Keeping in touch with ClassBoard

Way back in January, I had the pleasure of joining the LearnPad team at the Bett Show in London.  It was a fantastic experience, not least because of all I learned while I was there.

One of the most exciting developments I learned about was the ClassBoard app: it’s a free app/website which allows you to create a feed of photos to share securely with your parents and children outside of school. We use LearnPads in school, so for us, it was an obvious choice to sign up to the app.  However, it’s free to other schools too and is incredibly simple to use.

I took the app into school to show the SLT, and they were immediately interested. We have been working hard to engage our parents, by keeping them up to date with what we are doing and by inviting them in, but the ClassBoard app seemed a simple way to show parents what is going on day-to-day.

We launched the app a few weeks ago, and after a couple of technical hitches (note to self – do not delete photos from the ClassCloud – it’s linked to the ClassBoard so they all disappear!), we are now up and running.  The app itself is incredibly simple to use: it just takes a couple of clicks to upload photos and add a description, and you share the secure access code with the parents so they can view the photos at home.  For me, the hardest part is getting into the habit of taking photos to share: for our colleagues in Reception, this perhaps comes more naturally, but the rest of us need reminding to keep a camera or a LearnPad close at hand to take some snaps!

So far, we have used the app to showcase work and displays, to record special events, to celebrate team successes and to just show day-to-day activities. I have also used it to share links to Dropbox folders with the children’s computing work in (so far, these have just been text and images rather than hyperlinks), which was great for enabling the children to show off animations and ebooks at home.  The possibilities are endless.

I was initially apprehensive as to whether parents would engage with the app or not, but a survey last week showed overwhelmingly that our parents are enjoying seeing our photos. At the moment, I don’t think we are using it to its full potential, but this will come as we get used to taking photos.  The parents have come up with many really useful suggestions for how the app can be improved, but even as it is now, it is a great way of initiating conversations at home – my son apparently does “nothing” at school each day, but having a photo or two as a starting point for discussion would be great to find out more about what he really has been up to.

I love the app, and it seems our staff and parents do too. As we find new ways to use it, its potential can only continue to grow.

The ClassBoard app is available in the App Store or Google Play Store.  Alternatively, you can view your schools’ feed online at classboard.school – use the login code 21718D to see some examples on the LearnPad Education ClassBoard.

#NPQSL classroom observations

Teachers are fragile creatures. We spend our days being judged: by OFSTED, by our SLT through our appraisals, by our colleagues, by the children we spend our days with, and by their parents.  We don’t like to hear the outcomes of these judgements, because how often do we really share good news?  Just listen in the staffroom: how many teachers sit in there and celebrate the amazing lesson they just taught? You don’t hear it.  You hear us talking about how the children didn’t get it, or how they were half asleep, or how we will have to teach the lesson again tomorrow to make sure they all understand.  We are hopeless at celebrating what we do well.  But we are all professionals with something to offer, a success to celebrate and an idea to share.  Our classroom doors should be open – we should be allowed to wander in to other people’s lessons to see what’s going on, so we look at their displays, see how they are teaching a particular subject, get ideas for how they organise their classroom.

Perhaps if our doors were open, we would be better at professional dialogue. As it is, we aren’t great at talking.  Yes, the words come out and we listen to what each other are saying, but do we listen?  How many times have we sat in a staff meeting, listening to someone talking about a resource or a strategy or an idea that they want us to take back to class?  We listen, we nod, we take the handout, and then we put it in a folder and forget about it.  We should share the ideas, and then have the opportunity to see it in practice in different situations.  I raised the idea recently at a Phase Meeting about peer observations.  It was met with mixed feelings – my colleagues loved the idea of going into other classrooms, but not necessarily the idea of being observed themselves.  But why should colleagues be threatening?  Formative observations are an opportunity for discussions: the outcome can surely only be improved teaching and learning, following the sharing of ideas and reflection on performance.

Appraisals and summative observations don’t necessarily provide this opportunity for discussion, as there isn’t the equality of status between appraiser and appraise: one is there to make a judgement on the other. Summative observations have a rigid agenda, and often don’t allow for such creative discussion to follow.  Familiarity with formative observations can only lead to more productive summative observations too: if you are used to people being in your classroom, then the observation is less of a “big deal” – the teachers, teaching assistants and children get used to others being in the room and so don’t feel the need to put on a performance.

As someone new to carrying out appraisals, less formal observations would be a great opportunity to develop my skills of coaching. While, in my first round of observations, I didn’t have “bad news” to deliver, there were points for development that needed sharing. This sums up exactly how I felt!

Taken from LSSW’s Improving Quality of Teaching module

 

The opportunity to have professional discussions around lessons in an informal situation would make the formal feedback far less threatening, and we could come up with strategies for improvement together rather than skirting the issues or providing excuses for the children. I love, too, the idea of starting a conversation around a particular point rather than just sharing what was seen.

Probably, for most reading this, this image is completely obvious.  But it wasn’t to me – no-one ever teaches you how to observe or how to feed back findings.  My next observations will be different, and hopefully more productive.

While I have scheduled appraisal observations to carry out next month, I am not going to let the idea of peer observations drop – my quest for open doors and accessible classrooms will continue. I will get teachers celebrating what they do well; I will get us talking about how we, and our colleagues, have succeeded with our children, I will get the children talking about their teachers and their learning, and I will get us to see each other in action.  And perhaps, as a result of this, we will become a little more confident in our abilities and recognise what an amazing job we all do.

#NPQSL focussing my attention

Today, I’m spending my day reading about “Improving the Quality of Teaching” across a school a part of my NPQSL course. It doesn’t sound like the most fun way to spend a day, but, an hour and 20 minutes in, and I’m actually hooked.  As part of my reflections, I was asked to consider these questions:

Taken from LSSW’s Improving Quality of Teaching module

 

I’m not going to share my responses here, but rather my sudden awareness of how visible we are in school. I’m a Middle Leader, not part of the Senior Leadership Team, so I’m certainly less visible than others,  but my role means that I now have a more visible presence than I have done previously.  Question 4 was really interesting:  “In terms of others’ perceptions of you as a leader, what kinds of things form the main focus for your attention?”  In my head, I know what I focus on, but is this what others see?  My head is always a jumble of new ideas and developments that I want to try out in my classroom.  Inevitably, if these ideas are a success, I want to share them, but does this meant that I flit from one thing to another, trying this and that and talking about another “next big thing” in a staff meeting?  Is it infectious enthusiasm, or just downright annoying?  Much of what I have read today talks of leaders having to “walk the walk”, of practising what they preach, under the scrutiny of others who are watching to make sure that words and actions are in agreement.  By jumping from one thing to another, can I do this? Can I make sure that I am staying on top of everything before introducing something new? Perhaps I need to slow down on the pet projects and focus on one thing at a time.

In so many ways, the internet, social media platforms and courses such as NPQSL are an absolute asset to education. In times where professional development and courses are barely available, we have to find our own ways of progressing our careers and developing our skills.  But a non-stop source of support , advice and ideas can be such a bad thing too – there is a world of creativity and inventiveness available to us at all times: my Facebook and Twitter feeds are constantly me showing me another  “next big thing” to take into my classroom.  As an aspiring Senior Leader, I will have to rein in my enthusiasm a little – focus on one thing at time, embed one idea before moving on to the next one.  Perhaps then, if asked what others’ perceptions of my focus are, I might have some idea what the answer would be.

#NPQSL Passion

Image labelled for reuse under a CC search.

 

Capture your passion for teaching in 3 to 4 sentences. A very tough challenge, but here goes:

 

Even in the darkest times in a classroom, there are always tiny glimmers of light. Breakthrough moments, when every single child is focussed, engaged and loving school, fill you with pride and renewed enthusiasm.  Looking at the children, and knowing there is always something you can do, no matter how small, to make a difference in their lives. Remembering that is key: you can’t always solve their problems or take away what goes on in their lives outside of school, but for the 6 hours they spend in school, we can do something they will always remember.

What would your 4 sentences be?