Posts

Showing posts from 2007

Christmas 2007

Thy nativity, O Christ our God Has shone a light of knowledge upon the world For by it, those who worshiped the stars Were taught by a star to adore Thee, the Sun of Righteousness And to know Thee, the Orient from on high O Lord Glory to Thee. -- A hymn sung in Orthodox Churches at Christmas.

Teaching is about telling stories

Yesterday, we held a function at the school for retiring teachers. What impressed me the most was that these teachers did not dwell on their achievements and the leadership roles that they occupied. Instead, they spoke at length about the human connections they had made with students and peers. One of these teachers, a fan of the classics, said: "teaching is about story telling. I believe even Maths teachers should be story tellers." Yesterday was also the last day of school for our students. My year 7s started quoting back to me stories and jokes I had told them about Mathematics. It was both interesting and surprising to see what had stuck in their minds. I remember my dad telling me stories on the way to school every morning. Many of these were Gospel parables or lives of saints. Others were simply drawn from daily life. In a class on Theology during my teaching diploma at the Australian Catholic University, a student started discussing the merits of teaching parables to

Getting to know my students again

Last week, I was on year 7 camp. That was such a delight, despite missing my family a lot. I was interacting with my students without regard for their academic abilities or lack thereof. It was quite a refreshing change. One of my roles was to dress up as a bear - a friendly one such as the bears seen on children programs. The students were to go on a long night walk where they would try to spot wild life - Koalas, Kangaroos, etc... Instead, they saw a bear which scared and then entertained them. It was interesting: One group attacked me to find out who was inside the bear suit. They then told the next group and spoiled the surprise. The next group, who were looking out for me, attacked me to confirm it was Mr E! I teach that group and when I asked them not to tell the next groups, they took it on board. Their supervising teacher later told me that they kept reminding each other not to tell. It was nice to hear. Sure enough, the next group was taken by surprise. One group require

Today, the eve of Good Friday 2007.

Today is hung upon the Tree, He who suspended the Earth upon the waters. A crown of thorns crowns Him, who is the King of Angels. He is wrapped about with the purple of mockery, Who wrapped the heavens in clouds. He was struck, Who freed Adam in the Jordan. He was transfixed with nails, Who is the Bridegroom of the Church. He was pierced with a spear, Who is the son of th Publish e virgin. We worship Thy Passion, O Christ. Show also Thy glorious Resurrection. From the service held on Holy Thursday night in Orthodox Churches.

Maths education: Are we on the cusp of a counter reformation?

It seems that direct instruction is gaining in popularity these days. Many people are getting disenchanted with reform Maths. The following links have caught my attention this week: New call to teach basics Math education: a university view The first is an article reporting on the work of Dr Ken Rowe of the Australian Council for Educational Research. Dr Rowe worked with primary school teachers, encouraging them to use direct instruction. He reports positive results that surprised him and the teachers alike. The second is a video presentation by Dr Cliff Mass of the University of Washington. He argues that a noticeable drop in the mathematical ability of freshmen coincided with the introduction of "reform math". At teachers' college, most of my lecturers were wedded to the ideals of reform mathematics. They often told us that traditional maths did not make sense. It taught algorithms and methods in a disconnected way. Students could not see the connection between con

Three podcasts on, what I have learned

This is what I have done: Created mp3 files on topics related to the IT curriculum; Included musical interludes - radio program style; Increased the length of the casts from 11 to 20 minutes; Varied the bit rate from 128 Kpbs mono down to 56 Kpbs mono; Prepared ideas in the form of bullet points and kept my speech unscripted. This is what I have learned: Keep the file size small - a 56 Kbps mono-channel is sufficient; Use podcasts to introduce a topic, not for revision; Keep it short - no longer than 10 minutes; No need for so many musical breaks. If the cast is short, then just use music to tell the students that I am moving to another section; Ask the students to answer questions or write an entry on an online forum. Continue to speak in a conversational tone but stick to the planned examples. If you have examples of your own, then please share them in the comments.

The national curriculum is a certainty

In a previous post, I reviewed the debate about the proposal for a national curriculum. Now it looks like it is a certainty. Kevin Rudd, the leader of the Labor opposition, would introduce a Prep - Year 12 national curriculum in Maths, English, the Sciences and Australian history. John Howard, the leader of the ruling Coalition (Liberal + National parties), wants a national curriculum in these subjects, but only at high school level. As I noted earlier, I do not mind the idea at all. Any difference in the needs of students is unlikely to be a function of the state in which they live. However, the debate seems more political than educational and we may end up with a politically compromised system. How this will compare to what we currently have can only be determined once we see the new syllabi. It is interesting that Victoria has rejected the Liberals' proposal for a national curriculum, saying that "one size will not fit all". When federal Labor surprised everyone by

2007 election - the clever need not apply!

Last weekend, the Saturday Age carried an interesting op-ed under the title "Get smart, get beaten". The opinion piece articulated what many people have been saying: "the opposition leader, Kevin Rudd, will never be Prime Minister, he speaks too well!" My entry is not an endorsement of either John Howard or Kevin Rudd. It is a critique of this kind of thinking. According to Jason Koutsoukis, the author of the article, Kevin Rudd is on the examination table. The government is trying to find the best way to attack him. He further suggests that the Prime Minister has begun playing the "he's too smug" card. "The trick for Rudd then, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat with a pointy-headed reputation, will be to disguise how smart he is and to prove he has the common touch. This is not surprising at all to me. Colleagues of mine who are life-long Labor voters have been telling me that Kevin Rudd could not be Prime Minister. I said that it was good to

Education carnival 107th edition

Take a look at the education carnival, edition 107. It is hosted by Elementaryhistoryteacher . As you might expect, there's something in it for everyone interested in education on the blogosphere. Elias.

My first educational podcast - what the students did not say

Last Thursday I fiddled with Audacity on my PC and made my first audio cast for my Year 11 IT class. The next day I was full of anticipation. They listened to it, and here are the things they did not say: Wow, Mr Elias, I didn't know you were so talented. I will listen to this on the treadmill tonight. I have never understood so many concepts in so little time. Mr Elias, you have a great recording voice. You should be on radio. All the same, I felt that it worked really well. The students had been praying with a friend who lost her father, just before my class. They arrived at different times and were feeling understandably upset. The fact that they could start listening whenever they arrived really helped. They also laughed at my joke, which is always a good thing! Here are some of the things they did say: It was easier to understand than the textbook. Use music to break up the sections. Don't make it so long, it gets boring. So, the next time I podcast, I plan to keep it sim

A national curriculum for Australia?

A debate is currently raging around whether or not Australia should have a national curriculum. At the moment, each state and territory has its own curriculum, starting age for students, assessment and reporting procedures. Is the debate about politics or pedagogy? This was the question asked by Australia Talks, a Radio National program. As guests, they had Kevin Donnelly, the voice of the "back to basics" movement, an articulate professor, and Andrew Blair, the president of the Australian Secondary Principals Association. It is just as well that I cannot remember the name of the professor, as he was so un-Australian as to dare argue about semantics. It should have been enough for this voice of the intellectual elite (two words which combine to form an insult in our society) to appear on a program which uses a pompous word like pedagogy in its title. Is there an emoticon that shows I am speaking with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek? What is clear is that the debate is

The first week back

Two weeks, one with students, have passed in a short term of eight weeks. My homeroom seems great. Despite having many students who were leaders in their Primary school, there is little evidence of groups forming around these leaders or any objectionable behaviour. My other classes are also going well, which is not surprising at this time of the year. It usually takes our girls a couple of weeks before they feel comfortable enough to test the teacher. Even when they do, it is usually a case of chatting. We don't have many really mischievous students. I have a greater number of integration students than ever before. I wonder how well I will do with them. I have a very competent aide in two of the classes. Most interesting to me is the fact that one of my classes, a year 11 elective, has 13 students in it, 12 of whom I have taught before. This must be a function of the time I have been teaching at the school. This is my fourth year, fifth if you count a teaching round I did at the s

Why I believe that Christ is God!

"Woa, I thought that was an educational blog!" The last few weeks, I have been on my summer holidays (it's summer now in the southern hemisphere) and have not been thinking as much about school. What with my new baby boy and my daughter occupying me. Today, I caught up with a colleague over coffee and we began talking about God. I thought that this is something I should blog as it certainly comes under the criteria of "ramblings of [this] Australian teacher". To cut a long story short, it seems that, these days, people are prepared to call Jesus Christ everything except for God. He is Lord, friend, brother, companion ... They side-step calling him God. Yet this is an essential part of classical Christianity. He is the "Word" who was from the beginning. Now, why does that matter beyond making an obscure theological argument? Read on and I'll tell you why I think it matters. If Christ is God, then the Divine and earthly have been united in his person

The greatest gift of all

Dear readers, I have not blogged for a while, so here is my latest: In the last two days I became the dad of a second child: a boy. We have named him Theodoros, a gift from God. Well, that's not his real name, only his alias on this blog! I also have a daughter, Christina. So my wife Mary and I can hopefully experience the joy of raising children of both sexes. Mary and Theo are doing well. May all your news be as good. Beamingly yours, Elias.