So Much to Learn...So Little Time

Teaching - gap year for city slickers

Has inner city teaching become the gap year(s) for aspiring city slickers from top universities?

This article (Independent on Sunday) worried me as I read it. Now I'm not going to pretend I have read into the ins and outs of Teach First but superficially I find it worrying as it appears that teaching in the inner cities in England (strangely where recruitment and retention is rather difficult).

What image does it promote of teaching as a profession when businesses contribute to a programme which sends "teachers" into challenging classrooms with 6 weeks residential training with the overall goal that they come out with great leadership training and presentational skills which they can then take back into big business.
What about the students in this programme. What do they get out of it. A glorified teaching assistant for two years at the most?

In my humble opinion this is just another programme which drags down the image of teaching as a profession, which indeed it still is. It's about time that people outside the profession stopped thinking that they know better just because they went to school for 12 years. I agree that we need to look to business for ideas but we should not be a breeding ground for quality candidates. Children need real qualified teachers who are motivated and interested, not people who are in it for a short time as a stepping stone to better things.

As yet this is only affecting England, where I first qualified and taught, and I am thankful that it is harder to obtain   registration here (I know from experience) in Scotland than down south. Let us hope this remains so.

An Interesting Week

It's going to be an interesting week.

I thought that on my return from Addis things would get back to some kind of normalcy. No chance. I thought I'd at least be able to do some room tidying during my now free S4 periods. No chance.

So much stuff to try to organise and do.

• multi cultural day
• edit films
• teach
• P7 Languages Work to film
• teach
• INSET presentation in front of all MFL teachers from Grampian
• Blogging workshop in Graz to prepare for
• Blogging/Podcasting workshops in school for teachers

Thats what I can think of at the moment...oh I forgot another one TEACH.
Often have to remind myself that's what I'm actually paid to do, compared to most of this other stuff, which I'm not.

At the moment my S1's are trying an experiment wherein they are learning their school unit stuff by doing. Instead of teaching them the vocab they are preparing films and radio shows about the school. As ever in their eagerness to produce something interesting they keep  forgetting to use their vocab guides which leads to all kinds of internet translator-ease. I have given them til the end of the month. I'm quite prepared for failure in this venture as I'm not convinced that we've gone about it in the right way. I think a certain level of direct teaching will be necessary if there is to be a next time for such a project.

Anyhow. I've been putting together some more of my Addis footage so here's a video trip through Addis Abeba starting at Mount Entoto.



 

Truth and honesty time

So I'm not the altruist I thought I was...I can't afford to be.

Revision Classes

Today we started the Easter Revision classes in school. Over the next 3 days about 150 pupils will voluntarily come into school every day for extra help with their SG, H Int 1/2, AH revision before the exams kick in. I'm just sat here with six credit French pupils who are working away on a vocab exercise, and what a pleasure it is.
I've done this for the last 3 years and have found that those who attend really get a kick start for their revision programme and are often more motivated in the short period before they go off on exam leave. It is also quite a social gathering and staff get to teach pupils who are not in their own classes.

I wish I could be totally altruistic and say that I sacrifice 3 days of my hols for the sake of my students, but I can't. We do get paid for it, which is only normal and considering all the extra unpaid hours most teachers put in above the 35 hour week (and 35 hours CPD) it is a nice little bonus and we deserve it.

Communicate.07

A fine day of learning.

I really rather enjoyed my first experience of giving a presentation to colleagues from other schools from all over Scotland. For some reason I wasn't anywhere near as nervous as I thought I was going to be. Maybe that there were only 12 delegates in my session helped...you don't know what you missed! Unfortunately due to my over exuberance to get started I forgot to press record on the marantz and so didn't record the session as intended.

I picked up quite a lot of information during the course of my presentation. Namely that the willingness of teachers to get to grips with this sort of stuff knows no bounds but unfortunately their enthusiasm is quite often bridled by others who may have control over the IT situation either in school or within the authority. There are some quite worrying stories such IT people who when asked about uploading videos from You Tube said "What's that?" There seems to be a desire on the part of authorities to  block some/all of web 2.0 technology rather than allow it to be used in schools to help educate students on its safe usage. (I know Ewan's being going on about this for ages now.) Youngsters are going to use it at home so why ban it in school? As a profession we need to be aware of all these applications and how to use them.

During the morning I attended the plenary session with Stuart Hay et al from the Anderson High in Lerwick. (Their story of travel adversity brought back fond memories of my time in Shetland.) I came away brimming with thoughts about how we can use/adapt similar ideas if our application to the british Council is accepted. mainly ideas on how to share what we can do with African partners:
    •    film science experiments
    •    film/record debates in mod studs
    •    use different age/stage groups in MFL (ie older native speakers challenge younger TL speakers)
    •    see/hear ourselves as others see/hear us
    •    presenting our locality to others
    •    student research - students have been asked to assess effectiveness of school
    •    shared images course - open to all ages/stages - enables youngsters to have access to higher MFL learners/NS

    •    I am looking forward to investigating their website.

    •    Although school is doing heaps one thing stuart said struck home:     YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN INVENTOR

To close the plenary Robert McKinstry identified some interesting quotes by Stuart:
    •    "Almost every department has a virtual and an active timetable"
    •    "Bringing the world to the classroom"

Surely if we can get a project like this off the ground we will improve
unquestionalbly the level of interdepartmental communication within school.

Later that morning I attended a seminar on the use of mobiles in the classroom.
It was interesting in that i think I now know how to go about blogging via my phone
and I also got some great ideas about how to put them to good use in class for
things like directions around school.

So overall I found it very interesting. I have also come back with a vague idea about producing more "commercially" viable podcasts. Not in the profit making sense but can I set up a programme in school where kids produce podcasts in whatever subjects as ordered by departments. Eg if history want a resource on Civil Rights can we produce one for them???
I think I would like to speak to Mark Pentleton about this one.

But as my blog title says..."So much to learm...so little time"

PS I also learned that it's Communicate DOT 07 and not Communicate 07.

You can download my presentation here if you want. (It's a big file so be patient)

Download communicate.07 - Try It and You Will Learn.mov

Signposts or weathercocks?

Are teachers signposts or weathercocks?

I heard an interesting interview with Tony Benn and the weekend (on the Worriker show on 5 Live.) He basically said there were 2 types of politician; those who show the way (signposts) and those who follow which ever way the wind of poularity is blowing (weather cocks). Interestingly he associated himself with Thatcher on this one by saying that she at least kept true to her guiding principles, unlike other more recent Prime Ministers one could mention...

This got me thinking about my profession. Ideally teachers should be able to be signposts. We should have the time and resources necessary to direct our students in the direction which is most suitable for their education. We do after all spend quite some time with them and get to know them. However how often do we feel we are forced to turn off a sure path (in our own professional opinion) to follow the fickle winds of political popularity. Take today's announcements of language learning in primary schools in England (of course we already have it here in  Scotland). Sounds great, it is great, but have they consulted those who will have to deliver it. Where are the languages teachers to deliver it. Successive governments have consistently reduced the importance and relevancy to pupils of MFL and as a consequence there is no way on this earth that the required number of QUALIFIED teachers will be found to pull this off. OR, as seems to be a worrying trend in my homeland, will teaching assisstants be "trained" to deliver language lessons. It is at this point that I thank my lucky stars that I camr to work in Scotland. For all the problems that exist in our education system here at least we are trying to iron them out in a concrete and consultative manner (ACfE). I really feel for my friends and colleagues working down south who have to put up with constant interference and messing around  clueless politicos.

Sport, Role Models and Responsibility

Where is the sense of responsibility?

We now live in a society which is obsessed by the vagaries of celebrity and we are dazzled by fame and bling . For those people lucky enough to be showered with talent, gifts and money do they ever feel a sense of responsibility to society and themselves?

I want to take in point this weekends sporting action. My elation at Ronaldo's last minute stunner on Saturday at craven cottage was swiftly followed by despair at England's frankly poor performance against Ireland. The coverage of this event was dominated by the historical background to this match, yet the anthems particularly that of England were observed with an outstanding dignity by a crowd who could have (rightly?) chosen to be more disrespectful. Later in the match a big hulking giant of a forward, Danny Grewcock, was given a telling off and sin binned by a diminutive ref. He was obviously annoyed at this but off he went.

On Friday in the Rugby League World Club Challenge the ref berated 2 players for foul play, as they started to complain he simply explained who was in charge and the sanctions which would ensue for their teams if they continued. They desisted forthwith.

Fast forward to The Millen nium Stadium and the Carling Cup Final yesterday. It was a great match until the last few minutes...then what was a case of handbags turned into all out war. These things sometimes happen in sport when trophies are at stake and it's not the fighting that I find frustrating it is the aftermath.

First of all everybody blames the ref. Did he start the thing? Second of all no one but no one accepts any kind of responsibility for what goes on on the pitch in football. Chelsea and Arsenal are both contesting the red cards that were handed out...why?  Both players were involved in violent conduct...witnessed by thousands although you wouldn't think so judging by the reaction on 606 by Arsenal fans.

What I am trying to get at is that there are a section of our more iconic celebrities who seem to think that they as they are immune from the consequences of their actions, that violent conduct on the field of play does not merit punishment.

What example does this set our youngsters who are more and more sucked in by the celebrity lifestyle? It shows them that they don't need to accept responsibility for their actions. The Curriculum for Excellence has for one of it's capacities that all students should be Responsible Citizens. Its going to be a long and difficult task for us educators if todays role models in society do not show the way.


End of incoherent rant!@$%^