Category Archives: school

A thank you to teachers!

Posted on September 30, 2012 by mwalker

To be called a teacher was once associated with being held in high regard. Like lots of professions this has slipped over recent years. One can speculate reasons as to why or how this has happened. This clip I think … Continue reading →

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Instructional Rounds and Data Wise.

Posted on September 16, 2012 by mwalker

Last week I facilitated an Instructional Round at a neighbouring school and tried to embrace some of the principles of Data Wise into the evidentiary analysis of the observations. The initiative was well received so I thought I would share … Continue reading →

Posted in Data Wise Program, Feedback, Harvard, Instruction, Instructional Rounds, Observation, school, Teaching, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Data Wise at Elsternwick, a Harvard perspective.

Posted on September 4, 2012 by mwalker

Last month David Rease Jnr from Harvard visited Elsternwick to view our progress in implementing the Data Wise: Inquiry Approach to Improving Instruction in schools. We were quite chuffed at David’s visit and recorded this clip  to capture some of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Assessment, Data Wise Program, Harvard, Instruction, Instructional Rounds, school, Video Clips | Leave a comment

Is there a social agenda that pushes the use of data in schools to a more summative view?

Posted on September 2, 2012 by mwalker

Over recent weeks I have pondering concerns raised by teachers and a few parents on the use of data to report to parents (summative assessment). Last week three of my staff attended a briefing on the new National Curriculum due … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, school, Teaching, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Basketball a great team sport at EPS

Posted on August 2, 2012 by mwalker

I thought I might show a bit of this clip at the start of my meeting this week with the Year 5/6 students as they prepare for the annual Hoop Time Basketball competition. Each year we enter around 15 teams … Continue reading →

Posted in school | 4 Comments

Personalising is really an outcome of differentiation: points to note for educators

Posted on June 10, 2012 by mwalker

At a recent regional Principal conference I heard Vic Zbar, an educational consultant based in Victoria; speak about personalising teaching and learning. Personalising learning he put it was really an outcome of differentiation. Vic then made a number of points I … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Assessment, differentiation, Geelong Conference, Instruction, school, teacher efficacy, Teaching, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Knowing our core work

Posted on June 10, 2012 by mwalker

Recently I heard Major General Jim Molan, a retired Army officer who served in the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars talk about leadership. He opened with the observation that the army and schools have something in common – they both … Continue reading →

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The purpose of a school is………………

Posted on May 29, 2012 by mwalker

Last week I was working with Dr George Otero on trying to navigate through the various theories of action that underpin our work at Elsternwick. What are the connections between relational learning framework, Data Wise inquiry cycles, instructional rounds observations on task … Continue reading →

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Creativity: alive and well

Posted on May 25, 2012 by mwalker

  I was walking past some art work at school today and was so impressed with the quality of the pieces I felt I had to showcase them by putting them on my blog. We hear about creativity being a … Continue reading →

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The ‘learning pit’ of Harvard: a data wise inquiry into what next!

Posted on May 10, 2012 by mwalker

We are at the end of our time at Harvard having had our presentation both acknowledged by the facility and celebrated by our American colleagues.It felt gooood! Our thinking was then sharpened over the remainder of the course to focus … Continue reading →

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The honour of presenting at Harvard

Posted on April 28, 2012 by mwalker

A few weeks ago we were asked to present our work on changing a school culture whilst engaging with the ‘Data Wise’ inquiry process at Harvard. It’s an honour to be invited for it acknowledges our work and commitment to … Continue reading →

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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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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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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