Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sport with your kids

Posted on September 5, 2008 by mwalker

Last weekend I went skiing with my kids [the first two in the picture] at Mt Buller. Skiing is one of those sports that you can do together and all weekend I kept on wanting to pinch myself saying “how good is this?” Whether … Continue reading →

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Maths materials – tools or manipulatives? A walkthrough query.

Posted on September 4, 2008 by mwalker

Readers of my blog will know that we have Michaal Ymer, an educator with a focus on maths, coaching teachers in classrooms. Michael early on in his work with us presented three main messages: students need maths materials to manipulate so … Continue reading →

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Is personalised learning the holy grail?

Posted on September 2, 2008 by mwalker

I was watching the Da Vinci Code movie the other night and got to pondering was the holy grail that so many knights had fought to find and in some cases protect, in fact Mary Magdalene’s sepulchre as the Dan Brown’s … Continue reading →

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500 Years of Women in Art

Posted on September 1, 2008 by mwalker

  Thanks to John Connells work I have found a great blog for the art lovers by Phillip Scott Johnson. Women in art featues 500 famous paintings which have all been listed.

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Challenges of learning to change and changing to learn

Posted on August 28, 2008 by mwalker

This 5 minute clip is useful for educators either as individuals or in teams in schools to talk through and using technology to so new things in new ways. It challenged me – do we have classrooms or learning communities [go outside … Continue reading →

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tests and the Rudd education revolution

Posted on August 28, 2008 by mwalker

Today the Prime Minister of Austalia, Hon Kevin Rudd delivered a speech at the National Press Club on the education revolution. I received a transcript of the speech which for me had several highlights: While Australian schools stand up reasonably … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, Leadership, school, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Sage words for bloggers

Posted on August 27, 2008 by mwalker

I have just stumbled upon Chris Lott’s blog which has provided some sage like words to explain why I share my thoughts on a blog and …. the words were written 500 years ago by Michel Montaigne.   [An account of a … Continue reading →

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How to cope with the gradual release of reponsibility to you the learner.

Posted on August 25, 2008 by mwalker

 Today I have asked to speak to our senior students about how we might better use the new spaces in our building to enhance our learning, friendships and online presence, the building is rich in access to digital technologies.   When using … Continue reading →

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Does consistency mean sameness or mindfulness?

Posted on August 24, 2008 by mwalker

At this weeks staff meeting Sarah, the assistant principal and I talked about the weeks walkthroughs posing some questions in particular the above question – is consistency between classrooms sameness or mindfulness?  We used a fish bowl strategy to share our thoughts where Sarah and I … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborative Communities, Teaching, Uncategorized, Walkthroughs | Tagged , | 1 Comment

100 best teacher videos

Posted on August 18, 2008 by mwalker

I came across this mainly US oriented list of the best 100 youtube videos for teachers. There are some worth a look.

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August Walkthrough

Posted on August 10, 2008 by mwalker

Last week our walkthrough focused on students setting goals. Our walk focused mainly on the middle school students. This focus followed up the curriculum day with Kath Murdoch. In the classes we visited we saw some evidence of both personal … Continue reading →

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Northern Territory students visit Elsternwick

Posted on August 10, 2008 by mwalker

On Friday this week 4 indigenous students from the Northern Territory visited Elsternwick as part of the Australian Football League’s program Kickstartto support students attending school and having a healthy lifestyle.  The four students were from a school of 20 … Continue reading →

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Toronto Superintendent Kathy Cowan visits Elsternwick.

Posted on August 10, 2008 by mwalker

On Wednesday 7/8/08 I was honoured to host Kathy Cowan a superintendent of a family of schools [SE6] in Toronto. I first met Kathy at Harvard University in 2006 and again in 2007 in Toronto when I visited a number of the family’s principals. … Continue reading →

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Shift Happens updated video

Posted on August 5, 2008 by mwalker

I have posted the updated version of Shift Happens as its still worth showing teachers and parents to set the context for change in education. It goes for about 7 minutes but hang in there – the discussion afterwards is … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborative Communities, Leadership, Teaching, Technology, Uncategorized, Video Clips | 3 Comments

Get Smart – Open the Classroom Doors!

Posted on August 3, 2008 by mwalker

One of the central themes of the Big Day Out this year was to “get smart and open the classrooms doors” so that instruction, which can often seen as private teacher business, can be seen and improved. Each year Darrell Fraser, … Continue reading →

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