“There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.” (Susan Cain) I’ve been wanting to read Susan Cain’s book Quiet for a little while so, when I saw her video on TED talks laziness prevailed and I decided to watch it. The talk really resonated with me as I would consider myself more … Continue reading »
Well, it’s been a lovely summer holiday so far here in New Zealand but the sun isn’t shining all that much today, so it’s a good day to get back into the swing of things. As I’m sure all teachers do, I have been relishing the long break we are lucky enough to get whilst … Continue reading »
I’m sure you’ve seen this series of videos before on the rapidly changing world we reside in. I showed it to the class the other day after the principal prompted some thought on how education is/should be changing when discussing this with the class. So I asked: What does this mean for your education? For WHAT and … Continue reading »
This week we have started a class Twitter account which has been fun and beneficial. The initial purpose of this was: To allow children to connect with other teachers and students around the world. Students like to share their learning on Uspace but feel they only have a small audience. With Twitter, they can share … Continue reading »
Try this activity with a class you know. Ask them all to point an index finger at the ceiling. Tell them that you are going to ask them a question, and when they have come up with their answer to the question they should then point their finger at the answer. The question is: “Who … Continue reading »
“In too many cases, we bolt new technologies on top of current learning tools in the standard learning environment, which effectively means we give our kids a thousand-dollar pencil.” – Alan November. I just went on YouTube and searched 21st Century learning and was not overly surprised with what came up – plenty of examples of digital … Continue reading »
The one week trial of ignoring the bells in our class has concluded, with mixed success. On the first day, the freedom went to their heads and I was really surprised with the lack of maturity and focus on their learning. The lesson was learned by most in time for the second day, but a new problem … Continue reading »
At the very beginning of the year, I suggested that we did without bells – that we just went to lunch when we were hungry or needed a break. This suggestion was met with outrage! The students hated the idea and I was forcefully opposed! Two terms later and the children have suggested it to me. I guess … Continue reading »
There seems to be a bit of tension between personalising learning and encouraging collaboration in the classroom. I would like to argue that, to ensure our students are successful learners, we need to have both personalisation and collaboration in our classes. Personalisation is integral in allowing students to learn at their own pace, to learn what they need to, … Continue reading »
David Perkins ponders – What is worth learning -for now and for the future? Why is teachers’ focus on teaching method rather than what is worth learning? Continue reading »
