Reflecting on streaming

We streamed the year ten mathematics classes this year. To our mind it was a success. Other learning areas had heterogeneous classes and had a lot of difficulties with behaviour management issues that streaming helped us avoid. We have our 3A, 2C, 2A and 1B classes for 2009 where many doubted whether they would occur.

The success that we have had has put some pressure on the lower school to stream classes to better cater to our more capable students. There has been some regrouping in lower school classes and teachers have reported improvements in the ability to teach mathematics topics.

The start of the Maths/English streaming debate started this week. Should we stream on mathematics results or English results? Being a mathematics teacher, to my mind it requires little consideration. English teachers on the whole don't want to stream - after all English is a subject that lends itself to the heterogeneous approach - an essay can be assessed on many levels. Mathematics on the other hand tends to be hierarchical with a concept impossible to learn without the building blocks before it. Therefore stream on mathematics.

It doesn't need to be that black and white either. Some clever timetabling was done for us and now Maths, English, SOSE, Science can use a good compromise. We have grouped all yr 10 students into two bands, an upper ability band (class A & B) and a lower ability band (class C&D). A&B's are timetabled at the same time and C&D's are timetabled at the same time.

So for the situation above, in the first example maths students in period 1 are streamed into four classes (movement of students between A&B or C&D can be done freely for each learning area). In period 2 for English, the upper ability group is mixed into two classes and the students from C&D are mixed.

The main issue occurs when students in the C are not streamed correctly (eg. maturity raises their output, students are not assessed correctly etc.) and need to be promoted to the upper ability block. This involves the changing of many classes. All four areas have to be flexible in the promotion of students and the consideration of who can move to the upper band. We try to avoid movement by setting entrance tests before the start of the year and re-examining students after four weeks at the start of term 1. New students are to sit the tests before entering an ability block. The main advantage is the reduction of the level of teaching diversity required - there is less gap between the top and bottom student in each class.

It is not perfect as students may not settle into classes as well as they constantly encounter different student configurations (as typically happens with options classes).

Furthermore, it would be interesting to know if our success would have been the same if students had been streamed in all classes. Maybe the novelty of the streaming process is a factor in the success itself.

The undeserved power of gossip in the staffroom

Gossip is one of those things that is rife in most staff rooms. It always makes me laugh how people assume something is true just because they heard it from someone or multiple people - especially from those in the know (wink... wink...).

I hate gossip. Most of the time it creates cliques where being in the know becomes an important part of the job and increases your status. The easiest way I've found to diffuse the power of gossip is to disseminate absolutely ridiculous gossip to all and sundry. It is hilarious to hear your own make believe come back as fact.

The most irritating type of gossip is the talk about such and such. Her clothes.. his hair.. his attitude to students... the voice.. what the students think.. what such and such said. Everyone has their own idea about the perfect teacher. A diverse culture is the best thing for students.. creating teachers in thy own image is not only short sighted but is detrimental to a school.. Type A personalities take note!

Discrediting gossip has three key effects.. firstly no-one believes any gossip that you have and stops commenting or asking your opinion on things that have little relevance to you.. secondly it makes people think twice before they believe any gossip going around.. and finally by laughing at how gullible people are with gossip, it reduces the ability of those "in the know" from influencing decisions by creating a ground swell of support via the silent network - especially prior to unpopular concepts being implemented or popular concepts being discontinued.

Avoiding staffroom gossip is usually quite simple - avoid the staffroom during lunchtime gossip sessions as much as possible and be known as a little preoccupied with your own learning area. Have interests outside of school to talk about. Most of the time gossip just creates angst, undue tension between staff members, can blow up otherwise controllable situations, creates conflict and is generally just unnecessary for the job.

Time is needed to develop, implement, analyse, continue or discontinue processes within an organisation. Anything that can undermine legitimate organisational processes and structures should be discouraged. Gossip as an undermining influence is number one on my hit list to be stopped wherever possible.

Idiot of the year award (IOTY)

Chris Sarra you are my idiot of the year. You are a candidate for idiot of the century.

Calling those unfortunate souls that get country postings "White Trash" for their efforts in bringing education to the outback is nearly as bad as the Australian publishing this sensationalist tripe.

The article is here.

It takes a special sort of person to go to the outback and teach. Even in hard to teach metropolitan schools it can be difficult. At my school there are at least two people that put their careers aside to teach students like we were, and hopefully we make a difference.

I would suggest that if Chris Sarra feels so strongly about how indigenous students are being poorly treated he should get out there and encourage aboriginal students to become teachers in the outback.

"If I'm an incompetent principal of an Aboriginal school, lacking in courage to challenge parents about why their children are not attending school, it doesn't matter. Aborigines get the blame."

Teachers and schools cannot control whether students come to school. They can encourage students, work with elders in the community and implement government programs. If Chris is seeking to alienate all of us trying our best to help these kids, involved with tutoring and mentoring, policing and medical services, he has succeeded. If Chris thinks making schools into community policemen, reporting who should and shouldn't get welfare, I would suggest that he is attributing the wrong role to the wrong organisation. To do this would increasingly make schools a negative influence in family life rather than an enabling one. The whole ethos of schools is to advise and empower parents and students, not enforce community will onto the unwilling.

"They should tell the parents, 'If this goes on, I can refer you to the authorities because you're in breach of the Education Act. "

Chris clearly has a strange view on the ability of truant officers and community police. My understanding of what the authorities are empowered to do is check that students are OK and encourage parents to return students to school.

If a community does not value education and resists attempts to engage with education, they will become second class citizens - some elders understand this and drive their communities - schools can help but cannot be the driver.

"Dr Sarra says his success was due to challenging students to be strong, smart and act like 'Aborigines' instead of delinquents."

I feel for Chris in some little way as he has been successful in one community, I think his mistake is attributing his success to schooling rather than his ability to act as a community leader - by my reading of the article it was by encouraging students to be aboriginal and proud. It would be great to see this tempered with Australian and proud too. Connection with the community needs to become an increasing goal - with both sides reaching out to make our nation proud.

Entrance exam

Having an entrance exam or pre-test for new students creates an opportunity to discover a lot about a new student. In low socio-economic schools it is very common to have transient students that pop in and out of schools often result in being ejected due to behavioural issues. I am told this is a requirement in other states, but not so in WA.

Transient students typically have little in the way of past reporting and schools can be cagey or lack solid information (especially if it is a local school referring them) about their ability and attitude to schooling. The need to immediately settle these kids into class and give them age and skill appropriate work is essential to establish good working routines and break the cycle. If they don't settle quickly they can ruin a carefully constructed class that is working and reduce it to behavioural problems.

The exam we wrote for year 9 (mentioned here), could be used as an entry test for these kids. It would be an indicator of attitude and ability. As it is two hours we could watch their progress through the test and monitor their attitude to work. The results of the test would give an indication of their skill level. This would remove some of the guesswork and misleading information that can sometimes be put forward by parents that overestimate the skill level of their student. It would also be fair - as it is aimed to be one of the main criteria we use for the initial streaming in year 10 being an exam for completed year 9 coursework. It would also note any key deficiencies that need attention.

As the exam is easy to mark, it could be done by the year coordinator and be free of teacher and parental bias.

Practical application of effective leadership

Today we wrote the test to help us stream the year 9's into year 10 classes for next year effectively. We decided on two one hour exams testing number facts & space/Measurement then Algebra and problem solving.

If I was to write the two exams, I'd have to sit with the outcomes, read half a dozen books to find questions that adequately test the outcomes, do the test, record how long it would take me, estimate how long it will take students, re-evaluate the order of the questions, write a marking key, ensure that the test adequately covers the material originally intended and then two days has passed with little sleep.

or..

Our curriculum leader wrote the exam on a bit of paper off the top of his head, completed the answer key, allocated marks, I typed it up and it was done in two hours. Looking at it, it is far better than what I could have done alone. I worry that the difficulty level is a little high but I am happy to see what happens. If the students underachieve it will be easier to show their progress by the end of year 10 next year.

Experience always tells. There is no doubt, when writing the exam, in the instant between brain and hand, he had done all the things that I would have had to do; and even if I had written the exam knowing that our curriculum leader would look over it and make suggestions is a relief and takes away some of the pressure. Having someone you respect looking over things can make the difference between a new idea being accepted or rejected out of hand. That level of support and challenge is so necessary in your early years.

It is more than just experience though.

We have come up with a heap of hair brained schemes that you could see he doubted would be effective, but rather than dismissing them out of hand, he let us try. Sure enough, some of them had limited effect, but others have helped us understand the students better (like morning classes), others helped organise classes more efficiently (using more common assessment tasks and assessment schedules), others aim to assist students next year (like regrouping the 10's into their COS classes in term 4), helping us by bailing us out of duty when we have over committed (and need extra time to spend with students) and support our school wide initiatives (like a marks book for all classes or detailed programmes for junior school).

Earlier in the year we had moderation and intervention was needed to make sure the material we were presenting was demonstrative of our performance. The material I had prepared was inadequate and he suggested a number of things we had to do with presenting assessment prior to moderation, fixed the issues and our course was judged spot on.

Experienced staff commonly know who to talk to, what procedure is required, how long something will take for approval and what shortcuts are possible. They can save embarrassment from suggesting an idea that has been tried and failed or an idea that is unsuitable for a number of unthought of reasons.

Experienced staff tend to know what resources work and can lay their hands on them - in maths this is especially true with logic puzzle/investigation/problem solving activities that are hard to source.

Our curriculum leader likes to come into my room and takes great pleasure in finding mistakes with my board work (not one of my favourite habits) - but... I'd rather someone that had a clue than someone that didn't care enough to check that the senior school teachers are doing the right thing.

So to sum it up.. good leaders have superior content sequencing & resource knowledge (expert power), be willing to intervene where required and advocate to senior management for junior staff (management expertise), have respect of fellow staff (be charismatic), understand process (administrative expertise) and encourage risk taking (be entrepreneurial).

Negotiation replacing leadership

When I was at my old school and raised that I thought that some issue was unfair, I was told to negotiate my way out of it with other teachers. I was interested in this concept as in the workforce, if you were told to do something it wasn't a case for negotiation, you just did the job. You relied on the person in management knowing what they were doing and just did the job.

In teaching it's a bit like a flea market. What you are told to do is the first offer. Then you say what you would like to do. Then you find someone who wants what you have been offered and perhaps do a deal to make it happen. A lot of back scratching and deal making commonly hides an old boys network where everyone is looked after with a bit of a wink.

Where this started I have no idea, but it doesn't make it easy for those that genuinely want to make things happen. For someone to lead, others must be inspired or at least willing to follow. Negotiation just slows things down. The person leading needs to know what they are doing and those confident have to follow and preferably want to follow and those dragging their feet or passively resisting have to know there are consequences for such action.

Otherwise, where is the management? Where is the leadership?

To get around convoluted management styles I look for projects that can be managed by only those with a particular skill base and try to make it happen. Design a course of work, have before school classes, assist with after school tutoring, examine calculator usage, run a summer school, realign student groups, create my blog, assist with student events, organise resources, design reporting and assessment schemas. Ideas like this don't need committees and can be a genuine contribution to school results.

The bane of leadership is the committee. A committee is a way of distributing work to many that meet infrequently, rarely get anything done and no-one is to blame if everything fails. If someone does get something done it is usually because the group is overwhelmed by a dominant personality who does all the work (or delegates effectively with the fear of authority) and unfairly has to share the credit because some plod thinks they contributed an idea to the process.

When I'm on a committee, I rely on the principle, don't suggest an idea unless you are willing to do it. And if you suggest something be aware that unless someone else says they can do it better or the group thinks it is a negative idea, you will be doing it. If you don't contribute, you will be removed from the committee. Easy.. instant effective committees. I have never survived long as chairman and even more rarely get asked onto a committee. Which suits me fine :-)

The idea that a participant on a committee is there to get support for senior teacher status rather than a genuine interest in the committee makes a mockery of the process. Jumping through hoops is not the path to progress. Just poorly crafted committees.

Developing problem solving, reading and comprehension skills

My little challenging group of year 10's can be quite difficult to engage at times. A real issue with their maths is getting them to read the question effectively. Completely out of character, they have loved exercises in the book Logic Mysteries by Jane Molnar. Although it misleadingly states grade 3-5 on the cover, the year 10 students have loved the idea of reading these problems and solving them. When I first introduced it, I abandoned the rest of my normal planned lesson as I had not seen these students this enthused and engaged since the algebra topic.

Each mystery has a story and is solved by eradicating options that do not exist. A grid is set up to record the findings as they go through the mystery.

Many great mathematical concepts can be investigated. For instance complementary events become obvious, if she has a bird - all the options in the bird column that are boys can be eradicated. Inequalities can be investigated through clues like Jane's age is less than Mary's. Sets can be investigated through concepts like Mary's item fits in a school bag... and so on..

The main thing is that it requires the students to read the clues that are not necessarily in order, requiring reading and re-reading until they are all done.

A similar book Quizzles or More Quizzles by Wayne Williams has proven very successful with my upper class of year tens. These logic puzzles are multi dimensional and can be quite difficult so be warned!

For these to be successful I invited students to attempt them themselves for 5 minutes then modelled how to complete a problem. Then the following day I gave another problem at the start of class.

Either way, improving comprehension and reading ability is more and more important in mathematics (the temptation to enter into a diatribe as to why we need to teach English in maths here is near on irresistible - I shall try though!). These three books have been some of the more enjoyable methods of developing literacy skills thus far.

Ethical reasoning and streaming

Streaming is a difficult topic as it raises a number of questions regarding student capture, teacher judgement, assessment, and social justice.

Student capture for me is the most critical aspect of a classroom. Capturing a student's interest is a perpetual task, a combination of selling your subject and moving fast enough to keep their interest, yet slowly enough to allow them to fully grasp a subject. For some it can be done through connections with the teacher's personality, others through mathematics success, others through contribution to the class and others by connections with peers. If you can capture a student and get them to consistently have a positive attitude towards your subject then this is the first criteria met for a student to be placed into a difficult mathematics class. Streaming captured students into a class can greatly assist in improving possibility for success.

Teacher judgement is the next criteria. Does the student have the intellectual horsepower to complete the work? No amount of mathematics tutoring will assist a student that has extreme difficulty in reading a question, has too many holes in their skill base or takes too long to understand a new skill. A teacher needs to be able to identify that bit of extra practice that will move the student from being able to use a skill when directed, to be able to apply a skill undirected, to be able to identify the right skill from a range of available skills. It is possible that having to continuously assist a student on a continuous basis will destroy the flow of a class and disadvantage all within it especially in upper range classes.

Assessment is the next criteria. Assessment supports teacher judgement not the other way around. To stream purely on assessment is a recipe for disaster. This is especially true for students riding the end of their ability curve and coasting or loafing. These students, when they hit the wall and finally need to study can be hurt, confused and looking for those to blame for their lack of performance. If these students have not been properly coached before the 'big drop' in results, they can drop morale in a class at a rapid rate. Sometimes (especially in this case or the case where students are having external difficulties) it is best to ignore assessment and use the first two criteria to stream students.

Social justice is the final criteria and it has to be very carefully applied. An injudicious use of social justice to students when streaming will produce weak streams and deprecate the benefits of streaming. Just because a student has a legitimate reason for underperforming does not mean that in time a student will perform. Some say that streaming a class is a social justice issue in itself but watching students being unable to complete work that the rest of the class is working on and suffering self esteem issues or dumbing a class down to the lowest common denominator is not a solution to my mind.

The hardest part of establishing a stream is that it is not an exact science. A student performing at an optimum level with one teacher may not perform at all with another (this is especially true with boys). When creating a stream (especially in small class sizes) team dynamics play a large part - if you can create a team of peers and the teacher anything is possible. It's why I think traditionally the upper classes have been sought after - despite requiring the most skill to make work - they are the ones where there has been most flexibility in construction.

If that's culture.. you can have it.

Today I sat through Aida. Normally I can handle a little live Opera. I'm sorry, act three of Aida should be classified as grade A torture. Forty minutes to say the army is over there, get caught for treason and be sentenced to being buried alive. Three hours for the whole thing. It felt like forty years.

Want to get someone to talk? Need to know where that bomb has been hidden? Easy peasy.. Stick them in front of that dull as dishwater, repetitive, boring Verde nightmare. By the end of it they would be trying to poke their own eyes out and have their arm buried to the elbows in both ears.

I'd rather eat my own leg off than see it again.

Teacher turnover, teamwork and classes for 2009

The generation of school spirit comes from the school, focuses through teachers and into students. Harmony between teachers is a key component to the generation of that aura of success in a school.

Part of this is ensuring that there is balance between the needs of students and the needs of teachers. At this time of year tension arises between staff regarding the classes teachers would like to teach to further their careers and what is in the best interests of students. What is in the best interest of students is not always the best option. This takes some courage to say, as it has always been my position that students come first - but I think it is naive to think this is always the case.

In the real world, knowledge management issues of a revolving staff are well documented. When staff leave it does not only cost in terms of vetting and rehiring staff but also in the content knowledge loss, training investment and organisational understanding that is only gained through experience with customers.

Teaching is no different. Reduce turnover and the school benefits. An organisation that considers the needs of staff to progress successfully in their careers is an organisation that cares for its staff. To do this staff members needs to have their progress clearly illustrated and documented.

In mathematics, this means careful consideration of the new level 3 MAT and MAS courses. If there are a number of teachers vying for these classes it may be a number of years before teachers are given access to them. Being offered these classes (or knowing that a course has your name on it two years hence) can be a clear motivating factor in staying with the school and fully embracing PD opportunities until that time.

Conversely not being offered these courses or seeing the courses offered to those 'less worthy' can be a demotivational factor. Similarly being continuously asked to take lower school or low ability senior school classes can be disheartening for those seeking to enhance their skill base or for those seeking rapid promotion.

This ties very close to timetabling as many promotional opportunities rely on staff having access to senior school classes. Timetabling can often make or break the way a teacher sees their classes. Teaching out of area, sharing classes with other teachers, large class sizes, behaviourally 'difficult' classes can all be contributors to negative staff morale.

For a maths team to be successful they have to work as a team, support each other and find new and innovative solutions to student behavioural, content delivery and motivational issues. When class distribution for the following year is being considered, it means that careful thought has to be made as to what will satisfy the majority of the team, motivate members and ultimately prevent turnover.

Union president and lack of representative integrity

Anne Gisborne, president of the SSTUWA, is again out whoring the latest EBA attempt. Her actions are disgraceful.

A person in a representative capacity should not have made this comment in the media:

"Teachers union president Anne Gisborne admitted its members were running out of reasons to end the long-running pay dispute with the Government after the in-principle pay agreement."

Who is she to decide what her members should think? That is why members have a vote. She has been elected to represent members views even when member views are not her own (the last vote proved that members do not share her voice and thus she should keep it reserved until she again has member support). If she does cannot represent members and put her own views aside when it disagrees with members then she should step down.

It doesn't take blind Freddy to see that this union faces extinction if it continues to not heed the mandate given by its own State council and continue to act irresponsibly towards its members. The acts of the genuine few believers will not be enough to stem the tide of those leaving the union. Unfortunately the outcome will be no true public school system (other than a safety net), pay per use education and further movement to a multiple class society.

EBA4 Teacher pay rise and the new offer

Here is a link to the DET summary of EBA4

General opinion seems to be to accept the offer which is around 20% over three years (including the 6% we already have) with the next pay increase scheduled for October 09. No back pay to the last agreement. No 15 hrs unpaid overtime (eg. compulsory PD).

I can't say that I am excited - but will be glad when I can focus on teaching and all the fuss about wages and conditions stops.

I suppose I think back to the original questions posed at the start of the campaign.

• Has the new EBA created a profession with salary and conditions that will attract new teachers? No.
• Does the new EBA create conditions that will keep existing teachers within the system? No.
• Has the new EBA energised teachers within classrooms by making a statement that they are a valued part of the community? No.
• Should we fight further? No. In an economic downturn we should lick our wounds and stand aside.

To my mind the whole EBA process has been a lost opportunity, but now is not the time to resume this fight, it is a time to regroup, accept the small gains and prepare as one (DET, teachers, union, community, media, government) to create a feeling that education is the most critical element of our society.

When we better appreciate, evaluate and express publicly the positive contribution education makes to the community, then and only then will large increases to teaching budgets and salaries be justified.

Changing role of senior school

Senior school, years 10,11,12 have traditionally been the home of the most experienced teachers. These teachers generally have a vast amount of experience that is tapped from time to time by other teachers when need arises, either in behaviour management, content knowledge and generally are aware of how things work, what has been tried before and how to get things done. They have the experience to guide our students through to TEE, university entry or into VET pathways where necessary.

Now I say this as an observer (as I am neither experienced, nor the most capable in senior school). I have no ambitions for a HoD role and actively promote the idea that the HoD should teach the most capable class and other senior school teachers should do an apprenticeship of sorts with mid range classes to hone technique and pedagogy first. ... and I enjoy classroom teaching too much to get involved with the admin required to do the job properly.

Somewhere along the line I think we have lost track of what senior school teachers bring to the school. We have lost our heads of department in Mathematics/English/SoSE/Science to other areas such as literacy experts and careers guidance, L3 adminstrative roles. Responsibility now for the performance of learning areas has fallen to those incapable of measuring success or failure as they may not have ever taught the subject.

An issue that is currently rising is the lack of time to complete yr 12 COS in time for the TEE exams. With 1 term lost to the exam process, it leaves only 16 weeks per semester to complete the course. A possible way to increase the amount of teaching time for COS is to use term 4 year 10 to start the COS process and to start the year 12 course a term early.

Staffing of this is a real issue because if a unit starts in term four, few teachers are willing to take on an overloaded teaching schedule to make this happen. At this time of year the temptation arises to utilise senior school staff to fulfil this role as in many cases they will be teaching these students in the following years anyway.

I think we need to resist this happening especially for our HoD's. If our best and most capable are not given unallocated time to identify and remedy issues within learning areas it is only likely that over time things will get worse. The time that they put into improving staff ability and student output is clearly underestimated and is not being adequately nurtured. It would be good to see the complete opposite occur and HoD's given the time, recognition, responsibility and pay to make things happen.

Class size & the concept of 'Intervention Time'

I have heard many times that reduced class size is not a factor in learning or that it has minimal effect. Reduced class sizes is not the panacea to improved student learning but it is a handy tool when used correctly. To have an early intervention strategy there must be adequate class time for intervention.

If you have a high performing class of motivated students (with 3 levels between the top and bottom performing students), class sizes of around thirty in year ten can be managed. You would need to use a fair amount of skill to keep them motivated as after instruction and settling time (say 30 mins per class, two blocks of instruction, h/w and pack up) it would be hard to get to every student every class to identify issues, correct them (say 1 minute of intervention time per student per class) and maintain their learning inertia. You would more reliant on picking up issues during the homework, quiz, revision, assessment and corrections teaching cycle and complete more marking out of class.

In a mid performing class (with four levels between the top and bottom performing students) with around 20 students and 20 minutes of instruction and settling time you could get to each student twice (eg. average of 2 mins of intervention time per lesson). This seems feasible.

If you have a low performing student group in mathematics (with five levels between the top and bottom performing students), I would say that a class of 30 is lunacy (there are usually valid and disparate reasons why students are this far behind) and would send the best teachers barmy. Under normal circumstances in these types of classes there are not enough corners in the room to separate disruptive students. Each student in a class of that type requires constant attention to fully enjoy and appreciate mathematics. For example in my class, one student required behavioural attention once every 3 minutes (I timed him), each time requiring further attention to settle him. In a class of thirty that would make teaching nigh near impossible. For a class of this type it is preferable to have intervention time around 3-4 minutes per student, limiting class sizes to 13-16 students. This size of class would also promote more collaborative work, especially if other teachers are willing to assist during their DOTT or if a T/A is available.

In practice each student does not need (or get) an individual minute of your time and is normally able to do their work without individual intervention through the teacher identifying classwide issues and modifying instructional techniques (eg. more modelling), by using peer assistance, having effective instructional notes, by increasing participation in after class discussion or by bringing groups of students back to the board. What the intervention time model does is provide a benchmark of performance and can help identify structural issues vs teaching issues with classes that are clearly not working.

Using a model of this nature we could measure the learning capacity of student groups (by creating class sizes and monitoring teaching/intervention/disruption time) and the approximate class sizes required to teach them optimally. This has the potential to greatly assist in designing and justifying appropriate class sizes for our students.

Measuring Teacher Performance

I stumbled upon this article from 1999 stating clearly issues raised by teachers regarding student performance in primary and secondary schools. It is just as relevant today as it was then. This shows a number of areas of difficulty measuring teacher performance. I have highlighted some of the areas of student performance impacted by teachers. Many carry through to high school from primary.

I grouped the results into behavioural (primarily learned behaviours brought to the classroom), genetics, environmental (factors with limited control by the teacher), structural (constraints imposed on a classroom) and societal factors to isolate factors solely controlled by teachers within the classroom. Pedagogy(teaching methods), content knowledge are the two major factors teachers contributing to teaching students.

Primary

• students who are not doing well tend to give up, refuse to try, and this makes the problem worse - this behaviour gets worse as they get older and they start to compare their work with those of other students (behavioural)
• high achieving students can taunt low achievers and this makes the problems worse
  students with psychological problems (eg, trauma experienced in the home) have trouble learning (behavioural)
• sometimes teachers can’t work out why students can’t learn - it can be the problem of the teacher who hasn’t worked out how to engage students (getting inside the walnut) (pedagogy)
• parents refuse to have their children placed in classes for students who have intellectual disabilities (structural)
• students lack academic ability (genetics/environmental)
• teachers don’t explain concepts clearly (pedagogy/content knowledge)
• parents indulge their children so they won’t pay attention in class (societal)
• parents don’t take an interest in children’s school work (societal)
• students are transient and so miss a lot of school (societal)
• it’s more difficult these days to get students placed in classes for students with intellectual disabilities there are children with attention deficit disorder who have difficulty concentrating in class (structural)

Secondary

• students haven’t been well taught in earlier years at school (historical)
• students don’t value school work (behavioural/societal)
• parents don’t value their children’s school work (societal)
• students lack ability (genetics/environmental)
• the system allows students to progress through grades without passing subjects (structural)
• maturational level - students mature at different rates - they may not be able to grasp concepts now but they could in a couple of years’ time (genetic/environmental)
• poor teaching (pedagogy/content knowledge)
• teachers blame the students for poor performance when it’s the teachers’ fault (pedagogy)
• students have psychological problems because of unhappy home lives (environmental)
• teachers don’t have a good mathematics background (pedagogy/content knowledge/structural)
• students’ poor behaviour in class means they don’t pay attention to the work - discipline problems in schools are on the rise - it’s part of wider societal problems (behavioural/structural/societal)
• students lack self discipline - they’re not prepared to work (behavioural)

It is clear to see that student performance is a poor measure of teaching ability as many other factors exist to influence this criteria. To blame teachers for poor performance of students based purely on teacher pedagogy (teaching methods) or lack of knowledge of content ignores a host of other possible reasons.

Creating an 'unAustralian' education system

An article in the Australian discusses the challenge of improving schooling in Australia. Another article with opinion and without supporting facts to back them up. What has happened to our media? Why can they not develop a position and then report with supporting or refuting evidence!

The main points were:

1. Development of a national curriculum (supported).
2. Minimising or even abandoning plans for national testing programs (supported).
3. Funding private and public schools on the same basis (?).
4. Auditing the intellectual capital -- that is, teacher quality -- in all schools (?).
5. Greater autonomy for schools and principals (?).
6. Creating a federation of schools, in line with the British model (?).
7. Refurbishing or replacing most school buildings constructed in the 20th century (supported).
8. Increasing the business sector's involvement in education, including private funding of schools through foundations and trusts (supported with reservations).

Part three: By doing this we are accepting that we will have a two+ tier society. Those that can afford private schooling and those that can't. Public schools cannot compete with schools that have equal funding with private schools and are supplemented through school fees. Those students that cannot pay fees in private schools will be disadvantaged (students in private schools schools already have the advantage of rapid exit of undesirable students, this is their USP). Public schooling should be given more of the public purse than private schools. Our disadvantaged kids need our support. How is further disadvantaging them going to prepare them to compete equally in the workforce - it just creates an underclass. The funding ethos put forward is grossly capitalist and American. It is decidedly unAustralian.

Part four: Sure, let's audit teachers, how and who shall do it? What makes a good teacher? What happens if a teacher fails the audit? How do we re-educate them? Who plans and pays for the implementation? Who is to blame for poorly performing students - the teacher, past teachers? It's nonsense.

Part five: Where is the research that greater autonomy for schools leads to better student outcomes? The idea is counter intuitive. Surely re-inventing administration currently centralised cannot be cheaper, as flexible to change or as easily monitored than decentralised at a school level. All decentralisation does is decentralise blame for a system that isn't working very efficiently. Today is a time of centralisation as information technology closes the efficiency gains once found through decentralisation. Analysis and change coordinated at one location is far more efficient than directing responsibility to islands of learning.

Part six: I have no idea yet what this idea is of federated schools in the UK but I haven't heard the UK system as a model system for eons. I must investigate this further.

Passion, student behaviour and being fiery

One of the issues in classes today that stems from the home is that students have trouble accepting that a teacher has authority in the classroom. At home they argue with parents in a very democratic fashion. Students believe (wholeheartedly) that they have a right of reply to any misconception that they face.

I must admit this gets me fired up especially in my 'A' class. Any student willing to take responsibility for the care, nurture, learning needs and welfare of thirty students, get a degree as a minimum requirement for teaching can have my job if they can prove they would do it better. Until they do this, if I ask a student to be quiet or stand in the hall, see the team leader, copy off the board or attempt a question they may believe they can't do, I expect them to attempt to follow my expectation.

They will fail sometimes, and this is ok. This does not give them a right to argue and waste teaching time. It should prompt some introspection as to why they didn't understand how to do it and hopefully seek assistance from friends, pay more attention when solutions are put on the board or seek assistance at an opportune moment during class or after class. Maybe it would be a good idea to get them to journal why they have had such trouble understanding a concept and identify ways they could better understand a topic. Bringing the correct materials to class (eg. CAS calculators, pens, paper, texts), paying attention during instruction, fostering friendships with those that do understand, reading their notes (and keeping them in a place they can be used) - attending school regularly (my favourite) and catching up after sickness may be a good start.

These students do not have a right to insist on help at a time that suits them. To use a claim for help to justify poor or avoidant behaviour is not acceptable. I would love to be able to provide just-in-time intervention to every student all of the time. In a class of thirty it just is not possible. The belief that getting instant help is a right is infuriating and I don't know where it is being fostered. Maybe I should enquire into how many are only children (and thus do not have to compete for attention) and also examine my own methods of helping during practice time (maybe I am a contributer to the problem!).

When instructed on where their actions are errant I expect nothing less than silence especially with those talking during teaching time - this is done in the hall outside my room. Try my patience and half the school hears. It's fun watching them open their mouth and then hear them "but you won't let me talk to explain". If you talk during my teaching time and I have to stop the only thing I wish to hear is I'm sorry and then see an end to that behavior. Woebetide the student that interupts me again. My other students have the right to learn and it must be protected.

There must be a line between teacher expectation and student behaviour. There must be a consequence if this is crossed. A lecture, for many of my kids is enough to get the message. If they get the message, no further consequence. If it continues -they start the path to BMIS.

The argumentative nature of students at correct times needs to be fostered (we don't want meek students) - but it must be cultivated with manners and knowledge that there is a time and place to discuss the finer points of an issue. I always offer time after class for extra assistance and am happy to discuss any issues or problems from a class at this time. Funnily enough rarely is this offer taken up by these students during lunch or their own time.

Creating inspirational students

Students aren't born inspirational. They're born rather podgy blobs that whinge a lot... Some never change...

This week I spent a bit of time reminding my year 10's that they are inspirational. Lower school students look to them for cues on how to behave, on determining what is important and setting the tone within the school. If they want a happy school - be happy. If they want a school with a million rules - do stupid things. If they want a school based on success of students, show the lower years that our school can perform at a high level.

For this I think it is important that we create opportunities for them to be successful and protect those that foster these activities. It might be taking an interest in a student that is doing an afterschool ESL class, or not getting grumpy with the dance teacher that is taking students out of class for a recital, being supportive of the physical education staff and their events, supporting SOSE excursions by providing extra supervisor bodies or helping out with relief classes.

I think it also means looking for information that might help inspire kids. I recently found two books by the actress that played Winnie on the Wonder Years (Kevin's girlfriend for those of you ancient enough to remember). One is called 'Math doesn't suck' and the other is 'Kiss my Math'. The books themselves may be just the thing to get a student going and get them to believe that you care about how they think. The maths is a bit dodgy in places ('Highest common factor' becomes 'greatest crush factor') but it has a go at making maths pop culture ready and that's a good thing.

Another bit of success I've had is to let them into my life a little. Last class we created tally tables on the best baby name that we had selected. Next time I'll have a silent poll as it was a case of many just following the leader. Maybe this is a discussion in itself. We've also used my history to investigate stocks, examine salary ranges and evaluate priorities on what is important in life.

Another opportunity has been with my guitar. I am worse than hopeless, but the kids see that I am still learning well beyond school.

Lastly whenever a leadership event occurs I draw their attention to it and suggest that they pay heed to things done well or poorly as they will soon be in that position. If they can learn good leadership habits now, they will be in better stead going forward.

Year 12 leaving ceremony

It was interesting to watch the leaving ceremony for the year 12's. It gives you a lot to think about for times where you are helping set up such an event and things that kids really need to do to make these events successful.

Firstly all kids need to feel included in the ceremony - not just the popular kids. Photo montages need to include everyone, memorable events need to cover the full spectrum of students academic, sporting, VET; dominant personalities need to celebrate and value the achievements of all, not just the popular few.

Perhaps we need to consider how we could create photo libraries for all years, mini yearbooks documenting events as they occur as part of the various handshaking ceremonies throughout the year.

There was a clear lack of thanks from the current year group. There was a brief thanks to all our teachers and then a celebration of all the events where misbehaviour had occurred and had perhaps caused embarrassment to students, the school or disrupted classes. This left a sour taste in the mouths of the senior teachers as a lot of effort had gone into getting this cohort over the line. Many have decided to give the graduation ceremony and dinner a miss. Maybe this is an indication that we need to focus on those that appreciate our efforts and that the efforts at 'inclusive' education have gone too far. Maybe students beliefs are right and we are not doing enough! I don't know but somehow I doubt that our efforts are best spent on students that perform at a very low level (even with all the help in the world) and take away time from students that could really use extra help. There needs to be further authority given to schools to move students that will not respond to learning opportunities to free up time for those ready. Perhaps it is just my utilitarian tendencies showing through.

When all graduate there is a clear diminishing of value placed on secondary graduation. With graduation rates of 80-100% and all students needing to continue school to year 12, graduation for many has limited worth. Many leave with little more knowledge than they had at year 10. It has diminished the achievements of those attempting TEE courses, there is little recognition of the difference in effort required. I feel for those that attempt TEE courses and get fails on their certificates due to external circumstance instead of taking the easy option and doing VET or alternate education courses.

Another clear transformation is the knowledge that these kids will probably communicate with their cohort for some time unlike any cohort from my time. The advent of Facebook and mySpace will mean that they can have instant communication with their cohort and an instant network to resolve issues and celebrate success. I don't know if this is a good thing as coming of age was about new times and new people, the removal of negative reinforcers and a new beginning.

The lack of concern of students for their TEE exams and the haphazard attitude to study borne through portfolio entry and low TEE scores is definitely to their detriment. The baptism of fire is now more dip in a warm pool. These students have managed to leave school without any anxiety of security and self worth - how will I support myself, what occupation can I do, how will I be worthy of my life partner, how will I be a valid contributor to society? Resilience is something borne of experience and these students lack any real concept of the difficulty of gaining true independence.

Casio Classpad 330, Finding the mean and missing values

I posed the following question to my year 10's in order to continue our learning of the new calculator. It is an example of solving a problem where the mean is known but a value in the sample is not.

"Q: A class had 5 students. Student results in the last test was {50,56,64,72,81}. Isabella joined the class and the new mean became 68. Did Isabella score higher than the old mean and what was her score?"

H: If the mean of {50,56,64,72,81} is less than 68 then Isabella has scored higher as a higher score by Isabella will raise the mean. Since we know the new mean (68) we can work out Isabella's score by working backwards.

Set up a working pane with a main application and a list editor. Title a column 'list1'. Add the 5 student results to the list editor.

Click in the main application and type mean(list1) using the soft keyboard. Hit the blue exe button. The answer is 64.6 .
A: The old mean 64.6 is less than 68 therefore Isabella has scored higher.

To find Isabella's score click in the list editor and tap the next empty cell in list1. Press the x button. Click in the main application pane on the line that says mean(list1). Press the blue exe button.

This will return a sum to work out the mean of the list for values of and value of x i.e. (x+323)/6.

As we know the new mean alter the first line to read mean(list1)=68. Highlight the solution sum and tap Edit in the menu bar and then Copy. Paste the sum on the next line in the main application pane. Highlight the sum, tap Interactive on the menu bar, then tap Advanced on the sub menu and then tap solve. Tap ok at the base of the dialog box. The answer is x=85.

A: Isabella's test score was 85.

Click here for other CAS calculator articles

Revisiting fractions

My 10D class has revisited fractions over the last week. For many fractions is like another language others have managed it in the past but have forgotten basic principles. The sequence I have used leading up to percentages of amounts is as follows

Drawing and identifying numerators and denominators
First exercise was identifying a variety of numerical fractions from pictorial form and then constructing pictorial fractions from numerical forms. We spent a lot of time looking at mixed numerals and converting between mixed numerals and improper fractions using pictorial means.
eg. for 3 2/3: draw 3 lots of 3 boxes with all boxes coloured and 1 lot of 3 boxes with two boxes coloured. When students counted the coloured boxes they had 11/3.

Investigating fractions of amounts
It seemed strange to do this here, but funnily enough it worked well as it established relevancy of the topic for many students. We started with a problem 3/4 of $24 is to be given to John and 1/4 to Mary.
I explained it as:
3/4 of 24 is: $6 per part (24/4)
I drew a box and split it into 4 equal parts (drawing attention to the denominator)
I put $6 in each box.
I coloured in three sections that represented John's portion
then counted $6 x 3 parts = $18 for John

I then repeated the same steps for Mary
1/4 of 24 is: $6 per part (24/4) then $6 x 1 part = $6 for Mary

We checked our answer to ensure all the money had been accounted for ($18+$6=$24). Students then completed a number of examples.

Investigating multiples and factors & Equivalent fractions
Next day we looked at multiples and factors. I explained this through examples, showing them examples of multiples and factors, then getting them to find the first five multiples for 2,3,4,7 and then the first five multiples for 2,3,5,7 over 100. After this they found factors of 10, 15, 24 and 42. We investigated patterns in factors (none greater than 1/2 the original valure other than itself, how it helped knowing your tables, factor pairs, 2 is always a factor for even numbers)

Students were then given a fraction wall and identified equivalent fractions in preparation for adding and subtracting fractions. The idea was put forward that fractions rely on parts to be equal otherwise the idea of equivalency would not be able to be used.

Adding and subtracting fractions
In the third lesson we looked at the problem of 1/3 + 1/2 using paper strips. The aim was to establish why equal parts is essential to an understanding of fractions. We used our fraction wall to look for equivalent fractions that allow us to add equal parts. After a few pictorial examples I started to show students how to use multiples and factors to assist in finding common denominators.

Next lesson we look at multiplying fractions...

Recharging students for success in mathematics

Being in a low socio-economic school sometimes is disheartening. The students don't believe that they are able to achieve academically. This is reinforced by parents, teachers and the school in subtle ways throughout the year.

A parent complains that the student is only doing lower maths and does not need a $175 calculator. The timetable allows many non-TEE subject to run, but only a few TEE subject selections are available. Portfolio entry is seen as a primary pathway to university rather than a backdoor entry for extreme cases. Lower school programmes lack the rigour of programmes in more academic schools. A single student or groups of students can disrupt classrooms for an entire year, but little coordinated effort can be made to limit the damage being caused. The idea of secondary graduation is diminished by the idea that 'anyone' can graduate. Cohorts of students are labelled challenging and good students lose opportunities as classes are aimed to manage the lower students and keep them engaged to detriment of academic achievement by top students.

Charging academic students for success is a mentality that must be driven - it doesn't just happen. Kids need to be told that they have the ability to succeed, shown possible outcomes, be given opportunity to try/fail/succeed and be mentored as they go along. Setting clear standards sets the groundwork for success.

Things that I consider serious issues in my A class:

• Not being quiet and ready to start work within 2 minutes of entering the room
• Being late for class and not entering the room quietly
• Complaining, whining and whinging before attempting work
• Not paying attention when instruction is given
• Relying on friends or personal attention of the teacher for instruction rather than some level of personal investigation
• Not attempting homework
• Failing a test or assignment ( lower than 1 standard deviation from mean)
• Not seeking assistance when required

Students that continuously fall into these issues risk demotion to BCD classes. For some, demotion is the right option, for others the motivation to be moved down is enough for them to alter negative behaviours. For a relative few, it identifies students with ability but are unlikely to succeed at TEE level. This year, boys in particular have been a real issue and a focus for the course next year (I think this is the most significant issue at our school).

Things that I do to promote positive attitudes towards mathematics and address issues:

• Look for opportunities to congratulate students on achievement
• Attempt to talk to each student each class
• Allow friendship groups to remain together only when learning is occurring
• Ensure that new topics include new material
• Promote the A class as being a privilege and a responsibility
• Reinforce that attitude is as important as aptitude
• Change the difficulty level regularly to allow for opportunities for success/failure and stretching of the mind.
• Question their own beliefs of their ability and remind them of progress made
• Use personal experiences to enhance class material
• Focus the basis of enjoyment in mathematics in achievement rather than entertainment by the teacher (though the converse may be more important in lower classes)
• Encourage students to self monitor behaviour and provide peer feedback
• Create opportunities for students to see the different rapport with yr 11/12 TEE students than with yr 10 students

Casio Classpad 330, Creating a Histogram

Today in class we looked at how to produce a Histogram using the list editor. A Histogram is used when data is continuous (there is no gap between intervals).

Class interval (Frequency)
0 <= x <>=80 (1)

Tap in the list editor. Tap Edit in the menu bar. Tap Clear All. and tap Ok in the dialog box. If a graph is open tap the StatGraph pane to select it. Tap the cross in the top corner of the window to remove the graph.

Name a column in the list editor ‘classmid’using the soft keyboard. Put the midpoint of each class into the classmid column. eg. {5,15, 25, .., 85} (make sure you name the column before putting the data in!).

Name a column in the list editor ‘freq’ using the soft keyboard. Add each corresponding frequency into the freq column. eg. {3,10,16,..,1}.

Tap SetGraph in the menu bar. Tap Setting. Select Histogram in the Type dropdown, select classmid in the XList dropdown and freq in the Freq dropdown. Make sure the Draw option is on. Tap Set at the base of the dialog box.

Tap the StatGraph icon in the icon bar to display the graph. Make HStart 5 (midpoint of first interval) and HStep 10(size of intervals).

A Histogram will appear. Tap the StatGraph pane and then tap Analysis in the menu bar. Tap Trace in the menu.

A flashing crosshair should appear above the first column of the graph. Use the blue cursor key to navigate column values in the graph. You can use these values to create your histogram on graph paper. The xc at the base of the graph are horizontal axis values and the Fc are your vertical axis values.

viola!

Other educationWA articles on CAS calculators
How to navigate through menus (what's a menu bar?) Click here
How to create a list (what's a list editor??) Click here

Here's a link to an index of other CAS calculator posts.

Casio Classpad, day 1 with students

As I play with the calculator things become a little more obvious. It was good fun with my year 10's showing them how to find the mean of

S:{10,12,13,14,15}

with the CAS calculator during p5 on a 35°C day and then set Maths for WA3 10C with 50 items in the sample. I was upfront in saying to my students that learning all the new content next year and learning how to use the calculator was a bad idea (lights went on... ahh, that's why I need to get one this year!!). For those students still unsure, I made them find the mean of a 50 item sample with their scientific calculators. They promised to buy a CAS calculator tomorrow.

Anyhow.. this is one way of finding the mean with the CAS calculator. There are many better ways but the idea was to learn how the calculator works (the picture is the end result).

Open a main application in the work pane.

1. The last icon in the tool bar should be a graph. Click the dropdown to the right of the graph. Tap the icon that looks like three columns in the sub menu. The list editor will open in the bottom pane below the main application.
2. We need to give our list a name. Tap the top of the first column. “list =” should appear at the base of the list editor.
3. Press the blue Keyboard button. The list editor will temporarily move to the top pane. The soft keyboard will appear in the bottom work pane.
4. There are four tabs in the soft keyboard. Tap the abc tab with the stylus. A qwerty keyboard should appear. Name the first column in the list editor ‘list1’ if it is not already. You may need to click again in the list editor list= textbox first.
5. Press blue Keyboard to get rid of the soft keyboard. The main application should reappear in the top pane and the list editor in the bottom pane
6. Use the stylus, tap the first cell in list1.
7. Using the number keys press 10 then exe (bottom right hand corner of the keypad). This should put the first number in the list. Not that the cursor has dropped to the next item in the list without having to use the stylus. Now enter 12 then exe. Your list should now have two entries. Add the remaining entries.
8. Click in the main application. Raise the soft keyboard with the blue Keyboard button. Open the abc tab and type list1 and press exe. {10,12,13,14,15} should appear.
9. Click Action in the menu bar and tap List-Calculation. Tap mean from the options provided. 'mean(' should appear in the main application.
10. Complete the action by typing ‘list1’ using the soft keyboard and the button ‘)’. You should now have ‘mean(list1)’ displayed. Press exe. The answer 64/5 will appear. To get a decimal representation, highlight ‘64/5’ with the stylus and click the first icon in the icon bar.

viola. You should be able to finish the tutorial by finding the median yourself. (An alternate way is to type list1, highlight it, tap the Interactive item in the menu bar, tap list calculation in the sub menu and then median and then select ok at the base of the dialog box.) You could also use statistics mode (tap Main on the icon bar, then tap Statistics.) The Statistics application is very similar in structure to the stats mode on the fx graphics calculator).

Here's a link to my last article on learning how to use a CAS calculator.
Here's a link to an index of other CAS calculator posts.

My Casio Classpad 330 Journey

Second weekend playing with the calculator.

When I was doing phone support often I could not see what the person on the other end was doing. I became quite adept at directing customers on quite difficult tasks blind. The most important thing to do was to adequately define things up front.

With the CAS calculator the windowing system can be quite confusing at first. It is important to name things in such a way that students can listen to your direction and follow it, rather than needing snapshots all of the time.



In the worksheets I have created, the calculator is divided into the screen and the buttons. The screen in divided into the menu bar, the tool bar, the work pane, the status bar and the icon panel. The buttons are blue, grey and black.

i.e.
The Edit, Action, Interactive text at the top is the menu bar
The icons underneath the menu bar is the tool bar
The area underneath is the work pane, it can be split into the top pane and the bottom pane. The work pane is currently filled with the main application.
The bit beneath the work pane (eg. Alg, Standard, Real, Deg, battery indicator) is the status bar.
The stylus and buttons are used to enter data and operations into the calculator.

Here's a link to the "How do I.. ???? on a Casio Classpad" book that I have been using.
Here's a link back to my first article on CAS calculators
Here's a link to an index of other CAS calculator posts.

Management in schools

Having a management background sometimes makes me have to look twice at those that are in management positions, particularly those that criticise superiors. In my day that was called whiteanting.. a popular (and healthy) pass time of staff, a particularly unhealthy occupation of management. Management that did stupid things like that found themselves being shown the front door.

For similar reasons management that wished to leave were given their severance and shown the door rather than working out their notice. Unhappy management talking about how the "grass is greener" elsewhere rarely have the motivation to do their job to the level required. It tends to be half hearted and based around explaining why leaving is a good idea to other staff. There are exceptions based on circumstance but usually this is true.

A strong administration gives an organisation direction and purpose. In teaching (where promotion is often from within to administration), a strong relationship often exists with staff and the newly promoted that cross the staff/admin boundary; this inexperience ends with the newly appointed siding with staff rather than with school policy set by the senior management group. Pre-policy positions should be open to discussion with staff but dissension with policy (once decided) should stay with the SMG.

This is why in many cases it would be better to gather administrative staff from out of school, rather than promote from within (temporary postings are the exception to this, this is where you get experience for a permanent position). The staff relationships are less fixed and a clear line can be drawn that is needed for a working environment. Good time guys with unprofessional relationships with staff allow schools to be run down as staff run in individual directions and lose direction on teaching outputs. Old boys networks within schools should be discouraged at all costs. Management is about setting the school direction and managing staff - when management and staff are travelling in different directions then this is not a positive outcome.

Surfing & Structured and sequenced content

When at uni, in my last year I sent a letter to the Dean about the mathematics course. The gist of it was that I thought that the course needed more structured and sequenced content.

It seems this is becoming a more popular view. When 'mature age' students leave university they have a real disadvantage as a lot of mathematics is not fresh in your mind (as it is when you leave school) and you have no real idea what is to be taught to what year group and how. You have to muddle along for a few years before it is all sorted out.

There is also a pressure for all of the kids to feel successful all of the time. To achieve this, typically teachers dumb the course down a little. As you get more experienced you can lift the bar higher without students feeling hopeless, get them to 'ride the wave' so to speak.

The idea of mandating a minimum curriculum (and setting a syllabus) in mathematics for each year group is a good idea. By setting a standard this will assist graduate teachers know what needs to be taught, where the course is going in following years and make for an easier transition when moving between schools. The scope and sequence documents are a good start, but we probably need to now go further and make it compulsory to use these as the minimum benchmark for teaching mathematics K-10.

Blog entries on CAS calculators.

Other educationWA articles on CAS calculators:

General
My first use of the CAS calculator Click here
Naming conventions Click here
How to navigate through menus (what's a menu bar?) Click here
Naming variables Click here

Statistics
How to create and use a list of data (what's a list editor??) Click here
How to create a graph? (What's a StatGraph?) Click HereHow to find the mean and missing values of a data set? (how do you solve an equation?) Click here
How to find probabilities with Normal Distributions? Click Here
Finding simple moving averages Click Here
Combinations and Permutations Click Here


Algebra
Balancing equations. Click Here
Solving simultaneous equations. Click Here
Absolute Value and Inequalities. Click Here
Absolute Value and Inequalities 2. Click Here
Functions (Inverse) Click HereFunctions (fog(x)) Click Here

Trigonometry
How to find an unknown angle from a triangle using the sine rule. Click here
Storing formulae on the CAS calculator. Click Here

Number
Annuities, Reducible Interest and Amortisation (Finance). Click Here
AP's & GP's. Click Here

Calculus
Finding and solving problems involving the 1st derivative. Click Here

The articles should be completed in order as they build upon previous entries. They use the Casio Classpad 330.

CAS Calculators Casio Classpad 330

Sat with the CAS casio classpad 330 calculator today. OMG.. what a learning curve, to face 3AB MAS MAT and learning how to use this new bit of tech.

We tried to use it to assist in solving an investigation. Took 3 mins on paper. 5 mins to setup on the calculator and 1/2 hour to find out why it wasn't working.

I think I'll need to post a few things on here about it as I learn more.

My advice to all - get the stupid thing out and start playing with it tonight if you haven't started already.

The first bit of useful content for learning the tool I've been given is http://www.classpad.com.au/. The videos are a bit of a help and look quite good. They may assist if you can take the students to a lab after introduction of a new topic.

The consensus is to get proficient to at least the level of graphics calculators and then the rest will follow as everyone gets more aware of their capabilities. I certainly miss not having certain buttons at easy range that I am familiar with such as trig functions and sqrt keys. I do like fiddling with technology though so I don't see it as too much of an issue for me.

oh.. and Rom Cirillo from the Curriculum Council (who has been a rather nice bloke throughout the NCOS fiasco).... of course if you ask us to vote whether we want CAS calculators now we are going to say yes... WE HAVE ALREADY TOLD PARENTS THAT THEY HAVE TO GET THEM FOR NEXT YEAR BECAUSE YOU/CC SAID THEY WERE REQUIRED, YOU DILL! Great idea to shift blame to teachers for any costs to date by shifting responsibility for calculator selection in 2AB back to schools. What happened to the equity issue for 2CD students next year (not to mention the need to buy a $175+calculator for use in 3 terms year 12)? When CC people (at the PD) were questioning the need for these calculators at all, I wonder how much thought has gone into the need for this planned, staged, implementation by CC (it seems another opportunity to ditch teachers into a hole and see what comes out). Is there any actual measurable improvement in maths by students expected by using these tools (especially as complex calculators are rarely used out of school)? Does anyone know where the broom is?

Click here for an index of CAS calculator posts.

Mock Exams

Mock results are in and they're looking good. You've all worked consistently and have performed above your indicated ability levels.

Well done guys!

Now is the time to examine those areas that were nearly there and consolidate them. Study hard, make sure that your time is focused on subjects that you need for your TEE scores. Enjoy the last two weeks with your friends, pick your study buddies well. Get stuck into those revision guides and past TEE papers. Soak up the last of school life.

Well.. don't just sit there.. get to it!

Tribute to a great lady.

Yesterday one of the finest people in the world passed away, 93 years old. Born Gertrude Whitmore on 15th February 1915 to William and Dorothea in Calcutta India, orphaned at a young age. Educated at Loreto convent Entally and on finishing school undertook nursing training and taught kindergarden children. She was introduced through her sister to her future husband Carl. She married him on the 2nd of June 1941 and together they had 4 children, Patricia, Roger, Arlene and Steven. She migrated to Australia in 1971 and although life was hard in India, it in no way prepared her for life in Australia. Here she had to learn how to cook, operate a washing machine, look after the garden, operate a vacuum cleaner.

Compared to Calcutta, Perth was a quiet place, she initially felt isolated and lonely, but with her indomitable spirit she made new friends and conquered all obstacles before her. Her 4 children eventually reunited in Perth, bore 8 grandchildren, Lisa, Russell, Andrew, Nicole, Sascha, Kym, Ashleigh and Corey. After a long wait during her 93rd year two great grandchildren were born Tani and Angeline.

She was caring, so very strong, happy, never had a bad word to say about anyone, was loved by everyone. She lived for her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. This is how we remember her.

Her home was always open to all, food was always available in abundance, there were often kids scattered around the place. People were forever dropping by. We sat for many an hour in front of the tv cheering on the local cricket team or playing wheel of fortune. She was afraid of the electricity and I would tease her by sticking my head in the microwave. We would make camp beds on her floor, play hide and seek around the garden. She was a very ordinary scrabble player, would cheat constantly unless she had the urge to prove a point. We played Caroms, Ludo and Snakes and ladders. She would guess Jill first go in 'Guess Who' and be right. She played badminton with us at age 80. I would tickle her and she would pull faces. She would 'jarp' us up if we were being naughty (holding a fist in the air); 'chowkree' if we were barefoot; 'maraga sala' if we were cheeky (and we would chorus 'bleddy'); she'd tell us 'cul ma thow' if we hadn't been home for awhile. She made banana fritters, chow, fried rice, chicken curry, dahl, cutlet putlet and curry puffs that we all fought over. We'd make cul-culs at Christmas. We belted her ginger and garlic to a mash. She made the best tea in the whole world. It was safe in her house, I count many more hours in her home than my own.

She was a keen gardener, we picked her tomatoes, snow peas, grapes and lettuce from the yard. She had chooks and we ate the eggs. She would wake to a tap on her window at 6am every morning to make sure that I had breakfast before school. She would pack my lunch each day. We would rewrite her recipes for writing practice. She kept all my schoolbooks and reports. She was ever ready and never sat down. I went there for dinner after school. She always forgot to take out the salad. She saved her water from the washing machine long before it was fashionable.

She was four foot nothing. She gave and gave and gave of herself unconditionally unless Baileys was concerned (which tended to defy physics and evaporate at an alarming rate). More than once did she end up on her bottom from a bit of over enjoyment.

She loved her clubs and outings (the world would stop turning before Nana missed her club), she made friends at every opportunity. Gallivanting, gadabout Gertie from Girrawheen was always happiest when tripping here and there, coach, plane or train. She was game for anything, riding on motorcycles, loved going camping with Sascha and Kym, even finding a crab on the end of her hand when digging in the sand on a holiday to Wedge island.

It was fun going 'hopping with nan. We would have lunch in the old person canteen at Coles in town. She would sit at the local shopping centre with a gaggle of grandchildren (all sub 4 years old) and bags too heavy to carry. Someone unrelated would always miraculously turn up and take her and us home. She accepted help graciously. She knew so many people and they loved her as we did. She could meet someone and know their life story three minutes later.

She welcomed my future wife into the family with open arms. I have wondered who my wife fell in love with first. Every visit was an attempt to make her explode with food. It would only stop when Kendra would say I'm going to throw it all up again if I eat more. I think this became the challenge.

She would nickname everyone, Babu, Hooligan, Ahool, Tatto Meero, Putto to name a few.

She loved photographs of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We all fought to be the picture in the front. She would remind me that she still had a pulse and that I needed to visit her now. I'd say I'm coming soon. I should have visited more. I could never have visited enough.

She loved Grandpa and missed him greatly when he passed away not so long ago. She loved her two dogs, Scampy and Sam. Her love for all of us was unconditional and for her the gift was always in the giving (we often received our gifts back rewrapped the following Christmas - and only rewrapped because we would open them for her and rip up the paper). She claimed that she was a big Jonah, but everything she wanted, it seemed she already had. She valued what was important in life.

Nana would always say a prayer to St Anthony when we had lost anything and she would remind us to say a prayer before driving anywhere to be safe. She had advice on everything, never patronising, always said with a good spirit.

Towards her last days, even in great pain, to the point she couldn't talk and struggled to breathe, she would still indicate to nurses that they should rest, not fuss and have a sit down; or could kick my guitar album closed to say that she'd had enough of my woeful playing. She put her hand on Kendra's pregnant belly and smiled. She would try to eat just because she knew we worried but had no way to swallow. Visiting babies would smile and gurgle at her on her bed in the hospital. She never complained except to say it was terrible to get old.

We would get a cuddle, her hands were always warm and soft, just holding her hand was often enough to cheer you up.

Gertrude Fernandez passed away with family at her bedside at 4.30 pm.

She was an amazing person, I was her favourite and baby (at age 34), I loved her, she always made me feel special. Nana you have always been my inspiration. Your life has made the world so much incredibly brighter but the tears still well, although I treasure every second you spent with me, it makes it that much harder not being able to hear your voice and having to spend days without your support. I wish you could have stayed and met our first baby. You were an inspiration to all you raised and taught. Yet, know all your favourites miss you dearly and we will carry you with us always. I still feel you with me.

This is my tribute to you nana and to all those that have made differences in our lives. May we look to your example and seek to do likewise.

Russ

EducationWA milestone

A bit of posting trivia.. reached the big triple... 100 blog items, 500 visitors and the 1000 page hit mark..

I updated the header.. I had a bit of a dig at the edubabble acronyms usually pedalled out at uni and PD days. The fourth word in the logo is supposed to be 'ivaluate' - wen I lurnt my spellings we yewsd the hole of langwadge uprowch(sic) :-) I have no idea what the maths is behind the text - but it looked good!

Again.. thanks to all for their visits and comments... It helps keep the motivation up.. and promotes the thinking on how to do things better. It has been a great reminder to appreciate the profession we are a part of!

I'm organising a few new people to add their opinions, rather than just my ramblings.. so stay tuned..