Category: Journal

Meeting Ex-Students

Firstly I would like to thank @mrlockyer for providing a list of ideas which ultimately led to this post.

Up until recently I had been out of the UK for a number of years only returning to the UK and to the area within which I taught for a number of years, recently.   As such I haven’t had the opportunity to bump into ex-students or at least the likelihood was very small indeed.

Being back in the UK the Christmas period brought me back to the area where I once taught, and into a local pub with my son for a few festive beers.    It was after a short while that a young man who apparently knew and worked with my son came over and introduced himself as one of my students from around 11 or 12 years ago.   He remembered me and our lessons together with some detail.   He said very positive things about how I had helped him and had an impact on his life.

I consider the fact that a student would remember me after 11 or 12 years as a very positive factor.   The fact that in addition to this they would feel the need to come and speak to me as their ex-teacher.   Also the fact they would be so positive about their experiences in my class.

We all hope to have an impact on the students which we teach however to hear it from an ex-student is an amazing feeling.    At least with this student I can feel I have been successful.

This is one of the reasons we teach!  To have a positive impact on the students which we teach.

[Note: I do acknowledge the conversation mentioned above happened in a pub over the festive season so their may have been an element of the beer speaking, however I hope that wasn’t the predominant factor in the discussion]

My Favourite Books.

Yesterday I wrote about my favourite apps so following some valuable suggestions from B Yusuf today I am going to maintain the same approach but with a different theme, this time looking at my favourite books.

Let’s start with one of my favourite leadership books which I have often recommended to others especially new middle leaders.    The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey by Ken Blanchard.   This is a nice short and very accessible book which focuses on how to manage people and the tasks they are assigned.    I think it is very useful for new middle leaders where the tendency might be to lead by example and in doing so offer to help and do things to help your team thereby accepting the duty of care for their monkeys.

Next is a book I have recently read, The Silo Effect by Gillian Tett.   This is an excellent book about how Silos form in organizations, how they can be dangerous and how to overcome them.   I think this is quite appropriate to education where we have such clear demarcations evident through our schools.   Staff are either support, teaching, MLT or SLT.    Teaching staff operate in departments.   The Silo Effect points out why we need to have this kind of structure and demarcation, the disadvantages and how we might seek to overcome these disadvantages.

I have always been very interested in the idea of divergent thinking.   As such my next book is Lateral Thinking by De Bono.   I particularly like the book as not only does it seek to provide explanations for why we might be less creative than we could be, but it also provide little activities which can be used with students to illustrate the point.   I have previously run a series of lessons on creativity in a school in the Middle East using so of the activities and the students loved it.

My next book is The Shallows from Nicholas Carr.    Giving my focus on educational technology my book list had to include at least one book which looks at technology.    This book brilliantly tracks how various now accepted technologies were at one time or other considered as disruptive including the watch and the printing press and resultant novels printed using them.    This puts the current concerns regarding student technology use and the impact into a different light.

My final book is my favourite leadership book which I keep coming back to.   It’s a bit of a classis.   Stephen Coveys The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.    Quite simply a classis book in identifying priorities and managing life in what is becoming an increasing complex world.

Once I get past Feb and #29daysofwriting I hope to get back to reading more.   I may in future share further opinions with regards the books I have read.   Please feel free to suggest any books you think are worth a read.

 

 

On Demand Learning?

I have had a reasonably relaxed weekend for once, running a few errands, watching some rugby and watching some football.    All this has meant that some of the things that I had planned to do were put to the side including getting involved in #appsharelive and also in #sltchat.

Thankfully though this is not a complete loss.   Through the wonders of technology I can see what happened in #appsharelive via the youtube via of the event.   I can follow what happened in #sltchat via Storify.    It is not the same as actually being there in the moment, and of being involved however it is far better than having missed the events altogether.

We now live in an “on demand” world where we can preview and review events as and when we see fit.    Yet in education we continue to have lessons which occur with set hours within the day.    Each lesson focuses on a specific subject.

The question is how can we use technology to leverage the need for “on demand” content?    Flipped leassons may be one approach however I am sure there are others.

 

Reflections on 3 years of blogging

It’s been 3 years to the day since I started my blog and wrote my first posting.    Since then I have wrote a total of 75 postings.    I need to admit that 11 have been posted in Feb this year as part of #29daysofwriting.   So overall I have roughly been posting 1.7 articles every month.

A lot has changed for me over the period.    To take just one example, back in 2013 I was living and working in the UAE whereas now I am back in the UK.   Technology has changed.    We now live in a world of mobile devices with Google apps and office 365 facilitating increasing levels of communication and collaboration.  The world as a whole has changed.

I have at time found the process of blogging to be difficult in terms of finding the time, identifying appropriate topics and also motivating myself to undertake the actual creation of blog pieces.     That said it had been a worthwhile experience.    Looking back the blog provides me a window on my past thinking and on how my beliefs, ideas and thoughts have changed over the period.      The process of blogging has required me to think through my assumptions and question my beliefs.   It has required me to consider different viewpoints and perspectives.    It has also resulted in discussions with other educators from across the world who have shared both views consistent and inconsistent with my thinking.    This again had required me to re-evaluate and question my perspective and viewpoint.

I am glad I have put the effort into blogging and I intend to continue doing so going forward hopefully with increasing regularity.     I look forward to reading the blogs of others so if you aren’t blogging yet I would encourage you to start and of you do please let me know so I can have a read.    Looking forward to it!!!

Keep Sharing!!

 

 

 

Silos of Data

Day 11 in the #29daysofwriting house and the housemates are getting a little restless………

Sorry couldn’t resist!  This posting every day is starting to feel a little like the diary room on an episode of Big Brother.   It is also getting steadily more difficult to decide on the topic of the day.

Today I would like to just spend 29mins writing on systems.   In schools we have a large number of different systems.   We have a school (or management) information system, an HR and payroll system, an email and file storage system, a library system, a bus/transport system and a multitude of other systems.

Each system is designed for a specific purpose.   The SIS (or MIS) system has all the personal details of students along with their academic performance data.   The library system has details of students, books and loans.   The HR system has details about all of the staff.

Each system reports its data in a specific way.  The SIS system can produce class registers and parental reports, while the HR system can produce staff lists and the Library system information about student lending habits.

The issue is that even where the systems are supposedly “integrated” in actual fact they are not.    The data exists in Silos, independently in each different system albeit linked by a common identifier such as a student ID number or other ID number.

Having recently read about the impact of Silos and how overcoming them can have a significant effect it makes me wonder about the Silos in school systems.    If we could extract all the data into a single common location where we could apply various business intelligence tools to analyse it we would likely be able to draw new conclusions and through doing so be better informed.   We might be able to identify linkages which previously weren’t apparent.   Maybe students in particular classes or with particular teachers borrow more books and maybe, of these students, a majority perform better.   Obviously I speculate here for illustrative purposes.    The key point being is that we might be able to identify patterns which currently cannot be identified due to the Silo’d nature of data.

Fitness Fail!

Day 7 and almost a quarter of the way through 29daysofwriting.  Am actually quite impressed with myself that at this point I am still going.  Its also Sunday which means a little bit of a relaxing day, including the wifes birthday then all finished off with #mltchat and #sltchat at the end of the day.

My posting today will focus loosely on assessment as a result of the below message which appeared on my phone this morning:

So although I may be doing ok at #29daysofwriting my phone is unimpressed at my fitness levels.   I have never been a particularly fit person and recently I have noted how much I struggle in terms of the health and fitness aspect of my life.     As such this was something I was trying to build upon and up until this morning I felt I was making some progress, then my phone provided me with this assessment of my performance.

I liken this message to the large and often standardized tests which we provide students.   I would suggest that students may end up feeling as I did today;  dejected, de-motivated, disappointed and disengaged to name but a few words beginning with “de” or “dis”.

Prior to receiving this message I thought I have been making progress as daily I was seeing an upward trend in the amount of exercise I was doing.     My measurement of exercise being steps taken as recorded by my phone.    I had also built up a bit of understanding as to how my exercise developed over the week, noting that my worst performance was at the beginning and end of the week, peeking with my best performance in the middle of the week.

This brought the realization that maybe I would have to focus on the start and end of the week with focused activities to improve my performance, whereas in the middle of the week when things were going ok, it might equally be ok to continue as currently.

Again looking at students this daily or regular feedback might be akin to assessment for learning with assessment data provided frequently and students required to use the data to drive improvement.   At least in me, this regular data did not dishearten or de-motivate, I as attempted to improve.

This makes me things that it is important to consider the frequency of testing and assessment, plus how we frame feedback.   I will admit that this isn’t anything new.

The issue here though is how I can get back to exercising following the de-motivational impact of my phones message.   The good thing is I consider myself to be quite resilient although I will leave that discussion for a later posting.

 

 

 

Not another email!!

During the day things can be hectic and busy which leads to a focus on getting the things done in school that need doing and leaving some other things until later.    One of these things can be communication and in particular email communication.    In addition to this we quite often identify things we have forgotten to deal with or come up with great ideas when we are relaxed and no longer in work mode, as normally happens at the end of the day or on weekends.    This again quite often involves email and sending out last minute reminders or requests, and on sending out proposals or posing questions all via email.    Through this we can see large volumes of email being sent at hours outside what would normally be considered normal working hours.

If you are anything like me, when your phone or tablet bleeps to inform you a new message has arrived we invariably look at it.   This is independent of whether this happens during the school day or outside the school day.   The reaction could be described as learned behavior.       Having read the message you will then react to it with some reactions being positive and others not so positive.   This can then colour and impact on your time, which technically should be non-work time.   Recently I found myself not sleeping very well having read a particularly troubling email sent to me late into the evening.   I am convinced the reason for my inability to sleep being that my mind was running both consciously and subconsciously through the issue in hand and all the possible actions which could be taken to resolve things.   All this meant was that I did not enjoy the time I had available to me outside work and I arrived at work more tired than normal the following day albeit with a more detailed picture of my possible options in relation to the issue at hand.

We can try to address this through self control and choosing not to look at messages however after your phone has bleeped five times in an evening I would challenge most people to have ignored the phone.

I am conscious of the ever creeping of work into my home life so have been trying to do something about it.   I cannot control what and when others send me email however I can control my actions and hope that by doing so it will encourage others.

My current approach is to write my emails in the evening and on the weekend when I need to but to save them to draft rather than sending them.   I then send them in the morning of the next working day.   I do note, however, that were issues are emergencies, and by description this should be few and far between, I do engage in emailing out outside of working hours.

How do you manage email?

Classroom design

I have been involved in new school on a number of occasions now and in each the issue of creative flexible learning spaces has been raised.  I believe in the idea of flexible learning spaces as more than just current education speak.

Learning is dynamic and ever changing plus different content requires different learning activities to be undertaken and all of this has to happen within a schools buildings and within “classrooms” although I use the word classroom loosely to refer to the space within which students learn.    As such a fixed or traditional classroom design can be very limiting.   A traditional classroom tends to have a specific front to the class, with students expected to sit and face in this direction.   Students are also expected to sit in fixed positions either in individual rooms or in grouped desks.    Such a classroom may not be conducive to students engaging in a classroom treasure hunt or to an intimate whole class story time or to a million other possible learning activities.

A flexible learning space allows for different grouping by allowing furniture to be easily moved, grouped and even removed.   A flexible classroom does not necessarily have a front or at least the front of the class can change dependent on the specific learning activities.    It should also allow for larger or smaller classes to be accommodated either by subdividing space or by having retractable or removable walls.   The class should facilitate learning rather than obstructing it.

My area of focus within the classroom design discussion is that of IT and providing the IT infrastructure to support the flexible learning.   Some aspects of this are reasonably simple such as the provision of internet access which can easily be provided via Wi-Fi, or the provision of mobile computing which can be provided via laptops and devices such as the iPad.     The one problem however that I always come up against is that of power.    All battery powered devices ultimately need power to charge.   Where display screens are being used these need power to operate.   The issue is where do you get power from?

The options have always been the same; the floor, the ceiling and the walls.  I have never liked floor panels as they break plus when incorrectly used can cut through cables.    The ceiling is not easily accessible which leaves the walls.   The walls however form the periphery of the classroom and of learning and if sockets are in the walls then maybe the computer ends up by the socket and the wall and once again we have a front to the class and we are back to an extent where we started.

I am still looking to identify the best solution however I have a funny feeling it will need to involve a mix of wall, floor and ceiling mounted sockets.

 

More thinking about thinking…..time for TV?

It is now the 1st of February so this represents my first posting as part of #teacher5aday29daywriting.   The plan being to write and share a posting during each day of February which would be significantly more than I have previous posted, and actually may represent  more postings in a single month than I normally create in a year.   That said however the plan is just to get the postings out there sharing my thoughts as opposed to actually spending a significant amount of time rewording and trying to create the idea post.   As such no more than 30mins will be spent on the creation of any one post.

My first posting is actually a little at odds with #teacher5aday29daywriting as I have been considering the tasks and things I do in general.    At the start of the year I wrote of my new years resolutions (Read here).    The purpose of the resolutions was to set some targets for myself to make sure I made the best use of my time, and in particular the time I have available outside work.   My thinking was along the lines of work life balance, ensuring that I read, that I collaborate and that I get fitter than I currently am.   I have recently reflected on where I am on these resolutions with the view that things are going quite well (Read here).    My outlook on better use of time was to spend more of the time doing things I considered as “constructive”.

My recent reading has given me cause to sit and reflect a little.    On reflection I note that I am achieving quite a bit in my non-work time in terms of blogging, twitter and also my reading.   My fitness is also improving and an area of focus although the progress here is slow.   In terms of books  I am now on my fourth book of the year.   As such I could be considered to be more active than previously, prior to the resolutions.   I may be making more effective use of my time.

In reading “How we learn” the importance of non-activity is highlighted in relation to those “Eureka!”  moments and in relation to learning, and how the mind makes connections.    I have often used to find myself picking up a pen and pad of post-it notes with random ideas just coming to mind.   I therefore wonder if by being so active I may be reducing the number of opportunities for my mind to make new connections and generate those creative ideas.    I wonder if, rather than seeking to remove those seemingly idle moments, watching TV for example, I should in fact be trying to ensure that there are a measured number of such moments purposely planned within my week.   I would suggest that although it is inappropriate to have too many TV moments, it also inappropriate to have too few.

On that note I will post this and go back to watching “The Chase” on TV.    I wonder if any creative ideas will jump to the fore of my mind!

 

Moving on….

I am currently in the process of starting a new job which in itself is stressful however to compound matters I am also moving house and also country of residence.    The process has so far involved just over a month living in hotels, which to most may sound like fun however you can only eat the hotel food a limited number of times before boredom sets in plus the inability to put together a light snack at random hours of the day or night is also a limitation.   There is also the issue of the overall cost of living in hotels given both the cost per night and then the additional cost for food and drink.    A significant amount of time has also been spent trying to find a more permanent place to live therefore requiring visits to countless estate agents and rental agents plus visits to various properties.   Thankfully this phase has now passed and I have found a house and now moved in.

The current phase of the transition can be likened to living like a student.    Basically the various items of furniture, etc have been ordered however as yet have not arrived and as such I am currently sleeping on the floor until the bed arrives.   The only furniture currently within the house is a TV, a TV stand on which the TV sits and also a coffee table which currently doubles as the extent of our dining furniture.

So all in all things have been very busy and stressful as of late however I haven’t as yet mentioned the major cause of stress.     I am without internet!!!!      I am currently awaiting the installation of broadband which is due to occur in almost two weeks from now so until then I have no access to internet at home.    To make matters worse mobile signal strength around my new property is very poor so I don’t even have the use of mobile internet via my phone.    It is only sat here being without internet that I find myself realising how integral internet access has became to my life (Note: Writing this I am sat without internet however clearly I must have had internet to upload this blog…..the wonders of Costa Coffee!!).    It provides me flexibility in accessing work materials to allow me to work beyond the normal hours of work and on weekends.   I find myself writing this even although there are work related issues I want to be addressing however I am unable to without internet access.   Internet provides me with a communication channel both professionally and also personally, allowing me to speak to my parents ahead of finally visiting them in person after many years away.    It provides me access to services such as water and electricity services, online banking and many more services which are all important in everyday living but possibly even more important when setting up a new home.    Basically the internet is no longer a luxury for me but in fact is now a necessity.

All of this leaves me wondering about the argument often stated with regards limiting student use and reliance on technology.    Basically these calls all come too late as we are already reliant.   Just think what would happen in your local supermarket if the computer systems went down and stopped working.   I very much doubt it would be business as usual.

Now just to be clear I believe that the critical issue in current education is teaching students the skills which will set them up for life such as the 4 C’s of critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and collaboration.    It is also important to teach them about community, globalisation, character and resilience among other skills or characteristics.    The key issue for me is that we should be engaging and using technology to help develop these skills, plus we should be encouraging students to identify new ways that technology can help them in meeting their needs and wants plus in developing these skills.

 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net