2021
Boardgame update 2022
Each year I go through the successes in my boardgame collection with students at school. This will support the majority of students in a high school and most classes that I have introduced them to. If you were looking to set up a boardgame collection for a library or department, you wouldn't go far wrong.
None have a huge ruleset and can be self taught by most groups (other than the adult ones at the bottom).
Dexterity Games
* Rhino Hero
* Tumbling Dice
* Looping Louie
Hamsterrolle
Klask
Puzzle Games
* Blockus
* SET
Kaleioscope
Turing Tumble
Strategy
Connect4
* Santorini
For Sale
Social/Party
* Anomia
Murder in Hong Kong
* Spot it / Dobble
Spicy
Spyfall
** Crappy birthday
Uggtect
* Uno
Cooperative
* 5 Minute Marvel
Traditional Board/Card Games
Citadels
Ticket to ride
Elfenland
Games most played with adults in 2022
Gloomhaven
Darksouls
Warhammer Killteam
D&D
Imperial Assault
Indonesia
Space Hulk
Staff often ask me how I hear about games and where I get them from. Stand up and sit down on youtube is a great channel for board game information, as is the hottest list on boardgamegeek.com. Student favourites are marked with a *. The favourite by far marked with **.
Most games can be bought locally in Perth from Tactics or Gamesworld at a premium. Harder to find games can be found from Milsims.com.au in Melbourne, Amazon online or sometimes Gamesempire.com.au.
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Changes in 2022 and beyond in Upper School Mathematics
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Maths as a Mixed Martial art
Entering a Year 7 classroom can be quite daunting for a student. I'm reading a few dystopian dramas and imagined a parallel universe with traditional classes mixed with mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts - a child entering a high school classroom for the first time. It's all a bit dramatic but typical of my sense of humour.
“Jonny enters the Octagon being unable to count the sides, knowing
that he is about to take a beating. He
hasn’t done the work required to be at this level. Every previous outing he has failed. He seeks
to distract his opponent by avoiding work set, breaking the rules and getting
thrown out before his lack of competence can be identified and ridiculed. Against all odds he attempts to answer the
first question and it beats him to a pulp.”
“Mary enters the Octagon full of confidence. She struts around the room announcing to
everyone how this is too easy, she has the answer for every problem, being well
prepared through her summer programme and her University educated parents. She sees others in the room similarly
confident – is she really the best in the room anymore? Her confidence
falls. Her first answer is wrong and now
she is no longer the no.1 contender.”
“Harry walks into the Octagon. He has worked hard but never found the
success that warrants the work that he has put in. Every step forward is difficult and he envies
those that make it easy. He timidly lifts
his hand to give an answer. He is
ignored for a student that is actively seeking to give theirs. His answer is correct but nobody knows. He fails again.”
“Jill enters and listens to the instruction before the match. She has heard it all before and could recite
it before it is said. She drifts off and
starts thinking about fairies and unicorns.
The match starts, the test given and it is all over in a moment. She has defeated each question and can return
to the unicorns, with no idea of what she is capable of.”
“The teacher stands in the middle of the ring again as
referee, coach, mentor, instructor. Full
of enthusiasm at the start, waning over the course of the match as the level of
focus required and the challenges faced start to wear her down. Will she do a good job or will the
commentators attack her for not being all that is required?”
“The crowd stand on the edge of the ring, each encouraging
their contender despite all odds. Every parent
is different – some on phones watching Netflix, others actively denouncing the
referee despite all evidence, others taking notes of what needs to be done in
the next match, others confused unable to comprehend what is happening.”
In hindsight after writing this in the shoes of each participant, I realised learning should not be treated as a combat sport but often has elements of it. I think I traumatised some of my staff when I read it to them. We need to be mindful
of what we are expecting of students, making it into something that is wonderful to experience and not what is written above.
Friday, October 22, 2021
Long term improvement in Mathematics classes through an evidence based approach.
The health of a faculty can be measured in a number of ways:
- Student Behaviour
- Staff Morale
- Student Achievement / Student Progress
- Engagement
Measuring these is a complex and time consuming task.
- Student Behaviour (no. of behaviour reports)
- Staff and Community Perception (perception surveys, anecdotal evidence)
- Student Achievement / Student Progress (student class results, standardised testing)
- Engagement (student perception, participation rates, student success)
Each term, we focus on one of the measures and identify where focus areas are, possible measures for improvement and where success has been found. Currently we are working on engagement in classrooms. The chosen metric is success that a student is experiencing.
For instance, a class with an average of 50 under assessment conditions has half of the students in the class feeling unsuccessful as they have not been able to complete half of the assessment set. Given that 50% is a common indicator of where minimum performance is expected, it is a fair indicator that engagement rates are poor and/or declining.
To drive improvement and increase engagement, a target of 85% of students achieving at least 50% on assessment tasks was set for the team. Classes and teachers reaching this target were identified and then examined for practices that could be developed across the team.
Eyebrows were raised that such a high percentage was set as the target off a relatively low base. Students entering high school experience success in Year 7 & 8, as work becomes more difficult and adolescence in Year 9, engagement can fall if not attended to and then lead to Senior school where students are placed in courses doing work predominantly covered in Years 7-10 and engagement rates rise. Achievement of WACE is a siginificant motivator for staff and students given it is a highly monitored metric.
The forgotten middle is another area to target as often high achieving (and motivated) students and low ability students are given additional attention. Students at a C level are often banded together and reinforce average performance with lower expectations (and subsequent class averages) experienced. By encouraging higher levels of success (by increasing expectation and modifying grade cutoffs/assessment difficulty) it is hypothesized that higher overall achievement can be achieved (a concept at the heart of pathway grades in public schools).
Classes averages of 65, with SD of 12 indicate success levels commonly experienced in Methods and Specialist classes. Averages of 60 with SD of 10 indicate levels similar to Applications classes. Low SD indicate that assessments or instruction may be too narrow and skills based, pedagogy change may be required, wider may indicate that sections of the class require additional attention. Both cases may indicate that streaming processes need review.
Given 85% of students achieving passing grades is difficult to achieve, it requires attention at a student level, analysing individual student performance/underperformance, how it can be measured and how it can be improved. This can be done vs standardised testing or class averages longitudinally by teachers to identify students that require additional attention.
Where students experience legitimate, well explained succcess, senior school Mathematics participation, retention in courses and course achievement should improve. The cycle of improvement is long, with 5-7 years to see significant change in results and culture of achievement. Short term gains at a year or class level need to be celebrated to maintain the focus on improvement.