Nevbar1's Blog – August 2011 Archive (4)

Sometimes school is stupid

Every now and then, we all have “one of those days”. They usually start out bad and go downhill from there. Mine usually start off without an alarm to wake me. My high-tech radio has an in-built compassion circuit - whenever it senses that I am tired enough to really need a wake-up call, it very kindly refrains…

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Added by nevbar1 on August 25, 2011 at 10:42pm — No Comments

Mathematics education - dire or inspire?

Maths education – dire or inspire?

You could see the panic in their faces - and then the relief.

They were students in their final year of high school on a visit to campus to explore the possibility of “going to uni” after they finished their compulsory schooling. I had, perhaps perversely, set up an experiment. I had told them that two of them would find a red dot under their seat - and if they were one of these people they would come forward and participate in a simple… Continue

Added by nevbar1 on August 21, 2011 at 11:00pm — No Comments

Improving numeracy with the 7 C's

There have been many reformers offering ideas for improving numeracy in our schools. Many of them advocate the use of specific commercial resources or explicit lesson plans – in short they offer recipes for teachers and schools to follow. The quietly spoken Alistair McIntosh (formerly Associate Professor at the University of Tasmania, Australia)…

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Added by nevbar1 on August 15, 2011 at 12:29am — No Comments

Validate - it's great!

It is no secret that a great deal is expected of schools. Our curriculum documents overflow with worthy content - and even some content that is perhaps less worthy. Even if the teaching of academic skills and knowledge were all that was expected of schools the task of the teacher would be daunting. However, all educators know that much more is expected of teachers than “merely” teaching content matter. Teachers are also required to nurture their students in areas other than the strictly…

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Added by nevbar1 on August 8, 2011 at 5:59pm — No Comments