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. ...

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. ...

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”

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

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. ...

Taylor Mali. Keeping it straight.

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]

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. ...

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 [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

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). ...

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. ...

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. ...

I was thinking the other day, that as I’m in my fourth year of teaching, I’ve now been in this occupation longer than I toured. Which is a little bit odd really, as I still feel like the road is where I got my start in life, and where I learned a lot that I now bring to teaching. I still feel really young and inexperienced at the teaching game and wonder what I’m missing, what I should be doing, how I could be doing things better, or what I should be learning next. ...

I’ve always liked Steve Nash’s play, but after watching this TV commercial that he created - I’ve a new respect for the man. Particularly like the last line in the voiceover: “If you want to be good, you’ve got to practice.” Indeed.

Dan Meyer has a constantly challenging and interesting blog - and he strikes me as the kind of math teacher that I’d enjoy learning from. In one of his more recent posts, he made these comments: “When you remove some scaffolding from your routine, you determine quickly if it was a) essential or b) a low-cost substitution for the essential. I’m noticing this everywhere lately. slide animations (wipes, fly-ins, checkerboards, etc.) are a cheap sub for arresting visuals; classroom rules are a cheap sub for a classroom well-managed; jargon is a cheap sub for authority; profanity is a cheap sub for articulated emotion; sophisticated words are a cheap sub for sophisticated ideas; machismo is a cheap sub for masculinity; “i love you” is a cheap sub for a ride to the airport and a note in the bag; technology used is a cheap sub for technology used well; meaningless assessment is a cheap sub for meaningful assessment; years and units is a cheap sub for a teacher’s worth; supervision is a cheap sub for mentoring; group work is a cheap sub for collaboration These cheap substitutes can lead us to believe we’ve filled a difficult prescription and performed our due diligence when in fact we are nowhere close.” ...

An interesting snapshot of what our system of education actually means to students today. As a teacher I sit and wonder at times if what I’m doing makes a difference - after watching this I can’t but wonder if I should be paying more attention to whether or not it’s relevant. We talk often about parent-school partnerships, but one of the great challenges should be meeting our students on their turf, in the environments they already participate in, create in and communicate in. ...

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 ...