Good times never felt so good (Neil Diamond)

Einstein's advice on learning to his young son, Hans Albert:

I am very pleased that you find joy with the piano. This and carpentry are in my opinion for your age the best pursuits, better even than school. Because those are things which fit a young person such as you very well. Mainly play the things on the piano which please you, even if the teacher does not assign those. That is the way to learn the most, that when you are doing something with such enjoyment that you don't notice that the time passes. I am sometimes so wrapped up in my work that I forget about the noon meal. . . .

Too often, in the senior school, students are not doing things for enjoyment. As I look around the Learning Centre right now, five minutes before lunchtime - students are working quietly on set tasks, but even without bells, students are hyper aware of when lunchtime rolls around.

In contrast, I can recall plenty of occasions when teachers in the junior school have had students continue their work when break times happened, blissfully unaware of the time.

This aligns to what John Hattie calls the thrill part of  'skill, will, and thrill':

“In fact, if we can increase their sense of love of learning, the thrill, we can increase their sense of self,” John Hattie.  

I will wait, I will wait for you (Mumford and Sons)

Photo by Evangeline Shaw on Unsplash

Currently, there is some lively debate happening within my school around the 'lesson' (teacher led activities) versus 'study' (student directed activities). 

Mainly we are thinking about the balance that is needed for each. What we have agreed, as a school, is that it needs to be flexible,  and it shouldn't be 100% anything.  

However, it wouldn't be teaching if everyone had the same opinion. Each teacher appears to have taken a different approach. And everyone tends to think that their approach is the right one. Interesting.

During my reflecting on all this, I remembered this useful info-graphic.

I like this and it's worth keeping in mind for a few reasons:

• The student is at the centre, with specific and individualised goals, needs and preferences
• Self paced implies a lot of student directed activities (study) rather than a lot of teacher led activities, I think
• The one on one teacher tutorials are an important part of the process
• Feedback is a key ingredient (John Hattie agrees)

I find it hard to tell you 'cause I find it hard to take (Tears For Fears)

Photo by Boris Smokrovic on Unsplash

What makes a popular post on Baggy Trousers and Wozza's Place?

The answer is, "Who knows?"

Here are the popularity stats for these two blogs:

Above: Baggy Trousers

Above: Wozza's Place

They reveal two clear cut winners in the popularity stakes. So let's have a look at them, shall we?

First up: Wozza's Place and a post called A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

Written while living in the Middle East, this was about mentors and some key people who have influenced me.

Only one of the three is still alive - Warwick Gibbs who is still teaching at the same school. His first year there was 1972 (my Year 10 or fourth form year in old money). He is still a huge influence!

What was it about this post that struck a chord with 3,428 readers? Who knows!

Wozza's Place has bags of posts about my personal life and how I feel about people. Mitch Albom is not that well known I wouldn't think but maybe he is. I just don't know.

Over to Baggy Trousers - I still haven't found what I'm looking for was the third most popular post on both blogs but the runaway leader on Baggy Trousers. It was also written during my experiences in the Middle East, detailing my conflicted reaction to teacher evaluations. 

Nearly a thousand people have viewed it so it must be doing something right but I'm not sure what. Like Mitch Albom, John Hattie is not that well known outside of education circles and he does polarise opinion so, again...I just don't know.

I think the lesson here is not to overthink it! Just write and let the chips fall where they may!

Five GOOD reasons to come to work on Mondays.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Mondays: yeah, I'm not a fan either.

Apparently, Mondays don't care.

And they ain't going nowhere, so Mondays need to be squarely faced, head-on, eyeball to eyeball with relentless positivity! Don't let Mondays push you around.

Ha! Last week's Monday morning was an utter disaster (cut a mole while shaving and it wouldn't stop bleeding for four hours, yes, four hours!! I eventually arrived at school in time to deal with a student discipline matter, which meant I forgot I was supervising classes in the Learning Centre, then I made a pig's ear of a supervision schedule - yes THAT kind of Monday).

So why didn't I just stay in bed?

Five good reasons (as opposed to all those weirdo nebulous copy cat reasons you read online when you google 'reasons to go to work on Monday', and there will be no gratuitous mention of John Hattie or Seth Godin in sight this time out):

1. Let's get the obvious DAH one out of the way - it's my job and I need the essentials of life to survive, like food, shelter and records. Can't get 'em if I don't have a job.  

2. Reset. Apparently, many people use Mondays as their reset button. Good idea! Wipe the slate clean, start a new week, and start off a new approach maybe? Apparently research indicates that people who start a diet on a Monday have greater success! Hmmm, food for thought (apologies if you just started a diet and that was a tad insensitive).

3. Any day above ground is a good day. I need to get over myself. Give myself a good talking to and follow my mother's advice which she most probs gave me on a Monday - deep breath! Pin your ears back!

4. That relentless positivity. I honestly believe it will get better as I go along. Two deep philosophical thoughts keep me going on Mondays (and any day that goes haywire): Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you; and You have to take the crunchy with the smooth.

5. Hey! I'm the eldest in my family: I don't shirk my responsibilities.

Bonus reason: take a look around you - maybe it's night time and the stars are out, maybe you're reading this on your phone, on a train going to work, maybe you just got your baby off to sleep and you're 'laxing with a cuppa. Wonders are all about you. It's no big deal if things don't exactly go your way on Mondays.

So, there you have it: Mondays sorted. What else would you like me to fix for you?

My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare (David Bowie)

Week 12 - Book 14: The Future Of Learning (Mark Treadwell) 

I don't often get excited about a book that centres on education but Mark Treadwell and John Hattie certainly get my heart racing.

Their crystal clear thinking aligns closely with my own thoughts, hopes and desires for education.

I've had the privilege of hearing them talk about their ideas a few times and they always challenge my thinking.

Marks' six pillars are awesome! Look at number 6 - To implement concept based learning domains and competencies, based on building conceptual understanding, with learners creatively leveraging that understanding to be innovative and ingenious.

How great is that!! I read it and thought - YES! I bet Toni Dunstan's eyes are twinkling as well at Woodford House in Havelock North.

If you haven't grabbed a copy yet (it's only just out, so, like, I forgive you) then go to his website and prepare to be amazed and dazzled!!

Welcome to your life (Tears For Fears)

How does the brain work?

How does YOUR brain work?

How does the brain learn?

How does YOUR brain learn?

What is self-awareness?

What are YOUR learning tools?

Brains from Thunderbirds!

As part of a study skills workshop, I am posing these questions to a class of Year 10 girls at my school today.

To help them answer, I am using four key resources:

• Mark Treadwell's prezis; 
• Star Wars (Yoda instructing Luke Skywalker); 
• John Hattie's meta-research; 
• A TED presentation by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore.

That's it. It's all I need.

Believe it!

No recess (Nirvana)

Here are some factual statements about school reports for students:

• A report communicates a student's performance academically. 
• In New Zealand the Ministry of Education requires schools to provide a written report on at least two occasions during the academic year.
• A typical report uses a grading scale to determine the quality of a student's school work. 
• Reports are now frequently issued in automated form by computers and may also be mailed to parents and students. 
• Traditional school report cards contain a section for teachers to record individual comments about the student's work and behaviour. 
• Some automated systems provide for teachers' including such comments, but others limit the report card to grades only. 

At my current school, we do all of these things and more. 

• Some reports are automated,  some aren't.
• Some have comments, some don't.
• We have more than two written reports a year.
• We use a variety of grading scales.
• We don't just report academically.

The opinion bit

My main issue with the school report process is that, to have maximum effect, feedback needs
to be as current and as detailed as possible.

Feedback! It works!! Just ask John Hattie but...it needs to be focused within individual lessons. Really focused!

I've searched for data on the effect our three week old teacher comments have on students' learning but have come up blank. However, I'm reasonably sure that a bland report comment that is three to four weeks old is not going to have the same effect as more immediate and focused reporting that parents can see on Schoology (or some other platform) as soon as I've written it!

Our latest report process took most of June to complete.

Can we do better? Ar-ha ar-ha - I think so.

Tempted by the promise of a different life (Tim Finn)

A recent article on Schools in 2030, yes - 2030, tried to project Marty McFly style Back To The Future. 

Dangerous stuff usually. Hoverboards anyone?

So, what did they reckon?

Well two things emerged and they won't be much of a surprise I shouldn't think.

One - they predicted 'totally transformed classrooms', a.k.a. 'learning spaces'.

These would be open and flexible and equipped with the latest technology. There, students are sometimes working alone , sometimes in small teams, and sometimes in a whole class or even bigger group.

There have been some early adopter schools who have embraced this concept. We've yet to do so at my current school.

Two - teachers as 'activators' (we are no longer 'transmitters of knowledge' but we are also not 'mere facilitators'). The writers cite our own John Hattie during their article and that pleased me a lot.

Hattie's work remains extremely valuable to all educators and so, it's worth quoting his findings at length here (my emphasis):

 "The remarkable feature of the evidence is that the greatest effects on student learning occur when teachers become learners of their own teaching, and when students become their own teachers."   

"The act of teaching requires deliberate interventions to ensure that there is cognitive change in the student... It involves a teacher who knows a range of learning strategies with which to supply the student when they seem not to understand, who can provide direction and redirection in terms of the content being understood and thus maximize the power of feedback, and who has the skill to 'get out the way' when learning is progressing towards the success criteria."

 To accomplish this second change our English courses have changed substantially to be much more inquiry based. Often the emphasis is on - teach me what you've found out. 

We are also learning to 'get out the way'!

A myth has just been shattered, upon the four winds scattered (Joan Baez)

Myths abound in education.

Here are my favourite five as outed by Nu Zild's very own John Hattie!!

1 Smaller class sizes improve student learning

Hattie's meta analysis of the research shows smaller class size only marginally affects student achievement because teaching practices rarely change when teachers move from larger to smaller classes. I've blogged about this before so...yeah - a class of three doesn't necessarily improve results!

2 Homework matters

To be effective, homework should be four things: brief, linked to the in-class lesson, monitored by the teacher, and not include new learning that disadvantages those who most need a teacher present. When is it so? Thass right - hardly ever!

3 Teachers need to soften critical feedback for students with praise.

Coupling critical feedback with praise negates the impact the feedback has on improving student learning. One of my students in Year 13 says I should use the compliment sandwich - compliment/ critical feedback/ compliment. BALONEY!

4 Content knowledge alone is enough.

Some believe that teachers in specialist subjects have a mortgage on content knowledge but Hattie says, "Expert teachers organize and use their content knowledge to make meaningful connections among topics and concepts by using students’ prior knowledge and adapting lessons to meet students’ needs".

5 Ability grouping can be effective.

While some believe grouping students by ability allows teachers to customize learning to students’ learning pace, Hattie says that in reality the opposite is true—it has a barely discernible impact on student achievement.

I got the key to the highway, billed out and bound to go (Derek and the Dominos)

Malcolm Gladwell, John Hattie and Warren Purdy all have something in common- the belief that small class sizes have no appreciable affect on student learning.

I'm currently reading Gladwell's David & Goliath (Underdogs, misfits and the art of battling giants) wherein he expands on the class size debate.

Interestingly, he makes the claim, based on American research, that a really really small class is as bad as a really really big class. About 18 is the ideal number to get it right re atmosphere (vibe!), discussion, rapport, and recycled teacher jokes. 

John Hattie broadly agrees. His effect size meta-analysis indicated that class size has no affect on student learning.

Curious then why so many people (yes - for that read PR people and parents) think a small teaching class is beneficial. Conventional wisdom is at the heart of that false perception I believe.

A class of three might sound like an ideal but it's my idea of a nightmare.

"There must be some kind of way out of here", said the joker to the thief (Zimmy)

The National had a story recently (today actually) headed up ‘Pupils shine in new school system’, with an exciting sub heading, 'Scores up by 32%'.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/education/pilot-education-system-to-expand-after-pupils-progress-in-tests

Okay, I thought, maybe they’ve cracked it - a miraculous new way to achieve improvements in student achievement. Right here in the UAE, Dubai to be specific; 18 schools in Dubai under a ‘Schools for the future’ banner to be even more precise. No more agonizing over data. No more angst. No more teachers' dirty looks. A simple solution. 

Yeah right!

Turns out all that we need to do is teach in English and - hey presto – instant success!

Sorry to be so sniffy but…hello!! If you want students to become better at English and get into university here without doing a foundation English course – then the longer you expose the students to English the better, right?

But hang on – they’ve only been doing this for four years in this trial of 18 schools in Dubai (teaching English, mathematics and science in English). How can that time frame, even with a massive injection of resources and funds to those 18 schools, in a small number of subjects, result in increased results by 32%? Easy – you start near zero!

According to The National – improvements in test scores came from the use of new teaching methods, multimedia, new textbooks and added preparation by the teachers.

Someone alert John Hattie and Michael Fullan! Lack of technology, old books, outdated teaching methods and slacker teachers are the problem! Those are the correct drivers...right? Well no, they are not. Not even close!

It’s also interesting that the same edition of The National included an editorial about ‘the cheating culture’ in education here. The editorial bemoans the ‘largely guilt-free trend with officials accusing students, and even teachers, of generally being tolerant of…plagiarism’.

[This editorial followed a recent story about how students are using technology to cheat; http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/education/pupils-dial-c-for-cheating]

It seems the cheating culture ‘is seeping into the system as early as kindergarten level'.

So, sadly I have to report that it looks like there is no silver bullet to be found in Dubai's educational adventureland.

Take my hand, take my whole life too (Elvis)

While I was writing the previous post and looking for some substantive research on whether teacher evaluations had any significant impact on student achievement I came across a great statement by John Hattie:

On the other side of this equation [the effects of the best rated teachers], having poor teachers can be devastating. The effects of poor teacher quality tend to persist for years after a student has had such a teacher.

These are the mediocre teachers that Todd Whitaker talks about in his work.

While the superstar teachers have high expectations of their students, create high self-esteem, and will be fine no matter what, the mediocre do untold damage by having low expectations and teach in a uniformly boring way to the whole class.

Why don’t we let the superstars and backbones get on with it and limit the damage of the poor teachers by concentrating on them? If the mediocre teachers can’t or won’t adapt then let’s get rid of them.

Believe me I know that’s easier said than done. I have been involved in competency meetings/decisions in NZ, England and here in the UAE. None were fun but all were a case of needs must.


Gervase Phinn includes this poem in one of his books:

Remember me?

"Do you remember me?" asked the young man.
The old man at the bus stop,
Shabby, standing in the sun, alone,
Looked 'round.
He stared for a moment screwing up his eyes,
Then shook his head.
"No, I don't remember you."
"You used to teach me, " said the young man.
"I've taught so many," said the old man, sighing.
"I forget."
"I was the boy you said was useless,
Good for nothing, a waste of space.
Who always left your classroom crying,
And dreaded every lesson that you taught."
The old man shook his head and turned away.
"No, I don't remember you, " he murmured.
"Well I remember you," the young man said.

I still haven't found what I'm looking for (U2)

The dust is starting to settle on the teacher evaluations - only five teachers saw me today with their concerns - and I'm starting to reflect on the effectiveness of teacher evaluations on student achievement.

I did a Google search and it wasn't very helpful.

There were complaints aplenty about evaluations being unfair and summative in nature when they should be formative as well (and inform teachers of improvements that need to be made).

There are papers showing how appraisal/evaluation is good for teachers (well yes - of course it is if the teacher is open minded enough to listen and heed advice) but I couldn't find anything that indicated beyond a series of platitudes how it was good for students.

John Hattie in his Visible Learning book says that 'almost everything works' in so much as 95% of all things we do in teaching are positive. As he says, "one only needs a pulse and we can improve achievement". I'm not arguing with him. I'm sure teacher evaluation systems have a positive impact.

But how much? And how much given the length of time and amount of energy expended on them? As one of my teachers who complained to me today said, "I could go away and generate some paperwork evidence but how do you know it achieves anything?"
Those are three good questions.

The closest I've come is the aforementioned new guru of student achievement - John Hattie. And it's not good news for the advocates of teacher evaluation.

Specifically considering student feedback to teachers (often used in teacher evaluations) he reports that feedback derived from student rating of the quality of teachers and teaching 'rarely leads to improvements in their teaching and the effectiveness of their courses'.

Those three good questions remain then. Someone out there in the interweb must have some answers but I still haven't found what I'm looking for.