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What do (I think) I know?

23/7/2015

The idea for this post came from a possible overuse of Twitter.

I haven’t yet got used to utilising the hash tag, but thought it could be a useful tool in developing a rounded concept of current school experience.

Every person seeks to make sense of the world in which we are living, teachers have to do that and interpret the world so that learners can begin the process of looking, exploring and learning themselves.

So this post is a mismatch of ideas connected by the #. It will grow over time. Please add to the post, if so inclined, via the comment thread.

What do I know? Teaching and Learning #WDIKTandL

#WDIKTandL Knowledge might be better expressed as “my current understanding”, as it is always capable of refinement with new information.

#WDIKTandL Every child has always and will always matter.

#WDIKTandL Talk is an essential constituent of learning.

#WDIKTandL Most education reviews hold nuggets of insight for TandL improvement. Often rubbished by politicians, who want simple soundbites.

#WDIKTandL Piaget wasn’t all wrong. Children learn in different ways and at different speeds.

#WDIKTandL Piaget wasn’t all wrong. Some learners need objects to manipulate to support their learning.

#WDIKTandL Bruner proposed the idea that language supports thinking. Broad language=broader/deeper thinking.

#WDIKTandL Dewey visualised visualisation as a learning tool. Can you see what it is yet?

#WDIKTandL Vygotsky suggested that an engaged “significant other” can support a learner’s development.

#WDIKTandL Gardner proposed different preferences for learning styles, to show difference, not to have seven different approaches in the same lesson.

#WDIKTandL Happiness does matter in learning. See Andrew Curran http://www.independentthinking.co.uk/Cool+Stuff/Articles/289.aspx

#WDIKTandL Most teachers will adopt a variation on Analyse-Plan-Do-Review-Record as the basis for their classroom practice.

#WDIKTandL Analyse- Background thinking about all the children and their needs, subject needs, SWOT, SMART targets.

#WDIKTandL Planning over different timescales allows freedom in a lesson as “coverage” is covered. Plan for the whole journey and then concentrate on each step.

#WDIKTandL Differential planning is not a perfect art. It is a hypothesis with which the teacher must engage. Non-engagement=reduced progress.

#WDIKTandL Differentiation by outcome, once done, is a reductive approach. “Pigs don’t get heavier by weighing them.”

#WDIKTandL Summative assessment is the start point for progress. Formative assessment is the thinking teacher’s strongest approach. WILF lives!

#WDIKTandL Teacher expectation of progress is embedded in learner targets.

#WDIKTandL Didactic, presentational, lecturing approaches to TandL are totally in the control of the teacher’s knowledge and storytelling abilities.

#WDIKTandL Learning is not a linear process, especially with young children, and at times can get messy.

#WDIKTandL Learning levels=capability=can do measures=targets for future progress.

#WDIKTandL Can do is a stronger driver than can’t do. Can’t do… yet can help progress if help needed is discussed.

#WDIKTandL Barriers to learning can include low expectation.

#WDIKTandL Barriers to learning can include poor learning support.

#WDIKTandL Barriers to learning can be due to wrong assumptions of background experience.

#WDIKTandL Barriers to learning can be due to limited vocabulary.

#WDIKTandL Barriers to learning can include lack of time in a lesson, especially for slower learners.

#WDIKTandL Barriers to learning can occur when a child finishes a task earlier than expected then has to “mark time” until the others finish.

#WDIKTandL Reading is not just phonics. Useful tool within a broader toolkit.

#WDIKTandL Reading is like riding a bike. Eventually you have to do it for yourself and sometimes you fall off. (Learning and bike riding are often messy)

#WDIKTandL Reading at home should be with a book that can be read with ease and pleasure. (See bike riding)

#WDIKteachingstandards Good teachers create high quality environments that enthuse chn to learn and celebrate achievement

#WDIKteachingstandards Planning will show creativity in TandL. Effective overview plans allow engagement with learning, differentiated.

#WDIKteachingstandards Teachers will evaluate outcomes, form ongoing judgements and adapt plans accordingly.

#WDIKteachingstandards Good teachers are self-developers, excited by ideas.

#WDIKteachingstandards All children will make progress, from clear effective plans.

#WDIKteachingstandards High teacher engagement and formative assessment evident, always aiming for good or very good progress.

#WDIKteachingstandards Wide teacher toolkit (pedagogy) from which to select appropriate approaches.

#WDIKteachingstandards Good teachers are responsible, reflective, effective communicators, make professional relationships and contribute to school.

#WDIKteachingstandards Good teachers effectively adapt lessons to suit the identified needs of children.

#WDIKteachingstandards Good teachers differentiate effectively, organising resources including TAs to support all learners.

#WDIKteachingstandards Reflective practitioners effectively evaluate the impact of lessons and adapt plans accordingly.

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On being a teacher parent

22/7/2015

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A challenge from Emma Kell (again), for blogs on being a teacher parent led me to suggest that this could be a very useful summer holiday blog theme. So I thought, as I had formed the suggestion, that I’d better do mine.

I started teaching as a youngster; not quite straight out of school, but a life adjustment (one year in Australia, where my A levels were disrupted) and career hiccup in a science lab (a year counting worms and getting mightily sea sick), led me to consider a career in teaching. When I started I was already married, but no children on the horizon. Although I started in Secondary education, my heart and soul were in Primary, so I soon found my niche.

As a “probationer” teacher, I will always remember my first parent evening, when, as a twenty-something, I was dispensing parenting advice to thirty-plusses, with an assurance that was, on reflection, probably misplaced. Fortunately, no-one told me how off the mark I was. Maybe any advice was reassuring, that someone was prepared to engage in discussion. It was an area that attracted a large number of settled traveller families.

Of course, I knew about child development; I’d read the books and attended the lectures, but the real world, of watching children grow and change, apart from the teaching practices that lasted 14 weeks, extended exposure to children had not really featured, and those who had passed through my tender care as a developing teacher could all be handed back to their parents at 3.30pm.

It was a few years later when our first child came along. There’s a strangeness about the first. As a parent, you have no yardstick. There are the norms, of which you are aware, so I dutifully counted arms, legs, fingers and toes and then discovered we had had a little girl, then cried, as the birth of your child is a hugely emotional point in one’s life. And she couldn’t be handed back, at any time.

It is hard not to reflect on Jean-Jacques Rousseau at this point, as the development of one’s own child is a marking of small changes, adaptations and each new “phase”, the crawling and walking and talking. Were these stages at an appropriate time? How fast is the change? There is a mental ticking off from a hidden list that either allows for comfort, or creates a discomfort that has to be investigated, such as health issues like size, sight, hearing, or developmental issues like speech.

We were a talking and doing household, both being teachers, so tables became dens with a blanket, books abounded, as did drawing, painting, modelling in clay or junk, puppets, poetry, songs and lots of stories. Visiting places of interest, or just out walking gave space for lots of pointing and “look at the…” developing both interest and a background language. Preschool experiences built on these, with the addition of socialisation with others, an essential aspect, especially for the first born and the only child in the family at that time.

Then came school, and we were lucky that the Reception teacher treated us just as parents, supporting us and our daughter into school. It was a first for us, as a family, and it was a partnership. Home-school diaries, common in the 70s as an ongoing reading record, as well as general background, helped the conversation between home and school. We still see that reception teacher, who asks how each child is, by name.

It was often a different picture as school developed. We had a strong child, able, exploratory, interested and sociably. Some teachers sought to bring us into a form of conspiracy, teacher and parent dominant, seeking to suppress some of the stronger tendencies. Conversations would develop along the lines of “Well Mr and Mrs C, (or they’d use first names if they thought we were “friends”), you’ll know how it is with…” As she could read, write and do basic maths, just through experiential talking, before school, she was a challenge to their system. And that was the challenge of teacher parents, who had an inkling of how to bring up children effectively, did their best, offered a width of experience, close parenting, talking and time. These conversations were hardest with teachers who did not have their own children, so had limited empathy. Our growing of our child and later a couple more, was causing a problem to the system. They were “advanced” for their age, both through nature and nurture.

There can be a down side to being bright in such a structure, as under-challenge leads to boredom and occasionally to behaviour that causes a problem for the teacher. That leads to “interesting” discussions between teacher and parent. As a teacher, it is often the case that “I expect…” leads the discussion, whereas for the parent, it is more a case of “How are you challenging…? This can lead to a minor conflict of interest. Both parties want the best, but see different routes to achieving that. The scenario can be worsened, if, as a teacher, you might hold different views and approaches to the class teacher on how to deal with the issue, as this is also a meeting of equals. It occasionally got worse as I got promoted, but it also enabled more nuanced discussion with informed and confident class teachers, to everyone’s advantage.

One occasion did need the “heavy” approach, when one teacher favourite in a junior class made negative comments to the teacher, which effectively resulted in the teacher bullying our child, which caused significant distress in the home. Knowing how things worked, I was able to write a letter to the head, which resulted in a class move and internal changes. The head knew she was on thin ice, especially if she did nothing. It was the only time that I used my “position”, but it was good preparation for issues in headship, where similar things occurred, which were my responsibility.

Secondary education was the classic of distant parenting. Where we had been close supporters of Primary education, the transfer to Secondary started a dissociation, apart from parent evenings and one occasion where we were “called to the school”, with a deputy head who sought the dominant position. Parent evenings were often less than satisfactory, as the reports were often generic and the discussion based on the marks in a book. One or two teachers rarely looked at people directly, but stuck to their books. As these were open to see, and as I learned to read upside down, I was able to point out that the teacher was talking about a child other than ours, which was embarrassing, to say the least.

Being a teacher parent taught me a number of things;

Prolonged lack of sleep, or illness causes behaviour change, in adults and children, but, as the adult, you can’t back out of the responsibility.
Children 1, 2 and 3 are all different, even in the same family. They have multiple differences at the start and throughout their development. They are their own person, not clones. Girls are very different, to each other and to their brothers. Teachers shouldn’t expect on the basis of an earlier sibling. They make progress at different rates and in different ways. Bringing up children in such households is a “team game”, with involved adults coaching their offspring as the need arises.
Teacher parents are likely to have strong minded and independent children, with articulacy and a broad range of experiences and interests that have been stimulate and developed.
Teacher parents are likely to spend quality time, including weekends and holidays seeking out or creating child appropriate activities that build on inherent interests, or that are likely to develop an interest.
Confident children may, as a result, be seen, simplistically, as arrogant, with negative responses. It can be based on the premise, “What can you expect from teacher parents?” Presumed confidence can hide other issues.
Teacher parents know what colleagues are talking about, so talking straight is usually the best approach. However, you are not colleagues, but the teacher responsible for the learning of their child. Ensure the correct relationship develops.
A working relationship is just that, a relationship, based on mutual understanding of each other’s role. It cannot and should not be presumed, just because the parents are teachers.
Parents have aspirations for their children, from a simple enjoyment of all things to do with learning, through to the successes that will enable them to choose their next steps from a range of options.
It is the child’s life. They have a view and should have a voice. My default position, which carried me through 16 years of headship was to say to children that they would tell me “their truth”, their view of an issue, but that I would check that with others. Parents sometimes want simple outcomes to what they see as simple problems. Too hasty a decision can result in an escalation of a problem, and, when parents become involved, problems can be prolonged.
I learned, as a teacher, to look more closely at each individual child and to work closely with their parents, so that there were no hidden agendas. This honest approach enabled parents to approach the school and to rapidly resolve issues, as we carried out promises. Teachers, parents and children worked as a team.
It was the progress of each individual child, who held a special place in the school that became the hallmark of the environment. Every child and every person mattered, long before that mantra was used politically.
Being a teacher parent does not ensure that you are a perfect parent, nor does it mean that you have perfect children.

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The value of Downtime

20/7/2015

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The school holidays are upon us and a few weeks of R&R may be available to school staff. However, reality is that for many teachers and non-teaching staff, the real holiday won’t start immediately. Thinking, planning and sorting buildings will eat into the first few weeks of the break. If teachers are lucky, somewhere in weeks two and three there is the beginning of “holiday mood” as some aspects of the role recede sufficiently to allow space for consideration of personal and family needs. For some teachers this requires a complete break from all school related activities as early as possible, but with the need to pick up and start again a couple of weeks before the start of the next term.

Working in education can appear to be a 24/7/36 role. It’s clear that, even when seemingly distracted, that some aspects of the job interrupt thoughts. I can distinctly remember strimming some long grass in the middle of August and having to rush indoors to find some paper and writing implements to record a small bit of thinking which addressed an issue which had been bugging me before the holiday. The solution came when I wasn’t thinking about it.

Downtime can be mulling time, but it is essential for everyone to have some “me” time. People in education spend their lives giving and there’s never a shortage of takers. So, once the response to whatever the latest Government, school or Governor need is complete and detailed plans and aides-memoire for the autumn are recorded, make time for yourself. Whether walking, cycling, cooking or any other pastime, enjoy yourself, enjoy the people around you and let the mind wander.

I’ll be hoping to do a very bad Monet impression, at least as far as the straw hat is concerned, accompanied by a passable glass of red wine. The paint will from time to time be placed on the canvas. It’s the thought that counts. The product can occasionally be pleasing, but the relaxation is the most important element.

Books will be read; the hammock will be used and hopefully will result in extra sleep, or mulling, which for me will be reflecting on this year of school visits for a range of providers and the many positive outcomes, which suggest that personalisation of learning is having a significant impact.

Salut. Bonnes vacances.

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#teacher5aday annual review

20/7/2015

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I had a few things in mind when Martyn Reah first brought teacher5aday to my attention, mostly to do with reviving hobbies which, by default over time, had fallen into the abyss that can be life.

For many years, I develop a liking for the works of Georges Simenon, a Belgian writer, most famous for developing the character of Jules Maigret, whose black and white presence created a desire in the teenage me to visit France, something which had to wait many more years. During the 90s and 00s, I managed to collect, by scrounging in charity shops and second hand bookshops, I amassed the complete Maigret series of 72 books and all but one of the 117 novels, with the intention of one day reading them from the first to the last.

Earlier this year, during the Christmas break, I started on the Maigrets. They are rarely a tough read, follow a well-rehearsed formula and inevitably end up with Maigret finding a solution to the problem, usually by some personal means or other. One or two are quite flippant, such as “My friend Maigret”, a form of interview between Maigret and Simenon.

Simenon is an absolute genius in writing descriptions, of people and places, suggesting that he was an acute observer of people. While his writing was being lauded, his home life was complex and somewhat unconventional at times.

Having finished the Maigret series, the next phase is the series of novels, but also to read those copies that I have in French. The sparse language is very readable.

Painting has surfaced on a few occasions, with very mixed results. That is something that I want to do more frequently over the next year, but with the intention of breaking away from the realism that dominates my efforts. A couple of weeks in France soon should provide some opportunity to have a go, or at least to collect photos that can be turned into a painting.

This is always weather dependent, as fine weather usually means gardening and there are some large projects in that direction; taking down overgrown shrubs and trees, the latter a winter project. Mind you, gardening on this scale also counts towards my teacher5aday, as significant “green exercise”.

At some point in the coming year, I’d like to get back to playing some music, especially in a folk music context. Instruments come out even less frequently than paints. My barn dance career stopped with Ofsted preparation and it was hard to find an alternative outlet.

People matter, in teacher5aday, and making quality time to enjoy with a range of family groupings and friends has become a priority. It has also been a pleasure to be party to a number of teacher gatherings, Teachmeets, Pedagoo, TLT14. This will also continue into 2015-16.

As we are now at the summer break, I wish all teacher5aday colleagues a very restful holiday, continuing those things that have been incorporated into life over the past year.

And thanks Martyn, for promoting the project.

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Is colour mixing the only art?

15/7/2015

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Visiting a large number of Primary classrooms, I am always struck by the number of colour mixing displays that abound. While the skill of colour mixing is, and always has been, a fundamental of Primary school art lessons, when that skill in itself becomes the be all and end all of the art on offer, it becomes very limiting.

Colour mixing is an exploratory experience, finding out what happened when you add one colour to another, either primary colours mixed to make secondary colours, or pigment added to white to make graduate scales of colour. Once children have had these exploratory experiences, however, they need to use them in context of creating pictures to a purpose, whether real life or imaginary.

Colour ranges can be explored further using the idea of skies, clouds, the sea, woodlands in different seasons (collect a range of leaves and recreate the colours by mixing, before use). Try creating a colour range for anger, or sadness…

Actually, the idea of trying is an important one. If you, as a teacher, have not had a go and discovered for yourself, how can you lead children appropriately?

Art is too often seen as a messy subject, therefore to be avoided. There are simple techniques that can be used to make life easier for everyone.

I found that using large trays as colour palettes contains the paint better than smaller ones, especially if the brushes fit inside too, so that they can be easily carried without spillage.
Only putting out the colour range to be developed and an appropriate amount, stops paint waste. Children get better at determining that as they get older and more experienced.
Mixing ones from light colours, I found, also wastes less paint. Adding white to a dark colour requires a great deal of paint to do so, so much is thrown away.
I also found that, once basic skills and approaches were established, from Infants to Juniors, using the term “create a picture that shows…” enabled the children to explore a range of media within one piece of work.
Sand, sawdust, earth, small gravel, among other materials, were added to paint to create textures.
Real objects, such as leaves and grass were appropriately incorporated.
The act of creating enabled evaluative discussions afterwards, ensuring improve approaches in subsequent efforts.
Claywork was supported by using large sheets of grey sugar paper as a work surface. This allowed wedging and working, but then could be folded inwards to contain any renegade bits of clay that might otherwise fall to the floor.
All off-site trip records were based on bringing back sketches as aides-memoire, to be further developed back in school.

Please feel free to add any quick tips that you use to help others… Art is too important as a subject to be lost within the curriculum.

I say this as someone who started teaching life as a scientist…

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Five fold 3D masks

15/7/2015

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Masks can add value to many aspects of learning, not least enabling learners to adopt a different persona and then use that to use language appropriate to the character.

The five fold 3D card approach can be the vehicle for simple, but effective masks. The right language can also incorporate aspects of mathematics in a practical setting. It is a good idea for children to have practice sheet of paper first so that all folding is rehearsed before card is used.

Take one piece of A4 card.

Fold in half lengthways.

A face is divided into approximately thirds, so the next two folds have to be about one third of the length. Two more folds are made at 1 cm from each of these folds.

Bend the card back along the lengthways centre line.

As a face is also approximately symmetrical, draw half of a face including one ear, onto half of the card, making sure that the centre line is in the centre, or when cut, it will fall apart.

Cut along the drawn line, through the folded card.

Open out the card.

The next step is not quite a fold, but requires the top fold being brought over to the main “face” and stapled into place, on both sides. This makes the eyebrow area. The lower fold has to be brought behind the face and stapled to suggest the lower part of the nose.

From this point, the finishing of the mask will depend on the purpose, with perhaps wool for hair and beard, or paper sculpture details of eyebrows and beards can be explored, or the whole can just be painted to need.

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French lessons

13/7/2015

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English week in the Limousin.

Where? The Limousin region of France, surrounding Limoges, with a small town called St Yrieix La Perche, where kaolin was discovered, which led to Limoges’ world reputation as a centre for porcelain, and it’s nickname as the “red city”, from the many furnaces. Just outside St Yrieix is Marcognac, a porcelain museum village, which shows the processes.

What? English week is a school holiday project, run by a local charity, Familles Rurales, to offer an experience to local children, at a very low cost, 25 euros for one child, 40 with a second in a family, for the week! 5 euros a day is approximately £3.50. Throughout the year the group offers English lessons for French and other nationals, French for the English and other expats, after school clubs from 3.30-4.30pm, such as “Lire et faire lire”, sharing books and a love of reading and a homework support club, from 4.30-6.30pm. With the breve (GCSE) and Bacc (A levels) being so high need, many children have to work extra to get up their all-round marks, including English. Getting less than 10/20 could disadvantage the next step.

All “teachers” are volunteers, mostly with some kind of teaching background and groups are relatively small. During English week, children had a two hour morning “lesson”, plus an afternoon of singing, country dance, craft, cooking, sports, swimming and a DVD afternoon (Frozen, with subtitles).

I’ve helped for a few years now, and make the journey to my little cottage, so I can also do necessary jobs; this time building a stair rail and a window grill.

The group is unknown to start and can range from complete beginner, through insecure to being prepared to have a good go from the first minute.

The basic survival rule is not to be over-planned, as there is a constant need to adjust, to the needs of the group and to the individuals that they become as the week progresses.

The children came from two different schools, the local town school and my local village school. There was a significant difference between their basic skills, which could be down to personal ability, but could also be a result of the centralised teacher appointment system in France. Teachers are put into schools by the local authority, then are personally inspected, with a “bonne note” meaning the chance to move to a better school, usually the town school.

The whole was practical, supported by practical activity, movement, and pictures. Imparting nouns was the easy bit. It’s the words that don’t conjure pictures that cause the problem, so I had to use French equivalents to exemplify. How do you draw an “and” or a “but”? So “show and tell” helped as did singing “Head, shoulders, knees and toes”, “If you’re happy and you know it”, or “Old MacDonald”.

If I have done nothing more than pique an interest in a different language, I will be happy.

And the sun shone!

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Get them reading!

1/7/2015

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It has been a truism throughout my teaching career that writing progress lags behind oral and reading skills, so let’s put the effort in those key areas, so that the spin off benefits their writing.

Oracy develops out of experiences and these happen inside and outside schools. Do teachers know their children’s habits out of school? Do activities that go home to support learning enhance the oracy in the home, in whatever heritage language is dominant? As an advocate of talking homework, I see great value in planting the seeds of talk and seeing what transpires. I see learning at home as complementing and enhancing the learning in school. However, it can often be an additional activity to be “done”, because homework has to be set. Let’s make it more profitable. As children get older, the activities an change to become more reflective, with learning (b)logs being created to share their thinking between learning sessions.

In class, do all the phonics you want and the teaching of the skills of reading, unpicking texts to your heart’s content and sharing quality literature. Take a good look at how any guided reading sessions are structured. Do they really generate reading energy and a need to read between sessions? If not, alter them so that they do.

Make sure that you know the challenge level of the books that children are taking home to read. These should enable them to be read unaided in the absence of a supportive adult. A colour coded approach and a good supply of books helps enormously.
Set expectations about how many books to try to read in a week, enable ease of changing, so that there is a regular habit of reading developed. This is the riding a bike or a skateboard moment, when the child attempts the activity unaided.
Develop a system for interacting with the ongoing reading, through conferencing, as individuals or in a group. Make sure that you talk books regularly, not just the guided books.
Don’t insist on a book review, or other written response, after every book.
Have clear and easy systems for changing books.
Let home books simply be books for pleasure.

Raise the profile, raise the expectation.

Get the children reading. Don’t create any, but strip away all artificial barriers. Make it easy to become a reader.

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What do (I think) I know?

On being a teacher parent

The value of Downtime

#teacher5aday annual review

Is colour mixing the only art?

Five fold 3D masks

French lessons

Get them reading!

Chris Chivers

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