Compassionate Leadership. Blog of the week. JimbosEducationBlog - For Teachers and Parents. "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Brain food for the thinking teacher. Zest for Learning… into the rainforest of teaching and school leadership. Finding & sharing teaching 'bright spots' PRIMED+Issue+5+May+2016.
Intelligence Squared debate: Don’t end the tyranny of the test. On Thursday I spoke at an Intelligence Squared debate called ‘Let’s end the tyranny of the test: relentless school testing demeans education’.
Together with Toby Young, I spoke against the motion; Tony Little and Tristram Hunt spoke for it. There were a number of important points of agreement between the two sides. Tony Little told the story of Tom, a brilliant history student who got a U in his History A-level because his argument was essentially too sophisticated for the narrow exam rubric. I’ve known Toms in my time teaching, and I’ve also known the opposite – the student who gains top grades in exams through a mastery of the exam technique, as opposed to the subject itself. I completely agree with Tony Little that this is a real problem in our exam system.
Where exams have gone wrong – as I fully accept they have – we have to reform them, not abolish them. In my speech itself, I had two main arguments. Disappointed Idealist. My children are adopted.
They were adopted at the ages of three, four and six. As with nearly all children adopted in this country over the last couple of decades, this means that their early life experiences were pretty terrible. As each was born, their collective experience of life became more damaging, as their circumstances worsened. So the eldest is least affected as her first years were perhaps less difficult experiences, while the youngest is most affected, as her entire first two years of life were appalling. I’m not going to go into detail here about their specific early life experiences, but if you want to read up on the sort of effects which can result from serious neglect or abuse, then you could read this . Edssential. Www.bromleyeducation.co.uk. Www.suecowley.co.uk - Home. A teacher speaks out: 'I'm effectively being forced out of a career that I wanted to love' - Schools - Education. It's hard to be a good teacher.
It means planning weeks' worth of lessons in detail. It means covering the needs of every student, whether they're dyslexic, or don't speak English as their first language, or are high achievers and so on. Being a good teacher means uncovering themes which will engage kids, trawling websites and libraries for films and texts as stimuli. It entails writing four different intentionally-flawed versions of a suspenseful story for them to modify in their first lesson, and five different tiers of riddles about 3D shapes for them to tackle in the second, all before 8am. It means using outdated software to create worksheets with seven different cartoon characters to motivate students with severe learning difficulties, and spending break times enlarging these for students with visual impairments.
It means composing science songs to the tune of The Gap Band's "Oops Upside Your Head" at nine in the evening. Regrettably, it's not so simple. The workload is un-audited. Application reflet sociologique. A teacher's stories and stories of teachers. Myth-Busting Differentiated Instruction: 3 Myths and 3 Truths. In third grade, my daughter struggled with problems like 36 x 12, and she knew her multiplication facts.
Fortunately, her math tutor recognized what was needed, and introduced the Lattice Method. For some educators, the Lattice Method is controversial. Just read some of the FB comments. After multiple failed attempts, this strategy made a difference for my daughter. She rediscovered her confidence in math. As educators, we know that learning is not one size fits all, and what's best for some students may not be for others. Myth #1: DI is a collection of strategies. There are many books, workshops, and organizations offering "differentiated strategies" that, when used, will instantly have teachers differentiating for their students.
Truth #1: DI is a lens for implementing any strategy in all pedagogies. Consider that effective teachers have a wealth of tools that they use to meet student needs. Myth #2: DI is incompatible with standardized state testing. Look Through the Lens. A round up of some of my favourite posts so far this year. I was going to that thing where you round-up some of your favourite blog posts in the hope of getting a few more hits, but couldn’t muster the enthusiasm.
Instead, I thought I’d rip off some of the best posts I’ve read this year from some of the most interesting education bloggers out there. It’s by no means a definitive list; I haven’t spent much time honing it – these are just some of the posts I’ve enjoyed most so far this year. Maybe you’ll like them too. They are in no particular order. More WHAT less HOW – or ‘your shepherds pie requires improvement’ - On the pernicious silliness that is lesson grades, and how this gets in the way of children’s education.
RAISEonline is contemptible RUBBISH -
Favourite Educational Blogs. I had a recent article request from the The Education Foundation, the UK’s Education Think Tank, for their upcoming article on ‘The Rise of Teacher Blogging’.
I'm too confused to be jaded… Get yourself through Ofsted…the old fashioned way. As I was clearing out my cupboard before the start of term, I came across an old battered document.
A tried and tested guide for getting through a full ofsted inspection. I have included some of the main highlights. Do feel free to use them, share them maybe even improve upon them (that last bit is highly unlikely, I think you’ll agree). Enjoy. Changing Horizons: A Blog by Martin Waller - Teacher and Educational Researcher. Mr Marwood's Marvelous Movies - Icing on the Cake - An education blog.