How do you measure success?

Today was a day in which I felt successful.
Everything went well - students were well behaved regardless of wet weather (unlike previously, as described here), they were focused and they LEARNT SOMETHING.
In fact, it is the first time I have felt successful with my class this year - we've had a fairly eventful and rocky start.

Success is a word we throw around a lot in education. Success of our education system, success as a school, teacher success, student success. We are always brainstorming and reinventing our definition of success as a staff, a stage, as individuals. We ask ourselves What does it look like? Feel like? Sound like?

That's right Ladies and Gentlemen, get out your Y charts.

Richard St. John, in his 2005 TED talk 8 Secrets of Success takes years of research and attempts to define what makes a person successful.

If you're a visual learner like myself, this screenshot will help you consolidate that speedy presentation:

So, basically, St. John says we need to work hard and love what you do. So, by that definition I must be DROWNING in success.

Truth be known, in its own abstract nature, success is a concept that manifests uniquely for each individual. The 'face' of success has a different look and a different feel for everyone. There's no overarching imagery we can use paint a picture of success - in fact, this is as about as close as we get:

Clichéd, I know. But look at his little face!

Success is something that we as humans strive for - that feeling of satisfaction from achieving something that we have worked our sweet little tushes off for. In fact, success is something that our individualistic western society has come to expect of us - if we're not striving for success, then what the hell are we doing?

So, with its individual 'face' that looks, feels and sounds different to all of us - how can we measure the abstract concept of success in our students?

We, as teachers, attempt to measure success in a multitude of ways - from achieving 'expected' academic growth in the long term; down to getting them to JUST SIT STILL FOR FIVE MINUTES, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD in the short term.

Our students measure success by achieving their learning goals, by accomplishing success criteria and seeing an improvement in their report marks. Maybe. We hope.

But what about teacher success? When do we get a chance to measure how successful we are? When do we stop to focus on our own accomplishments and achievements? Do our students have to achieve 'success' for us to feel successful?

Judy Halbert and Linda Klaser, the geniuses behind Spirals of Inquiry, have developed four key questions that allow students to reflect on their own learning and understanding.

• Can you name two people in this school/setting who believe that you can be a success in life?
• Where are you going with your learning?
• How are you going with your learning?
• Where are you going next with your learning?

Our staff ask these questions routinely of our students to act as insight upon our own pedagogy. And it is insightful - we use these comments to realign our practice and really refocus on what our students need to feel success in their learning. (To read more about this, you can read their full paper here)

But, perhaps, we should be asking these questions routinely of ourselves. Our feelings of accomplishment should not always be directly correlated with student achievement. Considering Richard St. John's perspective, even if our students are not 'successful', we are - because we persevere even when they don't get it, we are passionate about developing student understanding and we are incredibly dedicated, even when it's really hard.

Hell, somedays, just getting out of bed after one alarm is a success.

So, ask yourself those 4 key questions:

• Can you name two people in your world who believe that you can be a success as a teacher?
• Where are you going with your teaching?
• How are you going with your teaching? (and what makes you say that?)
• Where are you going next with your teaching? 

What does the 'face' of success look and feel like for you, and how do you measure success in your pedagogy?

Formatively Fantastic

Before I get into the intelligent smarty pants stuff, on a side note - 

WHAT IS IT WITH KIDS AND WEATHER??

The temperature drops a couple of degrees = DRAMA

It's windy = CHAOS

It's raining = CABIN FEVER

Here is an short informative clip that demonstrates my classroom during wet weather:

Anddddddd we return to our scheduled programming.

I have mentioned before here that our school is a bit nuts for formative assessment. We very rarely use summative assessment, as the way I interpret it, the students don't really need end of unit/term/year assessments because we are constantly assessing them, and they are constantly assessing themselves (Don't quote me on that - it's just my interpretation).

I knew all about formative assessment in university, but it wasn't until I started teaching that I really picked up some great strategies to feed up, back and forward to my students. Our students can articulate what they're learning, why its important and where to next - real metacognition in action!

So here they are, my top 5 formative assessment strategies for a cross stage classroom: (or any classroom for that matter, but mine is cross stage and it sounds fancy, so there.)

1. Mini whiteboards
Using a mini whiteboard is a great tool, because not only does it get students directly involved with any modelling you are doing, but it also allows you to find out, on the spot, whether students understand what you are talking about and allows you to change your practice accordingly. 
Example? Today when teaching rounding in maths, I asked students to round a 3 digit number to the nearest 10. about 50% of students got it right. I remodelled in a slightly different way, and all students were then able to get it right and justify their response (linking in with our success criteria).

Disclaimer: This is not my class. I thought I had pictures of kids using whiteboards on my phone but I was oh so wrong. Please enjoy this image of some class somewhere using formative assessment.

There's deep thoughts on them. BEWARE!

2. Exit Slips
Exit slips are a form of summative-formative assessment in a way, as they are usually completed at the end of a lesson as a form of reflection upon learning, or as a chance to ask further questions. I like to get kids to post them on my door as they literally 'exit' the classroom.  It's fantastic to see whether students have grasped a concept, or if they need help in certain areas. They can be anonymous, or have names, depending on the task. I usually either give students a deep thinking question or a visible thinking routine (more on these later) to really challenge their thinking.








3. Bump it Up
Bump it up walls are BRILLIANT. They get students to reflect on their learning in a particular activity - in this case independent reading - and rate themselves against criteria that they have created! It reinforces the concept of 'where to next' - what kids need to do next to become better readers. This is actually my wall from last year, as again, I didn't have a photo of this year's, but you get the picture.
If students are consistently achieving the top level, I like to get them to create the next level up so they have something to work towards as well.










4. Individual Goals
Individual Goals, whether set by the teacher or by the students, are a great way for students to work towards a specific criteria that they need to focus on. These  goals are worded in kid-speak, but still use any relevant metalanguage to develop student vocab. I check the reading goals during guided reading groups and remind students of them constantly. Writing goals, however, are monitored by a student's thinking partner - their buddy for a fortnight who they share their thinking and learning with.









5. And last but not least...LISC
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria are absolutely essential to any lesson. It tells the students what we are learning about, why and what they need to do to achieve it. They're simple, taken straight from the syllabus, and give students a focal point for learning.
WILF = What I'm looking for - your expectations
TIB = This is because - real life connection for learning
WALT/WALA = We are learning to/we are learning about

There obviously are many others that are absolutely fantastic - this is not an all inclusive list of what I use in my classroom, I also show much love for thumbs up/down, paddle pop sticks, wait time, reflection statements, Think-Pair-Share etc.... but we would be here all day and you would find it as boring as batpoop. 

(nice simile, huh? Wouldn't mind seeing that in some student writing...)

Do you use formative assessment in your classroom? What's your go to strategy?

The Story of Miss Matters

Today, I'm going to tell you a wonderful story. Sit down, make yourself comfortable, grab that glass of wine on the table and relax - this one has a happy ending.

This is the story of the marvellous Miss Matters.

During my second year of university, while trying to make sense of a MATH106 tutorial, I had the fortune and good sense to sit down next to one Miss Susanna Matters, a fellow pre-service teacher struggling in a maths course with a heavily accented lecturer. We instantly bonded in our shared lack of enthusiasm for uni level mathematics and (pointless) education lectures.

Little did I know, 4 years later, Miss Matters would become somewhat of a household name.

(Well truth be known I did know, Susie is one of those people you know is destined for greatness).

Susanna is founder and CEO of her own charity, Goods for Girls, that aims to facilitate the education of young women in rural Kenya through the provision and self-manufacture of reusable sanitary products.

Oh yeah - and she's also one of the most incredible teachers I've ever had the pleasure of working with.

So back in 2010, when I first had the pleasure of meeting Miss Matters, she was a face of Girl Guides Australia and a UN Youth Ambassador (much to my jealousy, as an MUN nerd), often jetting off on the weekend to speak at conferences or attend meetings, and running the local Girl Guides troupe in her spare time. I joined her on a volunteer basis, learning the ropes and getting to work with a wonderful group of young girls - all experience for teaching, I thought at the time.

I was really lucky that she didn't seem to mind my disturbing sense of humour and weirdness at that time, and we began to support each other through a rocky 3 years of an undergraduate education degree (including a few dodgy master teachers and incorrect degree advice).

Somehow, through many shared all nighters with supportive text messages, complicated coffee orders and mind numbing 8am lectures, we got through - and both were targeted by the DEC. 

Just so good looking.

However, in late 2011, Miss Matters went on a teaching holiday to Muhaka - a village in rural Kenya. She spent a few weeks over there teaching local high school students and seeing an amazing part of the world. 

When she came back, there was a light in her eyes - a fiery passion that had been ignited out of frustration and empathy that could not be extinguished. 

Miss Matters sat with me in T2 with 27 million amazing photos that we poured over, amongst cups of Madagascan Vanilla and bites of crusty, warm Roast beef sandwiches (our staple diet at uni). She explained that she had noticed that many of the girls were missing significant amounts of school, and after speaking to one of the teachers, she discovered that this was due to these girls having their periods, and being made to feel unclean and unable to use anything to control their flow. Miss Matters immediately went to the closest city and bought the girls enough sanitary pads to last them quite a while.

As she spoke to me, the light in her eyes burned brighter as she began to explain her vision.

She wanted to create a charity that not only provided a permanent solution for this problem through the girls creating their own reusable sanitary pads, but encouraged girls to stay in educational environments and seek opportunities for higher education.

Miss Matters on her first trip to Muhaka, Kenya

It wasn't easy. For the next year, Miss Matters struggled with the legalities of starting a charity, establishing a Board to run the organisation, a massive time difference and finding individuals willing to work for free, all while completing a full time university degree and working part time. 

Slowly, Goods for Girls became a reality. Miss Matters continued to travel to and from Kenya, establishing the charity base both there and in Australia, all while waiting for that fateful phone call that would finally tell her she had a teaching job in a girl's school in Sydney.

What a journey it has been for her.

In 2014, Miss Matters was named one of The Australian Women's Weekly's Women of the Future, gaining a scholarship, which she has used to support the construction of toilet blocks in Muhaka village. This year, Goods for Girls turns 2 - a massive achievement for the marvellous Miss Matters and her team.

Image from: http://www.goodsforgirls.org

Even though she is managing a class of beautiful Year 4 girls, an international charity and her own personal life, Miss Matters always makes time for 'old lady sandwiches' and iced tea Saturdays - our whinging and support time. I'm called upon every January to create something arty for her classroom walls, and we sit drinking tea and staring at her very slow laminator as it churns through endless displays.

So what is the implication of this story for us as teachers?

Miss Matters is an advocate of Global Education - it is an ideal that she attempts to weave so artfully through all her pedagogy, encouraging and fostering a global mindset within her students.

It is a philosophical mindset I share, and attempt to integrate into my own pedagogy (although it is easier for me, as my class is slightly more culturally diverse than hers!). I aim to encourage a student's sense of place in the world and a critical view of that world; to foster creativity in constructing solutions to problems and the development of an empathy and understanding for cultures other than their home culture.

Our students have access to the world at their fingertips, but still need to be guided in their exploration of it. Miss Matters and I both attempt to develop student empathy and understanding by sharing our own experiences of global culture...what's your strategy?

To learn more about Susanna and Goods for Girls, visit: http://www.goodsforgirls.org 
or the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/goodsforgirls. 
Both are updated regularly with news from Australia and Kenya!

A quick giggle...

I've been out of action the last few days with some sort of stomach virus, hence my absence.
Note: now dousing myself in Dettol every time a kid breathes on me.

I'm still a bit under the weather, and not really capable of my usual wittiness and hilarity.
(yes, even when sick, my ego remains)

So here is a quick giggle for any teachers out there - it was National Teacher's Day in the US last week and this was a message sent out by their national union.

Happy Wednesday!

Archaically Artistic

In my spare time (what little I do have of it!) I draw. I wouldn't call myself an artist, as I do it only for myself, but drawing is just something I do. Its my creative outlet.

I found out that I could draw when I decided to take Visual Arts in Year 11. Having not done any art theory since Year 8, I thought I'd be in way over my head. Turns out, not only did I love it, I was alright at it too.

It was through school that I found my creativity - not just in visual arts but in my style of writing, my sense of humour and the way I present myself.

Perhaps this is because I went to school overseas, living in a unique expatriate environment during my formative teenage years. My primary schooling, however, was all completed in Australian public schools - where there were many more restrictions and pressures upon teachers at the time to teach certain content and 'tick off' syllabus dot points.

(That being said, the way I was taught to study for my HSC in 2008 was to go through the syllabus and study content related to each outcome - very telling of the way students are assessed in senior school.)

Sir Ken Robinson has long made the argument that 'schools kill creativity'. He known for his opinions on the unfortunate habit of schools to squash the creativity out of students through a 'production line' mentality that has existed since the industrial age.

I love watching these RSA Animate versions of speeches - much easier to concentrate!

Robinson argues that today's students are getting attention from every possible platform, and then we punish them for getting distracted. He states that schooling should be an aesthetic experience, an opportunity for creativity, yet we 'get them through it' rather than allowing them to experience it.

Robinson states that we 'manufacture' children rather that celebrating their uniqueness.

As much as we might like to think its all pherphies, that Sir Ken is full of it and we're doing fine,  take a look at the students in your class (or a child you know). Aren't the 'good' ones those who follow the rules, hand things in on time, put their hand up to be called upon and always have the right answer?

I'm sure many of us would give our A3 laminators to have a class full of these kids...but isn't that a bit boring?

Robinson talks about divergent thinking as a means of creativity - being able to consider an idea from multiple viewpoints. Isn't this a characteristic we like to encourage in all kids? (But only if they rule a margin in red pen first and write the date at the top of the page).

I think that one of the greatest ways for kids to express their ability to think outside the box is through art.

And when I say art, I don't mean colouring in.

I mean using artworks for the study of visual literacy. I mean creating an invention to help society. I mean something that cannot be finished in one afternoon session - something that requires research, practice and time to create.

When did art go from being a dedicated subject with a budget and specialist staff to 'something we just fit in, but only if we have time?'

Are we as schools stopping kids from realising their creative potential, unless they take art in secondary school?

Are we killing creativity?

(Share your ideas by commenting below)

The Power of Collegial Support

Friday is a great time to look back on a week and really reflect both on your professional practice and personal life. Today, I'm looking back on a mixture of both.

My school is not the toughest school in the world, but it is far from the easiest. We have kids from a range of cultural backgrounds, a range of socio-economic backgrounds and a range of educational backgrounds. We have kids that want for nothing, and kids that have nothing. 

But some days, it is not the kids that keep me coming back to work.

It is my amazing, supportive, hilarious and caring colleagues.

The people I work with are like our kids - we come from a whole range of places, have a whole range of life experiences and have a whole lot of different teaching philosophies. 
But, unlike our kids, our staff get on like a house on fire.

There is not a day where laughter cannot be heard from the staffroom, whether it be at the expense of ourselves or our kids. There is not a day where you cannot find a shoulder to cry on, or someone to give you a hug when you feel you're at your wit's end.

The power of collegiality is very evident at our school. We are a team, a force to be reckoned with, an army, if you will - armed with formative assessment tools up the wahzoo, and a wicked sense of humour that whizzes straight over our kids heads, but will have each other laughing so hard we need to do a wiggly wee dance.

Maybe its the emotional nature of our profession - one in which we are so involved in the lives of our students that their pain is our own -  and it is this shared experience which brings our staff together so closely. 

Perhaps its our pedagogical standpoint - that we all share similar goals and views on current educational theory - that allows us to team up so easily and work collaboratively.

Possibly, its our Exec team - our experienced teacher mentors who are ready to share knowledge, support our crazy ideas and help us develop professionally and personally. (A special thank you execs for supporting me in this blogtastic venture).

Or perhaps its just that we're really really ridiculously good looking.

If you don't get the reference, then get out of my office, like right now!

Either way - as teachers, its absolutely vital that we recognise the power of collegial support in our professional lives. 

Think about it - have you recognised the incredible influence of the support of your colleagues this week?

It is these colleagues - the ones we sit brain dead with on a Monday morning,  simultaneously trying to finish off that Notebook file while stopping each other from drowning in our coffee - that help us keep it together.

It is these colleagues - the ones we sit with around the staffroom table on a Friday afternoon sharing war stories from the week - that help keep us sane.

It is these colleagues - the ones we sit on the couch with on the weekend eating scones and drinking copious amounts of tea - that keep us doing what we do best: educating little monsters wonderful children.

So colleagues - I raise my tea mug very full wine glass to you. Thank you for being the ones who keep me, me.

Teachers as cheerleaders

Today was my day for playground duty - 15 minutes of "MISSSSSSSSSSSSS HE PUSHED MEEEEEEE" and "Can you open this for me?". As a result, I always finish duty slightly stickier than when I started (thank god for hand san!).

Looking around our playground today, as well as talking to my own munchkins, I realised how important the continuity and predictability of school is for these kids. We forget these kids are between 5 and 12 years old, lack the world experience and understanding of the nuances of social mores to help them function - which is why a pen can start a punch up. These kids, often dealing with situations that require maturity beyond their years, need us to be their stable point, the voice of reason, the one thing that doesn't change. These kids need teachers that support them unequivocally, and care for them as if they are their own. 

We forget these kids not only need us to guide them, but actually want to learn.

These kids need a cheerleader.

If you haven't already seen Rita Pierson's TED Talk, here it is. If you have, watch it again and revel in her charisma and ability to capture an audience.

Unfortunately, Pierson is no longer with us, she passed away late last year. But her message is one that is something we should be considering when staring down at the 30 munchkins that are annoying the crap out of you. Those kids, no matter how hyperactive, defiant, rude, immature or just chatty, need us to build their self esteem and help mould and shape the amazing potential that exists inside them.

As Pierson says, the tough ones are the ones that are there EVERY DAMN DAY. But they're also the ones that need us the most.

I have Pierson's saying that she gave to her kids on my classroom door so that my kids see it every time they enter or exit the classroom. 

"I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I'll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful, and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. I have things to do, people to impress, and places to go."

It's also a reminder for me - in those moments where I feel I'm struggling or ready to give up, I remember that for these kids, I'm making a difference. Everyday, these munchkins take a step closer to being a part of the big, bad world - and they need to know that they do have places to go, that they are important and every time they leave my classroom, they are a better person for it.

How do we solve the problem of engagement in Maths?

As so eloquently presented by the one and only Ron Burgundy:

World Maths Day that is (although I'm also quite important - but only to my cats). 

If you haven't been hanging around Twitter, you might have missed the trending #worldmathsday today - a global day of celebration of all things mathematical.

(cue mass groans from all those aged between 5 and 18)

Our school celebrated in a surprisingly efficient and organised way - we measured the distance taken up by all students at school standing in one line:

As tweeted by my boss today!

In my class, we continued the mathematical hijinx by creating a human modality scale using chance terminology:

As tweeted straight from my classroom by my supervisor today! (21st Century learning FTW!)

Our school has a strict no worksheet, no textbook policy. That means all our lessons are hands on, student centered and have specific learning intentions and success criteria to guide student understanding of content and help them answer the question 'Where to next?'.

(on a side note: our school is neck deep in formative assessment practices and we worship at the thrones of  John Hattie and Dylan Wiliam - more on this tomorrow!)

We create these fantastic learning opportunities for students; filled with engaging hands on activities, rich content and quality formative assessment. So the big question remains:

 Why does the word 'Maths' still elicit grimaces and groans from our students?

What are we missing?

I attempted to tackle this problem last year through the introduction of rotational Maths Centers, similar to those used in guided reading groups. Explicit teacher modelling of a skill, followed by students breaking away to work collaboratively in homogenous groupings on tasks that aimed to develop knowledge and understanding of a topic through various skills and disciplines, including technological integration (I used Khan Academy - absolutely brilliant for independent Maths work that is at a student's level, with the bonus of a map that allows students to direct their own learning. Check it out here).

How's that for a mouthful?

It was great! I found student engagement soared and students gained a deeper understanding of the topic. However, some of this could be attributed to the novel nature of the activities, it was a lot of work for one teacher, and was hard to complete without support in the classroom and a fairly well behaved trained class. And it didn't fit in with our current school model of Maths.

So now I'm looking for something else. 

Its easy to blame technology for low engagement, claim that students only get on iPads to play games  or say our kids are 'just so disengaged with the real world'. 

I'm sure they said the same thing about computers when they first were introduced, and now every teacher cries out as soon as the kids can't log on (myself included). They have become an essential resource to us to educate '21st Century learners' and ensure our students have a global understanding. 

However, I have been lucky enough to visit schools throughout Asia, where the only resources teachers have are locked up in a cupboard because they are too precious to be wasted. These teachers teach with chalk and a whiteboard, and yet have full, attentive classes every day. 

So what is the difference with our kids? Do they have to have an iPad in their hands in order for them to learn, or are we teaching 21st Century Learners still using 20th Century techniques? 

I'd hate to think it's the latter, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it is.

We're in a time of change, not just at our school, but all over Australia with the forthcoming integration of the new Maths Syllabus. This gives us a chance to really tackle the problem of student engagement in Maths.

So, how can I encourage the urge to add, a passion for polygons and get my students frenetically fractioning? 

Why yes, I just made fraction into a verb, what of it?

Perhaps we really need to stop using technology as a blanket strategy for engaging our students. Or perhaps we need to stop talking about what our kids can't do, and start raving about what they could do (with a bit of pushing).

We need to think outside the monitor, so to speak, to find those learning experiences that really challenge our students and create a deep understanding of content, rather than ticking off syllabus dot points.

Like taking the whole school outside and measuring the length of our student population.

Easier said that done, I hear you say.

True, Prue. 

But, its World Maths Day - lets give it a red hot crack anyway.

High five worthy moments

So, my mum is also a teacher, and an incredible one at that. She's an Individual Needs educator who specialises in sensory processing disorders (amongst all the other amazing things in that brain of hers) and is a huge inspiration for me both as my mum and as a professional. 

(She's actually written a book on the topic! Check it out here.)

Anyway, as I'm a fairly incredibly anxious person, talking to my mum is a massive help as a 2nd year teacher who is still attempting to figure out the right end of a whiteboard marker, so to speak. 

*Note: its the end with the ink.

I've had a pretty rocky start to the year behaviour wise, (read: my class can be little you-know-whats) so one piece of advice my mother dearest has given me is to write down one positive thing a day.

So today's... A day of fan-Tan-stic reading and writing.

See what I did there? Yes, I'm very punny!

Please, don't all cheer at once.

I could rave about Shaun Tan forever, but my happy face moment came today with my student's writing.  Truth be told, my students aren't the world's best writers. In fact, often much banging of the head against a wall ensues when marking their books. 

So when we have a little breakthrough, like metalanguage or figurative language use, I exclaim loudly about how truly incredible they are and demand high fives all around.

(its like a scene in a Disney movie actually - everyone smiles so hard our faces hurt)

So today, we looked at 'they came by water' (which, in its own right is a beautiful piece of art that I'm dying to have up on my wall if anyone is feeling particularly generous???) and we studied the differing perspectives in the image (power/majesty vs. domineering/invasion) as well as reviewing the concepts of salience and vectors (two VL terms my nutbags are very confident using now!). 

Ahh, its just so AWESOME!
Taken from: http://www.shauntan.net/images

Here are some of my high five worthy statements from today's writing:

(Overprotective Teacher Disclaimer: Please bear in mind that these kids have only been in my class for 6 weeks, none of them are achieving above a Satisfactory for writing and they are all LBOTE learners)

"I think this picture is that the big humungous ship and how small the tiny numbats are compared to the ship" a comparison, woohoo!

"I think the author made the numbats look anxious at the pointy part of the ship" adjective use, hell yes!

"First when I opened the book I saw the mighty ship staring at the land" personification???!!! WOO F***ING HOO!

Ok so the last munchkin didn't realise he used personification, and then called it 'person fiction' but small steps!

It might not seem like much, but for these kidlets, small successes might not be celebrated anywhere else, so I make even the smallest of achievements the Biggest of deals. These kids deserve to feel like they've inspired someone, like my mum inspires me.

So take a second to reflect, whether teacher or not:

What was your high-five-worthy positive moment today? 

Why I'm a massive Shaun Tan fan.

Oh my goodness. I'm getting through to them!

I've been dying to study a Shaun Tan with my munchkins for ages, and when I finally found out we'd be looking at the Stolen Generation and perspectives on Australian History, I emailed my supervisor halfway through the summer holidays and begged her to let us do John Marsden's 'The Rabbits'.

(If you don't know who Shaun Tan is, your mind is about to be blown. Check him out here.)

For me, Shaun Tan's work is the epitome of visual literacy. A renowned artist in his own right, Tan creates works of such incredible depth and complexity that they can be studied for hours by even young students.

(My Year 4s and 5s sat there quite happily discussing a double page for AN HOUR without beginning to get restless. They even tried to stay in at lunch so they could keep talking about it!)

There is so many different ways you can study a Shun Tan book, which is why it lends itself so nicely to visual literacy - the nuances of both the visual and literary aspects of the texts help the reader delve deeply into the text and gain a true understanding of underlying themes.

Needless to say, I'm a Shaun Tan nut. My kidlets are becoming Tan fans too.

Never have I seen a group of students so engaged with a high level text. We were looking at the double page below today (this is our second week on the text, and we've only reached the 3rd double page because we spend so much time making connections and asking deep thinking questions - resulting in me sitting, mouth agape while my 'low' students engage with the text on a stage appropriate level).

In fact, I look a little something like this:

<-------- This is my 'omgmystudentsaredeepthinking' happy face

If you'd like to see more Tan, check out some of these wonderful works - adaptable for any age or stage:

http://www.shauntan.net/books.html

 

all images taken from http://www.shauntan.net/books.html

Sunday - the saddest day of the week.

I find Sundays depressing (that's too strong a word... let's go with sad).

This is mainly for two reasons.

1. Its the last day of the weekend, meaning I have to go back to work and face the nutty assortment that is my class, who have spent the weekend watching far too much telly and eating far too little that is not sugar coated.

2. It makes me realise how much stuff I've now got to do next weekend because I spent Saturday reading a book or watching Project Runway/House of Cards/New Girl (depending on how much I need to veg out/go braindead).

Weekends never truly are long enough. One more day would be lovely, and who would it hurt?? Just an extra day to mark the writing books that don't have ANY punctuation in them. Or to clean my kitchen, which is starting to resemble a war zone.

Or perhaps, god forbid, GET OUT OF THE HOUSE AND DO SOMETHING THAT NORMAL PEOPLE DO. LIKE FEED DUCKIES IN A PARK WITH DELICIOUS BREAD.

(who am I kidding. I would eat the bread.)

Anyway, another weekend is over and a new week (and new blog) has started. 

Welcome to my world. It is one with many SHOUTY CAPITALS and a large dose of sarcasm. It includes witty humour that only 10 year olds find funny (and does NOT go down well in hipster bars in Newtown...) and possibly a few practically genius pedagogical ideas on my behalf.

(that was a joke. See, run now while you can, it can only get worse from here.)

These are the tales from my classroom - a room of many giggles and silly stories, but also one that fosters a culture of thinking, encourages deep understanding and pushes students to be the best they can (and then takes them further!)

As I said, it's Sunday night - one for reflective statements and large glasses of red, and to hang the washing out so you have a pair of undies for work the next day.