I have been thinking a lot lately about how we as teachers can make a difference in our classes. Often it is not the whole class, but a small group of students who are not achieving. The classroom challenge that wakes me up at 4.00am! Am I the only one?...
I came across these two videos recently, one of John Hattie and the other by Carol Dweck. Both Carol Dweck and John Hattie have looked at a large body of research into learning. Carol Dweck's research focus is on a Growth vs Fixed Mindset for students in our classes, where some students believe their ability is fixed and there can be no improvement. Students with a Growth Mindset believe that with a focus on the process, working to achieve success, even with some failure along the way, they will be grow as learners. Carol Dweck talks about the concept
of "Not Yet", which means students haven't been successful "yet", but they
are working towards it. There are many videos of Carol Dweck explaining more about her work and also her book "Mindset - How you can reach your full potential" is very good. I have this on my iPad, I ordered it as an ebook and it was delivered in a micro-second - ah the power of the internet!
John Hattie is well-known for his work on Visible Learning and looking at the factors that make a difference to learning. If you want to learn more these two links John Hattie Part1 and John Hattie Part2 are edited highlights of a 2011 lecture explaining his research. The video below talks about his own time as a learner and the relationship with his favourite teacher which comes in at spot 11 on the best influence on learning with an effect size of .72. Professional Development sits at
19 with an effect size of .62. Two good ways to make a difference to the learners in our classes!
How many times have parents(including me ) asked their children about their
school day. I remember my own children excited to share their learning and
adventures when they came home from Primary School.
What did you learn is also a question several of us have had to think about as we reflect on our learning at recent conferences and workshops. I travelled to Brisbane in early June with five other teachers from my school to attend the Edutech14 Conference along with 4000 other educators. See my post on this conference HERE
So I have asked Lisa, our librarian to share what ideas she has taken away from
the trip. She has written a very interesting blog post about changes happening
to the our school library, inspired by a visit to a school in Brisbane and a fantastic
workshop by American Librarian, Joyce Valenza.
