ClassroomTM

The Purpose of Education is connection #500words

admin — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:27:00 +0000

To answer the purpose for education, I went one stage back, and looked at the reason for learning, as I would hope that the purpose for education is based upon this. What is the reason for learning? To ask lots, and answer more; to join the dots and make some of your own. Learning should [...]

Skewed Reviews: Shackleton’s Way

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:22:15 +0000

Shackleton’s Way by Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell (Nicholas Brealey, £9.99, 2001) (This is part of a regular series reviewing books outside of the realm of education, and looking at the impact they could have in a learning environment.) Tagline Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer Lowdown This has to be one of the [...]

One for all: Strangely successful concentration strategy

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:03:53 +0000

This will be brief. I saw a version of this on a programme that Dylan Wiliam presented about a year ago. I have no idea why it suddenly came to me in a lesson, but these good ideas often do. I was working with a table where the average concentration was about 20 seconds. Seriously. [...]

Skewed Reviews: The Long Tail

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:30:07 +0000

The Long Tail by Chris Anderson (Random House Books, £17.99, 2006) (This is part of a regular series reviewing books outside of the realm of education, and looking at the impact they could have in a learning environment.) Tagline How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand Lowdown This book has been on my periphary for [...]

#inthepicture – John Burningham

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:57:36 +0000

(#inthepicture its a weekly ‘tweet-up’ of around 50 parents, teachers, librarians and artists, who discuss a given topic or author/illustrator – this page is designed as a precis for a session I am moderating on 25th April – have a look at http://inthepicture.moonfruit.com/ for more information, and come join us!) Snapshot Perhaps most famous for [...]

To new iPad or iPad2 – that is the question!

admin — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:04:49 +0000

(This is an extract from an email to one of my brothers – I am seen as the ‘techie’ of the family!) It seems that I cannot get an Educational discount on iPads currently. I went to the school link and the prices were the same. Sorry! I am however happy to advise! Gb Size [...]

Thoughts on Bureaucracy

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:14:05 +0000

I firmly believe in boundaries. Boundaries give freedom, as it limits our choices and indicates what is an agreed range of decisions. If I tell my child to stop at every junction, I am entrusting them to understand their safety, while at the same time, ensuring that they learn how to cross the road with [...]

Curated News, delivered

admin — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 11:00:20 +0000

I am keen to reduce my media overload, and yet it is very hard to, especially with the Internet being like an enormous magazine filled with all types of joy interspersed with pointless rubbish (I’ve never found lolcats funny for example). The best way I can describe my condition is that of dormant joy anxiety [...]

Can you guess the website from the wireframe?

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:43:53 +0000

Below are ten ‘wireframes’ of incredibly popular websites. Wireframes are sketch plans of website/app/program designs, and I used the brilliant Balsamiq Mock-ups to make these. These are the UK versions of the sites, and are the front page or login pages as appropriate. How many can you name? Website One: Website Two: Website [...]

A week without questions

admin — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:21:27 +0000

Recently, I read a generic statement that made me think. It stated that in studies, teachers answered around 70% of the questions they asked their classes (source unknown). I was horrified by this! It surely couldn’t be true? The next lesson, I kept this in mind, and discovered that I had an urge to answer [...]