Author Archives: mwalker

Selecting schools is not like shopping!

Posted on April 8, 2012 by mwalker

In writing my last post on community I’ve come to reflect on a phrase I used on school tours “please shop around before considering this school”. I’m wondering whether I contributed to a consumerist way of looking at education or schooling.  In saying … Continue reading →

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A school dragon is born.

Posted on April 7, 2012 by mwalker

  Late last year I was remiss in not sharing news about a project two teachers imagined – a school dragon to use when we celebrate Chinese festivals and events. The Mandarin teacher, Bec had the original idea and then another … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Chinese Language | Leave a comment

Community Project – a school orchard

Posted on April 5, 2012 by mwalker

Last month my school community led by a dedicated group of parents came together to construct a school orchard. This project has been in the planning phase for over 12 months as the committee rasied funds, involved some university students in the … Continue reading →

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Meeting the Minister

Posted on April 4, 2012 by mwalker

Recently I, along with 2 colleagues, were nominated by our network of schools to meet with the Minister of Education to chat over a few concerns our colleagues wanted us to raise. We raised a number of points that he … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, school, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Leadership and Relational Learning

Posted on April 3, 2012 by mwalker

Last month we held our 3rd curriculum day on one of our strategic improvement strategies – the implementation of a relational learning framework in teaching and learning and to engage with the parent and wider community   (school are entitled to hold 4 … Continue reading →

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Having fun “joining in” – playing with the image of principal.

Posted on April 3, 2012 by mwalker

Over the past few weeks there have 2 work occassions where I felt a need to “join in”. As a general rule I don’t like dressing up in fancy dress. It’s not that I feel I have a  conservative  image of a principal … Continue reading →

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A few challenges to the idea of “life long learning.”

Posted on March 15, 2012 by mwalker

Last week I was privileged to spend 3 days interacting with James Nottingham and others around the topic of life long learning. He made to me some valuable points worth exploring a little further. “tests show only what a child has … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, Conference, school, Teaching, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Kath says students acquire assets through inquiry focused instruction

Posted on March 4, 2012 by mwalker

Last week Kath Murdoch continued her work with us here at Elsternwick with a session on the “assets” students learn through inquiry focused instruction. From the outset let me be clear that I’m not saying students cannot acquire these dispositions through … Continue reading →

Posted in Instruction, school, Teaching, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Building Classroom Learning Communities

Posted on March 4, 2012 by mwalker

  One of last week’s walk-through foci was on classroom learning communities. These are some of the images I captured on the walk-through. At the start of each school year we as a staff and teachers in all classrooms expect to build … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborative Communities, Community, Instruction, school, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

2011 Instructional Rounds Evaluation

Posted on January 27, 2012 by mwalker

As I set up our Network Instructional Rounds dates for 2012 I was interested to read and reflect upon another group of principal evaluations of their experiences last year. Overwhelmingly the consistent comment of principals as observers in both groups are … Continue reading →

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Everett Kline challenges our assessment beliefs and practices.

Posted on January 10, 2012 by mwalker

Ever been to a professional learning workshop or presentation and felt discomfort, challenged, empowered and an overwhelming sense relief all at the same time? Well I have several times (lucky me some might say) and this session led by Everett … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011 ASCD Conference, Assessment, Feedback, Instruction, Teaching | 2 Comments

Carol Tomlinson: an encounter to remember!

Posted on January 5, 2012 by mwalker

This year in our Instructional Rounds group within the local network of schools we purchased Carol Tomlinson’s book “Leading and Managing A Differentiated Classroom” to use as a base text for understanding our observation of instruction in classrooms. Last year … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011 ASCD Conference, Assessment, differentiation, Instruction, Leadership, Teaching, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

University Entrance a maze to be understood.

Posted on January 3, 2012 by mwalker

I recently read a blog post by Jenny Luca which was critical of the way universities select entrants based on a single score. In Victoria the score is called an ATAR score. The post attracted a few comments saying it was a … Continue reading →

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Understanding History – an experience around the Freedom Trail

Posted on January 3, 2012 by mwalker

I feel a little self indulgent in showing these photos of the historical freedom trial Penny Vanderkruk and I walked over several mornings whilst studying at Harvard last year. However in walking the trail we feel we got a glimpse … Continue reading →

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The Harvard Social Experience.

Posted on January 2, 2012 by mwalker

A few things have cropped up since we returned from the Harvard course in July that I haven’t had a chance to share some thoughts about the trip and so being on summer holidays is the perfect opportunity to do … Continue reading →

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