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"Although many schools ban smartphones, the reality is that many pupils have them hidden away, or are an integral part of their lives once they leave the premises. The 'Selfy' phenomenon is clearly here to stay, but this video (created by London-based design and animation studio weareseventeen) illustrates how we can easily be distracted with our devices, missing out on the world around us - which could be useful for a discussion / assembly activity within schools when talking about online use or safety:"

"In education we are very comfortable using the term "middle leaders", rather than "middle managers", to talk about heads of department and heads of faculty. But are they really leaders? What distinguishes middle leaders from middle managers?  Middle managers - and senior managers for that matter - work to the specification of their leaders. Managers only become leaders when they inject something of themselves into their work. Managers sing the hymn sheets of others. Leaders do much more, they add verses, create harmonies and the best compose new scores. "

"We all have mental health. Talk around mental health should be high priority in schools and we have to start with ourselves, realising that mental health is a continuum; it is not static. Positive mental health is a gift, one that should not be taken for granted, and wellbeing is something that needs to be worked at, just like physical health. "

"Over the last few years, I have spent time trying to work out ways to engage our teachers. We, at Schools' Library Service, have introduced an information literacy framework, created lesson ideas and spent hours talking to teachers about how school librarians can support teaching and learning. I even wrote a blog about 'How to make an information literacy framework work for you", but still some teachers are just too busy to listen."

"The discussion begun which participants talking about what they viewed as disruption. Most people agreed that swinging on chairs, being late and calling out were disruptive to learning (although many felt that the root causes needed to be identified and addressed), but there was genuine disagreement about pupil interaction and banter with some UKEdChatters saying this was an inappropriate distraction, while others said they enjoyed and welcome this, at least to a point."

Ross Cooper talks about how his school is promoting student agency based on the book Education Reimagined. If you're having curriculum discussions, this is a great place to start.

The @globalmathtask #gmttc math challenge is an awesome way for kids of all ages to join in and collaborate to talk about math. You sign up by September. Then, you are assigned a week to create and share a problem. The other weeks, you're solving problems and tweeting the class that made them. Such a great program!

"Moving from one school to another is a seminal moment in the lives of young people. Ensuring a smooth start can change how a pupil sees school, their education and their future. Preparing adquently for a new school, or even a new school year is vitial… and that is just the teachers!"

"We often talk about the challenges of teacher recruitment and retention, about new initiatives and political landscapes, but day in, day out, teachers and schools are delivering exceptional teaching and most of it is invisible. Ross uncovers, celebrates, analyses and disseminates best practice in teaching. This is supported by case studies and research undertaken by Ross in ten primary and secondary schools across Great Britain, including a pupil referral unit and private, state and grammar schools, as well as explanations from influential educationalists as to why and how these ideas work. Ross explores the issues of marking and assessment, planning, teaching and learning, teacher wellbeing, student mental health, behaviour and exclusions, SEND, curriculum, research-led practice and CPD."

The original webinar took place on 28th October 2020 and explored how eBooks can augment your existing library and reading book schemes, both at primary and secondary schools. Experts Hannah Monson and Meredith Wemhoff talk to Martin Burrett about how eBooks can help in the current pandemic situation and beyond. They also tackle viewers' questions. Have a question? Get in touch via one for the methods below. Submit your details here for the chance to win a 10 inch Samsung Tab. One winner will be chosen at random on 30th November 2020.

So excited to announce the Every Classroom Matters online radio show (podcast) http://bit.ly/XAozCY If you go to the site on your ipad or iphone, you can click "itunes" and it will add the show to your podcast feed or you can play it. The first show I talked to Dr. Lee Graham, a cofounder of #diffimooc about MOOCs and how colleges can actually make money giving away teaching for free. What does this model look like? It was a great conversation and I"ll be sharing more about it. Please listen and let me know what you think and if you have a suggestion for a new show, follow the link. Thanks!

So what's wrong? In short, the common thread I see throughout all the failures is quite simply a lack of empathy. There is no authentic encounter with students, or what Martin Buber called "a genuine meeting." When we use all the right methods, and we still fail, it is most likely because we are encountering our students as objects and not as the rich and complex individuals that they are. When we do not bring our authentic selves to the classroom and open up to an authentic encounter with our students and the topic at hand we fail, regardless of the methods we choose.

Fantastic for inspiring the message that we all need to be questioning and considering questions we don't know the answers to as we move forward into the 21st century

Interesting to know about how tracking works on the web.

This is my most popular post on Facebook and I still agree with the conclusions in this article.