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Weekly Reflection: Who exactly needs to be tuning in?
We are inquiring into sharing the planet, rain forests. It’s ‘time’ to tune in. But who exactly is tuning in? Often we think it is the teachers job to set out photos and displays, find videos to watch...
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Weekly Reflection: killing the love of learning
During the last week I had the privilege of accompanying my class to view the exhibition of the nursery and kindergarten learners. I’ve always been in awe of the teachers working with the little ones....
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Video newsletters = easy and awesome! Thanks @shareski
Writing newsletters is one of least favourite chores. I’m not sure how many parents actually read the newsletter, moreover the production of newsletters takes time away from the things that matter....
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What is the Big Idea (Friday)?
Over the last few years I evolved a tradition in my class called Big Idea Friday. It started out from my own learning where I try to write a weekly blog post about something that I’ve been thinking...
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“How can we do research if we don’t have a computer?”
Every so often a child says something that reminds again that their lived reality is so different from my own. I had set up the children in my class with a small provocation to ponder during the week,...
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From assembly to maker faire… #adechat #pathon @bookcreatorapp
Another unit of inquiry ends. It made sense that a unit which started with creating ended with creating. Like many schools, our primary school has regular assemblies which are led by different year...
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Sorting out, not tuning in 18/365
It’s the start if a new term, a new unit. Instead spending the week tuning in, the children have been sorting out patterns and non-patterns, lines of symmetry in their natural environment. They’ve been...
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Restoring relationships through restorative practices
One of the challenging aspects of working in an international school is navigating cross-cultural differences between children. A harmless playground game can quickly escalate into a major incident...
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Consistency – I don’t think that word means what you think it means
Language is a powerful tool in education. It can be used to open new ideas and concepts but it can also be used to shut people out of conversations. One of the words that I often find myself hearing in...
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You can’t change the world in 6 weeks – Thoughts on sharing the planet
Of all the transdisciplinary themes in the PYP Sharing the Planet is the one that brings up a lot of ethical concerns for me as a teacher. This is particularly the case in my context where I teach at...
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Sorting out, not tuning in 18/365
It’s the start if a new term, a new unit. Instead spending the week tuning in, the children have been sorting out patterns and non-patterns, lines of symmetry in their natural environment. They’ve been...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Restoring relationships through restorative practices
One of the challenging aspects of working in an international school is navigating cross-cultural differences between children. A harmless playground game can quickly escalate into a major incident...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Consistency – I don’t think that word means what you think it means
Language is a powerful tool in education. It can be used to open new ideas and concepts but it can also be used to shut people out of conversations. One of the words that I often find myself hearing in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
You can’t change the world in 6 weeks – Thoughts on sharing the planet
Of all the transdisciplinary themes in the PYP Sharing the Planet is the one that brings up a lot of ethical concerns for me as a teacher. This is particularly the case in my context where I teach at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Provocation – Setting the scene for Inquiry
Provocation is a powerful item in the inquiry learning tool box. It sparks confusion, a strong reaction and above all curiosity. One of the strongest take aways from spending time at the International...
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You can’t force collaboration
One of the joys for me as a primary teacher working in an international school is that I have access to the specialist knowledge and resources from having a secondary school on site. When preparing for...
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On finishing the school year strong
There are three weeks until the end of the school year. Three weeks. This year has gone by in the blink of eye and despite the lack of christmas decorations, I find myself in countdown mode. Reports...
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I didn’t have my ‘own class’ this past year – thoughts on team teaching
One of the things about teaching in a recently established school is that you have to be flexible. This past year I’ve been teaching the bulk of my time in one class and then releasing my team leader’s...
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What does inquiry look like?
One of the challenges of moving from the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) to the Primary Years Programme (PYP) has been the amount of jargon to get my head around, Trans-disciplinary themes, the learner...
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Home learning – now in video response
I’m not a huge fan of homework. It takes away from time children could be spending with their friends and families as well as time to get bored. However, I’m required to set it. So rather than give the...
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