Reflections from a Year as a Stay-at-Home Dad

January 31, 2014

stay at home dad

 

One year down and another to go as a stay-at-home father. It’s been a year of surprises, bonding, ups and downs. As much as I love it, I must say, that I miss teaching more and more each day.

My children are 8 and almost 2. I have always been a very hands on father and have regularly adjusted my hours so that my wife can finish her qualifications. But taking a whole year off is a different kettle of fish.

Reflecting on my experiences so far, I have the following to report:

 

1. I still have absolutely no idea how to fold a fitted sheet.

2. Why are there so many awful picture books for babies? Can’t they even try to make them amusing or imaginative?

3. Since when did going to the butcher shop count as an outing? I find myself buying stuff from the supermarket just as an excuse to leave the house.

4, Every success I have ever achieved pales into insignificance compared to the feeling of ecstasy I get from performing the monumental task of resettling a crying baby.

5. Two thirds of my day is spent crouching under a high chair picking up recycled food bits.

6. Young kids go through more daily clothes changes than a model at her wedding reception.

7. I love how young children point out the simple things we take for granted. “Hey Daddy, look there’s a flower.”

8. First word, first steps, first catch … it doesn’t get any better than that!

9. If the original question is what came first the chicken or the egg, the very next question was, “Why should I put the toys back in the bucket if it’s going to be tipped over as soon as I am done?”

10. When an online recipe says quick and simple it often means long and tasteless. Cooking for fussy children is tougher than building a skyscraper.

 

Click on the link to read 44 Things Parents Say to their Kids to Get them to Eat

Click on the link to read Should Teachers be Able to Tell People they Are Bad Parents?

Click on the link to read Loving Parents Are Allowed to Take Some Time Out

Click on the link to read How Life Changes When You Become a Parent (Video)

Click on the link to read Have Our Children Stopped Dreaming?

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Is the Education Union Good for Education?

January 30, 2014

education union

My personal view is the Education Union is great for teachers but poor for progress in education. I don’t like how the union have tried to bully me (a non-member) to sign up by refusing to represent my colleagues until I and other non-members paid the $500+ yearly membership. I also don’t like how they spend members money and are resistant to most proposed changes and innovations in education.

Amanda Ripley, author of The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way, makes the same point to the ABC’s Leigh Sales:

LEIGH SALES: How much of a barrier or otherwise have teachers’ unions been in countries that have undertaken major reforms?

AMANDA RIPLEY: A big barrier. I mean, this is one of the surprises, is that everywhere you go in the world, pretty much teachers’ unions are powerful, there are contracts in place that principals and school leaders complain about, there are real limits to the ability to dismiss a teacher for performance all over the world. So, you know, be that as it may, it is a challenge in every country.

It is important to mention that:

a. Teachers often require union support because their job is incredibly difficult and stressful

b. Unions play a positive role in teachers’ lives.

c. Assessing the performance of a teacher isn’t easy to do and often such an appraisal deserves to be contested vigorously.

 

Click on the link to read Guess What Percentage of Teachers Considered Quitting this Year

Click on the link to read The Classroom Shouldn’t be a War Zone for Our Teachers

Click on the link to read Remember When Teachers Were Shown Respect? (Video)

Click on the link to read If You Think Teaching is so Easy You Should Try it for Yourself

Click on the link to read Teachers are Extremely Vulnerable to False Accusations

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Posted in Education Union | 3 Comments »

The Most Common Questions Teachers Are Asked at Job Interviews

January 29, 2014

job interview

I stumbled on a brilliant article in the Guardian where Head Teachers share the questions they regularly ask at job interviews and the rationale behind their questions.

I hope this article comes in handy next time you interview for a new teaching position:

If I walked into your classroom during an outstanding lesson, what would I see and hear?

“I’d like to hear about: animated discussions, students clearly making progress as evidenced in oral and written contributions. High quality visual displays of students’ work showing progress. High levels of engagement. Behaviour that supports learning.”

Helen Anthony, head teacher, Fortismere school

“After hearing a candidate’s response I try to get them to talk about their experiences in the classroom. I try to get a sense of the impact that they have had on pupils’ achievement.”

Tim Browse, head teacher, Hillcrest primary school

• Why do we teach x in schools?

“This question really throws people. If it is maths or English they sometimes look back at you as if you are mad. They assume it is obvious – a very dangerous assumption – and then completely fail to justify the subject’s existence.

“Whatever the subject, I expect to hear things like: to improve skills and independent learning; to encourage team work; to gain a qualification; for enjoyment (very important, rarely mentioned); to enhance other subjects; to develop literacy, numeracy and ICT skills; to improve career prospects; self discipline; memory development; to encourage life-long learning in that subject. The list goes on…”

John Kendall, head teacher, Risca community comprehensive school

• Can you tell me about a successful behaviour management strategy you have used in the past that helped engage a pupil or group of pupils?

“This allows candidates to give a theoretical answer – one that anyone who swotted up could give you – balanced with a personal reflection that shows how effective they are.”

Tim Browse, head teacher, Hillcrest primary school

• If you overheard some colleagues talking about you, what would they say?

“This is one of my favourite questions (it’s based on a question my National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) coach used to ask me) because it gets candidates to think about their contribution to the school organisation and their team spirit. If I’m interviewing for a senior leader I would follow this up with: what would you want them to say about you in three years time? This way I can get a sense of where they want to develop as leaders.”

Tim Browse, head teacher, Hillcrest primary school

• Why do you want to work in special education?

“We’re looking to see that the person genuinely recognises that we’re in the business of education as opposed to simply caring for the children (surprisingly, some applicants don’t really see it that way).”

Sean O’Sullivan, head teacher, Frank Wise school

• Why do you want to work in this school?

“We want to see clear indications that candidates have done background work about our school and can talk about why the way we work appeals to them. We’d always want candidates to have visited the school so they should be able to flesh this out with specific examples of what they thought based on their visit.”

Sean O’Sullivan, head teacher, Frank Wise school

• A question that is specific to the candidate’s letter of application

“A candidate may have made a grand statement in their letter, but not gone into details about ‘how’ or the impact it had.”

Tim Browse, head teacher, Hillcrest primary school

• What are the key qualities and skills that students look for in teachers?

“Liking young people. Fairness. Consistency. Sense of humour. Passion for their subject. Good at explaining new concepts/ideas. Able to make the topic or subject relevant. Able to make everyone feel comfortable and confident about contributing.”

Helen Anthony, head teacher, Fortismere school

• Evaluate your lesson

“Teaching a one-off lesson in an unfamiliar school with students you have never met before is a difficult task, but a useful one for candidates and those making the appointment. The evaluation of the lesson by the candidate is crucial. I need to see someone who can be self-critical but who also recognises when things go well. Someone who makes suggestions as to how the lesson may have gone better, what they would do differently with hindsight. I like to hear them talk of the individual student’s progress in the lesson, and how they would follow it up. Remembering pupils’ names is always impressive. I’d rather see an ambitious lesson that goes a bit awry than a safe boring one.”

John Kendall, head teacher, Risca community comprehensive school

• If we decided not to appoint you, what would we be missing out on?

“This is great as it enables candidates to sell themselves and really tell us what they are about.”

Brett Dye, head teacher, Parc Eglos school

Click on the link to read The Profession You Choose When You Don’t Want to Get Fired

Click on the link to read The School They Dub the “Worst Primary School in the World”

Click on the link to read Education New Year’s Resolutions 2014

Click on the link to read Eight Fundamentals that Every Student Deserves

Click on the link to read 21 Reasons to Become a Teacher

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How Many Teachers Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb? (Part 2)

January 28, 2014

 

light bulb

Earlier today I posted a very comical answer to the famous light bulb joke. I recommend you read it, as it is extremely funny and perceptive.

Part 2 is devoted to the actual answer. How many teachers does it take to change a light bulb?

None of course. We are not allowed to:

A REFRIGERATOR lightbulb retailing for about $3 at a hardware store ended up costing a far north Queensland state school almost $500 after Queensland’s Public Works Department sent an electrician to install it in a teacher’s government-owned home.

Doomadgee State School, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, was billed $200 for labour alone after the teacher was told workplace health and safety regulations prevented any staff member from buying and replacing the bulb themselves, The Australian understands.

Don’t even get me started!

 

Click on the link to read How Many Teachers Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb? (Part 1)

 

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The Most Over-Crowded Classroom in the World (Photo)

January 28, 2014

crowded classroom

221 students squeezed into 1 standard classroom.

With just 1 teacher preciding.

Which country do you think this classroom is in?

Somewhere in Africa? Nope

Bangladesh? Try again.

Give up?

It’s in London, England:

Given the high temperatures and humidity in the city over the last few weeks, parents with children at Sinempulelelo Primary School are very concerned at the cramped conditions under which their children are expected to learn.

Parents and some of the teachers at the school said there were 221 pupils in the Grade R class.

A mother of two, Nosimamkele Heshu, said her children had yet to start learning because there were too many of them to be taught by the single Grade R teacher.

“There used to be three Grade R classrooms, but this year there is only one classroom allocated to Grade R pupils. We want to know where the other two classes are.

“It is not fair that our children are squashed in there all morning,” she said.

“This is the only primary school in the area, so it is only natural that we send our children here,” she added.

Heshu said their children were expected to start Grade 1 next year but she was worried about their progress.

“Children usually know how to write their names by the time they get to Grade 1. What are the chances of these children knowing how to do that when their learning conditions are not conducive,” she asked.

The Daily Dispatch arrived at the school yesterday unannounced after receiving a tip-off about the conditions.

The weather in East London reached a maximum of 31°C and, on arrival at the school, the team found more than 200 children seated on the floor of the prefabricated structure.

In the sweltering heat, children in full school uniform were squashed against one another and expected to listen to the teacher.

At noon when school ends for Grade R, the sweat-drenched youngsters were allowed to leave, to be met by parents outside the classroom.

A teacher, who identified herself only as Miss Ntsabo, ordered the Daily Dispatch team to leave the school premises because they were not invited by “the head of the institution”.

Click on the link to read Meet the School Consisting of Only 1 Teacher and 1 Student

Click on the link to read Classroom Free Schools

Click on the link to read Teaching 150 Students in the One Classroom!

Click on the link to read What is the Perfect Class Size?

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The Futility of Teaching a Starving Child

January 28, 2014

healthy

You can have every box ticked when it comes to planning and delivering lessons and it will come to nothing if your students are hungry. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. For our students it is absolutely crucial. There is little that can be absorbed by a child who is starving as a result of skipping breakfast.

To read that 1 in 7 children are going to school without breakfast in a country like Australia, is so disappointing. Perhaps, what is more disappointing, is the food wastage by students who dispose of good food from their lunchboxes:

ONE in seven Australian schoolchildren – about 600,000 kids – will skip breakfast when they return to school this week but in contrast others will be throwing out the contents of their lunchbox.

The latest Census At School data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics found children skipping breakfast is equal to about two hungry kids in every classroom across the nation.

But while some go hungry, OzHarvest says the contents of many a lunchbox will be wasted.

“It’s certainly one of the ironies of an abundant society. As we become more affluent, we seem to waste more,” said OzHarvest food rescue founder Ronni Kahn.

As Australian schools open their gates this week for another year, Kellogg’s has pledged to donate a minimum of two million serves of cereal through its Breakfasts for Better Days program, the equivalent of feeding 10,000 kids each school day.

The program aims to provide 12 million serves of cereal and snacks to families and children in need in Australia and one billion serves across the world by the end of 2016.

“Our program exists to support children in need and help to ensure they have the best start to their day possible, but to see one in seven children skipping breakfast remains a concern for the community at large,” said Nitin Vig who leads Kellogg’s free school breakfast program.

 

Click on the link to read Kids Have Never Felt More Stressed

Click on the link to read Where is the Deterrent For Teachers Who Have Sex With Their Students?

Click on the link to read 6 Tips for Kids Who Worry Too Much

Click on the link to read Since When is Trying to Sell Your Baby a “Joke”?

Click on the link to read A World Where Sex Offenders Have “Human Rights” and their Victims Have None

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How Many Teachers Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb? (Part 1)

January 28, 2014

bulb

Courtesy of educationrethink.com:

Principal: I’ll get back to you on that.

Superintendent: There’s a lightbulb out? I’ll ask the Board of Education if we have any money for them.

Board of Education: The schools have enough lightbulbs. They don’t need any more.

State Department of Education: Teachers will fulfill measurable lightbulb-changing objectives based on a pre-assessment and post-assessment.

PD Coordinator: I need to develop a Lightbulb Theory Training with clip art lightbulbs and Comic Sans font. Can anyone tell me what Marzano said about lightbulbs?

Standardized Test: A) 2 B) 3 C) 3.14 D) Pineapple

Federal Government: “We see you have been changing lightbulbs but we don’t think you have been changing enough of them fast enough. All lightbulbs must be changed at a 100% rate each year or you will lose money for lightbulbs.”

Taxpayers: Why are our tax dollars being spent on things like lightbulbs?

Teach for America: The lightbulbs are going out, because the engineers are lazy slobs. Let’s replace them with someone who went through a month-long training course on engineering.

Parent: Why didn’t you call me two weeks ago to tell me the lightbulb was going to go out?

Union: This isn’t in the contract. It’s the custodian’s job.

Movie Tagline: Some lightbulbs, they said, would never be changed. She inspired them so they could be.

RT @participantname: We should think beyond the lightbulbs and inspire the light to light the bulb itself.

Education Conference Attendee: I just was so INSPIRED by that wonk’s keynote about changing lightbulbs!

Techie Reformy Post: Eventually lightbulbs will replace teachers. Kids can find the light. You don’t have to do it for them.

Student: [says nothing and doesn’t notice lightbulb is out because he/she is texting]

#stuvoice: Why is the teacher the one changing lightbulbs? Every kid should have their own lightbulb.

Maker Movement: Kids will make lightbulbs if you get out of the way and leave them alone.

Unschooler: We don’t need lightbulbs. That’s a part of factory/industrial mindset. Kids should be playing out in the sun all day.

Homeschooler: Even though the lightbulbs are exactly the same, the ones in my home are better than the ones at school.

#edchat: How do we change professional development so that teachers start changing lightbulbs instead of complaining that the bulbs are dead?

#edtech: Check out these 95 coolest, super-amazing, LED lightbulbs that will revolutionize classroom space.

2,000 retweet Twitter post: You have to think outside the bulb. #lightchat #bulbchat

TED Talk: Everything you thought you knew about light bulbs is wrong and I’m here to tell you why.

Tumblr Teacher Post: Here’s a .gif of a flashing lightbulb and a quote by Dewey about enlightening minds. Hope this helps.

This American Life: I’m not sure how many it takes, but I think we could learn something from a counterintuitive human interest story on lightbulbs. I’ll narrate it in a near-whisper.

Time Magazine: Why Teachers Are the Real Reason for Busted Lightbulbs and How Michelle Rhee Will Fix It

Internet Magazine: How An Amazing Way a 3rd World Teacher Changes Lightbulbs and Occasionally Refurbishes Lightbulbs from the Dump

Politician: Why do Finland’s lightbulbs work so much better than ours? I’ll ignore the evidence and assume that their bulbs and their entire electric grid must be decentralized.

Teacher: Actually, I did it 35 minutes ago.

Click on the link to read How Many Teachers Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb? (Part 2)

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Kids Can Operate an iPad but Can’t Tie their Shoelaces

January 27, 2014

 

pad

Adults that marvel at how confidently kids can navigate the web or use the iPad should consider holding off their applause.  It seems that our tech savvy kids have let some fundamental skills go to the wayside whilst perfecting their technological prowess.

Kids in my generation knew how to fold, make the bed, wash and dry dishes properly (yes, both sides of the plate!) and of course, we quickly developed skills in tying our shoelaces.

But the same doesn’t apply to the kids of today:

TECHNO KIDS can use iPads but increasing numbers of children are unable to tie their shoelaces in time for the first day of school.

Shoe retailers and experts have revealed children as old as 10 were yet to learn the skill and opting for the easier velcro option.

“We notice more and more that younger kids can’t manage the laces as early on anymore,” Sophie McLellan, podiatrist and co-owner of Little Big Shoes at Kenmore, told The Courier-Mail.

“Certainly there are more and more kids wanting velcro and not laces. Usually when kids enter Grade One most schools want them in a lace-up shoe. However we’re finding lots of kids in Prep, (grade) One, Two, even going into Grade Three are still having trouble with laces.

 

Perhaps they should develop an app that teaches kids how to tie their laces … and clean the dishes … both sides.

 

Click on the link to read What is the Difference Between Over-Praising Children and Lying to Them?

Click on the link to read The Skills Kids Can Learn from Traditional Board Games

Click on the link to read Our Impressionable Children are Desperately Looking for Positive Rolemodels

Click on the link to read The Plus Sized Barbie Debate Misses the Point

Click on the link to read Study Claims that Being Attractive can give you Better Grades

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The Profession You Choose When You Don’t Want to Get Fired

January 26, 2014

 

 

drug

 

It must be awfully hard to get fired from a teaching job nowadays.

No other profession gives tenure for mediocrity and second, third and fourth chances like teaching does.  Now I read that you can keep your teaching job after a drug or theft conviction.

Put up your hand if you want a convicted drug offender or thief teaching your kids? That’s funny, I don’t see any hands raised.

The problem with this iron clad commitment to keep teachers in their jobs through thick and thin is two-fold:

1. It means that the person selected to be a role model for your child may be anything but; and

2. When a teacher who doesn’t meet expectations isn’t fired, it devalues the whole profession. Whilst nobody wants to be constantly worried about losing their job, the level of job security for many teachers may well lead to a sense of apathy and a lack of appreciation for the responsibilities that come with the profession.

I heard of a story today about a vet that lost his job because he posted a picture of himself at a pub whilst wearing a shirt with the company logo on it. He didn’t get a warning or a demotion – he was just sent packing.

Was the penalty harsh? I think it was. But you can be sure that when this vet secures his next job, he will take his professional responsibilities more seriously.

And it’s not only vets. Someone with a conviction has lost the right to train as a firefighter, even if the offense was seemingly minor or unrelated to the performance of the job. A miner has to undergo regular drug and alcohol tests. Any negative test results in an immediate sacking.

So why don’t teachers face the same amount of scrutiny? Is it because our unions are strong? Is is because policy makers want to look like the friend of education and teachers to score some points with their constituents? Perhaps it’s because they feel sorry for us for our low pay and difficult working conditions?

Whatever it is, it devalues what is the best profession going around.

 

Click on the link to read The School They Dub the “Worst Primary School in the World”

Click on the link to read Education New Year’s Resolutions 2014

Click on the link to read Eight Fundamentals that Every Student Deserves

Click on the link to read 21 Reasons to Become a Teacher

Click on the link to read  25 Amusing Signs You Might Be a 21st Century Teacher

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Posted in Education Matters | 4 Comments »

44 Things Parents Say to their Kids to Get them to Eat

January 26, 2014

 

spinach

Courtesy of fellow blogger and the author of ‘Dinner: A Love Story’, Jenny Rosenstrach:

 

1. Please?

2. Try holding your nose.

3. See how the fish is pink? Princesses love pink. Salmon is what princesses eat! It’s princess food! Yay princesses!!!

4. If you don’t eat this, I will take the dog for a walk and never come home.

5. You know how sometimes a needle is so sharp you don’t even feel it? That’s what this chili is like. It’s so spicy that you won’t even taste anything.

6. Try the swordfish. It’s like white salmon.

7. Try the cauliflower. It’s like white broccoli.

8. Try the tofu. It’s like white-ish chicken.

9. Try eating. It’s how you survive.

10. I went through full labor and then had a C-section in order to bring you into this world. I almost died for you. You owe me.

11. If you don’t eat it, then I will. And then I’ll hate myself.

12. Don’t you love Daddy?

13. Let me ask you one question: Why must you torment me so?

14. It’s lemon sole!!! Isn’t that a fun name? Sole is a fish. You like fish, don’t you? Don’t you love salmon? Well, salmon is also a fish! Sole is like salmon’s cousin, in that they both swim in the ocean. They swim around and are cute. It’s really good. It’s even better than salmon! You like fish. You’ll love this. I promise. Just think of it as salmon. Or, OK, chicken. It tastes a little like chicken, too. Oh come on, you love chicken. This is breaded and fried, just like the chicken we make. It’s like that, but even better. Think of it as chicken and salmon mixed together, and you love both of those things, right? Don’t you? You don’t?

15. Pretty please?

16. If you don’t try this, Santa won’t come.

17. The doctor said you need to eat this.

18. There’s no more ketchup. Heinz stopped making ketchup last week. It was in all the newspapers. A newspaper is something you read.

19. Don’t eat? No treat.

20. Let’s think about this logically for a minute, OK?

21. One bite one bite one bite one bite one bite one bite one bite one bite.

22. Remember the mac and cheese you loved at that restaurant in Charleston? This is the exact same recipe, from that restaurant’s cookbook, written by the exact same chef who made it for you then. And now I’m taking his exact instructions and recreating the exact same meal for you right here at your table in New York. How cool is that??

23. How do you know you won’t like it if you’ve never tried it? And yeah, I just said that.

24. If you try this, we’ll talk about getting you that Polly Pocket Cruise Ship Set that will sit on our living room floor like a hideous speed bump for the next five years until I throw it away one day when you’re not looking.

25. Let’s play a game: Pretend your life depended on finishing this.

26. Quick! Look over there!

27. Do you enjoy this? Is that why you do this?

28. You like watching your mother cry? Is that it?

29. Your sister finished hers.

30. You think Tony Stark leaves any of his kale uneaten?

31. You liked it yesterday!?

32. You liked it when Aunt Lynn made it for you.

33. Your little chicken is lonely and sad and will only be happy when he’s reunited with his potato friends in your stomach.

34. Man cannot survive on pasta alone.

35. What do you think tomato sauce is made out of?

36. Don’t you want to live for a long time?

37. Don’t you want to outlive your parents?

38. Do you want the dog to get fat? Because she should not be eating this much hamburger meat every night.

39. I’m counting to three.

40. I mean five.

41. I mean ten.

42. I loved this meal when I was a kid.

43. I hated this meal when I was a kid.

44. Don’t look at it, just eat it.

 

 

Click on the link to read Should Teachers be Able to Tell People they Are Bad Parents?

Click on the link to read Loving Parents Are Allowed to Take Some Time Out

Click on the link to read How Life Changes When You Become a Parent (Video)

Click on the link to read Have Our Children Stopped Dreaming?

Click on the link to read How to Spend Time With Your Kids When You Have No Time

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