Category Archives: Instruction

Do we teach handwriting skills to young writers – OK – when and why?

Posted on March 24, 2015 by mwalker

Recently I was in team meeting where teachers were discussing when to teach 5 year olds handwriting. It got me to thinking about why of my age and the old pen licences which we scrapped at least 10 years ago. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, Instruction, Teaching, Uncategorized, writing | 5 Comments

The pendulum conundrum of strategic planning.

Posted on March 3, 2015 by mwalker

Over the past 18 months we as a school having been reviewing our performance as a school through the student, teacher and parent lenses. There was lots to celebrate which we have. However human nature is a curious things for … Continue reading →

Posted in Instruction, Leadership, school, Teaching, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Growth mindsets and school wide learning cultures – a perfect mix!

Posted on December 8, 2014 by mwalker

I’ve written before on growth mindsets and this year teachers were keen to include young people developing growth mindsets as a key principle in the new strategic plan. A few teachers are now mentioning this to some parents who have … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, Instruction, Teaching | 1 Comment

Provoking student interest in learning

Posted on December 2, 2014 by mwalker

I say again I’m in a fortunate role as principal to see some amazing products and processes of learning and I’m guilty of not sharing these as often as I should. So here goes: the first two photos show an … Continue reading →

Posted in curriculum, differentiation, Instruction, Teaching, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Student feedback to teachers – just ask them we did!

Posted on December 1, 2014 by mwalker

We were working with Kath Murdoch this afternoon on using our student feedback to adjust the 2015 curriculum plans. Our students provided the followed recommendations to teachers which I thought were worth sharing: less teacher talk: which we are thinking … Continue reading →

Posted in Feedback, Instruction, school, teacher efficacy, Teaching | 2 Comments

Shirley Clarke says tell students the truth if their work needs work.

Posted on September 25, 2014 by mwalker

  I’m re-reading Shirley Clarke’s book first published in 2008 on active learning and formative assessment. One of the points she makes in the book is the link between higher self-esteem and a growth mindset. We need to show enthusiasm … Continue reading →

Posted in Feedback, parenting, Teaching, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

School timetables are factors in lesson structures!

Posted on September 3, 2014 by mwalker

I have a wondering whether a school timetable influences the way instruction is planned in classrooms? Now I know the answer is obviously yes from a practical perspective but the deeper question I’m pondering is do those timetable influenced instructional decisions … Continue reading →

Posted in Instruction, school, school structures, Teaching, Video Clips | 1 Comment

Reinventing Writing is that possible?

Posted on July 6, 2014 by mwalker

Recently I stumbled upon the work of Vicki Davis a classroom teacher (middle or secondary I think) in the States who is working on using technology to reinvent writing. The clip above is long (20 minutes) but I think she … Continue reading →

Posted in Feedback, Instruction, Teaching, writing | 1 Comment

A crash course in Chinese History.

Posted on July 4, 2014 by mwalker

As crash courses go and allowing for a few mistakes like the great wall was started by the Qin dynasty and the Ming dynasty, like the others, just expanded and fixed the Wall or that Chinese recorded history is 5000 not … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Instruction, Teaching, Uncategorized, Video Clips | 1 Comment

“education is not a horse race”

Posted on July 3, 2014 by mwalker

Over the holidays I came across an easy to read article by Elliot Einser on Benjamin Bloom. Essentially the article made a some key points about Bloom’s work: education as a process was an effort to realize human potential, indeed, … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, curriculum, differentiation, Instruction, Instructional Rounds, Teaching | 1 Comment

EPS data wise team reflections

Posted on June 27, 2014 by mwalker

This is the last post in the series by the 4 teachers overseas inquiring into the data wise process. As our trip draws to a close, we spent time reflecting upon and synthesising our learning both from the Data Wise … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Data Wise Program, Harvard, Instruction, Observation, reflections, school | 2 Comments

EPS visits Jefferson Elementary School in New York

Posted on June 26, 2014 by mwalker

This blog entry is the eighth in a series from the team visiting schools in the States and comes to you from the ‘Big Apple.’ Today we visited Jefferson Elementary School (K-5), located in upstate New York in a town called … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Assessment, Data Wise Program, Instruction, Leadership, school, Teaching | 2 Comments

Elsternwick PS meets Tobin Montessori in Boston

Posted on June 24, 2014 by mwalker

Continuing the series of posts written by Jess, Erin and Sarah 3 teachers attending the Harvard Institute and now visiting schools. Today we visited The Tobin School in Cambridge. This school was familiar to us, as we had read about … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, Data Wise Program, Harvard, Instruction, Networks of Schools, school, Teaching | 2 Comments

Data Wise: Summer Institute Day 3

Posted on June 19, 2014 by mwalker

We are now officially over half way through the course, and what a whole lot of learning has taken place. We feel that in a sense there has been growth on four different levels – personal, team, school and beyond … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, Data Wise Program, Harvard, Instruction, Teaching, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Data Wise: Summer Institute: Day 1

Posted on June 17, 2014 by mwalker

This series of posts are being written by three teachers Erin, Jess and Sarah and Penny the Assistant Principal who are all attending or part of the teaching team at the Harvard University Data Wise Institute.  Well, we’ve just finished … Continue reading →

Posted in Data Wise Program, Harvard, Instruction, Teaching, Video Clips | 1 Comment