tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53460851662232460962023-11-16T23:44:55.823+10:00Talkin' 'bout my CerebrationAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-73010824208990765742018-01-11T14:52:00.001+10:002018-01-11T14:53:59.655+10:00Reframing middle school units within the senior school pedagogical frameworksWithin the future senior education system are a range of conceptual and pedagogical frameworks that guide each subject. Overarching all syllabi is Marzano and Kendall's taxonomy of educational objectives. This means a refining of the use of cognitive verbs within middle school to ensure the language of cognition is purposely developed. Each syllabus includes a conceptual and / or pedagogical framework that underpins the subject. In the image on this post, you will see the framework from the Physical Education syllabus.<br />
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What I am intending to create are a range of introductory images / slides for each unit within my middle school program that outlines for teachers and students the "placement" of this unit within the syllabus framework, the specific cognitions students will be asked to demonstrate and how the syllabus framework will be interpreted within the unit.<br />
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In the image, based on a year 7 ball sports unit, the unit is represented as an interpretation of the Physical Education framework. Cognitive verbs are represented in color depending on the "level". Retrieval and comprehension are red, analysis are green, and knowledge utilisation are blue.<br />
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Across my middle school program, each unit will draw on either the Health syllabus or the Physical Education syllabus. And as such, a similar resource will be developed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlCyf5SM5Q9hQp8ZV9NcAX9EZ8yZgwG5CR18VfSa0yB0AHml_NaVeMHwqDbvAP-fdUIcsHY039GllWYYiuvRCjyOQSH_ZWgz9jvVAB_IkZ-byevaOvc6juY9JbBgrAD3vDj61uG2rNsGc/s1600/HPE07S4+Ball+Sports+framework.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="954" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlCyf5SM5Q9hQp8ZV9NcAX9EZ8yZgwG5CR18VfSa0yB0AHml_NaVeMHwqDbvAP-fdUIcsHY039GllWYYiuvRCjyOQSH_ZWgz9jvVAB_IkZ-byevaOvc6juY9JbBgrAD3vDj61uG2rNsGc/s320/HPE07S4+Ball+Sports+framework.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Do you think this will assist teachers and students to align middle school units with the senior programs?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-15294889378654471872018-01-07T07:05:00.002+10:002018-01-07T07:05:36.785+10:002018 - Leading HPE in preparation for syllabus changeIn 2019, the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority will implement an entirely new senior education system, including a complete suite of new subjects and a new assessment and grading system. This presents a challenge to high schools in 2018 to effectively prepare for the implementation.<br />
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Fortunately, the syllabi for the new suite of subjects has been released. We can therefore familiarise with the subject matter, pedagogical concepts and assessment practices. Preparing staff and students for these whilst maintaining our 7 - 10 Australian Curriculum and 11 - 12 current senior system will require purposeful planning.</div>
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What I intend to share through this blog is how I will lead my HPE faculty through 2018 in preparation for 2019. What is definite;</div>
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<ul>
<li>all year 7 - 10 students will experience the new senior system when they get to year 11.</li>
<li>even though few teachers will teach the new subjects next year, all teachers will have students this year that need some preparation</li>
<li>enabling teachers to utilise subject matter in current units will provide opportunity for reflection and refinement in 2019</li>
<li>enabling students to experience similar types of assessment that they will experience in year 11 will prepare them for the conditions they will experience</li>
<li>Australian Curriculum, specifically the 5 propositions, develop students for the new system</li>
<li>whole-scale curriculum change would not be fair to teachers or students</li>
</ul>
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There are a number of actions already undertaken, and I will blog about each of these in future posts. </div>
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Within my faculty I will be responsible for 3 of the new subjects in 2019;</div>
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<ul>
<li>Health</li>
<li>Physical Education</li>
<li>Psychology</li>
</ul>
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Psychology will present a specific challenge as it is a science based subject and therefore has not considered Australian Curriculum HPE in its development. At this stage the entirety of the impact on our middle school program that incorporating Psychology into our senior will have is unknown. Impact of new syllabi in Physical Education and Health is much more concrete.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-44403447809462620782016-01-12T06:15:00.001+10:002016-01-12T06:15:27.331+10:00Let's review week 1 (Sunday 3rd January)This post starts a new habit I am trying to form, where I review my week at the end of each week throughout the year. Its part of a productivity push and in response to many readings where a weekly review is recommended. You can read more about that through a <a href="http://deeperweb.com/results.php?cx=!004415538554621685521%3Avgwa9iznfuo&cof=FORID%3A11%3BNB%3A1&ie=UTF-8&src=p2&q=productivity+weekly+review+efficacy" target="_blank">web search</a>. So my plan is to reflect at the end of each week. These reflections will be posted here, simply for a place to store them and review over time. Feel free to read and comment if you can be bothered spending the time doing so.<br />
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Week 1:<br />
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Significant events - Lifesaving patrol 6 hours Saturday, Surf club (nippers) meeting 2 hours Thursday. Significant events are noted as they will either occupy a significant amount of time or result in tasks to be completed. Noting the significant events is a double up from my calendar but has allowed me to be realistic in what I can achieve during the week.<br />
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Goals achieved - Fix something. The <b>fix</b> for the week was a system to stop our dogs from pushing their food bowls off their "tables" when they eat. We use a raised surface to take strain off their necks while eating. This fix will hopefully result in less mess on the floor when they eat.<br />
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Goals not achieved - daily yoga (once), 4 cardio sessions (3), 2 strength sessions (none), 2 guitar sessions (none), reading for leisure daily (twice), learn something.<br />
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Insights - Having the plan has certainly enabled the review. I remember reading the reviews of another blogger a few years back and trying to implement a similar approach. What I had missed was the plan. The plan I am using has been developed from advice by my supervisors at work. Its an adaptation of a requirement for our faculty plans. If you have any interest you can see the plan template <a href="https://www.evernote.com/l/AAGATabRCFFNg6oeZH7rlXRzXYbPEBE6fS8" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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I have been trying to break my dependence on coffee this week. I have done this successfully a couple of years ago so this time around the headaches are not as bad. It has affected my mood, with periods of feeling grumpy.<br />
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I also re-started tracking my nutrition for both energy balance and nutrient analysis. Not enough information here to see if there is any impact on my week yet.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-66026427172459233242014-09-17T13:21:00.001+10:002014-09-17T13:21:48.012+10:00Blogging as an exam - I deem it successful.Each year, our Year 12 Health Education course completes a blog as an exam. The process is;<br />
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<ol>
<li>I provide a stimulus statement.</li>
<li>They respond to the statement.</li>
<li>They read each other's posts and challenge the arguments of their peers.</li>
<li>They choose one challenge on their post, and respond to that challenge.</li>
</ol>
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Each year I am astounded by the work that they produce, and the engagement they show with the assessment process. Initially the public presentation of an assessment response causes some hesitation (and extra care) in their writing. However once we move to the phase where they can read each other's work and challenge their peers, the intellect really comes to the fore. The requirement to understand the argument of a peer and then challenge them on that argument can only occur through extensive knowledge of the concepts represented in the stimulus statement and the health theories studied throughout the course.<br />
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<b><u>The stimulus statement:</u></b>
The development of independent thinking skills for impaired students in a supported learning environment is significantly more important than the development of self efficacy.
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An excerpt of a student response (below) contains reference to a number of health theories as well as the two concepts represented in the stimulus statement.<br />
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<i>Independent thinking skills teaches intellectually impaired students how to think rather than what to think (Institute of Education Sciences, 2014). Independent thinking skills help students create meaning, gain an understanding, and therefore enables them to make judgements, good decisions and choices about a task or an issue. Additionally in consequence it is more likely that they would be able to effectively complete the task or solve the issue. The lack of critical thinking skills utilized within the classroom greatly diminishes the students’ chance for success (Irfaner, 2006). Independent thinking skills are one of the hardest things to teach intellectually impaired students as they have deficits in learning, communication, deduction and reasoning skills, decision making and information retrieval. However the development of these independent thinking skills is important as it enables the students to apply their individual knowledge and skills to a new or old task, and therefore to progress to the next level and reach their full potential. This is important as it will enable them to think for themselves and not heavily rely on their support networks for every aspect in their lives.</i><br />
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And a challenge posed to this student was;<br />
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<i>You mention that independent thinking skills are needed in order for the students to overcome possible barriers to our failures of tasks but having high self-efficacy assists in overcoming barriers. isn't it more likely that developing self-efficacy is more important than independent thinking skills initially as without it the students could view the challenge as difficulties and change their attitudes towards the task when considering their outcome expectation?</i><br />
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I truly believe the students could not have demonstrated this level of cognition or understanding of theory in a standard exam (single response to a stimulus). And by assessing the quality of the challenges they post as well as the response to the stimulus, then quality challenges result.<br />
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Have you tried, or would you be willing, to try a blog as an exam?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-36555718965964666312014-08-17T11:48:00.000+10:002014-08-17T11:48:31.026+10:00Enabling productivity - a selection of tips and tricksI recently posted about a daily self management strategy I would be trialing. One of the critical aspects was identifying the <b>Most Important Tasks</b> for the day. Recently I lead a collaborative discussion on the challenges faced by HPE Leaders in <b>Leading a department</b>. One of the ideas I shared in the discussion on time management was the concept of the number of most important tasks being equal to or less than the number of spare lessons I had on that day. (Both of these posts are linked below for your reference).<br />
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This post will explore more specifically how I decide which tasks become the most important tasks for the day.<br />
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Ultimately, I use Evernote to manage two separate task lists, and all the relevant information for the tasks on these lists. I selected Evernote (premium subscription) due to its cross platform capabilities and limitations within my corporate network. Inside my Evernote, I have a notebook entitled "!Actions" that holds the "job list" and "!Today" notes. "Job List" holds every task that is currently required of me. I only access this note to add new tasks or at the end of the day when I complete a daily reflection. "!Actions" holds a checklist of the most important tasks for the day.<br />
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To get from "Job List" to "!Actions" is a specific process. I would not be alone in admitting the difficulty that can arise by attempting to prioritise an extensive list into the most important tasks. To achieve this I follow the following processes;<br />
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<ol>
<li>Begin with the end in mind<br /><br />This is habit 2 of Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Within this habit Covey encourages the development of a personal mission statement (or philosophy or creed). An important step in this is the recognition of the various roles we hold within our lives. My "Job List" categorises tasks into these roles that I hold. For reference I use three roles to categorise my professional life, two roles to categorise community or voluntary contributions, family, and a "special interest" that can hold items that don't fit these categories.</li>
<br /><li>Build a detailed calendar<br /><br />Decisions on how many tasks make the most important tasks are easier when all commitments are outlined. These commitments include the commitments of other family members. We each have a shared Google calendar so our commitments are seen by all, however my work calendar is private as the other family members don't need to see my commitments during work hours. As an example a snapshot of Mondays is below. (red = my work, blue = my other, yellow = oldest son)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-abhjVR_Jy40/U_AFguHcYyI/AAAAAAAACXo/8DhmPlLLjuw/s1600/Cal.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-abhjVR_Jy40/U_AFguHcYyI/AAAAAAAACXo/8DhmPlLLjuw/s1600/Cal.PNG" height="137" width="320" /></a></div>
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I will lose at least 90 minutes to travelling to and from work each day, leaving approximately 4 hours on a Monday to complete tasks off the "Job List" (assuming I get to work at 8am and don't have lunch).</div>
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<li>Schedule planning / strategic time<br /><br />Too often we prioritise other duties over our own preparation and planning. Have dedicated sessions in your weekly calendar. Personally I don't include any on Mondays as I have found generally I need to proactive in setting faculty processes and procedures in place at the beginning of the week.</li>
<br /><li>Use the "Prioritizer"<br /><br /><a href="http://www.idea-sandbox.com/innovation-tools/prioritizer/">http://www.idea-sandbox.com/innovation-tools/prioritizer/</a><br /><br />This web tool asks you to enter all the tasks you see as important, then essentially plays them off against each other. It is much easier to determine the more important task out of two options, than a number of options. What results is a list in order of priority. I use this to determine the most important tasks for each day.</li>
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What results for me is a succint list that becomes the most important tasks on the "!Today" note. At the end of each day, the "!Today" note becomes a note titled with the date in my "!Completed" notebook. Keeping a scoreboard (acknowledging what you have completed) is just as important as managing the task list focus.</div>
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Blog post: <a href="http://shane-tech-teach.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/trialling-daily-self-management-strategy.html" target="_blank">Daily self management strategy</a><br />
Blog post: <a href="http://shane-tech-teach.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/achper-conference-15-august-leading.html" target="_blank">Leading a department</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-66361186775777917782014-08-16T17:17:00.001+10:002014-08-16T17:17:22.240+10:00ACHPER conference 15 August: Leading a department<div>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">The table below is a record of a collaborative discussion on the challenges HPE leaders face in their jobs. Thank you to the group for contributing ideas and discussion around these important issues. It would be interesting to see what any readers think through comments to this post.</span><div style="font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">
<br /><table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;" valign="top"><b>Challenge</b></td><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Potential</b></div>
<b><div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Solutions</b></div>
</b></td><td style="text-align: center;" valign="top"><b>Barriers</b></td><td style="text-align: center;" valign="top"><b>Facilitators</b></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Resistant staff - T&L change</td><td valign="top"><div>
provide a solution with the problem</div>
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(constructive insubordination)</div>
</td><td valign="top">staff allocation</td><td valign="top"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Contributing to faculty goals</td><td valign="top"><br /></td><td valign="top">buy in<br /><br />
time to meet</td><td valign="top">starting with some evidence or policy, then working with group to specify it to your workgroup<br /><br />
lobby admin for strategic time. Think offline options. Google docs, OneNote</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Collaboration</td><td valign="top"><br /></td><td valign="top"><br /><br /><br />
open contribution never ends<br /></td><td valign="top">filtering policy into faculty relevant<br /><br />
specific timelines</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Working with staff</td><td valign="top">Strengths based approach (how they contribute)</td><td valign="top">perceptions?(who told you?)</td><td valign="top"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Leadership approach</td><td valign="top"><br /></td><td valign="top"><br /></td><td valign="top">Know when to stop and recognise successes.<br /><br />
Acknowledging success will have greater results than acknowledging weakness</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Professional vs. personal (feedback on performance)</td><td valign="top">you acknowledge the strengths, ask them to acknowledge their opportunities for improvement<br /><br />
Think of a continuum, always room for improvement</td><td valign="top">Performance feedback</td><td valign="top">setting scene<br /><br />
appointments set as "their time" not as a report from a supervisor</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Time</td><td valign="top">limiting tasks per day<br /><br />
prioritising<br /><br />
delegating (role based, team meetings)<br /><br /></td><td valign="top">work life balance concept</td><td valign="top">need a buy in, they need to see the same purpose / vision<br /><br />
seeing can't instead of don't want to<br /><br />
master job list vs. most important tasks</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Preparation</td><td valign="top">upcoming unit materials shared and partner checked before the start of the unit (not HOD check)</td><td valign="top"><br /></td><td valign="top"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Inbox zero</td><td valign="top">fit emails onto one screen</td><td valign="top"><br /></td><td valign="top">allocated times for emails</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Self rewarding</td><td valign="top">don't focus on the rest of the list, give yourself some sort of reward<br /><br />
think of term timelines in this also, use your holidays as holidays</td><td valign="top"><br /></td><td valign="top">Rewards available and accessed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-48686494632849336672014-08-14T20:36:00.002+10:002014-08-14T20:36:34.238+10:00ACHPER conference workshop 14 AugustThe purpose of this post is to host resources for a workshop on "P-10 Physical Performance Assessment" at the 2014 ACHPER conference.<br />
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Workshop handout - <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7GAksV-G0MBWUxHZ0tBTUYtWGM/edit?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7GAksV-G0MBWUxHZ0tBTUYtWGM/edit?usp=sharing</a><br />
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Easytag cheat sheet - <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7GAksV-G0MBWVN5UDdhcGdNZW8/edit?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7GAksV-G0MBWVN5UDdhcGdNZW8/edit?usp=sharing</a><br />
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Coach's Eye cheat sheet - <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7GAksV-G0MBbGU4ME1JMDF4WEk/edit?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7GAksV-G0MBbGU4ME1JMDF4WEk/edit?usp=sharing</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-87112879170235689262014-08-10T16:30:00.001+10:002014-08-17T10:59:40.863+10:00Contributing to the professionIn previous posts I have mentioned the concept of Stephen Covey's "true north" principle - that goal or desire held by a person and the alignment of their daily actions to deliver on that goal. One of my true north principles is providing students with quality feedback on their performance. I am fortunate that I can use my association with ACHPER to deliver this message beyond the boundaries of my own school.<br />
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However it is my attendance at events coordinated and conducted by other teachers that continues to inform me on my personal practice. Granted not everything I hear will be implemented and become a part of my toolkit, but as the old saying goes "If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got." Improvement can only come from trialling new things. I am a busy man, so I only want to trial new things other teachers have already found successful.<br />
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In the near future, I will have the opportunity to share some ideas with existing teachers and students studying an education degree. For me, this is an important role that deserves time and attention. I don't expect that anyone will take my ideas and use them, but if I can help just one person provide better feedback to students each time I present (share) then I have been successful.<br />
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Negotiation with my principal and own ethics in regards to classroom contact time is a consistent challenge. It is not fair on my students that I do not attend class in favour of sharing with other teachers. When I can the presentations (sharing sessions) are held outside of school hours. At times this is not possible, but it does minimise impact on my own classes.<br />
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I urge you, regardless of your intent, find opportunities to listen to other teachers share and find opportunities to share your ideas with others.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-5607321337726176602014-08-03T07:06:00.000+10:002014-08-03T07:07:43.345+10:00Leading statewide curriculum teams.I am very fortunate to currently be the State Review Panel Chair for Health Education in Queensland. This position allows me to work closely with 5 State Review Panelists and 6 District Review Panel Chairs. My intent since being selected for the role has been to lead the development of our curriculum by informing schools and teachers. This is quite a difficult task and one I don't think has achieved its full potential yet. To achieve this goal, there has been specific strategies put into place and supported by the Senior Education Officer (who is essentially my co-leader in this role).<br />
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<ol>
<li>Recognising two distinct roles<br /><br />The members of the State Review Panel and District Review Panel Chairs are expert teachers who apply their craft with diligence and precision. Their official role as panelists is to moderate the implementation of the syllabus. However as expert teachers I believe they can offer advice on interpretation of the syllabus, which will inform their implementation and in the long run better prepare them for external moderation.<br /><br /></li>
<li>Communication pathways<br /><br />Review panelists have official communication pathways to schools and teachers centred around external moderation processes.<br /><br />Opening communication between these expert teachers and schools is critical in changing the perception of the panel members as only "external assessors." Current members on the State Review Panel are intelligent and innovative teachers that can assist other teachers in developing both their programs and their craft. An email discussion list was created by a retired State Panel member, and slowly but surely we are spreading the word this is an effective place to both receive and ask for information.<br /><br />At the most recent conference for State Review Panel and District Review Panel Chairs we decided to utilise the email discussion list to distribute pertinent information from the group, informing schools and teachers prior to the external moderation of school based assessment.<br /><br /></li>
<li>Collaborative development of resources<br /><br />Generally the agenda of our conferences are tightly managed. I am fortunate that the 2 Senior Education Officers who I have worked with have been flexible in the use of conference time. We tend to get a 90 minute session to work collaboratively as a group on the development of resources. These resources will be progressively communicated through the email discussion list.</li>
</ol>
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This will fundamentally change the communication pathways from current perceptions of the State and District Review Panel members, which will need to be carefully managed itself. My focus on this new communication pathway will be to foster advice for schools on interpretation of the syllabus to inform their implementation before moderation points in time. The significant difference is expert teachers will offer advice before moderation, whereas panel members will offer advice at moderation. Considering this advice may come from the same physical person, managing this effectively is my most significant challenge.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-26473583458219082912014-07-26T10:59:00.001+10:002014-07-26T10:59:53.343+10:00Leadership challenge - consistency.Within my organisation, and my school, there is a obvious push towards consistency across job roles. This is not consistency defined as everyone must perform their duties in the same manner, but consistency defined as students and parents should expect that processes are followed across schools, enabling the students to receive an equitable education regardless of location. Whilst in essence I agree with this sentiment (equity has always been a focus in my life - a true north principle referred to in my last post), both establishing and managing consistency is a significant leadership challenge. The challenge is not a consideration of comparison between schools (or even between faculties within schools). For me as a Head of Department, the challenge is ensuring each of my teachers receives the information required for them to address the areas of targeted consistency, while allowing them to maintain their personal influence (flair) on their own work.<br />
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In a large faculty, this challenge of consistency is a constant challenge. In my faculty I currently have 26 teachers teaching across our 12 courses. The course with most teachers is year 9 HPE, with 12 teachers covering the 16 classes. In comparison to English and Maths faculties at large schools this is not unusual, but in my experience this is large for a HPE faculty. Timetabling priorities at my school will always have the result of a large group of teachers within year 9 HPE. In our timetabling process, the HPE middle school and year 10 courses are allocated after English, Maths, Science and SOSE which results in a high changeover of staff in the HPE faculty each year. This year I have 8 staff who did not teach in the HPE faculty in 2013, plus 4 teachers who did teach HPE in 2013 not teaching it in 2014.<br />
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My personal leadership challenges for consistency this year include;<br />
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<ul>
<li>delivery of curriculum priorities</li>
<li>student access to quality feedback on performance</li>
<li>reporting</li>
<li>compliance with local school policies</li>
</ul>
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This challenge is exacerbated by never having all of my staff at our Faculty meetings. Between part-time staff not working on meeting days, and staff having greater teaching loads in other faculties, I generally have 50% of my staff at our faculty meeting. This requires me to be adaptive in how I lead to maximise consistency.<br />
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Some of the processes I am using in 2014 to achieve this leadership of consistency, but empower teachers to have personal influence on their work are;<br />
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<ol>
<li>Publishing the "known curriculum"<br /><br />This is an adaptation of a school strategy. At our school all units are planned using the organisation software, which stores unit plans and materials online. I need to allow each of my teachers to have access to the plan, and as I found out earlier this year ensure I have up to date backups as any teacher added can delete the plan and there is no central backup / restore solution.<br /><br />Building this plan as the "known curriculum" requires clear communication and alignment with our pedagogical framework (which is The Art of Science and Teaching). If the teaching team is not aware of, and held accountable to, the published unit plan then inconsistencies result in the delivery of curriculum priorities and student access to quality feedback on performance.<br /><br />It is important to note that in the HPE implementation of this school strategy, lesson plans are not prescribed to the teaching team. However teachers are required to ensure their lessons deliver on the identified curriculum priorities.<br /></li>
<li>Flowcharts<br /><br />I have trialled a number of strategies to ensure teachers deliver on school policies. In the last 18 months I have found clear flowcharts for specific issues to be reasonably successful. Currently these flowcharts are stored in an online faculty management space for teachers to access, however an insightful suggestion by one of my staff noted that the publication of those same flowcharts in teaching spaces would increase student knowledge of the procedures and could result in reduced conflict when teachers apply consequences based on the school policies.<br /></li>
<li>Comprehensively programmed markbooks<br /><br />One issue I have faced consistently over my 11 years as a Head of Department, is the completion of markbooks before reports are compiled. Our markbooks determine an average of achievement across the course, and for most teachers are the only source of student record. This year I managed to program the markbooks to produce the specific text string required for report comments based on the average achievement calculated. This means reports are completed through a simple copy and paste procedure, significantly reducing the time teachers spend on compiling reports. As the other half of the win/win, it means that markbooks are completed in a timely manner - allowing me to complete detailed data analysis of results.<br /><br />Some readers may think this reduces the personalisation of reports. In our school, this has been reduced for many years. Report comments are created specifically linked to performance levels on achievement standards. The HPE markbooks just create the text string instead of the entry of 6 codes in the reporting program to create the same text string.<br /></li>
<li>Physical performance resource<br /><br />Allocation of grades and moderation of these grades for physical performance has always been a challenge in HPE. This year I have used the expertise within my own school to conduct mini professional development sessions on the sports we use in our program. These sessions are filmed, then edited into a series of drills with performance specific feedback identified. This resource is available for staff to access online, and therefore use in their planning. The future of this project will involve team leaders using these resources in the planning of feedback provision, enabling equity in the access to feedback.</li>
</ol>
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In no way do I promote this as best practice, it is simply my practice and I am finding some success with it in 2014.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-17831983359621717682014-07-14T20:56:00.000+10:002014-07-14T20:56:06.559+10:00Trialling a daily self management strategyI need focus, daily. The constant flow of information from a range of sources has the tendency to pull my focus away from what I determine important. This term I need a process to manage this. Reflective thinking towards the end of the mid-year break drew on;<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
1) Stephen Covey's concept of "True North"</div>
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My interpretation of the true north is about character and ethics. Making decisions that are true to your character and ethically correct for you. Discovering what your true north is can be difficult. To enable this I had to think of my life as compartmentalised. In relation to work (including roles as a teacher, head of department and state review panel chair) my true north is about helping others be successful. A significant aspect of this is building relationships - so I can understand in what aspects of their role they wish to be successful.</div>
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2) David Allen's "Getting Things Done"</div>
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One of the key principles is to have a single collection of all the tasks flowing in. In a perfect work world it means a single place to record all the tasks that result from phone calls, emails, conversations and others. In my workspace this is best achieved through a restricted task list. I store this task list in Evernote as a checklist.</div>
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3) Zen Habits concept of "Most Important Tasks"</div>
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Identifying the tasks which contribute to "True North" and achieve work goals enables this process to be engaging. Important tasks are not necessarily what others see as urgent, and in my case I foresee disagreement with my supervisor regarding this. My challenge will be to show how my "True North" aligns to organisational strategy.</div>
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4) David Allen's concept of context</div>
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I have refined this particular concept to suit me. Essentially building a list (that is constantly added to) of quick jobs that can be completed in short spaces of time. For example, if I finish work on a most important task and have 5 minutes until class, I refer to this list and complete a couple of quick jobs.</div>
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<br /></div>
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5) Mise en place</div>
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A recent blogpost by Ron Friedman discussed the use of this process popular for chefs as a preparation for a day's work. An intellectual preparation for the day. As my workspace moves across my desk, computer desktop, phone and iPad this intellectual preparation means ensuring I have all the resources I need with me when I need them. This also means finishing each day with a clear idea of what the next set of most important tasks are.</div>
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To enable this all for success, I have decided that;</div>
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<br /></div>
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1) a maximum of 1 most important task for each spare lesson I have in a day</div>
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2) checking emails only at the start of the day and at second break</div>
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3) leaving the office by 4:30pm at the latest, not arriving before 8:00am.</div>
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The hope - a calmer mind at the end of the day, end of the week and end of the term.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-52899686191819924522014-07-09T18:59:00.000+10:002014-07-09T18:59:06.643+10:00Its been a challenging semester!This is a brief post that I hope I will expand on later. This first semester has been the toughest of any semester in my 11 year career as a Head of Department. Conversely, it has been an exciting and rewarding semester as a teacher.<br />
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Early in the semester, accusations were made regarding my capability to lead a faculty. This resulted in a long running disagreement and quite a deal of stress. Essentially there was a disagreement between the organisational need to lead data and numbers versus my desire to lead people and relationships. I was extremely fortunate that my immediate staff were supportive of me. This situation has been resolved and my integrity is intact now, but it was not an enjoyable experience.<br />
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This was occurring whilst I was supporting my staff through the emotional strain of watching one of our own battle a terminal cancer, and another of our own battling a metastasising cancer. Their names will not be mentioned here. Unfortunately, we lost our friend and staff member who bravely and inspirationally battled the terminal cancer one week before the school holidays started. I have some guilt in my relationship with this staff member, despite all being forgiven and I believe a supportive friendship developed. This cannot erase the emotional strain of the event.<br />
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But they say there is a silver lining in every cloud, and this has resulted in new friendships. What is most significant is the impact this person has had on my life, and my work. She has changed how I lead, in particular how I relate to female staff. For that I thank her.<br />
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More to come, soon, I hope.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-36721708721631099902014-02-08T10:50:00.000+10:002014-02-08T10:50:09.862+10:00Week 2 - where most good intentions for the year disappear!Week 2 is tough. The school is back into routine swing. Teachers are time committed to their teaching loads. Its hard to resist the pull of routine, slipping back into the habits of last year is all too tempting. But as they say - if you always do what you have always done, then you will always get what you've always got. And then there are occurrences external to daily operation that threaten to completely upset the balance of work flow (but in one particular case we have prioritised the external occurrence as more important than daily workflow - maybe more on this at a much later date). So focus on the operational items I am intent on improving has to be paramount. How do I achieve this?<br />
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<ol>
<li>Use the office walls - I place reminders on my office wall above my desk. They are in my line of sight when working at the desk. Anyone who walks into my office can see them. In fact I enjoy it when students ask me about them and I can explain my intent.<br /></li>
<li>Evernote - despite Evernote being blocked / filtered at my worksite, I use the software on my work laptop, work iPad and personal phone. I have a note called !Today which lists the jobs I need to complete today. I have learnt from last year, this list has one job for each spare lesson I have during the day (spare lesson = I don't teach a class). If I give myself too many jobs, then I am destined for failure. Its a fact of my job that there will be constant interruptions and "you need to do this now" delegations from above. Interestingly Wednesdays have become refreshing for me as my !Today list has no items as I teach all day.<br /><br />The !Today note has the focus targets presented above the task list.<br /></li>
<li>Sticky notes on my Windows desktop - the work computer is always on. If I am working away from my desk (like those times I need to hide to get work done) then the reminders are with me. This is currently my least successful method as I am also using my desktop as a dumping ground. Files are placed there until I can process / sort them. I have not yet actually added file processing / storage as a task in !Today but clearly I need to.</li>
</ol>
<div>
As I reflect at the end of week 2, I believe there are a couple of recurring tasks I need to add to !Today. Inbox zero - I used to be good at this, but lately I have been slack. Currently there are 30 emails sitting in my inbox waiting for me to do something about. Process - as mentioned above. Thanks - one of my personal goals (I will blog about this another time).</div>
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<br /></div>
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How do I determine what goes on the !Today note? I have another note titled Job List which holds all pending jobs. I separate this into sections based on my life responsibilities. Each day I rename !Today to the date, then move it from my !Actions notebook to !Completed. I create a new !Today note. Any leftover tasks are added first, then I determine priority from the Job List. This takes a bit of management, but more than once I have found it useful to direct certain people's attention to the Job List and !Today as an explanation of why I may not be undertaking their priority job at that time :).</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now I just need to find a way to manage the seemingly growing list of meeting I am required to attend as part of my role. Unfortunately I perceive most of them as an inefficient use of my time and they actually make achieving job lists more difficult.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-85735211646822562162014-02-03T06:40:00.002+10:002014-02-03T06:40:40.403+10:00Learning from week 1 2014Leading a large and diverse faculty has always been a challenge, and I believe it always will be. There is a constant battle between trusting staff with responsibility and maintaining equity and consistency. My previous experience has found that the more responsibility I leave to team members and team leaders, the greater the inconsistencies in application which results in inequities for students. However as a leader I am not a fan of micromanagement or prescripted approaches.<br />
<br />
For this year, I have decided to personally identify the non-negotiables. These are the items / actions / behaviours that I absolutely want consistency and equity for. These non-negotiables were displayed in our initial faculty meetings for 2014 and will be reinforced through notices, assemblies and posters to be displayed throughout the school. For your interest, these non-negotiables for 2014 are;<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>non participation in class managed as per the provided flowchart (<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7GAksV-G0MBcWFCMDhyUVVnSjQ/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">you can view this flowchart here</a>)</li>
<li>equipment is to be stored neatly after use</li>
<li>all alternate arrangements for assessment are to be approved</li>
<li>hats and sunscreen are compulsory</li>
<li>teachers are to read and action the weekly HPE briefing</li>
</ul>
<div>
Sounds like simple stuff, but maintaining consistency here will be a challenge. At the end of week 1 I already have equipment storage issues, student participation issues and sun safety issues due to teachers failing to uphold these expectations. The challenge for me now is how do I respond? In the initial faculty meeting I informed them I would be holding them accountable, now I need to take the time to uphold that expectation of myself.</div>
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<br /></div>
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My most prominent responsibility at the beginning of the year is timetabling - developing programs that ensure equitable access to facilities and resources. This is really like a big jigsaw puzzle. For this I have always used a spreadsheet. It is a visual way for me to match programs to facilities and ensure clashes do not occur.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Communication within the faculty is effective from our Sharepoint Team Site. We are somewhat limited in functionality in our organisation's implementation of Sharepoint, but managing people and groups with subscription to announcement lists is the preferred way of communicating with teams. Each subject in the faculty has a team leader who posts announcements on the Sharepoint for all to access. This is critical as all faculty teams have members who do not reside in the HPE staffroom.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Faculty and team leadership this year will be assisted through the use of OneNote. In my personal life I much prefer Evernote, however within the organisation Evernote is blocked by the "all knowing" filters and we are provided with OneNote. This is in its infancy within my faculty and already has some teething issues. I am a little shocked that some adults do not understand the concept of a shared resource. In my professional life and personal life lately I have lost important files because someone with access to the shared resource decided they no longer needed it so hit delete! It seems I need to educate on the management of personal resources vs. shared resources. These incidents have resulted in further backup routines that I perform regularly.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
So what did I learn in this first week?</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>non negotiables mean nothing to the individual teacher unless they see their responsibilities towards them.</li>
<li>I can trust my team leaders to lead curriculum development.</li>
<li>My team leaders want my guidance on the direction of their curriculum development.</li>
</ul>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-56004307875442093392014-01-27T07:54:00.001+10:002014-01-27T18:13:34.887+10:00A new year, a new intent.This blog has become stagnant, and my mind often races with ideas and processes I would like to share. The mismatch has been a result of me breaking from the concept as a psuedo edtech leader into what I believe my role is now about. It will be easier for me to share here what occupies my mind the most. At this stage that is the leading of a faculty of teachers through a period of significant change.<br />
<br />
So this blog will share successes and failures (or at least my perceptions of these).<br />
<br />
To start; a little context. I am a Head of Department which essentially translates to middle management. The faculty is Health and Physical Education which has the implementation of a National Curriculum from the beginning of next year. My school is a large public school that this year will implement a pedagogical framework, is in a period of change in regards to teacher planning and reflection, and will expand to include another year level in 2015. In reality, this makes me little different from every other Head of Department for HPE.<br />
<br />
My school is in a phase of significant change, from student management to teacher practice. We have over 120 teachers, and are predicted to have over 2100 students on day 8 (the day in Qld where school population is counted and funding is based on.) There are over 20 teachers teaching HPE this year, three staff on maternity leave, one on unpaid (travel) leave and one on extended sick leave and another 20 HPE trained teachers in the school who want to teach HPE.<br />
<br />
My staffing presents its own challenges. Some of these will be discussed here. However I am so very fortunate that in the 2 schools I have worked in I have been blessed with dedicated staff. This is the single reason why I continue to commute an hour each way to my workplace.<br />
<br />
So I plan to think out loud here this year. Feel free to comment, criticise or question.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-1771484214316321232013-09-09T12:48:00.001+10:002013-09-09T17:01:16.410+10:00TurnItIn on the iPadTurnItIn is a paid service, and I am fortunate enough that my school pays for this service. I have no affiliation with them, but find purposeful their service for both drafting and marking of written assessment.<div><br></div><div>Recently TurnItIn has released an iPad app, allowing grading and commenting of student submissions. Despite the limits functionality of this in terms of the complete service, I am finding it much more efficient to comment on student work using the iPad app rather than the web interface. And anything that increases my effectiveness gets my vote.</div><div><br></div><div>One big bonus of the app is that you can sync a class assignment. This means marking offline. The web interface relies on an always on Internet connection to work. Now I can sync an assignment, mark offline and then resync when back in a networked area.</div><div><br></div><div>If your school / institution uses TurnItIn and you have access to an iPad, then I encourage you to download the app. I am sure you will find it useful.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-90883242281523723882013-09-01T16:09:00.001+10:002013-09-01T16:09:08.602+10:00Impressed and inspired by my classI am seriously loving teaching my year 10 Health class this year. I am confident they will be well prepared for the senior Health Education course at my school as year 11 and year 12 students.<div><br></div><div>But why am I impressed and motivated?</div><div><br></div><div>I am impressed by the recent response to a challenge I set them. The challenge was to graphically represent the integration of four (4) frameworks we have studied so far. The frameworks are - Basic Concept Map of Health Education, Social Determinants of Health, Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, Iceberg Model. Whilst they could all do this effectively, the outstanding response is the one below (with the typical by line you would expect from teenagers!)</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVZ9ZIcnnZU9LBBgokMgf9dGFsmQu8IWpS6cZ5Aa-sIlZo00y2KrmAzuY_0f4PcsJwZESTlNMSxA4aOQPZjira4xd3F4-2z1fDWpWak5mPIsepPSpRLJb59dOHUhfkPZLgGzlCNiZcv8/s640/blogger-image--2139359931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVZ9ZIcnnZU9LBBgokMgf9dGFsmQu8IWpS6cZ5Aa-sIlZo00y2KrmAzuY_0f4PcsJwZESTlNMSxA4aOQPZjira4xd3F4-2z1fDWpWak5mPIsepPSpRLJb59dOHUhfkPZLgGzlCNiZcv8/s640/blogger-image--2139359931.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The simple explanation - to cross the bridge between identifying the disadvantage and understanding it, you need to use the social determinants of health. That enables you to slide down through the Ottawa Charter to plan and implement a health promotion campaign. You then climb through the data to identify further disadvantage. Impressive.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I am inspired by their intent. We have just completed a unit titled "Champions of Social Justice" where they researched the work of a person or group and presented a justification of the term champion in this concept. Our next unit is a class health promotion program. My initial intent was to perform an in school campaign that promoted awareness of our student support program. The class has decided this is not significant enough, so is now in the process of planning a large campaign to raise funds for up to three groups. Ideas being tossed around are 24 hour relays, sleepout for homeless, biggest morning teas. I love this motivation they have to work for the health of others. I hope we can get this off the ground, will let you all know the outcome.</div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-6932448532986996292013-08-17T09:57:00.001+10:002013-08-17T09:57:24.609+10:00Refreshed and motivated - thank you ACHPER Qld.I have been lucky enough to have just spent 2 days at the ACHPER Qld Brisbane conference. The focus of the conference was teaching and learning in HPE. This is the first conference I have been to in many years that was not technology based and I can say it was a refreshing change. Technology conferences have lost their shine with me, too many of them attempt to upsell a product (website, service, app, device) in a disguise of promoting learning. The ACHPER conference had a clear focus of learning - no bells, whistles or extra bling, just learning. A range of great speakers willing to share ideas and processes they have found successful.<br />
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From Anthony Ryan (<a href="http://erf.org.au/" target="_blank">Edmund Rice Foundation</a>) sharing "jolt" and "metanoia" moments, to current practitioners sharing learning ideas and finally Ian Healy sharing thoughts on how to cope with change - a constant, clear message of "be alert, not alarmed" and "be prepared, we can do this" was clear. Let's face it, the Australian Curriculum <b>is </b>coming.<br />
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Personally I found insight in presentations from Ross Stewart (Meridan State College), Lousie McCuaig (University of Qld), John Clancy (Brisbane Grammar School), Jo Butterworth (QSA) and Steven Mikael (AB Paterson College) with practical ideas that would be reasonably simple to use in my work, and have clear benefit to our core business - the students.<br />
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I will reflect on some of the more pertinent talks through this blog over the coming weeks. However I think its important to note one thing that Steven Mikael said. Essentially his message was -<br />
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"We as HPE teachers are so lucky that Health and Physical Education is considered a compulsory subject in the new Australian Curriculum up to year 10. Without the work of ACHPER Australia wide, we could well have been an elective subject. ACHPER has ensured we remain an important component of every child's education."<br />
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Are you a HPE teacher? I encourage you to repay this thought by becoming a member. Each state has its own branch, just search for ACHPER and your state. Well said Steven.<br />
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<a href="http://www.achperqld.org.au/" target="_blank">ACHPER Qld</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-82816291840490201322013-06-20T20:25:00.001+10:002013-06-20T20:25:36.186+10:00Day 9 and 10 of a self imposed tablet challengeWoops, missed a day. Blame marking.<div><br></div><div>Over the last 2 days I have used GoodReader more productively. Specifically through the ability to map GoodReader's file system as a network drive in Windows. This has enabled me to easily backup the files I am creating on the iPad whilst in the restrictive network environment that is my workplace. What I would like is a way to connect to my laptop from the iPad and push files to the file system on the laptop.</div><div><br></div><div>Over this challenge I have neglected to identify the usage of my Galaxy Tab. It's main use is as a media player for my drive to work. This has defaulted, I know I could use my phone for this. I have played with a number of podcast apps, but am currently using Doggcatcher which I am quite happy with. To be honest, I am not a fan of the 7 inch form factor. I much prefer the 10 inch tablets.</div><div><br></div><div>Tomorrow is the final day of this self imposed challenge and will involve some planning for next term.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-35658319525587229582013-06-19T06:32:00.001+10:002013-06-19T06:32:38.816+10:00Day 8 of a self imposed tablet challengeOxymoron - typing this blog on the Macbook! (have been up for 2 hours marking and its he device I am on)<br />
<br />
Day 8 was pretty much a repeat of day 7 - using the device for assessment. HT Recorder + was once again used for the recording of interviews. I would recommend this app for simple audio recording and editing, it is easy to split audio and trim to selections - which is great when the operator forgets to create a new file and runs three interviews into the same file! Interesting to note that renaming the files within HT Recorder + does not actually rename the file, it is just a representation within that app. So I am still exporting them to GoodReader, renaming in that app (which actually renames the file) and then using the wifi access to transfer them to the external hard drive set up for backup of student work.<br />
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Beginning the assessment of essays in Turn It In, which as identified previously cannot be done on the iPad, I have developed a workflow that incorporates a two screen setup. I use the laptop to open the student submission inside Turn It In, and use GoodReader on the iPad to open the marking sheet (criteria) as a PDF. GoodReader allows the annotation of PDFs, so I can tick and comment as I mark inside Turn It In with comments. Why am I using GoodReader to annotate the PDF instead of PDFExpert? Simply because it has become my storage app also, and it saves time having the annotation within the app.<br />
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I was also fortunate enough to be asked to share"a story"of how I use mobile devices in my learning environments. Was nice to reflect on processes for student learning rather than personal work. The information in the story is nothing new - students create and capture learning materials with the devices, share amongst each other and free me to engage in critical conversations rather than lead learning activities.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-26034713907143883712013-06-18T05:30:00.001+10:002013-06-18T05:30:51.873+10:00Day 7 of a self imposed tablet challengeExam week. A week of craziness where access to documents and schedules is a blur of necessity.<div><br></div><div>I managed to be almost totally tablet bound, except for editing of a spreadsheet stored on the school network. For time efficiency it was simpler to edit it on my laptop. I could have edited on the iPad, but that would have required importing it into my Numbers or SmartOfficeHD app, making the changes, then re-uploading it to the network.</div><div><br></div><div>Interview exams were held today. I have a couple of audio recording apps, however the one of choice is HT Recorder +, with completed files exported to and stored in GoodReader. For improved audio I have purchased a Blue Mikey microphone that connects directly to the iPad. I am still working outnthe settings as more noise is now picked up through the app (so bumps on the table are louder for example) but the clarity of voice reproduction is much better than simply using the onboard microphone. A fellow teacher managed submission of files through her laptop. If I was to do this on the iPad then email would be a suitable process to follow.</div><div><br></div><div>Day 8 will be very similar to day 7, with exams being the focus.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-32026251188496222472013-06-16T21:34:00.001+10:002013-06-16T21:34:08.878+10:00Day 6 of a self imposed tablet challengeIt is a little disappointing to admit I have spent my Sunday mostly doing schoolwork, but I guess it is that time of term.<div><br></div><div>Throughout today a workflow has certainly begun to cement itself into my tablet practice. Due to the iPad not having a shared file system amongst apps, it does involve some fiddling and time inefficient methods to achieve, however I am placing common storage as a priority over efficiency. The general workflow developing for existing files is;</div><div><br></div><div>Files come in - via email, web browser, FileBrowser, GoodReader or SharePlus.</div><div><br></div><div>Files are edited - by "Open In" another app.</div><div><br></div><div>Files are returned to GoodReader, deleted from the editing app.</div><div><br></div><div>My main editing has been in documents thus far. My app of preference is Pages. I have tried SmartOffice, but I preferred working with the features of Pages. The documents are exported as .doc or .pdf once completed. Today I developed a unit plan, teaching resources and a proposal using this workflow. They are all stored in relevant folders within GoodReader which provides me quick access for sharing or showing.</div><div><br></div><div>Tomorrow will see some different use as work moves into exam mode.</div><div><br></div><div><i>Aside: Why aren't I using an Android, Ubuntu or Windows tablet? At this point it is simply access. I own both an iPad and Galaxy Tab 7". I much prefer working on the larger screen, therefore this challenge has defaulted in me using an iPad. This is not an indication of OS preference.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-20481030840401629462013-06-16T06:31:00.001+10:002013-06-16T06:31:29.973+10:00Day 5 of a self imposed tablet challengeDay 5, Saturday. The weekend sees a different use case of my technology than weekdays. I generally start with some reading of my RSS feeds. I achieve this using the InoReader Chrome app (within the Google Chrome browser). Other than that, reading and posting on social network streams from the tablet is commonplace. It's an interesting observation that my social and entertainment use of the iPad far exceeds my professional and work use.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-72435874997496366402013-06-14T20:50:00.001+10:002013-06-14T20:50:17.550+10:00Day 4 of a self imposed tablet challengeA tough but significant lesson learned today. Keep the tablet charged!<div><br></div><div>My use patterns prior to this self imposed challenge were clearly never enough to quickly drain battery. The forced change caught me unawares today when my battery level dropped below 15%. I was comfortable, thinking I had more than enough power to last through what I wanted to do.</div><div><br></div><div>Wrong.</div><div><br></div><div>I will need to purchase a wall charger so I can charge up when I need to.</div><div><br></div><div>I am really liking the workflow of marking drafts that I have mentioned in previous posts. It may be a little fiddly to get the emailed file into PDFExpert, but I like the power of that app for markup. And the fact that you can email straight from it is a bonus.</div><div><br></div><div>This challenge is challenging me to increase my knowledge and use of idoceo. This app for class management I have used for attendance and basic records, but now need to move my more comprehensive records to the tablet through this app. I can get my data out of the app, which is done regularly for backup purposes.</div><div><br></div><div>All in all, not much happened today.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5346085166223246096.post-54406840176845593412013-06-13T20:34:00.001+10:002013-06-13T20:34:02.490+10:00Day 3 of a self imposed tablet challengeToday highlighted that the tablet is not the best device for drafting, especially when you receive files in a variety of formats. As discussed yesterday, Turn it in is a no go for drafting on the iPad. Today I received my year 12 drafts which are posters built on a single slide PowerPoint template. To deal with these I need to open them in Keynote, then export them as a PDF to PDF Expert. Once I have annotated them in PDFExpert, I am returning the students the annotated PDF plus a summary of the annotations (in case they cannot open the annotations at their end). This is a little time consuming, but the end result is not much different from inserting comments on the PowerPoint slide.<div><br></div><div>Splashtop is still the most called upon app, as many of my files are still stored locally on my laptop. I have begun to move working files to the TeamSite, and have that site connected inside GoodReader. I am yet to use this to bring down files, edit them and re-upload so as of yet I have no comment on this process.</div><div><br></div><div>My filing of files on the iPad is beginning to challenge me. I have a number of files scattered across apps. I am thinking that using a single app as storage and then exporting to apps as I need them may be a workflow worth investigating. In this case GoodReader would be the app for storage and transfer. I will need to consider this more carefully before I plunge ahead with any changes to in app storage.</div><div><br></div><div>On a physical note, it is a lot easier to carry around a tablet.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01613186082480605354noreply@blogger.com0