Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Star Fish Story

Posted on March 11, 2009 by mwalker

This video reminds me of a former school council president, John Stafford who would each year thank the teachers for their service to the community. John would present each of them with a star fish he would make and a … Continue reading →

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social networking possibilities in classrooms

Posted on March 8, 2009 by mwalker

  http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzpix/3332094759/  I was reading Will Richardson’s article on the use of social networking sites in classrooms. Will was quoting the research of Christine Greenhowa doctoral student at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Yes, some of you might say that … Continue reading →

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Old Man Take a Look at Yourself – Graduation

Posted on March 4, 2009 by mwalker

At the start of each school year we, in the broadest sense of community, plan a series of activities and events for the coming year that are connected – connected to students, their learning, their families and some of the challenges … Continue reading →

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Interactive Whiteboard Sites

Posted on February 27, 2009 by mwalker

Tonight I stumbled upon Bill Gaskins blog which lists some tremendous sites for teachers who have interactive whiteboards. I really like the edheadsites as well as the national geographic sites – they are well worth a visit – thanks Bill Sites … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborative Communities, Teaching, Uncategorized, Video Clips | Tagged | 9 Comments

Fires continue to burn amid questions what if that was a school day!

Posted on February 20, 2009 by mwalker

Every meeting I attend recently at some point has conversations about the ongoing – yes that right, 2 weeks later and I still say on going – bush fires. Today was no exception at the first network principals meeting where … Continue reading →

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Shiftables: A part of the future with us now

Posted on February 17, 2009 by mwalker

  http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/457 Thanks to Mrs Durff’s blog I found this TED talk by David Merrill from MIT who has made these small interconnected computerised blocks that enable us to explore and create. Just watch!

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Breaking down silos to make sense of networks.

Posted on February 17, 2009 by mwalker

As a principal of a school we all know about the benefits of breaking down the walls of classrooms or silos so that the teachers can learn from each other and question each other so that we build the collective professional … Continue reading →

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Fires burn Victoria

Posted on February 10, 2009 by mwalker

No doubt many people have heard about the horrific fires that have raged over large parts of Victoria over the weekend. With a rising death toll expected to reach over 200, 700 homes lost, whole towns destroyed it certainly is … Continue reading →

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Wordle Art

Posted on February 2, 2009 by mwalker

I created this wordle using my blog’s main words. Its quite easy to create the picture although I had to use paint to edit the image before I could put it on my blog. Those wanting access to the site … Continue reading →

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Wordia

Posted on February 1, 2009 by mwalker

Last week I found a site that might interest teachers of older students. Its an online dictionary that has videos uploaded from people trying to explain the word. It’s interactive and  encourages people to leave comments. It uses youtube so … Continue reading →

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School Year finishes.

Posted on December 21, 2008 by mwalker

As I finish the school year, wind down for Christmas and look forward to a holiday I found this cartoon which puts a premium on dialogue. To all my readers have a Merry Christmas and I will return in the … Continue reading →

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Using video is a cultural shift for us as teachers

Posted on December 18, 2008 by mwalker

Thanks to Judy O’Connell I found Howard Rhiengold’s short video which as Judy says summarises some pretty significant shifts taking place and makes a challenge for teachers. Again this would be a good clip to start some conversations with teachers … Continue reading →

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TIMMS test results spark controversy

Posted on December 14, 2008 by mwalker

This past fortnight I have talked about my schools performance on national tests to school council [NAPLAN] and now I’ve seen lots of editorials and responses in newspapers about Australia’s performance in the recent international tests in maths and science for years … Continue reading →

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School is about more than tests

Posted on December 10, 2008 by mwalker

  I have just spent some time this week with school council looking at our year 5 student results for this years national tests [NAPLAN]. I publish the performance data of year 3 and 5 students on these tests each year … Continue reading →

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Parent input into and understandings about school structures and class lists

Posted on December 4, 2008 by mwalker

Each year I invite parents to contribute information into the class list formation for the following year. I have felt that we as teachers do not know everything about students and an opportunity to have additional information was valuable. Of course I … Continue reading →

Posted in school, school structures, Uncategorized | 1 Comment