Newton’s First Law

“An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force”(That pretty much sums up my view on teaching – every now and then we need some unbalancing to shift us out of our inertia as … Read more

Share Button

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

Share Button

It’s game on in my classroom – Level 1

My previous post about an idea for a games based approach to my teaching has sort of developed. Sort of, because I know what I want, but I’m not sure how to do it properly. I want it to be a mixture of game play and popular media references. And I want to make it work online … Read more

Share Button

Game on. Who’s with me?

Christmas saw Santa bring me Far Cry 4. I hadn’t played much in the way of these sorts of games in the past, and I’d just invested in a new gaming PC so I was keen to see what it looked like. Far Cry 4 is an open world action-adventure first-person shooter video game – you … Read more

Share Button

Skills and Tactics – from paper to practice

I’m working on a Year 10 PASS theory unit on Improving Performance. One of the topics we cover is using skills and tactics as a way to improve individual and team performance. In planning the learning for this, I wanted to made the learning real and visible, not just theoretical and abstract. I came up … Read more

Share Button

#pegeeks Mythbusters

I’m teaching a unit on Improving Performance with my Year 10 students at the moment. They choose a sport they want to investigate (ideally the one they play at the moment) and come up with a personal improvement plan for themselves. The aspects of the investigation are up to them, but we talked through some … Read more

Share Button

MasterCoach Mystery Bag Challenge

I’ve been playing around with an idea to get  my Year 10 students to think about games and how to run them. I’ve always been a fan of inserting popular culture references into my teaching, and one particular TV show captured my attention last week. Master Chef Australia is on at the moment, and it saw … Read more

Share Button

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

Share Button

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

Share Button

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

Share Button