Professor Becky Allen wrote a great piece on how difficult it is to measure learning growth using standardized tests. She highlighted 3 inherent difficulties that must be addressed. The curriculum has to actually be a continuum and the standardized tests have to measure items along this continuum. The tests have to be in a similar… Continue reading How do we know if students try on the NAPLAN test?
As an avid follower of the culture wars in recent years, I watched the ABC documentary “The School That Tried to End Racism” with interest. The program is set in a multicultural Sydney primary school. Students in the school will be put through a “three-week evidence-based program” that was “initially developed by academics in the… Continue reading The school that made everything about race
Learning classroom management techniques while on teaching rounds is like learning to ride a bike by entering the Tour de France.
COVID is the gift that keeps giving for schools. On a positive note, we are all back to face to face teaching after our fourth round of remote learning. For our school an added challenge is being on the border of Vic Metro and Vic Country. This means we have to deal different COVID restrictions… Continue reading Living on the edge
Remote Learning ended for us on October 12th 2020. Students and staff had worked remotely for 8 weeks in Semester 1, then returned to onsite learning for 5 weeks and then did another 9 weeks remotely. Like a bad romance we put remote learning behind us and moved on. Unfortunately COVID does not seem to be… Continue reading Feedback from Remote Learning 2.0
Greg Ashman has written two blogs about differentiation recently. In “who killed Bambi” style he will be pilloried by education academics. Differentiation is a seen by most educators are a universal “good”. Differentiation is good. Not differentiating is bad. Effective differentiation is what sets an excellent teacher apart from a merely adequate teacher. Ashman has… Continue reading Differentiation: The high wire act of teaching.
With Melbourne schools looking likely to head back into lockdown I thought I would share our reflections of remote learning. To give some context we are a 7 to 12. school with over 1100 students. Our plan for remote learning was: All our students have a netbook so we could provide an online curriculum knowing… Continue reading Remote Learning 1.0
Originally posted on Drouin Secondary College:
Here is what your teachers are finding frustrating about teaching online via Webex. I’m finding it really hard to engage students at times verbally- they feel like they are talking to a brick wall- even when I cold call students. Really easy for kids to opt-out (turn their webcams…
We are three weeks into our remote learning experience. Our staff and done an amazing job so far. My favorite tweet at the start of this process was “Teachers started out running a marathon and part way through someone turned it into a triathlon.” We have rapidly changed our game plan. Our swim and bike… Continue reading Surviving but not thriving in an online learning world.
Assistant Principal's Office Blog 