Professional Development - Connect use in 2016

I was asked to do a Connect beginners session (a social networking/LMS/feedback/calendar/submission portal developed by the department) at the local group of high schools PD session.  I said ok, I can train anyone in anything given a little knowledge of the product and how it is applied.  Generally speaking, people like the sessions, will sit through them and try to learn.

Connect though is a funny beast.  It's reasonably mature and is being used by students and teachers. It works now, it's not a bad time to adopt it as long as there is a commitment to keep developing it by the department.  There are issues with it though that have nothing to do with the software.

Firstly, teachers need to understand it does nothing without a commitment to it.  By this I mean if you want it to work, you (as teacher) must clearly define what you want it to do in your classroom.  When I used a similar portal (Edmodo) successfully I had a clear idea of what I wanted it to do for me.  I wanted to extend my reach beyond the classroom to assist students when I was not physically present. 

I had a commitment to Just-in-time intervention, a strategy that requires responses when the student requires it.  This required my solution to evolve as needs arose.  The skill I required as a teacher was to keep these intervention events in the classroom and maximise learning time outside of the classroom.

I started by attempting a flipped classroom and blending my learning with ICT.  Edmodo (like Connect can do) provided the glue between the instructional sessions (designed by me a few lessons in advance on a tablet and posted online or during instructional periods in class on an IWB later posted online) and response sessions.  I made a commitment to my students that I would respond out of hours (if I was available - generally after my kids went to bed) to provide solutions to problems students experienced in attempting classwork.   Simple things I could prompt with short text answers, curly ones I would explore using a graphics tablet and record my voice to show how I explored the question and derived an answer.

Now that they were familiar with the programme I introduced materials from other sources that they could access with new topics, Khan academy topics and mathsonline were great for this.

Then I added quizzes to provide formative feedback, things like exit statements from lessons or readiness percentages for tests and assignments.  As other teachers became aware of the success, they tapped in and started answering questions for my students and I did the same for theirs.  This also provided prompts to revisit topics where confusion reigned.

The great thing about one of the classes is that my time teaching reduced considerably, the students would ask me to sit down and not teach.  I think this was because we managed to plug more holes this way, they started to answer each other's questions more frequently and they were more capable of independently learning, confident that if they became stuck, help was available.

Each step, I explicitly taught to students.  They had to understand what it was for - there was no learning by immersion or osmosis - if they didn't know it was there or how to use it, it might as well have been just another useless page on the internet.

Going back to Connect - this is the sort of thinking that has to sit behind it's use.  Connect is useless if it has not purpose in (or out) of the classroom.  I used all sorts of tricks to get them using a portal initially, but with some perseverance they became the easiest to teach and the highest performing class I have ever had.  I'd like to think what I learned could be used by someone else.  I know at least one person has it figured out and continues to evolve their own solution.

How do I teach that to 60 people?  When I was researching it, my supervisor concluded it was me not the ICT use that was successful.  I'm not sure I agree with him, but enthusiasm for teaching is infectious - it could be the forming of a synergistic class/teacher relationship (with high levels of confidence in their teacher) is the result of ICT usage rather than any benefit derived from the usage itself.

I don't know.  Wish me luck!

2016 and the move to Administration

It's two or so years since my last post and a fair bit has happened.  From Head of Department to Dean of Studies to Deputy Principal of senior school.  It would appear that my career has gone from strength to strength.

Perhaps on paper, but it sure has had its ups and downs.  The hardest part about the transition to administration by far is the loneliness that goes with it.  In a small public high school there are 5-6 administrators, generally dealing with different issues than teaching staff.  First and foremost, you are by necessity distancing yourself from teaching colleagues.  You now have a line to carry, whether you believe in it or not, in order to provide a united front for the school.  Disunity among admin is tantamount to a dysfunctional school.  The vision for the school starts here.  Managing friendships and management is not easy to do, and it is often more practical not to try and draw a line in the sand.  You work long hours with limited contact with anyone other than discipline cases and parents that are highly defensive and in many cases feel powerless to positively change the situation.

Next is the management of staff.  Vocational staff are lofty in their ideals and don't mind how many hours they work, career staff are there to collect a wage in order to provide a livelihood for their families.  Most teachers fall between these two extremes.  The way both staff are managed are completely different and requires a deft touch to massage egos and be mindful of family commitments.  Some are purely burnt out, others ineffectual, others outstanding but require careful stroking.  To be honest this is where I get criticised because personally I believe we are paid a lot to do a job.  The bare minimum expectation is that you do it.  I'm often a little too black and white about this and this causes me trouble.  Stroking staff is not an attribute that I have been required to develop in the past, and I find it mildly distasteful.  We do what we do due to personal motivation, lack the motivation and you are not doing your job.    Unlike with students, motivation has always been the problem of staff themselves.  There is an element of motivating staff required, but when teaching philosophies are so diametrically opposed, reconciling yourself to saying what needs to be said to maintain a status quo rather than dealing with the issue I find difficult.  I feel I am learning, but on this front I appear a slow learner.

Perception is always an issue.  People cannot see what you are doing, and judge you based on how well you do their task.  Sure it may not be the most important task that needs doing, but it is to them.  That student that did not pick up a piece of paper, that is late to class, has not completed homework can be just as important to resolve as the incident where a student has been assaulted.  Talk in the staffroom forgets all the good done and focuses on the current issue as if it was the "thing" wrong with the school.  Sentiment changes and your popularity with staff changes likewise as policy that is implemented is not always popular.  You are rarely judged on how well something is implemented or considered, the only comment I can recall said to me is that "you are a good operator".

The last two years were hard, transitioning from a job that I had done well for some time (as teacher and Head of Mathematics) to a job that was challenging due to staffing constraints (as Head of Math/Science) to a role that I found difficult and was initially ill defined (as Dean of Studies) and now temporarily to Deputy.  In each role I assisted the person moving behind me into it by improving process, building a functional team (or improving a dysfunctional one) and providing a foundation to build upon future success.

Physically and emotionally there has been a toll, one that is still being paid.  The returns from teaching are harder to find away from the classroom - there is a high from teaching that is poorly understood or recognised.  Take that high away and I see little to recommend in the job other than a wage that sends my girls to private schools - somehow from being a vocational teacher, I have become a career administrator.  My task now is to find the reward and vocation in the job in other areas; be that strategic development, staff development, staff managment, timetabling, career counselling, student counselling, curriculum development, marketing, behaviour and risk management or the other ten hats a Deputy or Dean of Studies wears.

2014 Achievements and the IOTY

2014 was a difficult year in that it lacked the proactive measures that we have achieved in previous years.  Loss of a valued staff member and the care and ultimate passing of a loved one resulted in reduced capacity to implement measures that were in the pipeline.

We did achieve a few things though:

- research is done for organising teaching observations in 2015.
- the 6th summer school has been organised and is over subscribed again with 48 students.
- Mathematics Academy classes have run for the 7th year.
- new staff are integrating well and capacity is growing in Math/Science.
- the Fogerty leadership programme helped develop stronger planning measures for the school.
- we're looking at a number of fun behaviour management schemes.
- transition went well and numbers are looking good.
- implementation of the new behaviour management policy.
- implementation of the formal streaming process.
- implementation of the ICT plan and rollout of 200 units of ICT across the school.
- made connections with like minded schools to ensure issues faced with small groups are diminished in 2015.
- plans have been presented to further enhance the mathematics programme through an engineering and public speaking focus in 2015.
- Australian curriculum implementation is progressing well.

The IOTY award for 2014 goes jointly to the teachers union, our beloved premier and the media for repeatedly reporting that we were on the list for closure or amalgamation during year 7 and 8 enrollment times.  A close second goes to the commonwealth for mandating inflexible A-E grading when it is not appropriate for schools with significant delays such as commonly found in low socio-economic schools.

The year that was.

My first year as HOLA, although the end to it was disappointing and difficult, was a successful year from my perspective.  I'm proud of how my team has responded to a demanding environment and how we were able to turn a bad situation with very low morale into a positive one.

From a HOLA perspective I set a few goals at the start of the year.

1. Gain a better understanding of the composition of our admission students (investigation of statistics of transition students, investigation of feeder primary strengths and weaknesses).
2. Develop effective professional development to ensure we are improving our teaching pedagogy (Attended the MAWA conference, training to become regional transition trainer, continuation of informal teacher in-class observations)
3. Commence meaningful performance management in line with AITSL standards (done for maths)
4. Develop written programmes throughout each year group and have ownership of these documents distributed throughout the teaching staff (done for maths, work in progress for Science)
5. Implemented the online marksbook (done for Maths, work in progress for science, training of all staff in usage)
6. Develop learning area plans for Mathematics (completed and operational) and Science (work in progress)
7. Develop skills monitoring and developing solutions for BMIS cases (Learning SIS behaviour module, meeting with parents, discussing solutions with peers, ensuring cases are resolved before being closed, developing pathways to reduce BMIS behaviours.) 
8. Develop the summer school and Mathematics academies into sustainable activities (now managed by non teaching staff and using external tutors.  Students now seeking tutors to solve issues prior to assessment. Creation of demand from students for extension programmes during term breaks.)
9. Mentor teachers in the Math department, assisting them with creating connections within the school

Incidentally I was able to contribute to the school in a number of different ways

1. Part of the course counselling team
2. Developed a personal connection with UWA Aspire to create a sustainable tutoring programme for students at the school
3. Created connections with students that have left the school to assist them with negotiating issues in first year university
4. Contributed as a boardmember of the school, providing insight into the operational aspects, developed a rapport with board members and assisted with developing and monitoring schoolwide goals
5. Assisted with development of the business plan and annual report
6. Distributed year 7 transition statistics and identified the relative strengths of feeder primary schools
7. Assisted with transition programmes at the school for feeder yr 6,7,8 students
8. Participated in leadership programmes to raise the community profile of the school and illustrate the relative strengths of our leadership team
9. Part of the finance committee 
10. Developed the ICT plan for 2014 and gained approval from all departments in the school for its implementation
11. Completed timetabling training
12. Ensured that all classes were in small groups for moderation and assisted teachers locate SGM partners where necessary

Being on 0.7 FTE load, changed how many things I could do achieve as a teacher, but the following occurred:

1. Attended a number of school functions including the river cruise, graduation, graduation dinner and school ball
2. Delivered the 3CD MAT class with a C grade or higher for all students
3. Delivered the 30 strong 8A class to a national curriculum standard gaining a 60% average on their final test
4. Worked with two difficult classes to be better able to handle mainstream class expectations with minimal BMIS implications

A favourite part of my year was watching colleagues succeed, especially those that had embraced some of my teaching philosophies during practicum and started using them in classes.  It's nice to see ideas passed on and embraced by others and be able to recommend them to positions based on what you have seen work.

Best of wishes to all during the festive season.