All in a day’s work

I am very lucky in that I love my work, even if it exhausts me. I get to work with both pre-service and in-service teachers to build their confidence and capacity as teachers of mathematics. Not only that, I get to travel around the state to work in their schools.

My beautiful, but scruffy, late husband in the backyard of the house on the Peninsula.

I have worked in this capacity with in-service teachers (teachers who have completed their degrees and are working in schools) for seven years. The first four years saw me on the road for nearly seven months a year, living away from home and in temporary accommodation. When I first took on the role, I was living by myself, with a cat and a dog, 100 minutes from the airport and struggled to manage the work and travel load. Fortunately, Josh, my nephew, agreed to house share and I moved to a rented property closer to the airport, so the cat and dog still had someone to look after them and I was only 30 minutes from the home when I got off the plane, instead of what could be a two and a half drive from Melbourne airport to home on the Mornington Pennisula if I hit rush hour. It was a difficult choice, moving out of my beautiful home into rented accommodation but I loved the work I was doing and I didn’t want to go back to where I was pre-2015. (I took that year off and did my Masters.) That choice started breaking the emotional thread that attached me to that particular house, which enabled me to sell it 2 years later and then nearly 3 years ago now, even move states.

After 4 amazing years with AMSI, I decided to start a new job, buy a new house and return to study, all in South Australia. And because I never do things by halves, I packed everything up, put it on a truck, and sent it to SA with Josh, (he flew,) while I drove across with the cat and dog on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year (only 46 C,) arriving late Friday. I then started my new job on Monday followed a week later with beginning my PhD. When undergrad classes began in March, I took up a bit of tutoring, just for the hell of it.

My new job enabled me to continue working with in-service teachers and instead of working in two states while living in a third, I got to travel all over South Australia. This happened throughout 2020, 2021 & 2022, even though there were a few last-minute cancellations with schools having COVID restrictions to enforce. However, unlike both Victoria and NSW, we didn’t have major lockdowns. In fact, besides the first rush to stop the spread in March/April 2020, SA only had two snap lockdowns; one in November 2020 and the other in July 2021. Both times, I was not in Adelaide – in November 2020 I was on Kangaroo Island, and in July 2021 I was in Cobber Pedy. The first time, no one had any idea about what was happening, whether flights would be grounded, if everyone had to go home or stay put. I couldn’t get off the island so I just stayed put as I couldn’t contact the airline I was flying with and my work colleague back in Adelaide couldn’t either. I guess they were completely overwhelmed with enquiries as everyone want to know what they could and couldn’t do. I phoned the police on KI to find out if they knew what the rules were and their response was, “We’re in the dark as much as you are.” So I went to the hotel/motel where I was staying and asked to be moved into a room with cooking facilities and a washing machine; I was only supposed to be on KI for 2 nights 3 days so I only had 2 changes of clothes. I moved to a great spot overlooking the ocean and spent 4 days watching the weather outside my room. (The initial lockdown was supposed to be 6 days, but it turned out someone lied about how they contracted COVID, so the travel restrictions were lifted after 3. I left on the first available flight because although the lockdown had ended, DfE schools weren’t allowed to let non-staff members on site.)

The second lockdown was in a slightly different environment; Coober Pedy. I had flown up on Monday for a week working in the school. Woke up Tuesday morning to find that the Road House was under ‘outdoor’ dining restrictions; by 4 pm, the entire state was in lockdown. Trying to leave Coober Pedy wasn’t an option; it only has 3 flights to Adelaide per week and anyone who could, booked on the Wednesday flight. As I was due to fly out on Friday, I just stayed out. Where I stay when in Coober Pedy (The Mud Hut Motel) is really comfortable, so it wasn’t a penance. Food was a bit of an issue as I usually eat out when up there rather than cook for myself, but I managed to find stuff at the minimart at the Road House. Flew back to Adelaide on Friday and drove home through very quiet streets.

Visiting Coober Pedy is always interesting as you are never sure what you’ll get. On one visit I took all my food with me because there had been massive floods in and around the place and the main highway, Stuart Highway, was cut in both directions. As a result trucks with supplies weren’t getting through and with tourists stuck in the town and dwindling fresh food, I thought I had better go prepared. The other problem was, with the road out the plane was loaded with extra freight, so they were bumping off the luggage of passengers that were over the limit. For me, the choice was either my work stuff or the food. Fortunately, at the last minute, someone offered to unload something that was actually supposed to be going to Port Lincoln; why the hell it was being sent to Coober Pedy, nearly 900km north of Port Lincoln in the first place is a bit of a mystery.

My latest visit was also a bit of a journey. The plane left an hour and a half late and took 30 minutes longer than usual, due to headwinds. Sunday, the day before, Coober Pedy, and a number of other small outback communities had been hit by wild weather, knocking out power supplies and causing a bit of flash flooding; 35mm fell in a couple of hours where the long-term average for the entire month of October is 14 mm with winds gusting to 102 km/h. If there had been trees, there would have been trees down but there are no big trees in Coober Pedy. It was nowhere near as windy on Monday but it was a pretty bumpy ride. Just as well I was weaned on single-engine aeroplane flights in the territory in the mid-eighties. It makes air turbulence in bigger planes a lot less scary. The wind was up in Coober Pedy all of Monday and Tuesday before dying down but fortunately, all the rain meant the dust was not.

The Break Aways, just outside Coober Pedy

These are just some of my adventures over the past 3 years, doing a job I love but the travelling does get a bit wearing at times.

If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It’s Lethal!
Paulo Coelho

What’s on your bucket list?

When it comes to my bucket list, the blame sits fairly and squarely with Netflix. When I first signed up for Netflix during my AMSI travel days, I came across a series titled “Chef’s Table.” The first series took you from Modena, Italy, to Järpen, Sweden, via New York, Buenos Aires, LA and Melbourne. The documentaries let you into the world of these amazingly innovative, passionate, but slightly crazy, obsessive chefs as they create food to tantalise the senses. I avidly watched each series as it became available and my bucket list began to form – to visit the top restaurants on every continent and saviour the sensory experience of great food, drink and atmosphere.

The only problem; well, possibly not the only problem. Things like global pandemics, wars, and in all truth, finding the time to do it also come into play. But the big one is lack of money, which is why I don’t have the time; I’m too busy earning money for the daily necessities that travelling to all those places, just to have a meal seems a bit ‘pie in the sky.’

When I started writing this postn it was coming into winter here in Adelaide, South Australia with long nights and short days. On a Friday, I started work before 8 and don’t finish until after 6, so I was up in the dark and home in the dark. It was also getting cold; not cold in comparison to other places in the world, but cold by our standards; Still not at the shortest day, and spring, a long way off. The quote below sums up my feelings about winter. Taking steps to survive the winter and find some joy is a necessity. Fortunately for me, I just needed to make it to July when I would have 12 days of warmth in The Philippines.

https://www.quotemaster.org/winter+depression#&gid=1&pid=5

So, how does this link to my bucket list, you ask in my delusional imagination? No, I was not suddenly jetting off to Copenhagen, Denmark, to dine at Noma, or Atxondo, Spain, to experience Asador Etxebarri’s delights, nor to the closer Odette in Singapore. (Mind you, having looked at the offerings in Singapore, I have booked a flight and a week in January.) I have been sampling the fare on offer here in Adelaide. Josh, my nephew, and I are trying out the top restaurants on a Monday evening when work, travel and other social happenings allow it. SO during those long cold weeks throughout May and June, we journeyed out.

https://glamadelaide.com.au/photos-your-actual-first-look-inside-shobosho-on-leigh-street/

Raw tuna, edamame, black rice with bonito cream and grilled nori

Firstly was Shobosho on Leigh Street in the CBD (https://shobosho.com.au/), which is listed across most, if not all, top restaurant www guides, and it did not disappoint. The raw tuna, edamame, black rice with bonito cream and grilled nori dish was delicious, as were the dumplings. My main was wood roast cumin Lamb Ribs with black vinegar and braised leeks. Definitely worth the trip out on a cold winter evening. The atmosphere and service were also good. The bustle and hum of the restaurant on a Monday in May attested to its popularity. I will, without a doubt, visit again and, this time, take photos of the food. I get preoccupied watching the working of the kitchen and the restaurant as a whole, I don’t remember to take a photo until halfway through the dish.

The following Monday we ventured out again, this time to Osteria Oggi on Pirie Street, also in the CBD. This restaurant also rates well in most guides, but we did not enjoy the experience as much as expected. Our first courses of Tripe (Josh) and Smoked Kingfish Crostini were yummy but the pasta dishes we had weren’t overly inspiring. I had Pappardelle with rabbit ragu, which while very tasty was overly salty. Josh had Squid Ink Fiori with prawns, pipis, and samphire, which looked impressive on the plate but not the palate.

The final restaurant visited was Fishbank on King William Street and, boy, was it a beauty. Everything from the interior, to the service, drinks and food was top-notch. In fact, it was so good, we went back again to try other dishes. Sited where Jamie Oliver had his Italian restaurant, Fishbank’s food is well-worth several visits. It’s delicious and beautifully presented. On one visit I had the steamed whole baby snapper, while on the other I tried a selection of their snacks and small plates. Fishbank also has an excellent selection of wines, spirits, cocktails and other beverages, SO if you are in Adelaide and you like fish, definitely put it on your bucket list.

Unfortunately, due to work and other things getting in the way of Monday nights, we haven’t venged out anywhere new recently, but that’s fine because when next winter arrives, and it is dark, cold and dreary, we can continue our exploration.

Define ‘holiday.’

So what constitutes a holiday?

from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/holiday

I didn’t know about number 6, but I have certainly created holidays when painting. Perhaps ‘vacation’ is a more appropriate word:

from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/vacation

I have had the first real vacation in years, 14 days ‘… of suspension of work, study or other activities,’ that require effort and energy. Sure, I’ve had ‘holidays’ over the past few years, but I realise I have always been busy doing, not actually resting. In the past 14 days, I have just done what needed to be done and little else. It has been great! I thought I’d be bored by now but, no, I’m not, although I did decide to start writing this blog again. Occasionally I experience pangs of guilt when I think about all the presentations I need to prepare for work, but when that happens, I actively seek out another K-drama on Netflix or Viki to watch. I have until Tuesday before I start my new part-time role, returning the following week to my present part-time job. I could talk about my two jobs, both of which I love, but I’m vacationing so I’m going to explain why my last holidays were not vacations.

September 2020 was my last holiday. It was my sixtieth birthday, and as ‘zero’ birthdays are supposed to have some significance, I was supposed to celebrate it with a house party and friends. Unfortunately, there were a couple of problems. One was that I moved States in January 2020 from Victoria to South Australia. As most of my friends live in Victoria, it would take some organising, but I was up for it. It turned out another unexpected problem was a more significant issue; COVID. Everyone was in lockdown and couldn’t come anyway. So I did what any self-respecting independent woman would do; I went and spent the week by myself. I know, but I thought I’d have a bit of me-time prior to a working week. We had visits scheduled at schools on Kangaroo Island, so I went down the week before to just relax. I chose a beautiful place, overlooking the ocean, in the middle of nowhere. The problem was, it was in the middle of nowhere, an hour to the nearest shop, on unlit and unsealed roads with no phone. It would have been great for a romantic weekend, but I got bored, resulting in me driving all over the island. Got some great photos and saw the devastation caused by the summer fires, but didn’t get much rest.

My previous holiday was even crazier. I went home to New Zealand and proceeded to do a ‘cousie’ road trip, i.e., I visited all my cousins and family in the South Island in 10 days. This involved literally travelling from one end to the other. I started in Christchurch with breakfast with Cousin Andrew, drove to Kaikoura and spent 2 nights with Cousin Susan and family. I then stopped in Blenheim to lunch with a friend before driving to Wakefield to stay with Bob and Esther (brother and sister-in-law). While in the area, I caught up with my eldest brother (Bill) and his family, as well as Cousins Peter and John. After a few days, I hit the road again, heading for Invercargill via the West Coast, traversing the Alps at the Haast Pass. I met my cousin Janine in Invercargill, and we headed to Riverton for 2 nights. Next, I drove up to Dunedin, where I had lunch with my niece Jane, before driving to Christchurch and finishing the day with dinner with my niece Claire. I then flew back to Melbourne to start work. If you are not tired from reading that, I’m exhausted just writing it. Got some great photos though!

I didn’t have a holiday between finishing my last job and beginning my present one; I decided to pack up and move States instead. That was fun, NOT! Organising, packing, selling, cleaning after 16 years living in Victoria was draining, to say the least. Then the drive to Adelaide turned out to be on a sweltering day in Victoria (44⁰ C), with Ella and Zerlina in the car. The heat was moving east as it had been 44⁰ C in Adelaide the day before, so after driving through to sweltering Victoria, we got hit with almighty thunder and lightning storms as we crossed the border into South Australia.

I guess what constitutes a holiday depends on what you want to get out of it, be it rest, experiences, family time, travel, relaxation or a combination of them all. Sometimes you have to travel distance to find it, while other times, it’s at home, in your own space. I’ll finish with a photo taken recently when I decided I just needed to sit by the sea, feel the seabreeze and watch a sunset. Wherever you are spending your holiday, I hope you get what you wanted from it, particularly during these more difficult times as we deal with a COVID normal world.

“Now this is not the end.”

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Winston Churchill

First last days started this week; it’s sad, that after 4 years of visiting these school, their staff and students, there will be no, “I’ll see you next term,” as I walk out the door. Having said that, I am excited about the future so really, like Churchill’s sentiment, it is the end of the beginning. I have spent the last 4 years learning so I can confidently move to the next stage. I guess leaving the people I have met in Port Augusta isn’t too upsetting as I will be coming back in some role or another, and I will still be in contact and see many of them in and around Adelaide.

This week, I have had a number of discussion around planning for next year and what should be taught first. I have a number of views in this and most of them are not, as far as I’m aware, research based, but the result of years of teaching, talking with other teachers and the round-about of education. If you disagree, sorry and if you have research to demonstrate what I think is wrong, please point me in that direction.

I talk to teachers at all year levels about the importance of putting maths in context and my personal belief that starting with fractions, time, money and/or measurement, depending on the year level, are as good a place to begin the teaching and learning year as any.

Telling time using an analogue clock is a dying skill as most people, these days, use digital time. If you want students to learn to tell the time using an analogue clock then you have to give it a purpose. So teach it at the beginning of the year then, as the teacher, make the commitment to refer the students to the clock constantly. When they ask, “Can I go to the toilet/get a drink? What times lunch/recess/home time/PE? How much longer until…?” respond, according to level, “At quarter past/half past/quarter to/ 5 past/ 20 past etc., in 10 minutes, in five minutes….” Always look at the clock and refer the students to it, expect them to use the clock to tell the time and not view it as a room decoration. Time then becomes part of everyday life and not a 2 week unit. Once upon a time, (okay, when I was young, which was some time ago,) getting a wristwatch was considered a milestone, and it was an analogue watch, not digital. Most wristwatches are now digital; Fitbits or something similar.

Set up a classroom economy at the beginning of the year and have the students managing it by the beginning of term 2. Again this builds in money as an ongoing teaching and learning strategy rather than a ‘two week’ unit and it becomes part of everyday schoolroom life. There are lots of websites on the classroom economy as it can be adapted to work for all age levels. I have seen it working very well in a year 1/2 class, as well as in year 6 level. The sophistication of the economy is dependent on the year level, but, again, you as the teacher, must commit to it.

strip_fractions2 — “Why my half bigger than your?” Reinforcing the concept that the size of the half is dependent on the size of the whole or collection.

$strip_fractions3$

Why fractions early on? In the national curriculum in Australia, half past and half are taught in Year 1; half, quarters and eighths of objects (whole) and collections and quarter to and quarter past are taught in Year 2; the concept of unit fractions and their multiples in year 3 along with telling time to the nearest minute, which, personal, I think is a huge jump so would focus on five minute intervals. Beyond Year 3, the curriculum begins to contain an increasing amount of content, with a lot of which is fractions, decimals and percentages focused. By the time students are in Year 6, more than 50% of the achievement standard has this focus, yet, in all honesty, these extremely important concepts are addressed as a separate unit of work maybe in term 3 for a few weeks and less than 25% of the teaching and learning time is spent on it.

Lastly, measurement. If you unpack the using units of measurement component of the Measurement and Geometry strand, the following action verbs reoccur; compare, order, measure, convert, all of which use number. Even in years 1 & 2 where uniform informal units are used there are opportunities to link measurements and number particularly with the extended subtraction concepts of missing addend and comparison.

My foot is 12 unifix long but I only have 8. How many more unifix do I need? or My height is 16 paddle pop sticks, Jane’s height is 10 paddle pop sticks. What’s the difference in paddle pop sticks?

Often strands are taught separately with students not seeing the connections between them, while teachers struggle with the ‘crowded curriculum.’ In Year 6 a content descriptor in the Measurement strand clearly states ‘connect decimal representations to the metric system’ while in the Number strand ‘multiple and divide decimals by powers of 10’ directly supports ‘convert between common metric units…’

Off back to Melbourne for 2 nights then back on the plane for my final trip to Port Hedland. Safe travels everyone.

PA_SpencerGulf_Stillness1 — The stillness that settles at times over the Spencer Gulf, SA

Same view at low tide and when it’s blowing a gale and dust is whipped up

SO it begins….

I am going to try and do a post a week for the next 8 weeks as the count down to the end of the year and the completion of my role as an AMSI ORO (Outreach Officer) begins. Today, Sunday, I am up early and at the airport to catch a flight to Adelaide, South Australia. From there I pick up a car and drive 310 km to Port Augusta. I quite enjoy the drive as, while it can be very busy, it is a good road. The wonderful people at the Majestic Oasis Apartments look out for me and if I’m later than expected they check to make sure I’m okay. As a single traveler, frequently on the road, I greatly appreciate this as it’s nice to know someone is watching your back. I always get one of two rooms from where I have taken many photos of the Spencer Gulf.

Port_Augusta6 — View from the balcony, calm Spencer Gulf.

As I said I quite enjoy the drive. Sometimes on the way back to Adelaide, if the road is really busy, full of grey nomads and road trains, I will turn off and head for Wilmington and take the route through the Clare Valley, which takes longer but is quieter and prettier. If I have time I love wandering through the back roads of the Yorke Peninsula. The settler history of South Australia is fascinating and scattered all over the Flinders Ranges and the Yorke Peninsula. As I am moving to Adelaide in the new year, I will have the opportunity to capture digitally as many of these old places as I can. Maybe I’ll have an exhibition sometime.

I have got used to driving long distances over the past 4 years. I remember my first long drives in the Territory were a lot more difficult and Tim did most of the driving. The trick is to have a good book to listen to…Yay for audio books on mobile; no changing discs. Music tends to allow the brain to wander, which isn’t great when you are driving or it puts me to sleep (also not good.) A number of my colleagues recommend podcasts particularly true crimes but not really my cup of tea.

I have been very fortunate to have had the role of ORO for 4 years. I have learnt so much about the teaching and learning (T’n’L) of maths which has made me even more passionate about the importance of increasing engagement in maths and developing teacher confidence and capacity. Some of the most interesting aspect of T’n’L that I have learnt over the past 4 years have been not the actual content or pedagogy but the neuroscience, the mindset and the psychology of learning. I have thoroughly enjoyed developing my own depth of understanding around the T’n’L of fractions, decimals, ratios, rates and proportional reasoning. I always knew these were important components of mathematics but the research that demonstrates the direct links between competence in fractions and division in years 5 and 6 and general mathematical understanding and success at years 10 and 11 was a revelation.

playdoh7 — I’ll share this activity in a later post.

It was, however, the understanding of how the brain learns, the importance of mindset and adolescents’ beliefs when it comes to learning maths that have really challenged my way of thinking about T’n’L of mathematics. Students ‘switch on and switch off’ maths and often it takes only one teacher to do either. Maths is the poor cousin to English. As maths teachers, when asked what you do, are generally greeted with comments such as “I hate maths,” “I’m hopeless at maths,” “I had the worst maths teachers, that why I can’t do maths,” “I’m not a maths person,” or something of similar ilk. Maybe occasionally you might get a story about a great maths teacher and how they really help build confidence and self-perception of the speaker as a maths learner. If you announce that you’re an English teacher, you seldom get, “I had English” or “I’m hopeless at English.” We have to address the negativity around maths that exists in the wider community. And while parents’ perceptions and beliefs play a big role, we, as educators, must strive to make maths most relevant, useful and interesting in schools. And NO I am not talking about making it FUN. Professor Di Siemon, a well respected Australian mathematics educator, talks about success breeding engagement, not the other way around.

Bells and whistles will not guarantee success. Which is a problem when an excited teacher talks about how fantastic a lesson was, and a colleague asks for the lesson so they can ‘do it’ too. The first teacher may have delivered that lesson as the 3rd, 4th even 5th lesson in a sequence with the students experiencing success along the way, building their confidence and capacity. A one-off lesson, removed from its basis, is not going to have the same impact. David Ingham, a former mentor of mine, called these the Kaos Torturer’s theory of teaching. Max is strapped to the torture table while the Kaos torturer consults the Koas Book of Torture. He finally finds something and says, “That’s a goodie.” It is obvious he’s already tried something else which hasn’t worked even though it should but Max seems immuned. Too many lessons are presented as ‘goodies’ rather than considering what is really needed.

I am going leave it there for today as I have now arrived in Port Augusta. I want to talk more about Di Siemon’s work in the Big Ideas in Number, the work of Dr David A Sousa’s on how the brain learns and Professor Jo Boaler’s work on Mathematical Mindsets. Along with research into adolescents’ engagement and disengagement in maths and maths anxiety, these 3 have had a big impact on how I think about the T’n’L of mathematics in both primary and secondary schools.

I’m finishing with a sunset, taken in Port Augusta, but not today. I am planning to try out my drone tonight which I have recently bought. Hopefully some interesting photos to come.

On the road to somewhere……else.

Welcome to Port Augusta, South Australia. This is my second cluster area, working in 8 schools, primary and secondary. Unlike Port Hedland, my first visit as an outreach officer in February 2016, was not my first visit to Port Augusta. Everyone and anyone who travels by road or rail across this great country Australia has a very limited number of routes; National Highway 1, the longest national highway in the world apparently (although the section called the Savannah Way is pretty rough) or National Highway 2 (via Mount Isa and Tennant Creek.) There are other 4WD routes but if you want to travel from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean most traffic either takes NH2 or the southern part of NH1 and if you take NH1 you will go through Port Augusta.

And that’s what most people do; go through Port Augusta. You stop for petrol and amenities and that’s it. When Tim and I traveled from Darwin to visit his parents in Adelaide, we went through Port Augusta. It’s the last stop before Adelaide and the first on the way home. Its nickname is Porta Gutta because to be honest, what you see from the main road doesn’t do it any justice. The landscape is not green and welcoming with the fields on the way in from all sides, filled with grey salt bush, a few sheep, the occasional emu and road kill. Port Augusta used to have a coal fired power station as well, which probably contributed to the Gutta aspect.

Once you spend some time in Port Augusta, however, you discover a typical Australian regional town with all the pluses and minuses that comes with regional living. The closure of the power stations has created a real downturn in the local economy but there have been concerted efforts to create new jobs particularly in renewal energy with solar and wind. Unfortunately one of the solar projects hasn’t ‘got up’ due to funding.

The weather can be extreme, with the temperature hitting an all time high of 49.5⁰C on 24 Jan this year and weeks and weeks of no rain and high temperatures; even though it is on the water, the humidity can be very low. Other days it is so beautifully calm and the waters of the Spencer Gulf are like a millpond. When it does rain, it can absolutely bucket down

Port_Augusta3jpg — Port Augusta in the rain

and then, later in the year, you can be blown away in a major dust storm.

Port_Augusta4 — Port Augusta in a dust storm

Where I stay in Port Augusta, at the Majestic Oasis Apartments, is a lovely place with wonderfully friendly staff. (http://www.oasisportaugusta.com.au/ ) I essentially get the same room every visit which has a great view out over the gulf. Waking up and looking out over the water is a great way to start a day when you are away from home.

The big thing about Port Augusta is that it is on the way to somewhere. It is a great base to explore the Eyre Peninsula, the Flinders Ranges, the Claire Valley, the Yorke Peninsula, Gawler Ranges National Park and beyond. Spending many a weekend in Port Augusta, I have had the opportunity to visit all these places expect Gawler Ranges, which I hope to get this year, as well as a far north as Broken Hill and as far west as the Head of the Bight.

So next time you’re on your way to somewhere else, why not spend a couple of nights in Port Augusta, even if it’s only to visit somewhere else.