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There are three cognitive loads that impact the efficient formation of schemas. Extraneous cognitive load are those not directly required to master a task and have a negative impact on schema formation, reducing these is desirable and can be achieved through efficient design. Intrinsic cognitive load is that which is inherent in the task and for the most part cannot be reduced. Tasks with high intrinsic cognitive load are by nature more complex for an individual and in the long term are managed through equally complex schema. Germane cognitive load refers to the mental resources devoted to the efficient formation of schemas and is seen to have a positive effect on learning. Understanding these things will allow us to more effectively target our efforts as learners and teachers ensuring the cognitive load theory has a valuable role to play.

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Learning to write is one of the fundamental skills we gain from our time at school. Writing is one of the cornerstones of learning and we devote significant time and energy towards its mastery. Skilled writing is a mark of an educated individual and a skill required for academic success. But in the modern world what makes a skilled writer? What has changed about writing and what literary skills should we focus our attention on. 

With the onset of Covid-19, many families are hesitant to send their early learners back to school. The Online Learning Academy provides preschool through pre-kindergarten children with a full-day program, on a virtual platform.

"a free public service to teach children to read with phonics" pointed out by Ken Bain (2012)

TeachEm is a free and user friendly digital tool that allows users to capture YouTube content, organize it, and add time stamped flashcards to guide the learning.

Having the right mindset is alone not sufficient for growth. I might talk the talk about a growth mindset and believe I can learn a new skill but unless I back that belief with action, it is just talk.

chool camps are a wonderful opportunity to observe how our students handle the challenge of a different learning setting. Away from the norms and familiar settings of the classroom, we see students in a different light. For the students, camps are an exciting and for some frightening challenge. For teachers, they are an outstanding assessment tool that should inform our practices long after camp is over. 

Creativity is often said to be the key to the future. The essentially human attribute that will ensure our utility in a world dominated by automation. It is said to be an essential ingredient in education but it will not be truly learned unless we provide students with opportunities to dive fully into its waters. 

This much-maligned question seems so appropriate for education's recent history. All that was normal, everything that was routine, all of our structures, have been turned upside down and hurled into the wind of COVID19. From having spoken of a future dominated by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), we have found ourselves living in it. Innovation and creativity became the new normal as we "Apollo 13" schooling into a model that met the demands of emergency remote learning. The pressure, the workload, the demands on our time and the cognitive load have all been immense, and so it seems fitting to ask "Are we there yet?".

Teachers embracing technology to support the Common Core and new ways of teaching may want to get organized and prepared for some positive changes. Here are 3 ways to get  ready for change in the New Year.

As educators we are faced with the challenge of teaching students to efficiently use the Internet to find and use information. Searching for information and making sense of it is a process that involves critical thinking and it is an important skill. Fortunately, there are many free digital tools available to help students efficiently sift through an overwhelming abundance of web content to find the relevant and reliable information they need. This post will explore some digital resources to provide educators with tools to help all students become savvy searchers and independent learners.

I have created a playlist of tools to help students efficiently find information using a variety of digital tools to match unique learning styles. If you would like to use this with your students, click the Share Playlist link at the bottom to grab the embed code or link.

Spend time in any school talking to teachers and even students about thinking and learning and you are likely to hear the phrase 'Bloom's taxonomy' passed around. More than likely you will see it displayed on a wall as a set of processes learners engage with when working in the cognitive domain but how might we maximise the benefits of Bloom's Taxonomy?

This traditional pedagogy results in students developing a negative attitude towards mathematics. Many develop a mathematical phobia and believe that they are not a "maths person". When confronted by challenging mathematics they retreat and have no or only poor strategies with which to approach new ideas. This all leads to a decline in the number of students pursuing mathematical learning beyond the years where it is compulsory. Fortunately there is a growing body of research that shows there is a better way. 

Teachers are a busy lot. We are a profession whose workload seems to be forever on the rise and as much as you do, there is always more to be done, more to be learned, new challenges to be surmounted and exciting new opportunities to be explored. For all of this it is important to make the most efficient use of the tools we have at our disposal. Google Forms can help.