Sneaky days off...

As a Classroom Teacher I regularly taught with no voice. At times my communication style was more "bad charades night" than any kind of proper pedagogy I can think of. Luckily I could put it down to using lots and lots of phonetic sign language (and boy were my kids well-versed in using it!) rather than "inexperienced teacher too overworked to take a day off when she needs it". I survived, but looking back I'm so glad I'm now in a position where I can take time off when I need it.

Monday morning TRACER phonecalls came and went, but I was strong enough to say  no. I got into see a doctor nice and early (actually a nurse practitioner- smartclinics are open early and late and you can book online for those of you on the northside) and now I'm happily on the road to recovery. I sacrificed a day of work but probably saved myself from having to take a week off later down the track.

As we head into the cold and flu season, remember to look after yourself so that you can be fit and fighting to work as many days as possible.

Why Being Special is Good...

Wow... what a week. I was my own one-man band and my own little tour!

Technically I was a Music Teacher all week, and it's worth taking a moment to discuss why being a specialist teacher for a day can be a very, very good thing.

One Monday I went to a school I had never visited before, and between teaching music and doing a playground duty I think I met about three-quarters of the school. It's a great way to meet the kids in a fun play-based learning environment. On Tuesday I was at a different school, one I'd only been at a few times and once again, by the end of the day had made positive contact with most of the school. Very positive contact. I made some wonderful connections with the kids and experience tells me that when I teach them in the classroom these connections will help me to interact with them positively. A couple of great days at the end of the week back at one of my favorite schools confirmed the benefits of taking on specialist roles to help build positive relationships.

What needs to be said right now is that I have no musical telents or abilities. My singing is the closest thing available to corporal punishment! It's painful. But unless you are actually being a specialist teacher (complete with planning and assessment) you don't need to have the specific skills or abilities for that specialist role. You can create quick play-based activities for all specialist areas on-the-spot. Play buzz, around the world or bingo with LOTE or music terms. Sing nursery rhymes, or play any rythmic game in music. For PE you should have a few safe but fun games on hand that need little (or no) equipment. Have a few relevant clips on a datastick in case there is a smartboard in the LOTE or music room and you are set.

So off we go into week two, and with a fully-booked week ahead I'm looking forward to another fun week of teaching. If you are a little short on bookings take the plunge and tick the "PE, LOTE and Music" box on your preferences and sit back to enjoy the rewards it brings.

Youtube, Wetube, We All Scream for Youtube!

Bribery worked slowly before they had Youtube!

A little practical advice to get you back to school with a pocket-full of Youtube videos for a fun day at school.

Short Youtube videos are great for some good old-fashioned bribery...

"Let's see if we can get to our desks and get out our handwriting books in 30 seconds... your time starts.... NOW!"

Then the reward of a 30 second video clip gives everyone a smile.

Not exactly award-winning pedagogy... but it gets you through the day.

But we don't have access to the internet do we? How do we then get our Youtube fix?

There are apparently hundreds of these programs online, but the first one I came across worked- so  I have yet to check out any others. It's at a website called keepvid.com. Now when you go to keepvid, think of a trip to the shopping centre. The big, flash, well-positioned buttons are the ones that cost you (yes you can pay to download the program, no you don't need to). It's much like the big-brand items paying for their premium spot on the supermarket shelves. But you can get it for free if you pay attention and use the less flashy, smaller buttons (think plain, homebrand packaging at the supermarket).

Here's a basic rundown of the instructions... feel free to email me if you are muddled up and I can add screenshots to these instructions for you too...

1. Find the video you want to download in Youtube
2. Open a new tab and go to www.keepvid.com
3. Copy the address from your youtube video and paste it into the box at the top of the keepvid page
4. Click “download” on the keepvid page (the small button next to where you pasted the address of the video- not the big flashy "download these videos for free button)
5. Select the mp4 (there may be more than one of them) file from the list and download it (I use mp4 files, you may want another format from the list)
6. You will need to click "run" to allow the download
7. This MP4 can be stored on a datastock, a  lapop, on the cloud, wherever.

Have fun, and now spending an afternoon on Youtube can be counted as "research" for school. You can thank me later :)

A Monday with Purpose

Pearls yes, pouting no.

School goes back Monday. I'm still without a booking... but I refuse to mope. See the chances of getting a booking for the first day back are pretty slim. The chances of completely freaking out and thinking I have only a "make believe" job... well they aren't slim. That said I also thought I'd get the first week of school off... and that didn't work out so well (actually it worked out pretty wonderfully).

So I'm proposing to treat Monday like the first day back at school for the year. I figure there are two options... both of which are purposeful.

Option One- Be Incredibly Useful

You should have a resume that's ready for use- USE IT. Drop it off at a few schools. Skip by your favorite school with a pack or two of Tim Tams for the staffroom. Be on hand to help out a working friend to establish their school routine (eg re-set up reading groups or the like).

Option Two- Be Incredibly Useless!

If you are going to do this with a friend, make it a friend who isn't a Supply Teacher. If one of you gets work and the other doesn't... well it's awful. I'm planning an incredibly luxurious day with my Mum. She knows that with any luck the day won't actually happen. If it does, we are going to celebrate the absence of small children with a fancy lunch, a posh movie and lots and lots of good coffee. Instead of mourning the loss of a day of work I will be celebrating my extra day of holidays.

You will note that "moping around at home freaking out about work" is not an option. Literally. Don't do it. Work will come, it always does- you might just need a few days of Option One to make it happen.

Happy Holidays :)

Meet My Best Friend

This is Pollyanna. She's my best friend in teaching, but don't worry- she can be yours too. You see Pollyanna isn't actually real. Pollyanna is a reminder to speak nicely of others:

• Positively
• Only
• Lovingly
• Loyal
• Yarns
• And
• Never
• Nasty
• Anecdotes.

She isn't my invention, but I honestly can't say where I "met" her. I can say that she has been a great help through my teaching career.

You see Queensland is a very small place, Education Queensland is even smaller. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone talks to everyone. It really is best if everyone doesn't talk about everyone, but they do. Don't get bogged down in the negative talk, it really can be quite destructive.

The Grumpy Teacher nextdoor from last term is tomorrow's HOC, the Yelly (yes it is a word- it has to be after you've heard the yelling I've heard!) Teacher from down the hall is tomorrow's teaching partner. If you have spoken badly of them it will have gotten back to them, leaving you in a very awkward spot.

Everyone has bad days. You just have to give everyone else the benefit of the doubt and assume on that really bad day when you saw them, well that they were having a bad day too. So my advice is to remember the good bits, learn from the "other" bits and just keep smiling... and if necessary have a good whinge to someone who is completely and absolutely unrelated to teaching (good luck finding such a person- if necessary a cat can be a good stand-in).

Cats, Kids and Supply Teaching

I am still under the impression that despite hearing endless tales from my work, my family don't really "get" what Supply Teaching is... because it's one of those things that you can't get until you do it. But now, thanks to the family cat, we are one step closer.

Over the holidays I was visiting my Parents when we realised the family cat needed to be given his flea tablets. For anyone who has met me- I've usually got a scratch or two from administering tablets to my own cat. I can do it, but it's not easy. Sometimes blood is shed. If I put my tongue firmly in my cheek for a moment- I could say it is kind of like a "challenging" day of Supply Teaching.

As my Mother was cooking dinner I decided I'd give the flea tablets to their cat. I picked him up, put the tablets in the vicinity of his mouth- he swallowed them and it was done. My parents were amazed. The cat was happy. Things were done. I didn't do anything differently when giving the cat the tablets (in fact I probably did a worse job). It was just the cat was so shocked to have someone different giving them to him that he behaved himself. It was a lot like a good day of Supply Teaching.

It was like those days when someone arrives at 9.30 to breathlessly announce that little Johnny in the front row doesn't sit with the class and throws things if you try to tell him what to do... only to discover that you have in fact asked Johnny to sit with the class because you didn't know any better... and he's done it. Poor Johnny was so swept up by the strange (and I mean that in a good way) Supply Teacher in front of him that he just went with the flow and behaved.

It's OK, I'll give Harry (the family cat) a pat on your behalf for the lesson he taught us all.

Resumes, Again By Popular Demand!

I've already briefly touched on resumes here... but there's a lot (not alot- do check for typos) more to be said... and I've had requests... so here goes... Here is a copy of an old resume of mine (so old that is has some old contact info... sorry about that) that might be of some help too.

Content

What to include

Get straight to the point- what do you want from this resume? Are you seeking permanent work, a contract, something part-time or supply? Tell them. Literally spell it out in your resume. I used the margins to do this, you may have a "career goals" heading or similar.

As you become registered etc be sure to include all your registration numbers. As a working teacher that means I have my employee number and teacher registration right alongside my contact information.

Referees are very useful, and for most of you they are your supervising teachers. If you feel a little shy talking yourself up you can use quotes from your referee reports to highlight your strengths and experiences. Make sure their contact information is up-to-date and make sure they are aware that they are acting as your referees. You should probably provide them with a copy of your resume so they can be, ahem, reminded of your skills and attributes.

Also, if you got suckered into doing odd-jobs, don't dispair. Make a heading called "Special Projects" and all of a sudden you are a dedicated, proactive worker rather than a soft touch!

What not to include

If you have extensive experience outside of teaching and your resume is getting too long, then clearly label this resume as a "Teaching Resume" and remove irrelevant information. You aren't saying that you haven't had a life outside of teaching, but you are preventing a prospective employer from having to wade through pages of irrelevant information.

Layout

Layout is what makes your resume easy to read.

White space is your friend. It draws attention to the information that matters. I used huge side margins to spell out the basic information ("Amber Stanley's Teaching Resume" down one side, "Available for Contract or Supply Work" down the other) that really needed to be stressed.

Headings are useful, they make it easy for the reader to quickly find any information they are looking for. And under those headings? Use bullet-points where possible, large blocks of text can be off-putting for the reader. You guys know all this stuff- just apply it to your resume (Yes I do realise that I'm not really applying it here!).

Delivery

If it is physically possible for you to hand-deliver a resume, then do it. You will know that it has made it into the right hands, and they will see that you (probably don't) have a mohawk. Actually, I take that back- a friend who works at a library who would make an awesome teacher currently sports a multi-coloured mohawk thanks to shave for a cure. But they will see that you motivated, proactive, capable of effective face-to-face communication.

EQ Interviews... From Someone Who Knows...

Back in the olden days when I did my EQ interview there was a very different system in place. We had our Prac Teacher there, and we usually had our Principal (or Deputy) doing the interview. As much as I'd love to give your useful, timely advice on your interviews- I can't... because so much has changed since I did mine.

So what does a Supply Teacher do when she doesn't know something? She asks nextdoor. Well I could ask my actual neighbor- and even though she is a Teacher (I know!) she did her interview in the olden days too. So I did the next best thing... I asked a friend. I was lucky enough to meet Shell at a workshop and she's currently working very hard at establishing herself as a Supply Teacher. She was kind enough to volunteer to answer any questions about her own interview experience. When I was cheeky enough to ask her to put pen to paper (gawd I'm old, fingers to keyboard perhaps?) she came up with this almost overnight... A big thanks to Shell, and if you have any questions I intend to bug her with them so email me :)

EQ Interview

I found the process of trying to get an interview very stressful. My poor three year old son occupied himself practically all day while I kept an eye on the website for schools having interviews. Without fail, I would watch the computer on and off in the morning while I got my two other boys ready for school. There would be nothing. Within the time I took the boys to school and got back (not even 30 minutes), schools had gone up and no spots were left. Same thing happened in the afternoons, after watching the site on and off all day, I would go and pick the boys up, come back, and schools came up, no spots left. Another time, there was a school, but I had never heard of it before so I thought I would quickly Google it. Not even 5 minutes had passed. I clicked back to the website, no spots left. That’s how quick they do go. I had my sister looking while she was at work, my friend at Caboolture looking for me. I finally got one, when I stopped trying so hard. The website is below.

http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=50884

I read in the FAQ section that you can arrange to have an interview while you are in your last year of prac, but you are required to at least receive your DET Professional Experience/Internship Overview. However I also read a question ‘Why do I need to do a 20-day contract or 40 aggregated days before I can do the interview?” This is new and I only did mine at the end of last year. The answer to this makes sense. I found by doing days of relief in the first term, I have a more knowledge of the questions they were asking me in the interview. Prac was great, but I always had the prac teacher there to guide if needed to.

Some points for the interview:

     Try and link examples to your teaching. What you did in the classroom

     Know the jargon that teachers use or at least some

     Know about assessment 

     Know what you would do to set up a room on the first day

     Behaviour management strategies

     Differentiation in the classroom

Not so smart...boards...

I'm really not that smart with smartboards. I mean that both in the self-depricating "I'm really not technically-minded" way and also in the literal "smartboards aren't actually smart/interactive when I use them- they just act as data-projectors" way... but you've asked for my advice so here it is...

A Beginning Supply Teacher's Guide to Smartboards... with picutres!

How do I connect my laptop to the smartboard?
Odds are there will be a cable already plugged into the smartboard... and it will look like this...

Provisional to Full Registration- Everyone’s Different

It's just a jump to the left... and a step to the right.

Getting full registration can be tough for us Supply Teachers. It’s not so much the 200 days of work requirement, but showing that you meet all of Professional Standards, when they aren’t part of your day to day job, well that can be hard.

It was hard for me. So hard that the first time around I extended my provisional registration rather than face the paperwork. But you can only do that for so long- so I faced up to it and gave myself six months to meticulously document my professional practice. I had located the correct documentation on the QCT website, attended a workshop- and I was ready to go.

I mentioned my intentions to fulltime teaching colleagues only to find out I had to get everything done NOW. The Principal at the main school I was working at was leaving THAT WEEK. It was a now or never proposition in my mind. Sure, there were other Principals who knew me and knew my work- but none who knew it as well as this particular one.

As much as this particular Principal knew my work, she simply couldn’t just sign off that I had met all of the criteria, because in my role as a Supply Teacher I hadn’t. I hadn’t planned units of work, I hadn’t assessed them. I was lucky that I had been able to participate in a few school events so I was able to show my commitment to the learning community.

I was rescued by my peers. I ended up planning, teaching and assessing a unit on chance and data for maths. I was able to complete the unit of work on a pre-booked supply day, even assigning pre-prepared report card comments to each student that night. I was able to show the Principal the planning, along with annotated exemplars of student work that represented each grade on the day I taught the unit. With this in hand, she was able to sign me off… and that boys and girls is how I got my full registration... but like I said- everyone's different.

And I can tap dance too...

Actually I can't.

But if I could I'm very sure that it would give me more confidence in the classroom.

Over the weekend I was lucky enough to catch a screening of "Company" where I saw a range of TV sitcom actors literally sing and dance their way across a broadway stage in a way that made you forget that the NY Philharmonic Orchestra was actually on stage backing them up. Now I understand where they get their confidence from.

If I could sing like Christina Hendricks I might just have the confidence to sashay like she does on Mad Men (actually I'd also have to look like her, but that's another story). If I could sing and dance like Jon Cryer  then perhaps I'd have had the inner strength and patience to work next to a madman every day (he is the younger brother on two and a half men) and remain sane myself. If I had talent like Neil Patrick Harris (Barney from How I Met Your Mother) I'd have an all singing, all dancing blog (o wait- he does).

I think that we need to remember to have hiddent talents- interesting hobbies that we persue outside the classroom. The kids may never see your hidden talent- but it's there- and it will give you the confidence you need to teach. Because we don't have the NY Philharmonic Orchestra there to back us up- but we do need to take to the stage with confidence each day.