Sinus pain relieved by ibuprofen, decongestant, saline, home-made muffins and liberal application of Star Trek: TNG. It’s attempting to snow outside and I don’t much fancy going out again, but a bit of sliding about on a dance floor will be good exercise at the very least.

Thank frack it’s Friday.

That is all.

Found out last night that Meathead isn’t able to come to the UK after all, as the flat where Coppell is going to be staying doesn’t allow pets. She will stay with an Ex of Coppell’s where she will have a Boston buddy to be “special” around…

I am still a bit sad about not getting the opportunity to look after Meathead as I was excited at the prospect of spending some extended time in her company. I made her a personalised food bowl too…

:( :( :(

Just noticed the creepy body part substitution on H&M’s website whilst browsing:

The whole school meeting that senior management set out the changes I wrote my two page email about passed pretty much as I expected: Feedback invited but no changes nor very much discussion as the vast majority of staff sat in silence when invited to comment. I fucking despair.

I spoke up against a few things with no supportive comments, so it was just me versus the Head or Deputy as seventy people sat and listened. The same guy that always stands up against things spoke and maybe three other people asked questions about individual issues (not questioning what the entire point of the exercise is). At the end of the meeting I spoke with the Head for ten minutes or so, bringing up the points I thought were important, and expressing my deep concerns at the proposals as they stood.

She’d seen my email so knew I was not very impressed with the plans, and although we had a good discussion (she listened patiently and answered fully), the point that I repeatedly made – more data does not equal more progress – seemed to be lost on her. I suggested that as a Science Specialist school we should research the effects of the proposals on small groups and compare them with a control before we took action- some evidence-based educational policy for a change. She asked me whether “I thought I knew better than everyone else”. Brilliant.

Ugh. Is there *ever* going to be a school that I can *fully* enjoy working at, and gain satisfaction…

I really should leave but to what? It’s probably just going to be the same shit everywhere. All that will happen is that i’ll get up to speed at the new place and then bump up against the same problems, the same frustrations as I currently encounter.

Education in this country is fucked.

:(

Lady Grinning Soul
David Bowie
from Aladdin Sane 1973

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Going to Pittsburgh for half term! Seeing Coppell in two weeks!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

The email I wrote to one of the deputy heads this evening…

Well, she did ask for feedback :)

Hi XXXX – I have a very many concerns about the proposed changes to the reporting/grading structure; I’ll be brief here, but if you’d like any further information on anything I touch upon please follow up with me.

Before any changes are made I think it is important to assess the current position (what works, what doesn’t) and to think very carefully what benefit these proposed changes would have on all members of the school, for example pupils, parents, staff. I would ask that the following points are considered with great care before any changes are made:

Pupils

• Will increasing the frequency of assigning grades affect pupils performance in formal assessment?
• Will it have any impact on pupils’ motivation to learn?
• Will the removal of written reports and the increase of other praise effect achievement?
• Will increased formal assessment help pupils across the ability spectrum achieve?
• How will these proposals impact pupils well-being?
• Will teacher-pupil relationships be affected?

Parents

• Will parents understand the data given?
• Will easier access to increased data mean that parents support their daughters more thoroughly and are more engaged with their schooling?
• Will parents feel more engaged with the school when written reports are removed?
• How will parents evenings be affected by the proposals?
• Will school-home links be affected?

Staff

• Will the removal of written reports affect the workload on staff?
• Will the increased data available mean that staff are able to estimate more accurately what their charges will achieve in formal assessment?
• Will the ending of teacher-led target setting have any impact on achievement?
• Will teacher-pupil relationships be affected?
• How will parents evenings be affected by the proposals?
• What impact will the proposals have on directed time?

I have been reading some work by the American educational researcher Alfie Kohn which looks into many of the areas covered in the proposals. He is particularly interested in the effect grading has on performance, and his (well-referenced) work finds the following:

1. Grades tend to reduce students’ interest in the learning itself.
2. Grades tend to reduce students’ preference for challenging tasks.
3. Grades tend to reduce the quality of students’ thinking.

1. Grades tend to reduce students’ interest in the learning itself.
“One of the most well-researched findings in the field of motivational psychology is that the more people are rewarded for doing something, the more they tend to lose interest in whatever they had to do to get the reward. Multiple studies have shown that pupils demonstrate less interest in learning as a result of being graded.”

2. Grades tend to reduce students’ preference for challenging tasks.
“Students of all ages whose main focus is on getting a good grade are likely to pick the easiest possible assignment if given a choice. The more pressure to get an A, the less inclination to take on a challenge. Pupils who cut corners may not actually be lazy but are adapting to an environment where good grades, not intellectual exploration, are what is emphasised.”

3. Grades tend to reduce the quality of students’ thinking.
“Given that pupils may lose interest in what they’re learning as a result of grades, it makes sense that they’re also apt to think less deeply. One series of studies, for example, found that students given numerical grades were significantly less creative than those who received qualitative feedback but no grades. The more the task required creative thinking, in fact, the worse the performance of students who knew they were going to be graded. Providing students with comments in addition to a grade didn’t help: the highest achievement occurred only when comments were given instead of numerical scores.”

“In another experiment, students told they would be graded on how well they learned a social studies lesson had more trouble understanding the main point of the text than did students who were told that no grades would be involved. Even on a measure of rote recall, the graded group remembered fewer facts a week later. A brand-new study discovered that students who tended to think about current events in terms of what they’d need to know for a grade were less knowledgeable than their peers, even after taking other variables into account.”

In Summary
So many of these points are framed around “increased achievement”, but as we are all very aware there is much more to education than what can be measured through grades or a tick-box approach.

The proposals seem to fly in the face of Assessment for Learning, which we are (rightly) encouraged to use.
As Peter Wilby writes:
“Dylan Williams, co-author of Inside The Black Box (1998) is quoted as saying: ‘Above all, teachers should stop awarding grades each time children hand in work. Instead, they should make constructive comments and ensure children read and act on them. ‘We’re addicted to grades’” Wiliam says. ‘I’ve nothing against grades at the end of the school year. But telling students, after every piece of work, that they’re at levels 5, 6 or whatever is bizarre, perverse. The national curriculum levels were meant to be descriptions of the totality of achievement over an entire key stage, not judgments on individual pieces of work.’ Assessment, he explains, should be part of a conversation with pupils that helps teachers to decide where lessons should go next. It should be ‘assessment for learning’ (AFL), not ‘assessment of learning’.”

For many of reasons included above (and others) I am very concerned as to the direction being suggested in these proposals. I feel that there is a lack of clarity as to whom the proposed changes are hoping to benefit, and that there is not enough certainty as to what the changes are setting out to achieve. The proposals as they stand are flawed and will almost certainly lead to increased workload for staff, continued reduction of pupil independence and observably increased stress levels in pupils and staff.

I care deeply for the children in my care, their current happiness and future progress. I do not think the removal of written reports, nor increased assessment, nor the ending of pupil planners will be of benefit to the pupils, parents or staff of the XXXXXX School.

References
Alfie Kohn (alfiekohn.org)
PUNISHED BY REWARDS: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes (Houghton Mifflin, 1993/1999)
From Degrading to De-Grading (High School Magazine, 1999)
The Case Against Grades (Educational Leadership, 2011)

Teaching guru is optimistic about education: Dylan Wiliam is known as a teaching guru with some ‘gimmicky’ methods. So how does he rate this government’s chances of improving educational standards, asks Peter Wilby (The Guardian, 2011)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jan/18/teaching-methods-government-reforms

Beauty by Olafur Eliasson 1993

*Glorious* art.

Oh Jesus. Just started watching the new series of One Born Every Minute. Tears with apple butter on toast and a cup of tea. Aaaand I was supposed to be doing work :)

I cry at the opening credits and every time a baby is born: Multiple lame-o. I find it all rather intense, what with all the women struggling to bring new life into the world. Empathy- I has it in bucketloads. One thing I don’t understand is why they have chosen to blur out the women’s genitals during the births. They didn’t do that in previous series, but maybe it’s just a personal thing from the women involved? Will have to see if this changes.

Oh look, it’s not just me that’s noticed.

Looking back at when I last wrote about my enjoyment of the programme, it’s interesting to read my lament as to the dearth of suitable men in my life. I didn’t think I had much of a chance of finding anyone “sober, mostly-sane and financially stable enough to commit in an appropriate manner” until I was past forty…

My Favourite Things
Tony Bennett
from Snowfall 1968

I Like
Heathen Dan
1983

I fucking LOVE this track. For some reason, I find its gross-out nature kind of sweet, and I think of Coppell when I listen to it.

I have no idea why “I like chewing on little slugs…” reminds me of him. But there you go.

Something new this year: For the first time ever, i’m not going to be single on Valentine’s Day, nor will I be in a relationship with someone who’d much rather fuck someone else than spend any time with me. What to do???

Okay, so I hate Valentine’s as an order to behave in a particular way i.e. to satisfy the gods of consumption I don’t believe in. “Thou shalt go forth and CONSUME!” No thanks. At the same time, I like the idea of doing something small to show someone that you’re thinking about them, that you care, but I like to think that that sort of perspective should be displayed three-hundred-and-sixty-five days of the year, not just limited to one.

If I were to do something in the spirit of Valentines, instead of going out and sitting in a restaurant filled with other gooey couples (vom!), i’d much rather eat at home… Rib eye and oven chips with grain mustard, Béarnaise and perhaps a small salad (and ketchup for the chips of course). Alternatively i’d be just as happy with takeaway from McDonalds. All class, me.

Small things I could do if I had the opportunity? Bake a particular cake they like. Give them a massage (body, head or foot). Let them have a peaceful extra few hours kip. Wash their hair and body before drying them off. Do their nails (men can appreciate a manicure too). Cook breakfast. Sort their laundry. I don’t really know what i’d do, but spending time rather than a lot of money appeals greatly.

I’ve never received a Valentine’s card from anyone, nor have had anything nice – be it time or money – spent on me for VD. Actually, if i’m honest, in the decade prior to Coppell i’ve not had much care lavished upon me outside of VD either. Sigh.

Thanks to Coppell, i’ve accomplished an awful lot of “firsts” in the fourteen days we’ve spent in each other’s company. Open communication. Long soaks in a bath together. The most fun and enjoyment i’ve ever had inside the bedroom. Acceptance of hummus. Amongst other things.

Roll on half term…

Bob’s new boots:

“Bob was getting some abrasions on his pads from all the snow and salty sidewalks so I got him some boots to try out.”

Ooo. The possibility of Meathead coming to live with me for a month and a half has raised its not-so-ugly head; it might work out that to save some money I can bring her back with me from Coppell’s in a few weeks (Coppell would join her when he moves to the UK at the end of March).

This is an enticing prospect as I like her *a lot*, but at the same time I have some concerns.

Although it could be said that I look after and corral animals on a daily basis at work, i’ve never looked after anything bigger than a rabbit (neighbours were on holiday). Its always been hamsters or fish on the personal ownership front, so a larger beast is a bit weird. What would happen if I let her off the lead in a park and she never came back or got squashed? JESUS. On the lead it is at all times I think.

Meathead is very small and very lazy when not destroying things, so even though I live in a 4m x 4m shoebox, she should be okay doing not very much during the day when i’d be at work. There are parks not too far away and a vets ten minutes down the road, and I know that going out for walks would be some good exercise for both me and Meathead.

I’m not planning on going away anywhere for more than a day, so I wouldn’t need to worry about having to leave her anywhere, though my brother is coming to stay for a couple of days and i’m not sure him and Meathead and me in one small space is a very good idea.

There are ways round my concerns so I shouldn’t think about them too much; anyway, I don’t even know if she’ll be coming over with me so I need to wait and see. I am still a bit excited though. I am such a dork.