2009 subject selection

Many graduate teachers and even experienced teachers feel some anxiety when it comes to subject selections. It's one of those times where your judgement can make or break the aspirations of a student.

Ultimately school should be a safe place where students feel comfortable to attempt what they previously thought of as impossible. Too safe subject selections will put students into classes that they will not be challenged in and surrounded by students with weak work ethic / too hard subjects will place students at risk as their self esteem takes a pounding.

Teachers feel this pressure. It is important that any conflict over what students should and shouldn't be doing be overcome before students are counselled into their subjects. The issue over 3A MAS/MAT (old Calculus/G&T stream) subject selection has caused much angst as this is a class in small schools typically with less than 14 students (the DET magic number for whether a class will run in 2009) yet also a draw card for top students entering year 8.

The plus side is that theoretically the new level 3 courses have a reduced difficulty level / the downside is that nobody really knows what the exams will look like and how the CAS calculators will alter treatment of certain topics. With very few true mathematics graduates entering teaching, it has been a concern for some time as to who will teach calculus courses in the mid term.

Cases where counsellors and administrators are counselling 'A' students out of level 3 courses due to misconceptions of course difficulty, available staffing levels, questions over quality of recommendations and issues with grades given to students need to be resolved well before the counselling process. Students being told to pursue higher maths by teachers and then convinced otherwise by counsellors is an avoidable situation that requires clear communication from administration what subjects can run and clear guidance on how to guide students forward.

I think schools need to consider whether the prime role of schools is to guide students into their first job (eg. narrow but job focused education) or into lifetime learning (eg. broad pursuit of highest possible education and widest vocational choice). Where schools assume a split role (eg schools with strong competing VET & TEE courses) close attention needs to be made over who is part of the counselling process and their mandate in giving subject advice and applying/overriding teaching or vocational recommendations.

You just don't get it sir!

Yes, the kids do call us 'Sir' still, it's a mark of endearment for some kids - but before anyone gets too excited, there's usually a 'f*ck off' in a nearby sentence.

Occasionally you get a disruptive student that says "I just don't get maths" or "I don't need maths in "... and I think to myself here we go again. Do I have an honest student that has no faith in their ability or a student looking for excuses to maintain poor behaviour?

I have a great test for this but it requires being done in a period before lunch. I suggest that if they don't get it, it's ok, wait behind after class and I'll give them as much time as they need. In fact I insist, it's very important that they master the concept and not fall behind. It's amazing how many students get instant inspiration and get the task done.

Some students think I came down in the last shower and copy another student's work. A quick question usually indicates that I know when they are 'borrowing answers' and then I insist that they remain to get additional assistance to avoid such dependence on others. At this point they can be quite stroppy.

I start them off and they usually take about half of lunch procrastinating over the first question, arguing, complaining and whinging. They eventually realise I'm happy to wait until I see some success and start work..

.. and that's where my real work begins. I ask questions about how relevant they find maths, what do they find hard, I watch their every move and slowly, subtly start helping them with each answer. How can I make learning easier? Where in the class would they be less disturbed? How do they think I feel when teaching becomes impossible due to the number of interruptions? How can I connect maths with their aspirations? Other students come in that I have great rapport with (in senior years) and I give them a hand whilst the student is working. By the end of the period they see (in most cases) that a) they can do maths and b) if they just read their notes they could figure out what to do c) despite being noisy others students get work done and d) most students in my class have had this talk. I then let them in on the real secret - if teachers really didn't care, they would just let students fail and not try to get them to succeed. I suppose it also helps that I grew up in the area, know the type of kids to some degree and was reasonably successful prior to teaching.

If this fails, the next level is discussion with other teachers and the parent call/three way conference with pre-prepared wads of homework and suggestions of reduced TV/sport/PS3 time. Word quickly gets around it's a bad idea to get me 'organised'.

Maths is a confidence game and building the confidence of key students in a class can help make it all work. It's amazing what a class can do when disruptive influences become positive and the right opportunities are allowed to flourish.

Avoidant behaviours on the nose

I thought I'd start with a lighthearted post as today this happened in two different classes. I've noticed an increase of stinky kids - I don't mean kids with poor hygiene - I mean the kids (usually boys) that let one rip and fill the room with godawful pong..

There are times when I say don't exaggerate, yes he made a noise, it's a natural function now get on with your work.. but today there was a dark cloud surrounding the little darling. It was capital S, STINKY!

Now, flatulence happens to the best of us I'm sure, but no kid wants to be known as the stinky kid. This is one problem that can be faced and dealt with, although I'm not sure by whom. Do you refer them to the school psychologist, call the parent, have a talk with their health teacher, direct the kid to the loo? I don't know..

From a teacher point of view, you need to hose it down or you get the 'wanna be' funnies making stupid noises at decreasing intervals. In my classes repeat offenders that call attention to themselves get called stinky and soon get the message - especially if it continues past the class by students in the playground. This is a reasonably effective strategy for a popular student but can have long lasting repercussions if it goes too far or with an already unpopular student. Perhaps a quick warning and anecdotal story to the student about how 'another student' was labelled 'stinky' for life might do the trick.

Another common class disruption is the student that hasn't eaten and claims that hunger is preventing them from working. We are lucky that we have good in school process for feeding these sorts of kids albeit they still miss most of class whilst being fed.

I'm not even going to touch on the 'I'm too sick to work/I need a drink/I need to go to the toilet/I need to see the counsellor or nurse' plague.

The armoury of student behaviours to avoid work and teachers strategies to sidestep avoidant behaviours is like walking a tightrope - especially in lower classes. One push and a student/parent complaint, a lack of push and a class of low performing students. It's a tough one experienced teachers navigate naturally. I look forward to the day when I can do the same.

Preparing students for exams

We had a great lecturer (now retired) Kevin Casey at uni. He was of the view that learning was basically a factor of time. Given extra time most students could learn the same concepts.

Confidence in exams is a similar concept. Take one student that had extreme exam anxiety - she would frequently throw up before exams, have shakes and rarely display her progress. Some would say that she is a prime candidate for alternate assessment. I would suggest that in many cases this is exactly what not to do. (In life she has proven that she has great coping skills in highly stressful (eg exam like) situations).

In considering her exam phobia I sat her down and looked into what her core issue was. She was a student that had had repetitively reinforced 'I can't do maths because I'm a girl syndrome,' from both parents and past teachers. She also had an almost photographic memory - anything placed in front of her could be instantly recited back.

So I thought to myself let's fix the confidence issue then fix the maths. I considered learning methods I was familiar with and selected mastery based learning as the key tool. Mastery based learning is a great way to attack confidence issues as students repeat activities to the point of automaticity - the point where they don't have to think. This was important as she was brain freezing in exams, thrashing and stressing to the point of uselessness. Mastery based learning is not the most fun way to learn all the time - but it is a great way of showing to a student that they have ability.

Next we did a lot of boring repetitious stuff until she hated me, maths and statistics. But.. she (for the first time since year 7) not only passed but managed to get 80% on her test... and this was the pattern thereafter in not only maths but in other subjects.

We also went through the main steps when attacking an exam:

• Don't panic
• Determine the time per question/mark and monitor regularly
• Read the whole paper before answering anything
• Order questions from easiest to hardest - do the easiest first and build confidence
• Don't get stuck - move on..
• Don't write comments about how hard it is to the marker or doodle on the page
• Don't rub out working / show all working
• Go back over the exam at the end - ensure that each question is attempted
• Take note of when the teacher/lecturer says 'this is in the exam' - put a star next to it.
• Prepare your notes 1 week before the exam and add to them throughout the remaining week
• Don't panic
• Pick your study buddy carefully
• If revision sheets or trial/past exam papers are available... do them
• Complete assignments to the best of your ability - this will lower exam pressure later on.
• Avoid friendship based group assignments
• Complete as much as you can in class - keep an eye on what the 'top' students are doing
• Try and guess the types of questions in the exam - make sure you have attempted the questions at the end of exercises and chapters
• Ask your teacher or lecturer for direction (they can only say no)
• Don't panic

Students that do well in mathematics have well practiced skills before they attempt to apply them (in assessment or practical applications) and before they are able to choose between multiple skills to determine an optimal solution.

Practice makes perfect.

Preparing graduate teachers for TEE exams

In Perth, we have the Tertiary Entrance Exams (TEE). This is a time of stress for new teachers and students alike. If you are a graduate teacher naturally you start to question whether you have done enough to get your students over the line. I covered the yr 12 Discrete course for five students this year (quite a soft entrance to teaching university bound students), but like most teachers we all want our students to succeed and get a good TER(Tertiary Entrance Ranking - score between 1 & 100 derived from scaled TEE exams) for 'front door' university entry.

[I can hear teachers in Perth saying there are no more TEE exams with the new courses of study(NCOS), but there are still external exams at the end of the final school year and it is the paradigm that we are most familiar with.]

Nonetheless graduate teachers can at this time feel the stress of performance as failure may relegate them to lesser classes for some time. It's probably a good time to give graduate teachers a day of real PD or reflection (preferably with access or guidance from a senior staff member) to gather themselves and prepare materials for TEE students for their run home. I hope when graduate teachers put their hand up they will be listened to; and graduates that are 'low profile' are being monitored and looked after.

We've been lucky in that our Discrete group of students have worked hard and agreed to meet before school regularly to complete old TEE questions and have used the great Saddler texts that have been around a long while (that include constant revision miscellaneous exercises). It's also great that the TEE Discrete course is underdone in the amount of required content in comparison to yr 11 preparatory (foundations) course. Oh, as an old course - it's the second last year it will be run and examined for university entry.

Which leads to the problems of the new year 11 2009 where we are running semesterised 1b,1c,2a,2b,2c,2d,3a MAT, 3b MAT, 3a MAS, 3b MAS courses which are 10 new courses of study, no texts available, no written class assessment and limited sample exam material. If I was a first year graduate falling into year 11 (rather than my soft entry yr12 Discrete course with a plethora of materials/experience of teachers/known student pitfalls/existing performance levels) I would be more concerned. Add to that learning how to use and teach with the new CAS calculators effectively.. it adds another layer of difficulty - especially if the calculators themselves are meant to increase the non-computational difficulty of the courses.

Click here to visit the Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC) for more information about tertiary entrance exams in WA.

Favourite Sci-Fi books of all time

Yes I'm a maths geek... I am also interested in science fiction... they go together. Reading is a major factor in student performance and parents modelling that reading is pleasurable and informative is the only path to students getting into the habit. Not just in English but especially in maths with the new curricula being much more wordy and problem solving oriented.

With the demise of newspapers in the home, the humble novel is one of the few physical manifestations of the written word. It is still one of the most rewarding as it enagages the mind, imagination and gives a sense of achievement on completion. One of my most memorable and cherished moments in teaching was in my first practicum when a group of yr 7 students read their first complete book (as a group, one paragraph at a time over weeks).

My reading habits have narrowed over the years and I read Sci-fi nearly exclusively. My favourite books of all time (I have some very worn and well loved copies) are:

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress: Robert Heinlein
Starship Troopers: Robert Heinlein
Enders Game: Orson Scott Card
Foundation: Isaac Asimov
Dorsai!: Gordon Dickson
Hovercar Racer: Matthew Reilly
Neutron Star: Larry Niven
Voyage of the Space Beagle: AE Van Vogt
Dune: Frank Herbert
Neuromancer: William Gibson(Yes I know it's cyberpunk- but close enough)
Snow Crash: Neal Stephenson(ditto)

Out of Genre:
Magician: Raymond E Feist
Bourne Identity: Robert Ludlum (the movie does not compare with the pace of the book)
Animal Farm: George Orwell
Catch 22: Joseph Heller
Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone: JK Rowling
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe: CS Lewis

Watching my father read, gave me the impetus to try, and continue trying to read complex and more complex books over time. I've never shared his love of the books he read - they had special meaning to his generation, but I do still read for pleasure, it is my primary method of relaxation.

We have to thank the internet for the resurgence of students writing to each other for pleasure - blogs, instant messaging, facebook/myspace portals (which all have their issues too).

Is it possible to re-engage not only student love of short form writing but their creative centres to design more complex works? JK Rowling showed that the task is not insurmountable.

Instant gratification is fleeting, a feeling of true achievement only comes through effort. Building resilience into our kids means demonstrating that long term effort is worth it.. well past 5 mins.. well past the end of the lesson.. past the term end and year end.. past school.. and hopefully past their own generation.

Newby teachers, sickness and tolerance levels

The first two years are the worst I'm told. Being in contact with 150 kids or so with variable hygeine habits over the course of a week means that you face a lot of potential sick leave. After those first two years, your immune system (I'm told) kicks into hyperdrive and you stop getting sick.

I hope so. I'm so sick of being sick. Never enough to take a day off.. Just enough to make your nose run, throat sore and generally turn me into a REALLY grumpy person. That's not to say I'm especially pleasurable to be around at the best of times but when sick my tolerance drops to near zero. When in the workforce my staff knew this and would stay clear and (on occassion) appeal to higher authorities to send me home. I would tell them to get stuffed too.

Unfortunately our little darlings can't do that. Other new teachers are much more pragmatic and just stay home if they are sick. I find though that the preparation of relief and clean up in the aftermath is just never worth it.. I'm better sick with kids I understand than dropping a relief in with limited maths knowledge or with limited preparation(<24hrs). I'm a hopeless relief in (insert subject here) and know it. It takes me well into a term to establish a rapport that works with my teaching style - without that rapport it's a case of tell them how mean I am and scowl a lot. Generally that's not near optimal learning.

I'm Mr calm 99.5% of the time, but if a student has been putting effort over a long period of time firing me up.. this is prime time where they might meet the person who explains to them that they've finally given me a little more than I'll accept. Very honest, very public, very abrupt and to the point - typical math teacher style.

The responses vary from 'ok I'll pull my head' in to 'I'll tell my mum'. I don't mind what the response is as long as the message is clear. Yr10/11/12 students have a clear choice - work in school or work towards employment. There are now a heap of options other than come to school and make life difficult for other students and the teacher. Education in school is the right of all students and a few ratbags do not have the right to disrupt the rights of many. Allowing them to do so reduces teaching to low quality child care.

When my tolerance levels are low.. WATCH OUT!

Oh.. and some good/bad news today. 12 of my top 14 students elected to try two stream maths. Sadly, their progress in their exam when reviewed by the head of department indicated that only 8 would make it. That's probably not going to be enough for it to run despite all their work. It does say that the message of 'trying' and believing in yourself is getting through. Well done guys!

Board Games in Mathematics

One strategy for investigating decision making, statistics and probability is through games. Common examples are Scrabble tile frequencies, board distribution in Monopoly/Snakes & Ladders, card/dice probabilities, chess, chinese checkers, draughts, dominoes, Uno, Numero.

I have been experimenting (in the "play needs to be taught" theme) with a number of different board and card games with some success. My favourite six games used at end of term are as follows:

Ticket to ride (Europe): 1 hr duration, Networks, probability, mental computation, decision making.
Carcassone: 1 hr duration, Networks, probability, mental computation, decision making.
Dork Tower: 1 hr duration, Probability, decision making, estimation.
Portabello Market: 1 hr duration, mental computation, probability, decision making.
Munchkin: Decision making, reading, mental computation, probability.
Thurn & Taxis: Set construction, probability, decision making, mental computation.
Apples to Apples: Reading for understanding, proportion, decision making.

These sorts of games can be used to assess how able students can follow instructions, work with others, stay on task, cooperate, teach others, analyse probabilities and statistics from scenarios or how to create an instruction set.

Favourite other games from my childhood:
Battletech, BattleLore, Illuminati, Paranoia, Risk, Shogun, Talisman.

Updated here.