Category Archives: Reading

Inferencing in the early years

Posted on May 23, 2018 by mwalker

This week I’m writing about inferencing. It’s nearly 5 months into the Australian academic year for our Foundation to Year 2 students and teachers have built Reading Workshops where students build sufficient reading stamina for guided groups to run, where learning … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading, Teaching, trainee teachers, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Meaningful Reading Comprehension – students doing the work!

Posted on June 4, 2015 by mwalker

This is a year 2 boy’s attempt to infer the meaning of words in a non fiction book of his choosing. Both the teacher and I thought this a really good artefact to show his reading comprehension development. The first … Continue reading →

Posted in Instruction, Reading, Teaching | 1 Comment

What might Benjamin Franklin have to say to our young students?

Posted on August 19, 2014 by mwalker

  At Monday’s school assembly I used Benjamin Franklin’s story to talk about the importance of effort and persistence as we strive for personal excellence. “energy and persistence conquer all things” Benjamin Franklin I talked about his childhood days in … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Leadership, Reading, school, Teaching, Video Clips | 1 Comment

Keeping earlier improvements alive – a constant juggling act for school leaders.

Posted on February 24, 2014 by mwalker

Have you ever wondered how you keep earlier improvement work on the slow boil whilst undertaking more recent deeper work? I know this is a constant challenge for school leaders particularly as new teachers who often unfamiliar with the earlier … Continue reading →

Posted in Feedback, Leadership, Reading, Teaching | 1 Comment

When more is not good – lesson intentions can make a difference

Posted on April 26, 2010 by mwalker

At year level leadership meetings we often read and discuss shared articles or writing from noted educators. Last week we discussed chapter two of Shirley Clarke’s book on feedback titled  “Learning Intentions”. One of her opening lines is “It is … Continue reading →

Posted in Instruction, Reading, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

An advocate for reciprocal teaching – or hearing student voice in your classroom.

Posted on April 8, 2010 by mwalker

When I first listened to this address by 12 yo Adora I was rather skeptical and amazed. Her use of language is amazing but her message is simply. We need to hear student voice in curriculum development – so if … Continue reading →

Posted in curriculum, Instruction, Reading, Uncategorized, Video Clips | Tagged | 2 Comments

Reading comprehension scaffolded for older students.

Posted on March 16, 2010 by mwalker

At our regular team leaders meeting where we gain an overview of curriculum planning across the school we discussed what readers workshops look like for older primary aged students. Our problem of practice started out about identifying what students are … Continue reading →

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League tables

Posted on January 26, 2010 by mwalker

Over the past week newspapers all over Australia have featured articles and editorials on the Federal Governments new tax payer funded website “My School” which will allow parents [and others] to see how their schools rates against the national average … Continue reading →

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How far have we come as teachers in using technology to engage learners?

Posted on December 23, 2009 by mwalker

Have a quick flick through this presentation as we in Australia shut down for the summer school holiday period. I’m reminded of a now famous quote “Yes we can” when I see this. I remember as far back as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, Collaborative Communities, Instruction, Reading, school, Teaching, Technology, Uncategorized, Video Clips, Walkthroughs | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Teachers do not teach comprehension they test it.

Posted on May 20, 2009 by mwalker

Last week I attended a presentation by Di Snowballwho has recently returned from working in schools in the States for over 16 years. Di has been contracted to work in some regions in Victoria to hlep “struggling” schools, I gather, however … Continue reading →

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Teaching Reading Clips

Posted on April 28, 2009 by mwalker

We have discovered this wonderful resources from the Canadian Curriculum Services which has great web casts with similar challenges to our schools: http://www.curriculum.org/secretariat/april18.shtml We have been revising our understandings about reading instruction and what certain teaching strategies look and sound … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading, school, Teaching, Video Clips | Tagged | 2 Comments

A new model for “Writing” is needed in schools.

Posted on April 12, 2009 by mwalker

It seems writing is now more in focus than reading. Over the last 6 months I have heard and read a great deal about the power of writing and how the model needs to change in schools. I wrote about … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Reading, school, Teaching, Uncategorized, writing | 4 Comments

Reading Comprehension Strategies made explicit in classrooms

Posted on April 4, 2009 by mwalker

I visited Matthew Needlemans blog and really like the way his is trying to get his students to anchor their reading comprehension skills through the creation of posters that students can connect to. Often charts displayed in rooms don’t provide … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading, Teaching, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Making a difference by Douglas Reeves.

Posted on October 14, 2008 by mwalker

I was fortunate to hear Douglas Reeves for the second time at the recent ACEL conference in Melbourne. He is the founder and chief executive officer of the Center for Performance Assessment, an organization dedicated to improving student achievement and … Continue reading →

Posted in 2008 ACEL Conference, Assessment, Leadership, Reading, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

School improvement is not unlike peeling an onion – the jouney is layered and may produce tears .

Posted on September 11, 2008 by mwalker

  At most weekly leadership meetings we agenda a discussion on a published research paper distributed and read prior to meeting and this week it was the 90/90/90 Schools: A Case Study article. The article written by two journalists was based on research … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, Leadership, Reading, Teaching, Uncategorized, Walkthroughs | Tagged | Leave a comment