Movemeon book now available

What a fantastic idea, a compilation of advice from educators on a range of subjects and all the length of a Tweet.  Have a browse and many thanks to the editors and all contributors for sharing this with us.

http://movemeon.wikispaces.com/

snow days and laughter

I seem to have missed all news coverage surrounding the arrival of snow in the UK therefore I wonder if the usual panic has arisen?

Personally I love the snow. I get a sense of excitement and adventure watching those first few flakes fall always anticipating a heavy covering and hopeful that it will lie and not turn to immediate slush.

This time it has not been exactly a quilt covering of snow but at least we have slightly more than a veil. My solution to the fact there is not enough to make a snowman? Lets go to the zoo. Yes - the zoo.

Edinburgh zoo has a daily penguin parade and what could be more fun than taking my girls to see this in the snow and what a perfect day to do so: end of term, half day of school, pack up a picnic to eat in the for the journey to Edinburgh and we are all set. Plenty of layers to keep us warm and it promises to be a great afternoon.


penguin cam

Lets face it I'm excitable enough about snow, but in the week before Christmas, what is better at bringing home the spirit of the season than a wee bit of the white stuff? Scottish winters are not so bad after all!


Part two


Okay so confession time.  We missed the penguin parade after going all that way we spent too long playing in the snow and then went for lunch.  Sitting in the Macmillan room we realised it was over.  We did go to see the penguins though and although we didn't make the parade this time we have seen it many times before.


My girls had a great time picking on my friend by covering him with snow, as the photo shows they made a good job of it too.

placement

I was recently given a fantastic opportunity while I was on placement in a Primary 7 class.

Without giving too much away it provided me with the the chance to incorporate techniques and approaches that link in with my educational philosophy.

Using a games based learning approach I was also able to link into current practices in this field. I have always been of the opinion that this form of motivation is an excellent approach, but the chance to see this first hand, to plan for it, observe pupils working in this way and assess the learning following this form of input was more than I had anticipated.

My wish now is to use the confidence I have gained from the experience to influence my future practice.

More to follow...

Followers, Friends, Fans etc

The worldwide increase in social networking over the last decade has undoubtedly broken many barriers in communication terms but at what cost?

We can be guilty of adding people to our social networks whom we don't know, but is mistrust and scepticism the solution?

When is a friend a friend? When are they merely an acquaintance? A follower?

What information do you share that you wouldn't consider telling a stranger conducting a survey in your local supermarket?

The sceptics may suggest information sharing is entirely foolish.

As a society have we become too wary of openness?

Yes there is a rise in fraud and identity theft, measures to combat this are often ignored. We wouldn't post our full name, DOB, email address and phone number on a large banner hanging from our living room window, so why would we do so on our webpages? We teach our children to be internet safe for fear of who they may come into contact with yet we often fail to follow this advice personally.

Complaints about social networking also surround an inability to communicate. By only communicating via the likes of Bebo, Facebook, MSN, text messaging etc it is often said that teenagers are unable to hold a 'proper' conversation. The suggestion that many teenagers have ever wanted to hold long and meaningful conversations with adults is another issue but the descent in communication is highly debatable. Even the loneliest person can find somebody to virtually speak to; why is this considered a negative?

I'm not saying make all your profile pages public but take the opportunity to speak to people, through what ever means you can. Conversation is vital and next time you gain a new friend, follower, fan etc then say hello. If they don't reply then don't accept them, if they do who knows what you may learn? After all isn't every experience a learning one?

Perhaps 6 degrees is more than we can achieve? Milgram would be in his element.

http://www.glacir.com/join

I Don

I Don’t Need Your Network (or Your Computer, or Your Tech Plan, or Your…)

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Google Wave

Well, thanks to the wonderful world of Twitter, I am now the proud owner of a google wave invite. Typically it comes the day I decide that I really must get to grips with my internet procrastinations and finish all the work I keep putting off.

I have had a quick look but not long enough to actually do anything - I didn't even start a wave.

Now I have two choices: 1) put off further explorations of wave until I am completely up to date with all essential work. OR 2) stay up far too late having a good nose around wave, achieve nothing much and be completely shattered tomorrow.

This time I think I may need to be sensible :0(

Simplistic Chaos?

The problem with my brain is that it is always racing ahead at a hundred miles an hour, now how on earth am I supposed to have time to process any thoughts when I am so short of thinking time?

Just when I think I am beginning to get a glimpse of some form of simplistic chaos another idea comes along to challenge my conceptions and I am off again.

It's not like I can even blame outside influences as the worst offender is myself.

Do I want to change? Of course not.

Is the best challenge that which comes from within? Is this what drives us more than anything? If so should we aim to control or should we embrace our idiosyncrasies and desire more?

Linking to David Perkins and positive mindsets, how can we help to develop an open mindset with learning power minds Guy Claxton describes, if we, ourselves, have closed mindsets? We want to teach skills that will allow problems to be attacked, deliberated, explored not shied away from. Before we can do this we need to explore our own resources when it comes to facing something new. Do we ignore it? Do we twist the issue and relate it to a previous problem? Do we devise a new solution for dealing with a new problem? or do we use a range of strategies to help us?

The immediate answer may be apparent, but, ask yourself how often do we really do this?

listening

Do I listen?

Well I try to listen, honest I do.

It's just that, well, things get lost. Between my ears and my brain I mean. They definitely make it to my ears I know this because I hear it happening.

Then...

They get a little mislaid. When they resurface they are perfectly acceptable and resonable.

It's only when I repeat them that I realise they have become confuddled in my brain: they sound exactly the way I want them to. Not a big deal, I'm sure you will agree and it brings a whole new meaning to hearing what you want to hear!

Rowan

My old dog has got a warped sense of humour! He just doesn't realise that his 'jokes' are wearing thin.

Every morning I wake up and get ready to take the dogs out, Rowan lies in his bed and will not move. (Incase you are wondering his hearing loss is entirely selective; drop a crumb of food and he hears that!) I call him summoning up all the usual bribes - walk time, treats etc to no avail. I start to worry, he is old, give him a wee shake; still nothing. By this stage I'm usually getting into a panic. My 9 year old comes along and what does he do? I'll tell you what; he jumps out of his bed and wiggles his backside over to her for a snuggle!! Wee sod!

By this time the pup (who is actually 4 but will always be the pup) has nearly worn herself out spinning in circles at the door. I suppose in some ways I should thank the old man, walks are never as long in the morning they are both knackered after 10mins.

There are also the times that he flat out refuses to leave the house, or he won't get in the car. This stubborn streak developed after he had been ill and realised that we wouldn't force him to walk far. He has the memory of an elephant, who ever said dogs could be stupid? Actually looking at the pup ignore that question.

history? herstory?

I am writing tonight because I was recently contacted by an old friend. It was one of those situations when you don't know how to respond, if indeed you respond at all. In the end I thought, what the heck life is too short to ignore people who played a big part in your life. The hesitation was due to how we lost contact and us not always being the best influence for each other. I think I was afraid of being pulled down so I'm a bit cautious over the whole matter. Still we have been doing the whole nostalgic reminiscing thing which obviously being 9 yrs since we last talked included school. So many good memories we shared and so many wild times too, the big realisation was that life is so much based on making memories that we always wish we had back, then you forget how good life is in the present; meaning we don't fully enjoy the memories that we are making right now and before you know it you will be wishing for those times back thus sparking a circle reaction. Is this true of everyone? If not what is the point of the abundance of happy memories we collect, what a confusing thing life can be.

soap box

Politics and students never did mix well. The learning curve? I backed down and succumbed to conforming! Not an easy feat but relatively painless on this occasion. Is this the new me? Will I be less hot headed in the future? Have I really learned to harness the passion that normally sparks rage when faced with conformity? Or am I just displaying adult behaviour?

The most ironic psychology of life. I discovered that you may spend a lifetime waiting on growing up only to realise that that is exactly how some people miss out on enjoying life as it is. After this I embraced the 17 year old inner me only to find that she has matured without MY permission. Tut tut... Maybe next time she will have reverted to teenage tantrums and the balance will be restored.