"Low ability" students have always been a bit of an enigma to me. I put them in quotes, as many times they are not actually low ability, they only demonstrate low ability under assessment conditions. They come in many shapes and sizes.
The student that does not value education.
On occasion I get one of these. They're the ones that ask why are we doing (whatever it is)... The answer is fairly simple in that the curriculum is set and the government pays me to teach it. Blame your parents they elected the government. The alternative is to identify how each topic is applicable to the workforce (which inevitably ends in I'm not doing that) which makes embedding context for these students a reasonably ineffective approach. I have a book that does this, if they continue I direct them to it. Eventually we get to the point where they accept that education is an enabler of general occupations and that their chosen occupation (footballer, dancer, stripper) may not be their only occupation and that math skills will help them in their future life.
The student that sees work as a favour that deserves special credit any time they do it.
"But I did work" - So what? Still less than everyone else and well below your level of ability. Doing more work in my class than anyone else's is not an excuse for poor behaviour. If a student disrupts ten other students but finishes their work, it still is not acceptable. Maturity is the only thing that reliably fixes this, as they get a goal that they need your subject for.
The student that cannot perform under assessment conditions.
I don't have an answer to this one. I've had to use teacher judgement on a few of these over the years. They sit in class and work. They complete assignment work. If it's done 1-1 they're fine. Put the word test on the top and their brain explodes.
The student that sees you as an equal.
I'm not a friend, I'm not a colleague, nor am I an acquaintance. Students don't have a right to discover whether they should respect you or not. When I walk into a class, I set the rules. By rights of a degree and being placed in the role by the school I have earned the respect given. I decide when these rules are broken. I may tighten the rules at the request of a class. The right to negotiate is born through acceptable behaviour, not through misbehaviour. If I don't do a good job teaching I will lose that respect over the year, but I deserve the benefit of the doubt in the early days. This is best fixed with a team leader or deputy present. Explain the problem, probably no-one else has. You will now become a lone entity in the world they don't treat like everyone else and may help them keep their first job.
The student that avoids work.
This student needs to see the counsellor, toilet, drink fountain, office, nurse, dentist at least once per day. They are late to class and have not been told that assignments/tests/homework are due. They are probably the easiest to fix. Fail them. Early. Sit them down and explain to them why they are failing. Give them catch up time at lunchtimes and additional homework delivered to parents. Then encourage them as their grades improve. Don't stop too early, it may take a few years to change a habit of six or seven. It takes a fair bit of effort.
The student that believes life is fair.
Guess what.. it's not. If I believe you need more attention than another student to succeed, I'll give it to you. If I believe that one student will respond to a stern word, and another will not, I won't bother with the latter - I'll try something else.
which leads to...
You're picking on me because I'm .....
It's true, some students I will give a hard time to, because I think they'll come good and make something of themselves. Others require different strategies and a host of people and money for special programmes before they come good. Swearing is a favourite - kids from good homes don't need to get the habit, others from difficult home lives need tolerance as it takes time to come around. "Unconscious" swearing is one thing, being sworn at it another. Very few homes allow disrespect to parents (it's fewer than many believe), and this respect has to be transferred to teachers and being sworn at crosses the line. I love the shocked look on their faces when I say my grandfather is darker than them and that they need to consider their words carefully because, like them, I take racial vilification comments very seriously.
The student that tries and fails, every time.
If a student can't pass your course legitimately, then you need to act. Create a course for them, move them, do something. It's soul destroying to you and the student to allow this to continue. Heterogenous setups are a trap for this sort of thing. One curriculum does not fit all unless you are a highly (and I mean highly) organised and skilled operator. I have not met that many that do this well.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
iBooks Author
Last time I looked at iBooks Author it was a big load of useless. No equation editor and only worked on an iPad. It couldn't be used for making a math textbook by a teacher in any reasonable length of time.
The last update has changed things a little. It's still mainly of use on an iPad. Text and images can be exported to pdf, but the interactive components are lost. The equation editor is still missing, but iBooks Author now accepts latex and MathML so there are readily available applications that can format math text and then the symbolic logic can be quickly imported.
I wrote an iBook/ebook today that covers index laws up to a year 10 level. It was 15 pages and was written in a day including interactive quizzes. Given a bit more time, I'll add screencasts, Australian Curriculum links and CAS calculator usage for each section and upload it to iTunes. I doubt I'll sell many, but it's a great point for distributing to my iPad year 8 class next year. I know now that my flipped year 8 classes are possible.
It's a better solution than Prezi, which was my fallback if I couldn't get iBooks to work.
Update (25/11): Well my first ebook has been submitted to iTunes. Let's see what happens next.
Update (25/11): To charge for an iBook you need to have a US tax account. How the hell do I get one of those?
Update (27/11): Still waiting for iTunes approval to publish the free textbook.
Update (5/12): Published. yay! Find it here.
Update (31/12): Someone downloaded it! From Spain!
The last update has changed things a little. It's still mainly of use on an iPad. Text and images can be exported to pdf, but the interactive components are lost. The equation editor is still missing, but iBooks Author now accepts latex and MathML so there are readily available applications that can format math text and then the symbolic logic can be quickly imported.
I wrote an iBook/ebook today that covers index laws up to a year 10 level. It was 15 pages and was written in a day including interactive quizzes. Given a bit more time, I'll add screencasts, Australian Curriculum links and CAS calculator usage for each section and upload it to iTunes. I doubt I'll sell many, but it's a great point for distributing to my iPad year 8 class next year. I know now that my flipped year 8 classes are possible.
It's a better solution than Prezi, which was my fallback if I couldn't get iBooks to work.
Update (25/11): Well my first ebook has been submitted to iTunes. Let's see what happens next.
Update (25/11): To charge for an iBook you need to have a US tax account. How the hell do I get one of those?
Update (27/11): Still waiting for iTunes approval to publish the free textbook.
Update (5/12): Published. yay! Find it here.
Update (31/12): Someone downloaded it! From Spain!
Labels:
flipped classes,
ICT
iBooks Author
I don't know if anyone noticed but the October 23, 2012 update of iBooks Author included a latex/mathml editor.
Good News!
Good News!
Labels:
ICT
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Teacher well being vs Student benefit
I have argued on occasion that teacher well being is as important as student benefit. There are times that putting teachers first maintains teaching standards.
Many schools are considering moving the school year start to term three to overcome the issues caused by moving the ATAR exams closer to the term 3 boundary. Couple this with many classes in year 11/12 being combined, it's an idea that has merit.
When it was floated at our school, I was very much against the idea - to the point that I raised concerns of teachers at school council (I was a council member at the time). I was concerned that teachers that were tired after getting kids through ATAR exams would not have time to prepare courses in time for the early start and that reporting deadlines would become more onerous. There was some concern that load was being shifted to senior school staff as year 8 classes would not run until the new year.
In the end, it was not an issue for the mathematics department.
a) The early start reduced the pressure on teachers delivering combined 11/12 courses by adding 8 weeks to the year long course (typically combined 11/12 courses with ATAR exams finish early).
b) The early finish provided extra time for students in year 11 that required re-tests or for collecting late assignments providing extra time for preparing reports (typically stage 1 students).
c) It did prompt us to start programming earlier.
d) It reduced delivery pressure on year 11 courses in other learning areas that were not combined (as they were able to run their exams later in the usually year 11 exam slot week 6 if they with reduced pressure on students as they had completed math exams).
e) Students appreciated the extra time for completing year 12 courses.
f) It reduced behavioural issues typically found in the final weeks of the year and increased attendance.
We finished the year 11/12 courses in term 4 week two this year and started new courses. This was time typically lost to learning where students were sent home after exams. One stage 3 course is already over half way through the text leaving time for deeper exploration of topics.
This year the majority of teachers are strongly resistant to finishing early and starting the 2013 timetable in 2012. There are issues with it:
a) Teachers that are joining the school only do so at the start of 2013 (thus classes have temporary teachers).
b) There is insufficient time to plan 2013 courses (it would normally be done in the holidays)
c) Small groups are not operating until 2013 (resulting in difficulties running assessment in 2012)
d) Teachers are tired.
e) It doesn't work for VET subjects (the preferred option is to send them home) because there is only make-do work available.
f) Puts considerable stress on administration to prepare timetables and complete course counselling.
g) Budgets are not accessible for resources required for 2013 programmes of work.
I suppose the only issue I have with the counter arguments is that none of them relate to issues of low student performance or raising attendance. Many of the issues relate to a lack of planning and preparation time during the year. I noticed a few teachers had booked planning time (and asked to be kept off the relief time) which seemed a sensible idea.
I doubt the school will continue with the early finish, but mathematics will continue finishing math courses week 2, term 4 if at all possible. If that can be done without affecting other learning areas that would be great. If it is deemed that the effect on other learning area and timetabling is too great that will be very unfortunate.
Since mathematics started finishing yr 11 in week 2, year 12 courses have been completed on time, with revision time available (something we had not achieved prior) and results have improved despite an increase in combined courses. I maintain that we need to find creative ways to provide teaching time to students that typically mature academically later than in higher socio-economic schools and have lower levels of home support. The earlier year end is something that clearly has made a difference to our mathematics teaching programme.
Many schools are considering moving the school year start to term three to overcome the issues caused by moving the ATAR exams closer to the term 3 boundary. Couple this with many classes in year 11/12 being combined, it's an idea that has merit.
When it was floated at our school, I was very much against the idea - to the point that I raised concerns of teachers at school council (I was a council member at the time). I was concerned that teachers that were tired after getting kids through ATAR exams would not have time to prepare courses in time for the early start and that reporting deadlines would become more onerous. There was some concern that load was being shifted to senior school staff as year 8 classes would not run until the new year.
In the end, it was not an issue for the mathematics department.
a) The early start reduced the pressure on teachers delivering combined 11/12 courses by adding 8 weeks to the year long course (typically combined 11/12 courses with ATAR exams finish early).
b) The early finish provided extra time for students in year 11 that required re-tests or for collecting late assignments providing extra time for preparing reports (typically stage 1 students).
c) It did prompt us to start programming earlier.
d) It reduced delivery pressure on year 11 courses in other learning areas that were not combined (as they were able to run their exams later in the usually year 11 exam slot week 6 if they with reduced pressure on students as they had completed math exams).
e) Students appreciated the extra time for completing year 12 courses.
f) It reduced behavioural issues typically found in the final weeks of the year and increased attendance.
We finished the year 11/12 courses in term 4 week two this year and started new courses. This was time typically lost to learning where students were sent home after exams. One stage 3 course is already over half way through the text leaving time for deeper exploration of topics.
This year the majority of teachers are strongly resistant to finishing early and starting the 2013 timetable in 2012. There are issues with it:
a) Teachers that are joining the school only do so at the start of 2013 (thus classes have temporary teachers).
b) There is insufficient time to plan 2013 courses (it would normally be done in the holidays)
c) Small groups are not operating until 2013 (resulting in difficulties running assessment in 2012)
d) Teachers are tired.
e) It doesn't work for VET subjects (the preferred option is to send them home) because there is only make-do work available.
f) Puts considerable stress on administration to prepare timetables and complete course counselling.
g) Budgets are not accessible for resources required for 2013 programmes of work.
I suppose the only issue I have with the counter arguments is that none of them relate to issues of low student performance or raising attendance. Many of the issues relate to a lack of planning and preparation time during the year. I noticed a few teachers had booked planning time (and asked to be kept off the relief time) which seemed a sensible idea.
I doubt the school will continue with the early finish, but mathematics will continue finishing math courses week 2, term 4 if at all possible. If that can be done without affecting other learning areas that would be great. If it is deemed that the effect on other learning area and timetabling is too great that will be very unfortunate.
Since mathematics started finishing yr 11 in week 2, year 12 courses have been completed on time, with revision time available (something we had not achieved prior) and results have improved despite an increase in combined courses. I maintain that we need to find creative ways to provide teaching time to students that typically mature academically later than in higher socio-economic schools and have lower levels of home support. The earlier year end is something that clearly has made a difference to our mathematics teaching programme.
Labels:
administration,
engaging students
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Screencasts and Prezi
During the year I have created a whole heap of screencasts for my students. I put them on edmodo and it has become an important part of my teaching method.
I have wanted a way to organise them so that students can easily find the one that they want as scrolling back through the year is not very practical.. One of the science teachers at the school showed me prezi and I thought it might be useful as a graphic organiser.
If the loading process wasn't so prone to failure, I'd say it was a great product. It's come a long way since I last used it, but ready for mission critical work I'd say not. It's a frustrating tool to say the least.
A couple of things I learned during my prezi journey.
1. Be prepared to reload the edit page 10-15 times before the prezi loads successfully in edit mode.
2. Keep the prezi size down and don't overuse the zoom function (make things too small or too big)
3. It only works with IOS 5 on an iPad (and to update to IOS 5 requires a rebuild of the iPad resulting in data loss when the restore fails due to antivirus being overzealous.. grr..)
4. The save to file function in prezi is a lifesaver. Any time that you want to display a prezi in front of people (eg in front of a class), save it to a file - don't rely on it online, it will fail on you every time - even if it worked perfectly when you tested it two minutes before.
5. Get your login validated as an education user. It's worth the extra functionality.
Anyhow.. the important bit. It's nearing christmas so I thought I'd share my prezi of screencasts created during 2012 for 3AB MAT and 3AB MAS.
http://prezi.com/9irnyg-v83ul/screencasts/
Be prepared to reload the page up to 10 times before the prezi loads successfully (it may repeatedly error - don't worry there's probably nothing wrong). It's annoying but worth the wait to see how we could present information in the future.
Please remember that each screencast was created in about 5 minutes each in response to student questions - they are not meant to be a comprehensive examination of each topic. In many cases they are not sequential with the Saddler text. They are only meant to supplement class teaching (and are a part of my reflecting on my own teaching practices).
I know at least one of the screencasts in particular is full of mistakes (I must have been asleep that day!). A great part of the screencasts is when students find errors or query against their understanding - it's a real indication they are watching for context rather than just accepting everything in front of them and a part of why I believe they have been successful.
The sound volume is low because I'm doing these when the little ones are asleep at night. If anyone is interested in how to do a screencast (it's stupidly easy), reply below and I'll write a little tutorial.
I have wanted a way to organise them so that students can easily find the one that they want as scrolling back through the year is not very practical.. One of the science teachers at the school showed me prezi and I thought it might be useful as a graphic organiser.
If the loading process wasn't so prone to failure, I'd say it was a great product. It's come a long way since I last used it, but ready for mission critical work I'd say not. It's a frustrating tool to say the least.
A couple of things I learned during my prezi journey.
1. Be prepared to reload the edit page 10-15 times before the prezi loads successfully in edit mode.
2. Keep the prezi size down and don't overuse the zoom function (make things too small or too big)
3. It only works with IOS 5 on an iPad (and to update to IOS 5 requires a rebuild of the iPad resulting in data loss when the restore fails due to antivirus being overzealous.. grr..)
4. The save to file function in prezi is a lifesaver. Any time that you want to display a prezi in front of people (eg in front of a class), save it to a file - don't rely on it online, it will fail on you every time - even if it worked perfectly when you tested it two minutes before.
5. Get your login validated as an education user. It's worth the extra functionality.
Anyhow.. the important bit. It's nearing christmas so I thought I'd share my prezi of screencasts created during 2012 for 3AB MAT and 3AB MAS.
http://prezi.com/9irnyg-v83ul/screencasts/
Be prepared to reload the page up to 10 times before the prezi loads successfully (it may repeatedly error - don't worry there's probably nothing wrong). It's annoying but worth the wait to see how we could present information in the future.
Please remember that each screencast was created in about 5 minutes each in response to student questions - they are not meant to be a comprehensive examination of each topic. In many cases they are not sequential with the Saddler text. They are only meant to supplement class teaching (and are a part of my reflecting on my own teaching practices).
I know at least one of the screencasts in particular is full of mistakes (I must have been asleep that day!). A great part of the screencasts is when students find errors or query against their understanding - it's a real indication they are watching for context rather than just accepting everything in front of them and a part of why I believe they have been successful.
The sound volume is low because I'm doing these when the little ones are asleep at night. If anyone is interested in how to do a screencast (it's stupidly easy), reply below and I'll write a little tutorial.
Friday, November 9, 2012
IOTY Award
Each year an IOTY is given to someone that has done something rather silly in education. This year there were a few candidates. My personal favourite is the one most recent.
Currently (as reported in the West) education (teaching) staff are being declined travel requests. The interesting thing is that (on my reading) the travel requests as reported in the West are only related to airline travel.
Not so!
Recent requests for support from head office have been declined because support staff are not allowed to use government vehicles to come to schools. This means that critical support required to examine statistical data and perform professional development within schools prior to the 2013 year is being denied for a few dollars of petrol. These supports onsite are important as they bring together school staff with neutral advisors that can drive critical change and provide confidence to make courageous decisions.
To the person that decided that this is a good idea and changed a good idea (reducing travel where benefits cannot be clearly justified) to a poor idea (trying to save a few dollars and in so doing reducing the effectiveness of teaching programs) deserves the IOTY for 2013.
To the mystery person poorly implementing a good idea... the IOTY goes to you!
Currently (as reported in the West) education (teaching) staff are being declined travel requests. The interesting thing is that (on my reading) the travel requests as reported in the West are only related to airline travel.
Not so!
Recent requests for support from head office have been declined because support staff are not allowed to use government vehicles to come to schools. This means that critical support required to examine statistical data and perform professional development within schools prior to the 2013 year is being denied for a few dollars of petrol. These supports onsite are important as they bring together school staff with neutral advisors that can drive critical change and provide confidence to make courageous decisions.
To the person that decided that this is a good idea and changed a good idea (reducing travel where benefits cannot be clearly justified) to a poor idea (trying to save a few dollars and in so doing reducing the effectiveness of teaching programs) deserves the IOTY for 2013.
To the mystery person poorly implementing a good idea... the IOTY goes to you!
Labels:
IOTY
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
NAPLAN data
The next round of NAPLAN data is being released and the issues with summarised statistics arise. In low socio-economic schools this data is damaging and will close schools - not because of poor teaching but because of cohort changes.
Let's take a sample school.
General assumption:
NAPLAN scores have dropped over four years. Obviously something wrong with the teaching staff.
Examining raw data:
Increase in students with little or no schooling (refugee intake)
Opening of new school nearby attracting higher performing students
Half cohort was generally a weak group due to many students (and siblings) moving to private schools in yr 7 (entry to secondary schooling early was a significant factor in parents choosing schools in yr 7 coupled with aggressive marketing by private schools to maintain student numbers)
High turnover in experienced staff
Decrease in general school attendance (and students not attending at all) - increase in overseas holidays in yr 8, truancy, mental health issues
Issues with changing curriculum and yr 7 content not being taught to the level required by NAPLAN in public primary schools
Inability to move on students with little or no interest in schooling
Strong increase in performance of high school ready students (what high school teachers are trained to do) and low levels of improvement of students that are at primary levels during yr 7/8 (area of improvement for the school).
The issues make it hard to compete with local private schools.
None of these factors are taken into account by a one number summary, nor does it take into account the lead-in required to cater to a new circumstance that the school is experiencing (in this case a much higher number of low ability students). Even if the school diagnosed the problem, reacted and implemented cohort specific solutions (including structural changes to better cater to low ability students), it takes lead time and strong leadership to identify and implement actions that have significant impact on NAPLAN statistics and student learning. Yet in many cases a lower NAPLAN score will be seen as a teacher issue, comments driven by the misuse of statistics.
Furthermore, little analysis is done to see where systems are working and where changes in the pipeline have caused a significant positive change in student results.
Lastly, by releasing this data to parents (rather than aggressively seeking the problems and rectifying it within schools) a downward spiral commences. A school with a low NAPLAN score does not attract good students, thus the score continues to drop each year and student numbers fall. Senior school offerings reduce as student numbers are not sufficient to sustain courses.
Let's take a sample school.
General assumption:
NAPLAN scores have dropped over four years. Obviously something wrong with the teaching staff.
Examining raw data:
Increase in students with little or no schooling (refugee intake)
Opening of new school nearby attracting higher performing students
Half cohort was generally a weak group due to many students (and siblings) moving to private schools in yr 7 (entry to secondary schooling early was a significant factor in parents choosing schools in yr 7 coupled with aggressive marketing by private schools to maintain student numbers)
High turnover in experienced staff
Decrease in general school attendance (and students not attending at all) - increase in overseas holidays in yr 8, truancy, mental health issues
Issues with changing curriculum and yr 7 content not being taught to the level required by NAPLAN in public primary schools
Inability to move on students with little or no interest in schooling
Strong increase in performance of high school ready students (what high school teachers are trained to do) and low levels of improvement of students that are at primary levels during yr 7/8 (area of improvement for the school).
The issues make it hard to compete with local private schools.
None of these factors are taken into account by a one number summary, nor does it take into account the lead-in required to cater to a new circumstance that the school is experiencing (in this case a much higher number of low ability students). Even if the school diagnosed the problem, reacted and implemented cohort specific solutions (including structural changes to better cater to low ability students), it takes lead time and strong leadership to identify and implement actions that have significant impact on NAPLAN statistics and student learning. Yet in many cases a lower NAPLAN score will be seen as a teacher issue, comments driven by the misuse of statistics.
Furthermore, little analysis is done to see where systems are working and where changes in the pipeline have caused a significant positive change in student results.
Lastly, by releasing this data to parents (rather than aggressively seeking the problems and rectifying it within schools) a downward spiral commences. A school with a low NAPLAN score does not attract good students, thus the score continues to drop each year and student numbers fall. Senior school offerings reduce as student numbers are not sufficient to sustain courses.
Labels:
Analytics
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Professional Development in Schools
At the moment the department lives between a rock and a hard place with professional development. The new Australian curriculum requires a level of professional development to be successful but the department lacks the resources to implement it.
To do it properly requires a slow implementation over many years with a commitment to each year being implemented with a focus on contextual differences between schools. A drip feed approach, working hand in hard will work but requires a range of strategies, ICT and monitoring that the department is not geared towards nor has a track record in being able to deliver.
What can be done with a relative few has been shown by the oft maligned Curriculum council (now known as SCASA), during the Mathematics NCOS rollout. Rom, Malachi and crew did a good job of defining the curriculum succinctly and then supporting teachers understanding curriculum points. The moderation process (albeit unwieldy and requiring personal statistical attention to maintain integrity) has worked to lesser and/or greater degrees. Understanding the scope of assessment has not been an ongoing problem.
No such names can be readily placed for Australian curriculum. There is no level of confidence in the process by teachers at this time. The assessment model and levels of assessment is still a big black hole.
I'm not saying curriculum support branch aren't trying to help. They are. I think they need a little more practical and visible leadership and release from some of the hamstrings of the past. Rather than being apologetic about what they can't be, they clearly need to focus on what needs to be done. If they let go of the fringe materials (such as first steps) and focus on key requirements (specific learning area focuses (new content, changes to scope and sequence, what needs to be delivered, when it needs to be delivered) they may be more successful and useful. Without commitment to a process at best they are going to be ill focused, at worst ineffective.
I would start by redeveloping the communication model. The portals used are ineffective as they require teachers to log on to view them. Start with Principals (where a solid communication network exists) and then work down. Focus on Learning area objectives to reach Australian Curriculum guidelines and disseminate information to HODs and HOLAs. Develop an online approach. Get some money to do it properly and quickly - no two year processes, 10 weeks max each project using subject experts (I know expert is a bad word, but only because the experts of the past had a barrow to push and were academics or failed teachers - get the old crusty teachers of math that have taught effectively in the classroom, the statistics exist to identify who they are). Couple them together with some of the new teachers that use ICT effectively who know better ways to distribute information. Produce useful resources and teachers will be hooked. TDC's were effective in this in that they produced usable resources - this time more time needs to be taken to ensure these resources are good.
Russ.
To do it properly requires a slow implementation over many years with a commitment to each year being implemented with a focus on contextual differences between schools. A drip feed approach, working hand in hard will work but requires a range of strategies, ICT and monitoring that the department is not geared towards nor has a track record in being able to deliver.
What can be done with a relative few has been shown by the oft maligned Curriculum council (now known as SCASA), during the Mathematics NCOS rollout. Rom, Malachi and crew did a good job of defining the curriculum succinctly and then supporting teachers understanding curriculum points. The moderation process (albeit unwieldy and requiring personal statistical attention to maintain integrity) has worked to lesser and/or greater degrees. Understanding the scope of assessment has not been an ongoing problem.
No such names can be readily placed for Australian curriculum. There is no level of confidence in the process by teachers at this time. The assessment model and levels of assessment is still a big black hole.
I'm not saying curriculum support branch aren't trying to help. They are. I think they need a little more practical and visible leadership and release from some of the hamstrings of the past. Rather than being apologetic about what they can't be, they clearly need to focus on what needs to be done. If they let go of the fringe materials (such as first steps) and focus on key requirements (specific learning area focuses (new content, changes to scope and sequence, what needs to be delivered, when it needs to be delivered) they may be more successful and useful. Without commitment to a process at best they are going to be ill focused, at worst ineffective.
I would start by redeveloping the communication model. The portals used are ineffective as they require teachers to log on to view them. Start with Principals (where a solid communication network exists) and then work down. Focus on Learning area objectives to reach Australian Curriculum guidelines and disseminate information to HODs and HOLAs. Develop an online approach. Get some money to do it properly and quickly - no two year processes, 10 weeks max each project using subject experts (I know expert is a bad word, but only because the experts of the past had a barrow to push and were academics or failed teachers - get the old crusty teachers of math that have taught effectively in the classroom, the statistics exist to identify who they are). Couple them together with some of the new teachers that use ICT effectively who know better ways to distribute information. Produce useful resources and teachers will be hooked. TDC's were effective in this in that they produced usable resources - this time more time needs to be taken to ensure these resources are good.
Russ.
Labels:
systemic leadership
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