The School Library Association of NSW invited me to speak about advocacy at their recent conference at the State Library of NSW. I was asked to talk about a range of topics including: the transition our school library is currently undergoing with the assistance of Kevin Hennah; the partnership with our local municipal library; the need for teacher-librarians […]
“The greatest history book ever written is the one hidden in our DNA.” Dr. Spencer Wells The analysis of my DNA, as a participant in National Geographic’s Genographic Project, was published today and, as you would imagine, makes for fascinating reading – well, it does for me. […]
“The teacher’s job is not to transmit knowledge, nor to facilitate learning. It is to engineer effective learning environments for the students. The key features of effective learning environments are that they create student engagement and allow teachers, learners, and their peers to ensure that the learning is proceeding in the intended direction. The only […]
What ought one to do? Socrates I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it. Albert Einstein A quiet conscience makes one strong! Anne Frank Do you believe Australia has great need of […]
The science of teaching is knowing a number of different methodologies. The art is knowing when to use which. Source: Taming The Beast Our school has had a government funded 1:1 laptop program since 2009 that is ending. We have learnt […]
“We need librarians more than we ever did. What we don’t need are mere clerks who guard dead paper. Librarians are too important to be a dwindling voice in our culture. For the right librarian, this is the chance of a lifetime.” Seth Godin “If you can’t dance a step, you can’t teach it, and if […]
“More than anything else, we want to take the politics out of this issue.” […]
Two years ago I posted about the tech tools I use daily. Many I continue to find essential, others have fallen by the wayside. What follows is a brief update to close 2013. Best wishes for the New Year! Reading, writing, saving & sharing WordPress: my blog records some of my professional thinking and life. Often I share […]
He didn’t want a television, he had no need of a radio. He didn’t want the world to come in….He couldn’t stand the false hysteria of soap operas, the forced hilarity of sitcoms, the feigned outrage of commentators and the hosts of current-affairs shows. He didn’t own a computer. He didn’t need its temptations. He […]
The world is but a canvas to our imaginations. Henry David Thoreau Today we enjoyed the fifth annual conference held at Nan Tien Temple for our professional development on the last day of the school year. The focus this year, although still optimism and resilience, is more about nurturing creativity and the keynote/workshops reflected this theme. […]
Our school has moved to implement a BYOD (Bring your Own Device) policy for 2014. We have spent the last 6 months exploring what is best for our community and practically possible for students, as well as their teachers. There are a variety of opinions, challenges and POVs but a specific model has been chosen. […]
Educational leaders need to do better in ensuring a more cohesive educational experience for students in our schools. We must ameliorate the current, balkanised, approach to how curriculum is delivered in high schools with new, cleverly designed, models of learning. That’s why I’ve been at the Big History conference at Macquarie University for the last […]
While school traditionally separates art and science, theory, and practice, such divisions are artificial. The real world just doesn’t work that way. Architects are artists. Craftsmen deal in aesthetics, tradition and mathematical precision. Video game designers rely on computer science…The maker community brings children, hobbyists and professionals together in a glorious celebration of personal expression […]
Cuddled up on the couch with my children early this morning watching the simulcast Day of the Doctor, the fiftieth-anniversary of Doctor Who, made me feel all tingly and nostalgic. I have not really enjoyed Matt Smith’s incarnation of The Doctor and considering the hype around the event, figured it would likely be anti-climatic. Not so. […]
The Red Room Company created a quality learning experience for our students this month with the first two of an ongoing series of workshops. The ‘quality’ and ‘experience’ really does need to be emphasised as the pedagogy employed by our poets – Candy, Lorin and Tamryn – was superbly physical, reflective and high energy, engaging […]
Since commencing my career as a teacher in Australia, I have written many articles for free and presented at conferences at the same discount price, often having to pay to attend the event into the bargain. I did this willingly enough as I am passionate about learning, sharing and education but in more recent years, […]
Ozymandias I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped […]
To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour. William Blake Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity is an extraordinarily important course developed by Professor David Christian which is […]
Students in Australian schools could be given access to a wealth of pre-existing online books and journals with just a little coordination by the state. Thinking about Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in schools and the quiet online revolution taking place in our libraries has led me to the conclusion that it is very possible for students to […]
I’ve been experimenting with the Seven5 Micro System by LEE Filters and my FujiFilm X100s along the coastline near my home in Kiama, NSW. My first dabblings with this light-weight, nifty gear during recent walks in Cumbria and Spain, certainly whetted my appetite for playing around more with these handmade filters. I am enamoured with the SW-150 kit and filters for […]
The future of the book has been widely discussed in the last decade, as has that great democratic institution, the library. Both have been challenged by technological advances and societal change this century but are fighting off most suggestions of obsolescence by adapting successfully. My local libraries have made a number of innovations that I […]
“The tone of modern political discourse [in Australia] has caused younger generations to become disillusioned with government, and by extrapolation, with democracy.” SOURCE “In a result that confirmed the surprise findings of our 2012 Poll, only 59% of Australians say that ‘democracy is preferable to any other kind of government’, and more than one in […]
“Whether you want to uncover the secrets of the universe, or you just want to pursue a career in the 21st century, basic computer programming is an essential skill to learn.“ Stephen Hawking Our brightest students are no longer questioning the usefulness of the content they are taught at school but are seeking out what […]
Walking, ideally, is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned, as though they were three characters finally in conversation together, three notes suddenly making a chord. Walking allows us to be in our bodies and in the world without being made busy by them. It leaves us free to […]