Secondary Thinking about becoming a teacher

pepsi

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Feb 4, 2008
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I teach in the SE, in a low socio-economic area (albeit it’s moving toward medium) and I fear that my 12s and to a certain extent my 11s will just give up. They’ve said it to me in class. Most of the parents are essential workers.

This time around with the juniors being off school grounds, we saw a large number being sent to school as they couldn’t engage at home.

This will be a very challenging time.
Exactly what I'm seeing. The advantaged won't have huge problems overall with remote learning, it is the disadvantaged, those from low socio-economic and those from homes with English as a second language.

This is going to cause widespread problems and the longer we are in remote learning, the worst and more long lasting the impact will be.

Anyway the rumours going around that stage 4 restrictions are incoming and a return to Remote learning for all students are on the cards.
 
Mar 28, 2006
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Anyone recently completed their VIT registration? As in moving to full registration.
I have selected an inquiry question but I am finding it really difficult to get started. The lady at our school whose job it is to oversee the registration process is recently new to the job and unfortunately just directs me to the VIT website whenever I have a question.
Any tips? I guess I am finding it hard without a structure or process to follow.
https://www.vit.vic.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/15419/PRT-guide-to-full-registration-2018.pdf

Ignore everything and just focus on pages 11 to 21 of this doc. It takes you through everything you need to do.

It's an annoying, time-consuming inconvenience (particularly as a beginning teacher) - but it's not hard. You just gotta get back into that "spin bullshit" mode like writing a university essay - without the pedantic referencing standards.

Some principals won't even bother reading it, whereas some will. Either way, it literally is a tick-box process and a quick chat.
 
Apr 10, 2015
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Exactly what I'm seeing. The advantaged won't have huge problems overall with remote learning, it is the disadvantaged, those from low socio-economic and those from homes with English as a second language.

This is going to cause widespread problems and the longer we are in remote learning, the worst and more long lasting the impact will be.

Anyway the rumours going around that stage 4 restrictions are incoming and a return to Remote learning for all students are on the cards.
Yep. The big issue is will they include special schools after they said remote didn't work for those kids and parents?

Parents and carers are going to be peeved if they have to keep them home after just sending them back (many only just sent them last week).
 

CliffMcTainshaw

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Anyone recently completed their VIT registration? As in moving to full registration.
The VIT are absolutely useless. We got conned by the union who told us before the vote that they would be a representative body for Teachers, just like the AMA is for Doctors and they would represent teachers on their educational concerns. Once teachers voted to establish the VIT the reality was that they were doing exactly the same administrative tasks the Government had been doing since teaching began, but we were paying for it.
As a teacher the VIT have not helped me as a teacher in any way except to reduce my income. Why don't they just come out and tell use what the VIT really is, a tax on having a job.
 
Jun 19, 2011
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The VIT are absolutely useless. We got conned by the union who told us before the vote that they would be a representative body for Teachers, just like the AMA is for Doctors and they would represent teachers on their educational concerns. Once teachers voted to establish the VIT the reality was that they were doing exactly the same administrative tasks the Government had been doing since teaching began, but we were paying for it.
As a teacher the VIT have not helped me as a teacher in any way except to reduce my income. Why don't they just come out and tell use what the VIT really is, a tax on having a job.
It's even worse than that. When I was a teacher a I rang them and asked, what do you actually do for us? The response was, we're a body for the benefit of the public, not for the teachers. Their job is to scrutinise you.
 
Nov 13, 2014
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Anyone recently completed their VIT registration? As in moving to full registration.
I have selected an inquiry question but I am finding it really difficult to get started. The lady at our school whose job it is to oversee the registration process is recently new to the job and unfortunately just directs me to the VIT website whenever I have a question.
Any tips? I guess I am finding it hard without a structure or process to follow.
Whilst it's true that it's a bullshit box-ticking exercise – seriously, just write some s**t down and don't take it half as seriously as a uni assignment – push as hard as you can to find a better mentor.

The good thing you can get out of this process is to get some experience reflecting on your practice with an experienced colleague who'll listen, give a s**t about your work, and support you when things get tough.

If they can't make regular time to do this or don't want to, ask around for someone else. Even if they're not in your year level or subject area or whatever, if they can spare 20mins a fortnight to chat with you about how things are going, they might be a better mentor than the one you've got.
 

CliffMcTainshaw

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Anyone recently completed their VIT registration? As in moving to full registration.
I have selected an inquiry question but I am finding it really difficult to get started. The lady at our school whose job it is to oversee the registration process is recently new to the job and unfortunately just directs me to the VIT website whenever I have a question.
Any tips? I guess I am finding it hard without a structure or process to follow.
Are you the only new teacher at your school?
Do you have fortnightly (or regular) meetings wih your co-ordinator and the other new teachers?
If you have other new teachers in the same situation as you, do you meet with them regularly to discuss VIT issues and other teaching matters you have in common.
Teaching really requires a great deal of communication and openness to new ideas and suggestions. If you find it difficult to express your fears and worries about teaching then that is something you will have to overcome if you are going to be the best teacher you can be.
Ask around and find out which teachers in your school are the best ones and go and see them. Ask if you can sit in on some of their classes, talk to them about the things you need to understand for your VIT application.
Keep a diary about what you are aiming to do for your class and record the results.
Run pre and after tests to prove students have learnt from your instruction.
Find out if you have any teachers who became registered at the end of last year. If not find out the teachers who achieved registration in the last couple of years. Go and see them and discuss matters you need help with.
 

CliffMcTainshaw

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This site is great for running tests and to record student learning. I've been using it for years and have lots of resources for each year level in my subject. It's really useful for revision work as well.
It has also been a great resource for remote learning.
One of the great features is that they are self correcting and it supplies you with a spreadsheet showing student results, class results and question results which can be used to help you target student learning.
I've used it for Y12 revision from past exams. I do a new set of revision questions at the beginning of each year based on the previous years exam. It has been really helpful predicting accurate end of exam results and the more I have used it the more accurate my predictions have become.

You have to register and can only run one class at a time but every new bit of work you undertake is saved and you can use it every year, building up your resources along the way.
https://www.socrative.com
 
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Mar 28, 2006
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Run pre and after tests to prove students have learnt from your instruction.
These are great for subjects like Maths where there is a consistency of learning.

The unit I taught for my VIT was on SQL Databases - and no students had ever seen a database beforehand.

Pre-test ~ 2%
Post-test ~ 95%

My reviewer was like "Look at the effect size of your teaching!" :think:
 

CliffMcTainshaw

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These are great for subjects like Maths where there is a consistency of learning.

The unit I taught for my VIT was on SQL Databases - and no students had ever seen a database beforehand.

Pre-test ~ 2%
Post-test ~ 95%

My reviewer was like "Look at the effect size of your teaching!" :think:
They show learning in any subject area. Pre tests are meant to find out what previous knowlege students possess before you start teaching a topic. Of course if students have no knowledge of something they will score poorly in the pre test. If they score really well on your pre test, you need to change what you were going to teach to continue to improve their learning. No point teaching something that they all, already know.
Your post test shows that the students learnt 95% of what you wanted them to learn, which is outstanding. If you have them next year and you were teaching advanced SQL Databases then in your pre test they would probably score higher. Whether you realise it or not, as you advance up the teaching scale one of the things you need to demonstrate every year is that your teaching improves your student's learning. Each and every pay rise you get will require you to do that.
They are simply proof to the Department or the VIT that you are an effective teacher and they are great evidence that you can use to prove you are.
 
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Dec 21, 2005
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Yep. Have seen staff submit blank work programs and stuff they put on said planner doesn't correlate with what students have been given online.

In other news I have had to shut down my laptop for blocks of the day as my eyes have been getting sore. 6hrs in front of a screen is not good.
I bought a pair of Baxter blue, blue light glasses. 80 bucks and my eyes thank me a million.
 

CliffMcTainshaw

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I think parents are becoming fatigued and are starting to realise that teaching stuff is a hard job.
What I am really hoping gets into their head is, "how do they do this with 25 kids in the class"?
 

pepsi

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Feb 4, 2008
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Today's press conference by Andrews and Sutton has blown me away. No Year 3-10 student will return to school until the average cases per day is 5 or less over a 14-day period (no earlier than the 26th October). It is completely frustrating that Year 3-10 students have been totally ignored since March. Those year levels have not been at school basically since week 7 of term 1 and are just casually thrown into the category of, it is ok they will catch up.

What if we don't get that 5 cases per day average til November, December, sometime next year? Remote learning to continue til it happens?

The long term damage being done to school children of all ages is going to have consequences for years to come. Absolute bullshit the decision announced today.
 
Jun 19, 2011
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Today's press conference by Andrews and Sutton has blown me away. No Year 3-10 student will return to school until the average cases per day is 5 or less over a 14-day period (no earlier than the 26th October). It is completely frustrating that Year 3-10 students have been totally ignored since March. Those year levels have not been at school basically since week 7 of term 1 and are just casually thrown into the category of, it is ok they will catch up.

What if we don't get that 5 cases per day average til November, December, sometime next year? Remote learning to continue til it happens?

The long term damage being done to school children of all ages is going to have consequences for years to come. Absolute bullshit the decision announced today.
Ssshhhhh. You'll be accused of wanting to let old people and medical workers die.


PS, completely agree with you.
 

pepsi

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Ssshhhhh. You'll be accused of wanting to let old people and medical workers die.


PS, completely agree with you.
The longer I have had to think about and digest the decision of Andrews and Sutton today regarding Year 3-10 students, the more frustrated and bewildred I have become.

They are putting the education as well as the mental, physical and social health of children behind others and I am blown away by it.
 
Jun 19, 2011
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The longer I have had to think about and digest the decision of Andrews and Sutton today regarding Year 3-10 students, the more frustrated and bewildred I have become.

They are putting the education as well as the mental, physical and social health of children behind others and I am blown away by it.
Thats what happens when you let a doctor tied to a political party make all the calls.
 
Nov 13, 2014
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The longer I have had to think about and digest the decision of Andrews and Sutton today regarding Year 3-10 students, the more frustrated and bewildred I have become.

They are putting the education as well as the mental, physical and social health of children behind others and I am blown away by it.
Thats what happens when you let a doctor tied to a political party make all the calls.
I get that you are both frustrated and care about your students.

But don't pretend like there's any point scoring going on for this state government; they are more unpopular than ever.

And there are plenty of schools outside the city completely returning to the classroom very soon.

Lastly, they've been deliberately vague about city schools, as this will probably end up with schools opening up at different rates, depending on where the community spread is happening. Hopefully there'll be some school autonomy here too. There sure as heck hasn't been so far.

I don't forget how much schools were implicated in the early spread of the second wave, and how slow the gov was to respond here. I hope they've learned from it. A US-style reopening is clearly not great for mental health of kids either...

Sounds like the Independent Schools body, Parents Vic, Prins Federation, and school unions are all somewhat optimistic. That's quite a broad group... How would either of you responded differently? Are you both keen to see face to face return to all schools across Melbourne, ASAP?
 
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