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What are Sustainable Development Goals ? The 17 sustainable development goals have been set by the united nations as goals to be achieved by 2030. The SDGs are global goals set for various areas including humanitarian, environmental and economical. These goals are a great way to give purpose to student projects so they can address real world issues. Resources Song Ted Talk Introducing SDGs to students  To introduce SDGs to a class and ask them to research one each, then create a page in a floor book. (A floor book is an A3 sized page where student represent their findings, it is then compiled into a bound book and available for students to read).  Each time the class does research, or investigations asked students to identify which sustainable development goal the project is linked to. Books Greta and the Giants  by Zoe Tucker and illustrated by Zoe Persico is a fiction book about one girls fight again giants who are ruining the world. This story is based on Gre...

Distance learning is not reproducing a classroom in an unknown space in each 30 different homes. As I write, millions of teachers world wide are recreating planned content to be shared with students that are unable to attend school in some countries there are students simultaneously in their classroom. Some have online access some don't. Source How do we address distance learning?  Rather than create a second set of lessons for those at home, I recommend you allow school based students time to work through the same content. This means you are not creating dual content. Teachers are being encouraged to teach online, this does create a social justice issue where not all students and teachers have access to an online format, because of any of the following service, data plans, devices or wifi. To make it easier on you I have created some ideas for setting lessons for both online and offline learning.  Flipped learning - set a video, image or reading task that can...

How can I teach in nature? An alternate way to teach inquiry learning. I  have just had the pleasure of spending a day with @ClaireHWarden, hearing about #NaturePedagogy. People tend to be indoor dwelling. While some people thrive on the adventure of being outdoors there are many that avoid the outdoors for a wide variety of reasons. Add to this to opportunity to be in nature, hiking, bush walks or just sitting absorbing the serenity. This often requires an absence of mobile data and no wi-fi. For some being outside or being in nature means accidents, possible injury and feeling unsafe. What if we took time to teach our children the idea of safe limits, how to be safe and what it means to be in a physically unsafe space? What does it mean to give children an opportunity to learn beyond the gate?  What does Nature pedagogy look like? How can I teach about Nature? How can I teach in Nature? How can I teach with Nature? The idea of teaching about nature is...

How do you change the way you teach? It is a slow process but it is possible. When a new curriculum is implemented how to you integrate it? When a new pedagogy is doing the rounds even if it is a rebranded old idea how do you implement it? Should you adopt every idea?  Goals! What are your goals, both personally and for your class? This question can't be completely be answered until you know your class, your school, your parents. What are your professional goals? After reviewing your personal, professional goals and those of your school community write them down. Mine are: Continual growth and learning for my students and myself Enjoyment of learning and relationships Real life learning for students Academic improvement Research Now you have your goals consider the different pedagogical styles and how they might help you achieve your goals? There are so many pedagogical styles and educational theories. How do you know which one is right? Many of the teachi...

STEM, STEAM or STREAM is the latest acronym to hit schools. Schools are spending thousands on resources, rooms and even buildings.  This post will consider what STEM is, what it isn't and propose 5 ideas for teaching STEM. STEM is an acronym that encompasses Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. The acronym was first coined in "2001 by  American biologist Judith Ramaley" ( Britannica ). Prior to this it was referred to as SMET.  STEM is a pedagogy not a subject area. STEM is learning how to teach with a focus on these four areas and this can be done in a low cost way. The best way to spend scarce money is on teacher training and upskilling teachers to improve their pedagogy (ACER, Hattie), rather than expensive rooms staffed by a specialist. If your specialist moves on all the knowledge and skills are lost. The STEM movement began in the early 2000's when it was noticed American students were underperforming in PISA (Program for International Student A...

Coding the latest buzz word There is an international movement to teach coding in schools, everyone is talking about coding, the media , schools , not-for-profits , summer camps , women's magazines . The difficulty is the responsibility for integrating coding into the curriculum falls on the teachers who are not all equipped with the skills to teach coding.  Why? Teaching coding skills is not about teaching everyone to be a programmer. It is about digital literacy and ensuring all students understand how technology works. It also teaches a thinking style referred to as "Computational Thinking". Computational Thinking  (CT) is the thought processes involved in formulating a problem and expressing its solution(s) in such a way that a computer—human or machine—can effectively carry out.  (Jeanette Wing 2-14) ( Source ) It was first referred by Seymour Papert in 1980 and then in 1996 and it is an important thinking style for solving complex problems.   ( Sourc...

Current Trends in Education. Each year the Horizon Report  releases a summary of current and future trends in education. Many of the topics that feature in the report are discussed frequently by educators on Twitter and Google Plus. Key Trends Accelerating Technology Adoption in K-12 Education  Long-Term Impact Trends: Driving Ed Tech adoption in K-12 education for five or more years Rethinking How Schools Work: How do we reinvent the traditional classroom and the school experience? Pedagogy such as project based learning are already implemented in many schools. How do we take these pedagogies and remove restrictions such as timetables and bells. Schools like Delaney College in Granville, NSW, Australia have begun to implement a new approach to school using project based learning across year 7. Shift to Deeper Learning Approaches: The report includes examples of how schools are implementing different methods to achieve deep learning. A practical approach would be f...

21 st Century Learning Projects for a new paradigm Innovation Integrator at St Columba Anglican School (SCAS), Meridith Ebbs, shares some of the ground-breaking ways technology has been incorporated into the curriculum at the school. St Columba Anglican School is in it’s 14 th year and is located in Port Macquarie on the mid north coast of NSW. Four years ago the decision was made to migrate the school to the cloud and implement a voluntary bring your own device program. In the past 4 years there has been significant investment in technology and staff training. Many staff now use technology on a daily basis. Implementing technology also requires a commitment to evolving pedagogy. To assist all staff to continue to evolve their teaching methods requires continued support for staff financially and physically with training and flexible resources. Being a regional school attending professional development in the city can be costly so the school committed to employing ski...