5 Minute Lesson Plans: Area and Circumference of Circles

5 Minute Lesson Plan: Unit Conversions for Area

5 Minute Lesson Plan: 2D Measurement - Composite Figures

5 Minute Lesson Plan: 2D Measurement Formulae

5 Minute Lesson Plan: Factorising HCF

(My) Classroom Expectations

As promised... see if you can guess what the 'blurb' for each one was!

Nothing fancy - and not very high quality - these posters are just meant as reminders of the conversation we had at the beginning of the year! But at least I had a giggle with the last one. Hint: the blurb had to do with a) soaring and b) extinction.



yours
jjr

High Expectations in the Classroom

Hello, and welcome back to me!

I took a blog-break in the month of January, partly to give myself a chance to really get back into the school year and partly to reflect and re-evaluate the purpose of this blog. No conclusions really, and no big ambitions blogwise for the year - suffice it to say that here I am, posting again!

Before the school year begins we always have a series of professional growth meetings as a staff, and one of the main things that my principal mentioned this year was High Expectations. This post is based on some of the things he said. (Also some of the things I thought - you know I'm never short of an opinion!)

The theory of the matter is that having high expectations seriously influences student performance, not least because they mean that my behaviour changes slightly...

Every year is a fresh start and a chance to reset our expectations of the students (yay! one of my favourite parts of being a teacher). Homework completion wasn't really up to scratch last year? Behaviour a bit dodgy? Start over. These are new students, or students at a new grade level. And the students probably want a new start just as much as I do.

So, how do I set high expectations? Here's the set of tips I took away from the session:

• Be specific - and use clear language
• Make them visible - display them in your classroom and refer to them frequently
• Use teaching techniques which reinforce your expectations (like no opt out, right is right, stretch it and format matters - all from Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov, and subject for another post I think!)

Being a good employee (hahaha!) I went away and thought about my expectations. Being a good English teacher, I made sure my thoughts alliterated. I printed them out on plain white paper, discussed them with all my classes and have just (two weeks later) stuck them up in my classroom.

What are they? 

Tomorrow.

yours expectantly

jjr 

Destination 2014: Magical Maths

Hello, I'm back! I haven't given up on the Destination 2014 series - just had to take an enforced pit-stop while we took our u15 girls chess team to Nationals (where we came 4th in the country, by the way!). But now it's time for the next area of thought - Magical Maths!

While English is my first love, Maths is my first teaching love - it's the first subject I ever taught, and probably my favourite subject to teach. Well, maybe not. I don't know. But anyway I enjoy teaching it.

I've been teaching Maths for four years now, and I believe I am starting to get the basics right. Of course now the syllabus is changing, but I think the underlying principles are remaining the same, and I can teach those. I have a solid selection of basic resources for different topics, and enough headspace to create more as necessary during the year. I have also developed a sprinkling of interesting/inspiring ways of introducing topics and making them come to life which I can reuse each year.

So yes, I think (hopefully without hubris) that I'm a pretty decent Maths teacher at this point.

Now to improve!

The thing about Maths is that it's often awfully dry. Most people don't find the subject interesting for its own sake. They take it because they have to, and hate it most of the time. They struggle with it, stress over it, get poor marks for it. They blame the teacher, blame themselves, blame the system. All in all Maths is a stressful, often unsatisfying subject to teach or learn. Understanding seems to be an unattainable goal.

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The role of the Maths teacher, if anything, is to tie the learner up in knots, confusing them and rendering them complete incapable of making the climb to Mathematical brilliance.

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The Maths itself, rather like Rapunzel's hair, becomes this esoteric weapon which the teacher wields mysteriously, and the learner has no hope of developing for him or herself. But it doesn't have to be. The teacher could teach every learner to wield a weapon. If not the glorious hair of Mathematical truth then at least... the sword of logic? The frying pan of hard work? And once the learners are armed? Well then we can all tackle the tower of Mathematics together instead of working at cross purposes.

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How to make Maths magical? I think the answer is somewhat counter-intuitive. Make it more magical by making it more predictable. Predictability is where the learners will discover the frying pans and swords which will make their Mathematical experience manageable.

Usually I would think that predictability would make a subject boring. But actually I think that predictability cuts down of stress. And cutting down on stress makes learning possible. And once learning is possible - then you can start having fun.

Here are some of the ways in which I will be trying to increase predictability in my Maths classes this year:

1. Structure: Learners need to feel that they know how each lesson/chapter is going to go. I had great results this year when I published a lesson by lesson plan of a chapter before starting. This helped the global thinkers to work out where everything fitted in, and helped the incredibly busy people to plan their workload. And it helped all of us to stay on task.
2. Homework: Unfortunately Maths is one of those subjects where homework needs to be done (and checked in class) every.single.day. I hate this. I find it tedious and boring. BUT. It is necessary. I got it mostly right in 2013, but let it slide a bit (at least the checking part) towards the end of the year when I became demoralised by how many students weren't bothering. That's not okay. I need to find the energy to persist in following this up all year.
3. Independent Work: I want to make a greater variety of resources available to the learners online. This includes extra worksheets and memos, videos, quizzes and so on. I want them to be able to do extra "frying pan drills" whenever they can. In our department we are going to try and make better use of Edmodo to post these extra resources once a week after our subject meetings. This also puts some of the onus onto the learners and parents: if they want to improve, the tools are there.
4. Communication with parents: This is key. It connects with structure, homework and independent work. It links to preparation for tests and exams. The basic principal is this. If the classroom is the battleground of Mathematics, then the home is the training ground. And the parents are the drill sergeants. They just need to know what to do. SMSWEB, Edmodo, emails and phone calls... essential.

I know that despite its title this post hasn't really mentioned much about Maths itself. But all these structural points are what I believe enable me and my learners to actually get the Maths done. Because trust me, it's a WAR out there, and we need to be as thoroughly equipped as possible.

Do you think predictability helps or hinders learning?

yours mathematically

jjr

Destination 2014: Excellent English

I so enjoyed writing the first post in my "Destination 2014" series, not because I think I will get all that stuff right, but because it means that all those ideas and aspirations have stopped swirling around my head. I stopped desperately trying to remember all those things I want to get right next year, because it's all written down...

Ahem! So, speaking of the necessity of writing... Another aspect of my goals for next year: Excellent English!

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(Belle is me, encouraging my students to greater heights in the great library of the English language. Look, there the little learners are, disguised as furniture...)

I have one fewer English classes in 2014, and I will be focusing (yay!) on the juniors: grade 8 and 9. A bit of background: I love teaching English, but found the switch from all Maths in 2012 to 3/5 English classes in 2013 extremely stressful. Even the ways in which the departments function is totally different, and I was tearing my hair out in 14 different positions trying to keep up with everything I needed to know/learn/teach/do. So going a tiny bit back into my comfort zone - while keeping the incredibly joy of teaching English as well - is really the best of both worlds for me. I'm so lucky to be at a school where management at least tries to take my preferences into account (most of the time!).

So. Two English classes. Juniors. My focus - which links up with the focus of my department, don't worry - is writing! I want learners to be able to write fluently, confidently and above all with enjoyment. How do I get that right?

Well, they need to get inspiration from good writing, observing what works so that they can reproduce it...

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They need to write all the time, in all kinds of weird and wonderful situations...

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They need to work on writing, critiquing and editing each others' work...

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And at the end of the day they need to take flight and write LOADS:

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(The old man is me, admiring the huge oeuvre of writing that the learner's will have produced by the end of the year. This time Belle is a student, showing off her wonderful work!)

Let me stop mixing my Disney movie metaphors (though at least I stuck to one movie this time) and get down to brass tacks. These are some of the things I want to implement in my English class (in no particular order other than that which they occur to me!):

1. Class Blog where each child makes one post per term - themes would be book reviews, comments on literature studied in class, creative pieces etc... A strict schedule would have to be set up at the beginning of the year to ensure high quality, varied content. I have taken the first step towards setting this up, but the idea needs some fine tuning particularly with regards to privacy for the learners. But I think it is important to expose the kids to writing in the modern world, and blogs are an important part of that. Plus, how better to drive home the need for editing than knowing that the world will be able to see your work?
2. Journals for private/free writing at some point in every single lesson. They have brought A5 books for this purpose. Now all I need to do is choose topics that integrate the journal writing with our other class work. I am starting an index card box full of "topics". We need to just produce VOLUME of creative output, at least to start with.
3. Integration of writing work with EVERY other topic we cover. Grammar rule? Let's use it in a piece of writing. Poem? Let's mimic the poet's style. Novel? Let's write a letter from the point of view of one of the characters. Writing needs to be a part of absolutely every lesson, topic, idea. An INTEGRAL part. This impacts a lot on how I need to plan my lessons...
4. Grammatical Correctness - of every sentence and paragraph. Not always - of course there is room for "free writing" (see point 2) but sometimes we have to sit and nitpick at the grammar of their writing until every child can write a perfect sentence. A careful, precise, simple sentence. A controlled, specific paragraph with no "fluff". Much harder said than done. This takes a lot of editing, proofreading, time, effort. Especially on my part. It's an investment. On a related note: vocab lists and spelling tests. Yes. Peer editing. Yes. This also impacts a lot on how I plan my lessons. Duh. Should I do another post on lesson planning? 
5. Functional Writing. This is important. The writing they learn needs to WORK. They need to be able to see its usefulness in their other subjects and ultimately in their lives. Do we need to write love letters before Valentine's Day? We are already spending the whole of the first term in grade 9 concentrating on formal writing to help them with their major Science Fair project in the second term. Where else can I demonstrate the practical applications of their writing skills?

I have a lot more to say about my ideas for English next year. But this is already a marathon post, and is probably full of those errors I want my learners to weed out of their work. More later, if I get a chance what with all this lesson prep that needs to happen.

How would you teach writing?

yours writingly,

jjr

Fun in the Classroom - Zombie Apocalypse

So Megan has once again (I think) hit the nail on the head with her link-up party and is collecting ideas for having some FUN in the classroom. Especially in high school classrooms we seem to get awfully serious and grown-up and (horrors!) test-driven. No wonder teachers and students always seem to be stressed, miserable, reluctant, bored or a combination of the above. Whether it is something small like a sweet rewarded 5 minute quiz at the start of class (bribery for the win!) or something more educationally sound (we hope), I am a firm believer in FUN for the classroom (also parentheses for the sentences...and exclamation marks, clearly!).

My latest and greatest FUN idea is entitled:

The Zombie Apocalypse

image from Shaun of the Dead - the only Zombie movie I've ever seen. I hated it.

It was born in last lesson on a very long, dull day when frankly the last thing I felt like doing was the next little poem or grammar exercise. Does anyone else find that some of the best ideas emerge when you're avoiding something?

I only played the game with with my English classes, because a) Maths is too curriculum crowded and b) it was harder to make it sound relevant in Maths. But I think at the beginning of next year I will play it with all my classes - I found the activity really thought provoking for me and my students. Not only that, but it really gave insight into certain class dynamics and opened doors for really fascinating class discussions in the lessons that followed.

So, without further ado, I offer you The Zombie Apocalypse Game.

I start building it up very seriously. I have a very important question to ask you... Something everyone should think about in their lives... Something potentially life changing, and very serious... 

"So, if there was a Zombie Apocalypse..."

[wait for laughter to die down]

"...and everyone in the world was infected except the people in this very classroom, and the school building was surrounded by Zombies, and we have one hour to prepare before they break through the fence and attack us..."

[forgive the criminally compounded sentence but that's how I talk sometimes]

"...where in the school building would we go, and what would we do?"

[pause for the murmur of conversation, questions and general surprise]

"...and by the way, there is only one right answer."

[mostly true, so far, though every time I've played I've added to that 'right' answer]

The answers to that question forms the first part of the lesson. Getting food, water and weapons; finding a safe-ish location - it takes a while to debate, discuss and generally argue about all the issues raised. After the first few minutes of confusion, everyone has an opinion. I'm very strict about not "cheating on the thought experiment" - but within the bounds of the question, anything goes.

The second part of the game is much more challenging - both to play and to manage. I start by pointing out this sad truth:

"Um, guys... we've just used up half of our survival time  arguing..."

This leads to a discussion about how best to make survival decisions most effectively. So far every time we have decided to elect captains in various fields: defence, food & water, health and long term survival. We talk about what would make a good captain for each of these categories - what personal characteristics will benefit the group.

Then I ask for nominations (with motivations) from the class. This part is tricky. I come down very hard on rude or inappropriate nominations, and I warn them beforehand to think carefully about what they are going to say before they open their mouths. But once the process is moving properly it can be incredibly affirming for the kids. It forces them to think about the qualities they REALLY admire in their classmates, instead of the silly things which often result in popularity at school.

Once captains have been nominated (I don't actually take it to a vote, but rather accept all sensible nominations) we discuss priorities and assign a different number of people to each work category based on urgency and heaviness of the tasks involved. 

All in all, this part of the game still looks like fun, but it is actually pretty serious work. Strengths and weaknesses, group work, prioritizing - it starts to look like a serious assignment! But we're all still (somehow) engaged, and having fun. Weird, huh?

The last part of the game gets very deep and begins to tread on very sensitive ground. In fact I don't play it with every class. But if I decide to take the plunge, it sounds like this:

"But what happens if some of us don't act in the best interests of the group?"

The kids have got my point by now, but they're still so absorbed in the game that they're willing to really think about it for a change.

We discuss whether we should elect an overall captain, and how we would choose that person. We talk about the important role of "enforcer", and some of the rules we would choose and choose to enforce. And of course HOW they would be enforced. Curriculum links to The Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm become obvious at this point, but the same discussions come up in any class. If I did this at the beginning of the year then links to classroom constitutions are practically mandatory.

Either way, the game has paid its weight in educational value.

And it's fun! It really is. In the weeks after I played this I have heard rumours of zombie apocalypses in the playground. Other classes have requested that we play. 

I smile. Me 1, Boredom 0.

[linking to Megan's Better Together Linky! Thanks Megan... Go check out the other entries!]

yours in survival mode,
jjr

Teacher Appreciation Cupcakes

Show any teachers in your life some chocolatey, strawberry-ey love this week! Thank you school governing body for our early morning treat :-) We also got wonderful brown paper bags full of goodies at lunch time - what a special day!

Stayin' Alive: My Classroom Management Survival Strategy

I am not a disciplinarian. I am not super strict or super scary. And I think I've come to accept that. I'm young and relatively inexperienced - and occasionally I find their naughtinesses funny (anathema!). But I can still manage a classroom well. I can still make sure I am the boss when it comes to the important things. Even in a class filled to overflowing with rowdy, hormonious (sic) teenagers. Linking up (for the first time ever, go me!) with Megan at M*Print...here are my top survival strategies for chaos (I mean, classroom) management.

1) Insist.

Decide which battles you want to fight and be willing to stop the class and spend however long it takes winning. Once you've thrown down the gauntlet you MUST win. Unless a child presents a sensible argument as to why the gauntlet shouldn't have been thrown down in the first place (oops!) in which case apologies and move on. Everyone else in the classroom is willing to waste learning time to misbehave, so you sometimes HAVE to call their collective bluff and be willing to 'waste' learning time to insist on good behaviour. And break time too, if necessary. On a related note, if you say you'll do something as a punishment (give detention, call parents, whatever) you MUST do it. Not following through = discipline suicide. On another related, and perhaps obvious note...

2) Pick your battles

Don't throw the gauntlet on the floor for every little thing. It's too exhausting and time consuming otherwise. Ask yourself whether it is really worth it. Johnny putting a sweet in his mouth? Not so much. Johnny swearing at Billy? Definitely. Johnny and Billy having a quiet conversation about something unrelated? Your call. These are the things I will go to battle for, more or less in order of importance:

•   anything that threatens the safety and well being of themselves or the other people in the classroom (hitting, nasty remarks, setting things on fire...)
•  anything that severely impairs the ability of anyone in the class to learn (talking loudly, not taking books out, coming late...)
•  anything that impairs my ability to teach (or irritates the living $&#% out of me - whistling continuously, throwing pens and papers, eating something that rustles or stinks...)

I try to think about a potential infraction VERY carefully before putting on my helmet and elbow guards and wading into the fray. If it doesn't fit one of those categories, I often let it slide. And if it does fit one of those categories...

3) Explain

I've always had a better response, and less repetition of bad behaviour if I have addressed the WHY and not just the what. If the class understands the underlying reason behind why I'm going all in on an issue, they are less likely to brush it off as the teacher being petty or just 'in a bad mood', and more likely to change the problematic behaviour. Okay, SLIGHTLY more likely.

4) Correct rather than punish

This one isn't always possible, but it's one of my favourites. If the behaviour isn't all that heinous, or hasn't been repeated all that often, or simply isn't that big a deal... as if often isn't (because let's face it, most issues we deal with are stupid petty little things), then there isn't always a need to provide a punishment. This saves time, whining and emotional energy. It also means that when I do punish, it is a lot more of a big deal. In my classroom a detention is a BIG DEAL. It doesn't mean that the other behaviours, the ones I correct without punishment, are acceptable. They still have to stop. They still provoke a discussion, and sometimes even a consequence. It just might not warrant a punishment. Starting with correction also leaves you with somewhere to go if the behaviour doesn't change.

5) Quality Time

That's all very well, but we all know those kids who are perennial offenders. The constant chirper. The lazy lout. The latecomer. The attention seeker. I honestly don't know how to deal with those kids, but the strategy that has come closest to working is... quality time. Call the kid over privately, after class, or when you see them wandering around after school. Find out their 'why'. Take an interest in their circumstances. Can you make any small changes which will help them correct their own behaviour. Most kids don't like being in trouble. Let them know you don't like their being in trouble either. Call the parent for a friendly, concerned chat. It helps more often than I would have thought. Surprise! Apparently that naughty kid ISN'T actually evil...

*ahem*

For that kid who doesn't respond to that, to ANYTHING... my last resort is:

6) Get help

I have been lucky enough to find myself in a very supportive school, with many helpful bosses at different levels. I have battled and LOST battles with various learners through the years, and have gone knocking on doors with a frantic SOS. People, you will get to the point where you're just not coping. In which case... Don't be a hero. Ask for advice. Ask for help. Your boss/colleague/SOMEONE might need to come to the rescue.

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That's it from me. I haven't got all the answers, and goodness knows I'm still learning. I've certainly enjoyed working out how much I've learned about this whole aspect of teaching over the past few years, and I'm longing to read what everyone else says in the linky party "Better Together" at M*Print. Hope this contribution helps you too!

Good luck with the chaos management...

Yours in solidarity

jjr

Adventures in Teaching Connotation

Sorry for the bad photo, but it was taken off my whiteboard with my phone in the 5 minutes between lessons...

I put the basic sentence up, and divided the class in half. One half had to insert words with negative connotations, and the other half had to insert words with positive connotations. We started by changing nouns and verbs. Then we added adjectives and adverbs. They each wrote in their books (I allowed them to help each other in pairs and groups of three) and I wandered around giving the whiteboard markers to people who had interesting contributions to add to the board.

It took about ten minutes, and was a fabulous fun way to cement the ideas of denotation and connotation. In hindsight, it was also a fun way to sneak a bit of new vocabulary in to certain learner's repertoire! I will definitely do this again.

Homework Menus

I've been trialling a new way of running homework for my three English classes. I can't remember where I first saw the idea (online somewhere, duh!), so if you are or know of the original source then please send me the link and I will be excited to revisit the genius and credit him or her here...

As with many ideas found online, I liked it, and immediately started to think of ways to integrate it into my particular context. Since I have also been following Ken's thoughts on homework, the idea of a homework menu gave me a concrete "hook" for thinking about how to give kids (and their parents) more control over their own homework situation.

What I particularly liked about the Homework Menu idea:

• Allows the student to choose (to some extent) which items he or she would like to do, and which stink.
• Teaches time management (as the tasks need to be spread logically according to the individual's needs)
• Allows for differing extra-mural and personal schedules
• I only have to check/mark homework once a week!

What I didn't like about it:

• In Maths I can't imagine not giving immediate review work on each day's concept and expecting it to be done before I cover the next concept
• Requires a lot of forward planning
• I can't necessarily control every itty-bitty bit of homework - what if I really need this done, now?

Based on all of these concerns, I decided not to bring the Homework Menu into my two Maths classes. Too much change at once and I know that I won't maintain it. Plus I still haven't solved the problem of how to adapt it properly to a Maths environment. Maybe it just isn't appropriate there and I need a different model? Watch this space - I'm still working on it!

But I took the plunge with my three English classes, and so far (nearly three weeks in) I am cautiously optimistic.

These are the bare bones of how I'm running the system:

• I give out the Homework Menu (A5/6 sheet of paper) on a Monday (or Tuesday if I don't see them). It immediately gets stuck into their homework diaries, and I spend five or so minutes talking through the different options and taking questions.
• The kids have to complete the main course plus three others (starters, appetisers, soup, desert etc...)
• There is always at least one that they can leave out.
• The following week Monday, I have an exercise prepared for them to work on quietly and individually in class while I call them up one at a time. I spend two or three minutes with each child admiring what they've done, discussing what they had trouble with and talking about strategies to make sure that they are more successful in completing the work next week if they didn't do it.
• Currently, they all simply sign next to the task when it is complete, and bring some form of evidence to their "personal homework trainer" session with me. If a child is repeatedly struggling to get the work done, then I will call parents, explain the system to them, and get them to assist the child with his or her time-management and accountability. Then for that child, a parent signature will be required as well.
• Once I've checked everyone's work, we mark any exercises that needed direct marking. I take essays home to read through (not mark), and sometimes read exceptional ones out loud to the class a few days later. And sticker them of course. A gold star makes everything better. 
• I keep a record of completion. If a child has a perfect record over a number of weeks, regardless of quality, I reward them with a sticker in their books. Again, a gold star makes everything better.

What I like so far:

• Homework admin focused on a single day rather than a little bit every day.
• Personal attention to each child at least once a week
• Choice for child, but control for me (I choose what the compulsory main course is!)
• I get a sense of the types of task a child enjoys/consistently leaves out.
• Lots of recognition for the child, but also lots of support. 

What I'm finding difficult:

• Choosing valuable but more or less equally weighted tasks relevant to the current work we're covering.
• Pacing lessons so that all the tasks are possible by the end of the week.
• Seeing the long weekly admin session as an investment, not a waste.
• Letting go of SUPER CONTROLLING INNER TEACHER!
• Not giving "extra" homework during the week when I "just want them to finish this one little thing..."

So as always there are lots of positives, lots of things to work on. Overall, I like it. So far so good. We shall have to see how it progresses further...

Dear Government

...in particular the officials of the Western Cape Education Department,

Don't get me wrong, I know you guys are doing a decent job under incredibly difficult conditions. I know I'm fortunate to be a teacher in a wonderful, successful school. 

And I certainly appreciate the need for transparency and teacher evaluation. In fact, I'm all for it.

That being said, I don't think I'm going to be able to provide you with all the paperwork to prove that I'm doing a good job. Those daily lesson plans, the teacher files, the evaluation files, the assessment files, the learner book comments... Allow me to explain:

I usually get to school between 7:15 and 7:30 in the morning. That gives me enough time to check my emails and respond to the really urgent ones (usually from parents) before running down to the printing room to do some last minute print runs. Since I am in charge of one grade for Mathematics, sometimes these are print runs of 200+ copies, which I then need to count and distribute to the teachers in question. Sometimes I get a chance to have a quick cuppa before the morning meeting.

The morning staff meeting runs from 7:45 - 7:55, and gives me a chance to check the outline of my day in my diary. I always know who I am teaching, and have a clear idea of what I want to achieve in each lesson. I don't always have time to write it down in a form anyone else could understand. Sometimes I don't even get a chance to write it down at all.

From 7:55 to 8:05 I deal with my home/tutor class, taking register and dealing with any disciplinary, pastoral or uniform issues that require immediate attention. I have a child near tears during register about once a month, and have ten or so minutes to calm them down, while simultaneously preventing the rest of the class from tearing my classroom walls down. I deal with absentee notes, reply slips and excuse letters during this time. I need to send my kids to class not later than 8:02, so that they have time to be punctual for first lesson - and so that I can get my head into the teaching zone. 

I invariably teach in first lesson. From 8:05 on, I have a new batch of students entering my classroom roughly every 45 minutes, all at different grade levels, and all with different needs. There are five minute breaks between lessons. I try to reserve these for greeting students and starting lessons on positive notes, but often issues arising with kids from the previous lesson use this time up pretty rapidly. Depending on how my morning went, I might have an urgent email to send, or a pile of worksheets to dispatch to another teacher. I may need to send an SOS to the school counsellor or grade head about a child. I also need to switch my projector off to give it a rest, and make sure the computer is working well enough to produce my next set of slides or notes. Sometimes I realise at the last minute that a particular worksheet has slipped through the cracks, and I have to McGuiver a solution for the next lesson.

I teach five grades. Out of the 33 lessons available per week, I usually have three or four free for preparation and admin, less than one per grade - including the grade that I lead. Usually these lessons are swallowed up filling out forms about detentions or missed tests, responding to emails from colleagues and parents, preparing and distributing workplans and worksheets, and setting tests and assessments. It is unusual to have a chance to mark during free lessons. Sometimes I have time for a cup of coffee or tea.

In the remaining 28 or 29 lessons every week, I teach. I never give free lessons - there is no time in the syllabus. I seldom have a chance to revise. Most lessons will be taken up with teaching new content, working through examples and then assisted practice. I try to give homework every single day. It is seldom completed by everyone in the class, but I make sure I go through it for those diligent kids who get it done. In the senior classes, this is usually about 20% of the class. In the junior classes it is more like 70% -  a percentage which I have worked hard at increasing, and am very proud of.

I try to make sure that at least half of each lesson is spent working, and answering questions from the kids. I try to make sure that I am supportive and encouraging, especially of weaker students. I usually spend at least 5 to 10 minutes of each lesson coping with discipline issues.

At break I usually have meetings with members of my tutor class, special catch up sessions for kids who were absent, academic support meetings with the "at risk" kids that I mentor or members of the two sports teams which I manage. I try to spend at least 15 minutes of break in the staffroom, eating my lunch - otherwise I struggle to keep my energy high enough to teach effectively. I have break duty once every two weeks.

School ends at 3pm. From 3 until 3:30 I sit in my classroom, supervising classroom cleaning by the kids in my tutor class, and coping with any situations that the kids bring to me as a result of whatever happened during the school day. At least once a week there will be a major or minor conflict to be resolved between two members of my class. Bullying, fighting, pregnancy, drug abuse, parental issues, boyfriend issues, academic issues - I never know what will land on my desk in this half hour. I try to be discerning about which issues need to be passed on to someone else - I am forever grateful for the excellent support system at my school.

At 3:30 I go to my extra mural commitments - either hockey or chess, depending on the day of the week. I have an extra mural every day. If it is a hockey day, I am able to take some marking with me. If there are no crises with the two teams or the coaches (medical, emotional, disciplinary) then I am able to get some work done on the side of the field. I will tutor kids during this time where possible - especially those who have been absent or lazy and have asked me to help them catch up. About once every two months some fairly minor injury needs to attention, but I am fortunate not to have been involved with any serious injuries so far.

At 5pm, sport is over for the day. I go back inside to finish up on admin before heading home. I usually get home at about 6pm, though I try to do earlier where possible. I am grateful to live close to my workplace - otherwise I would seldom get home before 7pm. I usually have 2-3 evening work commitments per term (PTLs etc...). 

Parent meetings also have to happen during the 3:30-6pm slot, so I have to arrange to be away from my sports practices about 5-8 times per term. Meetings with parents are a great way to communicate, and I try to accomodate them as often as possible. They seldom last less than an hour.

When I get home at 6pm, I am very tired. My husband and I are both teachers, so we are both very tired. If the day has been a particularly traumatic one in terms of the issues that land on one of our desks, we need to debrief for upwards of an hour. We have dinner (usually a defrosted meal that we made over the weekend - if we were lucky), and try to work. I am seldom able to focus on marking or preparation unless it is an emergency. 

As a result, most marking and preparation happens over the weekend, in between sports fixtures. This is also the only time we can see family and friends. Our friends who aren't in education find our social absence difficult to understand. Those who are in education commiserate. Our families get scant attention, despite our very best intentions. 

So please understand that while I'm doing my best to be a decent teacher, your extra paperwork is unlikely to happen. I can barely keep up with the "essentials" of marking and preparation. Please tell me that is more important to you than having your boxes ticked? 

Your sincerely

Belaboured Employee

Teaching Transformations and CAPS

Since the curriculum changed soon after I left high school (2008 for the first batch of matriculants), geometrical transformations (reflections, rotations, translations and enlargements) have been a small but important part of the curriculum in Maths from grade eight through to grade twelve.

If you've forgotten what geometric transformations are then there is a fun free powerpoint with lots of pretty pictures here. There are also awesome notes and visualisation tools here.

Now we have just started grade ten roll-out of a new new-curriculum: CAPS. And we decide to remove ALL transformations from grade 10 to 12. Which is cool...we have to take something out to make room for all the new stuff...

But the problem is that teaching functions (linear, quadratic, hyperbolic, exponential) is really lacking in depth if you teach it without referring back to transformations (I should know, I learnt it without any knowledge of transformations). Functions are so much more sensible if you understand transformations. And Maths should always be sensible. Well, where possible anyway.

Net result: we teach almost all of the transformations (leaving out detailed rules of rotation) in grade 8 and 9. We do basic understanding of physical transformations in grade 8. This means that in a one-two week module in grade 9 we have to achieve a reasonable level of understanding and competency with the rules of translations, reflection and enlargement.

Bear in mind that being decent, hard-working teachers (most days of the week), we don't just want to give them the rules and let them get on with it. We want them to at least have a "hand-wavy" understanding of where the rules come from.

With this aim in mind, I have created a series of worksheets aimed to develop a solid intuition about how the various types of transformations can be represented algebraically. I attach some screenshots of the best bits for your delectation and delight. I will put them on TPT as soon as I've given them a test run (and since it'll be a test run by my whole department it should be reasonably accurate **we hope**)

The aim is to start with what the kids CAN do (writing points as coordinates, physically transforming the shape using geometrical methods...) or at least are supposed to be able to do. Needless to say half of them will have forgotten, which is why I'm planning to use this series of worksheets as "do on your own - now do together" type resources, question by question so that the weaker kiddies don't get completely lost or end up going on their own little completely incorrect mission.

But we need to move very swiftly on to focusing on the coordinates of vertices, and figuring out the relationship between the object coordinates and image coordinates. Otherwise we stay in grade 8 forever...the horror!!

You'll notice that 2.4 represents quite a jump forward. So I anticipate spending a fair bit of time in class looking at the table together and formulating a sensible answer. The second half of question 2 then does exactly the same process all over again with the other translation shown in the image...

Then, after some notes and a fair bit of repetition, we get onto using the notation properly and skipping out the intermediate steps. In other words, actually using the rules which they will now be intuitively happy with.

When we go onto the next installment (reflections), we take the steps a teeny bit faster, and they have to get to the comparison of coordinates a teeny bit more independently. Just to mix things up a bit (and prevent the stronger learners from getting too bored).

I won't bore you with endless repetitions: I do essentially the same thing three times for translation, reflection and enlargement, and a brief version for rotations. The emphasis throughout is on correct notation and terminology, and attempting to make a strong intuitive link between the algebraic representation and the geometric representation.

AND FINALLY...we whizz through a whole bunch of exam type questions. Just to satisfy the endless chorus of "What's in the exam, ma'am??", and of course also to calm the nervous and generally satisfy curriculum requirements. 

What do you think?

Can we get through this in 5x forty minute lessons??

We really need to, so wish us luck!

Brilliant Mathematical Thinking (or is that brilliant daydreaming??)

Transcript:
In algebric equation if 1+y is the sum you cannot add 1 and y together for example 1 would be a man and y would be a crocodile. But 1 [times] y can be possible because for example 1 would be a man and y would be a crocodile but [times] would be the fairy that change 1 and y into a frog so they can stay together then the answer is 1y.

Smiley face but no mark...

area/perimeter/maskingtape

Teaching area to grade 9s - fun with masking tape and whiteboard pens! In fact, this is basically an excuse to have more fun and scoot around on the floor in Maths...

Beware the Ides of November (for the Southern Hemisphere)

These days it seems like I turn around and two weeks have just GONE. FOREVER.

For example, I am nearing the end of my first year as a full time teacher. So since I have been in a listing mood recently it seems appropriate to list some of the things I have learnt this year.

1. Be bossier!

Let's face it: being bossy is basically part of my job. Diffidence might be charming but it doesn't help kids learn. And frankly, some times its more important to be confident than right. At least forging confidently ahead despite uncertainty demonstrates where the potholes are (though sacrificing a party member or two is not ideal; not even in the interests of making an accurate map of the terrain).

 
Some of the arenas in which I need to be bossier are discipline, record keeping, note taking and time keeping. I particularly sometimes need to be bossier with my colleagues. When I know what I'm talking about (which I do, occasionally), then I need to insist.




2. Plan more.


A planned week is 100% better than an unplanned week. Don't get the wrong impression - I don't actually FOLLOW my plan. But having lessons ready and resources printed and schedules created and all that jazz still makes a huge difference.

The difficulty is that planning is never as urgent as a thousand other bits and pieces. It tends to feel like procrastination. 

IT ISN'T.

At the moment I'm sacrificing loads of other more urgent work (like admin, marking etc.) in order to plan for next year. And I'm sure that this is the right decision. Not only does planning help me to teach better, it also helps me to teach with a higher level of confidence and fluency. It helps to decrease stress levels and exhaustion levels. It is also easier to be creative in advance. So if you plan, you're more likely to be creative. See points 1, 4 and 5 if you're still not sure why planning more is a good idea!


3. Live closer to work.

This just isn't worth it:

The stress, the time, the petrol money, the stress, the time, the petrol money, the stress, the time, the petrol money, the stress, the time the petrol money, the stress, the time, the petrol money....








 You get the picture. Why choose inefficiency when you could have... THIS:



Hmm, yes, being a glorious 50s housewife has always been a dream of mine...


But seriously, moving to live within ten minutes walking distance from work has probably been the single most life-enhancing decision of the year. 
 We have so much more time to enjoy life. It's the ultimate way of slowing everything down a notch or two.


Our kitties also love our new place (though that's probably more to do with the garden than its proximity to work).


And yes, it has made more time for creativity in the kitchen...

4. Stress less.


I am a champion stresser. I could probably win a medal if they had medals for stressing. NEWS FLASH: stressing doesn't help. The work will get done faster and better if you don't stress about it. Stress is supremely inefficient.

Of course, not stressing is easier said than done (duh). In fact, I have been known to be stressed about stressing. And I have yet to actually succeed in not stressing. But I'm studying to improve. Points 2, 3, and 5 in this list have helped me to stress less. 


But these are some of my anti-stress mantras:

• It doesn't matter that much anyway.
• In two weeks time I won't even remember this.
• Who gives a %#@*!$#? [no matter what they say, profanity always helps in times of trouble]
• It'll get done eventually.
• I shall run away and join the circus.

Saying these repeatedly in any order you choose and with increasing levels of hysteria has been know to not help at all... But they're good to remember anyway.


5. Be more creative.

Being more creative is difficult. It requires proficiency in time management and planning OR a general ability to tell the world to go hang while you get on with your creative project.

BUT it builds your soul. It relaxes you. It gives your "serious" work fresh flair and imagination.

Now the ideal application of creativity is to your work. Because then you can hit time-management/planning/creativity/work buttons all at once and STILL reap the rewards of creativity.

image source

Mwahaha!

Make new, nice resources and share them (this also garners praise which is always nice). Write reflective marathon blog entries (who cares if no one reads them). Dream up new ways of organising the universe. Rearrange your admin under colour coded headings. Invent a new curriculum. Play (*educational*) games in class.

After all, why not?

Goals for the Week (or at least what's left of it)

Goals for this week:

• Be prepared for the chance of a lifetime (if it should happen in the next seven days!)
• See challenges as growing experiences.
• Persuade Gauss and Pascal to stop killing baby birds.
• Set my last exam for the year :) 
• Sing more.