According to a Harvard study of communication, it only takes seven seconds to make a first impression. Your classroom environment communicates many things about your teaching style, and the learning going on in the classroom. Ron Ritchhart asserts your classroom environment sends messages to your students about what you value, how you think learning happens […]
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Team teaching can be both an incredible privilege and challenge all at the same time! One teacher recently described team teaching as going on a blind date and getting married! And it can be like that. However, with some simple structures and strategies team teaching can be the best teaching years of your career. Let’s […]
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If your teen is in their exam years it can be a very stressful time – for both of you. Exams are not the be all and end all for your teen and these years are a great way to help prepare them for the world of employment in the years ahead. Life can at […]
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If great thinking & learning is a part of your agenda for your students, it seems obvious, you need to give them opportunities to think & learn. Ron Ritchhart describes this as ‘Crafting the Vehicles for Learning’. He goes on to say, “Without the right vehicles, learning slows down, loses momentum and in some cases […]
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“What feedback did you receive today to help you in your learning?” is a power question I recently heard John Hattie ask – one that he asked his own children after school. So I asked my Miss 16. “Nothing” was the continual reply. I was curious… Couple this with a post I saw on social media (right) […]
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According to Ron Ritchhart, seeing ourselves through our students’ eyes is the key to being a great model for thinking. He describes two types of modelling in the classroom. The first is explicit modelling. This is when you are demonstrating and showing a process or procedure that you want the student to adopt. The second […]
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To be great citizens of the world, with so many ideas, points of view and perceptions, being able to disagree respectfully is important. As humans, we have a desire to be ‘right.’ Have you ever been in an argument and half way through you realised you were wrong? What did you do? Most people report […]
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This time of year is stressful for students as exams are looming and often the reality sets in that they really don’t know how to study. Yesterday I was asked to help a Year 11 student with an important test coming up in 2 days. Her parents reported that she has been distracted with a TV […]
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Your brain loves anything that is funny, different or has a novelty value. Memories that stay with us for a lifetime are those that link with many other memories, and have a ‘slightly weird twist.’ Anything ‘peculiar’ will stand out in your mind. Any ‘one offs’ will also be memorable if they have novelty value […]
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I was recently asked to write an opinion piece for a national newspaper about the future of exams… here is my response… The world is changing and our education system needs to evolve with it. Our current education system was established to create employees, from the manufacturing model of the nineteenth and 20th centuries. The […]
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