Group items tagged

From September, I am starting a new role. I am going to be a year group leader for year 5. This has come about relatively quickly since my return from mainstream and so I have spent some time over the summer reflecting on my practice and how I am going to develop and inspire the people I work with. One of those people is an NQT. My sister is also starting her first post as an NQT in another school. After speaking on the phone for half an hour this morning, I realised that some of the stuff that I was saying to her is probably some of the stuff that I will be saying to the NQT I will be working with...

"Pedagogically I needed a way to describe the diversity of pedagogical approaches and how they could all have a place within the practice of a teacher. It certainly lead to a lot of thinking and reflection .."

"Learning- even "self-directed learning"- is an inherently social activity. The Open Master's is a global community of small groups for self-directed learners, offering each other the structure, accountability, relationships, and sense of forward direction that are often hard to find outside formal programs and institutions. These groups are using and building on an open source framework of shared practices to help us: Master the art of social, self-directed learning Be more intentional about our learning journeys Take bolder risks in our journeys of becoming Discover and share our unique gifts Ensure that our short-term learning goals feed into our longer-term vision for transformation for ourselves and the world We invite any existing community, organization, or even groups of friends or colleagues to use the Open Master's framework to make their own learning process more intentional.  You can do that simply by: Mapping out a personal plan or curriculum, including a clear statement of purpose and some intentions for your own learning journey, and sharing them on a personal website or blog Bringing the rhythm of semesters back into your life, including regular opportunities for evaluation and reflection Developing deeper relationships with study buddies, mentors, and advisers Starting an Open Master's group with a clear commitment to study together, support each other, and share your work Offering a presentation or organizing a study group on a topic that interests you Maintaining a portfolio of learning projects (including professional work) you've completed and reviewed with peers and mentors We also invite you to link up with the broader global community of Open Master's groups by joining regional or global events to spotlight members, mix with members across groups, and cross-pollinate ideas or strategies that are working in different contexts."

A great piece worth the time to reflect on. Mindfulness needs to be practiced frequently.

We invite you to submit a proposal for the 15th Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning: "The Power of Online Learning: Opportunities for Tomorrow." The conference strongly encourages proposals that reflect the implications for the field of specific e-learning experience and practices. Proposals that address blended learning, issues of diversity, international applications of online learning, open educational resources and/or social networking are especially encouraged. Last year's conference attracted over 1100 participants to more than 180 presentations, as well as exhibits, pre-conference workshops, keynote and plenary addresses, and a variety of other special events.

Rather than expecting to be immersed in learning that shines a light on the path forward the notion of searching for driftwood that suits the learner's needs is very empowering. It requires an imagining of learning as a very active process where the learner is aware of their context, their current understanding and what they might need to move forward. It demands a conscious practice of reflection and a disposition towards taking charge of one's learning. It is a very agentic view where learning is something that you do, not something that happens to you. 

"As I stood in the school hall, during an assembly on National Languages Day, I felt such pride, but equally astonishment at how the children had embraced the task of saying hello in as many languages as possible. I watched in amazement as the 34th child stood up in front of the school to share his knowledge of yet another greeting from a different country. I don't know whether it was the sheer volume of children or their confidence whilst standing in front of the school and speak a different language that struck me most, but whatever it was, made me reflect on how I had come to be in this moment."

"Let me introduce you to Brian. Brian is a (fictional) primary school head teacher in England, UK. Well, maybe not fictional, as many working in schools will relate to the story created by Will Ryan in his 'Dare to be Different' book. Following the internal dialogues, reflections and incidents that Brian is faced with on a daily basis, the story unfolds telling how an individual can strive to take back ownership of what happens in the classroom and build vibrant curriculum with which to hook the imaginations of pupils. How? Will has cleverly inserted over 100 tips based on exciting primary practice, along with nearly fifty significant ideas to strengthen leadership, and accompanied a similar number of inspiring quotations throughout the story that encourages head-teachers to be brave and follow their own rules for what is best for that school community."

In our busy and highly connected lives it can be difficult to find time to slow down, to deliberately and mindfully engage in reflective contemplation. Taking the time to do so can be significant for success, creativity, mental well-being and learning and yet we seem to struggle to commit time to this valuable practice. Schools, in particular seem to offer little time for students to slow down and think, and with the busy lives students lead such time is often entirely absent.

Last week I spent three days thinking about curriculum and all that it means to teaching and learning thanks to the Australian Curriculum Studies Association's biannual conference. It was three days of deeply thoughtful conversation and learning with just the right mix of academic research and ideas for grounded practice straight out of innovative classrooms and schools. With keynotes by Alan Reid, Dan Haesler, Bob Lingard, Robert Randall and Jan Owen combined with Masterclasses from some of Australia's leading educators there was much on offer. The biggest challenge was deciding which workshop you would attend when every session offered such outstanding opportunities.

This online Certified Professional Development Course encourages delegates to engage, reflect and interact with (at least) 6 presentations during (or after) the conference, considering the impact the showcase could have on your own professional practice.

Why isn't music in the Common Core

Research demonstrates that music doesn't help as such. The same effect can be got from any discipline where practice and persistence are important. The musical component can be duplicated with explicit phonemic instruction in a short time. You would be better off drawing because it is the only non-academic that has a direct academic relationship - with geometry. The evidence for that has to do with the above, plus junction recognition and visualization. The only thing I didn't touch on is openness to new experience which has a strong correlation to measured intelligence. That's a component of the arts in general.

I'm aware of the studies and also of the garbage science like the "Mozart Effect." While they don't support the correlation, they are also not definitive. This appears to be a valid study and it is working. Whether the reasons are because they learn practice and persistence or something else is irrelevant, a correlation still exists. Maybe it's just that music is fun and the way we learn music--practice, reflect, refine, repeat--is a good model for learning in general. It's certainly better than standardized tests. Personally, I don't feel a need to justify music's existence by its value to other subjects. It represents some of humanity's greatest achievements. That should be enough.

This is my first Blog posting of 2013 and it reflects my concerns about teachers in Ireland and their attitudes towards reading educational research. The post has generated some interesting comment from Ireland and the USA. I would be really interested in hearing your ideas.

But, before the multiple choice, standardized testing crowd starts thumping their chests, it's important to note the kind of test the researchers administered. After reading the passage, students "wrote what they remembered in a free-form essay for 10 minutes. Then they reread the passage and took another retrieval practice test." So, to decipher the wonkitude, the students read a passage, wrote a reflection essay, reread the passage a second time, and then wrote another reflection essay.That's a far cry from bubbling in the letter "C" on a scantron form.

A new study claims testing helps kids get smarter-except, the tests that make a difference aren't the ones you think.