Key words September 1, 2009

Like many teachers I suspect, I find it really hard to help young people understand the notion of key words and concepts. An understanding of the hierarchy of categorisation is an essential skill if we want to distil an idea, to discern the thrust of an argument, to synthesise thoughts.

 Mind Mapping is a tool I [...]

Summer days are here again! No more sleeps!! June 26, 2009

Industrial vs Information Age? May 20, 2009

My, was I grumpy when I wrote my last post.
I realise that my tirade about digital technologies was sparked by insecurity after reading lots of stuff for the Education2020 unconference.  (I was definitely in the Anger mode of the Grief/Change cycle and am now moving on to Bargaining!).
I fully embrace the notion of [...]

Who’s asking the questions? April 16, 2009

A strange thing used to happen once a child started school: suddenly the person asking the questions was the one who already knew ‘the answer’ (and there was only one). The ever-curious child had to sit still and listen. Teachers now tend to use their skills to direct learning with the children’s interests as drivers. [...]

Glow Meet with Julia Donaldson March 5, 2009

It was an enormous privilege to watch the Glow Meet between Julia Donaldson and the 6 primary schools involved in the literacy project referred to here.
Julia sat in a class and read to and answered questions from children across the country. She was a consummate professional, speaking to the children with respect and a deep [...]

Dyslexia: A ‘Cruel Fiction’? January 14, 2009

Graham Stringer MP has launched an attack on what he calls the Dyslexia Industry claiming that dyslexia is a myth, a cruel fiction designed to cover up poor teaching. He cites South Korea, Nicaragua, Wigan and West Dunbartonshire as places where there is virtually no functional illiteracy because teaching methods are ‘right’. If literacy levels [...]

Skills for the 21st Century January 12, 2009

I subscribe to Guy Claxtons’ sentiments about intuition, creativity and the ‘intelligent unconscious’, being something of a ‘tortoise mind’.
 So my response to a stimulating trail in the blogosphere on the skills needed for learning in the 21st century set me thinking; though not quickly enough to post anywhere but here.
Metacognition, critical thinking and developing conceptual [...]

Poetry Competition December 11, 2008

 
Once you learn a poem by heart you own it in a way that you can’t by just reading or listening to it. Once embedded, a favourite poem can provide succour and powerful language for expression in times of high emotion. It is a sort of ‘mental furniture’ always in your head (as are some song lyrics).
I was [...]

The Nature of Intelligence December 1, 2008

Some educators cling to the old belief that there is a single, general factor of intelligence represented by a global IQ score – or even a reading age; while others refine this to a notion of a hierarchy of abilities with general abilities at the top and successively narrower levels of ability below.

Conventionally intelligence has [...]

Book Festival at Pencaitland School November 25, 2008

 
        
What a joy it was for me to attend the Book Festival at Pencaitland School last Friday.
I was delighted to be allowed to read to the nursery children; though as it was the 3 year old contingent it was a little like herding cats. I managed to hold their (most of [...]