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Monday 21 July 2014

Chris Braid Staff Meeting

Meeting the needs of our struggling writers.

Shared the ish book. Great for persisting and being part of a community of learners. Lined up with the YET! thinking.

Talked about the dot book. There is an international dot day where you create a piece of art based on the book.

Thursday 17 July 2014

Rita Call Back Day

Texts to investigate:
Ralph Fletcher Boy's writing.
John Miklos: Boys can write
Peter H Johnston: Choice words, Opening minds (Linking student agency to learning frames)

What do we notice about reluctant writers 
Attitudes: Reluctance, Avoidance, Failure, Defeatist, Disengaged
Behaviour: Avoidance, I don't know what to write, I can't find my pencil, Overly detailed and elaborate drawings,

Peter Johnston statements to consider: "How we give feedback is probably the most difficult for us to change, but it is probably the point of most leverage".
Teachers must believe that feedback is valuable, It depends on who holds the knowledge, is it in the teachers head or shared and constructed with the children. What sort of feedback is important, is it summative or formative? What is the teaching style (sage on stage/ guide on side).

Agency: The capacity to act, to know what to do when you don't know what to do, to know that you don't know.

Choice Words, Sticks n Stones poem. Pg 40-41 Looking at Agency. The children


Looking at Peter Johnston movie clips,
Reading recovery interview
Children have a sense that the following are fixed, intelligence, ability, personality, knowledge.  If this is fixed then there is no point in agency. The can't make a change. Children in this frame don't want to show their incompetence and avoid taking on challenges. We need to avoid judging statements, good boy (personality oriented) Affects capable children as well as low achieving.
Move children to a dynamic frame by showing they can change, shift the focus to the process. The way they go about doing things. If we ask... "How did you do that?" They spin an agentic narrative and make available the strategy to others.

Factual knowledge is dead knowledge. There is no reason to go back. Inquiry encourages children to construct knowledge and attend to the uncertainty. How they must resolve this? Makes for interesting conversation rather than a right or wrong mind frame.

Opening Minds The development of the fixed and dynamic mindsets.

 Inline images 1

Looked at the power of YET! The language we use to develop a Dynamic mindset.

What is the teacher input in developing "The idea that the goal is to look as smart as you can".
Interesting observation that our high achievers can also be trapped by the fixed mindset. That if I have to try hard at something I must not be good at this.

Picture Books and Persuasive Writing. Listened to The Pigeon Needs a Bath. An interesting format of direct speech in all the writing. Nice little story about mindsets.
Chapter Book. Bad Kitty Gets a Bath. Nick Bruel.

Look up Carol Dweek: Agency and Mindsets. Product over process mindset. Wikipedia

Adaptive Practitioners. Helen Timperly talks about Routine Experts and we need to become Adaptive Practitioners.

So What? 
What are the implications for our children, parents, systems.

Teaching with poverty in mind. Eric Jensen. Could be an interesting read. Second book is even better. Strategies for schools for teaching with poverty in mind.

The tension between Structure and Agency... what does this look like???

Supporting Future Oriented Learning

Ralf Fletcher Boys Writing


Boys Can Write




Monday 14 July 2014

Do Teacher Need iPad training?

DO TEACHERS NEED IPAD TRAINING?
ipad_touchWe have come to a point in the education technology journey where it seems rather dull to still be asking if the iPad is the right device for the classroom. The answer, in case you’ve missed the last few years of debate is that it is a great option, but this is not universally accepted and never will [Read More]



















A good little article showing the importance of developing the connection between good pedagogy and how technology can support and enhance this. I agree about death by apps. If the app is driving the learning then we run the risk of falling back into a blackline master mentality of drill and practice.

The flipside of this is that our students may be digital natives, but they still need to learn about how to harness this knowledge, and that is why they need our teachers to be trained up with this new and powerful technology.

Agency and Self Direction

STUDY: TOO MANY STRUCTURED ACTIVITIES MAY HINDER CHILDREN’S EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
teacher_globeWhen children spend more time in structured activities, they get worse at working toward goals, making decisions, and regulating their behavior, according to a new study. Instead, kids might learn more when they have the responsibility to decide for themselves what they’re going to do with their time. Psychologists at the University of Colorado and (read more)

Changing Landscape of Education Infographic