Google Certified Educator Level 1

I've passed my exam and I'm now officially a Google Certified Educator Level 1. Next step, Level 2.

GEG UK

My head hurts. It's in a spin. It has nothing to do with alcohol...

Yesterday, I went to Google HQ in London for a meeting with GEG UK (Google Education Group) organised by +Ben Rouse . Firstly, I can confirm, people actually play ping pong at Google HQ.

Why does my head hurt? Basically, it's 10x Thinking and it's now bursting with new ideas. How can we make the world a better place? How can we improve education where the teachers are unshackled from administration and given the time and resources to focus on teaching? How can we massively reduce costs for schools, allowing them to divert funds from waste to things that can make the difference? How can we improve the lives of our students and provide them with efficient working and thinking strategies and skills right now?

Is Google the magic bullet?

... uhm... not sure. However, it does have an amazing set of free products in GAFE. Then there are the people working around the fringes of Google, not employed by Google, but using its products and philosophy to drive through changes.

Okay - for the next bit I'm going to write about Google products etc. If you're still carrying pen drives around your neck or constantly sending Word docs or Excel sheets (or worse still printing them off and handing them out) that others struggle to collaborate with you, then you might want to stop reading now...

Latest Google Products
In 2014, Google 'allowed' access to the cloud and introduced Google Drive. 2015 - the big driving force has been Google Classroom and low cost devices. Now for the future - empowering teachers through CPD programmes and amazing tools - one in particular that looks amazing is Expeditions (think of a more integrated Google Cultural Institute).

Certification and Google Training
Personally, I am at the beginning of this journey. I have completed the fundamentals training for Level 1 Certified Educator and I am hoping to do the exam this week. I know for many colleagues the thought of doing exams can be very daunting, scary etc. I personally haven't done one for years - I sort of did a test when I did my 3 day first aid course, but the last sit down one was in Uni. However, these are low cost exams (not just financially) but their impact if you fail. So, I've decided to just go for it and see where it takes me.

Implementation
Quite simply, Google products can reduce costs significantly by allowing people to collaborate and communicate effectively, Put simply by +Mark House , it's cuts down nonsense. (At this point, I must declare an interest because I've worked with Mark for years at the same school). The focus is on reducing teacher workload by marginal gains (which worked for Clive Woodward's England rugby team in 2003 and the David Brailsford's GB/Sky cycling team) to allow them to focus on the most important part of the job, teaching. Think of all the bits of paper, emails, meetings, you received and responded to over the last couple of weeks. Were any of them nonsense?

Getting SMT to sign up is vital. One of the biggest moves in our school was when the Principal (Headteacher) swapped his computer in his office for a chromebox and went all in - this encouraged and made it necessary for others to follow.

+Oli Trussell talk on BYOD (bring your own device) was very informative. When every student has a device, schools can save time and money by using Google Classroom instead of physical textbooks and printed worksheets. However, there are pitfalls:

Don’t:

• Proxy servers
• Expect it to just work
• 1 person to implement
• Undervalue

Recommendations:

• Get Chromebooks! (if you can…)
• Allow BYOD to support/enhance
• Get ‘Critics’ on board quickly!
• Train often (students and teachers)

I love the idea of Uckfield Community Technical School +Jeanette O'Connor of getting expert students to help with the CPD support and training of not just other students but staff as well. BYOD chromebooks looks the way to go.

Pedagogy and Tools

And very quickly - some excellent ideas shared by +Dean Stokes

• Superquiz by +Oli Trussell 
• Cultural Insitute
• Ngrams
• Google Drawings
• Cite sources in Docs using tools/research
• Mymaps
• Patents
• A Google A Day
• Build with Chrome - my personal favourite (who doesn't like Lego!)

Best slam has to be x-ray goggles - I can now win at everything!

In my opinion, you cannot be an 'Outstanding' teacher if you are surrounded by 'weak' teachers. Who can you inspire?

And that was GEG UK Live 2015. Now you can see why my head hurts. :-)

I saw that on a Numberphile video...

Last week, I was listening to a couple of year 7s discussing maths in class when I heard one of them say, "I saw that on a Numberphile video..." This was one of the highlights of my term because the video in question was not one I had promoted to the class. This term, I have introduced Google Classroom into my teaching and one of the excellent uses is to subtly promote Numberphile and other fantastic mathematical resources.

I'm going to go out on a limb here. I think Numberphile is the most inspirational resource I have seen for Mathematics. By using youtube, Numberphile has opened the door to complex Maths that to this point remained hidden deep and difficult to find for the vast majority of people. It is ground-breaking and has the potential to be as influential  as Martin Gardner's work in bringing maths to the masses and deepening understanding of Mathematics beyond basic numeracy. It goes way beyond other attempts to open up mathematics, such as Johnny Ball in the UK, who promoted mathematics in an entertaining manner, but failed to look deeply and demystify the subject. Numberphile embraces the complexity of mathematics and challenges the grey cells, and with the creation of Numberphile 2 (with its focus on the 'hard' maths) this looks to continue strongly.

A big thank you to Brady Haran (producer, editor and thoughtful interviewer of the Numberphile videos) and the inspirational contributors, including the fantastic and amusing Dr James Grime and Matt Parker (two of the main contributors to the channel). Dr James Grime has his own youtube channel singingbanana, which is full of mathematical gems. Matt Parker has been touring the country with the best show ever, Festival of the Spoken Nerd, his talk on spreadsheets zooms into the heart of computing and mathematics.

Other excellent youtube channels for maths include:
Vi Hart
Smarter Every Day (although there is some Science in this one as well!)

Khan Academy

I used Khan Academy for the first time with one of my teaching groups today. I have previously explored Khan Academy, from a student's point of view, trying out different tasks etc (I would strongly advise you do this before hand) and felt the time was now right to become a 'coach' and investigate its usefulness within the classroom. 

The group I chose was a GCSE retake group. I had managed to permanently book an IT room for once a week with this group and this made an opportune moment to experiment. I was pleasantly surprised how well the lesson went. It was very easy to set up a Khan Academy Classroom. I had already established a Google Classroom, so I highlighted every student and clicked to email them, then copied their email addresses and pasted this into Khan Academy. It took a couple of minutes to create a classroom and then for students to join by clicking the link sent to them via email.. 

I didn't set up any particular tasks or missions but invited the class to focus on the foundation area of Mathematics. With little instruction, students were quickly able to complete tasks. They became motivated by the points and awards. Soon this became competitive with some students. All students engaged and were on task. Students began asking for help when needed - I haven't yet started emphasising the online video support, but will start doing that from next lesson. Some students who had been less motivated suddenly started working very well. The class lost track of time and worked into their break time and at the end of the day, a student emailed to see if he was number one (as he had been working on tasks during his lunchtime). I will see if this level of enthusiasm persists. Students seem to enjoy not only the competitive side but the independence Khan Academy gave them.

The data on students and classes is very useful. Progress of the class is easily monitored time and this can be varied. Putting a leader-board on the interactive whiteboard inspired some students to be competitive - students worked hard to be at the top and to avoid the bottom place. Individual data was also useful to see where students were struggling and also what they were able to do. Generally, I think students found it motivating that they were able to complete easier tasks, but this will need to be monitored to ensure they can complete more complex tasks needed for their examinations.

My next step is to create a playlist of topics that will be suitable for my students and enable me to focus their attention on particular units. I have quickly set up Khan Academy Classrooms for my other groups, but are not planning to use it within the classroom, but to encourage them to practise their maths skills in their own time. I will be curious to see how it will work in this context.

Khan Academy provides clear and comprehensive support for teachers to help them on this journey - Khan Academy Support Materials

Book Review - The Chimp Paradox by Prof. Steve Peters

The Chimp Paradox provides the reader with a simple but effective model of how the brain works. Prof Steve Peters is a consultant psychiatrist who works in elite sport - notably with the very successful Sky Pro Cycling Team and Liverpool FC. He has received personal accolades from a long list of famous sports people such as Victoria Pembleton and Sir Chris Hoy (Olympic Gold Medallists), David Brailsford (Principal at Sky Pro Cycling Team), Steve Gerrard (England footballer) and Ronnie O'Sulllivan (Snooker player).

Peters is careful not to wrap himself as a guru but emphasises the science and research behind his model. He is not afraid to admit his model is a simplification of how the brain works. The book offers advice and exercises to improve the effectiveness of how your brain work, but the real power behind the book is explaining how yours and other people's brains work.

The model Peters uses is dominated by the Chimp and how to manage it. The brain is split into three personalities: the Chimp, the Human and the Computer. Put simply, the chimp represents our emotions and therefore it is important to understand not only how to manage our own chimps, but others.

From an education point of view, Peter's model could promote marginal gains within schools and students. It helps teachers empower their students to think constructively and productively, guiding them to become happy, confident and successful people (whilst avoiding being hijacked by their chimps). It provides a useful guide on how to interact with students, especially when their chimps are evident, which I have already found personally useful when dealing with potential conflict or emotional students.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to improve and have a better understanding of not only themselves, but those around them and the world we live in.

Google Classroom - Month One.

This September, I have been using Google Classroom. The story so far...

Google Classroom is very easy to use. It was relatively straightforward to invite students or get themselves to join the classroom and as they become used to the technology the process will become natural and simple.

I currently am a strong advocate of mymaths. It provides a comprehensive package for all school aged students. The user interface becomes more complicated post-16 and I use it less with A-level groups. However, for the majority of students it provides an efficient and straight forward method of completing homework. Firstly, you cannot lose it. Secondly, if you are stuck (including parents) it provides useful online lessons. Next, it marks work and provides instant feedback. Then crucially, it allows students to have further attempts (modifying the homework in the process). As a teacher, it provides me with spreadsheets which allow me to see how individual students/classes are performing on particular topics and links this with the old level descriptors and GCSE grades (soon to be old). This data can be easily used for report writing and for discussing with students and parents.

So why the need for Google Classroom. Currently, I am mostly using Google Classroom as a noticeboard. I use it to keep students up to date with current homework tasks and I use it to extend their current understanding and deepen their knowledge of mathematics by posting videos such as this from Dr James Grime:

I am currently experimenting with creating a questionnaire and then posting this on Google Classroom. I created a questionnaire to find out more information about the food students ate. Forms does not directly link to Classroom (yet). Although the Form, told me who had completed it, this was not then updated to the assignment on Google Classroom. I'm waiting for all the results to be in and looking forward to analysing the results. Update findings in next review of Google Classroom.

ResearchED National Conference London 6/9/14

The National ResearchED Conference this year was held at Raine's Foundation School,

The day began with an historical journey into education from when Raine's was established to the present day, by the present Headteacher, John Bradshaw. The difficulties faced over the years remain remarkably similar. Tom Bennett followed up, by trying to ignite a polite rebellion against top-down CPD and encouraging teachers to have a healthy relationship with research - cautious and curious.

One of the best things about ResearchED conferences is you get a choice of speakers (although this can lead to a bit of a headache deciding who to go to see). So first up, Dr Jonathan Sharples from The Education Endowment EEF. Jonathan talked about current research projects and advocated research champions within every school. He provided guidance on how to perform your own research:

1. Decide what you want to achieve
2. Identify possible solutions
3. Give it the best chance of success
4. Did it work?
5. Securing and spreading change.
And back to number one...

Next, the popular Dylan Wiliam (name spelt correctly!). Dylan's lecture was the provocatively titled, "Why teaching will never be a research-based profession and why that's a good thing". His first argument was that the cupboard was bare in relation to ed-research. He highlighted the difficulty of establishing causality and only lucky experiments get published (i.e. those who show a correlation, especially if it is the positive/negative result the author wished to see).

Following Dylan, I stayed in the beautiful old school hall to watch Prof. Robert Coe. Robert started with a cautionary note about offering teachers feedback after lesson observations. He emphasised, "What you think is good teaching may not be". Just because a certain way of teaching works for one person does not mean this can be transferred to another teacher, teaching a different class. Feedback to teachers must be:

1. based on best evidence
2. reflect diversity of teachers
3. include protocols for demonstrating when they are met

To improve teaching a better understanding of evidence is needed that is based on research.

Phillipa Cordingly (CUREE) has researched exceptional schools in challenging circumstances and her compared them to other schools to try to discover why they are exceptional. Her comprehensive findings can be downloaded here.

Amanda Spielman (OFQUAL) provided useful insight and data into the examination process. She discusssed the pros and cons of the current examination system. People hugely underestimate variability in year-to-year exams. This can be as much as 12% in mathematics (which is generally straight forward to mark) and not surprising even higher other subjects (e.g. English 15%). This means OFSTED, Governors, Headteachers etc. need to be very cautious when analsying results as a sudden rise/fall may be down to natural variation and nothing to do with latest interventions.  When we look on an individual student basis, about 23% of students won't be allocated the correct grade (usually a grade either side).

More information about other talks and blogs about the conference can be found here: