• Home
  • Blog
  • Learners
  • COMING SOON
  • APPS
  • Contact
TeachMrN
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Learners
  • COMING SOON
  • APPS
  • Contact

Kommon Cents

20/3/2016

0 Comments

 
In a previous post, I wrote about how teaching goes through fashions. Much like life, trends rise and fall, buzzwords fizz and pop, and approaches fall in and out of favour.

​Now, compared to many, I've only been teaching a short while, yet I am already finding myself in a swirling world of contradiction and flippancy. From term to term, speaking to colleagues across the country, teachers are subjected to an ever-changing focus; which is surely the MOST blurry thing to do? As a consequence, in this strange game of wanting to be the most 'up-to-date', a slightly insecure profession jumps ship to the latest idea, without reviewing how well it was going.
​Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

​Steve Jobs

​Many have forgotten the most important aspect of this; the children. The learners should be at the forefront of as many decisions as possible. And if those in charge find that difficult, then it's down to you to do the moulding. If what you're doing is showing promise, why would you change it? This is the wonderful opinion of my current setting. Conversely, if the approach advised isn't working as well as you hoped, then amend it. Make edits based on the learners and use them as your guide; not the heading on those PowerPoint slides you were handed at last week's meeting.
Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better.

​Bill Bradley
I've cracked the code; I have the answer!
​When I was at university, I frequently found myself looking for answers. To some extent, this constant search for the 'best way' is what drives me to work; I want to be the one who eventually works out how to help every student understand every thing.

​However, it took me a long time to realise that while the 'best way' is always correct, what that actually looks like is different in each case. The most efficient way for Child A to make progress is going to be different to how Child B creates the same gains. As the teacher, your challenge is, as far as possible, to supply that for each one. And no one can do that as well as you can.
Too many decisions are already made by those who haven't set foot in your school to see the learners in action. So do them a favour and make good choices on the children's behalf. Speak to your class, involve the families and come to a common understanding in a profession that is already diluted.

​Predictably, the conclusion of every single assignment/research/debate/discussion will be along the lines of, "one size doesn't fit all", and, ironically, I don't see that changing. So if that teacher chooses to do that thing you heard about, and you feel it's not right for your class, don't do it.

​At times, you will feel like you're breaking the rules, and you will most certainly be taking some risks, but have the learners as your end goal, and you can't go wrong.

​We need strong-willed people like you to lead our young people to a successful future! Positivity and the love of a challenge create success. It's Kommon Cents.
0 Comments

Where are they at?

13/3/2016

1 Comment

 
Dear Parent/Carer,

​Thank you for meeting with us this week to discuss your child's progress! We don't have many opportunities like that to sit and talk about how they are doing. You work and run your household, ferrying your child to various clubs, I'm at school all day before running a house of my own and taking care of my own family; we are all so busy, yet communication between us is so important.

​I enjoyed guiding you through your child's year so far, with strategies to build on their successes in the coming terms. Thank you for taking the time to wait patiently, and for showing an interest in your child's future; they're lucky to have you for that! It's worryingly rare.

​But there are a few things I didn't get to tell you...
At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents.
Jane D. Hull
I know you said Maths 'isn't your thing', but the effort you have been taking to ask your child what they've been learning about really shows. They come in telling us about how impressed you were when you saw them tackle the homework, or how you laughed when their method was so different to how you 'used to do it!' (I totally agree; I've had to brush up too!)

​Thank you for explaining your own troubles with writing, yet still encouraging your child to work hard in English; the look on your child's face when you noticed their own improvement was a wonderful picture! The fact that you've made a life to support your own family, regardless of your own difficulties at school, is setting the best example for your young ones. Your child and I are so grateful for you reading what they've done; they worked really hard on it!

​The other day, they told us how you juggled dinner, with bath-time, followed by sharing a book with them, keeping a sneaky eye on your favourite soap (no one's got time for the weekend omnibus!) They really enjoy reading with you, and I'm envious of your multitasking. All of this practise you're doing with them is helping with so many areas; I wish there was time in the meeting to explain how! A love of books, subtly learning new language, experiencing new punctuation, beginning to learn about word-play, asking questions to aid understanding,...the list goes on!
The family teaches us about the importance of knowledge, education, hard work and effort. It teaches us about enjoying ourselves, having fun, keeping fit and healthy.
Kamisese Mara
Your words were extremely kind, and although you thanked me for my hard work, I didn't get a chance to properly thank you for yours. Educating your child, in a holistic sense, is a team effort.

​Their reaction to facing difficulties, how they interact with other people, their respect for authority, their manners...all come from you. How they share attention, show an interest in different cultures, settle an argument, work hard to chase their ambitions...are a direct result of how they are raised.
Loving a child doesn't mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult.
Nadia Boulanger
We only see them for a few hours a day, and it's good to know they're going to a home each night, hearing the same overarching messages.

​"Double check your answer", is essentially the same as, "Have you tidied your room?"
​"In my classroom...", is a direct translation of, "Under my roof..."
"Work hard" is our version of, "If you save enough pocket money," while, "See me," is the same as "Get downstairs now!"​
Thanks to the mixture of your example and our academic tools, they are quickly learning how they are in charge of their future. As a society, they are our legacy, our lasting impression. Following your work ethic, with an aim to emulate your success (alongside your relentless effort to help them at home), will set them on a great path, a preview of life's biggest lessons. Everything they know about family life, and where education plays its part, comes from you, and they're going to do so well thanks to the support you give them.

​Thanks again for meeting with us. Your child is a real credit to you.
1 Comment

In My Day...

6/3/2016

2 Comments

 
I love to reminisce; it's therapeutic, sometimes uncomfortable, but always ends in progress of either thought or action. While it remains hidden now, there's a soft, padded 'Lion King' photo album somewhere, that always used to attract my attention when I was a young boy, trying desperately to clean my room. I spent hours and hours flicking through the pages (often to avoid tidying); remembering the same holidays, laughing at the same faces and missing the same family members.

​More recently however, my attention has been grabbed by a box of my old secondary school books. You see, my parents have moved house and, during a visit to their updated abode, I slumped off to their spare room to take a look.
Picture
I imagine this was followed up with something that sounded like, "You know you get a mark for showing your working out!?!" (and it irritates me knowing that I've said the same thing to my own learners!)
Underneath the smiling, I was secretly horrified at what my teachers used to get away with in regards to marking. Through the pointing, I was extremely embarrassed at some of the mistakes I had made. But behind the giggling, my brain was coming to an odd conclusion; "this all looks very familiar!"

​All of these photographs are taken of my secondary school Maths books, ranging from Year 8 to GCSE level. I finished compulsory education in about 2006 (I think) and I'll caption these photos with direct quotes from the Standards of the 2014 National Curriculum. You'll see my point quite quickly.
Picture
Year 4 - add and subtract fractions with the same denominator.
Picture
Year 5 - know angles are measured in degrees: estimate and compare acute, obtuse and reflex angles.
I was sitting on the floor at the time when the penny dropped; I was intending on teaching my own class some of these things in the coming weeks. Thanks to my forward planning, mapping out how much time was available to teach, I'd read the expectations for my year countless times; yet I was seeing evidence of it in the pages of my own books as a teenager!
My conclusion is simple; at some point, what used to be expected of a 14 year old, has become the intended outcome of a child (on average) 5 years younger! Incredible. Have brains got bigger? Is there some new implant at birth that has allowed these modern day children to acquire more knowledge? Are there suddenly fewer steps to learning such things in order to get to the same place earlier?

​Give your learners some credit and protect them from the pressures they can't control; teach them to manage their distractions and the emotional fall-back of failure in order to work towards these shifted targets. 

​Someone decided that 'this is no longer for the teenagers. Let's give it to the little people.' ​More is expected of them now than ever before and, in my opinion, for them to even begin to understand and apply it (5 years before they USED to be expected to) is an astonishing achievement; no wonder we all find it tricky at times!

It shows our young people to be more resourceful than ever before and more resilient in the face of challenge.

​Learners, keep doing what you're doing, because apparently it's going really well! You might not feel like it sometimes and you'll rarely get a public mention (exams are always getting easier after all), but you are going further at your age than any child older than you. It's the only excuse for so many aspects of your education shifting 5 years backwards, alongside the unreasonable expectation for you to catch up with at least 1 year of these new standards, while also attempting to master the skills in your own programme of study; a minimum of 2 years worth of learning in a single 12 months!

​Teachers, keep doing what you're doing, because apparently you're doing splendidly! It's the only logical explanation for many aspects of the curriculum shifting half a decade! You might not feel like it sometimes and you'll rarely get a public mention (likely due to all that holiday we get), but you are working harder than any teacher before you, signified by the rate at which your children are progressing! Helping these children make up the difference between both curriculums is a huge task; the difficulty is proving the improvement in the middle ground between 2 sets of expectations.

Looking through my old secondary books, and noticing the new primary curriculum, is both a blessing and a curse. It's a scary realisation about how high the target has been set, based on no real objective other than greedy bosses wanting to beat other nations. However, it's also a pleasing challenge and fresh reorganisation. When interpreted in the correct way, by those who engage with it the most (US!), it will pay dividends as long as we are given the time to implement it properly.

​It was never like this in my day!

2 Comments

    Teaching and
    Learning
    Blog

    Use the categories below to browse every blog entry!

    Categories

    All
    Assessment
    Blog
    Classroom
    CPD
    Curriculum
    Discussion
    English
    Leadership
    Learners
    Maths
    Motivation
    Planning
    Resources
    Strategies & Ideas
    Video
    Well Being

    Archives

    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    RSS Feed

Copyright © TeachMrN 2018
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Learners
  • COMING SOON
  • APPS
  • Contact