Queenslander!
Don‘t you feel proud to be a Queenslander? After great wins by the Brisbane Lions, Queensland Reds, a fantastic State of Origin game where the Maroons continued their winning streak against the NSW Blues and the win by the Queensland Firebirds in the ANZ Netball Final Championship game after an unbeaten record of wins during the season, state pride is at an all time high. Nothing builds state pride more than winning at the games we love against our arch rivals south of the border.
Building a championship team or group – whether a sporting team, a musical band, or choir - takes time, effort, deliberate practice, perseverance, commitment and belief in yourself and your team mates. While we celebrate the great Queensland victories and marvel at their achievements, it’s worth keeping in mind that every single person started somewhere many years ago with limited skills, experience and understanding of how best to improve. To get to the top or to excel in our chosen field requires much more than talent and sometimes we can begin with no talent at all or limited talent and still succeed. How can that be, you may be thinking?
In a sporting environment or a musical group we often need a good coach or a good instructor to help us develop our skills to realise our potential. This is true in many aspects of life – consider some of the favourite reality shows – Masterchef or Biggest Loser. How do the contestants improve? They receive specific feedback on what they are doing well and not only what they are not doing well, but more importantly, what they need to do to improve on those things that they are not doing so well. It’s this constructive feedback and practice that allows contestants, sportspeople and musicians to improve far beyond what they may have been able to achieve if it were not for this constructive feedback and advice.
Why are Queensland coaches like Wayne Bennett or Mal Meninga so sought after in Rugby League ? It’s because they have a demonstrated record of success in bringing players together and training them into a championship team. It is rare for anyone to achieve to high levels without good coaching and mentoring. Whether it’s sport, music, acting, singing, career, business or even school achievement, very few excel without constructive feedback from good coaches or mentors.
In the school environment, feedback is every bit as important as application to class work and study and some researchers would argue that it’s even more important. In his groundbreaking book Visible Learning, researcher and Professor of Education at the University of Auckland, John Hattie, found that after looking at all the possible influences on achievement, it became clear to him that feedback was among the most powerful influences on student achievement.
Hattie has made some important observations about the best kind of feedback to students and some of these observations may surprise you. Hattie explains feedback in this way:
Feedback is information provided by an agent (e.g., teacher, peer, book, parent or one’s own experience) about aspects of one’s performance or understanding. For example a teacher or parent can provide corrective information, a peer can provide an alternative strategy, a book can provide information to clarify ideas, a parent can provide encouragement, and a learner can look up the answer to evaluate the correctness of a response. Feedback is a “consequence” of performance.
Hattie and his researchers found that some types of feedback are more powerful than others in raising student achievement. The most powerful forms of feedback provide cues or reinforcement to the learner in the form of video, audio or computer assisted instruction feedback or relate feedback to learning goals. The key to the success of this kind of feedback is that it is received and acted upon by students.
Despite common perceptions, the least effective forms of feedback for enhancing students’ achievement are praise, punishment and extrinsic rewards. Tangible rewards like stickers, awards and so on have little merit in providing relevant task information and have little impact on improving achievement unless they are accompanied with specific feedback. Tangible rewards actually undermine people taking responsibility for motivating or regulating themselves, according to researchers like Deci, (1999) and Ryan (1985). Hard as this might be to believe and accept, the bottom line is that extrinsic rewards can actually have a negative impact on student engagement according to all of the research conducted with thousands of students, teachers and schools.
So what is the right form of feedback to give? According to Hattie, feedback is more effective when it provides information on correct rather than incorrect responses and when it builds on changes from previous tests. The main purpose of feedback is to reduce discrepancies between current understandings and performance and a learning intention or goal. This kind of feedback can be used in a range of teaching and coaching situations.
The major feedback questions to ask, which focus students most, are:
• “Where am I going?” (learning intentions, goals, success criteria)
• “How am I going?” (self assessment and self-evaluation)
• “Where to next?” (progression and new goals)
These questions work best when both the student and teacher (or parent) seek answers to each of these questions. Closing the gap between where the student is and where they are aiming to be, leads to the power of feedback. The art of course is to give students the right form of feedback at, or just above, the level where the students is working.
There is one exception, and that’s in terms of praise, because praise is rarely directed at the three feedback questions and therefore is rarely effective in improving student performance. What is most important is to have a classroom environment that is engaging and challenging, fosters peer and self-assessment, and allows students to learn from mistakes. The fact is that students need to make mistakes to learn. As Tyron Edwards once said:
Some of the best lessons we ever learn,
We learn from our mistakes and failures.
The error of the past is the success
And wisdom of the future.
Karon Graham
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
What's the Secret to Success in Life?
If you had a magic wand, what would you change? Now before you go thinking that this is a deep philosophical question, which it is, what would be most important to you? Would it be something about your appearance, your health, your finances, your career, or your neighbours? Would you change your game of golf or tennis, your car, or the general pace of life or something more altruistic like ‘world peace’? Or maybe you’re like me and just want ‘peace at home’. How good would that be?
How many times have you heard someone (or ourselves, for that matter) say, “If only I could do such and such a thing, or be this person, or change some other aspect of our life?” Or maybe you are one of the rare exceptions though, who is very happy with everything in your life? Okay, these people are generally monks, who live in some remote region like the Himalayan mountains. Yes surprisingly, they really are. A research study on happiness done a few years ago ranked monks, who meditated in these remote regions, amongst the happiest people on earth.
It seems that its human nature that we yearn for the best or we simply want more in life. Some people are never happy with their life or life choices. They think that if they had, for example, more money, or more friends or a bigger house or better job, that they would be happy or successful. Interestingly, however, getting more of something does not necessarily bring about happiness, nor does it bring about greater satisfaction either. As many people have found over time, happiness is an intrinsic attitude to life – we either make up our minds to be happy or not.
Some students think that if they had more intelligence or had different circumstances, that they could do better in life or in school. If someone were to say to them exactly how they can achieve more, would they want to pay the price? It’s a common misconception that some people are born smarter, or are more good looking or come from a wealthy family, and that’s why they are successful or happy. The reality is though that many great musicians, sportspeople, academics or business people are successful for very different reasons.
What do technology tycoons Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, basketball superstar, Michael Jordan, All Star Canadian Ice Hockey players have in common? Not much you might be thinking, but surprisingly they do share certain circumstances that account for their success.
In his thought provoking book “Outliers – The Story of Success”, Malcolm Gladwell argues that his research on people who have become successful, demonstrates through a series of totally unrelated people and circumstances, how successful people have become successful. Was there anything magical about how it happened? Maybe, but, by and large many of the most successful people became successful, according to Gladwell because of :
• hard work - one of the keys to success in life, he argues
• persistence - no one succeeds without this key ingredient
• 10,000 hours of deliberate practice are required to become the most successful – whether programming a computer, practising basketball, ice hockey or in science – 10,00 hours of deliberate practice makes perfect
• an element of luck or serendipity - like being in the right place at the right time - but some people seem to make their own luck don’t they?
• timing – the year or even the date born was a factor with some sporting stars who were ‘young for cut-off dates for sporting teams and had advantage of more expert coaching and team competition
• cultural and family circumstances plant the seeds of success – particularly where parents set high expectations and encourage or rehearse their children for success in all aspects of their life.
According to Gladwell (p19):
“People don’t rise from nothing. We do owe something to parentage and patronage. The people who stand before kings may look like they did it all by themselves. But in fact they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.
It makes a difference where and when we grew up. The culture we belong to and the legacies passed down by our forebears shape the patterns of our achievement in ways we cannot begin to imagine. It’s not enough to ask what successful people are like, in other words. It is only by asking where they are ‘from’ that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn’t.”
Now how does this information benefit us personally or our children? In John Hattie’s groundbreaking research book Visible Learning, he synthesises over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement and found that the top contributor to student achievement gains is prior achievement. In other words, what a child brings to the classroom each year is very much related to their achievement in previous years.
According to Hattie’s findings,(and this will be no surprise to most parents and teachers), students were very knowledgeable about their chances of success and overall if students had higher expectations of success, then they were more likely to succeed than students who did not expect to succeed. Hattie also found that the home environment and parental involvement in learning, parental expectations of students and parental aspirations where the parents are actively involved in the students learning, contributed significantly to student achievement improvement over time. The secret to success is not such a big secret after all.
Commitment to succeeding it seems is as good a predictor of success as many other factors. Parents and students should take heart from these findings as they demonstrate again, that there is no secret to success. Success comes from the interplay of hard work, perspiration and persistence, commitment and family expectations and student expectations and aspirations of how successful they want to be. In conclusion I will leave you with these thoughts from famous Scottish athlete W. H. Murray:
“Until one is committed
There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation)
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
That would otherwise never have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favour all manner
of unforseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance,
which no man or woman could have dreamt
would have come his or her way.”
(p.s. Did I mention the 10,000 hours of deliberate practice too?)
Karon Graham
Principal
How many times have you heard someone (or ourselves, for that matter) say, “If only I could do such and such a thing, or be this person, or change some other aspect of our life?” Or maybe you are one of the rare exceptions though, who is very happy with everything in your life? Okay, these people are generally monks, who live in some remote region like the Himalayan mountains. Yes surprisingly, they really are. A research study on happiness done a few years ago ranked monks, who meditated in these remote regions, amongst the happiest people on earth.
It seems that its human nature that we yearn for the best or we simply want more in life. Some people are never happy with their life or life choices. They think that if they had, for example, more money, or more friends or a bigger house or better job, that they would be happy or successful. Interestingly, however, getting more of something does not necessarily bring about happiness, nor does it bring about greater satisfaction either. As many people have found over time, happiness is an intrinsic attitude to life – we either make up our minds to be happy or not.
Some students think that if they had more intelligence or had different circumstances, that they could do better in life or in school. If someone were to say to them exactly how they can achieve more, would they want to pay the price? It’s a common misconception that some people are born smarter, or are more good looking or come from a wealthy family, and that’s why they are successful or happy. The reality is though that many great musicians, sportspeople, academics or business people are successful for very different reasons.
What do technology tycoons Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, basketball superstar, Michael Jordan, All Star Canadian Ice Hockey players have in common? Not much you might be thinking, but surprisingly they do share certain circumstances that account for their success.
In his thought provoking book “Outliers – The Story of Success”, Malcolm Gladwell argues that his research on people who have become successful, demonstrates through a series of totally unrelated people and circumstances, how successful people have become successful. Was there anything magical about how it happened? Maybe, but, by and large many of the most successful people became successful, according to Gladwell because of :
• hard work - one of the keys to success in life, he argues
• persistence - no one succeeds without this key ingredient
• 10,000 hours of deliberate practice are required to become the most successful – whether programming a computer, practising basketball, ice hockey or in science – 10,00 hours of deliberate practice makes perfect
• an element of luck or serendipity - like being in the right place at the right time - but some people seem to make their own luck don’t they?
• timing – the year or even the date born was a factor with some sporting stars who were ‘young for cut-off dates for sporting teams and had advantage of more expert coaching and team competition
• cultural and family circumstances plant the seeds of success – particularly where parents set high expectations and encourage or rehearse their children for success in all aspects of their life.
According to Gladwell (p19):
“People don’t rise from nothing. We do owe something to parentage and patronage. The people who stand before kings may look like they did it all by themselves. But in fact they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.
It makes a difference where and when we grew up. The culture we belong to and the legacies passed down by our forebears shape the patterns of our achievement in ways we cannot begin to imagine. It’s not enough to ask what successful people are like, in other words. It is only by asking where they are ‘from’ that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn’t.”
Now how does this information benefit us personally or our children? In John Hattie’s groundbreaking research book Visible Learning, he synthesises over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement and found that the top contributor to student achievement gains is prior achievement. In other words, what a child brings to the classroom each year is very much related to their achievement in previous years.
According to Hattie’s findings,(and this will be no surprise to most parents and teachers), students were very knowledgeable about their chances of success and overall if students had higher expectations of success, then they were more likely to succeed than students who did not expect to succeed. Hattie also found that the home environment and parental involvement in learning, parental expectations of students and parental aspirations where the parents are actively involved in the students learning, contributed significantly to student achievement improvement over time. The secret to success is not such a big secret after all.
Commitment to succeeding it seems is as good a predictor of success as many other factors. Parents and students should take heart from these findings as they demonstrate again, that there is no secret to success. Success comes from the interplay of hard work, perspiration and persistence, commitment and family expectations and student expectations and aspirations of how successful they want to be. In conclusion I will leave you with these thoughts from famous Scottish athlete W. H. Murray:
“Until one is committed
There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation)
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
That would otherwise never have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favour all manner
of unforseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance,
which no man or woman could have dreamt
would have come his or her way.”
(p.s. Did I mention the 10,000 hours of deliberate practice too?)
Karon Graham
Principal
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
"Where is Wisdom we have Lost in Knowledge?"
“Nothing seems to be more prominent about human life than its wanting to understand all and put everything together.”(R. Buckminster-Fuller, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, p79)
Many years ago in 1966, American economist, Kenneth Boulding, published, what was to become his most famous essay ‘The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth’ and in 1969 Buckminster-Fuller wrote Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. Drawing on the Apollo 8 mission, both authors were convinced that there had to be a paradigm shift in how we thought about our planet, from ‘cowboy economy’ to ‘spaceship economy’.
Essentially, both authors predicted a shift from the ‘cowboy’ economy of individualism, independence, autocracy, humanity against nature, intercultural and religious intolerance to a ‘spaceship’ culture of community, interdependency, democracy, humanity as part of nature, gender equality, and cultural and religious tolerance. It’s not that we deliberately set out to change our way of thinking, but like in many instances, our perspective on ‘life as we know it’ was transformed in the blink of an eye by one historic event.
The stark image of earth taken from space on Apollo 8 was one such turning point. Like the opening scenes of the brilliant 1968 movie by Stanley Kubrick, 2010: A Space Odyssey, we were changed forever by the images we saw; they were inspirational and transforming. I remember one of the astronauts marvelling at the view from space and making the comment that there are no borders on earth from space.
“The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth." --Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud and astronaut, Muhammad Ahmad Faris:
"From space I saw Earth -- indescribably beautiful and with the scars of national boundaries gone."
Over the last fifty years there has been a definite shift in the way we think about our place on earth, in particular, the shift to a global perspective, from that of a local almost introspective national perspective. The concept of a global village has become a reality as satellites, the internet, increasing fast and easy world travel and instant messaging, have ‘shrunk’ our world. The speed at which information is now transmitted is breathtaking and it has transformed the way we think about the world – our paradigm has altered forever. Our sons and daughters are growing up in this world; this is their norm.
Innovation comes about by changing the way we think about what we do, how we do it and why we do things a certain way. Peter Ellyard, author of ‘Ideas for the New Millennium’, argues that innovation requires innovative people. Innovation, he believes, will only come about if we have two key elements in play: creativity and enterprise.(p77) Equipping our children with essential skills of life-long learning; giving our young people the skills and the wherewithal to be use initiative, drive, knowledge, wisdom and hunger to create, innovate and succeed is critical for their future success and the future of our world.
Teachers and students work together to discover new ways, new thinking and new paradigms. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi put it this way:
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.
Our students will amaze you with what they have achieved. Just a few recent examples:
• Transformed stories from Year 4 buddies and create animated digital stories
• Created their own website on environmental matters and learned the power of writing and receiving over $500 and a water tank in Years 3 and 4
• Developed virtual travel itineraries in Year 1
• Skyped a student from their Year 4 class to London to help a young boy who has left the school
• Year 9 students are creating a digital game (using KODU) for Year 2 students
• Year 10 students are creating a Vodcast to assist in subject selection for Year 11
• Created a sophisticated, professional design of an object using Inventor in Year 12 Graphics and a mobile device in Year 9 Graphics
• Year 12 ITS have just completed developing House websites using Dreamweaver
Teachers too have created some exciting ways of inspiring our students, like the now famous CCPS “Captain Energy” on YouTube, which is the brainchild of a certain Year 2 teacher.
In this world of "instant information", it's timely to remember the words of famous poet, T S Eliot:
"Where is wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”
Schools must meet the needs of the future generations leading this planet. The students need skills in problem solving, metacognition, innovative and creative thinking as well as good knowledge and depth of understanding that goes far beyond the surface. Our students need to be thinking globally, as well as acting locally. Good teachers can make the world of difference to our students achievements, and to their future aspirations for themselves and their generation - especially the teachers at Caloundra City Private School.
Karon Graham
Principal
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
What's the Fascination with Lists?
Have you ever wondered why we are so fascinated by lists of things? We seem to love lists of countdowns to ‘number one’, lists of the top ten or the top one hundred. Why is it that people sit glued to the television to see the countdown to the number one song of all time, or the funniest home video? Why are we so absorbed by The Guinness Book of Records, or Time magazine’s: The World’s Top 100 Most Influential People, or the list of the most glamorous or the richest people in the world, or for that matter, the fastest lap by some celebrity on the Top Gear race track in some remote and obscure area of London?
Why do we keep lists (sometimes in our heads) of the best or favourite movies, songs, or sporting teams? Why do we care what someone else thinks about who’s the best, the fastest, the toughest, the funniest? What does it matter? Well it seems it matters to us a great deal. Lists like these appeal to our natural curiosity and our competitive nature. Maybe too, it’s the debate that goes on around who or what was the number one or who or what was left off the list that we enjoy the most? As any good family debater knows – it can often be a ‘no win’ argument. As one husband quipped to his wife, “If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.”
Lists, by definition, give us some sort of order in our lives – from the mundane, like our weekly grocery shopping lists, or the daily ‘to do lists’, to the sublime, like in the movie, The Bucket List, where actors Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson wrote a list of their top ten things to do before they died. As we get older or when become ill, life and how we spend our time takes on a whole new meaning. It’s as if everything comes into sharp focus and we become centred on what’s most important in our life. A bucket list can become a life transforming list.
Noted time management experts and life skills coaches, like Jack Collis and Michael Leboeuf, extol the virtues of lists and setting goals. In their best-selling book, Work Smarter, Not Harder, the authors argue that without lists, without a plan, without goals, we can often live an aimless and purposeless life. The clear message is to make every day count. Merrill Douglass put it this way:
Many people assume that they can probably find many ways to save time. This is an incorrect assumption for it is only when you focus on spending time that you begin to use your time effectively.
There are many benefits to making lists and students in particular can benefit by making lists of their own.
• Lists allow us to take sometimes complex information and simplify it. The alphabet is nothing more than a list of letters and a dictionary a list of words.
• Lists aid our memory retention and are a very useful way to recall disparate information.
• Lists help us organise our lives and keep important goals at the forefront. Doing a ‘to do’ list each day allows us to prioritise our goals – short term and long term - and keeps us focused, not just on the here and now, but also on the future.
• Lists can give us a sense of achievement as we move from one day to the next – sometimes because we wonder what if anything, we accomplished during the day.
• Lists can be powerful motivators, once we have prioritised our goals for the day, or the week or the year for that matter, we can move forward with a sense of purpose and satisfaction.
A word of caution about making lists though. We can sometimes be so caught up with the day to day lists that we lose sight of the big picture in life. It’s important to keep life in perspective; it’s not the end of the world if we don’t complete all of our ‘to do’ lists and our success and happiness is not necessarily measured by how many things we have crossed off our lists. A few wise words to ponder:
Remember where you have been and know where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each step of the way. (Nikita Koloff)
Students benefit by being organised and parents can help their children to become better organisers by encouraging them to make simple lists. For example, someone should have spent some time with the children listing what needs to happen before and on Mother’s Day. Why? Because mums deserve it!
• Buy present for mums – Mother’s Day Stall at School on Friday - check
• Organise breakfast in bed - check
• Talk to children about being on their best behaviour (at least until breakfast is over and presents given) - check
• Lavish love and affection on mums all day Sunday - check
See how useful lists can be? I would like to take this opportunity to wish all mothers a very Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday and hopefully the above list will materialise as if by magic on the day.
Why do we keep lists (sometimes in our heads) of the best or favourite movies, songs, or sporting teams? Why do we care what someone else thinks about who’s the best, the fastest, the toughest, the funniest? What does it matter? Well it seems it matters to us a great deal. Lists like these appeal to our natural curiosity and our competitive nature. Maybe too, it’s the debate that goes on around who or what was the number one or who or what was left off the list that we enjoy the most? As any good family debater knows – it can often be a ‘no win’ argument. As one husband quipped to his wife, “If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.”
Lists, by definition, give us some sort of order in our lives – from the mundane, like our weekly grocery shopping lists, or the daily ‘to do lists’, to the sublime, like in the movie, The Bucket List, where actors Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson wrote a list of their top ten things to do before they died. As we get older or when become ill, life and how we spend our time takes on a whole new meaning. It’s as if everything comes into sharp focus and we become centred on what’s most important in our life. A bucket list can become a life transforming list.
Noted time management experts and life skills coaches, like Jack Collis and Michael Leboeuf, extol the virtues of lists and setting goals. In their best-selling book, Work Smarter, Not Harder, the authors argue that without lists, without a plan, without goals, we can often live an aimless and purposeless life. The clear message is to make every day count. Merrill Douglass put it this way:
Many people assume that they can probably find many ways to save time. This is an incorrect assumption for it is only when you focus on spending time that you begin to use your time effectively.
There are many benefits to making lists and students in particular can benefit by making lists of their own.
• Lists allow us to take sometimes complex information and simplify it. The alphabet is nothing more than a list of letters and a dictionary a list of words.
• Lists aid our memory retention and are a very useful way to recall disparate information.
• Lists help us organise our lives and keep important goals at the forefront. Doing a ‘to do’ list each day allows us to prioritise our goals – short term and long term - and keeps us focused, not just on the here and now, but also on the future.
• Lists can give us a sense of achievement as we move from one day to the next – sometimes because we wonder what if anything, we accomplished during the day.
• Lists can be powerful motivators, once we have prioritised our goals for the day, or the week or the year for that matter, we can move forward with a sense of purpose and satisfaction.
A word of caution about making lists though. We can sometimes be so caught up with the day to day lists that we lose sight of the big picture in life. It’s important to keep life in perspective; it’s not the end of the world if we don’t complete all of our ‘to do’ lists and our success and happiness is not necessarily measured by how many things we have crossed off our lists. A few wise words to ponder:
Remember where you have been and know where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each step of the way. (Nikita Koloff)
Students benefit by being organised and parents can help their children to become better organisers by encouraging them to make simple lists. For example, someone should have spent some time with the children listing what needs to happen before and on Mother’s Day. Why? Because mums deserve it!
• Buy present for mums – Mother’s Day Stall at School on Friday - check
• Organise breakfast in bed - check
• Talk to children about being on their best behaviour (at least until breakfast is over and presents given) - check
• Lavish love and affection on mums all day Sunday - check
See how useful lists can be? I would like to take this opportunity to wish all mothers a very Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday and hopefully the above list will materialise as if by magic on the day.
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