http://www.edutopia.org/sir-ken-robinson-creativity-part-two-video
This is an interesting, thought provoking talk.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Athletics- Field Events
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Learning to learn
Unfortunately I was unable to attend Guy Claxton's address at the university this Friday due to commitments to the ERO visit. However I delved into the notes that I have taken previously and put them together. Food for thought.....Guy Claxton author of 'What's the Point of School', a book that examines why our current school system is failing so many children and how we might put it right.
Claxton's first priority is to create enthusiastic learners who can thrive in our complicated world.'Learnacy', he believes is more important than literacy and numeracy'.
Guy Claxton believes that teachers need to focus on how they relate to students in their classrooms. What is important , he writes, are the values embodied in how they talk, what they notice, the activities they design, the environments they create, and the examples they set day after day. These represent the culture of the class.
Every lesson invites students to use certain habits of mind, and to shelve others. The 'key competencies' ( or 'dispositions'), he says, are not a whole new thing but are an attempt to prioritize the 'habits of mind' young people are going to need to thrive in the 21stC. For some teachers, he continues, 'key competencies' are merely making explicit what they already do.
In his book 'Whats the Point of School' he outlines what good learners do (as against being a 'successful' students). He has sorted the dispositions of good learners into what he calls his magnificent eight'.Teachers need to encourage all of them.
1 Powerful learners are curious. They are born curious and are drawn to learning. They wonder about things, and know how to ask productive questions. They enjoy the process of wondering and questioning. Curious people, however, can be demanding and skeptical of what they're told.
2 Confidant learners have courage. They are not afraid of uncertainty and complexity. They have the confidence to say, 'I don't know?' - which is always a precursor to, 'lets find out'. They are willing to take risks and try new things. They 'stick' with things and 'bounce back' when things go wrong. They also know when to give up. They have 'mental toughness' or resilience.
3 Powerful learners are good at exploration and investigation they like finding out and are good at seeking and gathering information. They take the time to attend carefully and do not jump to conclusions. They are good at 'sifting' ideas and trust their ability to tell 'good evidence'.
4 Powerful learners requires experimentation. This is the virtue of trying things out to see if it works, or just to see what happens. They make mistakes, keeping what works for 'next time'. They like adjusting things, enjoy admiring their work in progress, and seeing how they can continually improve things. They say, 'lets try'...and, 'what if?' And they also know the importance of practice.
5 Powerful learners have imagination. They know how to use their 'inner world' to explore possibilities. They know how to make use of 'mental rehearsals' of how they might act.They also know how to relax and let idea come to them, finding links and connections ; they have a good feeling of 'rightness'.
6 The creativity of imagination needs to yoked to discipline. They have the ability to think carefully, rigorously and methodically. They are good at 'hard thinking' and ask, 'how come'? They are good at creating explanations, making plans, crafting ideas, and making predictions based on their evidence. They are also open to serendipity and to changing their minds if necessary.
7 Powerful learners know the virtue of sociability. They are happy collaborating and sharing their ideas and resources. They are good members of groups able to help groups solve problems. They are able to both give their views, receive feedback, and listen respectfully to others.
8 Powerful learners are reflective. They are able to step back and take stock of progress. They are able to mull over their actions and consider how they might have done things differently. Good learners are self aware, able to contemplate their actions to continually 'grow their learning power'.
Claxton believes that his 'magnificent eight' are both specific enough, and general enough, to cover most of the positive learning behaviours ( 'key competencies') we need to encourage, both as teachers and parents.
They seem to me to be the 'dispositions' that we would want of our teachers as well?
Claxton's first priority is to create enthusiastic learners who can thrive in our complicated world.'Learnacy', he believes is more important than literacy and numeracy'.
Guy Claxton believes that teachers need to focus on how they relate to students in their classrooms. What is important , he writes, are the values embodied in how they talk, what they notice, the activities they design, the environments they create, and the examples they set day after day. These represent the culture of the class.
Every lesson invites students to use certain habits of mind, and to shelve others. The 'key competencies' ( or 'dispositions'), he says, are not a whole new thing but are an attempt to prioritize the 'habits of mind' young people are going to need to thrive in the 21stC. For some teachers, he continues, 'key competencies' are merely making explicit what they already do.
In his book 'Whats the Point of School' he outlines what good learners do (as against being a 'successful' students). He has sorted the dispositions of good learners into what he calls his magnificent eight'.Teachers need to encourage all of them.
1 Powerful learners are curious. They are born curious and are drawn to learning. They wonder about things, and know how to ask productive questions. They enjoy the process of wondering and questioning. Curious people, however, can be demanding and skeptical of what they're told.
2 Confidant learners have courage. They are not afraid of uncertainty and complexity. They have the confidence to say, 'I don't know?' - which is always a precursor to, 'lets find out'. They are willing to take risks and try new things. They 'stick' with things and 'bounce back' when things go wrong. They also know when to give up. They have 'mental toughness' or resilience.
3 Powerful learners are good at exploration and investigation they like finding out and are good at seeking and gathering information. They take the time to attend carefully and do not jump to conclusions. They are good at 'sifting' ideas and trust their ability to tell 'good evidence'.
4 Powerful learners requires experimentation. This is the virtue of trying things out to see if it works, or just to see what happens. They make mistakes, keeping what works for 'next time'. They like adjusting things, enjoy admiring their work in progress, and seeing how they can continually improve things. They say, 'lets try'...and, 'what if?' And they also know the importance of practice.
5 Powerful learners have imagination. They know how to use their 'inner world' to explore possibilities. They know how to make use of 'mental rehearsals' of how they might act.They also know how to relax and let idea come to them, finding links and connections ; they have a good feeling of 'rightness'.
6 The creativity of imagination needs to yoked to discipline. They have the ability to think carefully, rigorously and methodically. They are good at 'hard thinking' and ask, 'how come'? They are good at creating explanations, making plans, crafting ideas, and making predictions based on their evidence. They are also open to serendipity and to changing their minds if necessary.
7 Powerful learners know the virtue of sociability. They are happy collaborating and sharing their ideas and resources. They are good members of groups able to help groups solve problems. They are able to both give their views, receive feedback, and listen respectfully to others.
8 Powerful learners are reflective. They are able to step back and take stock of progress. They are able to mull over their actions and consider how they might have done things differently. Good learners are self aware, able to contemplate their actions to continually 'grow their learning power'.
Claxton believes that his 'magnificent eight' are both specific enough, and general enough, to cover most of the positive learning behaviours ( 'key competencies') we need to encourage, both as teachers and parents.
They seem to me to be the 'dispositions' that we would want of our teachers as well?
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Stanley Avenue's core values- Student voice
I believe one of the most powerful (if not the most powerful) ways to gauge a School's learning environment is through student voice. This week a visiting ERO team worked with a range of our students asking questions about learning, what they enjoyed about School and what the School's values meant to them. Here is a small selection of their feedback:
• “Friends and teachers are always friendly and always there for us”
• “The School is like a big family”
• “Having friends that respect you for who you are”
• “We aren’t afraid to make mistakes because our teachers and classmates don’t pick on us and encourage us to keep trying”
These comments are reflected in the word cloud that I collected by asking the students "What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of Stanley Avenue School?"
• “Friends and teachers are always friendly and always there for us”
• “The School is like a big family”
• “Having friends that respect you for who you are”
• “We aren’t afraid to make mistakes because our teachers and classmates don’t pick on us and encourage us to keep trying”
These comments are reflected in the word cloud that I collected by asking the students "What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of Stanley Avenue School?"
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Future Thinking...
This morning I finally took the hint that my wife had been trying to get across to me the last few months....Sort through the School stuff in the spare room! Now, being a hoarder by nature the sort turned into a arghhhhhh I remember that book!
An article that I found buried was written by Ian Jukes and is called 'Facing the Future'. It is a very interesting and thought provoking read. He talks about the future for our chlidren. Here is a quick quote that sums up the theme of the article.
"None of the top jobs that will be available in 2020 exist today, and that these jobs are jobs that will require workers to use technology that hasn't been invented yet to solve problems that we haven't even thought out yet"
he goes on to say that "students attending university will find that half or more of what they learned will be obsolete, outdated, or just plain wrong on the day they graduate" He uses the example of Sony.
The production cycle for Sony products is currently 7 days from idea to first prototype. And you think that's fast- Sony regularly replaces their products on a 90 day cycle- 90 days on the market and the product is replaced with a new and improved model. Their motto is 'Today let's put ourselves out of business because if we don't, someone else will'!!
So what does this mean? Or more importantly what does this mean as we at Stanley Avenue look towards forming our curriculum and a picture of our 'leaver'?
-Co-operative, team players
-Problem seekers- solvers
-Goal setters- Students 'in charge of their learning'
-Researchers
-Thinkers (know what to do when they don't know what to do!)
-Creative, innovative thinkers
-Empathy, caring (make a positive difference)
The list goes on. What do you think? Share here on the blog, or come in your a chat. By the way if you are curious the room has still not been cleaned......
An article that I found buried was written by Ian Jukes and is called 'Facing the Future'. It is a very interesting and thought provoking read. He talks about the future for our chlidren. Here is a quick quote that sums up the theme of the article.
"None of the top jobs that will be available in 2020 exist today, and that these jobs are jobs that will require workers to use technology that hasn't been invented yet to solve problems that we haven't even thought out yet"
he goes on to say that "students attending university will find that half or more of what they learned will be obsolete, outdated, or just plain wrong on the day they graduate" He uses the example of Sony.
The production cycle for Sony products is currently 7 days from idea to first prototype. And you think that's fast- Sony regularly replaces their products on a 90 day cycle- 90 days on the market and the product is replaced with a new and improved model. Their motto is 'Today let's put ourselves out of business because if we don't, someone else will'!!
So what does this mean? Or more importantly what does this mean as we at Stanley Avenue look towards forming our curriculum and a picture of our 'leaver'?
-Co-operative, team players
-Problem seekers- solvers
-Goal setters- Students 'in charge of their learning'
-Researchers
-Thinkers (know what to do when they don't know what to do!)
-Creative, innovative thinkers
-Empathy, caring (make a positive difference)
The list goes on. What do you think? Share here on the blog, or come in your a chat. By the way if you are curious the room has still not been cleaned......
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