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Vicki Davis

Secret Teacher: low morale and high pressure leaves no time for inspiration | Teacher N... - 0 views

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    These heartbreaking words from a teacher in the UK. As the world tries to improve education by the numbers, the world has forgotten kids aren't numbers. They are precious, individual and unique and deserve education systems that celebrate and encourage that. OK, teachers, it is time to man the media - you are the media now! Are you fed up yet? It might not be you right now, but if you don't speak, it will be, wherever you teach, such stories impact us all and the profession we care for so much. "As a teacher, I vowed that I would work hard to nurture my students, to make each and every student feel valued and for them to know that they have a voice, and a place in the world. However the last two years have made me feel like that insecure 14-year-old again: I have lost my confidence because of the overly-rigid current education system. We are constantly being told we are not good enough and that we are not doing enough: enough intervention, enough rigorous marking, enough sustained and rapid progress. What excited me the most about becoming a teacher was discovering the hidden talents and sparks of genius in my students. However, it breaks my heart to say this, but I feel that I no longer have time, nor am I encouraged to make these discoveries. We are so caught up with data and so many progress checks that we don't give our students the time to shine. I wonder what would happen if the greats of the world like Einstein, Gaudi, Picasso and Martin Luther King were to attend school in 2013, would they be able to cultivate their talents and thrive?"
C CC

Michael Morpurgo: We are failing too many boys in the enjoyment of reading | Teacher Ne... - 1 views

  • Perhaps it is partly that we need to love books ourselves as parents, grandparents and teachers in order to pass on that passion for stories to our children.
  • It's not about testing and reading schemes, but about loving stories and passing on that passion to our children
  • I believe profoundly that everyone has a story to tell, a song to sing. I'm all for empowering children and young people to have their own words especially when they are young. Encouraging young people to believe in themselves and find their own voice whether it's through writing, drama or art is so important in giving young people a sense of self-worth. There are so many young people who don't believe in themselves and their mentality gets fixed in failure.
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  • 1.Why not have a dedicated half hour at the end of every school day in every primary school devoted to the simple enjoyment of reading and writing.2. Regular visits from storytellers, theatre groups, poets, writers of fiction and non-fiction, and librarians from the local library.3. Inviting fathers and grandfathers, mothers and grandmothers into school to tell and read stories, to listen to children reading, one to one. The work of organisations such at Volunteer Reading Help and Reading Matters are already doing great thing to help young people and schools.4. Ensuring that the enjoyment of literature takes precedence, particularly in the early years, over the learning of the rules of literacy, important though they are.  Children have to be motivated to want to learn to read. Reading must not be taught simply as a school exercise.5.  Parents, fathers in particular, and teachers, might be encouraged to attend book groups themselves, in or out of the school, without children, so that they can develop a love of reading for themselves, which they can then pass on to the children.6. Teacher training should always include modules dedicated to developing the teachers' own appreciation of literature, so that when they come to read to the children or to recommend a book, it is meant, and the children know it. To use books simply as a teacher's tool is unlikely to convince many children that books are for them, particularly those that are failing already, many of whom will be boys.7.  The library in any school should have a dedicated librarian or teacher/librarian, be well resourced, and welcoming, the heart of every school.  Access to books and the encouragement of the habit of reading: these two things are the first and most necessary steps in education and librarians, teachers and parents all over the country know it. It is our children's right and it is also our best hope and their best hope for the future.
Nik Peachey

Nik's QuickShout: Becoming a Technology Teacher Trainer - 2 views

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    I'm really proud to announce the release of the second edition of my Digital Tools for Teachers ebook and also the Trainers' Edition which should enable any teacher with a basic knowledge of technology to run teacher training and development courses and sessions for pre-service and in-service teachers.
Dave Truss

ELT notes: IWBs and the Fallacy of Integration - 7 views

  • motivation and control. One seems to need the other, apparently. Keep the students motivated and you are a great teacher in control of the learning process. But we miss the point. Motivation has a short-term effect. New things will be old again. If we equal motivation with learning we will cling too much to it and direct our best efforts (and school budget) to gaining back control. A useless cycle that can lead us to consider extremely double-edged ideas like paying students to keep them learning.
  • We need autonomous, self-motivated students in love with the process of how humanity has learnt.
  • There is a underlying idea in the framing of our questions that needs unlearning. The belief that there are "levels", layers of complexity, hierarchies that we can detect and... well, control. But wait! Isn't that the very old way we want to truly change with new technologies?
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  • We already know it's about shifting power. Tight teacher control is a hindrance to foster empowered students who own their learning paths. We need to be aware of the old way finding its way to surface in what we question.
  • Tech is tech no matter what it does. It's innovative in its nature.
  • We can tell by the huge resistance to it. If there is no resistance in the process, we are probably facing improvements and weighing their gains in efficiency points. Good enough, only it is not an innovation. Innovation is not about "more or better", it's about "different".
  • What is the school picture today? What does my working context look like?I see an illusion that technology is to be bought, taught, used in class and then we can expect everyone to be happy. This false assumption seems to be guiding managerial decisions. This is the same old story behind the idea of technology "integration".
  • I doubt formal courses can make people adopt informal ways of learning. Courses could change teacher behaviour and leave their mindset untouched.
  • students are not digital natives. They know very little about educational uses of the technology they have been using for entertainment purposes only. They are quite ready to resist thoughtful, time consuming uses of the same technology. Particularly if they have had no part in choosing or deciding together with the teacher how we would use it.
  • First things first. Stay out of the tug-of-war. It is not a moment to think if the school is wrong in imposing it and teachers are right in resisting it. It's probably the moment to get together and go ahead purposefully. This is short-term thinking, though. Somehow teachers need to communicate to managers that the buy-don't-ask is an unhealthy approach from now on.
  • Ideally, we should envision a future where authorities engage teachers in conversations before buying.
  • Innovative teaching practices require innovative management practices. Let's think of adoption models that rely on having one-to-one conversations with teachers, experimenting together, asking them how far they feel they need mentoring, identifying what makes teachers happy at work.
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    We need autonomous, self-motivated students in love with the process of how humanity has learnt.
Vicki Davis

- 5 reasons schools need computing teachers with expertise in the subject - 2 views

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    Terry Freedman from the UK makes some great points about expertise in Computing. This is particularly relevant in the UK where every student age 5 and up is expected to be taught programming in school. (Wake up world.) Terry says: "Some Principals and Headteachers think that a good way around the problem of teaching computing is to not worry about whether teachers have subject knowledge at all. "All we need are facilitators", they say, "while the kids can teach themselves and each other." This is, as any teacher knows (or should know), easy to say, less easy to do, and not altogether the most desirable thing to do even if you can do it. However, just in case your school happens to be "led" by one of the aforementioned Headteachers, here are some arguments you may want to use. I think that any one of them should suffice, and all of them together make for a cast-iron case." Read more... this is a topic that will be increasingly discussed in other countries.
Martin Burrett

Managerialism in UK schools erodes teachers' mental health and well-being - 1 views

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    "Performance targets, increased workload, curriculum changes and other bureaucratic changes are eroding teachers' professional identity and harming their mental health, a new study in Educational Review finds. The study's authors interviewed 39 teachers across England and Wales who had experienced long term absence from work due to mental health problems, and six head, deputy and assistant head teachers who had dealt with mental health problems among staff."
Vicki Davis

Teaching Resources, Classroom Resources & Lesson Plans - TES Resources - 10 views

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    Bev Evans is very popular Special needs teacher in the UK who has shared over 500 free resources for teachers that she uses with her students. She has a child with special needs and is just a cool person. @tes_sen is her twitter handle. She is definitely one that special needs teachers want to follow.
Vicki Davis

Thermodynamics Teacher and Student Guides - Resources - TES - 1 views

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    This is a hands-on laboratory unit from the U.S. Department of Energy exploring the concepts of heat and movement. Teachers set up six laboratory stations that will introduce students to the basic concepts of thermodynamics, including atomic structure, atomic and molecular motion, states of matter, heat transfer, thermal expansion, specific heat, and heats of fusion and vaporization. It also includes a unit exam and teacher demonstrations.
Deb Henkes

TES iboard - 4 views

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    TESiboard resources are primarily open-ended tools that enable teachers to enagage their pupils in a learning dialogue around the resource. The resources are designed for use by the teacher on their interactive whiteboard but many are also suitable for pupil use, usually responding to a task or challenge set by the teacher.
Ed Webb

My third-class life | Michael Morpurgo | Comment is free | The Guardian - 4 views

  • It is quite true that in countries with highly successful school systems such as Finland teachers do have to be much better qualified than they are here, and that they have higher status, more respect. But this is also because children have a higher status there, more respect. It is also quite true that the class of a degree may be a useful means as part of the selection process, but only as part of the process.It is aptitude, the ability to enthuse, to communicate, to motivate, that is far more important than whether a ­candidate has a first- or third-class degree. And with this ability must come a love of the subject he or she is teaching. It's the one thing that reaches children, touches their hearts, awakens their intellect, when they see that a teacher really means it.
  • "We look forward to having you here. But there is one thing: as a teacher, you will have to curb your enthusiasm and exuberance."
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    Great children's author Michael Morpurgo on what makes a great teacher
Martin Burrett

Back to school essentials, for teachers - 4 views

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    There is so much publicity and marketing around for the 'Back to school' push, and here in the UK it starts back in June as retailers grapple to win custom. But students are not the only ones returning to school after a pro-longed break, so we asked teachers what their essential items are to buy, before returning back for another school year. Here are the top 15 items, in no particular order, and you can see the responses in the Storify summary...
Vicki Davis

BBC News - Diary of a Ysgol Friars maths teacher in Finland - 4 views

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    So, if you want to peek inside Finland, there are 3 videos on this BBC Wales site that will give you what you want. This Diary of a math teacher in Finland gives you a peek. There's also two other great videos "Let teachers teach, say Finns" and "Finland Classroom Success Secrets." You can embed these that I can find, so you'll need to share the links and watch them on the site. These short videos are just under 4 minutes and would be great to share in a staff meeting.
Vicki Davis

US teacher is suspended for letting pupils read bestseller | News | guardian.co.uk Books - 0 views

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    Class teacher is suspended for letting her students read freedom writers. I would love to have some opinions from other teachers.
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    This teacher was banned from using the freedom writers diary in her classroom and now has been suspended. I don't know all of the facts, however, I have to wonder why the school sent her to a Freedom Writers workshop and then wouldn't let her use the book. I do respect the desire to limit the profanity -- I wish that perhaps there was a explitive-free version of the book to handle this issue, however, it looks like this entire issue was mishandled. It grieves me as more issues like this seem to be happening in schools. I haven't read this book to have my own opinion, but would love to hear from some of you who have.
Vicki Davis

Cool Cat Teacher on Share My Lesson - 9 views

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    I'm testing the share my lesson site, in particular, the friending feature. I've friended some people that I know but was hoping that some of you who are planning to join the site  or are already there would friend me. (If you're doing common core, it is a must join to get free resources and lesson plans aligned to common core.) This is the sister site to the TES site out of the UK that I've been using for some time now and if you have a profile there, just log in with that and accept the terms to move things over. If you uploaded to the TES site, you'll want to move over those resources. Thanks for helping me test it.  Full disclosure, I've been doing work for TES and share my lesson for some time now. As you can tell, I do love what they are doing and their passion to help teachers mobilize and organize their own free content to share with others. the TES site uses the UK system and standards and now they've done the same thing in the US. Thanks for helping me test. (I would also appreciate someone sending me a message to see if that works too and you can message me any feedback and I'll pass it along.)
Anne Bubnic

Should schools teach Facebook? - 0 views

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    FACEBOOK, MySpace, YouTube and Wikipedia are considered valuable educational tools by some who embrace the learning potential of the internet; they are also seen as a massive distraction with no academic benefit by others. Research in Nottingham and Notts suggests split opinions over the internet in the classroom. Some 1,500 interviews with teachers, parents and students nationwide showed the 'net was an integral part of children's personal lives, with 57% of 13 to 18-year-olds in Notts using blogs in their spare time and 58% in Nottingham. More than 60% of Nottingham teens use social networking sites. They are a big feature of leisure time - but now the science version of You Tube, developed by academics at The University of Nottingham, has been honoured in the US this week. The showcase of science videos shares the work of engineers and students online. However just a quarter of teachers use social networking tools in the classroom and their teaching, preferring to leave children to investigate outside school.
Vicki Davis

Curriculum changes could spark supply crisis - news - TES - 4 views

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    The US is not the only country in government educational induced turmoil. Here is an overview of what is happening in England right now. "Make teachers redundant or have them teach subjects they are not trained in - that is the stark choice cash-strapped secondaries will face if national curriculum changes proposed this week are introduced, ministers are being warned. The bleak scenario is predicted by heads' leaders and teacher recruitment experts if the Government follows the recommendation of its national curriculum review expert panel to make history, geography and modern foreign languages compulsory for all 11 to 16-year-olds from 2014."
C CC

Teachers Encouraged to Develop EdTech | UKEdChat.com - Supporting the #UKEdChat Educati... - 3 views

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    UK teachers urged to develop edtech relevant for their use - win £3,000
C CC

UKEd Mag: February - Issue 02 | UKEdChat.com - Supporting the #UKEdChat Education Commu... - 1 views

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    Tom Bigglestone, who explores the benefits of Philosophy for Children (P4C). Chris Healey, who write about homework in the digital Age. John Pearce, advocates that teachers pledge a pedagogical oath. James Abela gives us a global perspective, writing about his experience in Thailand. Andy Knill waves the flag for the SOLO Taxonomy. UKEdChat Exclusive feature asked teachers what jobs they do if quit the profession. Martin Burrett tells of various highlights observed at BETT this year. Sharon Jones debates how debating can benefit pupils. David Moody shares some Stickmen without Arms! Tina Watson explains how she supports pupils to fill the blank pages. Leon Cych gives tips on how to produce professional video and audio with pupils. We review the book "The Philosophy Shop", edited by Peter Worley.
Martin Burrett

Book: Dare to be different by @WillRyan3 - 0 views

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    "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."
Vicki Davis

Face Britain: The UK's largest art gallery - 4 views

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    The goal of this site is to have a self portrait of every child in Britain. If you're in the UK, you'll want to participate. I like that there are instructions for parents and teachers because sometimes students are at a school that doesn't "have time" for such things. Cool Project.
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