Maths Talk Time

We recently held a Parent Talk Time on maths. This was talking about how number is taught in schools today. Here is a copy of the power point that was shared.

Parent Talk Time - Maths by cmrhowison

Apps for Literacy

I am always on the hunt for quality apps to use with literacy. Anne Sturgess is the Te Toi Tupu Facilitator for Blended e-Learning and Gifted & Talented Education. She has compiled a fantastic list of great literacy apps.
Here is a link.

You will also find lots of other interesting things by taking a trip around her blog.

More learning opportunities

I often thought when I was actually attending University how great it would be to be able to slip in and attend many courses that I was interested in. Now you can, here is another link to open source education that is free. You can attend the courses and achieve a certificate or you can keep on learning about something purely for interest.

Have a look by clicking here.

Open ended thinking and creativity

I have been thinking a lot lately about open ended problems, particularly in regards to mathematics and getting children talking about their thinking.

I love this simple illustration about the importance of open ended questions in other areas too.

As Adults We Need to Keep Learning...

I am always astounded by the links that you find to quality material to learn new things online. The challenge is now to find the time to listen to and absorb all the wonderful things that are out there. Here are a couple of worthwhile links.

Have you always dreamed of studying at MIT? Well now you can.



Jonathan Fields has a very good blog with links to all kinds of fascinating material. Use this link as a starting point to explore further. This particular links provides seven keynote sessions that are listed in the comments as being more worthwhile than 2 years of a reader's tertiary education.

Being An Effective Teacher

An Ethical Island is a great website providing infographics for teachers. Here is just one that I loved but there are tonnes more and the site is well worth exploring.

Check it out!

Here is a website that provides links to sites where you can (or teach children to) create your own infographics.

http://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/

The Seven Survival Skills Our Learners Need

This is a thought provoking presentation by Tony Wagner, Harvard University, Graduate School of Education. Not only does it contain a video of his presentation but also a slideshow of the presentation that accompanied the presentation.

Our curriculum is world renowned for developing these skills in our learners. What will be the long term effect of the focus on National Standards? How can we honour both the core values of our curriculum and ensure our children are achieving and continuing to achieve?

You can find out more about Tony Wagner here:

Follow him on twitter: