Dont look now......but we're getting bigger

Hi Steve, Sam and everyone,
Now that the 'Chess in Schools' program is going international with a sister school linking up with us in Japan, ICT is more important than ever.One thing I have not pushed as much as I would have liked thus far are the free chess websites. Here are some great URLs:
www.gameknot.com
www.plasticbishop.com
and check out ChessDryad.com. All these sites are worth a look at and they wont cost kids anything to use.
Regards Harry

Courtesy of Peter Roberts.

"Chess and theatre often lead to madness."
Arrabal, Sur Fischer, 1974

Peter Roberts seems to be everywhere at once. He teaches drama, co-ordinates publicity for Castlemaine Secondary College, and is close to being the best teacher I've ever come across. I've seen him do things and often wondered 'How does he do that??'.
Then one day he confessed, with a wink and a nod: "I play a bit of chess". And it all made sense.
Thanks for the 'toon Pete.

Continue to hear great reports about tutoring program in the Mt. Alexander cluster primary schools. If you've come this far and you're reading this please add a comment below. This week I've added some quotes about chess to mull over in a quiet moment.

"Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game."
Wilhelm Steinitz, interview with J. Moquette, 1896

"Dazzling combinations are for the many, shifting wood is for the few."
Georg Kieninger, Deutsche Schachhefte, 1950

"Nowadays, when you're not a grandmaster at 14, you can forget about it." Anand Viswanathan

"A computer beat me in chess, but it was no match when it came to kickboxing"Signature of an anonymous message board user.

"My life has been determined by the move e2-e1N."
Johan Barendregt, interview with Max Pam, 1972

Weaknesses of character are normally shown in a game of chess. Gary Kasparov

A good sacrifice is one that is not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent dazed and confused.
Rudolph Spielmann

Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic
Mikhail Botvinnik

Chess is a fight Emanuel Lasker

Chess is the art of analysis Mikhail Botvinnik

Interview with Ross Allengame: Castlemaine Primary School

Ross Allengame has been using chess in the classroom for twenty years.

He has produced a state chess champion and several really gifted players. I can recall one of Ross’s year 5 pupil’s entering the Castlemaine Chess Club 10 years ago, and trouncing all of us, and dazzling us with his acumen over the board.

Ross regularly uses chess as a part of his teaching repertoire. Sometimes he sets up a few boards and plays some students simultaneously while the rest of the class looks, on engrossed in the games, and offering suggestions.

During the tutorial I gave to Ross’s class, before the interview, his students were totally engrossed in their games, and they played for nearly an hour and a half. Some students played three games in a row and were biting at the bit for a fourth game. I have never witnessed such a high level of sustained concentration, enthusiasm and pleasure shown in a class activity before. The students discussed the moves with each other and were intellectually engaged with their games for the greater part of the lesson.

I asked Ross why he uses chess in his classes. I was searching for some pedagogical insight as I had already gleaned that Ross was interested in learning theory.

Ross waved his hand and said, “Look around you.” He spoke of their fascination with the game and their sustained interest and then went onto say, “Chess works!”

After the lesson, Ross and I discussed teaching theory. Ross said his approach was to ask the kids what they want to do and empower them. He sees his approach as vastly different from what he called the jug mug method of pouring content down kid’s throats.

He sees teaching at its best when teachers become facilitators of education and inspire students to become independent learners. Ross believes chess helps develop this spirit in young students and this is why he has been such a keen advocate and practitioner of chess in the classroom.

One more word on the virtues of chess and I think an opinion that is supported by all the research. Ross had a difficult student once who had behavioral problems and was disorganized. One of Ross’s solutions was to introduce him to chess. Ross reports it had miraculous results. The boy turned into a fine chess player. Ross says it gave the boy a sense of control and a chance to beat the teacher. The key message Ross conveyed in our discussion was that chess motivated students, improved their concentration, and stimulated intellectual activity.

Just as I was leaving South School two year 6 boys walked up to me and said they were glad I was coming back next week and added, ‘We like chess, it is fun, and it makes us think’.

Harry Poulton

CJ drops in.

It’s a big world out there. We’ve had interest from schools in Bendigo, Colac and Warrnambool about our chess program.

Andrew Grimshaw, from Colac, used some of our resources and convinced his curriculum 'powers-to-be' to formally incorporate chess into their program. Andrew has a timetabled class called chess where students leave regular classes to participate. Well done, Andrew.

I noticed a comment on one of our blog entries (see below) from CJ telling us of a search engine, Technorati, to find other blogs throughout the world on similar topics. Thought CJ was one of our cluster teachers but on investigation found that not to be the case.

I checked it out and found 49 responses to ‘chess and pedagogy’. Try clicking on Technorati, type and your special interest, and see what other like-minded souls are talking about in cyber-space.

CJ also recommended I look at Artichokes blog….and what a fascinating experience that was! Artichoke (from New Zealand it appears) seems at the cutting edge of all things education and has plenty of views he has ‘put out there’.

On the local scene, tutoring started this week, and early feedback has been fantastic. I sense momentum is building. If you haven’t heard from us, expect a phone call shortly confirming dates and times for our tutors to visit.

And while we’re handing out boquets, special mention to Marg Lewis who, out of 25 emails, was the only person to notice the tutoring schedule ran into the school holidays. Thanks Marg. Marg is principal of Yapeen Primary School who, with 17 students, is one of the smallest schools in the state. Re-assuring such an eye for detail is in there batting for government education. Nice pic and story in last weeks Castlemaine Mail.
And CJ……whoever…wherever .. you are: thanks!

Steve Carroll

Meeting the tutors(1): Harry Poulton

Hi everyone. I met some of you at the ‘Chess in Schools’ launch. A central component of the program is, working within the VELS framework, to bring the schools into the community and the community into the schools, and to build that connection around a creative learning process. The program includes the Schools, the Community House, and the Castlemaine Chess Club. The Community House and the Chess Club are furnishing the tutoring teams, and helping with the research component of the program which focuses on Maths and Metacognition.

We are focusing on how students strategize for successful learning outcomes, and to see if we can build resilience through chess, and if/how this impacts in Maths learning.

Just to let you know a little bit about myself I have recently completed education studies at Monash University and I am looking forward to working as a Humanities teacher, although this year I have decided to commit to building the chess program. I have worked in the building industry, undertaken post grad study, and extensive travel abroad.

I was raised in a chess family where chess was a regular feature. I was one of six children and four of my siblings were boys. You might think our poor sister was in need of rescuing, well, she went onto have five boys of her own, all of whom are thriving, and some are excellent chess players. We spent many weekends huddled around the chess board in my fathers study and some of my siblings went onto to become school champions and captains of the school chess teams.

Research, experience and observation have led me to believe that chess is an excellent pedagogical tool which improves concentration, impulse control and accountability, cultivates good sportspersonship and social interaction.

The ‘Chess in Schools’ program is a challenging opportunity and we are all committed to building a vibrant chess culture through out the Mt Alexander Cluster.

Dr. Steve Tobias- LaTrobe University

Welcome to the Mt Alexander Schools Cluster and La Trobe University research project based on Chess and Learning Mathematics. Steve Carroll and Harry Poulton have done a wonderful job in launching the project with Sam Grumont's guidance.
The project aims to build student resilience and perseverance through games such as chess. Research suggests that there is an underlying link between playing chess and strengthening spatial reasoning skills and students' ability to handle complex reasoning tasks.
With the new VELS curriculum, this area is covered within the Thinking Domain of the Interdisciplinary Strand and Working Mathematically in the Mathematics Discipline Strand. This project sets out to strengthen thinking and reasoning skills, and possibly inturn students ability to problem solve.
The Observation Schedule, that has been sent out to you, was designed for the classroom teacher to collect information about the students' reactions while playing chess. We would like you to collect some anecdotal information during the program about the students' willingness to participate, their resilience and perseverance when playing, and their ability to question/discuss the moves made.
We would appreciate any other information that you might feel is important. We would like students to keep a journal to reflect on their games (metacognition) and anything else that is significant to them when playing. (ie: what they have learnt, enjoyed about the playing- or not enjoyed etc) so hopefully, we will have an ongoing collection of information about who is building enthusiasm and resilience for chess.
I intend to write a regular section for the blog - so any feedback would be appreciated.

Steve Tobias

School of Education
La Trobe University
s.tobias@latrobe.edu.au
Ph 54447485

Chess-Squared: March 2006

Chess-Squared: March 2006

Welcome to the first issue of Chess In Schools Program, CHESS-SQUARED, a partnership with The Castlemaine Chess Club, LaTrobe University, schools within the Mount Alexander Cluster, and funded by Innovations and Excellence.
The program aims to systematically introduce students to the game of chess and measure any benefits to numeracy or other areas of learning.
This newsletter aims to supplement lessons plans being developed that explore mathematical concepts gained by learning and playing regular chess.
But the program isn't just about learning chess.
It aims to:
A) Develop a team of teachers across a cluster working collaboratively on a classroom project
B) Use ICT as tool to deliver 5 lessons, and foster discussion and reflection about what is happening in our classrooms
C) Explore whether chess can improve numeracy outcomes by applying statistical analysis to groups across the cluster
D) Developing a notion of enhancing Community Capacity by introducing students and their families to a ‘not-for-profit’ community organisation.
E) Enhancing a performance and development culture by seeking mentorship from LaTrobe University School of Education
F) Explore the relationships of Chess In Schools Program, with Victorians Essential Learning Standards (VELS), and National Benchmarks in Numeracy.

Chess is a game first invented 1500 years ago. This program wraps it in 21st Century pedagogy.
The program was developed by Sam Grumont, Steve Carroll, and Harry Poulton. It’s success depends on your involvement, engagement, and feedback.
Enjoy!