thesisthoughts

I have been busy thinking about applying to present at the AATE conference in Hobart, Australia this summer (winter). If I decide to apply I only have a week to do it.

A while ago I thought of applying and then decided it was better to attend the first time as a regular participant. It seemed sensible to go, get the feel of the function and learn from others. When my supervisor heard I was going he encouraged me to to seriously consider presenting some of my work.

I will see… I still have a few days to get the 250 word abstract in. I’m working on it despite the fact that I still have no final answer.  

After the last course at N, one of the teachers tried the peer revision strategies we explored, in her grade 2 classroom. She remarked that she could never (and would never) have tried the activity with her pupils if we had not really modelled and experienced it in the course.

I was happy to receive feedback on classroom developments coming out of the course and to hear that the time we are spending in personally experiencing strategies and reflecting on them is worthwhile.

The session at K was also fruitful. After a lecture (shortish) on revision practices and teaching revision, the teachers worked in groups to write a list of specific criteria for evaluating teacher narratives. They worked well and we had the opportunity to feel the difference between specific and general criteria.

Afterwards, the teachers worked in pairs – one as a writer and the other as an editor to work on the revision of their first narratives. They stayed close to the process I suggested for use in the classroom and they worked busily for almost an hour. Now I am waiting to see the revised narratives and to read the upcoming reflective pieces on the process.

I’ve been finding it difficult to concentrate in the past few days, I feel as though my heart and mind are always overseas, in Australia. I have been watching the horror on TV and on the Internet and I find myself crying each time I see what is going on.

I am joining millions of others, the world over, in wishing the wounded a full recovery and praying for a change in weather which will help the dedicated volunteers get control of the appalling situation.

I am happy that I have taken another step in the direction of getting re-enrolled. Filling in all the forms and having my certificates and passport all certified by a notary was a bit of a hassle, but of course the main difficulty was getting the proposal summary down on paper. When they asked for 200 or so words, I had no idea what kind of text was expected. Sending it off to my supervisor was very helpful as it was only when I started to receive his comments that I felt my brain cells getting back into order. After three revisions, I am happier with the summary but realize that it is only the diving board.

As soon as I sent the envelope off, I realized that the question I wrote last may be the one which is the most original and interesting.

Big news!

I am planning to travel to Australia in July. I am excited by the very thought and can’t wait to see family and friends. It will be strange to arrive at Monash university and to meet the people who helped me through my MEd studies and will be accompanying me on my journey to my PhD.

In addition, I would love to attend the AATE conference in Tasmania. It would be a great opportunity to hear some interesting lectures and do some face to face learning.

With all this excitement going on and my burning desire to get stuck into studying, work is a tiny bit on the boring side (I can’t even bear to admit it to myself)

At our last session at N we discussed revision, one of the more problematic stages of the writing process for primary school pupils and their teachers. Research says that most pupils at this age don’t do global revision, struggling writers do even less. The main questions were:

• Why is revision so important?
• What teaching methods are most effective? 
• How can we convince students to adopt revision strategies taught? 

In order to emphasize the importance of peer revision practices, I decided to model what the teachers can do in class. I handed each teacher her teaching narrative which she posted on the electronic discussion board a few weeks ago, together with all the comments she had received from me or from other participants. I asked her to read her story to a partner and together to go through the whole process we had discussed earlier. One teacher functioned as the writer, the other as the editor and then they changed roles. The notes the writer took during the discussion will help her to edit her narrative, the next task for the course portfolio. I will also ask for reflective comments about the peer revision process.

The participants reacted well to the lecture and the activity despite the fact that they are all exhausted by the time they get to the teachers’ centre. Now I have to see how it will work tomorrow in K. The group is much bigger there and it will be harder to manage.