I'm sure there is a plethora of research studies on bullying in schools.
I've seen a bit of bullying lately from the subtle 'I was your buddy yesterday, but today am talking with other friends and am not inclined to include you in this interaction' to the outright nasty comment delivered in a variety of ways, not the least of which is via social media devices.
I've noted that girls can be particularly cruel to one another. Even a little one of 8 years texting to another "I'm cool and you're not".
A mum said to me today that she agreed girls can be vicious to one another, but she does not observe this in boys. She has both amongst her family and cites a particularly bad year for bullying experienced by her daughter. She changed schools and all was well. I'm not saying the bullying caused the change to another school as I don't know the facts of that matter.
I ask the question : Are boys less prone to bullying than girls? I just am not on top of the research in this area.
I hold to the view that a school community with a skilfully crafted student/staff wellbeing program will have less bullying. Can anyone out there substantiate my hypothesis or on the other hand refute it with hard research evidence? In my time as a Principal I was concerned with the wellbeing of all staff and students, but did not have a purposefully crafted wellbeing program. Such a thing was unheard of in my time. This is not an excuse it just wasn't talked about professionally to any great extent.
May the Force be with you!
GD
Tuesday 2 June 2020
Monday 1 June 2020
Still Learning
In my previous post I lauded teachers and principals for the way they have risen to the challenges of online learning for students as a result of the covid pandemic. I also mentioned that I'd been able to mentor my young grand children as they participated in the online learning from home.
It was a learning experience watching the skills of 8 and 9 year olds year olds in using the iPad, the vehicle for the learning. Even more exciting was my re-education on how maths is taught today.
I had left the classroom environment before the use of mathematical things such as the number line appeared in the curriculum. I had been clinging to the view that a sound grounding in automatic response to knowing the multiplication tables and the number facts to 19 were a basic grounding to achieving numeracy. Also being effective in bridging tens for addition. I clung to this view even in the context of calculators being available. I was enlightened in seeing my grand children use the number line to carry out complex addition and subtraction. They were learning to tackle theses tasks in a problem solving sort of way rather than just utilising the automatic responses of which I speak.
I also marvelled at their knowledge of 2D and 3D shapes and how they understood faces, edges and vertices. They were even into a more geometric approach to angles within the 360 degree spectrum.
'Look it's nothing new', I hear you say, 'you have just been away form the coalface for too long'. Be that as it may I am beginning to see the STEM influence across the mathematic's curriculum. I have been converted from a view that the mathematicians had hijacked the school maths syllabus to the detriment of the necessary attainment of functional numeracy.
Despite all of the above revelations I still think it would be easier all round for students if they achieved the automatic responses noted above. These could be applied within the problem solving approach. I could see where my grandies laboured at times because they did not know the appropriate tables and number facts. They were resorting to counting on fingers and saying the appropriate time tables from the beginning until they reached the table needed. Very laborious despite the new methods they had available.
A constructive blending of the old with the relatively new might be the answer.
Got to say that for my teenage grandchild I was blown away by the idea of using Excel in calculating
surface area variations in 3D shapes. This for me is STEM truly in action in the contemporary mathematic's approach.
Oh to be young again and experiencing innovative teachers of maths going about the business of opening up such a wide range of career choices through the STEM approach.
Please don't be too hard on me you maths' experts out there.
May the Force be with you!
GD
It was a learning experience watching the skills of 8 and 9 year olds year olds in using the iPad, the vehicle for the learning. Even more exciting was my re-education on how maths is taught today.
I had left the classroom environment before the use of mathematical things such as the number line appeared in the curriculum. I had been clinging to the view that a sound grounding in automatic response to knowing the multiplication tables and the number facts to 19 were a basic grounding to achieving numeracy. Also being effective in bridging tens for addition. I clung to this view even in the context of calculators being available. I was enlightened in seeing my grand children use the number line to carry out complex addition and subtraction. They were learning to tackle theses tasks in a problem solving sort of way rather than just utilising the automatic responses of which I speak.
I also marvelled at their knowledge of 2D and 3D shapes and how they understood faces, edges and vertices. They were even into a more geometric approach to angles within the 360 degree spectrum.
'Look it's nothing new', I hear you say, 'you have just been away form the coalface for too long'. Be that as it may I am beginning to see the STEM influence across the mathematic's curriculum. I have been converted from a view that the mathematicians had hijacked the school maths syllabus to the detriment of the necessary attainment of functional numeracy.
Despite all of the above revelations I still think it would be easier all round for students if they achieved the automatic responses noted above. These could be applied within the problem solving approach. I could see where my grandies laboured at times because they did not know the appropriate tables and number facts. They were resorting to counting on fingers and saying the appropriate time tables from the beginning until they reached the table needed. Very laborious despite the new methods they had available.
A constructive blending of the old with the relatively new might be the answer.
Got to say that for my teenage grandchild I was blown away by the idea of using Excel in calculating
surface area variations in 3D shapes. This for me is STEM truly in action in the contemporary mathematic's approach.
Oh to be young again and experiencing innovative teachers of maths going about the business of opening up such a wide range of career choices through the STEM approach.
Please don't be too hard on me you maths' experts out there.
May the Force be with you!
GD
An Educational Revolution
While universities have been running online learning for some time now Covid19 has meant that for weeks Australian schools have been teaching students online as they maintained isolation measures at home.
I was privileged to mentor my grand children in this online learning and I compliment the teachers on how they adjusted and brought effective learning into the many homes. This was a new thing for these teachers but they met the challenge as I always maintain teachers do. I think it opened the eyes of many parents just how complex and demanding the teaching job can be. This week my grandies returned to full time attendance at school. I could hear the sighs of relief form many parents whispering across the land.
I take my hat off to the Principals who have been faced with complex decisions during the Covid pandemic. Traditionally schools have a detailed emergency evacuation and disaster response plan. Now they also have a Covid plan to keep students and staff safe and to respond quickly to a student or staff member testing positive.
I've not written a post for some time owing to the passing of a loved one from my family, but here I am back on deck with maybe a few more tiresome thoughts from a retired Principal. I say again being a school principal is one of the most rewarding jobs on the planet.
May the Force be with you!
GD
I was privileged to mentor my grand children in this online learning and I compliment the teachers on how they adjusted and brought effective learning into the many homes. This was a new thing for these teachers but they met the challenge as I always maintain teachers do. I think it opened the eyes of many parents just how complex and demanding the teaching job can be. This week my grandies returned to full time attendance at school. I could hear the sighs of relief form many parents whispering across the land.
I take my hat off to the Principals who have been faced with complex decisions during the Covid pandemic. Traditionally schools have a detailed emergency evacuation and disaster response plan. Now they also have a Covid plan to keep students and staff safe and to respond quickly to a student or staff member testing positive.
I've not written a post for some time owing to the passing of a loved one from my family, but here I am back on deck with maybe a few more tiresome thoughts from a retired Principal. I say again being a school principal is one of the most rewarding jobs on the planet.
May the Force be with you!
GD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)