Whinge-Fest 2014

So, I’m officially embarrassed … It’s been almost six months since I last posted on my blog. But, it hasn’t been for want of … well, wanting! I’ve still managed to churn out an article or two for Australian Teachers’ Magazine and Fractus Learning. I’m also chipping away at a couple of presentations for upcoming conferences. But, I also have some complaints to make; and not just about getting older (I’ll be doing that in another post in the next few days … yep, two posts in a week. How lucky are you guys!)

So, the three headline acts of Whinge-Fest 2014 are ready to take to the main stage …

Bucks Fizz, The Eurovision Song Contest winners of 1981, are making a long awaited comeback to the music business. Still best known for their song “Making Your Mind Up” … their lyrics have inspired School Principals and Administrators everywhere. In fact, I think I heard my boss humming it just the other day.

“That the time’s all right
For making your mind up.
Don’t let your indecision
Take you from behind …”

And, for true music nostalgia buffs who just didn’t understand the bearded lady at Eurovision 2014, check this out.

 

The Big O himself is no longer with us but you old rockers out there are sure to be dancing the night away until the wee small hours at our Roy Orbison Tribute Show. Who could not sing along with the catchy lyrics of “Working For the Man.”

“Well pick up your feet,
we’ve got a deadline to meet.
I’m gonna see you make it on time.
Don’t relax,
I want elbows and backs.”

(But, I do wonder how many teachers would actually have the energy to dance the night away?)

Because you have to save the best for last; we’re going to give you Alice Cooper. I for one hope he rolls out all his classic hits including “School’s Out.” I’ll be right there in the front row screaming along with Alice …

“Well we got no choice,
All the girls and boys
Makin all that noise …”

As Whinge-Fest draws to a close let me just say, “I want to be your sledgehammer.” I’m many things but subtle surely isn’t one of them. This is my 33rd year as a teacher and I can’t recall another like it. Why? Because huge, overcrowded senior classes (28 is my smallest), work intensification and vacillating, inattentive administrators have taken their toll.

The Curse of Competence

 

Warning: This post will, at first, appear to be a vehement, unrelenting rant. But please read on.

Yesterday, May 7, I had “one of those days.” All teachers have those days; you know what I’m talking about, the days when you seem to do anything but teach. My day went something like this …

 7:45-8:30 am – Plough through a mire of largely insignificant emails

8:30-8:40 am – Fill in with a Home Room group for an absent teacher

8:40-9:25 am – Attend the school Library with my Year 8 English class for the Literature Circles program devised and conducted by our Teacher-Librarian

9:25-10:10 am- Supervise a small group of Year 11s in Study Line

10:10-11:00 am – Explain OPs, SAIs, QCS and QTAC (Don’t ask!) to a class of Year 10s because “Their teacher’s sick! We need you to do this, because you know all the material.”

11:00-11:35 am – Attend a meeting about the administration of NAPLAN (If you’re Australian you’ll recognize and curse this particular acronym!) because I’m a “required” supervisor, even though I don’t teach Year 9!

11:35 am – 12:20 pm – Supervise Year 12 students in the yard who are on a break from a full day QCST (Queensland Core Skills Test) practice. This was my one “Marking and Preparation” lesson for the day but, you guessed it, with a number of teachers absent I was “needed.”

12:20 – 1:05 pm – The one lesson I actually spent in a classroom with Year 8 History. Alleluia!

1:05 – 1:30 pm – Lunch, yeah right! I spent this time assisting teachers and students who came to the IT Service Centre with computer problems. You see, our Help Desk operator is on long service leave!

1:30 – 2:45 pm – Working with Year 12s in the QCST practice because … “You’re so good at that stuff!”

2:45 – 3:00 pm – Lunch (I guess it was lunchtime somewhere.)

3:00 – 3:35 pm – After school bus duty; always such a delightful experience!

3:35 – 4:35 pm – Attend, as required, the Head of Department meeting even though I don’t head up a department. This included watching a John Hattie video that I’d seen several times previously.

 

A candid photo of The Connected Teacher taken at 4:59 on May 7.
(Not really, I don’t dress that well.)
Image Credit: www.dreamstime.com

5:00 pm – Arrive home and open a nice Victorian produced Sauvignon Blanc (I like to call the first glass “memory wipe.”)

And that, as they say, was that! Now, you rightly ask, what is my point? Well, recently my Twitter feed has provided a number of links to articles presenting lists focusing on “what makes a great teacher.” I have read these with interest and have discovered that while I might be considered good, I’m unlikely to be great. This is, of course, disappointing for someone who is 53 and a genuine History tragic … I mean, look what Alexander achieved in twenty fewer years! It might be appropriate to detail one such list by Iain Lancaster from www.teachthought.com  The link which follows will take you to the relevant article.

http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/8-characteristics-of-a-great-teacher/

Please do read it in full; all I’m providing is my shortened version of the “8 Characteristics.” Great teachers have:

  1. Confidence
  2. Life experience
  3. An understanding of student motivation
  4. An ability to connect with students
  5. Technological capability
  6. A willingness to take risks
  7. A focus upon the “Important Stuff”
  8. A tendency to not worry too much about what the administrators think

Now, I have plenty of confidence (some would say too much) and plenty of life experience, 53 years worth to be exact. I also believe that without some capability in numbers 4, 5 and 6, I wouldn’t have survived for over 30 years in the classroom. This brings us to Number 7 and what I believe is the “curse of competence.” School days are shaped by the imperatives of administration; a fact that elsewhere in this blog I have referred to as administrivia. Over the years I have gained a reputation for being highly competent, for being able to get things done. And that is the curse; when they need someone to fill a gap, to pick up the pieces, to get things done, then I am one of the “go to teachers.” The downside is obvious … there are far too many days like yesterday when I am taken away from the “important stuff” and that of course is student learning. If I could just be left alone to teach, and I do think I’m good at it, then I might still have time to become “great.”

PS: Generally, I don’t worry too much about what the administrators think. Unless of course one of them happens to read this!

PPS: And what do I believe makes a great teacher? Simple it’s about surviving May 7 and still fronting up on May 8.

Not me Either!
(After all this guy was great. But, I do dress like this!)
Image Credit: www.geocaching.com