January 30, 2023 • 41 mins
Episode Overview:
In this episode, Noreen Wilcox Excellence in Education Award Winner- Maddi Farmer from Farm Fresh Teaching Instagram page, talks about her experience as an early career teacher, leadership opportunities fast-tracked in remote communities, supporting ESLD students and high expectation relationships.
https://www.instagram.com/farmfreshteaching/
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- Centre for Learning and Wellbeing Far North Queensland
- Centre for Reading and Writing
- Riff Raff Readers
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About The Remote Teacher Podcast
The Remote Teacher Podcast is a podcast ‘talking all things remote education’ to support remote outback teachers to be the best they can be… and in turn can help our students be the best they can be. We chat with remote outback teachers, leaders, First Nations educators and remote service providers about career, leadership, mental health, teaching strategies, culture, language, special needs, bucket lists for remote adventures and more.
Host: Hakea Hustler
Guest: Maddi Farmer https://www.instagram.com/farmfreshteaching/
Links: www.linktr.ee/carlandhakeaauthors
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Remote Teacher podcast. We're excited to have you here.
(00:09):
I'm Hake Hussler, an experienced regional rural and remote teacher, author of children's
middle and YA books and co-creator of the Facebook group, teaches in remote communities
past, present and future, along with Karl Merrison and Lynette Gordon, and the co-owner of
website, the remote teacher. The remote teacher, podcast and all our support platforms come
(00:32):
from a passion to improve the experience of remote teachers and in turn create positive
outcomes for our remote students and communities.
You can find out more about us on www.vremoteteacher.com.au, over on our Facebook group, teaches
in remote communities past, present and future, and of course by listening to this podcast.
(00:55):
I remember you can also download these podcasts so you don't need internet access and you
can listen to them wherever you need, including on your long drives out to your remote and
rural communities. Please remember to like us on Facebook, on Instagram and by signing up
to our email list. Before I introduce our guest for today, it's important to acknowledge
(01:16):
that the discussions that we have here are the opinion of the guest and myself alone and
do not represent anyone including Department of Education or any particular organisation,
unless of course they've come on stating that they're representing that organisation.
It's also important to consider. First-ation peoples, communities, students and families
(01:38):
are all diverse and unique and what works for our guests and myself, may or may not work
for you, your students, your families, your communities and your schools. So take what
you need, leave what you don't, sit back and enjoy, let's begin.
So I'd just like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land that I'm meeting on today,
(01:58):
the Angamlati, Adam Baya, Wastani, Yaregana and good young peoples of the northern peninsula
area.
And I'd like to acknowledge the Bangelung people of Northern Rivers, New South Wales and
pay respects to the elders past, present and emerging and extend that respect to any
elders or Aboriginal people listening to our podcast today. So welcome, Maddie, I'm
happy to have you on. Thank you for having me. It's very exciting.
(02:22):
Can you introduce yourself and share us a little bit about your personal and professional
career leading up to this remote teaching experience?
Yeah, so I am a, I guess, early career teacher would be the best term for it. So I started
teaching in 2021, just after COVID, and went straight into remote teaching, which was
(02:46):
very exciting. Before I was a teacher, I worked as a paralegal for five years at a community
legal centre. And so we specialised in family law and domestic violence, and we did lots
of outreach to women and remote communities. So that was kind of where the passion started,
because there was the understanding that there's always such a great need once we leave the
Metro for good services, good teachers and good people to support everyone around Australia,
(03:13):
not just the people that have the privilege of living in a major city. Yeah, and also you would
have seen the impact of some of those things on people around Australia, like you said domestic
violence and those issues, and then the power that perhaps you can have through education
getting people early on. So I can understand how the passion was sparked. So then early career teaching,
(03:33):
during or just after COVID, that's a huge leap. I can only imagine that extra challenges as an
early career teacher you had to face. How did you survive? How did you make it work? Yeah.
I guess lucky, unlucky, depending on how you want to look at it, the school that I'm teaching in
up in the northern peninsula area, we were not as affected by COVID, so we didn't have to do any
(03:57):
remote teaching. We were still on the ground in classrooms, but we did have to do all the social
distancing. We had lots of standing, like, like, sending packet time and things like that,
mainly because we don't really have access to good enough Wi-Fi and good enough internet to do remote
teaching on a large scale. Lots of our students don't have the internet at home, don't have access
(04:18):
to laptops or phones, so couldn't jump on Zoom calls or anything like that. So we're all coming into
school, putting those desks out a meter and a half apart and just doing mass instruction for the
kids that could come and weren't too worried about the COVID kind of pandemic. Living remote is
often hard as far as getting back home for school holidays as it is with transport or weather affecting
(04:44):
your ability to go home. We were able to get home during that time with the additional challenges
of travel during COVID times. Community made the decision that they were going to stay open, so
lots of communities in our area decided to close off, which was fair enough. We know that indigenous
people are more at risk for getting things back COVID-19. Northern peninsula areas are really
(05:06):
big tourist hotspot as well, and so most of our economy does depend on tourists coming in during that
dry season, so they stayed open, but for to get down to cans it's like a two hour flight and then
anywhere after that you're on an additional flight. So I came from Brisbane originally, so it's
like a full day of travel on a plane just to get home. But I suppose the benefit for you working in
(05:27):
the same state is that you continue to get your long service leave and your additional things
that you can then use later, because some people going remote are doing it interstate and
they've got similar traveling challenges, but also then when they leave that I'm
continue to get the transfer. Yes, that's good for you, yes. Also, people listening might be
interested that some communities are closed communities or have restrictions, so you need to get
(05:51):
passes or approval to go into them, which wasn't the case with yours, but if people are listening and
thinking of going remote, that's something for them to consider. Yes, definitely. I think even beyond
COVID, I know sometimes there are just general restrictions to stop tourists trampling over people's
towns, communities and sacred places, so something to wear. So tell us, your early career, it is
(06:15):
all fresh new and exciting and fun. Tell us someone who find all funny experiences that you've had
as an early years teacher because we haven't had that on the podcast yet. We haven't talked to the fun.
Oh my goodness, I love it. When I went into teaching, it felt like I stepped back into my own skin,
you know, like it just felt like going back home and I have so much fun with my kids and they
(06:41):
think I'm ridiculous. I'm that teacher that, like, singing and dancing up the front of the classroom,
trying to, like, engage them and they're like, "Yes, just stop. It's too much." But secretly, they kind of
like, "Oh, isn't she lovely?" They can leave their own connections. Yeah. Yeah. I know they love it because
when I don't teach them, they're like, "Oh, miss me, miss you." And I'm like, "Mm, I know you miss me,
(07:03):
singing out musical theater. I get it. It's fine." But if you wouldn't see me because we're on a
podcast, but I am very, very fair, very white. And one of my favorite memories was with my grade
sevens in my first year, just wearing a pair of sandals and they're like, "Miss, oh, your feet,
they're so white. Like, what is going on?" I was like, "Oh, the rest of me, I got the
(07:26):
yeah." So there's just little things like that, but they're so funny. They just love to tease you
a little bit and if you can, like, get into that relationship and rapport and be able to just like,
have that joke with them and have a bit of a laugh, you get along so much easier.
Because they're just as interesting as you and your background as we are in them and theirs.
(07:48):
I swear if they could just end a whole lessing grilling me on my life, they would.
Like, they do. They ask a lot of questions. And there's lots of horses up here as well. So the kids are
fascinated with catching the wild horses and riding the horses and so every so often during the year,
the season will be that the Lord just come to school on their horses and tie them up outside
(08:10):
the school gates and pop down at lunchtime to go feed them. You're like, "Oh, that's not."
Wow, many different. You have a horse. It's all right. I love it.
And so unique. Like, I had a donkey or two at one of the places I was and, you know, sometimes
lizards would come into the classroom, but horses, horses is something new I haven't experienced.
(08:33):
Yeah, I never thought I would have to say the sentence to a kid of, "Can you please take your
horse off the school grounds?" And don't ride your horse on the oval. So the takeaway for teachers
that are listening to this is expectantly unexpected and just roll with it and have fun. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. You definitely have to be a little bit adaptable and a bit agile to work in these
(08:59):
communities, but if you can see the fun and everything, then you get a long drive.
So we've spoken about the fun and the funny and I suppose we can continue to explore some
of the positives as well that I'm sure there are many of. But there's also the challenges that you
face, not only as a remote teacher, but as a graduate or early career remote teacher as well.
So what are some of those unique challenges that you face? Yeah. So I guess maybe other
(09:22):
universities are different, but the one that I went to QET was really good in, had a lot of
behaviour management and a lot of career, like curriculum planning as well.
Chuck your curriculum out the window for the first six months in a remote school because all you're
going to do is behaviour management and until you can get that down pat and the kids know that
(09:43):
you've got the relationship. That's a relationship. Yes, relationships. Yeah.
Very, very hard to actually get some content done, unfortunately, but you just have to get over that
hurdle. And once they realise that you're in it and that you care about them and that you're serious
about them wanting to learn and do well and having those high expectations, that's when you can
bring the curriculum back in. And I found that we're doing the structures, the setting up of the
(10:08):
structures. So behaviour management as far as you're teaching them, the structure of the classroom
and you're teaching them what a reading session might look like as far as you might not be delving
very deeply into the curriculum, but you're reading books, you're exploring, you know, making
rotations, getting students walking around the classroom and interacting with and engaging with
activities, whether or not you're able to delve very deeply into the curriculum, but the focus
(10:31):
exactly like you said is relationships and behaviour management because if you don't have that,
how much are they actually going to learn anyway? Perfect. Agreed. Yeah, exactly. And it's all about
teaching those learning expectations and those learning behaviours as well. So in my community that I'm
in, there's a really high absentee rate for the students and so a lot of the time, you'll get them
(10:52):
into the classroom, but they actually don't know how to be in a classroom very well. They don't
understand or like they're not used to the sitting down and the going through the work and you can do
whatever model in the world. Gradual release of responsibility, you can include this and this and this,
but they don't have the skill set yet to just sit and focus and so you're breaching those basic skills
that you'd expect students to be practising all during primary school to get to high school.
(11:17):
And so I think keeping that in the back of your mind as well is really important for a
group like a graduate teacher going remote is that you need to start from scratch. Do it for the
six months as well because you're also catching up those kids that haven't been in there in the first
week or the second week or you know come the first week but then don't come for four weeks later.
Exactly. You're constantly catching those kids up and you're constantly grabbing kids that you
(11:40):
haven't seen for four weeks and you're like, "Oh, okay, here we go. You went here for the first four
weeks. You don't know me. You don't know my expectations. Let's just go over it." So I'm bad. You've
said, "It's fine. Here now we love that you're here. This is what my expectations are."
Yes, so true. And something that like you said, you had a big focus on behaviour management
(12:01):
which is amazing, but people who have come later in their career and perhaps don't expect things
to be so different and so challenging and they have to kind of switch your thinking and do things
a different way like you've described the big change. Yes, exactly. And so I guess my advice would
be look at your essential skills of classroom management. They work if you use them right.
(12:23):
Like that's the thing. You have to put the work in. You can't just do it for a lesson or a week or two
and not see any change and then think, "Oh, that doesn't work and throw it out the window. You have to
do the mileage with it and let the students know basically that like, "Oh, no, this is how Miss
does it." When I'm in Mrs. Class, these are her expectations and it's the same every single time.
(12:46):
It's consistent, it's predictable, it's practicable, so students know from the get-go, I walk in the door,
I sit down, this is my routine. And you've moved up very quickly and had the opportunity to do
leadership roles and progress which is amazing. Can you tell us about the support you've received
in remote communities or the PD you've done or stepping up into higher roles and getting that
(13:10):
experience before you took on the head of department? Amazing. Yeah, yeah. So I very lucky with the school
that I went to had an incredible, still-do-have, an incredible executive leadership team who
support their teachers to the nth degree and will do whatever it takes to make sure that teachers feel
supported, know what's going on, are comfortable in community, feel safe, have the resources that we need,
(13:37):
they do whatever it takes, basically. And that's the motto for Final Queensland is #whateverit takes
and they fully embody that, which is incredible. So the opportunity that I had, we decided to
implement a reading program across our college. So from prep to grade 10, we introduced a brand new
reading program because we did some testing and we found out that we already knew it, but we had
(14:00):
the data then to back it up that our students' literacy level was really, really low compared to
their grade and age level. And so we needed intensive intervention to target our students that had to
be contextualised for them as well. So we threw all the programs out the window, so no more jelly-phonic,
no more PLD or whatever it is, and we created our own program and it works, which is really exciting.
(14:26):
And so they needed someone at the high school to head that up and I was the right body in the right
room at the time and I was like, "That sounds good. I'll do that. I'm passionate about literacy and
passionate about kids understanding curriculum and understanding how to access things. And reading
is the easiest way for a student to succeed. It's like the one skill that you really need throughout
(14:47):
your whole life. So I'll head that up. Had an incredible year doing that, very busy, very stressful year.
But worked really, really closely with a lot of external agencies like the Centre for Learning
and Wellbeing in Farnall, Queensland, Centre for Reading and Writing. My school actually nominated
(15:08):
me for a Noreen Wilcox Excellence in Education Award and I bought that. So I was one of the best
beginning teachers in the region. So that was real, that was the kind of like the tick that I needed
of, "Oh no, this is good. I'm doing the right thing." Like, yes. Like, they see that I'm putting the work in,
they see that I'm passionate about this and that's the acknowledgement that I needed, you know?
(15:29):
Yeah. And so it worked very, very hard on that. Lots of data across the year. Lots of meetings with
like the regional office and our acting regional director. And so I was having these meetings with
lots of higher ups and I was like, "I'm a second year teacher. I don't feel like I'm the, like,
big imposter syndrome, you know? Like I'm not the right body to be in here, like whatever it is."
(15:52):
Yeah. But it turned out well. Yeah. And then half way through last year. So I was 18 months
of teaching. The role came up for head of department for our juniors for our seven to nine's who had done,
I'd done the most work with for the reading anyway. So that a really good grasp of that cohort.
And got the tap on the shoulder from my principal saying, "Look, we think you'd be good for this.
(16:16):
It's an external application, but put your application in. We want to see your name in there."
So fantastic. Let's go. Did my application end up getting the job for the six-month contract?
Which was very exciting. I had no idea what I was doing, but lots of learning, lots of growth
opportunity, lots of really great professional development conversations with my principal,
(16:37):
with my deputy as well, and they steered me in all the right directions about which PDs I needed to
be doing and like who I needed to talk to and like who to connect with and mentor with.
And then for this year, the role went up again for 12-month contracts. So I had to reapply and then
ended up getting the job again, which was very exciting. And again, that little affirmation of,
(16:59):
"Oh, I'm doing the right thing, like I'm actually meant to be here and I'm meant to be in this role."
So it's very exciting. And I think people listening would be inspired by your story there because it shows
that not only is age, not a barrier or time in teaching, not a barrier, it's about being open-minded
and putting your hand up and willing to go. And I think it's also that there are those leadership pathways
(17:23):
there and you get these opportunities that perhaps you would like you might have been overlooked for
in a larger city school. So that's really exciting to hear. Yeah, I love that. That you spoke of the
support that you get in far North Queensland. So I imagine lots of pre-service teachers are adding
that to their, to teach or to experience this because you don't always have that level of support
(17:46):
in every remote that you go to. So hearing that far North Queensland has those structures and
leaders that are willing to support new grads is really awesome to hear. Yeah, I hope so. I love it up here.
I honestly can't imagine myself going back to Metro anytime soon. And I think that's a good sign,
you know? Totally, totally. And I also think it's really powerful. The program that you spoke about.
(18:10):
So the reading program where you have this across the school model so that like you were talking about
kids that aren't attending very much will fit and slip back into a program where they know how well they
are getting a better understanding of how it works because it's been done the year before when
they went a couple of weeks and then it's been done again here in high school. I think that's really
(18:30):
powerful as well. Yeah, and that's the reason that we did it. So when we looked at contextualising the
program, it was like we've got such a high absentee right for these students for a whole number of
reasons. Yes. How do we hit them all? You know? And so by making the program as similar as possible from
prep all the way up to grade nine, just with increasing levels of difficulty, you know? Yeah, it means
(18:55):
that a student that's come maybe six months in grade three and a couple of months in grade four,
but then life has turned around a bit and they can come more consistently to school in grade five and
grade six. Moving into high school, it's all the same, you know? They've got that expectation of,
oh, I'm in my reading session, this is what it's going to look like. I know I have to sit down and do
my phonics for five minutes and then I have to do my blending and then I have to do my segmenting and
(19:17):
then miss might give me a book to read by myself or miss might read with me because she wants to hear
me read out loud or then I might play a game and do some literacy activities to kind of cement
this phoneme that I've been learning about today. So how powerful. And I also like listening to you
talk about the professional development that you had in the chance to go and do professional development.
(19:39):
Do you find that that's a common thing across the schools in Farnorth Queensland that either
you get the PD on-site and get supported or you get given the opportunity to do other PDs as well?
Yeah, yes, 100%. Tricky sometimes because obviously staffing is an issue, we know we have a staff
so I can teach a shortage across the nation. So where possible my school words either giving me
(20:02):
lessons off so I could do online PDs or where possible if I applied early enough and they could
get the time off for me sending you down to cans or down to weeper in places like that that are a
bit bigger, a bit more of a centre to be able to attend those things. Wonderful because in
remotes that's not always the case with the challenges so the online learning is a big way for us to
(20:23):
get our PD in remote so that's amazing that with enough time like you said you were able to go.
They invested in you, they really invested in you. Yeah, obviously it's going to be different
at each school but at my school in particular if you put it in early enough generally that request
will be approved because they understand that one the PD is important, it's important for us to
(20:43):
keep developing and growing as teachers but also we're so remote that sometimes you just need those
three days down in cans to reset and come back a better teacher. Great point. Just a short break to
share books and resources by Hakey Hussler and Karl Mererson. The children's book Council of
Australia book week on a book in 2019, Black Cocker 2 is a middle reader short novella set on
(21:07):
gyro country. Well short there are many jumping off points to explore. Tracks of the missing is a
WA Premier Book Award, Daisy Atomara Award shortlisted YA Suspense Thriller. Set an outback
Australia it follows Declan Archer in his race to find a missing busload of students. My deadly
(21:30):
boots is a First Nations picture book about confidence, identity and connection. Karl and Hakey Hussler
have many more books out across the next few years perfect for remote classrooms. Full teaching
packs are available over on the website Karl and Hakey Hussler.com.au. We also create remote teacher
(21:50):
resources getting to know you, to a learning, daydoc and much more over on our TPT store. So let's
get back this deadly interview. You suggested that you might like to talk about special needs,
tell us a little bit about special needs and how you manage them. So I think the important thing to
(22:11):
kind of remember in my context at least is that all of my students are First Nations, so Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander or both, and all of them are English as an additional language or dialect.
So for them learning English it's sometimes their fourth or fifth language after they've learnt all of
their traditional language on top of it. So it's really hard for students to sometimes balance those
(22:36):
two things and to code switch and to be able to jump from the traditional language into standard
Australian English. So we find that most of our students have a really low literacy level that
would be considered special needs or additional needs in any other metro school. So students
in grade seven kind of learning at a grade four, grade five level on average. And it's the questions
(23:00):
always how do I differentiate my content to make sure that I'm reaching those students, but they're
still achieving or like doing assessment at a grade seven or a grade eight, whatever level it has to be.
Because I can't just shift the whole curriculum down for them. They still need to be doing the grade seven
egg nine work. Yeah, so it's lots of differentiation, lots of collaboration with our learning hub,
(23:25):
with our special education and additional needs support workers and finding out ways to
I guess best implement strategies that actually work for those students. Nine times out of ten, our
most complex challenging behaviors come from students not being able to access the content.
Because if you sit in a class and you don't understand what's going on, you've missed a couple of weeks
(23:51):
of school because you've had to go away for sorry business or you've been down in cans for medical
appointment, whatever the reason, you come back in, you've got no clue what's going on. The easiest
option is always just, well, I'll get out of the situation, right? I'll act it up, they'll send me out,
they'll send me home. I won't have to deal with it. Better safe face, I'll be the funny kid. It's easy
(24:12):
to be the kid that makes a fuss than the dumb kid. Yeah, yeah. So strategies that we often use are
really those literacy intensive support programs, like I spoke about with the reading program.
My general pedagogy is always a gradual release of responsibility. I want to try and model everything
(24:33):
as much as I possibly can for those students before I then send them out on their own. And before I
send them out on their own, they're doing group work and they're deconstructing and they're analyzing
and they're looking at the metal language to figure out what the heck is actually going on in that
piece of text and then they can reproduce it themselves. And that seems to work as well for
(24:54):
the students who do have those more additional learning needs. You just scale it down, right? So instead
of looking at this grade set in piece of text, I'm going to use the exact same skills, but we're
looking at grade four piece of text or we're looking at grade three. I'm not looking for them to go
from a grade four to a grade seven level in one year. We're looking for a year of growth, right?
(25:15):
So if they're at grade four, amazing, we're going to go to grade five. And the next year we'll go to
grade six. And hopefully we get some bigger jumps in the middle there when the confidence comes in,
but I'm not looking to try and correct four or five years in one go in one term. Yeah,
that's really powerful. And I think we'll give lots of people food for thought,
(25:35):
I'm not going to approach it in their classrooms too, but I loved the way you're describing things
and you're really aware of not using this deficit model, like first nations kids don't attend
school or they can't attend school and that you really consider the reasons why they're not coming
to school, such as the medical appointments, such as sorry business, like these are legitimate
(25:56):
reasons that they need to be away from school. It just sort of happens at the distance or the
cultural context of needing to go and spend that time grieving someone takes them away for a little
bit longer. So it's not saying that they can't or they shouldn't or their families don't care about
school or anything like that. It's acknowledging that there are there are reasons behind it that we
(26:16):
have to understand and then work around. And of course, encourage them to come more and
and find the barriers to attendance, but you're not putting this deficit lens on. So I appreciate that.
I also like how you're talking of low literacy, but you're also acknowledging that intergenerational
strength of they know two or more languages or dialects, they already know so much, they've got
(26:43):
all this strength, they know, you know, that perhaps all the words for bush stuck around the far
north Queensland area and they they able to speak with the language group down the road because
they know that upper language like all these powers and yet low literacy in standard Australian
English. So you're finding their level and you're building them up. I think that's really powerful
for new teachers to hear from you, Maddie. Thank you. Yeah, exactly. And I think it's for me it was so
(27:09):
encouraging like, yeah, their standard Australian English is a little bit low, but if I ask one of
these students, why do you traditionally hunt a turtle compared to a jughong for certain ceremony?
And I can get a full story. I can get the complete history for their specific region compared to
their cousins who are from a different tribe and the differences between those two things.
(27:31):
There's so much knowledge there and it's important that we recognise that. Like it's not just about
how well we can read and write in standard Australian English, we need to look at those
multiple forms of intelligence. So yeah, I think that's really good.
That's wonderful. Yeah, you also talked about managing complex behaviors. What kind of tips do you
(27:54):
have around doing that for new teachers who are heading remote? Yeah, set your expectations early,
set them high. None of this nonsense about it's a remote kid, so we expect them to chuck a chair
through the window or whatever. Yeah, when I came in, had the exact same expectations that I did
(28:15):
when I did practice in remote schools for those students and they work because they want to achieve,
well, they know they can achieve well. And so my expectations are probably really high for a remote
school, but my students achieve them every day, so why would I change them? You know, I expect them to
come in and sit down in their seats and to have their things out ready and to grab their resources and
(28:38):
to be writing down the learning intention every single day. I expect them to be giving every single
thing a go whether or not they understand it. I expect them to be handing in their homework. I
expect them to be handing in their assessment. I expect them to do the independent reading and
independent reading time and nine times out of ten they do it. The one time that they don't you know
(28:59):
that there's something else going on and so that's when you dig into the relationship and you're like,
okay, so what's happening with this kid? Did you have breakfast? Has something happened at home that
we don't know about? Did you sleep last night? Are there extra people in your house at the moment
because there's something going on? Are you even in a bed at the moment? Do you just need to go
into the garden office or somewhere and go take a nap and then try again next lesson? You know,
(29:23):
it's about knowing your students and knowing when those things might be going on and having
the relationship where they can be like, yeah, look, miss, I skip breakfast because of whatever I was
out hunting. So I think that's the important thing. And I think don't have the relationship. That's
when they burst, you know? And I think there are two prime key aspects to being a remote teacher,
(29:46):
but I love your idea of high expectations because it shows she believes in me. She believes that I
can reach these high expectations. They are creating this sense of safety in the classroom because
your kids know the expectations and the boundaries. And it's also the same every time they come to your
classroom. They're not, oh, miss Maddie's, you know, like tough today or angry today or something today,
(30:07):
your expectations are always the same and you're creating that sense of safety. Any other hints and tips?
I get a lot of my stuff from Barry Street from the Barry Street model. So looking up their trauma
and form practice, if you're teaching remote, I would fully recommend at least getting on their website
and deep diving and looking at some of their strategies. See if your school implements a
(30:27):
Barry Street model because it's most effective as a school wide approach where every classroom is
bringing out trauma and form practice that is consistent, predictable and just, you know, safe.
And it makes the classroom feel safe. And when your kids feel safe, they feel like they can achieve
it all links. And then you had ESLD students, so I've kind of touched on it and you touched on it by
(30:52):
pre-teaching vocabulary that they're going to use and supporting the low literacy learners. But how do
you do that code switching and two-way kind of teaching and support for ESLD students?
Yeah. So where possible I try and get a text in Creeole, which is kind of the most common
language up in the area and then in English as well. And we will analyse across the text
(31:17):
because some words in Creeole have different meanings to what they actually are in Australian.
There are some sounds in standard Australian English that don't exist in Creeole. And so it's
important to have students practicing those things. And so where possible I have that text,
so they can read across the text. We do lots of explicit breaking it down. Like I will read a text
(31:39):
out loud and then it's be like, "Oh, that's a weird word." Circle that, get them to write down the
definition. We say the word, so it's lots of really explicit modelling and breaking down the text.
Using audio where possible as well is really, really important and having the subtitles on. So they can
hear the word and then see what it looks like as well. Whether or not they can actually read it. But see
(32:04):
what that word looks like when it's said is really important as well. Especially if it's standard Australian
English when they're coming from Creeole. Again, lots of sounds don't exist in Creeole. That do in
standard Australian or in other traditional languages. So bringing those two things together, you know?
And do you have a Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander education assistant in the classroom with you?
(32:25):
Yes. Yeah. So we are, we're very lucky that in most of our classrooms we will have a local Aboriginal
Torres Strait Islander person who is fluent in standard Australian as well as Creeole. And sometimes if
we're lucky traditional language as well, depending on the area group. And they're able to do a little
(32:47):
bit of translation for us as well when it gets a bit complicated. So there are sometimes where you'll say
something to a student and they'll just look at you like the most blank look on their face like
what on earth and your teaching assistant will come in and be like whatever say it in Creeole. And they're
like, "Ah, of course, and just start doing the thing." You're like, "Why didn't you say it like that?"
(33:08):
I don't mind doing that either because it means they've heard it in English and then they've heard it
in Creeole and they're like, "Oh, so that means that. Cool. We're good." Really and great tips for people
use in week one. Would you like to talk about this idea of low literacy teenagers and how you're
supporting them? We talked a little bit about it before but but what's different? What they're
afraid of baby talk or you know the text you choose? How do you approach it? Yeah. So it's a little
(33:35):
bit more tricky, hey, then when you're just teaching prep or grade one, grade two, they're standard
reading skills. When you get to high school, there's that fear of, "I've missed the boat and I'm too
old and this is prep and I don't want to be doing this because this is baby work." I guess it's trying
to take the work which is really geared for students in prep grade one and grade two and adding a high
(33:59):
school lens on it. We know from research that one in four Australian students aren't graduating
with the correct reading age. So lots of our kids have low bit receipts, not just EALD kids in
from art settings. So we took our phonemes, we took those really basic skills and we tested our students,
figured out where are your gaps, where are your deficits, where are your strengths, what are you really
(34:21):
good at? And so then we looked, we kind of grouped those students just for a little bit to kind of
do some intensive teaching to get everyone up to the same level. Now that we're kind of at that
stage, we've made a lot of games out of our phonemes. So doing lots of like memory games, doing lots of
piecing the things together like race games to try and make as many words as possible. Our students
(34:45):
love around the world as a game. I don't know if anyone else remembers that from primary school,
where they have to go around and as a class try and get from A to Z and make as many words as
possible. That include like a designated phonem that we've chosen for that week to focus on.
And then they love doing like definition races, they're without the dictionaries and they're trying
(35:06):
to write down the definitions for word as quickly as possible. It's all about making it a challenge
and making it kind of a competition for our kids. So if we can get them engaged in that regard and
make it a bit more like, oh let's see who's the quickest, like let's see who can think of the most
words. It's not about them actually reading out loud and being the most fluent reader,
(35:28):
but them not having the skills of like, oh I got to a dictionary to get a definition. I can change
the first letter in a word to make another word and it rhymes because that phoneme is the same,
that sort of thing. So that worked for our high school students. When they've got those skills,
it's them bringing in the I guess more curriculum text, you know, and bringing that back to,
(35:51):
yeah, bringing it back to classwork. And like you've got the skills, now you can do this. And we know
you can do it because you've done this. You've read this book and I can read this one. For actual reading
books, a resource that we use is called Rikrack readers. So they are more like lower literacy books,
which are written at like a high school context. So they've still got the lower words can be sounded
(36:16):
out a lot easier, can be decoded a lot easier, but it's not a book about the cut set on the map. It's
like a horror story or it's a fantasy or something. So it's more engaging for our kids. So they really
like those and they will rip through them like as quick as you can imagine. So. And they're feeling
this success by the sounds of it as well. They're having fun. You're making it engaging and they're
(36:38):
experiencing success as they go. I know there'll be lots of people listening really curious about your
reading program and really curious about the way you're doing things. If people need to find out more,
how do they find out more about this stuff? So I'm on Instagram. My Instagram is farm fresh teaching.
So that's where I post a lot of my work and I post a lot of the resources that I use for literacy
(37:04):
and EALD. You can also contact the school and we'll see what we can send out to you because it is
a contextualised program. I wouldn't recommend just picking it up and running it in your own school,
but we can send you the routes, you know? And following your Instagram and seeing how you're
implementing it again, the resources you're using and being able to connect with you and share,
(37:25):
you know, new teacher journeys would be a really great way for people to learn more. Thank you so
much for your time. You're a wealth of knowledge and it's been wonderful chatting with you.
Thank you. Thank you so much. It's been so wonderful talking to you. I really enjoyed it.
Each podcast episode, we also try and highlight or spotlight or do a shout out
(37:45):
for amazing businesses, organisations, groups and services that are working in remote communities.
This could be run or owned by First Nations people or services that regularly are committed
to going into remote communities and listening and working with First Nations people.
So here is our shout out and spotlight for this episode.
(38:09):
The Barry Street Education model provides strategies that enable teachers to increase
engagement of students with complex and met learning needs and to successfully improve all
students' self-regulation relationships, wellbeing, growth and academic achievement.
In today's changing world, many primary and secondary school students encountered daily challenges
(38:34):
that can impact their success at school. Despite best efforts and intentions, schools often
require specialized strategies to address students' needs for healing, growth and achievement.
And that's where Barry Street says that their education model comes in.
They offer a suite of structured professional development and consultation and mentoring
(38:56):
opportunities for school leaders and teachers. The delivery of the Barry Street Education
model course employs a blended learning methodology based on instructors' experience, peer collaboration
and opportunities for participants to pilot learned strategies in their schools.
The facilitators provide support between sessions as well, including the option for
(39:22):
individual conferencing or consultation. Barry Street says that they equip specialist schools
with strategies to facilitate students' cognitive and behavioral change thereby increasing
student engagement to significantly progress their academic achievement. The Barry Street
model has been used in many remote communities around Australia and often people talk about the
(39:48):
success, whether they feel empowered to support their students. So if this is something that you're
interested in, it's well worth talking to the school about who has done it previously if there's any
in-school upskilling that you can have and if there is time and space and funding for you to go
yourself on a Barry Street education model course to learn more. Head to the Barry Street website
(40:12):
which is in our show notes to learn more about the course. You've been listening to the remote
teacher podcast, a podcast where we discuss all things, remote outback teaching. Make sure you follow us
on Facebook, Instagram, join our email list and our Facebook group, teachers in remote communities,
past, present and future. Any important links mentioned or businesses or organizations to support
(40:36):
your remote teaching that our guests has mentioned today will be in the show notes so make sure you
have a look at them to find out more. And a reminder again, this podcast can be downloaded so you can
access it when you do not have internet coverage or reception. So you can listen to it on your long
drives between communities in the outback. Thank you for listening. We look forward to seeing you in
(40:58):
the next episode of the remote teacher.
Welcome to the Remote Teacher podcast. We're excited to have you here.
(00:09):
I'm Hake Hussler, an experienced regional rural and remote teacher, author of children's
middle and YA books and co-creator of the Facebook group, teaches in remote communities
past, present and future, along with Karl Merrison and Lynette Gordon, and the co-owner of
website, the remote teacher. The remote teacher, podcast and all our support platforms come
(00:32):
from a passion to improve the experience of remote teachers and in turn create positive
outcomes for our remote students and communities.
You can find out more about us on www.vremoteteacher.com.au, over on our Facebook group, teaches
in remote communities past, present and future, and of course by listening to this podcast.
(00:55):
I remember you can also download these podcasts so you don't need internet access and you
can listen to them wherever you need, including on your long drives out to your remote and
rural communities. Please remember to like us on Facebook, on Instagram and by signing up
to our email list. Before I introduce our guest for today, it's important to acknowledge
(01:16):
that the discussions that we have here are the opinion of the guest and myself alone and
do not represent anyone including Department of Education or any particular organisation,
unless of course they've come on stating that they're representing that organisation.
It's also important to consider. First-ation peoples, communities, students and families
(01:38):
are all diverse and unique and what works for our guests and myself, may or may not work
for you, your students, your families, your communities and your schools. So take what
you need, leave what you don't, sit back and enjoy, let's begin.
So I'd just like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land that I'm meeting on today,
(01:58):
the Angamlati, Adam Baya, Wastani, Yaregana and good young peoples of the northern peninsula
area.
And I'd like to acknowledge the Bangelung people of Northern Rivers, New South Wales and
pay respects to the elders past, present and emerging and extend that respect to any
elders or Aboriginal people listening to our podcast today. So welcome, Maddie, I'm
happy to have you on. Thank you for having me. It's very exciting.
(02:22):
Can you introduce yourself and share us a little bit about your personal and professional
career leading up to this remote teaching experience?
Yeah, so I am a, I guess, early career teacher would be the best term for it. So I started
teaching in 2021, just after COVID, and went straight into remote teaching, which was
(02:46):
very exciting. Before I was a teacher, I worked as a paralegal for five years at a community
legal centre. And so we specialised in family law and domestic violence, and we did lots
of outreach to women and remote communities. So that was kind of where the passion started,
because there was the understanding that there's always such a great need once we leave the
Metro for good services, good teachers and good people to support everyone around Australia,
(03:13):
not just the people that have the privilege of living in a major city. Yeah, and also you would
have seen the impact of some of those things on people around Australia, like you said domestic
violence and those issues, and then the power that perhaps you can have through education
getting people early on. So I can understand how the passion was sparked. So then early career teaching,
(03:33):
during or just after COVID, that's a huge leap. I can only imagine that extra challenges as an
early career teacher you had to face. How did you survive? How did you make it work? Yeah.
I guess lucky, unlucky, depending on how you want to look at it, the school that I'm teaching in
up in the northern peninsula area, we were not as affected by COVID, so we didn't have to do any
(03:57):
remote teaching. We were still on the ground in classrooms, but we did have to do all the social
distancing. We had lots of standing, like, like, sending packet time and things like that,
mainly because we don't really have access to good enough Wi-Fi and good enough internet to do remote
teaching on a large scale. Lots of our students don't have the internet at home, don't have access
(04:18):
to laptops or phones, so couldn't jump on Zoom calls or anything like that. So we're all coming into
school, putting those desks out a meter and a half apart and just doing mass instruction for the
kids that could come and weren't too worried about the COVID kind of pandemic. Living remote is
often hard as far as getting back home for school holidays as it is with transport or weather affecting
(04:44):
your ability to go home. We were able to get home during that time with the additional challenges
of travel during COVID times. Community made the decision that they were going to stay open, so
lots of communities in our area decided to close off, which was fair enough. We know that indigenous
people are more at risk for getting things back COVID-19. Northern peninsula areas are really
(05:06):
big tourist hotspot as well, and so most of our economy does depend on tourists coming in during that
dry season, so they stayed open, but for to get down to cans it's like a two hour flight and then
anywhere after that you're on an additional flight. So I came from Brisbane originally, so it's
like a full day of travel on a plane just to get home. But I suppose the benefit for you working in
(05:27):
the same state is that you continue to get your long service leave and your additional things
that you can then use later, because some people going remote are doing it interstate and
they've got similar traveling challenges, but also then when they leave that I'm
continue to get the transfer. Yes, that's good for you, yes. Also, people listening might be
interested that some communities are closed communities or have restrictions, so you need to get
(05:51):
passes or approval to go into them, which wasn't the case with yours, but if people are listening and
thinking of going remote, that's something for them to consider. Yes, definitely. I think even beyond
COVID, I know sometimes there are just general restrictions to stop tourists trampling over people's
towns, communities and sacred places, so something to wear. So tell us, your early career, it is
(06:15):
all fresh new and exciting and fun. Tell us someone who find all funny experiences that you've had
as an early years teacher because we haven't had that on the podcast yet. We haven't talked to the fun.
Oh my goodness, I love it. When I went into teaching, it felt like I stepped back into my own skin,
you know, like it just felt like going back home and I have so much fun with my kids and they
(06:41):
think I'm ridiculous. I'm that teacher that, like, singing and dancing up the front of the classroom,
trying to, like, engage them and they're like, "Yes, just stop. It's too much." But secretly, they kind of
like, "Oh, isn't she lovely?" They can leave their own connections. Yeah. Yeah. I know they love it because
when I don't teach them, they're like, "Oh, miss me, miss you." And I'm like, "Mm, I know you miss me,
(07:03):
singing out musical theater. I get it. It's fine." But if you wouldn't see me because we're on a
podcast, but I am very, very fair, very white. And one of my favorite memories was with my grade
sevens in my first year, just wearing a pair of sandals and they're like, "Miss, oh, your feet,
they're so white. Like, what is going on?" I was like, "Oh, the rest of me, I got the
(07:26):
yeah." So there's just little things like that, but they're so funny. They just love to tease you
a little bit and if you can, like, get into that relationship and rapport and be able to just like,
have that joke with them and have a bit of a laugh, you get along so much easier.
Because they're just as interesting as you and your background as we are in them and theirs.
(07:48):
I swear if they could just end a whole lessing grilling me on my life, they would.
Like, they do. They ask a lot of questions. And there's lots of horses up here as well. So the kids are
fascinated with catching the wild horses and riding the horses and so every so often during the year,
the season will be that the Lord just come to school on their horses and tie them up outside
(08:10):
the school gates and pop down at lunchtime to go feed them. You're like, "Oh, that's not."
Wow, many different. You have a horse. It's all right. I love it.
And so unique. Like, I had a donkey or two at one of the places I was and, you know, sometimes
lizards would come into the classroom, but horses, horses is something new I haven't experienced.
(08:33):
Yeah, I never thought I would have to say the sentence to a kid of, "Can you please take your
horse off the school grounds?" And don't ride your horse on the oval. So the takeaway for teachers
that are listening to this is expectantly unexpected and just roll with it and have fun. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. You definitely have to be a little bit adaptable and a bit agile to work in these
(08:59):
communities, but if you can see the fun and everything, then you get a long drive.
So we've spoken about the fun and the funny and I suppose we can continue to explore some
of the positives as well that I'm sure there are many of. But there's also the challenges that you
face, not only as a remote teacher, but as a graduate or early career remote teacher as well.
So what are some of those unique challenges that you face? Yeah. So I guess maybe other
(09:22):
universities are different, but the one that I went to QET was really good in, had a lot of
behaviour management and a lot of career, like curriculum planning as well.
Chuck your curriculum out the window for the first six months in a remote school because all you're
going to do is behaviour management and until you can get that down pat and the kids know that
(09:43):
you've got the relationship. That's a relationship. Yes, relationships. Yeah.
Very, very hard to actually get some content done, unfortunately, but you just have to get over that
hurdle. And once they realise that you're in it and that you care about them and that you're serious
about them wanting to learn and do well and having those high expectations, that's when you can
bring the curriculum back in. And I found that we're doing the structures, the setting up of the
(10:08):
structures. So behaviour management as far as you're teaching them, the structure of the classroom
and you're teaching them what a reading session might look like as far as you might not be delving
very deeply into the curriculum, but you're reading books, you're exploring, you know, making
rotations, getting students walking around the classroom and interacting with and engaging with
activities, whether or not you're able to delve very deeply into the curriculum, but the focus
(10:31):
exactly like you said is relationships and behaviour management because if you don't have that,
how much are they actually going to learn anyway? Perfect. Agreed. Yeah, exactly. And it's all about
teaching those learning expectations and those learning behaviours as well. So in my community that I'm
in, there's a really high absentee rate for the students and so a lot of the time, you'll get them
(10:52):
into the classroom, but they actually don't know how to be in a classroom very well. They don't
understand or like they're not used to the sitting down and the going through the work and you can do
whatever model in the world. Gradual release of responsibility, you can include this and this and this,
but they don't have the skill set yet to just sit and focus and so you're breaching those basic skills
that you'd expect students to be practising all during primary school to get to high school.
(11:17):
And so I think keeping that in the back of your mind as well is really important for a
group like a graduate teacher going remote is that you need to start from scratch. Do it for the
six months as well because you're also catching up those kids that haven't been in there in the first
week or the second week or you know come the first week but then don't come for four weeks later.
Exactly. You're constantly catching those kids up and you're constantly grabbing kids that you
(11:40):
haven't seen for four weeks and you're like, "Oh, okay, here we go. You went here for the first four
weeks. You don't know me. You don't know my expectations. Let's just go over it." So I'm bad. You've
said, "It's fine. Here now we love that you're here. This is what my expectations are."
Yes, so true. And something that like you said, you had a big focus on behaviour management
(12:01):
which is amazing, but people who have come later in their career and perhaps don't expect things
to be so different and so challenging and they have to kind of switch your thinking and do things
a different way like you've described the big change. Yes, exactly. And so I guess my advice would
be look at your essential skills of classroom management. They work if you use them right.
(12:23):
Like that's the thing. You have to put the work in. You can't just do it for a lesson or a week or two
and not see any change and then think, "Oh, that doesn't work and throw it out the window. You have to
do the mileage with it and let the students know basically that like, "Oh, no, this is how Miss
does it." When I'm in Mrs. Class, these are her expectations and it's the same every single time.
(12:46):
It's consistent, it's predictable, it's practicable, so students know from the get-go, I walk in the door,
I sit down, this is my routine. And you've moved up very quickly and had the opportunity to do
leadership roles and progress which is amazing. Can you tell us about the support you've received
in remote communities or the PD you've done or stepping up into higher roles and getting that
(13:10):
experience before you took on the head of department? Amazing. Yeah, yeah. So I very lucky with the school
that I went to had an incredible, still-do-have, an incredible executive leadership team who
support their teachers to the nth degree and will do whatever it takes to make sure that teachers feel
supported, know what's going on, are comfortable in community, feel safe, have the resources that we need,
(13:37):
they do whatever it takes, basically. And that's the motto for Final Queensland is #whateverit takes
and they fully embody that, which is incredible. So the opportunity that I had, we decided to
implement a reading program across our college. So from prep to grade 10, we introduced a brand new
reading program because we did some testing and we found out that we already knew it, but we had
(14:00):
the data then to back it up that our students' literacy level was really, really low compared to
their grade and age level. And so we needed intensive intervention to target our students that had to
be contextualised for them as well. So we threw all the programs out the window, so no more jelly-phonic,
no more PLD or whatever it is, and we created our own program and it works, which is really exciting.
(14:26):
And so they needed someone at the high school to head that up and I was the right body in the right
room at the time and I was like, "That sounds good. I'll do that. I'm passionate about literacy and
passionate about kids understanding curriculum and understanding how to access things. And reading
is the easiest way for a student to succeed. It's like the one skill that you really need throughout
(14:47):
your whole life. So I'll head that up. Had an incredible year doing that, very busy, very stressful year.
But worked really, really closely with a lot of external agencies like the Centre for Learning
and Wellbeing in Farnall, Queensland, Centre for Reading and Writing. My school actually nominated
(15:08):
me for a Noreen Wilcox Excellence in Education Award and I bought that. So I was one of the best
beginning teachers in the region. So that was real, that was the kind of like the tick that I needed
of, "Oh no, this is good. I'm doing the right thing." Like, yes. Like, they see that I'm putting the work in,
they see that I'm passionate about this and that's the acknowledgement that I needed, you know?
(15:29):
Yeah. And so it worked very, very hard on that. Lots of data across the year. Lots of meetings with
like the regional office and our acting regional director. And so I was having these meetings with
lots of higher ups and I was like, "I'm a second year teacher. I don't feel like I'm the, like,
big imposter syndrome, you know? Like I'm not the right body to be in here, like whatever it is."
(15:52):
Yeah. But it turned out well. Yeah. And then half way through last year. So I was 18 months
of teaching. The role came up for head of department for our juniors for our seven to nine's who had done,
I'd done the most work with for the reading anyway. So that a really good grasp of that cohort.
And got the tap on the shoulder from my principal saying, "Look, we think you'd be good for this.
(16:16):
It's an external application, but put your application in. We want to see your name in there."
So fantastic. Let's go. Did my application end up getting the job for the six-month contract?
Which was very exciting. I had no idea what I was doing, but lots of learning, lots of growth
opportunity, lots of really great professional development conversations with my principal,
(16:37):
with my deputy as well, and they steered me in all the right directions about which PDs I needed to
be doing and like who I needed to talk to and like who to connect with and mentor with.
And then for this year, the role went up again for 12-month contracts. So I had to reapply and then
ended up getting the job again, which was very exciting. And again, that little affirmation of,
(16:59):
"Oh, I'm doing the right thing, like I'm actually meant to be here and I'm meant to be in this role."
So it's very exciting. And I think people listening would be inspired by your story there because it shows
that not only is age, not a barrier or time in teaching, not a barrier, it's about being open-minded
and putting your hand up and willing to go. And I think it's also that there are those leadership pathways
(17:23):
there and you get these opportunities that perhaps you would like you might have been overlooked for
in a larger city school. So that's really exciting to hear. Yeah, I love that. That you spoke of the
support that you get in far North Queensland. So I imagine lots of pre-service teachers are adding
that to their, to teach or to experience this because you don't always have that level of support
(17:46):
in every remote that you go to. So hearing that far North Queensland has those structures and
leaders that are willing to support new grads is really awesome to hear. Yeah, I hope so. I love it up here.
I honestly can't imagine myself going back to Metro anytime soon. And I think that's a good sign,
you know? Totally, totally. And I also think it's really powerful. The program that you spoke about.
(18:10):
So the reading program where you have this across the school model so that like you were talking about
kids that aren't attending very much will fit and slip back into a program where they know how well they
are getting a better understanding of how it works because it's been done the year before when
they went a couple of weeks and then it's been done again here in high school. I think that's really
(18:30):
powerful as well. Yeah, and that's the reason that we did it. So when we looked at contextualising the
program, it was like we've got such a high absentee right for these students for a whole number of
reasons. Yes. How do we hit them all? You know? And so by making the program as similar as possible from
prep all the way up to grade nine, just with increasing levels of difficulty, you know? Yeah, it means
(18:55):
that a student that's come maybe six months in grade three and a couple of months in grade four,
but then life has turned around a bit and they can come more consistently to school in grade five and
grade six. Moving into high school, it's all the same, you know? They've got that expectation of,
oh, I'm in my reading session, this is what it's going to look like. I know I have to sit down and do
my phonics for five minutes and then I have to do my blending and then I have to do my segmenting and
(19:17):
then miss might give me a book to read by myself or miss might read with me because she wants to hear
me read out loud or then I might play a game and do some literacy activities to kind of cement
this phoneme that I've been learning about today. So how powerful. And I also like listening to you
talk about the professional development that you had in the chance to go and do professional development.
(19:39):
Do you find that that's a common thing across the schools in Farnorth Queensland that either
you get the PD on-site and get supported or you get given the opportunity to do other PDs as well?
Yeah, yes, 100%. Tricky sometimes because obviously staffing is an issue, we know we have a staff
so I can teach a shortage across the nation. So where possible my school words either giving me
(20:02):
lessons off so I could do online PDs or where possible if I applied early enough and they could
get the time off for me sending you down to cans or down to weeper in places like that that are a
bit bigger, a bit more of a centre to be able to attend those things. Wonderful because in
remotes that's not always the case with the challenges so the online learning is a big way for us to
(20:23):
get our PD in remote so that's amazing that with enough time like you said you were able to go.
They invested in you, they really invested in you. Yeah, obviously it's going to be different
at each school but at my school in particular if you put it in early enough generally that request
will be approved because they understand that one the PD is important, it's important for us to
(20:43):
keep developing and growing as teachers but also we're so remote that sometimes you just need those
three days down in cans to reset and come back a better teacher. Great point. Just a short break to
share books and resources by Hakey Hussler and Karl Mererson. The children's book Council of
Australia book week on a book in 2019, Black Cocker 2 is a middle reader short novella set on
(21:07):
gyro country. Well short there are many jumping off points to explore. Tracks of the missing is a
WA Premier Book Award, Daisy Atomara Award shortlisted YA Suspense Thriller. Set an outback
Australia it follows Declan Archer in his race to find a missing busload of students. My deadly
(21:30):
boots is a First Nations picture book about confidence, identity and connection. Karl and Hakey Hussler
have many more books out across the next few years perfect for remote classrooms. Full teaching
packs are available over on the website Karl and Hakey Hussler.com.au. We also create remote teacher
(21:50):
resources getting to know you, to a learning, daydoc and much more over on our TPT store. So let's
get back this deadly interview. You suggested that you might like to talk about special needs,
tell us a little bit about special needs and how you manage them. So I think the important thing to
(22:11):
kind of remember in my context at least is that all of my students are First Nations, so Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander or both, and all of them are English as an additional language or dialect.
So for them learning English it's sometimes their fourth or fifth language after they've learnt all of
their traditional language on top of it. So it's really hard for students to sometimes balance those
(22:36):
two things and to code switch and to be able to jump from the traditional language into standard
Australian English. So we find that most of our students have a really low literacy level that
would be considered special needs or additional needs in any other metro school. So students
in grade seven kind of learning at a grade four, grade five level on average. And it's the questions
(23:00):
always how do I differentiate my content to make sure that I'm reaching those students, but they're
still achieving or like doing assessment at a grade seven or a grade eight, whatever level it has to be.
Because I can't just shift the whole curriculum down for them. They still need to be doing the grade seven
egg nine work. Yeah, so it's lots of differentiation, lots of collaboration with our learning hub,
(23:25):
with our special education and additional needs support workers and finding out ways to
I guess best implement strategies that actually work for those students. Nine times out of ten, our
most complex challenging behaviors come from students not being able to access the content.
Because if you sit in a class and you don't understand what's going on, you've missed a couple of weeks
(23:51):
of school because you've had to go away for sorry business or you've been down in cans for medical
appointment, whatever the reason, you come back in, you've got no clue what's going on. The easiest
option is always just, well, I'll get out of the situation, right? I'll act it up, they'll send me out,
they'll send me home. I won't have to deal with it. Better safe face, I'll be the funny kid. It's easy
(24:12):
to be the kid that makes a fuss than the dumb kid. Yeah, yeah. So strategies that we often use are
really those literacy intensive support programs, like I spoke about with the reading program.
My general pedagogy is always a gradual release of responsibility. I want to try and model everything
(24:33):
as much as I possibly can for those students before I then send them out on their own. And before I
send them out on their own, they're doing group work and they're deconstructing and they're analyzing
and they're looking at the metal language to figure out what the heck is actually going on in that
piece of text and then they can reproduce it themselves. And that seems to work as well for
(24:54):
the students who do have those more additional learning needs. You just scale it down, right? So instead
of looking at this grade set in piece of text, I'm going to use the exact same skills, but we're
looking at grade four piece of text or we're looking at grade three. I'm not looking for them to go
from a grade four to a grade seven level in one year. We're looking for a year of growth, right?
(25:15):
So if they're at grade four, amazing, we're going to go to grade five. And the next year we'll go to
grade six. And hopefully we get some bigger jumps in the middle there when the confidence comes in,
but I'm not looking to try and correct four or five years in one go in one term. Yeah,
that's really powerful. And I think we'll give lots of people food for thought,
(25:35):
I'm not going to approach it in their classrooms too, but I loved the way you're describing things
and you're really aware of not using this deficit model, like first nations kids don't attend
school or they can't attend school and that you really consider the reasons why they're not coming
to school, such as the medical appointments, such as sorry business, like these are legitimate
(25:56):
reasons that they need to be away from school. It just sort of happens at the distance or the
cultural context of needing to go and spend that time grieving someone takes them away for a little
bit longer. So it's not saying that they can't or they shouldn't or their families don't care about
school or anything like that. It's acknowledging that there are there are reasons behind it that we
(26:16):
have to understand and then work around. And of course, encourage them to come more and
and find the barriers to attendance, but you're not putting this deficit lens on. So I appreciate that.
I also like how you're talking of low literacy, but you're also acknowledging that intergenerational
strength of they know two or more languages or dialects, they already know so much, they've got
(26:43):
all this strength, they know, you know, that perhaps all the words for bush stuck around the far
north Queensland area and they they able to speak with the language group down the road because
they know that upper language like all these powers and yet low literacy in standard Australian
English. So you're finding their level and you're building them up. I think that's really powerful
for new teachers to hear from you, Maddie. Thank you. Yeah, exactly. And I think it's for me it was so
(27:09):
encouraging like, yeah, their standard Australian English is a little bit low, but if I ask one of
these students, why do you traditionally hunt a turtle compared to a jughong for certain ceremony?
And I can get a full story. I can get the complete history for their specific region compared to
their cousins who are from a different tribe and the differences between those two things.
(27:31):
There's so much knowledge there and it's important that we recognise that. Like it's not just about
how well we can read and write in standard Australian English, we need to look at those
multiple forms of intelligence. So yeah, I think that's really good.
That's wonderful. Yeah, you also talked about managing complex behaviors. What kind of tips do you
(27:54):
have around doing that for new teachers who are heading remote? Yeah, set your expectations early,
set them high. None of this nonsense about it's a remote kid, so we expect them to chuck a chair
through the window or whatever. Yeah, when I came in, had the exact same expectations that I did
(28:15):
when I did practice in remote schools for those students and they work because they want to achieve,
well, they know they can achieve well. And so my expectations are probably really high for a remote
school, but my students achieve them every day, so why would I change them? You know, I expect them to
come in and sit down in their seats and to have their things out ready and to grab their resources and
(28:38):
to be writing down the learning intention every single day. I expect them to be giving every single
thing a go whether or not they understand it. I expect them to be handing in their homework. I
expect them to be handing in their assessment. I expect them to do the independent reading and
independent reading time and nine times out of ten they do it. The one time that they don't you know
(28:59):
that there's something else going on and so that's when you dig into the relationship and you're like,
okay, so what's happening with this kid? Did you have breakfast? Has something happened at home that
we don't know about? Did you sleep last night? Are there extra people in your house at the moment
because there's something going on? Are you even in a bed at the moment? Do you just need to go
into the garden office or somewhere and go take a nap and then try again next lesson? You know,
(29:23):
it's about knowing your students and knowing when those things might be going on and having
the relationship where they can be like, yeah, look, miss, I skip breakfast because of whatever I was
out hunting. So I think that's the important thing. And I think don't have the relationship. That's
when they burst, you know? And I think there are two prime key aspects to being a remote teacher,
(29:46):
but I love your idea of high expectations because it shows she believes in me. She believes that I
can reach these high expectations. They are creating this sense of safety in the classroom because
your kids know the expectations and the boundaries. And it's also the same every time they come to your
classroom. They're not, oh, miss Maddie's, you know, like tough today or angry today or something today,
(30:07):
your expectations are always the same and you're creating that sense of safety. Any other hints and tips?
I get a lot of my stuff from Barry Street from the Barry Street model. So looking up their trauma
and form practice, if you're teaching remote, I would fully recommend at least getting on their website
and deep diving and looking at some of their strategies. See if your school implements a
(30:27):
Barry Street model because it's most effective as a school wide approach where every classroom is
bringing out trauma and form practice that is consistent, predictable and just, you know, safe.
And it makes the classroom feel safe. And when your kids feel safe, they feel like they can achieve
it all links. And then you had ESLD students, so I've kind of touched on it and you touched on it by
(30:52):
pre-teaching vocabulary that they're going to use and supporting the low literacy learners. But how do
you do that code switching and two-way kind of teaching and support for ESLD students?
Yeah. So where possible I try and get a text in Creeole, which is kind of the most common
language up in the area and then in English as well. And we will analyse across the text
(31:17):
because some words in Creeole have different meanings to what they actually are in Australian.
There are some sounds in standard Australian English that don't exist in Creeole. And so it's
important to have students practicing those things. And so where possible I have that text,
so they can read across the text. We do lots of explicit breaking it down. Like I will read a text
(31:39):
out loud and then it's be like, "Oh, that's a weird word." Circle that, get them to write down the
definition. We say the word, so it's lots of really explicit modelling and breaking down the text.
Using audio where possible as well is really, really important and having the subtitles on. So they can
hear the word and then see what it looks like as well. Whether or not they can actually read it. But see
(32:04):
what that word looks like when it's said is really important as well. Especially if it's standard Australian
English when they're coming from Creeole. Again, lots of sounds don't exist in Creeole. That do in
standard Australian or in other traditional languages. So bringing those two things together, you know?
And do you have a Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander education assistant in the classroom with you?
(32:25):
Yes. Yeah. So we are, we're very lucky that in most of our classrooms we will have a local Aboriginal
Torres Strait Islander person who is fluent in standard Australian as well as Creeole. And sometimes if
we're lucky traditional language as well, depending on the area group. And they're able to do a little
(32:47):
bit of translation for us as well when it gets a bit complicated. So there are sometimes where you'll say
something to a student and they'll just look at you like the most blank look on their face like
what on earth and your teaching assistant will come in and be like whatever say it in Creeole. And they're
like, "Ah, of course, and just start doing the thing." You're like, "Why didn't you say it like that?"
(33:08):
I don't mind doing that either because it means they've heard it in English and then they've heard it
in Creeole and they're like, "Oh, so that means that. Cool. We're good." Really and great tips for people
use in week one. Would you like to talk about this idea of low literacy teenagers and how you're
supporting them? We talked a little bit about it before but but what's different? What they're
afraid of baby talk or you know the text you choose? How do you approach it? Yeah. So it's a little
(33:35):
bit more tricky, hey, then when you're just teaching prep or grade one, grade two, they're standard
reading skills. When you get to high school, there's that fear of, "I've missed the boat and I'm too
old and this is prep and I don't want to be doing this because this is baby work." I guess it's trying
to take the work which is really geared for students in prep grade one and grade two and adding a high
(33:59):
school lens on it. We know from research that one in four Australian students aren't graduating
with the correct reading age. So lots of our kids have low bit receipts, not just EALD kids in
from art settings. So we took our phonemes, we took those really basic skills and we tested our students,
figured out where are your gaps, where are your deficits, where are your strengths, what are you really
(34:21):
good at? And so then we looked, we kind of grouped those students just for a little bit to kind of
do some intensive teaching to get everyone up to the same level. Now that we're kind of at that
stage, we've made a lot of games out of our phonemes. So doing lots of like memory games, doing lots of
piecing the things together like race games to try and make as many words as possible. Our students
(34:45):
love around the world as a game. I don't know if anyone else remembers that from primary school,
where they have to go around and as a class try and get from A to Z and make as many words as
possible. That include like a designated phonem that we've chosen for that week to focus on.
And then they love doing like definition races, they're without the dictionaries and they're trying
(35:06):
to write down the definitions for word as quickly as possible. It's all about making it a challenge
and making it kind of a competition for our kids. So if we can get them engaged in that regard and
make it a bit more like, oh let's see who's the quickest, like let's see who can think of the most
words. It's not about them actually reading out loud and being the most fluent reader,
(35:28):
but them not having the skills of like, oh I got to a dictionary to get a definition. I can change
the first letter in a word to make another word and it rhymes because that phoneme is the same,
that sort of thing. So that worked for our high school students. When they've got those skills,
it's them bringing in the I guess more curriculum text, you know, and bringing that back to,
(35:51):
yeah, bringing it back to classwork. And like you've got the skills, now you can do this. And we know
you can do it because you've done this. You've read this book and I can read this one. For actual reading
books, a resource that we use is called Rikrack readers. So they are more like lower literacy books,
which are written at like a high school context. So they've still got the lower words can be sounded
(36:16):
out a lot easier, can be decoded a lot easier, but it's not a book about the cut set on the map. It's
like a horror story or it's a fantasy or something. So it's more engaging for our kids. So they really
like those and they will rip through them like as quick as you can imagine. So. And they're feeling
this success by the sounds of it as well. They're having fun. You're making it engaging and they're
(36:38):
experiencing success as they go. I know there'll be lots of people listening really curious about your
reading program and really curious about the way you're doing things. If people need to find out more,
how do they find out more about this stuff? So I'm on Instagram. My Instagram is farm fresh teaching.
So that's where I post a lot of my work and I post a lot of the resources that I use for literacy
(37:04):
and EALD. You can also contact the school and we'll see what we can send out to you because it is
a contextualised program. I wouldn't recommend just picking it up and running it in your own school,
but we can send you the routes, you know? And following your Instagram and seeing how you're
implementing it again, the resources you're using and being able to connect with you and share,
(37:25):
you know, new teacher journeys would be a really great way for people to learn more. Thank you so
much for your time. You're a wealth of knowledge and it's been wonderful chatting with you.
Thank you. Thank you so much. It's been so wonderful talking to you. I really enjoyed it.
Each podcast episode, we also try and highlight or spotlight or do a shout out
(37:45):
for amazing businesses, organisations, groups and services that are working in remote communities.
This could be run or owned by First Nations people or services that regularly are committed
to going into remote communities and listening and working with First Nations people.
So here is our shout out and spotlight for this episode.
(38:09):
The Barry Street Education model provides strategies that enable teachers to increase
engagement of students with complex and met learning needs and to successfully improve all
students' self-regulation relationships, wellbeing, growth and academic achievement.
In today's changing world, many primary and secondary school students encountered daily challenges
(38:34):
that can impact their success at school. Despite best efforts and intentions, schools often
require specialized strategies to address students' needs for healing, growth and achievement.
And that's where Barry Street says that their education model comes in.
They offer a suite of structured professional development and consultation and mentoring
(38:56):
opportunities for school leaders and teachers. The delivery of the Barry Street Education
model course employs a blended learning methodology based on instructors' experience, peer collaboration
and opportunities for participants to pilot learned strategies in their schools.
The facilitators provide support between sessions as well, including the option for
(39:22):
individual conferencing or consultation. Barry Street says that they equip specialist schools
with strategies to facilitate students' cognitive and behavioral change thereby increasing
student engagement to significantly progress their academic achievement. The Barry Street
model has been used in many remote communities around Australia and often people talk about the
(39:48):
success, whether they feel empowered to support their students. So if this is something that you're
interested in, it's well worth talking to the school about who has done it previously if there's any
in-school upskilling that you can have and if there is time and space and funding for you to go
yourself on a Barry Street education model course to learn more. Head to the Barry Street website
(40:12):
which is in our show notes to learn more about the course. You've been listening to the remote
teacher podcast, a podcast where we discuss all things, remote outback teaching. Make sure you follow us
on Facebook, Instagram, join our email list and our Facebook group, teachers in remote communities,
past, present and future. Any important links mentioned or businesses or organizations to support
(40:36):
your remote teaching that our guests has mentioned today will be in the show notes so make sure you
have a look at them to find out more. And a reminder again, this podcast can be downloaded so you can
access it when you do not have internet coverage or reception. So you can listen to it on your long
drives between communities in the outback. Thank you for listening. We look forward to seeing you in
(40:58):
the next episode of the remote teacher.
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