Because, because, because

Another example of children FAILING to improve their own writing can be seen here:

You can see that the child has tickled pink their causal connective and is happy that they have used it. However, that connective is the word 'BECAUSE'. How boring!

If that child could really improve their own writing, they would know that using 'BECAUSE' is really easy. A good 'reviewer and reflector' would know this and try out some different causal connectives. They would be able to write a green for growth, 'Next time I would' comment and give an example of a sentence that uses their harder connective.

They haven't done this, because they can't. Teachers know best, children know nothing.

Another teacher who knows NOTHING.

It seems like we have another teacher who thinks that they know more than me. Read this email I received from Mr Dan at Patana School.

What a foolish man he is, and clearly a terrible teacher - he even got his class to send me a power point that proved exactly what I was trying to say. Children can't do this sort of thing. Mr Dan, I have some questions for you (I have updated this to give some more questions that you can answer but your children DEFINITELY can't).

• What do children actually learn by reflecting on their work? Can you explain HOW using pretty highlighter pens will get the children to find out more about explanation texts?
• Can you rate which is better - asking children to review and reflect on their learning, or a teacher doing it for them? Are they both important, or one more than the other? Why?
• If children do all of the reviewing, then what is the job of a teacher? Should you even have a teacher?
• SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE - there were NO examples of how the children were improving their work, NO examples of what the students were talking about, and NO feedback from students about why they thought that it was important for them to review their learning.

IF you can tell me answers to these questions and provide some evidence, then MAYBE I'll change my mind (but I know that you won't be able to).

I can't believe it

I really can't believe how cheeky some people are. I had a conversation with a teacher from a different school tonight and they completely disagreed with what I had to say. I was telling her that children needed to be told what they were learning and how they could get better. She thought otherwise - she told me that her Year 3 students often fill in a sheet like this:

The students are supposed to find two things that they are proud of and one thing that they will do even better next time.

I think it's a terrible idea - children are just TOO YOUNG to reflect on their learning. Teachers know best.

A real teacher

Have a watch of this video from the film 'Matilda'. Now this is a proper teacher. She talks and the children listen. What they have to say, and what they think about their learning, isn't important. I wish allschools could be like this.

Victorian Schools

Children in my school have been told all about the Victorians. In a Victorian school, children were told clearly what to do. They didn't 'reflect' and there was certainly no 'tickled pink'. This sounds like my kind of school.