This year has been like no other. I’ve previously blogged about the positives and challenges of teaching remotely during a pandemic, but even without a pandemic, this year was a year where everything I taught was brand new for me. This year, I taught Year 12 Chemistry, Year 12 Earth and Environmental Science and Year 7 integrated mathematics, science and geography (which we called Year 7 STEM). I have never taught any of these courses before, which meant prototyping new learning routines and practices. This post is a reflection on what worked and what I need to adjust in 2021.

What worked?

Retrieval and spaced practice

Almost every single of my lessons starts with a quick quiz (the exception is when we have a formal examination). The quick quiz is three to five questions from the current topic and previous topics. In my earlier years of teaching, I used the quick quiz routine as a classroom management strategy rather than a learning strategy. The quick quiz allowed me to get the students on task immediately at the start of a lesson and let me do things like mark the roll, deal with late comers, check uniform, etc. But in the last few years, I started to incorporate retrieval and spaced practice into the quick quizzes. While students moan the quick quiz, they also say it helps them remember content as it is like doing small revision sessions every day. One of my Year 12 students told he absolutely hated quick quizzes in my Earth and Environmental Science classes but eventually realised it greatly helped him in remembering the course content. When he signed out of the school after his final exams, he told me to continue doing the quick quiz routine in future classes, no matter how much students say they hate it.

Homework and whole class feedback

My Year 7 STEM class had a weekly homework booklet. The homework was based on previous work they’ve done and was another way I incorporated retrieval and spaced practice. Instead of commenting on individual work, I dedicated half a lesson each week for whole class feedback and focused on explicitly explaining the questions that many students did not answer correctly. I felt the whole class feedback made the workload more manageable. There were times when I felt the Year 7 homework routine almost killed me. The weekly cycle of creating homework booklets, marking the booklets and collating data on the areas they need to improve on. I felt like I was always marking homework. But at least the whole class feedback meant there was dedicated time for students to process the feedback and act on it.

Regular no-stakes tests with whole class feedback

I was able to build a culture of no-stakes testing with My Year 7 STEM class. This class became very use to pre-tests, mid-topic tests and frequent quizzes. They had an understanding that these tests allowed me and them to know their strengths, areas of improvement and whether we can move on the next component of the topic. I found this was more vital in mathematics than science.

Regular opportunities for extension and small group remedial work

My Year 7 STEM class had every Friday as their “weekly check-in”. Every Friday, they had a double period to catch up on work they’ve missed in the week and depending on their progress for the week, some students did extension activities while other students worked with me in small groups. I found this made a big difference for mathematics. The gap for mathematics in my class was much larger than for science and geography. I had students who have very strong numeracy skills and can pick up new mathematics concepts very quickly, while others were the opposite. Then there are students who lacked confidence in mathematics. It was the students who lacked confidence in mathematics that really benefited from the small group instruction. It was during this time, when they felt comfortable in asking questions and “have a go” with questions that they thought was hard.

What I need to adjust?

Faded work examples

In all of my classes, I spent a lot of time on worked examples, particularly with Year 7 mathematics and Year 12 Chemistry. What I want to adjust next year is to include faded worked examples. Most textbooks and resources do not have faded worked examples and I feel the jump from whole class instruction with worked examples to independent practice is often too wide for most students. I did play around with faded worked examples with Year 12 Chemistry but did not have the time to consolidate the practice.

Knowledge organisers

I started using knowledge organisers as another way to incorporate retrieval and spaced practice. It was going well until COVID-19 online learning. It was something that didn’t pick up traction this year, but something I want to revisit next year.

Choral responses

I started doing choral responses with my Year 7s as part of their quick quiz routine and as a classroom management strategy after reading about it in ‘Classroom management: Creating and maintaining positive learning environments‘. We had the choral response routine going quite well until COVID-19 online learning. I deliberately abandoned choral responses when we returned to on-campus learning to minimise potential infection spread. However, when we did do choral responses, it worked really well as a way to increase students’ opportunities to respond and it’s a practice I want to start prototyping again next year.

I have always been passionate about girls education.

I had the privilege to give the occasional adddress at Randwick Girls High School this year. I decided to talk about the glass ceiling. As teachers, we often tell girls that they can achieve anything. Of course they can, but they also need to be aware of the structural barriers that women face. Below is a transcript of my occasional address.

Good afternoon Ms Andre, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, parents and caregivers, and most importantly the young women in front of me today. I would like to pay my respect and acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which this meeting takes place, and also pay respect to Elders both past and present. I am absolutely honoured to be part of this presentation day ceremony with you.

May I begin by congratulating all of you on reaching the end of a wonderful year of learning. This is a momentous time for you as you celebrate your academic, sporting and extracurricular achievements. Today is a day of acknowledgement of the sustained commitment to your schooling. Congratulations on the young women who are receiving prizes and congratulations to those who are not yet receiving prizes. Every one of you should be celebrating your successes, achievements and progress this year. We also need to acknowledge those who have supported you. Your teachers, parents, carers, families and friends all deserve recognition for their commitment to your education.

Sixteen years ago, I was just like you, sitting in the MPC. I graduated from Randwick Girls High School in 2001 with a UAI, which was the ATAR back then, of 94.40. After I graduated I went onto study a double degree in Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Science at the University of Sydney. At the end of Year 12, I was awarded the TeachNSW scholarship by the NSW Department of Education which meant my two degrees were paid for and I was guaranteed a permanent position in a NSW public school. After graduating from university, I was appointed as a science teacher at Auburn Girls High School. After 3 years, I became the science head teacher at Merrylands High School. After 6 years at Merrylands, I moved to my current position as Stage 6 Advisor where I lead all aspects of Year 11 and 12 across NSW public schools.

I chose to become a science teacher because I had a brilliant science teacher myself. Her teaching made me love science, especially biology. I had this teacher every year as my science teacher in year 8, 9 and 10 and then as my biology teacher in year 11 and 12. That teacher was Ms Andre. You have no idea how lucky you are to now have Ms Andre as your principal.

It was not only Ms Andre who instilled a love of learning in me. While I’m passionate about science, I enjoy learning about anything, and this is because of the fantastic teachers I had at Randwick Girls. Some of them I know are still teaching here. Ms Posener was my deputy and wrote the reference that got me my TeachNSW scholarship. Ms McLean was my geography teacher in year 7. Ms Baker was my English Advanced teacher in Year 11 and Ms Neroutsos was my Year 12 software design and development teacher.

Despite what is often said in the media, I became a teacher by choice. My university entrance score was more than enough to get into my teaching degree. I love being a teacher. It is the best job in the whole world. Being a teacher means you are constantly creative. Constantly learning. No one day is the same. While it may sound stereotypical, teaching is a job where you do make a difference. Every. Single. Day.

However, when I announced I wanted to be a teacher at the end of Year 10, I was told by countless people I was wasting my UAI by choosing teaching. “But you’ll be wasting your UAI.” I ignored that. I have never regretted becoming a teacher. There was another response I got, which I’ll classify as interesting as it can be interpreted in many ways. “Teaching is a great career to raise a family.” That kind of comment only became interesting to me as I grew older and understood the assumptions behind it. Would they have said that to me if I was boy?

I also remember other comments that I didn’t understand when I was younger that is also interesting. My male cousins teasing each other because I beat one of them in handball. “Sucked in. You got beaten by a girl.” He said.  Do we ever hear, “Sucked in. You got beaten by a boy”?  As I got older, I came across other interesting comments: “Why is there an international day of women? When is the international day for men?” It’s not fair. We don’t need quotas for women in leadership positions. They should get there by merit.”

Growing up at school, I always knew there was equity issues facing girls. I heard something called the glass ceiling but I didn’t know what it was. Fast forward 16 years. I’m just beginning to understand the glass ceiling. When I got my current role as Stage 6 Advisor, someone said to me “Really? But you’re pregnant.” I was pregnant with my second child when I was selected for my current role.

Here are some statistics from the Australian Human Rights Commission to give you more of an idea of the glass ceiling:

• Women make up about 46% of the workforce but they take home on average $280.20 less than men each week. The average Australian woman has to work an extra 66 days a year to earn the same pay as the average man. This pay gap has been stuck around this number for the last 20 years. This means it hasn’t changed much since I was sitting in this hall as a student.
• Women’s superannuation payout is on average 57% of men’s. Just over half of men’s.
• Australian women are over-represented in part-time, low-paid industries and in insecure work. They are underrepresented in leadership roles in the private and public sectors.
• Mothers spend 8 hours and 33 minutes per day looking after children. Fathers spend 3 hours 55 minutes per day.
• Australia was ranked 15^th in the world on gender equality in 2006. In 2013, we fell to 24^th.

Women are also underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, mathematics and engineering fields. A study conducted by the United Nations University found that female scientists were more productive than male scientists but they were perceived to be less so, and were rewarded much less for their achievements.

I also read a news article this year about two women who were starting up an online business. They won’t being taken seriously. People won’t replying to their emails or took a very long time to do. So they ended up creating a fake male partner called Keith Mann. When they sent emails as Keith Mann, quote “suddenly everyone was dropping everything to make sure they were responding and keeping him happy.”

I also remember this quote from Jane Caro, a journalist, who said “men are assumed to have merit unless proved otherwise. Women, no matter what boxes they tick, are assumed to have no merit unless they can prove otherwise.”

So what can we do?

I wish I now had a list of dot points that I can read out. I wish I could say if you do this and this and this, the glass ceiling will be gone.

As young women, it is very likely that you will come across the glass ceiling. My advice to you is to keep learning. Put your energy, resources and efforts into your education. Listen to your teachers. It is through a quality education that you will develop critical thinking skills, the ability to see structural inequity and the ability to break down those barriers for yourself and others. A quality education will enable you to be financially independent.

Facing the glass ceiling is tough. Develop emotional resilience and stay strong when you meet unreasonableness.

Expect the best for yourself. Always remember your career is as important as your partners.

If you are aware of any kind of discrimination, do something about it. Support the person affected. The next time you hear something like “you got beaten by a girl”, say something. The standard we walk past is the standard we accept. It is all of our responsibility to protect the rights of others.

Even though girls and women still have a lot of equity hurdles to cross, we are making progress. Every one of you will have tremendous possibilities. You go to a great school. You have great teachers.

Once again, I’d like to congratulate today’s award winners each one of you on your progress this year. Thank you.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Young Creators Conference, an event that brought young people from primary and secondary schools together to share their STEM/STEAM projects. One of the projects I saw is shown in the video. Many of the projects involved makerspaces, a space (and provision of time) for students to build prototypes, which may or may not involve digital technology. When I asked the Young Creators about the learning behind their projects, these stuck out to me:

“We have one STEM lesson a week. We go into a makerspace and we can create whatever we want.”

“We ended up making this by accident after mucking around with things we discovered this can happen.”

This struck me because many of the projects mirrored the concepts of play based learning, which “involves the construction and manipulation of various materials. Ideally, adults will provide a variety of materials, while also providing “just in time” incidental teaching“. Play based learning is a learning and teaching approach that is promoted in early childhood education. It often involves personalises learning and teaching around individual learners’ interests and passions. It promotes learning from trial and error, exploration and discovery. While play based learning is mainly suitable for early childhood education, the elements of personalised learning and learning from trial and error are suitable for learners of all ages. When learners are able to learn through their passions and interests, and are provided with the time, structure, process, support and guidance to create, evaluate and re-create, they are not only learning the STEM/STEAM concepts central to their projects, but also developing trust in themselves, a growth mindset, how to learn from mistakes, problem solving and critical and creative thinking. In comparison, more traditional subjects and ways of teaching often do not allow the time, space or processes to learn from experience. Learning looks almost the same for everyone and learners are pressured to ‘get it right’ the first time.

While not every school has a makerspace, or the timetable structure (yet) to  have STEM/STEAM in makespaces, teachers can most definitely bring play into learning. Playing and ‘mucking around’ aren’t just for pre-schoolers; everyone can learn through play. There’s enough of the so-called ‘serious’ learning already in other areas of the curriculum. It’s time that we make more space and time for play.