Meddling from the back seat

I wrote the majority this from the back seat of our family car, returning home after our annual trip north to visit friends at Crescent Head. I’m in the backseat because both my sons have wanted to sit in the driving seat on the way home – Dom is a “P” plater, and Matt is … Read more

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Cavete ergo discipulus – let the Professional learner beware

I have been watching PE Twitter recently with the jaundiced eye of a seven year user. (I don’t want this to become a “back in the day” rant, so I promise to watch my step). I still find enough joy in my stream to keep me hanging around, but I’ve noticed something happening that disturbs … Read more

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What’s in my tool kit? (2016 edition)

Wow – two posts in less than a week! I want to go back to the original purpose of this space – to share what I do, and the tools that I use to hopefully make my teaching engaging and meaningful for the kids, and fun for me as well. I mean, if you’re not … Read more

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Being a Maker in PE

There’s a lot of talk about the “maker movement” and “maker culture” at the present time. In a nutshell, it’s about using technology to learn as you create solutions to problems, or design blue sky projects. Think Arduino, Raspberry Pi, 3D printers, electronics and robotics. There doesn’t really seem to be a solid bridge between the maker … Read more

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Emulator? Or Assimilator?

How do you go about planning and implementing your ideas for school? I’ve been thinking about the teaching projects I have ahead of me this year. A Year 10 elective class that carries on from 2013; a Year 7 class (part of a whole school plan that seeks to integrate Google Apps as an approach … Read more

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Reflections and crystal balling

This will be my last post for 2013, I think. With the school year finishing in under a week, I’ve been reflecting on what has happened in my classroom, with my faculty and with my online communities that I interact with. Looking Back… At school, I’ve struggled in a lot of ways. I struggled returning … Read more

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From No Spoons, to ladles, and in between

I’ve been prompted to revisit the original post “No Spoons” and give an appraisal of where it got our class. I can honestly say it’s been a difficult 9 months (there could be an extended metaphor on pregnancy in this, maybe), but in reflecting on the experience I have some good leads on where to … Read more

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Looking Forward, looking back

I haven’t written much lately – I’ve honestly been smashed off my feet being back at school after a time away at PLANE. I did write a couple of posts earlier in the year about some ideas that I’d used in my teaching – an Inquiry approach for my senior class (“No Spoons”) and a … Read more

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Road Safety Film Festival

Our theory program for Year 10 in Semester 1 is called “Party without Pain”. It deals with the intersection of multiple risk factors when celebrating, and hopefully leaves the students with a better understanding of the concept of “celebrating safely”. One of the risk factors we cover is road safety. Trying to make this concept … Read more

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No spoons

The story so far… I returned to school this year after about 18 months working in an office helping to build PLANE – a cross sectoral professional learning community. I always intended to return – many thought I wouldn’t. But I always thought that to keep something like PLANE (or any sabbatical) real, it has … Read more

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