A Tricky Blended Experience

This was the first year I have had to start the year 'meeting' some of my students online. New year, new school, new experience! Not only have the past two weeks been challenging because of teaching online to students who I have not met yet, this was only for some of my classes! South Australia decided to have Y7 and Y12 students face to face and the rest of students online. This meant I had to switch my energy levels and general 'vibe' much more frequently than usual. I found this super hard and mentally draining.

I had no clue where to begin trying to develop relationships across a screen. This wasn't something I had experienced before. I genuinely didn't realise how much easier it was to engage students and try to start discussion when I already knew them! Because Adelaide also has had few lockdown experiences, majority of students wouldn't turn their microphones on, let alone their cameras! 

Naturally I turned to Twitter and got some great ideas as can be seen below. Andy Milne's post was also helpful to get me thinking and for some starting activities/resources. Finally, I reread through my previous posts tagged engagement to try and get some inspiration. My reflection after a webinar facilitated by The Education Hub reminded me of some key things to consider too.

For the first time I’m starting my year with some classes online learning. Looking for get to know you/relationship building activities for meeting kids! 🙏🏼🤞🏼 @carmelhealth @NicholasFerroni @ScottAmpersand and anyone else - any ideas?? 😬

— Georgia Dougherty (@_gmdougherty) February 1, 2022

A few things that I attempted over the last two weeks (from several people's suggestions) include the following;

- A survey to compare the things myself and students have in common

- Personality tests for students to discuss their character strengths and how they can be utilised in our classroom as well as the character qualities they would like to develop

- What 5 things in your home would you save to be stranded on an island and why, then a discussion around what each of these things and decisions mean for the group 

- Projects that develop key skills students will need throughout the course such as technique breakdown or skill analysis using YouTube videos and designing their own camping trip

- Group contributions to shared spaces such as Google Jamboard

- Scenario based learning prompts and discussions

- Small group discussions for questions/queries/challenges (which I also do face to face to give student choice how they use their time)

This half online and half face to face experience has been really strange and I am glad that it's over! I cannot imagine what it must have been like for teachers that have/had hybrid within the same class, that's a whole different level. I empathise with anyone who has been in this space or similar before and here's hoping this is the end of it!

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby

At the end of last term we had Dr Tessa Opie from In Your Skin visit the Y8 HPE teachers for a Relationships and Sexuality Education PD. I was proud to see how ahead New Zealand is in this space - there were even Kiwi resources used such as the notorious pie ad.This year Pedare has started an RSE programme with the Y8 students and this was the prep for it. 

As many know, sexuality education is one of my passions (see here some posts that reflect this). As a result, there were lots of reminders throughout this PD around gender, sexuality and stereotypes (the key topics of the unit). If you are learning or new to this area of the curriculum, the genderbread person is always a great place to start. The visual clearly helps to differentiate between sex, sexuality, gender and expression. So much discussion comes from this picture alone. I often then use the Real Sex Talk videos (especially the gender one and the sexuality one) to create further discussion.

Without elaborating on each of the below points, these are a few things that I was left thinking about after our session with Tess. I feel leaving them as points may encourage you to also ponder and complete further research;

- "The issue isn't porn. It's the complete lack in our society of an open, healthy, honest conversation about sex in the real world." (Cindy Gallop - Twitter here)

- Consent is a noun, not a verb

- Body autonomy can be taught at any age including kindy - Do you want a hug or a kiss?

- "Don't put the red dot on the traumatised kid's folder" (Tess). This was referring to removal of students from sexuality education - just because a student has experienced trauma, does not mean they don't deserve the education or want to be there. 

- "There is a very real difference between feeling uncomfortable and feeling unsafe" (Tess). 

- We are aiming to empower students. If they can own their own Medicare card at 15, can we empower them to feel comfortable to go and get an STI screening and/or contraceptives? 

- "The more positive you feel about your own sexuality, the more likely you are going to have positive sexual experiences with someone else" (Tess). 

- The impact of having teachers that aren't competent or confident teaching sexuality education can be significant. 

- "Pornography is the most prominent form of sexuality education for young people today unfortunately" (Interview with Maree Crabbe as embedded below).

Top Ten Teacher Traits!

Aaaand the Seniors have officially left for study leave! Even with an extra two weeks with them, that time has passed so quickly! Before they left, I asked students, as well as a couple of colleagues if they would like to give me some feedback on my teaching this year. Across the comments, there were 10 themes that came out. These are in no particular order. 

Enthusiastic, Energetic, Positive Vibes

I certainly give my best to keep positive during my lessons, as the students clearly feed off the energy I give (or lack!). I often find myself quite mentally exhausted from the acting that may be needed, especially on those not so great days. I do think I have become much better at expressing to my students when it's not a great time though, once those relationships have been established.

Critical Thinker

When I was growing up, like many young people, I always wanted to know the why, and wanted to challenge people's ideas and understandings of the world. I'm glad that this was picked up from a few students, that I'm trying to bring this criticality into my teaching. I want students become more aware of different perspectives, so they become more assertive but also more open-minded towards others' thinking.

Goes The Extra Mile

Well, don't all teachers? The kids definitely recognise if you go above and beyond, or if you rinse and repeat!

Constructive Feedback

I was pleased to see this come up frequently throughout the comments, as I have been trying to develop the skill of giving feedback (both written and verbal). I definitely learnt a lot through the Assessment Essentials Course, but also have gathered confidence in my ability to give feedback due to more experience. Having regular checkpoints, including 15 minute 1:1 chats, has been really helpful for me to monitor student progress, as well as adapt future lessons to support their learning. 

Prioritises Wellbeing

Goes without saying really. Hāuora comes first. If their whare is about to collapse, there's no way they are going to learn!

Holds Students Accountable

From meeting deadlines, to following school rules to completing what the work they said they would - there were lots of comments around accountability and the use of time. I found it interesting how many found this positive for their learning and personal growth. To be honest, it really grinds my gears when teachers don't follow through with their word or the expectations that were set as a team/department... but I can only control what I can control!

High Expectations 

I genuinely want the students to achieve to the best of their ability, always teaching to an Excellence level. I've reflected multiple times around the value of high expectations in the classroom, and it's nice to hear the students recognise this.

Long Term Planning

Thinking back to the 'why' I previously mentioned, each lesson I ask myself why are we doing this activity, why am I using this resource and why am I structuring the lesson this way? This helps to increase understanding for myself that I can share with the students around the bigger picture of the learning. Not only right now, but also where we are heading next and how these skills/knowledge are useful long term. 

Positive Relationships

Need I say more?

Push Students out of Comfort Zone

Despite having a Senior Health class with majority of the students having high social anxiety, I really encouraged the students to step out of their comfort zone. We discussed several times the importance of getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. The importance of trying new things, taking small risks, especially talking with and in front of others. I hope to reflect a little more about anxiety in general, in a future post. 

So there you have it, Dougherty's top ten teacher traits according to my colleagues and students!

Give Up Some Time, The Kids Love It!

One of the things I love about being a teacher, is how variable every week and every day is. I love that no day is the same. I also love the opportunities that I have to be involved in other areas of school life.

Spending time supporting my students in extracurricular activities not only brings me joy, but also helps to strengthen my relationships with those students. It is heart warming how excited and appreciative they are when you go and watch their sports games or their performances, or attend their prizegivings or fundraisers. These moments truly remind me why I enjoy what I do. 

I think a lot of teachers take for granted how special and meaningful the time teachers give up to support their students outside of the classroom actually means to their students. To say we don't have time, actually isn't true. We just need to find the time. Long term, the benefits of that time given up, will almost certainly save you time elsewhere!

Some of the things I was involved in, just in the last couple of weeks of Term 3, were attending the annual School Dance Festival (which I have ushered the past two years), danced in a House Competition Film Festival and competed in Fast 5 Netball Tournament with the kids. These are just a few of the many opportunities we have been able to see students in a different light. Obviously these are short term, and more long term commitments include coaching or managing teams for example (I was the manager for the girls rugby this year, after managing the 1st XV for 2 years).

Moral of the story: get amongst all areas of school life!