Returning to school

Well I have one more lazy start and then the madness of the school year starts in earnest.

There is a mixed feeling in our house. The two youngest girls have been eagerly counting down the days for about 10 sleeps now and can't wait for Monday.  I think slightly differently.

I am not sad to go back to school. I am looking forward to hearing the kids stories and sharing our plans for the year.

However I will miss the lazy starts, leisurely breakfasts and plenty of time!    For the first time in 4 years I have truely had a holiday and will find the first few days a culture shock! 

And I think that is a good thing. It means that there is a little more perspective.

So here's to an exciting, fun filled year! 

Donations!

It is sad that for many the beginning of the school year is marred with $$$ concerns.  We are all fighting for the dollar.  Parents want to try to limit the amount of it that flows endlessly from bank accounts at this time of the year and schools want more of it to put in place the programmes and experiences that parents are wanting for their children.     At the heart of it and often most hurt by it all are the very people we are all fighting for - Children!   

$$ is an adult commodity and I cannot understand how any school can embarrass/ punish / remove a child from class to get at a parent -   and why are parents sending their child into that type of environment?     Money is never a child's fault.  Do you really want their memory of school to be about not having a bag tag or spending a week in a corridor because mum hadn't paid the fees.

I can appreciate that many schools are stuck.  Parents want their children to have access to specialist teachers, ICT's, experiences, small classes, school camp etc etc but all for free.     Schools that are able to provide these experiences are deemed 'better' and so the vicious cycle begins.  

So what do I think: 

Well I think parents need to be looking for an education where their child/ren are valued, encouraged to learn and enjoy going to school.   And much of that is free- it comes from the school culture, the input of the wider community and of course some excellent classroom teachers.  We all want happy, confident kids and somehow that is being translated into dollars.   Research shows that it isn't necessarily about the experience, it is about the time taken and the feelings associated with the day.

Last year our end of school day was a huge slip n slide,  potatoes smothered in butter and grown in our school garden,  teachers initiating water fights  and lots and lots of laughter.     A day that probably cost the school $50 ( sausages, bubbles and some treats)  produced as much fun and enjoyment as a day that could have cost $600.   What did the kids love - the teachers getting wet!

I think schools need to think a little differently about the word 'donation' - why does it seem to revolve around money when actually the most valuable of donations are time and expertise.  Sometimes by asking for less you get more!     

Our school does not ask for a donation and many of our trips are funded by the generosity of our PTA - in terms of a 'free' education we are pretty close to it.  And when we do ask for money we make sure families have the opportunity to pay it off.   We have one amazing lady who pays $3 per week.   She is often in credit and can use this to pay for school photos, school lunches etc.

What does happen for our school though is that parents do donate - we have beefies that are sold and the money donated to school because parents choose to. We have parents who care for the gardens.  We have parents who bake treats for the kids.  We have parents volunteer their time.  Things that money really can't buy.   

Yes my views are simplistic but something that I am beginning to appreciate more and more as I age is that  life is about the simple things.       

Less is more!

creating communities

creating communities

When ticking a box outweighs common sense

I really do try hard to be a good person.  I try to make sure that I treat people well and well today it was beyond me.

We had an inspection at school today and we failed.  According to our inspector we had not been performing monthly building checks since 2011.  Well since he signed us off in 2012 I thought that was strange.    So there was a lot of stress on his behalf and he quickly did some staff training so that even though we failed we would be compliant - how that works I do not understand and how silly that 15 minutes of training could make up for 2 years of no maintenance check?  This puzzled me and I went through our book - sure enough there were our monthly checks dating back from 2005 until the current day.   Well he said when he looked he couldn't find them!!! and they aren't in the right book so I am not going to accept them.

Are you serious!  We are a small school, we work hard to do the right thing and surely actually doing the checks is more important than signing the correct book.    - Well apparently not.

What happened to our friend common sense? - his loss is profound and the impact vast.

And perhaps what I should add is that he was a lovely guy, just trying to do his job but so much time was wasted on ticking off something in a box that should have been irrelevant.

Celebrating teacher success

As part of the flat classroom project that I am currently undertaking my current assignment is to design a celebration to reflect learning.

At our school we work incredibly hard and I think successfully in promoting student success and recognitions of their learning.  We have certificates, happy grams that are shared with home, award assemblies that honour academic, sporting and personal excellence, we celebrate our inspirational students with large banners and t-shirts and this year we started adding this to e-Portfolios and our school facebook page.   There is always room for improvement and new ideas however I do think our students success is recognised and celebrated on an almost daily basis.

However the same cannot be said for the way we celebrate teacher success.  Sure there are thankyous in newsletters, personal letters sent to their and of course just a quiet chat and thankyou but it isn't really acknowledging their success in an in-depth way.

So this is the celebration I am creating:

This is about recongising and celebrating teacher success

The participants for the first go at this will be the current teachers at our school.  I do see the possibility of this extending to our board.

What will we celebrate:   this year we have been using evernote to digitally record our teacher as learner models and anything that shows are contribution and understanding of the RTC's.   

(Just learning to use evernote was a celebration in itself.)

Rather than appraisal meetings and feeling the need to defend and justify we will have a celebration afternoon.  Of course it will involve food!   The purpose of the afternoon will be for teachers to share with each other the many successes they have had during the year.  These successes may be personal, academic or classroom based.   Teachers can share their celebrations through the work they have already done on evernote.  This may include notes, audio, video and photos.

The outcome:
If teachers are to view themselves as learners then it is important that their success are acknowledged.  To often we look at the 'not done' or 'could be better' without focusing on the 'WOW'.  This is a chance for teachers to be celebrated and recognised by their peers.
The best outcome for this celebration will be teachers feeling valued and keen to carry on.  Often these situations feel like blowing ones trumpet and we are not good at that.  I am hoping that our school can find a way to share in teacher success just as we do student success.
It would be my hope that teachers learn to take the compliments and accolades and use that to drive future learning and ideas.

In developing this sort of relationship we are developing a robust model of trust.  This will lead to the challenging conversations and the search for better knowledge and new ideas.

These celebrations can be blogged and shared by teachers as they see fit.  

What makes a good educator?

Education has and never will be static.  Every teacher knows about the need to self improve, change, adapt and challenge ( even those who as another colleague says are 'in the departure lounge') As I age and become a very very experienced teacher my philosophy on change and self improvement is also growing and with that I can see and to some extent appreciate the point of view of some teachers out there.  Already in my career we have gone full circle on some classroom ideas and policies, we have been subjected to the idiocies of policy makers who wish to place their own stamp on our education system.  Are things really improving? Are some children still failing? Are the demands on teachers unrealistic? And will  twitter, couches and bean bags, gadgets and blogs alter that? Is our push any different to those of those before us?

In my first year of teaching I had the latest ideas from teachers college, I was keen on the new ideas of the mid 90s and I was determined to make a difference - word processed worksheets, learning centres, task boards etc and I know I looked upon a few of my older colleagues with bewilderment - they weren't doing these things, how could they be so lazy and uninspiring - didn't they want the best for their kids? Looking back there are the 1 or 2 who really were in the wrong career but my views are changing in regards to a couple of others. 

So the classroom environments they taught in we're boring by my standards, their teaching approach old fashioned and yet the kids in their classrooms loved them, made progress and still now remember with fondness their names. And it comes down to relationships! They loved their jobs and they loved the kids. They listened, built relationships and made every child in that classroom feel important. They found what made the most difficult of children special. They found the very essence of what makes education so rewarding. They took time. And they did it while being pushed by management and wearing the scorn of some of their colleagues for not moving forward.

When I think about the teachers who have the most profound effect on my daughter it isn't so much about the frills  (and yes there is a place for those) it was about the teacher who spent 15 minutes every morning reading with her to help with her biggest weakness. It was about the teacher who gave her a cuddle every morning and welcomed her to the day.  And incendently both of those teachers were not flash on ICT, inquiry or 3way conferences- I thought that mattered at the time - how wrong I was.

It is important to move with the times, it is important to ensure that our children have access to technology but most importantly it is imperative that our children have access to educators who develop relationships with them and make them feel valued and important. 

For those of us out there who are early adaptors and expect others to do the same - continue ...-the world needs us to push the boundaries and redifine the outcomes for students but let's do it with tact and integrity to our colleagues who don't necessarily move in our circles but have still found the key ingredient. 

"A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart" author unknown

" one looks back in appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary  raw material, but warmth is the vital element for growth and soul of a child"  Carl Jung 

Yes I do think there is importance in MLE's, I will continue to enjoy the learning and support twitter provides and I would be lost without iPads in education however these will only be effective if there is heart behind their use and delivery.  

Life!

Playing with pic collage at unlearn!