Aug

31

Flexibility is the key to success

August 31, 2007 | 3 Comments

Flexible curriculum, top quality teachers, high-level investment - are these the keys to building the best education system in the world?
Christopher D. Sessums has written an interesting post on factors that contribute to educational success, part of which is how schools attract and retain excellent teaching staff. He explores What do all great school systems [...]

Aug

26

Creativity versus Curriculum

August 26, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Are these two concepts mutually exclusive? While we’d like to think they’re not, the tyranny of content often means that we do not undertake projects that involve “deep”, connected and creative learning because we have “too much stuff to get through.” I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I compare my two history classes [...]

Aug

22

Now that’s progressive

August 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I attended a professional development day in Sydney this week to explore the new texts on the HSC English list for 2009-2012. The texts set for study change every couple of years and I welcome the list as progressive mix of canonical prose fiction, multimedia, poetry, film and drama. The most interesting, and I think [...]

Aug

22

Memed!

August 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Clay Burell has tagged me with this teaching meme, here goes:

I am a good teacher because… ummmm… am I? I hope so … I try to make sure that I “see” students in my classes and connect with them. I aim lessons at what is interesting and useful for students rather than what is interesting [...]

Aug

12

Simpsonise Me

August 12, 2007 | 1 Comment

Bit of fun - “Simpsonize” your family

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Aug

11

Literacy in global perspective

August 11, 2007 | Leave a Comment

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Aug

11

Lifting the fog

August 11, 2007 | 2 Comments

As an English teacher, I spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to be literate. It seems obvious to me that “literacy” has connotations that extend beyond the ability to read and write. This is tied to a consideration of the “21st century” skills students need to be successful lifelong learners. These [...]

Aug

11

Times marches on…

August 11, 2007 | Leave a Comment

“The world is moving at a tremendous rate. Going no one knows where. We must prepare our children, not for the world of the past. Not for our world. But for their world. The world of the future.” John Dewey
Via the 21st Century Collaborative:
“Dewey’s thoughts have laid the foundation for inquiry driven approaches. According to [...]

Aug

7

Trying to “enthral” students all day long

August 7, 2007 | 4 Comments

Below is an excellent video from Wes Fryer, who discusses the difference between “enthralling” and “engaging” students. He also provides useful strategies about how teachers can do this. The major ones are choice and differentiation: a) choices about the ways students learn material. “Rather than asking them to learn facts, ask them to apply those [...]