Self assessment tool – aitsl

This is the last of three posts about the aitsl Self assessment tool. The last post is here and from there you can get the link to the first post. The third area of assessment for the SAT is :

Professional Engagement

Teachers model effective learning. They identify and expand on their own professional learning as individuals and collegially. Teachers demonstrate respect and professionalism in all their interactions with students, colleagues, parents/carers and the community. They understand and value opportunities to engage with their school communities within and beyond the classroom to enrich the educational context for students.

My first area of weakness is:

6.4 L Advocate, participate in and lead strategies to
support high-quality professional learning
opportunities for colleagues that focus on improved
student learning.

How did I get that? I run three blogs (the other two are linked top left) and they are all doing well. They look at how to improve student learning, how to implement professional practice in the classroom and how to make good better. Same with my SlideShare, Storify and Pinterest accounts. All of those feature ways of engaging students in a good way and how we, as teachers, can use the professional guidelines we have to improve learning. I get acknowledgement on my blogs that this is the case so I don’t understand how I got this as a weakness. I can always develop this area, it’s true. I have to stay current. With technology there are always new and improved ways of using it in a classroom to enhance learning. Blogging is about advocating. Getting the followers I get is about leading others so that they in turn can lead me. It is critical to get reciprocity – the sharing of content, getting feedback and then growing the content as I have often recommended. Personalise and connect their learning is one of the posts along those lines which was very popular. I can tell from my traffic whether I am connecting with others or not. I do that in real life as well. Perhaps not enough?

My second area of weakness is:

7.4 G Understand the role of external professionals and
community representatives in broadening teachers’
professional knowledge and practice.

I have been teaching for 40 years. I have been fortunate to attend conferences , participate in onsite learning and am working in a school which puts a high value on exposing us to professionals from elsewhere sharing their knowledge and expertise with us. I was a year level manager and middle school manager for many years. I have led a faculty, been a regional trainer in child protection, worked for the SACEBoard as a moderator and participated in VET course training amongst other things. In all of those areas I have been working with outside professionals in human resources of one kind or another and would not be as resilient as I am today were it not for that. I have seen outside professionals work magic with students, help parents, transform staff. The knowledge they have shared with me I have always passed on and often developed teaching resources which can further use their input in an educational setting. How did I get that as an area to work on?

So, this year I am nonplussed with what has arrived as my areas to develop. Does it matter? Not really. Last year I had a similar response and what I did was take my Self-assessment summary and share it with someone in my faculty and then with someone who was not in my faculty. I am not static. You have to keep moving. No matter what the Self-assessment tool comes up with any thoughts I have about it and any conversations I have with colleagues about it only do me good. What it does is create a sharp focus. There is nothing vague about it. It pins you down to educational outcomes which will strengthen you as a teacher, will improve your capacity to engage learners and will develop an ability in you to influence the wider community. Isn’t that what I want to achieve? Someone who can influence good classroom outcomes which have a positive impact on others? I shall go back to the questions when I have time and look at how I answered. The SAT lets you do that and that is pretty handy. Anything which is making me think about what I am doing and how I am doing it, anything which is making me talk to others in a very specific way about what I am doing and how and why, has to be good. I do not see it as a series of hoops to jump through nor do I see it as a judge and jury of my performance as a teacher. It’s a Self assessment tool, the emphasis being on self. It is available on the aitsl site for me to access and then use my brain and teaching skills, my network and influencers to allow me to reflect about myself so I can become the best teacher ever ! I have no objection to a tool which Stimulates Awesomeness in Teachers.

Get yourself a lettuce upgrade

This was so familiar to me as a scenario I had to admire Armstrong and Miller for getting it so right. Before I make a technology purchase I know what I want, I make comparisons on the Net and I do my research. I look for the best I can afford. Then I get to the shop and have a conversation like this. It can be worse if I look like me and not at all as though you would know about technology things. On a good day I just go yes, yes, yes, I still want that one. On a bad day I’ll say something along the lines of oh, it doesn’t really matter I am going to load it with Linux anyway , probably Ubuntu 14.04. That usually guarantees the purchase will follow through pretty quickly without a hitch. The latest upgrade as such is more likely to be extra cost in insurance or an extended warranty. I will take the warranty option if it is going to cover the life of the device. Changeover seems every three years. If you don’t change over then you do find yourself running behind the times as such. Every 6 months there is a shift in technology. The best upgrade you can get is not a lettuce leaf but RAM. Always buy a device with as much RAM as you can afford and then , if necessary upgrade the RAM about a year down the track. You also need to afford as much graphics capability as you can because we run a lot of image and video these days. It does not alter the fact that once you have bought your device it is already old and you have to live with the fact someone else is going to have something better than yours. I am still running computers older than 10 years. You have to match the device to the job and older technology can have a specific job. I use an old laptop just to back up files so I know I have a copy of current files. I also use older technology in the kitchen where I am less worried about something getting splashed or having grubby finger prints. Lettuce leaf and carrot upgrades will always be there. Don’t be tempted because if your device is what you want and can afford then it will be good. Down the track you can buy a newer device with things they haven’t even thought of yet.Don’t feel bad and don’t feel inadequate. Just do your homework and be happy with what you decided to buy. Schools and small businesses can find themselves in the same position. They will buy a set up and it will be behind the times as soon as it is rolled out. Is it stable? Does it do what you want it to do? Is it secure? Is there a plan for the next step? You always need to keep an eye on the market and what is coming down the track but investing in it before the market has had a chance to put it to the test is not a sound decision. I often wait and see. They keep telling me technology is getting cheaper. It is still a pretty hefty outlay and so worth thinking about in a hard headed way.

Self assessment tool – aitsl

This is the second of three posts about the aitsl Self assessment tool. The first post is here.
In the area of Professional Practice I have 3 areas of weakness. The self assessment tool very kindly calls them areas for development but I think in terms of teaching to strengths and overcoming weaknesses. Quite a bit of debate can be had about whether you reinforce strengths or weaknesses. Would you ask Picasso to learn to work on his ice skating because he was so brilliant at art? Maybe ice-skating would have given him a different perspective on his art.

Professional Practice

Teachers are able to make learning engaging and valued. They
implement well-designed teaching programs and lessons, and
regularly evaluate their practice and assess student data to ensure
they are meeting their learning needs. They diagnose barriers to
learning and challenge students to improve their performance.
Teachers operate effectively at all stages of the teaching and
learning cycle: planning for learning and assessment, developing
learning programs, teaching, assessing, providing feedback on student learning and reporting to parents/carers.

The first weakness is:

3.7 L Initiate contextually relevant processes to establish
programs that involve parents/ carers in the
education of their children and broader school
priorities and activities.

I am not sure how I answered anything to come up with this as a response. I am not even sure what it means. Set up processes in a secondary school which involve parents in the education of their children and involve them in broader school priorities and activities? I am engaged to teach students French. Am I also obliged to teach their parents French? I am not trying to be funny. On a weekly basis I am in contact with parents, usually by email, to smooth over learning applications and difficulties or adjustments to assignments. Email contact can be time consuming but it does create a space where we can be in easy contact to ensure a student is able to access the curriculum comfortably . This can be done when they are away for whatever reason. I have a blog where my class materials are published for students to access from home. I can can always point the parents to that. We have a learner management system where I upload class materials and parents and students have access to that. It really helps and on parent evenings I usually find out that these things have been well received and have helped in a positive way. With junior students we have a project each term and parents often tell me they have enjoyed talking to their child about those sorts of investigations and areas of learning. Parents also like the technology activities I do with their children, so I regularly get good conversations about the sorts of things I do in class. The assessment plans do not include activities with parents but I do often encourage my students to talk to their parents about what we are learning and about French experiences. I include anything on our school site plan in my lessons and I teach to our school values which come into conversations I have with parents. But still,I am not sure what 3.7L means , though, so I do not know if I have met it or not and cannot think how to meet it. It is a reminder to myself that if I put down criteria for assessment I must ensure my students are clear about what they mean and that I teach them to ask for clarification. Our learner management system has a messaging facility which students have been using to ask me for explanations and reassurance. It’s a positive feature of our system.

My second weakness is:

4.2 HA Model and share with colleagues a flexible repertoire
of strategies for classroom management to ensure all
students are engaged in purposeful activities.

I think I do this. I have 3 blogs which focus on my classroom strategies and what is successful. I am always sharing materials and student work which has been successful. Our office has very robust and interesting conversations about how we manage our classrooms and the sorts of things we do to enhance and engender learning. Experience and sharing are great teachers. Growing ideas is exchanging good practice and then teasing that out into better practice. Often we meet each other and start with “How can I better…?” ; “What’s a good way of…?” and looking at practice from those angles can offer plenty of options and solutions. I’d say this has been a regular part of my teaching life so I am not sure how I got that response from the SAT tool.

My third weakness is:

5.5 HA Work with colleagues to construct accurate,
informative and timely reports to students and
parents/carers about student learning and
achievement.

We have a school based and recommended reporting system. The process is described to us and we are expected to implement it. This does not mean we cannot make suggestions nor that it is set in concrete and never reviewed. I do not work with colleagues on this but when reviews are needed then a panel would be established or a specific consultation group. There are certainly aspects of reporting which need to be discussed within a faculty or at a leadership level because it is about consistency and equity for particular students. I don’t think I can meet this criterion as it stands.

The SAT tool doesn’t just highlight weaknesses. It also highlights your strengths. As such, you can see again that as a teacher I have to think about process, protocol and then what I can influence myself. As a teacher you do have to be there to teach to the needs of the students but there are a number of formal requirements and expectations. The professional standards are making me think about just how much I can influence and what I should influence and where my focus should be. Should all teachers be role models for other teachers? I have always believed teachers should be and have a mentor. It strengthens you. It is dynamic and it is about keeping others confident. Those are considered to be my strengths in this area. If they are considered my strengths I ought to be able to demonstrate and produce evidence to that end. Looking at what the SAT tool puts up as my weaknesses means I have to be able to reflect on that rationally and reasonably. I am after all a teacher. I have to assess others. I have to keep them confident. You cannot fall over because someone said you were not very good at something. Well, you can, but this is why teachers need to collaborate , share and reflect. It sustains them.

Get zen with technology

No two snowflakes are the same. Teachers do not use technology in the same way and neither do students. It part of the joy and dynamic nature of a classroom these days but it can also be a source of frustration. The approach has to be clear and well thought out. When you use technology in a classroom you need to :
1. Think clearly – use story boarding a mind maps to help.
2. See clearly – how can apps, software, hardware, technology options improve and enhance content delivery?
3. Speak clearly – explain tools properly . Use the tools to deliver clear content in a direct way.
4. Love what you are doing– be enthusiastic about what you are doing with your students and let them show their enthusiasm. Wow factor works every time.
5. Be creative – share what you are doing and invite feedback because it reinforces a dynamic learning loop for everyone.
6. Stay balanced – keep a perspective on how much anything to do with technology can be a help or a hindrance to learning. Don’t be so committed to doing something you are not prepared to change to a more effective option and say no to something which is half-baked.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter. Love the tech eggs!