Mark's Learning Log- Wondering if all teachers in training and graduate teachers are being taught to instruct all students in reading as though they were in the red? September 29, 2024I have this wondering that we are teaching all students in the class – as a whole class lesson – in the junior years as though they all needed the intensive phonic instruction and frequent repetition. Yes some explicit instruction … Continue reading →mwalker
- Why Why is the question we all need to answer! May 31, 2024In my work with school educators this is the question I ask them to resolve for themselves. What drives you to lead / teach young people and why? What happened to you and why is that important. I was reminded … Continue reading →mwalker
- Wondering if all teachers in training and graduate teachers are being taught to instruct all students in reading as though they were in the red? September 29, 2024
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Category Archives: coaching
Why Why is the question we all need to answer!
In my work with school educators this is the question I ask them to resolve for themselves. What drives you to lead / teach young people and why? What happened to you and why is that important. I was reminded … Continue reading
Jason Day tells how he made it to number 1 in the world and more …….
I have listened to this clip several times now as he describes during his childhood experiences he found a passion for golf and family. It’s worth a listen for anyone either interested in golf or wanting to get better at … Continue reading
Posted in coaching, Leadership, professional learning, reflections, sports, 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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Bo’ai Primary School our sister school
A few months ago I visited our sister school Bo’ai Primary School, Changzhao in China. The school has 3 sites: a Year 1/2 school for about 1,500 students, an older site currently being demolished and rebuilt and a new site … Continue reading
Posted in China, Sister School, sports coaching, Uncategorized
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Why do some 12 year old coaches get what some adults loose sight of?
Over the past fortnight I have accompanied 6 successful school basketball teams to various representative knock out carnivals. Five of the teams were ultimately unsuccessful in making the State level round yet I could not have been prouder of them … Continue reading
Posted in sports coaching
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A shock – bullying too close to home!
Last night I was shown a clip of Australia’s number 1 cyber bully, Tristan Barker. This story featured heavily in the New Zealand press where he is currently living with his father. I suppose what brought this to home was … Continue reading
Posted in coaching, Community, Video Clips
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A Harvard Coach!
One of the great privileges Penny and I had at Harvard was the allocation of a dedicated coach (Emma) who assisted us in the preparation of our presentation and helped us determine what the next level of work. Prior to … Continue reading
Posted in coaching, Data Wise Program, Harvard, Instruction, Leadership, Uncategorized
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Three improvement strategies to make a difference to relationships and learning.
Over the past 2 months we have focused on preparing our teachers to differentiate instruction. I’m writing this post to explain to readers within my own community why this emphasis on preparation and why we need to adopt three different … Continue reading
To err and succeed
I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that … Continue reading
Posted in school, sports, sports coaching, Teaching, Uncategorized
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Support in schools arguments
This is the second post on the issue of support for teachers. In the previous post “What constitutes support for a teacher?” I set the scene that we have been re conceiving our workforce plan with the loss of 50% … Continue reading
Posted in coaching, school structures, Uncategorized
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Some coaching principles that might help avoid those awkward moments when dealing when upset or angry players or parents.
Let’s begin by acknowledging that it’s an honour and a privilege to coach. In thinking about some general principles that might guide coaches I came up with 5. If coaches follow these in their own style then they are less … Continue reading
What’s your coaching philosophy?
Here are two legends of Australian Basketball Lindsay and Andrew Gaze. Their names are the first most people recall if you mention the Melbourne Tigers. As I have written about before my son Mitchell plays in the Melbourne Tigers Under … Continue reading