Students making their Debut

Just a quick one. Part of our Yr10 School to Work assessment task portfolio is to be “mock” interviewed. In order to get ready for this (for some) traumatic experience, I decided to exploit a piece of software on the DER laptops. Called Debut Video Capture, it allows you to easily record video using the … Read more

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Moving toward paperless assessment

My faculty and I have run a School to Work assessment task over the past few years where students apply for fictional jobs as real world practice for when they have to look for real world work. Application letters, resumes and real interviews form the components of the task. The Task Up to now, the … Read more

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Project as a Digital Portfolio

Background first We (PDHPE) were given an extra period this year in Year 9 as an opportunity to pursue a “Project”. The “Project” concept was designed to exploit the opportunities that the DER laptops has provided us. We (PDHPE) spent first semester playing with ideas and training staff in the software and potential ideas for … Read more

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DIY fitness analysis graphs

Fitness analysis devices have developed so quickly over the last few years that what was thought to be schmick not that long ago is now very dated. Heart rate monitors (HRMs) have evolved from simple HR measurement tools into devices that measure heart rate, track your training route via GPS and allow uploads to your … Read more

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Mobile devices in my classroom – Nuts & Bolts (Part 1)

I’ve been looking for a way to authentically use mobile devices in class. This post is about the nuts and bolts – what devices will do the job in my classroom. To actually use videos and images created by kids on mobile devices initially seemed simple – shoot the images, dump them somewhere to look … Read more

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Comfort Zone

I was driving to work last week (or the week before) and heard Karl Hyde (from the British electronic group Underworld) interviewed on the Triple J Breakfast show. He said something about creativity that made me sit up. The more I thought about it, what  he had to say resonated with me on the way … Read more

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Physical Education Futures

Normally around this time of the year my out of school reading time is taken up with proof reading reports, the odd copy of Australian Mountain Bike magazine or a quick flick through the newspaper before work. But after a recent discussion on Twitter with Dr Ashley Casey (@DrAshCasey) on Physical Education pedagogy, he recommended … Read more

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BlogEd and mobile phones

Term 2 – Week 9. Assessment for our junior school is over, reports are more or less put to bed, so what better time to give something new a run. BlogEd (for those of you outside NSW) is the Department of Education & Training (DET) sponsored blog platform provided to all teachers and students. My … Read more

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The light bulb came on

A couple of light bulb moments have marked my first week back at work after travelling overseas on leave with my family. Before we went to Italy, I set up a blog to record our adventures. When I say our, I was more interested in how my boys would use it. They were a kind … Read more

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It’s like algebra…

I’ve been meaning to reflect on the Staff Development Day (SDD) that took place on our first day back in Term 2, but the impending departure of the Jones collective overseas has left me with too few spare moments to sit down and write. When the focus for the SDD was revealed at our executive … Read more

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