"THEDADREGIME"

Sending communication home about a student’s behaviour is not a favourite activity of any teacher. Where I work, if you’re hearing from me about behaviour it’s usually fairly low level, classroom issues (Admin take care of the more serious incidents). And the purpose of my emails or phone calls is usually … I thought you should know. Responses to these messages generally fall into four categories: The Acknowledger: Thanks for letting us know … The Defender: Well, we’ve never

Those of you who know me personally know I’ve lost some weight over the last year. I’ve been thinking about about writing about that but, I don’t want to get ahead of myself as I still have some distance to go. Through the process, however, I have developed a new addiction: blue berry, raspberry, milk and cocoa shakes in our Nutribullet. They’re bloody awesome and I needed one today. I’ve been buying the berries at the local farmers’ market. I ran out his week and had to buy

Teaching short story writing can be tricky. Kids don’t read a lot of good ones. Reading books (or ‘readers’) designed for reading instruction often don’t contain a complete set of narrative elements and most children seem to leap from readers to novels at some point between grades 3 and 4. Novels aren’t short. I think it was Edgar Allan Poe who determined that a short story should be able to be consumed in one sitting. Even by that standard, a 20000 word story might still be

I’ve never been a fan of ability grouping in schools. I’m always left with the feeling that we automatically limit what groups of student will learn. As if, based on where they are now, we’re going to expect one group of students to learn less than another and therefore we expect less of them. Inclusion is about opportunity, and opportunity should be based on what a student can learn, not on what they have learned. #math #teaching #learning #classroom #abilitygrouping #stream

Dear Pre-service Teacher, I’ve written this three times, already. Each time it hasn’t come out right. I’ve over complicated the message because there’s so much I want to tell you. I’ve gone off on tangents because there’s so much I want you to know. It took a card from a former student to remind me how simple the message is… Make a difference. We only get a finite number of role-models in our lives. You’re going to be a role-model for many. Value that responsibility. Be hones

… being better than everyone else? Picture the scene: 1992 NBA Finals - Game 6 - Chicago versus Portland Chicago leads the series 3-2. They’ve just rallied from behind to take the lead in the closing minutes. A pumped up Michael Jordan comes to the bench during the timeout* and implores his team mates to keep going - to give more - greatness is near. His coach, the legendary Phil Jackson, looks up at Jordan and says: ‘Mike, can’t you just be happy being better than everyone e

I love Star Wars. Its latest episode, The Last Jedi, was polarising – but I loved it. Its nuance and subtlety seemed to be lost on many. Amongst the scenes that have stuck with me is Resistance Captain Poe Dameron’s insight that perhaps they aren’t the end of the story, but the beginning: ‘We are the spark that will light the fire that burns The First Order down.’ It’s a realisation that we don’t know how the story goes, or always where our role is within it. Maybe, we aren’t

A report, commissioned by the NSW Education and Standards Authority, has found no improvement in maths and reading among students in a decade and the results of disadvantaged students have declined sharply … No shit, Sherlock! … and now there are calls for the NAPLAN process to be reviewed … Um, educators, the people tasked with the actual teaching of the children, have been asking for it to be reviewed FOR 10 YEARS! I love Alfie Kohn’s rule of thumb: The individual’s enthusi

Such is the way of the world You can never know Just where to put all faith And how will it grow I entered December with Eddie Vedder’s words in my ears and genuinely unsure for how much longer I would be a teacher. Was I bored? In need of a change? Mid-life crisis? Had I lost my passion? I didn’t know, but I knew my head was starting to drift elsewhere. I had doubts about my practice and about my effectiveness as a teacher. On the last day of school Millie gave me a card. A

Badges are a new thing in education at the moment. Read about them here. They seem a harmless, if not motivational, way to assist learning in the classroom; much like old-fashioned sticker charts, smiley faces and stamps. The idea being that scouts seem to be motivated to achieve badges, gamers seek achievement badges in games, and it’s an alternative to traditional grades. Why not include these ideas in classrooms? I’ve never liked the idea of students playing the role of Pa