6 Key Elements to Effective Leadership Effective leadership is not only essential for the success of any organisation, it is also critical for the development of its members. As a school principal, your primary responsibility is to create an environment that fosters your students’ academic, social, and emotional growth. To do this, you must lead […]

Study is the process of learning what you need to know to pass a test or an exam. Passing the test or exam is a way to get the qualification you require to move forward in your goals and journey. Often the information learned is forgotten the next day or week as the learning focus […]

Differentiation means tailoring the teaching and learning to meet individual student needs. It is the ability to modify and adapt within your classroom in several main areas. These include the content, process, products and the environment, as well as assessment and flexible grouping. Teachers in many countries I visit and work with are not as fortunate […]

Project-based learning through Genius Hour provides a structure to help students succeed. There are three main components to Genius Hour. Research: Students must research something. Students cannot spend time going over the information they already know. The key is learning and as a bi-product of this, learning and refining research skills. Create: Students have to […]

Do you have a learning culture in your classroom and school? This might seem to be a pointless question, schools are for learning. That’s what students go there for. Learning is what happens in a school. Isn’t it? Ponder this: Do your students arrive to class learning ready? Do they have note-taking tools ready? Are […]

Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Anyone growing up in the eighties (and beyond) will have grown up in the self-esteem era. In the 1980s, psychologists showed that high self-esteem equated to high grades at school and students with lower self-esteem tended […]

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” Lao Tzu I love questions that send my thinking in circles. One such dilemma is the question: Which happens first […]

There is growing talk in education circles about empowering students to be self-directed in their learning. Whilst there is much talk, the actual implementation of this takes years of scaffolding and planning, as well as a true understanding and change in the role of the teacher within the learning environment. This, of course, is an […]

Being able to take a risk is central to being able to be a learner in a classroom. Learning requires students to move from their comfort zone, the known, into the growth zone or the unknown. Yet for many this can be a scary prospect. In their extensive research, Prof. Art Costa and Dr Bena […]

Being aware of your own thoughts, strategies, feelings and actions and their effects on others is what metacognition is about. It’s about knowing what you know and don’t know. The ability to take the balcony view, to look down upon yourself and reflect on your behaviour, ask internal questions and develop mental maps and plans […]