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 →
Why is so little teacher professional learning classroom based?
Last week Kath Murdoch tweeted out something that got me thinking. https://twitter.com/kjinquiry/status/573595148346511360 Why is so little teacher professional learning classroom based? I met Kath in a seminar room. Kath was brilliant and her workshops were illustrated with examples of her teaching. Nevertheless I still walked away thinking to myself. I really would have liked to... Continue Reading →
The cycle of a teacher’s immune system
First day of school... What you want to say when you wake up in the morning with a cold. What you think you sound like to the person arranging cover... What you actually sound like. Getting lesson plans adjusted for someone else to teach while running a fever. What you actually end up doing. First day... Continue Reading →
Weekly Reflection – reporting doesn’t have to suck
My twitter feed has been quiet of late and there is one simple reason for it. Reports. At best most teachers tolerate writing reports as a bureaucratic necessity and at worst they see it at a medieval torture device due to rigid formatting requirements and the lack of sleep that go hand in hand with report... Continue Reading →
Weekly Reflection: A new principal
I never sleep well the night before the start of a new term. There's lots ticking over in my mind. how will the new classroom set up go (answer, a few remarks about more space and then business as usual) suddenly remembering a job on your to do list, a wake up jolt from an... Continue Reading →
Weekly Reflection: Learning to Let Go
At the end of the week I jetted away to Bali for the Apple Distinguished Educator Institue in Bali. I was pretty stoked when I learned of my selection back in December. Since then I've crossed days off my calendar and been doing the happy dance with increased frequency but the realities of the trip didn't really... Continue Reading →
10 ways I use my iphone in the classroom
Hello my name is Stephanie and I’m an iphone addict. I use my iphone in conferences, in meetings and *gasp* even in the classroom but I’m not using it to play angry birds. Here’s 10 ways I use my iphone to make my teaching more effective: 1. Video – capturing learning as it happens The... Continue Reading →
Weekly Reflection: The risks and rewards of camp
I'm not what you would call an outdoors type of person. In fact, my idea of a nature walk is strutting down Lampton Quay. The prospect of not only attending but actually being responsible for the running of a school camp was not something I was looking forward to. School camps for me largely involved spending... Continue Reading →
Do clothes maketh the teacher? Musings on what professional dress for teachers
A few weeks months ago the twitterverse in New Zealand was awash with indignation when a young court reporter was asked to leave the media bench of a high profile media trial as her gold sequinned pants were deemed inappropriate for occasion. Depending of your point of view, the pants were either a symbol of... Continue Reading →
Teaching the Teacher 