Another blogging milestone hits - 500 posts on this blog. Year Page views Posts Comments 2011 31666 175 655 2012 57806 93 412 2013 88423 61 197 2014 92806 38 96 2015 43796 140 172 As I look back, I can't help but look forward. We live in a world where so much of what... Continue Reading →
One third of the way through my blogging quest…
It's now May and I'm a little late in posting my self- congratulations of posting daily updates for the fourth month through my blogging question. I'm not heading into the last stretch of this school year. I'm still getting my head around the northern hemisphere school year. It still seems weird to be in the... Continue Reading →
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 School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC) was how a strong provocation not only gets kids interested in the concepts but seeing themselves as practitioners in the academic discipline to... Continue Reading →
The best app to use in the classroom? The camera
When other teachers find out I'm Apple Distinguished Educator, I'm often asked if I've got a killer reading, spelling, writing, maths app recommendations. There's almost a sense of a let down when I say the app that my students and I use most in my classroom is the camera. Yet when in the course of... Continue Reading →
Breaking Educational Moulds – cursive handwritingÂ
Disclosure. I never earned my pen licence. My cursive script never reached the standard worthy of teacher approval to use permanent ink by the end of primary school. Despite many well-meaning interventions over the years, my handwriting is still awful. An ugly hybrid of three different scripts with poorly formed letters.Most of the Year 4... Continue Reading →
Passion changes everything
If you were to give people three qualities to describe their ideal teacher,  I'm not sure passion would rate very highly on most people's lists. While passionate people have oodles of drive and enthusiasm they can also be tough to work alongside. They have little tolerance for activities that take them away from doing what they love. Moreover... Continue Reading →
To be inspiring, you need to be inspired
At the end of last term, I was physically sick. Migraines, a really nasty cold were getting me down. I was creatively and pedagogically spent. And then I had the most amazing two weeks in Japan. I experienced so much, the language, the toilets, riding the bullet trains, art, music, cityscapes, the bamboo forests, shrines, deer... Continue Reading →
What happens to marginalised kids on the spectrum?
World autism day rolled by yesterday. I had the privilege of seeing the celebrations both on Twitter but also chanced upon a live event underneath Tokyo tower last night. For some parents it is a day to both celebrate their amazing kids but I suspect one tinged with a bit of sadness. Each parent of... Continue Reading →
Last day of term….
Morning roll call. Teachers 5 minutes after the last kids leave school. Teachers 7Â minutes after the last kids leave school. Teachers 10Â minutes after the last kids leave school checking email.
Some days your best isn’t good enough
Some days everything just clicks into place. You fly through the day each action building on the other making a hard job seem easy. Other days you find yourself giving more than you thought you had in you and it still isn't enough. Yet there is always the prospect of tomorrow. A chance to start afresh but wiser from... Continue Reading →
Teaching the Teacher 