Category: Archived

All the old posts from years gone by.

  • 10 Things I Wish I Knew My First Year Of Teaching

    Original article by Terry Heick on TeachThought

    My first year of teaching was a blur.

    At the time, it didn’t feel like a blur. It felt a joyous, adrenaline-fueled rush of lessons, meetings, and new relationships. But in hindsight, it was definitely a blur. And now, years later, I can see a few simple tweaks would’ve gone a long way.

    1. Prioritize—and then prioritize again.

    You can’t do it all. You can’t save everyone. You can’t change the world, your school, department, or even (the entirety of) your classroom in one year.

    If I’d have known that, I’d have started with what I absolutely had to get done, and worked backwards from there.

    2. It’s not your classroom.

    It felt like my classroom. Name on the doorway, students coming to my room, my name on the rotation for bus duty, district walkthroughs holding me accountable.

    Philosophically, it was really more the classroom for the students, but even that isn’t entirely correct. It’s really the state or district’s classroom. At the end of the day, in lieu of all of your training, development, and instincts, your job—or my job, rather—was to implement the school and district’s policies to the best of my ability while leading the students to mastery of the national standards.

    Not endearing, but true.

    That doesn’t mean you can’t–or aren’t expected to–do all that you can to provide a compelling and progressive learning experience for your students, but if pursuit of that started to collide with school and district “non-negotiables”–as it often did–that perspective would’ve helped.

    It wouldn’t have dismissed me from personal or professional accountability, but it’d have helped me internalize that friction much more fluidly.

    3. Students won’t always remember the content, but many will never forget how you made them feel.

    One day, you’ll just be the blurry face in an adult’s memory. They’ll likely not remember how a poet used symbolism to establish a harsh tone in a poem, and they may not remember you, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel about themselves.

    4. Get cozy with the school custodians, secretary, librarian.

    You’ll need them.

    5. Longer hours isn’t sustainable.

    Change your habits and workflow instead. But you couldn’t have convinced me. All the teachers I saw lugged papers and gradebooks with them everywhere, so I thought I had to as well. Silly me.

    6. Student behavior is a product.

    Classroom management is more about the design of learning experiences than it is behavior. I was given several trainings in the school “classroom management system,” but didn’t understand that “behavior” was almost always a product of the way I designed learning experiences mixed with my relationship with the students.

    That’d have been nice to know.

    7. Don’t get sucked into doing too much outside of your class.

    But if you feel the need to be involved, do so with both feet. I did the best I could with Academic Team my first year of teaching, but in reality, the students deserved ten times the support I gave them.

    8. Help other teachers.

    Because you’re going to need them. So much is beyond your control, and it is your relationship with your colleagues that will sustain you when you’re behind or confused. I focused so much on curriculum, instruction, and the students themselves that I neglected this part.

    If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.

    9. Reaching students emotionally matters. A lot.

    Relationships start with being authentic to students and helping them to feel understood–not respect, clear rules, and seating arrangements. Yay for having things completely backwards!

    10. Literacy is everything for academic performance.

    If students struggle reading and writing, everything else is a challenge.

    Read original article here.

    Source: https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/10-things-i-wish-i-knew-my-first-year-of-teaching/

  • 5 ways teachers can challenge inequality in the classroom

    Research shows that everyday teaching practices exclude already marginalised groups of students, but teachers can take steps to redress the balance.

    Schools produce inequality. Work carried out by educational sociologists such as Kalwant Bhopal, David Gillborn and Deborah Youdell shows that the everyday practices of teaching and learning exclude already marginalised groups of students while guaranteeing success for others.

    My own research found that in a climate where teachers are under extreme pressure to produce results, practices such as ability setting, continual student assessments, shaming behaviour management approaches and short-hand descriptors of students – such as “low ability” or “SEN” – are commonplace. Students who are already part of minority groups in society – for instance, due to race, class, gender or a disability – are disproportionately represented in so-called low ability groups; often score below average in tests (because of the system rather than the students); and are frequently misrepresented or underrepresented in curriculum material presented in class.

    So how can we address educational inequalities from inside the classroom? I spent a year working as a class teacher to find out – observing and recording what happened when I attempted to intervene in the production of inequalities in my primary school classroom. Here are some different approaches I explored, which teachers could try in their own schools.

    Rethink ability grouping

    Is ability grouping necessary? Try different ways of organising groups of students in the classroom. Rather than creating separate activities based on a preconceived idea of ability, students could work through tasks with differing levels of challenge. This allows them to think about what they can achieve and does not label anyone incapable.

    Try providing more open-ended activities that require the students to problem-solve and draw on a range of skills. For example, see if they can make a tower strong enough to hold a marble with a given set of materials, or invite students to plan a class party that needs invitations, decorations and food.

    Allow them to work together – one student may be good at writing while another may be more creative. Students can support each other and surprise themselves and you. Sometimes they will all be given the same task and will produce something different from it (writing stories of different lengths and complexities, for example). The important thing is not to predetermine what students can achieve before they have started.

    Check your language

    Interrogate the language you use to describe your pupils and the language used by students themselves in the classroom. Nobody is inherently low ability, discourses of “boys will be boys” or “hardworking, helpful girls” limit everyone in the class, as do ideas about “lads” and “bitchy girls” – such double standards need challenging.

    Some students still use the term “gay” to describe something negative, which can cause those exploring their own sexuality or who come from queer families to feel unsafe. Using labels such as “naughty” or “silly” to describe pupils, even if not used in front of the students themselves, can quickly stick and alter how students are perceived.

    Make the curriculum relevant

    Who decides the curriculum? Is it representative of the students in the class, reflecting their experiences, histories and questions? It isn’t possible to make the curriculum relevant to all of the students all the time, but consider asking them what they would like to learn about. When I did this with the class of six- and seven-year-olds, we planned out a whole term of activities around the topic of babies, through film, writing and other activities – linking together subjects across the curriculum, and reflecting some of the students’ own experiences.

    Where it’s not possible to alter curriculum material, critical conversations could be started around the points of view represented in lessons from history, science or literature. I’ve changed my questioning to encourage students to think about whose point of view we are hearing. For example, drawing children’s attention to the gender of scientists and suggesting they find out about female scientists; or when we learn about kings and queens, who are we not learning about? – if school resources show only white people in Tudor times, for instance, encourage students to ask questions about why people of colour are not represented.

    Avoid quick-fix punishments

    Many behaviour management systems in schools are incredibly shaming for students. Having your name written under a sad face, being made to stand up during assembly, or being asked to sit on the floor in another classroom, are publicly humiliating practices that would seem shocking if carried out in an adult place of work.

    Such practices are a quick fix in a busy school day but, in the long run, rarely result in behavioural changes from a student. Consider where space could be opened up for conversation rather than punishment. Can the language around bad behaviour be challenged to make room for more compassionate understanding of students who don’t so easily conform?

    Nurture relationships

    Ultimately, all of these methods aim to help prioritise teacher-student relationships and the relationships between students in the classroom. It’s these relationships that allow the student to be seen as a person, as opposed to, for instance, a middle-ability child.

    When we connect with the students in front of us by respecting them as people, listening to their point of view, acknowledging their difficulties and acting from a place of compassion, we end up being able to critique the assessments the students take, rather than the students themselves. It is from here that we build a classroom, a school and an education system that is more inclusive of everyone.

  • Teachers commit to action, if needed, to free teachers to teach

    Primary teachers and principals have committed to taking action next year in order to give every child more teacher time, and attract more people to teaching.

    At their annual conference in Rotorua today, members of NZEI Te Riu Roa committed to fighting for pay and workload changes that will help retain and recruit teachers, and free teachers to teach.

    Collective agreements for primary principals and teachers are up for negotiation in the middle of next year.

    “Children go to school to learn the critical skills and abilities they’ll need when they grow up, and for that they need teachers to have time to teach,” said NZEI president Lynda Stuart.

    “Right now, children are missing out on some opportunities to learn because their teachers are bogged down in administration and testing, or are struggling to get support for children with additional needs.

    “To make matters worse, children are increasingly in doubled up classes because their school can’t find enough teachers.

    “Teachers and principals are fed up with seeing children miss out on the education they deserve and we’re tired of trying to hold the system together when it’s broken.

    “It’s time to get serious about giving our children the best education in the world and to focus on what’s really going to make a difference.

    Source: Teachers commit to action, if needed, to free teachers to teach

  • Backbench MP’s vs. Teacher Salaries

    Backbench MPs are about to earn $163,961 a year. The top of the pay scale for teachers is $78,000.
    If we turn the pay clock back to 1979, Backbenchers and experienced teachers earned roughly the same amount ($18,000 a year) Now the basic MP’s salary is more than twice as much as what a senior teacher earns.

    Auckland schools are desperate for teachers but, even as she was preparing to leave parliament, former Education Minister Hekia Parata was quoted last March as saying :

    “Teachers, like other Aucklanders – police, nurses, bus drivers – are facing the same pressures. And I don’t think one group over another should get some kind of different funding” (Herald March 19,2017)

    Apparently, however, it is OK for the particular group to which she once belonged (MPs) to get “some kind of different funding, ” …the ongoing perks of which she will enjoy for many years to come.

    This is what neoliberal economics has done to us folks – lowered wages while allowing house and food prices to rise. And those who have championed this kind of unfair economic policy in parliament for the last 30 years have feathered their own nests in the process.

    Did we vote for a fairer government this time?

    Who would know?

    We are in limbo.

    Perhaps if pay cuts for MPs and more money for caregivers, teachers, nurses,mental health workers ( for example ) was on the negotiating table I’d feel more hopeful.

    PS. By the way you can find links to my latest documentary WHO OWNS NEW ZEALAND NOW? and extended interviews here: https://www.facebook.com/NZHousing

    Amongst other things,it looks at how houses became overpriced in terms of what we earn.

  • Vane Sopoaga teaches money literacy to 100,000 children | Stuff.co.nz

    Having had Vane in my class on numerous occasions, I’m delighted he is getting recognition. Incredibly energetic, engaging, and makes connections with the kids almost immediately. A true example of Engage, Inspire, Unleash!

    Vane Sopoaga knows money matters.

    The ASB GetWise facilitator spends his days teaching money literacy to pupils, largely in the Wellington region, and has just reached a big milestone.

    On Thursday, at Rangikura School in Porirua, Sopoaga delivered one of his workshops to his 100,000th pupil.

    It’s a huge number, he says, achieved over six years of “just preaching the good word of financial literacy”.

    In total, he has delivered more than 4000 workshops to more than 257 schools.

    With a background in dance, performing arts and social work, Sopoaga – and his personas of Captain Cashtastic and P.T, a personal trainer – brings energy and fun to the classroom as a way of teaching kids valuable lessons.

    “Think of this age, right now, and where they are. If we can have the ability to just nudge them, just gently, into a positive direction where they’re going to make some better financial decisions, it can have a huge impact on their lives.

    “Obviously knowledge is key and then trying to motivate them to have better decisions, it’s got to be a positive thing.”

    Teaching money literacy in schools is a relatively new concept. ASB began its GetWise programme in 2009.

    Sopoaga says he didn’t learn anything he teaches during his school years.

    “I never had that growing up … I saved up my whole primary and intermediate years and I ended up saving $8.80,” he says.

    Read full article here.

  • From next year, more than 250 year 9s at Wellington Girls’ College will learn Māori | Stuff.co.nz

    Wellington Girls’ College is set to introduce compulsory te reo classes for all year 9 students, after years of obstacles.

    The scheme, which begins next year, was something principal Julia Davidson said the school had been working towards for the past five years, but a lack of suitable teachers had made it impossible until now.

    “The time has come and we’re in a very fortunate position to have the staffing to do that … I know that not every school has the ability to have two staff helping them.

    “We’ve got to a point where we want to do a lot more, so we’re thrilled about this step.”

    The language will be compulsory for all year 9s for half a year, with the option to take it through to year 13 remaining optional.

    According to the Ministry of Education, a total of 754 year 9 students studied te reo in 2016 across the 32 Wellington secondary schools that offer the subject.

    Of those, 26 of them were from Wellington Girls’ – a number that’s set to grow to more than 250 once the subject becomes compulsory in 2018.

    While it would be a substantial jump, Davidson said the lessons would be co-taught, meaning two classes with two teachers would be run at the same time.

    “We hope that some of our other staff who are really keen, but perhaps don’t feel as comfortable teaching te reo, will be able to slip in as well, so we could by the end of next year have a few more staff who are prepared to help.”

    Read full article here.

  • Kiwi kids are missing school rather than turn up with no lunch | Stuff.co.nz

    Children around the country are missing school rather than turn up with no lunch, because their families feel ashamed.

    People who work with food banks and schools say the problem has widened from beneficiaries to low-income families in which both parents work, sometimes more than one job, and still struggle to pay the bills.

    Representatives of the Salvation Army, Child Poverty Action Group, Public Health Association, KidsCan and NZ Educational Institute were all aware of children being kept at home by caregivers rather than go to school with no lunch.

    Jeni Cartwright of the Child Poverty Action Group says there is no reporting on the numbers of children who miss school days because they don’t have lunch, but the CPAG research paper Hunger for Learning described it as “common”.

    A Salvation Army spokesman says that when families are struggling to pay bills, the food shop is one of the first things to be trimmed.

    Every day families ask the Salvation Army’s Hamilton food bank for lunch box basics, such as muesli bars and bread, that children can take to school.

    KidsCan provides food for close to 30,000 children at decile 1 to 4 primary, intermediate and high schools each week. Chief executive Julie Chapman says the charity serves 675 schools and there are 40 more on the waiting list.

    Around 22 percent of the children at those schools would go hungry at some point during the week, up from 11 percent in 2011, she says.

    Read full article here.

  • Taranaki school principal resigns from increasingly stressful job.

    The principal of a top Taranaki school has resigned after 12 years in the role – and says other school leaders have congratulated him for getting out of an increasingly stressful profession.

    Charles Gibson is one of five Taranaki principals and deputy principals leaving their posts this year.

    While Gibson said he was mostly leaving Lepperton Primary School because it is “the right time to do something a little different”, he warned the stresses of the job, national standards, and a lack of respect for teachers from the Ministry of Education had all been contributing factors and were putting others off taking up top positions.

    “Many teachers and principals are feeling increasingly undermined not only by government and MOE but by some who feel they know better about how children learn.”

    He would like to see the end of national standards, he said.

    “Have the MOE support and respect us. Part of their brief should be to make our job easier. We need more wraparound support for our children at risk without having to spend ten hours on an application.

    “One of the biggest frustrations I have had is with the MOE and the rebuilding of our new school. It has been about eight years since approval and in that time it keeps going over budget and still not a single piece of dirt has been overturned.”

    Read full article here.

  • New Domain Name

    Welcome to UnleashEducation.co.nz

    It’s here! Finally, after many months of deliberation, we have bit the bullet and purchased the domain name “unleasheducation.co.nz”. We haven’t updated the website any to match however, as some have come to expect, as we’re quite happy with the design we have currently.

    So update your bookmarks, share out the links, tell your family and friends, and check it out to make sure it all works!

    Enjoy!

  • No More Sense from Seymour

    And so it begins.

    The non-sensical dribble spews forth from the under-secretary of Education, who gets into a lucrative position on the back of one electorate described on Wikipedia as an “exclusive, affluent suburb of Auckland”.

    That’s right. Mr. Seymour is at it again as he launches the ACT Party campaign.

    We will pay good teachers more. And great ones even more. No doubt David will be the judge as to which teachers make good teachers and which ones make great ones. I would put money on schools not being able to decide that themselves, and even more money on it being based on student results i.e. National Standards ala Performance Pay.

    Of course, one can see his point when he opens with the statement that the average teacher is paid a pittance, and deserve to be paid more.

    To fix that, the party is proposing an extra $1 billion in funding for education. “ACT’s proposed good teacher grants will give your average teacher a pay rise of $20,000 per year,” Mr Seymour claimed.

    But to receive the extra money, schools “need to opt out of the centralised payroll system and collective agreements”.

    This has rubbed a lot of people (in particular teachers) up the wrong way. No surprises there.

    But here’s why his solution makes no sense.

    Hypothetically Synonymous Seymoronous

    Let’s assume that schools go for this, and EVERY school in the country pays their teachers an average of $20,000 per year more than they are already. That is going to cost a lot.

    However, none of that has anything to do with collective agreements, the unions, or any centralised payroll system. They are not synonymous with each other.

    It’s illogical.

    In fact, under Seymour’s scheme, teachers could stay in the union with the collective agreement, and they could still get paid $20,000 more if he really means it; just get a new collective agreement ratified between the government and the union, or have both – give a bit more to schools to ‘top up’ teacher salaries that are paid through the collective agreement. It’s only because ACT are notoriously anti-union that he is dangling the carrot for principals and teachers to consider.

    Pay more Seymour

    The second factor is that given the current climate in education, there are teachers leaving in droves, and not always because they aren’t being paid enough. On many occasions, the workload is too much. Refer to this article in March. As a teacher, like many others, I would probably take less workload over getting paid more to ‘compensate’ for the increased workload that is currently expected of us.

    In Conclusion

    While paying teachers more is a genuinely nice touch, Mr. S, if you really cared and were really in touch with the education sector, and you actually wanted to value teachers, then maybe the first step is to work with the union rather than trying to sabotage it into non-existence.

    Illogical. Blackmail. Numpty.