MLE or MLM?To clarify MLE meaning Modern Learning Environment and MLM meaning Modern Learning Mindset (self derived title, I confess). As a teacher I coveted the new and shiny. I loved fancy new furniture, concepts and cute gadgets and due to budget constraints I ‘made do’ with my own versions of the new fangled. It…
Find the Space and Recharge
I have been taking a bit of a break for the last week. The first term of the year has been exceptionally busy and very full on, complete with an ERO review (successful, more on that in another post) in the last week of term. I figured the first week of the Easter Holiday break…
Racketeering, Really?
Racketeering.An interesting word that conjures up all kinds of images in my head. Images of machine guns, crime lords leading violent crime syndicates, fast and expensive cars, murder, mayhem and all manner of dubious dark deadly deeds! I picture scenes out of The Sopranos, where Tony Soprano is issuing hits on those who challenge…
The Privilege of Money
The case of the two naughty school boys who broke the law when they rode the baggage carousel at Auckland Airport and breached airport security has irked me no end. I have been thinking and wondering about it all week – as a parent, as an educator and as a citizen of NZ. The whole…
Define ‘Creativity’
The table our senior students painted and donated to a local Kindy What is creativity? It is a serious question, and today I have had reason to pause and reflect on what creativity is, could be, or might be. Let us start at the beginning and let me give you a bit of a background. Back…
NZ Race Relations Day – Something to Digest
Things that make you go Hmmmm. Today is New Zealand Race Relations day and today I came across something on my Facebook feed (thanks Richard) that gave me pause for thought. Watch the video and let it be something to digest and reflect on, given that today is NZ Race Relations Day. If you are…
Bugger the Embuggerance
I was disappointed to hear on the Breakfast News this morning of the passing of Sir Terry Prachett. He was one of the best Fantasy writers this side of Ankh-Morpork, and in my estimation, will remain one of the best until the end of time. Clever, articulate and a true wordsmith, his stories have been…
Does Education Kill Student Self-Management?
pic courtesy of @kerriattamatea This morning I participated in a breakfast chat (#BFC630NZ) on twitter where the topic was about self-directed learning and encouraging students to self-manage. It is an interesting topic and one which has spun my educational wheels since I started out as a fledgling but enthusiastic teacher, back in the ‘day’. All…
Please Sir, Can the Remuneration Authority Set My Pay?
Dear ReaderFirstly, I do apologise for not writing sooner, I realise it has been a few days and you may have missed me. Seriously, I have been busy, and taking a bit of a break from writing, after injuring my typing fingers in the #28daysofwriting challenge. (alright, I confess, I am telling a bit of…
The Future of Review…
I had a meeting tonight at the Review office. We have an ERO review at the end of term (much like an OFSTED review) and this was the preliminary discussion with schools on what to expect and how the Review office has adapted and changed over the last few years. Nothing innocuous about that. But,…