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By Allan Alach
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come
across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz
This week’s homework!
How to really change education — excerpt from
Sir Ken Robinson’s new book
We’re teaching our kids wrong:
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates do not
have the answers
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| Gates and Jobs |
“A
close look inside the classroom door suggests that in the past 150 years we
have come to think, perhaps without realizing it, that the purpose of education
is to make money. Though going to school hugely increases a child’s chance of earning a decent wage in adulthood, that fact need not,
and should not, define our thinking about what and how children should learn.
Decent wages may be a very desirable outcome of attending school. But that
doesn’t mean that money should be the
goal of education or the measure of its success.”
The myopia boom
This article has ramifications for children
during school hours.
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“Ian
Morgan, a myopia researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra,
estimates that children need to spend around three hours per day under light
levels of at least 10,000 lux to be protected against myopia. This is about the
level experienced by someone under a shady tree, wearing sunglasses, on a
bright summer day.”
Learning
Modalities
Another rebuttal
of the learning styles myth.
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“What the
research has shown is that when you use all modalities all learners learn
better! This is really a boon for teachers, since instead of feeling like you
need to test each of your students for their strengths and then designing
separate lessons for each type learner, now what you are best off doing is
designing lessons that utilize all modalities. The more modalities you use, the
more all students will do better.”
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Abracadabra! Put The Magic In Teaching
“Let’s use the wonder of creation for children to have magical
experiences that may or may not be tied to standards, even for an hour a month?
A week? A day? I guarantee my students will always remember having live spiders
in the classroom, building a giant peach, and conducting a pumpkin museum.
These experiences bring the magic back into learning.”
Stop
Penalizing Boys for Not Being Able to Sit Still at School
“In an attempt
to get at what actually works for boys in education, Dr. Michael Reichert and
Dr. Richard Hawley, in partnership with the International Boys' School
Coalition, launched a study
called Teaching Boys: A Global Study of Effective
Practices, published in 2009. The study looked at boys in the United States,
United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, in schools of
varying size, both private and public, that enroll a wide range of boys of
disparate races and income levels.”
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| Boys tug pontails! |
Children with
ADHD 'learn better when fidgeting’
Following on…
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“The actions of
fidgeting children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have
frequently been labeled as disruptive in the past, but a new study suggests
that they may be essential for these children when it comes to learning at
school. Children with ADHD could perform better at school if they are allowed
to move, the study suggests. Researchers from the University of Central Florida
(UCF) have found that excessive movement characteristic of attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) helps children with the condition to retain
information and work out complex cognitive tasks.”
Are We
Training Our Students to be Robots?
This article isn’t
as depressing as the title might suggest; however it does flag issues that need
to be considered.
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| Modern learning environment |
But what if
there’s a darker story? What if we’re really training our students to be robots?”
This week’s contributions from Bruce Hammonds:
Resources for
Developing Questioning Skills in Your Students
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Bruce’s
comment: Resources for developing questioning skills with your students – aligns
well with the NZ Curriculum ideal of ‘students seeking, using and creating their own
knowledge.’
“Teachers are
always on the lookout for ways to foster great questioning skills. Here are
some useful and fun sites, an infographic, and some apps to help you along.”
What is a Performance Task?
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| Jay McTighe |
“When used as assessments, performance tasks enable teachers to gauge
student understanding and proficiency with complex processes (e.g., research,
problem solving, and writing), not just measure discrete knowledge. They are
well suited to integrating subject areas and linking content knowledge with the
21st Century Skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration,
communication, and technology use. Moreover, performance-based assessment can
also elicit Habits of Mind, such as precision and perseverance.”
5 Great Educational Resources for Modern
Classroom
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Bruce’s comment: For
those involved in technology in the classroom – 5 great
educational resources to consider.
“In the digital age, many innovative organizations have branched off
into educational initiatives, and their timing couldn’t be better. Recognizing the need for visual literacy, digital
citizenship practices, and guided ed-tech implementation, many of these
organizations strive to offer our students and teachers versatile tools and the
most rewarding experiences possible with them. The following 5 educational resources in this
article represent exactly the types of learning environments
that are meant for today’s students.”
4 Terrific Blended Learning Projects for
Your Students
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“There are many benefits of using the blended learning methodology in
the classroom, but many teachers lack the experience of using technology to
help their students. For these teachers, incorporating blended learning
projects into the classroom can be a difficult and frustrating experience. Here are four ideas for easy ways to start implementing blended
learning projects into the classroom.”
From Bruce’s “goldie oldie” file:
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| Worth thinking about! |
“Ask most people what they would consider fundamental in education
and they would probably say 'the three Rs' or, in,today's, speak literacy and
numeracy. Certainly this is the view of our current conservatist government.
But , like most simplistic answers , if people give the question more thought,
more enlightened answers come to mind. Learning to interpret and express ideas
about ones experiences is the basis of all learning from the moment one is born.”
Principals suffering from HAS Syndrome?
“Schools now suffer from the label they give to their their students
'ADD' – 'Attention Deficit Disorder' unable to focus on what is important to
them – or, more importantly, what is important to the wider community if we
want to develop a sustainable creative country. All too often schools have
become inward looking and competitive, turning themselves in to ‘Christmas
Tree – look at me schools' with fancy brochures and doubtful narrow success
achievement graphs.” .jpg)
Are you a risk taker? Either you are or
you aren't. It seems who dares wins. What might this mean for schools?
“In a blame culture people are scared to step outside the norms. So it is only brave organization that takes on the brilliant
mavericks and they are wise enough not to want them to fit in. They want them
to help them see the world with new eyes. So it seems it is important to
develop cultures which makes challenge possible.”
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