One of the key differences that exist between learning environments in primary school classrooms and those in many secondary schools is the use of the classroom display space. Too often secondary school classrooms can be uninspiring places to walk into, so spare a thought for the students who have to put up with it. To... Continue Reading →
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 →
In another post, I presented a case why teachers should seek feedback from their students. In deciding to seek feedback from students, it is important that it is worthwhile for both the teacher and the student. Firstly, from the student’s perspective, they need to feel comfortable in having a voice in your class and know... Continue Reading →
The use of video is an excellent way to support teacher coaching and improvement. In John Hattie’s meta analysis of factors influencing effective teaching, micro teaching (video recording lessons) was in the top 10 strategies used by teachers that have the biggest impact on student learning. Yet despite this evidence plus better and more affordable... Continue Reading →
In order to have teachers and leaders spend quality discussion time that centers on improving student learning, a number of pre-conditions have to be met. Each individual teacher is different and therefore a variety of needs may need to satisfied by school leaders in order for teachers to engage in the in the types of... Continue Reading →
Schools give plenty of thought to the professional learning and development that they wish to provide for their staff. Discussions center on the learning that needed to support both the goals of the school, the changes it wishes to see and, in many cases, the individual needs of the staff. Schools have designed their own... Continue Reading →
How teachers are treated is always a good topic to ignite discussion, with many different stakeholders in education weighing in with strong opinions. A few days ago I read an interesting article on Tech Crunch titled 'Why we should treat teachers like software engineers?' Some of the salient points from the article included: Teacher pay... Continue Reading →
I just stumbled across this blog post about the visual anatomy of a great teacher and it got me thinking back to the first day of my teaching practicum, where my supervisor handed me a list of 10 things about being a great teacher. I no longer have the list but I remember of of... Continue Reading →
