Continue

all just words

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:45:00 +0000

When people run in circles It's a very, very mad world, mad world

on not losing

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 10:14:08 +0000

on hope, being clear eyed and living in the moment.

on being here for the Giant Plagiarism Machine

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 09:44:36 +0000

on the need to remain clear eyed in the face of AI and edtech promises for society

what data actually matters and are we paying attention to it?

Tue, 20 May 2025 09:44:59 +0000

On checking our defaults, checking the data that shapes those defaults, and checking the forces that enable and enforce both.

on a putting down

Thu, 15 May 2025 03:40:00 +0000

On honouring a team, acknowledging a legacy and letting go.

walking as an act of community

Wed, 23 Mar 2022 10:49:54 +0000

One conversation, a single moment The things that change us if we notice When we look up, sometimes

on paradise and home

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 09:31:00 +0000

Somewhere there lies a space for our stories. Stories to and for each other. Stories to and for the world.

on grief & persevering

Tue, 08 Mar 2022 08:34:45 +0000

thoughts on re-opening Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa. on being a place for holding aroha & grief. for all of Aotearoa.

uw_nyc : 1999

Sun, 12 Sep 2021 00:22:35 +0000

21 April 1999, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City. I think it was the hangover that changed my life.

a flaming 8-ball

Mon, 14 Jun 2021 10:35:15 +0000

"So wait. That's the audio for the Everything Everything live DVD?" Yep. "But is there any video?" Well yeah....

leading within systems

Sat, 17 Apr 2021 10:47:59 +0000

thoughts on leadership, on power and imbalance, on reflecting and refining, on authenticity and generosity and on honouring the people.

isa lei remux

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 23:43:18 +0000

when you remux: don't change the content, only put it in a new container

are we not ready

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 10:24:26 +0000

So we need to keep making those small, deliberate efforts. To reach out. To connect.

blinded

Sun, 13 Dec 2020 10:10:59 +0000

To shining brighter...

zooming DJs

Sat, 18 Apr 2020 20:59:33 +0000

"The best time to be is now, and all’s we can say is...Let’s rock!"

you are strong

Mon, 23 Mar 2020 10:41:57 +0000

The truth is, you matter more right now than ever before. The truth is, your skin is beautiful and you are seen.

be strong. be kind.

Fri, 20 Mar 2020 09:08:07 +0000

When your child's school goes into lock-down, the first email to their teacher should be "Are you OK? Take care of yourselves, take care of your family".

sometimes sun, sometimes rain

Mon, 23 Sep 2019 08:40:47 +0000

The Crown cannot be whānau - but it can be an enabler, to those that are.

buzzword bingo

Tue, 18 Jun 2019 09:13:22 +0000

But we also exist, I believe, to enable people to let go of their stories and their realities...

on conversations not had

Wed, 15 May 2019 20:38:37 +0000

Until we as a society make ways to work together differently, to do better together. We'll keep paying the cost.

a map. a story. a treaty.

Wed, 06 Mar 2019 10:38:00 +0000

reflections on the story of Waitangi. a story that didn’t begin with the Treaty, but a story that requires ongoing partnership, reciprocity and autonomy

walk this way

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 11:48:18 +0000

on the power of walking, as a salve, as a humiliation, as a release, as a political act. and on paying attention to the worlds we're losing

shake the dust

Mon, 11 Feb 2019 11:40:32 +0000

We are not the same people we once were. And that's OK.

stay angry

Mon, 14 Jan 2019 20:41:45 +0000

"Stay angry, Little Meg," Mrs. Whatsit whispered. "You will need all your anger now."

why are we, so blind to see

Mon, 20 Aug 2018 08:41:42 +0000

Teaching is hard. It is worthy. We need to value teachers honestly, enabling them and holding those in the profession to a shared accountability.

quite a long way from cairo

Sun, 12 Aug 2018 23:57:41 +0000

If we value a civil society, then collectively we must consider the complexity and cost of what it is to be that civil society.

Owning timelines

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 09:10:27 +0000

Being human truly matters. We get to choose what humanity we have. We get to choose the humanity we engage in.

on capes and cliffs

Sun, 31 Dec 2017 22:41:00 +0000

You don't have to be Superman. You don't have to hold the world in your hands. You've already shown me that you can.

leadership - a motocross metaphor

Wed, 08 Nov 2017 08:44:13 +0000

Somedays as a leader I feel like this person.

the days are just packed

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 10:03:56 +0000

A day made up of moments. A packed day indeed.

how far I'll go

Sun, 08 Oct 2017 22:55:00 +0000

My fierce, relentless daughters. They are carving their story, bound to this place and its people.

we're all mad here

Wed, 27 Sep 2017 09:26:55 +0000

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat.

Give Hope the Keys

Tue, 05 Sep 2017 12:14:00 +0000

"And what other profession needs hope the way teaching does? Hope is the reason so many of us stay in the profession"

nomanisan ...

Sat, 02 Sep 2017 14:50:44 +0000

On the fraud of authenticity and branding in education, and the challenging seduction of edtech.

Down Lexington Street...

Sat, 08 Jul 2017 15:11:19 +0000

In 1999 - I had the privilege of being part of Underworld’s road crew, on their Beaucoup Fish tour. I worked as a projectionist for the first 3 weeks, but in April they asked me to come out to the US - and mix the show visuals.

They asked me that on a Tuesday, on the Friday I was flying to NYC and I mixed my first show on Saturday.

manifesting roads

Thu, 25 May 2017 11:45:25 +0000

Sometimes the things that are manifest to each of us in our sectors - aren’t obvious until we start talking to each other.

On bike parks, Pukeahu and Yom Hashoah

Tue, 25 Apr 2017 10:15:00 +0000

on telling the stories that "shake our consciences"

we choose

Mon, 06 Feb 2017 09:47:21 +0000

On te reo Māori as a policy, as a lofty dream, and choosing to do something about it.

see i made a space for you now

Mon, 30 Jan 2017 09:25:00 +0000

It’s been an incredible 48 hours, watching what’s happened across the USA, as thousands have turned out to defy and protest against Donald Trump’s executive order to ban citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the USA.

There was chaos that ensued, and arguably there is a constitutional crisis brewing in the Republic.

Some would argue that this confusion is exactly what Bannon and the inner circle of the White House want.

deliberate discretion

Sun, 22 Jan 2017 09:57:46 +0000

Stand up. Inform discretion. Be deliberate. Be the change.

doing better, being badass

Wed, 28 Dec 2016 10:07:56 +0000

on Carrie Fisher and Vera Rubin.

a new hope

Mon, 19 Dec 2016 23:22:42 +0000

My opening and closing remarks from the final assembly of 2016 at Thorndon School.

Opening:

Hey!
I’m not giving up today
There’s nothing getting in my way
And if you knock knock me over
I will get back up again
If something goes a little wrong
Well you can go ahead and bring it on
‘Cause if you knock knock me over, I will get back up again

Any clues on where that lyric is from?

dealing with uncertainties

Sun, 18 Dec 2016 13:20:23 +0000

There is certainty. We just need to hold to it. Every day.

outraged

Wed, 07 Dec 2016 23:37:37 +0000

in allowing outrage to be our default, we've lost any ability to understand, to empathise and so are unable to do better work together.

you could miss it

Thu, 24 Nov 2016 08:56:28 +0000

Our young people getting better. Making this world theirs. In tiny, discreet, amazing ways.

On what we want, and what we need.

Tue, 22 Nov 2016 08:55:17 +0000

This Longform podcast featuring Kathryn Schulz is fascinating for a number of reasons. Not least because she unpacks the effort and the work behind her Pulitzer winning magazine article, The Really Big One.

In the opening section, David Remnick, Schulz’s boss and editor of the New Yorker poses the question “What would you like to do?”

Schulz replies:

“…I’m so fortunate, who’s boss says, ‘What do you want to do’. I mean, what a lovely sentiment … I feel very lucky to work somewhere, where the thing that is guiding my work, is truly what I want to do…”

The world is divided as we are all divided.

Sun, 13 Nov 2016 10:06:00 +0000

The world is divided between those who realise their own value, and those who think they may still amount to something

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 09:09:00 +0000

“It would be a stronger world, a stronger loving world to die in” - John Cale

The finale of Alan Moore’s seminal Watchmen has resonated over the last 48 hours.

Reading of protests.

Reading of students being called cotton pickers

Reading of Russian fighters preparing to strike Syria

Reading of how it’s likely to get worse

Reading

Seeing it begin.

And I’m reminded of how Watchmen ended.

Adrian Alexander Veidt, aka Ozymandias unites the world, by inflicting a horror that takes the lives of 3 million people.

I Dreamed a Dream

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 00:04:00 +0000

Sometimes when tragic, dark things happen, that we can’t control - we can still choose to do brave, generous, kind things. And the things we choose to do still matter.

Oh, happy day

Sun, 06 Nov 2016 08:40:47 +0000

So, now I can watch the antics, do what little I can to influence opinions, hope for the best outcome, and ride the wave and take pictures as it passes.

Values, Stories & Responsibility

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 20:53:00 +0000

on the values, stories and responsibilities we have to maintain education, in the face of ever present edtech.

on time

Sun, 30 Oct 2016 08:53:22 +0000

on making learning a pursuit that is wise and lyrical, seductive and intriguing. Something that is intrinsically human.

The lure of No.8

Sat, 29 Oct 2016 19:32:00 +0000

Stereotypes can be useful of course. They help us define ourselves. But we need to challenge these stereotypes, rigorously and critically.

Enriching, Expanding, Experience

Mon, 27 Jun 2016 11:49:32 +0000

Last Tuesday I got a call from my friend Liz Gosling, asking if I could fill in for Michelle Dickinson, and keynote at the annual AUT digital planning event.

I really enjoyed putting the presentation together - it’s taken from a number of blog posts, but also a result of several conversations with colleagues and friends, as well as pieces I’ve been reading over the last few months.

This is my script/speaking notes, with most of the slides included. I made a few changes at the last minute, and I go offscript a little bit, so it’s interesting (for me at least) to have both the live version and what I planned to say in one place.

They think it's all over...

Sun, 26 Jun 2016 12:13:47 +0000

The Leave campaign got it's dream result - "they scored one more" - only time will tell whether they can lead England home.

Dan Carter on 100 games

Sun, 19 Jun 2016 10:49:33 +0000

In 2000, I spent a year working with Tomato and one of the key points that John Warwicker often spoke of there, was that process mattered.

When designing.
When discussing with and challenging colleagues.
When meeting with clients.

Focusing on the process allows interesting, beautiful, amazing things to happen.

As a 26 year old, that was a powerful concept, that still underpins a lot of how I view and engage with the world today.

The Information

Wed, 15 Jun 2016 12:43:15 +0000

How the Internet gets inside us.

Our trouble is not the over-all absence of smartness but the intractable power of pure stupidity, and no machine, or mind, seems extended enough to cure that.

This essay from 2011 seems even more relevant right now, particularly in regards to the US general election, but also in so much of how we conduct ourselves in public, both here in Aotearoa and globally.

On design & efficacy in ed-tech

Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:47:48 +0000

This article in Idealog featuring Kendall Flutey the co-founder of Banqer, is bang on, with regards to edu-tech design and efficacy in classrooms.

Design

She says Banqer is not actively trying to enter into secondary schools, as it is designed for primary and intermediate students. However, it is currently being used in secondary schools.

“To craft a product that appeals to both six year olds and 18 year olds would heavily decrease the overall user experience. There would just be too much compromise in catering for both age groups. There are very few examples of successful educational, or otherwise, products who capture the entire schooling market and satisfy strongly at both levels.”

Deciles are just code.

Tue, 24 May 2016 00:29:14 +0000

Two thirds of our 600 kids learning #science & #technology @OMGTechRangers this weekend are from decile 1-4 schools

— Nanogirl (@medickinson) May 21, 2016

So this tweet from Michelle Dickinson gets 50 odd likes and 27 retweets, and I just can’t stop gritting my teeth about it.

Not because of the event that it’s referring to - which is excellent - nor that so many students turned out for it - which is fantastic.

On getting up...

Fri, 20 May 2016 05:02:08 +0000

Via SB Nation

In the grand scheme of the championship, that one point didn’t mean anything. But really it meant everything.

We’re often quick to dismiss sport in schools.

For the media driven madness hooplah surrounding it.
For the skewing of values.
For the jock culture.
For the over-importance heaped upon it in relation to arts.
For only focusing on winning.

And all of those concerns are valid at times.

The False Promise

Sun, 15 May 2016 23:26:01 +0000

Dan Willingham’s The False Promise of Tech in Schools has a number of salient points, that it’s useful to remind ourselves to pay attention too.

My thoughts then.

Our gut feelings/intuition about what makes for useful learning experiences, have been skewed/led by the ed-tech memes that we’ve allowed to flow across education.
Those same ed-tech memes have flowed into education by those who ultimately need to ensure they meet their sales targets.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that per se - just that we need to be OK and recognize that’s why the ed-tech is there.
It’s not, despite all the lovely marketing words to the contrary, just “for the kids”.
Our ability to make decisions on our personal use of tech, doesn’t automagically translate or scale into useful decisions about the use of tech in a classroom, a school, a district or indeed the entire education system.
How we evaluate our decisions, regardless of how carefully we implement the ed-tech, needs to be completed with openness and humility - “and the courage to admit something isn’t working”.
In education we don’t do point 6 well enough.
Point 6 is really difficult for educational leaders in a high-stakes, high-cost environment, that’s self-defined itself as “future-focused” - in a society and culture where “future-focused” sits upon us as a Jetsons vs Tesla vs Google wraparound reality, all embedded nicely in a Jony Ives designed blankscape.
If we choose tools that don’t appear like point 8 - are we still what we believe and say we are, are we still performing our duty of care for our students, and meeting the expectations of parents and communities?
If we choose the tools of today, to meet the needs of those in front of us, are we still valid as schools, regardless of our ed-tech/future-focused appearances?

Saul Bass on making beautiful things

Fri, 06 May 2016 08:11:22 +0000

“Aesthetics are your problem and mine. Nobody else’s. The fact of the matter is, I want everything we do — that I do personally, that our office does — to be beautiful.

I don’t give a damn whether the client understands that that’s worth anything, or that the client thinks that it’s worth anything, or whether it is worth anything. It’s worth it to me. It’s the way I want to live my life.

Everywhere is going on at once

Tue, 03 May 2016 09:17:01 +0000

I grew up flying, born in NZ but flew away when I was 3, lived across SE Asia until I was 18. My passports were filled with stamps, with extensions and with places transited through. I flew to boarding school at 5, and by 11 was the seasoned traveller, responsible for managing passports for younger students.

Dad organised for my brother and I to return from NZ to Manila once, on Air Nauru. We island hopped our way up the Pacific, the only 2 passengers to go the entire way to Manila, with stops in Guam, Nauru, and the Solomon Islands and possibly other points. I think at one point my brother got to sit in the cockpit for landing.

Sunday Drop - 1st May 2016

Sun, 01 May 2016 11:13:20 +0000

On Maintaining

Following a lead from Courtney’s post this essay Hail the Maintainers really resonated.

Entire societies have come to talk about innovation as if it were an inherently desirable value, like love, fraternity, courage, beauty, dignity, or responsibility. Innovation-speak worships at the altar of change, but it rarely asks who benefits, to what end?

A focus on maintenance provides opportunities to ask questions about what we really want out of technologies. What do we really care about? What kind of society do we want to live in? Will this help get us there? We must shift from means, including the technologies that underpin our everyday actions, to ends, including the many kinds of social beneficence and improvement that technology can offer.

Snapchatting from Rio

Sat, 30 Apr 2016 14:31:59 +0000

on sports, community, connection and Snapchat deals.

Ataturk Memorial - ANZAC Day 2016

Mon, 25 Apr 2016 11:10:50 +0000

It was the waves, the dull sound, not a roar, but a rumble.

A sound dissipated by the distance we were from the surf.

Rolling in, deep, smooth swells.

Breaking onto rocks, jagged and bare.

That’s what I watched as I stood in the bright sun today, Zara sleeping on my back.

At the Ataturk Memorial - for the small service commemorating ANZAC day.

I’ve always liked this service, more than the Dawn Service. It’s smaller, more intimate - and in previous years far less organised.

Read View Listen - April 17 2016

Sun, 17 Apr 2016 11:32:10 +0000

Read

Do not Lead, from Aaron Webber, chairman and CEO at Webber Investments is well worth the 5 minutes it takes to read - key points as follows:

Be very very good at the technical assignment and competencies that you need to perform.

Be humble. Enough said.

Following on from number one and two, let the results you produce and the comments you make speak for themselves.

Speak less and listen more so that when you do say something, it is something worth listening to.

20 years

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:20:21 +0000

In 1996, I moved to Auckland to work for an audio-visual company. I was 22 and my starting salary was about $45,000NZD.

In the same year Kobe Bryant moved to LA and started playing for the Lakers. He was 17 and his starting salary was $1,015,000USD.

In 1997 I bet a co-worker that my Lakers would beat the Bulls in the NBA Finals. It was a silly bet, but I believed I had a chance, coz of this kid called Kobe and this monster called Shaq being on my team.

Is Jordan Spieth a failure?

Mon, 11 Apr 2016 00:19:47 +0000

Jordan Spieth’s quadruple bogey seven on the 12th hole at Augusta is dominating all the headlines right now.

His efforts on that hole, will be probably more widely discussed than those of Danny Willett - who was brilliantly accompanied by his brother PJ Willett on Twitter.

What’s probably going to be missed though is the fact that Spieth went on to birdie two more holes in his round of 18. In fact he birdied the 13th, the very next hole.

simmons and olbermann

Sat, 09 Apr 2016 21:47:14 +0000

everyone's where you are mentally with things and I wonder if that splits the sides even more

A slice of a Twitter story...

Tue, 22 Mar 2016 08:41:26 +0000

This came across my timeline tonight.

.@h0d3r has perhaps the most distressing complete twitter account history I’ve ever seen

— Drew Harry (@drewwww) November 20, 2014

And I was struck by what a fantastic opportunity it’d be for a teacher to place this tweet in front of students with some challenge questions.

If you could interview Hossein Derakhshan, what would you ask him?
Consider how life would have changed for Hossein. What could you learn about Iran - from a social, cultural, political perspective - in the time that he was imprisoned.
Follow Hossein on Twitter, and read his timeline since this slice of his history. Write a biography of his time since he’s been released.
Explore the blogosphere of Iranian writers. Explore the world they capture - choose a particular blogger, or a select a series of bloggers who write about a particular topic, and consider how they are similar/different to NZ.

As someone who’s no longer in a classroom, I’m probably not following all the “proper” ways of aligning tasks with recognised assessment methods - but I love the small but incredible story captured in this one tweet - and see it as a fantastic way of expanding student’s horizons.

For Georgia.

Sun, 06 Sep 2015 10:07:08 +0000

It’s been interesting watching the debate since the Flag Consideration project revealed their four alternatives.

Personally I was pretty disinterested in the initial process, because it appeared, to me at least, to be a simple vanity project, run by a Prime Minister, who didn’t like having to sit under an Australian flag at various international gatherings.

As a political process, it seemed merely a rebranding one.

The numbers that turned up to the public meetings reflected that perception I think. Guy Williams made an appearance at one and the resulting piece from the Jono and Ben Show, really captures the strange Kiwi-ness of the whole thing.

On feeling the forever empty.

Tue, 01 Sep 2015 23:14:40 +0000

There is a moment in Louis CK’s conversation with Conan, in which he says:

Life is tremendously sad, just by being in it… sadness is poetic, and you’re lucky to live sad moments.

I thought of that as I listened to this beautiful piece from Radiolab, some final reflections from Oliver Sacks, on his life, his relationships and his wonderful ability to see the world with constant curiosity and empathy.

Digital Inclusion panel

Tue, 18 Aug 2015 08:57:49 +0000

A few weeks ago I was asked to be part of a Digital Inclusion panel discussion at NetHui.

The theme for this year’s Nethui was “the Internet is everybody’s business”. The 3 day event covered a range of issues including education, privacy, security, copyright and a particular focus on digital inclusion.

The education forum on Day Zero was hosted by Mark Osborne and Andrew Cowie of CORE Education, and was well attended. The focus here was on ‘Equity, Inclusivity, Purpose, Passion’ and there was a range of challenging and useful presentations. There were speakers from a range of providers in the education sector, including Connected Learning Advisory and National Library, as well as teachers like Caro Bush, Kimberley Barrs and Diana Wilkes.

My Life as a Foreign Country

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 10:13:26 +0000

“This is the part of what I was learning, from early childhood on - that to journey into the wild spaces where profound questions are given a violent and inexorable response, that to travail through fire and return again - these are the experiences which determine the making of a man.

To be a man, I would need to walk into the thunder and hail of a world stripped of its reason, just as others in my family had done before me.

Nepal, Open Street Maps and Contributing

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 11:09:33 +0000

The 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal over the weekend has been rightly covered by many news agencies, and there are appeals for donations and support on Campbell Live, Facebook and a wide variety of other channels.

I spent this evening catching up with Tim Mcnamara, who was one of the key individuals behind the crowd created eq.org.nz response during the Christchurch earthquake. Tim’s continued to be involved in humanitarian support and the way in which digital tools can be used to make a real difference to people on the ground in disaster situations.

Dear Mike

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 08:26:40 +0000

an open letter to Mr Hosking in the wake of the PM pulling the ponytail of a woman

A View, A Read, A Listen....

Fri, 20 Mar 2015 01:48:05 +0000

With a hat tip to Nat’s Four Short Links and Ory Okolloh’s “#SundayReads” via twitter, I thought I’d post a random set of things I’ve been reading, viewing, thinking on and listening each week. With

A Read: The F-35 is still FUBAR

The first point, from an educator’s perspective, just seems to be a symptom of using testing incorrectly, as part of a political process. But the rest of the flaws in this programme are stunning.

On "seeing" students and invisible biases.

Wed, 11 Mar 2015 10:14:37 +0000

Today I took part in an enjoyable webinar via BigMarker.com - entitled What it Means to ‘See’ Your Students presented by @elizabethaself

Here’s her blurb from the site - where the session is recorded, and I’d recommend you make some time to view and listen.

In the first half of this session, I will share my current research on clinical simulations and how simulations can be used to develop cultural competence among both pre- and in-service teachers. I will walk teachers through one such simulation in order to better understand the potential dangers of “culture blindness.” In the second half of the session, I will work to help mathematics teachers think about what they can do in their own classrooms to better “see” their students in ways that support mathematics outcomes as well as healthy identity development.

On discomfort

Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:33:25 +0000

This article - Dev Discomfort - is written to reflect the pressures and stresses on being a developer - but it reflects very well what it means to be a teacher in an education system increasingly being flooded with technology and tools.

“I feel like my relationship with my tools has gotten flipped—instead of them existing to serve my needs, I feel like I have to improve myself to be able to use them. … The prerequisites have gotten so large that it feels like I can’t even get good at something before the whole rickety system has been replaced by something new. Not necessarily better in ways that matter to me, mind you. Just new.”

Authentic student voice in the 21st century

Fri, 14 Nov 2014 08:21:14 +0000

It takes a few moments to fully appreciate the comedy value of this seemingly ordinary classroom display.

Which makes it all the better.

The truth unvarnished of what learning entails and the perspective of the student is brilliant.

The honesty of the teacher to leave it on display is to be applauded.

Pablum, Politics and Brilliant

Thu, 12 Jun 2014 09:18:15 +0000

New school a ‘window into the future’

An article that is partly pablum, partly political presentation, and partly punctuated and grammared bad.

Pablum:

With solar panels on its roof, it is the first net-zero energy school in New Zealand. It has ultra-fast broadband, its own radio station, and large, open classrooms – without any desks.

Political:

..but it’s the modern face of the future, and it’s what will be the hallmark of Christchurch as we build 21 of these schools as a result of the rebuild of Christchurch schools

On being OK with reading the comments

Wed, 11 Jun 2014 10:23:25 +0000

Received this email today:

Just looking at the wiki page and spotted a comment underneath one of the subject discussions…calling others a dick. Not the worst comment to make in the world I know but I’d hate the wiki to turn into some kind of facebook page where the kids can start insulting each other.

Within our school, syndicates use wikis that are a mixture of public and private, with all students having a login that they manage and are expected to be responsible for. The aim with our shared wikispaces, is that they are online places where students can login, create content, share with others and comment on each others work.

The future may or may not be Finnish

Mon, 02 Jun 2014 07:30:57 +0000

Last Friday the 21st Century Learning Reference Group here in NZ released their “Future-focused learning in connected communities” report. The document is worth a read, but if you’re busy, read the summary.

RadioNZ has already picked up the story, and reported these key points:

".. the ministry should recognise digital competencies as essential foundation skills.

Defining and refining what “digital competencies” actually are, and deciding how to measure them will be problematic. The NZ curriculum, as far as I’m aware does not contain any standards or frameworks for what this ‘digital competence’ may look like.

This is it.

Sun, 01 Jun 2014 08:01:19 +0000

“Everything’s going to be OK.

What do you mean ‘going to be’? This is it. This is as good as it gets… This might be the best moment of your life. How much better do you want it?

Not much.

So.. enjoy it.

Thanks for the tip.”

This bit of dialogue is from the rather turgid Being Human - a Robin Williams film from 1994. I only recall this scene, because I jotted it down. It strikes me that in spite of the passage of time, this simple sentiment still applies.

On deciding what we worship

Tue, 20 May 2014 05:43:24 +0000

Last week I was invited to present to the Ministerial Cross Sector Forum, to be part of a panel on Modern Learning Practice.

The slot was 4 minutes, and the brief was to consider:

what does modern learning practice look like in your context
what challenges or opportunities do you see for making this the ‘norm’ across our system

I presented alongside two representatives from the Ministry of Education, Barbara Cavanagh from ASHS, Lesley Murrihy from Amesbury and Karen Ramsey from Roskill South Kindergarten.

The Parable of Yellowstone

Fri, 16 May 2014 23:57:41 +0000

Do I need to shoot wolves or manage bears?

Are we solving problems, (perceived or real) in our classrooms and schools by removing factors, eliminating the causes, or indeed building entirely new systems?

Or are we investing in, and revising as needed, the existing processes that define our schools and classrooms.

on the real joy of the creative process

Thu, 08 May 2014 11:10:45 +0000

I flew back from Christchurch on the weekend. Browsing through the AirNZ in-flight magazine, I stumbled upon an article about Lauren Boyle and the NZ Commonwealth Games team.

Lauren Boyle is a world champion swimmer.

The interview contained some interesting quotes, and I got to thinking about how the concepts in these quotes encapsulate the process of becoming and being a world champion swimmer.

In turn, I started to think about how we can use these concepts to consider how we foster learning and effort in our students.

on jumping sharks

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:44:00 +0000

To “jump the shark” is a phrase coined to describe that point after which a show, a brand or a design has lost its way and begins a steady decline in quality.

As Wikipedia puts it, the point at which a venture makes a “fundamental and generally disappointing change in direction”.

I wonder at what point we in education will realise we’ve really jumped the shark on the point and purpose of technology, in the endeavour that we refer to as ’teaching and learning'.

We're all in this beauty together.

Thu, 06 Mar 2014 19:55:46 +0000

My new favourite Tumblr.

Bill Watterson’s visuals vs Frank Herbert’s words.

Brilliant.

On "calling out" aka a craft beer saga

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 09:51:35 +0000

Dominic,

You “call out” Giovanni Tiso, on the basis of several tweets, for having a supposed “inverted snobbery complex” by outlining all the ways and means by which you and Hashigo Zake set yourselves apart from other drinking establishments and cultures.

Because you know, it’s OK to slag off Heineken or Corona, because it’s a shit beer, and by extension it’s OK to look down your nose at those that drink it.

e is for everything

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 01:21:43 +0000

Tom Whitby’s useful post outlines a plea to remove the technology aspect from the debate about education and learning. He asks the question,

“When will we reach a point where we will discuss education, teaching and learning without having to debate technology?”

To be honest, it’s the fascination with the shiny that drives even this sort of conversation. Conversations in which we discuss the validity of the letter ’e’ in e-learning.

requiem for reports

Sat, 16 Nov 2013 14:00:44 +0000

Children

The likelihood is
the children will die
without you to help them do it.
It will be spring,
the light on the water,
or not.

And though at present
they live together
they will not die together.
They will die one by one
and not think to call you:
they will be old

and you will be gone.
It will be spring,
or not. They may be crossing
the road,
not looking left,
not looking right,

Concluding Statement

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 03:01:29 +0000

Each year I’ve prepared a reports for our BOT, outlining what we are doing with IT and e-learning. Term 4 always has a wrap-up of the year and a look ahead to the next. I finished this year’s report with this text.

I’d like to think that every school community across Aotearoa is able to say the same. Our schools are, on the whole, and despite the often downwards spiral around our profession, places where many, many rich and rewarding opportunities occur every day.

Triumph and Disaster Part 1

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 10:33:44 +0000

Paul Brislen asked me to write a little piece for the TUANZ blog, and I’m grateful to him for offering to host my writing. I sent him this piece, and he was kind enough to let me run well over his normal word limit. I’ve made a few revisions and now post it here in two parts. Please comment and hold me to account.

====================================================================

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

Triumph and Disaster Part 2

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 10:31:27 +0000

In New Zealand education policy, the failure of Talent2 and the Ministry of Education to build and deliver the Novopay payroll system has been widely covered in the media. This failure occurred for a number of technical and contractual reasons, many of which have been laid out in reviews. The recently released Ministerial inquiry lays the blame for failure in a range of places. But in reading some of the timeline details, and the technical review I got the sense that during the process, failure was not tolerated or accepted.

Susan Sarandon Said

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 10:25:05 +0000

"... and hold your children tonight"

The truth is, the audience is like a child...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:17:09 +0000

“But it’s a corruption to start giving people what they want in story.

Because the truth is, the audience is like a child. That’s not to say that they’re children, the audience is made up of a lot of different people.

Some of them smart, some of them stupid.

But if you ask them as a collective, ‘What do you want?’, they’ll always say ‘I want more of what I saw before that I liked.”

Critiquing the NSA to meet student needs

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 08:58:30 +0000

Currently we’re doing statistics and graphing in class, and I’ve enjoyed putting challenging visuals and infographics in front of students, and getting them to consider and critique them.

I’ve used the wonderful Information is Beautiful site, in particular the really mind blowing Billion-Dollar-O-Gram. The ‘Mountains out of Molehills’ interactive was a challenge to their knowledge of recent history. In particular the gap at the September 2011 period took a while to sink in.

Anyone? Anyone?

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 21:41:42 +0000

Exhibit A:
Ministry of Education/ERO: Accelerating Learning for Priority Learners

The Ministry of Education (the Ministry) has established a goal to increase the proportion of learners achieving at or above national literacy and numeracy standards. To achieve this goal, outcomes must improve for key priority groups, including Māori students that are not achieving well, Pacific students who are not achieving success, special needs students and those from low income families.

Exhibit B:
New York Times: T.S.A. Screening Is Not Objective

Thoughts on a Digital Future

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 09:20:00 +0000

Not my thoughts though.

The thoughts of Eric Schmidt, head guy at Google, in an interview with the BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week.

Eric Schmidt on a digital future

Hat-tip for the link to the always excellent Stats Chat

For Great Justice!

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:25:41 +0000

Malaysia announces plan to place Christian faith at the centre of education.

Which of course it doesn’t.

But with a bit of text editing, that blog post about the power of Google to transform education becomes this.

“As a parent of three kids, I have the same aspirations as many other parents and educators—to provide them with the best opportunities to learn and discover their passions. For many students, the Christian faith has become an incredible resource for the classroom, offering tools to work collaboratively, share and research. School systems of all sizes—from a single primary school to an entire country such as the Philippines—have “Gone Bible” in their schools and embraced the gospel to transform education.

The School of the Future isn't brought to you by Sun Microsystems

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:16:16 +0000

Or Dell. Or Yahoo. Or Facebook. Or Google.

I wrote most of this post last November, but I was reminded of it today, after reading this article The Future of Education? First ‘Samsung School’ in Canada Opens. I joked about opening a Yates school, but maybe it’s not a joke anymore. How long before the naming rights of schools determine how a school operates and how students are taught.

I had the privilege of attending the NZOS Awards this week. Hosted by the erudite and engagingly droll Toby Manhire, and brought to you mainly by the word “bats hit”. I was there as part of the group eqnz group, who were nominated in two categories: People’s Choice and Open Source in Social Services. The award in Social Services went to the SoupHub and WCC’s Housing Computer Hubs, both worthy winners.

Pimpin' ain't easy

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 02:27:07 +0000

In my role as IT/e-learning lead teacher I get lots of queries and requests for help. But two questions put to me this week got me thinking.

Q1: “I am getting a lot of can’t send undeliverable messages-have been for over a week. On my class computer under outlook I have a whole lot of unsent because they won’t go. Could you have a look at some stage as my parent emails are not making it at times-even when reply to sender.”

learners and changes

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:20:37 +0000

This statement, appeared on the VLN recently.

“The rate of change in education is too slow for our priority learners - Māori, Pasifika, students with special educational needs? Do you agree or disagree?”

If you removed the phrase “education” out of this statement, would it make anymore sense?

“The rate of change in society is too slow for our priority learners - Māori, Pasifika, students with special societal needs?”

“The rate of change in parents is too slow for our priority learners - Māori, Pasifika, students with special parental needs?”
We can do all the whizz-bang work in education and make ourselves sound futurific with flipped classrooms, QR codes, Google glasses and all - but if you look around at society - it’s still pretty similar to what we’ve always had.

The Secret to Fixing Bad Schools

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 08:23:01 +0000

Isn’t what you think it is.

In a weekend when the local online rag, had articles titled “Is private school a good investment?” and “Welcome to the world of a teacher-less classroom” I found this article in the New York Times made a far more thought provoking argument about the issues surrounding education.

It’s quite powerful reading, but not in the breathless and future-faux fashion that the Stuff articles exude. It’s powerful because it’s plain and quite ordinary, although the stats are impressive. The final paragraph sums up the issue of how to fix the failures in education.

A plea to make practice visible

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 07:05:18 +0000

: Tune Up Your BS Detector via @jessicahagy

EDIT: Just in case you think I’m being hyper-critical of iPads in education, the author Justin Reich really smashes it with his previous post, which is very aptly titled: If you meet an iPad on the way, smash it. The thinking described there really resonates with me - and as JR points out in the comments, is a key part of his thinking also.

No Leaders, Please

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 22:00:54 +0000

invent yourself and then reinvent yourself,
don’t swim in the same slough.
invent yourself and then reinvent yourself
and
stay out of the clutches of mediocrity.

invent yourself and then reinvent yourself,
change your tone and shape so often that they can
never
categorize you.

reinvigorate yourself and
accept what is
but only on the terms that you have invented
and reinvented.

be self-taught.

and reinvent your life because you must;
it is your life and
its history
and the present
belong only to
you.

Expectation. Entitlement. And the Internet

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:52:56 +0000

This Louis CK clip is always a nice reminder of perspective.

I thought of that video clip again as I read this post from the AA blog (which isn’t what you think it is). In it, the author proposes three reasons for why Arsenal fans are currently disillusioned and despondent.

Considering the current state of affairs around education in New Zealand, with an ongoing barrage of bad news stories, as well as concerns about the systemic changes that are taking place, I thought it’d be interesting to apply these three reasons to examine the national discourse we seem to be engaged in around education.

When measuring matters

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:15:50 +0000

“If a measurement matters at all, it is because it must have some conceivable effect on decisions and behaviour. If we can’t identify a decision that could be affected by a proposed measurement and how it could change those decisions, then the measurement simply has no value”

Douglas W. Hubbard

Do we do this enough in education? Honestly and rigorously identify the decisions that could be affected by a proposed measurement.

Being part of the process

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 02:24:15 +0000

It was my turn to speak to the Education & Science Select Committee today. They are currently holding an “Inquiry into 21st century learning environments and digital literacy”. Submissions for this closed back in May, so it’s been a while since I wrote mine. When presenting to the committee, one gets about 15 minutes to talk and get questioned. I wrote up these speaking notes to keep my talking brief.

The comments and questions from the MPs on the committee were positive and engaged. I really enjoyed being there. While I don’t know what impact my submission will make, it was in a small and personal way, empowering to be part of the bigger process.

Safe travels Dad

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:43:47 +0000

Tonight my Dad is on UAE 419, out of Christchurch via Sydney, bound for Bangkok.

He wasn’t meant to be.

Last night before dinner he was playing with his five granddaughters, who were alternatively squealing in delight and fake fear as he chased them around the lounge. He made sure there was ice-cream for dessert. He ran the bath for three of the girls and helped to get them ready for bed. Then he sat down and together we watched the ABs beat up on the Wallabies. He whooped and cheered, as he is wont to do.

Public Achievement Information

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 11:03:17 +0000

Buried deep within the Ministry’s website are these pages. If you’re at all interested in the future of NZ education - please take the time to peruse them and consider what they mean for the shape and feel of schools and learning.

Public Achievement Information page

Flyer for parents on PAI

Timeline for PAI - 2012 - 2017

PAI - The Case for system-wide improvement

PAI - Use of Data - Expected Outcomes

Raising successful children

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 09:50:18 +0000

Your job is to know your child well enough to make a good call about whether he can manage a particular situation. Will you stay up worrying? Probably, but the child’s job is to grow, yours is to control your anxiety so it doesn’t get in the way of his reasonable moves toward autonomy.
This past week, the Minister has announced the website which collates and publishes all of the national standards data which primary schools have submitted. The print media have joined in with rather withering attacks against the education sector, including this from the NZ Herald and from the Southland Times. They serve the purpose, as most editorials do these days, to inflame opinion and cause long threads of commentary for justified indviduals. Which in this day and age, is a win-win for the advertisers whom these media outlets rely on.

playing favourites

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 10:25:14 +0000

"What's a radio?"

Wilson Miner - When We Build

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 10:31:15 +0000

Wilson Miner - When We Build from Build on Vimeo.

We shape our tools and our tools shape us.” As more of the tools we live with every day become digital instead of physical, our opportunity – and responsibility – as designers is multiplying. We live in a world of screens, and we are the ones who decide what goes on them. We are in a unique position to have an impact – one that lasts longer than the next redesign or the latest technology. What happens when we stop thinking of ourselves not just as developers or experience designers, and take up the mantle as a new generation of product designers for a digital world?

Technology doesn't do anything. People do.

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 10:15:43 +0000

We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us. - Marshall Mcluhan : Understanding Media, 1964

The Ministry of Education is starting their roadshows about the Network for Learning. I’ve been reading a few things about this new initiative, and reading frustrations expressed by some in schools about the ongoing UFB initiative and the issues around implementing that technology. I’ve also heard some ugly stories of demanding educators harrassing providers. As a friend in the industry said, it wasn’t the complaint itself, it was the sense of demanding entitlement from said educators.

It's not about the bicycle

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 23:28:39 +0000

We found that modern mechanical invention, instead of disenchanting the universe, had really afforded the means of exploring its marvels more surely. Instead of going around the world with a rifle, for the purpose of killing something … this bold youth simply went round the globe to see the people who were on it; and since he always had something to show them as interesting as anything that they could show him, he made his way among all the nations.

N4L - Who's it for?

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 11:22:18 +0000

SPOILER: I’m conscious this post may cause people to tell me I’m wrong. I’m OK with that. Please comment from your perspective, and your expertise.

In that horrible way of education, the soon to be inaugurated Network for Learning, is known by the shorthand: N4L.

Because, you know, it’s for the kids. Or possibly, it’d get sued by the National Football League for using the obvious acronym.

It's not about the teaching and learning.

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 10:14:18 +0000

Most successful school systems grant greater autonomy to individual schools to design curricula and establish assessment policies, but these school systems do not necessarily allow schools to compete for enrolment.

In countries where schools have greater autonomy over what is taught and how students are assessed, students tend to perform better.

Within countries where schools are held to account for their results through posting achievement data publicly, schools that enjoy greater autonomy in resource allocation tend to do better than those with less autonomy. however, in countries where there are no such accountability arrangements, the reverse is true.

Life as Learning

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 08:02:23 +0000

Ithaca

When you set out for Ithaka
ask that your way be long,
full of adventure, full of instruction.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - do not fear them:
such as these you will never find
as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare
emotion touch your spirit and your body.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - you will not meet them
unless you carry them in your soul,
unless your soul raise them up before you.

Where exactly are we failing again?

Sun, 27 May 2012 07:37:13 +0000

Buried in the final paragraphs of this article in the NZ Herald on charter schools, is an interesting admission.

For her part, Isaac expresses a faint hope that charter schools won’t be seen as “an assault on teachers” “I would be the last person to trash public schools,” she says. “We’ve got wonderful schools and wonderful teachers.” But there are children coming out of some schools whose lives are ruined before they even start, she says. “Some overcome a bad education but many don’t. This is a small initiative that may be effective for children currently failing.”

Moneyball as the metaphor...

Sun, 27 May 2012 03:42:59 +0000

The thrill of sport comes from the pursuit of the unknown and the impossible. Whether or not we actually achieve the impossible - the beauty of sport is in the pursuit.

Moneyball captures that beauty.

The beauty in the numbers.
The beauty in the potential of people.
The beauty of the next chance.

What is fantastic about this story, is that it is about sport, but goes to the heart of what is sport. That is people.

"Technology at the core"

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:23:37 +0000

Technology drives South Korean ‘smart’ schools.

Not much mention of learning in this video. Instead it’s all about the technology. Because that’s what makes a school “smart”. Apparently. I know it’s the job of the media to focus on the shiny. I’m not even that bothered about the hints of ‘Big Brother", or the counting of calories in school lunches.

But I was a little worried.

Because if you look closely and pay attention to the model of learning, and imagine that the shiny tablets are just a normal tablet made out of paper, and that the large MS Windows powered touchscreen is just a black board, it demonstrates the model of learning that exists in behind all of the hi-tech, ‘smart’ shiny on display. A model that’s largely untouched over the last 100 years. In which a person stands up the front and tells a bunch of other folk what’s important.

Seriously? This is the conversation?

Sun, 13 May 2012 07:36:33 +0000

This image annoys me. To me it shows a real deficit thinking model that exists in our teaching profession. And it falls into the trap of accepting the common perception of what’s actually important in education.

I get the aim of the exercise.

Let’s talk to the ones doing the teaching, and find out what they think is the most important thing they need.

Which is fine.

But asking teachers to tell us what they need is only going to tell us what they believe they need as individuals. We can tally up all those responses and make statistically sounding conclusions, but it’s still basically what a bunch teachers want.

How to explain something

Mon, 07 May 2012 09:33:39 +0000

Our focus this term in literacy is transactional writing. So we’re looking at writing recounts, reports, instructions and explanations. All as part of an integrated science unit, in which students are selecting, designing, testing and creating science fair projects.

Today we looked at explanations. After about 20 minutes of writing, recording some structural and language features, I showed a number of videos - asking students to identify the key features of an explanation.

Make PD work for us. All of us.

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:17:45 +0000

This evening I read Derek Wenmoth’s latest blog post, which highlights the McKinsey report titled:
Breaking the habit of ineffective professional development for teachers

I’ve not had the chance to read the report in full, and it’s only 12 pages long, so I will get around to reading it. But in summary, the report identifies these promising ideas:

Base the PD program on a vision of effective teaching;

Segment teachers and deliver PD strategically;
Make coaching the centerpiece of PD;
Move from “push” to “pull,” so that teachers get what they want, when they want it; and
Only offer PD with demonstrated impact.

As said, I’ve not read the report in full, but here are my initial reactions/thoughts to this summary. At first glance it seems to see teachers as working in isolation - professionals that can upgraded and who then maintain those skills indefinitely by virtue of having a patch applied. It seems to ignore the collaborative and highly personal nature of the profession.

Teach for NZ - Thoughts...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:52:21 +0000

There’s been coverage in the press recently about the Teach First NZ (TfNZ) programme, in the Herald, as well as morning TV.

There’s also been some chatter on twitter, and Stephanie has written up a comprehensive post over on her blog. She covers a lot of ground, and there’s some interesting discussion in the comments.

UPDATE: Stuart Middleton’s post on this says some of what I say below, but far more succinctly and effectively.

Be the force in that classroom.

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:07:34 +0000

For my writing I do most of my edits using Notational Velocity, which is a great little OSS plain text editor for OSX. It’s a really simple application and allows me to quickly manage dozens of short and long files. Coming back from the holiday break, it opened up to the last edit I made. It’s some comments I made for a post to a student teacher on Stephanie’s blog. At least I think it was, November and December of 2011 just kind of ran into one.

Barclass Reflections

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:32:20 +0000

Today my students have been reflecting on their Barclass experience. These are the reflection questions that I gave them. Answers are currently going intodraft writing books, but will be posted to their classroom wiki. Please feel free to comment or query.

All of you have designed and taken part in several lessons during our Barclass. I would like you to take some time to reflect sensibly and honestly on
your learning over the past few days.

Barclass Day 1

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:15:16 +0000

Today was the first day running a Barclass. Based on the Barcamp concept, and led by Mark Osborne’s Ignite talk - I had set about trying to replicate some of that powerful spirit of learning in my room. I was also inspired by attending Kiwifoo in Feb of this year, as well as some twitter taunting from @taratj. Tara is also rolling Barclass/camp in her room - make sure you check out her reflections here and here.

A walk on the waterfront.

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:51:54 +0000

A walk that reminded me, in the simple completeness of it, that it’s these things, in this place, with these people – that make up my life.

Where are the computers?

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:16:15 +0000

This weeks mass hysteria from the NZ Herald has been brought to you by Orewa College’s decision to add digital devices to their stationery list for Y9 students.

Their preference is for an iPad2, which is, as I understand it, based on the battery life. It’s this expressing of the preference that has caused the brouhaha in talkback-land. Talk of “haves” and “have-nots”. Talk of bullies beating up nerds for their iPads. Talk of “well, back in my day…”

Top Gun as a model for continual change.

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:58:16 +0000

Invest in students and teachers. Institutionalize change. Own successes and failures.

Moving ISPs - a creative writing lesson.

Sun, 15 May 2011 07:32:06 +0000

I had to change the school ISP this week, after 3 weeks of send email failure, blacklisted emails and just intermittent headaches for all of the users on our domain. The biggest issue wasn’t actually the technical, it was trying to actually talk to someone at our ISP. It was almost impossible.

I shot out a frustrated tweet, and actually got a reply back. That began a brief exchange of emails, and raised my hopes some progress might be made - but which ultimately proved to be futile. Last I heard from them was May 5th. And we moved ISP’s on May 12th.

EduCamp Welly

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:04:59 +0000

Just wanted to announce EduCampWelly is taking place on May 21st, here in what will then probably be bleak and yet bracing Wellington.

The venue is Wellington College - a big thank you to them for their generosity.

To quote the blurb:

EducampNZ is a user-generated ‘unconference’ focused on e-learning and education.We’re all about growing our learning, networking, and, of course, having fun! Everyone is invited to participate in some way…

Spring Cleaning an "About"

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:17:05 +0000

Challenge #3 - add some muscle with some pages on your blog.

I decided to spring clean and update my “About” page. My original page was purposely brief, blunt, and as I look it now, quite hipster-dick. Which is to say, trying to be too clever.

So I updated and added a bit more of a history about myself, and where I’ve come from, and what I enjoy about this teaching malarkey. I hope it makes more sense to readers.

Make it worth sticking around.

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:28:02 +0000

My stab at carefully considering how to write better blog posts.

Step 1: Write.

I think this is my greatest challenge. Actually sitting down and writing posts that are personal yet pertinent. That don’t disengage my audience. That aren’t written only for me. That say something. But that aren’t too sanctimonious and insipid.

In this era of tweeting, and sms-based conversations, and threaded ‘conversations via email’ sometimes trying to be a blog entry can be too much! Sometimes a blog post should be short and sweet and say something right then and there. Sometimes it should be a lengthy rant or an ongoing rumination with updates as one discovers more.

Teacher Challenge #1

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:06:53 +0000

As with any January, there’s always lots of challenge and new ideas and hopes rolling around the place. One of the nice things about teaching in the Southern Hemisphere is that we can recover from Christmas and NYE celebrations, and still have 3-4 weeks before school starts again to mull over what the goals for the year will be. We get to sit in our deck chairs and dream of being ambitious….

to panda

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:43:58 +0000

This made me laugh a lot.

At this time of year, that’s important.

ULearn 10- An analog reflection

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 06:44:52 +0000

I wanted to sit down after three days of uLearn - and reflect on what I’ve seen, heard, felt and experienced. It’s been an interesting 3 days - on balance for me personally an uneven experience, but one that I’m still considering and mulling over.

As I’ve sat down, I’ve checked my twitter feed, and from my mate Paul, this beautiful video emerges.

There is so much analog beauty in this video, it’s pure and wonderful.

Technology as nostalgia

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:39:21 +0000

This is a challenging blog post “Wheel or Carousel?”

(2025 Update - this blog post is now offline and I couldn’t find anything via the Wayback Machine)

The sentiment in the video clip in the post is powerful and honest, and I’ve used it in a presentation to the staff.

It’s often easy to sell technology as ‘new’ even when it’s a re-invention; always calming the ‘itch’ to improve learning and teaching for the present, at least until something else comes along.

Making important information fun and memorable

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:02:07 +0000

Isn’t that what we’re meant to do as teachers - keep the important stuff, the key things real?

Air New Zealand and the All Blacks have done a fantastic job of taking some really key, but often forgotten messages and made them real. The message has always been relevant - but this new video is a great example of how the metaphor is the message.

This too shall pass

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:29:46 +0000

For some reason yesterday as I sat reading the various stories about these National Standards being announced - (they even shutdown the nzcurriculum website for a few hours to sort it all out!) - this small phrase came to mind.

“This too shall pass.”

I couldn’t recall if it was song or a story I’d read - so went searching for the wikipedia entry - and it made me smile.

“And this, too, shall pass away.” How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!

OpenOffice for Kids

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:54:25 +0000

I’m not sure of the direct advantages of this as an app in teaching and learning yet, but it’s great to see the versatility of the opensource model.

We currently run OpenOffice on our Macbooks and classroom PCs - to allow students to open files regardless of whether they are working in Windows XP or in OS X. This kid friendly version sounds like it will be lighter and more visually attractive. I look forward to seeing what the “specific adaptations for education” are.

Writing in the Age of Distraction

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:47:55 +0000

If we're to teach writing as a skill, it's the doing of the skill that matters.

Visual genius - Audio Genius

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:46:29 +0000

Beethoven’s 5th symphony visualised.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

Beethoven 5th Symphony (No. 5, graphical score animation, allegro)

Missing being Dad

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:30:52 +0000

Her wee arms flap and I know she's going to fly one day.

Halfway to halfway.

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:18:10 +0000

You tell me your blue skies fade to grey You tell me your passion's gone away

Change as a time-lapse video

Sun, 31 May 2009 03:06:38 +0000

On the Wired Science site, they’ve got a series of videos showing how we’re changing the surface of the planet.

Some very cool images, that make you think and consider.

So You Want my Job - a response

Sat, 30 May 2009 10:03:55 +0000

Be there for your students. Be the one positive, passionate, purposeful person in their lives.

T2 - Week 5

Fri, 29 May 2009 08:08:10 +0000

It’s been an interesting week.

Started off last weekend getting involved in some copyright issues over on PublicAddress - which made me think some about what we’re doing at school. Or not doing.

Then Monday was grandparents day - with about 8 or 10 grandparents coming to spend the morning with students in my class. It was a bit of a challenge, as we had an extra 150 bodies around the school, but the students were really generous with their time and helped out. I invited those in the class to share what it was like when they were at school. Stories were told of walking to school, drinking warm milk, of being hit for being left handed, specifically, whacked with a wooden pencil case until their hands bled - by the teacher! Our school hui was full with all those extra people, and the Year 3&4 students did a fine job.

National Standards

Tue, 26 May 2009 22:37:01 +0000

The new national standards are now available online via the Ministry of Education.

2025 update.
This URL is now a 404. Oddly enough, the Wayback Machine has 14 snapshots of the URL - but they all lead to deadlinks.

The Ministry of Education has this archive, with much of the documentation from that era.

I’m a little amused as to why they’re capitalised, as in “National Standards” - the proper noun-ing of what is already happening. Is that double-speak?

copyright in the classroom

Sun, 24 May 2009 07:56:50 +0000

This clip via Vimeo: “MPAA shows how to videorecord a TV set.” made me wonder quite a bit about the demands of using digital content in the classroom, and how groups like the MPAA and NZFACT seek to be taken seriously when they propose this method as an acceptable, fair use of digital content.

I posted it to publicaddress and was asked to explain what I thought would be a use for copy protected content.

Term 2 beckons

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:14:44 +0000

A winter term - full of rain, sleet, wind.

Miniball
Speech competitions
Maths
English
Groups
Spelling
Languages - Thai
Enrichment - Make or Break/Digital Photography
Swimming
Art….
Integrated studies - Geography
Mid-term reports
Parent teacher interviews
ICT - Starting up Moodle as an intranet
Building work to work around
Green footprint

I’m bound to have missed something.

Response to Mr Roughan

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:22:20 +0000

Although I understand Mr. Roughan’s job is to provide grits for the masses to chew on - I do take issue with a few of his points.

His article, entitled: ’ Expel protectionism from schools’ was on the NZ Herald site last Saturday. I only read it after Russell Brown picked it apart over on publicaddress.

Here then are my thoughts that I also posted on the publicaddress message boards.

=======

Although I understand Mr. Roughan’s job is to provide grits for the masses to chew on - I do take issue with a few of his points.

sometimes even the cynical have to smile

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:43:48 +0000

This made me smile.

Usually reality TV/talent quests are utter rubbish, but this is one of those gentle surprises that reminds you that decent people can have the most beautiful of ability, the most genuine of hearts and can break down even the jaded and bored among us.

At the 3:22 minute mark Simon Cowell seems to almost be in love - it’s quite astonishing.

And smile.

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009.

Isabella Molly Kong

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:08:18 +0000

Through her eyes I see things - colours jump out at me, my world is full.

A new year - new inspiration?

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:46:09 +0000

About twelve months ago I started this, in part to learn myself some, in part to track be able to look back at where I’d come from.

But also inspired by some words from Maya Angelou.

This year, after a superb break and in the midst of a rather glorious summer, I was inspired by these words - a text this time from a good friend.

Who it has to be said, is no Maya Angelou, but his thoughts made me smile and feel honoured to be a teacher.

If

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 04:47:17 +0000

Short response to Ms Tolley - and her 'National Standards in Literacy & Numeracy'

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:12:24 +0000

But schools are doing this already. At the very least the one’s I’ve taught in are doing it. The teachers I work with are passionate about what they do and constantly evaluating how we can be doing our jobs better and more effectively.

We’re well aware of the students that are failing, in our own classes, in our schools and across the country. It’s not as if Anne Tolley has somehow uncovered some amazing fact of life in her briefing papers.

Creativity

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:14:22 +0000

This is an old video - it’s a somewhat viral one in the education blogosphere.

But with the National party ramming through the Education Amendment Bill under urgency this weekend - which will allow national standards to be enforced, it’s important to view it again.

We need education to be fostering belief and passion and being better - in any and all things.

Not cramming minds full of disconnected knowledge, that’s assessed in constant tests.

Stand by Me

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:06:34 +0000

This is an old song. But a good song.

It starts simple.

But becomes something very moving.

Playing For Change: Song Around the World “Stand By Me”

Helpdesk support for the Gutenberg generation

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 02:34:00 +0000

When you’re not sure how to explain something, it makes you wonder how well it was done back in the day.

We are the Weather Makers

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:54:35 +0000

This term we’re doing a minor unit on climate change. The main resource we’re using is a revised version of Tim Flannery’s book, “The Weather Makers.”

He has rewritten it for young adults and titled it “We are the Weather Makers”. It is aimed squarely at those who will be directly affected by global warming and who will bear the impact of the choices we make today.

The website* (snapshotted from the WebArchive in 2025) that’s been setup to support teachers and students in studying the resource is quite well equipped. We’ve been given a supporting book, with lesson plans and black master copies as well.

What Teachers Make

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:59:34 +0000

"Here, let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:"

Absence of Water

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:13:01 +0000

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had tons of water here in Welly, and across the country.

Which makes this photoessay even more poignant. Abandoned imagery is always haunting. More so when it’s in facilities that you know should be crowded with people enjoying themselves.

link [From Absence of Water]

Bledisloe 2 - The Reply

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:12:50 +0000

All Blacks 39 - Australia 10

Excellent game.

Emphatic and defiant play by the Blackness who right from the get-go with Kapa O Pango, looked to unleash a weeks worth of frustration and mongrel on the Wallabies.

Didn’t start well with a dropped ball on the opening kickoff to Ali - but his next mistake was at the 40 minute mark, and in between we saw the type of performance that defines teams. The second half was no different - with pace and passion, and a lucky try to close out the game. After last week, this team was in need of that, a performance that was structured, where tackles were made, the defensive line swept forward together, the forwards hunted as a unit and rucks were hit with venom. It was mistake free, back to basics rugby. Dare it be said, it was smart rugby - led by the head - and finished with brawn and controlled fire.

where's home?

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:18:38 +0000

The best writing is that which you go back to and savour. I love this piece of writing because it captures much of what these small islands mean to me. As someone who didn’t grow up here - who moved away from here - but who knows now that here is home.

A cure for tinea

“…. But when it all boils down to it if you’re a real New Zealander you have to come back. There’s no two ways about it. Even if you think you’ve chosen to stay away you’ll always be thinking about the place. You’ll always feel the presence of New Zealand there, just under you skin, always causing an itch you can’t always get to. It’ll perch on a branch near the back of your mind whispering sweet nothings, nudging you gently with reminders of endless hills and empty beaches.

Taxonomy Fail

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:44:07 +0000

taxonomy

[tak-son-uh-mee] –noun

the science or technique of classification.

fail

[feyl] –verb (used without object)

to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved

is teaching to the test cheating?

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:01:28 +0000

Thankfully we don’t have standardized tests in NZ yet, although there have been mutters from some in politics that they should be introduced here. It is usually condemned as the opposite of relevant and ‘real’ teaching, so I was interested to read these comments from Walt Gardner, writing in the Deseret News.

The key paragraph in his argument is this.

“There is a distinct difference between teaching to the broad body of skills and knowledge that a test represents (good) and teaching to the exact items that will appear on the standardized test (indefensible and illegal).

cantilever challenge

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:34:14 +0000

The cantilever challenge is a problem solving exercise, that requires students to work as a team, design and engineer a simple cantilever beam, work to a short time frame, and solve problems as the arise. All on blu-tack, ice lolly sticks, some tape and a handful of paper clips.

It’s a fun use of session, although the cleanup can take a while.

The sessions introduced with a wikipedia page and some examples such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘Fallingwater’, Old Trafford and a reference to the Caketin here in Wellington. The discussion wasn’t so much on the engineering details, but the advantages of using a cantilever in a design. Several pointed out that at the Caketin a design using a cantilever allows everyone to see the field without anything blocking the view.

Wahine

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:53:40 +0000

April 10th

The 40th anniversary of the most well known maritime disaster in New Zealand history.

I watched a documentary on this last night. It was difficult to imagine the day, knowing that it took place literally 500m from my classroom. Difficult because there is only a small amount of grainy footage and black and white images from the day. So the doco had lots of filler film of crashing waves, rolling cloud and slow pans of surf. All with a suitable grey/blue effect.

looking back.

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:04:18 +0000

To stand on a stage and be part of something that just simply rocks - and allows people let the smiles wash over them....

on steve nash

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:22:32 +0000

"If you want to be good, you've got to practice."

day one '08

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:50:39 +0000

on doing what we'd said we would do. and on not being able to put trust back together after it's broken

a vision of students today

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 07:32:09 +0000

I sit and wonder at times if what I'm doing makes a difference. Maybe I should be paying more attention to whether or not what I do is relevant.

a start

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:22:16 +0000

In December of 2007 I learned that Marie Clay was my second cousin, once removed. Which is quite distant I suppose as relations go. But still, it was a buzz to know that I was related to one of the world’s most renowned teachers.

I got sent a copy of The Journal of Reading Recovery dedicated to her, which closed with extracts of a poem by Maya Angelou.

My wish for you

About

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:22:16 +0000

This is a mixture of thoughts, comments and perspectives on things that interest me.