2013 - a new year with new opportunities...

A new year with new opportunities to continue to build the potential of what our programmes offer our students. Here are some things on the way that we are phasing into the operation of our school and classroom during this year:

 

Fibre connection which will open up increased capability for connected learning...

 

Upgraded wireless system to handle the fibre connection...

 

Online structured environment in which our students will be able to innovate and showcase their work in a managed way... checked out the beginning of this via the senior teams classroom blog pages linked off our website...

 

An increased number of iPad mini's provided by the school so we can give every student an equal opportunity to access and utilise our online learning resources...

 

SOLO Taxonomy (structure of observed learning outcomes) provides a simple, reliable and robust model for three levels of understanding – surface deep and conceptual (Biggs and Collis 1982). So simple yet so effective in scaffolding students thinking...

uLearn reflection...

Notes, thoughts, ideas...words like what, how and why - were all bouncing around in my head from ulearn12 while preparing for an ERO (Education Review Office) visit in the first week of November which, now that we're through that, I thought that it was time to share some key points which I hope will provoke your own thinking... 

Jason Ohler

• What can we do differently at school for our students? Kids should have 1 life - not 2 - they shouldn't go home to learn!  
• A concern is just a negatively stated goal. 
• Whatever you do - go tell your story!

 I loved the thinking of flipping the 'concern into a goal!'

  Pam Hook - Solo Taxonomy

• To learn something, you have to disrupt something you know
• 3 levels of understanding  
• surface - knowing heaps of stuff 
• deep - relating ideas 
• conceptual - extending ideas

“Learning to learn” requires the learner to think about the strengths and weaknesses of their own thinking when they are learning and to make thoughtful decisions on what to do next. We are excited about this simple, yet powerful model of learning and the possibilities it has of further enriching our learning pathways!

 

 Glenn Capelli

• in a spint paced world we need to sit & notice - 'scratch' time - where do you go scratching??
• best place to go 'scratching' is with each other
• Discipline is about disrupting the disruption so that learning can continue (Michael Grinder)
• "A tiger is a student who will stretch you and have you to think and teach in different ways."

Funnily enough this idea of 'scratch time' was something I had just been reading. We all get so busy in our work that it is sometimes hard to find the time to go deep with your thinking about something. The time and space for reflection is precious!

 

Mike Scaddan - Brain Stems

• Know what you do well!
• What is your role if you want today to be a successful learning experience?
• Passive?
• Active?

• Your footprints in the sand show not only where you have been but also where you are heading to.
• How good are you at seeing your potential?? At seeing your students potential??
• 2-3 people in your life who speak the 'positives' to you - who have you got in your personal life / professional life??
• Many of these thoughts are non conscious. However, because of the negative to positive ratio, they can have significant effect on our conscious beliefs and performance.
• Ongoing failure or successes and repeated practice creates 'permanent' performance and attitudinal beliefs. These beliefs become us.