My best successes came on the heels of failures (Barbara Corcoran)

Photo by Alex Zamora on Unsplash

A recent report in Morning Brew indicated that reading and maths scores among high school students in the U.S. have dropped to their lowest levels in 20 years, per new data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The downwards trend was evident before covid-19 happened, but it's continued apace since then.

The following are some excerpts from the news article discussing this situation:

“Scores for our lowest-performing students are at historic lows,” said Matthew Soldner, the acting commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. “These results should galvanize all of us to take concerted and focused action to accelerate student learning.”

“The news is not good,” said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which oversees the assessment. “We are not seeing the progress we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic.”

While the pandemic had an outsize impact on student achievement, experts said falling scores are part of a longer arc in education that cannot be attributed solely to COVID-19, school closures and related issues such as heightened absenteeism. Educators said potential underlying factors include children’s increased screen time, shortened attention spans and a decline in reading longer-form writing both in and out of school.

This rings true for New Zealand as well. Anecdotally, this trend has been apparent to me and my English department colleagues for a while. Interesting that it is now backed up by research.

As I've written about recently, I've noticed, for the first time, students flat giving up. Because the task seems impossible, they don't believe in themselves. Their absence rate is also a real factor. 

This is a real worry, and I think school leaders need to be proactive now to consider courses wherein students can gain some confidence via success.

To paraphrase Soldner from above: we need to act now in a concerted and focused way to arrest this decline. 

Or else... 

Oh, smashing, groovy, yay capitalism! (Austin Powers)

Photo by Josh Rakower on Unsplash

As an English teacher, I've always been a collector of words. One particular fascination of mine is the way slang words for positive expressions of glee have evolved in the teenage world.

One of my senior students (hi Alex) recently reacted to my use of 'bussin no cap' by introducing me to 'skibidi'. I thought he was kidding (sorry Alex) so I searched it up:

Skibidi: "Skibidi" is a meaningless slang word popularized by the YouTube series Skibidi Toilet, meaning it can be interpreted as "cool," "bad," or simply used as a funny, nonsensical filler word. Coined by the series' creator, the term became popular with Generation Alpha and has since entered the mainstream through social media. So, there you go, 6-7.

BTW - Bussin is a slang term meaning extremely good, delicious, or amazing. It originated from African American Vernacular English and is now widely used to describe food, but also experiences, events, clothing, and more. You can use it to express enthusiastic approval or satisfaction, similar to saying something is "fantastic," "awesome," or "top-notch".

Here are some more of my favourites, starting with the hardy perennial - cool:  good, stylish, acceptable, or fashionable.

Gen Z slang terms for "cool" include slay, fire, gas, dope, lit, bussin', gucci, and cash, all of which describe something amazing, excellent,

Gen Alpha slang terms for "good" or "impressive" include "slay", "bussin'" (especially for food), "ate", "fire", "sigma", "snatched", and phrases like "understood the assignment".

You want more? Try these oldies but goldies - Fab, gear, gnarly, phat, mint, choice, rad, awesome, belting, sweet as, fit, epic, ace, pearler, dank, sick.

That's a bussin no cap list right?

Surround yourself with people who are going to motivate and inspire you (Charles M. Marcus)

Two of the all-star English department HBHS 2025

I have lived a charmed life.

When I think back to colleagues that I've shared schools with, I can't help but feel that. There are quite a few now. Schools and colleagues, that is.

English departments have come in for special mention over the blogging years. Notably the mighty earth-shaking Woodford House team (2013-2016), and King John School's rock steady crew (Essex 2004-2006).

The current crew of drones in section 7 G (that I am a part of) is the latest special bunch. Very special. They rate very high on the Wozza-meter. So, here's a list (I love lists) with a pithy comment for each of the ten English departments that I've been a part of or led.

1 New Plymouth Boys' High School. HoD - Terry Heaps. My first English department included Alan Elgar and Rosie Maben. Fun! High powered.

2 Maclean's College. HoD's - Lyn Trenwith and then Roger Moses. Roger was part Viking warrior and part Teddy Bear. Hilarious. The Principal, Colin Prentice, was an inspirational English teacher as well. 

3 Waimea College. HoDs -Aileen Ambler for a term and then...me! Peter Joyce and Annette Sivak were fantastic friends as well as inspirational teachers.

4 Mount Albert Grammar School. HoD - me again for a few years until I took the Senior Housemaster role full time - until then I'd doubled up. Shelley Masters and Brett Wardrope - great people/great motivators.

5 Cambridge High School. I was DP and a part timer in the English department.

6 King John School. HoD - me again for a few years while also doubling up as Assistant Headteacher. Natasha, Catherine, Ei, Mr O and Ali stood out - a gifted bunch fersure.

7 Stratford High School. As Principal I took one Year 11 class of Unit Standards students. The English department is a bit of a blur.

8 Woodford House. HoD - me again with the dream team (seriously): Greg, Amy and Andrew.

9 Three OneSchool Global campuses: As Campus Principal I was a part-time teacher again - taking one junior class.

10 Hastings Boys' High School: HoD - Matt Robertson (a superb non-micromanaging, non-control freak leader. Huh-ZAH!). Some terrific friends and colleagues - you know who you are (everyone can take a bow).

Really though, hats off to all that I've mentioned - you have inspired me in the past, and/or - you are right now motivating me to be better.

That's what it's all about right?

You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures (Charles C. Noble)

I like the idea of Charles' quote. When I was much younger, I had some long-range goals in terms of my teaching career. That certainly helped with short-range failures. One was to be a school Principal.

Yes, that happened a couple of times: 2007 - 2010; 2017 - 2024. When they find out about that, some of my current students ask why I'm still not doing that job.

The answer is simple in each case: after a while the up moments didn't happen enough, and the down moments happened too much.

Having returned to teaching English, the opposite is now true. The up moments happen way more than the down moments.

I am happy to have fulfilled that long-range goal, but also happy to think about some new ones as well. 

P.S. Arsenal lost to the scousers this morning - a short-range failure, I'm sure. We have some big long-range goals this year.

Bone digger, bone digger, dogs in the moonlight, far away in my well-lit door. Mr. Beer Belly, Beer Belly get these mutts away from me, you know I don't find this stuff amusing anymore (Paul Simon)

Photo by Kristine Wook on Unsplash

Sniff. Sniff. Aham. Cough. Weeze. Cough.

Been crook this week. For the second time this year. Outrageous. Egregious. Flagrant.

A not so lovey combo of virus and conjunctivitis has had me in its grip since last week. 

We had a parent teacher night in a freezing hell. Oops. Typo - should be hall. Make the correction please. Thanks.

Later that week... I started feeling out of sorts. Marking all day Saturday knackered me and by Sunday I was feeling rough. Covid tests have been negative, but a fever, runny nose and cough have made it feel pretty gosh darned covid-like.

The virus had an extra card up its sleeve - conjunctivitis. That meant I couldn't even read while feeling sorry for myself. I sent a picture of my better eye to a colleague, and he wrote back - Sweet Jesus!

So, a week off school. The misery is compounded by having to set relief for my classes.

This, believe it or not, is a teacher's worst nightmare. Being away from school sux big time, no cap.

Any of my students reading this will be disagreeing, thinking it's bussin to the max staying home. Yeah nah peeps.

Stay at school kids. You know the rest.

The amount of good luck coming your way depends on your willingness to act (Barbara Sher)

Ah yes. Success.

Last week, I used that saying 'nothing succeeds like a budgerigar' when talking to a colleague/ friend at school, and she gave me that look!

But seriously folks. I've spent the day (yesterday) marking Year 12 and 13 Connections essays and that quote about luck/success from American writer, Barbara Sher, is spot on.

Even so, Qui-Gon Jinn says it even more pithily - Your focus determines your reality. Come on! That's full of pith!

The students who acted on instructions and followed advice? Success.

Those that didn't do either of those things? Not yets.

You don't get me, I'm part of the union (Strawbs)

My history with the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) began in 1983 and ended when I went to England to work in 2004. 

On becoming a principal, I joined the Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand (SPANZ). That lapsed when I went to the Middle East as an advisor and then China. 

Upon returning to Nu Zild and teaching again, I didn't bother rejoining the PPTA and my move to a private school meant a union was redundant.

But now, in 2025, I've rejoined the PPTA. 

Why? If you've been reading my posts about the AI revolution you'll get an understanding about the disquiet I feel for the future of my profession. AI marking is just the beginning.

The clincher was watching a news clip of our Education Minister and 'Crusher' Collins moaning about the proposed industrial action. The sight of two political hypocrites lamenting the plight of the 'poor kids' being abandoned for a strike day was my tipping point.

First, they tell me NCEA is untrustworthy, and in the next breath that 'the kids' will be disadvantaged by missing a day. Make up your minds!

The next night the Health Minister was trotting out the same party line after nurses also signaled strike action. The poor patients, missing nurses for a shift. That should signal something to the minister you would think. In maternity (where Jacky works) midwives and doctors get a taste of short staffing for a day - excellent. 

So, I'm a union man again! 

All together now, with Strawbs:

Oh, oh, you don't get me, I'm part of the union
You don't get me, I'm part of the union
You don't get me, I'm part of the union
Until the day I die, until the day I die