Mark's Learning Log- Harvard Data Wise Institute in Melbourne January 28, 2024Last week 19 school teams came to Melbourne during the last week of school holidays to attend a 5 day Harvard Data Wise Institute. There were long 8 hours days of intensive learning where participants shared their ‘why’ stories with … Continue reading →mwalker
- Jez – the old chestnut – ability grouping or streaming – is still being touted as a solution to falling standards! January 5, 2024Sorry Natasha, education editor for the Australian Newspaper, wrote a recent article on the state of education in Australia using the results of the recent PISA tests to say that our students are bored out of their brains at school, … Continue reading →mwalker
- Harvard Data Wise Institute in Melbourne January 28, 2024
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Author Archives: mwalker
Why have learning intentions without success criteria?
John, in this 9 min clip, puts the case for why we need to explain what we intend students to learn, why and how they might self assess success. It’s hard to defend the opposite. In this clip John’s work … Continue reading
Is Dante’s Hell a view of adaptive challenges? If so, hold onto that moral compass.
I recently watched a TED talk by Dan Leahy – The Dance of Learning Meets the Adaptive Challenge. In the talk Dan uses Heifetz, Glashow and Linsky’s need for adaptive change which is about facing the unknown and having to learn new skills to … Continue reading
Posted in Data Wise Program, Harvard, Teaching
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Effective Lesson Planning: classroom systems and lesson sequencing
This is a follow up post number 2 on effective lesson planning. Now that we understand lessons should go differing lengths of time 20 – 40 minutes, what would that look like in one of the timetable blocks of 90-120 … Continue reading
Effective Lesson Planning: length of lessons
Some of the questions, concerns and issues raised by trainee teachers so far include: constantly repeating instructions to students students forget what to do students either don’t finish the tasks in the time set or finish in the first 5 … Continue reading
Working at Deakin University
One of the exciting opportunities that has presented itself this year is to work at Deakin University as a casual academic. What that means is that I work in the professional learning unit supporting trainee teachers in schools learn the … Continue reading
Dirty Data!
Well I’m now officially retired as a school principal – no really! I’m sleeping well, planning holidays and of course playing more golf. But what about my mind – it’s not ready to give up as an educator. So I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Assessment, school, Teaching, Uncategorized, Video Clips
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Songs can hold our memories!
Certain songs or voices can bring many memories flooding back to us. It’s 1970 and the happy and even melancholic memories flood back to me when I hear Simon and Garfunkel sing their classics. Its been over 45 years since … Continue reading
Posted in Community, history, politics, Video Clips
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Are you Humpty Dumpty waiting for a fall?
Quite often Principal’s can feel like Humpty Dumpty “just waiting for the fall”. When you think of how many “clients” you serve (students, their parents and then the wider community) even a middle size school of 500 would add up … Continue reading
Posted in coaching, Leadership, Uncategorized
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features of a wise leader
I was recently going through my email and found this from a close Scottish colleague. THE TEN FEATURES OF A ‘WISE’ LEADER Holds unshakeable values which define their being; Translates their ‘way of thinking’ into the ‘way they do things’; … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, reflections, school
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Student Reports: a case for change
This is a copy of a post I wrote on my company’s website Well its November again and on the school calendar for teachers all over Australia is the preparation of the end of year student reports. Schools become stress … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Assessment
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Resources by themselves are not sufficient to improve language learning in Victorian or for that matter Australian schools?
Once again students learning another language hits the newspaper headlines: The trouble with languages in primary schools Time to mind our languages Interestingly it hits the headlines in the only state in Australia (Victoria) that mandates languages be taught in … Continue reading
Posted in Assessment, China, Chinese Language, curriculum, Sister School
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Why become a teacher? part two – my story
Some people can pinpoint a single incident or person that answers this question – for me I need to tell a story as I came to my moral purpose quite late. I went as a young 5-year-old to Corpus Christi, … Continue reading
Posted in reflections, school, teacher efficacy, Teaching
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Why aren’t us parents seeing any benefit in smaller class sizes?
I have just responded to this post by a parent: As a parent, the Bloomfield Public School system has sold smaller class sizes as part of their narrative. The experience of my two children has been a DECREASE in group … Continue reading
Why are you a teacher?
Ever had that questions posed to you? I have and its often followed by the popular quip: “because of the holidays?” What do the numbers say? More often then not it’s the story behind the numbers or data that inspires … Continue reading
Posted in teacher efficacy, Teaching
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You start a round trying to perfect your swing and end up thinking about leadership – how does that happen?
There are times when you are blinded by a parallel scenario as I was recently playing golf. I had played badly the previous round and wasn’t overly confident as I started on my first hole. The ball just didn’t seem … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, school, Teaching, Uncategorized
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