The Story Behind the Loss

[Bhima 0]

The Story Behind the Loss

After watching last night and seeing the game play out as it did, I was reminded of my time as a teacher when classroom behaviour would get out of hand as a result of boring and repetitive lesson plans. Last night showed that the Demons class of 2011 is behaving badly, and it has more to do with poor teaching practices off and on the field than player talent, skills and ability. The Demons will still be a force, just not the moment.

For those with five minutes to spare and who want to know why we put in the performances we have this year, this is the tale of the

[Deetective Sgt. Taggert 389]

Tale of the what...? Keeping us in suspense?!

[Go the Biff 3,449]

Looks like Bhima got sprung playing on the internet !

[Bhima 0]

Well, dunno what happened, perhaps there is a limit on length, but let's try again

The Story Behind the Loss

After watching last night and seeing the game play out as it did, I was reminded of my time as a teacher when classroom behaviour would get out of hand as a result of boring and repetitive lesson plans. Last night showed that the Demons class of 2011 is behaving badly, and it has more to do with poor teaching practices off and on the field than player talent, skills and ability. The Demons will still be a force, just not the moment.

For those wanting to know why we put in the performances we have this year, this story is an attempt to explain it. It begins in 2010.

Chapter 1: The Class of 2010

For the student in the Redlegs class of 2010, it was an exciting year. After two years of the lowest test scores in the school in 2008-2009, and numerous changes to the student cohort, the new class was for the first time optimistic about the future. For starters, a number of highly gifted students, Jack, Tom, Noah and Jordan, had come into the class with the goal of lifting standards. The class captain, James, was a well respected leader and was able to influence the class, getting them to focus their energies on improving on their test scores.

The teacher, Mr Bailey, was fairly new to teaching and had overseen the two years of very poor test scores. It was decided by the school administration that he should be retained on the basis of his noted ability to develop the skills of young students. While a number of parents and staff questioned the wisdom of putting a large group of gifted students with an inexperienced teacher, the principle decided continuity was critical and that the teacher deserved more time with the class.

The school was fairly rigid in its methods of evaluation and every week each class had to complete a test, differing in degrees of difficulty. Although individual excellence was important, the overall results of the class were held to have the highest value. Each class had a name, and the class which collectively scored the best would have their class name at the top of the school ladder, displayed in the hallways throughout the school.

The Redlegs of 2010 were determined to no longer be the laughing stock of the school. Unfortunately they were given a tough test in the first week and they scored poorly, falling straight to the bottom of the ladder. Questions were raised, especially about seemingly random nature of Mr Bailey’s teaching methods. In week 2, however, the students performed well beyond anyone’s expectations, nearly outperforming one of the top classes in the school. Suddenly Mr Bailey appeared to be a genius. He was previously a student-teacher at the school and it had become evident that he based his teaching style on that of the most successful teacher in the school, Mr Thompson.

Over the school year in 2010, other staff and students began taking notice of what was going on in the Redlegs classroom. Although performances varied, there were at times exceptional performances. While the teacher was applauded for his teaching style, the players were also lead brilliantly by the class captain James, who although not the brightest student, was able to get the best out of himself modelled the appropriate behaviour and attitude for the rest of the students.

By the end of the year, The Redlegs had competed well against a number of more fancied classes, and had managed to rise 4 positions on the school ladder, from 16th to 12th. Tom and Noah both finished in the top 5 for new students at the school. When staff and students walked past the classroom, which had received some major upgrades over the year, they often stopped to look at some amazing work that had been put up on the walls or hung from the ceiling. It had suddenly become a class that other students wanted to join and which many staff predicted would soon be one of the best in the school.

Parents were happy with the progress in the Redlegs class, and even though the principle decided to keep the teacher on a contract for 2011 rather than give him an ongoing contract, the students left for the summer break with a sense of expectation for 2011 and beyond.

Chapter 2: The Summer of 2011

Over the summer break the Redlegs students had been set a large amount of study, and upon returning to school the parents and some administration were a little disappointed to find that the work was below par. The teacher remained unfussed and continued with his standard methods. Questions were again raised about Mr Bailey’s teaching style, for the top class of 2010, taught by the legendary Mr Malthouse, had destroyed Mr Thompson’s class in the semi-finals of the school exams. It was wondered if the style that had once been so successful, and had helped the Redlegs move up the school ladder, was now becoming obsolete.

Other major events had occurred over the summer. For starters, the administration decided that James was too old for the Redlegs class and should be moved in a different class, even though James wanted to stay with his friends. After a lengthy process, a student by the name of Brad was elevated to the class captaincy, which seemed a fair call considering he had finished top of the class in 2010 and was well liked. In unforeseen circumstances, however, Brad’s best friend and closest ally, Cameron, had suddenly decided he wanted to move to another class higher above the Redlegs on the school ladder. This meant that Brad was by far the eldest student in the class, without James to mentor him and without Cameron to confide in and discuss any difficulties that might arise during his captaincy of the class.

The school administration, knowing that the class of 2011 was fairly special, decided to take the unusual steps of reviewing the Redlegs class and the teaching methods being employed, to ensure that the right development model was in place. While no-one argued against this process, it put Mr Bailey under severe scrutiny. A specialist teacher at the school, Mr Wellman, had also moved to a rival school and many of the students in the Redlegs class were disappointed that he was leaving. Mr Wellman was replaced by a well known teacher, Mr Royal, however he was not an expert in the areas of knowledge in the same manner as Mr Wellman had been.

There was also a great deal of controversy when a rumour went around the school that the Redlegs most promising young student, Tom, was leaving the class at the end of 2011. No-one could understand why he might want to join another class, however one possible reason might be that he felt he could be mentored by some of the best students in the school, rather than have to be in a class without any school champions. Either way, he denied he was leaving, but neither did he say he would definitely be staying.

With all of the changes and some degree of upheaval that had taken place over the summer, and the poorer than expected results from the summer, many staff, students and parents were eager to see how the Redlegs would perform in week one. In somewhat of a middling performance, the Redlegs did fairly well and were equal 8th on the school ladder. In week 2, it was decided by the administration that the Redlegs receive a particularly difficult test to get a better gauge on their progress. Using Mr Bailey’s tried and true instructions, the students blitzed the first half of the test, but in the second half, many students suddenly found that they had no answers for many of the questions. Not only did this lead to looks of confusion among many students, it soon began to erode their confidence, and by the end of the test they were humiliated. Staff and students were simultaneously laughing and shaking their heads when the week 2 test scores were published.

In weeks three and four the Redlegs did reasonably on some very easy tests and for the first time in five years were in the top 8 in the school ladder. There was however an incident in the school yard in which one of the class leaders, Brent, was ill-disciplined and stripped of his leadership. Before the test in week 4, the easiest of the year, class Captain Brad admitted that he had started second guessing himself and was seeking help from James about how to be an effective class captain. Others who had vied for the class captaincy, Aaron and Frank, were performing poorly and putting younger students under tremendous pressure to hold the class up.

After a strong test result in week 4 they were given a week off over Easter, and were expected to come back fresh and do well in a tough but achievable week 6 test. Before the test began however there was a sense that the Redlegs would not do well. Throughout the school, the classes that were emulating the teaching practices of Mr Malthouse were performing brilliantly. The key issue was that Mr Malthouse had based his teaching practices on the best way to outperform Mr Thompson’s class. The teaching methods of Mr Bailey were not only obvious, they were outdated. In week 6, the class that had finished at the bottom of the school ladder in 2010 comprehensively outperformed the Redlegs class. This poor result coincided with the outcome of the class review, and the school principle, Mr Schwab, failed to endorse Mr Bailey, which became news in the school newsletter.

Chapter 3: Class of 2011 behaving badly

Not only were the Redlegs underperforming, bad habits and a poor attitude had crept into the classroom behaviour. Prior to Brent being ill-disciplined, another student, Col, returned to his bad habits and was late to class. During the tests, students looked defeated before they began, no longer having faith that Mr Bailey’s teaching methods were going to make them successful. Gifted students, such as Noah and Jack, continued to try, but grew frustrated, while Brad, isolated by age and responsibility, was having a terrible time and clearly looked out of his depth as class captain and unable to inspire the class.

A staff member recalled that the humiliating test result in week 2 might have had a major impact on the belief of the class in Mr Bailey and each other. Back in 2006, the Redlegs had made the finals of the school competition, beating the Saints in early final exams. In the first week of 2007 they were completely outperformed by the Saints and it shattered their self-belief, and maybe something similar was now taking place.

There was no doubt that the Redlegs class was talented. Too often, however, Mr Bailey had been unable to change and adapt his teaching practices and had been superseded by many other teachers. It is only so long that students can put faith in their teachers. Once students no longer believe that the teacher deserves their full respect and attention, they will not perform at their best. In 2010, the class showed that 100% endeavour ended in exciting and promising results. Other classes had new teachers and had shown rapid improvement, and it was now time for the administration to find teachers with successful track records to re-focus the class of 2011 and get them behaving at their best once again.

The end

Edited April 29, 2011 by Bhima

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