Dear Prime Minster,

I have chosen to become a teacher. I love learning and I love helping students to learn. However, I am watching good teachers leave, stress and burnout. Why? It is because the policy makers seem to think that education solves everything. As teachers are in the business of educating people it seems that, everything is now our problem. Too much is placed on teachers shoulders. Health, drugs, wellbeing, family support, community development, sustainability, data, learning and the list goes on. Just add it to education.

I agree that education is part of the solution. Part of. Where is your accountability? If you want healthy kids, provide funding to allow schools to hire health experts. Experts who have the time to teach our students properly. If you want the best medical care in schools, make it compulsory for all schools to have a nurse and doctor available. If you want people to follow the laws of society, get police officers back in schools to remind them. You want kids to be safe on the roads, bring back road safety programs. You want kids to save the environment and invent things for the future then stop crowding the curriculum.

The government has added so many expectations onto schools and teachers. When would you like me to teach? To teach students how to read, write and be numerate. After all, there are only so many school hours in the day.

Then, when my job is done, you want more from me? You want me to build my professional knowledge, attend meetings, contact parents, answer emails, communicate with external professionals and plan high standard curriculum on the days that I am not attending meetings three days a week. Then you want me to be healthy, stress free and never get sick?

Then when I have nothing left to give, you want me to help children get outstanding tests scores in an outdated and one off test every two years. Just to justify that I am doing my job. You want me to prove growth with so much data that I am swimming in it. Do all this in my own time.

Something needs to change in education. We need to look after and support our teachers to be free to do their job. To teach. Instead of looking for ways to shift blame, make education a priority. Pay teachers what they deserve. People in different industries who give nothing back to society get paid triple what I do. And I am helping to build our future. What could be more important? Teachers by nature serve others and put themselves second. Shouldn’t service industries be rewarded and celebrated? Shouldn’t they be given all available support and resources? Shouldn’t teachers be respected and honoured? I hear a lot about parent rights in schools. What about teacher rights? Where is our protection from the intense scrutiny? Why do we constantly need to justify what we are trained to do?

Please prime minister I beg you, start restoring support, respect and priority to our education system. You want a future, then nurture and support it. Or our country will end up with no teachers and a wave of poorly educated children running it. It is time to make a change. 
#makeachange #twocreativeteachers

"To prepare for the realities of the future workplace and the rapidly changing technological landscape, it is critical for educators to invite kids to get good at asking big questions that lead them on intellectual journeys to pursue answers, rather than only memorizing facts" Sugata Mitra

What an adventure this was! I had the privilege of going to an EduTech conference in Brisbane last year. The main message that I got was use technology for a purpose. One of the guest speakers by Sugata Mitra. He spoke and shared information about SOLE, student led learning. Being one to start with something small from a conference, I picked this. I read information on his website, which I highly recommend to anyone.

Resources: http://www.ted.com/prize/sole_toolkit#discover

Then I started modifying this process with younger kids. One thing about PD is you take away elements and adapt it for your kids and their needs. I was lucky enough to have a teaching partner who was also willing to have a go. It was exciting to try something new. The students that we worked with were six and seven years old.

We did support them at the with a big question. We then broke that big question into open-ended smaller questions. The big question was "How can I grow a sustainable herb garden?". Having smaller questions meant that the younger kids could break the task into smaller steps. E.g.: How do I plant and grow a herb? And off the kids went. I was surprised at how deeply engaged they were over the day. Behavioural issues were non-existent because kids were so into what they were doing. Any issues that did arise were centered around the collaborative skills of kids that age.

One thing that I am proud of is the things that kids didn't like. Some of them spoke of how challenging it was when a teacher didn't tell them the answer straight away. The was a good indication that they learnt from the task because many discussed his they loved being able to direct their own learning. The reflective questions that I used were:

1.    What are you the most proud of?

2.    What did you love the most?

3.    What did you find challenging?

4.    Next time we could....

5.    Even better if

Children discussed how they loved working in a team, having a choice, sharing their learning as well as choosing where to start and what direction to take things. The most interesting aspect was the even better if responses. The juniors would have liked to have a list of a few good websites and videos to further support their learning. It was difficult supporting students with technological issues. Students said that they would have loved faster Internet. They also wanted more books on the subject. In short, they wanted more to direct their own learning. Often, as teachers we have control issue and cant let go. Kids are more than capable of learning alone, it is a matter of what guidance and support we can provide to steer them in the right direction. 
#sole #twocreativeteachers #Sugatra

There is the hidden part of the job that I find challenging. Sickness. Teachers by nature, are busy creatures who often put their needs second. They are often already run down before flu season. Exhaustion also kicks in which makes it harder to fight illness. Some people have the misconception that teachers have holidays so they don't need many sick days. Totally incorrect. Teachers fight many illness that are not often discussed. Here are a few of the hidden health traps of teaching.

Voice strain: This is an element of the job that can be frustrating. We are constantly using our voices and as a result, voices strain. Some days I have needed time just get my voice back. I feel okay but the strain on my voice causes me to lose it.

Colds and seasonal flus: Flu season starts to turn teachers into obsessive cleaners. Anti-bacterial sprays are in full effect as well as disinfecting wipes.

Cold and flu season is harder with younger children. When I moved into juniors, I seemed to get sicker more frequently than I did teaching seniors. Parents often send kids sick because they cannot stay home. This means that the flu season seems to lengthen.

Infectious diseases: teachers are surprisingly exposed to rare and dangerous infectious diseases. Kids can travel or come to school with illness that are dangerous or rare. There have been a few new and interesting illnesses that have been passed on from children travelling overseas. Infectious diseases seem to keep occurring. It can range from good old chicken pox, swine flu and school sores to diseases that are more serious. 

Exhaustion: it sounds strange. All jobs have an element of tiredness. Teachers are not exempt from this. As we are in a service industry, we have a tendency to put kids and their families first. Our own wellbeing comes second. Learning to take needed sick days guilt free is a hard learning curve. Reminding yourself that the job isn't life and doesn't need to consume every waking moment during a term is also hard. As a result, teachers tend to suffer from exhaustion. Hours are often well into the night. Sleep is then minimal. This continues for many weeks.

Eye strain: Some days it feels like all I do is read and watch kids. Read articles, read data, read work. Eyes often become tired and strained.

Back pain: this one takes me by surprise. I actually had spinal surgery. One of the surgeons pointed out that the chairs teachers sit on, in particular elementary and junior teachers, are designed for kids and not adults. As teachers, we lean over, bend to get down to kids’ levels, take groups on the floor and sit in chairs designed for kids all day. This can cause strain to the back. Over the years, a surprisingly high number of teachers that I work with suffer from chronic and severe back pain.

Stress and burnout: the most frequent one. I often say that teaching is like a high-speed drag race. Starts at a furious pace and doesn't stop until the end of the year. Dealing with kids, their behaviours and issues, learning, preparation, parents, families, leaders, other teachers, expectations etc. is just plain stressful. All teachers can share times when things get so intense that they wake at three in the morning. Mind and heart racing. Sometimes, teaching issues can event haunt you in dreams. I cannot tell you the amount of times I have had random dreams or nightmares over the years.

These are a few of the major health traps of teaching. That's not to mention the occasional football in the head or fall on the yard. Teaching has health issues that come with the job. I just wished that they were recognised, discussed and addressed more frequently.  Acknowledgement of these health issues is important and the industry as a whole needs to find ways to protect our teachers health. #teacherhealth #twocreativeteachers