Wednesday 19 November, 2008
Here's what Mandy G - ace thinking teacher from Portsmouth - does to get kids' heads working:
"My day is now planned.
1) Would you rather climb a beanstalk or let a genie out of the bottle?
Warm up on paper.
3 reasons for the one chosen and 3 reasons against the one not chosen
2) Nothing special being celebrated on this day.
What would you celebrate on this day and why
Make a poster to advertise your day.
3)Do you leave planet Earth to go and live on a planet just like ours?
Write about your reasons. pros and cons.
4)Warm up after lunch (verbal) If a chair could talk what question would you ask it and why?
5)What is the world's best question?
Read big question from your book and children to feed back on sugar paper working and discussing in groups.
6) If there were no stars in the sky what would you put there?
Draw with coloured pen on black sugar paper."
Kids loved it and demanded more. Nice one Mandy |
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Wednesday November 19, 2008, Irvine
I am learning by doing with my Facebook group - Thinking Classroom Tribe. Lots of folks have joined - signed up to the group's intentions and beliefs...but now I have to make it work. Organic, evolving, chaotic, flexible, dynamic, emergent...maybe I don't need to 'make it work'....maybe I should let it happen...
Take a look - login to Facebook and search "Thinking Classroom". |
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Tuesday November 18, 2008, Winchester
I've recorded me describing this month's Smart Thinking Tool - so you can listen to it while hoovering or shopping or driving (maybe even use it as a starter for your lesson or staff meeting). I wanted the opportunity to explain the tools in a more flexible way that would support the text version. Hope it works for you. |
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Tuesday November 18, 2008
 Talking Tins from Talking Products: children record 10-30 second clips about their learning into the tins; tins are magnetic and stuck on a board; pressing the black button replays the clips; bingo - an interactive learning talking wall!
I'll be using these at the many conferences I'm busy designing for '09. And I'm going to have some around the Christmas dinner table, and at the next wedding I get invited to. How would you have learning fun with them? |
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Monday Novemeber 17, 2008, Winchester
Mailed Tracy Chevalier (Girl with the Pearl Earring) about her 1000 words interactive art piece in York (see post Oct 30). Further inspired when she got back to me, I've written this resource to stimulate thinking about Art: 101 questions to ask a painting. Free download. Let me know how you use it - comments, questions, ideas. Maybe try the questions on photos; TV; film.... or even scenes from real life as you observe Christmas shoppers over the rim of a Starbucks cappuccino.... |
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Saturday November 15, 2008, Michaelchurch Escley
 12 adults, 11 children, 1 top class farm cottage complex: yearly gathering of uni mates and our growing tribes.
Observations:
1. Within 1 minute of today's walk to the pub, the 5 boys had picked up either a gun or a stick or a stick used as a gun.
2. Kids can concentrate on DSs and Wiis for approx. 3 hours without a break
3. Kids can easily, happily and frequently switch between electronic entertainment, outdoor roleplay, nature exploration, teamwork and interation with adults.
Learning: Kids will explore, engage, create and play with anything that takes their interest - stick or DS; Wii or walk in a spooky wood. Rather than bemoan the loss of 'real childhood', we should make rich and diverse opportunities for our chidlren to self-engage and play - whether a battery is needed or not. |
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Thursday November 13, 2008, Cowes
Here's the learning:
  
  
 ...produced by 47 committed, valuable and significant contributors to teaching and learning on IoW. IBOY means, "It's because of you.." These LSAs/TAs shared with me their classroom successes. My message to them was simple: "It's because of you that individual children succeeed rather than fail; it's because of you that children thrive rather than hide; it's because of you that children find their voice and speak rather than remain silent in the classroom." |
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Wednesday November 12, 2008, Winchester
Read it should you happen to be planning a new baby’s first bookshelf or a school library. Use its suggestions to soup up your teaching of GCSE English. Dip into Chapter 3, Literature for the Very Young, if you want to fine tune bedtime stories, or use Chapter 5 on Traditional Tales if you need foundations for your own story telling and story writing.
Download full review |
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Monday November 10, 2008, Winchester
See post October 25.
Collaborative filtering is a computer making wise recommendations to you based on a large number of previous choices (yours and those of many other folks) - Amazon/itunes genius/last fm scrobbling.
The question is, how could this be applied to learning in the classroom? How could the best future learning recommendation emerge from previous learning choices? How could a 21st C curriculum make use of the principles of collaborative filtering? ...I'm working on it..where's me calculator... |
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Monday November 10, 2008, Winchester
Yes, of course! All I need is 100,000 school children to mail in with what they'd most like to be learning in school. Any help here would be much appreciated. |
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