Anyone who read my blog in 2010 would know how a trip to Shanghai opened my eyes to what we have all been reading about over the last few years, the rise of China. The 2009 PISA results and commentaries seemed to quantify the obvious investment, vision and an absolute respect for the importance of education that I […]
Hello colleagues, I jotted down a list of thoughts about 2011 that feel important for me to personally remember about our school and our directions. As you can imagine, it kept growing and is somewhat incomplete. Some are basic, somewhat mundane procedural matters that all schools employ but others are philosophically important, or fundamental, if each student is to […]
I really do not know what motivates me but I am, most people would say, ‘motivated’ and very enthusiastic. For some things. I am sure that the things I enjoy give me the satisfaction of, to paraphrase Kipling, filling the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run but it is hard to define or understand. RSA […]
Do you play video games? Lucy (7) and I are playing Civilization Revolution (CivRev) on PS3 with great gusto. Sarah (4) plays this same game on the iPad and we all enjoy each others company in the family room. Here’s the opening to the game for those not familiar with Sid Meier‘s Civilization franchise: A friend, who is not a teacher, […]
It has been a great year and uplifting final day of 2010 for those of us lucky enough to work at Dapto High School. Last year, we ended our year on a professional high at the salubrious Nan Tien Temple. The staff, anecdotally and via a SurveyMonkey evaluation, overwhelmingly wanted to make it an annual event. The […]
The 2010 Edublog Award Winners lists are up! Well done to everyone who participated, voted and read some new blogs. It is particularly pleasing for me to read that some of the bloggers I nominated – @MitchSquires, The Blog Dogs and @brightideasblog, BrightIdeas – have been awarded. Well done, folks! Of course, I am honoured to get a gong too. It is cool […]
Our principal, Andrew FitzSimons, has led the executive team, once-a-term over the last 5 years, to visit a business, organisation or important community location in the Illawarra who host our strategic meeting. We work off site in this different setting but about an hour is spent learning from our host about their organisation. They explain: Strategic planning What this organisation values in employees […]
It is time to vote in the annual Edublog Awards. Thanks to the Edublogs team who have worked hard to compile so many nominations. It really is a great way to find new blogs and bloggers. I feel honoured to be nominated in the Best School Administrator Blog category. You can vote in that category […]
I believe we are in a Golden Age of civilisation. Not everyone has this way of seeing. I hear many commentators, educators and parents express grave concerns about the impact of technology, the internet, mobile devices and computers on young people and education in society generally. To me, it seems pathological, reminiscent of the comic book scare in the […]
Are you using Google Earth? Which subject? How are you using it? Anyone exploring ethical questions about data collection with their students? The potential for students learning in an integrated, holistic manner using Google Earth are extant. I have no hard data – and would love for the following assertion to be successfully challenged – but […]