Hi all,
Below are some interesting facts and figures Logan and I have crunched in a work break after talking with the photocopier people (geeks I know!).....Have a read, have a think, accept the challenge at the bottom!! Quite intriguing!!
In the time we have leased the current photocopiers (just under 3 years), we have churned through the following:
* 1.3 million copies!!! This does not include the risograph either!
In monetary terms this equates to :
* $61,000 spent on photocopying! This figure does not include coloured paper which is a lot more exspenive than white per ream, or lease costs, or the risograph.
What wonderings does this create for you? For me:
* How much of that photocopying has ended up being thrown away or replaced? Say it's half (and that's probably being conservative), and that's $30,000!
* With our current technology, do we really need that much paper? Things like school organisation folders, ISAAC, policies and procedures etc....if we had these online and say a master copy for each team for those that prefer them, the office, and management offices, that would only be 6 copies needed rather than 30 odd.....that could make a huge difference considered these are updated fairly regularly...
* What else could that $ have been spent on?!
Your challenge : Have a paperless day somewhere in the first half of term! I dare you!! Maybe even have 2!! Perhaps we could have a school-wide paperless day? Maybe we could push for a week somewhere! Could we?!
Who's up for it?
Check out this link for a guy that's trying to do the same: https://pod51003.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=93ef349fb167464cabf58bd40a46a89c&URL=http%3a%2f%2fk12onlineconference.org%2f%3fp%3d438
Please leave your feedback!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Double Standards??
Two new posts in one day? I must be in a ranting mood!!
I'm sure this one will spark some interesting debate......
As teachers, are we the worst exhibitors of double standards when it comes to classroom expectations? When we are teaching or addressing or classes, what are our expectations for the children? While we all (hopefully!) encourage interactive learning, do we have expectations for how children go about this? Do we expect children to show manners and model appropriate behaviours for interactive learning to occur?
Consider the following scenarios and how you would react if this happened when you were teaching:
* While addressing your class, small groups of children just carried on with their own conversations, oblivious to what you were saying....
* Children interupt you mid sentence without waiting for an appropriate moment to do so, or signalling to you they had some input to contribute....often with points you were getting to anyway.....
* Children in your class are too busy playing / typing on computers to actually be listening to what you say....
* When given time to discuss / share about a topic in groups, students gather others around to show them a clip / photo / something on their computer instead....
* Chilldren who were displaying one or a combination of the behaviours above then ask about information / content you have just discussed in the lesson.....
* The same children then answer you back with total lack of respect or appropriate tone when you don't regurgitate the information specifically for them....
Very few teachers I know of would accept this as appropriate behaviours in their classrooms, yet these are all behaviours I regularly observe at teacher meetings / conferences etc....And as lead teachers / management, we are supposed to just accept this?....
How do you deal with these situations in class? What would you say to the student who was displaying these behaviours? Are we the biggest exploiters of "Do as I say, not as I do"?
Hmmmmm.........
I'm sure this one will spark some interesting debate......
As teachers, are we the worst exhibitors of double standards when it comes to classroom expectations? When we are teaching or addressing or classes, what are our expectations for the children? While we all (hopefully!) encourage interactive learning, do we have expectations for how children go about this? Do we expect children to show manners and model appropriate behaviours for interactive learning to occur?
Consider the following scenarios and how you would react if this happened when you were teaching:
* While addressing your class, small groups of children just carried on with their own conversations, oblivious to what you were saying....
* Children interupt you mid sentence without waiting for an appropriate moment to do so, or signalling to you they had some input to contribute....often with points you were getting to anyway.....
* Children in your class are too busy playing / typing on computers to actually be listening to what you say....
* When given time to discuss / share about a topic in groups, students gather others around to show them a clip / photo / something on their computer instead....
* Chilldren who were displaying one or a combination of the behaviours above then ask about information / content you have just discussed in the lesson.....
* The same children then answer you back with total lack of respect or appropriate tone when you don't regurgitate the information specifically for them....
Very few teachers I know of would accept this as appropriate behaviours in their classrooms, yet these are all behaviours I regularly observe at teacher meetings / conferences etc....And as lead teachers / management, we are supposed to just accept this?....
How do you deal with these situations in class? What would you say to the student who was displaying these behaviours? Are we the biggest exploiters of "Do as I say, not as I do"?
Hmmmmm.........
National Standards (Gulp!)
I don't know where to start with this one, as there has been so much coverage of this topic in the media in so many forms.......
Personally, I have so may conflicting views and angles on them within myself that I'm sure there's not really anyone who has formed a well rounded, "expert" view on them yet!!
My initial personal thinking tended to sway towards the notion that as long as they keep the student's achievements at the heart of the matter and are used properly to raise student achievement they have the potential be a good thing......
However, therein lies the problem!!! Media bias, the standards being rushed through without sufficient thought process and input from schools, the lack of standards being able to show progress as opposed to levelling against a static level, a general lack of understanding of how these standards work, "league tables" these standards are sure to create in the media, the inevitable fact that some schools will "teach to the standards" which in turn stifles creative and imaginative teachers, all point towards a very slim probability that these standards can be used properly or even effectively! I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.....
So obviously for me, the jury's still out! However the standards are here, we have to be seen to implement them and they're not going away......so no doubt there will be plenty of hours ahead reading, understanding, developing and implementing these standards so they benefit our children most.
Keep watching this space........
Personally, I have so may conflicting views and angles on them within myself that I'm sure there's not really anyone who has formed a well rounded, "expert" view on them yet!!
My initial personal thinking tended to sway towards the notion that as long as they keep the student's achievements at the heart of the matter and are used properly to raise student achievement they have the potential be a good thing......
However, therein lies the problem!!! Media bias, the standards being rushed through without sufficient thought process and input from schools, the lack of standards being able to show progress as opposed to levelling against a static level, a general lack of understanding of how these standards work, "league tables" these standards are sure to create in the media, the inevitable fact that some schools will "teach to the standards" which in turn stifles creative and imaginative teachers, all point towards a very slim probability that these standards can be used properly or even effectively! I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.....
So obviously for me, the jury's still out! However the standards are here, we have to be seen to implement them and they're not going away......so no doubt there will be plenty of hours ahead reading, understanding, developing and implementing these standards so they benefit our children most.
Keep watching this space........
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
What has happened to grammar and punctuation?!
Having recently proof-read over 250 school reports, I was astounded by the lack of basic grammar and punctuation skills exhibited by some teachers. Upon thinking of this further, I had a quick flashback back to my own teacher training and schooling, and realised I couldn't recall being specifically taught grammar myself.
This lead to the following wonderings:
*Have we created a cycle over the last few generations where a lack of basic grammar is so ingrained in our practice that it has disappeared altogether?
*How many teachers are actually teaching grammar and punctuation?
* How many teachers are confident enough in their own knowledge of grammar and punctuation to effectively teach / model it?
* What are teacher training institutions doing about this? If anything?!
I truly believe schools and teachers (including myself when I was in the classroom) have become so obsessed and focused on teaching the "Deeper Features" of writing, that the equally important "Surface Features" are being neglected.
Personally, I also believe that we are using the excuse of, "ICT is making it less important" too much. Children of today live in a world of technology. This is the world they live in, much as the world we grew up in was a lot more advanced than our previous generations. The importance and necessity of effective grammar and punctuation hasn't changed, merely the tools they use to deliver these.
I would be interested in your thoughts on this......
This lead to the following wonderings:
*Have we created a cycle over the last few generations where a lack of basic grammar is so ingrained in our practice that it has disappeared altogether?
*How many teachers are actually teaching grammar and punctuation?
* How many teachers are confident enough in their own knowledge of grammar and punctuation to effectively teach / model it?
* What are teacher training institutions doing about this? If anything?!
I truly believe schools and teachers (including myself when I was in the classroom) have become so obsessed and focused on teaching the "Deeper Features" of writing, that the equally important "Surface Features" are being neglected.
Personally, I also believe that we are using the excuse of, "ICT is making it less important" too much. Children of today live in a world of technology. This is the world they live in, much as the world we grew up in was a lot more advanced than our previous generations. The importance and necessity of effective grammar and punctuation hasn't changed, merely the tools they use to deliver these.
I would be interested in your thoughts on this......
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