Generation Next

on May 21, 2013

Looking for some juicy articles as they relate to the youth of today from a leading research company?  Then look no further than Generation Next.

There are some awesome blog posts and articles to read and they run regular conferences and host discussions.

In particular you might be interested in an article on the blog recently Who’s Looking After the Teachers?  The article is very short and does not pose any new questions or solutions, but it is in the discussions that some interesting points often get raised.

Check out Generation Next and subscribe to their newsletter to get some often juicy sparking updates.

Filed Under: Teaching

Quick Halloween update

on October 28, 2012

After some fabulous Halloween activities?

Check out the amazing work of Rachelle over at Tinkerlab she’s got your back!

Filed Under: Teaching

The Science of Learning

on March 6, 2012

Meet the neurologist who was inspired to retrain as an educator and apply what she knew about the brain and take that to the classroom. Dr Judy Willis on the Science of Learning.

If you don’t have 11 minutes to spare, here are my takeaways.

 

  • The Science of Boredom (1 min 30 sec) – alleviate stress/boredom to deactivate hyperactivity in the amygdala.
  • Arouse curiosity (3 min 10 sec)
  • Focusing Students’ Attention in the Classroom (4 min 10 sec) – use colour, & props to get engagement and focus.
  • The Importance of Creating a Safe Environment (5 min 32 sec) – only the person who thinks, learns.  Students must participate, answer questions.  Judy uses personal whiteboards for private participation without risk of mistakes.
  • Preparing Students for the 21st Century (7 min) – most of what we are teaching now is obsolete by the time they enter workforce!  Teach kids executive function - judgment, critical analysis, evaluation, problem solving, risk assessment – not just facts.
  • Lessons Learned from Video Games (8 min 52 sec) – very interesting analysis of the progression of learning involved in playing video games and the applications to classroom learning…hmmmm!

 

Filed Under: brain behaviour, Teaching Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Christmas Around the World – Germany

on November 21, 2011

I wanted to make the end of year a little less stressful and thought it would be fun if we could take a trip around the world to see how other countries celebrate Christmas.  You could use these small lessons as a lead up to Christmas.

Frohe Weihnacht from Germany!

Gift Giver : Christkind (Christ child) and Weihnachtsmann (Christmas man)

Local Customs :  Christbaumgeback, Nikolaustag, Knecht Rupprecht, Pelznickle, Ru-Klas,

Many western Christmas traditions started in Germany. 

Legend says that in the early 1500’s, people in Germany combined two customs. The Paradise tree (a fir tree decorated with apples) represented the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. The Christmas Light, a small pyramid-like frame, usually decorated with glass balls and tinsel and with a candle on top, was a symbol of the birth of Christ as the Light of the World. The tree’s apples were swapped for tinsel balls and cookies with the Light placed on top, created the tree that many of us know now.

Christmas preparations often begin before December 1st. Many Germans set aside special evenings for baking spiced cakes and cookies, and making gifts and decorations. Little dolls of fruit are traditional Christmas toys.

Children leave letters on their windowsills for Christkind, a winged figure dressed in white robes and a golden crown who distributes gifts. Sometimes the letters are decorated with glue and sprinkled with sugar to make them sparkle.

Germans make beautiful gingerbread houses and cookies. The German Christmas treepastry, Christbaumgeback, is a white dough that can be molded into shapes and baked for tree decorations. 

On December 6 is Nikolaustag, St. Claus day. A shoe or boot is left outside the door on Dec.5 with hopes the following morning you find presents, if you were good – or, unfortunately a rod if you had been bad.

In parts of Germany, people believe that the Christ Child sends a messenger in Christmas Eve. He appears as an angel in a white robe and crown, bearing gifts. The angel is called Christkind. There is also a Christmas Eve figure called Weihnachtsmann or Christmas Man, he looks like Santa Claus and also brings gifts.

It is the Christkind who brings the presents, accompanied by one of its many devilish companions, Knecht Rupprecht, Pelznickle, Ru-Klas, or one of the other monstrous playmates created by this nation, which is known for its fairy tales.

Some homes in Germany have several Christmas trees, and in all towns across Germany, they can be seen glittering and glowing.

In Germany they lay out advent wreaths of Holly with four red candles in the center. They light one candle each Sunday and last on Christmas Eve. Children count the days until Christmas using an Advent calendar. They open one window each day and find a Christmas picture inside.

In Germany the traditional visitor is the Christkindl who is the Christ Child’s messenger. She is a beautiful fair-haired girl with a shining crown of candles who visits each house with a basket of presents.

In some homes a room is locked up before Christmas. On Christmas Eve the children go to bed but are woken up at midnight by their parents and taken down to the locked room. The door is opened and they see the tree all lit up, with piles of parcels on little tables.

In Germany boys dress up as kings and carry a star round the village, singing carols.

Activity ideas:

  • Advent calendars are great fun – there are so many of them in shops now with little treats and chocolates inside – what about making a class advent calendar?  Allocate each child a number (you may need to double up or fill in the gaps depending on how big your class is) and ask them to decorate a small bag or envelope with the number, then pop in a nice note wishing somebody well and a small trinket – it could be an eraser (smiggle has great ones!), pencil, nice pen, keyring, etc.  Just something small, and maybe a sweet too!  Then each day you select a child to get the advent of the day.
  • Gingerbread houses are great fun to make whether you are game enough to tackle real gingerbread, or simply cardboard templates to decorate.

 

Sources:
www.thehistoryofchristmas.com
www.santas.net
www.whychristmas.com

http://www.bfeedme.com/gingerbread-house/

Filed Under: Christmas around the world, Teaching Tagged With: , ,

Do we still need to teach handwriting?

on November 8, 2011

A guest blogger for The Guardian Teacher Network Blog, Kenny Pieper posed an interesting argument regarding the relevance of teaching handwriting in an (to use a cliche) electronic era following the discovery of some of his old handwritten school notebooks in his parent’s house.

Loveletters, thankyou notes, invitations, shopping lists….all replaced by text, email, twitter, facebook and iPhone apps!  Kenny posits “It’s dying out though, isn’t it? Beyond the classroom, we just don’t write with a pen or pencil any more, do we?” and “Before I started teaching I don’t recall picking up a pen in any meaningful way.”

So, what then, is the point of painstaking hours of learning to form letters by hand.  Practicing over and over again, a ‘dying’ art form?  Ahh…the artfulness!

Handwriting enhances the development of hand/eye co-ordination and fine motor skills - irrefutable.  However it is the individual creative expression of our very own style of handwriting that will perhaps be “the most personal, creative, individual thing [students] will ever learn to do.” claims Pieper and  I naturally agree wholeheartedly!

So whilst my 15 year old son creates a shopping list for me that takes several passes for me to decode, he types faster and more accurately with 4 fingers than I did at the height of my professional career as a PA!

Yes, the keyboard, keypad, touchpad, and voice to text may have reduced handwriting opportunities to classroom notebooks ~ the creativity and artfulness of learning to develop your own style of signature and scrawl remain.

Vivre créativement!

Filed Under: Creativity, Teaching Tagged With: , ,

5 Teaching strategies that make great classrooms…

on November 7, 2011

The University of London’s Institute of Education has been conducting research into what makes an “excellent” teacher.

Professor Iram Siraj-Blatchford, professor of education at the Institute, says that… “it’s a bundle of behaviours working together that can make a difference to children’s development and, therefore, their life chances. All children benefit from classrooms like this but disadvantaged children benefit most of all.” she says.

Individually the behaviours are not ‘rocket science’ however it is the combination that produces the fireworks that transform children’s outcomes.

What are the 5 teacher behaviors that benefit children most in the classroom?

  1. Excellent Organisational Skills – teachers make sure all children understand learning objectives and concepts, well organised resources, and smooth routines.
  2. Positive Classroom Climate – happy, respectful classrooms.
  3. Personalised Teaching – sensitive to individual needs and provision of resources to match.  Linking classroom learning with the world outside.
  4. Dialogic Teaching & Learning – harness the power of discussion to extend and stimulate student thinking to advance learning and understanding.
  5. Group Activity and Discussion – the use of plenaries to recap the lesson, provide feedback and challenge thinking.
Excerpt from Guardian Teacher Network Blog article – Good to Great Classrooms do…  Visit the Guardian Teacher Network site for additional teacher resources and information.
Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: , , , , , , ,