Many years ago now, I found myself teaching an entire High School Music programme out of a storeroom. I wish I was joking. Not only was it a store room, but it was an old store room that had been used to store chemicals for science. In addition to this horrific mix of smell and danger, all the old orchestral instrumental left over from this particular school's glory days were boxes into crates, and stacked precariously high, with just enough of a gap between them to harbour a serious mouse and spider situation.
This classroom arrangement was the worst I have ever been in work wise, leading to many moments questioning my particular career choice. Fast forward to now, and I work in a beautiful school, with incredible resources and a wonderful, supportive administration, and cannot even imagine being sequestered to an oversized cupboard. However, I cannot help but think back and wish I had known about some of the support mechanisms that the Department of Education have in place outside of the ones that exist in schools. For the record, if you are reading this, this information pertains to the Department of Education in Western Australia. If you work elsewhere, I would suggest getting in contact with your central office to see if these schemes are available in your state/country. * Reimbursement for Working With Children Check. Keep your receipt, hand it to your Manager of Corporate Services, and it will be put in with your next pay! Link HERE * Subsidies for Glasses and Lenses. Teachers are eligible for up to $220 back per year if you wear glasses or contacts in your line of work. *Note, this is only for those deemed 'optical aids', however claim your sunnies, hats, enclosed shoes and sunscreen on tax! Link to the optical aids form HERE * Salary Packaging. I salary package mine and my husbands car, and combined, we save $13,000 in tax over the course of 5 years. You can also salary package computers, phones and tablets, provided they are for work purposes. * Notebooks for teachers. Similar to Salary Packaging, but your computer is leased through the department. Link to the Department's ICT page is HERE * Deferred Salary Scheme. Essentially, work 4 years at 80% pay, take year 5 off. I only know 1 teacher who was accessing this scheme, although he was a pretty happy guy! For more information call Personnel and Payroll: (08) 9264 8383 Or download the application package from HERE * Counselling. The department offers a counselling service to all it's employees and their immediate family, and this is not restricted to work place matters! Sessions can be face to face, over the phone and by Skype , and are free of charge and confidential. Each member of your family is entitled to up to 6 sessions a year. More information can be found HERE *Ergonomic and Workplace Assessments Why didn't I know about this when I was teaching in a cupboard? The Department of Education has stated publicly that it is committed to 'safety excellence', and will happily liaise with schools, provide assessments and support and provide training to schools on how to create safe work spaces. More info HERE I hope this has been helpful and maybe provided you with something you didn't already know! Hang in there guys, almost half way.
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We all know them. Some people become them, some people work next to them, you may even be one, although I hope that you are not. Teachers with big egos.
Everyone has an ego. It's an essential part of your identity and sense of self as a human being. However, teaching is a profession in which you need to carefully monitor the size of your ego. I'm not saying you can't be proud of work you do as a teacher. If you have confidence in your work and how it will transpire in a classroom or at an event, that is wonderful. However, ego can take hold of a teacher easily. Abraham Lincoln said "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power." We are in front of young, impressionable people everyday. Students are entrusted to us, and we wield power over them in the classroom. By the very design of our education system, they must listen, they must comply and they must obey. In addition to this, whilst we are facilitators of the curriculum we teach, we also become the subject. Students observe us, interact with us, see how we speak, work and interact with others. For very young students,we may be the first person outside the family who they connect with. The understanding they derive from this relationship forms a large part of how they come to view the world. Teachers with ego problems are easy to spot, but difficult to work with. They are boring, difficult and inflexible. They can be argumentative, indirectly or directly insulting and condescending. They complain during meetings, during PL, in emails. They talk over the top of people. They volunteer for jobs and then don't ask for help if they are struggling. They blame external factors for failure, rather than seeing failure as a chance for growth. When they meet a challenge, they often respond by becoming defensive, aggressive, dismissive or ignoring the problem, rather than working to find solutions to it. "How many times do I have to tell you the same thing? " "These new curriculum/pedagogy ideas/teaching methods are not going to change how I teach " "That teacher doesn't push his/her student's " Ever heard yourself saying things like this? I am going to be honest and say that I have. Situation one is probably something we have all thought in our heads, because the truth is sometimes our students tune out. Sometimes they don't listen. It's frustrating, but guess what? They are people too, albeit little ones. Teaching may be frustrating, and nobody likes repeating themselves, but our job is to teach, and if they don't understand, teach it differently. If you have been in education for a while, you will be familiar with the second phrase because every five years or so, the goal posts of how we teach, assess and grade will change. Education is constantly changing and evolving, and although it can be very draining to unpack new curriculum documents these changes are not random, nor are they unimportant! New research about how our students learn is always being done, and society is changing so rapidly that it is a part of our job to grow and learn and change with our students. The last one always saddens me a little; teachers criticizing other teachers. There is something we can learn from every teacher. Just read that sentence again. There is something you can learn from every teacher. Yes, even if it's how to not do something. Remain humble and be nice. Workplace gossip can come back to bite you on the a**. An effective teacher must be a learner, open to new knowledge and experiences. Effective teachers understand criticism and seek to improve their classroom practice and programmes at all times. They are guided by what is best for the students, and model the highest aspects of behaviour and conduct. Effective teachers are open to criticism. They try new things. They are humble. Most of all, effective teachers are incredible role models, exemplifying the outlook and growth mindset needed to be a life long learner. This is who we all need to strive to be. And if you meet a teacher with a huge ego, smile nicely and keep on walking. If you are feeling particularly cheeky, send them the link to this blog post. A lot has been said, reported and blogged about since Pauline Hanson opened her mouth and dropped the bombshell statement, suggesting that children who have a diagnosis on the Autism Spectrum should be segregated from mainstream classrooms.
Senator Hanson has faced intense criticism from disability advocates, fellow politicians, educators and parents, and with good reason; research conclusively supports inclusive education for students with diagnosed medical conditions. Diversity in the classroom - including gender, racial and neurological diversity - is vitally important in helping ALL students become conscious learners, critical thinkers and in preparing them to be citizen in a pluralistic, diverse society. That said, I want to talk about my classroom. My REAL classroom, where real students learn real music every day. To each and every student who walks through the door to the Music room; *If you need your work blown up in size so you can see it better, or need access to noise cancelling headphones because you are sensitive to noise or need me to break down my instructions step by step, I will do that. *If you are struggling with your work, and need my help, I will help you. If you need to be comforted or challenged, I will help you. If you having a bad day I will help you. If you are excelling at your work and need extension, I will help you. (This is not diagnosis dependent. I am a teacher, it is my job to help students learn) *If I am struggling with meeting your needs in the classroom, I will take the time to educate myself, do professional reading, talk with colleagues and find a way to up skill myself. Whether you have PSTD, Diabetes, Downs Syndrome, Sensory Dis-regulation, difficulty controlling your behaviour, or glasses, I will learn how to meet your needs and put strategies in place in my classroom so you can learn to the best of your ability. *If I am struggling with the time required to meet your needs, I will ask for time and support. I will ask to be released for an hour, a day or more, so that meeting my students needs remains a task that is manageable. I will request time with visiting teachers, I will email SSEN and ask what resources are available, I will make it a part of my work day, rather than something 'extra' that needs to be done. *I will push you. Some days you will hate me, and think me unfair and demanding. Some days Music won't be your favourite class. But guess what? I will continue to push you because I know you are capable of more than you know. I know that your brain is strong and flexible and incredible. *I will respect you. You are my student, and you are someone's child. You are a friend, a cousin, an older brother or sister. In the future you will be someone's crush, someone's co-worker, someone's husband or wife, someone's Mum or Dad. You are an important part of your classroom, our school and our community. I have a problem with career politicians using their very public platform to divide students into categories, especially categories of 'us' and 'them'. I have a problem with singling out and humiliating a particular group of students, when the reality of the situation is that there are many and varying needs in every classroom. But most of all, I have a problem with Pauline Hanson speaking on behalf of students, a system and teachers she doesn't know. Students: You are welcome in my classroom. I look forward to watching you grow. Parents: Your child is welcome. I will do my best to help them learn. Pauline Hanson: You are welcome to come and spend a day in my classroom. I will be accommodating for your own set of learning needs by showing you that we don't need to approach people who are different with fear and hate, and that diverse classrooms are places of strength and understanding and growth. Ahhhh, reports you old hag.
I simultaneously love and hate writing reports. I love it when I can tell a parent that their child has worked really hard and as a direct result has achieved highly. I love when I can comment on how they have learned new skills, or found joy in composing or just that they are friendly and polite. I hate how long it takes and how much data I seem to be missing as soon as I start, and I hate how stressed I get every May and November. The thing is, we are always going to have to report, and it is never going to be easy to effectively communicate in one 600 character comment the learning journey that that particular child has been on for the last 15 weeks. I thought I would make it easier by posting actual comments that I have used this semester, aligned with the West Australian Curriculum. All schools are different in how they report. On top of that, the Union's stance on Specialist's reporting is that it is discretionary. At my school, we report on A, D and E grade's (anything exceptional or cause for concern) and SEN reports/children with IEP goals. We also have a 600 character limit on all comments. For me personally, I want my parents to know a couple of things: *How are they in the classroom (motivated, polite, enthusiastic, disrespectful, uninterested) *What can they do? What particular music skills can they do or not do? *What do they need to do better to be 'at level' So here are a few real comments that I have used this semester. I hope they are helpful. (I have changed all the boys to Bob and all the girls to Betty for privacy) Year 2: A student Betty is a polite student who has made excellent progress this semester. She decodes, reads and plays written notation and understands the shape of the melody in songs. Betty can stop and swap between beat and rhythm whilst playing and her musical arrangements are very creative. Betty's writing is of a very high standard, and she produces well constructed and descriptive sentences, clearly linking the elements of music to the mood created. She should be commended on an excellent semester's work. D student Bob is a friendly and polite student who has struggled with many of the concepts covered in Performing Arts. Bob is able to listen and repeat simple rhythm patterns, however he struggles to remember and keep his place in the music during longer sections. Bob is currently working on his understanding of pitch, however he finds it challenging to pitch match whilst singing. More practice singing simple songs like nursery rhymes will see him improve in this area. Bob provides simple, personal answers in his written reflection, and is beginning to include detail in his work. Year 3 A student Betty has made excellent progress this term. She has a sound understanding of rhythm and reads and plays simple combinations of notes in 4/4 time. Betty is a confident performer, and works well in groups to create original arrangements. She works well on written tasks and produced work that is detailed and neat. Betty should be commended for her positive attitude and excellent grade. A student Betty is a friendly and helpful student, who has made excellent progress in Performing Arts this semester. Betty has a very well developed sense of both pitch and rhythm, and this is reflected in the high standard of her performances. Her original compositions are creative and engaging, and she works well in groups to produce new works. Betty confidently reads and writes standard music notation, and can read and play simple compositions on multiple instruments. Betty's written work is of a very high standard, and she should be commended for her high achievement. Year 4 D student Bob is a quiet and polite student who has struggled with many of the concepts covered in Performing Arts this semester. Bob understands simple written rhythm notation, however he was unable to play this rhythm in time with the music. Bob worked in a small group to compose an original song, however the song was out of time and had no clear finish. Bob needs to listen carefully to instructions, work quickly on the task and ask for help if he doesn't understand if his grade in this area is to improve. Year 5 A student Bob has made exceptional progress this semester. Bob worked productively on the guitar in Term One, moving quickly through the repertoire, as well as making time to help other students who were struggling. His original hip hop composition was technically sound, creative and engaging and he was a collaborative and helpful group member. Bob's written work is always detailed and well presented, and he uses details and examples to support his observations. Bob is a hard working student with a positive attitude and he should be commended on this pleasing grade. Year 6 A student Betty is polite and friendly student with a natural flair for performance. Her original Reggae and Celtic compositions had clear structure and were well rehearsed, resulting in very polished performances. In her written tasks she gives detail answers that demonstrate she understands how the music is constructed and how different elements of music communicate mood and meaning. Betty should be commended for her hard work, positive attitude and high achievement this semester. D student Betty is a polite and friendly student who has struggled with some of the concepts covered in Performing Arts this semester. Betty worked with a small group on an original composition for our Wakakirri, however the composition was incomplete. Betty provided simple answers when asked about the process of creating her original composition, however she could not identify or describe any elements used and how they created mood and meaning. Betty needs to listen carefully during direct instruction and ask for help if she doesn't understand the work if her grade is to improve in this subject area. Student with poor attendance Betty is a very friendly and capable student who always participates fully in all activities in Performing Arts. Betty has missed many lessons and assessments and as a result, her grade does not reflect her true ability in this subject area. Student who arrived late in the reportable period Bob has made a positive start to his Performing Arts lessons here at (name) Primary School. Due to his recent arrival, he has not been assessed in this subject area. Not long until the holidays everyone! xx I don't think many of us do our job as 'just a job'. I'm sure there are teachers who have accepted a specialist position as 'just a job' or just to 'try something new', and if they did, I'm sure that they moved on pretty quickly. This job is truly a labour of love. On top of my regular teaching load, I run choir on a Monday lunchtime. I run band before school on Wednesdays and Fridays. I run after school rehearsals. I am the Team Leader for the Specialist Team. Every second year, I stage a major Musical. In the off year, my year 6 students compete in the Wakakirri Story Dance competition. Rehearsing, arranging, transposing, excursion planning, knowing every child's name, keeping data on 400+ students, choral festivals...the list goes on! It takes me at least 2 hours of out of school time to prep and tune my class set of ukuleles or sync my 8 ipads if we are doing digital composition, and I am sure I am not the only specialist teacher who invests this amount of time into her classes. The point is that this profession is both a calling and a curse; a muse and a harsh mistress rolled into one, and I take my hat off to all who are brave enough to assume the mantle. We are artists, as well as teachers, and it is extremely easy to get bogged down, wrapped up or even just plain old overwhelmed with the enormity of our job. This is something I have felt particularly keenly this year. I miss performing. I miss doing it for me. I miss practising my craft. 'So, on the weekend, I did a scary thing. For the first time in a long time, I auditioned for a play. Quite a big deal play, a big part and with a short rehearsal period and a big time commitment. Having children (three! Who on earth thought that was a good idea?) this also brings with it a bucket load of mummy guilt too.
But, as soon as I stepped into the theatre, I got the thrill. An honest to goodness, 'Anne of Green Gables' moment thrill. I was in my happy place, and it must have shone through because they cast me. Practise your craft, and before you soul gets sucked into the vortex of exhaustion and frustration that is teaching sometimes, take a moment to remember that you are in this job because you are an artist. Audition for a band, do the singing competition, try out for the sports team, act, sing, dance, move and feed your soul. It will be good for you. I promise. Good luck with reports everyone. In my first week as a Primary School Performing Arts Teacher, I lost my voice. I wasn't just croaky, I had nothing. Dry, raspy nothing until I started teaching, and then nothing nothing. For a teacher, this is bad news. See, I love to sing. My voice is pretty, and strong and I singing makes me feel happy, but is also a challenge. I love to sing, and so when I moved from teaching high school Music to primary school, I sang EVERYTHING. I would sing the example track, and then I sung with the students, just for fun. I sang my 'attention grabbers', and sang my pitch exercises. I sang in music games and I sang with the choir. In addition to this, I wasn't very careful with my vocal care. I didn't drink enough water. I didn't support my voice by breathing in before raising my voice. I yelled. I stayed up late. And as a direct result my vocal chords protested, and then stopped working altogether. Since then, I have become a lot smarter with my voice. I have to! It is one of my most important tools. Here are three tips to protect your voice as a Specialist: You Don't Have to Sing Everything. Your voice needs rest too. Whilst it is tempting and fun to sing everything, it will not serve you in the long run. Try to: * Use a guide track with vocals * Play the melody on the piano *If you are using well know songs, ask a student to sing the melody to demonstrate * If you have to sing, don't sing at full volume Drink Your Water Experts are pretty clear on this one. Dehydrated vocal chords are less lubricated and become red and irritated quicker. Constant irritation leads to the vocal chords trying to protect themselves by growing the vocal chords equivalent of calluses, which is the thing that terrifies teachers and singers alike: nodes. Change up how you manage your classes (and stop yelling!) It's easy, quick and probably achieves the desired result, but yelling to control your class is not good in the long run. Your voice will be trashed, the children will become desensitized (leading you to having to yell more forcefully) and it sends the wrong message to your students...save yelling for the odd occasion when you are very, very angry.
There are far more effective and less damaging ways to call for attention or correct behaviour, including; * All your "low key" responses. Remember studying Bennett and Smilanich at uni? The look, proximity, scanning the room, gesture, touch. They work and save your voice. * Bells, whistles, countdown timers. * Clapped patterns. Good for aural rhythm recognition as well. These are the three that have saved my voice. In addition to these you could also: * Sip warm tea or water * Use a humidifier at home * Maintain a healthy lifestyle * Don't smoke, and avoid places where people are smoking * If you do need to yell, support your voice well by taking a deep breath first. * Warm up before you start teaching for the day * Get a good night sleep! I sincerely hope some of these are helpful to teachers out there, as I am sure I am not alone in this experience. "Miss, I can't work this xylophone. It's controls aren't the same as my Xbox 1." (Look I get it. They both require a series of complex movements to achieve a desired result. My face still looked like Captain Jack's though. I must work on controlling my facial expressions)
This post could also be titled "What I wish I knew before I started this job".
I didn't train as a Primary School Music Specialist, mostly because there is no specific uni degree for what I do. Most Primary School Specialists fit into either one of two categories: * Qualified High School Specialist who (for a variety of reasons) migrated to teaching Primary School. *Primary Classroom Teacher who has extra training or a special interest in their chosen subject area and fell into Specialist teaching. So my background is High School Drama and English, however I wound up teaching Drama, Dance and Music to years 8-12, and then migrated to teaching Primary school Performing Arts. These are the things I wish I knew before starting this job: Specialist Teaching is Lonely When I taught high school, I taught in a team. We would often collaborate, we could talk to each other about curriculum issues and we would share projects and team teach. There was a great sense of relief to be able to work with someone whose passion and area of expertise matched your own. In my school I am fortunate enough to be in the "Specialist" curriculum team. It means that I have people in my learning team that teach and manage similarly structured classes to my own, and I work at a school that respects and values the role of the Specialist teacher. However, in many schools this is not the case. Specialists sit through Professional Development that has little to no relevance to what they teach in the classroom. They work with colleagues who don't teach or understand their particular subject area and in general, are very isolated. They also need to make many decisions alone without collaboration or a 'sounding board', in the form of a fellow team member. Sometimes it is soul crushingly lonely. What do we do about it? Get involved. Reach out to other teachers in your discipline in your area. Do every and all specialist PD you can get your hands on. Get emails, and actually follow up and email people. Share programmes. Jump on facebook and start a group. If you are a department teacher, log into Connect and join ALL the groups. Do WAGSM, ASME PDs, May Day, Schools Make Music, Local ANZAC Day Ceremonies, Local shows (Canning Show, Kelmscott Show), contact your local Music shop and introduce yourself...I know I did! Surround yourself with your tribe. Teaching is not an easy gig, but it is made easier with intelligent, inspiring and down right cool people supporting you. Specialist Teaching is Physically and Mentally Exhausting Classroom teachers have a lot to cram into their work days, however they have the full spectrum of a day, with it's natural highs and lows to work within. There is literacy and numeracy, as well as HASS and all the other incredible things they get done, but there is also finishing off time, Go Noodle brain break time, Silent reading time and all the other 'times' that allow you to breathe, order your desk, mentally catch up or observe the incredible little people we teach. In a Specialist Classroom, you have to be the MOST EXCITING PERSON five or six times a day, every working day. Your time with that particular class is so incredibly precious, and you definitely cannot get through everything in the curriculum if you allocate 5 minutes every week for 'packing away' or 'finishing off'. You are constantly revising, as you may not have seen your class for a week, or more if you had a carnival or a public holiday, and you feel like you are assessing every second or third week and still don't have enough data to write reports. What do we do about it? Well, first of all, we need to get smarter about assessment. Do you need to assess every child, every outcome? Will a group task provide just as much data? Are you still marking writing tasks when you could be using Plickers or Kahoots? Do you do over the shoulder marking or peer marking? Do you record or video work for moderation? Can your lower years interview each other with ipads? Also, we need our down time as well. Some days it is nice have a clean classroom, and a room of year 2s simply love being asked to tidy the instruments, even for the two minutes before recess. Can the 'hook' of your lesson be an inspiring clip on YouTube so you have 2 minutes to catch your breath? Do you have a Level 3 EA in the room who can supervise, so you can dash to the toilet? All of these things will make such a difference to your stress levels at the end of the week. Specialist Teaching is Fulfilling Early childhood is my least favourite age bracket to teach. They cry, they dob, they put snot on everything and I tired quickly of going over Beat and Pitch. However, the year 1 students I taught nursery rhymes and clapping games to, are my year 6 students who are singing complex harmonies and sight reading and composing incredible film scores and writing essays about Australian protest music. And guess what? I got to lead them on that journey. That makes me feel pretty proud. What can we do about it? Just keep being awesome at what you do. Have I missed anything? What do you wish you had been told? |