Teacher and school leader workload is an issue that does not go away and receives a significant amount of attention in the media and in educational publications. Efforts have been made in many school communities to improve teacher wellbeing yet the issue of workload does not go away. The issue itself is such a strong... Continue Reading →
Students have to own their goals
The best improvements come in small, incremental steps, what Sir Dave Brailsford from the Team Sky professional cycling team calls a “marginal gains approach’. More importantly goals need to be driven by the student. What does the student want to achieving in the long-term? What does that mean for the medium-term? So, no apply short-term... Continue Reading →
Are we working too hard in schools to have it all?
With an increase in findings from education research, more education books that tell us about what we should be doing in schools alongside so many professional learning opportunities, it is worth considering, where do we start with change in our schools? Certainly, the context of our schools, what is going well and what students need... Continue Reading →
We need web literacy for teachers not just students
This talk from Alan November got me thinking further to a post that I wrote called: Avoiding “Just Google it!” with your students. One of the points in Alan's talk refers to the need to explicitly teach web literacy skills to students in schools. Upon reflection, I too am short of some techniques in... Continue Reading →
10 ways that teachers can support students with academic honesty
Last week I wrote about the need to support students with academic honesty in their studies and explained some of the reasons why students may engage in academic malpractice. Solely having a rulebook, punitive approach to dealing with academic malpractice is not supportive of students in developing the important habits associated with academic honesty. School... Continue Reading →
Achieving student academic honesty starts with understanding the problem
As students move upwards through the secondary school one could argue that the academic achievement stakes become higher with students and parents eagerly seeking placement at a good college / university. Subsequently, there is significant interest in students achieving the highest marks possible. The media has given much exposure to security breaches surrounding the SAT,... Continue Reading →