Monthly Archives: February 2008

What lense do you use when looking at children’s writing?

Posted on February 21, 2008 by mwalker

I looked at this 6 year olds work on thinking and thought of this quote a team leader used at the annual parent information night: “We let children paint their faces, swing around poles, blow bubbles, build cubby houses, go … Continue reading →

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What drives your classroom coaching program?

Posted on February 21, 2008 by mwalker

Last year I caught up with Barrie Bennett in Toronto and had the chance to talk through his framework for classroom improvement. It was one of those light bulb moments when it became clear for me what the missing focus was in both … Continue reading →

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Leaders talking teaching and learning!

Posted on February 21, 2008 by mwalker

At this week’s leadership meeting I set the context for our reading of John Hattie’s article on building teacher quality. The article lists a number of key strategies [e.g. feedback] that have the greatest effect size on student learning. It concludes: “expert … Continue reading →

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Raise the Bar and Close the Gap

Posted on February 18, 2008 by mwalker

At last weeks principal network meeting we briefly talked about this notion of raising the bar on student achievement. Michael Fullan defines moral purpose for schools in terms of raising the bar and closing the achievement gap. The conversation was started from … Continue reading →

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Principals turn to booze to cope

Posted on February 5, 2008 by mwalker

Today a report is being released on principal workload. The report based on a national survey of 1,100 principals shows that while most love their job many are finding that “endless paperwork, dealing with abuse or grievances from angry parents, and … Continue reading →

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Student Leadership

Posted on February 1, 2008 by mwalker

I was talking to the senior students at school this week and used this clip to start the discussion about leadership changing the world We often start in our own backyard so to speak in small ways and the students said by being kind … Continue reading →

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Classroom Rules

Posted on February 1, 2008 by mwalker

I found this clip may just in a fun way create a converstaion with students about classrooms rules.

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