Berlin is hip, the school system is not

According to tourists and newly arrived expats, Berlin is hip. As soon as those same expats send their children to a Berlin school, the word 'hip' is quickly replaced by antiquated, backwards and bureaucratic - depending on personal experiences. Berlin schools are run by the Senat. The Senat employs two kinds of teachers; civil servants and employees. And then there is a third category; the international teachers; fully qualified in their own countries, with skills needed for their jobs in one of the European or International schools of Berlin, but merely paid between 50 and 80% of what their German counterparts make. Why? Because they haven't done their training in Berlin. 
Don't even try to make sense of it.

This is decided by the Berlin Senat, the same one that abandoned pre-school at a time when all other sane countries decided to lower the age for school-goers to 4. The Senat got rid of preschool, and started to send children to school when they were five years old. Do the Kindergartens prepare their pupils for this early 'Einschulung'? No, as Kindergarten educators are not trained to do so. They do have a lot more paperwork to fill out, having to keep a record of the toddlers' language acquisition progress. Is there remedial support in case the child doesn't speak proper German after 5 years? No, but at least it is registered. Are then at least teachers trained to deal with younger children who often still pee in their pants and can't tie their own shoe laces? No, but the Senat thought it would be a good idea to introduce FLEX, a flexible school entry phase, where grades 1 and 2learn together - that way the little ones can learn from the older children - neatly solving the problem of the teacher who has no idea how to deal with those younger kids.

Five years after the introduction of this system, the Senat decided that schools are allowed themselves to decide whether they want Flex or not. More than half of the schools immediately stopped this experiment, some saying they had never really put it in place anyway. Yes, something like this is possible in Berlin, as the school inspection only visits schools once every 6 years or so. It is also quite well known in advance when they visit, so there is plenty of time to polish the hallways, replace ancient art projects and to dust off the interactive whiteboards.

Interactive Whiteboards - progress after all? Well, after being confronted with another round of terrible PISA results, the Berlin Senat had another wonderful idea and decided to make 'Berlin Kreidefrei'. No more chalk in Berlin classrooms - as chalk is obviously really old-fashioned. Deals with Smart and Promethean were struck and the schools were filled with whiteboard after whiteboard.

This is what a lot of teachers thought when those whiteboards were introduced: why should you use an interactive whiteboard if the blackboard works perfectly well? What is wrong with a piece of chalk and a talking head in front of the classroom? Frontal teaching is what we teachers have been doing for centuries, and it seems to have worked. Politicians, bankers, and not in the least WE, have all been educated without technology - and see how far it got us.

For German-speakers I'd like to share a typical text from a site called Teacher News, in which one of the editors is fulminating against the use of interactive whiteboards:

"Aber sehen wir es einmal „ressourcenorientiert“: Wenn wir statt „Tafel“ künftig „Blackboard“ sagen würden, vielleicht ließe sich der unaufhaltsame Siegeszug der Smart- und Whiteboards wenigstens verlangsamen. Ist denn noch niemandem aufgefallen, dass ein Smartboard den Lernprozessbegleiter schnell zum antiquierten Frontalunterricht zurückführt, statt die Kompetenzen der noch nicht so starken Schülerinnen und Schüler im Gruppenpuzzle auszubilden? Wenn das Geld für die teure Wartung der teuren Smartboards demnächst fehlt, dann schlägt vielleicht wieder die Stunde der guten alten Tafel – Verzeihung, des „Blackboards“. "

True, for teacher training and technical support was no money, so the whiteboards were mostly used as chalk-free blackboards. 'Kreidefrei' - the name alone implies a frontal tool, something to write on in front of the classroom. As long as German publishers are keeping their interactive resources to a minimum, Berlin teachers choose paper books over interactive learning environments.

I can't wait for the next move of the Senat - it can only get better.

Literacy development & online training

 

Here is an overview of the different learning stages children go through, and the levels children work at in the English group. Included are suggestions for links to relevant learning games in case you would like to follow your child's progress up close:

BASIC LEVEL1: Learning the letter names; the basic ABC; how are the letters called? This is usually covered in Kindergarten, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries. We work with letter cubes, stamps and lots of hands-on games to teach or enhance this knowledge. Starfall is an Americanprogram which kids seem to like a lot. This link helps kids practice the letters and their sounds:http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/index/load.htm?f

BASIC LEVEL2: Knowing the sounds of the letters is the basis for all reading and writing. The letter is called 'E' (ee), but we say 'e' as in 'egg' - and so on. Jolly Phonics is the basic program we use to learn the sounds. More info: http://jollylearning.co.uk/

DECODING & BLENDING - Once the first letter sounds are known (S-A-T-I-P-N in Jolly Phonics), the decoding of simple words such as c-a-t and s-i-t is a small step. These words are called C-V-C words (consonant-vowel-consonant). A game to practice decoding skills is:http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/popup.shtml, orhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/cvc/index.shtml

READING: We use the Oxford Reading Tree books and a series called Jolly Readers (non-fiction books, three levels of non-fiction readers, from the publisher of Jolly Phonics. Oxford Reading Tree now offers more than 230 booklets featuring Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories (now joined by 36 brand new adventures). The books contain parent/teacher guidance notes in every book. More info: http://www.oup.com/oxed/primary/oxfordreadingtree/introduction

TRICKY WORDS: Once your child starts reading English, (s)he will quickly run intot words that are 'tricky' - they can't be sounded out, such as C-A-T. Words like bike, cake and hope have the 'magic e'(which hops over the consonant and makes the vowel say it's name) - such as the sound 'ay' as in cake. This game helps to get used to 'magic e':http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/tricky-words/five-prize-bikes

Other tricky words are the ones with long vowels, such as words with ay, oa, ee, oo, ea etc. The kids learn that 'when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking'. Learning to read these is easier than actually spelling those words correctly - but with practice also that will happen - usually not before third grade though! A fun exercise in the classroom (as one of very few 'frontal' instruction moments) is:http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/longvow/poems/fpoem.shtml

Email Standards for Teachers

Today I received an email from a colleague who teaches 10th grade. Her email, sent to all 100 staff members of our comprehensive school, is addressed to 'all those concerned' and goes on to describe the detailed mental and academical issues of four pupils in her class, including their names and surnames. Something is not quite right here, as sensitive digital data should only be shared with those directly involved. Another colleague prefers to write long rambling emails to make a point about one of his many grievances, simply to get it off his chest. His mails generally serve no other purpose than to annoy the living daylights out of all recipients.

I suggest this mental check before the send-button is hit:

 • Should this be sent?
• By me?
• Right now?
• Like this?
• To these recipients?
• Really??

Furthermore, read all relevant incoming emails on a daily basis and respond by the next day, even if it's with a simple ' thanks for your email. I will reply in more detail shortly.' Administrators ideally should also read  their emails in the weekend, and reply to urgent matters within 24 hours. Staff can read and reply to weekend emails by Monday end of play.

And last but not least: keep it brief but friendly! If necessary, use emoticons to soften the potentially perceived harshness of your words... A 'thumbs up' symbol beats an exclamation mark, whereas capital letters make it look as IF YOU ARE YELLING, and too many dot dot dots make you seem ..... rather insecure.

Of course some stone age colleagues will keep up the spamming; then just ignore or delete them from your digital life. Or both!

Listen to Me!!!!

Perhaps the four exclamation marks in the title will help. If I shout long enough and loud enough, someone will hear me. The web is full of swimmers, diving for pearls, looking for a place to land briefly, to read something which can be shared. The web is also riddled with opinionated egomaniacs. Especially comical are the graying and wrinkled pensionados, who believe they have nothing but interesting things to say. Surrounded by fellow graying loudmouths, they scribble away about the importance of connectvity, about how the Web changed the world. It certainly changed their world. Instead of having to listen to the yapping of his also graying  wife, the connected graybeard climbs the steps to his little home office and starts yapping  away himself. He fills a quick blog post about his latest digital purchase. This simply has to be shared, his experiences and insights might benefit thousands of followers. And attract new followers! He scans his Network and retweets similar insights. About the importance if being connected. Collaboration via the web. The upcoming webinar in which he will speak. The benefits of online conferencing - although he sure as hell misses the hotelbars and the cute little conference hostesses. No such things online. When his wife calls him down for coffee he counts the amount of re-retweets. Still only two. The lack of interest  leaves him with an open aching space where his stomach used to be. His pale bony fingers tap away on his iPhone: "Internet Ceases to be Efficient." His wife asks him something, but he is oblivious. Copies a quote from a fellow Internet Guru and comments on it, tweets it. The first reply shows up after 1 minute. Without reading it, he leans back, happily thinking about the 35.000 ego-yaps that he tweeted into digital space in the past years. A monumental  achievement. When he has his supper, he sees that 37 followers retweeted his latest ego yap. He is satisfied. Another useful day.

Cyberbullying in Holland: banga lists

Cyberbullying comes in many forms and shapes and the latest one is called a Banga list. Banga is street for slut. Girls with a certain reputation may find their names on one of those lists, gaining instantaneous and - potentially- eternal Internet notoriety - whether the slander is true or not. These Banga lists are similar to the German 'isharegossip' site, they are a platform for bullies. In Germany isharegossip was hacked, forcing its owners to shut itself down. In the UK and the US cyberbullying has become a punishable offense. In the Netherlands on the other hand cyberbullying seems to be taken with a large pinch of salt. A number of so-called pragmatic Dutch don't see the Banga lists as a cause for concern. Statistics show that 4% of teenagers are being cyberbullied. Even though this number seems low compared to some US studies where up to 68% of teens are reported to have been cyberbullied, 4% still represents 60.000 children. Peter Nikken, professor Media Education, is not impressed: "It's normal that kids bully one another, that's what they do." Media researcher Linda Duits shares his view: "It's not as if you'll never find a job again when your name is on such a list. Besides, bullying is part of youth culture." De Volkskrant presents these two expert views to conclude that the Banga lists are nothing but a media hype. Yet many girls will beg to differ. Finding themselves on a Banga list, their reputation is up for grabs. Does Ms Duits know for a fact that this digital sleeze will be removed from the Internet in a few year's time? What about the effect on the girls themselves? Cyberbullying has to be taken seriously. It is extremely harmful simply because social media multiply and accelerate its effects. One 13-year old's suicide last week coincided with the publication of her name on a Banga list. Still, the Volkskrant certainly won't jump to conclusions and is happy to leave this media hype where it belongs - on the world wide web. Let's hope it will not stay there forever.

Be careful what you LIKE

Just 'liked' MacDonalds so you could get that cheeseburger voucher? Now all your friends know it as well. Check your Facebook settings regularly, both the privacy and the account settings. There are quite a few settings under 'account' which have everything to do with your privacy - just check the elements on the left hand side of your screen. One of them is Facebook Ads. If you click on this, check your so-called social ads. If you don't want all your friends to know that you like Tchibo, Sony or MacDonalds, then set it to 'no one'. Often companies and organisations ask you to like them so you get some free deal, or unlimited access to their website resources. After you've liked them, your likes will be integrated in ads which can be shown on your friends' walls - unless you change your settings. Here is a screen grab from my own settings:

 

 

MAKE A POWERFUL POINT

Conferences... what use are these archaic events in this digital day and age where we can find all the information we want at the tip of out fingers? This question has been asked by both speakers and conference visitors in the past years, and usually the outcome was mixed. We've heard most of the input all before, we spend too much on entrance fees, overprized accomodation and bad food, get jetlagged and dramatically increase our carbon footprint.Yet, we are human beings in need of personal contact; we like a drink and a bit of lame gossip, so we keep attending conferences. O yes - and if you're lucky you get inspired. You listen to the likes of Michael Wesch and Sugata Mitra and know that learning has forever been transformed by technology - whether learners and teachers realise it or not - embrace it or not. They are the gems, those rare and wonderful speakers that make you increase your carbon footprint year after year. Certainly, more presenters have a good story to tell, but most spam their own message by putting up a slideshow with one million words and zero visual input. We are not only living in exponential times (as Michael Wesch puts it), we are living in visual times, and we require visual input, like it or not.... Creating powerful slides is not rocket science anyway; below is some visual support which may be useful when you find yourself going to the next conference. Go ahead, make your point: http://www.slideshare.net/Shelearner/make-a-point-presentation-annemieke-akkermans

13-year olds want to learn about Internet Safety

As media coach and teacher I also teach 7th graders at an international school in Berlin. A first questionnaire among ca. one hundred 12- and 13-year olds places Internet Safety as their number one concern, whereas this has not been part of the official curriculum so far.

The results of the September 2011 questionnaire:


• 99% have one or more computers at home

• 95% have Internet access, 5% doesn’t know.

• 40% use the pc daily, 25% use the pc only in weekends, 35% use the pc ‘sometimes’

• Ca. 10% of parents do not use computers. These children all have their own computers.


Asked what the 7th graders wanted to learn most of all, this is the top 3:

o Internet Safety (cookies, spam, viruses, digital identity)

o Typing skills (mostly for speed)

o Video editing



The 7th graders picked up basic digital skills from:

o A parent (36%)

o Older sibling (16%)

o Self (12%)

o Other family member (8%)

o School/ IT-course: 4%

o Without skills: 24%


First conclusions: More than half of all 7th graders have learned their basic digital skills from parents and siblings. The few students who mention school as the place where they learned digital skills, attended international schools abroad, such as Singapore and Australia. Only 4% mention 'school' as the place where they learned their digital skills. Internet Safety has so far not been included in the school curriculum, yet this is what most of the 7th graders mention as their nr. 1 priority. They wish to learn about cookies and spam, how to protect themselves against viruses, how to create and protect their digital identity and how to handle cybermobbing

Mobiles in School

"Children should not have mobile phones, it is unnecessary and ridiculous." One teacher's opinion. Another one agrees that mobile phones can be taken to school, but should only be used outside of school hours. A third teacher uses his smartphone to send homework to his students, and expects the students to collaborate online, and the finished assignments to be sent to his Facebook account.

Most educational institutions do not know how to deal with mobile phones. Many schools adhere to the switch-off-during-school hours-policy, but is this is a sustainable strategy in the ever-increasing mobile future? Dutch research shows that the use of mobiles and smart phones reduces students’ concentration and endangers school safety. Mobile phones, often kitted out with a camera, are sometimes used for harassing pupils and teachers. Nasty videos appear on the web, and people are badmouthed on websites and social networks. Schools are often not aware of the negative, nor of the positive effects of mobile use. This is why each school requires strict and clear rules on the use of mobile phones, and media use in general. The report also urges teachers to look at their own online behaviour, such as on Facebook and Twitter.  More can be found on the Dutch website of the Nationale Academie voor Media en Maatschappij.

What's Your Story? Grand Prize Winner

Cool little video. international video contest that empowers youth to be leaders in educating others about being safe online. As long as half of all parents and teachers are themselves uncomfortable online, who should teach their kids and students about online safety? Gen X and Gen Y should be learning together.