Category Archives: Teaching

Kishore Mahbubani – The New Asian Hemisphere.

Posted on July 22, 2009 by mwalker

Certainly one of the more challenging speakers at the recent World Convention of Principals was Kishore Mahbubani. For those not familiar with Kishore or his work, and I was one of them, he is currently a Professor in Public Policy at the … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009 Singapore Conference, Leadership, school, Teaching, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

World Convention of the International Confederation of Principals – Singapore – a hit!

Posted on July 21, 2009 by mwalker

I have just returned from the 9th World Convention of the International Confederation of Principals in Singapore. It was truly an international convention with1,400 delegates from over 40 countries. It was also an opportunity to meet up with old friends … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009 Singapore Conference, Leadership, Networks of Schools, school, Teaching, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Learning to speak Chinese – Mandarin

Posted on July 3, 2009 by mwalker

Victorian students are required to learn a language other than English up until year 8 and for many years our students learnt Italian. This year after extensive community consultation we choose to change the language to Chinese – Mandarin. The main … Continue reading →

Posted in Chinese Language, school, Teaching | 7 Comments

Courtenay Gardens P.S. Non fiction Writing in Victoria!

Posted on June 2, 2009 by mwalker

Recently, a professional learning team from Elsternwick Primary,  visited a school, Courtenay Garden’s P.S. in Victoria that focused on non fiction writing implementing the research of Douglas Reeves. Courtenay Gardens P.S. ,a school located in the growth corridior of the outer south eastern suburbs … Continue reading →

Posted in school, Teaching, Uncategorized, writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

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

Twitter – what for?

Posted on April 9, 2009 by mwalker

Thanks to Chris Betcher, a teacher I found this clip on twitter which is one of the more popular social networking tools out now. PURPOSE. PURPOSE. PURPOSE is everything. Without a purpose lets not rush into this – I’m still … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborative Communities, school, Teaching, Technology, Video Clips | 1 Comment

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

Learning Walks on improved relationships and engagement.

Posted on March 19, 2009 by mwalker

Near the end of February my Assistant Principal and I went on a series of learning walks or walkthroughs with a focus on classroom rules and norms of working. We spent a short time in each classroom listening to students and teachers … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Teaching, Uncategorized, Walkthroughs | 4 Comments

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 →

Posted in Leadership, school, Teaching, Uncategorized, Video Clips | Tagged | Leave a comment

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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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

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 →

Posted in Art, school, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Graduate Teachers starting at Elsternwick Primary

Posted on February 1, 2009 by mwalker

The school leadership team in conjunction with teacher mentors have spent some time last week inducting 5 new graduate teachers into the profession and working here at Elsternwick Primary for 2009. The first day was for graduates and their mentors and 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 →

Posted in Leadership, school, Teaching, Uncategorized, Video Clips | Leave a comment