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Recently I read 'Good to Great' by Jim Collins a book that describes the processes and structures that allowed eleven companies to transition from good to great and outperform the market by a factor of three for sustained periods. One story stands out as a metaphor for a growth mindset.

"On October 1st, 2015 the very first class entered our STEM lab/Makerspace and it was truly magical. The kids were engaged, they were learning, exploring and discovering the entire time they were in there. It was the moment we had worked so hard when we created this innovative learning space. It was a long journey that our little Makerspace/STEM lab team took to get there and we learned a lot along the way! The lab was originally Wendy Townlin's (@wtownlin) idea. She wanted to create a dedicated science lab for our school. It evolved into a STEM lab, then (with a little help from twitter) we decided to add in the element of a makerspace. With the support of our awesome principal Kris Martin-Meyer, four of us, Wendy, Amanda Young (@ajyoung53), Claire Simon (@MissSimon246) and I put our heads together, researched, reflected then began building. Here are some things we learned about along the way."

"GETTING STARTED WITH LITTLEBITS With just a little bit of prep and planning, it's easy to get your students learning and inventing with littleBits."

The Teaching Practices Inventory (formerly called the "Teaching Practices Survey") was designed to characterize the teaching practices used in undergraduate science and mathematics courses. The inventory requires 10-15 minutes to fill out and provides a detailed characterization of practices used in all aspects of a "lecture" course (it is not suitable for use with courses that are primarily laboratories, seminars, or project courses).

On Saturday I had the opportunity to join a group of very enthusiastic teachers to hear Alan November and Carl Jarvis speak at North Turramurra Primary School. That so many educators from across Sydney were keen to give up a Saturday is a testament to their desire to improve their teaching but also a measure of the respect these speakers garner.

"This sample rubric from Lisa Yokana can help guide efforts to assess the materials and knowledge students come to understand through the process of making, as well as the habits of mind and qualities they demonstrate. For more information, read the associated post: "Creating an Authentic Maker Education Rubric." For an editable version of this rubric, check out this "Editable Sample Rubric.""

With the end of the year approaching and holidays looming for some now is the ideal time to share some suggestions for books and papers to read. A great book can provide the inspiration required to begin the new year positively and this list includes some of my favourites from 2015. In no particular order here is my list of top ten reads to inspire quality learning and promote discussion.