Dyslexia Support Service: Termly up-date December 18, 2009

 
All practitioners in each sector, in each department and in all settings have a responsibility to develop, reinforce and extend the skills which are set out in the literacy experiences and outcomes (Curriculum for Excellence).
Teaching:My remit covers all schools in the region. Therefore I do not – cannot – use my time to teach [...]

Teachmeet in East Lothian November 16, 2009

Teachmeet in East Lothian
What is TeachMeet?
Learn something new, be amazed, amused and enthused. This is an informal gathering of those curious about teaching and technology. Anyone can share great ideas they’ve trialled in their classrooms, ask important questions or simply sign up to take part in learning conversations. Would be good to see and hear both [...]

Animation for Amateurs November 10, 2009

One of my personal development aims this session is to learn more about visual literacies. I am sure that texts in traditional print form will always be used to good effect, but I know that many learners – especially but not exclusively those with literacy difficulties – can also be engaged by [...]

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. Plato October 16, 2009

It comes as no surprise to many of us working in schools to see reports that children are struggling in school with undeveloped basic language skills.
The Times reported that in England (and why should it be any different in Scotland?) children are starting primary school with a speaking age of just 18 months and the number [...]

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. Toffler October 9, 2009

I once did a small research study on young children’s attitudes to themselves as readers. The pre-schoolers I interviewed tended to think they were good readers. After all, they could tell the story (the author’s or their own version) by turning the pages of a book. Some could even re-tell the story with their eyes [...]

I’m Hilery and I have learning difficulties October 6, 2009

I’m uncoordinated and hard of hearing; I get dizzy easily and need time to distinguish my left from my right. I’ve taken up salsa dancing.
How unfortunate that my teacher doesn’t have a good understanding of how to teach! He is a fine dancer although he looks more like MacKenzie Crook than Che Guevara. He [...]

I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma. Eartha Kitt October 5, 2009

I first went to the Scottish Learning Festival in 2003 when it was SETT and have thoroughly enjoyed every visit. I even presented a seminar once. Nowadays I only get to attend on one of the days and it’s a hard choice sometimes which key note speeches I go for.
One major pleasure is to be [...]

Can ICT applications help young people engage with literature? August 27, 2009

 

I went to another interesting hour at the Book Festival this week called Technology and Literacy, with Bill Boyd (whose contribution he includes here along with his terrific new alphabet for the 21st century reproduced above),  Lili Wilkinson, and Judy Robertson.
Lili, an Australian cyber-journalist, spoke first and introduced us to the site, ‘inside a dog’ [...]

Socrates for 6 year olds August 25, 2009

Catherine McCall, featured in this clip, has been a pioneer of practical philosophy for children in the UK , having worked extensively with Matthew Lipman in the US.
I was excited about visiting the Dean Gallery ’s Enlightenment exhibition, not least because it promised film of children philosophising. 7 to 10 year [...]

Home Schooling August 22, 2009

We considered educating our children at home for about 5 minutes before we realised that murder would ensue before the first day was out.  I was frequently calmer with other people’s children than my own, to my shame. And we felt strongly that the social aspects of schooling were fundamentally important.
But the notion remains attractive. [...]