I feel like I am a long way from home, drifting aimlessly in a sea of nothingness.  Isolated, distanced and uncertain.
 
I have been teaching remotely for a week now and to be honest, I hate it. Some may think that teachers have it easy (I mean there are no kids in the classroom right?), but those kids are where we find our joy, our energy, and our purpose. Not being near them has been heartbreaking. 
 
Teachers aren’t celebrating that holidays may come early. Teachers are grieving.  They are grieving the loss of laughter and the chance to sit and talk with their students. They are grieving the loss of lessons already planned, units of work and excursions that they now need to reshape and reconfigure. They are grieving the physicality and the busyness of their job as they are now confined to their desks checking emails all day long. Add this to the anxiety around their colleagues and own families health and the confusing government messages. It is exhausting.
 
As I float on unchartered waters I, like many other teachers across the globe, will find ways to breathe joy into our sails in the hope that this will lead us back home.  Following on from a series of blog posts I wrote a few years back titled Forty Pieces of Teaching Joy, I would like to begin a similar series on Remote Teaching Joy. However, I have to be honest. I am struggling to find 40 this week, in fact it would be easier to make a list of what hasn't brought me joy, but I am hoping the number increases as we settle into this new and strange way of being. It is important that we search for joy wherever we can find it.

Twenty One Pieces of Remote Teaching Joy

1.Packing up take home learning kits for my students gave me an opportunity to try and brighten their day. I sent home reading books which I picked out individually for them, I packed survival kits and I left hidden positive messages on post-it notes throughout their folder. I imagine my students smiling as they discover them and this brings me joy.

 2. I can work in my ugg boots and no one cares.

3. It takes me 30 seconds to get to work instead of an hour.
​
4. My students were meant to be hosting a large Harmony Day event last Friday. They had been working on creating a Harmony Day Exhibition as part of this gathering. Unfortunately we had to call it off. That didn’t stop me though! I hung their works and took a photo.  I placed it on social media and asked people to provide positive feedback on the students work. Our own virtual exhibition! The comments came flooding in and I was able to share them with my students throughout the week. So much joy! (And yes, Tupac is in the corner - don't ask!)

Some of the virtual comments:
What a wonderful display, both the visual and written text. Well done everyone! I enjoyed this.👏Such an inspiring collection of work about people who have made an impact on the world.... there is greatness in us all in some way. 🌺
Fortunately I got to see these and they are great very impressive work
What a great use of art, research and text! An eye catching display and important information!
It doesn't matter that you can't read the writing. The artwork is so good it's obvious who they are. These leaders showed great qualities that we all need reminding of at the moment, bravery being the one that comes to mind first! Thank you!
That’s a fantastic wall of inspiration ! Thanks for sharing your artistic skills :-)
I think it’s fantastic work, well done all
A truly wonderful display. Well done everyone. 👏👏👏
What an amazing amount of work for a truly impressive collection. I’m sure your students will be
 inspirational people that others may draw and research in the future.
Great pieces of work. I have not heard of Tupac so may need to listen to some of his work. I would like to know more about the one that has a panther or jaguar over him.

5. This email from my boss -" Before I get started on tomorrow’s schedule, I just wanted to say a few words to you all. It has been quite hectic the past week and I have thought some things regularly but didn’t get a chance to say them. The way that you have all adapted to our new circumstance and gone above and beyond to ensure that the young people are still cared for and educated is something that has to be seen to be believed. There was no panic, but rather a measured response that has given our young people the best chance of getting through this crisis on track to get their ROSA and in a good place with their mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. The next days, weeks and months are going to be challenging for us all and we all know that the young people are going to struggle. We will continue to adapt and will learn as we go. The way we are doing things in a week may be completely different to what we have planned now. I know one thing though, we have the team to work through any problem and we will always do whatever we can to get the best result for the young people. Anyway, that’s enough from me, but just take that as a massive thank you for all your efforts this past week." 

6. I can hug my own daughters whenever I want and need to during the day.

7. My students are reluctant readers. I have been making videos of me reading their reading tasks to stuff animals. Sounds silly I know, but I was inspired by this principal. When on the phone to one student this week she mentioned that she stopped work when she saw the reading task.
“I ain’t reading all that”, she said.
“I knew you wouldn’t and that is why you can go to youtube and hear me reading it to a giant dog”, I replied.
“Really?”, she responded so enthusiastically that I thought she was going to cry.
“Really.”
She sent me her work an hour later. Grateful for technology.

8. I have a coffee machine at home and I can make coffee whenever I want.

9. We decided to have virtual theme days with daily challenges for the kids. Wednesday was our first theme day – Wear Your Pyjamas to School Day. The challenge was for students to send a photo of themselves to the group in their workspace wearing their favourite pjs. Five minutes after sending the morning email we receive this response...“I don't even wear pj's."
“PLEASE DO NOT SEND A PHOTO”, we quickly reply.

10. I challenged them to a remote delivery dance challenge inspired by this video which made me smile this week. I am currently hoping they are spending all week choreographing their videos :)

11. I began one email to the group with the term Whazzup?. One student replied, "She said wazzup im dead bro😂😂😂. " He is now sending me daily email starters such as whats goodie lads and doin der ma bahs. Which is apparently not rude… or so he tells me.

12. I rang in to check on a student. He answered joyfully and started to tell me he had been working on Maths with my boss. He then tells me he has put the boss on hold. I suggest he continue his maths session with my boss, but he says, "Nah. He can just listen to the music while I speak with you." 

13. I sent disposable cameras home for a photo journalism project we have begun remotely. Not all my students have access to phones so, being creative and trying to engage them, I thought disposable cameras would be a good alternative. I placed the camera in their learning packs and sent them home with instructions and a link to an online video of me showing them how to operate it. They were excited to find cameras in their packs but the problem was none of them read the instructions.
I received this email – "How do you take the photo out of the camera". Oh man!
Then another from a different student read, “Where can I get a new camera?”
“Why would you need a new camera?”, I replied.
“I smashed it trying to get the photo out.”
I responded by sending an emergency email to the whole group titled DISPOSABLE CAMERA. It highlighted that they needed the camera for their assessment so must read the instructions for use. One student wrote back, "Me and charlie sorta we're on facetime going through the bags and took like 10 photos each lmaoo”. Oh man! 

14. Thursday Theme Day was more successful. We hosted Bring Your Pet to School Day. Joyful pictures of animals came flooding through. And then there was this one….

15. I haven't forgot my lunch once this week.

16. I suggested to students that we start a school choir after watching this celebration of joy. Their response was underwhelming but I will try again next week.

​17. Friday fun day included a meme challenge. Students were asked to create a meme showing what it was like to work from home. Here are some of the results:

And then one kids just sent me this:

(Author unknown)

18. I can now hang my washing on the line at lunch time.

19. We have been ringing every student in my school everyday. We divide and conquer the list as a staff. Hearing their voices brighten when you say who is calling has really been the highlight of my week. 

20. The challenges of the week bringing our staff team closer together.

21. Sending snail mail to each of my students on Friday afternoon.

I hope these moments bring some joy to other teachers out there. Please feel free to share your moments of Remote Teaching Joy with me. I would love to include them in my blog. For now, rest up. We have another challenging week ahead. 

​As we gather in circle each morning the phone bag is passed around. Each student, mostly willingly, places his or her phone in with a sigh. On this particular morning he could not be in circle. He was pacing nervously in the next room.
 
“Are you coming in?”, I asked.
“I can’t today”, he replied.
 
I let him be. After circle my colleague spoke with him. He could not hand in his phone today. If he had to hand it in he would not be able to stay at school. His anxiety was palpable.
 
It was agreed he could have it, just for today… students with complex needs need flexible teachers.
 
Now I know what you are thinking. Social media was his need, contact with those beyond the walls of school, maybe a way to check in with his girl.
 
 I knew that wasn’t it. He had been able to hand it in before. What was different about now?
 
“The coronavirus.”
 
“What?”, I responded slightly confused. Oh, sarcasm… I went to laugh, but he didn’t. He looked at me with absolute fear in his eyes. “I have laid awake all night thinking about it. I need to look up the facts, read the news, follow what is happening. It is freaking me out.”
 
That was two weeks ago.
 
On Monday my school will begin to operate ‘remotely’ and I am sure in good time many more schools will follow. Across many teaching networks I hear of schools busily working on developing online platforms, planning video conferencing and writing new complex assessment plans to make adjustments for kids who have access to technology, home workspaces and safe environments.
 
I draw a deep, heavy breath.
 
“Breathe”, I repeat to myself. “Breathe.”
 
You see, like my student, I am anxious.
 
I don’t teach the regular bunch of independent (or even semi-independent) learners found lingering in mainstream high schools. I teach those that are at risk, lonely, depressed, scared and vulnerable. That is why I breathe so deeply. What happens to MY kids in this current crisis?
 
The students came in for one last day as we wanted to break the news to them in person and make sure they felt reassured. These are the kids that were chronically absent at previous schools. These are the kids walking the streets at night. These are the kids that will tell you school is not for them. An onlooker would think they would be rejoicing, but as a staff we knew their response would not be so.
 
“What. The. Actual. Fuck?”, said one boy.
 
This is the same boy that comes in each morning and asks within five minutes if he can go home. My response is always no and he always stays the day, but I did not expect him to be quite so angry. “I can’t do school from home!”, he continues. “There are too many distractions. I was just getting my shit together.”
 
One girl stood up and left the room before her tears hit the table. Our counsellor followed her. Another piped up, “But my mum can’t help me with my maths or anything, she didn’t even finishing year 8.” This young lady wants to be the first in her family to finish school.
 
One boy who started the day claiming that he loved that he didn’t have to school hung back until the other students were gone and said, “This is actually so shit.” Yes darling it is.
 
When I first heard the news I was devastated. School is a safe place for my students. This is not only the place where they come to learn, this is the place where they are fed, clothed, counselled and socially supported. This is the place where they can sleep safely. This is the place where they can access essentials like sanitary products, toothpaste, soap and deodorant. This is the place where they have contact with supportive adults. For some this is the only place where they engage socially with others, for some it is their respite and others the only place they feel loved.  What will happen to them now?
 
I took a breath and considered for a long time why this was necessary. The answers came flooding through my brain like comments on a LIVE Coronavirus Update.

• Your students are the ones in our community that are vulnerable.
• 40% of their sole carers are their grandparents or other elderly relatives.
• One fifth of your students identify as first nation people.
• They generally have poor health and nutrition.
• They come to school when they are sick because home may not be safe.
• The parents that work tend to have low paying service industry jobs where they are at risk of contact – hospitality, cleaners, retail.
• Many wear the same clothes everyday and have poor personal hygiene.
• Social distancing in the community is difficult when you are couch surfing every night.
• Our school is only two classrooms large. We spend all day in contact.
• We cook and eat in our classrooms every day.
• We can’t source food for 24 students each day with the current rations.
• We don’t have cleaners - we fill this roll.
• We can’t get the cleaning and sanitary supplies we require.
• We pick students up in a twelve-seater bus each day or they cannot get to school.
• Your school team has three teaching staff in total. If one is self-isolated staff will burn out quickly as it is difficult to retain casuals in our school.
• Staff have relatives that are immunosuppressed, pregnant and elderly.
• Most of the volunteers who are an important part of your school’s success are generally older then 60.
• Your leadership team moves across seven schools in the state from Macquarie Fields, to Redfern, from Wollongong to the Central Coast.

 
And the list goes on.
 
I open my computer and send an email to our principals. Thank you for prioritising the wellbeing of students and staff in these crazy, crazy times. It takes strong leaders to make tough decisions and I know this one wasn’t easy.
 
I take another breath and set to work. I am going to implement remote delivery the joy-fueled way.

Photo: The beginning of remote learning packs for students.

It is a privilege to be part of this amazing project on Future Focussed Learning. This documentary was driven by Lisa Aitken and the UTS Future Learning: Lead Teacher Collective of which I am proud to be part of. I am hoping you will share this video far and wide to inspire other teachers who are considering implementing Project Based Learning at their schools.

I have spent thirty years in mainstream education as a student, a teacher and a parent.  The fear I had shifting into an alternative education system at the beginning of the year was palpable. What if I hated it? Would I be able to transition back to mainstream in the future? I was stepping off the beaten track, way out of my comfort zone, and I was petrified.
 
Alternative schools offer a different educational philosophy to mainstream schools. They tend to be much smaller, learning is more individualised, and teaching can be more experimental. My school is located in a community centre, across two classrooms where we cater for twenty-four students. We teach only Stage 5 and are a fully accredited high school. The students have come to us, as mainstream education has not worked out for them for a variety of reasons. My day now includes driving the school bus, cooking lunch for them all and teaching across the curriculum.
 
I want to share with you the lessons that this shift in institutions has taught me. There is so much that mainstream schools can learn from alternative education. 
 
Class Sizes – The work of John Hattie suggests that smaller class sizes don’t make much of a difference to student outcomes. However, the factors he does list as making a significant impact on student achievement would be much easier to focus on if class sizes were smaller. I have directly seen the benefits of smaller classes in my shift to alternative education. (Sorry Hattie!)
 
I have moved from seeing over 120 students on some days to seeing 24. I can intervene effectively when it comes to students with additional learning needs. I can provide richer and more immediate feedback because the marking I am doing does not take me 28000 hours to complete (Ok, slight over exaggeration!). Teacher / student relationships are richer as I only have to remember the interests and worries of 24 students. I have more time to plan, to evaluate, to scaffold. I know ALL the parents/carers of my students where I probably knew about 30% when teaching in mainstream. This is the reason many of our students seek out alternative education. They are getting lost and forgotten in over-populated classes. Although a costly exercise, class sizes need to be reduced. For schools located in disadvantaged areas this is even more significant.
 
Burn The Paperwork – Paperwork is making our teachers sick and about 85% of it is not necessary. Shifting to alternative education really highlighted to me the amount of unnecessary work teachers are asked to do in mainstream schools. In my current school if NESA isn’t going to ask for it at the end of the day, then we don’t do it. If it doesn’t serve our students learning, we don’t do it. For example, each term the parent/carer signs a blanket permission note covering basically any school excursion we might chose to run that term. We also have prewritten risk assessments for pretty much any activity. That way when I see my students aren’t engaged in their wetland case study in Geography, I can literally pile them into a bus and take them to a wetland without having to complete a few hours of paper work and obtain permission from four people above me to do so. I get that this will never be quite this simple in mainstream, but it can definitely be simpler. Another example would be assessment tasks. In most schools where I have previously taught their has been so much unnecessary garbage required on the assessment sheet that students have difficulty finding what they have to do. However, someone of importance deems that a school-wide pro-forma needs to be followed because it justifies their job. Does the pro-forma really make a difference to the students work? Nope, so get rid of it! Trust me, it is liberating.
 
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Should Be The Priority – If you are not familiar with Maslow you need to be. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943) is a five-tier model prioritising what needs must be met for an individual to ensure motivation and self-actualisation. We know, as teachers, that self-actualisation is necessary to become an independent learner. However, mainstream schools often fail to recognise that a students physiological needs, safety needs, sense of love and belonging and esteem need to be in place in order for students to be motivated to learn. While advocating for additional mental health supports for a student of mine in a mainstream school I was told by my school leader to “separate the emotion from the curriculum”. Essentially what she was saying is just teach the content and forget about this nonsense.
 
Education providers need to recognise that the two cannot be separated, that learning cannot take place if wellbeing is not the number one priority. If a student feels bullied, or has issues with their friendship group, they will not be able to learn properly. If a student hasn’t eaten or their clothes are not clean, they will not be able to learn properly. If a student lacks self-esteem and respect for themselves, they will not be able to learn properly. My new school not only recognises this, but acts on this. Many of our student’s basic needs were not being met when they attended mainstream high school resulting in low attendance, poor behaviour and in many cases suspensions. Our students are now able to learn and are attending school because their basic needs are being met.
 
Tear Down The Silos – Mainstream schools tend to have a very silo approach to education. For example, let’s take Mrs Fraction a hypothetical teacher in a mainstream school. Mrs Fractions teaches maths. She hangs out with the maths faculty. Maths takes place four periods a week in the same classroom. The only thing that is taught in Mrs Fraction’s class is maths. The classes are streamed etc. Sound familiar?
 
In my school I now teach across the curriculum. I teach geography, English, PDHPE, and arts. I am continually making rich cross-curricula links. I team-teach frequently with my peers. Project-based learning has a priority in our week with students choosing what they wish to work on. Furthermore, every morning and afternoon we are working as a team updating each other on what is working or not working for each student and problem solving any challenges that may arise. This is 21st Century teaching and learning in action, but I know what you are thinking - this isn’t practical for mainstream schools! Maybe not, but it isn’t impossible. Finland did it. Singapore has made massive changes in this area.  We need to rethink our approach.  
 
Play Is Important – Just like paperwork is making our teachers sick, so too is the removal of play from our schools. Where is the time for laughter and joy in our overcrowded, over assessed curriculum? Many of our students come to us sick. Yes, sick – depressed, anxious, even suicidal. There are many factors at play here, but I believe mainstream schooling is a large contributor to this. Play, fun and time for stress-free connections need to be embedded in the teaching week. I am not talking about a once-a-term lunchtime concert or fundraising mufti day, I am talking about significant time for fun and renewal at least once a week. At our school we watch our students and staff carefully. When we can see they are tired and drained we change it up. For example, one of our favourite things to do is go to a small reserve by the lake. We take fishing rods and a picnic lunch. Some students will sit on blankets under the trees creating art works or using natural materials for craft. Others will take a stroll over a small bridge to a little island to collect wild flowers. A game of soccer, cards or even a fishing competition may take place. Last time we had an epic game (staff and students) of forty-four homes on the island. We laughed so hard as we tried to make it home. These days renew us all – staff and students.
 
And guess what… the world does not end. Subject hours are still met, outcomes are still covered, and best of all our students become a little less broken each time we do it.
 
Community Connectedness –  When was the last time your school really connected with the community? I am not talking about parents and friends, I am talking about the whole community. Teenagers often feel isolated within the community especially those in lower socio-economic areas. It is important that students are given the opportunity to connect with their local community, not only for their benefit, but also for the benefit of all. Students learn to empathise with others of different ages and feel personal self-worth when they are able to contribute to society. Additionally, community members will have more time for your students and limited perceptions of a particular generation can shift.
 
Once a week we partake in community activities. These involve assisting at the RSPCA, feeding the elderly at the local community centre, participating in random acts of kindness, working with playgroups and primary schools, or visiting local business such as farms to improve their understanding of a particular topic. The personal growth I see in my students through participating in these activities are profound. We also have many volunteers come and work in our school. People of different ages, social status and cultures volunteer their time to support our students. The students learn through these unique relationships developing new mentors and feeling a bigger sense of connection, support and belonging through their teenage years.
 
 I am not saying that mainstream schools are doing things wrong, but I do want to highlight that it is not the only way. John Dewey once said, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”. This is what I feel has shifted for me through this transition. I am no longer teaching my students the skills they need for life, I am walking the journey of life with them… albeit off the beaten track.  

Image sourced from Unsplash.

This week I had the privilege to present at an Alternative Schools Conference at Warakiri College on Project-Based Learning with one of my fantastic colleagues, John Martin. We are experimenting with cross-curricula project-based learning in our school context and our first major project has been The Archibull Prize. I would love to share some aspects of this case study here in hope to inspire you to consider the implementation of PBL in your classroom.

What is project-based learning?

The Buck Institute defines project-based learning as “a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge.” (Buck Institute, 2018).

 What is The Archibull Prize?
 
The Archibull Prize is an innovative program providing students with the opportunity to engage in agriculture. Through the project students “meet young farmers and engage in genuine farm experiences, gain knowledge and skills about the production of the food they eat, fibres they use and the environment they live in.” (Archibull, 2018) The program involves three elements – the design of a life-sized fibreglass cow based on the theme ‘Feeding, Clothing and Powering A Hungry Nation Is A Shared Responsibility’; a reflective blog; and a multimedia animation / infographic.

You can learn more about The Archibull Prize here.

How do you ensure PBL links with authentic intellectual engagement?
 
Ron Ritchhart (2009), author of Making Thinking Visible and co-author of Creating Cultures of Thinking, identifies four criteria that are useful in shaping classroom activities to more effectively promote the kinds of authentic intellectual engagement that leads to deep understanding.
 
These criteria include: Novel Application, Meaningful Inquiry, Effective Communication and Purposeful Reach.
 
Ritchhardt claims that the more prevalent these criteria are in a learning opportunity, the  more powerful the learning opportunity will be for the students involved. He has designed a simple scale on which teachers can measure their learning opportunities against. You can find this here.

How did The Archibull Prize measure up as an authentic intellectual learning opportunity?
 
The Archibull Prize completely embodied the four criteria for powerful authentic intellectual engagement.  Let me explain how.
 
Novel Application - Novel application comes in bucket loads in this project. Our students hadto use higher order thinking to complete the three tasks asked of by the project including the artistic design of the cow, the blog and multimedia animation. The direct question is or the problem they had to solve is – How can we artistically represent the current climate of agriculture in Australia?
 
Meaningful Inquiry - In order to solve the question above our students had to delve into many aspects of sustainability and agriculture in Australia. They examined careers in agriculture, climate change, biosecurity, food security and much, much more. They did this both in the classroom and on the farm.
 
Effective Communication - This project encouraged students to share their learning in a variety of ways. They had to reflect on and share their learning through the blog. They had to articulate deep understanding in the multimedia production, and furthermore each time someone new sees their cow our students launch into explaining the many elements of their design.
 
Purposeful Reach - For me this is the key to effective PBL. It raises the steaks for students. Students need the opportunity to present their work to someone other then myself or their classroom peers.  In every instance that I have worked on a project with purposeful reach, the quality of work has significantly risen. This is a competition. They want to be competitive. This image here sums up the reach this project has had. Their multimedia production has been shared in a number of forums including the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Suddenly, our marginalised students, living on the fringe, have a voice across our nation.

How do we connect PBL within the curriculum?
 
Many teachers shy away from PBL and cross-curricula projects as they are unsure how to document or measure it against syllabus outcomes with formal assessment. However, there are multiple solutions to this problem. Firstly the advantage of choosing a competition generally means there are already teaching resources and pre-established links. This is definitely the case with The Archibull Prize with a number of resources available through the website across key learning areas. Most competitions will also have an assessment criteria that can be modified to formally assess the project either individually or as a group. We chose, due to the experiential nature of this project, not to make this a formal assessment, but in hindsight I wish we had because the evidence of learning was substantial.
 
When programing cross-curricula PBL I sit with all the outcomes across all subject areas I wish to cover, and I look at what outcomes I need to meet and want to meet that connect with the project. In this instance The Archibull Project covered both Geography and English outcomes. However, The Archibull Project could form the basis of any art, agriculture, design and technology, industrial technology, or even photography and media unit. As long as you program it effectively, identify and incorporate the outcomes you wish to cover and collect formal evidence of learning, you can easily embed a program like this into your scope and sequence. 

Which PBL model should you follow?
 
Usually I work from the Buck Institute model for PBL but in this instance I chose the solution fluency model to map out my approach and structure the unit. I chose this model as I felt it was simplistic and well-fitted to what I wanted to achieve. The Essential Fluencies are outlined extensively in the book  ‘Mindful  Assessment’  (Crockett,  L.  &  Churches,  A.  (2016)  Mindful Assessment, published by Solution Tree. (See also ‘Solution  Fluency’, Global Digital Citizen Foundation website.) The six phases of the solution fluency include:
 
Define – The define phase involves capturing students attention through the definition of the problem at hand. In our project this occurred through an entry event that involved a virtual reality beef bus. Students were able to witness the production of beef by virtually visiting the farm and following the production of beef from the paddock to the plate.
 
Discover – The discover phase involves asking questions and thoroughly investigating the problem at hand. In our project this took place through guided inquiry in our classroom and through two farm visits, one with our farming mentor and another at a local chemical-free farm. The discover phase can take place both inside and outside the classroom.
 
Dream – The dream phase is the time in which students apply higher order thinking to solve the problem. They dream up ideas and solutions that stem from the basis of their learning. No ideas is too silly, too big, too hard. Once all the solutions have been dreamt up, students go about selecting the best possibilities to further explore in the design stage.
 
Design – In the design phase students work together to plot out the details of their solutions. In our project this involved detailed discussion, draft designs, written symbolic ideas and mind mapping.
 
Deliver – There are two components of this phase – production and presentation. For our students this involved the production of the multimedia element, the construction of the blog and the painting of the cow. The students then find a way to present this to the community. In our case students presented the blog online, shared their multimedia production through social media and have presented their cow for judging in the competition.
 
Debrief – This is an opportunity to ‘revisit, review, and reflect’ on the process. The Archibull Prize provides both entry and exit surveys for students to complete which provides an opportunity to debrief. Furthermore, we have reflected with our students and reflected ourselves by presenting our learning at The Alternative Schools conference.
 

What were the challenges?

​These are the challenges identified with my colleague and fellow presenter John Martin.
 
The delivery of the program and lessons for our students was no harder than the delivery of any learning we may offer. However, we are a small school and we don’t have an art department, agriculture department, a separate department for sciences or a department for TAS. As such we had limited resources and staff experience available when working through the practical aspect of the project. In saying that, it allowed us to turn to the community and encourage our students to develop a culture of thinking within our school.

The second challenge relates to the students level of learning and inquiry. Our students are in Yr 9 and Yr 10 and so they should be able to analyse, rethink, and synthesise yet, as so many of our students have experienced trauma and extended absences from school, we found that many their abilities spanned a wide range which required carefully replanning and differentiation for us. This included the careful selection of individual roles and scaffolded tasks.
 
The final challenge was to encourage our students to appreciate and understand that no matter the outcome, they could not fail. Our students come to us having experienced trauma, and a sense of shame and failure derived from words told to them in the past and actions they’ve experienced in their lives. Overcoming this sense of shame and failure is perhaps one of the hardest challenges we faced. Students were sacred to ‘mess up the paint’ or have a go in case they failed. Our responsibility was to work with them and say “It is totally fine! Let’s problem solve this together.”
 
What was the impact of the project?
 
Not only do we have to give students in our schools the opportunity to fail, we need to give them the opportunity to succeed. I have found it difficult to put into words the impact this project has had on our students but I will begin with authentic intellectual engagement. For the first time, pretty much all year if I am honest, my students were 100% actively participating in authentic intellectual work. The evidence of learning expressed by not only the cow, but also the multimedia project and the blog is substantial. I can guarantee that next year my students couldn’t tell you a thing about the novel we studied in a traditional sense this term but they will be able to tell you where potatoes come from, what products are made from beef, the impact of climate change on our farmers and one particular student now knows exactly where calves come from and is happy to share this newly found knowledge with anyone that will listen. There is complex thinking in this cow.
 
Secondly, the most profound impact I have seen in this project has been the collaboration, connectedness and belonging that this cow has brought to our school. Believe me people - a giant fibreglass cow WILL bring your school community together. The cow has lived in my classroom for two terms. Before school I would have students gathered around it asking when we working on the horns, and questioning how we were going to problem solve the window. This discussion would continue to lunch. At times we would have eight or more people working around the cow, engaged in conversation, growing relationships and painting, one stroke at a time, the perfect picture of community.
 
In a speech presented at our school open day this year one of our students said, “We are the students that are known as stuff ups, won’t amount to anythings, failures” but then he articulated school was the one place where they weren’t seen like this. We made it our mission as a school to change this perception, one cow at a time, and we did. Now our students, who would never have seen their work hung on the walls of mainstream classroom are being celebrated in the local newspaper, agricultural journals and many other community based forums…. and they have never been prouder. 

Conclusion

I would highly recommend The Archibull Prize as a starting point to introduce cross-curricula PBL into your teaching program. Lynne Strong, founder of The Archibull Prize, is an incredible support and I know she will assist you and your school to implement the program in the best way possible.
 
To read more about our Archibull journey visit – www.tlcraisesthesteaks.weebly.com

​It was a warm day in March. I was half way through my commute home after a horrific day at work. Horrific doesn’t happen very often, but this day it had. A student at my new school had run out of second, and third, and fourth, and fifth chances, and he had been asked to leave. I was gutted. Where would he go? I work with the most marginalised of students now and for many our school is the end of the education line. What could I have done better to prevent this from happening? How could I change my practice to prevent this outcome for future students?
 
The phone rang. I didn’t recognise the number that came up on the dashboard but it was a welcome distraction.
 
“Hello,” I answered.

I listened as the caller, a colleague who had supported me over the last twelve months through the development of my Highly Accomplished Teacher application, told me that my application had been successful.
 
“You are now a highly accomplished teacher,” he said.
 
I couldn’t speak. I began to sob. Only moments ago I had been questioning whether or not I was cut out for my new teaching position and here he was running off statistics.
 
“As of the 30th January there were only 114 Highly Accomplished teachers in the state”, he said. “You are now one of them.”
 
Teaching is all I have ever known. I left school, went to uni and began teaching at twenty-one. I have dedicated many hours, and much of my heart, to teaching over the past eighteen years, yet a part of me still questions whether or not I am good at it. It’s silly isn’t it? However, teaching is one of those professions where professional recognition or acknowledgement is hard to come by. That is why I undertook the accreditation process. I wanted to prove to myself once and for that I was damn good at what I loved doing.
 
The accreditation process was not easy. To become a highly accomplished teacher you need to submit packages of formal, annotated evidence. I had 14 packages of evidence to prove 37 standards across a breadth of areas including knowing my students, knowing my content, implementing effective learning, mentoring, assessment and reporting, community engagement and much more. Additionally you need up to 8 referees attesting your ability to meet these standards, plus two internal teaching observations and one external observation where a representative of NESA shadows you for the entire day. This all goes to a panel at a system level, and if you get through this stage, it goes to another at a State level. It was one of the most challenging and gruelling processes I have even experienced.
 
I know what you are thinking. Is all this worth it? I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me I can teach! And you are right, you don’t… but here is what becoming Highly Accomplished has given me.

Firstly, through the development of my application I was forced to analyse my teaching practice in depth. I was able to rejoice in the areas I knew I was doing well in and give myself a pat on the back. However, it also highlighted the areas in which I needed to do better. The holes in my practice became clear as day. For example, analysing data to inform practice is not my thing, but it is now something I am conscious of and have made an attempt to embrace. Reporting was another area in which I needed to lift my game and to complete my application I had to really change up how I was doing this. It is a critical process and a process that forced me to improve my practice.
 
Secondly, becoming Highly Accomplished has now given me a professional voice. The NSW Education Minister, Rob Stokes, at the award’s ceremony last week said that being recognised as a Highly Accomplished Teacher is like a lawyer reaching the level of Senior Counsel. In the past week I have been featured on Channel 7 news and met with Rob Stokes where I had the opportunity to advocate for alternative schooling and increased mental health supports in our schools. I have also spoken with the head of NESA about the challenges disadvantaged students have in completing an overcrowded curriculum. I am being heard and this is just the beginning. I am hoping this level of accreditation will give me a voice in education across our country and I am now set to seek out ways to maximise the potential of this.
 
Lastly, my accreditation has given me newly found confidence when things get tough. I am currently teaching in a very challenging environment. Some days I feel like a beginning teacher again, unsure what to do in the new situations I am encountering. However, that one phone call in March, on one of my toughest teaching days, is a reminder that you can be a great teacher and still stumble. You don’t have to be perfect all the time, in fact you can’t.  
 
According to NESA, "Highly Accomplished teachers are characterised as advocates of the profession, who contribute to the professional learning of peers, act as mentors to new teachers and demonstrate strong engagement with the school and local community." I know many teachers that come under this banner and I am writing this to encourage them to undertake the Highly Accomplished Accreditation process. It is a lot of work, it does cost you money and it will take up time, but I can assure you it is worth it. We need to recognise quality teachers and the impact they are having, not only in our profession, but across our nation. Teacher quality is the best indicator of student success and this process encourages good teachers to be great teachers. So take a risk, carve out some time and set the bar for yourself. After all, as Romain Rolland once said...

“If one is to shed the light of the sun upon others, you must first of all have it within yourself.” 

​It was 4.30am in the morning. My husband brings me my morning coffee, it tastes better when he makes it, and I go about checking the news, social media and emails. I have precisely until 4.50am to complete this task before I delve into schoolwork. It is my routine and I like it. I do my best thinking at this time when it is quiet and my brain is less exhausted.
 
On this particular day, at approximately 4.47am, my husband leans into the room and declares, “I sent you an article. Read it. You could have written it. I’ll be back by 6.15am. You can take off then.” He sets out for his morning run. He tries to be back by 6.15am as he knows I like to get to work early and make sure my classroom is just as I need it before lessons begin. If I am late, I get anxious.
 
I shift the cursor to my inbox. Subject: Love You. I know he does. The article is attached. It is titled Learning Things The Hard Way by Gabbie Stroud (The Weekend Australian Magazine, June 23rd, 2018). I was hooked as Gabbie, a former teacher, spoke of her students Ryan and Ed. I currently had a classroom defined by Ryan’s and Ed’s and the emotion she conveyed could have been my own.

 A knot was twisting in my guts and I was already dreading tomorrow.
– Stroud, pg 4 / Me Sunday evening Week 2, Term 1, 2018.
 
There are no bad kids, I reminded myself primly. There’s just bad behaviour. But was does that mean?
– Stroud, pg 4 / Me Thursday afternoon, Week 6, Term 1, 2018 just after asking a student to leave the school.
 
“We should be able to do something,” I said. “You know what, Gabsie? Best thing we can do for that kid is keep him safe here at school”.
​– Stroud, pg 4 / Me and my boss Monday afternoon, Week 3, Term 2, 2018.

​The article was an excerpt from Gabbie’s new book Teacher. It was bittersweet, it was truthful and I wanted to read more.
 
Term 2 holidays arrive and I make my way to the bookshop to select some holiday reading. I know I won’t get through much. I have an English text I have to teach next term that I haven’t read yet, a pile of marking already burning a hole of guilt into my holiday peacefulness, and two new programs I was hoping to write by next term. I feel like I should chose a light fiction, maybe a romance, a sweet story of hope, but instead I find myself scanning the shelves for Gabbie’s book. Success. I rush home to crack a beer, settle in the sun and read more about the magical world of teaching.

​It is gripping. The opening chapter describes a Kindergarten lesson on a hot Australian afternoon. I can feel the heat, the frustration and the exhaustion through her words. I have never taught kindergarten but I have had many year 9 lessons after lunch that weren’t dissimilar from the descriptive text I begin to devour.
 
Suddenly she throws a shoe out the door.
It’s ok, I tell her as though she is in the room with me. We have all been there.
 
Gabbie and I continue to share these conversations as the book progresses. Much of her story is mine. I have taught her Warren, worked with her Sophie and argued with her principal. Her husband Matt speaks the same words as my Andrew. I have felt the love, the anxiety, the frustration, the excitement, the exhaustion, the mother guilt and the joy. Her truth is in many ways my truth… until we reach the final chapters.
 
She walks away.
 
I knew this before I began yet seemingly forgot as I was swept away by her love for teaching.
 
Written by Gabbie Stoud, former teacher.
 
Former teacher.
 
Don’t give up, I beg her. We are all in this together.
 
And this is where I get angry at her. Not for burning out or for being frustrated at the system or needing some space for herself, but for not finding solutions. She writes at the end, “…Australia needs a dramatic re-imagining of what education could be in this great country.”
 
Yes, it does… but it also needs teachers like you Gabbie.
Teachers who know how education has shifted in the last 20 years and where we have gone wrong.
Teachers who have stories to tell.
Teachers who are willing to share ideas, lessons, programs with others so that the workload is reduced.
Teachers who have the confidence to stand up to administration at staff meetings.
Teachers who are passionate and care about the students more than the system.
Teachers that lead the dramatic re-imagining of what education could be.
 
I should have bought the light-hearted romance, but secretly I am glad I didn’t. I needed the kick up the arse. The book reminded me that we need to share our stories with each other, share our work, share the challenges and share the joy.
 
I haven’t posted here in awhile. I have been trying to conserve my time and energy for my teaching position this year. I am already getting up at 4.30am! However, Gabbie has reminded me why I need to keep blogging and sharing ideas and resources. I want my colleagues to know there are solutions to the teacher burnout problem. I want to lend my colleagues a hand. I want my colleagues to know there are alternatives to walking away.
 
“We should be able to do something”, I said. And so I did. – The Joy-Fueled Teacher.
 
References:
Stroud, G. (2018). Teacher. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
 

Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement, but this impact can be either positive or negative. - Hattie & Timperley, 2007.
 
Changing the way I gave feedback to students was high on my priority list this year. I felt that writing a few sentences on the bottom of an assessment sheet was pointless. Student’s eyes search for the mark barely caring about what the teacher has written. The mark becomes the star of the show, not what was learnt or where to go to next. I noticed that this process accelerated a fixed mindset rather then giving rise to a growth mindset and I wanted to change it.
 
I decided to experiment with audio feedback. I recorded my feedback using Quicktime Player directly after the assessment. I then emailed it to my students before they returned to class. I would wait a lesson before giving them back their actual marks. The time period between the assessment and feedback, and the feedback and the mark, was very deliberate. I wanted to reprioritise the mark and turn the volume up on feedback as a tool for ongoing growth and development of my students as learners.
 
I surveyed my preliminary students after trying out this new way of feeding forward.  100% of them found this to be useful. 

They justified their response in the statements below:

• It was much more personal when I heard the teacher’s voice. I felt as if the teacher was giving direct feedback to me. It has made it easier to process the information and will allow me to apply the feedback to my work. I loved it and I think is should be done for future students :)
• LOVE IT! Because I find it more descriptive and felt like you could talk about more with the audio and I could hear the expression in your voice which helped a lot and formed the mood. Very easy to find and go back to listen.
• I was able to obtain more detail feedback and it felt more personal. I am also able to listen back to it in case I forgot anything.
• Because we can go over it as much as we like, and its different to on paper. I feel I take it in more.
• It was more personal and I was able to hear your tone.
• I feel like its nicer to hear you say what I need to work on rather than reading it.
• It made me feel so much better then when I receive my mark.

 
Parents have also commented on the audio feedback at parent-teacher interviews. They expressed an appreciation for the personal touch the feedback provided. I think they feel like it took me longer to do, but to be honest it is just as quick as writing a paragraph.
 
So the audio feedback stayed. I have used it for about 80% of my assessments this year. As the files can be quite large I save them on Google Drive and share them with students from there. I always begin formally, Audio Feedback for Assessment Task 2 – Short film for Student’s Name. I then relax and speak directly to the student. It also forces me to really think about what I am saying as I know I am being recorded. I try to be very honest and specific with my feedback, acknowledging their positive achievements and the areas for growth. I use feedback stems such as:

• I noticed…
• Something I am thinking is…
• I wonder…
• As we move onto… I would like you to think about…
• I have seen growth in….
• Creative / critical thinking was evident in ….

 
I have also been trying to frame my language to encourage a growth mindset. Mindset Works has an excellent resource to help get you started. You can download it here. There is also a series of fantastic articles and research material around effective feedback at Visible Learning.
 
For those that want to take it to the next level use the QuickTime or Screencastify to feedback over written work, video recordings, powerpoints/keynote presentations, or any project submitted electronically. 

Do the students in your classroom know what you value?  
 
In a recent professional development day, my colleagues and I heard about a science lesson on chromosomes. At the start of the lesson the teacher explicitly said, "We are going to look at this like scientists, because in this class we value scientific thinking." Out of the entire day this was the moment that stuck with me. Do I explicitly tell students what I value? 
 
I made a list of the things I know I value the most in my classroom. Risk-taking, critical and creative thinking, specific feedback and collaborative relationships. I definitely use these words in class at different times; however, I wondered if I used them consistently and linked everything we did to these terms, would I see a change in the way my students approached their work?
 
I made a poster, placed it on my classroom wall and consciously began to alter my language.
 
"Today as you move into your playbuilding groups, I want you to remember that we value risk taking in this classroom.
 
I would like you to share your work with a partner today and give them some specific feedback that can move their work forward… because in this classroom we value specific feedback as a tool for personal growth.
 
As I move around the room I am noticing that you are all working as effective collaborators because you are listening to one another and problem solving together. I think this is because you know we value collaborative relationships in this classroom.
 
I noticed that this group were trying a range of different options to move their piece forward. This is exactly what critical and creative thinking looks like in this classroom. This is what we value."
 
Have I seen a change? Without a doubt. My year 11’s are even beginning to say it themselves. One group was showing me a section of their group-devised performance last week when a student said,  "We have taken a risk here Miss, because we know that we value risk-taking in this class. Can you give us some specific feedback to help us develop it further?’"
I am not kidding.  I am not making this up.
She said, “…because we know that we value risk-taking in this class." 
 
Ron Ritchhart calls this the language of noticing and naming. I am naming the values and noticing when the students are using them. This reinforces my expectations for our classroom and places emphasis on the qualities I wish to nurture within my students. 
 
Try it. Make a list. Hang it up. Name and notice. I promise that turning this spotlight on to your core classroom values will improve student outcomes and effect the decisions your students make in regard to their learning.

​My daughter and I have a new hobby. We make terrariums. Yes, terrariums. Glass jars, vases, bowls or globes in which mini plant worlds thrive and grow.

What does this have to do with teaching you ask?
 
I am exhausted. I haven’t felt like this for a while.
Some may call it burnout. They may be right. I have spread myself thin lately, adding two large and highly stressful projects to my already busy life.
Some may call me crazy (by some I mean my husband!).
Some may say I need to say ‘no’.
Some may say that’s teaching these days, what do you expect?
I always say… “I don’t have a hobby, teaching is my hobby. I mean that is where my joy is, my passion. It’s what I love to do.” And herein lies the problem.
 
This is not the first time teacher exhaustion has hit me square in the face and it won’t be the last. I was having a conversation with a beginning teacher earlier in the year, she said, “I am just not sure how this workload is sustainable. Tell me it’s sustainable.” I felt torn in my response. I was thinking the same thing just the week before and I have been teaching for more then half of this teacher’s life. I mean I should have my shit together by now. “Of course it is,” I say. “Once you have taught it once it is easier, and you learn to manage blah, blah, blah….” I lied. I lied because I know she is and will continue to be a great teacher. I lied because I didn’t have the heart to tell her it takes over your life. Teaching is not a profession, it is a vocation and we do it because the reward far outweighs the workload.
 
Now to the terrariums. My daughter loves nature. Making a terrarium is something we have been talking about for awhile, but I had been putting it off because of this pile of marking, that set of reports and the endless meaningless tasks that I was drowning in. However, three weeks ago I realised I was wilting. I needed nourishment and I needed it immediately. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and we set upon our task. We googled ‘How to make a terrarium and keep it alive’. We got our answer, made a list of supplies and headed off to Bunnings. With enough materials to landscape half an acre, we headed to the nursery to pick our plants.

“Succulents”, I declared and as I picked up the first little guy I realised he was just like me.

Teachers are succulents. We have thick skin, adapt to storing water, and survive in arid climates. Teachers acclimatise over the years to survive the harsh working conditions of teaching. The time we can go without nourishment increases as we become more resilient and our skin thickens. We learn to store the moments of joy that keep us going, drawing on them when we need it. However, even the toughest of plants need a reprieve. They need the rain to ease the pressure, to take off the stress, even if it is just for a day.
 
“Mum, can we get all of these?”
“Yep. All of them.”

We filled our basket high with succulents and came home to begin creating. I filled a goldfish bowl, a few jars and sixteen large tumblers for my sixteen year 12’s sitting their HSC practical exam the week after. My daughter made six others of various shapes and sizes. “You just need to use your imaginary feelings when you make them mum”, she said. I was nourished. It didn’t take much, just an intermission from the harsh climate. Just for a day.
 
Three weeks later and I am feeling better. My year 12’s have sat their practical exams and I have completed one of the large extra-projects I had weighing on my shoulders. I still have the pile of marking to do and reports around the corner, but I am also making time for my new hobby.
 
I made a teacher terrarium today. It will live in my classroom. A mini world reminding me to nourish myself, to step outside and soak in the sun, to refuel my joy as regularly as possible. I used my ‘imaginary feelings’ to build it into a joy-fueled classroom. A rainbow to acknowledge the diversity of my students. A chalkboard for inspiring collaboration. A glass container acknowledging that my class is always open and welcoming of other teachers. A string of work acknowledging critical thinking and creativity. And a reminder that children grow into the intellectual life around them.

What would your teacher terrarium look like?

How To Make a Terrarium

1. Find a container of any description! K-Mart is great for cheap fish bowls or glass vases like the one I have used above. Alternatively raid the op-shop for old teacups, bowls or other interesting pieces. 
2. Begin your terrarium with a layer of pebbles or stones to assist in storing water.
3.  Add a layer of horticultural charcoal (available from Bunnings).
4.  Place a layer of soil, deep enough to cover the roots of your plant. You can get succulent specific potting mix from Bunnings.
5.  Plant your succulent.
6.  Decorate it using pebbles, stones, sand, moss and your ‘imaginary feelings’.
7.  Give it a drink of water and you are done. Depending on the size it may only need watering once a fortnight. Maybe when you water your terrarium it can be a conscious reminder that it is time to nourish yourself!