#MakeItMatter2Me

I regularly annoy math teachers by questioning why I would need to learn Pythagoras’ Theorem as a kid. Or Calculus? Seriously… does that even exist? And just to prove I’m not being mathsist, why should we care about Shakespeare? Whilst you might this I’m being facetious when I’m doing this, I’m trying to highlight that […]

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Hear No Evil, See No Evil

One of the most common questions I get asked by schools, is along the lines of how can we teach “Cyber-Safety?” Leaving aside the fact I’m not keen on the use of the work cyber as whilst it may have suited our needs a decade ago, nowadays it’s pretty much irrelevant. Why do I say irrelevant? Because […]

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Do we get Engagement Wrong in School?

I’m really pleased to say that in 2014 I’ll be writing a regular column, School of Thought, for the Australian Teacher Magazine. My first column for 2014 is now up! I say engagement is overused because I witness, all too often, schools confusing conformity for engagement. Measures such as attendance, grades, homework, and adherence to uniform […]

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At last!

As posted on the YouthEngage site… One of the main reasons for my leaving full-time teaching was to establish YouthEngage, and at last we have been given approval by the NSW Dept of Education & Communities to research the effectiveness of one of our programs.

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The problem with professional learning

I love getting feedback. After each speaking engagement or facilitated workshop, I seek feedback from those who attended and from those who engaged me for the gig. I enjoy receiving positive feedback (obviously) but it’s the feedback that suggests improvements, or points to flaws in my delivery that push me to be better at what […]

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Kids don’t WANT to be engaged – do they?

Originally written for this week’s Generation Next Newsletter Whilst in Denmark last week I had the chance to meet and share ideas with different schools and organisations around the concept of student (and staff) engagement. Over breakfast with the Department of Pedagogy at the University of Aarhus, one researcher told me of his study that showed […]

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3 things I learnt about success from Mountain Biking

Last year, as part of the Yr 11 PDHPE Preliminary Course, I took twenty Year 11 students on a mountain biking camp.  We rode through the Stromlo Forest in Canberra by day, and camped in sub zero temperatures by night. For anyone interested in doing similar, I cannot recommend Will & the team at MtnBike.com.au highly […]

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Do other schools think more of you than your own?

When I’m in schools, I always recognise that the teachers I’m working with are the experts on their school. As well as being expert educators, they understand the idiosyncrasies of their colleagues, leaders, students and wider community. However, what I’m finding more and more is that within schools, teacher “expertise” is often not recognised outside […]

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Are we testing the wrong things?

This is my latest article in the Generation Next Newsletter… As the Fairfax media reports that more parents than ever were withdrawing their kids from the annual NAPLAN tests I wonder if these tests are even assessing the right things in school. Now I realize the importance of literacy and numeracy – of course I […]

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Forget teaching… how about some learning?

If you’re interested, I’m involved in two professional learning events in the coming days. PLANE Festival of Learning                   You can REGISTER HERE to attend or you can watch the Live Feed here. Follow on Twitter using #FOL12 If you’re there, please stop by and have a chat! PLANE LeadMeet […]

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