Fund for Teachers Fellowship #2016 Wrap Up

The trip has come to an end, but the journey continues. 
I have made lasting professional connections and friends.

And now the work begins! 

I have another week before school starts for reflection, follow-up, global collaboration project plans, and continued connections. I have learned so much and am continuing to learn as I delve into all my resources and stay connected through professional social networks. This was an amazing opportunity to learn and grow as a teacher. As I had looked forward to the trip, I look forward to the continuation of the journey...the learning doesn't stop. Thank you Dalio Foundtion. Thank you FFT.

My take aways:

• I was impressed by the funding from the government to create resources, and finance the support staff and programs to implement coding into the curriculum. 
• I was also excited by the depth and breadth of those resources (and the fact that I have access to them!)
• Public transportation in the cities is clean, convenient, state of the art, straightforward
• The same educational initiatives are popular worldwide 
• There are many similarities within the schools
• Integrating of coding into the curriculum involves hands-on activities and resources
• The outdoors is a significant part of life in Australia
• There is a concerted effort to embrace and respect Aboriginal culture
• "Everyone" questioned the political climate of the US - as it is reported daily on the news

I had set this up as a trip of a lifetime. I felt comfortable in Australia, and there is still so much to see and do: Darwin, Perth, Brisbane. I would like to learn more and experience more of the Aboriginal culture. I think I will return at some point. I have begun a conversation with the Alice Springs School of the Air to work with them in the future. I wonder if perhaps a future fellowship opportunity might include a visit to several of the different School of the Air facilities throughout Australia?!

Thank you for following my adventures! I am excited to share my experiences and inspire colleagues to plan their own learning journeys. I am excited to open the walls of our classroom to a global collaboration experience.

We are bound by the restrictions we impose upon ourselves. Continue to learn and grow: expand your horizons, explore your world, exceed your comfort zone, and excite your mind!

An Unlikely Setting for Insight into the Australian Education System

Monday, August 1, 2016

On the train ride back to Sydney I had a lengthy conversation with a former teacher that is presently a casual relief teacher (US equivalent of a substitute teacher). The takeaway from that interaction was the revelation that Australia substitute is financially rewarded at a much higher level as compared to the school districts in the US. The rate of pay is A$400/day for a substitute in Australia. I had heard the same amount at a conference and did some fact checking. Wow! That is a monumental disparity! The daily substitute compensation in the US is often less than $100 per day. While I observed so many similarities on my journey, or inconsequential differences, this stands out as a major difference. The teacher salaries are more comparable: the top level teacher salary in Australia is approximately 15-20% higher than in our local area. This does not seem like a significant inequality compared to the 300% increase in substitute pay. Minimum wage is also significantly higher: $17.70 per hour in Australia as compared to a number closer to $10 per hour in the US.

Teachers in Australia teach four 10 week terms. Overall, that is just a bit longer than our 180 day schedule. We discussed additional holiday time that is awarded to teachers after 10 years of service (an additional six weeks that may be taken during the school year.) It may also be used to extend the two week break in between terms. It is not frowned upon. I ran across several situations were teachers were on "holiday" even though the term had just resumed. I even had to change my original school visitation itinerary due to some scheduled teacher holidays. At the time I did not fully understand the concept. The teachers and students were just returning from a two week winter break between terms, but this "holiday" was being referred to in a nonchalant manner, as if they were out for a meeting. It is not customary or allowable for us to extend our breaks for additional holiday, so it did sound quite unusual to me. So not only do they pay their substitutes at a much higher rate, they also hire them to cover the holiday time of veteran teachers.

A Visit to Quakers Hill High School

Monday, August 1, 2016

The final stop on my school tour was in Quakers Hill at Quakers Hill High School to meet with Sim Mediratta. Sim has participated in global collaboration projects through iEARN and I was excited to meet her and plan for a joint project for my upcoming school year. She received coverage for the afternoon, so she was able to provide a comprehensive tour of the campus and many of the classrooms. One of the highlights at Quakers Hill High School was learning about the Aboriginal learning space that was researched, planned, designed, and built by the students. It is an outdoor space with cultural significance. Students use it as a classroom/learning area and are continually adding to the gardens and keeping up with maintaining the space. The marker show to the left is titled Community Links. The circular symbol at the top is the representation. There are additional markings on the other side that relate to community. Each marker around the circle (two can be seen in the photo above) represent a concept related to Aboriginal life.

Sim's described how the students will work on a global collaboration project with my students later this year. She has been involved in global projects through iEARN. The students worked with the Adobe Youth Voices Project (Mars Project). It was a skill-based sustainability project. The students chose a common case study with two other countries in the program. The three areas of focus were: fix themselves; fix community; and fix globally. They shared around in a Wiki as they researched, drafted, and presented final projects. There were many challenges, but it was a worthwhile learning process.

The school, as a whole, has not yet integrated coding into all the classes.  These are some of the tools/resources they are using: laptop carts by department; filming; cameras; robotics; Adobe animation develop sustainable communities with MineCraft; Lego nxt, 2nd gen.; stay in line challenge; sumo challenge; Raspberry Pi; and Python (yr 10). The school has five computer labs to share in addition to the computers available in the media center. The photo on the right is of one of the computer labs being used by a substitute teacher. I found it interesting that the school has an academic team focus rather than a grade level team focus. Teachers spend their "team" time and meeting time with like minded teachers, not grade level teachers. For science, there will be a school wide integration of STEM next year (their school year begins in January). 

The students may visit the library/media center during their lunch. I spent some time there with the students and interacted with a few boys that were brainstorming the next storyline for a game and writing the code for it. The game was called Hearts of Iron. The lunch media center program is interesting. Students may use computers for school related or non-related business. Students sign in and sit at an assigned computer. They may also choose a book, read or just socialize. It is not a quiet zone, but it is structured. There are library helpers that each complete assigned tasks at the bell such as straightening keyboards and mice, pushing in chairs, and generally tidying up. I was impressed with the execution of the routines. Also, the students were very polite explaining to me what they were working on. The photo below shows the media center computers during lunch.

This was the final scheduled school visit, but I had an unexpected, yet informative conversation with an educator on the commute back to Sydney...

A Visit to Evans High School

Two more school visits west of Sydney

They are too far to take a taxi, but I anticipated an easy hour commute by train. The train station was easy to navigate with helpful staff. The train was multilevel, comfortable, and very clean. 

The first school is Evans High School in Blacktown. My airport transportation driver, a former teacher at Blacktown Boys High School, referred to Blacktown as the "Wild Wild West."  That conjures up a visual of gun fights in the street for me! That did leave me a bit concerned, but I had a commitment to go there. On the Uber ride from the train station to Evans High School I observed neighborhoods that were distinctly different from the high-rises of the city or the prosperous suburbs of Melbourne.  I spotted Blacktown Boys High School one block from the main road, behind an auto body shop. The businesses seemed to spring up haphazardly, with rundown store fronts and a poor, or perhaps nonexistent, development plan. There was clearly a different socio-economic vibe. Evans High School was a gated property. I moved onward with an open mind. 

One unique feature of this school is that it has a separate program that is an Intensive English Center. International and aboriginal (8%) students may attend this program of study for 6 months and then they transition to the main curriculum. 60 percent of the students attend this intensive language module and represent over 120 different languages. Technology integration in the language program is separate from the main school as they have access to more devices and the budget and funding is independent.

I met with Tamara Rodgers.  Evans High School received an eleven thousand dollar grant to purchase technology resources to implement coding into the curriculum.  They have five computer labs and the students do not bring their own devices. They have not yet begun to integrate coding into their classes. They are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the following: Spheros, Ozobots, Lego Robotics, Raspberry Pi, Little Bits, and Makey Makey supplies as a means of introducing computational thinking and coding. These seem to be the popular coding integration resources highlighted at the conference and used in many schools in Australia. I will follow up with Tamara to learn how these products are facilitating the assimilation of coding in the curriculum.   

I cannot speak of Blacktown Boys High School, but my impression of Evans High School is a school struggling with fiscal issues that provides the best learning experiences for their students within their means. Thankfully my visit was safe and insightful. This is a picture from the Evans High School website.

http://www.evans-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/our-school

Meeting with Paul Clapton-Caputo

Paul Clapton-Caputo is the Program Leader of Digital Learning and Communications at the Department for Education and Child Development, South Australia. He is also a board member of EdTechSA. I met with Paul and he shared a wealth of knowledge. We discussed so many things, these are the highlights: 

• Abundant resources to expand my personal learning network
• Social Networking resources: About.me; Twitter 
• Added to Australian Curriculum Innovation Facebook Group
• The TfEL (Teaching for Effective Learning) Compass Feedback Tool for educators
• FYA.org (Australian Foundation on Youth)
• YouTube Martin Westwell: Teaching and Learning in South Australia
• New Media Consortium Report 2015
• Michael Fullan: A Rich Seam - How New Pedagogies Find Deep Meaning
• John Seely: Humans Need Not Apply
• The 4th Industrial Revolution
• Create a culture of "yes"
• Teacher as a change agent
• Continue the conversation - stay in touch -

Paul is a valuable contact and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to spend quality time with him and make this lasting connection.

A Visit to Emmaus Catholic School

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Gary Pascoe is a Deputy Principal at Emmaus Catholic School and an ICT teacher.  He is also the Marketing Coordinator for EdTechSA. While I have been keeping track of similarities and differences on my journey, one significant similarity that I noticed at Emmaus were the classroom and common area bulletin boards with Mindset phrases. We have comparable messages on our bulletin boards. It was encouraging to see that, as educators, we value the same initiatives. One prominent difference at this school (as in many schools in Australia) is a no hat/no play policy.  Australians spend a great deal of time outside, and they are conscientious of the damaging effects of the sun. At this school they have proactively instituted the stringent hat policy. Students must be in the shade and are not allowed to play if they do not have their hats. The hat must be wide brimmed to cover their ears (not a baseball style cap). 

Other highlights of this school visit include the low cost resources that Gary uses while implementing coding initiatives. He was considering a high cost paint for one wall to use as a green screen, but found that an inexpensive green sheet from IKEA works fine.  He shared some frame stands that he also purchased at IKEA that are perfect for an IQ code project. Instead of expensive charging stations for the iPads, a plastic notebook holder works is also suitable. Gary is interested in supporting his students to use their ITC skills to be producers rather than consumers. He also uses a few of the common tools for coding such as Little Bits, Ozobots and Spheros. He has shared a great social news magazine app call Flipboard. I am following Gary's Flipboard and he has an abundant amount of information on coding and ideas for integration. This is an amazing resource!

A Visit to Woodend Primary School

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

After the conference I met with Senior Leader, Jarrod Lamshed, at Woodend Primary School in Sheidow Park. Woodend Primary School (reception - year 7) is located in a former shopping mall. It is no longer evident that this space previously held stores and restaurants. It does not have high end technology, but it makes practical use in creative ways, such as using a green sheet for a green screen.  I was impressed with all the different Year 7 Memento projects. I have included two photos showing one of the projects. 

Jarrod is the Vice President of EdTechSA. Jarrod was available to tour me around the school. As a Senior Leader he has a few days each week out of the classroom. Jarrod teaches sixth and seventh grade boys. While the school is co-ed, they have recently implemented a single gender teaching focus for grades 6 and 7. It takes the co-ed drama associated with that age group out of the classroom. One of Jarrod's current initiatives is called "What is it to Be a Man?" The objective is to change gender stereotype perceptions and develop respectful young men that are positive role models in the school community. He is receiving positive results, so far. 

Jarrod uses digital technologies to improve learning. He showed me how a Woodend Primary Facebook group is improving parent communication and involvement. I am now following Jarrod on his Connected Learning professional blog. On August 10, 2016 he published an entry titled "Noticing the Good Stuff." I love the effort to change the culture in the classroom by taking the time to notice and publicly acknowledge the "good stuff."