Random acts of kindness

I'm a bit of a schmultz when it comes to feel good movies.. we watched Evan almighty (and I appreciated the CGI and maths components of constructing the ark).. but more so it reminded me of the origin of my teaching career.

We don't do it for the money.

We don't do it for ourselves.

We don't do it even for the kids.

We do it because it is the right thing to do.

Each act of kindness, rough justice, happy word, stern word, direction, misdirection, care, truth, lie has the potential to make the world a better place. Who will each of our little wonders turn into to? How will they fit in the grander plan?

I try to live by my Nana's words - the gift is in the giving. If you take pleasure in giving, your next act can cure any ill feeling. Even in the final stages of Alzheimer's, my Nana can still brighten the room with a smile.

..and needless to say teaching is also kind of fun and has its moments.

EBA3, WA teachers' pay claim and DET

Trolling through the blog log I've noticed lots of searching for details on the new EBA. I'm not an expert but the best explanation that I've found (as we are still waiting on the union and DET detailed explanations) can be found here (again by Marko Vojkovic):
http://pub39.bravenet.com/forum/3280197123/show/720831 - sadly this forum is now closed (updated 1/8/2009)

The new proposal doesn't seem to live up to the hype in the newspapers or the video release by the union (about half way down the following hyperlink.. click on the unflattering picture of Anne Gisborne for nine minutes of monotone summary):
http://www.sstuwa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1075&Itemid=1

The net result seems to be at best a 1% increase and at worst a 2% decrease after inflation is applied with significant loss in conditions. It does not seem to be inline with Twomey recommendations. We shall await more detail.

Setting goalposts for students

Once upon a time, in a land underneath our feet, students went to school. At the end of year 10 they reached a certain standard and were given a certificate. Some left for apprenticeships others went straight into the workforce and others stayed in school seeking their yr12 certificate or university entry. Class grades were generated on class norms and students that did not meet generally accepted standards repeated the year or left school. There was pressure and release for low and high performing students. Teachers focused on doing the greatest good for the greatest number of students.

Students today are carried to year 12 by their teachers and generally no longer repeat if unable to complete content. Schools are encouraged, at all costs, to get students to yr 12 and get their graduation certificate. Graduation rates and average TEE results are released in newspapers for individual schools. Statewide grades are given without taking into account socioeconomic factors. Students are now facing the inability to chose their subjects with their cohort and be prohibited occupations due to their geographical location. Students not able to achieve good TEE results are discouraged from sitting their TEE to preserve school scores and maximise scaling for 'good' students. Today, we have a focus on benchmarks, minimal performance levels and the performance of the top 10% of students. We are now much more focused on the social justice needs of outliers in our education system.

Which is the better system and which satisfies the needs of our society at this time?

Technology in education

My main criticism of technology in the classroom is that good uses of technology are few and far between. My secondary criticism is that support for hardware (computer/printer/network/projector/smartboard) and software(installation/functionality) in schools is reasonably poor reducing the required success rate well below 100%.

Here are some of my favourite issues:

• Smartboards where lag between writing and displaying occurs or light levels need to be too low for students to be able to write without damaging their eyes.
• Use of preprepared powerpoint presentations that direct students down a path with little concern for what they are learning - eg. with little interactivity.
• Research time in libraries where learning time is spent preventing student access to inappropriate websites, online games, Facebook and mySpace - especially where students are clearly unable to research online efficiently when ontask.
• Anything with the words 'intranet' or 'extranet' that students try to use as excuses for not handing in work due to technology or internet access failure.
• Not having direct access (as a teacher) to web proxy logs for students during class.
• Issues with students not having funds to print.

There are some great and time effective uses of IT in a normal classroom:

• Graphics calculators and teaching statistics/quadratics/algebra/trigonometry
• Teaching of area and bird's eye view using sites such as http://www.smallblueprinter.com/sbp.html
• Report writing in Word at the end of a project/assignment using preset templates
• Brainstorming using Powerpoint and Inspiration
• Exploring critical paths using Gannt charts in MSProject
• Flow charts in Visio

There are some great uses of IT in an extension class I have experienced with students specifically interested in computer game design:

• Teaching 2D geometry/linear algebra with Java (computer game design)
• Teaching 3D geometry with Blender (animation)
• Exploring mathematical modelling with The Sims/Civilisation/SimCity

The thing to note about effective use of IT is that it is directed at specialised tasks with either highly motivated(extension) students or students that are given limited opportunities for distraction (such as with a graphics calculator). Punitive action needs to be restricted as removing access from students(eg. stopping internet access) will hamper progress in other classes. If something can be done faster without IT, we should not use IT purely for the fallback 'but there's higher student motivation', 'it promotes reuse of materials', 'it produces materials that can be provided to absent students'. We should simply use our whiteboards/paper handouts and not change where change has a lower net learning output.