Being too Busy to Think




The BIG Issue: Exhausted Teachers cannot reform
For so many reasons most teachers I talk to say that they are busy. Busier year after year.  

 Burnout
Burnout often affects people in helping professions: lawyers, doctors, social workers, managers and teachers, among others. For teachers, working with students means constantly trying to respond to their needs while simultaneously meeting the various demands of the organisation. When teachers feel that there is a mismatch between all these demands and the available resources they have for coping with them, stress is induced. The usual culprits mentioned are: lack of time, ideas, materials, expertise and support.
https://goo.gl/k8vzJY

 This is not unusual

  • Almost half of new teachers leave the profession in their first year because of an excessive workload and 'exhausted and stressed colleagues', a union leader has warned.
  • The number has tripled in six years, according to an analysis of figures by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).
  • The most recent statistics show that in 2011, around 10,800 newly-qualified teachers did not take up a teaching post – up from 3,600 in 2005. 
  • Around 40 per cent of newly-qualified teachers were not in the classroom after a year in 2011 – compared to 20 per cent in 2005.
    http://goo.gl/tAIKj2

Teaching Is The Most Exhausting Job I've Had
http://goo.gl/8PBFR6
Reform Failure
‘... it is more difficult to find evidence that classrooms have improved or even fundamentally changed as a result of the many reform initiatives; and indeed the persistent failure of educational change is a common theme in the literature (Sarason 1990, Fullan 1993, Cuban 1998, Spillane 1999) (Wallace 2011).

 Learning from Failure
Can schools' learn from failures to reform, and embrace a society that requires citizens to have the skills and capacities to adapt and change. 
OR
Have schools resigned to the continuation of failure and are inept to reform due to teacher fatigue?

Check out these posts

Australian Gothic

Image
  The land  Where there are no crumbling castles  No bloodsucking vampires No ancient monsters No antiquity Too immature for proper history The terror is unseen The terror has been repressed  Through imperial violence, fear, and subversion Mass transportation to the dungeon of the world 50 thousand years  Then came The water buffalo The missionaries Pastoral activity Uranium mining Forestry Tourism Sheer relentless pressure Bringing forth crisis and social breakdown Through an obligation to make way We sense their dread As they combined the elements to create a threat A social, religious, and physical threat The darkest mountain The deepest canyon No escape THEN There are those who predicted the threat Those who compose the realities of impending horror  Those who shepherd the flock into their shelters As we return to our nooks and anticipate their foretold slaughter When you feel an object is both alive and not alive Consecrated Special powers Invisible forces Made powerful for human
Read more

Seeking a New Way of Seeing

Image
  A political act To rebalance the inequities Trust intuition There is a risk that our story will not be told Our time doesn't have to be linear Or by its means of describing us In the busy work of creating an unfulfilling life Who is in charge of my simulation? When I am observed  I behave differently Fearing my vulnerability  Fearing constant attack My mind indistinguishable from reality I step onwards To self-correct my past errors As I passively slip through multiple dimensions With My Judgmental and Righteous Hands In this game, I have two hands One is for verity One is judgment One is bringing forward truth One is for corrective measures One is to bring alignment One is to teach a lesson As we transform onwards through this immense virtual space Night Walking with Weapons In distant places Everyone is hacking each other Everyone is grieving Everyone overconsuming There are those trying to reduce socio-economic gaps  Where enforcement is distributed unequally And I keep search
Read more

Digital Literacy Tools

Image
This is a list of on-line tools that can be used in education. It is an extensive list with many ways of application. The list is not complete. Bookmarking Tools Clip Clip www.clipclip.com -> ClipClip is, essentially, a social bookmarking tool that allows you to save and collect the sites and stuff you treasure most. you can ‘clip’ pictures, applications, and paragraphs without having to take from the whole website itself. ClipClip works, more or less, as your own personal scrapbook. Del.icio.us http://del.icio.us -> Delicious is a social bookmarking service that allows users to tag, save, manage and share web pages from a centralized source. With emphasis on the power of the community - Bookmark any site on the Internet, and get to it from anywhere Share your bookmarks, and get bookmarks in return Discover the most useful and interesting bookmarks on the web Diigo www.diigo.com -> Diigo provides a browser add-on that can really improve your research producti
Read more

Future public transport: The straddling bus

Image
Tired of traffic jams and exhaust fumes? A recently unveiled design concept for a "straddling bus," which lets cars drive underneath, can not only save road space but also help reduce air pollution. The passenger compartment spans two traffic lanes and sits high above the road surface on a pair of stilts,leaving the road clear for ordinary cars to pass underneath. Regardless of whether the the bus is moving or not, cars under 2 meters high can easily pass through. Running along special tracks, the bus can carry up to 1,400 passengers, and travel at a top speed of 60 kilometers per hour.
Read more

Keres Relic

Image
  Keres Relic Of all creations Of all exemplar behaviors We listen out for fabulous stories Until what has always been can no longer be ignored Until we are in harmony with divinity  Without the need to clarify Just young again Smart and creative Caught between two giants Promising to change the world Performing outstanding feats With irrepressible force Almighty without precedence They have reconditioned our dimension From living without fear To living in fear Adaptable on the breaking point This is the brighter place The Dramatic Rise and Falls Of Powerful Monsters Provides Opportunities The dramatic rise and falls Of powerful monsters Provides Opportunities One-off sponsorship You Tube
Read more

Rapid Creek Plant Life

Image
  You can taste it in the air It is outer-worldly All alone Radical That night Walk out of the car  Feel special Sheer bliss Forget the narcissist leader Who persuades you through their exceptional talent The leader who elicits your secrets Who manipulates every situation you are in The leader who is beyond control Who will make you regret Idiots all of them Basking in their callous work Take a step outside Walk into the night And enjoy the uniqueness of life I have always believed in miracles My victory was expected I was one of those unpopular leaders But they voted me in I want to make you happy But I made a mess of it From this crisis to the next The smirk was killing me But I learned quite a lot I took command I took control I picked a direction and I went for it I became humorous I became frequent I became spontaneous They now know I care for them  They now know that I understand  I know what you are going through The predicted actions of leaders Who fall into helplessness Who b
Read more

ESL: Movie Poster

Image
ESL: Movie Poster - Digital Technology and Lesson Plan http://bighugelabs.com offers a number of fun toys. The movie poster is a simple web 2.0 toy that is easy to complete, is fun and has a good output. Make your own customized movie poster . You choose the photo, titles, and credits. Be a star! What a great tool for students with low literacy or of an ESL classification. All that is required is an image, a title, subtexts plus some credit text - plus some imagination and creativity. Movie poster follows the KISS principal - Keep it simple stupid - however a small unit of work can be wrapped around the tool. Movie poster works well with personal Flicker and Facebook ESL Lesson Plan : from http://bogglesworldesl.com/lessons/MovieLesson2.htm Please modify this to suit the Movie Poster technology and the class context. Start off by asking the class if they would like to see a movie together. Almost certainly, one student will say yes. Ask
Read more