Exploring Learning

… what we have loved, Others will love, and we will teach them how (Wordsworth, 1888). This quote embodies my belief about reading and is at the top of my Books 2014 page, which charts my attempts to read 100 books this year. It also heads my latest essay documenting my research into the impact daily reading can have on overall achievement in middle-school learners. ***** I have always believed that reading has a significant impact on our understanding and appreciation of the world. As both a life-long passionate reader and an experienced English Language Arts teacher, I have witnessed first-hand the impact that reading has on the ability of learners in terms of comprehension, grammar, empathy, confidence, vocabulary and expression. This has however , only ever been phenomenological through informal observations in the classroom, and in an effort to incorporate sustained silent reading (SSR) as a regular, valid and essential practice, I have embarked upon this resea...

Almost a year ago, I wrote a post about Split Screen, as a way of making notes from online reading. This involved having one screen as notes and the other as the source material. Recently, I have been using it in my role as Project Manager of Global Youth Debates , a Flat Connections project (read more about this  here ). In Global Youth Debates, teams from all over the world take part in an asychronous debate about a current issue - this year's theme is Global Peace and Security and the topic is, 'Revolution a Justifiable Means for Global Peace and Security'. Using Voicethread , learners record their arguments in stages; the opposing teams can then listen and respond, recording their opposition in the same place. Part of my job is to organise the brackets - who argues against whom - in each round. To monitor the progress of each team, I have been using Split Screen as a management tool: Tracking Debate Progress On the left is each bracket's Voicethread,...

For the  lastest assignment of my MEd , I had to take a large amount of data and make it presentable and understandable to parents. This used all the learning I have undertaken about data and graphics - see also, Infographics: Good & Bad , and Banner Creation . We had to go to the National Center for Education Statistics and choose an area of data that interested us in order to create the document. I chose information about reading and the impact it has on achievement. I took this large amount of data : NCES, 2006   and created this:

This week in my MEd, we are exploring the heady world of infographics with the objective of learning how visual representations of data can enhance and distort data. The aim is for us to think carefully about the use of graphics in our teaching in order that we use visuals to effectively deliver information rather than distort it and confuse our learners. After reading three articles by Edward Tufte, I summarised some basic principles to form the basis of my explorations and use them to evaluate the infographics I found. According to Tufte (1983), graphical excellence happens when graphics: show data make viewers think about content not presentation/design avoid  the distortion of data present many numbers in a small space make large data sets coherent encourage the eye to compare different pieces of data reveal data on different levels - from broad to fine have a clear purpose: descriptive/ explorative /decorative/ tabulative be closely correlated with s...

Lesson Study as a research concept is a new idea to me - however, the elements of what comprises it are not. I am an advocate of peer observations and feedback as an invaluable tool in improving teaching and learning. However, in the 12 years I have been teaching, I have found that the majority of teachers do not want to engage in this kind of professional learning. I think there are a number of reasons for this but the main one being trust. I have found, in international schools, where your position is never tenured and you are always a guest in a country meaning your status often feels unstable, there is an underlying feeling of mistrust around observations. Rarely are they seen as tools for improvement but instead are viewed as ways to ‘catch you out’ and make you lose your job. It often doesn’t matter if you are an excellent teacher either, meaning even effective and experienced educators are not immune. It was with a refreshing air then that I read the article by Gebert and Gins...