As I again ponder another day of educating in the 21st century, I wonder and critique what could be done better or more efficiently.

Relationships all went well today with the 113 students over four lessons differing in age from 11- 18. I had one student of 17 explode and tell me where to go with some beautiful language which makes me think, wow what did I do wrong? My whole day was a failure because that shouldn't have happened in MY class. While missing the 81 students who said thanks and the 31 students who actually learned how to manage there tasks more autonomously due to the specific teaching of skills done in all my lessons. But the later, they are just things all teachers do, I hear myself say so that I refocus on the one student who told me to -----off!

So I ring home, no one answers that weird so I ask around, nobody seems to know but they all have noticed the behaviours I'm talking about. So I stroll down to the office and say do you know anything about "Student" "Oh yes" they say, "his dad has gone on a holiday for three weeks his brother is looking after him!"

21st Century Education would mean that all teachers know this! All teachers can emotionally support this child! No support at home means much support at school. To classroom educators knowledge is power! Social emotional needs of our kids matter!

Saying no is the beginning of quality relationship as it begins defining what your standards are. This is really a very simple concept, once a question has been asked and answer is no, the relationship either grows and flourishes or dies a natural death!

But do we teach this in our classrooms, many state the days of being blunt are over, me on the other hand, I believe they are only just beginning.

As more modes of communication become available more "friendships" can be formed and therefore we should be more choosy. But this is not what I see, I see surface oriented communication about stuff we don't feel passionate about, so we don't get hurt! Resilience only comes from being hurt and letting people know they have hurt you! Also time is short and there is not enough time for 1000 friends, so get close ones!

People be prepared to say no! Be prepared to find new friends! But be forgiving of the ones who make mistakes as that allows them to grow!

Teachers of all ages- specifically teach these skills!

Signed- Only so much time in the day!

There is none, if we don't educate young people about risk and allow them to deal with risk,, they never learn responsibility. As a secondary educator I am sick to death of hearing that this 'can't' be done because the risk is to high! This could be a reason our student national test scores are deemed to be ordinary. Australia as gone from the country of 'tough live of the land types', to a country where kids can't mow the lawn because it's to dangerous!

Teaching risk is as, if not more important than Literacy and Numeracy because if it's too dangerous to do things, then why get out of bed? If this happens then they won't need literacy and numeracy. Heaven knows if we specifically teach about risk then students may have some of their own responsibility by the time they get their car license at 16 years old!

To all those educators fighting the nanny state policy, keep up the great work!🎓

Virtual space = storage of information about any attribute of education in any form or context!

If students have all this going on in their heads and hearts then learning is happening if we are there or not! So what do I as a educator need to learn out of this? Our role has changed to a guidance and opinion role on all things Ed!

We are leaders of the next generation of learners, we have to empart the skills of empathetic learning. Teams of learners sharing and discussing with care and concern for each other as we move towards our personal pathway of successful learning! Constantly judging or as teachers call it "assessing" is only going to creat Qs in the mind of the learner! Feedback in the form of quality questioning and empathetic statement of "what I might do" is the way forward in my mind!

Busy people don't like being told they are wrong even when it is self evident to them! If our students are as busy as this image suggests then possibly we need to feedback, encourage more and assess less!🎓

As a educator of some years experience the challenges of my last few months have been quite the conundrum! I have been asked to complete my S rating in order to become a full time educator in the Qld education department, this involved a interview with a panel!

So I am asked the following after teaching in a community for the period of 3 months, how have you effected the community through you teaching?

Well, this was a tough question, as I have had many areas where I had effected the community and was still effecting the community long after I left in positive ways. But I had only been part of this community for a very short time, so why was it expected that I would have?

This lead me to thinking about community and what it actually is, its value, it reason, it's life, and how it is formed?

I found myself with some questions about why it is not a more important part of what we teach in the classroom environment. How often do we write down what our local community is, why is it what it is and do we agree or disagree with it and how do we change it?

Suddenly realising that community for humans is a NEED like water, food and shelter and it needed to be part of every persons day.

Community is the reason for empathy, compassion, understanding and education!🎓

What is this thing called relationship and how do we define it in the workplace of education? I am always perplexed these days when people say how is your relationship with your principal? Well to be blunt I don't have one, I believe this is a working connection that benefits both parties. If you are really lucky if you have a principal who can build a relationship and show emotional care and support rather than structural connection and then I would say "great".

In these times of deadlines, massive educational systems of grading and in my personal opinion mass functional split between teacher and administrator we need to be careful of blurring these two things. A connection is for specific purpose and holds rules and regulations and a relationship is emotional, sometimes out of balance and one party can be called to give for no direct benefit other than just to give!

As a further reflection point I think ICT is blurring some of these lines!🎓

So in my usual calm manor I write my feedback question on the board, and the kids all rip a scrawny piece of paper out of their books and write down their grade and their sentence! I begin collating away and realise that my usual trend is not there! The kids have given me a much larger C rating and they are blaming!

What is my next step? Well tomorrow I walk into that class and we work through the blame and we ask why not A's?

Every student has the same opportunity in my room, some need to work a little more, some may need more of my guidance, some may need to spend time with me after school to learn it, some may need to access Khan Academy videos more regularly but you all have these opportunities! Spend the lesson solving there reasons for why they can't in order to create a classroom full of " I can."

THAT IS MY JOB!

What does this really look like? Educators like myself use words like Literacy Numeracy and Digital Literacies, these are simply explained in by human communication skills! How we talk? Yes they are broken down into these categories so we can measure them by testing. But what is beginning to happen is people are being labelled at every year level, in fact twice a year they get labelled. How many times does a person have to be labelled before they just begin to believe the label is them?

What does a test look like to have a great married life?

What does the test look like to raise great children?

What does the test look like to have a job you love doing?

What does the test look like to fall in love?

Is there a test that will save the lives of Syrians that are dying every day?

Yes it is important for our kids to have a understanding of whether they are succeeding or not, but this can be a conversation rather than a mark. Feedback rather than a report, as these are the things that will create learners and people who want to drive change to solve the situations of our world.

I was challenged tonight by @edutweetoz to think about Vulnerability in terms of my educational life! With this in mind I need to reflect, I have been stabbed, sliced and had my car totally trashed, students have died, suicide, car crashes and I have seen homelives that make Oliver look like a rich kid from LA!

But as a educator I walk into a room of students thinking what can I do to help! I share stories some tough, usually when tough stories are needed, but these stories are first hand they are stories I have lived so they are close to the bone!

I have often wondered whether I would get a call from a angry parent but to this day this has not happened. In my belief the reason for this is when a human shares a human self story there is a unwritten pact, "that was between him and us/me" this is what keeps me knowing that education is never a lost cause and no child doesn't deserve this opportunity!

To young teachers out there this is no game, this is real, make sure you are ready to share as kids don't hold back with their questions and their questions need to be answered one way or another.

Yes, for the phobics out there this is scary and challenging but we need to get the chalk dust on our shoes if we are to gain the respect through relationships with our students.🎓