Lift the level of discussion in the classroom

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This post from Teachthought offers 26 sentence starters to lift the level of discussion in the classroom.

During meaningful conversations, students are forced to be accountable for their positions, to listen, to analyze opposing perspectives, and to adapt their thinking on the fly.

I particularly like the summarising starters as I think often we fail to draw learning to conclusions and to evaluate findings.

Summarizing
Overall, what I’m trying to say is…
My whole point in one sentence is…
More than anything else, I believe that…

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How technology brings change to learning

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In his post on Mindshift entitled How Technology Trends Have Influenced the Classroom, Carl Hooker outlines the many changes taking place in both society as well as technology that mean that learning and teaching methods have to change – and are changing.

As educators, it’s our job to make sure that students (and adults) are learning. Part of that process isn’t only about making an engaging activity or lesson, but also realizing how the modern brain learns.

For each of the headings below he outlines the classroom outcomes for these changes.

The Increase of Interactivity
On-Demand Living
Self-Publishing the World As We See It
Everything is Mobile (and Instant)
Embracing the Digital Brain

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An Information Literate School Community

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Did you know the Teacher Librarian can wear up to 500 hats? Barbara Braxton is working her way through a description of each and today’s ‘Hat’ is both informative and challenging. Read about The Information Literacy Hat on her blog 500 Hats.

Info LiteracyAn ILSC is one that “places a high priority (policy, benchmarking, funding and evaluation) on the pursuit of teacher and student mastery of the processes of being informed,” (Henri, 2005, p12). ..

…Students will need to be able to survive and thrive in an information-saturated and technology-rich environment, and be independent, creative thinkers, making informed decisions based on careful evaluation and interpretation of available information, developing expertise through experience, and be lifelong learners. They need to be information literate.

Library Lovers Day @ Broughton

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Every year, on Valentine’s Day, the English Department joins with the IRC in a little bit of silliness that actually becomes a very successful time of reading for enjoyment. We have been doing this with Year 8 or 9 English classes for six years. Even students who do not normally read for pleasure take part enthusiastically and have an opportunity to experience many genres especially selected for their age group.

Google search tips

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Students have a lot of difficulty composing search terms to find relevant information at the top of the list. So many students these days just type a question and expect a full answer.

This post on the Educators Technology blog explains many tips for searching. They have used the tips from Lifehacker.com to make a poster that I will certainly use for the Information Skills seminars for our students next week.
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Year 10 Guided Inquiry students share their research

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Once again this year the Year 10 Commerce students have really connected with Issues in Australian Society, researched them and taken them to heart. The final ‘Share’ presentations were very moving. (More will be available from the GI 2013 page of this blog at a later date.)

Toys ‘n’ Tucker at Broughton

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Toys ‘n’ Tucker is an initiative run by ANGLICARE Sydney that aims to Share the Joy of Christmas with those who are in need. Toys ‘n’ Tucker is focused on providing families with food and gifts for Christmas. We believe that Christmas is a time to give, to share and to be a blessing to those in our community who need it most.

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Every year the students at Broughton bring in food and gifts to support this Anglicare initiative. House points are awarded for every item given. THe SRC are displaying some of the “Toys ‘n’ Tucker” and the tally of House Points in the IRC foyer to encourage students to remember about the joy of giving at Christmas.