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Tom Barrett has produced this wonderful Google Docs slideshow outlining, as the title suggests, 33 interesting ways to use your interactive whiteboard. It’s a fantastic resource that Tom intends to keep updated with new tips, so keep an eye on it and bookmark it, or even better: get in touch with Tom to contribute to it!

The article calls for viewing PCK as neither a subcategory of subject matter (subject matter knowledge for teaching) nor as a general generic form of knowledge. It presents a view of PCK as a collection of teacher professional constructions, as a form of knowledge that preserves the planning and wisdom of practice that the teacher acquires when repeatedly teaching a certain topic

The ideas presented feel like they make sense at the time. But if the ideas do not challenge us in a fundamental way, they might not be being processed deeply enough to lead to any lasting learning.

Such environments may lead us into having a false level of confidence in our understanding of complex concepts. Glossy, high production value resources have been shown to give people an inflated sense of understanding.

So a key way to harness confusion when you are challenged with new concepts or ideas, is to recognise that confusion exists. Be comfortable with this, but seek to resolve it

omework is a link from school to home that keeps parents informed about what the school is teaching, gives them a chance to participate in their children's schooling, and helps to keep the schools accountable to parents. Not to assign homework is to exclude parents from playing an active role in their children's academic development."

Our students deserve more imaginative thinking than that. And all of our students deserve an educational environment which moves us toward equality of opportunity, not further away from that.

Provide students with opportunities to become engaged with the topic;

Establish what students already know about the topic;

Further stimulate the students curiosity;

Teaching strategies Activity 1: Using folding to test for lines of symmetry is a hands-on activity that allows students to explore the meaning of the concept 'line of symmetry'. Activity 2: Identifying lines of symmetry is a diagnostic resource sheet that allows teachers to identify if students have misconceptions. It can also be used as a source of ideas for the range of examples that should be presented to students. Activity 3: Symmetry in the environment allows students to relate ideas about symmetry to real-world examples. Activity 4: Silly faces uses computer software to create pictures that reveal how symmetrical we are.