Back for 2008

Well I have rather a lot on my plate this semester. I am completing another unit for my Graduate Diploma of Education (Charles Sturt University) called Literacies for Learning. I am also doing my second practicum, hopefully at Belmore Boys School, from the 28th April to the 19th May (Term 2). Lastly I am working on the Harvard Online Education Course - Teaching for Understanding

I began today sorting all the paperwork from the Harvard course, it is really well done. All the syllabus material including calendars, timetables, glossaries, unit guides etc are available online so I have saved all these for reference later. I am working with two colleagues at my school, both in the HSIE/Social Sciences area and I began our work together by posting our first message to the forum that we are to use to communicate with our coach and others doing the course. The textbooks is constructed in such a way that you can ready it in any order. The chapter headings are:

1. Understanding Understanding
2. The Teaching for Understanding Framework
3. Generative Topics
4. Understanding Goals
5. Performances of Understanding
6. Ongoing Assessment
7. Tips and Tools for Planning and Teaching
8. Teaching for Understanding and other teaching practices

I think it will be a worthwhile course. It is covered over 12 weeks with two week cycles and 6 units of study with 4 pieces of assessment in each one. You are required to read the question, discuss with your group, post your answers, discuss with the coach and other students and provide feedback to others.

Today I read Chapters 2 - 5 and am getting an understanding of some of the key terminology such as through lines - major themes - and overarching goals - unit goals. I thought it would be useful to post some of my ideas to the 1st chapter that, like all the chapters, has a list of Reflection questions at the end of it.

How do you know that you understand something?
I can successfully use the knowledge to apply to different situations at different times.
I can explain/relate my understanding to other people

What helps you develop that understanding?
Practice
Application to real life situations
Discussion with others
Experimentation
Learning from demonstration/explanation by others

All for now, have to read some more - then see about the first assignment that we have to complete by Tuesday.

Oh...and also get ready for the Iron Maiden BBQ we are having at our house today...in the rain!

Motivation Boosters and Motivation Guzzlers

Comments on: Enhancing the educational outcomes of boys by Andrew Martin (Youth Studies, 22(4))

This article focuses on an ACT investigation into the education of boys. The problems involved and the potential solutions are discussed with reference to the findings derived from interviews with students and teachers.

My Thoughts

I have started looking at my readings and although I really should be reading them in order, I focussed on this one first because the subject matter appeals. I have read it and wanted to make a few comments on it. Now, back to Adolescence by John. W.Santrock....

• Interesting that it notes in this article that there should be less emphasis on outcomes. The basis of the NSW curriculum is that it is organised around outcomes for teachers and students. Perhaps a better way of expressing this would be to say that there should be more emphasis on individual improvement rather than checking off outcomes - it should be meaningful and meaningful for the student.
• Having done a practicum and taught Year 8 boys, I would think that small group work would be effective but it would be productive for the student's to be grouped by the teacher so to lessen distraction between students.
  
• From personal observation only, the difference between girls and boys seems to widen at Year 7 & 8, draw closer in Years 9 & 10 and perhaps widen again in the senior years in terms of learning and the learning relationships. There seems to be more cooperation between girls and boys in this middle section of highschool and before and after the learning styles seem to differ. This is based on observation only and would be interesting to research into whether this might be the case.
• I wonder how far you can go with student's involvement in lesson content, teaching methods and assessment. Certainly students should be able to have more freedom for inquiry and more able to choose their topics and they could have more input with regard to how these might be assessed, but as for their input regarding pedagogy I wonder how this might work.

Relevant Reading:

Improving the Educational Outcome of Boys - Final report to ACT Department of Education , Youth and Family Services, Canberra

http://www.decs.act.gov.au/publicat/pdf/Ed_Outcomes_Boys.pdf