Archive for Reflections

Who Moved My Cheese?

Sunday, 22 January, 2012 admin No comments
Who Moved My Cheese by Dr Spencer Johnson
(Vermilion, £5.99, 1999)(This is the third in a regular series reviewing books outside of the realm of education, and looking at the impact they could have in a learning environment.)

Tagline
An Amazing Way to Deal With Change In Your Work and in Your Life

Lowdown
In terms of big sales, this business book is enormous. I was given it by a previous boss, who had bought all the staff it en masse. I quickly looked it up on Wikipedia, and immediately was drawn to the following:

Some managers are known to mass-distribute copies of the book to employees, some of whom see this as an insult, or an attempt to characterize dissent as not “moving with the cheese”. In the corporate environment, management has been known to distribute this book to employees during times of “structural re-organization,” or during cost-cutting measures, in an attempt to portray unfavorable or unfair changes in an optimistic or opportunistic way. This misuse of the book’s message is seen by some as an attempt by organizational management to make employees quickly and unconditionally assimilate management ideals, even if they may prove detrimental to them professionally. Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams claims that patronizing parables are one of the top 10 complaints he receives in his email.

This was indeed the case with my boss, who in every other way was inspirational. This book however will make you want to weep with derision, such is the patronising manner of what is a very simple concept to grasp. So simple in fact, it could be told on a beer mat. The trouble with beermats is however that they are trickier to sell many millions. Instead, you might want to do what Dr Spencer has done here and write a slim volume, which is a story within a story. We meet some lovely, wholesome people, just like you or I, and over the course of a colossal 73 pages, describe a tale where some mice have run out of their favourite cheese. Two mice react differently, one waiting for their old cheese, the other goes off, seeking new cheese.
If you haven’t detected it yet, I am rather cynical toward this book. The message of ‘change happens, deal with it’ may have had a warmer response in a previous, perhaps American, climate, but I found the read to be akin to watching a very badly-acted play. The link to buy the book, as ever is below, but to save you the money and trouble, here is the central message again: ‘Change happens. Deal with it.’

The Management Angle
One of the trickiest aspects for any member of management is that they are responsible for implementing change. This involves braking the norm, introducing or removing tasks or incentives, and altering things that have always ‘just worked.’ This in itself isn’t so much the difficulty so much as convincing those who need to change of that need. Buying this book will not help matters.
Two convincing leads toward managing change successfully are to indicate a benefit. While this may be challenging, especially in times of austerity, any benefit in saving time, effort or money is often warmly welcomed. The difficulty with this is that there are introductions made which never have these benefits – the ‘sell’ is far harder here. To convince them of the greater good is one perspective – to have all the staff on board with the mission, values and development plan something else. Isolation leads so quickly to indifference and resentment. Change is most effective when we all feel ownership.

The Teacher Angle
There just aren’t enough hours in the day, and then another thing comes along, trying to fill the spare thirty seconds you had just clawed back from another activity. The main difficulty with change as a teacher is that it often seems like an addition rather than an adjustment – and it needs to be accommodated. Added to that are new members of SMT, keen to make their mark by implementing new changes.
This of course can’t actually be true. Given time, changes settle into a comfortable groove of either happening if useful, or fading out if not. It is far better instead to rationalise new initiatives by giving them a chance, safe in the knowledge that if they are good, they will stick around, and might even make your job that little bit easier.

The Pupil Angle
Pupils seem the most content to change of all the members of a learning group. Their lives are governed by regularity and timetables, so change is welcomed, desired in fact. ‘A change will do them good’, ‘a different voice always helps’, ‘we’re going to do something different today’; all these phrases come about because change helps to kickstart thinking and learning. Why do we end up fearing or feeling uncomfortable about change then? This is a question with no real answer, similar to ‘why do children laugh more than adults’ – there is no definitive, but it is a real shame that there isn’t. Pupils, especially children, embrace change and view something different as an adventure. On the subject of change, the pupils are the experts.

Best quote
“One of the most successful business books ever”
Daily Telegraph

Ponder now
What was the last big change you feared at work? How did it turn out in the end?

Book review, Opinion, Reflections, Tips & Tricks , , , , , , ,

The 4-Hour Work Week

Sunday, 15 January, 2012 admin No comments
The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
(Vermilion, £11.99, 2010)
(This is the second in a regular series reviewing books outside of the realm of education, and looking at the impact they could have in a learning environment.)
Tagline
Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich

Lowdown
I was keen to buy this from the moment I heard an interview with the author several years ago, not least because so much of our jobs in Education are what I will politely call ‘contact’ tasks; things that we can’t farm out to call centres in India or shippers in the next county from ours. Nevertheless, I was still intrigued by what he could share, and bought the book to find out what I could glean from it.
While the bulk of the book is indeed based around setting up an internet-only business, and streamlining it to within an inch of its life, there are several brilliant sections on actually becoming more efficient. It could quite easily be two books mixed into one – one about being a more organised person, and the other about automating a ‘virtual’ business.
The main benefits an educator can get from the book are practical ideas about efficiency. The author writes about strategies to reduce and improve communication, especially through email, and how to inform and reduce meeting times. These are two big problems in schools and colleges, and many good tips for improving them can be found.
Email for example has two main ‘choke’ points – habitual checking, which becomes inefficient, and replying can unresolve initial questions. The author recommends only checking work emails twice a day. When that statement is first read, how you react may well reflect your dependence on email. He suggests that 11am and 3pm are good times to check and respond to email, stating that if you check your email first thing, it controls your initial tasks. By waiting until 11am, it forces you to complete any outstanding work in good time. To help others appreciate this, re recommends setting up an Autoresponse, explaining that this is the policy of the email account, and also where other help may be found. While the logic is sound, how could this work in an educational environment?
Certainly, there is a range of evidence to suggest that schools need to improve their communication skills, and the use of email has helped this. In many other ways, it has also stifled and hindered communication, and Ferriss recommends answering any question with as a definitive answer as possible, recommending services which book up your ‘appointments calendar for you. He is all for automation, and it is this lack of personal touch which might be hardest to accept, and which may well depersonalise effective communication.
Nevertheless, there are some really sound ideas in this book, as well as strategic ways forward, to improve communication. His view on meetings for example are probably shared by many staff – by and large, meetings are over-long, pointless and create work rather than find solutions to problems. He advocates having a very specific list of minutes in advance, which people action before the meeting, the aim being that if you action enough of the points relevant to you, you are effectively able to withdraw from the meeting – your purpose has been served! While this may function well in a small business, I can see the practice being less successful than the theory in schools.
This book has aspiration – to improve, refine and streamline work tasks. While not all the ideas are appropriate, suitable or even relevant to Education, there is enough in here to ensure that schools and colleges will really benefit from.

The Management Angle
A big danger for SMTs is both the ‘include all’ email and the automated meeting – that of a meeting which involves the same people, at the same time, for the same duration every day/week. While it is important to get heads working together, the idea of an agenda completed in advance is both clever and could save countless valuable hours each year if implemented effectively.
Likewise, developing an ‘open after 11am’ strategy for emails, and only including emails to people you would like a response from can only boost productivity. Ferriss writes that email is the hardest thing to for an individual to give up, but many staff in SMT would be far more productive if all their email went through a human ‘filter’ first, to cherry pick relevant emails for action. A £60,000 head using 20% of their time to sort emails that a £15,000 could do in the same length of time is effectively wasting £9,000 a year.

The Teacher Angle
There are many repetitive tasks we would all as teachers much rather not involve ourselves in, yet are necessary for the job. Creating reports and labels, researching policies and mining data all take up time away from the real grit of teaching; planning, pupil contact and assessment.
In this book, Ferriss recommends offloading a lot of this autonomous work to others. While we may feel uncomfortable following his suggestions to use Mumbai-based office staff, there are plenty of other ways teachers could utilise others for mutual benefit or financial gain. A recent search on eBay for example found cottage industries happy to create labels for your primary class children’s books, for probably pennies more than it would take for you to make yourself, ignoring any time costs.

The Pupil Angle
Efficiency is not often seen as an important skill, but how often is it overtly taught to the children? Writing maths down using figures rather than words is efficient, as is touch-typing, preparing in advance and learning clever methods to remember the Periodic Table. Teaching children to pass on messages, and to complete tasks discretely from other members of a group are all very useful skills which are active in our lessons, but not often signposted enough. After reading this book, I tested this concept by looking at one pupil who was particularly efficient in getting ready for the ‘work’ part of the lesson. We discussed it, noting her techniques (sharpen at the end of every lesson, so the pencil is sharp at the beginning of a work task), and the class adopted some of her strategies. The result: whole-class productivity inside two minutes, rather than five.

Best quote

“By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day.”

Robert Frost, American Poet

Ponder now
How much time do you spend carrying out non-essential tasks? How much time would you have freed up if you could have these tasks removed?



Book review, Opinion, Reflections, Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

Bounce (The myth of talent and the power of practice)

Sunday, 8 January, 2012 admin No comments

Bounce by Matthew Syed

(Fourth Estate, £8.99, 2010)

 

(This is the first in a regular series reviewing books outside of the realm of education, and looking at the impact they could have in a learning environment.)

 

Tagline

The myth of talent and the power of practice

 

Lowdown

This is a very powerful and interesting book, with a sporting background as its basis, which looks at the evidence for and against talent. It draws on the previous writing by Malcolm Gladwell, which ascribes to the idea that talent is a created concept, and what is seen as talent is actually at least 10,000 hours of practice. Syed’s writing is however much more involving than Gladwell’s at times, and he takes the reader through the concept of talent versus practice, then pinpoints several key features of practice.

 

10,000 hours of doing anything will not make you an expert he reasons, using driving as an argument, and the practice he recommends is one of focussed, intense practice, driven by coaches who give intense support for areas which are outside the comfort zone of the athlete. He argues that those tricky shots that David Beckham or Tiger Woods take are actually not so unusual to them due to their level of training and focus.

 

The main tenet which is carefully explored in both anecdote and psychological study is that of a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. The fixed mindset is one which believes in talent, whereas a growth mindset accepts that it takes practice to improve a skill, and that nothing is impossible, simply ‘out of reach.’

 

The book is a very easy read – that is not to disparage the quality of the writing, but to highlight how well the material has been chosen for the reader. Although this book is from a sports/business background, the connections to Education are enormous.

 

The Management Angle

The demand for Gifted and Talented Policies within schools defines a school on a paper sense as having a fixed mindset. This then has the potential to establish a philosophy of talented and non-talented pupils. While it can be argued that there are children who are stronger at some subjects than others, it is always interesting to examine why this is the case, what the origin of this strength might be. Bounce contends that with enough focus, anyone can become talented. How this can be put into Policy, and then embedded in the curriculum, is a challenge for any SMT. The main message for management from ‘Bounce’ would be to stretch all pupils , regardless of their starting point, but to underline this by eliminating the concept of failure and doubt. As Syed says, doubt reduces ambition.

 

The Teacher Angle

One area which is incredibly relevant to teachers is the language used to develop a growth mindset. Syed argues that we should verbally reward the achievement rather than the overarching skill – ‘You really nailled those tables’ rather than ‘You’re so good at maths.’ The very subtle change in language can have a lasting impact in terms of the athlete’s/pupil’s perspective of their ability; the logic being that you get told you are good at Maths often enough, and you can become nervous if you tackle something you feel you ‘should’ be able to achieve.

 

The Pupil Angle

A perception of people being ‘born with talent’ comes from an early age, and is encouraged in popular media. Whether or not we believe that this is the case, it is crucial to instill confidence in pupils that there is no limit to potential, but that lengthy, repetitive and sometimes uncomfortable practice and dedication needs to be put into place in order to progress.

 

Best quote

‘If you don’t know what you are doing wrong, you can never know what you are doing right.’ – Chen Xinhua, Chinese Table-Tennis Coach

 

Ponder now

What about your learning environment is limited by a ‘fixed mindset’? Where was this embedded?

 


Educational Research, Opinion, Reflections , , , , , , , , ,

My take on Twitter Etiquette

Sunday, 1 January, 2012 admin No comments

Just a short post, based on me reflecting my increased use of Twitter recently. The following are my unspoken (until now) ‘rules’ that I use to try and ensure I give the type of Twitter experience I’d like to get. I’m not saying these are the best, or right, or even 100% followed by me, but it’s a start!

New Followers
Thank them personally. It’s nice that someone takes an interest.

Look at their blogs/ last few tweets. If there’s something of interest, follow them back.

Tweets
As I use Twitter in a largely professional sense, I tweet as if I were texting a good friend also in Education. I can’t imagine anyone being interested in my breakfast or coffee habits!

I try not to send lots of tweets in bursts, but the way I use Twitter, this sometimes can’t be helped!

If someone tweets or mentions me, I try wherever possible to acknowledge this. It can sometimes feel like you are Tweeting into an abyss, so I try to make others not feel like this. It only takes a few seconds.

Retweets
If I click on a link and find it of interest, I RT. I tend not to follow any ‘please RT’ requests, unless I find them relevant to my PLN.

Celebrities
I don’t follow that many, but those that I do follow are largely interesting and sparing in their tweets. Authors and journalists are superb in responding to tweets.

Listening in
I follow some conversations, and join in when I have something relevant to add or contribute. Sometimes I can be too late to join in, but it is always worth reading back over if there is a hashtag.

Hashtags
I love them! They have finally provided a great alternative to the much-desired ‘sarcastic font’ I have often dreamed of, and they are great for tracking conversations or debates. I try to use them where possible.

Blog promotion
I have set up my blog to tweet a new article, and tend to offer another nudge for new content if I have published it in a quiet time. There are some bloggers who RT new content, or even ‘from the archives..’ tweets, which strikes me as a little bit needy in my book.

Comments
It is always to add a comment if a tweet has led you to an interesting blog. Now’s your chance!

Reflections ,

Thinking Aloud – Assemblies

Thursday, 29 December, 2011 admin No comments

I sometimes think that Assemblies are in the wrong place at almost all schools. We reserve our time in the mornings for the most important, most essential aspects of learning (often Maths, then Literacy), because we perceive this morning time to be the most effective in terms of learning, but before all of this, we put in a large amount of time devoted to collective worship.

I should state that I am very much in favour of assemblies, in fact, I love them. I love being in them, leading them, and also what they stand for. My most inspirational teacher, the one who confirmed my desire to work in Education, did so in one of her assemblies. This isn’t knocking assemblies, just their timing.

The difficulty they have is an innate elasticity, and danger of verging into a housekeeping meeting. These are important things, but is their location at the beginning of the day such a good idea? Here’s a radical one – put them at the end of the day. This frees up 15/20/25 minutes in the morning, the primal learning time, as well as allowing them to become much more of a celebration of what has happened in that day. All those applauses and certificates would be far more likely to be fed back to parents, there would be far less likelihood of overrunning, and it would allow the school community as a whole to end on an enriching high.

On the few events where I have experienced an assembly at the end of the day, the difference in atmosphere is tangible, exciting, upbeat. Wouldn’t it be great to end every school day like this?

Opinion, Reflections , , ,

#Googlemeetup – a review

Tuesday, 20 December, 2011 admin One comment

I was lucky enough to attend a meeting on a cold Monday night of fifty like-minded educators at Google’s UK headquarters. Ostensibly to encourage further interest and evangelism of the Google Apps range of products, which are free for schools, it was also a great chance to meet others, share good practice and enjoy that feeling that the work you do in your school and class wasn’t really in isolation; that you weren’t on your own.

There were some familiar faces attending, the ‘inner circle’ of my PLN as I like to think of them,but the evening was far from closed and cliquey, as one may have considered. After a relaxed introduction by Ross Mahon, who has the fantastic title of of Google Apps Evangelist, where he laid out Google’s vision of Apps and their potential impact on Education, a range of attendees (including me) spoke, talking about the things we were doing in classrooms across the UK. Steve Bunce spoke of his work with VITAL, creating Teachshares, which seemed to be a discrete online version of a teachmeet. Next Jill Duman spoke about how Norfolk had ALL gone across to Google Apps, initially for email.

After a short but very tasty  minglemunch, we eturned for a lively and at times quite fiery discussion on digital literacies and the desire for simpler products for younger pupils, led by the ever-brilliant Tom Barratt. These sound two very dry topics, but it became quite animated quite quickly! We then had a small announcement (covered below) and hear from Andy Alcock, who uses Google Sketchup to inspire his KS3 pupils, an entertaining spot from David ‘Deputy’ Mitchell on embedding spreadsheets, and Ian Addison finished with his version of a VLE, which was built from the children, for the children.

One of the highlights of the evening, it has to be said, is that we were all given a Samsung Chromebook, as a thank you for primarily attending, and for spreading the word about the impact that Google products can have. Ross underlined the fact that it is quite open – it wasn’t a Google-only promo, if something worked with children, it was shared. I’m writing this post on my Chromebook, and I have to say, first impressions are very good. It really does boot up in eight seconds, and seems very quite compared to my macbook.

Despite all the things I picked up and learnt about, and felt confident to attempt myself, the main highlight for me was getting to meet some people I have followed on twitter as @mrlockyer for a long time. Thank you for being so friendly, and thank you Google for the chromebook!

Opinion, Reflections , , , , , ,

Why I haven’t been blogging & Why I’ve started again

Thursday, 20 October, 2011 admin No comments

I could list endless reasons about why I have been blogging, but the simple, straight answer is that I haven’t made time for it. In between being a Dad, full-time Deputy Head and trying to finish my extension at home, I have been too mentally tired to really focus on writing for a purpose around my professional interests.

I have however missed it, as it makes me more reflective, and in an aim to refocus my approach to things, felt it was time to try harder in blogging terms. I have now had a year off from professional study (my MEd was completed in December), and I am gearing up to work more academically again, so I need to get back on the saddle as it were.

I am also planning on attempting the NaNoWriMo this year, where you are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. we are due to have our fourth child at some point during this month, so I’m not going to mention this to my wife any time soon! I have a plan for a story, and think that the discipline of writing around 1,800 words a day will be challenging but not impossible.

So there it is – I didn’t want anyone to think I’d fallen off the radar; I’ve just been very busy and not organised my ‘down’ time effectively enough! I will use Notesy (an App) to keep a list of possible blogging themes available for when they occur to me, but all suggestions considered!

Opinion, Reflections

#oldschool: My Markbook is my Bible

Thursday, 20 October, 2011 admin No comments

I have never been the most enthusiastic tracker of information, and especially in a busy school day, it can be quickly overwhelming to keep track of everything the children can produce in a day.

This year however that is exactly what I have done. In a bid to ensure that I am really getting the most out of each pupil in terms of their capability to produce work of their highest ability, I am macro-managing their work. Every single piece is noted and recorded in my mark book, which is quickly filling up in an unusually-satisfying way, and I can see at a glance changes, adjustments, dips and little levels of progress on these rows of ticks, numbers and notes.

What is strange is that i am using #oldschool methods – that is, pen and paper. There are of course lots of Apps for my iPad or iPhone that would do this for me, probably more efficiently, faster and almost definitely more neatly, and yet there is a refreshing rawness about the page which I am responding to in a really positive way. In fact, I feel more on top of my pupils’ work than I have ever done, so it is worth the slog of this macro-management. It has of course changed my teaching for the better too, since I am able to respond much more quickly to gaps I discover, rather than letting them fall through the sieve of time.

It would seem that the more technology is an attraction to me, it also highlights the myriad benefits of #oldschool techniques. Just as we wouldn’t use Excel to teach every Maths lesson, sometimes, someone needs to stand up for good old pen and paper. I think this explains the reason why so many Diary Apps have the option of ‘writing’ on various types of ‘paper’ – we still have this desire to physically connect, even digitally.

Reflections, Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

Escape Routes

Friday, 22 April, 2011 admin No comments

I am currently finished work on a rear extension at home. This does not share even 5% of the skills I have had to build and develop in education, and I love it! Not in the sense that I want to jump careers in any way whatsoever, but I do find the process of learning new skills and creating quite exciting.

I should add that I’m not particularly natural at DIY. I can sketch, plan and theorise, but find the literal nuts and bolts hard work. If I encounter a problem, I have learnt not to get stressed, but do something else, anything else, to give my brain and stress levels a little break.

In a large view, the extension work is a welcome break from teaching, a good chance to recharge batteries and think of something completely different. The micro breaks are also good for that kind of release.

In schoo, we offer our students the large break in terms of play time, but do e account for the micro-break? When we expect a child to work for thirty minutes ceaselessly, where is their escape route for them to destress and take the pressure off?

I’m considering a card system which the children can use to take five (minutes) and do something completely different. This could be reading, colouring, tidying; anything in fact which gives them that mental break which as an adult I take for granted. I’d appreciate any thoughts anyone has on this, positive or otherwise (and I know that brain Gym has been thoroughly debunked, so shan’t go down that road!).

New Social Tools, Reflections , , , , , , , , , , ,

Don’t just think of starting, start!

Wednesday, 20 April, 2011 admin No comments

They say the first step of anything is the hardest, but I disagree. It is even considering that step, recognising that need, that is the hardest part. Got a problem? You need to acknowledge it before you can move on, or else you’re simply burying it. Deal with things by first recognising they need to be dealt with first.

Oliver Burkeman writes in his book Help that the key to breaking procrastination is to not wait until it feels right to start something; we are all very good at persuading ourselves a little job can wait until… whenever.

In the classroom, we expect the children to follow instructions so often, I think we sometimes neglect to raise the value in procrastination management. Certainly, I think that some agegroups in Key Stage Two are old enough to be able to discuss time strategies, as well as why they might avoid carrying certain tasks out.

Opinion, Reflections , ,
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